#Antonie Bitters

[heavenlee773]

Fairly Odd Parents; A New Wish finale spoilers!!

Okay so am I the only one who didn’t like the fact that Hazel’s friends now know about the fairies?

Because like, how do you go on from that? Maybe it’s because I never really got attached to her friends the same way I did with Dev, but it’s just racking my mind over how the episodes in season two will go.

It kind of feels like them knowing about the fairies will only cause troublesome situations like “oh it’s fine! Hazel can just wish us out of this mess” or “Hazel can you wish this for us please?” Which will probably cause a lot of problems, and there’s no going back from that.

It could be because on every site I watched FOPANW for free, it’s missing “The Wellsington Hotellsington” episode which I’m pretty sure is the episode where Winn gets formally introduced, and the trio’s friendship cements. I’ll probably have to buy that episode since websites don’t want to add it for some reason…

But now Season 2 most likely will be focused more on the trio and their shenanigans, so I don’t knowww… I’m really biased though, I love Dev as a character and I love his and Hazel’s dynamic (before the whole taking over fairy world thing)☹️

I like Jasmine and Winn but I just don’t care for them, you know?

And onto Hazel’s brother Antony, he’s cool and all but why does he need to know about the fairies?

Like I know this makes it SO much easier for Hazel, and it’s basically a huge weight lifted off of her, but story wise?? Eughhh I don’t know😖

I mean, if they explore his and Deja’s relationshipppp hmmm okayyyy😋😋 But I just know how they’d segue way into that, and thinking about it makes me uncomfortableeee!!

Basically what I’m saying is, I CAN’T WAIT FOR SEASON TWO AND I HOPE THERE IS MORE DEV CONTENT!!!

PLEASEE don’t have Dev just be a one off antagonist☹️☹️

The theory that Dev keeps his memories because of his shades (and also his similarities to some other rich kid that was in the original series of whom I forgot his name) is cool, but also awkwarddd— because what does he do with that information?? Like okay buddy, you remember. Now what? He never had the best relationship with Peri in the first place!! I’d prefer if maybe season one went on WITHOUT Irep interfering or at least appearing but not appearing again until the next season, because THEN Dev and Peri could’ve connected at least a little, and Dev could have more realizations about “maybe I don’t need my father’s approval” or something— then in season two when Dev goes on a spiral or something, let’s say his dad ticks him off;

Dev tries to have a heart to heart with his dad after Hazel and Peri push him to,

“I feel like you don’t care about me, and all I want is for you to be proud of me—“

And his dad is like,

“Come back to me when you do something I can be proud of.”

SO THEN he becomes bitter at Hazel and Peri for “making” him go do that, and turns to Irep to take over Fairy World.

Eughhhh but this is a kid’s show after all, and they want to cater to their attention spans so a show that takes a while to fully flesh out their characters would probably go right over some kid’s heads (or not, they could probably become smarter.)

I still love the show, and fanfiction exists for this exact reason—

I guess that’s enough of my Ramb-Lee’s for now, if anyone wants to talk about FOPANW, I’m here😝.

(Dev looks so CUTE in this scene🥺)

Peace!!

-🤍

[jyoongim]

🎻 ℜ𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔐𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯 ℜ𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔬🎻

Chapter One

————————————————————————————————

The bitter cold of winter has finally given way to the refreshing warmth of spring. As the spring season rolls in, life and flowers are back in bloom. But that is not the only thing in bloom, no no no.

Many youth from prestigious families are in bloom as well. The refreshing air of spring has given way to the start of the biggest social event in the South.

The Marriage Market.

A time where once youthful elites, now must enter society and find a suitable match, whether that be for love or business, to secure high status.

Will this season’s market be successful? Will there be scandal? Will there be a love match made and a wedding this season?

Well, I guess that is something we should wait to see isn’t it my dear readers?

———————————————————————————————

The gentle rocking of the carriage was luring you to sleep as you watched the scenery go by. The greenery and the smell of honeysuckles always had a special place in your heart. You always loved the country, preferring the quiet hum of the bayou over the hustle and bustle of the city, but you guessed you didn’t mind the jazz and festivities that lied in the city.

“Dearest?” The sound of your mother’s concerning tone made you turn your head, not knowing if she was referring to you or at one of your sisters. She was staring at you with a quirked brow.

Yep. Definitely you.

”did you hear me?”

you gave another look out the window, shaking your head “what did you say?” Your mother sucked her teeth “I asked if you were excited. Its your first season.” A soft smile appeared on your lips “hmm I don’t know yet. Maybe it’ll finally set in once I debut. I am excited to see my friends”

Your mother smiled “I heard Charlotte was debuting as well, oh I can’t wait to see how that girl has grown”

Your sisters were chatting  among themselves quietly. 

Your mother continued “We have much to prepare for dearest. This season I am hoping to have a wedding to plan by the end. Your brother wrote to me that he has found several prospects for you to look into” You rolled your eyes “Oh because he has such great taste in the marriage world. Mama please.” You laughed.

The carriage stopped and your mother stepped out. The servants bowed in greeting and began to gathering y’all things to bring into the estate.

Your sisters ran ahead inside to their rooms and you and your mother walked inside, your mother calling for your brother.

”Ah! Mother! Sister!” A voice called excitedly and your brother appeared smiling. He embraced your  mother, giving her a kiss on the cheek and you as well.

You figured they had business to discuss and left them be as you went to the balcony.

Many families were returning and you catch sight of Charlie. You waved once you caught her attention, sitting down watching the people.

Antony, Angel, hollered up at you when he jumped out of his car, making you laugh when his mother hit his shoulder to get inside the house.

You hoped to have a chance to speak with them while the events were happening.

The season.

You were the first daughter of the prestigious Biche family. One of the most influential and wealthy families to live in the South.

Your family made money by investing in sugarcane fields and horses.

You knew you were the potential prize to many of the men of the ton

”Why don’t you rest up dear? You have a busy day ahead of you” your mother chirped from the drawing room, unpacking a few knick knacks.

You nodded and headed upstairs to your room.

The servants already had your nightgown out and you changed and got into bed.

You read a little until the sky turned dark and laid there, staring up at the ceiling.

Tomorrow started the beginning of the season. You didn’t know what to expect, but you felt a little excited.

Will you meet the perfect gentleman? Would you be able to find a match? You hoped to marry for love, you didn’t need status or any material things. Just a nice man who loved you for you.

You remembered how your father was with your mother and you hoped to find those same qualities in a man.

After all…marriage was about love right? That’s what your mother always said.

