#✢ verse: save the kingdom to win the crown.

[smouldring]

“--so, it’s just up there.” She straightened, though her legs trembled, and pushed the hair from her face. The flickering grace at her feet shone brightly, but she did not bend to touch it; she had barely been able to stomach the sight of such embers since-- since the mountaintop. There would be no one to greet her when she sat to rest, so what was the point? Besides, she was so close now, and she had the strong feeling that, whatever lay ahead, she had no more need to convert her runes into strength. In fact--

       “I hope I know how to do this. It should be easy, right? I’m sure I have what I need.” Rennala’s Great Rune resided inside of her, as did all the others. The Rune of the Unborn, with the ability to draw the experience from one’s body and convert it back into its base form. If she was correct in her theory ( how strange, that she should have a theory, like some sort of scholar! ), then she could bring all of this to an end just as it had began. But first, she had to succeed. 

       The Rune Arc burned her hands as she held it aloft, crushing it between her fingers. Its golden glow formed the path to guide Rennala’s slumbering rune to the surface, and Merri grasped weakly at her chest as it drew itself forth. “Great Rune of the Unborn,” she said, in a voice she hoped befitted a lord, “answer my call. Let the Elden Ring be reborn, here. Take the shards from my body, and revert them to their state of origin. Make of them a Rune of Mending, that I might see the world made whole. Heed my words, come forth and let this thing be done.”

       She had been prepared for pain. Had pain not been her constant companion, from waking all the way to the door of the most holy? She had won these runes with pain; she would give them up with pain. Each speck of light and power peeled itself from her skin, burning as they went, and she could feel herself wavering, and her vision began to swim as her face turned pale and her lips went white. But she did not stop, did not even dare to move, until every bit of gold, every mark of a hard-fought battle was gone from her and hovered before her in a hazy circle, meant to mend. 

       Breathing shakily, she steeled herself, then gave up the last of it: the Great Runes of all the other lords, the anchor and the rot and the smoldering resistance, the base and the mark of blasphemy and the blood and its phantom. She took them in her hands, and pulled the Mending Rune to her, and pressed them close and pushed. She pushed, and she pushed, and she felt them harden against her skin. She felt the circle take shape, and coalesce, and the fire became metal, became solid, and finally, became still.

       Her knees hit the ground, and she just managed to catch herself on one elbow before her face followed. Sweat poured from her brow; her hair clung to her skull and cheeks, and spit and vomit and blood flecked her lips grotesquely. Slowly, slowly, she raised her head, and beheld the Elden Ring, clutched in her charred fingers. For a moment, there was silence. And then she laughed, and then she cried, and the tears came fast and hot. “Oh, Elden Ring,” she warbled, smiling, shaking. “All this, all of this, for something so small? Oh, oh--” Her forehead touched down to the stones, and her shoulders heaved and her lungs worked like bellows. All the while, the ring glittered in her grasp, perfect and unassuming in its perfection.

       In increments, her weeping ceased. She wiped her cheeks, the snot from her nose, the little strands of hair from where they had tangled into her eyes. And then she rose again, a bit at a time, and looked upon the Elden Ring once more. “Alright, little ring. You won’t believe what I’ve done to get here. And I’m afraid we won’t be together for long. I need you to grant me a wish, understand? I’ve given you something new. If it worked -- if I did this right -- you’ll know what to do.” The stairs to the Erdtree crackled quietly, and Merrimac nodded to herself, and carefully, deliberately slipped the ring onto her finger. “Let’s go, then. Who knows? Maybe we’ll find Melina inside, and I’ll show her what I’ve done.”

[whateverafterhigh]

Worldbuilding Succession Systems: Goodfallow

Most of what we see or hear when it comes to the succession systems in the universe that Ever After High is set in relates to fairytales and the inheritance of specific character roles. Many of the fairytale royalty are born into their royal bloodlines or otherwise marry in. But there are some kingdoms where things aren’t as easy as that. One such kingdom is the Good King’s Kingdom – which I named Goodfallow in another post.

The Good King is a fairytale character, but his role in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is small. In fact, depending on the adaption of the story you read he might have already died by the time the story has officially begun. He’s not quite dead yet in the series, seeing as he’s still raising Raven Queen, but it is never acknowledged that Raven is in line for the throne. Not even as a “Hey, maybe Raven has her dad’s destiny…” kind of way, which you would expect given Raven is constantly fighting for any destiny other than her mother’s. Going that route might seem like too easy a fix to acknowledge in the series, especially early on, no matter how powerful a red herring that would be for the readers. It could have even been used to make Grimm start to worry on whether or not he actually guessed right when it comes to writing the fake book. Grimm doubting himself would have been great, even more so if it’s a big thing to have forgotten that the Good King needs an heir too.

The potential for drama aside, there must have been something else that made everyone think they were right so conclusively (and I’m not speaking of the gendered characters, there are too many female characters who have their father’s destinies for that to be the reason).

Then I had an idea.

The Goodfallow Crown

I wanted to create a succession system for Goodfallow that would be able to stand up to the Storybook of Legends on something akin to even ground. Obviously, I didn’t want it to have such a grand scale. But I knew I wanted something magical, and I knew I wanted it to be possible that the Storybook of Legends (the original) could guess wrong. (I mean what even is the point of having an antagonist as powerful and insufferable as Headmaster Grimm if he wasn’t able to grasp at some straws to save face and avoid even the harshest of punishments?). Still I wanted Grimm to be arrogant enough that he wouldn’t have worried about Raven’s position as the Evil Queen until she was throwing the book in his face on Legacy Day.

This meant I needed something with so many possibilities that something like the Storybook of Legends would have a hard time even coming up with the most likely outcome for the Next Good King. Something that could be affected up until the moment that the Good King has been crowned. And something that had the magical power to break the magical contract to the Storybook of Legends that signing it would create without extensive repercussions – something that would cause a page to fall out on its own if need be.

Also it needed to be something that played into what a Good King should be, it is what is choosing the reigning monarch after all.

In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Evil Queen is defined by her attitude and treatment of the kingdom’s people, so it only makes sense that the Good King be defined in the same way. So I played with the idea of the Good King being an elected position that passed down the bloodline out of convenience and all the things that real life kings and queens have to do to make sure that the people don’t start up a revolution. Something like the Sword in the Stone from King Arthur’s legends could do that, the same could be said for Thor’s Hammer (though I wasn’t actually thinking of Mjolnir when spider-mapping ideas).

I couldn’t see it being an actual sword, as cool as it would be for the Good King to actually have the kingdom’s blessing of sorts to raise his sword at those who wronged him. And after reading the fairytale Prince Darling, where there is a ring that pricks the young Prince on the finger every time he does something wrong in hopes that it will make him into a good person, I thought of using a crown.

The Goodfallow Crown, named such because it is the physical manifestation of the collective will of all the citizens of Goodfallow ticks a lot of the boxes for what I wanted.

It’s magic, powerful enough to break the bindings created by the Storybook of Legends because I’m the author and I say so. A lot of citizens in Goodfallow mean a lot of different possibilities for whether or not they think a candidate is the best for the Good King. It can still be meddled with before the inheritance ceremony, popularity and propaganda are going to be important – the same goes for whether or not a candidate knows what they’re doing. In turn this could be what makes Grimm so arrogant in his assertions that Raven will have her mother’s destiny.

The students at Ever After High are shown to be scared of Raven to the point they scream and run away from her. At the start of the books she assumes that this is just a side effect from her destiny as her mother had mentioned that something of the sort would happen when she reached a certain age. But it could be argued that this has more to do with how bullying of Raven (or any supposedly-evil-aligned character) was encouraged by Grimm or other members of the faculty, high tensions from how close Legacy Day is for her etc. Because Raven does get more popular as the books go on, and because the characters act a similar way in the beginning of the show’s canon it could be argued that she get’s popular enough to win Thronecoming.

But it’s not just Raven’s lack of popularity. Grimm makes all the final class decisions when it comes to what subject’s students can take, so he can ensure that Raven never takes classes that would prepare her for being the Good King (Kingdom Management, Throne Economics, etc…) and then there’s the low possibility that the people of Goodfallow would accept someone who willingly signs up to potentially marry the king of a neighbouring country, abuse their power, and even get arrested or die before having kids as their Ruler. This is one case where the Storybook of Legends doesn’t need to be real for the damage to be done. And Grimm has no reason to not be arrogant about his guesses until Legacy Day where Raven declares she wants to write her own destiny on the in-verse equivalent of international television he’s not going to worry too much.

The tangent into Grimm’s motives and assumptions show that having Goodfallow’s succession system be like this will only add another layer to some of the things going on in the series, and this can even be applied to other characters too. Raven would have grown up in a kingdom where your actions mean more then what you say, so even agreeing to sign the Storybook of Legends and live her own life after would have not been in the cards for her (not to mention it would cheapen Apple’s own story if she asked that of Raven), and Queen White would have also grown up in Goodfallow given the Good King is her father as well, and that could add a really interesting layer to her own character and her obsession with popularity. Especially in the context of the Class of Classics comic which shows that Snow was once a studious student like Apple was but has now seemingly forgone that in favour of focusing on popularity (which is the same in the books as well as Dragon Games). It certainly speaks of there being more to her character then what we’ve gotten.

Now it’s just a matter of figuring out how the Good Fallow Crown works.

It seems a bit much to have someone attempt to wear the crown for the first time on their coronation, and I’m also understanding of the fact that it’s technically headwear and therefore can’t get heavier if the kingdom seems to disagree with an idea or something else – also Goodfallow isn’t a hivemind? So there would need to be some kind of inheritance test. Perhaps for officially declaring a Crown Prince or Princess.

Historically, Crown Princes or Princesses seem to given the title when they are ready for it. With the announcement happening sometime between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, unless their parents were dead, and they were ruling through a Regent. Raven is fifteen when Legacy Day takes place so sixteen seems like a more reasonable time for the ceremony to happen. Though obviously some of the kingdoms would name their children the Crown Prince or Princess earlier (I’m thinking Briar and Hopper might have been given their titles when their Magic Touch developed, given its significance to their stories).

So the sixteen year old heir would try the crown on. It would be impractical for the circle of people who can hold or lift the crown to be small a la Thor’s Hammer, especially when it’s the literal Will of the People. So, magical girl transformation?

Very basic, plain clothes are to be worn with no jewellery – because you might lose it otherwise. If the people agree with the Prince or Princess being a good candidate for the throne then they’ll get decked out in finery when the magic is a match. If not then there’s no change. (Not that that prevents rumours from spreading to the contrary).

“Rumour has it the Evil Queen tried to wear the crown once and it set her on fire.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, that’s why her hair is like that now.”

Of course, the changes don’t stop at the Inheritance Ceremony. Just because the Goodfallow Crown doesn’t get infinitely heavier when the Good King does something the people don’t agree with that doesn’t mean that nothing happens. Raven’s dad is described as being bald in the books, and I like to think that the reason for that is the people of Goodfallow not agreeing with him marrying the Evil Queen, while still understanding why he did it. But there would likely be other affects as well. Such as increased stress, anxiety, paranoia, etc. Maybe a lack of motivation in his day to day life? I don’t know, but the Goodfallow Crown does take the phrase “Heavy is the head that wears the crown” to a whole new meaning.

I love the whole thought of this, as evidenced by the fact it takes up almost three whole pages in a Word Document. Definitely one of my favourite pieces of worldbuilding I’ve done for any fandom ever.

[destielficarchive]

Deleted Author Profile: TamrynEradani

Author and co-author of more than 50 fics, for a while TamrynEradani was one of the most popular authors in the fandom, especially known for their break-out BDSM fic, “Carry On.” They’re also one of the easiest deleted authors to talk about, because they gave warning before they deleted so people could save files and (as far as I know, anyway) gave blanket permission for copies of their works to be distributed. 

Work Highlights:

Carry On, and its Timestamp (Explicit). 148,087 words (main story); 5,985 words (timestamp). No Archive Warnings Apply.

When Sam gets into Stanford, Dean needs a bigger paycheck than Bobby's garage can give him. Luckily, he knows a guy.

This is the original summary but it unfortunately gives little idea of what Carry On is actually about; basically, from a “fandom history” stand point, Carry On (written in 2013) created the BDSM genre for the Destiel fandom. While of course it wasn’t the first Destiel BDSM fic, and far from the only one even at the time it was published, it was such a major work in terms of popularity, and so well known and widely read that, especially in 2014 and 2015, almost every BDSM story that came out bore echoes of Carry On. The basic premise is: Dean needs money for Sam’s tuition, and so he decides to become a sub-for-hire, and is hired by Cas. Sound familiar? Well, Carry On did it first. (don’t take this as a judgement call or a statement on the quality of Carry On or any of the works that came after).

(Archivist’s Note: don’t expect me to write quite so much about every story, but unlike the vast majority of the fics in the Archive, I actually read Carry On, when it was still up on AO3, and so I can speak a little more than usual to it’s backstory and plot.)

Set Me Up, Buttercup (Teen+). 30,071 words. No Archive Warnings Apply.

Dean is the starting setter for his college's volleyball team. His plans for the year include winning Conferences, passing his classes, kicking Benny's butt at basketball, and making sure Ash remembers to eat and bathe on a semi-regular basis. He doesn't plan on meeting Cas Milton but once he does, Dean's carefully planned year changes.  

TamrynEradani’sentry to the 2013 Dean/Cas Bing Bang is a college AU with art by crimsonswirls.

Time of My Life (Teen+). 35,940 words. No Archive Warnings Apply.

