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otpnessmess · 4 years

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Of Casual Encounters And Late Nights Pt.2

Here it is! I don't know if it's as long as you wanted but it's almost double the first chapter. I hope you like it!

First Next Ao3

A week went by where Jason managed to avoid meeting Ladybug again while investigating, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t heard of her. Akuma attacks were as frequent as ever and gave him an opportunity to learn more about the terrors that had been plaguing Paris for years now apparently. He sent all new info on it to his family, who couldn’t believe none of it had reached them up until that point. Bruce was feeling particularly flabbergasted among them.

“You mean to tell me there’s been a terrorist in Paris for years, one that’s been destroying the city twice a week, and we knew absolutely nothing about it?” He seemed to be going through the seven stages of grief before excusing himself to call Diana.

Meanwhile, Jason’s brothers piled up in front of the computer screen wanting to hear more about the heroes and their work. Tim was looking up information on the internet while Dick asked questions nonstop about their powers, and their suits, and if he had had the chance to talk to them yet.

“They sometimes stay back after the attacks, but their powers have some kind of time limit so those are rare occasions, or so I’ve heard. They’re all proficient fighters and each have their own set of powers and weapon. Ladybug’s powers are the most impressive by far”

The mention of her name threw him right back into the memory of the night they first met. Despite resenting not being given an opening to talk to her more then, Jason had to admit leaving had been the right choice. He wanted to stay in the shadows as long as possible, and dealing with the police on his second night in the city wouldn’t have made that easy for him. Adding to that, even though he was quite stubborn and didn’t want to accept it, he felt curious about the spotted heroine. She was sassy and clever and, if the two battles she had this week were anything to go by, her abilities to strategize rivaled Tim’s.

He came back to the present with a jolt when Dick whined about him not paying attention, eliciting a snort from both him and Damian, who also looked at the eldest with a sneer. “You’re 29 Grayson, no one that age should be making those types of noises.” Jason would rather die than saying it out loud, but sometimes he did miss the dumbasses that were his brothers.

“You know, I don’t think we would have believed this was real even if someone had told us about it. I found a... Ladyblog? It has videos of almost every attack from the last 4 years as far as I can see, and these look every bit as outlandish as I expected them to. There’s this one where apparently the whole city was flooded.” Tim pulled up the video in the peripheral monitors for the others to see and, lo and behold, there was the video from the day Ondine had drowned Paris. Faint screams could be heard in the background as the person recording managed to get to the roof of a building just in time to see the people still left on the street be swiped by the giant wave. From then on it was all silent. “This is horrible, so many people must have died during this. How did they manage to recover? I’m sure the news of Paris underwater should’ve popped up SOMEWHERE.”

“They didn’t because it didn’t last more than an afternoon.” Jason ran a hand through his hair impatiently. The whole week he had been aching to go out as Red Hood but couldn’t risk meeting Ladybug and it was making him jittery. “That’s what Ladybug’s power is. She just….reverts everything. I haven’t been able to find out how yet, but I’ve been told it must be magic or some shit.”

“Reverts everything? Just like that? Like….turning back time?” Dick looked confused trying to come up with a rational explanation

“I don’t think so. Everyone except the victims remember everything that happened. It’s more of a cure, if you will. She fixes everything, makes a new Eiffel Tower appear, brings the dead back to life, you know, no big deal.” Jason couldn’t help but chuckle at their faces. “I know, if anyone tried to tell me this before I saw it myself I wouldn’t have believed it either.”

A moment of silence on his brothers’ end was interrupted by the return of Bruce. “Diana is positively furious right now. Apparently someone received a message from these heroes years ago and thought it was a joke, so they dismissed it. Diana asked to see the message and just unleashed hell on the poor guy after watching it. It seems her mother was a former Ladybug and she grew up knowing about the magic of the ‘Miraculous’” He said the word in a way that made his sons think he was as confused as they were “The League is planning to make a trip to Paris as soon as possible to assess the situation.”

Now that brought a frown to Jason’s face. “I know I’m usually the reckless one here, but listen to me for a moment. You’re just planning on barging in here, with an angry Wonder Woman, and a probably scared shitless League, to battle a guy who makes you his minion if you show the tiniest hint of a negative emotion? Imagine if Diana got akumatized. You must really want the apocalypse to start huh?”

He scanned their faces and wasn’t surprised to see skepticism and some smirks too. This was so not typical of him. Jason was a shoot first, ask second kinda guy, and he used to enjoy killing a little too much for it to be healthy. But he remembered what Ladybug had told him about resorting to the least amount of violence possible, and he was honestly worried about what could happen if three dozen superheroes just showed up one day to a fight. “Listen, as far as I can see, Ladybug and her team have things covered here. Give me some time to gather more information and maybe I can find a way for her and Red Hood to have a meeting. I’ll ask her if she still wants our help. But until then, you should refrain from bringing anyone here. Unless you want panic to run rampant among the citizens because the whole Justice League came.”

Snickers could be heard coming from Tim and Dick. Even Damian was trying not to show his amusement at the situation. “Who would’ve thought Todd actually had a brain. We should go if only to check whether he’s been replaced by a clone or something”

“Oh fuck off Demon Spawn, I can be smart too if I want to."

Their father seemed to be mulling over his words before sighing and nodding. “Alright. I think we can go along with what you said for now, but I want you to keep us updated regularly, and to inform us if something out of the ordinary happens. If you need us there, we’ll be on alert. And I expect that meeting with Ladybug to happen sooner rather than later. Also don’t forget why you’re originally there, we have to gather more information on what the Penguin is planning."

“You got it Brucie.” He made fingers guns at the screen with a click of his tongue. “Expect it to be at least a week until I have some big news for you, but I’ll try to make it happen as quickly as possible. And worry not about my mission, I’m almost done with it. Now my dear family, if you’ll excuse me, it’s already 2am and I would like to pretend to be a tourist at least for a day tomorrow. I’ll let you know if something comes up.”

He quickly ended the call and face planted on his bed. This was going to be a long mission. One week in and he was already exhausted. He wasn’t lying when he said he was close to finishing the mission he was originally sent to Paris for, though. He had infiltrated the goons quickly and efficiently, and managed to hear about a drug shipment due to arrive in a couple weeks together with a human one. As soon as he got the information as to where he’d call his family and they could resolve the problem easily. For now though, he couldn’t help but want to keep them away a bit longer. Be it because, even though he loved his brothers (not that he’d ever tell them), he wanted some time alone, or be it because he wanted more time to try and figure out Ladybug, he still wasn’t completely sure.

If you asked him, he would deny it to his dying breath that he was interested in the heroine, but something about her made him want to get closer and know more about her. In spite of the great amount of knowledge the public had on her, she was surrounded by an aura of mystery and something else that Jason couldn’t pinpoint, which had him turning in his sleep ever since that encounter in the alley. It also didn’t help that she seemed to be around the same age as him, her suit doing her great favours in all her red and black. Alright. Maybe he thought she was a bit attractive. Very attractive?

“No. Nope. Not going there.” He got up and decided to ignore that part of his brain as of now. For no particular reason whatsoever. It was only normal to want to know more about the person protecting the city. Call it a professional interest, thank you very much.

The dark haired man decided to take advantage of having an expensive suite for once and took a long bath while doing some more research on Paris. He was indeed planning to walk around the city the next day after all. When he was done, Jason headed to the bed and fell asleep promptly. Dreams full of back alleys and superheroes.

As luck would have it, it didn’t take long for the both of them to meet yet again. Only maybe not in the way the Gotham vigilante would have hoped for. Set on at least enjoying this pseudo-vacation he was gifted, Jason left his hotel the next morning to visit the most popular places in the city. The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc of Triumph and the Champs Élysées were the places he had chosen to visit during the morning and early afternoon, but, even though his main goal was to distract himself from the tasks at hand, he couldn’t will away the questions roaming around his head.

How was he going to contact Ladybug? He wanted to do it as Red Hood, but he didn’t want the heroine of Paris to distrust him since he was pretty sure his reputation would precede him. He was known for being the most ruthless of the batfam, the only thing keeping him from killing criminals once he was done with them was Batman’s No killing under any kind of circumstances rule (which if you asked him was a special kind of bullshit, some of them did deserve to rot in hell in his opinion), and he wasn’t sure if Ladybug would be as willing to hear him out as she may one of his brothers or father. However, his only other option would be to approach her as Jason Todd, one of Bruce Wayne’s adopted sons. He didn’t even know whether Ladybug would care about his family name. This wasn’t his city. And on the off chance that she might have recognized him… He was still a mere civilian. One that had, on top of that, to explain his connection to the Gotham vigilantes without giving away any of their identities. Jason knew his hands were tied. Red Hood had to be the one to try and get the attention of the spotted hero. Knowing there was no other option didn't make him happy about it though.

Once he was done with this line of thinking his brain decided to go back to the Penguin. He was trying to instill one of the worst types of businesses in Paris and he couldn’t wait to put a stop to it. As much as he knew drug trafficking to be terrible, he was of the opinion that people who engaged in (as well as profited off of) human trafficking should have a special circle of hell destined for them. Preferably in the very depths of it.

