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vitaminseetarot · 8 months

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PAC Pick a Palette: One Small Thing That Will Help You Grow ☕🌞💴

Welcome back to my pick a card readings! This time we're looking at the time between our New Moon sowing and our Full Moon flowering. At this stage of the magic making process, work has gone underway to build upon the seed that was germinated and growth happens. Soon it will reveal the peak of its work through the flower, but before then the stem and leaves also deserve attention. They're the ones helping to power the whole thing!

It's important, then, to look at what you're using and where you are in the process. Not everything is meant to grow at the same rate, but sometimes the right ingredients like plant food or pruning clippers can do an incredible job at providing a needed boost.

Pick one of these three color palette swatches to find out what you can add or remedy to assist the growth of your own magic!

(Forgive me if the spread out looks a bit funky this time, it's all about finding the part of the house with the best natural lighting!)

Pile 1: Coffee Beans

Draw: Four of Wands; Queen of Pentacles, Page of Wands, Death 18 - Communication, Aries Rising - Act, Heartsease - Compassion "Tread a little more tenderly."

You need more space to grow whatever it is you're creating. A bird can try to lay an egg without a nest, but it's never going to be easy. Building a sturdy nest increases the young's chance of survival. You should try considering the space in which you're using to create your project or desire: are you writing a novel in a cluttered room, or cooking a meal when you can't find half of your measuring cups and saucepans? Are you meditating in a place where it's difficult to tune out the background noise?

Four of Wands talks about creating the space for you to thrive like the corn in Queen of Pentacles. The Queen is able to cultivate her garden in peace and certainty that abundance is hers. You are meant to take what it is you're doing and allow it to grow, so the Queen is being quite literal here. But she wants you to do it from a place of joy and enthusiasm instead of dread.

The Page is fired up from drinking coffee and is ready to go. But you must be in a place of ease with yourself to do this. Your message is to act upon your growth, but do it from a gentle place and at a gentle pace. Do not try to over exert yourself when you do have the space to practice or create. Do not try, for example, to squeeze 45 minutes of exercise into 5 minutes, thinking that it's all the time you're allowed, so why not go overboard, amiright? This is the fast lane to killing what you're growing and your joy for it, pile 1, and what you're growing is still in a very delicate stage. You have time to work out the details, so don't rush this. Heartease was the first card to pop out and the only card to jump, so it's really emphasizing the need to be careful with how you spend your time and energy.

The Communication card is the only one that really stands out to me. Perhaps what you're developing has to do with communications. Writing a book, preparing a speech, blogging, interview, etc. but it could also have to do with growing your connections with other people through how you communicate. You could be rekindling an old friendship from school or meeting someone for coffee? In any case, Compassion is the keyword here. Be gentle and ready to listen more to feedback, while creating a safe space for your friend or colleague to communicate clearly with you. This is a meetup you'll want to act upon, but do so from a place of kindness.

Also for some reason, maybe it's because I heard the song recently while out, but Tom Petty's "Free Fallin" is in my head while typing your reading and only your reading. Argh, such an earworm! If this person you're meeting up with hurt your heart in some way way back in the past… yeah it's cool to be on the defensive, assert your boundaries. Heartease, however, still asks that you treat this situation with diplomacy.

Pile 2: Radiance

Draw: Eight of Wands; Queen of Pentacles, King of Swords, Knight of Pentacles 19 - Healing Grief, Pisces Rising - Dream, Wisteria - Longevity "Plan for and take the dedicated path."

You have some similarities to pile 1, so if you were interested in that pile I recommend checking it out for messages. For starters, you have Queen of Pentacles in the exact same space on your spread, so that tells me there's a lot of collective push for undertaking rapid growth at this time. The Queen does it from an appearance of near effortlessness, but it's not without considerable effort on her part. She's able to handle a lot with grace and consistency.

It seems like in your cards, pile 2, you're pretty solid when it comes to growing towards your goals. You've become used to trucking along without must reprieve, as if it's from one thing to another as smoothly as the train cars pass the railroad crossing. You're being asked to remember about the power of momentum, and about the little things that add up. Think of how a bird takes off. When it starts flapping, it flaps hard. Once it's high in the sky, it spreads out and soars with ease. It requires a lot of steady pushing, one flap at a time, but eventually when it takes off it gains more speed than ever.

Again like with pile 1, you have all the time you need to make your dreams grow and flourish. Just don't be surprised if this takes a rather long time to accomplish. The Queen of Pentacles is less interested in quantity or time efficiency as she is in quality. It's not that she isn't punctual, far from it, but she and the Knight know that the best fruits are ones that ripen when they're ready to. You're being encouraged to plan for the long term, with wise judgement as the King of Swords suggests, and to open yourself up to envisioning more brilliant avenues to fly through. Imagine what would make your heart soar, and grow that instead of something that you merely feel "obligated" to do. Great things can take time, but it'll be completely worth the wait.

Also, my sun catcher reflected a rainbow perfectly on the osprey in this Eight of Wands card, it's nice. There is a radiance that comes from taking time to grow something to how you want it to be, like the bird with its fish catching talents (it can pluck them right out of the water and fly around boasting its catch). Your skills will shine here, just be sure to care for yourself in the meantime.

Pile 3: Perfect Penny

Draw: Nine of Wands; II High Priestess, XIV Temperance, Seven of Wands 25 - Truth, Taurus Moon - Relax, Belladonna - Silence "Listen more and quiet be."

So this was an interesting spread because at first I couldn't tell if the message was to hold on or let go. Maybe that's your current dilemma when it comes to growth. And it's a valid one, cause it's a lot like the pruning stage. You have to decide which leaves are valuable to your health, and which leaves are dead and must be clipped away.

The penny is like… saving a wishing penny for a rainy day. You're on the defense with Nine of Wands. Do I use this penny now to accomplish this, you ask, or I should I save it for later when I might use it for something else? Nine of Wands is a lot of energy being deliberately held back for a reason, like an arrow ready to fire. It could be that you're maybe putting a little too much perfectionism into the idea. What you're growing has not yet been grounded into the material world, it's still a passion idea or a fire in your heart but you're holding it back. But Nine of Wands is also a Sagittarius card, doubly so since Sagittarius is the 9th sign. The requirement here for growth is pushing forward with optimism that your wish will not go to waste. There's an energy of perfectionism here especially as it took me exactly nine photos before I settled for this one. I finally decided it didn't have to be perfect, it just had to feel ok enough!

My first reaction was to say "trust your gut and you'll learn to balance the give and take," then High Priestess and Temperance came out together! Somewhere inside you already know what it is you would like to do with "the penny" of an idea you're casting into the wishing well. You don't have to overthink this. It's a matter of coming from a heart-centered place of Truth. Belladonna is showing you how to tap into your intuition: "listen more, silent be." Listen closely to what your heart is wishing to do. Balance this out with how others may perceive your goals or growth. There may be people who say something like, "you're going to use what you got on 'that'?" or "are you really sure that's what you want to do?"

It takes practice to choose from a place of intuitive open mindedness, but it will reward you in this case. You're being reminded to stay relaxed and steady about this. Making the next move doesn't have to come from a place of high pressure or unneeded stress, even if it's time sensitive. But by learning to listen to your intuition more, the part that tells you how to proceed from a place of optimism within reason, you'll be able to more quickly expand and grow upon what it is you're creating. With penny's copper corresponding to Venus as well as Taurus moon, it's suggested here that you could receive monetary or financial growth through this, as well.

This reading has not been evaluated by the FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease or infection. Please ask your physician before going online.

2023, @VitaminseeTarot ™

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bruciemilf · 1 year

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I honestly think that for Gotham criminals—regular criminals, drug lords, pedos, abusers, etc—getting caught by a vigilante with Bat in their name is the best case scenario at this point. Like, at least with Batman, Batwoman and Black Bat, you at least know you're making it out of it alive. If they've had a bad day, maybe you'll end up with a few broken bones or be sore for a month or two, but you'll recover.

If you're caught by Red Hood when he's had a bad day? Say goodbye to your life. If Red Robin hasn't made a singular smart comment during your fight and you want to get out of this without lifelong injuries, just turn yourself in right then and there. Robin chooses violence on the regular, you never know if he's going to be normal or downright vicious, and it's best not to take the risk without a reasonable vigilante there. If you're fighting an angry Nightwing and there's nobody to hold him back, it's best you start saying your prayers so maybe someone will show up and pull him off you at some point .