Dean Winchester is an ice dancer who is scrambling to find a new partner after his couldn't skate with him anymore. Castiel is an ice dancer who can't seem to keep a partner. They're each other's last chance but can they also be each other's best chance?

It’s been years since I read this but irc, Time of My Life isn’t a Cutting Edge AU - TamrynEradani had never seen the movie, I think is in one of their author’s notes - but if you’ve seen the movie you’d never guess that. As the summary makes clear it’s not a precise overlap, but there’s definite commonalities.

The Dean Smith ‘Verse (Explicit). 6 stories, 28,483 words. No Archive Warnings Apply.

Dean Smith is a man of routine. Castiel takes him apart.

Another BDSM AU; Dean Smith becomes the sub for Cas. As a side note, the verse includes a threesome with Benny, but is most definitely primarily a Destiel AU.

This Crooked Fish, co-written with clotpoleofthelord (Explicit). 3 stories, 52,249 words.

With the first Lady Knight in centuries, a tournament and Progress to honor a Royal Marriage, and the Crown Prince falling in love with the King of the Rogues, it's certainly not going to be a boring year in the kingdom of Tortall.

Written with Tamryneradani, who is no longer on the internet.

Note that This Crooked Fish is still available on AO3.

Interested in any of these or other works by TamrynEradani? There is a publicly accessible list of their most popular works, with links to download them, that can be found here. (the archive also reblogged this post earlier this week)

Or, click on the read more below to see a list of which TamrynEradani fics are available in the Archive, and which we’re still looking for!

Warning: While I am willing to distribute what I have - please contact me by DM for more information - if I hear anything from the author or their representative asking me not to distribute these fics I will cease to do so. Thank you for understanding!

Fics by TamrynEradani currently in the Destiel Fic Archive:

A Glimpse of the World

A Lesson in Communication

An Empty Heart and a Full Clip 1: An Empty Heart and a Full Clip

An Empty Heart and a Full Clip 2: Graduation Party

Baking Season

Beloved

Both Sides Now

Carry On 1: Carry On

Carry On 2: Five Times Sam and Cas Met

Dean Smith Verse 1: Delayed Gratification

Dean Smith Verse 2: Who I Am When I'm With You

Dean Smith Verse 3: Positive Reinforcement

Dean Smith Verse 4: Work It

Dean Smith Verse 5: Weekend Getaway

Dean Smith Verse 6: Caught in Between

Don't Stop Believing

Employee of the Month

Games We Play

Get Out Alive

He Prayed to You Every Night

Heavenly Delights

Here in Your Arms

Hero

His Mother's Son

I Can Haz Kittenz

I'm Sorry

If You Rock the Boat, You're Gonna Get Splashed

Inside Your Heaven

Like a Human

Morning Sunshine

Mornings Like These

Most Obnoxious Angel in the Garrison 1: Paging the Righteous Man

Most Obnoxious Angel in the Garrison 2: Baked Lays and Nail Polish

My Morning Light

Never Enough

No Place Like Home

Now I See

Part of the Family

Patchwork Project

Peace of Mind

Rest for the Weary

Set Me Up, Buttercup

Softly Spoken, Softly Received

Take Us Home

Teacher Dean 1: New Students and New Beginnings

Teacher Dean 2: Tea Parties and Burritos

Teenage Rebellion

The Auction

The Dean Winchester Guide to Dating 1: Consent and Intent

The Dean Winchester Guide to Dating 2: Flowers are a Must

The Life of a Hunter

The Monster Within

Time of My Life

To Boldly Go

Unusual Combinations

Welcome to the Dork Side

What's in a Name

Whisper My Confessions to the Dark

Work It

Fics I Do Not Have Copies Of - IF YOU HAVE COPIES AND ARE WILLING TO SHARE THEM WITH ME, PLEASE CONTACT ME!

A Lifetime Special

Angels We Have Heard on High

Deck the Halls

Drive-In

Get Off My Beach

I Put Myself in Your Hands

My Pretty Boy

Speak Now

Tinfoil Dinners

Note: if you know of or have a copy of a TamrynEradani work that is on neither of the two lists just above, that means I don’t know said story even exists, and even if you don’t have a copy I’d appreciate if you could tell me the work title so I can try to find it. I do my best to be thorough, but tracking down full work lists for deleted authors is an imperfect art at best, and can be nigh-impossible at worst. Thank you!

[waitlifted]

verse write-up: change the fates design/tangled up

also referred to as the ‘reversed universe’. in this universe, cassandra was the one who discovered rapunzel’s tower instead of eugene, bringing her back home to corona and falling in love with her on the way. the initial fic that kicks off this universe can be found here.

more info under the cut, with warnings for usual tangled subjects, along with a healthy dose of themes of homophobia (don’t worry, it has a happy ending)

relationship: though they are a couple in this universe, they keep it ‘under raps’. cassandra is concerned that were anyone to find out about their relationship, she would be sent to a convent, and rapunzel married off in a political deal. rapunzel isn’t exactly happy with this arrangement, but she understands cassandra’s fears; still, it’s a point of tension between the two of them, much like the freedom-vs-security tension in her relationship with eugene in canon.

eugene: as he was delayed in his attempt to take the crown, when he does move to do so he gets caught by the guards. before he is executed, however, rapunzel finds out about his case, and she is horrified at him being sentenced to death for a theft. she spends a long time trying to reverse his sentence by any legal means possible, before eventually declaring him her prince-consort, which by precedent in herz der sonnes case comes with a full pardon. eugene knows it is a ruse to save his life, and finds out shortly after that it also doubles as cover for her relationship with cassandra; nevertheless he winds up catching feelings for her, much like cassandra in the main verse.

moonstone: cassandra does still take the moonstone in this verse, but the reasoning is different. since she already knows gothel is her mother from encountering her while rescuing rapunzel in the beginning, zhan tiri cannot use that as leverage; so instead, what she is shown in the house of yesterday’s tomorrow is the actual timeline in which eugene is the one who saves rapunzel and wins her heart, ‘explaining’ that it is the true timeline and that cassandra defying fate has nearly doomed the universe. so cassandra takes the moonstone because she believes it is the only way to save the world and specifically save rapunzel.

happily ever after: in the end, after zhan tiri is defeated and the kingdom returns to a sense of normal, rapunzel winds up proposing to cassandra, revealing that while she was gone, she spoke with her father and guaranteed there would be no issue with the two of them marrying. eugene goes back to the dark kingdom as a proper prince, ready to find his own fate. corona has two queens, and they couldn’t be happier together.

[aurora-daily]

Interview: AURORA

Interview by Laurie Shelly for Motley (December 3rd, 2019).

Norwegian singer Aurora talks to Laurie Shelly about writing songs to save the planet, finding power in being gentle, and lending her voice to Disney’s Frozen 2.

Aurora Aksnes grew up in a forest, because of course she did. Her family lived near Lysefjord, which translates as ‘fjord of light.’ “I miss Norway a lot,” she tells me when I talk to her in the hours before her show at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre in early November. “But I try to open my eyes instead and look out towards whatever city I’m in and focus on all the small little things that travelling can bring. But yes, I miss the silence and the trees.”

Her debut album, All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend, was released in 2016 when she was 19, and is full of surreal images; she sees faces made of sand and thousands of black water lilies in a magical river. Some of her verses are written in a made-up language of her own. Many of her songs have an otherworldly, slightly odd quality, as if they are not the handiwork of a human but instead were found at the bottom of the sea or heard in a strange dream. The 23-year-old is widely known for her cover of Oasis’s “Half the World Away,” which featured in the 2015 John Lewis Christmas ad (that one with the man on the moon), and Billie Eilish cites her enchanting song “Runaway” as the reason she decided to pursue music.

She says her current tour feels special. “When I first started playing shows six years ago, I hated it. I thought it was really scary and pointless and stressful and unnatural for me to be on stage. But after I while, I learned why playing live is so important,” she says. “I feel like my biggest mission with doing a show is to make sure people get time off to cry a bit and close their eyes and let go and dance and know that now, for one and a half hours, we’re a part of something beautiful and good.”

Aurora’s 2018 EP, Infections of A Different Kind (Step 1), has that same objective at its heart. It tells of a utopian kingdom, or “Queendom,” as she puts it, where everyone “can feel like they belong somewhere.” This past June, she released A Different Kind of Human (Step 2). The two-part “step” situation was her way of representing how one must look inward (Step 1) before they can effectively tackle the issues she explores in Step 2, namely the climate crisis.

A Different Kind of Human balances angry, aggressive tracks with quieter, sweeter moments. In “The Seed,” she chants the Native American proverb “when the last tree has fallen and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money,” while the title track, over warm, soft synths, reassures its listener that they need not feel isolated. She thinks anger and gentleness are completely linked. “Why do we have to be angry and strong, why do we have to fight? It’s because we fight for something we care about, because we’re trying to protect something, like a parent to a child, or a wolf mother to a cub. It’s about the soft core of things that we are trying to preserve.”

The music video for the album’s latest single, “Apple Tree,” is striking— Aurora cuts a Princess Mononoke-like figure against a barren landscape, covered in blood, warpaint around her eyes. She says she “always kind of co-directs” her videos because she has very particular visions about how they should be; she wanted this one to be “quite extreme.” “We are Mother Earth and we are bleeding on behalf of the world and everything in it,” she says of herself and the dancers in the video. “We’re in pain and our muscles are aching, but we have to keep on dancing for Mother Earth.” She puts a lot of thought into her music’s paratext. “I even know what colours I want to have on the live show, I think about all of it, it’s all connected.”

Aurora comes across as exceptionally optimistic. During our conversation, she talks about how humans have “failed each other,” but she always follows that up with very hopeful affirmations about things will hopefully be better “one day.”  “To even have the courage to try to win the battle against global warming you have to have so much hope,” she says. Does it ever feel overwhelming, putting so much energy into making art about a potential ecocatastrophe? “It does, but in a good way,” she says. “For me, it’s just really helpful, and, of course, intense, but in a helpful way. When I’ve made a song, I feel like I’ve crafted an impossible subject into something solid that I can sing again and again and share.”

The natural and the electronic play off each other very interestingly in her music, which hybridises imagery of rivers, animals and apple trees with the clean, sharp sounds of Scandi-pop. “For me, it’s an example of how electronic and organic things can coexist and turn into something really beautiful,” she says when I ask her about this folktronica-ish fusion. “It’s a way of saying that it’s fully possible to make something amazing when you have a balance between the synthetic and the organic.” She says she feels like her voice “comes from the ground.” “I can shout so loudly and sing for so long. It feels like I am the very organic part of my album, together with the titles of my songs and the themes and the whole spirit.”

Her voice recently caught the attention of no less an establishment than Walt Disney Studios, and she has found herself featuring in Frozen 2, the sequel to the global phenomenon that was Frozen. “Frozen is close to my heart because it’s [set in] Norway,” she says. She appears on the soundtrack’s crown jewel, “Into the Unknown” (the sequel’s counterpart to “Let It Go)” which is performed by Idina Menzel, with Aurora providing spectral backing vocals (as well as what Disney probably identified as a rootsy, authentic Nordic feel). We talk prior to the soundtrack’s release, and I am sure she has been warned by Disney bigwigs to keep tight-lipped about the song lest she let a spoiler slip. “I don’t know how much I can say,” she says. What she knows she can say is that it is “very exciting,” that “the role that voice and music have in this film is very pure and very, very inspiring,” and that “it has been a true honour to be a part of it.”

Turns out Aurora’s vocals are not merely used in Frozen 2 as harmonic ornamentation; its plot completely revolves around them. The film’s premise is that Elsa, the snow queen, starts hearing a haunting voice beckoning her northwards (it’s Aurora’s voice), and, in spite of her fear, decides to follow it. Aurora says she likes the idea of being able to reach a young audience with the song, “to be a part of young children’s lives, the warriors of the future.” Like “Let It Go,” “Into the Unknown” is a huge power ballad about embarking on a character-testing quest with a massive, stirring chorus and broadly relatable themes of release and self-empowerment. It is set to be inescapable, so you’ll be hearing Aurora around.

She says her next album will be dressed in an “armour of hardness.” “But I’m also really exploring the soft, delicate part of me, which I want to open up even more on my next album. And I’m discovering more and more things I want to be more involved in, because I’ve discovered fans all over the world who live in cultures that are unfair towards the people… I want to use my voice for something good, even though it might not matter, but at least I am there to show support.”

I am surprised she thinks her music might not matter; she has legions of fans attesting to the contrary. “I just want to release the most beautiful music I can,” she says. “I want to do a lot of things. I have three albums in mind so I’m trying to figure out which to do first.” A Different Kind of Human’s thesis could be summed up in one of its lyrics: “I know I’m just a girl, but can I change lives?” The answer is yes, and that she will keep writing songs that do just that.

[precuredaily]

Precure Daily Halloween Special 2019

Episodes: SPC 37, HaCha 37, GPP Movie, MPC 38-39, KKPC 37, HUG 38, STPC 37 Dates watched: 30-31 October 2019 Original air dates: Sunday in October 1-2 weeks before Halloween, 2011 & 2016-2018, and the Saturday of Halloween, 2015

Is that little girl in the witch hat dressed as Akko from Little Witch Academia in a nod to her seiyuu, Han Megumi, playing Hime or is this just a coincidence? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

You may remember the PCD Christmas Special I did last year, where I watched every Precure Christmas episode and compared them to each other, charting the common elements and evolution in how they handle the subject. Well, I really love Halloween, but for a while, Japan didn’t celebrate it. It only started to catch on in the late 2000s and into the 2010s, and so despite several episodes of Precure airing on or near Halloween night over the years, the first time it was brought up in the franchise wasn’t until 2011′s Suite Precure. You can read more about how it became acceptable to celebrate and the ways in which the Japanese people enjoy themselves in this article, but the important takeaways are that Halloween events are more about food and festivities, and trick-or-treating is a highly organized activity, no going door-to-door.