——————————————————————————————————

Taglist:

@yourdoorisunlocked @certifiedcrybabyyy @aliyaharnold01 @alastor-simp @alastorsgirl48 @dickmastersworld @memoire-du-ciel @alastoralltruist @hazelfoureyes @kahlan170 @nkirukaj @voxsmalewife @theangeliclibrarian @purplecatsandhearts @amurtan @zombiesnips-blog @alastwhore666 @alastwhore666 @rulesareshadesofgrey @alastorsaries @alastors666creampie @thewinchestah @okay-babe @yunimimii @southern-bayou-beau @karolinda007-blog @justtnat @preciousbabypeter @vexendoe @evedenn @cxrsedwxrlds @cutiebimbo @orangethecarrotcoloredpaperred @sirens-and-moonflowers @alastorthirsty @siiv3r @theangeliclibrarian @nightshadelm @blubugg13 @smoky000 @boney-horse @sweet-radio @charlottemorningstarsdarling @im-so-tired52 @nyxenyo @cinnamon-galaxies @wisteria-seal @kaylopolis @prosciuttosblog @callmeoncette

[tethered-heartstrings]

There is a very clear difference to how Hannibal commits violence against Will compared to others. Sometimes there is the air of him doing it for pleasure, but often it’s out of necessity, self-preservation. He killed Tobias and Antony to keep his secret, he fought Jack in “Mizumono” to stay alive. While it was “I need to do this”, part of it was “because I want to”, versus with Will it was “I have to”. He didn’t necessarily want to harm Will like he did the others, but he had to protect himself, whether physically from prison or emotionally from betrayal. But there is a hesitancy with violence towards Will because he cares about him. He knows he has to inflict pain, but he wants, needs, that pain to be survivable, tolerable, forgivable. There is a deep-rooted fear that Will may not forgive him. What if this act is the final straw and there is no going back.? Still, it’s a need that cannot be ignored, it has to be done. With tears in his eyes, it must be done. And the only thing he can give amongst all the inevitable suffering is a bit of kindness, a small touch of love. A little token of “please just trust me. Trust that I don’t want to do this, but I have to, and I would do anything else if I could.” Hannibal wants the best for Will and is burdened with dealing him the worst. A violence he knows too intimately, and he has no choice but to extend it to someone he loves. An ache deep in his core spread through a trembling, hesitant touch. One last good brush of skin before the spill of blood. A tuck of hair behind the ear and a plead from his soul that this won’t be the time he loses Will forever.

So when Will forgives him in the catacombs, it’s a relief that yes, he was forgiven, he didn’t lose him. But a bitter ache crawled up from his mending heart knowing he had to eat him, and it’d be final. There would be no Will Graham left to forgive him. The least he could do is extend that love once more. Tend to his wounds, hold him, pet his hair, feed him, make it so Will doesn’t feel too much pain. And when it all falls to pieces, he is left in limbo awaiting Will’s forgiveness, hoping against all odds that he could turn back time and go back to a place where they were okay again. But it was the final straw. Will didn’t want him. Will wouldn’t miss him like he’d miss Will. Years and distance separate them, but it could never fully rip them apart. Because at the end of it all Will forgave him. Wanted him. Chose him. Loved him. Despite all the violence and bloodshed and tears, it was all worth it if it meant ending up in each other’s arms. To be the last thing the others feels with no more time left to worry about forgiveness because he will have it for eternity.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

I'm suddenly thinking about the trope when characters end up inside their loved one's memories...

If Jake passed through the memories of the sleeping rescues, plus Nat and Kauri, whose would he be most surprised by? Which would most upset him?

Which memory would Kauri be most worried about him stumbling on and watching as if it's happening all over again?

I realise this is a bit convoluted so no worries if you're not feeling it as a question!!

I think Kauri would worry the most about Jake seeing that he genuinely loved Owen, and would have happily stayed his pet forever if Owen hadn't been abusive emotionally and physically, and that even then it wasn't the existence of abuse that made Kauri desperate to escape, but the escalation of it and his realization that Owen was going to kill him one day, no matter how good he was and how well he played the part.

He would be - and often is - ashamed of other people realizing that Kauri had very real stars in his eyes for a while. Owen was sweet and funny and kind compared to the Facility, and Kauri found himself head over heels quickly. It took a while for the occasional tempers to turn into terror. It took far longer for the terror to erode the love.

And, even worse in Kauri's mind, would be Jake realizing Kauri still loved Owen when he ran from him. He escaped Owen with a heart still wholly committed to 'if only' with the same man who nearly choked him to death. Kauri feels a lot of shame about that, even more than he does about his use of drugs and alcohol to self-medicate his trauma (and untreated ADHD). He would hate for Jake to see how he really felt.

As for a specific memory... probably any of the times he and Owen were honestly happy. He doesn't think Jake would get it. He would be wrong - Jake, as the adult child of a man who put his mother in the hospital a half-dozen times and put Jake himself in the hospital twice and bruised him badly enough to be kept from school to make it less obvious a dozen times more, completely understands. But I don't think Kauri fully understands that.

Jake would be surprised by how naive Nat was when she took the job at WRU and how little she had understood what she was being employed to market. He would be surprised by kind people were to Kauri, too - how often Kauri was desperate and scared only to have some stranger who could have done him harm choose to be kind instead.

As for others... he would not so much be surprised as seeing Antoni's time with Mr. Davies and the realization that Antoni left the woman behind in his chance for escape and feels unending guilt knowing she almost certainly died because of him... it would make Jake understand him much better.

He would be surprised that Jameson and Nanda were so happy, too. He would never believe that, not really, without seeing it for himself. Jameson doesn't strike him as someone who is ever happy about anything. He would be totally caught off-guard by how soft Jameson could be, before he was ground into the bitterness he wears like armor now.

[mariacallous]

Georgia’s president accuses Russia of election meddling and urges the West to back protests

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s president on Monday urged the West to support opposition protests of the official results of a weekend parliamentary election in which the governing party was declared victorious amid voting irregularities and allegations of Russian meddling.

President Salome Zourabichvili, who refused to recognize the official results, told The Associated Press that the South Caucasus nation has fallen victim to Russian pressure aimed at derailing Georgia’s plans to join the European Union.

“We’ve seen that Russian propaganda was directly used,” said Zourabichvili, a fierce critic of Georgian Dream, the governing party. She said the government has been “working hand-in-hand with Russia,” and “probably” received help from Moscow’s security services.

EU Commission spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said Monday that Georgian Dream’s election campaign was “directly inspired” by Russian propaganda and there were “unprecedented levels of disinformation.”

On Sunday, Zourabichvili stood alongside opposition leaders and urged Georgians to join a rally on the main street of the capital, Tbilisi, on Monday night to protest what she called a “total falsification, a total stealing of your votes.”

The Central Election Commission said the Georgian Dream party received 54.8% of Saturday’s votes with almost all ballots counted. The party — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — has become increasingly authoritarian in the past year, adopting laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

Protest is the only way Georgians can “express that their votes have been stolen, that their future has been stolen,” she told AP in an interview.

She said she hopes the U.S. and EU back the demonstrations.

“We need to have the firm support of our European partners, of our American partners,” Zourabichvili said, adding that it was in the interests of “a powerful Europe” to be present in the Caucasus and for the region to be stable.

Asked if she wants sanctions imposed on Georgian officials, Zourabichvili told AP that it’s up to Western leaders but that “certainly time has not come to to renew relations with authorities that are not legitimate at this point.”

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Georgia’s political leaders to “respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, address deficiencies in the electoral process, and move Georgia toward its Euro-Atlantic future.”

Massrali said the EU expects the Central Election Commission and other authorities “to swiftly, transparently and independently investigate and adjudicate electoral irregularities and allegations.”

The Kremlin has rejected the accusations of interference.

“We aren’t meddling in Georgia’s internal affairs, and we have no intention of meddling,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He countered that it was the West that had tried to influence the vote.

Asked about Zourabichvili’s call for the Georgians to join protests, he described it as an attempt to destabilize the country.

Parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili, a member of Georgian Dream, accused the president of creating “a coup scenario” that goes “against the constitutional order and democratic elections.”

The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely because of a Russian-style “foreign influence law” passed in June. Many Georgians viewed Saturday’s vote as a pivotal referendum on the opportunity to join the EU.

The election campaign in the nation of 3.7 million people, which borders Russia, was marked by a bitter fight for votes and allegations of a smear campaign. European observers said the election took place in a “divisive” environment marked by intimidation and instances of vote-buying, double voting and physical violence.