Jason was very much aware that, for as long as he remained in this city, negative emotions had to be controlled and dissipated as quickly as possible to avoid an akumatization. Especially those of someone with the skills and knowledge he had. He had a lot of the latter in strange topics, most of which he acquired growing up during his training. And albeit he wasn’t sure whether it would actually be useful to Hawkmoth or not, he would rather not put it to the test. All of this, however, was sent to the back burner for a second as Jason's thoughts strayed towards what he would like to do to the Gotham villain when he captured him.

Being so busy imagining the 30 different methods of torture he would like to inflict upon the Penguin had made him completely disregarded his surroundings, however. Coming back to his senses, his brain pointed out they were standing at the door of what seemed like a very nice patisserie, just in time for his stomach to growl, his lunch seemingly having been digested some time ago.

‘Maybe something sweet is exactly what I need right now’

Some days had passed since Marinette met Jason, and though he was still burning in the back of her mind, she had way too many things to worry about during the day to remember him often. At night, however, the questions she had originally asked herself the first night continued to plague her, and since Tikki told her not to worry about it too much, the designer saw wise to keep her train of thought to herself. She wasn’t even sure why her brain seemed so fixed on this stranger she had only met once. Sure, he was involved in a fight, and seemed to be a foreigner, but it wasn’t that uncommon for petty altercations to break out around the city while she patrolled. Also this was Paris, for Kwamis’ sake. One of the biggest tourist capitals of the world. There was no reason why this Jason guy should’ve stuck to her mind as he did. Yet here she was. In the middle of her afternoon shift at the bakery. Still thinking about him.

A chime coming from the door brought her out of her stupor. But as she looked up, ready to greet the new customer, she suddenly froze, and her brain could only supply her with the word green.

Green eyes she had only got a quick glance into a week ago were now in front of her and the color was even more intense as they reflected the sunlight rays that entered through the bakery’s windows.

There you have it peeps and pals! I'll try to update sometime again this week in between Daminette December.

Tag list:

@18-fandoms-unite-08 @bamagirl513 @j-a-n-e--d-o-e @dawnwave16

#jasonette #jason x marinette #maribat #of casual encounters and late nights #miraculous ladybug #part 2 #liswrites #ml x dc #marinette dupain cheng #marinette dupain-cheng #jason todd

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miss-tc-nova · 4 years

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Happenstance Encouragement - Bragi x Reader

Hi...I did some people dirty...Namely Mr. Fluffcoat and the sweet Anon who made a request for him. So please accept this fic as a token of apology. I know it’s not entirely Smarmy-central, but it’s actually the first in a random series I’m having fun with. Hope these fulfill some of the fluff you were looking for.

Also tagging my Xeha-non since they asked for some Bragi-fluff too.

~~~~~

Becoming a Master Mage is kind of a grueling process; that’s why there are plenty of people who dabble in magic but not a ton of masters. It doesn’t help that most people tend to lean towards a specific kind of magic but the masters have a good grasp in most areas of magic before they become experts in specific fields.

I always had an affinity towards magic, which is what got me into this harrowing occupation. My first taste of real, structured magic had me hooked and I instantly became dead-set on becoming a Master Mage; this goal is what brought me and my classmate to follow our master to Scala Ad Caelum when they offered him a teaching position—not that the location made the task any easier.

Feet drag as I trudge up the steps to the citadel—it’s just one of those days. I don’t want to be here and question why I am. These last few weeks have been particularly taxing in preparing for the Master’s Exam with extra lessons from the Master, including tests for each section of magic. Up all night studying brings with it a fatigue and no guarantee I’ll pass the test today. Inside the castle, I pause to lean against the wall in an attempt to give myself a second to pull myself together.

Something plops on my head and flutters to the ground looking like a folded paper. Unsure of whether I should, I scoop it up, unwinding the note to see a scrawled message.

‘Don’t look so glum. You’re gonna do great today.’

Perplexed, I look up. Leaning over a railing several stories up is a young man. With a smirk across his face, he gives me a thumbs-up. My gaze drops back to the paper, honestly feeling somewhat lighter. I look back up but the smile slips from my face—he’s gone. One last look at the note puts my gloom in its place and prepared me to take on the day.

Admittedly, the day gets significantly better: I’m confident in my test answers and I’m not nearly as tired as I thought I was. It only takes one thought of the note in my pocket to fend off the depression. The day turned out so pleasant thanks to some stranger’s note that it gets posted in my room in hopes of it getting me through the next couple months until the exam.

I wander into the castle the following day, a little bit preoccupied until I see the airplane floating through the air. My gaze immediately shoots up to see the boy from yesterday wearing another simper. Some internal compulsion drives me to retrieve the note and pull it open.

‘You got this.’

A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth as I pull a pencil from my bag and hastily scribble back: ‘Thank you.’ I’m glad he’s still standing there when I’m done and an aero spell carries my gratitude back up to him. There’s surprise on his face at first but only for a moment.

Unfortunately, the warning bell tolls and we part ways to class.

~~~~~

It’s a strange occurrence to go through two whole months trading notes and glances without ever actually meeting each other. We pass in the halls, giving friendly waves and smiles, always moving in opposite directions. I find notes falling from the sky frequently or waiting for me on my usual places; I’ve even found new ones in my pockets—he’s a sneaky one. Don’t get me wrong though, I’ve had my own fun finding inventive ways to use magic to return my replies. Words of encouragement and tales of keyblade-training adventures keep me afloat in my chaos and I owe him more than I could write out. I haven’t gotten a name from him yet—that seems less important than the messages we’ve been passing. I have, however, heard the term Smarmy Fluffcoat thrown around from people talking about him; it makes me giggle every time I think about it.