For Rogues, see, there's safe Rogues. If you're one of the Sirens and catch a Bird having a bad day, the worst they'll do is break down crying when faced with the prospect of having to fight you. Selina has been faced with countless of these breakdowns over the years and is the most equipped to handle them, Harley can distract and knows calming techniques, Ivy's easy to rant to. If you're Harvey, or Oswald, or even just a generally harmless Rogue, as long as you aren't doing something horrible, they'll leave you be. If you're literally any other Rogue—Bane, Black Mask, Riddler, Scarecrow, the Joker, etc, be thankful if you make it back to Arkham with more than eight bones intact.

ESPECIALLY if they let you have the first hit. That means they can claim provocation when they're standing over your barely-breathing body. They don't get into as much trouble with Batman if they can claim self defense.

Bruce, Cass, and Kate are the only ones with defined no-kill rules. The rest abide by it for peace sake for the most part, but there are always exceptions, and you don't want to be one of them.

OH GOSH YESSSSS

Let's be honest, - the rogues? Family friends. The Sirens are family PERIOD, and Harvey's their second honorary father after Clark, courtesy to Bruce. Also, kids tend to assimilate traits from people they look up to/love.

Robins and Rogues, tale as old as time.

When he's sad, Tim will flop himself over Bruce like a bunny. " Tell me a joke, Brucie," and of course a tired but fond sigh leaves Bruce's lips. " What do you call a vegan BBQ?"

" What?"

" A funeral."

Tim rolls his eyes like Harley, too.

Cass learns the sophisticated art of tantrums and pouting from Selina; Crossed arms, bratty eye roll, so much sass she's sizzling. Bruce has a Sigh jar, now.

Damian picks up an interest in plan and promptly transforms the manor in his very own botanical garden.

Alfred doesn't mind. The air is fresher, smells cleaner, they look beautiful againts their monochromatic palette, and everyone must take care of them. No exceptions.

A breath of relief unlocks Damian's stiff frame. " Persephone smiles upon us."

" Persephone? Where did you learn that, habibi?"

" Aunt Pamela said Greek Mythology belongs to lesbians, so I can't divulge."

Caught between " Jason hits Bruce with every single legal technicality Harvey thought him to evade getting benched" and " Jason accidentally calls Bruce pet names Spanish or Italian when he's distracted."

" My alma can yo- SHIT,"

" GUYS, HE DID IT AGAIN!"

Also, there's a difference between murder and killing; Bruce won't weep after monsters, that's for damn sure. Which gets him questioning gazes from the GCPD.

" Do you know how many people your buddies kill?"

" Do YOU?"

#asks #batfam #bruce wayne #batdad #batfamily #writing #jason todd #cassandra cain #damian wayne #tim drake

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gracieryder · 1 month

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Hey! I saw your post about pururing's account, and that your post has been reblogged by lots of people who I pretty much always agree with (including you). So I went to the account's posts and scrolled down, expecting to roll my eyes, shake my head, etc.

But as I read the artist's and others' most recent responses, I started thinking about art forms like Kathakali (I'm South Indian) where face paint of different colours is used as narrative devices and to represent characteristics. If I were to represent a 9-1-1 scene in Kathakali style, I'd need to depict faces of certain characters with colours like white, yellow, black, red, etc depending on the character and their role in a particular arc. So an actor who is portraying someone of Asian descent might be shown with yellow paint on their face to depict not their race, but their gender.

The Western-gaze would see this as "yellowface" and offensive. But shifting perspectives and taking into account the background of the artform and the artist would clarify that this is a difference in context.

I don't know if there is a right or wrong here. If a show began in a Western context and depicts the Western context, does that mean Western audiences can demand that it never be depicted in contexts they're unfamiliar with? Do artists have to stay true to the context of the artform, or do they stay true to the context of the subject being portrayed? Even if this question doesn't have a binary answer, what's the difference between acceptable and unacceptable practices, and who gets to have a say in deciding that?

I just think that these are the more pertinent questions that need to be asked and discussed in this situation. By narrowing things down just to whether that artist was right or wrong without considering such nuances, I feel like we're all risking being smugly superior without realising that we're actually in a bit of an echo chamber.

Hi, anon! I want to thank you for this message. Truly. I do think we sometimes find ourselves in an echo chamber. It’s for that reason that I try to be careful when I make posts like that. I rarely reblog callout posts, and I rarely make them. This is the third one I think I’ve ever made, and I can’t think of any I’ve reblogged off the top of my head.

Callout posts to me only become necessary when you’ve exhausted all other options. And in this case, I only made it myself because it seemed as though those speaking out were being ignored – including people of color. I know that a lot of that has to do with how heavily some of those blogs block and how much they’ve been blocked in the past. So, I chose to make a post under my own name because I knew more people would see it. From what I understand, while a few people do have me blocked, I’m not widely blocked in this fandom. All that being said though, posts like this can still be incendiary and dangerous, and I don’t make them lightly. It’s why I tried to keep my explanation and language as mild as possible while explaining the issue at hand.

That being said, because I approached it in that manner, there’s a lot that the general public isn’t privy to just by scrolling that person’s account.

I’ll start with what you are privy to and how I think it’s different from the Kathakali style you refer to in your message. The defenses this person gave to their coloring choices have little to do with culture and more to do with style and perception. They pulled stills from the show in an attempt to explain the color palette they used, but as an example, in this picture here, Jee is clearly lighter than Maddie, her white mother. And you can see in real reference photos using these actors that this is not the case. That is just a fact.

They didn’t explain away this issue with cultural artistic differences. They explained this issue using pictures and color picking and defending their perception with some alarming messages in DM.

That brings me to some information you were not privy to. This is an example of one of the messages I was shown in private by someone who was trying to talk to this person one on one about everything going on here.

They state that they drew Jee that way because she’s lighter than her parents, which is just a bizarre and untrue statement to make - particularly in reference to Maddie. But then they went on to say she’s going to get lighter as she grows older. Even if that is true (which I don’t see why it would be because what?), it has nothing to do with her skin color now.

A lot of this artist’s work is limited to black and white sketches. But if they’re going to choose to add color to their work, it should accurately represent the people of color they're choosing to portray regardless of the artist’s own skin color.

I understand this is a different style of art than the art we normally see, but I don’t see how that would change the fact that twins that play Jee should not be portrayed as whiter than Oliver Stark and Jennifer Love Hewitt who are both white actors. It’s kind of a manga style from what I gather, but from everything I know about that, it shouldn’t have an effect on coloring choices.

And again, the artist themselves says they colored Jee lighter because they perceive her to be lighter and think she will become lighter. That is… problematic to say the least.

It is still complicated though because I think you’re right about Western vs. Eastern art forms and gazes. I really do. I’m a white woman from the West, and that skews my perceptions immensely. I try to understand things as best I can, but I’m not perfect, and I know I’ll make mistakes. But I do not see how the art form here makes the work immune to criticism.

What I know and what I knew before making that post was that there were enough people who were upset by it that it deserved being looked into. And then so many of those voices were being lost in the void that I wanted to do what I could to help. That may not have been my place. What I knew was that my voice would have a greater impact though, and so I used it.

I personally believe this artist to be in the wrong, especially after being shown some of the messages they sent in DM, but the question of what’s acceptable and unacceptable and who gets to have a say in deciding that is a complicated one. I normally wouldn’t feel I personally should have shared an opinion here at all because I’m white and from America, but when other voices are getting lost, what do you do? Do you stay quiet? Maybe I should have, but that’s not the choice I chose to make.

I do encourage everyone to look into the situation for themselves and make determinations for themselves, even if I put a bit of a spotlight on that person’s blog and voiced my own personal opinion. But everyone should definitely realize that what you’re seeing on the public blog isn’t all there is. Not by a long shot.

I really hope I answered some of your questions and that this made some amount of sense.

Please feel free to message me again on or off anon if you want to discuss it further or if you think I've made a mistake. That goes for anyone. My DMs are open.

#911 discourse #for the filters #anonymous #mist answers

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squeiky · 9 months

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HELP! DECIDE FUSIONSWAP ESPIO’S FATE

I have 2 concept designs for Espio as of right now.

This is an OWL VS DRAGONFLY design poll. Pick which one you’d like to see more!

(Ps: Espio is the height of charmy the bee in BOTH of these designs. Both designs retain camouflaging abilities (not invisibility) Please consider that fact while deciding.)

Here is the concept for DRAGONFLY (specifically Rhyothemis fuliginosa)

design pros: he’s so pretty and sparkly and purple

Story pro: he’s FAST. Like REALLY FAST. If he is ever caught, fighting and fleeing will be absolutely no issue. He even gets a armor bonus buff due to being part bug- so any fight or flight scene is extremely intense as he can hold up his own against bigger opponents.

(Any bonus powers hasn’t been thought of yet.)

Story con: he’s not very ninja like at all here. dragon flys are noisy, and the wings can’t be tucked in, resulting in more problems for doing what he does. It can create a big issue when during sneaking or other forms of “ninja stunts”. He’ll be caught quicker than normal espio would. Though him knocking into things is quite funny.

