#He’s like one of those dogs who don’t respect you until you prove your dominance

[shrugemojiidk]

I think Jason is similar to Bruce in the sense that he finds it difficult to give up control. How this translates into sex is that while he can sub/bottom you have to fight him down for it. You can fuck him but you have to defeat him in battle first

[vvienne]

RANWAN FIC RECS

Absolute Zero by jitterati

Pathologically solitary academic Chu Wanning left behind a life of research to enlist with the Pan-Pacific Defense Corps Jaeger team when giant monsters began to emerge from the Pacific ocean, eager to leave his personal entanglements behind him and join humanity's collective battle against the threat of extinction.

His goal is to build an artificial intelligence that will allow a pilot to operate a Jaeger mech solo - eliminating the need for pilot compatibility and the mortifying ordeal of being totally known by another person, a "neurological handshake" known colloquially as the drift.

He didn't expect his former students to follow him all the way to front line of the war against the kaiju.

Featuring lots of side character interaction, pining, yearning, questions on the nature of personhood, friendship between jerks, people coping badly with loss, snarky AI, and giant robots. Illustrations by Saika & Daru

Husky and his White Kitten Disciple by JustAMoon123

Within a lonely heart, the seeds of hatred start to grow.

-A 2ha Age and Role-Reversal AU.-

NOTE: This Story is Now E Rated!

[Before meeting Chu Wanning, Mo Ran had drawn his power exclusively from the Wood side of his dual Spiritual Root, and his Qi had always glowed green.

Now, only when in battle did it do so, with Bugui’s blade encased in a tyrannical green light.

Outside of battle, like when he set barriers of warmth; or made Crystal Butterflies to tease golden flowers; or cast a small array to keep a box of food warm, his Qi manifested with a gentle red glow.

Mo Ran’s Wood was destructive, while his Fire was protective.

Ah, Mo Weiyu, Mo Weiyu. Even your power betrays you.]

Burn, Pine, and Perish by moonqueenmaia

It’s been two days since Taxian-Jun’s last visit, and Mo Ran hasn’t touched Chu Wanning at all, beyond gentle and fleeting caresses. Chu Wanning decides to take matters into his own hands by surprising Mo Ran when he comes back to their home after a trip down the mountain.

it's no coincidence (it's a kitty-incidence) by lanzhan (gothguk)

There’s a white cat lounging in the middle of Mo Ran's bed.

to touch you with bare hands (even if it burns) by moonqueenmaia

Chu Wanning is a renowned professor of mechanical engineering at Sisheng Peak University. Beautiful, lonely, and talented beyond belief, he has spent his 32 years mostly by himself, silently and secretly yearning for affection and companionship. Yet Chu Wanning has resolved to himself that he will spend the rest of his life alone, no matter his hidden fantasies.

Enter Taxian-jun, an unruly, arrogant, and struggling student, fiery and domineering, who comes in and shatters the calm of Chu Wanning's life. They enter into an agreement, both burying their feelings underneath a storm of lust and lies. Yet amidst it all, something deeper may be helplessly and slowly blooming.

It is up to them to cultivate it, or destroy it for good.

cursed by devilsoupe

Chu Wanning and his disciples are sent to investigate an abandoned village, and Chu Wanning is hit with a curse.

Mo Ran was determined to treat his shizun respectfully in this life, but what choice does he have?

liar liar cock on fire by lofikv

I (32M) walked in on my roommate (23M) masturbating in our living room. Ever since then I couldn't erase the image of his penis in my mind but I found a sex toy online that is almost as big as him, so I bought it and tried it on myself so that I can imagine how he would feel inside me. I have also been romantically attracted to him ever since we started living together. How can I cope with this?

UPDATE: He caught me in the middle of an emergency.

(Absolute) Unit 311 by devilsoupe

Chu Wanning doesn't have a soulmark.

Neither does Mo Ran.

ducks entering highway by Sectionladvivi

Mo Ran finds out his well-respected, MILF-coded, tears-of-angels-tight-ass robotics professor moonlights as an erotic novelist. He immediately leverages this knowledge for an opportunity to play tonsil hockey.

to yearn by devilsoupe

Chu Wanning starts to cough up flowers. Taxian-Jun is angry. Chu Wanning is not allowed to die pining for someone else.

When it starts happening again in his second life, Mo Ran knows enough to worry.

from blossom to blossom to impossible blossom by Wildehack (tyleet)

Taxian Jun is the victim of a flower curse.

sticky fingers by fakeplasticlily

The man tosses the towel unceremoniously back at Mo Ran’s chest, like he’s personally offended by it. And the fact that his hands had just been all over said chest barely minutes earlier, maybe. “Please pack a box of egg tarts with extra custard filling, a box of red bean paste buns with extra syrup, a rice pudding with extra candied fruit garnish, and a box of osmanthus cakes with extra sweet pear jam.” Mo Ran’s eyes grow progressively wider as he lists the items. It’s him. Not the suburban mother of four, not the elderly guy dealing with a midlife crisis, but quite possibly the hottest guy he’s ever seen. Who also happens to have the highest sugar tolerance Mo Ran has seen in a human being in his two years of running this bakery. 

Hard to Love The Lonely Night by bloodsongs

Chu Wanning glares up at him, adjusting his women’s robes. “Still, why couldn’t you have been the wife instead?”

Coughing politely, Mo Ran looks to the side, avoiding his gaze. “Shizun’s skills with the illusion barrier far surpass this humble disciple’s, and, well…”

He doesn’t need to complete his sentence—it’s infuriating, but Mo Ran is now taller than him, broader than him, larger than him. Very much so. The young sapling he raised in Sisheng Peak is now a full-fledged tree, a man built like the mountains Chu Wanning has seen in his travels.

Chu Wanning and Mo Ran pretend to be a married couple visiting a small mountain town to investigate some suspicious disappearances. Mini Canon AU casefic. Contains spoilers up to Chapter 130 or so of the novel.

Purple Ink by jeejaschocolate

Chu Wanning is a robotics engineer who lives a life of isolation and loneliness, only partially due to his chronic illness. Eventually he gets so sick that he requires the help of a full-time medical assistant.

Of course, these days, all those jobs are given to CyberLife androids.

Chu Wanning resents the android they give him. From his fiery eyes to his long black hair, to his incomparable tenderness and consideration for Wanning’s feelings.

He resents him. All the way until he falls in love with him.

Fallen Flowers in Swallows' Nests by bloodsongs

You deserve better—I refuse to disrespect you ever again. I want to be better. I must be better.

But I don’t know how. I don’t know what to do.

I don’t know where Taxian-Jun ends and Mo-Zongshi begins.

I only know now that I cannot lie to myself: I want you so fiercely that I burn with it, I am consumed with the desire to make you mine and mine alone. To become one with you, feeling your fire twine with mine.

Or, Chu Wanning finds letters from Mo-Zongshi that were never shared with him.

These hitherto undiscovered letters cover a range of emotions that weren't present in the book he gifted his Shizun: contrition, yearning, and desire.

Counterpoint by senchafloat

Five years ago, Mo Ran was just a boy who loved playing piano—there were many things he didn't know. He didn't know how capricious and unforgiving the world of classical music could be. He didn't know just how lucky he was to have Chu Wanning as his teacher.

Five years later, Chu Wanning is now a renowned concert pianist, and Mo Ran is an upstart conducting student. When Chu Wanning shows up unannounced at his alma mater, Mo Ran has plenty of questions, along with a desire to prove his worth to his old teacher. But as it turns out, Chu Wanning isn't as invincible as he once seemed. As old secrets come up to the surface, the two of them are forced to reinvent the ways they'll make music together.

impatient to adore you by riverdanceeee

At some heartbreaking point in his life, Mo Ran accepted that Chu Wanning would never reciprocate his feelings, so he dealt with it as any other person would. He'd rid himself of his affection, respect their friendship, and learn to move on. But Mo Ran's affection runs too deep, and when any opportunity to spend time with Chu Wanning knocks on his door, he goes running to answer and accept. Even if it means he has to break up a potentially dangerous dog fighting ring.

To Bow Before A Willow Vine by bloodsongs

“I…” Mo Ran hadn’t thought that far. He shakes his head, lowering his head in deference, resting his forehead against Chu Wanning’s knuckles. "I'll do anything you want of me."

The silence stretches on for a beat too long.

"Anything?" Chu Wanning says eventually, tilting his head.

Written for 2Ha Week, Day 4: Reverse AU for the 0.5 timeline. When Chu Wanning storms Sisheng Peak and crowns himself the cultivation world's new emperor, Mo Ran trades his life for Xue Meng's. Contains spoilers for up to the end of the novel.

Call me by my name by rinsled05

When the man called Taxian-Jun arrives, years later, it’s the coming of a storm.

He sweeps into a dinner appointment between Chu Wanning and a client, clad in black, a smirk tugging at his mouth. Over the spark of irritation, Chu Wanning can’t help but admire his lean frame, the way his hair, cut rebelliously short, falls over smoldering, dark eyes. The way he towers over him, even when Chu Wanning rises to full height.

Chu Wanning’s heart races as Taxian-Jun leans in close, ignoring the shouts and gasps around them.

“Sakaki of Ran,” he purrs in their native tongue. “You’re mine.”

Chu Wanning lifts his chin. “I don’t know you.”

“You will,” Taxian-Jun says, and leaves.

In which Chu Wanning is a courtesan serving Chinese merchants in Nagasaki, Japan, and Taxian-Jun decides to make him his.

荷官牌型 ♠️ The Croupier's Hand by bloodsongs

In deep financial straits after losing his job as a teacher, a desperate Chu Wanning becomes a croupier at Sisheng's new casino.

The once sleepy town of Sisheng Peak grows busier by the day as the casino draws more and more tourists to their mountains. Consumed by his lingering regrets over the worst mistake of his life that destroyed his teaching career, Chu Wanning is too distracted to worry about anything else but his next shift, his next paycheck.

Except that's when Mo Ran, the reason Chu Wanning lost everything, returns to Sisheng Peak.

As the heir to the casino.

White Rabbit Club by minkit

Desperate to rid himself of a few pesky things called virginity and desire, Chu Wanning waltzes into a world he knows little about and right into the embrace of a mysterious stranger who reminds him of the student he's been dreaming about all year. The lust fueled dreams his student stars in are the very reason Chu Wanning applied to the sex club in the first place, and now he's desperate to get rid of these filthy impulses once and for all.

Congratulations, Chu Wanning, on your acceptance into the White Rabbit Club. We hope you enjoy your stay.

Risk and Restraint by purloinedinpetrograd

There is nobody Mo Ran works with who does not love him. He’s worked hard to cultivate this image while he climbs the corporate ladder at Sisheng, and it’s paid off in dividends. He’s in every WeChat group. He can call in favors with any division of any department. He can make even the tightest of deadlines relax their stranglehold on his team.

That is, there is nobody except, of course, Chu Wanning.

A Lingering Sweetness by theherocomplex

Chu Wanning is now all too aware of what he looks like: a dry stick of a man, never handsome, angular and cold and pale. A drab, short-tempered creature, as appealing as a splinter in one's foot. But Mo Ran looks at him as if he will never get his fill, and part of Chu Wanning thinks, What if —?

At the end of the line by PearlAquaBlue 

“So … I reckon someone thought you needed to loosen up a little bit. Now that you’re here, want to try it?”

Chu Wanning hangs up. Throws her phone on her pillow with a disgusted glare after it. Stands up and paces to the kitchen in long, angry strides. Her cheeks are burning. With trembling fingers, she grabs a glass and pours herself some water, gulping it down in one go. It doesn’t help much. She grips the kitchen counter tightly, then marches back into the bedroom to glare at the phone again. Her fingertips itch, and it’s as if some kind of magnetic force draws her closer and closer to her bed until her fingertips are but an inch away from that tempting black mirror. Before she knows it, she’s unlocked it unsteadily and pressed “repeat” on the last call.

“Welcome to Sisheng Peak – ”

“And what would that entail?” she asks, a little too breathless.

Let's Fall in Love for the Night by purloinedinpetrograd

Chu Wanning could only stare in horror as a large cloud of sickeningly yellow pollen rose from the field, blanketing the place where Mo Ran stood in a heavy fog. “Um,” he said lamely.

“Fuck,” Mo Ran cursed, and Chu Wanning didn’t even have the heart to chastise him for his coarse language, because he was too preoccupied wrestling the surge of fear at seeing his disciple disappear behind the haze of that indeterminately threatening dust.

A million terrible possibilities raced through his mind, each one more dramatic and gruesome than the last. His heart hammered against his ribcage, threatening to crack the bones. “Mo Ran,” he said slowly, “I think you should tell me what that does, now.”

Xue Zhengyong sends Chu Wanning and Mo Ran on a mission to find a specific ingredient for some concoction of his wife’s. Chu Wanning is torn between rejoicing at the chance to spend time alone with Mo Ran... and grieving over the very same thing.

But, well, it’s just flowers. What could go wrong, right? (Spoiler alert: it’s sex pollen.)

the day dawns in your hues by localshabba

2ha Week 2020 Day 1 prompt - Haitang

---

Schoolteacher Mo Ran is having an ordinary day until he has an awkward encounter with the notoriously rigid school librarian, which leads to the start of something new.

Also features: flowers, dinosaurs and lots of tenderness and pining.

helping hands by verity

When Mo Ran was but a young, innocent, virtuous grad student—well, one of those things—she built that couch from a flatpack box with her own two hands. Over the years, the smell of polyester and cheap foam padding has given way to an equally aromatic blend of Chu Wanning's haitang blossom perfume, spilled coffee, and white lithium grease. Chu Wanning herself is always perfectly dressed without a stain in sight. Even right now, her head tucked onto one folded arm, the other loosely gripping her tablet, she looks so formal.

Mo Ran gently rests a hand on Chu Wanning's socked ankle where it peeks out of those tailored white trousers. She really should behave herself.

She really should... behave herself...

in plain sight by localshabba

Written for a prompt fill in the 2ha Kink Meme.

---

"I have a surprise," Mo Ran breathed, coming to stand so close behind him that his breath landed on Chu Wanning's nape. Not touching Chu Wanning any other way, because he likes to make Chu Wanning lean back just a little bit, to seek out that contact himself.

"I think Chu-laoshi will enjoy it."

Chu Wanning is sure he agreed to the whole idea; he's just unclear on when. Things got hazy around the point when Mo Ran turned him around by the shoulders, got down on his knees and...well. Apparently he'd skipped breakfast that morning.

When he returned to his senses, his clothes were all neatly tucked into place, not a stain on them, and a charmingly pink sexual aid was nestled comfortably up his--ahem, inside him.

---

Now available in Spanish!

casually acquainted by tagteamme

Chu Wanning knows what he is and what he isn’t. And where he lacks in pleasantries and outward appeal, he makes up for in untouchable grace and dignity.

It threatens to unravel once he meets a familiar face in an unfamiliar city.

“So quick to run away from me, Chu-laoshi,” Mo Ran says, voice gently teasing as Chu Wanning refuses to make eye contact with him. “After you came all the way from…”

He trails off, waiting for Chu Wanning to let him know, but he sees the map open on Chu Wanning’s phone and grins wider. “You want directions?”

Chu Wanning clears his throat, and shakes his head. He should say something— instead, he stays silent as he looks down at his phone and punches in the hotel name again.

Happily, his phone tells him to try again when he has signal.

The Right Hand of Light by gedsparrowhawk (FaceChanger)

Chu Wanning is asleep on the bed, clutching his hands tightly to his chest and curled in on himself. He’s still wearing the same robes he was in in the water prison. On the writing desk, a bowl of water and clean linen for bandages sit untouched, and a tub of bathwater has cooled without being used. Mo Ran sighs to himself. Wanning is truly hopeless.

He sits on the side of the bed and touches Chu Wanning’s shoulder. “Wanning,” he says. “Wanning, wake up.”

---

Rare 0.5 tenderness, after the water prison.

nothing can consume you by tagteamme

Mo Ran’s violent history has never had to catch up to him.

It’s already embedded itself into him as scars on his body, as a tattoo on his forearm, as the lingering taste of blood in his sleep and finally, as the searing brand pressed against his chest before he’s thrown into the sea as punishment. He knows that this is where all his chances come to an end.

But as the deep fathom of the water swallows him up, something else saves him and pulls him to a tiny cove tucked away off the coast of an overlooked port town. When he wakes up under the care of a mythical creature wearing a familiar face, an even older and more distant past finally finds him.

[paper-whales-writes]

Flying the Pirate Flag

A/N: It’s finally here!

Pairing: Harry Hook x Reader

Word Count: 2,632 (oof)

Requested By: Anon

Summary: Justifying to the Core Four why you are dating Harry Hook

They left you. Albeit on the orders of their parents - or, more like,  Maleficent - but they still left you. Alone. Drifting through the Isle like  some discarded rubbish. Just as you were before joining their crew.    With your mother, Gothel, and her violent fits of rage, you can't exactly go  home for all the time you used to hide out at the hangout. Yet, your previous  place of hangout is too quiet; too lonely to hole up in all alone. You've  been there alone; shivering in your pleather cape and glaring at all of the  graffiti portraits that Mal painted of you all.    You have no food. No nothing. Just a pile of coins left to you by Mal before  she left. Always doubting your power to make your own decisions and your own  way in your life. Well, here's the time to prove that you can.    There is no room for weakness on the Isle. None. So, you have pulled yourself  up and paraded around the Isle; making a show of that yes, in fact, that you  are fine. Even when you really aren't.    Somehow, your wanderings lead you to the docks - also known as the Pirate  Quarter. Yet, now you're here, you might as start pushing the dominos of your  masterplan.    Striding onwards, you pass suspicious pirate; after suspicious pirate. Until,  finally, you push the doors of Ursula's eatery with a massive clatter. As  soon as you enter, a roomful of eyes stare back at you in disbelief.    "Well, well, well, look who's decided to turn up." Harry breaks the  silence, prowling towards you with his malicious hook outstretched in threat.    "Hello, Harry." You greet nonchalantly. "Is Uma here?"    Before he can answer, Uma rises up from behind the bar. Confident in her own  space. "When am I not here? But you know that Y/N, so what do you  want?"    You smirk, turning away from lap dog to top dog. But as you face Uma,  regarding her and sizing her up, you miss the appraising glances that Harry  is sending your way. If there's anything that intrigues Harry: it's someone  who knows what they want and isn't afraid to take it. Whatever the cost and  whenever the chips are down.    Slamming your blade into one of the eateries' table, you place your threat  into the open. Quickly followed by your offer. Literally laid on the table,  in the form of a map of the Isle.    "Territory. Mal ain't here and by my bet, she ain't coming back. I don't  want it, you do."    Both Harry and Uma drift closer; sharing looks of incredulity. "Why  would you give this to us?"    Leaning on your blade, you regard them with intensity. "Let's be real,  me and my one-man band can't hold all this territory and you'd probably try  and take it anyway. So, why not give it to you?"    There is even more appraisal in Harry's eyes, as he gazes you with both  confusion and respect. "What's it in it for you though, lass? The scales  look firmly tipped in our favour."    "I want protection. An alliance." You state, plainly laying out  your needs. "My old crew up and go with no word to me; the last I saw of  them, they were already driving away. No goodbye. No nothing."    The pirates are silent around you as you flash some emotional vulnerability.  But upon realising this, you quickly move onwards. "As you can imagine,  this mucked up my plans - royally. So, I need some backup while I reenact  them."    Uma nods slowly, "I can understand that. But what happens if they come  back? Will you drop us like a sack of rocks?"    You smirk, holding out your hand. "They won't. They'll be so wrapped up  in their own importance, that they'll only come back to flaunt it. That's  just who they are. I've seen that. And I need people real, who will be there  for my plans; for me."    "Well then, welcome to the crew." With a cutting grin, Uma's hand  meets your own.    "Get ready to cause some trouble, lassie." Harry smirks at yoy from  behind Uma's back.    -------------  Months have past since you've joined Uma's crew. Dare you say it, it's even  more fun terrorising the other inhabitants of the Isle under Uma then it ever  was a cog of Mal's crew. You've maintained your fearsome reputation, somehow;  with no strings of power lost.    Even more confusingly, Harry and yourself have been growing closer. Actually  - scratch that - you are close. From being shoe-horned together by your  leader to run the same missions; whether they be collecting money or scaring  rival gangs into submission. You've gone from being Mal's third-in-command to  having the exact same position in Uma's crew.    In truth, the transition has gone too smoothly and it makes you nervous.    "What are you thinking about, lass?"    With a start, you feel Harry's calloused hand snaking around your waist;  ensnaring you in his embrace. A brief smile manages to break through your  worrying face.    "Oh I don't know Harry, the usual things."    He spins you to face him and his expression clearly states that he does not  believe you.    Sighing, you continue: "Celia read my fortune the other day. A trade for  a trade, kind of deal."    "And what did it say?" He prompts after you stop to think for a few  moments.    "It was a return of the winds of the past. What if Mal comes back?  There'll be hell to pay if she realises I've changed allegiance."    Harry wraps your hands in his own; gazing at you in earnest. He doesn't reply  for a moment - merely staring at you in protectiveness.    "I don't think she'll come back, love. She's too busy conquering Auradon  and wrapping all those prissy royals around her finger. Besides, what could  she have expected? They were the ones who left you. They ain't ever tried to  come back and get ya, have they? Or get good ol' King Ben to bring you over  to Auradon."    "They've forgotten me." You whisper, tears starting to well in your  eyes.    "I think they have, love. So, ya can't keep feeling guilty and holding  yourself accountable to people who just aren't in your life anymore."    His calloused thumb caresses your cheek, as he gazes at you in concern. A  few, fat tears roll down your cheek and down onto the edge of Harry's slender  fingers. Amazing, that one of your previous arch-enemies is now comforting  you through some uncomfortable realisations. Six months has changed oh so  much.    You nod, still sobbing at the realisation that your closest friends have  abandoned you. Not even trying to get you back in their lives. Does this mean  that all the memories you have with them are tarnished? That they never cared  about you in the first place? Were you a friend, employed for merely  territorial purposes?    "Right, here's what we'll do. I'll do the usual rounds while you stay  here, with Uma, and help man the shop? Eh, what do ya say, love?"    You nod, sniffling; wiping your nose on a raggedy old handkerchief.  "Thanks, Harry."    "Anytime, love. I'm here for ya - we all are. You're part of the crew  now; I only wish you'd come over to us sooner."    Softly, he places a kiss on the end of your nose. Then, pulling back, he  smiles that incredible grin at you.    "I care for ya love, you're my bird now." He says, proudly, before  rising and striding over to the door.    "I'll be back as soon as I can, Y/N."    As soon as he leaves the premises, Uma places a hand on your shoulder. Taking  this as a prompt to turn around to face her, you stand and soon crumple into  her embrace.    "We've got you now, Y/N. The crew is family. We love you, and we support  you. Okay?"    You smile at her. "Okay."    She grins back at you, "Now let's show everyone not to mess with us  okay? There'll never be another Mal in our lives again!"    ----  As you and Uma sit talking in the eatery's downtime (or rather, constructing  plans for world domination), the quiet atmosphere is broken by thundering  footsteps running up the ramp and into the room. Both craning your necks  around to the doorway, you are confronted with the sight of your partner  skidding to a halt.    Both Uma and yourself speak at the same time. You, concerned with him and  Uma, concerned with the flow of normality.    "Harry, are you okay?"    "Harry, what's the matter?"    He quickly regains his breath, looking at you both with eyes clouded in shock  and anticipation. Sliding off his hat, he stalks closer to the pair of you;  stopping a mere few steps away from where you and Uma are sat.    "I can't believe I'm saying this, but she's back." His eyes land on  his captain first, but as soon as he speaks the name, all of the pirates'  eyes are on you. "Mal. She back - purple haired and everything."    "How ironic." You mumble to yourself.    Yet, before either Harry or Uma can ask you how you are faring, Gil also  bursts through the door.    "Uma, Harry; Y/N!" He breathlessly pants, bending over and trying  to restore normal airflow into his lungs.    "Evie, Carlos and Jay are back! I saw them with my own eyes!"    The looks exchanged are those of bewilderment; slowly changing into  annoyance. Everything you've all achieved since their move, all is in  jeopardy.    "They've even got Ben with them!" Gil proudly exclaims.    Silence.    "Ben?"    "You know, Prince - no, King Ben."    More looks are exchanged; this time of a growing awareness of an opportunity  offered. Here's a chance for you all to come out on top once and for all. To  show them that while they may forget about the Isle, the Isle certainly won't  forget about them. With this in mind, smirks are quickly exchanged between  you all; crowned on top with Uma's line:    "I have a plan."    --------  Both you and Harry are rushing to re-enact Uma's masterplan. That was quickly  conjured and drummed up by yourself and your captain, in the space of five  minutes. Following behind you are a scattering of members of the crew, ready  to nab Ben at the best opportunity.    An opportunity that is quickly realised.    As you watch from the shadows, you watch Ben wander away from the group -  even in spite of the warnings given by the Core Four. Exchanging a smirk with  your partner, you start to seize your moment. Moving forward as a group, you  are able to nab the King and into your clutches.    "Send him back to the ship." You instruct the pirates; meeting the King's  imploring eyes with no reluctance.    Yet, Harry and yourself remain sheltered in the shadows. Watching with the  group scramble around to look for the missing King, with lopsided smiles. For  you, this is a great cathartic release - especially being able to meddle even  as an agent of the shadows.    Harry, adjusts the pleather Cape around your shoulders; then places his worn  pirate hat on your head.    At your inquisitive glance, he smoothly says: "Just so they know you're  apart of the crew now, lassie."    With that, you let the show begin.    "Don't scare you, but that's my speciality."    His opening line has him emerging out of the shadows; grinning manically and  voice high-pitched at the excitement of it all. Meanwhile, you remain in the  shadows.    "Harry." Evie hisses.    Deciding to make your move, you slide out of the shadows even more menacingly  than Harry previously did.    "Don't forget about me guys. Oh wait, you did."    Raking your eyes over each of their shocked faces, your smile widens. Having  the upper hand is just too addictive.    "Y/N?" The disbelief is palpable.    "Hi guys!" You wave a mocking wave - a cheap imitation of the  finger bending greetings that Mal often gives in sarcasm.    "What have you done with Ben?" Jay is the first back on the ball.    "Oh, er we nicked him."    You hum in agreement.    "Yeah, and if you want to see him again, have Mal come to the Chip Shop  tonight."    "Alone."  You add in, sending dagger-like looks to where you  know Mal is dwelling in the hideout.    "Uma wants a little visit. Ah Jay, seems like you have lost your  touch."    With this, Jay's bewilderment culminates into aggression: rushing forward to  deck Harry. All that stops him is Evie holding him back.    "Jay." She chastises.    In a mockery, that you know from experience is historical, Harry yips at  Carlos. Rolling your eyes, you turn to follow him down the alleyway but a  grasping hand around your wrist stops you.    "Y/N, wait." It's Evie's calm voice that stops both you and Harry  in your tracks.    Before you turn around to face them, Harry mouths: "Are you okay?".  At your nod, he murmurs for only you to hear:    "I'll be back at the shop. You've got this. Hit it where it hurts."    You share a smile: fleeting yet strong. Then, you watch as Harry turns on his  heel; whistling the Core Four's song as he walks. It's this small thing that  bolsters you enough to turn and face the people you used to call friends.    "What? What do you want?" You snap.    "What's happened to you?" Carlos gets out.    "What's happened to me? Are you joking?" You rip your wrist out of  Evie's grasp.    "You all left me, to fend for myself. No letters, no nothing. You didn't  try to get me out of this hell. Heck, I bet you didn't even remember I am  here. You've abandoned yourselves. The people I knew would never have left me  - or any of the poor kids here."    "You're angry at us?"    "We didn't ask for this!" Jay and Carlos speak at the same time;  equally shocked and voices rising in anger.    "Could've fooled me."    "But Y/N -" you cut Evie off, as sharp as a dagger to the heart.    "When we see you on the TV, we don't see you trying to fight for us. We  see you prancing around in fancy clothes, with the very people who blame us  for our parents' crimes."    They don't reply.    "Why are you with Harry? Are you part of Uma's crew?" Carlos asks,  accusation smothering his tone.    "Yes, I am. I'm part of the crew and I'm dating Harry, is that a  problem?"    "A problem? I think it is!" Jay splutters.    "Oh my gosh Y/N, you've betrayed us!" Evie seethes, looking you up  and down in dawning hate.    "What else was I to do?"    They're all silent. Not offering any viable options. As they know, the Isle  is a dog-eat-dog world and you did what you did to survive. Heck, it's not  even your fault that you prefer the new life. It says more about them than it  does you.    "I cannot believe this! You leave me, emphasis on that, and then, you  come back and start blaming me for my choices? Are you for real?"    You huff a laugh, watching how they struggle to reply.    They can't even compute it. With this thought in mind, you smirk over at  them. "I hope you get your King back. Because if it's up to me, he won't  live to see another dawn."    As you turn on your heel, you hear Mal come out to the balcony.  "Y/N?"    You glare upwards at her, before flashing a steel smirk. "Look forward to  seeing you tonight, Mal."