At this point in the shows, all extra heroines have been introduced and the team is usually on the cusp of acquiring a new powerup. The villains have suffered significant losses and are preparing to pull out some form of trump card (this will facilitate the team getting their new attack). Typically, the monster of the week will be made from a Jack O’Lantern or some other Halloween decoration. In more recent years there’s been a tendency to explain what Halloween is about, but they don’t always do this. The biggest draw of a Halloween episode, though, in my opinion, is getting to see the characters in costumes. I’m going to briefly run down each Halloween episode (or movie) and then compare common elements at the end.

Note: At the time of writing, I am about 6 episodes behind in Star Twinkle Precure, did not wish to skip ahead for the purposes of this article, and didn’t have the time to catch up. I will add my thoughts on STPC 38 at a later date, and I will announce when I have done this via a reblog to @pcd-status​. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Star Twinkle section added 12 Nov. 2019

Suite Precure 37 - “Wakuwaku! Everyone Transforms for Halloween!” Original air date: 30 October 2011

With Mephisto freed of his brainwashing, Falsetto takes charge of Trio the Minor and leads an attack on the girls. Ako has decided to stay in the human world, and the older girls take her to a Halloween celebration to brighten her spirits. Ako isn’t really enjoying herself, but some younger kids rope her into playing with them and that brightens her up. When Trio the Minor turn a pumpkin into a Negatone, they try to perform a new attack with Crescendo Tone: Precure Suite Session Ensemble Crescendo, but it falls apart, so Ako uses her invidual attacks while the older trio uses their group finisher. At the end, Falsetto sings an incomplete Melody of Sorrow to speed up Noise’s revival.

Costumes and references: Hibiki is dressed as a pirate, but specifically she resembles a genderbent Captain Marvelous, the red ranger from the contemporary Sentai series Gokaiger. Kanade is dressed as a pumpkin witch. Ellen is dressed as a black cat, an allusion to her true form, and Ako is a dressed as a princess, which she is. (not digging very deep for this)

HappinessCharge Precure 37 - “Big Bang, Defeated! An Unbelievably Strong Enemy Appears!” Original air date: 19 October 2014

Oresky, Namakelder, and Hosshiwa are all feeling weakened after taking the Happiness Big Bang attack, so Queen Mirage concludes they may not be useful to her anymore and prepares her next agent. Meanwhile in Pikarigaoka, Megumi encourages Blue to join them at the town’s Halloween festival, and he agrees. They all begin to share pumpkin cakes with each other, a local tradition. Seiji shares his with Megumi, Megumi eagerly shares hers with Blue, and the other girls look on from a distance as they recognize the love triangle unfolding in front of them. Oresky appears, trying to ruin the Halloween festival that makes people happy and attempting to prove his worth. He really wants to be the number one general in the Phantom Empire, as he feels that if he’s not first, he’s worthless and he doesn’t want to be replaced. The girls transform, and begin to persuade him that there’s enjoyment to be had in fun things, and it’s okay if you’re not first. They hit him with Happiness Big Bang and it begins to purify him, when suddenly an attack interrupts it. As the smoke clears, their new opponent is revealed to be a corrupted Cure Tender, Iona’s missing older sister.

Costumes and references: Megumi is wearing a Halloween-themed dress, orange with jack-o-lanterns on it. Hime is dressed as a princess, which much like with Ako, seems kind of low-effort since she’s an actual princess. Yuuko is dressed as a witch, and Iona is a fortune teller. Also, Blue is dressed as a vampire.

Go! Princess Precure: Go! Go!! Gorgeous Triple Feature Original release date: 31 October 2015

The Princess movie was experimental, being made of three shorter films: a chibi short with no dialog, a 50-minute traditional feature, and a 20-minute all CG adventure. The film leaned hard on its Halloween theming, with Pumpkins and Halloween being prominent motifs in all three parts. I’ll break them down individually.

Cure Flora and the Mysterious Mirror

This is a cute sketch where Cure Flora finds a fancy crown, puts it on, and accidentally startles some mischievous sprites on the other side of what she thinks is a mirror. They have the ability to transform, so they take on her appearance and mirror her, but they forget to duplicate the crown and eventually they begin to compete with the real Flora, doing tricks. She accidentally breaks the crown, so the sprites decide to transform into a special pumpkin outfit for her, just as the other girls come in. The 5-minute short uses a super deformed art style with all CG animation and has no dialog.

Costumes and references: Cure Flora’s pumpkin dress and hat.

The Pumpkin Kingdom’s Treasure

Haruka, Minami, Kirara, and Towa are transported to the wondrous Pumpkin Kingdom, where the royal chancellor Warp is hosting a Princess Contest to find a princess for the kingdom. Towa, being well-versed in evil schemes, smells a rat and is on edge. Haruka finds the true princess of the kingdom, Pumpururu, who is locked away, and learns that the Pumpkin King and Queen are under Warp’s control. Minami, Kirara, and Towa each win their rounds in the contest, but the former two are captured while Towa is able to avoid capture. Haruka participates, even managing to snap the monarchs out of the control. She transforms, frees the others from their capture, and Warp transforms to a giant monster. Pumpururu, the sprites, and the Precures’ strong feelings summon Halloween Dress Up Keys that the girls use to defeat Warp and save the Pumpkin Kingdom.

Costumes and references: The girls get special outfits to wear for the Princess Contest (not halloween themed), as well as Mode Elegant Halloween dresses that feature pumpkin flowers on them.

Precure and Leffy’s Wonder Night!

This is an episode-length feature using the CG animation style from the dance endings. Haruka discovers a doll on her desk, when she’s suddenly transported to the Pumpkingdom, already transformed, and the doll is now a girl named Leffy. Leffy tells the cures they need to defeat Night Pumpkin, who has taken over Pumpkingdom and stolen the daylight from them, making it always night. What follows is essentially an ongoing chase through the city to the top, where they fight and defeat Night Pumpkin and restore daylight to Pumpkingdom. Haruka is then transported back to her room, and the Leffy doll is gone. It’s worth noting that Leffy appeared as Pumpururu’s doll in the previous portion. The connection to this section of the film is unclear. Also, Minami, Kirara, and Towa do not appear in their civilian forms at all.

Costumes and references: Leffy isn’t overtly pumpkin themed, and nobody else gets any special forms in this one. However, there is a glorious moment where Flora accidentally bonks Night Pumpkin on the head.

a proud Precure tradition

Maho Girls Precure 38 - “Is it Sweet or Not? The Magic Pumpkin Festival!” Original air date: 23 October 2016

This isn’t explicitly a Halloween episode, because the Magic World doesn’t celebrate Halloween, but they have fall traditions that involve pumpkins and sweets so it counts. Their tradition is to chase a Pumpkin Bird that appears every year. It shoots candy from its mouth, and if it hits someone, they turn into a giant piece of candy. If you capture it, you get a special prize. One of the villains brings up the actually valid point that the creature may not like being chased and that’s why it runs, but Mofurun talks to it and finds out it just has a cavity. The girls transform into Topaz Style to fight Shakince in a creatively silly battle. When they beat him, Mofurun gets the credit for “capturing” the Pumpkin Bird and so she gets presented with its prize, which turns out to be a seed that grows into a tree which sprouts toothbrushes. I am not making that up.

Costumes and references: Mofurun gets a special orange and yellow dress to wear when she receives the prize but it’s never shown in closeup from the front. Also, there is a cameo appearance by Watanabe Mayu, who sings the insert song for the Maho Girls Movie that was in theaters around this time, and also served as the ending theme for episodes 38 and 39 (only on the TV version, on home release they use “Magic a la Domo”). She makes a special appearance as herself. Even better, in a flashback, she’s seen beside giant statues of Mipple and Mepple.

Maho Girls Precure 39 - “This is Halloween! Everyone, Smile!” Original air date: 30 October 2016

The girls from magic school come to visit the non-magic world and learn about Halloween! But Jun, Kay, and Emily have to be reminded, even when things seem bad, to not use magic to help out. The students of the non-magic world are running a crepe stand and the magic world students decide to chip in, and after being scolded for using their powers, they learn how to do things the old-fashioned way and appreciate the value of hard work. In the middle of all of this, Ha-chan changes costumes almost every scene. Benigyo is extremely confused by all the Halloween festivities and doesn’t understand what the girls want when they tell her to stop ruining it. They never do give her a proper explanation, but she summons a Donyokubaaru that blows air and the girls have to transform to Sapphire form to fight it off. There’s a small plot point about Mirai’s grandmother recognizing the magic school Headmaster from her own youth. At the end of the episode, it’s implied that Liko’s father has made a big breakthrough about relations between the magic and non-magic worlds, and more ancient powers. Kind of a disjointed episode.

Costumes and references: Mirai is dressed as Mofurun, Liko is dressed as a cat in an orange and purple dress, Mofurun is dressed as Cure Miracle, Chikurun is dressed as a bunny, and Ha-chan is dressed as:

an alicorn

a sarcophagus

a mummy

a sphinx

a UFO

and a thunder god (Raijin)

And just a cool thing I noticed, the final stage for the ending dance was updated with a Halloween theme. I’m really curious why, since they replaced the ending with “The Right Way to Use Magic” in the initial television broadcast of this episode, and I don’t think the Halloween version was seen in any previous or subsequent episodes.

Kirakira Precure a la Mode 37 - “Salut! Ciel is Going Back to France!?” Original air date: 22 October 2017

Ciel’s old boss, Madame Solaine, finds her and tries to get her to come back to Paris and work for her there, feeling that Ciel’s talent is wasted in this small town. Not wanting to admit that she initially came searching for her brother, and that she’s got responsibilities as a Precure, she tries to demonstrate what she likes about Ichigozaoka. Everybody is worried that Ciel is going to leave, and even lowkey encouraging her to do what’s best for her career, but she wants to stay. Ultimately she wins Madame Solaine over with a dish inspired by Ichika’s cooking style. Elisio is the antagonist of this episode but I honestly found the battle to be completely irrelevant. The most notable point for the villains is that Grave makes some kind of discovery at the end of the episode.

Costumes and references: Their costumes here are modifications to their patisserie uniforms. Ichika is a jack o’lantern, Himari is an angel, Aoi is a devil, Yukari is a cat (of course), Akira is a vampire, and Ciel is a witch.

HUGtto! Precure 38 - “Charged with Happiness! Happy Halloween!” Original air date: 28 October 2018

Hagukumi town is going to be hosting a Halloween Party, with Papple’s business providing food and entertainment. Daigan is tasked with food prep, but he gets frustrated with a very delicate task, and a visit from Bishin has him questioning his loyalties. The girls are ready to hit the town, and have even prepared costumes for Harry and Hugtan. They made a lot of costumes for Hugtan, in fact, but Ruru detects that she doesn’t really like any of them, so they ask her what she wants to be, and she responds “Pwecyua!” They set to work making her a Precure costume in short order, but an Oshimaida attack secretly requested by Daigan threatens the party. The girls transform and make a show of it to keep people’s spirits high, finishing the monster off with Cheerful Attack. Papple knows that Daigan was responsible and chides him for defecting, even momentarily, and informs him that everybody loved his food. Up at Beauty Harry, the girls finish Hugtan’s costume and show her to Harry, who briefly has a flash of Cure Tomorrow.

Costumes and references: Hana is a witch, Saaya is a lolita devil, Homare is a cowgirl, Emiru and Ruru are pirates, Harry is a werewolf (because he’s.... hairy, IDK if that was the joke), and Hugtan is dressed as Cure Yell. Foreshadowing ahoy!

Star☆Twinkle Precure 37 - “Cryptids Will Win! The Halloween Costume Contest” Original air date: 21 October 2019

Mihoshi Town is having a Halloween costume contest with prizes for best group, so everybody brings their A-game. Except Yuni, she takes the chance to walk around in her true Rainbownian form. Everybody is having fun and the girls get to explain Halloween to Yuni and Lala. Unfortunately, Kappard is hanging around, reminiscing about what happened to his planet, and he doesn’t like the festivities. Everyone thinks he’s just dressed as a sexy kappa and they want pictures with him, which annoys him even more, so he steals one arguing couple’s imagination and goes on the attack. In an effort to guide him away from all the people and hide their identities, when the girls transform, they claim to be the Mihoshi Stars and do a full Sentai roll call, finally settling the debate over Milky and Cosmo’s color designations. (I was probably one of the last people to maintain that Milky was blue by this point, tbh) They lead him away from the festivities and then try to talk him down, but all he can say is he doesn’t believe different species can live in harmony, that Lala and Yuni are living a lie by celebrating Earth customs, and he doesn’t understand this holiday at all, so they defeat him and return to the festival. Elena wins prizes as part of two different groups, but Kappard is declared the overall winner. Too bad he’s MIA. This episode doesn’t do much for the plot, but it does give a little backstory to Kappard, as we see that his planet got destroyed by a non-native species monopolizing all of their natural resources. Considering what we see of Eyewan and Tenjou in the next few episodes, it’s possible we’re aiming to redeem the villains. Hard to tell with an ongoing show.