^this is the first concept for dragonfly espio. Might incorporate more of this into the design if picked

HERES CONCEPT FOR OWL (specifically BARN OWL)

Design pros: graceful, fluffier. Might have a more interesting palette than 100% purples an blues, has talons.

Story pros: he quiet, almost silent. He gains advantage over anyone- being able to fly to height to quickly get out of people’s line of sight and the flapping of wings can’t be caught by anyone with untrained ears. This makes any ninja-ing incredibly easy for him. Sneak attacks and Gathering info for detective work has never been easier. He gets an attack bonus buff, because of the sharper talons/claws, so even if he doesn’t have a defense he can sure as hell make you bleed.

He’s also got night vision (because of the owl side) so he’s capable of seeing better in the dark. Alongside the chameleon eyes, he’s got an extremely good vision ability.

Story cons: not as fast as dragonfly, and without the armor bonus buff, he’s easier to be taken down if ever caught (wings are pretty easy to catch.). Though this can lead to more struggling whenever he’s been spotted.

He’s also feathery, so even if he sneaks properly, chances of a feather falling and ruining his cover is high here.

^first concepts for owl espio. (Might incorporate more of this into the design if picked)

Ps: this is a sonic au called “FusionSwap”. I’m polling because I seriously cannot figure out which design is better.

I like them both, and I already know my favorite. But I’m a logical person to, and I know my favorite story wise. But that makes them both good.

PS: please reblog? This sounds like begging but feel I’ll get like 4 notes on this and 0 votes if I don’t say otherwise.

#espio the chameleon #again I only tag the actually character once #sorry folks who didn’t want to see au versions #anyways #FusionSwap au #<- that’s my tag for this au in my blog #sonic au #sonic alternate universe #polls

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ofhope · 7 months

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“Oh'ho, c'mon, Geppie. I'm doing the same thing as you! Drinking my worries away, hoping room-temperature alcohol will soothe whatever's going on in poor Sampo's heart,” a swish of his drink; the pungent whiff of beer never met his own nose, instead replaced with a liquor easier to down, more for show than effect. “Waiter! I'll have whatever he's having.”

With a sharp snap of his fingers, Sampo pushed away at his prior offenses, ice no longer rewarding him that satisfying clink. In his own defense, Sampo paid little mind to his drinks, less mind to whether his ice was diluting his soured alcohol -- beer, after all, might be a pleasing palette cleaner.

“Now Sampo gets to play the part of interviewer! Let's see - what's a Silvermane Guard doing drinking in a dingy place like this? - Oh don't give me that face, you know I don't beat around the bush,” before a choice expression could be made, Sampo leant back, turned to face Gepard, crooked smile plastered on his lips. “Hey, can't blame a guy for wondering. Fella like me? Makes sense for me to be here. At this hour's where all the trouble stirs up, where's all the lonely lovebirds come to rethink their life choices. Buy another drink, or settle down with one person for your whole life?”

Drink delivered, Sampo all but giggled at the timing. Seems divine intervention had answered his own unasked, hypothetical questions.

“You, though... doesn't seem right.”

@dauntingsmite // continued!

#dauntingsmite #ic‚ sampo.#Sorry for the third degree Gepard; he's a talker.#Thank you for the delightful reply! <333

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reyofluke-ocs · 3 months

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Can I ask for questions thirty through forty for Rosla, maybe? Hope you’re doing well!! 💚

send me asks for my bg3 ocs!

30. How does your Tav react when someone insults their friend/partner?

She immediately goes on the defensive, which while Shadowheart appreciates her being so defensive of her honor, she reminds Rosla that she can insult them just fine on her own. The rest of the group (by that I mean Astarion) find it hilarious to see her making someone MUCH taller and bigger than her cowering from her words - even without using Vicious Mockery. By defensive I mean insults and words but in more extreme cases I can definitely see her getting physical - after all, she is at a prime height for hitting extremely sensitive zones...

31. How does your Tav dress for different occasions, like very fancy situations?

Having been part of a fairly well-known bard duo, Rosla does have a few more fancy outfits for occasions where they would have performed at more upper-class functions. These usually consist of dresses in her preferred color palette - greens, blues, and earthly tones.

32. How did your Tav get their scars, if they have any?

She has some minor scars from accidents while cooking and I also imagine a few from wounds acquired during the journey when she isn't able to get a potion or help from Shadowheart in time.

33. What is your Tav’s relationship with their family?

Her entire biological family is dead and she was raised by a halfling family friend, who she had a falling out with when Rosla revealed she was planning to become a bard. She hasn't spoken to the older woman since then. Before his passing, her bard partner was a father figure for her that she was extremely close to.

34. What is your Tav’s opinion on nobility and authority?

I can see her mostly having a neutral opinion except for cases where it's clear the nobility or authority are corrupt. Then her view turns more negative.

35. How does your Tav react to wearing the Wavemother’s robe? How do they react to their partner wearing it?

She can't keep her eyes off Shadowheart when she sees her wearing it. It's bad enough that Gale full on throws something at her to get her to stop staring. Astarion and Karlach never let her live it down. Rosla would also totally 'accidentally' trip anyone who tries to leer at Shadowheart in the robe if they're out in public. If Rosla wears it, it's similar - Shadowheart stares at her. Only difference is I can see Shadowheart NOT liking others watching Rosla and tends to stick close by her and full on being ready to murder someone that tries anything.

36. What is your Tav’s favorite type of environment? Like in a tavern, a library, out in the wilderness, underground, etc.

Home. Cozy, fireplace, well-stocked kitchen. Her and Shadowheart run a farm after the events of the game and I can see her loving the atmosphere and being surrounded by so many animals (Scratch, Screech - the Owlbear cub - Us and ofc I totally see them adopting Yenna [+ Grub] and Arabella after the game).

37. What would your Tav’s Zodiac sign be?

I can see her being either Gemini or Cancer!

38. What is their favorite season?

Autumn or spring. Best time for growing and also in autumn there's many unique dishes that can only be found during the time.

39. Where in the world does your Tav want to visit the most?

While part of the duo, Rosla traveled up and down the Sword Coast. But I can see her being curious about the rest of Faerun and even wanting to explore areas like the Underdark or even if possible Avernus because one of the most defining characteristics of her is her curiosity.

40. What is the biggest mistake your Tav ever made?

I'll have to get back to you because honestly I have no idea, though I'm sure there's definitely one. In an AU setting I can see it being letting Shadowheart fulfill her desire to become a Dark Justiciar.

tagging bg3 enablers: @daughter-of-melpomene, @endless-oc-creations, @astarionbae

#bg3 oc #oc: rosla greenbriar #thank you so much!#sorry this is so late i haven't been on my laptop much at all

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waddlebouncefloof · 2 years

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Leviathantale Mermay 2022 Days 21-22: Bioluminescence, Goldfish

Summary: Dream approaches Reaper with a request and an offer.

Reaper remembers a time when his very presence spelled the death of the mortals around him. His presence made the sea’s temperature drop alarmingly low and he left behind more seafoam than frightened mortal bodies wherever he swam. Even amongst his fellow Leviathans, there were a few who could stand his ice-cold touch.

Dream was the exception. While Reaper froze those in his path, Dream burned. His beauty and touchiness made him Reaper’s favorite to swim and tangle with. He remembered how Dream would tug him away with a coy giggle and unravel him with pointed touches. They would dance with each other in the dark, his ice blue complimenting Dream’s blinding golden.

Reaper knew that Dream only spent time with him to make Nightmare jealous. They were all so thoughtlessly cruel to each other back then, though he had been too lonely and desperate to mind it.

But then, Error came into their fold. But then, the Leviathan Wars began.

When Dream came swimming back to Reaper with a knowing look in his eyelights, Reaper knew what he was going to ask.

“Join us,” Dream had crooned, leaving burning touches on Reaper. He had looked so confident back then. “Fight for me.”

But by then, Reaper was no longer the same, desperate soul. He had already rejected Error, whose anger and betrayal stung far more than any tantrum that Dream would throw ever would. He was determined to stay neutral and far away from the senseless squabbling. Reaper was tired.

So, he gave Dream a dry and sarcastic smile. “Tempting, but I’ll have to decline.”

Reaper got some terrible burns out of that, but he had his centuries of isolation in his own territory to soothe his wounds. It would be a long, long time before Dream would approach Reaper for a dance again. It was for the best. Reaper wasn’t at his best back then and neither was Dream.

Now, they’re different. They’ve met mers and selkies and other mortals who changed them for the better. And now, they’re parents too.