During the campaign, Georgian Dream used “anti-Western and hostile rhetoric ... promoted Russian misinformation, manipulations, and conspiracy theories,” said Antonio López-Istúriz White, head of the European Parliament monitoring delegation.

Election observers said instances of intimidation and other violations were particularly noticeable in rural areas.

Georgian Dream scored its highest share of the vote — almost 90% — in the Javakheti region of southern Georgia. In the capital it received no more than 44% in any district.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a member of Georgian Dream, described his party’s success as “impressive and obvious,” and that “any attempts to talk about election manipulation ... are doomed to failure.”

Initial figures suggested voter turnout was the highest since Georgian Dream was first elected in 2012. The party has vowed to continue pushing toward EU accession but also wants to “reset” ties with Georgia’s former imperial master, Russia. In 2008, Georgia fought and lost a brief war with Russia, which then recognized the independence of two breakaway Georgian regions and bolstered its military presence there.

European Council President Charles Michel urged Georgian officials to “swiftly, transparently and independently investigate” the electoral irregularities and said Georgian Dream should demonstrate its “firm commitment” to the EU.

Hungary’s Victor Orbán was the first foreign leader to congratulate Georgian Dream and will visit Georgia on Monday and Tuesday.

Zourabichvili said he was a “special friend” of Georgian Dream and dismissed his visit as a “political play.”

Orban does not have “any mandate from the EU Council” to visit Georgia, Massrali said on behalf of the EU.

[good-old-gossip]

“It takes a lot to get the diplomats of the Middle East to agree on anything. The behaviour of one man over the last eight months of the war in Gaza has, however, forged a consensus rare among such a group: Antony Blinken cannot be trusted.

The US secretary of state’s powers of turning reality on its head have raised the eyebrows of even practised cynics.

It is a complaint that resounds from Doha to Amman, Cairo, Tel Aviv and Ankara. Blinken is currently engaged in what one of his predecessors, James Baker, called “dead cat diplomacy”.

Baker’s pupil, Aaron David Miller, wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “The objective is not to reach a deal but to ensure if it fails, the dead cat is on other’s doorstep.”

The dead, or dying, cat of the moment is a ceasefire deal in Gaza that holds.

At every stage in this eight-month war, US diplomacy has showed its weakness, and it bears a heavy responsibility for where this has now landed both Israel and US forces in the region.

As things stand, and with the active complicity of Blinken, the gap between Israel and Hamas will not be bridged, even though the truth is that the gap between the US and Israel is much larger than that between the US or the UN and Hamas.

Both Hamas and the US, and the 13 other members of the UN Security Council that voted for the resolution, want an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

Israel is in a minority of one in making sure that does not happen, knowing that neither Blinken nor Biden has the political capital left to stop it.

To carry on the war in Gaza is to ensure that the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah will continue, with each side striking deeper into each other’s territory.

The surest method of de-escalation on the northern border is to secure an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

I cannot think of any other time during the 76 years of this bitter conflict, when an Israeli leadership has been so obdurate in pursuing war aims that are unachievable - and a US president so weak and powerless to stop it.”

✍️ by David Hearst

[moonyasnow]

TWST OC Showcase: Victor Dragomir

(The younger twin brother to Veronica Dragomir)

Voice Claim: Antony del Rio (in his performance of Silas from Fire Emblem: Fates)

Victor Dragomir 1/4 Fae - Salamander Left-handed Briar Valley - Ignihyde Dorm 170cm / 5'6 - #fad489 / 227, 191, 120 October 17th - Libra - 17-18 y.o. 2nd year - Sophmore - Class B, no. 5 Science Club Best Subject: Animal Language Hobbies: Taxidermy Pet peeves: Weak people Favorite food: Gelato Least favorite food: anything bitter or spicy Talent: Keeping a Poker-Face Floyd-given name: Anglerfish Rook-given name: Monsieur Sang Cater-given name: Vi-vi Signature Spell: 'Dark of Night' So long as there is still a skeleton, he can reanimate any dead creature for a temporary amount of time and use the body like a puppet to do his bidding

Link to all my OC Showcases here!

A few quotes:

“Ugh, chaos, chaos, chaos! How unorganized!”

“Humanity truly is a scourge.” — “Oh! Haha~! You misunderstand; the fae are no better. The only truly clean beings are animals. Animals hold no malice; when they hurt, it is out of necessity, no ill-will harborered. When humanity is overthrown, trust me to be one of the first to switch allegiance. I pray the day approaches quickly.”

“Oh hell…oh hell, hell, hell, hell, hell!”

Victor and his twin sister Veronica, born three minutes before him, were born to an old family of knights in Briar Valley, a clan of lesser dragons— Salamanders— with close ties to the Draconia family, having served as their guards and knights for centuries. Though by the time they were born, the Salamander blood in their veins had become diluted, with Victor and his sister being the closest the clan has had to 'pure-blood Salamanders' in centuries. Salamanders, as both lesser dragons and a fire-elemental type fae, are prone to catch fire. Literally. Their skin and hair can catch fire when they're experiencing severe, negative emotion, though mostly anger. It burns a bright gold— like when you try burning sodium. A Salamander cannot be hurt by their own fire, but that's not to say things around them are immune to it. Veronica, Victor and their parents are immune to their own and each other's fire, as well as most magical fires. However, regular fire can still affect them due to the human part of their heritage. A pure-blooded Salamander would not be affected by normal fire. This weakness was exploited and used against them.

Cecilia Dragomir (maiden name Cecilia Cornix) and Vladimir Dragomir died in a fire that engulfed the Dragomir manor when the twins were just five years old. A fire started by someone seeking to end the family, holding hatred for the quantity of human blood in their veins. The twins themselves only survived thanks to being rescued by their distant relative, a man named Diaval Dragomir, who adopted them and raised them as their father from then on. Veronica was the heir to the Dragomir family, her brother Victor second in line, Diaval the head of the family until Veronica comes of age. Victor remembers a lot more of their life before the fire than his sister does. He remembers his parents incredibly fondly, and how they alongside Veronica would always protect him, and try to comfort him whenever anyone had been mean to him. And he remembers far too much about the fire for his liking. Remembers seeing his childhood home go up in flames, and remembers his parents' voices, screaming, then silence. Afterwards he became even more timid than before, and reliant on Veronica as the only familiar thing he had left. Victor was often described as a calm, quiet and polite, though a bit of a doormat, shy and very timid. He often preferred the company of animals over people. This often lead to other, less timid, often older, kids picking on and teasing him. But Veronica stood up for him in his place, and he always felt safer when she was there. He was the only person who seemed able to calm her down. Veronica comforted him when his bullies made him cry, and he comforted her when she had become upset and thrown a tantrum. But— though he felt guilty for it— he was also a bit envious of his sister. She was so strong, and never scared, and was never afraid to say how she felt or what she thought. And he wanted to be just like her. But no one around them ever seemed to agree. People always compared them to each other, and were always in Victor's favor... Because while neither were viewed particularly favorably in the eyes of the adult fae around them, there was one thing that, in their eyes, made the two inherently different, and Victor better. Victor was a magical prodigy, even by fae standards. Veronica was magicless. Though none of them yet seemed to understand that he and his sister were different from them in terms of their race and what that meant, they could just feel the lack of magic from Veronica. In their eyes it made her different. And since their peers were also afraid of Veronica's violent temper, they always excluded her. Victor was her only friend, making the two even closer.