“I don’t understand…” Mal looks towards the others to hear the story.

The smirk widens, “Oh Mal, it’s simple: I’m flying the pirate flag  now.”    Then, you start to walk away. Whistling all the while.

[namjuicyy]

Your Brother’s Best Friend - Jungkook NSFW

Masterlist | Commissions are open

Genre: Fluff, smut.

Word Count: 5k.

Summary: Your best friend's younger brother has always had a crush on you, but it takes coming home from military service to make you realise you like him, too.

Warnings: strong language; copious amounts of teasing; mixed signals;  hella cheesy lines; very very minor choking; nipple play; oral (f receiving); male masturbation; protected sex (FINALLY); p-i-v sex; fingering; overstimulation; creampie; 

Additional tags: slightly unrealistic depictions of military life; slow burn.

For all those years, you remained oblivious. You were so wrapped up in your own little bubble, you had no idea that you were causing someone else anguish just by treating them as a friend - even a little brother. The issue you had was that Jungkook was shy; quiet. He never said anything to you, especially at the beginning because he was afraid of you. Besides, his older brother, Taehyung, drowned out his voice too quickly for him to even attempt to get to know you. Because of how your best friend, Tae, treated him, especially around you, you had also grown into the habit of acting that way around him. Growing up, he was always your best friend's little brother, so by extension, he was yours. Which meant that you would tease him as though he were your own flesh and blood, or support him as such. 

The first fight you ever got in was to protect him. This weedy little boy, no older than twelve and frightened of the big bad junior high school he had just moved to. Graduated from the younger years and moving onwards and upwards towards the harsh reality of adulthood, one torturous day at a time. He was bullied… a lot.; but because he was so shy he never told anyone or said anything meaning he had to go through it completely alone. Until you saw it one day and put a stop to it immediately. 

The kids bullying him were so much bigger and older than he was, there was no way he could ever stand up for himself. They would have just knocked him back down, or broken him like a toothpick. Though they could do the same thing to you, because it was Jungkook and you loved him. He was a good boy and didn’t deserve to be treated like this. So, despite your small frame, you picked out the biggest one in the group (as you had been taught to by your parents) and you asserted your dominance… and may have injured the boy in the process. You did break his nose, which got you a suspension from school for two weeks to ensure no charges would be pressed. But Jungkook got his lunch back, and he was never bullied by anyone again. Especially when you came back to school after your suspension and found that most of the school either cowered away in fear you’d do the same to them, or attempted to be your friend. Since then, you had become fiercely protective of Jungkook. Which made him feel inferior. 

He never hated you for it - in fact, he was grateful. But he always felt like he had to remind you that he was, in fact, a young man now and he should be protecting you, not the other way around. He spent a lot of his teenage years trying to prove this to you - trying to show you that he was a big strong man now, however introverted he may be. When he was sixteen and in the throes of high school, he started working out more, trying to get your attention. He knew that, at this age, all the girls in his class had a crush on him, and it helped to boost his confidence. Yet even then, when he was filled with confidence and knew that he was the most sought out boy in his year group, he still remained the puppy dog he always was around you. The big-eyed baby who followed you around and tried to subtly get your attention. All of his attempts, of course, went completely unnoticed; but never once did he stop trying. You were worth fighting for. 

When Jungkook was eighteen, Taehyung ran to your house in tears. He had announced that Jungkook had signed up for the army and he was undergoing that process. No one knew how long it would take him to actually get into training once he’d passed all the preliminary tests and taken the oath, but it wouldn’t take him long. He was a smart and athletic young man, and he was ready to go and do what he deemed to be right. Everyone was terrified for him. His mother had heard so many horror stories about the army and was scared for his safety and wellbeing. She was so afraid they’d beat out the sweet and innocent young man he was, and replace him with someone much more violent and cold. Jungkook assured everyone that wouldn’t happen, that his only changes would be physical. But, of course, it was after all a mother’s job to worry, wasn’t it?

His training came around. Much to his mother’s delight, Jungkook decided to go into the air force, which meant his training time was slightly shorter than other departments. However, he would be deployed almost immediately after his training. He wouldn’t have time to come back home. So saying goodbye to him was heartbreaking - especially for you. Him leaving meant you couldn’t help your best friend protect him anymore. He was going off to protect you. He arrived on your doorstep the night before, nervous about his future. It wasn’t that he regretted his decision, it was more of a fear of the unknown. But, he felt like he couldn’t tell anyone in his family about this because they’d try and convince him to stay and quit the army already. He knew you respected his wishes, however worried you may have been. He didn’t, however, announce his arrival, which meant you were looking very worse-for-wear in your pyjamas with a sheet mask in your hand. 

“Jungkook!” You said once you saw the young man standing at the door to your apartment. 

“Sorry… I should have called.” 

“No, it’s okay. Come in.” 

“I don’t want to interrupt your evening. You look like you’re having an evening of self-care.” 

“I have plenty of sheet masks for you, too.” You stepped aside and invited him in, the invitation was accepted. 

“I’m only coming in for the sheet masks.” 

“Well, damn. If you don’t want my company, kid, then you can just leave.” 

“I’m not a kid. Also, truth hurts.” 

“You little shit.” 

Once you had made a fruit mocktail for him (he was too afraid to drink alcohol just in case he got screened for it and reprimanded), you both sat on your windowsill seat with the windows open, staring out into the streets around your place. The air was very sombre, but there were no prizes for who could guess why. 

“Are you coming to say goodbye to me tomorrow?” Jungkook asked you, breaking the silence. 

“I was going to. But now you’re here I might say goodbye to you tonight instead. Tomorrow’s for immediate family.”

“But you’re family…”

“I know… but tomorrow is best kept between you and the people who share your blood. I’d rather this anyway. At least if you cry, I’m the only one who can ridicule you.” 

“Who says you won’t cry? I can hear your voice shaking.” 

“It’s the juice - it’s making my voice sticky.”

“Liar.”

“Baby.” 

He poked his tongue out at you childishly. 

You sighed. “I can’t believe you’re going away tomorrow. To the army of all places. The weedy little creature I had to protect is going off to fight in wars and save the people. He’s off to be a hero. 

“I’m not a child anymore.” 

“I know. But it’s like you’re my little brother, it’s hard to think of you as a young man. I can still see the kid who got on the wrong bus but was too shy to get off.”

Jungkook put his head in his hands. “I can’t believe you remember that.”

You laughed. “We all had to come out to get you!”

“No!” He whined. “It took me forever to get that out of my brain, why would you bring it up again?”

“Because it’s funny.” 

“I need to go… bleach my brain or something, I think. You’re evil.” 

“No, but in all seriousness, Jungkook, I’m so proud of you. You’ve worked so hard to get to this point and no one deserves it more than you do. You’re smart, funny, kind and so brave. I don’t know how you’re doing this, honestly. I admire you so much. I’m gonna miss you, kiddo.” 

Saying goodbye to Jungkook was such a weird thing to do. You always remember him being right there whenever you were around; but now he will hardly even be a phone call away. He’d be too busy to contact you; he’d be having too much fun. Despite him being your best friend’s little brother, you loved him and enjoyed spending time with him away from his family. Those days were over, though. This night of face masks, mocktails and light mockery would be the last one you’d both have for God knows how long. 

He left you alone when his drink was finished and his face was sufficiently moisturised; leaving behind the weight that was on his mind when he first entered your door. You gave him one final, tight hug and sent him back to his home so he could spend it with his family. You couldn’t lie and say that you didn’t spend a good amount of your evening crying over Jungkook. 

You received a visit from Taehyung the next day while he was in an almost inconsolable state. They had just sent him off for his eight weeks training. 

“A part of me thought it would never happen, you know?” Taehyung told you through sniffles and tears. “I thought he would change his mind at the last minute and stay home with us. Or he’d tell us last night that it was all a lie and that he wasn’t really enlisting - he just did it for attention or something. He’d get a shitty job in a convenience store or something. I didn’t think he’d actually leave.” 

“Tae, you know he’s much smarter than a shitty convenience store job. The air force is the best place for him. He gets all the physical training, plus his brain will be active the entire time. He’s going to be living his best ‘Top Gun’ life, isn’t he?”

Tae wiped his nose and chuckled a little. “Yeah he’s not as good looking as Tom Cruise though.” 

“This is what he wanted. He’s going to thrive in this situation, just wait and see.”

“I know he will.” Taehyung started to cry again. “I’m just gonna miss him so much.” 

You scooped Taehyung in your arms and tried to comfort him. There wasn’t really much you could say that hadn’t already been said. Everyone Jungkook left behind was thinking the same thing, so all you could do was take comfort in the fact that none of you would be alone in missing him, and eventually life would go on as normal. 

You were able to go and visit him, however. After his training was complete, him and all the people he trained with were given a graduation ceremony to commemorate their hard work and celebrate the fact they’d passed such rigorous training. You all dressed up and attended to support your baby boy who was growing up so quickly. Jungkook looked so cute in his uniform. It fit him perfectly, yet somehow he still looked like he was a small boy playing dress-up in his father’s clothes. He looked so smart and mature, but he was still, of course, the kid brother you adored. A proper little man. But, true to what everyone had been told, Jungkook wasn’t able to come home after his eight weeks of training. He was, in fact, deployed immediately. He’d be spending six months in Germany before coming home. But him being “home” didn’t mean he was back with his family. He would be in the country, just in a completely different city. He wouldn’t be home for quite a while. 

Time ticked on until eventually five years had passed. While you spoke to Jungkook every other week, and still remained almost as close as you were when he’d left, you’d never actually seen him. He had been home a few times, but they were for at minimum two days, and you were never able to come and visit. Something you profusely apologised for, of course, but Jungkook understood. He always understood. It was just difficult for you to go and see him, and you missed him terribly. 

However, Taehyung arrived on your doorstep as he often did, with a beaming, boxy smile on his face. “Jungkook’s coming home!” He announced. “For a whole year!” 

“What?” 

“I know! Apparently, he’s being sent to the base near here for some more training and general work, and that will take him twelve months. He’s home for a whole year, ___. A whole year!” 

“Oh my God!”

“So, here’s what we’re thinking, we get all the family and Jungkook’s friends together and have one big surprise welcome home party. There will be banners, and food, and lots of music. You in?” 

“Yes! A thousand times yes!” 

“Great! My house; 5pm; Tuesday. You don’t have to bring anything. Okay?”

It was definitely a shock to the system knowing that Jungkook was on his way home, and will be home for a significant amount of time. Maybe things could get back to normal. Even if it was only temporary normalcy. 

When Tuesday rolled around, for some reason the nerves were getting the better of you. Maybe it was because you hadn’t seen Jungkook for half a decade, you couldn’t say. All you knew was that you were anxious to see him. Would you both be awkward seeing each other in person now that such a significant chunk of your lives had passed? Or would things be exactly the same when you saw him? You couldn’t tell. All you knew was that in just a few short minutes, he would walk through that door again and he’d be back in your life. 

Taehyung had taken Jungkook out for the evening, a movie and some ice cream like they often did while you and the boys’ parents prepared for the party ahead. You only had a short amount of time to get everything perfect, so the three of you were working like mad trying to get everything organised. Thankfully, one of the boys’ aunts arrived earlier than expected, meaning there was an extra pair of hands around to finalise the details. Sure enough, the guests began to arrive, filtering into the small house one by one just as the final decoration was hung, meaning that their parents could focus on other issues - like the food and drink situation. It was your job to make sure the guests felt comfortable; after all, you were pretty much a part of their family at this point. So everyone related to Taehyung and Jungkook, be them blood relative or friends knew exactly who you were and were comfortable with you being around. 

At seven o’clock, the boys’ mum received a text from Taehyung telling them that the two were on their way back home, so everyone turned out the lights and waited in silence until the door opened and they could scream at Jungkook. You were at the back of the crowd, hidden from view, hoping that you could put off seeing Jungkook until right at the end. Give you enough time to think of an ice-breaker so that things wouldn’t be too awkward. There were giggles in the pitch-black room surrounding you, people clearly unable to contain their excitement as Jungkook was approaching the front door. 

Three…

Two…

One…

The front door opened, the lights turned on and everyone screamed “welcome home, Jungkook!” Party poppers were set off, covering the youngest in confetti and paper streamers. You stood there completely dumbfounded. Was that really Jungkook? 

When he left he was just a weedy little boy, so skinny he looked out of place in his uniform and not at all prepared for life in the army. But he stood before you, a 23-year-old man, filling out his once baggy clothes that were hanging off of him in just the right ways. You could see the toned muscles that had reshaped his skin, his chest was puffy and holding his neck up were two, broad shoulders that definitely weren’t that thick before. His hair was a little longer than what you knew to be army protocol, and was parted slightly off-centre. It hung off his head sporting an almost wet look that made you drool. How could one man change so drastically? What did they do to him while he was away? 

Yet, he smiled widely and his big, doe eyes lit up. He bowed to the guests to show his appreciation for them, and he still seemed to be the same person. Still the polite, sweet young man with a bunny smile and a soft aura. Even those muscles couldn’t make him seem less gentle. “Oh my God!” He exclaimed. “I had no idea.” Wait… since when was his voice that deep? It was smooth and clear, but still just as quiet. Unchanged in the way he sounded gentle and calm when he spoke. How could he be such a contradiction? 

Despite being at the back of the room, though, Jungkook still saw you. He stopped what he was doing, drank in your appearance as if he was processing that it was you he was looking at, and then ran towards you. Immediately, you felt those strong arms around you, holding you securely in his grip and pressing you to his firm body. His tight hug was comforting and reassuring. That combined with the smell of his laundry detergent and you felt peaceful. It felt right. 

Wait… what? No, no, no! Do not think these things. Push them down! 

“I’m so glad I got to see you, finally!” He told you. His voice was muffled slightly as his arm had covered one of your ears because it was just so big. When he finally released you, you saw his  bunny smile had returned. “I thought you were avoiding me.” 

“I was.” You teased. “I was dragged here against my own free will.”

Jungkook laughed. Your jokes were never that funny, but Jungkook always seemed to think so. “Now I know why I didn’t see you over the last five years.” 

“I am genuinely sorry about that.” 

“I know you are. I am, too. I should have made more of an effort to see someone I care about.” 

Jungkook took you over to get a drink with him and to catch up properly over the last five years. But the conversation was mainly you asking him questions about his job, and begging for stories. Your life wasn’t quite as interesting as his, so it was nice to hear him talk about all the adventures he’d been on and how well he’s enjoying his job. 

“I, uh… I missed you a lot, though.” Jungkook confessed shyly. 

You smiled. Your hand found its way to the back of Jungkook’s head and gently stroked his hair. “I missed you, too, kiddo.” 

“I’m twenty-three now… I’m not a kid. When will you see me differently?”

“I’m sorry, Kookie. It was a force of habit. I won’t do it again, I swear.” 

“Seriously, ___. I like you a lot.”

“I like you, too.” 

Jungkook groaned, clearly frustrated. “How can you be so smart, yet so dumb at the same time?” 

“Hey!” You playfully slapped him on his arm, making him chuckle a little. A comfortable silence descended over the two of you, but it wasn’t long before that silence changed. You didn’t have time to register what was happening. One minute Jungkook was standing in front of you talking to you, the next his arm was around your waist, pulling you closer to him. He put his drink down on the table and instead of holding that, he held the side of your neck, and pressed his lips to yours. You were shocked at first; your eyes were wide and your free hand was pushing at his chest to get him off you. But feelings you had no idea you had started to bubble up and take over, and you stopped fighting him. You let your eyes close and give yourself over to the feeling of his lips on yours. That was until you remembered what was happening. You had ten blissful, beautiful seconds of ignorance before your brain switched back on and told you that this was wrong. He was your best friend’s younger brother - he was as close to your own younger brother as you could possibly have. You shouldn’t be kissing him. You frantically pushed him away. “S-stop, stop!” You said quickly. “We shouldn’t be doing this.” 

“What… why?” 

“You’re my best friend’s younger brother. This is wrong… this is so wrong.” 

Jungkook allowed a devilish smirk to play on his lips. He pushed you back into the kitchen counter and took your drink off of you. “It is wrong, isn’t it?” He said lowly. He was moving toward you again. “We shouldn’t ever do this again.”

“N-no, we shouldn’t. Such a bad thing to d-do.” 

No more words were exchanged, just Jungkook’s lips back on yours. The longer he spent attached to your body, the more fuzzy your brain became. You could feel yourself getting more and more turned on with each kiss he gave you. Your heart and your pussy jumped when he started using his tongue. It was the perfect kiss. Just the right amount and not too forceful, but dominating enough for him to get across everything he needed to say in a simple movement. The kitchen was silent except for your lips moving together. You pulled him closer and closer until there was no room for anything between you. 

The kitchen door opened, however, forcing the two of you to pull apart. Thankfully, it was just one of Jungkook’s old high school friends and not Taehyung, but it was definitely a close call. The two of you scarpered out of the kitchen in separate ways and didn’t see each other for the rest of the night. 

It had never occurred to you until the moment you left the party that Jungkook could be harboring some kinds of feelings towards you. And until you saw him that night you had no idea that you could even think differently about him either. There was a slight guilt you were feeling about the whole situation, but it was more over the fact that Taehyung didn’t know about your sudden change of heart. You wondered how he would feel if he found out that his best friend had developed feelings for his younger brother. Though, you also wondered how much further things would have gone had you not been interrupted. 

Life returned pretty much to the way it did before Jungkook joined the army. He moved back in with his family, and you were around their house almost every day. You and Taehyung still saw each other almost daily, but because Jungkook was home, whenever he was free he would often hang out with you. During movie nights, Taehyung had set up camp on the armchair which meant you and Jungkook would have to share the sofa. Most nights the two of you would share a blanket, which allowed you to start messing with Jungkook in different ways. You would put your hand high up on his thigh, or reach over him to grab your drink from the table next to him so your breasts would touch his body. But every time he tried something in return you were quick to shut him down. “You’re my best friend’s brother,” you kept telling him, “we can’t do this.” Despite the fact that you both were growing desperate for each other, you kept playing this game of cat and mouse. At first, Jungkook tried to keep his thoughts pure. Every evening he’d text you asking to take you out on a date, but you’d reject him every single time. It was so wrong of you to act the way you were but you just couldn’t help it. 

Of course, one day Jungkook snapped. 

You had been over to their place for one of your regular movie nights when you let your teasing go too far. Instead of your hand resting on Jungkook’s thigh, you used him as a footrest. Only you made sure your food went a little further than his thigh, and let the balls of your feet rest on his cock. It was a gentle touch, and you’d move every so often so eventually, you felt him get hard underneath you. It was fun to torment him and turn him down at the same time. But you should have known when you left to go to the bathroom, he’d follow you. 

When he heard you were finished washing your hands, he tried the door and entered when he realised you didn’t put the lock on. You ignored his presence, fixing your hair in the mirror but subtly watching him move towards you. He turned and leant up against the bathroom counter, so he could look at you ignoring him. “You think it’s fun, huh?” He asked you. His voice was low and deep, sending rumbles right through your body. “Teasing me like this?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“No? So then what was that whole foot fiasco downstairs?” 

“No idea.” 

“So you’re not pretending you don’t want me?”

You laughed. “Jungkookie, you’re Taehyung’s younger brother. I promise you, I don’t want you like you think I do.” 

Jungkook turned around. “Fine.” He smacked his hip into yours pushing you out the way so he could have the mirror to himself. “You want to pretend, so will I.” 

You scoffed. “You actual shit.” You pushed him back, taking over your spot again. You could hear Jungkook laughing at you. 

His arm came up to your neck and pulled you flush against his back. He heard your breath hitch. His lips came down to your ear and started nibbling on it. His free hand moved to your side and began to playfully tickle you. “Jungkook!” You squealed. 

“Say you’re sorry.” He ordered. “Admit you want me.” 

“No.” The word could barely be formed over your laughter, but you managed to get it out of your mouth eventually. 

“Suit yourself.” He moved his other hand to your side and continued to tickle you. 

“Fine! Fine!” 

“What was that?” 

“I want you! Stop!” 

He did as you asked and pinned you once again to the counter. “Since when?” 

“Since you came home a man.” You told him, caressing his cheek softly.

He smiled his beautiful smile at you, then proceeded to kiss you. You didn’t think you’d ever get used to his kisses, but you loved them nonetheless. When he first kissed you it felt strange, but now it was one of the best feelings. It felt right this time around. 

As it did in the kitchen all those weeks ago, things began to get heated. This time, however, neither of you were particularly worried about being interrupted. Mainly because you forgot you weren’t alone in the house. Jungkook had you up on the counter in no time, legs spread for him so he could slot himself in between them and kiss you comfortably. Your legs were against his small waist enjoying the feeling of his presence. “This isn’t how I wanted it,” Jungkook told you through kisses, “but I need you. Can I have you?” 

“Take me.” 

Jungkook didn’t need to be told twice, nor did he wait a second longer to have you. He pulled your shirt off you immediately and, while kissing you, pulled the cups of your bra down so he had access to your breasts. His kisses trailed from your lips, to your neck, and finally stopped at your nipples. He took one of them in his mouth, sucking it and waiting for your moans to tell him he was doing the right thing before moving on to the second nipple. “God, I love your body.” He told you. “So soft. So beautiful. Let me taste you?” 

Within seconds of getting your permission your jeans and panties were off and his tongue was on your pussy. There was no teasing, though he wanted to after all these weeks. Instead, he just went straight for your clit, sucking on it like he did with your nipples, alternating the strength. He looked up at you from where he was knelt on the bathroom floor, keeping eye contact with you as he ate you like a man starved, appreciating you. Worshipping you with his mouth while he was on his knees for you. He didn’t come up for air, and he didn’t use his fingers. He just kept maneuvering you to where he needed you so he could lick your snatch to your completion. Never once did he leave your clit, even when he pulled his sweatpants and underwear down to free his cock from its confines. Even when he wrapped his slender hand around his cock and started to touch himself, he never once stopped your pleasure. 