Somehow, I’ve managed to end up completely enamored with my pen pal. Thoughts stray to him if I don’t keep them in check and I’ll die before I let slip he’s been in my dreams. It’s kind of embarrassing to think I’ve become infatuated with someone I’ve never met but every day with a new note or a smile becomes a day that can’t drag me down thanks to him. Still, the little things of daily life keep us from meeting; it’s annoying but—I must be hanging out with my classmate too much—rationality keeps telling me it’s better this way. Anxious thoughts worry that he’s not the same person he is on paper or in my head. On the other hand, maybe I’m not who he thinks I am; maybe we’re just long-distance friends to him and then my little crush becomes really creepy. I’ve only cared about magic before and there’s not a spell in my arsenal that could’ve prepared me for a situation like this. So things between us stay separated.

~~~~~

My heart is pounding in my chest, spurring the tremble in my fingers. Most of the residents of the school, if not all of them, are here to watch. Students are here to learn from my success or mistakes, professionals are here to judge whether or not a mage can really match a standard key bearer, and others are here to awe—it’s unnerving. Not only that, but mages don’t become masters very often and, being the youngest in history to take the exam, we’ve become a spectacle for magic users across all the worlds.

“Are you ready?” asks my classmate. His ridiculously-intense eyes watch patiently. I have no idea how he can be so calm; this is our Master’s Exam—everything we’ve been training for. I can’t help wishing I’d gotten a note of ‘good luck’ today.

It doesn’t matter that I feel like I’m drowning in my anxiety; I have to go out there. Ignoring the fact that I might faint, I nod and join him in entering the stadium.

Bright sunlight floods through the doorway and I’m immediately hit by the chatter of the crowd. My body initially protests walking into the spotlight but I force myself to move on. Against my instincts, I let my gaze wander the audience.

Then I spot him: Smarmy Fluffcoat. He’s perfectly comfortable slouched in his seat, not adding to the blaring—I wouldn’t be able to hear him anyway. Nevertheless, once he realizes I’m watching him, he gives a smile and waves.

Immediately, courage swells in me, remembering the wall of notes pinned in my room. Of course I can do this; I’ve been practicing for ages for this very moment. A smile works its way across my mouth.

The exam begins with displays of our ability. With each successful cast, I grow more and more confident, even able to cast the more complex Holy magic with relative ease. Test two is fending off several volunteer keyblade wielders without their magic. I could’ve made a few improvements in some places but I complete the task.

The third test—a magic duel with my classmate—is where I find my nerves creeping back in. We’ve been training together for years so of course he’s going to know all my quirks and go-tos. His biggest advantage is that stoicism of his—he’ll be able to keep his head straight if I stumble and panic.

There are too many close calls and nearly half my spells are deflected or dodged. I catch the luckiest break using reflect against his thunder. That brief opening gives me a chance to encase him in ice. It holds long enough that, when he finally breaks free, it’s just in time for me to complete a silence curse. Without magic in a magic duel, the game is over. Still, overall, he played better than me; I could’ve chosen better spells or casted faster and those facts worry me—there are still improvements to be made.

Eyes inadvertently flicker to the audience. He’s still watching with that smirk. I can’t bring myself to smile back this time.

Chest still heaving, I join my ally to stand before the Master and the judging council members. I pray they can’t see my nervousness but I’m probably kidding myself. Nevertheless, I’m standing here before them, exam complete and awaiting my verdict.

My master stands. “You both have performed admirably—both in your skill and judgment. It is with great pleasure-”

Don’t get your hopes up! Don’t get your hopes up!

“That I announce Yen Sid a Master Mage.” My heart twinges but I can’t help smiling at the young man who, for the first time since we met, looks beside himself. “Yen Sid, while you still have a lot to learn in being flexible, you have shown the true power of knowledge and a keen ability to focus under pressure; for that, you have been deemed a master. ______.” I straighten up, refocusing on the Master. “You sometimes let your nerves play into your magic, but once your confidence hits, your ability to react and adapt is hard to compete with.”

Did I…?

“It is an honor to announce that you too have become a Master Mage.” He smiles and I could explode if I didn’t remember that this is a formal ceremony. “You’ve both worked hard for this. Congratulations.” I follow Yen Sid’s lead, bowing to the man we learned everything from. “Remember, even as Masters, there are always things to learn and improve—never forget that.”

“Yes Master,” we answer.

“You did splendidly.”

I straighten up, finally able to wear the smile I had when this started. Many other mages come to greet and congratulate us. Of course, I get in a little ribbing at Yen Sid’s expense for his bafflement before the Master and he chastises me for using the reflect spell at the last second instead of a safer alternative. That’s when I spot Fluffcoat, chatting among his friends at the bottom of the steps.

My jubilation manages to douse my nerves, carrying me down the steps in haste. I just attained my dream of becoming a Master Mage so confessing to this boy should be no trouble—let’s just keep common sense out of this. It’s because of him that I had the courage to press forward. I’m not sure I would’ve handled the pressure at all if not for his words; I could’ve cracked beneath it and mucked up my exam. I won’t go on a moment longer without knowing who he really is and he needs to know how grateful I am.

His amber eyes catch sight of me just before I crash into him. He’s sturdy enough not to let us fall over but he definitely wasn’t expecting me to kiss him so forcefully. Cinnamon and spice roll off him and even in shock, his smooth lips comply with mine.

His laugh is music I’ve been dying to hear, even if it breaks the kiss. “Well nice to meet you too.”

I can’t stop smiling even if I wanted to. “Thank you.”

#bragi #khdr bragi #kh bragi #bragi x reader #smarmy fluffcoat #xeha-non #smarmy nonsense #gender neutral reader

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spiritleak · 6 years

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Basic Witchcraft Questions

Frequently asked questions answered with the help of multiple reliable sources.

-What is Witchcraft?

The “official” definition of it is the practice of and belief in magical skills and abilities exercised by solitary practitioners and groups known as covens. Witchcraft involves the use of intent (and often physical objects) to manipulate environmental energy in order to effect change in favor of the practitioners.

Therefore, it means lots of things in different environments and it is frequently divided according to the user’ s intention and tools of achieving the results desired.

- Is it the same as Wicca?

Wicca is a belief system and way of life based upon the reconstruction of pre-Christian traditions originating in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Wicca is a tradition of Witchcraft. There are a number of people who consider themselves Witches, but who are not necessarily Wiccan.

- What is Paganism?

Paganism is an umbrella term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity for populations of the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population or because they were not “soldiers of the Christ”. While most pagan religions express a world view that is pantheistic, polytheistic or animistic, there are some monotheistic pagans. While one group may have a certain practice, not everyone will follow the same criteria.

- Is Magick real?

As a beginner that has not practiced enough to guarantee the right and truthful answer myself (even though I have seen some good results for my level), reasons for the belief or disbelief in it can be easily stated.

Most of us do not live in a culture that supports it. We live in a place that forces action in the world, where the path to independence, self-reliance and happiness tends to rely on rolling up your sleeves and getting stuff done the common practical way in the real world.

So when someone says they have been affected by it or that they think of joining the occult, it is highly likely that he will get negative opinions by his surrounding people.

I personally have really close relatives being victims of it in a negative or positive way and some others practice it cause they have been raised in villages away from big cities and the capital so it was something widely used in their daily lives.

- What do people consider as White and Black Magick?

White Magick is defined as the Witchcraft used for matters like healing and protection , rather from the “selfish” forced gain of the practitioner.

Black magic on the other hand, is what most hesitate to step in when they take into account their beliefs or personal morals since it is widely believed to take energy away to create chaos, destruction, disruption with a nature of forcing things against any wills of the people that participate without their knowledge. (Binding spells, Curses). These

However, nowadays it is a term widely said by people who define magic or ritualistic practices that they disapprove of as Black Magick.

-What types of Magick are there?

The ones you will mostly see around are: Binding Magick: To bind is to keep someone from doing something, almost like putting a wall between them and the chosen thing or the exactly opposite, to make a chosen thing or person stay attached Blood Magick: Blood magic is not magic that involves killing people or animals in ritual sacrifice. It is the use of a few drops of blood during a spell or ritual—usually your own blood, but if you are casting for someone else you could use theirs. Those few drops can add power to a magical working in any number of ways. Candle Magick: Candle magick is often used in spells and rituals and can be influenced by the color, scent and number of candles. Chaos Magick: It is about using whatever ideas and practices are helpful to you at the moment, even if they contradict ideas and practices used previously and a personal system is never developed. What applied yesterday may be completely irrelevant today. All that matters today is what is used today. Experience can certainly help a chaos magician in figuring out what would most likely be useful, but they are never confined by the concept of tradition or even of coherency. Crystal/Stone Magick: There are a multitude of crystals, stones and metals that can be used for many purposes through either simply invoking the energies of the crystals or crystal elixirs. Dream Magick: Dream magick is usually incredibly useful for tapping into the astral and one’s own psyche. Through dream magick, you can connect to the hidden secrets of your mind and to realms you can’t access through the physical. Elemental Magick: Usually in the beginning of a ritual, the elements are invoked and called into the circle for their blessings. However, outside the circle elemental magick can be used by invoking the essential energy of the elements for their specific magicks. Gray Magick: Gray magic (also spelled magick) is magic that is not performed for specifically beneficial reasons, but is also not focused towards completely hostile practices It is seen as falling in a continuum between white and black magic and could be also called neutral magic Herbal Magick: Usually employed through incense, tinctures or a long list of other herbal products in order to invoke their essences. If you?re ever having trouble finding something to work magick with for a very specific purpose, look