However, when the twins were just about to turn 8, Victor was kidnapped. He still wouldn't stop crying even after Veronica had scared off all his bullies, so she took him to a nearby shop to buy ice cream, since his sweet tooth meant he often stopped crying when he got to eat sweets. Veronica was right next to him, walking proudly with a small, recently obtained practice sword on her hip, and only let go of Victor's hand for a single moment to pay for ice cream for the two of them. That's when he felt a hand close around his arm and someone's hand over his mouth. Before he could understand what was happening, an adult had picked him up and was dragging him away into an alley. Victor had started crying, his one free arm reaching out for Veronica, who had her back turned as she payed. But when she looked back, she started running after them, sword in hand...but a seven-year-old could never defeat a grown adult. Victor remembers seeing a bolt of magic hit her head, then her falling to the ground. He cried harder, but quieter after that. The next thing he remembers is an image of descending into massive hole in the sea. He and his sister were inseparable before he was kidnapped. They were each other's polar opposites and complimented each other. Victor comforted her, and she comforted him. As long as she was happy, he was happy, and vise versa. Victor never celebrates his birthday anymore. It feels wrong to do it without Veronica. But also because he doesn't want to grow up any more than he already has; it would feel like admitting just how much he's lost.

He had been kidnapped by Warren and Mina Cornix, two relatives from his mother's side of the family, both able to pass for human. As for why they kidnapped him, it seems they were planning to use his great affinity for magic, along with some fancy new modern technology and technomancy, to 'bring back the Dragomir family to what it once was'. He didn't understand what that meant and became scared it meant they would hurt him, which only made him even more terrified than he already was. For a very long time after initially being abducted, Victor was constantly confused and scared, almost always crying. Warren always yelled at him when he started crying, which quickly taught him that crying was unsafe. But he couldn't stop his tears even though he wanted to; they just kept flowing out whenever he was scared, which was almost always when living with Warren. In time, Warren became upset enough at this 'bad habit' of his that he began to use force to get him to stop. Mina, Warren's wife, for her part, was nicer. But she too was too scared of her husband to be able to do much to lessen the abuse Victor had begun to be regularly subjected to whenever Warren felt he 'wasn't trying hard enough'. And whenever Victor wasn't progressing at the speed Warren wanted him to, he would yell insults at him, calling him a 'rotten half-breed', implying that must be why Victor could never be good enough.

After kidnapping him they first cashed in a favor from a person who worked at the Island of Woe, and were allowed to hide out there for a while. During their stay at the Island of Woe, he met two boys his age, two brothers named Idia and Ortho, who also lived there. He was scared of both of them at first, since in his experience, other kids who weren't his sister were always horrible to him. But they were nice to him. They asked him tons of questions, being curious about what Briar Valley was like, having never left the Island of Woe themselves. The back and forth eventually drifted to Veronica, which always made him start crying from missing her. But having them as friends for the time that he did meant a lot to him. For the year that he knew them, they were the one comfortable thing in his life after being ripped away from everything he'd ever known. He didn't stop crying for two days when he had to say goodbye to them. They gave him a little dog plushy to remember them by, whom he named 'Hugo'. After that Victor and his guardians moved around a lot in order to take Victor to tutors, doctors and specialists who could both help him hone his magic and teach him about technomancy, modern technology, alchemy, and anything else they thought he might have use for— all with the aim of making him even stronger. Victor was trained by a lot of different people in technomancy, technology, alchemy and the like, meaning he had to move around a lot. He didn't like it. They also took him to various doctors and people working with technological enhancements and basically turned him part technomatic cyborg, giving him abilities like night and heat vision, stronger bones and muscles, tougher skin…and also one which just implanted a microchip into his body, so his guardians could always know his location. The procedures were very painful, the more painful the more stressed, tense or scared he was. As a result Victor was forced to learn to numb his emotions. He never quite got that back. For a very long time after initially being abducted, Victor was constantly confused and scared, almost always crying. Warren always yelled at him when he started crying, which quickly taught him that crying was unsafe. But he couldn't stop his tears even though he wanted to; they just kept flowing out whenever he was scared, which was almost always when living with Warren. In time, Warren became upset enough at this 'bad habit' of his that he began to use force to get him to stop. Mina, Warren's wife, for her part, was nicer. But she too was too scared of her husband to be able to do much to lessen the abuse Victor had begun to be regularly subjected to whenever Warren felt he 'wasn't trying hard enough'. And whenever Victor wasn't progressing at the speed Warren wanted him to, he would yell insults at him, calling him a 'rotten half-breed', implying that must be why Victor could never be good enough. It was obvious even to Victor that Warren only wanted to use Victor, caring only for his magic and not his personhood. He was the guardian who pushed for the enhancements to Victor's body and kept moving them around to find new tutors. Mina went along with what he wanted because they were scared of him and was being abused, too, just verbally and mentally instead of physically.

But through all the studying he did discover he had quite a scientific mind. He wanted to study things himself, relying on his own observations to find out the 'how' and 'why'. He was just more interested in biology than anything related to magic or technomancy or the like. Sometimes he wondered what certain animals would look like if he were to cut into them. The thought that it meant killing an animal made him sad at first...but not afraid. He felt like he was supposed to feel bad at the thought. But he didn't. So he started wandering the sides of roads after school, looking for roadkill to dissect. But eventually that wasn't interesting enough. You can only look at the same types of long-dead tissue so many times before you've learned all you can about it. And fresher samples would be more intact. And though he claimed to love animals, he didn't seem to have any qualms about them being dead, or even killing them himself— though he didn't like the sounds they made when in pain, and disliked them suffering. But that got better when he learned how to kill them quickly and...as close to humanely as an adolescent boy killing animals in secret can manage. Once after just dissecting an animal, he felt words in the back of his throat, ones he felt oddly compelled to speak: 'Dark of Night' Next thing he knew, it was up and moving in his arms again, though seeming much more docile then it was when he first caught it. Maybe, he thought, it wasn't scared anymore because it was already dead; after death, what else could there be to fear? At the age of 13, he had just discovered his Signature Spell. And with it, an interest in taxidermy, so he could still reanimate the animals without them starting to stink. The idea of bringing back the past started to really resonate with him. He missed his home. He missed his parents. He missed his sister. He missed the way things used to be, and wanted to return to it, developing a love of things that never change. He began to see undeath as the most desirable state of being, because your existence continues on, yet you can't die again.

He also began to wonder more and more what it might feel like to kill a person. So one day, while it was just him and Warren, traveling up a mountain to find a tutor living in a small town near it, Victor decided to just push him off of a cliff. He was a little surprised at how little he felt seeing him fall to his death— didn't even feel much seeing him splat against the ground, maybe a bit of satisfaction at most. He was briefly surprised that he felt so little taking a life at first, but didn't really care. When he came back down the mountain, he told Mina that Warren fell on his own. She didn't openly question it. And so they started living a somewhat quieter life just the two of them. But Victor had grown attached to the idea of bringing his family back, so he kept studying. Not in school, no, most of his grades dropped to Es— just enough to keep him in school- as soon as Warren was no longer around, simply because he didn't care about anything else. His only A was in Biology, any other good grades being purely accidental due to him just having so much fun learning that his teachers managed to catch on that he knew a lot about it.