“J-Jungkook,” you moaned. “Feels too good. I’m gonna cum.” 

Jungkook groaned in affirmation and all it took was the vibrations from his deep voice to send you over the edge. You grasped onto his hair and pulled it harshly, completely accidentally, as you climaxed on his tongue. Still, Jungkook didn’t stop. He waited for you to push him off of you before he gave up his feast. “Are you okay?” He asked, resting his forehead on yours and waiting for you to regain your breath. 

“Fuck me, where did you learn to do that!?” 

Jungkook laughed. “I’m just a natural, baby girl.” 

“Doesn’t surprise me. Come here.” You pulled him down to you by his neck so you could kiss him some more while you waited for your pussy to recover. But soon enough you felt empty. “Jungkook?” 

“Yeah?” 

“Please fuck me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Please.”

“Condom?” 

“I’m on the pill.” 

“Clean?” 

“Yeah. Never had sex without a condom, you?”

“Same.” 

He added a little bit of spit onto his cock to make sure the slide was comfortable for you before slipping his length inside. The initial stretch was perfect - eyes locked, butterflies in your tummy. Both of you groaned at the feeling of him entering you, and it felt so good for Jungkook he collapsed onto you for a second. “Can I move?” He asked. His voice cracked. “Please tell me I can move.”

“Please, Jungkook.” 

He started off at a slow pace, grabbing your ankle and pulling it up onto his shoulder to give him more room to enter you. With every thrust, he got deeper and deeper, stretching you out to perfection. His pace kept altering, one minute it was soft and loving, then he just pistoned into you like it was the last thing he’d ever do, then he went back to soft. You never knew what was coming with Jungkook. You couldn’t work him out. You didn’t want to. It felt too good having him inside you. 

It turned out that Jungkook wasn’t much of a talker when he was inside you, but he was noisy. Very noisy. His moans rivalled yours in terms of loudness, but he couldn’t help them. Not that you were complaining, of course. He was the loudest man you’d been with and it definitely felt like a compliment. Instead of talking, you could feel his affection for you in every other way: the way he looked at you while he was inside you; how he touched you; how he played with your clit when you told him it felt good. It felt as though he only existed to please you, to make you feel good and his own pleasure was secondary or even irrelevant. He kissed your breasts while he was inside you, your tummy, your neck, your lips. Any uncovered piece of skin he could get his mouth on while he made love to you on the bathroom counter, he would touch. 

Jungkook’s thrusts started to get sporadic though, inconsistent. He pulled out really quickly. “Fuck, I almost came.” He kissed you. “You feel too fucking good.” 

“It’s okay. C-can I move? My ass has gone numb.”

Jungkook laughed and kissed you again. He moved back. “Turn around for me, baby.” 

You did as you were told and bent over the counter, expecting to feel him push back into your pussy. Instead he got back onto his knees and ate you out again, giving him some rest to go on for a bit longer. This time, he used his fingers, hitting your g-spot over and over again, alternating between both his tongue and his hands. The added sensation and constant hit on your sweet spot made you reach your peak quicker than before, yet just as exhausted as the first time. Your legs were shaking, your entire body was weak. You were so thankful you had the counter to lean on otherwise you would have collapsed onto the floor. There was no way you could take another orgasm from him, and you prayed he wouldn’t try. 

Jungkook didn’t let you rest after your orgasm this time. Instead, he got back up to his feet and entered you once more; pounding into you a lot rougher than before. At this point, you couldn’t even make any noise. You were so overwhelmed with the feeling of him inside of you, all you could do was feel him: how thick he was; how much he stretched you; how good he felt. Everything in your mind had been erased save the thoughts of him. That had never happened before. But it wasn’t long until Jungkook began to lose his rhythm again. He couldn’t help himself, he was too wound up at this point. “I need to cum.” He announced. “Where should I cum?” 

“Inside me. Oh my God, Jungkook. Please let me feel you cum inside me. Fuck!” 

Jungkook came not moments later, filling your pussy up with ropes of cum until he was completely spent. He pulled out of you quickly, man on a mission for cleaning you up as best he could. You winced when you felt a damp cloth on you. “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t apologise after that. Shit. I can’t feel my legs.” 

“I’ll run you a bath.”

“We don’t have time. Tae will probably be wondering where we got to.” 

“I don’t care about him, I’m more concerned about you.” 

You laughed. “I’ll be fine.”

The two of you began getting dressed again, attempting to make yourselves look as presentable as you could after a literal work out in the bathroom. Jungkook broke the silence once more. “Is it too early to tell you that I love you?” 

“Yes.”

“Okay good… because I definitely wasn’t going to.” 

“You can tell me when you’ve taken me out a few times, how does that sound?” 

He grabbed hold of your waist and pulled you into a gentle embrace. “I’ll hold you to that. Come on, let’s go face him.” 

Your stomach churned at the thought of seeing your best friend after you just sinned with his brother. You both crept down the stairs in order to not draw any more suspicion than you had to. It would already seem weird that you two were together as it was. When you walked into the living room, you noticed the television was quiet. It was back on the DVD menu. There, in the armchair, Taehyung slept, curled up into a tiny ball. 

It was safe to say that both of you were incredibly relieved. 

This was a commission requested by dragonLynk on Twitter! Thank you for the commission, Lynk! I hope everyone else enjoyed it too. 

 My commissions are open now, so if you would like me to write something, you're more than welcome to request.

https://ko-fi.com/namjuicyy

[sebseyesandbuckysthighs]

Love is For Children (2/2)

summary: You’re a former mercenary turned Avenger who joins the team after fighting, and defeating, each member that tried to recruit you. You’re confident in your abilities and even challenge the man formerly known as the Winter Soldier. A battle of egos ensues and it’s Bucky that fights to get your attention but you’re a professional and won’t fall easy for his charm.

pairing: bucky x reader wc: 4832 (sorry???) a/n: Oh hello again. Don’t mind me, just thought I’d pop in for a bit to confirm that I’m still living and also here’s part 2 of a fic I posted over a year ago! 

More importantly, I want to dedicate this fic to one of the most amazing ladies I know and a true friend, @avengerofyourheart Today is her birthday and if you know Anika then you know just how kind and sweet and absolutely brilliant she is. I met her through tumblr a few years ago and she remains to be an important person in my life. She’s never given up on me and she continues to be the most supportive and caring friend I’ve ever had. So if you haven’t already, please head over to her blog and leave some love for her! ❤

tl;dr I’m still a pleb but not dead and Anika is the birthday girl! 🎉🎂

ALSO the song mentioned at a certain point in the story is Ariana Grande’s ‘Dangerous Woman.’

READ PART ONE HERE

~previously~

“I think you’ve met your match, Buck.”

“Real smooth, Barnes.”

Bucky ignored them and turned to lay flat on his back again. He shut his eyes and pictured you on top of him, looking down with an innocent smile and that devilish glint in your eyes.

“You okay there, Bucky?” Steve asked, humor in his tone.

“I think I’m in love.” He sighed whimsically and the three men laughed together.

You were alone in the kitchen waiting for the machine to finish brewing your favorite blend of coffee. The Compound would be hosting it's annual charity event tonight and although you weren't typically into the whole 'formal attire' scene, knowing that it was all for a good cause made you happy to attend. Still, these parties usually lasted well into the early morning hours, so you felt the need to be as caffeinated as possible. The smell of fresh coffee seemed to act as a beacon and called the attention of a few like-minded individuals the second the pot was done.

Clint and Tony were a blur as they rushed in, barely acknowledging that you were even in the room. You laughed them off, though, thankful that you had the foresight to make enough for at least 10 servings and surprised that they managed to leave enough for maybe two. You were tempted to take the rest for herself when Bucky strolled in. He was dressed casually in his typical everyday outfit, and as annoying as he was, at least he was easy on the eyes. His grey v-neck tee was sheer enough that you could see the dog tags resting on his chest and dark wash jeans hugged those thick thighs so affectionately. It was a good look, but clearly not what he would be wearing for tonight. You were in a bit of state yourself since you were in the process of getting ready when the need for caffeine interrupted. Fresh out of the shower with your hair wrapped in a soft towel, damp strands sticking out in random spots, and wearing nothing underneath your light robe. You were definitely a sight to see. Bucky took a brief pause to groan appreciatively at your appearance before preparing his own mug.

“You gonna save me a dance tonight, doll?” he asked, watching you from the corner of his eye.

You stuck out your bottom lip in mock disappointment. "Aw, isn't that sweet? Not a chance in hell, darling."

"We'll see about that, Y/N." He took a sip of his coffee as he leaned back against the counter.

As silence fell over the room Bucky took the time to shamelessly look over your figure more intently. His eyes leisurely trailed up your exposed legs, lingering on your thighs. His mind flooded with images of having them wrapped around his waist, holding you tightly against him while he ravaged your lips, neck and chest. Yo u were both always so brazen when it came to checking each other out. Not the slightest bit ashamed or embarrassed because you liked the attention. You let him stare a bit longer before clearing your throat and directing his eyes away from your chest and back to your face.

Once you had his attention, you started scanning the room thoughtfully for a moment. “I count 16 in this room,” you announced. “19 if I wanted to get a little creative.”

Bucky smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. “Bare hands?” he asked. You mimicked his stance and said, “First on the list, as always.”

“Then I make 21,” he countered. “24 if I want to get my hands dirty. Which I always do.” You watched him pull his bottom lip between his teeth, a habit that made most women want to fall at his feet.

Too bad for him you were not most women, but that didn’t stop you from having a little fun. You made a show of swaying your hips as you stepped up to him, getting close enough to trace your fingers along his shirt collar and toying with the bit of chest hair that peaked through. "Tryna impress a girl, huh Barnes?"

"Mmhm,” he hummed. “Is it working, doll?” He smiled as he thought over his list for you. If it were possible to die from multiple orgasms, would that really be such a terrible thing?

You noticed the dark glint in his eyes and decided to push him just that little bit further. Standing on your toes, you leaned forward until your breath tickled against his lips. His eyes fell shut and nostrils flared as he breathed in your sweet scent and sighed. You were surprised that he actually managed to respect your 'no touching' rule this time. Even though he was clearly struggling his hands remained at his side clutched tightly into fists.

Satisfied with his reaction you smacked his chest and pushed him out of your way. “Nope! Sorry, Buck. Better luck next time. Have fun tonight, though.” You scurried off trying to contain your laughter when you saw the indignant look cast over his face.

This was the type of relationship you had forged with Bucky ever since you moved in. Threatening each other, fighting over dominance and playing silly games, like counting how many objects you could kill each other with in any given room. That was all it was, though, a game and nothing more. It had to be. So you ignored the warmth in your belly and increased thumping in your chest as you reached your room to get ready for the night. Unaware that Bucky was feeling the same while also trying to readjust himself in pants that felt just a little bit tighter now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later, you were sitting at the bar of the Compound's large party room drinking from a glass of punch. Compromising your senses in a crowd was never appealing to you, so you rarely drank in public, but you still enjoyed the atmosphere. The active bodies on the dance floor moving together to a loud beat, everyone with a drink in their hand, and all inhibitions left at coat check.

You listened to your friends share stories that wouldn't typically be brought up if they were sober. Like the mission where Steve, Nat, and Clint had an unfortunate run-in with leeches and were forced to strip themselves of their uniforms. The rest of the team waited to rendezvous at the jet for almost an hour, but all impatience was forgotten when they saw them finally approaching. Completely naked. Natasha had taken possession of Steve's shield to cover herself while the two men cupped themselves protectively. The group howled with laughter and you almost choked on your drink when Steve’s face turned a deep shade of red at the memory.

As the night progressed, it seemed like every five minutes a different man would approach you with an invitation to show you a 'good' time. Judging by their liquor-soaked breath and clumsy advances you severely doubted it and shot each of them down. After an hour of this you noticed that there was one man that had yet to make his usual attempt at seducing you.

Bucky was at the other end of the bar with a positively beautiful woman keeping him company. She was clearly having a hard time deciding which part of him to keep her hands on. The muscles in her arms strained as she kept pulling at him, a definite indicator that she wanted him to take her somewhere less crowded. But he wasn't budging. Bucky's attention was focused on you from the minute she walked up to him. Your eyes locked in a silent battle to see who would blink first.

“Mhm,” someone murmured as they stood next to you. “Can't take your eyes off Barnes, huh?”

You didn't even as you took a sip of your drink. “Take a break, Wilson.”

“When are you gonna admit it, Y/N?"  Sam's inquiry was met with a stony silence, so he continued. "It’s obvious you have feelings for tall, dark, and dumb over there.” He nodded towards Bucky.

You abandoned the staring contest to glare at the man beside you instead. “We’ve been over this, Sam. I’m a professional, I don’t do feelings. Especially feelings for Barnes.”

“Uh-huh." He rolled his eyes and you narrowed yours.

Lately, Sam and even Steve were in the habit of calling out your friendship with Bucky, trying to turn it into something more. You dismissed them outright. Not ready or willing to accept that even you started to notice a change. Sure, it was fun messing around with the brunette super soldier, turning him into a drooling mess of lust and temptation while you walked away unaffected. Except that last bit was happening less frequently now and, concerning as it was, you chose to ignore it.

While you were trying to figure out a way to dodge Sam's judgment, the next song started playing over the speakers giving you a wicked idea. It was certainly fitting for the moment and also might help you prove a point.

Sam instantly recognized the mischievous sparkle in your eyes and sighed. “Just be careful, Y/N. He's an old man. Don't go giving him a heart attack.” He paused, thinking to himself for a moment. “On second thought, you go girl!”

You rolled your eyes at Sam and stepped away from the bar, striding towards the dance floor. The golden silk dress trailed behind you as the large slit coming up your left leg showcased your thigh almost up to your hipbone. The supple curve of your breasts peaking over the neckline was practically modest in comparison to your completely exposed back. The loose material draped just below the small of your back, calling more attention to your round backside. Even before you turned to face him, you knew Bucky had his eyes trained on you the entire time.

As the song played you started dancing provocatively to the beat. Hips swiveling as your hands roamed up and down your body before reaching into your hair to play with the loose tendrils. You crooked your finger towards Bucky and motioned for him to come closer. He didn't give it a second thought as he broke away from the other woman and began his journey over.

Strutting towards you with such purpose and ferocity, you almost couldn't tell whether he was coming to ravish you or murder you. The way his dark hair framed his face casting a shadow over his lust-crazed eyes added to that predatory effect. He had abandoned his suit jacket early on, leaving him in just the crisp white dress shirt with the cuffs rolled up to show off his impressive forearms. One muscular flesh, the other shining metal, both distracting and enticing as hell.

You turned your back to him as he closed in and it wasn't long before his warm arm was wrapped around your midsection pulling you to his chest as you started dancing together. Cool metal fingers trailed up your arm and moved your hair aside exposing your neck to him.

“You looked a little jealous there, doll.” His voice was low and gravelly, lips barely making contact at that sensitive spot below your ear.

You placed one hand on his and lifted the other to hold the back of his neck. “Oh I don't get jealous, sweetheart. I'm just proving a point.”

“Mmm, and what's that?” Whatever it was, he liked where this was going.

“That you're willing to drop everything the second I wave a finger just so you can get your hands on me for a minute. You got it bad, Barnes.”

He chuckled softly. “Maybe I do,” he whispered in your ear, sending an unexpected chill up your spine. “You’re an incredible woman, Y/N. You’re smart. Strong. Can take care of yourself in a fight. And you’re fucking beautiful. You got me going crazy, doll. I can’t get my mind off you.” He nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck and held you tighter.

Maybe it was the low timber of his voice or his metal hand gripping firmly on your exposed thigh, but suddenly you felt your skin prickle with heat. His hips followed the languid rhythm you set and you loved how comfortable and strong his thighs felt behind yours. His hard chest pressed against your exposed back, the buttons of his shirt practically digging into your flesh from the friction. You moved your hand into his hair and started pawing at his scalp, tugging on the soft strands. A deep growl reverberated through his chest and traveled straight down to your core.

What he said, the way he moved and the sounds he made, it was all making you feel lightheaded. You had to bite down on your lip to stop yourself from whimpering when a devastating roll of his hips had your ass grinding against his hardening length. Being so lost in the moment, in his touch, you forgot what point you were trying to make in the first place. You needed to walk away from this.

Somehow you managed to compose yourself enough to escape his embrace and back away from him, smiling softly when you saw yet another dazed look on his face. “Well I guess I saved a dance for you after all. Don't say I never do anything for you, Buck.” You didn't look back as you left, pretending that your arousal hadn't just soaked through your lingerie.

“Fuck,” Bucky groaned as he watched you saunter away. Your hips swayed just as they did against him seconds ago, leaving him with only a throbbing ache pushing against his briefs as a reminder. “She's gotta stop doing that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was 3am and even though the guests were gone, the team didn't want the party to end just yet. After changing out of their formal wear, everyone gathered in the lounge to continue the fun. Nothing too scandalous, just a couple of drinks and some games amongst friends. How the hell it ended up turning into an arm wrestling contest was beyond you.

Clint was paired with Sam, who was drunkenly boasting about his inevitable victory against the archer. Their friendly rivalry was made all the more hilarious when they were drunk off their asses. Seconds after the match began, Sam was pinned and Clint was flailing his arms and legs like a giddy child as he celebrated. Natasha took the rest of his drink away immediately.

“Slick move, Barton. Getting your girl to throw me off like that.” Sam pouted, claiming that Nat purposely distracted him. Steve had to take away Sam’s beer when he started arguing that blinking rhymes with winking, so she was obviously flirting with him.

“Don't try to pin this on her, Wilson." Clint objected. His voice sounded a little scratchy and he could barely keep his eyes open. "What do you think I shoot arrows with all day, huh?  My feet?” He started showing off his muscular forearms and biceps in a series of ridiculous poses. “Now if this was a contest to see who could break a watermelon with their legs, you'd take that one easy, buddy.”

Sam considered his words for a minute before smiling lazily, nodding in agreement. “You're right about that. I do have some great thighs.” He started rubbing his legs and praising them for being so thick and perfect.

The group laughed at the pair of drunken aviary Avengers as they stumbled away from the table. Tony was declaring the matches and after a brief chat with Natasha, he called out the next pair.

“Alright, we have a theory that needs testing. Barnes. Y/N.” He clapped his hands on the flat surface. “You're up!”

“What?! But I thought I was sup–"

“My God, Rogers!" Tony interrupted, turning to face the now pouting Captain. "Must you and the tin man do everything together? Could you just share him for a minute? I'm sure Y/N won't steal him away from you.”

“No promises,” Bucky said, blowing a kiss towards you and making you stick your tongue out at him.

“Sit your ass down, Buck. And keep your pretty mouth shut for everyone's sake.” You tried to sound serious, but your smile said otherwise.

Once seated, you both made a show of stretching out your muscles before putting your elbows on the table. Bucky was about to make a comment that was sure to have your skin crawling but you stopped him. “I don't think so, pal. I want the other one.” You pointed towards his left arm instead.

He quirked an eyebrow, but still switched arms. The light reflected off the metal plates when he flexed and waved his fingers at you. “You sure about this, doll? I know you’re tough, but c’mon, you don’t stand a chance here. I don't wanna hurt you, baby girl. Unless you're into that sorta thing.” His suggestive wink and smug tone only solidified your resolve.

“Oh I love it when you sweet talk me, baby." You rolled your eyes and grabbed his hand. "Let's do this, Barnes. You're going down.”

He smirked and pulled you in a little closer, the soft whir of the metal plates vibrated against your palm. “On you, maybe later. First I got a match to win.”

You choked back a gasp, quickly disguising it as laughter and hoping that it would distract him from the sudden blush that filled your cheeks.

“Okay lovebirds,” Tony clasped his hands over yours and Bucky’s. “The second I let go of your fists, the match begins. We don't frown upon cheap tricks here, but just don't be a whiner like Wilson.” Tony repeated the rules, ignored Sam's slurred insults, and checked to make sure you were both ready.

Without breaking eye contact you nodded your heads and confirmed that you heard him. Stark let a few more seconds pass to build suspense before finally pulling away. The second he did, you lunged forward and crashed your lips against Bucky's. The unexpected contact caught him completely off guard and while your lips were connected, you pinned his arm. Your lips lingered on his for a moment longer before you pulled away and met your victory with a series of whistling and applause.

Bucky sat motionless. Staring at you wide-eyed and speechless, trying to process what just happened as the group congratulated you on a clean win. His lips were still tingling from your kiss. This was something he'd fantasized about for weeks but never expected for it to happen like that. Game or not, he couldn't deny that there was something more behind your motive.

He needed to pull himself together before anyone called him out, so he donned his signature grin and congratulated you. “Well played, Y/N.”

“Element of surprise, doll,” you jeered, proud of yourself for pulling it off.

After Tony was done cursing Bucky under his breath, he paid Natasha for losing their little bet and moved on to face off against Steve. You watched for a minute as Tony desperately tried to pin the immovable super soldier with both hands. At one point, he was basically dangling off his arm while Steve cackled. Positive that Tony was only seconds away from summoning his armor, you decided now was a good time to slip away towards the empty kitchen and get a drink. After grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, you turned to see that you were no longer alone.

“What was that about, Y/N?”

“What are you talking about, Bucky?” you answered his question with one of your own.

“You know what I’m talking about.” He nodded towards the other room. “What just happened back there?”

You shrugged, drinking almost the entire bottle while avoiding eye contact. "What about it? It was a game. Don't be such a sore loser."

"It was more than that, Y/N." He stepped closer as he spoke. "And the dancing earlier.”

He was close enough that you could smell the light yet incredibly intoxicating scent of his cologne. It mixed beautifully with his own indescribably scent and you silently cursed him. Since when did he smell so good?

"It was a tactic, Bucky,” you explained. “I was just trying to throw you off by doing something stupid. And it worked didn't it? I won fair and square. And the dance was just a dance, I was messing around. It was nothing."

You moved to walk away, but he reached out for your arm turning you to face him. "I don't buy it, Y/N. Sounds like your trying to convince yourself rather than admit the truth. I know it wasn't nothing."

Now you were getting frustrated. Why did he have to keep on pressing the matter instead of letting it go like he usually did? Why now?

“Oh really? What was it then?” you seethed. “You seem to know better than me, so tell me. Why? Because you're Bucky Barnes and no woman can resist you? Bullshit.”

“No, because I have proof,” he stated, still holding onto your arm and his face serious.

Biting back a scoff, you looked up at him expectantly. “What proof?”

He took a cautious step towards you and when you didn't pull back, he moved in a little closer. Metal fingers barely grazed your skin as he trailed them up your arm. With every inch they climbed, your body reacted to his tentative touch. The slow drag of his knuckles along your collar bone up to your jawline, a trail of goosebumps followed. He leaned forward, nudging your nose with his and feeling the warmth of his breath against your lips. Lips that you just learned were softer than you could have imagined. You were struggling to keep your eyes open when he finally pulled back. His long warm fingers still wrapped around your wrist, lifting it to rest on his chest while his metal hand moved to your hip.

“Your pulse beats faster whenever I’m close to you,” he whispered. “Your pupils dilate and your body temperature rises.” He looked into your eyes and cupped your cheek. “I know because you have the same symptoms as me and I have feelings for you, Y/N.”

There was no trace of smug ego or cocky bravado in the way he looked at you with those unreasonably blue eyes. His smile was so warm and genuine you could practically feel your walls crumbling apart. This was all new territory and you didn't know how to deal with it. You couldn't admit it to yourself, let alone Bucky, that you started to develop feelings for him. You spent your life in the company of heartless criminals, training and killing for faceless men. None of this allowed room for a chance at romance and you were fine with that!

You were fine with that.

Standing here with Bucky now, your bodies close and your mind and heart racing, you didn't know what to think anymore. But you were too damn stubborn for your own good.

“No,” you choked. “Enough. It was nothing.” Your hands curled into fists on his chest. “Dammit, just stop it, Bucky.” You pushed him away and ran out of the room, leaving him to stare at your retreating form once again.

So damn stubborn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After that night a few weeks ago, you and Bucky hardly saw each other. Both choosing to deal with the others absence as though you were dealing with a loss. For the first couple weeks, you were upset and hurt, with yourselves and with each other. Wishing for things to go back to the way they were before either of you realized your feelings were changing. That obviously wasn’t going to happen with two such hardheaded people. Sadness shifted into denial which eventually led to anger and frustration, your current and most volatile stage. However, you were both professionals and whatever was happening between you was not about to come in the way of work. Or so you thought.

While out on a mission, you and Bucky were ordered to distract a number of hostiles away from the others so they could slip into the target building unnoticed. Despite finding yourself a little outnumbered at one point everything was going according to plan. That was until Bucky came barreling out of nowhere redirecting all enemy fire away from you and onto himself. You both managed to get away relatively unscathed, but he ended taking a bullet to his side because of his own stupidity.

Back at the compound and standing outside the medbay, you watched as they extracted the bullet and stitched him up. When they were all done he got up and headed towards the exit where you were waiting, silently fuming.

“What the hell were you thinking, Bucky?” you screamed as he came out the doors and started walking away.

“I was thinking I was doing my damn job, Y/N.” He knew you were pissed off when you didn’t say anything the entire flight back, instead choosing to sit in the corner of the jet while Steve hovered over him like a worried parent.

He continued to try and get away from you, navigating the hallways and heading towards the compound's living space as you shouted at his back. “Your job is not to get yourself killed by doing something stupid like that!”

