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beauty-and-passion · 4 years ago

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Time to talk about the flower shirt

You read the title. Time to talk about this.

This is the infamous flower shirt Thomas put on in his store and, since the fandom is the fandom, everyone started to speculate about those flowers.

At first, I didn’t want to do it. They’re just flowers and other people already talked about them, so what could I possibly add to the conversation?

But while I was writing about Orange, I had to talk a moment about the orange flower. It was supposed to be a small parenthesis, just a couple of words about that.

But then I looked at the other flowers and what other people told/not told about them and how some didn’t find Patton’s flower... so here I am, adding my two cents to this theme.

You needed it? Probably not. Well, I’m writing it anyway.

So let’s take a closer look at those flowers and see each one in detail:

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Roman: Red rose

Should I really explain why it’s perfect for Roman? Red roses are the universal symbol of love. Basically in all cultures red roses symbolize passion, true love, romance and desire. Also, according to this website, even the shade has a meaning! In fact, the deeper the red shade is, the stronger is the passion.

And even the number of red roses has a meaning! In this case, we have only one single red rose and that "represents love at first sight, or if it’s coming from a long-term partner, they are saying “you are still the one”.”

You know what that made me think? About Thomas telling Roman “You’re my hero��. A perfect symbol that he was “still the one” for Thomas.

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Orange: Lantana camara

This is an incredibly peculiar flower.

Lantana Camara symbolizes severity and rigour. And this alone can be analyzed in all possible ways, but there are other interesting details about this plant I think it's worth mentioning.

Lantana is toxic for livestock, such as cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and goats. According to Wikipedia, previous studies suggested it could be toxic for humans too, especially the green unripe berries. However "other studies have found evidence which suggests that its fruit poses no risk to humans".

Lantana is a freaking invasive plant. In some areas, it's so predominant, to reduce biodiversity, because its presence "can significantly slow down the regeneration of forests, by preventing the growth of new trees". Also, as if this isn't enough, this plant can also produce toxic chemicals which inhibit other plant species.

Lantana has also a great adaptability, that helped it to be so invasive: it can live in a wide range of different environmental conditions, it can survive long periods without water, heck it's even resistant to fire. It's not a plant you can underestimate. Like Orange, I assume.

But Lantana isn't just an invasive plant. Lantana has always been used for medical purposes, because it showed good antimicrobial, fungicidal and insecticidal properties and its extract helps against respiratory infections and ulcers.

Also, since it doesn't have many pests or diseases, lantana became a common ornamental plant. It even attracts butterflies!

In other words: isn't that the perfect plant to symbolize the double nature of a dark side? It can be a threat, change the environment, destroy and even kill. But it can also be a medicine, something useful, something beautiful.

Whoever Orange is, Lantana camara tells us that, whithout a doubt, he’s a dark side.

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Janus: Sunflower

Do you think Janus isn't perfect enough as he is? Do you think there's not enough husband material in the snek?

Well, you’re wrong and the sunflower is here to prove it.

Sunflower symbolizes loyalty, adoration, longevity, vitality, worship. Now add this up to the sunflower’s behaviour and how it follows the sun... and you’ll get Janus. Janus literally acts like a sunflower: Thomas is his sun and everything Janus does is for him. His whole existence is centered around Thomas.

But we already knew that, because it's the same message that shone through his playlist. Everything about Janus tells us how much he adores Thomas, from his canonical behavior in the series, to his playlist, to this flower.

Oh, do you need another proof that this is flower is perfect for Janus? Some societies use sunflowers as religious symbols. Ah, some good ol' reference to religion: it’s like being in his playlist all over again.

And, of course, sunflowers are used for a variety of reasons, like cooking oils, skin care and so on. Even the flower says self care.

This man is perfect.

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Remus: Green chrysanthemum

Here's another interesting flower.

Chrysanthemum symbolizes death and it’s the typical flower used for funerals. And I thought this was its universal meaning. It was perfect for Remus just like that.

But then I found out that Europeans use chrysanthemums for funerals and to honor the dead. This flower actually has a whole lot of meanings, some completely different from this.

In China, for example, chrysanthemums are associated with wealth, prosperity and long life. Also they're symbols of new life and reincarnations, so they're the perfect gift for old people or newborns.

While in Japan chrysanthemums are symbols of power and royalty. And that's even more fitting for Remus, because he's a Duke, so he is royalty.

But chrysanthemum also symbolizes friendship - and not just "a friendship", but a meaningful one. It's a symbol of loyalty, devotion, romantic/platonic love and, in general, positive energy. It's a flower with an incredibly strong meaning, so it can't be given too lightly.

And this makes it even more perfect for Remus. It's a flower with a huge plurality of meanings, it's both associated with life and death, it's powerful and it's royalty.

Also, you can eat it. Isn't that the perfect Remus flower?

(On a side note: please notice how chrysanthemums and sunflowers are both associated with joy, loyalty and devotion. I would have never considered "joy" a common trait between Janus and Remus while loyalty and devotion... well, they both care about Thomas and his career and they both work for him despite not being accepted, so I can see why those are common traits.)

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Patton: Nemophila

Surprise surprise, this flower wasn't easy to find. I’ve never heard of it, so I had to search among endless lists of blue flowers, hoping to find one that would perfectly match the one on the shirt.