Reaper dances with Dream in the water, countering the Koi’s natural heat with his ice as the Shiver admires Dream’s true form up close. Cross is especially enthralled. With a quirk of his mouth, he overhears Palette Roller loudly and proudly proclaiming how his Dreamama is the most beautiful in the sea.

“W-Well, I think that my Papa is very pretty too,” Goth shyly speaks up in Reaper’s defense, making him brighten up the seafloor even more with his bioluminescence. It compliments Dream’s natural light very nicely.

Palette Roller wisely doesn’t argue with Goth. Instead, he takes Reaper’s son’s hand and leads him away to play with the other children. The pair’s peals of laughter make Reaper’s soul warm with happiness.

“Awwww,” Reaper coos at the sight. “So cute.”

“You’re taking it rather well, Reaper,” Dream giggles. “I would’ve thought that after Percy, you’d be more strict with Goth.”

Reaper’s smile freezes. He tilts his head. “What do you mean?”

Dream tries to explain before he cuts himself off and shakes his head. “Never mind. It’s nothing important.”

Reaper stops him with an eerie look. “No, Dream. Go on. What. Did. You. Mean?”

———————————————-

Dream, seductively: Join my cause.

Reaper: No

Dream: >:0

Palette Roller, adorably: Hold hands with me!

Goth: Ok!

Reaper: >:0

#leviathantale #little selkie #mermay 2022 #Dream #reaper

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redpiperfox · 1 year

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youtube

I love Mera.

She never fails on a video essay of dissecting the obvious and sounding like a poet blessed by the muses while doing it. And she makes me think, which I find harder and harder to find in youtube videos (...or maybe my class of youtube videos has become stale and needs to be revitalized, idk)

This video in particular, did a brilliant job of laying out Itzy’s image as it’s given to us through it’s music videos, and called me out as writer by showing why we see the members in a certain way due to their music video coding. But more than being stunned that the characters I draw from them to write about, it validated and inspired me, and gave me direction for the personas I had created from their coding palette. It felt like a library archive, some secret wisdom I had stumbled on as a fanfic writer...

Now. I don’t often stand to disagree with Mera. She’s brilliant at what she does, and I am learning from her every time I watch her videos. She’s much wiser and more educated than I, and it feels like an honor to sit at her feet and listen to her speak.

...but I feel the need to be in defense of Cheshire.

The core of Mera’s video had been member coding. She took the cinematography and laid out how it presented each member-- a brilliance in the way that Itzy’s core of different and unique and self-confidence stemmed from individuality, and tangibly allowing the audience to feel that with each member. From the costuming, to the camera angles; from the sets to the storylines. The status quo can be rejected, and it doesn’t have to look the same; Ryujin the in-your-face, anti-authoritarian punk; Lia the queen bee, glittering high class in playfulness; Yeji and her feline maturity, aloof and unaffected; Chaeryeong with introverted confidence, girl-next-door, the quiet but no less strong (I... might’ve gotten emotional during this section); Yuna the teenage hero, pop-star-by-night, bubbly, comfortable-in-her-own-skin persona. If I started thinking too hard, I started wondering--

https://twitter.com/redpiper3/status/1610070731932553220?s=20&t=2N_36_XfCJ3X9zGrldQacw

But that’s besides the point.

After Mera properly dissected and laid plain the coding Itzy had debuted with, she laid plain the tracking of this coding through her eras: the debut trilogy cementing their image and personalities as individuals, being vital to their identity as a girl group; the costume era struggling at first and at the tail end, but experimenting with it in new lights, and finding a brilliant visual playground in MITM; and then the shortcomings of the newest era, which floundered in Sneakers, done right in Boys Like You, and seems to break coding in Cheshire, allowing them to seemingly evolve as a group, and take a new direction.

Now, I will not say Sneakers was anything short of a Mess. I remember being glamoured by the costuming and ideas for sets, and then watching on twitter as everyone tried to pin down what exactly JYPe was doing-- a historical concept? Tracking strong independence through the ages and... ending on a sneakers commerical? Was this a branding deal gone bad that they had to rescue?

It feels, after seeing the Cheshire album come out, that something unexpected happened after the ten months of preparation. Their japanese titles were nothing short of brilliant (chef’s kiss at Voltage and Blahx3) but the Checkmate and Cheshire albums were... haphazardly done in planning. I have my suspicions about them feeling like they were supposed to be a full album together... Sneakers would have been a brilliant promoted b-side next to Cheshire: a bright summer song for the group while still maintaining their growth and maturation with Cheshire. Further, their promotional styling being similar before the album release... is suspicious. I have a sneaking suspicion that making Mama 2022 their comeback stage, and having a single release of Boys Like You that played in a different genre and soundscape probably influenced the Checkmate release to be what it was. They needed something before they went on tour, and the Checkmate album-- minus a few gold tracks-- gave them plenty to work with, and prepped the audience enough for Boys Like You. Mera compares Boys Like You to Blackpink’s release of Ice Cream, for trying a different color and taste with the freedom of a western release, and it’s almost for that reason I think the company might have pre-emptively struck with Sneakers-- I’m not into Blackpink and their fanbase, but I think I remember the general reaction of the public being confusion and rejection of Ice Cream due to the strong ongoing themes the group had. And if Sneakers is nothing else, it’s a play with the public.

Now, I am also going to assume that budgeting works like this-- Sneakers had expensive and shiny sets, and Mama pulled certain budgeting, and between time and money between a world tour and preparing for year end stages, the filming of Cheshire was just between a rock and a hard place. I... am probably wrong, but that’s the kindest assumption I can give to the company :)

So with all that in mind-- Cheshire.

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Mera noted in her video that Cheshire leaned more into the flashy editing and the concept of “true or fake?” and group styling similarities more than their general member specific coding and the usual showing, not telling, of individuality. She thought the group is maturing, evolving, and doing away with their original debut codes to do it, seemingly meshing with the rest of 4th gen girl groups, but still standing out because they’re Itzy, and everyone knows them, and they’re on top of the generation anyway-- all of which I can agree with.

Something could be said about the company sending out feelers whenever they feel their girl groups are getting stagnant in concepts and want to try and mature them... something could be said. We won’t say it here.

I might have been a little too much in love with Cheshire. This is my sin-- the vocal maturity and the subtlties of it, the playing into each members’ vocal strengths, it all just makes me very happy and excited for the group as a whole and where they’re headed.

And I can’t stop listening to the song. And watching the video-- first time through I felt... underwhelmed? And not I catch something new everytime I watch it, it truly a testament to subtlety and blink-and-you’ll-miss it messaging. The members don’t seem to own any place of their own, interrupting each others’ sequences and shots, until you watch through and follow each thread.

But when it comes to member specific coding, Cheshire seems to take what we know and play deep into it’s roots, and seemingly turn everything on it’s head as it projects us into the future of this group as it matures. Let’s go member by member, and each “cheshire cat” as they present themselves:

In our game show of discerning lies from reality, Lia has her little corner of comfort, like the princess she is. She’s playing with practical illusions, things that can only be see properly from the correct angle, and she’s playing with facial expressions that make it hard to pin down what her intentions are or how she’s looking at us. There’s something cynical and mean about her from her first scene... darts fall into her set and we’re brought to Yeji’s set.

Later, a piano drops and shatters in the middle of her set (another non-CGI effect) where she tells us she’ll give us a hint and she’s interrupted by MC Yuna, who’s telling us to watch closely.

We move past the game show into the world of the cheshires-- Lia’s is surpringly calm next to some of the other members, giving a disinterested vibe through a computer shot.

But the important scenes are the ones we end on, where we revisit the members in their initial solo sets, and Lia is lying on the couch, everything a mess around her, and we dive into her mind through her ear. There’s rubble falling on top-- this is right before the piano had dropped. It seems like it’s going to drop right on top of her!... except we know from the earlier scene-- she isn’t there. Her final set shot is the piano destroyed at her feet, and her looking up from where we’ve been watching.

It’s just a trick. Lia’s played with us.

Yeji has one of the more key roles in the plot of the music video, and unlike loco, they aren’t using the grand sets and obvious styling to scream CAT! CAT GIRL! CAT WOMAN! in our faces.

They use the more subtle web-plucking.

She’s introduced top down on Lia’s set, and she’s throwing darts at a dart board, in a cute little set-up that spells out YOU. She’s hard to pin down, and she’s playing with the audience the entire time. She steps into the middle of Yuna’s curtains pulled back to peek into Chaeryeong’s scene, she’s popping on all sides of the frame in the office scene, and she’s the one who pulls the plug of this operation when the illusion goes way over our heads. You could even say she’s the top down shots looking at Lia-- maybe she dropped the piano herself.

Yeji’s running this operation.