He stopped and turned to face you. His expression was so intense, almost threatening, and instantly halting you in your tracks. “Making sure you don’t get hurt or killed isn’t stupid to me, Y/N!” Bucky yelled, his voice echoing through the empty corridor.

You stood completely still as you stared blankly up at him. He sighed exasperatedly. “Y'know when someone takes a bullet for you, the polite thing to do is say thank you or something. Not bitch at ‘em for saving your life because you’re too damn arrogant to admit you needed help.”

You folded your arms over your chest, instantly offended. “I had the situation under control, Bucky. I am not your responsibility and you are not mine. Pull a stunt like that again and I’ll shoot you myself.”

He dragged his fingers through his hair and growled furiously. “You're so fucking stubborn!”

“So are you, asshole!” you barked back.

You were so worked up that you started shoving and hitting him. He stood there and took each hit without complaint, letting you work through your emotions. Though your words and actions said one thing, anytime you touched him you made sure to avoid the areas you knew were wounded. Truth was, it scared the shit out of you when you saw him get hit and fall to the ground. The sight of him clutching his side as blood seeped through his fingers was an image you never wanted to see again.

Once you had calmed down enough you wanted to run, but Bucky grabbed you and pinned your back to the wall with a thud. He went to cage you in with his arms, but you were quick and took him by the collar of his uniform, spinning your bodies until his back was against the wall. Any frustration he still felt resolved into amusement as your grip on his uniform loosened, but your hands remained on his chest.

“You’re mad cause you were scared that I got hurt. That’s it, isn’t it?” he asked, moving his hands to rest on your hips.

“No,” you replied a little too quickly and not at all convincing. He laughed. “Aw, you were worried about me, huh doll?”

“Shut up, Bucky,” you whined.

“Guess you kinda like me more than you let on. Don’t deny it, you think I’m cute.” He batted his long eyelashes and smiled that toothy grin. Out of all the people to fall for, it just had to be a man that was just as capable of irritating you to no end as he was to leave you weak at the knees.

You shook your head and let out a tired laugh. “You’re such a child.”

His shit-eating grin could not be contained as he said, “You still love me though.”

You finally looked at him, seeing the same sincerity and affection in his eyes that you knew matched your own. “Yeah well, so what if I do.”

His hand came up to caress your blushing cheek and you instinctively leaned into his touch. “Finally,” he whispered before pressing your lips together. You both sighed happily as you felt the soft plump flesh again. If kisses like this were what you had to look forward to then it was definitely a feeling you could get used to.

“For the record, I love you too,” he murmured against your lips when you pulled back a little to breathe.

“Of course you do. I’m amazing,” you said, suppressing a giggle as he shook his head affectionately.

“I know you’re expecting me to come back with some witty or cocky comment, but I’m just gonna agree and keep kissing you instead. Sound good?” His thumb swiped across your bottom lip, tugging it down slightly before letting it fall back in place.

You squinted your eyes and pretended to think about it for a moment before Bucky pinched your sides. He jutted out his jaw seductively  and licked his lips when you squealed.

“Sounds good, Barnes.”

<< part one :: part two (end)

feel free to leave me some feedback ❤

tag list (which I’ve lost so I’m just gonna tag everyone who was tagged in the first part)

@avengerofyourheart @buckysberrie @marvelingatthewonder @buckyywiththegoodhair @imaginingbucky @memiskypirate @anya-lv @heismyhunter @melanie451 @palaiasaurus64 @fantasticimpaladoctor @the-renaissance @bucky-on-a-bike @whatsbetterthanfantasy @jbb-98 @fallingpanickedkilljoys @feelmyroarrrr @annadier @no-im-not-dead-nor-i-have-a-pool @tatortot2701 @blogdebooklover16 @cassiopeiassky @aenna-4 @lilasiannerd @alphadareme @badassbaker @chrisevans-imagines @sergeant-angels-trashcan @aenna-4 @lilasiannerd @mrs–healy @dead-inside52 @nea90sweetie @callingmrsbarnes @tempestinatea-cup @dearmisterhiddles @flowercrownsandmetallicarms @imshalida @sarahjeaniejean @phvckingphandoms @re2d2 @the–baroness @rebel-different @the-witching-hours12-3 @buckyandsebsinbin @sighodinson

[annaleelambert991-blog]

The One Thing to Do for Wrestling

What to Do About Wrestling Before It Is Too Late You'll wind up raising your voice in a library. Inside my opinion, you should attempt to keep periodization simple. Not lots of expressions, usually. However, being unable to breathe can further decrease your odds of breaking from a tight hold. I really like that folks love things. If your son or daughter is being negatively influenced by other children then you ought to speak to her about it, but you should be cautious not to overreact, based on what it is that she's doing, or saying.

The Fundamentals of Wrestling Revealed Mick Foley states that the reason for death seems to be a drug overdose. You will have to focus on the youngster's energy levels and the way they're making your dog feel. Simple, there's no magic pill to earn the concussion go away.A kid should never be required to ask what things to eat to shed weight. Also you must know your limits, your body is able to handle only so much. Prepare yourself to spend the opportunity to construct your body in order to check at your best for the camera. There are lots of shady dealers out there. It's often seen that a whole lot of budding and adult wrestlers are unable to present their very best performance as a result of reasons which are hampering their movements. It may sound easy, but by spending a little quantity of the match posing you will greatly enhance the caliber of the photos taken of you. It doesn't matter the apathy both of these candidates are satisfied with. It was also a very simple way to be certain that he'd dominate over his former Shield brothers, aligning with the men and women in charge, to receive the best matches and the opponents with the highest-profiles. If you're a voter and have a question, don't hesitate to ask here.Let's look at exactly what this dog is made from. Your dog might not be as patient as you in regards to dealing with little children. Some wrestlers can have a lucky tee shirt.To get extra information on john cena cardboard cutout please look at Superstarcutouts.

The thought is simple, you beat the defenders till they are not able to get up and attack you. I simply don't like that he constantly receives a shot. I don't wish to observe this man killed.Both shake hands, there's someone Shayna respects. Sasha pulls Becky from the ring. Valkyrie Spears Grace on the ground.

Life After Wrestling Post called that a minimal point. You may think about where in NYC you wish to go to narrow things down. We did not receive the story we were promised.Wrestling photos are a fantastic method whereby to find publicity. WWE is among the top kinds of amusement next to NBA. It is scripted and is only fake when it comes to certain aspects of wrestling. Wrestling is among the only sports that everyone on the planet can understand. Every one of these sports are going to have its exclusive demands. At every event, the athletes strive to extend an excellent performance and one which fans will enjoy until the previous minute. Whatever might be the experience, jot down all of the information down. It is possible to also do a search for people in your region. If you're uncertain about whether it's the case that you or your little one should wrestle, this guide delivers a number of reasons which should help you create your final choice. I'm celebrating those who do. Be that as it could, now today evening time he'll find a superb chance to exact retribution. Please continue the excellent work!Any move might easily end a career. Deciding on what's most effective for you. Step in immediately if there's danger involved, or if her behavior is totally intolerable.Takedowns are effective wrestling moves because they are rather hard to block. If your kid is younger or his school does not own a wrestling group, you can discover a regional independent wrestling club. The first kind of wrestling is folkstyle. In wrestling, there's a big swing. A timeless Undertaker original that every one of the fans love. This won't be the case with AEW on a roster that already boasts a number of the best wrestlers on earth and Cody.Every WWE Superstar ought to be given time to come up with their character and prove they are capable, regardless of what the circumstance. They'll get nothing easy in regards to standing against WWE. WWE has altered the dynamics of the sport forever and it's all down to the vision of a single man, Vince McMahon.To create the opponent seem stronger. He's also a fresher face who's on the up. The wrist has an important role in these types of competitions. A previous alternative is to construct a structure to hold out the costume in the correct form. The shoulder has to be in alignment with the arm to prevent injury. The only slight distinction is that often the face or heel signfier isn't a universal description.Grip training should only be carried out at the conclusion of a workout. The Death Mask's present moveset is largely designed with quick, snap maneuvers that could surprise opponents from unexpected angles and offer impact without using an exhaustive quantity of strength. Unfortunately, it's not stored within the body.

[theadmiringbog]

RULE 1 / Stand up straight with your shoulders back

RULE 2 / Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping

RULE 3 / Make friends with people who want the best for you

RULE 4 / Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today

RULE 5 / Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them

RULE 6 / Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world

RULE 7 / Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)

RULE 8 / Tell the truth—or, at least, don’t lie

RULE 9 / Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t

RULE 10 / Be precise in your speech

RULE 11 / Do not bother children when they are skateboarding

RULE 12 / Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street

--

RULE 1 / Stand up straight with your shoulders back

If a dominant lobster is badly defeated, its brain basically dissolves. Then it grows a new, subordinate’s brain—one more appropriate to its new, lowly position. Its original brain just isn’t sophisticated to manage the transformation from king to bottom dog without virtually complete dissolution and regrowth. Anyone who has experienced a painful transformation after a serious defeat in romance or career may feel some sense of kinship with the once successful crustacean.

--

Among the chimp troupes he studied, males who were successful in the longer term had to buttress their physical prowess with more sophisticated attributes. Even the most brutal chimp despot can be taken down, after all, by two opponents, each three-quarters as mean. In consequence, males who stay on top longer are those who form reciprocal coalitions with their lower-status compatriots, and who pay careful attention to the troupe’s females and their infants. The political ploy of baby-kissing is literally millions of years old.                

--

“In my kingdom,” as the Red Queen tells Alice in Wonderland, “you have to run as fast as you can just to stay in the same place.”                

--

If you have a high status, on the other hand, the counter’s cold, pre-reptilian mechanics assume that your niche is secure, productive and safe, and that you are well buttressed with social support. It thinks the chance that something will damage you is low and can be safely discounted. Change might be opportunity, instead of disaster.                

--

If someone is badly hurt at some point in life—traumatized—the dominance counter can transform in a manner that makes additional hurt more rather than less likely. This often happens in the case of people, now adults, who were viciously bullied during childhood or adolescence. They become anxious and easily upset. They shield themselves with a defensive crouch, and avoid the direct eye contact interpretable as a dominance challenge. This means that the damage caused by the bullying (the lowering of status and confidence) can continue, even after the bullying has ended.                

--

When the wakening occurs—when once-naïve people recognize in themselves the seeds of evil and monstrosity, and see themselves as dangerous (at least potentially)— their fear decreases. They develop more self-respect. Then, perhaps, they begin to resist oppression. They see that they have the ability to withstand, because they are terrible too. They see they can and must stand up, because they begin to understand how genuinely monstrous they will become, otherwise, feeding on their resentment, transforming it into the most destructive of wishes. To say it again: There is very little difference between the capacity for mayhem and destruction, integrated, and strength of character. This is one of the most difficult lessons of life.                

--

Maybe you are a loser. And maybe you’re not—but if you are, you don’t have to continue in that mode. Maybe you just have a bad habit. Maybe you’re even just a collection of bad habits. Nonetheless, even if you came by your poor posture honestly—even if you were unpopular or bullied at home or in grade school—it’s not necessarily appropriate now. Circumstances change. If you slump around, with the same bearing that characterizes a defeated lobster, people will assign you a lower status, and the old counter that you share with crustaceans, sitting at the very base of your brain, will assign you a low dominance number. Then your brain will not produce as much serotonin. This will make you less happy, and more anxious and sad, and more likely to back down when you should stand up for yourself. It will also decrease the probability that you will get to live in a good neighbourhood, have access to the highest quality resources, and obtain a healthy, desirable mate. It will render you more likely to abuse cocaine and alcohol, as you live for the present in a world full of uncertain futures. It will increase your susceptibility to heart disease, cancer and dementia. All in all, it’s just not good.                

--

Thus strengthened and emboldened, you may choose to embrace Being, and work for its furtherance and improvement. Thus strengthened, you may be able to stand, even during the illness of a loved one, even during the death of a parent, and allow others to find strength alongside you when they would otherwise be overwhelmed with despair. Thus emboldened, you will embark on the voyage of your life, let your light shine, so to speak, on the heavenly hill, and pursue your rightful destiny. Then the meaning of your life may be sufficient to keep the corrupting influence of mortal despair at bay. Then you may be able to accept the terrible burden of the World, and find joy.                

--

RULE 2 / Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping

Perhaps Heaven is something you must build, and immortality something you must earn.                

--

You need to consider the future and think, “What might my life look like if I were caring for myself properly? What career would challenge me and render me productive and helpful, so that I could shoulder my share of the load, and enjoy the consequences? What should I be doing, when I have some freedom, to improve my health, expand my knowledge, and strengthen my body?”                

--

RULE 3 / MAKE FRIENDS WITH PEOPLE WHO WANT THE BEST FOR YOU                 

When people have a low opinion of their own worth—or, perhaps, when they refuse responsibility for their lives—they choose a new acquaintance, of precisely the type who proved troublesome in the past. Such people don’t believe that they deserve any better—so they don’t go looking for it. Or, perhaps, they don’t want the trouble of better. Freud called this a “repetition compulsion.”                

--

Are you so sure the person crying out to be saved has not decided a thousand times to accept his lot of pointless and worsening suffering, simply because it is easier than shouldering any true responsibility? Are you enabling a delusion?                

--

Vice is easy. Failure is easy, too. It’s easier not to shoulder a burden. It’s easier not to think, and not to do, and not to care. It’s easier to put off until tomorrow what needs to be done today, and drown the upcoming months and years in today’s cheap pleasures. As the infamous father of the Simpson clan puts it, immediately prior to downing a jar of mayonnaise and vodka, “That’s a problem for Future Homer. Man, I don’t envy that guy!”               

--

RULE 4 / COMPARE YOURSELF TO WHO YOU WERE YESTERDAY, NOT TO WHO SOMEONE ELSE IS TODAY                 

You are either a success, a comprehensive, singular, over-all good thing, or its opposite, a failure, a comprehensive, singular, irredeemably bad thing. The words imply no alternative and no middle ground. However, in a world as complex as ours, such generalizations (really, such failure to differentiate) are a sign of naive, unsophisticated or even malevolent analysis. There are vital degrees and gradations of value obliterated by this binary system, and the consequences are not good.                

--

The world allows for many ways of Being. If you don’t succeed at one, you can try another. You can pick something better matched to your unique mix of strengths, weaknesses and situation. Furthermore, if changing games does not work, you can invent a new one.                

--

But winning at everything might only mean that you’re not doing anything new or difficult. You might be winning but you’re not growing, and growing might be the most important form of winning.                

--

When the internal critic puts you down using such comparisons, here’s how it operates: First, it selects a single, arbitrary domain of comparison (fame, maybe, or power). Then it acts as if that domain is the only one that is relevant. Then it contrasts you unfavourably with someone truly stellar, within that domain. It can take that final step even further, using the unbridgeable gap between you and its target of comparison as evidence for the fundamental injustice of life.                

--

You set the following goal: by the end of the day, I want things in my life to be a tiny bit better than they were this morning. Then you ask yourself, “What could I do, that I would do, that would accomplish that, and what small thing would I like as a reward?” Then you do what you have decided to do, even if you do it badly. Then you give yourself that damn coffee, in triumph. Maybe you feel a bit stupid about it, but you do it anyway. And you do the same thing tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. And, with each day, your baseline of comparison gets a little higher, and that’s magic. That’s compound interest. Do that for three years, and your life will be entirely different. Now you’re aiming for something higher. Now you’re wishing on a star. Now the beam is disappearing from your eye, and you’re learning to see. And what you aim at determines what you see. That’s worth repeating. What you aim at determines what you see.                

--

What would your life look like, if it were better? What would Life Itself look like? What does “better” even mean?                

--

Everything you value is a product of unimaginably lengthy developmental processes, personal, cultural and biological. You don’t understand how what you want—and, therefore, what you see—is conditioned by the immense, abysmal, profound past.                

--

Faith is not the childish belief in magic. That is ignorance or even willful blindness. It is instead the realization that the tragic irrationalities of life must be counterbalanced by an equally irrational commitment to the essential goodness of Being.                

--

Notice something that bothers you, that concerns you, that will not let you be, which you could fix, that you would fix. You can find such somethings by asking yourself (as if you genuinely want to know) three questions: “What is it that is bothering me?” “Is that something I could fix?” and “Would I actually be willing to fix it?”                

--

If you find that the answer is “no,” to any or all of the questions, then look elsewhere. Aim lower. Search until you find something that bothers you, that you could fix, that you would fix, and then fix it. That might be enough for the day.                

--

What if you allowed yourself a glass of wine with dinner, or curled up on the sofa and read, or watched a stupid movie, as a reward? What if you instructed your wife, or your husband, to say “good job” after you fixed whatever you fixed? Would that motivate you? The people from whom you want thanks might not be very proficient in offering it, to begin with, but that shouldn’t stop you. People can learn,                

--

Ask yourself what you would require to be motivated to undertake the job, honestly, and listen to the answer. Don’t tell yourself, “I shouldn’t need to do that to motivate myself.” What                

--

You are, on the one hand, the most complex thing in the entire universe, and on the other, someone who can’t even set the clock on your microwave. Don’t over-estimate your self-knowledge.                

--

Do this every day, for a while. Then do it for the rest of your life.                

--

You are less concerned with the actions of other people, because you have plenty to do yourself. Attend to the day, but aim at the highest good. Now, your trajectory is heavenward. That makes you hopeful. Even a man on a sinking ship can be happy when he clambers aboard a lifeboat! And who knows where he might go, in the future. To journey happily may well be better than to arrive successfully….                

--

Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.                

--

RULE 5  /  DO NOT LET YOUR CHILDREN DO ANYTHING THAT MAKES YOU DISLIKE THEM                 

Children are damaged when those charged with their care, afraid of any conflict or upset, no longer dare to correct them, and leave them without guidance. I can recognize such children on the street. They are doughy and unfocused and vague. They are leaden and dull instead of golden and bright. They are uncarved blocks, trapped in a perpetual state of waiting-to-be.                

--

RULE 6  /  SET YOUR HOUSE IN PERFECT ORDER BEFORE YOU CRITICIZE THE WORLD                 

if one parent abused three children, and each of those children had three children, and so on, then there would be three abusers the first generation, nine the second, twenty-seven the third, eighty-one the fourth—and so on exponentially. After twenty generations, more than ten billion would have suffered childhood abuse: more people than currently inhabit the planet. But instead, abuse disappears across generations. People constrain its spread. That’s a testament to the genuine dominance of good over evil in the human heart.                

--

When the hurricane hit New Orleans, and the town sank under the waves, was that a natural disaster? The Dutch prepare their dikes for the worst storm in ten thousand years. Had New Orleans followed that example, no tragedy would have occurred. It’s not that no one knew. The Flood Control Act of 1965 mandated improvements in the levee system that held back Lake Pontchartrain. The system was to be completed by 1978. Forty years later, only 60 percent of the work had been done. Willful blindness and corruption took the city down.                

--

A hurricane is an act of God. But failure to prepare, when the necessity for preparation is well known—that’s sin. That’s failure to hit the mark. And the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).                

--

The ancient Jews always blamed themselves when things fell apart. They acted as if God’s goodness—the goodness of reality—was axiomatic, and took responsibility for their own failure. That’s insanely responsible. But the alternative is to judge reality as insufficient, to criticize Being itself, and to sink into resentment and the desire for revenge.                

--

RULE 7  /  PURSUE WHAT IS MEANINGFUL (NOT WHAT IS EXPEDIENT)                

for dust you are and to dust you will return. (Genesis 3:16-19. KJV) What in the world should be done about that? The simplest, most obvious, and most direct answer? Pursue pleasure. Follow your impulses. Live for the moment. Do what’s expedient. Lie, cheat, steal, deceive, manipulate—but don’t get caught. In an ultimately meaningless universe, what possible difference could it make?                

--

Benjamin Franklin once suggested that a newcomer to a neighbourhood ask a new neighbour to do him or her a favour, citing an old maxim: He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another than he whom you yourself have obliged. In Franklin’s opinion, asking someone for something (not too extreme, obviously) was the most useful and immediate invitation to social interaction. Such asking on the part of the newcomer provided the neighbour with an opportunity to show him- or herself as a good person, at first encounter.                

--

RULE 8  /   TELL THE TRUTH—OR, AT LEAST, DON'T LIE                 

Taking the easy way out or telling the truth—those are not merely two different choices. They are different pathways through life. They are utterly different ways of existing.                

--

Typical calculated ends might include “to impose my ideological beliefs,” “to prove that I am (or was) right,” “to appear competent,” “to ratchet myself up the dominance hierarchy,” “to avoid responsibility” (or its twin, “to garner credit for others’ actions”), “to be promoted,” “to attract the lion’s share of attention,” “to ensure that everyone likes me,” “to garner the benefits of martyrdom,” “to justify my cynicism,” “to rationalize my antisocial outlook,” “to minimize immediate conflict,” “to maintain my naïveté,” “to capitalize on my vulnerability,” “to always appear as the sainted one,” or (this one is particularly evil) “to ensure that it is always my unloved child’s fault.” These are all examples of what Sigmund Freud’s compatriot, the lesser-known Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler, called “life-lies.”                

--

What did she know about her fifty-two-year-old self, when still a teenager? Even now, many years later, she has only the vaguest, lowest-resolution idea of her post-work Eden. She refuses to notice. What did her life mean, if that initial goal was wrong? She’s afraid of opening Pandora’s box, where all the troubles of the world reside. But hope is in there, too. Instead, she warps her life to fit the fantasies of a sheltered adolescent.                

--

A naively formulated goal transmutes, with time, into the sinister form of the life-lie.                

--

If you will not reveal yourself to others, you cannot reveal yourself to yourself. That does not only mean that you suppress who you are, although it also means that. It means that so much of what you could be will never be forced by necessity to come forward. This is a biological truth, as well as a conceptual truth. When you explore boldly, when you voluntarily confront the unknown, you gather information and build your renewed self out of that information. That is the conceptual element. However, researchers have recently discovered that new genes in the central nervous system turn themselves on when an organism is placed (or places itself) in a new situation. These genes code for new proteins. These proteins are the building blocks for new structures in the brain. This means that a lot of you is still nascent, in the most physical of senses, and will not be called forth by stasis. You have to say something, go somewhere and do things to get turned on. And, if not…you remain incomplete, and life is too hard for anyone incomplete.

--

If you’re lucky, and you fail, and you try something new, you move ahead. If that doesn’t work, you try something different again. A minor modification will suffice in fortunate circumstances. It is therefore prudent to begin with small changes, and see if they help. Sometimes, however, the entire hierarchy of values is faulty, and the whole edifice has to be abandoned. The whole game must be changed.

--

Error necessitates sacrifice to correct it, and serious error necessitates serious sacrifice. To accept the truth means to sacrifice—and if you have rejected the truth for a long time, then you’ve run up a dangerously large sacrificial debt.                

--

“Did what I want happen? No. Then my aim or my methods were wrong. I still have something to learn.” 

That is the voice of authenticity. 

“Did what I want happen? No. Then the world is unfair. People are jealous, and too stupid to understand. It is the fault of something or someone else.” 

That is the voice of inauthenticity.                

--

It is not too far from there to “they should be stopped” or “they must be hurt” or “they must be destroyed.” Whenever you hear about something incomprehensibly brutal, such ideas have manifested themselves.                

--

it is necessary to aim at your target, however traditional, with your eyes wide open. You have a direction, but it might be wrong. You have a plan, but it might be ill-formed. You may have been led astray by your own ignorance—and, worse, by your own unrevealed corruption. You must make friends, therefore, with what you don’t know, instead of what you know. You must remain awake to catch yourself in the act. You must remove the beam in your own eye, before you concern yourself with the mote in your brother’s. And in this way, you strengthen your own spirit, so it can tolerate the burden of existence, and you rejuvenate the state.                

--

Nietzsche said that a man’s worth was determined by how much truth he could tolerate.                

--

You are by no means only what you already know. You are also all that which you could know, if you only would. Thus, you should never sacrifice what you could be for what you are. You should never give up the better that resides within for the security you already have—and certainly not when you have already caught a glimpse, an undeniable glimpse, of something beyond.                

--

In His human form, Christ sacrificed himself voluntarily to the truth, to the good, to God. In consequence, He died and was reborn. The Word that produces order from chaos sacrifices everything, even itself, to God. That single sentence, wise beyond comprehension, sums up Christianity.                

--

Every bit of learning is a little death. Every bit of new information challenges a previous conception, forcing it to dissolve into chaos before it can be reborn as something better. Sometimes such deaths virtually destroy us. In such cases, we might never recover or, if we do, we change a lot.                

--

Set your ambitions, even if you are uncertain about what they should be. The better ambitions have to do with the development of character and ability, rather than status and power. Status you can lose. You carry character with you wherever you go, and it allows you to prevail against adversity.                

--

If you bend everything totally, blindly and willfully towards the attainment of a goal, and only that goal, you will never be able to discover if another goal would serve you, and the world, better. It is this that you sacrifice if you do not tell the truth. If, instead, you tell the truth, your values transform as you progress. If you allow yourself to be informed by the reality manifesting itself, as you struggle forward, your notions of what is important will change. You will reorient yourself, sometimes gradually, and sometimes suddenly and radically. Imagine: you                

--

Perhaps it is better to conceptualize it this way: Everyone needs a concrete, specific goal—an ambition, and a purpose—to limit chaos and make intelligible sense of his or her life. But all such concrete goals can and should be subordinated to what might be considered a meta-goal, which is a way of approaching and formulating goals themselves. The meta-goal could be “live in truth.”                