And that’s how I found nemophila.

First of all: nemophila is also known as "Baby Blue Eyes" and it's an extremely rare color to find in nature. It’s very famous in Japan, thanks to the Hitachi Seaside Park. Open this link: it’s a literal sea of blue and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Of course, it attracts people every year.

Nemophila represents prosperity, congratulations on success and victory. Not the first things you would associate with Patton, right?

Well, while I was searching more informations about this flower, I found out this website about the essence of Baby Blue Eyes and the passage I quoted down below has the exact same words you can find on that link:

With its pronounced affinity for water, the Baby Blue Eyes flower essences addresses qualities of tender sensitivity, innocence and trust associated one’s early childhood relationship to the father, or other significant masculine figures that are in some way disturbed.

Very often the father was absent, or there was a lack of support or genuine presence. The Baby Blue Eyes type attempts over time to cover this wound of vulnerability with a false “hardening,” such as emotional distancing, mistrust, cynicism or spiritual alienation. It is a flower that can be equally helpful for men or women, although it is especially needed for many men who struggle to become strong, by disowning their pain.

So nemophilia’s essence has qualities associated with childhood, to the father figure and attempts to “repress” and hide emotions.

That’s Patton. That’s him, period. The childhood-related emotions, that are linked to Patton’s longing for “a simpler time”. The mentions of a father figure - who migh be absent or showing lack of support (like, idk, suggesting you should die so your friends live?). And the attempt to “cover the vulnerability” doesn’t remind you anything? Like the Nostalgia episodes?

This flower is Patton.

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Logan: Blue petunia

I would like to say, from the bottom of my heart, a huge "FUCK YOU" to this flower, because I spent TWO DAYS searching all the blue flowers in the world and all possible variants, asking myself why this goddamn flower looked so familiar and why it was so hard to find. Blue isn't even a common color in nature, so why couldn't I find it?

I've learned more about blue flowers in these two days than in my entire life. I've searched among flowers I never saw before, like glandora diffusa, leschenaultia and omphalodes verna. I was so desperate to consider this flower a new species, with the petals of a bellflower and the corolla of a morning glory. I even found a goddamn chinese variant of the morning glory that was somehow similar but not that much and why, WHY this was so hard to find?!

And then, after two days and a lot more desperation, I remembered: my dear friend @reptilianwithscallions told me about a post they made, regarding this shirt and the flowers. Maybe they had some idea about Logan's flower?

Well, let's all thank my saviour and this post, because otherwise I would've kept searching until the end of my days.

Long story short, Logan's flower is a fucking blue petunia.

And it's a very peculiar choice, because petunias have multiple meanings, several of which can be contradictory.

In general, petunia symbolizes anger and resentment. It reminds someone that you're still angry or disappointed by their actions and you haven’t gotten over the things that caused these feelings.

Oh my, I didn't know we were back in Logan's playlist. It's basically what he kept expressing towards Thomas with his songs: that he was angry at Thomas for his decision, that he doesn't approve that Thomas hasn't "a real job" and so on. Petunia is a flower that screams passive-aggressive, so it's perfect for Logan.

But petunia's meaning deeply changes, depending on the color of the flower. And while petunia in general symbolizes anger, a blue petunia is a symbol of peacefulness, intimacy and deep trust, shared between two or more people. It's so wholesome, because the deep trust reminds me - again - of Logan's playlist and how it ended: no matter what, he and Thomas are always best friends.

Also, petunia flowers have even a secret meaning behind. Since they’re also gifted to new neighbors or to people who have just moved into a new home, they represent a perfect welcome and a way to express affection and kindness to others.

You’re lucky to be so wholesome, you tricky flower.

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Virgil: Perennial Geranium

Geranium is a confused flower.

Some of the other flowers have conflicted meanings, but not as much as this flower. These are the most common meanings I found:

Folly or Stupidity

Gentility and kind nature

Clever minds

Ingenuity

Melancholy

Perfect gift for a bride

You can gift it to someone with whom you have planned a meeting

You can gift it to someone with whom you haven't planned a meeting, just to make them feel welcomed

True Friendship

See? It’s confused.

Aside from jokes, this variety of meanings is due to its great diffusion: since geraniums grow everywhere, every culture gave them a different meaning. And sometimes these meanings depend on the situation too.

Awww, isn't it perfect for Virgil? He can be good and bad at the same time. Anxiety can be bad for Thomas and detrimental for his life, but it can also be the alarm Thomas needs. It depends on the situation.

And, just like geraniums in general symbolize positive emotions, happiness and friendship, so Virgil is in general a good guy. All he does is for Thomas' wellbeing, not against him.

And this is confirmed by the vast use of geranium's essential oil. It's one of the most popular and it has a ton of properties: anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant, decongestant, relaxing and so on. Just like our Virge boy can be incredibly useful under the right circumstances. (Did someone say "Flirting with social Anxiety"?)

Also, geraniums are simple, humble flowers that usually grow outside, but then we take them and make them part of our homes. Once again, it’s Virgil: he's an outsider, he's humble, he talks bad about himself - but Thomas and the others took him and made him part of the famILY anyway.