Out of all the girls, she’s the one who’s directly looking into the character, directly taunting the viewer, deciding when they’ve gone too far into the illusion, when they haven’t looked close enough at one of the girls’ sets, and takes the final bow when all the trickery is finished. She’s in front of the target, twiddling the dart like she could do this all night. She’s the final playful shot before the cat tail teases us, and she’s pulling all the strings.

Ryujin’s speeding down the freeway in her truck, and nothing’s going to stop her.

...except she isn’t.

She’s the first one to tell us it’s not real, her car parked, stand-still in front of the set, as she rolls the windows up on us. Windows, it can be noted, that are covered in stickers. This car isn’t meant for driving at all, but Ryujin doesn’t care.

Ryujin is the cat that spoils the ending, the first to make us question everything. She’s the second computer screen, who deletes the background and shows us what’s fake and what isn’t in their MC group dance shot-- and it isn’t much! Only the question marks and arrows, that had been CGI-ed to confuse us on what was up and down, had been untrue. Everything else on set had been...

Then we get to her cheshire in the snow, and she’s not playing. She’s got an icy playfulness that’s asking “why so serious?” before Yeji pulls the plugs, and then she’s the one right in the middle of the gameshow, spinning the wheel and making us question every one of the initial solo sets. She knows, and she knows we don’t know. Her final shot is her sitting on top of her car, twirling her hair and smirking at us for trying so hard.

She’s taunting us. And she knows we’ll let her get away with it.

Yuna’s the hardest cheshire to pin down-- because she shows us her tricks right from the beginning.

She’s the one running the lights, switching us between the game show and the CGI transition to the cheshire snow world. She’s in front of the curtains, and we don’t know what her deal is, except for one unavoidable fact-- she’s moody. She’s either introducing the game show, or morose and haunting. We don’t know whether to be excited or scared at what’s about to happen, we don’t know whether being fooled should terrify us or enchant us.

And Yuna wants us to remain in that uncomfortable place of not knowing.

In her cheshire scene, she’s still playing with lights and shadows, and dancing like a teasing cat. It’s a little scary, but she tells us in this way “someone might find their path.”

When everyone is playing their final trick, she doesn’t offer us a smile, only throws her arm up to present the acts before stalking off and letting us figure it out for ourselves. There are no light switches, nothing to hide or seek, just what’s before our eyes that we still won’t be able to understand.

In her final scene, she laughs at us, but she’s not our friend. She’s almost looking down on us.

We’re not friends.

Chaeryeong probably lays it out as obviously as possible in her solo set.

She gets her own room, and not happy: she’s crying, doesn’t want to talk to us, and wants to lie in bed all day. Moving outwards, two members immediately clue us in to know that this isn’t true-- Yeji stands by the curtains pulled back, to show it’s only a set, and Yuna wears identical fake tears to Chaeryeong’s, only to pull them off and show that they’re fake. Chaeryeong even gives us a smile while she wears the fake tears.

Chaeryeong isn’t upset, we’ve just been manipulated into thinking she is.

As a cheshire, she’s the one who makes us see “true” and “fake” for what it is. She shows a cheery doll can really be something plain and ordinary we’ve been made to believe is something of comfort, and playing catch can seem like a bomb thrown in our face.

Exaggeration and lies.

She throws her bedsheet up to show she wasn’t even in the room in the first place-- the editing leaving her shadow walking out from behind the falling sheet to let the illusion properly register for us.

In her final scene, she’s having fun jumping on the bed and making a mess of the feathers and pillows, no tears on her face.

She was actually having fun with it all. On her own.

Now what does this all have to do with anything? I haven’t proven or disproven anything, I’ve just spelled out what we’ve seen. Let’s draw some parallels--

Lia: preppy and pretty and playful-- check, check, and check.

Yeji: in command and unaffected and mature -- check and check, and I’ll concede the maturity is a little muddled, but we’ll revisit that in a moment.

Ryujin: anti-authoritarian and punk -- well, you try driving anywhere with stickers all over your window. Or taking over a game show by driving your car right into the middle of it.

Chaeryeong: quiet, introverted but with an inner strength and self-confidence -- check, she certainly wasn’t trying to prove anything to us.

Yuna: teenage hero and bubbly and perfectly made for what she’s doing -- I don’t know if you’ve met a teenager, but they’re angsty as hell.

But she’s not quite the dalla dalla Yuna is she? In fact, scrolling back up, none of these are quite the coding of the girls we debuted with in the debut triology are they?

Now, here is where cinematographic coding and members’ personalities and company advertising could all blur, so I’ll only say this before we stay in the cinematography: I’d like to think JYP gives their groups as much freedom as Stray Kids gets, but you never know. But in a perfect world, Itzy played a hand in their own concept building, and their own very real individualities bled through to build their concept. But if it did or not, Dalla Dalla gave them sets and outfits, fit with colors... and then let them build the scene. The attitudes they brought, the way they commanded presence and attention? Music video building after that worked with the energy they brought to the screen. The confidence, the character, the individuality itself. And the girls have grown a lot in the industry and as individuals since then. These aren’t hot rookies with headlining reputations and everything to prove. These are women who’ve established themselves and been burned in their industry a couple of times.

Subtle maturity is a beautiful thing.

Yuna is still perfectly made for what she’s doing-- only it isn’t showing all of her bubbliness to you. (Side tangent: stop chasing my girl for every little thing she does. She can say “bless me” and cover Love Dive without being put up against impossible standards, alright?) Being in the industry is playing your character close to your chest, and Yuna is made to be an idol. She’s no longer a teenager, but she’s every young girl you know, and she’s impossible to be, and someone only to look up to with awe.

Ryujin is still the punk who sticks it in everyone’s faces, but now she’s got a driver’s license. She’s not playing your game, she’s making her own.

Yeji is still mama cat, she’s still cruella, and she’s still the icon of maturity, targeted for the older age group. But she doesn’t need to prove it anymore-- she’s the oldest who’s taking care of everyone, running the show, and she can have fun while she does it.

Chaeryeong is the girl-next-door, quietly confident in herself, and throwing the stereotype of what we think introverts are so much in our face, it’s almost as though she knows what we think, and has the confidence to rewrite that trope for everyone. (And I love her for it. Mera’s chapter on her in her video made me so emotional, we need to open the conversation about individuality and confidence and strength in the quieter people, and stop trampling over girls who don’t present the way we expect when we see powerful women.)

And Lia is still our princess. She’s got a more mischievious side that’s flaring more now than it did in Icy, but it’s there nonetheless.

The coding isn’t just in the styling, it’s in the subtleties of the members.

And it’s not the same as debut era, it’s growing.

Mera has another video I adore, where she praises Twice and their femininity. Twice as a group matures and their music evolves and tries to find where to go, but the feminine beauty of it remains the same at it’s core.

I think the same could be said of Itzy. Individuality was something they had to scream when they debuted, but now that they’ve told us who they are, and they settle into who they know they are, they show us the nuances and subtle beauties of individuality.

Individuality doesn’t pretend to be anything for anyone, it doesn’t have to play all it’s cards on the table and show who it really is, it’s full of joy in it’s maturity, and while it can be fully rebellious in it’s own rights, it can also be full of life from the comforts of home, where knowing who you are and being strong in that is enough.

#itzy cheshire #music analysis #mera #kpop essay #Red's thoughts #written for the intellects but namely me the intellect who's actually stupid #NOT AGAINST MERA AT ALL I love and respect her #Just wanted to essay my love and appreciation for all the work put into cheshire that I've been able to unravel

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feral-and-or-horny · 2 years

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Personally, I'd love the makeup preferences infodump if you're willing to share with the class 👀

Okay, so my favorite and now go to brand is e.l.f., because their stuff is very high quality while still being extremely affordable. ESPECIALLY their makeup cleasing balm, I need to get some more tbh, but it lasts a really long time, and it works super well and its very moisturizing, which is always a plus. I will say im not a huge fan of their eyeliners, but they're not actually bad. I have a pencil liner from them I love, but its not my go to. I almost exclusively use Kat Von D's tattoo liner, because it goes on so smoothly and it stays super well throughout the day.

I'm also super loyal to my brow pencil and powder, but honestly i have no idea what the brand is. Its the same kind of brow tool i got when I first started doing makeup, and when it runs out i juat go to target and I recognize it by the pakaging. Its just too good to change anything about it, yknow?

Now for eyeshadow..well I admittedly have an addiction. I dont know how many I own, but in my defense, I do use them all fairly regularly. My current favorites though are all from this small business I found through tiktok called Dazzle Me Dead Cosmetics, and these are the palettes I have (I strongly encourage zooming in on the Karen palette to read the shade names, they're 👌👌👌👌):

I do have another pallette I use regularly, but then I learned more about the creator and I very much dont support them, so I wont share that pallette and I dont buy anything from them anymore.