through your favourite herbal magick book and you?ll almost definitely find something to help you. Hoodoo Magick: Hoodoo is a set of magickal practices originating in Africa which, through the process of syncretism, has absorbed some beliefs and practices from other cultures such as Native American spirituality and European Ceremonial Magick. Hoodoo tradition emphasizes personal magical power invoked by the use of certain tools, spells, formulas, methods, and techniques. It ascribes magical properties to herbs, roots, minerals, animal parts, and personal possessions. Some spells even make use of body materials (blood, tears, nail clippings, hair…etc) Knot Magick: Knot magick is a very ancient practice that usually is based on the number of knots tied on a cord, usually with purposes for each knot. Healing Magick: Healing magic can be accomplished through a variety of methods. It can be done through straight energy transfer (reiki and other methods), poppet magick, herbal magick, crystal magick and almost every other magick type for results. Poppet Magick: Poppet magick was popularized in the practice of voodoo but has been used in many different magickal systems in history. Usually ?poppets? are made of cloth or was and are activated with a possession (be it an object or a hair clipping etc) to attach the energy of a person to the poppet. Sigil Magick: Sigils are the symbols that are attributed to most spirits that are found in grimoires but could also represend intents. At the first case, you can almost imagine the sigil to be the spirit’s phone number. Weather Magick: For most people, weather magick is one of the most difficult types of magick to work. As the title speaks of, weather magick obviously has to do with controlling the elements in order to change the weather for certain purposes. This kind of magick is difficult for a reason: it is not to be taken lightly as weather systems in one area usually can affect the whole world in a domino effect. Voodoo Magick: Hoodoo spells are also often confused with Voodoo magick but it’s another form of African witchcraft.

- What are the most common and basic tools needed to practice witchcraft?

It totally depends on the type of magick you will use. You do not need to have all of those tools to receive successful results and remember that the most basic tool is the right training and usage of your mind and concentration. Let’s see the most common ones: Altar - The altar is often considered a personal place where practitioners put their ritual items. Some practitioners may keep various religious items upon the altar, or they may use the altar and the items during their religious workings. Cauldron - The cauldron is probably the tool most associated with witchcraft and is steeped in magickal tradition and mystery. The cauldron is the container in which transmutation, germination, and transformations may occur.In ritual the cauldron is used as a container for making brews and potions, or to contain a small fire for use with spells. It can also be used for scrying (divination) by filling it with water and gazing into its depths. Incense - Incense is one of the more common magical tools. Many practitioners use incense for nearly every magical act, from simple meditations to elaborate rituals. It’s not that its a very powerful or versatile tool, but it is a fairly useful one. Candles - Candles are frequently used for magical meditative purposes, in healing rituals, to help increase a spell’s power, or to influence a particular power. Candles are believed to be able to help one concentrate and absorb personal energy and release it when burned. In preparing to cast a spell, the person may dress or anoint the candle with an anointing oil while concentrating upon the purpose of the spell. Stones and Gems - each one is unique and exudes a specific energy, a crystal or gemstone may be used for healing, magic, spell casting, to inspire, uplift, balance, calm and energise Dressing oils - Essential oils can be used for that, usually a mixture of them and other ingridients. Essential oils - Used for their powers such as to anoint altars, incense burners, good fortune when added to incense, protection against evil & ill luck.

- What are spirits and how are they used for rituals?

We are souls temporarily in a physical bodies on Earth. However, our natural home is in the Spirit World, commonly also called the Other Side. Whether we realize it or not, spirits (or souls) surround us, whether in human bodies or “ without bodies. Because our natural home is the Spirit World, being without a physical body is our natural state. A spirit is simply nothing more and nothing less than another person and they are said to have a huge variety on size and powers, just like the animals on our planet. Every angel, demon, genius spirit and other supernatural being has preferences, styles of work and methods that make this contact more accessible. This is why there are different rituals for every different class of spirit. Some require elaborate rituals, while others only need to sense a sincere need. Some thrive on gratitude, while others only require that you command them clearly.

- What are spirit relationships and why are we recommended to establish one?

Some people when performing sorcery use only their self creation energy and it can only have so much power. Meaning it can only have up to and including how much power you personally have. If you are working with an actual spirit, you are working with not only your own power but theirs as well.

It is also quite beneficial cause spirits have many more power advantages than us humans who are locked inside our bodies that give us boundaries. So in those who use them in their work, spirits do most of the work and the practitioner is there to direct them. However, most people do not have the skills, or more likely, the patience to develop significant spiritual relationships. It takes time, you have to be ready and not let most of what you have been taught from invalid sources about them be a priority in your mind.

- What is evoking / invoking?

Invoking is where you invite an entity and it steps into your body. You become them, and they become you, and you absorb the energies they leave you.

Evoking on the other hand, is much different. This is more commonly done, though it is seldom said. Evoking is the act of inviting a deity or element to come to your circle, Not be within you.

-What are the Spirit Guides and how could they help me?

Spirit Guides are what many consider to be spirits that stay with you throughout your entire life or pop in every now and again to help you with specific areas of your life or goals you are trying to achieve. These guides are at varying levels of consciousness themselves. What can be said about them is that theu do not mess with your free will, or try to get you to make decisions. The guides you want to work with will only be there to lovingly support, encourage and teach you in your current incarnation. They want the best for you, and will help you achieve it. However, hey will not prevent you from making bad decisions. Some things are meant as lessons, and if you purposely put yourself in harms way, they don’t just jump in and rescue you, although what we call angels have been known to do that, most guides will not.

They help you by Sending signs, such as repeated scenes or even numbers, by sending specific people in your life or even causing you to see dreams with a certain meaning behind them.

-What is Karma on Magick and the Threefold Law?

Taking into mind a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do, Karma is the universe’s reaction to it. Something like “What goes around, comes all the way back around.” Negative Karma offers punishment and Positive gives rewards. It is connected to magick via the intentions of the practitioner during the ritual. For example, if one casts a hex, according to the popular idea of karma working as a cosmic judge of all of our actions, it will hit the person back. The Rule of Three (also Three-fold Law or Law of Return) is a religious tenet held by some Wiccans/Pagans. It states that whatever energy a person puts out into the world, be it positive or negative, will be returned to that person three times. The Rule of Three is sometimes described as karma by Wiccans; however, this is not strictly accurate. Both concepts describe the process of cause and effect and often encourage the individual to act in an upright way Some people strictly believe in those and because of so, refrain from stepping into “selfish” magick and some others state that they have witnessed nothing bad caused to the ones that perform “darker” magick.

- What do I need to know before practicing Black Magick as a beginner?

Try not to jump straight into advanced areas until you build the basic skills and experience . It is mainly suggested you spend a significant amount of studying about it so your knowledge can build itself, and by the time you reach advanced practices you have little fear as you know the knowledge behind the words, and you have the skills to handle yourself in most situations.

What is considered dark magick could possibly not only bring some sort of disaster but also draw negative spirits that are hard to get rid of if you don’t know what you are doing in the first place.

More to come soon.

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ryodan · 7 years

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Sasuke and SASUSAKU.

Okay, I just saw this and I’ll humor you. I’ll even make a whole post for you.

@homez18

1) Whether Kishimoto said he was good or bad at writing romance is pretty irrelevant here as sasusaku related material made it into 44 of his 72 volumes. And actually, he never said he is bad at writing romance, he said he felt uncomfortable seeing characters he ‘grew’ kiss (Hinata and Naruto) and that he does not understand the hearts of women so he had to consult his editor and wife to write certain SS scenes, which in itself is effort spent. He never said ‘Idk how they got together’ he said he wrote the story with them in the back of his mind wondering how he would make them end up together and just decided to go with the flow. This is coming from the man who also said in the second board meeting with the Naruto staff that they were end game since their conception as character #5 and #6 respectively, a rival and a heroine added to the story and he thought of making a love triangle thing happen but was like no I probably could not pull that off. So, there goes that argument.

2) I will mention part 2 ss if you want me to, friend. But, saying SS does not make sense to the character (who I am assuming is sasuke?) and trying to erase part 1 is pretty???? Because a lot of part 2 was focused on getting the Sasuke they loved in part 1 back..a happier more emotionally stable one though.

3) Part 1 SS is very important because it is the time during the run of the series that featured the most positive emotional growth and development for sasuke, and a huge part of it was linked to sakura. We start off with this irritable, socially reclusive boy who’s first thought in the series is ‘more people will just drag me down’, and we later learn the reason of this behavior is trauma and survivors guilt which often leads to isolation, repression and irritability. This is not me trying to add psychology to his character arc, all of this is out right shown multiple times on spaced out occasions which reinforces that these are reoccurring thoughts. His fixation on his ‘revenge plot’ was aided by the fact that he was an introverted shy boy (this does not equal wants to be left alone considering he regularly sought acknowledgment) pre massacre and a full blown out isolated mess afterwards. Being alone only allowed him to obsess over revenge further, which no matter how you look at it is not healthy and it was never shown in the series to be healthy.