Costumes and references: Hikaru is a yeti, Lala is a tsuchinoko, Madoka is a cat, Elena is a flower (with her family) and a cat (with Madoka and Yuni), Yuni is herself, Fuwa is a sheep I guess, and Prunce is the Michelin Man (TELL ME I’M WRONG).

Analysis

Halloween episodes, unlike Christmas episodes, don’t have as much of a running theme. Halloween is more of a dressing than an opportunity to explore feelings. The placement of these episodes in the series means that things are usually starting to ramp up, but none of them features a major conflict. In a few episodes, the fight with the villains felt downright inconsequential, while it was more meaningful in others. There was a trend in more recent years to explain the origins of Halloween, as a gathering of spirits, but otherwise there aren’t as many identifiable patterns or shifts in patterns as there were in the Christmas episodes, it’s mostly been “this is Halloween, have fun.” The Go Princess movie had the opportunity to make the most of their halloween theme, but instead they just focused on pumpkins, pumpkins, and more pumpkins without really diving into what makes Halloween as a holiday special or significant. It’s an alright movie but it’s a sour note on an excellent series that knew what it was doing. HappinessCharge probably utilized Halloween the best as a setting, using some Halloween traditions to create romantic tension, and I appreciated Maho Girls’s attempt to create a Halloween-ish fall holiday for a fictional culture, and then also bringing those people in to explore our Halloween. Since it’s a newer holiday for Precure to work with, only getting regular exposure since 2014, we might see them figure out more ways to spin Halloween in the future. Honestly I hope so, and I’ll be here to write about it for you.

Happy Halloween, everybody, and look forward to more Yes 5 coming soon. Hopefully I’ll finish that by the end of the year. Hopefully. (yeah not likely)

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Three Hundred Thirty-Five: Prancing Ponies ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, Uchiha Itachi ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: To Rule Them All ] [ AO3 Link ]

“So...have I a clean bill of health to return to my duties?”

Eyeing the site of the wound critically, the royal healer is quiet for a long moment, almost seeming to ignore Sasuke’s question. Only once she’s satisfied does she reply, “...aye, you’re cleared.” Fingers gently prod, watching him for reactions. “...you’ll likely be sore for a while yet, but so long as you keep your actions muted beyond idle guarding, you’ll be fine. A few more weeks, and you’ll be completely whole. Let’s just hope you won’t need to do any gallivanting before then.”

The Uchiha manages a wry grin. Admittedly, he’s grown quite fond of Hiashi’s nurse, who has overseen his recovery since the attack on Hinata’s life...that Sasuke so valiantly interrupted. She can be a bit stubborn, but overall is rather warm and mothering - exactly how a healer should be, in his eyes. “My thanks, and...I’ll try not to overdo.”

“Good. Pleasant as you are, sir knight...I’d rather not have to see you for a good long while, hm?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Replacing his removed top garments, he then offers, “And...thank you for your help with my brother.”

She gives him an inquisitive look.

“I went to see him the other day, and he told me of your herbal tea, for his cough. He’s long been rather frail. I’m glad to see him getting treatment. He seemed to be in much better health than before he joined the court, and I’d assume got in contact with you.”

Understanding then brightens her expression. “Oh! Yes, of course. Can’t have a member of the court unwell, now - can we?”

“I suppose not...but I’m grateful.”

With a smile, she then offers, “Well...best get back to her ladyship, then. I’m sure she’ll feel much safer with you back at her side.”

You have no idea, Sasuke can’t help but think dryly to himself, nodding in farewell before taking his leave.

The walk through the castle to Hinata’s quarters is oddly...quiet. Since the attempted assassination, the entire palace has been on high alert. And Hiashi’s decree to keep any diplomats from the royal grounds only helped to heighten the worry. But Sasuke agrees, it was likely the best course of action. Even if another attack wasn’t planned, or another land seeking to usurp them...the chaos afterward may have emboldened any latent enemies.

Better, in Sasuke’s view, to be safe than sorry.

But before he can complete his trek, Sasuke finds himself waylaid by none other than his brother, Itachi. The councilman looks a bit harried, but brightens at the sight of his sibling. “Ah, there you are...I was hoping I would catch you before you went back on duty - I take it you just left the healer?”

“Er, yes...Itachi, what is -?”

“I have news. What may potentially be very good news. But best we speak...elsewhere, hm? Come - outside.”

Very much confused, Sasuke follows Itachi down to the ground floor and out of the castle...and eventually to the stables?

Sasuke spends a bit of time here when he can. His personal mount is kept in the royal barn, after all...and getting to see the beast always bolsters his mood. But why Itachi is so desperate to tell him good news in so removed a place...he really can’t guess.

Horses, drafts, and ponies alike seem to stir at their agitated energy, mounts outside prancing nervously as they pass. Only once they’ve found themselves in the room to store grains does Itachi turn to face Sasuke, a gleam in his dark eyes.

“So...as per our last...discussion, I have been very carefully prying into Hiashi’s brain regarding his plans moving forward with Hinata.”

“...I take it you learned something helpful?”

“I believe I have. Though...learned might not be quite the right word. Perhaps...suggested. You see, we decided that your foremost feature for being a suitable candidate for Hinata’s hand was your role as her protector, correct?”

“...yes,” Sasuke replies slowly, much at a loss. Where is Itachi going with this…?

“Well, I decided to test the waters in regards to his opinion of such a matter. I began with worries over her safety, which he admitted to being unsure of. He did compliment your foresight and refusal to lighten security despite the calls of the others. And, of course, your taking the blow in Hinata’s place.”

“Er...good.”

“So I made a very...faint suggestion that perhaps, given the political climate what with this brazen attack...that a point of consideration he may wish to take is that of Hinata’s safety in regards to a spouse. In other words...that lineage may not be the only factor he mull over, but also a man’s ability to protect the future queen.

“He was quiet for a time after that, clearly thinking it over...and then made a suggestion all on his own: that the most promising suitors from the various realms agree to a contest for Hinata’s hand. He noted that the...current method had yet to yield any promising results - a change of pace may be a good thing.”

Slowly, Sasuke’s face goes slack with comprehension.

“So...rather than pomp and circumstance being the order of the day...a multifaceted challenge be taken instead. One that would prove the many promising aspects of a potential suitor. Which would include a more physical contest to weed out those too weak to keep Hinata safe.”

“...I see. Then how would I…?”

“I suggested that, for a trial of sorts - to prove themselves against you, her clearly capable knight - you too be entered into this...tournament. As a legitimate participant, and a potential suitor to keep rule strictly within our lands. But also as a tool to measure the other suitors against. And Hiashi agreed, given your valor already shown.”

“So all I have to do is -?”

“Win this little tournament...and Hinata’s hand will be yours by right. A right set down by Hiashi himself. With some gentle prodding and persuasion by myself, of course.”

Barely constraining a reaction, Sasuke hushedly asks, “What else will be in this...contest?”

“He’s yet to decide fully. There will likely be proof of etiquette, knowledge, wisdom...things that play into being a ruler. Most, however, you already have given how you were raised as part of a noble family. In all honesty, brother...I believe you have a true fighting chance at this.

“The combat will likely be saved for the final deciding factor...which means you will have to make it through the other sections, as well. It will likely be scored overall. And you will serve as a pillar to topple at the end. But should you do well enough - and I’m certain you could, and I doubt there are many, if any, noblemen who could best you in battle - then you would emerge the victor. And Hiashi would be none the wiser to your true feelings. All he would have to know was that you indeed conquered the trials, and earned your place as Hinata’s chosen suitor.”

Carefully, Sasuke grips Itachi’s upper arms, searching his face for some hint that this is a joke, a lie, a stunt...but he finds none. Not that Itachi would ever lie to him, he’s just...in shock. “...when would it take place?”

“Several weeks from now, at best. There is planning for the council to do, invitations to send, grounds to arrange...it will take time. But Hiashi is also eager to see this done, as to end the waiting game and ensure Hinata’s safety from the potential of another hostile suitor.”

“...good, good…” He’ll likely be fully healed by then.

Smiling, Itachi in turn takes his brother’s cheeks in his hands. “...I truly believe you can do this. Then nothing would stand in your way. You and Hinata would no longer have to hide your regard. The kingdom will stay within its people’s rule. And she will be safe.”

“...Itachi, I...how can I thank you? This would never have come about if not for you and your weaseling.”

The elder brother’s expression turns a bit wry. “Well...I suppose all my lack of brawn means a better helping of brains. And how better to put it to use than helping my dear baby brother marry the woman of his dreams?”

For a moment, Sasuke has to swallow back a wave of raw emotion. “...if you can, tell me what the council decides, so I can begin preparing. I’ve been off some weeks to heal - I’ll need to regain my stamina and balance. But I’m sure there will be other things that need learning and refreshing.”

“Of course. I’ll help however I can. But we must be discreet...should Hiashi suspect my interference, he may think us scheming something. If not born of love, then a want for the crown and influence.”

“Right...we’ll lie low, then.”

“Best to be cautious. Now...you have a princess to attend to, and I have meetings to sit in on. Tell her the news, and of course to be cautious. I’ll find you again when I know more. For now, focus on regaining your strength. And of course, keeping her safe. The rest will come with time.”

With a nod, Sasuke embraces his brother quickly before they part ways - Itachi to the council’s chamber, and Sasuke to the princess’ quarters.

When he’s let in, there’s a moment of hesitation as they see one another. Hinata, seated and bearing a book, brightens.

...but they cannot be true to what they feel, handmaids and other knights present.

“Sir,” the other men offer.

Sasuke gives them glances. “...thank you, gentlemen, for keeping the princess safe in my absence. You may take your leave.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Ladies, I believe that’s all I need for now,” Hinata then softly offers, her maids bowing and removing themselves.

Only after a long pause to listen to fading footsteps do they move. Sasuke takes a few steps, Hinata seeming to fly the rest until she embraces him.

“At last,” she murmurs into the crook of his shoulder. “I’ve m-missed you...terribly.”

“And I, you.” Parting, he carefully tucks hair behind her ear. “...I have news. Itachi has been speaking to your father...and there may be a way.”

Her eyes widen. “...tell me.”

                                                             .oOo.

     (This is a sequel to days 67, 109, 212, 220, 236, 275, and 305!)       OMG, back into the princess and knight AU! I love this one, and I've missed it. Also I know I'm...almost two weeks behind, but this day marks the beginning of the end: this was the prompt for December first. Just thirty days left to do. And as is likely obvious...I'll be running over by quite some time ^^; Life is just TOO busy for me to have any hope to catch up before New Year's, but better late than never!      ANYWAY...we have a plot! Itachi, you're a genius. I was honestly a bit stumped before he nudged this idea at me x3 And it's perfect! Now to just...make it happen, lol - and who knows when that will be! Especially with how darn busy I am, blegh.      And as a small reminder, if you have any favorite pieces from this challenge you'd like to see given more love AFTER it's over, be sure to let me know! Either comments, asks, etc. I can't do them all, but a few at least I'd like to continue and perhaps wrap up as mini fics. After a good long break, lol      But with that, I need to head to bed - long weekend ahead of me OTL I'll reply to comments / replies likely on Monday. I've just been too busy / pooped, and will be until then. Either way though, thanks for reading!

[empathetixss]

Margaery Tyrell Verses ( taken from my old blog )

( V: YOU WERE JUST A ROSEBUD ONCE (YOUTH) )

Margaery as a child growing up in Highgarden.

( V: THE GOLDEN ROSE OF HIGHGARDEN )

Margaery as a teenager in Highgarden. (ages 13-14)

( V: LOVELY AS A DAWN (GOT/ACOK) )

Margaery during her marriage to Renly. sub versus: (listed with particular players.)

When Winter met Spring (Robb Stark marries Margaery after Renly dies)

( V: GROWING STRONG EVEN UNDER LION’S CLAWS (ASOS) )

Book Canon. Margaery of House Tyrell. She is gentle and kind, sweet and beloved by the small folk. Recently engaged to one Joffrey Baratheon. She is the QUEEN to be, though the real question is, does she desire it? Verses that are housed under this verse LOTR Verse - Elvish Rose - Mace Tyrell is Half-Elven. He marries a human, Alerie Hightower and chooses the fate of the mortals. His children have the choice as well, His youngest has not chosen her fate yet. Lady Rose - Lady of a keep. Margaery is a mortal, that lives close to Rivendell. (or in some verses Mirkwood)

( V: OF THORNS (AFFC/ADWD) )

During Margaery’s Trial by Faith. She’s held in a tower by the septa’s and The High Sparrow. After the evidence falls away from Margaery, she is released into the custody of Randyll Tarly.

( V: UNE ROSE DANS DE LE NORD )

After House Tyrell falls on the ‘wrong side of history.’ Loras is sent to the Stormlands, Garlan is sent to the vale, and sweet, young, Margaery is sent to the North. On top of all of this, the Tyrell’s must pay a certain amount of gold every year to the crown to keep the children fed. Or so they are told. Margaery wins over House Stark and eventually ends up betrothed to Robb Stark.

( V: WINTER IN OUR BONES )

Margaery is engaged to marry Robb Stark, but it all ends at the Red Wedding. Jon Snow, now Jon Stark, saves her life. (with: @moreastark )

( V: THE FRANKISH ROSE )

Season 2-3: Margaery is the daughter of Frankish King Mace Tyrell. He’s done his best with all three of his sons, now he wants Margaery in on the game. Yet there was a reason she was kept hidden. To keep his kingdom safe Mace was forced to give up his beautiful daughter to King Ragnar. Now in Kattegat, she has to survive.