I also have a lipstick addiction, mostly reds, and glosses because I have a violent opposition to wearing nude lip colors. I'll have to share pictures of my lips stuff later 😅

One last brand recommendation (because lowkey I love good marketing): Beauty Bakerie.

All their products are themed to baked goods, like their flour setting powder, blending egg sponges, makeup brushes that resemble cooking tools, etc., and I've never been disappointed in anything I got from them. They're great and everything they make is absolutely adorable.

#beauty bakerie's primer comes in a container that looks like a stick of butter!!!#my answer

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anandabrat · 2 years

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So my dear friend @ride2fly has been locked out of her Tumblr because, possibly, her email is in the system incorrectly, but anyway she has given me the honor of posting her contribution to Bering and Wells Appreciation Week!

This is her very first fic, and was originally written to only me, perhaps in self-defense as I often send her my own mad ravings and scribbles. She says she hopes you all enjoy her silly idea, and that she wrote it for me because I'm her favorite (aww, blush.)

Anyway, without further ado...

Bering and Wells, Gay Pirate edition!

“I mean. Mutiny is the only answer. “

“We can’t keep following this guy. “

“She’s a lady.

“Is she though? Like can you be a lady if you just abandoned your husband and child and just like peaced out to be a pirate?”

Claud says nothing of course, but he does look up from under his broad hat to give Steven Jinks a hard look.

Olu clears his throat, breaking the weird silent tension between his ship mates.

“She pays us though. Like. Really well.”

“Yeah but we haven’t even done anything. We are pirates man. We should be pillaging. When I was on Blackbeards’ crew —“

The collective moan cuts off Black Pete from whatever lie he was about to tell. He blusters but no one wants to hear it.

“We don’t have to do anything. She pays us for nothing. I mean really it’s a sweet gig,” Frenchie squints into the sun while he says this, not fully committing in any way.

“Is it though? Like is it really? It feels to me like we have truly hit bottom. There is no where lower we could sink than working for a woman pretending to be a pirate.” Jinx looks hard at Claud again. And Claud again says nothing since Claud is a mute.

“Steven Jinx my good man! Can you come here for a moment I’m in need of a scribe!”

The crew moans a little, less concerned with nearly being caught talking of mutiny than you would have imagined them to be. Jinx stands up and saunters off as well as you can on a boat. Everyone watches him leave because why wouldn’t you.

“He makes some good points,” Wee John starts. “Sailing with a woman is bad luck. “

“Unless that woman is Blackbeard,” Black Pete starts but everyone starts shouting at once about how Blackbeard doesn’t count since she made a deal with the Devil, since she is ghost, she’s not a real woman she’s a siren, she’s both male and female, and loudest of all is Artie shouting that Black Pete never sailed with Blackbeard anyways so what would he know.

Black Pete rubs a hand over his bald head. His cleft palette gives him a slight lisp but no one says shit about it because they are pirates not bullies.

“You can bet Blackbeard is not paying her crew for not pillaging that’s all I’m saying. Captain’s gotta go. “

~*~

Steve opens the door to the captain’s rooms. They are resplendent. The walls are shelved and the shelves are full of books. Beautiful, leather bound books. The kind of books no one should have on a ship, and the kind of books one should certainly not lend out to the crew if they want some “light reading”. Steve is pretty certain he is the only member of the crew who can read. If Captain knew that she would probably start lessons. Then there would be mutiny for sure.

“Ah Steve, there you are. Thank you for your promptness,” the Captain is seated at her desk, maps spread all over it. She takes off a pair of reading glass, folds them with a snap, sets them inside their case but doesn’t shut it. She pushes her chair and stands up, smoothing her hands over the peacock blue silk of her mantua, fluffing her sleeves ever so slightly. Her costume is a much slimmed down version of what she used to wear daily — she has a hooped petticoat or two with her of course but she doesn’t wear one on the ship. Her dark hair is up off of her neck in an attractive twist, pearl drops hang from her ears and a locket is around her neck.

Helena Wells left her husband six months ago. Society believes she was killed in a tragic accident while riding side saddle in the woods on the land her family stole from the Spanish, who stole it from the Kalinigo people. In fact she did not die but was spirited away and deposited on her ship, the Revenge.

Christopher had just turned 15 the previous winter. Helena and Martin commissioned the ship with the intent that Helena and Christopher would sail together when it was finished. Mother and son were both enthusiastic about being out on the ocean, but Martin had no stomach for sailing or desire to explore outside of his set of rooms.

Helena hoped she would have the ship finished and crewed quickly enough to get the heck out of Barbados before the Royal Navy got wind of her sweet boy who possessed a fierce talent for navigation as well as a knack for languages. The Royal Navy had been stealing — impressment they called it — young men in Barbados with a knack for sailing. They claimed to not take anyone younger than 18, but they were known to take boys as young as 14.

She was too late, a mistake she would not be making again.

“Did you have a task for me, Captain?” Please let there be a letter to write or more clouds to draw. Steve sends a silent prayer to the heavens. Please don’t ask about crew morale.

“How is the crew? Everyone adjusting well enough?”

Steve takes a breath, hesitating for less than a beat before replying, “Artie keeps licking the air.”

“I’m beginning to suspect he is a witch,” Captain Wells her tone bright and bemused. “I’ve never observed anyone else uses all their senses to navigate — and his accuracy is supernatural. A witch for certain. Splendid.”

“Have you known many navigators?” Steve probes. All he knows — all anyone knows — is that Helena Wells was born a wealthy lady and appears to have lost her freaking mind to become a pirate queen. Only she doesn’t seems to be crazy at all — in fact she is possibly the smartest person Steve has spent any length of time with. Her knowledge of sailing, navigation, astronomy, and modern medicine is almost as unbelievable as Artie being able to sense weather changes with his oral faculties.

Her motives for abandoning her family and taking to the sea are the source of much speculation among the crew.

“Probably she was just bored,” is always Olu’s response when the other ask him what he thinks drove the lady over the edge and into the sea. Claud says nothing of course, but his shoulders tend to get stiff and then he finds something to do elsewhere.

“I bet she was slowly poisoning her husband and he got wise to her and she bugged out before he could kill her a proper way. With a knife. In the heart.” Black Pete’s imagination is not boundless and his stories usually include stabbing of some sort.

“Poisoning is a woman’s way,” Frenchie agrees. “But I don’t think you could catch her if she put her mind to it. Probably she was having an affair and was supposed to meet him here on the ship and he never showed. She’s got that lost love look to her. Always rubbing that locket.”

This sets everyone back on their heels a bit and then they start trying to guess to themselves which if any of them could be the Captain’s secret lover. Which then makes everyone rather jumpy over the next few days.

Artie is the only one who knows more than he is saying. Mostly because he knows more about pretty much everything and everyone else talks too much. Except for Claud.

~*~

Meanwhile… across the ocean a ways, aboard a vessel feared by all, a woman dressed in black, aches for a way out of her dull, predicable life.

~*~

Artie knocks on Captain’s door. He has another missive that just arrived via his best friend, familiar, and Seagull, Karl. Helena and Christopher have been communicating by secret feathered post

for a few months now. Christopher is currently safe at a British outpost nearby where they send the young men born of high society to fast track them to being officers. While not high born, Christopher’s captain quickly realized that he would be wasted serving on a ship as cannon fodder. Helena taught him languages, navigation, and basic cartography skills. She is thankful that these skills have kept her boy off of a warship, but her plans to rescue him have grown tangled. She has finally come to the conclusion that she has to sit and wait for an opportunity. And also probably learn some piracy so that she can keep her crew alive.

“It’s best that we put into harbor for a few days. Republic of Pirates is nearby,” Artie informs her. “We need to make a wee bit of racket there. Just a very wee bit — just enough that no one takes it in there head to pick us off and steal the ship.”

“Excellent plan. I’m sure the crew could do with some shore leave as well. Plot the course and make it so, number one!” Helena is positively jovial after a message from Christopher. They write short messages in a secret code that pretty much add up to “I’m fine I love you,” but that’s enough.

~*~

The Republic of Pirates does not smell like Helena thought it would. She was imagining it to be more of a rum and body oder situation. Instead it smells like fermenting peppers, spicy and bitter. She is completely second guessing her outfit choice but there is nothing she can do about it now, so she throws her shoulders back and holds her head high. She’s wearing a dress of the finest silk, pale pink in color, with a black lace stomacher. She did not dawn her wig which she is very grateful for right now, her hair is low on her neck, curls falling across her shoulders.

The crew makes their way through the streets, stopping and chatting to people they know. All the pirates know each other, it seems. There is some chatter about going in a bar and before she knows it, Helena is stooping and squinting in the dark of Mrs. F’s Bar.