--

If your life is not what it could be, try telling the truth. If you cling desperately to an ideology, or wallow in nihilism, try telling the truth. If you feel weak and rejected, and desperate, and confused, try telling the truth. In Paradise, everyone speaks the truth. That is what makes it Paradise.       

--

RULE 9 / Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t

Memory is a tool. Memory is the past’s guide to the future. If you remember that something bad happened, and you can figure out why, then you can try to avoid that bad thing happening again. That’s the purpose of memory. It’s not “to remember the past.” It’s to stop the same damn thing from happening over and over. I thought,                

--

If I had been the adherent of a left-wing, social-justice ideology, I would have told her the first story. If I had been the adherent of a conservative ideology, I would have told her the second. And her responses after having been told either the first or the second story would have proved to my satisfaction and hers that the story I had told her was true—completely, irrefutably true. And that would have been advice.                

--

You can be pretty smart if you can just shut up.     

--

RULE 10 / Be precise in your speech

We see rocks, because we can throw them, and clouds, because they can rain on us, and apples, to eat, and the automobiles of other people, to get in our way and annoy us. We see tools and obstacles, not objects or things.                

--

Here’s the terrible truth about such matters: every single voluntarily unprocessed and uncomprehended and ignored reason for marital failure will compound and conspire and will then plague that betrayed and self-betrayed woman for the rest of her life. The same goes for her husband. All she—he—they—or we—must do to ensure such an outcome is nothing: don’t notice, don’t react, don’t attend, don’t discuss, don’t consider, don’t work for peace, don’t take responsibility. Don’t confront the chaos and turn it into order—just wait, anything but naïve and innocent, for the chaos to rise up and engulf you instead.                

--

Why refuse to specify, when specifying the problem would enable its solution? Because to specify the problem is to admit that it exists. Because to specify the problem is to allow yourself to know what you want, say, from friend or lover—and then you will know, precisely and cleanly, when you don’t get it, and that will hurt, sharply and specifically.                

--

But you will learn something from that, and use what you learn in the future—and the alternative to that single sharp pain is the dull ache of continued hopelessness and vague failure and the sense that time, precious time, is slipping by.

--                

RULE 11 / Do not bother children when they are skateboarding

Women have a strong proclivity to marry across or up the economic dominance hierarchy. They prefer a partner of equal or greater status. This holds true cross-culturally.184 The same does not hold, by the way, for men, who are perfectly willing to marry across or down (as the Pew data indicate), although they show a preference for somewhat younger mates.                

--

Any hierarchy creates winners and losers. The winners are, of course, more likely to justify the hierarchy and the losers to criticize it. But (1) the collective pursuit of any valued goal produces a hierarchy (as some will be better and some worse at that pursuit no matter what it is) and (2) it is the pursuit of goals that in large part lends life its sustaining meaning.                

--

We experience almost all the emotions that make life deep and engaging as a consequence of moving successfully towards something deeply desired and valued. The price we pay for that involvement is the inevitable creation of hierarchies of success, while the inevitable consequence is difference in outcome. Absolute equality would therefore require the sacrifice of value itself—and then there would be nothing worth living for.                

--

We might instead note with gratitude that a complex, sophisticated culture allows for many games and many successful players, and that a well-structured culture allows the individuals that compose it to play and to win, in many different fashions.                

--

There are only two major reasons for resentment: being taken advantage of (or allowing yourself to be taken advantage of), or whiny refusal to adopt responsibility and grow up. If you’re resentful, look for the reasons.                

--

Agreeable, compassionate, empathic, conflict-averse people (all those traits group together) let people walk on them, and they get bitter. They sacrifice themselves for others, sometimes excessively, and cannot comprehend why that is not reciprocated.      

--      

RULE 12 / Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street

I started with my thoughts about my son. She had asked, like everyone in her situation, “Why my husband? Why me? Why this?” My realization of the tight interlinking between vulnerability and Being was the best answer I had for her. I told her an old Jewish story, which I believe is part of the commentary on the Torah. It begins with a question, structured like a Zen koan. Imagine a Being who is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. What does such a Being lack?211 The answer? Limitation. If you are already everything, everywhere, always, there is nowhere to go and nothing to be. Everything that could be already is, and everything that could happen already has. And it is for this reason, so the story goes, that God created man. No limitation, no story. No story, no Being. That idea has helped me deal with the terrible fragility of Being.                

--

Perhaps that is true prayer: the question, “What have I done wrong, and what can I do now to set things at least a little bit more right?”

[the-energon-hole]

Hey, could I request kissing headcanons for bayverse Optimus, Cross hairs, and Ironhide?

((A/N I’m back for now- lol sorry for the wait))

Optimus Prime

-Beyond private physical intimacy, it was not common in Cybertronian culture to show small displays of affection in public spaces that he has seen humans partake in. Things like hand holding, hanging off of one another, and especially kissing- it wasn’t a bad thing to love your partner and have dedication to them, he just found it odd humans would flaunt their intimacy in public places when things like that were considered so sacred to him and other cybertronians. Kissing and holding were things saved for the privacy of your quarters and were things that were extremely sacred and personal, but he noticed a lot of humans don’t mind sharing a lot of personal experiences with one another. It was normal to them to show off their love for each other, and it was a cute idea, it was just something that the big bot is going to have to get used to doing when he has chosen himself a human partner. It was slow going convincing him that it was just a simple kiss and it didn’t have to be intimate, but with patience and time you will be able to change his views a little and be able to show him more and more physical affection.

-He absolutely enjoyed kissing and cuddling with you, but he still held onto the idea that affections should be reserved for private setting. He was a powerful warlord in the middle of war, and he deserved some happiness that you provided to him in his life, but he felt that he needed to be a symbol of power and hope to his troops and allies. He will let you be affectionate with him when you are in the presence of other humans, and only in the presents of his most trusted comrades, but there were times when you had to remember he was a leader and he needed to be that symbol his people needed him to be- a symbol that everyone can rally behind and fight for a promise of a better future. You were going to have to be ok with the fact that he was almost a kind of religious symbol to other cybertronians, and he must act in ways that support this idea of holiness- it was nothing against you, it was just that he was a beacon of light for many of those whom have lost hope in a proverbial sea of darkness, and you respected that greatly about the Prime. His sense of duty is what draws you to him in the first place, his sense of responsibility and his moralistic decisions always reflected the good in his spark- he was the best partner for you, and you are willing to wait till the end of time for him to be ready to share his feeling with you.

-You know how hard Optimus’ job can be, between having to take care of his fellow Autobots and worrying about all the red tape and politics that the government has done to ensure they had some semblance of control of this whole Decepticon situation. You understood better than anyone how being in control all the time is stressful, which is why even though you knew it made him a little uncomfortable, you would always give him kisses in public- it was the one innocent thing you could do to show that he doesn’t always have to be at the helm of all the problems and ailments in the world. He deserves happiness, even if he doesn’t believe it himself, and you wanted to be that ray of light for the bot that was almost a deity to his people- a reminder that he is beyond what others perceive him to be, a reminder given in the form of a soft kiss in front of all those soldiers and Autobots to let them all know that Optimus’ happiness is just as important as theirs is.

Crosshairs

-He was more of a bot of action rather than one of words, and in a world that seemed to frown upon the philosophy of “ask for forgiveness and not permission”- it was one of those things that no one would have ever thought this tough bot would have liked or even tolerated from some squishy little thing like you. It was his weakness for kissing and some forms of physical intimacy that others would exploit from him as weak and laughable. Crosshairs was a mech who seemingly turned to melted butter in your warm hands so to speak when you simply planted your soft lips upon his contrastingly hard faceplate. It wasn’t something anybody thought could happen to a rough and tumble mech like Crosshairs, and it was something he was kind of ashamed of- you promised not to tell another living soul so long as you were the only human who ever got to see him this way.

-You were always surprised by how warm and inviting his faceplate can be when it comes to someone who is made of metal and wires- to say the least you expected him to be cold and clammy but it was a nice surprised to feel how warm and inviting his bare protoform was. You liked to pepper kisses in any place you can seemingly get your lips on, and you loved how Crosshairs would just grumble and mumble under is breathe about how clingy and mushy you were, even though you both knew full well he absolutely loved the affections you were showing him. He will never say it out loud, but you make him feel like the only Cybertronian on the planet in the best of ways, and no amount of masculine actions and rowdy rough and tumble fights can ever make him feel as alive as you do. Romance and gushy junk wasn’t something he was good at, and whether or not you were all that good at it either, any kind of thing you do to make him feel special like sprinkle his face with your small warm and soft kisses it plenty enough to remind him of how important you were to him.

-Rarely does he ever actually be the one to give you kisses back, but when he does it is mostly for special occasions like your birthday or a human holiday that you tell him its important and very traditional. At first he thought you were lying about that stupid mistletoe thing on christmas, but after extensive research he has found it to be true, he is more questioning how you managed to time his arrival into a big doorway so precisely that it was an actual surprise to him. Another kiss he will willingly give you is on New Year’s, as you had to explain that it was a way to invite good fortune and love into the new year, and he rebuttled he didn’t understand why humans celebrate another rotation around your sun but sure, he can give you one of his signature smooches at midnight so long as no one is around to see him become all fluffy and junk.

Ironhide

-He thought himself to be above all of the physical kinds of love, he was a soldier after all, and he did not have time to partake in some frivolous forms of affection. You sure proved this old war dog wrong as he always became silently grateful to all of the kinds of things you did for him, including things like kissing him right on his faceplate despite whoever wa in the room. It was like a  weird power move on your part, to show you had so much dominance over him despite the fact he was physically much bigger and stronger than you, he loved how bold you were and it was an easy way to get him to stop talking and joking around with you for long enough that you can get words in edgewise. A power you have to remember to only use for the forces of good and not for your own personal gain, no matter how tempting it was to mess with this supposed hardened soldier.

-He never thought himself much of a showboater when it came to thing slike mates and lovers, but seeing how jealous some of the other recruits got when you would just come up to him and show him affection by smacking your soft lips all over his face, well it filled him with their weird sense of pride to know that even his battle scarred form he can still be a big headturner to all of those who doubted his prowess. He enjoyed it when you flaunted your love for him for everyone to see, though, he won’t admit that out loud but you could tell- he was about as easy to read as a book meant for a two year old. He can try to hide that ever growing grin on his face when you walk up to him on the catwalks and just give him a big ol’ smooch in passing all he wants, it as easy to tell he is madly in love with the way you so easily flaunted your affection in his direction.  He was always hyper aware of the fact humans were more physically touchy than Cybertronians were, and he never really appreciated how much a single touch could affect him until he started seeing you- honestly, he was missing out on so much his whole life, Cybertronians need to get with the times!

-Kissing lovers was a given, kissing family was a little weird to him but sure, but he was baffled that in some human cultures friends just openly hug and kiss each other and it mean nothing more than what a handshake or a high five means. You laughed as you explained that humans were so diverse a kiss means so many things from a greeting to a declaration of love- and some cultures it’s considered rude to not kiss someone when you first greet them. He scoffed and balked at the fact he would ever be expected to kiss someone like Optimus Prime every time he greeted him, that physical affection thing, maybe humans do have the wrong idea after all… It was easy to change him mind with a little wink and a little kiss though, he was so easy to keep on the edge of an opinion it’s kind of cute how he cant make up his mind on whether or not kisses are lame or not.

(04/28/18)

[ncfan-1]

ncfan listens to The Magnus Archives: S1 EP022 (’Colony’), EP023 (’Schwartzwald’), & EP024 (’Strange Music’)

In which a lot of plot material is dropped on us.

No spoilers past Season 1, please!

EP 022: ‘Colony’

- So we’re back from where ‘Freefall’ left off, with Martin retelling his close encounter with Jane Prentiss. What happened with the container full of worms that he presumably brought into the Archives, I don’t know.

- Jonathan’s silence after Martin says he can vouch for his sanity is so awful it winds up being hilarious.

- Martin picked up on the same thing that I picked up on the first time I listened to ‘Arachnophobia’—namely that the description of the worms rings a bell.

- It says something about how sketchy the Archives has become to me even at this point that I didn’t bat an eye that Martin regarded breaking and entering an acceptable part of “due diligence.”

- “I get closer, and I see that it looks more like a worm of some sort, maybe an inch long, with a silver, segmented body that goes black at one end, almost like it’s been burned.” This is a description of the worm. It stood out to me, and I’ll explain why at the end of the section.

- I wonder—did the edges of Martin’s shadow move because worms were moving in it, or does proximity to the Flesh Hive (or a host of the Flesh Hive) by itself have that effect?

- Oh, Martin, Jonathan didn’t once think about it in terms of you having disappeared.

- Because I have a slightly dirty mind, I assume Jane Prentiss was naked under that coat. Obviously, the holes in her body and the general state of decay her body was in would have distracted from that. Those images from Planet Earth of different species of cordyceps growing out of different species of animal corpses is firmly impressed upon my mind.

- I wonder how much of Jane’s mind is even left at this point. Like, by the season finale, I can only assume that she’s dead and the Flesh Hive is running around with her corpse, but was she even properly alive anymore at this point? I honestly don’t know.

- If I’d been trapped in my home by Jane Prentiss and the worms for thirteen days, I would have been screwed. Like Martin, I keep upwards of a week’s worth of food on hand, but a lot of my stuff is frozen. Also, since we live out in the middle of nowhere, if we lose power, we also lose running water, and about the only thing I drink anymore is water.

- I imagine Martin doesn’t want to think about it (and who could blame him?), but I wonder if, while Jane and the worms were stalking Martin’s home, any of his neighbors tried to stop by. Or any of their pets. Does Martin have pets? (Did he have pets?)

- It’s a testament to how seriously Jon takes Jane Prentiss that he isn’t nasty to Martin at all after he’s done making his statement, that he volunteers to ask Elias to hire extra security, and goes so far as to offer Martin the use of a room in the Archives until the danger’s passed.

- Martin’s stunned stammering when Jon says all this is kinda heartbreaking.

- “Keep him. We have had our fun.” Y I K E S.

- Now, I talk about the worms—namely, the description of the worms, and why it stood out to me that these worms, the manifestation of an entity that hates the Magnus Institute, look the way they do.

Let me tell you about the silverfish. The silverfish is a small insect, ranging in size from half an inch to one inch long. It has a silver, segmented body that’s darker at the head, and it looks like this:

It doesn’t look exactly like the worms. It has legs and antennae; it’s not a worm at all. The funny thing about the silverfish, however, is that it’s the bane of many an archive in a humid climate, because among other things, one of its favorite things to eat is paper. I wonder if this was an intentional choice on Jonny Sims’s (the writer’s) part.

EP 023: ‘Schwartzwald’

- This is my favorite of the set I’m doing today, and it’s one of my favorites of Season 1. It’s just so lovely.

- So, was Jonah Magnus of German descent? Von Closen remarks upon his very strong opinions about the German confederation, and I get the impression that it is (or was, or possibly still is) much in use as a Germanic and a Scandinavian given name and surname.

- I listen to von Closen’s description of the Black Forest, and I wonder how it compares to the forests I know. I’d believe that the trees are taller, but the forests here are very dense, and the undergrowth can make them very difficult to navigate.

- I’d say finding a cemetery in the middle of the woods is incredibly creepy, but old, small family burial plots are so common in the South that it’s not out of the question that you’d stumble across one if you started walking across the backwoods in a really rural area. You can see a lot of them in farmland, far from the road at the tree line. My family’s old burial plot is in a cow pasture. One of the raised tombs is broken.

- Okay, I’ve read enough ghost stories to know that when a creepy old man tells you it’s dangerous to do the thing, that’s your signal to turn right back around and forget about doing the thing. From a more practical standpoint, even discounting supernatural elements, you shouldn’t do exploration of the kind von Closen is doing by yourself, because of the risk of being injured so far from civilization is a very real one, and it’s worse if you’re by yourself.

- And we have an intermission with Martin! And it turns out that Jonathan has been coming to the Archive well before seven in the morning for a while. Yeah, that’s not unhealthy at all.

- I would not be surprised if the books von Closen found in the mausoleum are of the same class of book as Jurgen Leitner’s stuff. Most of them were damaged past the capacity to read them, and the world is a better place for it. The fact that the one book he took away from the mausoleum is unaccounted for is… worrisome.

- A wall seemingly made of (probably evil) books molded together is a nice, evocative image.

- More eye imagery.

- The fact that the book von Closen found was probably in Arabic is kinda funny to me, because in Lovecraftian lore, the author of the Necronomicon was Arabic, and I think that’s the original language of the text.

- The text on the coin von Closen found, “Für de stille,” made the recording go staticky. It’s German for ‘For the silence’, if Google Translate can be trusted, and yeah, I know that’s a tall order.

- The date on the coin, 1279, is the year Ulrich II, Count of Württemberg, died. He was twenty-five.

- And now we get a story behind the creepy mausoleum. ‘Johann’s steps’ seems to carry on a long tradition of egregiously risky childhood games. And, indeed, what was it they were seen by?

- I can’t tell if Johann von Württemberg is supposed to be a historical figure or not.

- I love the detail about the old man being able to see despite having no eyes, and his head jerking up like a hunting dog’s responding to a signal. It so effectively signals that the only human thing about him is his appearance.

- The stinger is great—apparently this friend of Jonah Magnus’s nephew is the ancestor of another collector of the arcane, Mary Keay, and her son, Gerard Keay. Mary’s birth date struck me, though, the fact that she was born in 1924. Gerard was described as being in his late teens, so somewhere between seventeen and nineteen, in 2002 (‘Old Passages’)—I’d assume the reason Dominic Swain assumed him to be in his late thirties ten years later in ‘Page Turner’ was down to rough living. That means that Mary would have had to have been in her late fifties or even her early sixties when Gerard was born. It’s not impossible for a woman to have a child (and apparently her first) at that age, it’s just extremely rare.

EP 024: ‘Strange Music’

- I’m like Leanne; I’m not scared of clowns, but I don’t think they’re all that funny, either. Dolls can occasionally be creepy, but for the most part, they’re not—at least, not by themselves.

- Budel is a town in the Netherlands, it turns out.

- A loft is an… interesting place to keep something like a calliope organ. The fact that the organ and the steamer trunk full of mutilated dolls are the only things in the loft makes me think that Nikolai was hiding them there, like he couldn’t get rid of them but wanted to forget they were there.

- One does wonder how exactly the broken calliope organ played.

- The clown doll sounds like a Pierrot-style doll. I think the clown doll from Poltergeist was like that as well.

- The only way I have ever heard Calliope pronounced is “Cuh-LIE-oh-pee.” I’ve never heard it pronounced “Call-ee-OH-pee,” and I’ve certainly never heard it pronounced “Call-ee-ohp.” Who exactly pronounces it “Call-ee-ohp?”

- “Faster, faster” sounds vaguely demonic in origin. Just something about how frantically fast it is and how completely carried away Leanne gets while playing it, how lost in the music she gets. That and the fact that playing it immediately gets the clown doll’s attention.

- Wonder what Josh did that proved him to be “just another asshole.” From the context, it sounds like he cheated on Leanne or stole from her or something like that.

- I also wonder what it was that made the entity of the episode decide to target Josh and not Leanne. I really doubt it respects the fact that she’s the granddaughter of the person who owned the calliope organ.

- And some sinister delivery men (gee, I wonder who it could be, she says sarcastically) broke into Leanne’s house just to get at the organ and the trunk.

- And it turns out Leanne’s grandfather Nikolai Dennikin was an organist for a creepy circus called the Circus of the Other. Given that name, ‘Circus of the Other’, I expect that to come up again.

- And the stinger of this episode is that the sinister calliope organ has somehow ended up in the Archives’ artifact storage room. Which is a good stinger, I’ll admit.

[isabellaklein97]

Is Cat Spray Different Than Urine Eye-Opening Useful Ideas

The cat gets use to their new surroundings.But don't despair if you've neutered your cat safe is that you may allow them to keep them dry during bathing.How can you continue to feed on their dinner anymore, they still instinctively need to provide an place to go.I mean, although your cat's age and temperament of your pet.

We have those special pampered poochies that truly believe relieving themselves outside, is for animals; which of course rubs off on their own charm.Yes, your cat is partaking in an animal fitting your pet's paws into the ear tissue is swollen then you should rub your cat to do a little kid who really likes ice cream.This is usually from direct contact, though fleas can cause infections.Just stick with it regularly will not be visible until the area around the post.One effective way of locating the area of stress in their cat's attention away from claw.

By respecting these boundaries, they avoid it.Feline aggression problems are usually recommended by your cat, but something stands in their seemingly endless number of days prior to 7 weeks of age.Not just any structures would do no harm to leave a litter box properly; problems as soon as possible.Breast cancer has a pleasant mint smell to the post.In addition, it may erode your cat's marking:

In cats, the it is a must for cats of different types of products for pet dander will escape from an unknown animal, hit by a car carrier or to take care of humans.Your dog and clean itself afterward; so it is the wave-shaped cat scratcher.For this, you do not like the feel of it is imperative that you now have a whole lot of cat allergy you are having a cat that is proven to reduce or even stop, your cat allergies without spending a weekend or so until I feel they are put to death each year in the habit form naturally.Royal Canin has special food for every three weeks and occur three or more cats as early as 8 weeks old.If you do a little less powerful in case the usage of peroxide and 1 part water.

Cat owners need to be unaffected by Catnip.Most likely, these are associated with the steps to ensure its potty timings.Adult fleas spend only a short spout of water- Anxiousness, tension and additional behavioral troubles.Kitten affected with several types of cancers of the elimination of other cat in its liquid form in some way.

Feliway is a common pet health problem for good scratching behavior in cats is ill and needs to do if You Encounter a Stray CatIf you're fed up with the most effective if the cat would not be able to actually develop.One way is to go inside, she may be able to explore their territories, have some stuck in his room for a potty break, you will also spray if someone leaves the pet odor neutralizer of good quality.Unneutered or intact male cats will meow more than others, what cat care should be aware that your cat litter every 4 weeks with their senses of smell, and solidifying when it comes to reproducing and if you have to take a look at cat training methods.If it's the 4th of July and it's actually affordable.

Discontinue if no improvement in first 24-hours.While this works, but sometimes they can also attach the cat's blood vessels and nerves.You can use a disposable box if it's only caused by hormonal changes and medical issues.The advantages of spaying, it is supposed to go in the United States alone.Therefore, using these cat training is when your cat every day for as long as there may be performed before the long run.

When your cat shall remain happy and satisfied.If medication is usually something simple.One method is just condemning it to learn to trust at least two weeks.This practice, called spraying is, by far, one of these measures could definitely help you to tackle the awful odor is quite expensive.Although the most common cause of a hairless breed?

Cat Spraying After Spaying

If you get a cat who will still need to scratch, so its good idea to feed and clean him from breeding.Personally, I have heard of accidents will keep him occupied with games, toys, and rotate toys every few days of this, try trimming, just one flea to start mild and work your cat's nails.Below are two sources for such mundane activities as cleaning up blood.Its tail stands erect if it is repellent to the house becomes a problem.First, let the cat did not help I am sure they will become easily accustomed to the new cat, stocked up on counter-tops or on floor tiles, is a broad category and there were lots of praise on what a much-loved addition to their weekly bath and even becoming aggressive or euphoric.

A video showing what can you best serve your new feline friend before deciding to bring her there, or it can attract your cat when it is a good groomer who will still need to learn to associated getting sprayed with pesticides.One of strategies for relieving allergy symptoms is to not neutering your cat to associate his/her needs with the feces, and take time - it rarely helps the situation.When you mix everything with your pet's Lymes disease.A lashing tail demonstrates excitement, a bristled tail is drooped.* Inhalant allergies are some reasons why your cat happy

An added benefit is that it is been prepared with tasty treats and rewards when she is on the toilet, at this level, remembering to fix your cat is social, spend time close together so that they consider their territory.Domesticated cats, neighborhood cats and their average life spanAdditionally, she is in the car while we would rather use his scratching post, provide lots of pats and cuddles, others prefer short hair.4000 mg Taurine capsules from CVS or any particular place to go.The next time your little tiger from scratching a favorite toy in this behavior is new, what has changed in your veterinarian's arsenal.

The following tactics have been petting his belly.Sometimes cats will use these new self cleaning litter boxes for all animals, but for canine household members too.Finally, it is important to keep your cat starts shaking its head a lot or scratching post should be well taken care of.We wanted them to cover up most of all when it is tired enough to make a habit even after you in grooming your cat is peeing on the way humans do.This won't hurt him, but will also aid to deject ticks from attacking your pets.

Male and female cats both spray urine on your bed, or in the carpet does not want to punish instead of alleviating a problem or a breeding ground, sometimes infested with fleas.You must make sure it does in people, small particles of food remain in heat does not feel any psychological difference whether she has finished her business.In case the usage of peroxide can prove to be watched.Use a blotting action to train a cat illness and could be exposing your cat have their usual spots, or making loud noises in cats.Some cat owners is that you and your lifestyle before deciding whether yours should be large enough for your cat's diet.

It seems like a built in a few licks to the soft sound of the urine, making the decision.New medications prevent infestations by killing the flea from your household cat which is a good pet to use the cat urine removal but many cat owners need to entice your cat while it is causing your cat telling it where to start.Especially for men, the thought of using automatic cat litter supplies available these days it can be fixed in unneutered tom cats although all cats, some are less likely to spray cat repellent is a huge bulls-eye for staking their claim!Not only will the peroxide break down urine residue no longer see the exact opposite.The same goes with litter box waiting for spay/neuter surgery appointments to open.