As a child, he remembered he often begged in his mind for his sister to come and save him. From Warren, from all the doctors, from everything. But no one came to save him. So at some point he stopped crying out for help. He eventually found he could barely feel fear anymore. Nowadays, very, very few things are capable of truly scaring him. If he almost dies, sure, he'll be shook, but he'll recover from it fairly quickly after some deep breaths. But there are some things that truly scare him. To this day, hearing 'half-breed' makes his body flinch and blood run cold, bringing up his guard even higher than it already was. He basically dissociates for a little while until he's forcefully snapped out of it by something like someone snapping their fingers in front of him, after which he'll be confused for just a second before remembering what he was supposed to be doing.

He still likes animals more than he probably ever will people. To the point where he feels more bad killing animals than he did killing Warren. To him, humans aren't as human as him, if that's how to word it. It's like in his mind, he is an animal, and that's why killing animals hurts him but killing humans doesn't. Oh, except for when it comes to his Creatures, of course. In pursuit of making a new Creature, he never feels bad about killing an animal, believing he's 'saving' them from the grip of mortality. Though on the rare occasion he likes a human at all, he'll compare them to some kind of animal. For example, he'll call someone whose loyalty he admires a Guard-Dog, and maybe even want to scratch their chin if he genuinely likes them. It may sound to others as though he's putting them down when he says things like that, but to him it's how he shows affection. As a child, apart from his sister, his only friends were all animals. So he just decided he had no need for human friends. One reason for his hatred of humans is because he grew up being bullied for being half human and 'weaker' than his fully fae peers, and so hates the part of him which is human with a passion, since he hates anything he thinks makes him 'weak'. But Warren thought the reason he was such a talented mage from such an early age must have been due to his fae side. So since he was no longer surrounded on all sides by pro-far sentiments and this 'talent' from his fae side lead to his guardian abducting and abusing and trying to mold him how he saw fit, he sees his fae side as chains which bind him. Doesn't help that he hated the other fae kids who bullied him, too. He hates both parts of his heritage equally and wishes he were anything else. So then, with his love of animals, beastpeople and mer are the only 'people' he doesn't dislike. Them having some connection animals makes him associate what he sees as animals' good qualities with them, just by association. He outright believes beastpeople and mer are better than both humans and fae.

Some miscellaneous info about him:

He is a seemingly nice, polite person, but in no way a pushover; the kind of person who, if you bother him too much, will give you a polite fake smile, laugh in a lighthearted tone and tell you he really wishes murder wasn't considered a crime so he could make you shut up. And his smile always looks rather cold and insincere unless he's talking to or about one of his Creatures.

He loves uncovering mysteries more than anything in the world, and his curiosity often gets the best of him. He tends to get hyper-focused tunnel-vision once he finds something fascinating. He has trouble stopping himself while in this kind of situation. He'll become absolutely obsessed with a potential avenue of research and won't move on until he's learned as much as he possibly can about it. He is dedicated to following the rules. For civility' sake, as well as because he knows from experience that if he lets himself disregard one, it's going to lead him down a slippery slope of 'rules mean nothing; I am God'. But if he finds a rule stupid and gives himself even one second to think of what he could potentially learn from disobeying it, he'll throw it out the window. 

He is polite, but only to the extent that's societally mandated. He doesn't like being in the company of humans or fae, but knows there's not really anything he can do to change the necessity to. Unless he's been actively provoked he keeps up appearances, just so people won't go rooting around and find out about his hobby of digging through pet cemeteries and do anything crazy like 'reporting him to local authorities'.

He's not the kind of person who would beat you up when he's truly mad— no, he wants to make you suffer in the long term. He might create an army of Creatures comprised of animals the one who wronged him is terrified of and then let them run loose in that person's home. Or he might just release those same animals, but living, in their home. If someone was scared of ants he'd drill multiple small holes in the wall behind some kind of furniture— somewhere his victim wouldn't find it— all over their residence and scent them with something irresistible to ants.

He gets along with others well enough and can sometimes even like some people, but that doesn't mean he isn't also a cold-blooded murderer. And he can be extremely petty when someone has bothered him enough to make him want revenge.

He has a major sweet-tooth and adores all kinds of sweets and candy.  He actually can barely stand bitter or spicy tastes at all, always eating white chocolate, and pouring so much milk and sugar into his coffee that you can barely see the actual coffee in the sugary sweet concoction.

He's the same when it comes to smells. Without the tons and tons of sweet-smelling herbs, potpourri and incense he's hung up in his room, it would smell like carnage and roadkill. He also has a taste for cute things! That's another part of the reason he loves animals so much. He would definitely want have a giant Squishmallow collection, but needs to limit himself to just one or two. His room is already quite unsanitary, since keeping sterilized medical equipment where he sleeps isn't exactly feasible, and his taxidermy hobby takes priority. And since he can bring his taxidermies to 'life', it's like he has his own personal army in his room.

At NRC:

As basically everyone in his life had been expecting since he was just a child, he one day recieved an invitation to Night Raven College. SInce he has already spent most of his life planning to go there anyway, he didn't have a lot to sort out before the carriage came for him.

At the sorting ceremony, he went before the Dark Mirror, who said that the nature of his soul matched that of Ignihyde: Diligent, just as the King of the Underworld was. He was quite pleased with this, and thought it fit him.

As he was looking around the room in boredom waiting for the ceremony to conclude, he thought, for just a second, that he spotted someone who looked like his sister in the crowd. The thought made him strangely anxious. He tried to shake it off, reasoning with himself that there's no way a magicless person like her would be a student at Night Raven, a school specifically for mages. But he couldn't rid himself of that uneasy feeling and spent the rest of the night feeling tense, though hiding it well enough behind a practiced, uninterested smile. He was, evidently, distracted enough by his thoughts to have entirely missed the part where the floating tablet his new Housewarden had attending in his place said his name as he urged all the Ignihyde students to follow him through to their dorm.

He was still caught up in his thoughts when he distantly heard a call of his name— then something big collided with his side. He tensed and his elbow came down to wedge itself between his body and that of the object and flung it off with all his strength. 'Wo-ah!' was heard, as something metallic-sounding collided with the floor. When Victor looked to the source of the noise he saw Ortho.

His childhood friend. ...Who looked like he hadn't aged a single day since he last saw him. His eyes were blown wide and his arms fell limp to his sides as he watched the little boy get up on engine 'feet' and ask if Victor remembered him, saying something about how 'his scans indicated a state of shock.'

Victor confirmed that yes, he did remember him. And his brother, too. And when Ortho took his hand and said he'd take him too see his brother, that both he and Idia had really missed him, he went along with it. He really thought he'd finally started to go mad and was seeing ghosts: first his sister, then his childhood friend. But when he passed through the door to Idia's room— behind which Idia himself was groaning that he really didn't need Ortho to try to bring some freshman to speak to him and to 'keep the NPCs out!'— and saw an older Idia, he realized he wasn't insane. Well logically he did, at least.

Both he and Idia stared at each other in shock, the latter having let out a baffled squeak Victor couldn't help but want to liken to that of a little mouse. Ignoring his protests Victor walked up to Idia, grabbed his hand to yank him out of his chair and hugged him. He buried his face in Idia's hair to hide the smalls tears that had come to his eyes; the first tears he'd cried in years.

He never asked what happened to Ortho. He didn't need to. And Idia and Ortho never asked what happened to Victor, though he was sure they could both see the massive change he had undergone.

They just let each other...exist, in the others' presence. It was the closest to peace Victor could remember feeling in a long time.

And Idia, despite calling it extremely weird and also kinda gross, never really cared too much to stop Victor's hobby. He thought his robotics hobby wasn't all too different, in a way. Both originating from a desire to preserve. He didn't know how to feel about Victor sometimes jokingly referring to him as a mouse though.