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Thomas: Cherry blossom

I searched this flower everywhere and the only one that looks like the one on the shirt is the cherry blossom. Why did Thomas make a cherry blossom with eight petals, when they all have five? I have no idea. Is this a different flower, maybe? Maybe, but I’m done: I've looked at enough flowers and I don’t have any strength left.

As you probably already know, cherry blossoms are extremely important in Japan. They're beautiful, they're everywhere and they're meaningful.

Why? Because cherry blossoms are considered the perfect metaphor for human existence. When they blossom it's a pink ocean, a party, people go to admire them - but they’re short lived, because in two weeks, the blossoms start to fall. It's just like human life: a small, rich, glorious parenthesis in the void. Something little and precious that ends soon.

But cherry blossoms also symbolize rebirth, optimism, hopes and dreams. When they bloom, it means springtime is coming and spring has always been associated with renewal.

That’s a very good choice for character Thomas. He’s basically a cherry blossom, the whole series is: something that reminds us how beautiful life is, how multi-faceted, how important. Just like Thomas' single being encompasses seven different sides of himself, so life presents a wide range of choices, of aspects, of flavours. All beautiful, all worthy of appreciation, no matter how different they can be from you and your experience.

And this becomes even more important, in relation to the passage of time and the transience of life. Because life is short and, after that, there won't be any more time to appreciate anything.

In addition to that, I would like to point out how the theme of passage of time is something we already saw in the series. And not just one time, but several. Since the first season, we have episodes all around the concept of growing up, growing old, not being a child anymore, becoming an adult. And the last Aside keeps going in this direction. It's clear this is a big theme and its connection with the cherry blossoms proves it.

But why is the flower so different on the shirt? Because Thomas wanted to mess up with us? Probably. Almost certainly. Once again, thank you Mr. Sanders for making me question everything.

The floor is (figuratively) yours now: if you have any other information, thoughts or opinions, feel free to share them.

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bitd · 2 years ago

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top five lyrics? :O

AGH THIS IS SO HARD BECAUSE THIS CHANGES ALL THE TIME. I LOVE THIS QUESTION. i'm limiting to tmg because i cannot pick five lyrics of all time honestly

the bad taste in our mouths / the twinkle in your eye / good things never last / bad things never die, which while not the height of songwriting does mean the world to me because it is the basis for the way I AM about the alpha couple

and i handed you a drink of the lovely little thing / on which our survival depends / people say friends don't destroy one another / what do they know about friends? which is uniquely just. i think so much about hte alpha couple obviously but this one affects me deeply and makes me feel absolutely insane.

the ghosts that haunt your building are prepared to take on substance / the dull pain that you live with isn't getting any duller < just does things to me. makes me ill in the head. etc etc. you understand how it is

the arteries are clogging in the main frame / there's too much information in the pipes / i saw the mess you left up in the east bedroom / a tigers never gonna change it's stripes / i guess, i guess / but jesus what a mess / one way in / no way out / the men were here to get your belgian things / and only i was here to watch them do it / i wish you had a number where you are / it's hard with no one here to help me through it - i have a very complex relationship with your belgian things and this specific set of lyrics for many reasons and i am experiencing another period of my life where it is disorienting with how much i cling to it but the number where you are bit always gets me for reasons i can't exactly put a finger on.

and what would this list be without: i saw the future in a dream last night / somebody's gonna get hurt, somebody's gonna get hurt / hope it's not me / but i suspect it's going to have to be + when it's time came, i could see it happen / blossoms black and sweet as texas crude / i saw the future flowering like a ruptured vessel / somebody's gonna get screwed / it won't be me. / one day i am going to walk out of here free, which are lyrics i have clung to for a long time and "I*" have clung to even longer *DID HAVER

honorable mentions to i loved you before i even knew what love was like and i am gonna make it through this year if it kills me of course. and to when the shovels break we still have our fingernails for being the best marketing for bleed out. i could go for longer but so much of my interaction with lyrics is like. association with specific people. like i write down good reasons to freeze to death in my spiral ring notebook but here in the long tresses of your hair i am babbling brook + when you came in, i could breathe again are associated with people and extremely strong positive Feelings about those people that i consider integral to my existence even if i don't really think the songs they're from are that good.

thank you so much for the question i love infodumping about my mountie goats :D

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formulatrash · 4 years ago

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Lewis just got his 7th title. I'm happy for him.

Me too. What Lewis has done is so almost incomprehensibly titanic, in any sport, that it feels like something that needs contextualising again and again.

It’s easy, if you remember Lewis in the hybrid era, in Mercedes, since Rosberg left - whatever the recency is that creates the illusion it’s almost straightforward for him to perform at this extraordinary level - to minimise his achievements, even if you don’t intend to. Lewis now is a force of nature so impossible to rival that it wouldn’t really matter if you gave everyone GP3 cars and told them to go, the rest of the field would just be closer together behind him.

I am, as Tumblr constantly likes to remind me, very old - nearly as old as Lewis himself - so I remember him arriving in the junior formulas and hoping that he’d get to F1. He was goofy and nerdy and awkward and a bit of a gamer - actually way more like Lando than you’d believe, in retrospect but he had this burning, furious defiance that he was going to get there and win. Because that was what he needed, to overcome the barriers and my god, there were a lot of people openly saying what they try to at least code these days, back then.