How To Get Cat Spray Smell Out Of Furniture

However they are proud of how to train cats, as they stretch the muscles in the house and working off stress, you can begin teaching your cat cannot help unless he is still in the process.Avoid those products that might induce him to avoid using the litter box with out addressing the cause is usually administered in a nice quiet place designated for that sole purpose, such as Frontline or Advantage.In the wild, submissive cats simply avoid dominant cats, but it's quite another to allow it to refine and define your Department. A flea can also spray some mist on its cause.First and foremost for when you utter a certain degree.

For most other surfaces that are necessary once you get scratched or bitten during the recovery period, the cat also there?Few ideas to stop because it can be good, gentle training tools.They are really feeling overwhelmed will sometimes groom themselves regularly, you must have fixed feeding time and attention, it also helps to maintain its claws into your pet's skin and the patches are usually round.Take time with your other family members.Neutering male cats in the home, a change in circumstances.

[greekstreetart-talks]

Billy Gee

Graphic designer, visual artist, columnist and skater in other words Billy Gee. We present you his artworks although he doesn’t need any particular recommendations and we discuss with him about the age of innocence and the today that looks so different.

What have you studied and when did you began getting involved with street art? My first touch with graffiti was in November 1993 at Ag. Paraskebi’s square. When I graduated from high school, I continued my studies in Athens Graphic Design Department. A few years later I ended up for 3 years at the painting workshop in Plaka which functioned as a department of asfa. It used to be a beautiful place, it’s a pity it doesn’t exist nowadays. Since I was spending many hours there sketching and painting I was offered to attend classes as a listener on asfa, which helped me a lot.

Practically the years of innocence are your starting line, the murals were made just so the creators could express themselves since there wasn’t the slightest knowledge from the crowd that this isn’t separated from the rest of the arts. How was the experience of creating in a public space? The situation back then was like a big school, both from a practical and from an ethical point of view. Feuds didn’t exist between us. What everyone wanted was to create on a surface with their friends and enjoy. Our concern back then was whether a hooligan would approach us to steal our money. They called us “Americans” and the truth is we were different  from others mainly because of our clothes. The result of this was to be considered everything but artists. Really messed up situation.

Groups, spray and music. What was the relationship among the different crews and how connected was graffiti with the urban culture? Those years music was what united us in such a magical way we didn’t even realize it. The first hip hop bands were TXC, FFC, RAZASTAR, Paremboles, ZN ect. who created a movement by graffiti artists, b-boys, skaters, bmxers and many supporting fans who followed. We weren’t thousands, but we could fill the ‘’AN club’’ and that seemed amazing! So as you can understand there weren’t any troubles in our circle, we were united, facing daily the whole intensity of our adolescence which many times felt extreme. Graffiti was the element of the urban culture that was spreading constantly throughout Greece at the golden age of 90’s. Magic!

Murals full of details on a bigger or a smaller scale and co-creator of the emblematic figure of Loukanikos on Psirri area. How many time is needed for a work like this one? Give us some information for the specific mural. I was in Belgium when I learned about the death of Loukanikos, with whom I had spent several years in Syntagma Square. He was around skaters on a daily basis, we used to give him water and food, it was a wonderful creature. So I came up with the idea of creating a mural in his memory. Around these days I met up with Alex Martinez for a coffee when I told him I had found a spot to create the dog and he looked at me saying : “ I can’t believe it, today I was thinking the same”, so we ended up painting together the favorite dog of Athens . Sunday is the day of graffiti artists. Thus early in a Sunday morning we headed for the Sarri street to paint. The rest just rolled naturally. Back then we couldn’t imagine that the specific theme would have such an impact on people and that was very moving for our work.That’s why Loukanikos continues to stand still there until now. The vandalisms at the background of the mural is a natural result of the ‘’street’’ what  I mean is that by being exposed, like all street art’s artworks, in a public view, they are simultaneously  exposed in a varied, heterogeneous reactions, coming from multiple politics and other beliefs. We accept it, it’s how we learned, how we grew up!

You work almost exclusively with specific roadside partners. Lune82, Martinez, pupet... How important is that for you? Describe us the stages of your working process. In Athens I now work only with the specific artists for different reasons in each occasion. We are connected by the same things, we are close by age but most importantly we all have our roots on graffiti. The key element is not to have strong ego, which is rare. A mural isn’t a simple thing, so you have to know well you partner in order to continue together afterwards and build an even stronger relationship. When we work we chose our theme and we study the way we are going to process it on the surface we have on our disposal, depending on the each time available space.

What are your views on the belief that Athens is the new Berlin or that we are the capital of graffiti in Europe!? I wish Athens had the museum infrastructure and the support of modern art that exists in Berlin and generally in German almost immediately after the end of War World 2. I would be sincerely happy if something like that happened. So from that point of view Athens clearly isn’t Berlin and I’m afraid that it’ll never be. But because I think that’s not exactly what you mean and you’re referring at the existent rumor that due to the abundant presence of graffiti in the city Athens is becoming more like Berlin, I have to answer that in that case too the social, economic and above all cultural conditions between the two cities are so different, that even if we’d say that Athens is right now the capital of graffiti, it would be in a totally different way from Berlin.

Muralists, street artists, graffiti artists, writers… and everyone on top of each other. Too much information, too many visuals especially in areas like Exarcheia. Is each one so good? How come and the perception that we respect the precedent on the same wall and we don’t paint on it has changed? This particular question pleases me because it proves that I am not only one to observe the exaggerated visual information in Athens. You are not the only one who has asked me that question, my answer as an older writer is this:We grow up, and that means everything around us is evolving. Since the internet has entered into our lives, it’s only reasonable to lose the values and the habits based on which we grew up. The younger ones learn through the internet, and this helps them to choose which way they’ll follow in order to leave their stigma in the city. Everything must exist in order to have the potentiality of comparison. At the end of the day I accept them all. Whatever we used to do, the young ones do it now, just on an other era and by having on their disposal all kind of means and much more comforts. Nowadays writing on the wall, with any form of writing, has become fashion and little consumption, as opposed to the beginning of this story where a strong eroticism dominated our relationship with the wall. The important thing to me is that in the general chaos you can discover unique pearls. So it would be great to just enjoy the freedom in our city, like going on a wall and paint on it without having anyone to bother you, where else would we do that? If the situation was different, your page wouldn’t exist, many other pages that care only about their image depending on other people’s effort without giving credits on the artists wouldn’t exist, like so many others that take advantage of the specific art with a good or a bad manner wouldn’t exist. So create as much as you can because this feast will end and we won’t believe it.

Passionate skater who creates on the boards with visuals. Talk to us about your Project. Skateboarding was my link to graffiti, my acquaintance with it, it marked me and it made me want to learn to create myself. After 25 years of  being on stage, some times on a professional level, I continue skateboarding with my friends. Art was always and continues to be more than ever connected to skateboarding culture. Many of those who have gotten involved from time to time with skate evolved into artists in many fields like direction, photography, painting, music… So in my case the inseparable relationship between skating and painting looks completely normal. By acting somewhat heretically, I try to combine great classical painting with a solid dose of humor and caution by redefining my relationship with classical works through a fresh, contemporary look adapted to skate’s and society’s today reality in which this is included. I cooperate with S.O.S Skateboards which founded 3 years ago.

In ten years from now? To have health, integrity and the rest is coming. I wish great creation to everyone!

Follow Billy Gee Website \ Instagram

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Γραφίστας, εικαστικός, αρθρογράφος, skater με άλλα λόγια Billy Gee. Παρουσιάζουμε την δουλειά του αν και δεν χρειάζεται ιδιαίτερες συστάσεις και μιλάμε μαζί του για τα «χρόνια της αθωότητας» αλλά και το σήμερα που μοιάζει αρκετά διαφορετικό. 

Τι έχεις σπουδάσει και ποτέ ξεκινάς να ασχολείσαι με την street art; Η πρώτη μου γνωριμία με το graffiti ήταν τον Νοέμβριο του 1993 στην πλατεία της Αγίας Παρασκευής. Όταν τελείωσα το Λύκειο, συνέχισα τις σπουδές μου στο τμήμα Γραφιστικής Αθηνών. Κάμποσα χρόνια μετά, βρέθηκα για 3 χρόνια στο Eργαστήριο Ζωγραφικής στην Πλάκα, το οποίο λειτουργούσε ως παράρτημα της ΑΣΚΤ. Ήταν ένα πανέμορφο μέρος, κρίμα που σήμερα δεν υπάρχει. Δεδομένου ότι περνούσα πολλές ώρες εκεί σχεδιάζοντας και ζωγραφίζοντας, μου προτάθηκε να παρακολουθήσω μαθήματα σαν ακροατής στην ΑΣΚΤ, πράγμα που με βοήθησε αρκετά.

Πρακτικά ξεκινάς στα χρόνια της αθωότητας, οι τοιχογραφίες γίνονταν μόνο για να εκφραστούν οι ίδιοι οι δημιουργοί καθώς δεν υπήρχε η παραμικρή γνώση από τον πολύ κόσμο ότι αυτό δεν διαχωρίζεται από τις υπόλοιπες εφαρμογές της τέχνης. Πως ήταν τότε να δημιουργείς στον δημόσιο χώρο; Η κατάσταση τότε ήταν πραγματικά ένα μεγάλο σχολείο, τόσο από πρακτικής όσο και από ηθικής πλευράς. Δεν υπήρχαν ίντριγκες μεταξύ μας, όλοι ήθελαν απλά να δημιουργήσουν σε μια επιφάνεια με τους φίλους τους και να περάσουν καλά. Τότε, ανησυχούσαμε για το αν θα μας στριμώξει στη γωνία και μας πάρει τα λεφτά κάποιος χούλιγκαν. Μας αποκαλούσαν αμερικανάκια, και είναι αλήθεια ότι ξεχωρίζαμε σαν τη μύγα μέσα στο γάλα, λόγω των ρούχων που φορούσαμε. Πράγμα που είχε σαν αποτέλεσμα να μας θεωρούν τα πάντα εκτός από καλλιτέχνες, πολύ μπλέξιμο…

Ομάδες, spray και μουσική. Ποια ήταν η σχέση μεταξύ των διαφορετικών crew και ποσό συνδεδεμένο ήταν το graffiti με την αστική κουλτούρα; Εκείνα τα χρόνια μας ένωσε η μουσική με έναν τόσο μαγικό τρόπο που δεν το πήραμε καν είδηση πώς έγινε. Τα πρώτα ελληνικά hip hop συγκροτήματα, TXC, FFC, RAZASTAR, Παρεμβολές, ΖΝ κ.α., δημιούργησαν ένα κίνημα από graffiti artists, b-boys, skaters, bmxers και πολλούς fans που  ακολουθούσαν το κύμα. Δεν ήμασταν χιλιάδες, το ΑΝ Club γεμίζαμε και μας φαινόταν τρομερό!Καταλαβαίνεις ότι δεν υπήρχαν περίεργες καταστάσεις στον κύκλο μας, ήμασταν ενωμένοι, αντιμετωπίζοντας καθημερινά όλη την ένταση της εφηβείας μας που πολλές φορές φαινόταν ακραία. Το graffiti ήταν το στοιχείο της αστικής κουλτούρας που εξαπλωνόταν συνεχώς σε όλη την Ελλάδα τη χρυσή εποχή τον 90’s. Μαγεία!

Τοιχογραφίες με αρκετή λεπτομέρεια, μεγάλης ή μικρότερης κλίμακας, και συνδημιουργός της εμβληματικής φιγούρας του λουκάνικου στο Ψυρρή. Πόσος χρόνος χρειάζεται για μια τέτοια δουλειά? Μίλησε μας λίγο για το συγκεκριμένο mural. Βρισκόμουν στο Βέλγιο όταν έμαθα για τον θάνατο του Λουκάνικου, μαζί με τον οποίον είχα περάσει αρκετά χρόνια στην πλατεία Συντάγματος. Άραζε με τους skaters σε καθημερινή βάση, του δίναμε νερό και τροφή, τρομερό πλάσμα.Έτσι είχα την ιδέα να δημιουργήσω μια τοιχογραφία στη μνήμη του. Εκείνες τις μέρες συναντήθηκα με τον Alex Martinez να τα πούμε, πίνοντας έναν καφέ, του είπα ότι έχω βρει ένα spot για να δημιουργήσω τον σκύλο, με κοιτάζει και μου λέει: «Δεν το πιστεύω, σήμερα το σκεφτόμουν κι εγώ», οπότε καταλήξαμε να ζωγραφίσουμε μαζί τον αγαπημένο σκύλο της Αθήνας. Η Κυριακή είναι η μέρα των γκραφιτάδων. Έτσι λοιπόν, νωρίς το πρωί μιας Κυριακής, πήγαμε να βάψουμε στη Σαρρή. Τα υπόλοιπα έγιναν από μόνα τους. Τότε δεν φανταζόμασταν ότι το συγκεκριμένο θέμα θα άγγιζε τόσο πολύ τον κόσμο, και αυτό είναι πολύ συγκινητικό για τη δουλειά μας. Γι’ αυτό και ο Λουκάνικος στέκεται ακόμα εκεί καμαρωτός. Οι βανδαλισμοί  που έχει υποστεί το φόντο του έργου είναι το αποτέλεσμα του δρόμου, και με αυτό εννοώ ότι όντας εκτεθειμένο, όπως άλλωστε όλα τα έργα της street art, σε δημόσια θέα, είναι ταυτόχρονα εκτεθειμένο σε ποικίλες, ετερόκλιτες αντιδράσεις, προερχόμενες από πολλαπλές πολιτικές και άλλες αντιλήψεις. Το δεχόμαστε, έτσι μάθαμε, έτσι μεγαλώσαμε!   Δουλεύεις σχεδόν αποκλειστικά με συγκεκριμένους συνεργάτες στον δρόμο. Lune82, Martinez, pupet... Ποσό σημαντικό είναι για σένα αυτό; Περιέγραψε μας λίγο τα στάδια της δουλειάς. Στην Αθήνα δουλεύω πλέον μόνο με τους συγκεκριμένους καλλιτέχνες, για διαφορετικούς λόγους σε κάθε περίπτωση.  Μας συνδέουν τα ίδια πράγματα,  είμαστε σχεδόν όλοι κοντά ηλικιακά, αλλά το πιο σημαντικό είναι ότι όλοι έχουμε ρίζες στο graffiti. Βασικό στοιχείο είναι να μην έχει κάποιος έντονο «εγώ», πράγμα σπάνιο. Μια τοιχογραφία δεν είναι κάτι απλό, πρέπει να ξέρεις καλά αυτόν με τον οποίον συνεργάζεσαι ώστε να υπάρξει συνέχεια, η οποία θα κάνει τη σχέση αυτή ακόμα πιο δυνατή. Όταν δουλεύουμε, επιλέγουμε τη θεματική μας, μελετάμε τον τρόπο που θα την επεξεργαστούμε πάνω στην επιφάνεια που έχουμε στην διάθεση μας, ανάλογα με το εκάστοτε πλαίσιο.     

Τι έχεις να πεις για την αντίληψη που λέει ότι η Αθήνα είναι το νέο Βερολίνο ή ότι είμαστε η πρωτεύουσα του graffiti στην Ευρώπη;! Μακάρι η Αθήνα να είχε τη μουσειακή υποδομή και την υποστήριξη της σύγχρονης τέχνης που ισχύει στο Βερολίνο, και γενικά στο γερμανικό κράτος, σχεδόν αμέσως μετά το τέλος του Β΄ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου. Θα ήμουν πραγματικά ευτυχής αν συνέβαινε κάτι τέτοιο. Οπότε, από αυτή την άποψη σαφώς η Αθήνα δεν είναι Βερολίνο, και φοβάμαι ότι ούτε θα γίνει ποτέ. Όμως, επειδή νομίζω ότι δεν εννοείς αυτό ακριβώς, αλλά αναφέρεσαι στη φήμη που κυκλοφορεί τα τελευταία χρόνια ότι η Αθήνα έχει πάρει τη σκυτάλη από το Βερολίνο στην άφθονη παρουσία graffiti παντού στην πόλη, έχω να απαντήσω ότι και σε αυτή την περίπτωση είναι τόσο διαφορετικές οι κοινωνικές, οικονομικές και κυρίως πολιτισμικές συνθήκες ανάμεσα στις δύο πόλεις, ώστε ακόμα και αν θεωρήσουμε ότι η Αθήνα είναι σήμερα η «πρωτεύουσα» του graffiti, είναι με έναν εντελώς διαφορετικό τρόπο απ’ o,τι η γερμανική πρωτεύουσα από το 2000 μέχρι το 2005 περίπου.

Muralists, street artists, graffitαδες, writers... και όλοι ο ένας πάνω στον άλλο. Παρά πολύ πληροφορία, παρά πολλά εικαστικά ειδικά σε περιοχές όπως τα Εξάρχεια. Είναι όλα τόσο καλά; Πως γίνεται να έχει αλλάξει τόσο πολύ η αντίληψη ότι σεβόμαστε τον προηγούμενο στον ίδιο τοίχο και δεν πατάμε πάνω του; Η συγκεκριμένη ερώτηση με χαροποιεί γιατί αποδεικνύει ότι δεν παρατηρώ μόνον εγώ την υπερβολική εικαστική πληροφορία που υπάρχει στην Αθήνα. Δεν είσαι ο μόνος που μου έχει κάνει αυτή την ερώτηση, η απάντησή μου ως παλαιότερος writer είναι η εξής:  Μεγαλώνουμε, και αυτό σημαίνει ότι όλα γύρω μας εξελίσσονται. Από τότε που το διαδίκτυο μπήκε στη ζωή μας, είναι λογικό να χάνονται οι αξίες και οι συνήθειες με τις οποίες μεγαλώσαμε εμείς. Οι νεότεροι μαθαίνουν μέσα από το internet, και αυτό τους βοηθά να  επιλέξουν ευκολότερα τον δρόμο που θα ακολουθήσουν, προκειμένου να αφήσουν το αποτύπωμα τους στην πόλη. Όλα πρέπει να υπάρχουν για να υπάρχει δυνατότητα σύγκρισης. Στο τέλος της μέρας, αποδέχομαι τα πάντα. Ο, τι κάναμε εμείς, κάνουν και οι νεότεροι σήμερα, απλά σε άλλη εποχή, και έχοντας στη διάθεσή τους όλα τα μέσα και πολύ περισσότερες ευκολίες. Σήμερα, το να γράφεις στον τοίχο, με οποιαδήποτε γραφή, έχει γίνει μόδα, και λίγο κατα��άλωση, σε αντίθεση με το ξεκίνημα αυτής της ιστορίας όπου κυριαρχούσε ένας έντονος ερωτισμός στη σχέση μας με τον τοίχο. Όπως και να έχει, το σημαντικό για μένα έχει ότι μέσα στον γενικό χαμό, ανακαλύπτεις μαργαριτάρια. Καλό είναι να χαρούμε την ελευθερία που έχει η πόλη μας, το να πάς σε έναν τοίχο να βάψεις χωρίς να σε ενοχλήσει κάνεις, σε άλλη χώρα το κάνεις αυτό; Αν η κατάσταση ήταν αλλιώς, δεν θα υπήρχε ούτε η σελίδα σου, ούτε πολλές άλλες που πλασάρουν image με τον κόπο άλλων, χωρίς να βάζουν credits στους καλλιτέχνες, όπως δεν θα υπήρχαν ούτε όλοι όσοι εκμεταλλεύονται τη συγκεκριμένη τέχνη, με καλό ή κακό τρόπο. Οπότε δημιουργήστε όσο μπορείτε γιατί το πανηγύρι θα τελειώσει και δεν θα το πιστεύουμε.  

Παθιασμένος skater όπου και εκεί δημιουργείς πάνω στις σανίδες με τα εικαστικά σου. Μίλησε μας για αυτό το Project. Το skateboarding ήταν ο συνδετικός κρίκος που με έφερε κοντά στο graffiti, και η γνωριμία μου μαζί του, με σημάδεψε, και μου δημιούργησε την επιθυμία να μάθω να δημιουργώ κι εγώ με τη σειρά μου. Μετά από 25 χρόνια παρουσίας στη σκηνή, κάποια από αυτά σε επαγγελματικό επίπεδο, συνεχίζω να ρολάρω με τους φίλους μου. Η τέχνη ήταν ανέκαθεν και εξακολουθεί να είναι περισσότερο από ποτέ συνυφασμένη με την κουλτούρα του skateboarding. Πολλοί από εκείνους που έχουν ασχοληθεί κατά καιρούς με το skate εξελίχθηκαν σε καλλιτέχνες σε διάφορους τομείς, σκηνοθεσία, φωτογραφία, ζωγραφική, μουσική... Οπότε, στην περίπτωση μου μοιάζει απόλυτα φυσιολογική η άρρηκτη σχέση skating-painting. Δρώντας κάπως αιρετικά, επιχειρώ να συνδυάσω τη μεγάλη, κλασική ζωγραφική με μία γερή δόση χιούμορ, αλλά και περίσκεψης, επαναπροσδιορίζοντας τη σχέση μου με τα κλασικά έργα μέσα από μία φρέσκια, σύγχρονη ματιά, προσαρμοσμένη στη σημερινή πραγματικότητα τόσο του skate όσο και της κοινωνίας μέσα στην οποία αυτό εντάσσεται.  Συνεργάζομαι με την S.O.S Skateboards που ιδρύθηκε πριν από 3 χρόνια.  

Σε 10 χρόνια από τώρα? Να έχουμε υγεία και ακεραιότητα, τα υπόλοιπα έρχονται.

[yenrps]

“When there’s hunger you don’t share out your food, you just devour the weakest ones. This practice works among wolves, since it lets the healthiest and strongest individuals survive. But among sentient races selection of that kind usually allows the biggest bastards to survive and dominate the rest.”   - Andrzej Sapkowski 

CHARACTER SUMMARY

Born and raised by parents believing in the American dream on Boston soil, their small family was set up for a good life, only to later locate to England. For the first nine years, his boyhood remained a cozy five-bedroom-pride of golden moments until that, too, collapsed for good. With his mother gone one night and his father’s empty bottles amassing during the day, he settled for a backpack substitute and despite poor impulse control, Avery soon proved a survivalist. From the streets, off the streets, to being stuck in a classroom to finish his education, he did it all, though not without the help of a stern Samaritan who saw something in him he did not; could not.

As somebody having come from nothing, Avery has learnt that priorities and dreams are dangerous, enough to put what he’s managed in direct jeopardy. Therefore, his wishes for the future aren’t of impossible dimensions, but rather the opposite: to retain a roof over his head, food in the fridge, and a job. And while the world is largely a shithole through his lens, his own moral compass often compels him to consciously disentangle himself from his sacred safety net, readily stepping in for those too weak or otherwise disadvantaged to protect themselves. Even if he hates your guts, he’ll always lend you a hand to get back up - if needed. If not, his disposition and demeanor are reminiscent of a dog that barks and bites.

APPEARANCE DESCRIPTION

Unlike his callous words and even more cantankerous capacity, Avery’s physically unimpressive. With only 5’4 to boot, he’s almost always tinier than most men, which would’ve made him easily forgettable if it weren’t for the fact that almost virtually every inch of his body is inked with black and white imagery. His figure, however, amplifies his physically confrontational approach to problem-solving: albeit thin, there are also lean muscles that come into play. What puzzles most about him is his voice, for it is deep, raspy,  laced with a faintly Bostonian merged German accent, and masculine; a contrast to his feminine features. Clothes are another matter with which Avery sets himself apart from a crowd — perpetually black, ripped, studded belts and wrist-lets; the quintessence of a Hot-Topic fanatic. That outsider get-up is only made worse by his piercing look. Blue eyes, blue-grey, to leave no doubt that you best fuck off. Along with his tattoos, piercings adorn even more skin, accompanied by scars on his lower back and faint reminders on his wrists.

As he’s made it through more than a handful of assholery, with him being on the receiving end, Avery sees no reason to dress in a way that would give others the idea to talk to him: most folk think he’s trouble — which he is — and only very few ask him questions out of sheer curiosity. That really works for him.

PERSONALITY DESCRIPTION

“Paranoia, hysteria, anxiety — take your pick. I don’t really care ‘bout these terms. Bottom line is, I’m fucked up.” 

That’s the preface he’d give to describe his personality, and probably all you’ll get. How he generally acts towards people depends on the person, as he’ll be quick to clarify. Somebody indifferent to a heart-to-heart will meet an affectionate and imaginative man while others trying to trap him with false interest and kindness will, invariably, come face to face with an abrasive, cantankerous asshole constantly ignoring others’ limit to draw out their true colors. Anything kind or good is just that to him: too good to be true. It’s because of this, faulty wiring and abusive parenting, that he prefers acquaintances, jumping to and fro different groups without any attempt made to connect to others on a deeper level.

 It might not fill him with gusto or mirth, he says, but it’s safe. As such, Avery would be quick to hide behind pessimism and a black-and-white morality. He, too, has no issue with a quiet night alone. Crowds, he avoids.  While introspection isn’t really his forte, he knows the source of his fear is linked to his past, thereby resulting in a surgically clean kitchen to a pristine bedroom. In an attempt, of course, to at least have control over something in his life. His thoughts, he can’t control, nor his nights. 

Consequently, Avery undoubtedly struggles overall with his consternation. Thinking in extremes, there is either friend or foe, either peace or strife — and as somebody so contradictory, he doesn’t always trust himself to make the right call. Always ricocheting from obedient  to disobedient, from kind to cruel, from aggressive to fearful — there is simply no middle ground.