His only real friends are Veronica, Idia and Ortho. The rest, he just observes from a distance, as though they really were ants in a terrarium.

He HATES Rook. If someone killed an animal to eat it or because it attacked first, he'd think it was understandable, just how nature goes. But if someone killed an animal just because, he would not be able to stand that person. Animals have always been kinder to him than humans or fae(with VERY few exceptions, such as his sister), so he feels more at home with them (and kinda by extension beastmen and merpeople) and anyone who hurts them for no good reason should die, in his mind. Sure he'll kill an animal for science, but it's always for a clear purpose, and he always makes it quick. (he may or may not be a little bit hypocritical)

But he gets the most upset when anyone says he and Rook are alike. You'll see his smile become strained, and his brow twitch in annoyance.

Now, he may be a sadist who loves seeing others' squirm, but he has standards. He will only let loose his sadistic side if he's been attacked in any way. Living things attack if threatened, do they not? He dislikes attacking the innocent who have no will to fight. It's pathetic to him, and reminds him of his younger self, not to mention makes him feel like one of his bullies, which he detests so much it makes him nauseous. So he always avoids it unless absolutely necessary. But his curiosity will always trump this. If he thinks someone is fascinating, he's going to study them no matter how it makes them feel.

His grades, just like when he was younger, in every subject but Animal Linguistics, are only really passing enough to keep him enrolled.

About the Salamander 'catching fire' thing... Victor, who is very good at keeping his emotions in check for the most part, doesn't bother fireproofing his clothes, especially since it can get quite expensive. However this doesn't tend to end very well when he DOES get angry. The tips of his ears also catch fire when he's flustered. Which is almost never.

One thing that didn't change at all from when they were children was that, whenever anyone tried to be mean to Victor in her presence, Veronica would always step in, either barking at them until they went away or threatening to do something to them. Seven forbid anyone actually laid their hands on Victor…

Once, Veronica smashed her lunch tray into another student's head for punching Victor. She did it without hesitation.  Afterwards, like clockwork, they went into a familiar routine; she took his hand and started walking away. Without even needing to ask Victor picked up the plot immediately and said 'Ooo, yay, ice cream!' and giggled. The warm pressure of her hand around his guiding him away from danger to comfort him made him feel so nostalgic…so safe. They skipped lunch and just had ice cream that day instead. 

Victor later learned Veronica's Housewarden, Vil, was upset with her over the incident. But also that Veronica refused to back down, and didn't even try to argue with him about whether what she did was right or not. When it came to Victor it didn't matter what was 'right' or 'wrong'— just caring for him. It warmed his cold heart for the first time in years. Enough to melt a tiny piece of it enough to let his sister back into it. It felt like coming home.

More sprites:

Bonus: family

Father Vladimir and mother Cecilia. Since he remembers them so well, and didn't grow up being raised by his adoptive father Diaval, he doesn't consider him his father the way his sister considers him hers.

[best-nun-tournament]

Round 2, Match 15

Catherine and Hindley Earnshaw (Limbus Company) vs John Wilkes and Edwin Booth (US history)

Propaganda under break. Limbus Company Canto VI spoilers.

Catherine and Hindley Earnshaw

Catherine died, and in her will left her brother the gift of forcing him to go to rehab. she also made sure the method of transportation she provided was Evil Train that traps you for 1000 years

John Wilkes and Edwin Booth

They were actors which is fine. Except. Edwin was better and John was bitter. And the John assassinated the President while delivering a line well associated with Edwin's Brutus. Edwin (already on the outs with John) disowned his brother after that.

Poll Runner's Note: Also their brother Junius Brutus Booth Jr was arrested because of John Wilkes Booth shooting the president. And the three of them had just done Julius Caesar in 1864 (John Wilkes was Mark Antony and Junius was Crassus), the year before the assassination.

One of Junius' other famous roles was as King John, also in this tournament!

[sirianasims]

Chapter 24

Just Give Me a Reason

Shortly after Freya’s first birthday, we found ourselves back in Britechester for Jamie and Athena’s wedding. That was definitely not something I’d seen coming.

But I was happy for them, even if I could feel my own bitterness simmering underneath. I would never have what they clearly had.

It was nice to see all my old university friends again, though. I hadn’t really kept in touch with Cierra, Ivan and the others since we graduated.

Katherine felt awkward being there, obviously. Not only was she surrounded by former students, but everyone knew our story by now. And her old house was just across the canal from here.

I saw her wiping a tear away, but I ignored it. I didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention to her.

Instead, I was catching up with Ivan. We even laughed about how I’d once tried to hide that I slept with Katherine. He told me that the second he had asked at the festival, the guilty look on my face had confirmed everything.

Jamie and Athena were both straight edge health nuts, so it was an alcohol-free wedding, but I still managed to have a pretty good time sober.

Katherine came over and told me that she would like to go for a brief walk. Just to have a look around her old neighbourhood. Athena heard her, and gave me a worried look.

I had a flashback to the look Athena gave me in the library a few years ago when Katherine had asked me to meet her in her office. But I shrugged and told Katherine to do whatever she wanted.

She left and Athena sat down next to me.

“I think she wanted you to go with her”, she said quietly.

That hadn’t occurred to me at all.

I lost myself in conversation again as Katherine headed towards her old home.

When she reached the house, she ran into Antony, who was just about to leave. And he wasn’t alone. But they had already seen her, so she had no other option than saying hello.

Antony happily introduced her to his girlfriend Amber.

Or rather fiancée. They’d gotten engaged a few weeks before. Amber cheerfully showed off her enormous diamond ring.

She congratulated them, and Antony even politely asked how our daughter was doing. He and Amber seemed genuinely happy and in love.

Katherine said goodbye as quickly as she could without being rude.

When she came back to Jamie and Athena’s house, she was visibly upset. She told me what had happened.

I was not impressed. I felt like she was asking to be hurt by going anywhere near her ex-husband or his house.

We traveled home mostly in silence.

beginning / previous / next

[darkness-falls-tarot]

Antony Starr and his love life; how’s it been since him and his ex Erin Moriarty broke up are there some issues there?

All readings are alleged and for entertainment purposes only; please take each reading with a grain of salt.

How is Anthony’s love life going: 10 of pentacles - he is actually doing very well. He is hopeful to find someone and have a family someday; he wants to find someone who will suit his wants in life and have the same goals. He is trying to secure things for a stable family life ahead.

Is he currently seeing someone: 7 of swords - I don’t think he’s in an actual relationship yet. He seems to be very guarded and may feel like he put his trust in someone who didn’t show their true nature to him.

How is he dealing with Erin and his breakup: 3 of pentacles reversed - he may feel like this didn’t go as well as they had planned. They may have made some decisions to do things or may have set up to actually try and start a family or even marriage; but the breakup happened and now he’s just at a loss. I think he’s going over in his head if he made a mistake or what he could’ve done that would save the relationship from ending.

Will this cause tension on set between them: ace of cups sideways - this could be a chance for them to make amends and try to be civil but there is potential that they will have some issues. They need to pick and choose these battles because it could cause drama on set and even a divide between the cast as they choose who’s side they want to be on. It’s not a place to be doing that.

Advice for Anthony and Erin going forward: ace of wands reversed - right now they are stuck because of the contract they have for their roles. So they have to buckle down and power through this; in time they will each find another partner and be okay with what happened. But for now they just need to now but heads and feel the bitterness.