But anyways, I digress. A lot of him growing positively linked to Sakura. Some of his biggest part 1 moments include fighting orochimaru, awakening his seal and suppressing it (the cursed seal is arguably one of the biggest progressions of his character in part 1 as it leads to him being manipulated into leaving the village) and his fight with gara (again, arguably the moment he showed how much he grew as a character with team 7)

4) Don’t forget. The Curse of Hatred (憎しみの呪い, Nikushimi no Noroi) was an ideal common to the Uchiha Clan, the Uchiha are people greatly devoted to love and friendship, yet they tend to conceal their more affectionate traits. When the object of their affection is lost, an Uchiha’s love can instantaneously turn into hatred, leaving them more inclined to do anything and everything in their power to achieve their goals and show their own superiority, regardless of the consequences and repercussions of their actions. The despair of these experiences cause a manifestation of unique chakra within an Uchiha’s brain, impacting the optic nerves and creating the sharingan. This also requires extremely painful experiences, which cause the user to delve into darkness that utterly consumes them.

I won’t bring this up

Because this also happens

What I am trying to say is early part one gave a very good set up for who sasuke really is as a person, genuinely pretty empathetic and pure hearted which is easily backed up by the fact that when he was a kid (kishi regularly uses childhood to explain a psyche of a character) despite his inferiority complex growing due to his brother, he was still more concerned with the relationship between his dad and his brother going sour than his own feelings of neglect.

Even so, it was still obvious that he needed to go through some positive development.

The first time we are introduced to Sasuke’s stance in the entire series as an avenger is through his first interactions with sakura, which were literally given romantic context from volume 1 and mentioned again over the entire series and highlighted nearing the finale in volume 70, so yeah pretty relevant.

His isolation and irritability generally made him seem off standoffish but even with that, he took his time out to explain his stance in the story which is a pretty fuckin big deal considering this opening up is something suigetsu complains about in part 2 and jugo struggles to understand him because of. Naruto has to physically pull it out of him, kakashi got it when sasuke was in a very emotionally volatile state and sakura got it with a hug.

Cut to the first mission and his ties with naruto and sakura are established , the rival friend and the girl with the crush he feels some sort of protective affection for.

Moments like these (that make grown ass men cry but get antis panties in a knot) are funny bc when you say that he is comfortable with her touch already someone has to say he just woke up, but homeboy had a bunch of senbon sticking into him like a hedgehog and he still took a moment to call naruto a moron and say he did not want to die before accomplishing revenge.

So, until this day the person he is most physically comfortable with sakura and we all know how he feels about physical touch haha

After said mission, a very sweet and important scene happens and it highlights a shift in character for sasuke. It’s also the scene my avid sasuke hater friend says ‘the only time that dick did anything nice’. Where after he has a lil salty moment with a naruto who was acting particularly bratty that day gives Sakura the ‘instead of minding me why don’t you practice a jutsu? To be frank with you, your abilities are even less than naruto’s.’ which if after the guy readily jumped in front an attack to protect her you think he is going out of his way to be a dick then that is a pretty faulty assumption. He was being frank, it is what it is. Was it needed to make sakura realize her ass needs to grow up? Yes. Could it have been worded better? Also, yes. Which is why the next scene happens where Sasuke grows more in tune with her and is able to tell she is feeling down. Him being aware of and caring about her personal feelings is a huge step forward for his character and is pretty much the only time this type of behavior exists from him.

He is being nice, says a huge compliment and look at his little smile, he is satisfied that she is happy. A huge step forward from ‘I don’t care for bonds bc I have revenge!!11!!’

The fight vs rock lee happens and sasuke grows a little more and team 7 has a scene furthering their bonds (added romantic context on sakuras part ofc)

During the chuunin exams ofc they face orochimaru and sasuke over comes something shown right in the beginning of the land of the waves arc : an intense paralyzing fear of strong opponents with an intense blood lust dating back to the day of the massacre.

He sees Sakura shaking and his sharingan activates, showing he is worried about her and as they are about to get attacked he forces himself to move (ugoke!) and stabs himself to go get her. Cute moment showing he cares. A lot.

And yet again a huge character moment, when she calls him out on being a coward and for his hypocrisy towards naruto, insulting him frequently yet in the same position naruto was once in and in his mind he immediately flashes back to the reason he always believed he needed to live : his ‘moral burden’ of killing itachi and for the first time refuses to live tied by the ‘rules’ itachi made for him and over comes that fear and fights. She talk no jutsued sasuke lol

And ofc he gets bitten and seeks physical comfort from her. he initiated that contact with her meaning her presence is comforting to him, a big deal in a moment of such intense agony.

And then the iconic hug scene, where his survivor guilt is shown in his nightmares and his intense feelings of hating himself for not being able to protect him family causing his curse mark to act up and when he wakes up to see sakura hurt, the mark and by extension sasuke under it’s influence heating him up go out of control. (but even then when she expresses worry over him he takes time out to explain his major stance in the entire story yet again, even if I abandon myself to evil on my path I must obtain power)

‘Sakura, iie! omae o kizutsuke ta no wa doidsu da?’

‘Sakura, tell me! Which of them hurt you?’ chosen in the databook by kishi and readers as one of the best scenes because it shows ‘she is now a person he wants to protect and how angry he would get at himself if he could not do it’

Again quoting the databook, Sakuras heart thinking of sasuke devours the wicked power.

And even after this is over homeboy watches over her getting her hair cut, is like ?? at Naruto when he asks about her hair instead of her beat up face. After this, they really became much closer and more in sync, even working together and show casing that they can strategize together.

His resolve of avenging his families death doesn’t magically disappear however and he is still focused on getting stronger hence the little conversation they have, where sakura is worried about him in pain and starts crying, sasuke sees this and is disturbed so he yet again explains his stance in the story to her but funnily enough singles her out (ikura omae demo) as a very special person and says he won’t forgive even her if she takes that away from him. Inside the fight he is sustained by his wet dream (joke) and the cheer he got from the annoying orange and is able to suppress the curse once again thinking about (his crying fetish) her tears.

And then god damn, they are on a roll here bc the fight with gara happens and sakura jumps in to protect him from a lethal blow and if what happened previously wasn’t enough of an emphasized thing, the love in sakuras eyes #triggers gara.

And Sasuke gives his little speech telling naruto to save her and essentially that he is about to go off on a suicide mission and knows it’ll probably end here but he is ready to do it because he is not willing to see another precious person to him die right in front of him again. Mind you, this is after he shows again the intensity of his survivor guilt straight up saying the only reason he was ‘allowed to live’ was to carry the moral burden of avenging his clan but at this moment in time the pain of losing someone that precious to him is enough to make him consciously decide he is willing to die and leave all of that behind. This is the biggest difference between this and those scenes in the land of waves arc. Back then, it was show casing his empathy and kindness, my body moves on it’s own and even though I could die and not accomplish my goals which I really want to I cant just let a comrade die in front of me, where as now it’s I know I probably won’t come out of this but then pain of dying and not accomplishing my goals seem less than seeing another person I care so much about die right in front me. Seeing this, naruto realizes the importance of caring and fighting for the people you love and fights gara, teaching him the same values. Important scene overall to the story.

After seeing naruto go up to par with gara and ‘realizing how helpless’ he was in that fight he was pretty jealous due to feelings of inferiority to naruto, and that jealousy was partly fueled and thrown in our face twice by seeing sakura smile gently at naruto. Romantic or not, he is jealous of her smiling at naruto, that is undeniable.

And then itachi happens, and that reawakens his intense resolve. It doesn’t help the fact that orochimaru sought him out while extremely emotionally vulnerable. Ofc his petty ass attitude in the hospital scenes was fueled by his feelings of inferiority thrown in his face by the one person he really did not want that from, the same person who made him feel inferior as a child. And again to add heat to the burn, he remembers the smile and the plate thing happens.I see a lot of anti sasuke people talking about his scene pretending that when i say inferiority complex while talking about sasuke i mean something stemming from lack of acknowledgment from his dad, from being weaker than itachi and not able to protect his family, for having itachi be like i am here for naruto idc about you after everything. Not, oh man naruto seems better than me :/ gotta start shit :/

Oh right the hug when he wakes up. Again, people claim he was tired and traumatized, which he was, But the look he gave her for caring about him so much was very tender and it did not go unnoticed to nardo.

He ofc gets manipulated by the sound 4 and we are shown how emotionally attached he is to team 7

And the confession scene happens where sakura just desperately gives him promise after promise of making him happy and it isn’t just because she wants him there but also she doesn’t want to see her loved one torment and hurt himself over revenge, but it is more than revenge to sasuke it’s a moral burden, (he has a right to want to avenge his family from their murderer from a moral stand point) and that is what he kept trying to communicate to both her and kakashi. He doesn’t allow her to come because just as we saw with team taka, he isn’t willing to let anyone shoulder what he believes to be his personal pain and burden, specially not someone so special. And when she cries over him leaving and the fact that she believed for a second that he doesn’t care and forgot all of their meaningful interactions he turns around and says annoying, but with a smile this time.

That thank you meant a lot, man. It was not just a thank you for saying I love you.

Sasuke fights naruto to obtain the mangekyo by killing his best friend but then realizes last moment that he being manipulated by his brother and snaps out of it, refusing to kill such a close person.

Sasuke’s encounter with team 7 early part was pretty significant in developing naruto and sakuras friendship as 2 comrades who share the pain of their dear friend gone from their lives, but it also explains sasukes psychological point of view. After having his resolved awakened to a point of obsession again and realizing that there was a time in his life where he cared about other people to the point of giving up that goal, he decides to cut off his bonds with them.