Season 4B: Margaery is the daughter of a Frankish Lord. She resides in Paris and among Princess Gisla and Duke Rollo's court. She's just a lady in the court, curious about the Viking Raiders among them at the moment.

( V: DRIPPING IN GOLD )

A royalty au currently under construction. (Verse with: halfawolf)

( V: HOIST THE COLOURS )

grim tides/Black Sails/POTC/Pirate!Queen Margaery. Queen of the Pacific, and Agean, The Rose of Highgarden has truly come a long way. From stowing away on a ship as a small child to escape the British Attack on her family, to having her own crew, she’s practically unstoppable. It doesn’t hurt that many of her male counterparts doubt her ability as a pirate captain because she’s a woman. She proves them wrong, Every. Single. Time.

( V: THINGS WE LOST )

From a young age, Margaery was betrothed to Jon Targaryen. The Heir to the Seven Kingdoms. Now, it’s time for them to bring their families together. (w: halfawolf)

V: THINGS WE LOST TO THE FLAME

Jon is exiled and stripped of his title, Margaery is forced to wed another, life is not as she planned it until Jon comes back to her. (w: moreastark)

( V: THE RELUCTANCE OF THE WOLF )

(A WANTED VERSE) Forced into marriage with one another by Lady Olenna and Lady Catelyn’s arrangement. Margaery tries to make the best of her fate. Lady Catelyn is a joy and kind to her. Wonderful in every way. While Robb… Robb is cold to her. Margaery becomes scared that she is trapped in another loveless marriage and struggles to understand her cold & grim husband.

( V: A MODERN ROSE )

Margaery works for her father a respected lawyer in the Tyrell Firm. In her spare time, she paints.

Gangster Lawyer: assilat-vojjor Drogo is a respected Gang leader on trial for a murder he didn’t commit. Margaery is his Lawyer. Our Gentle Sin: astormcrow. Margaery and Daario get close to one another, start an affair. At the same time, he kills people for a living. Crushing them in high heels and pearls: wintersking. Margaery is Robb’s boss. Currently they’re having a torrid affair.

If you let my soul out (it’ll come right back to you.)  Reincarnation verse.

The Drifter: Margaery Tyrell runs into Jon Snow while wandering the streets of Paris. & she can’t help but be drawn to him. Little does she know that he is hiding a secret. (w: moreastark)

( V: A COLLEGE ROSE QUEEN )

Margaery is the Youngest of the Tyrell’s. Attending Harvard Law in the fall, Margaery is just trying to make it in a family that vacations in Europe for the hell of it. Mostly she’s just looking for fun.

( V: OBLIVION )

Margaery Tyrell is a British-born scientist, working for the government. She double majored in biology and anthropology. She’s never really thought much of the superhero’s other than the fact that they’ve saved the world. She proud of the work she does and believes in what’s right for the future. That being said, her loyalty is not easily swayed or bought. (Notes for Marvel-verse)

* Recruited by Nick Fury. * Security Level Clearance: 5 (sub verses): Webbed Roses with webheadedhero You Can Keep Your Shield On with buyxwarxbonds Notes for DC verse * Recruited by the Secretary of Defense. * Lived in Metropolis

(V: A LADY IN WAITING (TWQ) )

The White Queen Verse: Margaery is a noble lady. Her family has the symbol of the Golden rose. They are neither York or Lancaster. Tyrell’s are really all for themselves.

( V: A LADY IN WAITING (TUDOR) )

Upon hearing of the death of her beloved cousin Anne, Margaery ventures to King Henry VIII’s court for answers. - She’s managed to ensnare the king in her thorns and finds herself caught as well, because her feelings fro him have grown beyond what she thought they would. (Timeline: Anne of Cleves is queen, but before Kitty Howard meets Henry.) - Anne sent for her cousin before her death and she has been there since her second miscarriage. verse with vivatreginam -Margaery arrives after the death of her cousin Anne, taking in Elizabeth and offering up her home as a place for her. verse with any elizabeth

( V: A ROSE OF FRANCE )

French born, but Spain raised Margaery Tyrell, is brought back to court along with the rest of her family when they hear of Prince Francis’ wedding to Mary Stuart. Of course they are overjoyed and offer their services to the young couple swearing themselves to them. While Margaery’s ambitious grandmother seeks a powerful marriage for Margaery perhaps with a royal of Scotland, Margaery skeeks to get to know the future queen better. Hoping to call her friend one day.

( V: LA BELLE PETITE ROSE )

BBC’s The Musketeers Verse. Margaery is the King’s Cousin, but that doesn’t mean much in France. Serving under Queen Anne as a Lady in Waiting, she is happy with her position. Although, she is intrigued by The Musketeers in the service of the King. 

Une Rose de Versailles: A Noble Catholic Lady from the south of france, originally she’s engaged to the Dux De Baratheon known as Joffrey. She’s not very happy with the match, as the man has a reputation for cruelty. She has come to Versailles, when the King moves court from Paris to there. She finds herself a bit more at ease there, she is able to be herself more and be around women other than her future mother-in-law. Her fiance hates it and wishes to return to Paris. She has hope that she might catch the king’s eye, but she knows that women here are everywhere each wanting a piece of the king.

( V: OF IRON THORNS )

Margaery has taken the Iron Throne through her son after the death of her husband. Now she has to keep it. (husband can be Renly, Joffrey, or Tommen.)

( V: THE TALES ARE REAL )

The Original Rose Beauty: Margaery was a noble lady in Snow’s court, but also a friend for Queen Regina until her identity as a Princess and future Queen of her own realm was reviled. Margaery was Aurora’s mother, the first sleeping beauty. Sometimes known as Briar Rose. She tried her best to shield her daughter from the curse but was unable to do so. When the first curse hit, she was swept up and sent to Storybrooke. Living under the curse, she works in the flower shop owned by Moe French. She spends her days doing inventory and ordering new flowers when needed. The day that repeated for 28 years, she would visit the sheriff's station with coffee, and cut flowers in the shop. When Emma came to town, she was curious about the woman who seemed to be hanging around Young Henry but said nothing of it. Sticking to herself and the solitary life the curse forced her to lead. After the curse breaks, every memory is brought back to her. She believes she is without her brothers, her husband, and her daughter in this land without magic and would give anything just to see them again.

( V: LIFE IS WAR )

A modern twist on a love story. Verse with moreastark

( V: A LOYAL KNIGHT )

Athos entered Margaery’s service when she was still married to Joffrey. The sadness that surrounded the man caught her attention and she did everything she could to get him to smile. Little did she know she would fall head over heels in love with the knight. They hide it as best as they can although she would rather be with him than apart from him. (w: dettexhonneur)

( V: DON'T FEAR THE REAPER )

Margaery had gotten out. More than that. She had made a place for herself outside of the MC. Her father had just been the MC's lawyer, it wasn't like she had to be anything to them, right? She could go and do whatever she wanted. That is until, she came home. She came home for a funeral and saw... Him again. Jon. She had been to High School with him. He had been her first everything. She had thought for a while, he would be her everything. Until she grew up. She went to college, became a lawyer, and seeing Jon again, made her feel like a teenage girl. Especially on the back of his bike. Now she's got a choice. Stay, start over with the man she loves, or go back... (verse with: moreastark)

( V: DON’T LET YOURSELF BE HUNTED )

When Margaery was a child she always knew there was something different about her, and her family. She always just thought it was odd that her father could influence those around him with a word, her grandmother’s plants never died, and her brothers… Well, Willas’ super memory and intelligence was next to none, and his ability to seemingly communicate with Animals, Garlan and his super strength, Loras and his agility, she wondered what her powers would be. At nine the voices started. She could hear them even in her sleep, it was all so very loud and overwhelming, she just wanted it to stop, but it didn’t. It just got worse and louder, it wasn’t until later that she learned these voices were not in her head, they were in the heads of others. She also learned that she could feel other’s emotions as well and project her own on them. Margaery harnesses the powers of empathy and telepathy, her grandmother does her best to help her control it.

Her family is heavily involved in the Hellfire club, and Margaery didn’t have much of a choice, but to do the same. She has always admired the X-Men though and is considering switching sides.

( V: IN A LAND OF WONDER )

Margaery Tyrell is visiting the Kingdom of Camelot with her father and brother.

( V: MAGIC AMONG US )

Growing Strong. It’s the Tyrell House motto, it’s also Margaery’s personal mantra. She's a Ravenclaw.

( V: GROW TILL YOU CAN’T ANYMORE )

District Eleven, Margaery, and her family have much knowledge about plants, orchards, and people. When Margaery is picked as a tribute, she proves herself and wins her games… Allowing herself to be taken in by the charms of the capitol like her brother before her. She’s become the favorite of many. Alt verses: Burn it all down - Margaery joins the rebellion.

[seekfirst-community]

WHAT ARE THE GENUINE RICHES? THEY ARE THE AWESOME HOLY SPIRIT, HIS GIFTS AND FRUITS AND THE PRECIOUS PROMISES OF GOD. GOD NEVER FAILS!

"Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?”

"Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

"Then Peter said to him in reply, “We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

"And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” (Matthew 19: 23 - 30).

Tuesday 16th August 2022 of the 20th Week of Ordinary Time is the feast of St Stephen of Hungary. Born in 969 and died on August 15th 1038). Monarch.

St Stephen was crowned king of Hungary on Christmas day 1001 by Emperor Otto III by the permission of Pope Sylvester II. Stephen earned his greatness in Christian history by founding monasteries and organizing dioceses thereby transforming Hungary into a Christian nation. St Stephen and his wife Blessed Gisela were the parents of St. Emeric.

St Stephen is the patron saint of: Hungary, kings, bricklayers and masons..

The rich young man who wanted eternal life and at the same time clung to all his material possessions was told to get rid of them and come and follow Jesus. That was too much for him. He walked away from the Pearl of great Price very sad.

In our Scripture for today, Jesus warns about the dangers of unbridled desire to be riches. To put it starkly, just as power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, so does wealth corrupts and extreme riches corrupt extremely. For proof of this, let us head to the first Reading today from Ezekiel 28: 1 - 10. The prince of Tyre became haughty of heart because of the vast wealth he amassed by trading. He came to see himself as: “A god am I! I occupy a godly throne in the heart of the sea!” And his attitude about his wealth and kingdom is:

“Our own hand won the victory;

the Lord had nothing to do with it."

St Paul warns: "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction." (1 Timothy 6: 9).

Do not despise the wisdom of the Scriptures on the lure of money. Some play lottery to get rich quick. "Why do you play the lottery, my friend?" You may be surprised to receive an answer like this: "When I win millions of dollars, I will distribute half to the poor and use the balance to build homeless shelters." An ex taxi driver told me about some of his cabby friends who actually won millions from lottery. They all became homeless in a few years.

God knows what we need and when we need it. This is why Jesus gave us the shortcut to the good life in this great promise: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and the rest will be given to you."

God who is so faithful and true has never failed in his promises.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

[loveofyhwh]

September 12: Proverbs 13–14; 2 Timothy 3:1–9; Psalm 68:19–35; Proverbs 23:13–14

New Post has been published on https://loveofyhwh.com/september-12-proverbs-13-14-2-timothy-31-9-psalm-6819-35-proverbs-2313-14/

September 12: Proverbs 13–14; 2 Timothy 3:1–9; Psalm 68:19–35; Proverbs 23:13–14

Old Testament:

Proverbs 13–14

Proverbs 13–14 (Listen)

13   A wise son hears his father’s instruction,     but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. 2   From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good,     but the desire of the treacherous is for violence. 3   Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life;     he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. 4   The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,     while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. 5   The righteous hates falsehood,     but the wicked brings shameOr stench‘>1 and disgrace. 6   Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,     but sin overthrows the wicked. 7   One pretends to be rich,Or One makes himself rich‘>2 yet has nothing;     another pretends to be poor,Or another makes himself poor‘>3 yet has great wealth. 8   The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth,     but a poor man hears no threat. 9   The light of the righteous rejoices,     but the lamp of the wicked will be put out. 10   By insolence comes nothing but strife,     but with those who take advice is wisdom. 11   Wealth gained hastilyOr by fraud‘>4 will dwindle,     but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. 12   Hope deferred makes the heart sick,     but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. 13   Whoever despises the wordOr a word‘>5 brings destruction on himself,     but he who reveres the commandmentOr a commandment‘>6 will be rewarded. 14   The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,     that one may turn away from the snares of death. 15   Good sense wins favor,     but the way of the treacherous is their ruin.Probable reading (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate); Hebrew is rugged, or is an enduring rut‘>7 16   Every prudent man acts with knowledge,     but a fool flaunts his folly. 17   A wicked messenger falls into trouble,     but a faithful envoy brings healing. 18   Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction,     but whoever heeds reproof is honored. 19   A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,     but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools. 20   Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,     but the companion of fools will suffer harm. 21   DisasterOr Evil‘>8 pursues sinners,     but the righteous are rewarded with good. 22   A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,     but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous. 23   The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food,     but it is swept away through injustice. 24   Whoever spares the rod hates his son,     but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.Or who loves him disciplines him early‘>9 25   The righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite,     but the belly of the wicked suffers want. 14   The wisest of women builds her house,     but folly with her own hands tears it down. 2   Whoever walks in uprightness fears the LORD,     but he who is devious in his ways despises him. 3   By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back,Or In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride‘>10     but the lips of the wise will preserve them. 4   Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,     but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox. 5   A faithful witness does not lie,     but a false witness breathes out lies. 6   A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain,     but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding. 7   Leave the presence of a fool,     for there you do not meet words of knowledge. 8   The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,     but the folly of fools is deceiving. 9   Fools mock at the guilt offering,     but the upright enjoy acceptance.Hebrew but among the upright is acceptance‘>11 10   The heart knows its own bitterness,     and no stranger shares its joy. 11   The house of the wicked will be destroyed,     but the tent of the upright will flourish. 12   There is a way that seems right to a man,     but its end is the way to death.Hebrew ways of death‘>12 13   Even in laughter the heart may ache,     and the end of joy may be grief. 14   The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways,     and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways. 15   The simple believes everything,     but the prudent gives thought to his steps. 16   One who is wise is cautiousOr fears [the Lord]‘>13 and turns away from evil,     but a fool is reckless and careless. 17   A man of quick temper acts foolishly,     and a man of evil devices is hated. 18   The simple inherit folly,     but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. 19   The evil bow down before the good,     the wicked at the gates of the righteous. 20   The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,     but the rich has many friends. 21   Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner,     but blessed is he who is generous to the poor. 22   Do they not go astray who devise evil?     Those who devise good meetOr show‘>14 steadfast love and faithfulness. 23   In all toil there is profit,     but mere talk tends only to poverty. 24   The crown of the wise is their wealth,     but the folly of fools brings folly. 25   A truthful witness saves lives,     but one who breathes out lies is deceitful. 26   In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence,     and his children will have a refuge. 27   The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,     that one may turn away from the snares of death. 28   In a multitude of people is the glory of a king,     but without people a prince is ruined. 29   Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding,     but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. 30   A tranquilOr healing‘>15 heart gives life to the flesh,     but envyOr jealousy‘>16 makes the bones rot. 31   Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,     but he who is generous to the needy honors him. 32   The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing,     but the righteous finds refuge in his death. 33   Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding,     but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.Or Wisdom rests quietly in the heart of a man of understanding, but makes itself known in the midst of fools‘>17 34   Righteousness exalts a nation,     but sin is a reproach to any people. 35   A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor,     but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.