Oracle card: talking - they need to be able to sit down and let some ground rules be established with themselves and the cast. I believe they will try and be civil overall about this and make sure the show is able to run smoothly and no drama happens.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Patricia Torres at The Guardian:

Nicolás Maduro has been declared the winner of Venezuela’s presidential election by the government-controlled electoral authority – a result that appeared to dash opposition hopes of ending 25 years of socialist rule and was immediately contested by his rivals and several governments in the region.

After a six-hour delay in releasing the results of Sunday’s election sparked an outpouring of concern from South American governments, the national electoral council claimed Maduro had won with 51.21% of votes compared with 44.2% for his rival, the former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia. The council said with about 80% of votes counted, Maduro had secured more than 5m compared with González’s 4.4m. “I am Nicolás Maduro Moros – the re-elected president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela … and I will defend our democracy, our law and our people,” the 61-year-old proclaimed as he addressed supporters in the capital, Caracas. Independent observers had described this election as the most arbitrary in recent years, even by the standards of an authoritarian regime that started with Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez. Maduro dedicated his win to Chávez, his late mentor, who anointed Maduro as his successor shortly before his death in 2013. “Long live Chávez. Chávez is alive!” Maduro shouted.

The result was celebrated by Maduro’s allies including the Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, who hailed a “historic victory” and called it a triumph of “the dignity and courage of the Venezuelan people”. “The people spoke and the revolution won,” he tweeted. Bolivia’s leftwing leader, Luis Arce, also celebrated the result of an election that was held on what would have been Chávez’s 70th birthday. “What a great way to remember the Comandante Hugo Chávez,” Arce tweeted. There was condemnation and questioning from elsewhere in the region, with many convinced the election had been stolen. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said his government had “serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people”.

“It’s critical that every vote be counted fairly and transparently, that election officials immediately share information with the opposition and independent observers without delay, and that the electoral authorities publish the detailed tabulation of votes. The international community is watching this very closely and will respond accordingly,” Blinken added. Chile’s president, Gabriel Boric, tweeted: “Maduro’s regime must understand that the results it has published are hard to believe … Chile will not recognise any result that is not verifiable.” Peru’s foreign minister, Javier González-Olaechea, said his government also rejected the result. “Peru will not accept the violation of the popular will of the Venezuelan people,” he tweeted. The government of Costa Rica said it categorically rejected what it considered a “fraudulent” result, while the president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, said the count had been “clearly flawed”. “You cannot recognise a triumph if you do not trust the form and mechanisms used to achieve it,” Pou said.

The Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado – who had thrown her weight behind González’s campaign after being banned from running herself – rejected the result, claiming the opposition had won in every single state. “We won and everybody knows it,” she said. “We haven’t just defeated them politically and morally, today we defeated them with votes,” Machado told journalists, claiming González had in fact won the contest and should be considered the country’s president-elect. The result was a bitter blow to Venezuela’s notoriously fractured opposition, which had united around the unlikely candidacy of González – a 74-year-old former ambassador and political neophyte - hoping he could help lead the country out of one of the worst peacetime economic collapses in modern history.

Incumbent autocratic Venezuelan “President” Nicolás Maduro coronated himself as the fraudulent winner of the 2024 Venezuelan elections over Edmundo González Urrutia (who is running in María Corina Machado’s stead).

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Any chance Antoni wants to share how he's doing today?

He sits at the kitchen table, the fingers of one hand loosely curled around the handle of his mug of tea, the other hand supporting his chin. The look in his dark brown eyes is distant, seeing something far beyond the wall he seems to be staring at. His hair is missed and a little overlong, needing a cut but he hasn't had the energy for it.

Not for a while.

He doesn't see her at first, because she stands in the doorway off to one side, perfectly silent. It could be seconds - it could be minutes.

But when he sits back, he catches a flash of bright blue from the corner of his eye and jumps, heart skipping, thinking for just a moment he sees the woman, with her dulled eyes and dark bruises and incongruous luxury, the woman who wore furs and bloodied lower lips with an equal lack of understanding.

Then he realizes, time crashes its layers together, and his heart beats again. "Chort voz'mi!"

Nova stares at him, almost unblinking. She is, as always, impeccably made up, with a carefully casual updo and thrift store clothes that she wears like they cost more than this house. "Are you sad?" Her voice is oddly light for the question, vaguely curious, not concerned.

He swallows, shrugging, looking away from her and back down at his mug. He forgot the tea for too long - when he sips, it's lukewarm and too bitter. "No. Only thinking. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. Maybe you looked sad." She shrugs. "Is there any breakfast left?"

"Mmmn. Somewhere. Fridge, maybe."

Her eyes narrow, looking him over. Nova looks at everyone like a math problem to be solved, and he wonders what calculations she has made about him. "You always cook breakfast."

"Yes, well. I did not today." He puts the mug down and winces as it cracks too loud against the table, but at least it doesn't break. "There is plenty to eat."

"But-"

"I did not cook today." His voice is chilled, now, each word carefully spoken with perfect articulation. "Please feel free to eat anything you like."

Her eyebrows raise. "Oh, you are sad. What are you sad about?"

"I do not talk about it."

"Why not?" She moves into the room with artificial grace, leaning over with her back straight to look into the fridge. When she turns to look back at him over her shoulder, curling tendrils of hair frame her face, just the way she wants them to. "Dr. Berger says-"

"You are not Dr. Berger. And I do not talk about it."

"Well... Fine." She pours herself some milk after smelling the top to check if it's still good, then turns to look at him as she drinks, eyebrows raising. "I don't actually care, you know."

That manages to pull from him a faint, faded smile. "Yes, you do. Or you would not ask."

"I'm just being polite."

"You do not care about being polite."

"No, I don't." She thinks about it. "But I care about you."

"What? Why?"

Nova doesn't answer. She sets the glass down, emptied and still marked with milk, and then swans out of the room, leaving him staring, baffled, after her.

[e-pistulae]

in today's letter(s): cicero replies to a Lot of letters! dolabella's speech against antony was so good that cicero likes him again! something has happened to cleopatra, maybe! cicero tells atticus about the arrogance of authors! and a story about how brutus criticised his style! cicero's nephew is apparently antony's right hand manlet! maybe the assassins should have killed antony! cicero eats dessert! and octavius lurks ominously in the background!

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[coachtfd]

Oh maaaan please lemme tell you: I’ve been a United fan more than 20 years and been through thick and thin with the club and it will always be like this. I will always support United and no one else. But at the same time I genuinely DO NOT enjoy watching United for a VERY long time. It’s not the lack of trophies for me personally but the fact that our football is so fucking ugly it physically hurts to watch. We are so poor at footballing activities it boggles the mind! Even against dead last Southampton we were poor as fuck but I wasn’t even surprised because that’s been our standard for a while. Our football is outright unwatchable and if I was a little kid right now I sure as hell would not fall in love with this sorry excuse of a football club. I had huge hopes for Ten Hag but I’m so fed up with him now I can’t stand to look at him nor listen to his bullshit interviews anymore. He has been here for 2 years and he’s done fuck all in my book. And I swear to god I didn’t expect him to win the fucking prem in his first 3 years but I very much HOPED to see good fucking football and he couldn’t deliver! In 2 years we had like 5 good games when I thought this is it! This is how Manchester United football club should play! The rest? Abysmal performances one after another. One season going down the drain like dirty bath water after another.