The ‘attack’ on naruto was again for the mangekyo, and sakuras ass would have come out unscathed if she didn’t go all ‘gotta stop this hoe he out here hurting my pals’ but he was hurting her pals and stabbing people ofc she wouldn’t be like yas baby go. He pulls out his sword in defense but yamato ends up getting stabbed, my poor wood boy.

Sasuke takes down orochimaru because in his constructed moral everything that relates to itachi is bad and senseless killing and torturing( at that time) registered in his head as an itachi thing, which only made his already strong moral code tingle with a strong feeling of ‘im going to take you down you sick son of a bitch, and ill make a bible reference while I am at it’

The lil hawk takes flight and assembles Taka, showing again, a strong moral sense when he says he isn’t going to take anyone by force and he even sets orochimarus captives free. Sasuke is shown to care for Takas safety on multiple occasions but it’s the biggest insult his character receives when people look at him with fan goggles to monopolize him as if he is a cold hearted sadist who only cares for a few people when he is a very selfless, empathetic person. On a personal level though, he did not know their last names, nor did he ask about their history as captives (except for jugo..for obv reasons) so I would not exactly call that emotional investment. But I do think something was there, like they were a hella good team in combat. However,they noticed him going ‘dark’ and never tried to help or stop him so I cant call it a friendship, but I can’t deny it was a team.

After the fight with itachi he is again very emotionally vulnerable and obito hops on his dick to manipulate him, and it works significantly well because sasuke ends up seeing the ENTIRE leaf village as responsible for killing his family after they discriminated against them, and while that might be a wrong train of thought since most people in Konoha are innocent (ten tens worst crime is how little screen time that cutie has), in his now much more jaded, cynical mind it makes a whole lot of sense since it now seems like konoha killed them for their personal benefit and are dancing on their uchiha graves by pretending it never happened and that they never placed the burden of an entire world war on his brothers shoulders. Everyone is guilty. Everyone is laughing at their deaths. I am a little unstable. I am also a victim. Not to say he isn’t held accountable for his actions because he is a victim but a lot of his character arc and decisions make sense and tie in with his suffering …people going ‘bad’ because of their victimhood is not a new concept you see it with bullies all the time and that is why its important to grasp the situation by the balls and end the circumstance that creates such victims. He also awakens his mangekyo sharingan, meaning he is slowly stepping further into the curse of hatred.

They go to retrieve bee and its shown that he has yet to lose all logical moral reasoning because he still cares for takas safety even though he has declared to crush the leaf, meaning he hates only the leaf atm..all of his concentrated itachi hatred redirected. But he falls a little morally when he captures innocent ass bee and attacks the cloud. That shit was uncalled for, but he was trying to further his plans. I mean suna attacked konoha and its all good in the hood so we could chill. But it wasn’t right.

Ofc however during the bee arc sasuke uses his power that is obtainable through an emotionally driven doujutsu by having an image of team 7 on his mind as he was made to remember when he sees people showing genuine care about him. No matter how far he slipped, seven was always there. Right there, in part 2. The only time sasuke remembers team 7 in a positive light (otherwise he just wants to kill naruto because he stands in the way of his plans) includes sakura and kakashi. You cant argue he doesn’t care cause???

In the 5 kage summit arc a new falling rapidly into the curse of hatred sasuke makes the leap in logic that if his brother who he saw as a good person now, and Konoha which he previously thought to be good could kill on multiple occasions then killing is no longer an off the table option anymore and he warns those samurai before doing the doodly do. He is a bit out of character here, but his change in mind set made him 180. Its an interesting shift in character for a kid whos empathy and moral high ground kept him on the fence of killing in a series where a teacher tells 12 year old kids to come at him with the intent if killing. He seeks out danzo and this is where his motives and pain come into full display ‘sono migiude teni ireru tameni nanin no uchiha o teni kaketa?’ ‘how many uchihas did you take down in order to get that right arm’

His driving force for his emotions and suffering are lost bonds and a moral burden he still sees himself accountable for.

Ofc this fight features his full descend into the darknes when he stabs Karin and generally looks beyond mentally unstable, this is where his character even though distorted before, goes through a gross distortion where he seems maniacal and just not there. This is bc as an uchiha, the more emotional pain he feels the more hatred he feels ,and the more he uses magic eye level 2.0, the more he loses himself.

Sakura somewhere out there doesn’t know the truth about itachi so sasuke is just acting like a dick wad and attacking innocent villages to her, and to avoid anyone getting hurt, physically or emotionally she burdens herself with killing him in order to save him from going darker. ‘oh but she gave up on him!!111!!!’ like, kakashi did the same thing for obito and at this point her logical order isn’t flawed. Sasuke was by definition an S ranked internationally wanted criminal attacking villages and peace meetings, falling rapidly into a darkness that his past self wouldn’t approve of and he was getting hunted by every hoe in every country who wanted his ass dead. At least sakura (who again, did not know his reasons and you cant blame her for not knowing) did it to protect the empathetic boy who wouldn’t do something as senseless as attack an innocent man and aid a terrorist organization and to protect naruto emotionally and physically from akatsuki as well as ensure no one gets hurt from him as he is strong. In no way is it her way of being selfish, considering the language she used insinuated she was willing to die right there and then with him. The mission was a complete failure from the start bc hoe can’t kill him and if you truly think she could, I pray for you to find the light.

She shows up ofc and homeboy is suspicious right away, like I know u well enough what u plotting yo?? He knows from the get go shes out here for murder and he goes behind her and almost chidoris her. The factors that go into play here are 1) curse of hatred. 2) she is out for murder, he knows it and turns the table. It’s a low moment for him but that’s the whole purpose behind the scene. The fact that he went behind in the first attack of The Day ™ even though he probably knew he could take her down if he wanted to showed that he still isn’t able to attack face first. That’s not me romanticizing that scene bc ew, but it’s the truth. The look on his face is also not that of the most stable person. Second attack is purely in self defense and he has fallen to the point where he could do it from the front. Naruto shows up and his face shows he knows he done fucked up.

Naruto declares that you are my friend ™ (aaah ano hi no yume..) after sasuke yet again shows how far hes fallen due to the curse, pain and obitos brain washing by some good ol’ evil laughter, shouting he will turn peoples laughter into ‘screams and moans’ (how..awful sounding..to have sasuke make you scream and moan..jokejoke) and sasuke is like fuck u shit how dare u CARE about me ? Stop. And again naruto declares he will stop him and help him to which sasuke pulls an I-listen-to-my chemical romance and bring me the horizon- you don’t understand me!! And although affected by naruto still calling him a friend after all of this, he ends up getting also annoyed by Naruto trying to stop him and leaves thinking give me magic eye level 3.0 I want to kill Missy Elliot in her orange jump suit bc she thinks she will stop me by being my friend. How do I feel about what Naruto said to him that day? Personally, I think he missed the moral perspective of sasuke going crazy (he knew the truth) but he was coming from the right place. They all were. They just wanted him to stop suffering, all of them willed to die with him.

And thus begins their cute chase. Will Naruto fight sasuke first and save him? OR will sasuke kill him first so his ninja jesus light doesn’t stop his plans? Are they going to die together? So much to think about.

Sasuke gets his much deserved confrontation with itachi during the war and this is the healthiest time for them. Itachi no longer sheltered sasuke in a way that was poisonous for the both of them and sasuke asked the questions he deserved answers for. He got them, and an I love you all wrapped with a bow of existential crisis because after the fight with Kabuto, he sees his brother still doing his best for the leaf, still believing kabuto -an evil hoe- could change for the better. And he asks why such a ‘perfect’ person as itachi would still associate with shit like this and itachi is like dude I think you missed the part where I killed your family, tortured and manipulated you. I am not perfect, and neither is the dark world we live in but let me tell you some solid advice that correlates with the star hax of the arc, the beautiful jutsu that makes no sense : Izanami. The past may be shitty, and we could either run around in an infinite loop suffering because of it, or we could chose to break free, accept what happened and change the future instead of doting on the past. Sasuke is like k cool man I get u but what next? ur jesus talk no jutsu ability is impressive but now I am questioning everything. What do I change? What is right and wrong? What is a village? What is a shinobi? I may not know now, but when I become supreme lord of everything, ill know then haha.

To answer these questions he goes to the One Who Knoweth All, the master of snakes-voldermort with a nose, and revives the kage who basically tell him yeah dude listen our history was fucked, apparently now is fucked, conflict always arises in every age and time its like madara said- you can never look into someones gut.But like maybe the new young generation can deal with it?? deal with ur own fucked up economy, suzan. He also finds out more about why the uchiha were so feared (madara, sharingan, tobirama the little shit, a sticky messy situation kishimoto why are u like this)and Donald trump (tobirama) tells him ur bad bc u love too much tf is wrong with u and sasuke was like fix ur fucking face tattoo u discriminatory bitch. Sasuke comes to the conclusion that he is now a renewed konoha fanboy ‘I wont let this village or my brother go to waste!11!’ because he realizes yeah man history is fucked and I want to change that so no other kid ends up in a situation like mine, full of pain, anger and blind hate.

Shows up on the battlefield, (Sakura, ka? ) and engages in some eye sex with sakura while ignoring others and declares yoyo idc bout what u think of me losers, imma be president. And naruto was like um imma let u finish but im gonna be the greatest hokage of ALL TIME (about that…anyways) . and ensues some team 7 and some naruto and sasuke being the iconic duo they are. It is important remember however, sasuke was at the moment in process of truly cutting all bonds, ensuring he is hated and fully immersing himself into the shadows. Although he is the first to react when sakura is attacked, warns her and kakashi multiple times so they don’t get hurt, saves them from infinite tsukiyomi and double checks on them in the Kaguya dimension, he pretends that like uh idc whatever I don’t care u guys cant even do much, I saved naruto because without him the world would end and u were just there so I saved you

to which naruto calls bullshit and sasuke is like ‘ur ruining my reputation as a heartless bitch’ ah brings back memories..of sasuke pretending to be a heartless bitch.