Lewis when he was young was a Verstappen-esque firecracker of teammate beef. I don’t know that anyone other than maybe Max could have taken on Alonso, at that point, in his junior year - he’d destroy Nelson Piquet Jr, despite all his weight of racing heritage, the next - and it took a level of pretended self-assurance that I don’t think Lewis had, then, at all.

He’d proven himself all the way up, was still proving it. Licking his and McLaren’s wounds, meekly apologising after the end of the spygate scandal he’d had nothing to do with while Fernando pranced off from the smouldering remnants, there were plenty of people who were so pleased to see Lewis humbled.

He took the championship, instead. Which made a lot of people very angry, despite really it only being Felipe Massa who had a right to be. It was very underrated, in the British press; made more striking because Jenson Button’s win, the following season, really wasn’t and the ludicrous bar that Lewis would have to jump to prove himself was moved again.

Not just good enough for F1. Not just good enough to take on a two-time champion. Not just good enough to become a champion himself in his second season. Lewis was regarded as a sort of curious celebrity most people barely considered an athlete or British, in the press.

He’s never gone a single season without winning a race. Even in dog cars, biding his time for an opportunity. Olden times McLaren was a different, dysfunctional beast to the one Andreas Seidl has somehow steered back to success and especially the Dennis era was run with a pretty iron fist* so it wasn’t necessarily somewhere the drivers had much ability to steer developing the car and you can see how badly that affected them in the KERS and ERS era.

Comparatively, joining Mercedes, Lewis walked into an opportunity where instead of having to furiously fight for that, he could work on it as a project for the whole team. People really underestimate how hard he works, in terms of factory hours and how it wasn’t always the fastest car.

The team pitted him and Nico against each other to force the project forwards and that turned into a destructive mess, backfiring on them quite badly. It’s probably the worst call Mercedes have made, in their modern F1 existence, although a cynic would say: it worked.

Yes, they trod a line of near-implosion for years that was only steadied by Nico’s retirement but they became, unquestionably, the best, in the inter-garage arms race. Lewis didn’t necessarily become a better driver in the sense of having more brilliant race craft for it but things like qualifying laps, at which he is now without doubt the GOAT, became so crucial that he learned to take on more and more feedback from engineers without ever forgetting it.

When they tell them, on the radio, that their teammate is finding more speed through corner X and braking later - and they’ll show them more detailed telemetry - then Lewis can, like any driver, take that on and do it. But he can also make hundreds of micro-adjustments per lap without ever forgetting them or dropping one - again, they all can do it, sometimes, perfectly but he just doesn’t ever not.

Since 2016 he’s been able to grow as a driver without being in the pressure-cooker of mind games with his teammate and that shows, too. A more outward-looking, globally-focussed Lewis, a Lewis who’s more comfortable sharing elements of himself, treating himself less like an industrial espionage project.

(some irony, for a man who started his career amidst spy gate)

If Lewis was a white boy from a millionaire or billionaire family, his achievements in sporting terms would still be staggering. He’s neither of those things, so they’re placed on a different scale.

It is now, even for the most racist, the most close-minded alleged fan of the sport, impossible to deny that he has the records on paper. They can’t take away the seven titles and 94 wins, no matter how they try to minimise them. The bar that was constantly set higher has been met and exceeded and a driver who, for a lot of years, looked set to be a one-off champion whose brilliance could be more easily swept away as a footnote to diversity, has become the benchmark against whom other achievements can be measured.

That Lewis did that despite the odds against him? The racists won’t see that and sadly can and do try to deny it but that is a world-changing, sport-transforming moment that’s been a decade-and-a-half in the making, since F1 started looking achievable for him.

Lewis has nothing left to prove, so all that furious energy he’s used for years to get this will take other outlets - he still, after all, as everyone, has a lot to change. I am so excited to get to work in the sport during this era, to see what kind of transformative effects he’ll have, has already had. The work shouldn’t be on Lewis and mustn’t be on him alone but you do absolutely fucking love to see it getting done.

Anyway, I’m so proud of him. I’m so astounded by the skill and focus - the relentless pursuit that’s driven him all this time and that isn’t diminished at all by having got here. I truly believe Lewis is gonna carry on awhile yet and it’s fucking exciting just to think about what we’re going to witness this short-ass nerd kid who looked kind of sulky and defensive in press conferences for years do.

(and, of course, the first driver accused of being a social media poseur who didn’t pay enough attention to the sport. Plus ca change...)

*This is a really petty example but you had to wear a tie if you went to MTC, as a visiting journalist, in the beforetime.

#f1 asks

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neeterloveschenford · 3 years ago

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RNM 3x03

Hey y’all! Was last night amazing or what! We finally got Malex!!!!!! We got Echo, Delmanes, and Kybel as well. So many good things happened. Let’s dive right in.

Poor Max. Poor Liz. Why did they use each other’s last names. (Weird) And then we segue right into Ortecho sister’s quality time. I love it when they bicker. They are so realistic when they do.

Broody Michael breaks my heart. And Jones is such an asshole the way he’s working Michael and Isobel. Which brings us right into broody Alex. (I love these two goobers.) I’m not sure whether Eduardo is good or bad, but I sure do like him. Also sassy Alex (Men who stare at goats, LOL) gives me life.