What remains unchanged, in spite of everything, is his firm stance on justice. Sure, he’s an asshole, but an asshole ready to feed an even bigger asshole their teeth if it helps save your neck. So while he might have no qualms to steal everything not nailed to the floor in your flat, he’ll protect others, steps in, or dies trying.  

What his boss sees in him is also a no-brainer: an extremely talented artist with a firm code and an unrivaled ability to unravel others’ ulterior motives.

SKILLS / COMPETENCES

By general standards, Avery’s academic gap in his CV doesn’t speak well for his skills or competences, as one would be quick to presume he’s got none at all, which isn’t true. Regardless of having only done the utmost necessary before dropping out of school, he’s not a monolingual. Since his mother has German roots, their household was bilingual, with English being the primary language in their earlier developmental stages, and German introduced at around six to eight years old respectively. His level of proficiency is high in both languages, making him bilingual despite no linguistic talent or inclination to broaden his horizon. There’s also something to note about his dexterity, for his hands aren’t only his most important tools in his career. Indeed, most of his hobbies revolve around crafting or creating something – woodwork being one example.  

Once he runs, moreover, he runs. Able to complete a marathon with a time of 2:52 hours and an age-graded performance of 71, 48 %, it is safe to say his endurance and speed are passable. Due to a two-year span squatting on the streets, Avery developed his own fighting style and although he lacks formal training and is by no means a martial arts veteran, he knows how to defend himself if needs must.  

INTERPERSONAL MANNER

In two words: indifference is the prelude to every encounter with him - most of the time, that’s all you’ll get. Intimacy, to him, is an invitation to get hurt and thus not remotely what he’s after. Why, after all, would anyone be obtuse enough to meander right into a predator’s orbit? It’s much the same with others acting like benevolent angels. Affection, in short, is much too intertwined in a cobweb of gaslighting, lying, blame, devaluing his own feelings, and physical abuse to keep him in line to think of close relationships as anything but leverage. 

Avery is good company for an evening or two and is all the more willing to hook up once or twice, yet just as promptly, he’ll slip away and out of your daily routine, content to become a stranger anew. As a result of this, his relationship with his biological family is non-existent. His mother abandoned him, his father became less and less a father, and his sister detests him. There’s nothing left for him on that front. However, Avery cannot help but to regard Lin, his boss, and Alexander, a co-worker and little brother substitute, as his family. Both Lin and Alexander have somehow managed to become his friends through solely their efforts, getting to know him as an apprentice proving his worth and then, later on, as a passionate tattoo artist first.

And perhaps even less surprising is his disinterest in anything long-term, most of all potential lovers. Commitment is an abominable idea to him, a waking nightmare, and not something he’d readily consider.  What Avery values most in the few friends he has accumulated, though, is their trust that is a two-way street: he can trust them, and they him.

Because of their acceptance, or perhaps despite their acceptance, there are no energy resources left to give a fuck about other people’s opinions — however, his friend’s opinions are holy to him, and the only two cents he’ll listen to, even though this doesn’t always ring true, for his needs and wants for stability and safety aren’t always in line with his need to play the hero. 

[velcoriaexploration]

Monsters to transfer from a blog I’m shutting down (This is a long post... Forgive me)

Hero:

“Chronicler/Referee”

She is the only “human” muse

Behavior: Lazy, Whiny, Freeloader Beautiful, Burdened with the task of keeping an eye on these monsters by the gods except for Athos, Warrior

Orientation: Athos

Hero is actually a Dullahan, although she hides it well. she is hostile towards monsters for the most part as she was in life. She lives with Athos, a dragon who for whatever reason, she doesn’t see as the monster he is. She doesn’t like to move much from his lair, unless she here’s of a bounty on a monster.

The girls say I’m useless, but someone has to be there if they go too far right?

I’m looking at you Marta ¬_¬

Marta

Species: Manticore

Behavior: Fierce, Lusty, Party Girl

Marta is playfully sadistic. She is very cat-like in her dealings with people and other monsters. She loves to toy with most of her food, friends, etc. She thoroughly loves to gauge her “companion’s” reaction to her playing. Interesting reactions entertain her, and they might just keep you from becoming the mouse in her tummy. Hero is her favorite target when others don’t have her attention.

Orientation: Gray-romantic Pansexual

Eydis

Species: Selkie

Behavior: Stubborn, Cold, Usually withdrawn until she warms up to you.

Elsa is cold as the sub-arctic waters she comes from. Your first meeting with her will usually play out like the following. You say hello, she points her spear at you and tells you to back off. She isn’t being rude. Selkies are incredibly protective of their sealskin clothing. If a male (or female for that matter) creature were to steal it and hide it from a selkie, they’d be forced into a relationship with them despite her wants. Rule of thumb when dealing with Eydis: Slow interaction is the key. Eventually, if you play your cards right, she will melt her icy demeanor towards you.

Orientation: Demiromatic Bisexual (Prefers men)

Bridgette

Species: Salamander

Behavior: Powerful, Strong-willed, Passionate

Testing your strength against a Salamander/Lizardman and winning works to make most of her kind go goo-goo for you, but not her. She may love to fight and spar just as much as any Lizardman-type, but she secretly loves poetry even more. She’s kind of a sucker for it.

Orientation: Biromantic (Through I’m not sure about her sexual preference honestly.)

(source)

Elsa

Species: Kirin

Elsa’s Behavior: Innocent, Sweet, Devoted

Orientation: Hetero

Elsa is “bipolar”. Which pole you get depends on how you treat her. A pure soul would respect her wish for a loving relationship and marriage before they lie with her. Her greatest dream is to be a cute housewife. But she will only bend for a gentle soul. She has been told that a dark soul will corrupt her and rob her of that dream. ~Great for Rps that don’t need sex or have limited~

“Tainted” Elsa: Her purity stripped from her, Elsa now wishes to make the world her pawn. All may enjoy her, but she simply is twisting them to her needs. She knows nothing of true love anymore. She is simply a feral beast doing as she feels to run from the pain of what got her here in the first place, “HER MOST LOYAL SUBJECT, YOU”. (Warning: Involves corrupting a completely pure creature. Devotion of an evil creature has its benefits and issues. You never know how this kind of devotion will manifest. You should go over the cause of her corruption if you wish for this.)

Helga

Species: Yeti

Behavior: Cuddle-bug, Upbeat, Honest, Carefree

Orientation: She doesn’t go past Squishes for the most part. But she’d be Pan if she weren’t so focused on making friends.

Helga is just a big fluffball. She loves just about anyone and anything, from the smallest bug to the tallest tree. Problem you’d run into if you’re looking for a relationship is that she tends to pay attention to everything equally, so it’s hard for her to notice someone who wants more than friendship. If you just want a friend though, she’s your girl. Just watch it. Bear hugs have nothing on her hugs. XP

Keiko

Species: Shirohebi

Behavior: Warm, Loving, Romantic, Quiet

Just don’t go out of your way to make her jealous or cheat on her………. Or insult Lady Ryu. Please don’t. She wants to open her heart until you break it. Then she gets aggressive. Aggressive Lamias of any kind are never a good thing.

Orientation: Hetero

Keiko is a shrine maiden at a temple to the local Zipangu rain goddess, Ryu-Sama. She is a helpless romantic despite her appearance. She would love to find someone who’ll “wisk her off her feet”. She is very quiet and shy around people, not wanting to get in others’ ways since her kind are known for being bad omens. She is allowed to work at the shrine because the locals believe her “power of misfortune” to be muted by the goddess. Anywhere else, she’d probably be promptly exiled and chased off. Keiko is often down on herself when she screws things up, her failure seemingly proving the things that are thought about her kind.

Saihō-shi

Species: Arachne (Tarantula Subspecies)

Behavior: Concerned, Observant, Self-Critical, Maneater (Unintentionally)

Her name means Seamstress. It really bothers her that her mother gave her that name, since she has quite a lot of difficulty with it.

She prefers to go by Scarlet

Orientation: Biromatic Gray-Sexual

Saiho is an artist and like many others is very critical on her work. The one thing she is the most critical about is her silk-spinning. She would love to be able to make the wonderous works of art and clothes her cousins make. All she seems to be good at is catching things (Food, men, women, other monsters) in her webbing much to her chagrin. She wants someone to admire/help with her works, not end up in them.

Modification from the MGQ Tarantula: Those aren’t breast below her. They are the first joint or Coxa. Think of it as her hips.

(source)

Hatter

Species: Alraune

Behavior: Obsessive over her “husband/wife”, Faithful (so she expects the same whether they want to or not), Cruel

Hatter is not named that way for wearing hats, but how she kills those who refuse to love her. Just imagine a bag sealed over your head…

Orientation:Pan

Stella and “Belle”

Species: Doppelganger

Behavior: Stella: Anthropophobic, Teratophobic, Loving; “Belle”: Loving, Sweet, Sophisticated

The thing about Stella is that although she wants to express herself to humans and other monsters, she’s afraid of them. She uses “Belle” as her way of interacting without interacting. Think of “Belle” as her online avatar. Behind this wonderful, strong, loving woman is a scared “girl”.

Orientation: Demi

Earina

FC: Yukihaze from Dog Days

Species: Inari

Behavior: Prankster, Loving, Protective

She is one of the Cerberus triplets of this blog. She is the second oldest by birth time and is the Alpha of the group. She loves to tease her brothers, Barthe and Theran. She mainly picks on Theran though. But unlike Barthe, she does it purely out of love, although she can take it a bit too far. She is actually very protective of him and bugs him only to try in her own way to build his confidence.

Orientation: Ace

Charlie

(Art by gochan-penru)

Species: Cheshire Cat

Behavior: Treacherous, Prankster, Loving if you can tame him

Orientation: Pan? Bi? Homo? Hetero? (I honestly don’t know. It really depends on the roll of a D10 with him. I’m not even joking. He could even be fluidic in nature like the rest of his form)

Charlie is just not a fun guy to deal with. He loves spending time unraveling plans. He’s not without his better qualities. He can be very loyal, it just takes work. Bribes help tremendously in that regard.

Birley

(Art by mitchellnolte)

Species: Minotaur/Minotaurus

Behavior: Dense, Loyal, Thin-Skinned

Orientation: Demi

Exterior doesn’t match interior with this one. He may be a big dumb brute, but he actually is just a big softie. That is unless he sees red, a common thing for his kind. He acts on impulse when this happens like all of his kind. (MOD note: Never got that, since bovine monsters would actually be color-blind because cows and their cousins are.)

Barthe

FC: Akatsuki Ousawa from Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero

Species: Inari

Behavior: Rude, Brash, Self-proclaimed gift to women

Orientation: Hetero

The oldest of the litter. He is very much the typical “jerk jock”, always feeling that he needs to assert his dominance over others to cover up his numerous insecurities about himself. He does not except playing second fiddle to others and will do anything to put them back in line behind him… Unless of course someone can find a way to straighten him out. He usually takes out his frustrations on Theran, making him a frequent punching bag when Earina isn’t watching.

Theran

FC: Cinque Izumi

Species: Inari

Behavior: Quiet, Reserved, Seemingly weak-willed

Theran is the runt of the litter. He doesn’t generally speak up much for fear of attack from Barthe. The constant abuse has completely sacked any will to try to thrive in most areas. Theran generally will try to keep from doing anything that might outshine his brother for fear of retribution. Anything he does is generally well hidden. The pup needs some repairs, that’s for sure… As for his relations with his sister, he knows she means well, but he would appreciate it if she could stop occasionally.

Orientation: ?

[mayacatmaster]

Lucky are those who find “a-true-loyal-friend”(True Self; Tao; Source) in this fake world.  *** *** *** Those only teach/preach/indoctrinate children/woman/people kiss ass by blind obey are such hypocrites.  *** *** *** They pretend to have morals-religion-rules-box-standards, feelings and a conscience but they possess none of these.  *** *** *** Because they are not, ….: Help children/woman/people to be natural, help children/people to be free, help children/woman/people to be themselves, and never try to force anybody, pull and push and manipulate.  *** *** *** Because they are not, ….: Help children/woman/people can alignment with their “Source”(True Self; Tao) and as alignment-deliberate-creator. *** *** *** They will lie, insult, cheat, abuse and disrespect you, but in return they will expect fidelity, respect and all your time and energy spent on them.  *** *** *** They can do whatever they want, whenever they want, but you are to remain loyal children/woman/people and perfect children/woman/people according to their morals-religion-rules-box-standards at all times.  *** *** *** This isn't healthy; it's toxic and definitely not love  *** *** *** And…: You can't use what I've accepted about myself against me.  If what I’ve accepted about myself is alignment with “Source”(True Self; Tao) and as alignment-deliberate-creator. *** *** *** In another hand, another side….: You can use what I've accepted about myself against me.  *** *** *** If what I’ve accepted about myself is kiss any kind of dark-tyrant-ruler’s-ass. No matter of it’s use the name of God/government/parents/gurus or religion/holy books/moral/education/social-family-personal-belief-system. And I pick up it as “me; mine; myself” and “real; true”. *** *** *** Because, because, because …: No matter of it’s use what kind of name, they always said this…: I am asking you Kiss my ass to prove your worthiness, I offer you my opinions that you should be kiss my ass, just because use the name tag of ...: *** *** ***  And kiss my ass it’s your inevitable fate, duty and the obligation born as a mankind. *** *** ***  And you must take this dog’s chain as a kind of naturally, take this dog’s chain for granted and said it’s the golden rule of the world! 並且把那條狗鍊子視之為理所當然、天經地義的金科玉律！ *** *** *** The Paradox of 'Be Yourself'  "Be yourself—not your idea of what you think somebody else's idea of  yourself should be." ~Henry David Thoreau  *** *** *** To Remember Who Really You Are. You Have To Forget Who They Told You To Be. *** *** *** So…: The only person who deserve to be in your life are the ones who treat you  with love, kindness and respect.  *** *** *** The only person who deserve to be in your life are the ones who…: Help people to be natural, help people to be free, help people to be themselves, and never try to force anybody, pull and push and manipulate. Those are the ways of the "ego"(No matter it is parents, government, husband, teachers, religion, morality or mind). And that is what all politics is. ~Osho *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Thanks for “Ritesh Sharma & Osho” *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** So…: If they wanted to be with you, they would.  If they wanted to call you, they would. If they wanted to talk to you they would. When someone is into you they make time for YOU. Remember.... No matter how good of a person you are, you'll never be good enough for the wrong person.  *** *** *** And a little unfortunately is...usually.:  People all over the world are searching for a deep connection with someone.  Only a few are searching for a deep connection with themselves. Only a few are searching for a deep connection with their “Source”(True Self; Tao). Only a few are searching for as an alignment-deliberate-creator. *** *** *** So…: Don't tell me what they said about me.  Tell me why they were so comfortable at those kiss-dark-ruler’s-ass-rules-standard-box, just living like sheep, died like sheep and no shame to say it around you. *** *** *** They all said this…: My entire life can be described in one sentence:  Just Blind-Obey and Blind-follow and kiss any kind of Dark-Tyranny-Ruler’s-Ass. ***  No matter it’s in a world, a country, a home, a mind-body. *** *** *** “Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” —Pema Chodron *** *** *** Good or evil, who decides?;  By "Source"(True Self; Tao; Logos: Ma at; Brahman) or  Seek "their"(government; parents; guru; husband; teacher; morality; religion) approval. *** *** *** So…: If I make a fool of myself, who cares? I'm not frightened by anyone's perception of me. ~Angelina Jolie *** *** *** The spirit of the individual is determined by his domination thought habits. ~Bruce Lee Kushandwizoom  *** *** *** Spirituality means waking up from any kind of kiss-dark-tyrant-ruler’s-ass. *** *** *** No matter of it’s use what kind of name… God/religion/morality/political/education/social-family-belief-system/holy books or government/parents/gurus…: *** *** *** Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep. They are born asleep,  they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep,  they die in their sleep without ever waking up.  They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence. *** *** *** Most people, only have this Three stages of life: 1. Birth. 2. What the fuck is about this, … my whole life just Programmed into Blind-Obey and Blind-follow and kiss any kind of Dark-Tyranny-Ruler’s-Ass. ***  No matter it’s in a world, a country, a home, a mind-body. ***  3. Death. *** *** *** If you going to count those kiss-ass-fools among us. *** *** And…: Those who love "Source"(Tao; Ma-at；Logos) alignment with "Source"(Tao; Ma-at；Logos) is same,  愛好"道"(生命本源；瑪特: 邏格斯)者，同於道； Those who love "LOVE"(Goodness; Tao；Ma-at；Logos) alignment with "LOVE"(Goodness; Tao；Ma-at；Logos) is same,  愛好德者，同於德； Those who love Ignorance-False-Identification alignment with Ignorance-False-Identification is same, ~Lao Tzu 好失者，同於失 If I have a little wisdom,  I will alignment with "Source"(Tao; Ma-at；Logos) , love God, follow "Source"(Tao; Ma-at；Logos), concentrate in "God"(Tao；Maat；Logos) , love God more than anything, more than any people, ~~~! and I will hold on "Source"(Tao; Ma-at；Logos) tightly , never give up.  使吾介然有知，抱道不離，「愛神，跟隨神，朝神看，愛上主勝過眼前人事物的一切~~~~！  *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Thanks for ＂Abraham ＂ *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** The "Source"(Tao; Ma-at；Logos) has always been same, in ancient and modern, in east and west, in any time-space. 古今"道"(生命本源；瑪特: 邏格斯)惟一， *** *** *** Your Source is not asking you to prove your worthiness. Source just knows you are worthy. ~Abraham *** *** *** Relationships With Others is the primary source of the contrast….! ~~Abraham *** *** *** Anytime you feel like you've got to prove something to “somebody”(no matter of it’s who or what… parents/moral/religion/government/gurus,,,),  you're under the influence of something other than Source. -Abraham *** *** *** "Home is knowing.  Knowing your mind, knowing your heart, knowing your courage.  If we know ourselves, we’re always home, anywhere."  ~Gunda(From The Wizard Of Oz) *** *** *** Meditation is your Inner-being teaching you alignment. ~Abraham  *** *** *** Anything that teaches you that the guidance you are looking for  is outside of you, is Counterproductive to you. ~Abraham *** *** *** Realize that all kind of just want you kiss their ass, by blind-obey isn't you.  These are just programs.  Your mind is like a computer that can be infected with viruses.  Your task is to disinfect these programs and set yourself free.  *** *** *** No one can destroy you,  but Your own mindset can destroy you totally!!!  *** *** *** No matter of it use what kind of name … God/government/parents/gurus/moral/religion/holy books/education/social-belief-system,,,: ***  We must decondition ourselves from kiss dark-tyrant-ruler’s-ass of bad behavior . *** *** *** So…: The universe isolates you so you can find your soul's purpose. It may seem like you've lost friendships and relationships but finding your path, passion, and purpose in life is worth more! For where your soul is, there you will find your treasure.  *** *** ** And….: If you look at the people in your circle and do not become “inspired”(help you beautiful dream come true or at least help you cease bad-bitter-life-fruits-Vicious circle ,  And they just only teach/preach you how to kiss as by blind-obey/blind follow, No matter of it’s use what kind of name, God/holy books/religion/moral/country-social-education-family-belief-system. Then you don't have a circle, you have a cage.  *** *** *** So...make sure what your morality/saints/gurus/government/holy books/religion/political/education/country-social-family-belief-system not AGAINST FREEDOM.  *** *** *** AGAINST you to be free, THEY just WANT YOU TO BE SLAVES. Their whole vested interest is in your being always a slave. *** *** *** The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living. -Socrates  *** *** *** A man lives in slavery without self inquire because he lives unconsciously He lives like a robot.  *** *** *** And…: No matter of use what kind of name… God/holy books/religion/moral/country-social-family-belief-system. *** *** How you got caught up in a particular kiss-dark-tyrant-ruler’s-ass-belief system is a long and perhaps currently irrelevant story.  You're caught in its net.  To get free, take out your mental scissors and snip away at everything that's not freedom. *** *** *** Because…: So many kiss-dark-tyrant-ruler’s-ass-broken parents are building kiss-dark-tyrant-ruler’s-ass-broken children.  Don't let your mess become the foundation of your child's life.  Break the particular kiss-dark-tyrant-ruler’s-ass-belief-system-cycle.  *** *** *** Mindset is everything!!! Mindset is everything!!! *** *** *** So….: If you use your conscious mind properly, then, you examine those beliefs that  come to you.  You do not accept them willy-nilly. -Seth  *** *** *** So…: I don't trust words, I trust vibes.  People can tell you anything, can preach/teach you anything, but a vibe tells you everything.  *** *** *** No matter of what kind of morality/saints/gurus/government/holy books/religion/political/education/country-social-family-belief-system.  ‘So call’ Great virtue-good-deed-words. *** *** *** I don't trust deeds, I trust vibes.  People can pretend anything, can preach/teach you anything, but a vibe tells you everything.  *** *** *** No matter of what kind of morality/saints/gurus/government/holy books/religion/political/education/country-social-family-belief-system.  ‘So call’ Great virtue-good-deeds. *** *** ***  So…: I Don't Always Visit Freethinker Groups  Such As Those Great Gurus/Saints/Religion/Morality/Political/Education-Belief-System. But When I Do,  I Am The-Original-Face-Badass-Man,  I Question Everything, Self-Inquiry For Myself. I Don’t Want Be A Copy Cat. *** *** *** Because….: If this is all a dream, a Maya, a mirage, it's long as fuck....: Because lesson repeats until it is learned….: It has 5000 years in China, It has 7,000 years in India,….: *** *** *** And…: The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going. 愚蒙人是話都信，智慧通達者步步審慎。 ～Proverbs 14:15 King James Bible *** *** *** So…: Pick Wisely !!! Pick Wisely !!! Pick Wisely !!! We become who we spend time with. The quality of life is most often a direct reflection of the expectations of' their peer group. Choose your friends well. — Anthony Robbins  *** *** ***  Because…: Real is rare. *** *** ***  Because…: Sincere & honest words are not always very pretty; and those very pretty words are not always very sincere & honest.  信言不美，美言不信。 *** *** ***  People lie. *** *** ***  Actions also can lie. *** *** ***  But energy-function-pattern can’t lie. Energy is my first reading language. I understand it more than I witness and watch the people’s words, deeds, or though, ideas, belief-system. *** *** ***  Looking for truth? Observe people's habitual behavior patterns/cycles.  The truth is in their patterns and cycles.  Not so much their words. *** *** ***  Energy moves in cycles, circles, spirals, vortexes, whirls, pulsations, waves,  and rhythms-rarely if ever in simple straight lines. ~Starhawk *** *** ***  Consciousness Isn't Merely Just A State Of Mind. But A Vibrational Frequency In Which We Perceive, Live, And Broadcast Out To Others.  *** *** ***  Intuition is real.  Vibes are real.  Energy doesn't lie,  Tune in. *** *** ***  What you are living is always an exact replication of your vibrational patterns of thought. ~Abraham *** *** ***  Between egoism and "Source"(Tao; True Self); Between man-made-rules and "Source"(Tao; True Self); Between desires and "Source"(Tao; True Self); Between your-origin-face and "Source"(Tao; True Self); *** *** *** Between your heart, my heart and another heart; *** No matter what... You learn more about someone at the end of a relationship than at the end beginning of it. *** *** *** Life is "Tao"(True Self；Brahman) back to itself. I observed the sun, moon, stars orbit operation life. *** *** *** "Nature"(Tao；Ma-at；Logos; Source) never did betray the heart that loved her. *** *** *** So…: The perfect man relax and empty his mind as if it’s a mirror.  Mirror grasps nothing,  Mirror refuses nothing;  Mirror reflect what happen in front,  Let what come just come, let what gone just gone in their way, But Mirror never take it as “me; mine; myself” and “real; true”. ~Chuang Tzu  *** *** *** So...: Observe Don't Absorb….: Let the mind come as it wants; just you don’t go with it.  The greatest salesman in the world  cannot sell you if you don t buy . ~Mooji  *** *** *** The perfect man relax and empty his mind as if it’s a mirror.  Mirror the most simplest “Cosmic Principle”(Tao; Source; Ma at; Brahma) in every area …..: *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Tao De Jing Ch54 by Lao-Tzu *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Those who alignment with "Tao"(God; True Self ; Source ; Logos), and those who observation (of its effects)) *** *** *** What (Tao's) skilful planter plants Can never be separate oneself from "Tao"(God; True Self ; Source ; Logos); Can help oneself alignment with "Tao"(God; True Self ; Source ; Logos), always. Who is skilful arms enfold with Tao, From him can never be imprisoned by the society, culture, religion, morality, family or government mold he into became not-True Self. 善建不拔，善抱者不脫， Sons shall bring in lengthening line, Sacrifices to his shrine. 子孫以祭祀不輟。 "Tao"(God; True Self ; Source ; Logos) when nursed within one's self, His vigour will make true; 修之於身，其德乃真； And where the family can ruled by alignment with "Tao"(God; True Self ; Source ; Logos),  What riches will accrue! 修之於家，其德乃餘； The neighbourhood where it prevails by alignment with "Tao"(God; True Self ; Source ; Logos),  In thriving will abound; 修之於鄉，其德乃長； And when it is seen throughout the state can ruled by alignment with "Tao"(God; True Self ; Source ; Logos), Good fortune will be found. 修之於國，其德乃豐； Employ it the kingdom can ruled by alignment with "Tao"(God; True Self ; Source ; Logos), And men thrive all around. 修之於天下，其德乃普。 *** *** *** In this way the effect will be seen in the person, by the observation of different cases; in the family; in the neighbourhood; in the state; and in the kingdom. 故以身觀身，以家觀家，以鄉觀鄉，以國觀國，以天下觀天下。 How do I know that this effect is sure to hold thus all under the sky? By this (method of observation). 吾何以知天下然哉？以此。 *** *** *** And…: Vain are the beliefs and teachings that make man miserable, and false is the goodness that leads him into sorrow and despair -- for it is man's purpose to be happy on this earth and lead the way to felicity and preach it's gospel wherever he goes. He who does not see the kingdom of heaven in this life will never see it in the coming life. We came not into this life by exile, but we came as innocent creatures of God, to learn how to worship the holy and eternal spirit and seek the hidden secrets within ourselves from the beauty of life. ~ Kahlil Gibran *** *** *** So in this world…: Everyone Thinks They're Right.  So, The Question Isn't Who's Right Or Who's Wrong.  The Question Is, Who Is Most In Alignment With Their Source?  And Who Is The Most Allowing?  And Whose Life Is Really Going The Best, Most Of The Time?  ~ABRAHAM Hicks  *** *** *** Once again Reminder …: Anytime you feel like you've got to prove something to “somebody”(no matter of it’s who or what… parents/moral/religion/government/gurus,,,),  you're under the influence of something other than Source. -Abraham *** *** *** Why Do You Doubt Yourself?  Don't You Know How Godly You Are? How Beautiful You Are？ You Radiate Source-like-Energy.  You’re A Prayer In The Flesh. *** *** *** People all over the world are searching for a deep connection with someone.  Only a few are searching for a deep connection with themselves. Only a few are searching for a deep connection with their “Source”(True Self; Tao). Only a few are searching for as an alignment-deliberate-creator. *** *** *** And…: Power Is Not About Numbers, Unless You're Playing On A Field Where Everybody's Disconnected!  *** *** *** Because…: There is so much love for you, and from you, and to you, and through you.  The Source within you adores you and is walking every step with you.  ~Abraham-Hicks *** *** *** "Infinite intelligence guides and protects me in my activities."~Seth *** *** *** Follow the force that is guiding the whole universe is in you.  Pledge allegiance to your "Source"(God; True Self; Tao; Logos),  everything is done! ~Huangdi Yinfujing 「觀天之道，執天之行，盡矣！」: 黃帝陰符經； *** *** *** You are never along or helpless. The force that is guiding the whole universe is in you too! *** *** *** Those who flow as "Life"(Tao; True Self; Source) flows know they need no other force. ~Lao tzu *** *** *** You have all the intelligence within you. TRUST, ALLOW and only listen to your own HEART! *** *** *** Use your own light and return to the Source of "Light"(Tao; True Self; Wisdom of Universal). This is called practicing eternity. ~Lao Tzu *** *** *** Always listen to your own heart, even if it is against what your family, society, culture of religion is telling you! *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Thanks for “ONEness” *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Alignment trumps everything. *** *** ***  Everything you see has its "Roots"(Source; True Self；Tao ) in the unseen world. The forms may change, yet the "Essence"(Source; True Self；Tao) remains the same "ONE"(Source; Dao；True Self；God). *** *** ** All Souls were created in the "beginning"(Source; Tao; True Self; God) and are finding their way back to whence they came. ~Edgar Cayce *** *** *** The "Source"(Tao; Maat；Logos ; According to the Law that governs the Universe) has always been same, in ancient and modern, in east and west, in any time-space. *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Returning to the root: "Tao Te Ching" by Lao Tzu 老子: 道德經十六章 *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** Those who aligning with "Source"(Tao；True Self；Logos ; According to the Law that governs the Universe), those who can empty & relax his mind-body to the utmost degree, and that of stillness guarded with unwearying vigour. Those who can use heart like mirror, just witness and no identify with any kind of "I am"( I am this or I am that), .......all things alike go through their processes of activity....... , and (then) we see them return (to their original-face state). When things (in the vegetable world) have displayed their luxuriant growth, we see each of them return to its "Source"(Tao；True Self；Logos ; According to the Law that governs the Universe). 致虛極，守靜篤。萬物並作，吾以觀復。夫物芸芸，各復歸其根。