Footnotes

[1] 13:5 Or stench [2] 13:7 Or One makes himself rich [3] 13:7 Or another makes himself poor [4] 13:11 Or by fraud [5] 13:13 Or a word [6] 13:13 Or a commandment [7] 13:15 Probable reading (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate); Hebrew is rugged, or is an enduring rut [8] 13:21 Or Evil [9] 13:24 Or who loves him disciplines him early [10] 14:3 Or In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride [11] 14:9 Hebrew but among the upright is acceptance [12] 14:12 Hebrew ways of death [13] 14:16 Or fears [the Lord] [14] 14:22 Or show [15] 14:30 Or healing [16] 14:30 Or jealousy [17] 14:33 Or Wisdom rests quietly in the heart of a man of understanding, but makes itself known in the midst of fools

(ESV)

New Testament:

2 Timothy 3:1–9

2 Timothy 3:1–9 (Listen)

Godlessness in the Last Days

3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. 6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, 7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. 9 But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

(ESV)

Psalm:

Psalm 68:19–35

Psalm 68:19–35 (Listen)

19   Blessed be the Lord,     who daily bears us up;     God is our salvation. Selah 20   Our God is a God of salvation,     and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death. 21   But God will strike the heads of his enemies,     the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways. 22   The Lord said,     “I will bring them back from Bashan,   I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, 23   that you may strike your feet in their blood,     that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.” 24   Your procession isOr has been‘>1 seen, O God,     the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary— 25   the singers in front, the musicians last,     between them virgins playing tambourines: 26   “Bless God in the great congregation,     the LORD, O youThe Hebrew for you is plural here‘>2 who are of Israel’s fountain!” 27   There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,     the princes of Judah in their throng,     the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. 28   Summon your power, O God,By revocalization (compare Septuagint); Hebrew Your God has summoned your power‘>3     the power, O God, by which you have worked for us. 29   Because of your temple at Jerusalem     kings shall bear gifts to you. 30   Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,     the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.   Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;     scatter the peoples who delight in war.The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain‘>4 31   Nobles shall come from Egypt;     Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God. 32   O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;     sing praises to the Lord, Selah 33   to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;     behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. 34   Ascribe power to God,     whose majesty is over Israel,     and whose power is in the skies. 35   Awesome is God from hisSeptuagint; Hebrew your‘>5 sanctuary;     the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.   Blessed be God!

Footnotes

[1] 68:24 Or has been [2] 68:26 The Hebrew for you is plural here [3] 68:28 By revocalization (compare Septuagint); Hebrew Your God has summoned your power [4] 68:30 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain [5] 68:35 Septuagint; Hebrew your

(ESV)

Proverb:

Proverbs 23:13–14

Proverbs 23:13–14 (Listen)

13   Do not withhold discipline from a child;     if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. 14   If you strike him with the rod,     you will save his soul from Sheol.

(ESV)

[smouldring]

endings.

➥ save the kingdom to win the crown.

merri follows the main storyline all the way through, defeating all the shardbearers, but does so initially to aid her friends, and then to simply improve the lives of everyone in the lands between. the cycle of conflict brought about by the shattering is treated in individual pockets, trying to restructure the world, instead of falling back on having an elden lord in control. perhaps new lords are put in place, or no lords at all; and the fact that some are able to either rise from the dead or live in death remains an issue, as problems cannot remain solved if they just keep coming back. it seeks a slow change geared towards making life livable, then comfortable, then outright enjoyable for the citizens, without merri taking the throne. whether or not the difference even counts when she’s leading anyways and not confronting the greater will is open for debate.

➥ a crown of burning fire.

frenzied flame ending. merrimac realizes that a victory predicated on sacrificing finger maidens, just to be rejected anyways, is no victory at all. she turns to the three fingers for an alternative and is promised a flame with which she will burn the erdtree by her own merit. sadly, the flames consume her; she is left to wander the continent, an emissary of madness and a danger to those she once sought to protect.

➥ gold is cold and heavy on the head.

age of order ending. merrimac, despairing in being able to change anything, becomes marika’s consort, and ushers in the next golden age. she is a fair lord, but the cycle continues, and she’s lost something irreplaceable. she does not return to the mistwood.

➥ make all mankind your enemy.

age of fracture ending. merrimac becomes the queen’s consort, but cannot bring about a golden age. the lands remain fractured, and merri becomes the blade of the gods, constantly managing their unending war, until she returns to dust.

➥ the only enemy that matters.

merri does not become elden lord, as in the save the kingdom ending, but specifically dedicates herself to hunting down all the gods and destroying them, freeing the lands between from order and fate. she does not rule in any capacity, but chases the greater will and its like across the sky, forever.

[brotherseph]

GOOD FRIDAY OF THE LORD'S PASSION (B): Jesus Dies On The Cross

April 02, 2021, Friday GOOD FRIDAY OF THE LORD'S PASSION (Red) CYCLE B - YEAR I

Lectionary: 40

Reading I Is 52:13—53:12 See, my servant shall prosper, he shall be raised high and greatly exalted. Even as many were amazed at him -- so marred was his look beyond human semblance and his appearance beyond that of the sons of man-- so shall he startle many nations, because of him kings shall stand speechless; for those who have not been told shall see, those who have not heard shall ponder it. Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; there was in him no stately bearing to make us look at him, nor appearance that would attract us to him. He was spurned and avoided by people, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity, one of those from whom people hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. Yet it was our infirmities that he bore, our sufferings that he endured, while we thought of him as stricken, as one smitten by God and afflicted. But he was pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed. We had all gone astray like sheep, each following his own way; but the LORD laid upon him the guilt of us all. Though he was harshly treated, he submitted and opened not his mouth; like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not his mouth. Oppressed and condemned, he was taken away, and who would have thought any more of his destiny? When he was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of his people, a grave was assigned him among the wicked and a burial place with evildoers, though he had done no wrong nor spoken any falsehood. But the LORD was pleased to crush him in infirmity. If he gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him. Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear. Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; and he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses. Responsorial Psalm 31:2, 6, 12-13, 15-16, 17, 25 R.   (Lk 23:46) Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. In you, O LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. In your justice rescue me. Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God. R.   Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. For all my foes I am an object of reproach, a laughingstock to my neighbors, and a dread to my friends; they who see me abroad flee from me. I am forgotten like the unremembered dead; I am like a dish that is broken. R.  Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. But my trust is in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God. In your hands is my destiny; rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.” R.  Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your kindness. Take courage and be stouthearted, all you who hope in the LORD. R. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Reading II Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9 Brothers and sisters: Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help. In the days when Christ was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all

who obey him. Verse Before the Gospel Phil 2:8-9 Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every other name. GOSPEL Jn 18:1—19:42 Jesus went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to where there was a garden, into which he and his disciples entered. Judas his betrayer also knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas got a band of soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees and went there with lanterns, torches, and weapons. Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.” He said to them, “I AM.” Judas his betrayer was also with them. When he said to them, “I AM, “ they turned away and fell to the ground. So he again asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I AM. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill what he had said, “I have not lost any of those you gave me.” Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus. Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its scabbard. Shall I not drink the cup that the Father gave me?” So the band of soldiers, the tribune, and the Jewish guards seized Jesus, bound him, and brought him to Annas first. He was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews that it was better that one man should die rather than the people. Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Now the other disciple was known to the high priest, and he entered the courtyard of the high priest with Jesus. But Peter stood at the gate outside. So the other disciple, the acquaintance of the high priest, went out and spoke to the gatekeeper and brought Peter in. Then the maid who was the gatekeeper said to Peter, “You are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire that they had made, because it was cold, and were warming themselves. Peter was also standing there keeping warm. The high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his doctrine. Jesus answered him, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I have always taught in a synagogue or in the temple area where all the Jews gather, and in secret I have said nothing.  Why ask me? Ask those who heard me what I said to them. They know what I said.” When he had said this, one of the temple guards standing there struck Jesus and said, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong; but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?” Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest. Now Simon Peter was standing there keeping warm. And they said to him, “You are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?” Again Peter denied it. And immediately the cock crowed. Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas to the praetorium. It was morning. And they themselves did not enter the praetorium, in order not to be defiled so that they could eat the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and said, “What charge do you bring against this man?” They answered and said to him, “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.” At this, Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and judge him according to your law.” The Jews answered him, “We do not have the right to execute anyone,“ in order that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled that he said indicating the kind of death he would die. So Pilate went back into the praetorium and summoned Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you say this on your

own or have others told you about me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” So Pilate said to him, “Then you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” When he had said this, he again went out to the Jews and said to them, “I find no guilt in him. But you have a custom that I release one prisoner to you at Passover. Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” They cried out again, “Not this one but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a revolutionary. Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck him repeatedly. Once more Pilate went out and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak. And he said to them, “Behold, the man!” When the chief priests and the guards saw him they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” Now when Pilate heard this statement, he became even more afraid, and went back into the praetorium and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” Jesus did not answer him. So Pilate said to him, “Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” Consequently, Pilate tried to release him; but the Jews cried out, “If you release him, you are not a Friend of Caesar. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judge’s bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha. It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon. And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your king!” They cried out, “Take him away, take him away!  Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and, carrying the cross himself, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, the King of the Jews.” Now many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it will be, “ in order that the passage of Scripture might be fulfilled that says: They divided my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots. This is what the soldiers did. Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of

Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine. So they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit. Here all kneel and pause for a short time. Now since it was preparation day, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for the sabbath day of that week was a solemn one, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs be broken and that they be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may come to believe. For this happened so that the Scripture passage might be fulfilled: Not a bone of it will be broken. And again another passage says: They will look upon him whom they have pierced. After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took his body. Nicodemus, the one who had first come to him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds. They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom. Now in the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had yet been buried. So they laid Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation day; for the tomb was close by. REFLECTION: Good Friday puts the cross before me and challenges me not to look away. If I have followed Jesus’ footsteps to Calvary, I do not have to fear because I, like him, am confident in God's enduring presence. Wherever there is suffering or pain, I look again, seeking the face of Jesus. I ask him for the strength I need to be a sign of hope wherever there is despair, to be a presence of love wherever it is most needed. All of us will one day give up our spirit. All of us will one day say either with words, breath or gesture that it is finished. It will not be like Jesus on a cross, but it may be in pain or in loneliness or fright. There is nothing better for the time of death than to feel and read the gospel, nothing better than to pray for strength in time of death so that it won't take us too much by surprise. In prayer we can offer our death to God; we can do so with Mary - 'Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, sinners; now and at the hour of our death'. PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for dying on the cross for me and taking away all my sins. Forgive us, Lord. I know & we know that you do not deserve to suffer such agony by our sins. Instead, we are the ones to carry our crosses, cause we are all sinners. But because of Your unconditional love for us, You sacrifice Yourself from everything. May we venerate You in agony. AMEN.

[shieldmciden]

          Okay, so since I’m going to drop my CANON DIVERGENT verse soon, I thought it would be important to explain why I’m keeping that part canon in my portrayal. Despite it being an unpopular opinion. ( also named it as headcanon because Lagertha’s thoughts / pov )

   [   Lagertha kills Aslaug. 4x14.   ]        personals blogs DON’T REBLOG

         Joy, thank-yous, smiles, relief... were all she could read on the many faces surrounding her right now. These well known visages. Her people. It was like they waited for her to free them of a ruler that didn’t care enough. Lagertha had never thought Aslaug was a bad Queen, but at times, she knew she was used to be royalty. She actually figured it out from the day she has walked in her house. The day where she had rubbed her belly outrageously in front of everyone, making the current Earl’s wife uncomfortable, unfitting, && more than anything, unworthy. Aslaug was ruling like many Earls, && Kings, who had power but only used it selfishly. But it wasn’t much about Aslaug, sure she was bitter over many things that the Shield-maiden had not been able to get over with, but right now, it was all about her people. && Ragnar.