I do love Isobel and Maria sassing each other. I am enjoying the mystery of who gets murdered, but I am now convinced it’s not Michael for sure. And I think all the Sanders clues are red herrings. I still think it’s going to be Rosa. I don’t think she’ll actually die, cause they’ll figure it out before then, but she’s my leading contender. Also, don’t think I didn’t notice Max put up a card with Arturo’s name on it. Get that man off your murder board dude. If Arturo dies, we ALL riot!! And this is just what Michael needs. He truly believes he deserves to die, especially now that he knows who his father is.

Love that Isobel is seeing visions now. I’m hoping that next week when she and Maria take their “journey” that it’ll be her dreamwalking. I always loved that power of hers.

Have I mentioned that Kyle is the MVP of this season? I love his reaction to learning that there is another Max. And as much as he dislikes Max, you can see how much he cares about him. He’s just good through and through. I love him. He’s also totally done with Liz. The way he called her out on all of the things she did last season was fantastic! Max and Liz needed to hear everything he had to tell them.

Jones is so sneaky. I just love to hate him! He is working Isobel so hard. But I think it’s going to backfire. She’s going to embrace her empathic nature and read him like a book. I get the sense that Louise was able to sense the evil in him and that was how they knew that he was the enemy. Perhaps there was even a relationship between Jones and Louise. Maybe he’s even Isobel’s father! (Yeah, farfetched, but I determined to see him be somebody’s daddy!)

Ok, I don’t care what anyone else says, I am digging Delmanes! They are cute together. And I am not upset in the least that Alex ships it too. Look, I know I have had my issues with Maria. I think 2x06 is one of the most toxic episodes of tv out there. But I’m not going to blame Maria on something that was clearly all about Carina. I’m willing to chalk that episode up to a weird fever dream and go from there. She’s interesting this year. And one thing that makes that possible for me is her relationship with Greg. He’s honestly everything that Michael tried and failed to be when they were together. And Alex explicitly said in that episode that he could never hate her. They are best friends and everyone that hates either needs to suck it up or find another show to watch. She ain’t going anywhere. And if she can find her happiness with Greg, then so be it.

BERT!!! It’s been so long! I’ve missed him so much. And what is up with this Jordan? What an ass! Doesn’t he know he’s going to go the way of Racist Hank? I like the way everybody doesn’t know what to do with not racist Wyatt. As long as we dont’ get a romance between Wyatt and Rosa, I’m going to see where it goes. Could be interesting.

Back to my boy Kyle and him calling Liz out for all her nonsense. She needs to hear this! The cost of all of her unethical experiments was too much. I hope between this and her talk with Rosa she will begin to understand that she can’t play God with everyone else’s lives.

I LOVED Alex and Greg. Greg laid some truths on Alex that he definitely needs to hear (Are we sensing a theme in this episode?) Greg’s right. Why didn’t Alex join one of the other branches of the military? Why did he choose the one that his father was in? Alex has to rid himself of Jesse’s voice in his head. When he does, then he’ll finally be in the headspace to have a real relationship with Michael. And whether it’s good or bad, I think Deep Sky is going to be the catalyst for that growth.

And of course Michael is spoiling for a fight. And this Jordan creep is going to be the perfect target for him. (Also, protect Bert at all costs!) And did Max not notice the dudes in the alien masks? Didn’t a group of them attack Maria like one day ago?

Which brings us to my new favorite Malex scene. OMG! It was less than two minutes, but it packed such an emotional impact. Alex laid his own truths on Michael that were harsh but so so true. Michael has always held himself to a different standard than anyone else. Could he have been gentler? I don’t think so. I think it was exactly what Michael needed. And then we get the closest to a present day I love you than we’ve ever gotten. If Michael died, Alex would burn the world down. That’s how much he loves him. After everything that has happened between them. Despite the fact that they don’t know if they will ever truly be together. In spite of the fact that they haven’t been together in two years, Alex still loves him enough to destroy anyone who would dare to hurt Michael. We got feral Michael last season. By God I want feral Alex this season. I think we’ve earned it. (Also, MICHAEL GAVE ALEX A PRETTY ROCK! That could be the most unintentionally romantic thing he’s ever done.)

I also loved the fact that that emotional moment led right into the Liz and Max emotional moment. Max is so willing to let himself die just to protect Liz. And I think Liz is finally starting to see the damage she did to their relationship. It was easy to run off to the west coast and blame Max for everything from afar. But now she’s seeing first hand the damage she’s done.

Which led right into the emotional Kybel moment. (The shipping was strong this episode!) I love how she cares about him taking care of himself. And that is exactly what Kyle needs. Someone who sees him for the hero he is and wants to protect and cherish him. If they don’t happen, then I just don’t know what I’m gonna do. (Besides cry hysterically.)

I’m digging the whole mystery of the machines. Alex’s machine turning on and being amped up by the pretty rock that he got from Michael. And it turning on Kyle’s radio from his father. What things have you been hiding all these years Jim Valenti?

Poor Max doesn’t realize how dangerous Jones really is. It’s no wonder Jones is free now. It’s going to be interesting how everyone figures it out.

It amazed me that there was absolutely zero things that I disliked in this episode. All three episodes have been absolutely fantastic so far. I am just loving everything that has happened. I cannot wait for what’s to come. I just know it’s going to be so much goodness.