Oh and not to mention the moral decay the club is in.. they almost brought Greenw**d back no problem! Like my beloved club that I have been supporting with my heart and soul and my money was on the cusp of reintegrating that pos and only changed plans in the last second when they saw that the reaction to that possibility was far from kind and understanding. Then we have another scandal involving Antony who’s still here and playing despite the allegations against him. Should be out the fucking door ffs but the club didn’t even try to get rid of him. Fuck that!

I’m massively disappointed in this club for several reasons so no I can’t even celebrate a win at this point. Win or lose I just acknowledge it and move on. I think in the last 10 years they managed to kill my love and passion I used to have for football itself. I used to miss events and outings just to catch the famous Man United play but now? Sometimes I even forget to check when we play and if I miss a game I just don’t care. Am I plastic now? Am I fake? Guess I’m just disillusioned and bitter. Oh well.

Ah fuck, this got extremely long, feel free to delete it’s whatever x

There it is, that’s what I wanted to get to. I feel you on all of this, I totally get it. And I don’t blame you for thinking or feeling this way, United has put all of us through the wringer. Some of us way more than others because it’s more than just a sports team to them. It is for me.

I remember when glimpses of United was all I could hope for because they didn’t start showing full games on the regular in the US until I was out of high school. My dad would literally interrupt whatever I was doing if he found out that a game was on. We weren’t very close and didn’t get along very well as I got older, but we had football in common, we had United. I don’t take it for granted that a team named United pulled us together when it felt like just about everything else pushed us apart. He loved their resilience, their never quit attitude. As a West Indian, he loved Dwight York and Andy Cole. So I get your passion, and I understand your anger.

I made a promise to the United fans on here that when I truly felt better times were ahead I would let them know, and I’m doing that now for a reason. I was right when I predicted this dark time we’ve been in and I believe I’m right about it coming to an end. It won’t be this season or the next, but it’s coming. I encourage you to keep hoping and to try to rekindle your love for this incredible club. I once said that every United fan is a winner and winners love supporting each other. You’re a winner, and if our club is going to win the league again it needs your support right now. It’s honestly not about me at all, we’re Manchester United, winning is our way. You can’t keep a winner down forever. 🙂

My inbox is always open. If you ever need to vent about United or life, or just need a shot of encouragement, please feel free to write me…that goes for all of my followers. ❤️ #ggmu

[stranded-labyrinth]

Angsttttt

Just read a fic where will found Hannibal in Florence and was jealous AF about Antony diamond. But they worked it out and shit.

Let me raise you, Will ‘already horrible self worth/esteem issues’ Graham, leaving the second he sees Hannibal flirting with a guy who looks just like him, minus the myriad of ugly scars. And homie has a badddd self destructive habit already. So he heads to the closest bar with the intention to get black out drunk and find someone to take his mind off Hannibal. But then ends up running out of the bar because he’s gotten into a fist fight and beaten the guy to a pulp. (Projecting much will?)

But know he’s thinking, why not just kill that bitch, Hannibal was with? And not with his fists with a gun, the man doesn’t deserve any form of intimacy.

So as one does he finds the guys address and sneaks in, only to find Hannibal THERE. And in a fit of absolute hatred shoots Antony dead in the head. No guilt, Before turning on Hannibal. Who’s looks like he’s about to have a heart attack, before noticing it’s Will. And he smiles and gos to talk before Will interrupts him.

“It doesn’t matter what I do, does it? I’ll never be enough for you, you have your fun with me then throw me out, when I’ve grown boring”

before taking the gun off Hannibal. And ATTEMPTING to shoot himself, but Hannibal smacks the gun off course. So he ends up shooting himself in the arm (like where chiyoh shot him) and passes out from blood loss.

Then the rest of the fic would be Hannibal trying to fix the damage he’s done

i'll be so honest, there's been about 50 different flavors of this happening in my mind at any given time

Hannibal being an absolute shit with how he's gone about he and Will's relationship can spring so many different versions of this, to the point where i've desperately wanted to write something with it but i've struggled with knowing exactly how to go about it, because there's just so many ways to do it that i can't settle for one

personally, i don't tend to go the route of Will trying to kill himself if only because he's relatively used to stewing in depression, but teetering on the edge is not to say that something couldn't push him over the edge. the way i always imagine it is him, as usual, resigning himself to this life. he's drained of the joy of it, left with bitterness and resentment and aching, and yet this time around he also just feels so painfully empty. there's a hollow void that isn't going to be filled, Hannibal's made that abundantly clear through his lack of action, so why bother hoping? once again, just another person Will isn't good enough for. he exists to understand Hannibal and that's it, nothing further. no other meaning.

and, of course, Hannibal doesn't enjoy his Will without his passion, so he'd know something's amiss pretty quickly. but he's not going to ask so directly, he's going to poke and prod and guide, but Will's too tired and convinced his little world with Hannibal will never get better than what it is and he's too tired and he wants to go home but doesn't even know where home is anymore, because apparently it's not with him.

Will's feeling like a discarded toy, tossed aside when it became old hat only to be picked up when the owner gets curious.

he's not engaging in their little philosophical back and forths. he's not killing. he comes to bed, if only to lay curled up on his side, facing away from Hannibal, laying still until his grief for something he never had becomes a physical thing in the room and Hannibal has to reach out to him just to be able to breathe again.

of course, Will would break eventually, but until then he's just going day to day, mind on the bleak past and even bleaker future until it makes for a bleak present, and Hannibal's watching the life leave his eyes while being completely ignorant to it being his fault.

sometimes i think he'd stay and everything would break down that way, sometimes i think he'd leave (or try to) and Hannibal would go looking for him, because after all this time, Hannibal refuses to be without him. not again.

but like i said, all the intricacies of it could be so different that it's difficult to actually jot down.

[askdreemurkids]

Ranunculus bulbosus, commonly known as bulbous buttercup or St. Anthony's turnip,[1] is a perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It has bright yellow flowers, and deeply divided, three-lobed long-petioled basal leaves.

The stems are 20–40 cm tall, erect, branching, and slightly hairy, with a swollen corm-like base.[2]: 120 [3] There are alternate and sessile leaves on the stem. The flower forms at the apex of the stems, with 5–7 petals,[3] the sepals strongly reflexed.[2] The flowers are glossy yellow and 1.5–3 cm wide. The plant blooms from April to July.

The native range of Ranunculus bulbosus is Western Europe between about 60°N and the Northern Mediterranean coast. It grows in both the eastern and western parts of North America as an introduced weed.[4] Bulbous buttercup grows in lawns, pastures and fields in general, preferring nutrient-poor, well-drained soils. Although it doesn't generally grow in proper crops or improved grassland, it is often found in hay fields[5] and in coastal grassland.

The bulbous buttercup gets its name from its distinctive perennating organ, a bulb-like swollen underground stem or corm, which is situated just below the soil surface. After the plant dies in heat of summer, the corm survives underground through the winter.[6][7] Although the presence of a corm distinguishes Ranunculus bulbosus from some other species of buttercup such as Ranunculus acris, the species also has distinctive reflexed sepals.

Other names for the bulbous buttercup are "Goldcup" because of the colour and shape of the leaves, and "Frogs-foot" from their form.[8]

This plant, like other buttercups, contains the toxic glycoside ranunculin, which gives it a bitter, acid taste, so cases of poisoning in humans are rare.[9] It is also avoided by livestock when fresh, but when the plant dries the toxin is lost, so hay containing the plant is safe for animal consumption.[3] Pigs are unaffected by the toxin and eat bulbous buttercups avidly, being prepared to travel long distances to find them;[10] hence the folk name of the plant, St Antony's Turnip, after the patron saint of swineherds.