But like, he could not let her hit the floor so I am sure her hitting lava was a no-no. That moment happens, it was nice. Thank u, for that, kishimoto. And he even says ‘okagede todoita’ ‘thanks to you, I reached’ , nice moment.

After kaguya is over, they even exchange smiles. But nah, sakura, still in tune with sasuke as ever was right not to trust him 100% bc he pulls a IM GOING TO BE SUPREME WORLD LEADER, START A REVOLUTION, KILL THE 5 KAGES AND CAST THE WORLD INTO A NEW FUTURE. I fully support sasuke wanting to change the world that caused people like him, itachi, naruto, nagato, madara, obito, neji etc etc so much pain. I fully support revolution. I don’t want him to kill the 5 kages, but they really aren’t innocent so I understand where he is coming from. Him wanting to put the entire weight of hatred on himself is pretty selfless. It pains me (and naruto) seeing him say he is alone and willing and ready to bear hatred. All of that is valid but see :

dictator

noun

1. a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained control by force.

Synonyms:

Autocrat, monocrat, absolute ruler

How a dictatorship works : Dictatorship is a form of government where a country or a group of countries is ruled by one person or political entity, and exercised through various mechanisms to ensure that the entity’s power remains strong

A dictatorship is a type of Authoritarianism, in which politicians regulate nearly every aspect of the public and private behavior of citizens. Dictatorship and totalitarianism societies generally employ political propaganda to decrease the influence of proponents of alternative governing systems.

Examples of dictators :

· Adolf Hitler ,dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and Benito Mussolini ,dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943.

· Julius Caesar, dictator of Rome.

· Joseph Stalin, dictator of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953.

Sasukes plans :

So, while I do support him wanting change, I don’t think his method was right. Not for the world and not for him and the only person who could communicate that to a boy who is at his core is just lonely, is a boy who was equally lonely but learned the value of comradeship, unity and love. He saw it’s ability to bring about great, good change and he believed he wanted that to continue and not sasukes self destructive autocratic plans.

Anyways, sakura begs him not to slip any further, says that she knows he is in pain but she doesn’t want him suffering any longer but she cant fight him physically like naruto, neither can she convince him to stay even though she loves him so much, however she tries one last time again, hoping maybe his hoe ass will agree that unity is better than separation and sasuke is affected as hell. He shakes, showing once again he is the boy who cares about the people he loves too much.

Gave her a look that would have looked like this without the rinnegan, because he does not want to be alone and anyone who says that is a jackass

She is an annoyance because for a faltering second, she can still after all this time, in part 2 weaken his resolve.

He shows her the genjutsu of him killing her to seal the deal and ensure she hates him, but I doubt he would have ever been able to physically harm her after his head cleared up a bit. A bit.

Kakashi scolds him saying she doesn’t deserve this when all she did was try to help you. literal Japanese translation, Sasuke says ‘ are you suggesting I enjoy ‘renai’’ quite literally ‘romantic love’ in Japanese. He acknowledged the romantic context of their relationship himself. Then he goes on, and I translate literally again ‘I have no reason to love her and she has no reason to love me’, and kakashi calls bullshit by basically stating sasuke, love is not something you have to look for a reason for. The thing you do need excuses and reasons to fill your life with though, is hatred. She is not trying to make you ‘her thing’, she wants to help you no matter how much bad you’ve done her because she loves you so much it makes her suffer. AND IMMEDIATELY he flashes back to the purest love he knows, the love that he never sat down and tried to reason with, the love that caused him suffering. His love for his family. ‘perhaps those are ties to a failed past’..and goes on to kill Naruto bc he is the last friend who will stand in his way.

Hagoromo basically confirms ss will happen when it shots to sakuras face saying ‘love turned to hate’ then kakashi asks ‘so like sasuke is a lost cause?’ hagoromo says ‘not at all I hope naruto and sasuke break the cycle of hate’ then it pans to sasuke saying ‘I hope hate turns to love’ and since this is a shonen, ofc it did.

Naruto and sasukes fight communicates all of their feelings and experiences and no matter how stubbornly sasuke insists on being alone, naruto is like no bitch I know what that’s like and I refuse to let my brother (from another mother) go through that eternally. And boom bada bim, it took an arm but he got free from the curse of hatred, and they broke the cycle. Sasuke then goes on to say how he always admired naruto to a point where it gave him an inferiority complex, just like itachi. He had a strong will and a power source unknown to sasuke. But one thing he finally fucking learned, is wait yeah man when we were on the same time and you became my comrade I felt your pain too. I saw you guys as my family- fuck right shit the sharing of pain and enduring it together until it comes to pass. That is what I learned from team 7, that is where your source of power comes from and you know what I accept that you learned it a lot earlier than I did. It’s my loss. Naruto is like if ur hoe ass don’t stop with this emo shit ill beat u up again bc YOURE MY FRIEND AAAH and sasuke finally god damn gets what naruto meant by that and the realization that the love he starved for all his life was right there waiting for him to accept it was so earth shattering to him that he cried. Blood connected, pain shared, bond reformed and sasuke wanted to start over. Which is why when he realizes what was meant by sakura loves you so much that seeing you suffer makes her suffer was she loves you unconditionally he fucking asked for that beautiful bond again. After all this mess, there is a reason he apologized only to her. She couldn’t do much for him because she isn’t as strong as he is, but her love was pure and selfless and all she ever wanted for him was happiness and he apologizes for not getting that earlier, for his mistreatment in the war, for the land of iron, for ‘everything up until now’.

We don’t know what happened in the blank period, but all we know is they spent some time together. And he is about to go on a redemption journey, again his own moral

burden but this time it’s to start fresh and check some kaguya traces that worry him. Sakura is all like k but can I come, and he tells her frankly girl no ur too pure for what I did, lemme deal with this first. ‘Mata condo na’ is different from itachis ‘mata condo da’, theyre both delaying something, but the difference with na is that is is definite promise of something inevitable. The forehead poke means the world to sasuke, both the negatives and the positives that came with it and he let it’s legacy carry on but in a positive light. This is a promise of a better tomorrow together, where I am ready and think I am in a position where I completely understand the world without being manipulated or full of hate.(he was so easily manipulated when because he was always kept away from the truth so he had no footing to base thing off) that happens, I’ll be back for you, and that is inevitable. I want this, but on amicable, better terms. And fuck, that happens. Sasuke learned the answer to his question by the end of the series and the final blow of logic was thanks to naruto- a ninja is one who endures until things come to pass. The sharing of pain can be applied to greater things.

He would have to endure a little longer before his redemption comes to pass.By shinden sasuke walks around the best human being, helping people, doing a talk no jutsu, worrying about Konoha but he isn’t sure if he shows up there it would be completely safe from people after him or if everyone is ready to welcome him back and at the end of the novel he receives a letter from naruto that’s like sup yo come back homie I miss ur emo ass also sakura was like ooh hes protecting the village from the outside like a police officer!!11! And sasuke flashes back to his dreams when he was younger and says ‘I guess I should head home’, basically this bitch came back for sakura, and sakuras hiden concludes with him showing up home after he took down the people on the outside of root to come save her (lol but his wife is not a weak woman) and seeing her saying ‘I am home, Sakura.’ ‘Welcome home, Sasuke-kun.’

They travel together probably fucking under stars and shit, got married, had a baby and raised her until Naruto became hokage and sasuke took up a mission only he could do bc he has rinnegan. Obviously this fucking hurt him and he was miserable about it considering he finally gets a family and hes walking his baby girl with his wife one day and the next fate is like ok but if the world ends in 2 minutes and they both like die along with the rest of planet earth haha sasuke I like to shit on ur life. But as he and sakura said it he took up the mission for the future to remain bright and because sakura and sarada are very precious to him. Sakura wasn’t allowed to give out any potentially dangerous information as this mission was top secret so she would avoid questions but still gave her daughter the basic run down ‘vv important he loves u k that’s all I can say’ and she was in general a great mother, shown to be caring, reveal what she could and take care of her sick baby. Sasukes mistake was even though he was doing it for his family, he failed to realize that his daughter still wanted him there. That is why he apologized and told sakura that this mess is not on her.The baby mama drama happens and sakura is like leave it to the child of the man who wanted to be ninja hitler to think she has a different mom bc she wears glasses and jump to 30 conclusions about her dad and I’s relationship, which I’d like to mention gaiden has no ss marriage issues. Sakura and Sasukes bond lives, their feelings are connected, their thoughts and feelings reach each other, they both greatly love and respect each other.. gaiden was about saradas adventure in whys my dad such a jerk and holy shit is this woman my mom land. As it goes on she sees her parents interact, sees the love and respect, the depth of the bond between them and is shown smiling, touched by that. She gets her verification of love and the importance of the mission and why it was done by the end of gaiden, and she even gets a forehead poke (try and make it negative but it gave her tears of joy) and a hug. + a cute ass family photo that she stares at and thinks how her family shares a true link of love. He tries his best to spend time with his family despite such an important mission waiting for him and he promises more if he can. I will defend papa-suke until I fuckin die bc from what we are shown he is a deeply caring dad who actually makes sure his child is happy. And if you are pressed about him leaving without kissing her sakura herself says an expression that means he Is teasing me by making me wait, and like sasuke is a reserved ass boy who grew up very traditionally Japanese, he isn’t about to make out with her on public. He does leave however with a smirk on his face (lil shit is happy he saw his wife and teased her) and a bento (not just a boxed lunch..its made with love by someone very special to you –sarada my bb) in his hand. By boruto he comes in time for the chuunin exams and the light novel literally says sakura has been gleaming and glossing since he came back, a Japanese expression for having lots of sex so the wait was worth it. Boruto defeats Momoshiki in 2 minutes like the op bitch he is and hallelujah sasuke is back with his family and everyone is smiling and happy and loved up. Sasuke looks over his child and student with a gentle smile that he only shows sakura (light novel written by kishi), they stand with each other just watching over their baby girl how cute.