As always I have some theories that are percolating in my brain. I will be posting about those later. But until then, hope everyone has a wonderful week! I will see you all this time next week!

#roswell new mexico #roswell new mexico s3 #spoilers #it's only my opinion

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willowaudreykeyes · 4 years ago

Note

Prompt: myths and chaos with Logan with the line “so apparently microwaving this ancient manuscript isn’t a good way to find out its secrets.”

Remus’ Puzzle Temple Of Friendship And Chaos

Warnings: Baby eldritch thing, tentacles, one eye, vague sexual reference that’s from a song

Platonic Logince, brotherly-and-on-good-terms Creativitwins and Intrulogical of whatever relationship interpretation that you want.

------------------------------------------------------

Roman

“Remind me to thank your brother at dinner tonight.”

“That’s if we make it to dinner. And you all call me extra; he made an entire temple for us to explore within a week!” He spent a lot of energy on it too. I still remember the shaky finger he pointed at me after the second day of working on this Incan-like temple; slurring tiredly about not going into the space between our Kingdoms and ruining the surprise. He also forced me to carry him to his room as he dangerously swayed on his feet. I’ll have to thank him by working just as hard for his and Logan’s adventure after the two of us finish this one.

“I know; yet I’ve yet to thank him for doing so. And I must ask how long it took to make this language.” Taking my first glance at said language, I recognise it immediately as the first language that Remus and I had known. We had known it better than English at one point, until Patton insisted that we make English our main language so that we wouldn’t confuse Thomas.

“Oh, we’ve always known it. We used to speak it in front of Patton as kids to confuse him and we still use it occasionally whenever we send a letter, or in his case a slab of mysterious leather, between our Kingdoms.”

“So you can translate this?”

“Of course!” I hold the slightly chipped black and red tablet out at arms length, quickly noticing that everything on the tablet makes no sense. No wonder he was so tired after every day in the Imagination; he even made us a puzzle. “It’s encrypted though, so we have to figure out what the cypher is first. And knowing Remus, it could be anything.”

He takes it from my hands and adjusts his glasses for the fiftieth time today before tapping his chin. I doubt Logan realises that he has so many visual tells when he becomes passionate and interested. “He would leave a clue somewhere where we could find it. He’s chaotic, not unfair.”

“Aha!” In a spark of inspiration, I rough up my hair and gain a huff of defeat from the neighbourhood nerd as I do the same to his own. It had dust from the temple in it anyway. “We just have to think like Remus! Now what’s the most logical place to put a cypher for this thing?”

“Where we found it.”

“Okay. Now what’s the opposite of that?”

His eyebrows do that cute thing where they pinch down a bit when he’s confused. I don’t bother hiding my smile as his eyes shift around, taking in invisible words as he tries to find my line of thinking. “I’m… not following. The opposite of where we found it is every room that we didn’t find it in, and we went through forty-three rooms and eight hallways; perhaps half or less of the entire temple judging by the size and spacing between each room.”

“And only twelve not-too-tough traps, which is less then his usual quota…” Probably because of the exhaustion, but I should have figured that out earlier. I’ll up the level of hazards in his next one as a double thank you for his hard work. “Anyway, we must think chaotically if we are to beat the chaotic one!”

With a silent nod, he attempts to fix his hair as I take in our camp and the temple before us. It’s very reminiscent of an Incan temple in design yet is mainly made out of pitch black obsidian; with intricate wall carvings engraved with pure ruby, emerald, moonstone and diamond; and a whole lot of animal and human skulls that are packed tightly into every ceiling. And I must say, adding the creatures from both of our Kingdoms as the wall carvings is a nice touch.

Except I won’t say it out loud because the majority of them are of naked people, naked cannibals and of naked murders.

At least our camp has some more class to it! Logan wished for something realistic, but was soon swayed by my enchanted Harry Potter tent that’s magically large enough to have a working bathroom and still look like a ‘regular’ camping tent from the outside. I do like regular camping, but I prefer to have a shower after a tub of Thomas-knows-what is dropped over us and getting into every uncomfortable crevasse. Just thinking about that disgusting concoction makes me shudder.

“... Perhaps our microwave?”

I snap my gaze back to him, beaming at his rather shy sounding remark. He always sounds shy when he says something that deviates from his path of logic. At least he’s opening up a little more. “Perfect! I knew you’d think of something!”

“It was the first usable thing that I saw. Were you daydreaming again?”

“Nope- Using the microwave to solve a cypher sounds like something Remus’ mind would think up. He did mix sardines, lettuce and one of your ties in the blender before drinking it once.” I mumble the last half -I probably shouldn’t out Remus just yet for drinking Logan’s tie a few months ago- and put the tablet in the microwave and set it to three minutes. Three is the magic number after all.

“Did you say something?”

“Mumbling ideas to myself is all!”

The microwave suddenly glows a bright purple and I manage to drag Logan in close before blocking something from hitting the both of us with my summoned shield. With a pop, crackle, fizz and several loud noises that sound like tearing metal; I risk peeking over it in perfect sync with Logan. The sight of three large tentacles wiggling out of the new holes in the camp's microwave brings out a sigh from me. A very loud sigh. Remus could probably hear it and currently giggling to himself from the comfort of his bedroom.

“It may be best not to touch those. Or the microwave.”