It is a greasy grimy place. The vinegar smell is now overpowering. Helena stands in the doorway, flanked on either side by Steve and Artie. Claud and Olu have disappeared into the darkest corner of the bar. Claud is somehow hiding even more of his face with his hat, which seemed impossible but maybe he made the brim bigger.

Helena clears her throat and walks into the dark room to the bar at the center rear. There are large jars with various flotsam floating in them. She goes about her business, ordering a nasty drink that nearly gives Steve a coronary, making a big show of being the new bossy lady in town. She does a fair job — took some theater in her youth — and for the most part, she is believed.

But. Deep in the darkest corner of the bar, a man sits. He swirls his drink in his glass and drinks the whole thing in one gulp. He reaches for his leather gloves and pulls them on, flexing his fingers. He’s seen what he came to see, and now it is time to report back to the boss.

Artie gives Helena a signal, letting her know that he thinks she has accomplished their mission. She misses the signal though because the witch is always playing with his nose so finally he has to cough and harrumph loudly to get her attention. They exit the bar, confident that they have avoided future confrontations with their fellow pirates for the time being.

Less confident about avoiding food poisoning.

~*~

“She’s hiding something.” The man from the bar had entered the hold of a ship. It is dark and musty smelling. He stands in the doorway. A figure is curled up in the round window at the stern of the room. When Pete Lattimer speaks, she unfurls herself like a lion and shakes out her mane before wrapping a dirty bandana around her forehead.

“Everyone is hiding something — that means literally nothing,” she replies with her back to him. Pete rolls his eyes. Takes a deep breath before replying:

“Okay, fair. She’s hiding a big something but she’s… She’s like… you ever play that game? With the little wooden pieces on the board?”

“Chess.” She shakes out a shirt that was once white and sniffs it.

“No… "

“Checkers.” She throws the shirt back on the floor.

“No it’s got the funny name. “

“Backgammon.” She continues to rummage, looking for something cleaner to wear but she is only fooling herself. The black leather pants and the tightly laced vest she wears will most likely dress her corpse.

“No. Fuck. Nine Men’s Morris. That’s the one. She’s got the game memorized. She plays from memory but like… she’s got no improv.”

“And she thinks she is already endgame.” She loops a belt around her waist and tucks a pistol into a holster.

“Exactly.”

“Dangerous?” She unsheathes her blade and sees her face reflected there, hollow and glassy eyed. She replaces the blade with a snap.

Pete snorts. He is picturing Helena in her fine pink silk, playing pirate.

“The Lady Pirate? Unlikely. But.”

Myka Bering finally turns and faces him. Pete Lattimer is a thief, a murderer, a teetotaler, and a brother.

“You’ve got a vibe.”

“There is something wrong here. With her.”

“Excellent.” Myka grins wickedly and follows Pete out the door into the bitter air.

~*~

The crew sees the dingy leave the large ship off the starboard bow. Three figures dressed in black.

“What do you suppose they’re up to?” Frenchie muses out loud after his turn with the spyglass.

“Could be anything,” Black Pete murmurs.

“Anything? Really?” Olu scoffs. “I’m pretty sure it’s just one thing. They’re coming over here to negotiate a surrender.”

“Shut up!“ Artie barks. He only yells when he is scared. “Someone go wake the Captain.”

Frenchie draws the short straw. He opens the door to the captain’s quarters. The shades are drawn over the large windows. Helena has been very, very sick since drinking God knows what at Mrs. F’s bar. Steve was not ill because he had the good sense to spit. However he has been pretending to be sick and is currently holed up in Claud and Oluwande’s room after seeing something he wasn’t supposed to (namely Claud’s boobs. Which they have because they were assigned female at birth. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the crew figures it out but for this moment, Steve’s lips are sealed.)

“Captain,” Frenchie calls into the dark. “We’ve got a situation. There’s a dingy headed right for us. And the ship she hails from. She’s big captain. And mean. The colors she’s flying… it’s Blackbeard. We’re certain.”

Helena is pretty sure she is gonna die here, on this boat, of dysentery. She read about treating such sickness with water laced with salt slowly and consistently. Roach recommended a banana so Helena somehow got that down as well. Still. She was pretty sure she might never leave this bed.

But. She is the Captain. And the Captain must be present when someone is boarding her boat. Especially if that someone is Blackbeard. So Helena girds her loins and throws on robe, cinches it tight, and makes it all the way to the doorway before she passes out.

French calls for help and Olu helps him get Helena back into bed.

“Well. Been nice knowing you.”

“Same.”

~*~

They do not get murdered by the pirates (the other pirates) at this time. Instead everyone of them is so completely starstruck, they’ve completely forgotten that just moments ago they were pretty sure they were about to be murdered.

“Why do they call her Blackbeard though?” Steve asks his shipmates. They are all sitting together, still a little unsure if they are about to be murdered, but mostly just having the time of their lives. “ She’s not Black and she doesn’t have a beard nor is she a beard… I don’t get that vibe off Pete.”

Pete Lattimer has hushed bent together with another pirate. He growls at the prisoners to shut up but he is ignored.

“Well I'm Black Pete and I’m not Black either.”

“Yeah I also don’t get that,” Steve smirks.

“A story for another time. Blackbeard is called Blackbeard because all anyone could see when she was murdering them was that gorgeous hair blowing around all sexy it just looked like a beard. Flowing. In the wind.”

“That can’t be it,” Wee John protests.

Frenchie agrees, “yeah that doesn’t sound right at all. Where did she even go? She moves like a ghost?”

“I think she’s in with the captain,” Steve is pretty she he should also be in there recording everything but alas.

“Captain is gonna get a shock when she wakes up to find fucking Blackbeard standing over her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she drops dead,” Black Pete had more to say but once again the crew is throwing shit at him telling him to shut up.

~*~

Myka isn’t sure what she was expecting to feel when she saw Helena, but she knows that she isn’t feeling it. She thought… all she knows she feels like crying. Like you do when you’re a child and you’ve skinned your knee and you don’t cry until your mother scoops you up. You don’t cry until you feel safe.

She sits beside Helena for a little over an hour. Watching her sleep, and then looking around the ridiculous room. She runs her hands over the leather-bound spines of the books but she doesn’t pull any of them out to turn the pages. her hands are too dirty for that.

Finally Helena stirs. Myka reaches out for her hands to soothe her, to make sure she’s not afraid when she wakes up, and then pulls back at the last second. Helena opens her eyes.

“It’s you,” she says.

Myka, for just a beat, wonders if she herself is dreaming and that this is what Prince Charming must feel. She feels an unfamiliar smile start to break her face apart and she smothers it.

“You’re fevered,” she finally croaks.

“Do you work for Blackbeard?”

Myka nearly laughs but then she furrows her brow.

“Yeah, I guess I do. Hadn’t really thought of it that way.” Somehow this wasn’t the conversation she thought they would be having. She tried to imagine this part so many times and it can go so many different ways.

“I’m Helena. Helena Wells. I’m more than a little embarrassed about the state I’m in.” Helena sits up with Myka’s help and mops her brow with a white handkerchief.

Uncertain of what to do next, a most unusual feeling for her, makes Myka chokes a little as she returns the handshake and says “I’m Myka Bering.” Helena doesn’t react to her name, and a dagger is plunged into Myka’s breast.

“Yes, well. I seem to have recovered to enough to go down with the ship. Does Blackbeard only employ women? I’ve heard she is remarkable. Read mostly.”

Myka hesitates for a moment. Part of her knows she should end this game and put her Blackbeard pants back on. But the other part. The part that has been bored fucking silly. The part that she left behind when she left home as a teenager, to find her fortune and maybe some fame, to return home triumphant. The part that longs for a happy ending for herself however unlikely that might be. That part of her wins because she wants to be with Helena a moment longer. Life is pain and sometimes the pain reminds us we are alive.

“You’ll meet her soon enough. She does employ a lot of women but men, too. Whoever can stomach the work really.” Myka stands up and lifts her arms over head, shaking herself out like a rumpled blanket. “You have so many books. It’s just...”

“Amazing isn’t it?” Helena reaches for her robe and drapes it around herself, belting it with its gold sash. The robe is deep scarlet and makes the fevered flush of her cheeks more pronounced.

“Yeah sure but also. Boat. Water. Books. Not the most practical plan but then you….” Myka looks at Helena and then looks away again, pretending to be peering at titles. “You must be a great reader.”

“I love books. Windows into other times and places… so many different lives to live. Nothing is better than a good mystery, a romance.”

“You’re a romantic? And you became a pirate? Did you read the job description?”

Helena grins and walks over to the bookcase on the closest wall. “A job is what you make of it and life deserves some romantic adventure!” She reaches for a book but when she pulls it out, a secret door to her left opens inward. She turns to Myka, triumphant.