         She saw the man. Her love. He wasn’t the one she met, the years had weighted on him, && she was persuaded that his wife, the volva - because she saw things - had been one of his evils, && sorrows. After fifteen years by Ragnar’s side, he had never turned into half the man he was today. Aslaug wasn’t good, she was a poison. She was also a cheater. Even Ragnar didn’t deserve that. Again, she saw him, && it broke her heart to see him like this. He had no hope anymore, he was lonely, feeling rejected && unloved. Lagertha wished their ways could reunite again, it was crystal clear that they both wished the same, && regretted the same things. He wondered what would have become if he hadn’t surrendered to Aslaug, && she kept wondering what her life would have been she had stayed in Kattegat. That kiss on her lips, the feeble light in his eyes had been enough to decide her to take over the Kingdom he wasn’t able to rule anymore. She knew him better than the back of her hand ; he didn’t care anymore. Maybe when he’d come back from England... maybe they could start something new ? His children were big, they didn’t need their parents together anymore, && Björn was the one who was supposed to succeed to Ragnar’s throne. She wasn’t really taking anything really, she was just helping him, because as he used to remind her so well, Ragnar became Earl because of others people actions - Lagertha’s - , && King because he had no choice in order to save his family.

         Lagertha had seen the way Aslaug had ruled during his absence. Nothing happened, nothing had been developed, Kattegat was just a place like any other, even Hedeby, her own place, was more productive than Kattegat in this moment. It was slowly dying. Like him.  && she couldn’t let that happen. She knew his sons tried, but... they were too young. Ragnar was gone, && as much as she had wanted to come with him, she had her own duties here in her Earldom. && She was sure he didn’t think straight. He didn’t succeed last time. She was getting tired to fight on others lands - England - , when their own lands here were compromised.She also knew that there would be losses in taking over the place, && it hurt her. I hurt to see how many people would die for Kattegat, it wasn’t fair. She had stopped the massacre earlier, a brief  ‘ enough ‘  sufficed to stop. No more losses. Not more deaths, when she was literally doing it for them.

         But for now, it was clear that she had taken the good decision when she stared at them, feeling hands on her back by way of thank-you. She smiled, as she was making her way to the Great Hall, Shield-maidens following carefully behind her. She knew she’d meet the Queen soon. She wasn’t sure how Aslaug would react though, she knew she wouldn’t be that surprised considering the animosity they had for each other the last years. Lagertha never forgave her, just like she never forgave Ragnar either, but time had eased the pain of the betrayal, && things had become more important. But again, she had not been able to erase Ragnar’s miserable face from her mind, && how Aslaug had reminded her that she was the Queen, && Lagertha was just an Earl a couple of days before the sacrifice. It seemed like old wounds weren’t really healed for anyone, really.

         Along the way, she appeared, in her heavy majestic furred coat, her crown settled on top of her tall presence. The cheering slowly disappeared as she made her way to meet the warrior. Her blue eyes landed on the sword she was carrying with her, && she knew, she knew Aslaug was giving up on the throne. No more losses. Did she see it, she wondered. Lagertha gave her shield, Aslaug didn’t look angry, && actually Lagertha couldn’t really read her expression in this moment, when she had felt the threat clearly last time. It was different.

         Lagertha waited, watching the defeated Queen who glanced at the Seer. Again, she wondered if they anticipated her arrival. It didn’t matter anymore, Lagertha’s colors had won. Aslaug was still beautiful. She really looked like a Queen, but she wasn’t a good one for anyone here.     ‘ How strange, Lagertha, that you should play the usurper. One woman against another. It doesn’t quite fit with your reputation. ’     Aslaug said. She sounded surprised. && she shouldn’t be, considering everything that happened between them, their sons, their people.

     Lagertha  started to place her sword back to her waist, as there won’t be no blood anymore today.      “ I was never the usurper, always the usurped. “      she began calmly.     “You took my husband, my world, && my happiness.”     She was only explaining, because she didn’t seem to understand, when there were so many reasons, && Lagertha only listed personal ones for now, because it seemed the easiest ones to get.      “ The fact that you’re a woman is neither here, nor there “        She had killed her previous husbands, for obvious reasons as well, && Kalf, he usurped her && he was a man. That had nothing to do about her being a woman, but her taking everything away from her. She still didn’t see the sorrows she had brought to her ? She never wondered why Lagertha left when she showed up with her pregnancy ?

        ‘ I didn’t take your husband, he chose to be with me. ‘      That wasn’t good. She still didn’t understand, && Lagertha had to control herself. She was abandoning her Kingdom, but they had unfinished business. But if she really wanted to know a piece of her mind, then that was the perfect day. Jawline tight, Lagertha answered.      “He didn’t choose. You’re a witch, you bewitched him.”      She claimed to be a volva after all, but she had to admit Lagertha wouldn’t let it go so easily. Not after everything.

         ‘ If that’s what you want to believe, that’s up to you.’      So now, she was implying that it wasn’t true. That Aslaug herself wasn’t in the wrong ?      ‘ I don’t disagree, women can have power over men. But it’s not always magical, is it, Lagertha ? ’       Lagertha wanted to reply that he didn’t choose her, only his sons. && a part of her also knew that Aslaug’s beauty had drawn Ragnar to fault, to fall for her, even for a an hour. An hour that had costed them everything. Aslaug gathered herself, && turned to the people around, she was about to say something important.    

‘ In any case, Ragnar is dead.’

         People started to whisper, murmuring around them, && immediately Lagertha’s words flew out of her mouth.     ‘ You don’t know that.’       It couldn’t be possible, he just left for England. It just... no. She was fooling her, that was the only way.      ‘I dreamed it, I warned him about his journey. In my dreams, his boats were sunk in the storm. Ragnar died. So did my son, Ivar.’      She was lying, she was certain she was lying because her face was as bright at the sun, no clouds were invading her beautiful face. If he was dead, indeed, she would have somehow a reaction, he was her husband after all. It just... didn’t make any sense. She was lost now.       ‘But you don’t know that.’      Her jawline was tight, she was having a hard time to believe her. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. He had to come back. Aslaug was showing no emotion, even for her son, she was lying. && it made her angry. Everything she said made her angry. Hearbeat increased slowly, pounding hard into her chest, as she could feel herself already overwhelmed.

        She watched Aslaug with intense eyes, angry at her as this one took a long pause to answer, cocking her head on the side as if she wasn’t even sure of her answer.      ‘ No i don’t know that for sure. It was just a dream.’           She was fooling her. Or maybe not. But she was driving her crazy, because she seemed to really believe her own words. && she didn’t... care ? She had been married to Ragnar for longer than she did, && she didn’t show any emotion ? She was just playing around with his death. A dream. He would come back. He had to.

         “&& I have dreamed of taking back my home. I have dreamed it for a long time.’      Adrenalin was slowly decreasing now, she tried to remain as calm as she could, when her first instinct was to draw her sword, even just to threaten her, but no loss. Even if she deserved it entirely.     “ But if I have to fight for it, then I will.”     Lagertha already knew she wouldn’t try anything, from the way she stood, && also by experience, Aslaug didn’t know how to even hold a sword.

         ‘ Don’t worry, I could never fight you Lagertha. ‘      Aslaug smiled, almost too much for her own good. It wasn’t a joke, did she even realize it ? Again, she didn’t care. She didn’t even think Lagertha could fight her, because of her reputation ? She thought she was weak... it was just being responsible, && caring. It made her angry all over again.     ‘ I am not my mother, nor my father. I would never win.’      The way she acted, the way she moved, the way she smiled even after admitting she thought Ragnar was dead... the way she dropped the sword vulgarly by her feet. She showed no respect. For anyone. But Lagertha waited, it was the only thing she could do besides watching her right in the eyes, or else, she wasn’t sure of her next move. She wanted her to go now.

         ‘ The gods foretold Ragnar would have many sons. And I have given him those sons. I am as much a part of his saga, Lagertha, as you are.’     Ragnar again, && his sons. The sons she couldn’t have with him despite the amount of love they have for each other, the sons that separated her from him, but also the son she had lost because of prophecies. It was unfair. Oh so unfair. Aslaug had everything, && she didn’t have to work for it, she didn’t even deserve any of this. && though, she was smelling of insolence, carelessness && selfishness. She was toxic && she was humiliating her in front of everyone, her people.  Again. Making her feel less a woman than she was because of the Gods. Humiliating her again for the same reasons twenty years ago Lagertha left. Lagertha felt so unimportant in this moment. The anger inside her chest was consuming her, && though, she couldn’t lose it now, she couldn’t... it wasn’t in her plans... everything confused her . It turned hard to think straight, to focus.    

         ‘ But now I renounce everything. All I ask is safe passage. All I ask is that you let me live here in peace, to go wherever the gods decide. And you shall have back your hearth and home. With my blessing. And my sons, when they hear how it was done, will be grateful for the manner of it. And not seek revenge’        Lagertha was still watching her, but she was barely listening. With her bright smile, she was acting like a Saint, that was the word Athelstan used at times. As if she was the victim,as if Lagertha was taking everything from her, && still, she was the good person here. She wasn’t, && would never be. Lagertha was blinded by her anger. Her blood was boiling, simmering, watery eyes were still there, but she repressed the tears that urged to fall, to let her feelings show in front of such a cold person like Aslaug. All she could  mutter was a brief    “ I understand.”      She didn’t agree on any of her requests.

         She swallowed thickly, trying to ghost a smile upon her lips, but the decision was already taken. Aslaug didn’t care, she didn’t fear her since the beginning, because she had a big heart from her reputation. Lagertha let her win once... but it was over. Lagertha realized she had taken everything from both Ragnar && Lagertha, for literally nothing. && she didn’t care. She was still smiling, impudent, thinking that she could live her life for long years freely. That wasn’t what happened for Lagertha when she had left. She didn’t leave with a single blessing, she didn’t leave with anything besides her son !

         Lagertha moved aside, looking down, only stare up at Aslaug when the tall woman walked past her with that smile.      ‘ Thank you. ’      She was literally pushing her to the deepest of her soul now, from how kind she could be. There would be no loss, but her plans had changed. She didn’t have a plan anymore. Lagertha was impulsive, reckless, drawn by her own emotions, but more than anything, she hated injustice. She clenched her jaw, watched the Queen leave with that bright successful smile of hers. She glanced at Torvi, && she knew, she handed her the bow in her hand. Fingers curled around the wooden weapon, as she slid a perfect arrow between her bloody knuckles. She waited, her breath stopped for a second as she hesitated, until she remembered Ragnar’s face. He was gone. Her heart ached in pain, && she freed the arrow that went to find its target perfectly. Lagertha was a skilled archer, she never missed anything.

But she never forgot anything either.

[dalyunministry]

Topic: THE SPIRIT OF PERSISTENCY.

By. Min. Sergius Boniface Fiadjigbey

💥

Let's warm our spirit for an encounter

Please stay connected as I bring unto Us Gods Word in few minutes. Bless evening unto Us all. I'm humble to be a vessel to bless us tonight. Please stay tuned even as the Spirit of God leads Us.

Let's pray! Father in the name of JESUS, unto your hands we commit our spirit, we thank you for the precious gift of life,we thank you for your quickening Spirit, we pray keep brooding over Us and cause Us to always abide to your will for our lives in JESUS' name we pray. Shout a bigger AMEN!!!!

Tonights, I trust God not to take much of your time,please let's connect our spirit by careful following and trust me Your life will never be the same. God bless you.

Quickly we move on....Encountering the Spirit of Persistency is the ability to endure ascendency over many times of consistency!

Now, speaking on the theme : THE SPIRIT OF PERSISTENCY.

In your journey of life into eternity wouldn't be an easy one to embrace as years goes by.,..

Inevitably, you'll encounter and deal with many stuffs of life happenings! And these are the stumbling blocs one needs and must deal with in order to rise to His or her God ordained purpose and mission for fate.

Watch this, In the journey of Christ on earth was a clear example to- wards us Christian to the reality which involves the facts of encountering the blockades to your rising.

Persistency simply gives the understanding to the state of being persistent! Thus (the ability of not giving up irrespective). So the bible says in Romans 8:18-22 which is gonna be the basis of our teachings tonight.

Its says ....

KJV:For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

19

KJV:For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

20

KJV:For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

21

KJV:Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

22

KJV:For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

From the eighteenth verse its start by highlighting unto Us the challenges,the problems of life is inevitable... they were bound to happen and we have no means to subject them unto bondage!!!! But we've been given the power to overcome. So, it says "the suffering of this present time......cannot be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in Us.

Its establish the facts that "the glory, the crown and absolute dealings of God for humanity is on His/Her place of Persistency".

Its opens our mind in a jiffy to the rising of a child unto adulthood.

Let's take this illustrations....If a child should just start walking after been delivered what will that Child be called especially in Africa???

In my Africa certain ,we easily grasp the issues of witchcraft with just a little strange manifestation not meaningful to the mind....why?? Because Every child must go through the law which governs growth.

Therefore, this child has to maintain

ascendency in order to establish persistency in His or her let say growth life,academic life or social lives" as far as birth rate is concern.

Same way with God....you cannot be born again and convincingly tells that you can become a potent and matured Child of God " with the lack of Prayer,Studying the Word,

fasting, and going through all that build up true intimacy and be fulfilled in just relaxing and sleeping. No ooo thousands times NO!!!!!