“But the tablet!” Logan pushes by my shield and barely escapes my reach before I am able to pull him away. With a straight posture and a quick slick back of his hair, he opens it and nearly jumps into my arms Scooby-Doo style from the loud pop that occurs. I’m in front of him again within a moment, but the usual feeling of hostility that Remus puts on his dangerous creatures as a warning is lacking. At least this thing won’t try and face-hug me like that faceless chicken that guarded the temple did.

Inside was a brown-black-blue ball of tentacles, with three longer than the others that retract out of the newly-made holes in the microwave. My heart stutters as a singular, goat-like, boysenberry coloured eye opens from one of the many seams in the creature; just to quickly dart it’s vision between the two of us before landing it’s creepy gaze on Logan. “Huh. So apparently, microwaving the ancient manuscript isn’t a good way to find it’s secrets- but a great way to hatch an eldritch abomination.”

“If you’d hand me a blanket, perhaps bringing it with us would be advantageous in future explorations.” Of course he wants to bring the nightmare creature; he always does. I hand him the nearby dish towel instead as I don’t feel like leaving this thing alone with Logan would end nicely.

“As long as you're carrying it.”

“Of course; you’re the one with the sword and shield.” I’m rather sure that that means that he would make me carry the disgusting creature if I wasn’t the one with our only ways of defending ourselves; and I don’t know if I should dramatically put my hand to my chest in horror or just pout.

I go for the pout.

Only for it to be rather rudely ignored as he cradles the little beast in its new home, wrapping it’s longer tentacles around Logan’s hands and attempting to remove his watch for a moment before I manage to grab it before they do. Logan’s too busy holding it in one hand and going through his cue cards to notice though. “And I shall name it as randomly as I can; since Remus seems to name all of his creations.”

“Why?”

“It’s only polite to follow custom; and the custom for Remus is to name his creatures.” I hate everything about this -plus the tablet is just full on missing or destroyed now too- but Logan seems enraptured by the little thing. I roll my eyes and put on my backpack as Logan already begins walking up the temple steps. We just had lunch, so we have a chance of leaving before dinner, but I highly doubt it.

Despite not being able to see, the creature manages to grab out one of the cue cards from Logan’s hand before letting him snatch it back. With a quick smile after reading it, he pockets them all again before getting a better hold of the thing before it runs away and eats a whole deer or something. “It’s name shall be Anaconda-Do-Not.”

God-fucking-dammit Remus. I frown at the thing as we enter the fire-lit entrance, glad that its eye is hidden under the dish towel. Sheep eyes have always kind of creeped me out; especially on things that aren’t sheep. “You’re not allowed to hang out with Remus, Virgil or Janus anymore if they keep giving you those weirder cue cards.”

“This one’s from Remus. It’s a metaphor about-”

“I KNOW WHAT IT IS!” A light pain follows my facepalm, but I ignore it and march onwards. Hoping to get rid of this thing as quickly as possible. “Let’s just… go shove it into a keyhole or something already.”

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By the way, I really hate that stupid Anaconda song and so I know that it’d be perfect for Remus. Hopefully the ending is alright because it was the only bit I really had issues with ^^’

Oh and Remus definitely fell in love with the new Eldritch creatures name.

@ladyedwina @5am-the-foxing-hour @sparrowofsong

#roman sanders #logan sanders #remus sanders #logince #platonic logince #creativitwins #intrulogical #of your choice =p #tw eldritch #tw tentacles #tw one eye #willowkeyes writes

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depressedtransguy · 3 years ago

Text

don't read this unless you're @thedragonemperess or I will come to your house and shave your teeth with a razor

@angelwiththeblue-box you can also read

10/07/21

Stephen took me to the carnival for our two year anniversary yesterday night. It was... phenomenal. Normally I don't like going out so publicly on our dates, especially in something as popular as a carnival, but it might be my favorite date of ours so far. He picked me up in his dad's Lamborghini at around 7:30, just as the sun was beginning to sink below the tree line of this stupid little town, and kissed me up against the car as soon as he got his hands on me. The start of his beard pricked me lightly as we did. Then he squeezed my hand lightly and told me he had a surprise that he hoped I liked. I told him if it was from him then I'd adore it. We shared another kiss through giggles before we slipped into the car and began to drive off. Our hands were intertwined on the center console the whole time. He always told me that it was hard to keep his hands off me with me in range and my consent. God... I love him more than anything. But, anyway, the carnival. As we neared, his thumb slid over mine and he told me to close my eyes, which I properly did. He's the only one I trust enough to do that with. I could tell he was excited and a little anxious just from the way he kept squeezing my fingers. It was adorable. Even cuter when we stopped and he temporarily let go as we stopped, only to move to my side of the car and slowly lead me out onto the gravel of the parking lot, practically buzzing with anticipation. I didn't even care what it was at that point, whatever made Stephen this thrilled to show him had to be good. Then he told me to open my eyes. And Jesus Christ I think I audibly gasped. I didn't know what I was really expecting, but when the bright lights spread all throughout the fairgrounds, exploding the navy sky with color, I could swear I was in another realm. As Stephen asked me if I liked it, I noticed his eyes were nervous, so with sparkling eyes I pulled him close and told him I loved it. The smile on his face was worth everything and more. He actually told me the same thing about mine. That was before he took my hand once more and led me past the ticket taker, pulling them out of his jeans and handing them off, us receiving a smile from her as we continued walking out onto the grass. "I know it's not traditional, but when I passed this place the other day I suddenly wanted to take you here," is what he said. "We can leave any time you want." "As long as you're here, I don't care where the date is," is what I said back. And boy was I right. It didn't matter that there were a ton of other people there, they all faded into nothing but background characters as Stephen miraculously won the balloon pop game and happily gifted me a little goat stuffed animal, one that I held close to my heart as I beamed at him. As I pressed my body close to him on the roller coaster, my fingers digging tightly into his bicep, and he held me steady as I stumbled onto the platform post ride. As the ferris wheel stuttered to a stop as we sat at the top, Stephen's hand on my thigh and my hand on his shoulder, and we kissed there, surrounded by nothing but the lights and the infinite abyss of stars. Once the night was over we had slow, sappy sex in his car, too filled with adoration and the need of skin against skin for us to drive back to one of our houses. I lazily drew shapes in the mist on the windows as I was brought back to my place, my mind filled with a soft bliss, and my body feeling like I had been washed over. I had never felt more at peace. And I still did, even as we had our long goodbye kiss and I went to sleep alone, the goat pressed against my chest. I was at peace. So how the hell did I end up here?