Myka laughs. Full on from the belly laughter. “You have to be fucking kidding me. Are you insane?”

“Life’s a story right? If I get to write my own there will surely be secret passages,” Helena replies laughing along with Myka, her fever forgotten. What a sound! She would do anything to make this person laugh like that again. “You wanna see inside?”

Myka breathes out in a big slow breath. “Hell yes,” she hears herself answer. Myka’s heart was a secret garden and the walls were very high. She felt as though she and Helena were standing atop the walls having flown there from a great distance. She was pretty sure they were about to fall. Was it the walls crumbling, or were they being pushed?

*~*

“You’re a witch,” the pirate who called herself Myka Bering says after looking around for a moment.

“No. Artie is the witch. I’m an alchemist. I like knowing how things work and why and I study the stars. I also dabble — dabble mind you — in medicine. This is my equipment. My laboratory.” Helena has not shown another soul this room. She is not embarrassed, rather she is so proud that she doesn’t want anyone else to shatter her joy. Why she is trusting this Myka person with this secret… she blames the fever. Who is this woman? She’s like flying too close to the sun.

“Wow. A Lady Pirate, a secret lab. You are full of surprises,” Myka grins at her and raises one eyebrow. Helena fells flushed and again tells herself it is the fever. Myka smirks as though she has read her mind. The moment is spoiled when they hear a noise from the other room.

Another pirate has entered the room and calls for Myka. She is dark skinned and has long curly dark hair. She also wears leather from head to toe and has a long wicked looking blade at her hip.

Helena peers at her through the secret peep hole (naturally) and whispers to Myka. “Is that Blackbeard?”

“No. That’s Leena. I’m Blackbeard.”

Helena turns her back on the peep hole and stares open mouthed at Myka. Myka cannot help it — she feels wicked from head to toe — and she winks at Helena. This and the fever that still grips Helena causes her to sway slightly and Myka is instantly by her side, her arm around Helena’s back, her rough hands taking Helena’s.

“I swear I’m not going to faint on you. My pride could not bare it,” she whispers.

“I promise not to tell if you do,” Myka whispers back.

Leena has given up on finding Blackbeard by now and the coast is clear. Myka leaves her arm around Helena, holds open the passage door, and helps her to the large sofa. Myka paces around, inebriated and agitated, finally coming to stand at Helena’s desk.

“Is this supposed to be me?”Myka squints incredulously at the pen and ink illustration in the tome Helena has open, resting on all of her maps. The imfamous Blackbeard the caption reads. The drawing has Myka standing on the bow of a burning ship, a saber in her hand, her hair blowing out and across her face. Her skirts are tattered and blowing open, revealing her legs to the knees. She is barefoot, bareheaded, and well… very very little of her breasts are not showing. The illustrator has pictured Myka about three times as well endowed as she is and her ample bosum is spilling from her stays.

“This is ridiculous. Who could fight in that? Barefoot have they ever been in a battle? There is shit and blood everywhere you don’t wanna step in that in your barefeet. And my boobs. What is going on — am I a wet nurse on the weekends? Holy hell.”

Helena laughs, a throatier laugh than Myka was expecting. She would rather like to hear that laugh again.

“Your actual costume is something I fear no man could conjure up from imagination. I don’t think I’ve ever seen full leather breeches on anyone, man or woman. And your vest…”

“So it is actually quite practical. Leather protects you from most glancing blows. Even a sharp sword has a little trouble.”

TO BE CONTINUED

#beringandwellsappreciationweek #bering and wells #myka bering #helena wells #au #warehouse 13

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nantilusa · 7 months

Text

The Rhapsodise; All shall be Harmonious Again

She ventured down a divergent road, where delight wore a novel face. She took the gospel of novelty he gifted, treating each twist of fate as mere casualties. consumed those scenery as a sketch of comedy misadventure at first, making no attempt to make any interconnection that in stages, and without her being aware of it, guiding her back to tranquility and ease.

Now she is walking in and take her risk, dancing in the joy that rising as high as her knees.

…

The foxy naked eyes staring at mine at the half four in the morning. Those eyes feels like a single star that offered a magnitude amount of affection, fondness, and warmth.

He whispered few question about myself, then we talked randomly about anything. The conversation goes very interesting. We ignored the tiredness, the heavy eyes, and continue telling each other about all ancient echoes of events that happened in our life.

His story unfurled with a cascade of daring exploits, his dreams where vulnerability and courage dancing harmoniously in the middle of it, his family, his obsession with reggae along with masculine things and the resonance of sound systems, and the unspoiled wonders of nature. He told his fleeting fascination with the cosmos as well, enthralling me with a tidbit of celestial Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri that illuminating the sky as the third-brightest star that trailing only behind the luminance of Sirius.

I, too, shared my own story. An account of the side of me that eternally thirsty for the novelty in life, how I engulfed myself in the enormity of something unreal, the collection of questions since time immemorial, the chart of stars, the flip of tarot cards, the rhythm of Mercury in retrograde, the chronically online personality of myself that intricacies in the complexity 4.0 of my mind.

Those sharp eyes never stops filled with enthusiastic stares, occasionally chimed in our conversation with jokes, gave more bread and questions along with the burn of new cigarettes. As the clock's ticking seemed to liquefy, it infused our conversation with an added layer of gentleness. Our eyes brimmed with enthusiasm, remaining vigilant as the sun itself stirred from its brief slumber.

…

The fresh line started with a series of amusing escapade. He brought me from the old restaurant, invited me to mingling with more place to go and discovering new nourishment. Charged and conversing me with bags of people. Subtly step aside with watering hole that felt like a comforting echo of what I yearned for the most.

As far as I can tell, he has consistently exhibited a haphazard, spontaneous, and unpredictable nature, which for me serves as a new refreshing palette of colors. His opinionated mind and unique perspective that reflecting his inner spirit shines through the tenderness from every conversation we had. Laid my eyes and changes my viewpoints on him as such exquisite beauty that is worthy of my sight.

I discovered a sanctuary. The familiar things from him gets conflated in the subconsciousness with the notion of safety in my mind. More like an incredible feeling of comfortable as I can confide anything to him without fear of judgment or harsh word, and profoundly, he has some sort of a high-ranking in showing his affection towards me.

A bauble of joy took over my life, fluttered like ribbons of elixir until the pernicious defenses comes again like a creeping seep, pressing my foot and annihilates my bold confidence to trusting this brand new amicable story. It’s giving me a cue about the taste of contentment, pleasure, and cheeriness in each new story begins. Jog me with the frightfulness of unpredictability and complexity. Filled me with the eerie of tasting the leisure as I realized it as something cliche.

The final bubbles, on the brink of my rationality, left me pondering what lay ahead for me. The boat of questions and the waves of sinister grow dim as I form an idea that life is undeniably a sequence of unforeseen twist and turns, so why not I align my path instead of questioning the enigmatic silhouettes that linger beyond my gaze.

I’m wondering if it was the right choice or just another instance of me impulsively leaping without considering the consequences, or this might be simply be another pattern of me avoiding the solitude season in my life once more. Nevertheless, I realize that life lies in the art of surmounting obstacles, therefore I let myself collect this unpredictable string as an amorous freedom as it if a sail of an elegant dance with the turbulent waves.

Complexity continued to assail me, accompanied by the anamnesis that tread upon the pages of concluding chapters and the ballet of changing seasons. Within those pages, I discovered the weight of excessive dependence and expectation, placed upon the once-giant livid couch, unbeknownst to me that my own toxicity had vandalized it.

The thought of closure endearing in my ears. Perhaps the closure that I need the most is something that force me to begin a new start, for myself. Verily, I sealed the tome's timeworn pages, then dipped my quill to inscribe upon the pristine canvas of a new chapter. Get under the way with a new pen and fraternize my things.

The first line goes with an arrangement that I just need to let the liquor, but not through my veins again. Walking carefully, but not like I’m in the chase of the police. Shifted my mind from autopilot to a state of mindfulness, cautious but be fond with the journey. Softening the moment as a plot that containing an instrument to navigate my descent, to at least cease the self-pity and commence my fresh chapter.

Now I’m owing to the fact that perhaps life is profound lessons have empowered me to rise from the plummeting plane and decisively flick the switch of fate. Perhaps the show must runs, and grant the right to me to show off in a different scarlet letter. Perhaps this season grasped me to embarked my perpetual journey of growing and transformation of mine.

Like a tranquil, expansive lake, I held onto that fleeting glimpse, yearning for solace on its distant shores, drawn by its delicate beauty, because I know all will be fine and I surely will be a fine line.

#thoughts #narrative #thought provoking #feelings

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