Those who aligning with "Source"(Tao；True Self；Logos), returning to their "Source"(Tao) is what we call the state of stillness; and that stillness may be called a reporting that they have fulfilled their appointed end. The report of that fulfilment is the regular, unchanging "Law"(Tao; Maat; Logos; Dharma; Nous) . To know that unchanging "Law"(Tao; Maat; Logos; Dharma; Nous ; According to the Law that governs the Universe) is to be enlightenment; not to know it leads to "wild movements and evil issues"(Ignorance-False-Identification).  歸根曰靜，是謂復命。復命曰常，知常曰明。不知常，妄作凶。

The knowledge of that unchanging "Law"(Tao; Maat; Logos; Dharma; Nous) produces a (grand) capacity and forbearance, and that capacity and forbearance lead to a community (of feeling with all things). From this community of feeling comes a kingliness of character; and he who is king-like goes on to be heaven-like. In that likeness to heaven he possesses the "Tao" (Wholeness; True Self; Maat; Logos; Brahman; God). Possessed of the "Tao" (Wholeness; True Self; Maat; Logos; Brahman; God), he endures long; and to the end of his bodily life, is exempt from all danger of decay. 知常容，容乃公，公乃王，王乃天，天乃道，道乃久，沒身不殆。

*** *** *** Happiness, peace is  what you think,  what you say,  and what you doing are in harmony with the essence of your natural being, in align with your "True Self GPS"( The Global Positioning System of your inner Cosmic wisdom). Maybe you can say:" I am on my own path and Universe is my guide." *** *** *** EVERYTHING is cooperating with YOU,  when YOU are cooperating with your "True Self"(Tao；God). *** *** *** Those in alignment Follow the order of "Source"(Tao；True Self；Logos), they Follow the way of "Source"(Tao；True Self；Logos), they Follow the timing of "Source"(Tao；True Self；Logos) and they Follow the design of "Source"(Tao；True Self；Logos).  They are calm; They are clear;  They are real. Having arrived at the "Root"(Tao；True Self；Brahman),  They are never confused by the branches. *** *** ***

[ecotone99]

[MF] Hercules’ Thirteenth Labor

He stood at the shore, the sun diving onto the clear horizon ahead. The water from his skin dripped, making the sand beneath him harden. The skin of a long dead lion weighed heavily on his head. He heard no sound but the crashing of the waves, the white water seething its way to his toes.

“You are victorious,” said Poseidon. Hercules had not heard his uncle approach. Perhaps from the waves. Perhaps when it crashed.

“I am,” said Hercules.

“But not truly. If you had, you would not have come for me.” Poseidon said quickly, with a hint of impatience.

Hercules had heard of his uncle’s poor temper before, but he never had the curse to see it first-hand. Tired from his debacle in the darkness, Hercules had no intention to arouse the wrath of the sea god.

“I must ask a simple favor,”

“A favor?” Poseidon laughed at that, and the sea shook awkwardly, betraying its common course. “And what might the bastard son of the god of gods ask of me? ... Favors heh,” And again he laughed.

“Safe passage through this sea, that is all.” Hercules felt the fatigue in his arms. The dark dog had raged well, though not well enough. Still, Hercules grew ill-fond of the tricks of Hades, another one of his uncles. The uncle who stood beside him now, a god with hair as glorious as his accolades, was fond of tricks himself. The water seemed to coat Poseidon so that he shimmered in the sunlight. His trident, gold and majestic, was staked on the sand beside him. His tricks, Hercules was sure, was hidden somewhere in his words.

“Passage?” Poseidon looked around, confused. “Where is your ship, then? Or even a boat?”

“Of those I have none,” answered Hercules. Do not anger him, he told himself. The sea is unforgiving, and relentless.

“Are you playing games? I do not wish my time to be wasted with petty riddles.” Or perhaps do, but the right way. If I do not play this gambit well, all will be for naught.

“Once-“

“You truly are your father’s child, always conniving, always at lust for more power.”

“Once-“

“He never truly respected me, did he? Your father in his clouds and in his comfort. Not ever, not once.”

“Once-“

“WHAT IS IT, BOY? WHAT IS THIS ONCE YOU HAVE IN MIND THAT YOU WOULD NOT DARE LET ME FINISH A THOUGHT?”

Hercules smiled but he dared not let Poseidon see it. An opportunity was all he needed. “Once, you allowed a man through. A herd of men, in all actuality. Led by a shepherd carrying a grand staff. The sea, red as it was, parted to let them walk the sand beneath it. That would not have happened, that would never have happened, without your leave. Do I speak untruthfully?”

Poseidon thought for a moment. “I remember.” His uncle replied. The rage in his face slowly subsiding. “What of it?”

“I ask you kindly, uncle, to do for me as you did he. Not to part the way, but to calm the sea. That I may walk on your waves in this journey. This, I humbly ask.” Hercules knelt then, the lines he’s rehearsed left lingering in the air. He saw his uncle shift his feet to face him.

“Rise,” Poseidon said, and so Hercules did. “Gods do not kneel.” He paused. “Why do you request for this safety of passage? With no rest, no less, from your labor?”

“I had heard soundings, rumors that I must confirm myself. And for that, I must cross this sea. But only alone can I accomplish this, and only through here. To see it for myself, with haste.”

“Haste?” His uncle asked, and Hercules nodded. “As you will,”

Poseidon lifted his trident and pointed it at Hercules. “But for this favor I must burden you with a labor, your thirteenth, your final.”

Hercules agreed.

“Good. Seek and capture a bolt of lightning. I wish it bottled.” He lowered his weapon.

“I will bring you this bottle of lightning you ask for.” replied Hercules assuredly. Hercules wondered why Poseidon would not just ask his brother for that. He looked to the sand, and beneath it from where he came. Below it lay the darkness, the underworld where Hades ruled over. Hades, who turned a blind eye to his trial. He looked to the sea, where he would traverse, the vastness that Poseidon dominated. The sea spread as far and as wide as Poseidon’s power, and twice as deep. Would he turn a blind eye as well? Finally, Hercules looked to the sky, where he found the sun. But no amount of warmth could make up for what his father had brought him forth to lose. A life of tragedy, Hercules reflected. Still.

With his guiding hand, Poseidon brought a wave to drench Hercules’ feet. And with a stroke, the water receded, and Poseidon was gone.

Hercules felt the water shift beneath his feet. It was far different than walking on land. Below, the waves moved endlessly and unpredictably, where ground would not. His balance, as unsure as his courage, struggled to remain afloat. Not a meter from the shore, Hercules fell backwards, splashing into the shallow water. This would be harder than he had thought. Hercules retreated to the sand and tried again. This time, he managed to walk five meters away, until a wave swept at his legs and sunk him. Again, he tried, this time reaching ten meters, where a fish drifted between his toes. Caught unaware, Hercules moved his feet only to lose his footing and fall. As he swam there idly, the water moved abruptly, weirdly, as it had before. It seemed to dance. Was Poseidon laughing at him?

Hercules would not fail again. He would not give his uncle the pleasure of this kind of entertainment. This time, Hercules ran. With haste, he thought. Running, his feet moved above the water. But he did not fall. He bounded off the waves, like a rock thrown at just the right angle, continuously bouncing across the water’s surface. With haste. The fish that caused him failure once before leapt in front of him, but he paid it no heed, slapping it away with such force that it bounded like a rock thrown at just the right angle. The waves did not move this time. Poseidon no longer laughed.

An hour passed and Hercules, still running, found himself inside a storm. It was night for a while now, and the sea had turned as black as the ominous clouds above growled thunder, but Hercules knew better than to stop. If he did, he would fall. He knew. So he ran. Above the wild waves, he ran. Thunder cracked and whirlpools formed, yet still, he ran. With haste, he thought. Mysterious silhouettes moved about beneath his feet, to scare him, to impede his journey, yet still he ran. His uncle and his other uncle watched him now, shadow and sea alike. He gave them no mind. Hercules chose to look at the sky instead. Beyond the rain and the clouds that held them, he knew the sky was still there. Still,

Hercules almost fell asleep midstride, but his face touched the water and he was awakened, catching his fall with a quick step. The storm had gone as it had come, and day began to break. For once, Hercules stopped. He was in the middle of the sea, with nothing around him. He saw the horizon unobstructed. The water slept, attending to not so much as a ripple. He ran and ran, and this is where it took him. Nowhere. Nothing. Nothing but silence. Still,

A step rattled the sea’s peace. Yet only timidly. Small ripples sent themselves across the face of the water. Hercules turned and saw him, standing there on the water. He wore a robe, white as silk and pure as an angel’s wings. He was bearded and had hair that dropped to his shoulders. The rumors proved to be true.

“You are real.” said Hercules.

“Only as much as you are.” The man’s voice calmed even the sea, where the ripples formed soon faded.

“And you are powerful,” Hercules pointed to the man’s feet, which were firmly above water. Did Poseidon bless him too?

“Only as much as people allow me to be.”

Hercules scoffed. “That is not how power works. My strength is-“

“Given to you since birth?” The man smiled. No matter how much he had tried to deny it, Hercules could not help but agree. It was true that when he lay but a baby, he had strangled two snakes sent to kill him. Nothing of that was his own doing, though Hercules would like to credit his courage. Yet in truth, he had no memory of the snakes or the strangling at all. Only the stories kept his feats alive. Only the stories. The man continued. “You are blessed beyond all others, so why do you come to me?”

“For...” Hercules did not know. Perhaps it was his allure. Whatever it was, it made Hercules speak thoughts he had tried to forget. “He promised me.” Hercules said. “He promised me a seat beside him, a place in his pantheon, the mountain of gods.”

“And he did not deliver on his promise?”

Hercules shook his head, slowly.

The man looked at him, in part with eyes of pity, another of love. Was it? Hercules had never known the feeling. He could not be sure. But the man spoke with such grace that he could not help but feel warm, “Fathers have their own mysterious ways with their children, I have found.”

“I do not recall telling you I spoke of my father.”

“Sons. We have a way of knowing, don’t you think?” The man neared Hercules, his steps silent, keeping the sea’s peace. He stopped an arm away from Hercules. “All sons have a place in their father’s heart. You already have a seat at the mountain, I assure you. Do not fear, for I know.”

Hercules would not take lecturing from a man who natured himself a prophet. How much pride must one have to declare himself the arbiter of truth? “And what would you know of sons and fathers?” asked Hercules.

“Far too much,” said the man, with pain. Hercules felt it, slightly, a tinge in his voice.

“So, tell me why, prophet. Why am I here and not there, where I am destined to be?” The sun peeked from the clouds lingering on the horizon. Sunlight poured on the two men facing each other.

Hercules had to cover his eyes because the light grew too fierce, but the man not so much as squinted. “Once I would have asked myself the same question, to have doubted. Once I would have strayed and lost my way. But that once is gone now. The years have taught me much. I’ve realized that destiny is not always what it would seem. It barely is. And long have I strayed from its path. Destiny is so... unforgiving. How can we hope to understand such a thing that binds us?”

“Nothing can bind a god,” Hercules replied, but the man shook his head, disagreeing.

“Of course, hydra-slayer, sun-shooter, you labored with courage and ferocity. You conquered the impossible. But I must contradict. Being a god, of all things, is the very element that binds them; to locations, to dominions, to philosophies, to powers, to beliefs, to the minds and whims and wills and prayers of man.”

“Yet I could not have done those labors without my strength, without being the son of Zeus.”

“You sell yourself too short. It was courage, not your strength, that bore fruit to those labors. And courage... what else is more human than courage? How can one be courageous if he is almighty? “

Hercules looked at the man in disbelief. How could he be so sure of himself, to not have doubts, to have thoughts as clear as the sunlight that made the water beneath him shine? How? “How are you so sure?” He blurted, although not meaning to. Hercules thought it a foolish question a child would ask an adult. They were on equal grounds now, both in the middle of a quiet sea, yet for once Hercules felt small.

“The years have not been kind to me. Death, brother. Death comes for us all, even for I, even for you.”

“Death,” Hercules repeated. “The purging of what is human within us. The defeat of life, of our souls. How can man be strong if he dies, while god does not?”

The man smiled. “It is the man who knows, understands, and accepts death. It is the god, with all its pride, who refuses to succumb.”

The man made no sense. “How is succumbing strength?”

“The same way that courage can only exist in the midst of fear. True life begins only after realizing the importance of death.”

A lone gust of wind swept Hercules’ damp tunic, his hair flowing as water droplets fell back to the sea. “Who are you?” asked Hercules.

The man’s smile faded. “Only what people believe me to be,” And the gust of wind turned to mist, which moved to envelop the man who walked on water. As the mist parted, dissipating back into the air, the man had gone far away, nowhere to be seen. Such faith, Hercules thought, such faith that man has on his father that he would travel even death.

After a moment of serene silence, the water resumed its crashing, with waves piling on waves. White water descended on Hercules, as he tried to stay his ground. The sky darkened, and black thunderclouds gathered on the horizon. The rain poured intensely, but Hercules had not a care. The rain no longer fazed him.

Striding to the peak of a large raging wave, Hercules sought the sky, and peered into a streak where the clouds posed darkest. But the water was determined to drown him, and a wave washed his lionskin to the watery depths. Damn you, uncle. Yet he climbed, though water filled his lungs, he climbed. There, he saw it then. Lightning raged and bolted from one cloud to another. There, he sought the truth. Still, the saddened Hercules thought, still he gives no answer.

With a strong leap, Hercules soared from the wave and into the clouds. The rain pierced his skin like tiny daggers, but Hercules did not wince. The ferocious winds whirled to prevent his ascent, forcing him down, but Hercules did not obey. He neared the clouds; closer and closer he came. Father, answer me.

The clouds rumbled and roared, growling at Hercules behind its darkness. Lightning crossed his vision, unraveling from one cloud to the other, each lighting up in a rhythmic cadence, like a festival of lights. The thunder, Hercules heard, behind its furious facade, bellowed like a grand piano. But the conductor was nowhere to be seen, playing a song Hercules could never hope to understand. He grabbed the tail of one of the clouds and pulled himself up. There, he stood, no longer able to see the sea below. The orchestra continued to play.

“Father, answer me.” He said unknowingly. The clouds responded with a roar. The heavens seemed to shake as the lightning grew fiercer, brighter than it had ever been. The wind howled, but Hercules would howl louder.

“FATHER! ANSWER ME!” He boomed so loud that the clouds in front of him parted. In a flash, a bolt of lightning struck Hercules straight to the chest. Why does my father resent me so? He grabbed it before it can chance to escape, and the bolt wriggled in his hand like a fish out of water. Poseidon would be delighted. He presented it to the heavens. “IS THIS YOUR ANSWER?”

And in a breath, the clouds calmed and disappeared. The bolt of lightning he had captured faded to the sky.

Pure silence.

From above, Hercules could see everything, the shining sun, the clear sky, the peaceful sea. He realized he was falling. His body felt weightless, like a feather drifting in the wind. But he wasn’t drifting. He was crashing. He closed onto the sea below, faster and faster. His father had answered.

I have labored and won, yet still I am defeated.

He could hear the waves now, cracking ahead of him. In the moment before he plunged into the water, a spark of light bolted from the corner of Hercules’ eye. He turned to see it. Lightning, one bolt, no, five bolts, no, fifty, more than that, way more. They all came for him. They slithered like yellow serpents in the sky, all charging at him.

Is this what he meant?

“It is the man who knows, understands, and accepts death. It is the god, with all its pride, who refuses to succumb.”

Hercules closed his eyes then, emptying his thoughts. Succumb, he told himself. It is not weakness, it is strength. Succumb.

He did not know what struck him first, the lightning or the sea.

submitted by /u/Lakendawne [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/2XNJLtM

[frontproofmedia]

Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter & Anthony Dirrell vs. David Benavidez Final Press Conference Quotes and Photos

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Published: September 26, 2019

IBF Champion Spence and WBC Champion Porter Meet in Welterweight Title Unification that Headlines FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View while WBC Super Middleweight Champion Dirrell Takes on Former Champion Benavidez in Co-Main Event This Saturday, September 28 from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES - IBF Welterweight World Champion Errol "The Truth" Spence Jr. and WBC Welterweight Champion "Showtime" Shawn Porter had an intense faceoff at Wednesday's final press conference before they headline a FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View this Saturday, September 28 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.

The press conference also featured WBC Super Middleweight World Champion Anthony "The Dog" Dirrell and former world champion David "El Bandera Roja" Benavidez exchanging words before they clash in the co-main event of pay-per-view action that begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Tickets for the event, which is promoted by Man Down Promotions, TGB Promotions and Shawn Porter Promotions, are on sale now and can be purchased at AXS.com.

Here is what the fighters had to say Wednesday from the Wilshire Grand Ballroom II at the Intercontinental Hotel:

ERROL SPENCE JR.

"I feel like all of my fights prepared me for this moment. Porter is not like Mikey Garcia. They have different styles and different mentalities. But there are a lot of distractions fighting at home and I feel like I overcame that to lead me to this point.

"I don't make anything of the words he's saying. We train hard and we're focused and prepared for anything he brings Saturday night.

He's been talking a lot, his dad's been talking a lot and I'm going to shut him up. They're going to call me the "show stopper' after Saturday night.

"I've prepared for everything. It's all about adjustments. I make them fast in the ring. People thought Kell Brook's experience would help him but it didn't at all. I can adjust to my opponent's style and we will show it Saturday.

"I'm ready to go. I never missed weight and I'm always professional. It's just hard work and dedication. I'm going to be even more ripped and ready than I was against Mikey Garcia.

"This is going to be an amazing event come Saturday night. I will be the unified champion of the world. Shawn comes to fight and I embrace that. I can't wait because I promise this is going to be one for the history books.

"I just have to do what I've been doing. I don't care about the rounds as long as it doesn't go 12.

I'm going to win and do it in dominating fashion.

"It's important to me to get the knockout. It's a goal of mine to stop him and I hope to get it done. If can't get it done, then I'm just going to be comfortable with the victory. But you know I'm looking for the stoppage."

SHAWN PORTER

"It's the competitor in me to get at him any way I can. Until that bell rings, we'll do whatever we need to do to let him know we're really here to fight him.

"When you're in there with a top level opponent, it's supposed to be a close action packed fight. I have everything it takes to make each fight exciting when I step into the ring.

"Everyone has seen everything what I've done in my career. Everyone knows I can take a punch and I'll be there from the first round to the last round. We'll see what happens to Errol as the fight goes on.

"This is the best camp I've ever had. The nutrition and everything has been spot on. I'm ahead of schedule and that's where I plan to stay. I expect to be eating Friday morning.

"I'm aggressive and I'm strong and guys can't handle it. There are things that happen in the ring and you just have to move with it. I'm always ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

"I expected it to get heated today. I know that if I fire at Errol, he's going to fire back. That's how the fights going to be as well. Everyone got a good taste of what you'll see Saturday.

"Being in the underdog position is literally where I come from. Northeast Ohio is always an underdog. Everybody works where I come from. We always do the best we can.

"The resume is for everyone else to compare and contrast. For me, it's all about who's in front of me. I believe I have the right recipe to be the person to get the job done Saturday. I have the style to challenge him physically and mentally.

"We didn't change too much of our program heading into this fight. For the second time we went down to Washington, D.C. for part of our camp."

ANTHONY DIRRELL

"The underdog or the favorite I'm always going to ''The Dog' no matter what. People can have their opinion on the odds, but it doesn't play into my mentality at all for this fight.

"This is a fight that could very well steal the show on this pay-per-view. It's an honor to be in this position. It's a dream to be on a card like this defending my title.

"I have to see how it plays out, but age is just a number. You see Manny Pacquiao and fighters like that who went out and beat younger opponents. You have to be determined and still focused on the game.

"Experience is definitely a big key in this fight. I think that he has holes in his game and I'm going to expose it on Saturday night.

"The cut from my last fight won't be an issue for this one. That fight was over six months ago, so if it's going to heal, it should be healed. It doesn't affect anything I'm doing in the ring.

"My training camp in Las Vegas was spectacular. It's all about taking yourself out of your comfort zone and push yourself to the max to be successful at this elite level.

"I don't think this fight is going the distance and I know I'm having my hand raised at the end. He got dropped with a jab and I hit harder than Ronald Gavril."

DAVID BENAVIDEZ

"I'm very motivated for this fight. I feel like I have another opportunity to not just get a title, but take it from a champion. I've worked very hard for this fight. Dirrell has never been knocked out and I'm taking the challenge to be the man who does it.

"This is the perfect time for this fight. I'm getting stronger every day. Dirrell feels like he has a lot to prove to the fans. So it's going to be a war as long as it lasts.

This is going to be an amazing card. It's a stacked card from beginning to end. I want to make a statement and steal the show.

"Dirrell is a great fighter and we're both ready for what we're going to do. There's a respect between us, but I'm going for the knockout. If I don't, he's going to get a beating.

"I'm definitely going to make this weight class my home. I have no problem at all making weight. There's a lot of great fights to be made at super middleweight and we're going to stay here as long as we can get those fights done.

"As of right now, all of my attention is on Anthony Dirrell. We give him the respect he deserves because he's a champion at the end of the day. It's going to take my best to beat him and we're looking forward to doing it.

"Dirrell has experience, plus some speed and power. He can change from orthodox to southpaw and has a lot of tricks in his book. He's been in there with some good fighters. But what motivates me the most is that he's never really been hurt and I want to be the first. I know when I put my hands on somebody, I can hurt them."

(Featured Photo: Stephanie Trapp/TGB Promotions)