You must go through the law of growth in order to maintain ascendency in the Spirit that actually births. THE SPIRIT OF PERSISTENCY in the life of an individual.

Listen....I want to talk on just two main reasons why one must Encounter the Spirit of Persistency.

1. Your generations will die when we refuse to established today on the alter of Persistency!!!!

Listen, from our opening scripture its in verse 19 says that "For the earnest expectations of the creature awaits the manifestations of the sons of God ".

Who are the creature???. Obviously its You and me and all that is in existence! Both godly or born again or ungodly or unborn again people across the world.

Therefore, in the latter part of the verse 19 speaks on the sons of God ".

That is to say those who have received JESUS as their Lord and personal saviour and walk in accordance to his will. Now, the sons of God are the representative of God on earth for a specific assignment and thus soul winning!

That is to say "Until you come to a place in your life that you cry for souls to be saved ,,,you're not there yet....its takes persistent life with God to develop the appetite and received that agape love of God in your spirit.

Hear me Somebody ,Your salvation wasn't a play ground for funfair or a place of relaxation, NO!!!! ITS a manifestation that generation will be birth out of You You were saved to save others by abiding power inside of you to materialize the golden rule going into the world and making disciples unto God".

So Paul says in...1 Thessalonians 1:3,

constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father. Its takes a consistent mind to establish persistency and this will bring forth generations on fire for God and the Kingdom.

2.Your salvation and that of others is built on your persistency with the Lord.

Jesus made an emphatic statement on the salvation of an individual, he says in Matthew 24:13

But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. And this has something to do with PERSISTENCY

Listen people of God, there is a Spirit of Persistency ", which is impacted on the corridors of not giving up. If a believer will maintain his fervor of glory and power, then that individual must and should maintain ascendency in order to encounter the Spirit of Persistency!

I pray for you today after today's meeting you'll not lay down your crown on the alter of lukewarmness, receive the Spirit of Persistency to maintain your fervor of power and dominion in the name of JESUS.

To climax my message for tonight ,the bible says in revelation 3:11 KJV:Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

That means in order to receive the honour to your laboring in the vineyard of God, you got to hold firmly onto thou which you have received in Christ Jesus that NO ONE(NOT EVEN THE DEVIL) to take up your Crown of Glory.

May God bless you and keep you all and grant unto your spirit the Power to maintain ascendency in Jesus name.

Shalom Peace.

[frederickwiddowson]

Genesis 49:22-27 comments: Jacob’s prophecies to Joseph and Benjamin

Genesis 49:22 ¶  Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: 23  The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: 24  But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) 25  Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 26  The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. 27  Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.

Joseph’s has two sons, one Ephraim and the other Manasseh.

41:52  And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

Joseph was a fruitful bough, not only in his progeny but in his career in Egypt and in delivering his family from the famine. A bough is a branch.

Judges 9:48  And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do, make haste, and do as I have done.

Isaiah 17:9  In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough, and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.

Christ is referred to as the Branch in prophecy regarding His first appearance and His millennial reign.

Jeremiah 33:14  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. 15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.  

Zechariah 3:8  Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

Zechariah 6:12  And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:

Regarding the branch, the bough, and a well, notice this statement by Jesus and, in fact, read the context of His encounter with the woman by the well.

John 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Notice the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile that Christ overcame.

Ephesians 2:14  For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Joseph’s brothers, likened to archers, tried to kill him but God made him strong and he overcame. Joseph has truly been blessed and used by God.

An interesting thing to note is that Ishmael, considered by Muslims to be a prophet and an ancestor of Mohammed as well as the father of the Arab people having links to Mecca and the construction of the Kaaba, was an archer.

Genesis 21:20  And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

Note the symbolism with the great conqueror at the end of human history, enemy of Christ and Christians…

Revelation 6:2  And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

Verse 24 gives us a prophecy of Christ. Christ is ultimately the shepherd, the stone of Israel and cornerstone of the church.

John 10:11  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep…14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Ephesians 2:20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

He is the spiritual Rock that followed Israel in the wilderness. Notice as you read Exodus and Psalms the importance of the rock.

One example in the wilderness journeys of the Hebrews would be;

Exodus 17:6  Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Isaiah 8:14  And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

1Corinthians 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

The everlasting hills presents us with an interesting point. Ezekiel will use Joseph and Ephraim as an example of all Israel in a prophecy that can only come true during the millennial reign of Christ with Christ as a type of David, who represents God’s king (2Samuel 23:3 for the quality of a king.)

Ezekiel 37:15 ¶  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 16  Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17  And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. 18  And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? 19  Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. 20  And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. 21  And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22  And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 24  And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25  And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. 26  Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. 27  My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28  And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Benjamin had Ehud the judge and Saul the king from his tribe. Also, from Benjamin came Mordecai and Esther. Paul, the great minister to the Gentiles in the New Testament, was also a Benjamite. Truly, this tribe will play a great part in God’s ministry of reconciliation toward mankind. In Judges we see that Benjamin comes near to being wiped out and are a very warlike tribe. Jacob’s prophecy of his beloved youngest son’s progeny shows that this goes beyond just speaking of the future of his child.

Regarding Paul, Matthew Henry makes the point that he devoured the prey or prosecuted Christians in the beginning and divided the spoil, gathering Christians for Christ, as a preacher, later. This brings to mind a parable Christ told about how He spoiled, took, Satan’s goods, people, by those He drew to Himself.

Matthew 12:28  But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. 29  Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. 30  He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

This is not to say I have written the definitive word on these prophecies but that these are things to consider. There are many more connections to be made and literally hundreds of sermons to be gleaned from these Biblical cross-references. There is more to preach on than attendance, giving, and soul-winning most certainly.

[phoenix1966sbottom]

Royalty

When Sam/Jared is around royalty (but not necessarily royalty himself). As always, heed the warnings where the story is hosted. And if you enjoyed it, consider leaving a comment for the author, since it is the only payment they ever receive.

J2

The Golden Cage by Phoenix1966 (me) on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU. Jared Padalecki was on the adventure of a lifetime before settling into the drudgery of life as a clerk in his father’s company. But as he traverses the Arabian Peninsula, his caravan is attacked and he ends up the property of Sheikh Ankour, forced to bend to the man’s every whim. (warning: contains non-graphic mpreg. Must be logged in to read.)

Hostage by fufaraw Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU. Jared has always gotten his regular omega checkups, and he takes his inhibitors like clockwork. He’s devoted to his friends and his family, but he’s passionate about archeology and dedicated to his career. He’s got neither time nor interest for a romantic relationship, much less a mate, and he definitely doesn’t want kids. He’s working as TA for Dr. Omundson, head of Knox University’s archeology department, while he finishes his Master’s degree. Jared jumped at the chance to join the dig, but omegas in Rirajistan are rigidly traditional, so Jared agrees to wear Omundson’s collar while in-country. The collar is just the visible sign that Jared’s under the Doc’s protection and responsibility. (warning: mpreg)  

The Prince and I by bluetoast on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  Jared's having an awful year. He's been fired, evicted and he caught his boyfriend cheating on him. With not much to stand on, no family save for friends, Jared goes with his friends to the Mediterranean country of Biryal for a month-long vacation. While there, he meets Jensen Ross, who is unlike anyone Jared has ever met. What should have just been a summer romance is the start of something neither of the two men expected. For starters, Jensen is keeping one very large secret from Jared. Namely that he's the crown prince. (warning: mpreg).

What’s a fire and why does it burn? by deirdre_c on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  A retelling of "The Little Mermaid." A little bit Hans Christian Andersen, a little bit Disney, a whole lot of melodrama.

My Light by zubeneschamali on LiveJournal. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU. King Jensen rescues his kidnapped husband-to-be Jared and reaffirms how much he means to him.

Pretty Things series by keep_waking_up on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  King Jensen has a reputation for liking pretty things.

Royal Secrets by Sanshal on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU. Jared (18-21) is a commoner who works hard to support his sickly mother. He is surprised to see the prince’s entourage travelling through his village. The prince notices that Jared looks exactly like him, telling Jared how fun it would be if they could switch places, just for the day.

Slave for Love by annie46 on LIveJournal. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  Jared is a reporter who will do anything for a story. When his plane crashes during an important job he finds himself in the Harem of a notorious sheik – Jensen. (Waning: there is a Top!Jared moment in chapter 3!)

Worth Having series by Greenbird on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU. Jared’s family has never hidden that they hate him for being an omega. They think it makes him weak and his existence dishonors their family. When they discover that the king’s son is looking for a mate they jump at the chance to rid themselves of Jared and increase their social standing. They believe that something good should come from the blight on their lives. (warning: mpreg)

Convincing the Consort by Sanshal on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU. Breaking up with his boyfriend might have been the hardest thing Crown Prince Jensen Ackles had had to do in the line of duty… Except; it turned out that convincing said boyfriend that he wanted to make-up and marry him might just be even more difficult. (warning: mpreg)

Baiatul Pierdut by minchout on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU. When the warrior king from the North decides to take Jared as his husband, Jared’s world is upended. However, he quickly realizes that being captured by a handsome king is really the least of his problems. 

Imperative by ancastar on LiveJournal. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  Jensen is lost in the woods, and Jared finds him. 

Darkness Deep In You by aythia on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  Just because Jared offered himself up doesn't mean he’ll go down without a fight. The problem is that Jensen likes it when they fight because it makes it that much more delicious when they break. (heed all the warnings on this one,m folks!)

Unmake the Bed by deirdre_c on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  Jared has worked as part of the housekeeping staff at an elite Caribbean resort on Paradise Cay every summer all through college, crushing from afar on its most notorious celebrity guest: Jensen Ackles, the Playboy Prince of Espian. This year, he’s been assigned to attend to Jensen’s rooms, where he catches Jensen’s eye, and possibly his heart.

The Fairy Tale !verse by morrezela on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU. Jared is a workman’s apprentice in the royal palace. He should be happy for the opportunity, but he really just wishes that he was back home. (no penetrative sex)

Love at First Sight by cleflink on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  Once upon a time, a stable boy loved a prince who'd never seen him. Who also happened to be his best friend.  (no penetrative sex)

Vow of Protection by fiercelynormal on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  With his father slain by a ruthless enemy, Prince Jensen of Glenhaven must fight to take back his family's kingdom and to win the heart of his best friend, Jared. (no penetrative sex).

The Taking by morrezela on AO3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  Jared was on vacation on the mysterious and beautiful Parnath. He had known about the ‘takings’ that could happen; he just never thought that he would be that one tourist that would have it happen to him.

Estrangement by morrezela on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  Senior year of high school, Ross Blanco’s estranged father died. His death caused rifts that hadn’t the time to be fixed before Ross disappeared from his teenage home to go live with his grandmother. Now that his ten year reunion is approaching, the people Ross left behind might be in for a bit of a surprise. (no penetrative sex)

Silver City, Golden Heart by whispered_story on Ao3. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  Jensen is just your normal easy-going elf prince, that is until Jared, the adorably charming stable boy, is captured by an evil necromancer. Aided by fairies, a mage, and a brownie, Jensen must ward off werewolves, a troll, a siren, and one very cranky wyvern to get his beloved Jared back.

If Only A Heart Could Be As White As Snow by zubeneschamali on LiveJournal. Jared/Jensen. J2 AU.  What if Snow White had been a young man? It would not only have been his beauty that was a threat, but his future role as king. What if his best friend was a huntsman's son, and both of their worlds were shattered by the betrayal of a jealous stepfather… (no penetrative sex)

Keep on Yearning by Teot on A03 via the Wayback Machine. Jared/Jensen. J2 Non-AU-ish. Every member of the lore knows that shifters only mate with other shifters. When Jensen meets Jared, someone disconcertingly human, he reacts as if his body were on fire. But Jensen refuses to believe that Jared is his true mate. He’s already in a committed relationship with Danneel and Jared is engaged to his girlfriend Sandy. Factor in Jensen’s responsibilities as Prince and the rebellion he’d have on his hands if he chose a human for a mate, and any relationship with Jared should be dead on arrival. But the wolf in him doesn’t care about politics or existing relationships; it wants Jared, human or not. Further complicating everything is that Jared seems to be the target of humans, wolves and even the reclusive cougar clan. Could Jared be more than he seems?  (warning: Jared/Sandy background)

Wincest

But Gently Pulls the Strings by eugara on Ao3. Sam/Dean. Wincest AU.  When the Queen of Winchester finds herself unable to produce an heir for the kingdom, her ensuing plot results in two boys being born in secret and raised as companions—the elder, a prince, and the younger, a simple commoner. Unaware of their shared parentage, Dean Winchester and Sam Campbell grow up to fall deeply in love, keeping their affair hidden from the gossiping mouths of the court. But when it comes time for Dean to choose a spouse, the lovers are forced to contend with not only the weight of their scandalous past, but also Lucifer, the sinister archduke vying for Sam’s hand in marriage…and Dean’s rightful place on the throne.

Beauty and his Beast by virtualpersonal on AO3. Sam/Dean. Unrelated Wincest AU. Prince Dean crosses galaxies and ruthlessly strikes a bargain enabling him pluck Sam away from family and home . Sam only hopes he will survive the cruel attentions of this heartless half-man half-monster who has secret agendas and expectations that Sam cannot fathom. (Sam does use a dildo on Dean in one scene)

The Sheikh’s Reluctant Bride by restless-jedi on LiveJournal. Sam/Dean. Wincest AU.  Sam, a young lawyer trying to get by, unexpectedly finds himself traveling overseas when a forgotten uncle dies. Dean, his adoptive cousin, is dashing, but distant, with a mysterious past.