Sasukes character is complex but if you sit down and try to understand him before running your mouth, he is easy to understand. Kishimoto does not owe you shit, he worked hard, he put his work forward and that is it. criticize his work or the dude but don’t pretend to understand a character you misinterpreted better than the author. Sakura was always relevant. This is a little SS input into the character of sasuke. If you need anything else i own most of the series (even tho i got lazy to keep taking pictures lol) and i am pretty fluent in japanese, so come to me if you need anything else. Bye.

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viking-mjod · 6 years

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Apothecary mead – legends of Sherwood brought back to life

As we look back through history, women have been the driving force behind the brewing industry. In fact, the very term ‘Brewster’ was used to denote a female brewer. In the annals of old, we frequently find references to brewing ale (and assumedly then, Mead) and it was very much considered a woman’s job. (Let’s face it, we men would just end up drinking the must before it ever got a chance to ferment)

This was the common standard up till monks started brewing as a source of income, and where the church held power, men soon ended up taking over what was previously a woman’s domain. For centuries, where Christianity ruled, the number of women has at large been left out of this wondrous craft, with only a few women crafting in secrecy.

But this story is focused on mead, and as mead is on the rise yet again, we are thrilled to see that women are easily regaining positions as crafters, artisans, and experts.

Today I am fortunate enough to talk with Alison Heath of Apothecary Mead, a brand new meadery located in scenic Nottinghamshire. Set in the heart of the ancient Sherwood forest, a stone’s throw from the Major Oak and Viking meeting ground, Thynghowe. The meadery is nestled in the fabled Greenwood among the stories of Robin Hood, The Knights of the old, and the very center of English legends. Hear ye, hear ye – Apothecary is poised to make their name … legendary.

Mead to make Robin Hoods merry men even merrier

With mead as an artisan drink on the rise, it has never been more important for meaderies to be unique in their own way. In this, it is natural to ask what makes Apothecary mead so special.

–We really want to take advantage of the fantastic resources we have just outside the door. Sherwood offers so much in terms of experiences, in terms of resources, and of course – in terms of history. Mead is mentioned in many historical literary texts ranging from the ancient works of Plato, Virgil, and the welsh Rig-Veda. It is mentioned in old welsh poems dating back to 550ce, called “Kanu y med” or ‘Song of Mead’. Also; we find it countless times throughout the ages with mentions in works by Chaucer, Shakespeare. In many Norse and Greek Legends, it is very much a drink of magic and atmosphere. Steeped in folklore and mystery mead is a natural choice to turn to when trying to breathe new life into traditions of old. So where better to do that than within Robin Hood’s own Sherwood?

Apothecary Mead has their Meadery on the Historic Welbeck Estate. The estate itself is even mentioned in the Domesday book from 1140a.d, and was founded as a monastery in 1153. After the dissolution of the monasteries, the Cavendish family bought the estate and it has been a family seat ever since. The commercial side of the estate has been active over the last decade, described by locals as a ‘foodie hub’. Among these, we find Welbeck Abbey craft beer, Ottar chocolatier, raw milk dairy, Stichelton creamery, Saffron spices, Karkli snacks, and a school for artisan food. With such a collection of great foodies, the Meadery is surely a great fit.

– Between myself and my partner, we have a passion for locally sourced produce. There is an ethos of environmentally focused practice being the core of everything we do. As trained beekeepers it is important to us to support British Beekeepers and bee farms; we raise awareness of issues affecting Bee colonies. We support bees by growing our own herbs and making conscious commercial choices, and by supporting local artists and businesses in setting up our company. It gives us immense satisfaction to know that what we do, our passion, is done in a locally supportive way, and with sustainable development in mind.

The Apothecary shows the way

With that in mind we get into talking about the Apothecary Mead itself, and what makes it so unique :

– We have a very close, almost intimate relationship to nature; and our mead certainly reflects upon this. Our honey is sourced very locally. We primarily use honey from hives on site within Wellbeck. If this source runs out, we carefully select from other county and regional apiaries. I would go as far as to say the quality control is literally on our tongues. We taste all honey and analyze it with the finest tools we have – our senses. Color, scent, viscosity and of course – flavor. Many people do not realize that just as with the finest wines, Mead can also be typified by varietals of honey. For example, forest honey which will feature pine or woody notes, field or blossom honey which is often lighter and floral based. Then we have fruit blossom honey, and single source honey, which is rarer. Among these, there are flavors such as lavender, eucalyptus, and orange blossom.

For the mead itself, there are Pyments, melomels, metheglyns, bochets, hydromels, and many more. Only the honey that passes our demands for perfection gets the honor of becoming mead. I believe we owe it to history, to our craft, and of course – our customers. As we produce small batches only, its extremely important that every batch has that uniqueness one expects from limited, exclusive production.

Into the heart of mead

Alison shows me the heart of the production – the fermentation room. Its filled with 5-litre demi-johns shelves – and shelves of them, reminiscent of a medieval laboratory or Apothecary room. – We have about 900 5-liter demijohns we use for our brews. I’m quite sure that to industry professionals it will seem totally insane to brew such small batches. However; it allows us detailed control of every single batch, ease of transfer of stock if I am working alone, and should something go awry then we only lose one demijohn of stock. Having this vast amount of Demijohns to brew micro batches also allow us to brew truly exclusive batches. Oh, and let’s not forget the sight and sound of the yeast as its doing its magic; is like nothing else I’ve encountered in any other brewery. We affectionately call it “bloopage“.

The newly started Meadery has already made headway on the social media scene. A healthy online presence is gathering a community of supporters, eagerly awaiting news of the release. At the time of launch, Apothecary will be offering 5 flavors, each with its own distinct character, and seasonal limited editions.

We asked Alison to give us an intro to the different flavors:

Circe

Apothecary’s basic Mead; a smooth and light Mead with a medium viscosity. This allows for a silky mouthfeel with no residue, yet with notes of light citrus and vanilla bean. The name Circe was chosen, as she -for the meadery- epitomises the Goddess of Mead. Greek mythology speaks of Circe’s knowledge of hidden and sacred arts. Arts which allowed her to procure the finest honey, and create a magical blend which was presented to menfolk as a draught. This would render them ill fit to fight and transforming them into magical beasts. With such clear links to antiquity, it seems perfect to name Apothecary’s signature brew “Circe”, from which all others will come.

Nevermore

This mead is one to talk about. It is a definite nod to the love of folk horror and poetry. The label carries the logo Raven, hailing from the poem by Edgar Allen Poe: “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.”

Nevermore is a spiced Metheglyn Mead made with Black Tea, Chai spices, and Maple Syrup. Aged in Bourbon Oak. It is dark, luxurious, and perfect for sampling around a fire. Do NOT miss out on this for your next camping, where horror stories are to be told around the bonfire during those dark midnight hours.

Black Phillip

This is Alison’s personal favorite and currently kicking up a storm amongst Apothecary ‘s mead-tasting panel. Black Phillip is quite simply “delicious”. From the action of uncapping the bottle, you are presented with a deeply burnt oak-colored liquid. As you take your first whiff, you get the scent of clover. The aromas of caramelized toffee and cinnamon reach the nose as you sip. The flavor is best described as “Bonfire Toffee in a glass”. Apothecary uses the finest Adriatic figs, and grade A bourbon vanilla bean in their primary. This gives a viscous yet creamy base to the burnt honey. Again, the brew finds it’s namesake in a favorite folk horror film; This is Apothecary ‘s respectful nod to a cult classic.

Morrigan

The Morrigan is a sorceress, a queen, a goddess, and a witch associated with war and battle. The Raven is an integral imagery or symbolism Apothecary use within their brand.

– It was important, Alison explains, to have a mead dedicated to The Morrigan. Mythology tells of The Morrigan being a tragic figure possessed of the ability to turn herself into a flight of Ravens/Crows. Gifted with precognition she sees the fate of her true love and tries to save him. Yet – unable to she is cursed to forever roam the earth in the guise of the raven, appearing as a portent of doom, on the eve of war. The Morrigan blend is created as a blood red fruit-based mead, spiced with star anise. The feedback from tasters and customer alike is that it is reminiscent of Cherry Ouzo. Tart red cherries, vanilla for balance and star anise to lift.

Summerisle

Finally, Apothecary Mead’s lightest blend; a Lemon, Bay, and Cardamom Mead. Tasting more buttery lemon curd than tart sour limoncello, Summerisle is an easy drinking, crisp and satisfying mead, which speaks of summer meadows, citrus blossom, and warm breezes. Honey is definitely the key flavor here with the lemon adding a lovely undertone. Bay provides a subtle cinnamon background and cardamom punches through with a deliciously floral bouquet. Summerisle again is drawn from the love of cult horror.

It is easy to see Apothecary Mead’s overall image being distinctly placed within the folk/cult genre, with references to astrology, alchemy, and mythology. Where mead is concerned, the Norse angle is most definitely covered, with some excellent representation hailing from these very shores. Alison explains she wanted something of herself in this brand:

“I love history, the hidden, the forbidden and the dark. I wanted Apothecary to be borne of this love of literature and fantasy, in a respectful way. Themed brands can all too often fall into parody or caricature, I wanted it more as a nod for those in the know.”

Scrying into the future

With that said, we go back to Alison’s background and interest in mead.

I’m passionate about this beverage, informing the public and raising the profile of this once forgotten tradition. I founded a Facebook community called Mead Maidens which celebrates women within the industry and we have some prominent and incredibly knowledgeable ladies acting as our admins. Together with two other Meaderies within the UK, it is our aim to follow in the footsteps of our European and American counterparts in being at the forefront of this revival and bringing to the public a knowledge about the traditions of the craft and definitions regarding its production.

We think Apothecary has a great future ahead of itself. With this much knowledge, enthusiasm and … 900 demijohns – we expect great things to come.

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