A tear slipped off of Loki's cheek and splattered onto his messy handwriting, bleeding the words together and making the many sections of his diary incomprehensible. It made him want to cry harder. That night could very well be all he and Stephen had together, and he was destroying the only stable record of it. Loki tilted back his head and squeezed his fists as tightly as possible.

On 10/07/21, at approximately 11:27, while driving from Loki's house to his, a speeding car struck Stephen's from behind and sent him spinning out of control off a cliff and forcing him to end up upside down near the river below. The person who caused the accident is yet to be found. And Stephen had been in surgery for 17 hours by the time Loki arrived at the hospital after school, right after he had gotten the news. He was still unconscious by then and practically looked like he had been forced through a meat grinder. Loki couldn't even glance up at him anymore, it made his heart twist into knots and make him want to throw up and sob. Not because he looked disgusting, although he certainly didn't look great, it was solely because of how his state reminded him of how hurt his boyfriend was. Loki couldn't imagine how much pain he was in. The cuts and scrapes on his face, the bruises on his arms, and the absolute wreck that his hands appeared to be, it all made him want to tear the skin off his bones. It hurt so much.

With a loud curse Loki snapped his notebook shut and pressed his face into it, doing his best to clear his mind instead of thinking all that he and Stephen had had together. The late nights of 'studying', the private dates, the stolen kisses at school... it had all slipped through their fingers because of one fucking idiot on the road.

Maybe it was his fault. Maybe, despite it being a school night, Loki should have insisted on Stephen staying the night with him. None of this would have happened if he had done that. Of course it's my fault.

Although they were trembling badly and the fact that he was still on the verge of tears, Loki slowly opened his fists to check up on the mess of blood that was beginning to pool up under the curve of his claws, smeared across his pale skin and nails. As he heard the door open, Loki closed them tightly once again with only a tiny hiss of pain. It was the doctor.

"Please tell me he's going to be okay," Loki whispered after a few seconds of nothing but tentious silence between him and the doctor, the concerned expression that she had exhibited when she entered and noticed him already making his stomach churn. "I don't care if it's not the truth, please just tell me he's going to be okay."

She-Dr. Palmer, as it read on her name tag-sighed gently and walked over to the young man, placing a hand on his shoulder as she sat down next to him. He didn't consider that a good sign. "I'm not going to lie to you hon. But let me ask first. How are you connected to Stephen?"

"He's-*hic*-he's my boyfriend."

"Alright honey. I'll give you the bad news first. His hands have suffered an extreme amount of nerve damage to his hands, and the surgeries so far have done nothing to correct them. It's looking like his hands are irrefutably damaged. He's never going to be able to use them normally again. But that's only if he comes out of the coma, which he only has a 50% chance of," Dr. Palmer explained as gently as was possible as it was to tell a teenager how badly his partner was injured.

It was like Loki's already broken heart shattered. The previous night could very well have been their last time together. And sure, it was perfect, but was he satisfied with never being with Stephen again? "What?" Loki choked out.

"I am so sorry. I truly am, but there is some good news. The probability of his awakening has only been getting higher, so that 50% chance of him not coming out of the coma could very easily become zero percent in no time. And you can help with that too."

For the first time since the school day did Loki look hopeful. "I can? How?"

"Talk to him. Despite his state, he can hear you in there. Talk about your time together, the past- I know it might hurt you, and please don't push yourself out of your comfort zone, but do what you can. Okay?"

With a bit of hesitation Loki slowly nodded, once again removing his nails from his palms. "Okay. I can do that," he told her.

Dr. Palmer gave him a small smile and gently patted him on the back before she stood up again, quickly checking Stephen's vitals, and then left to most likely check on another patient. Loki then took advantage of the silence and pushed his chair over to Stephen's bedside, ignoring the blood smearing on the chair's armrests as he did so. He still stared down at his lap once he was close, fearing breaking down in tears for what seemed like the hundredth time, but he did have the courage to lift up one of his own hands and rest it on his bicep. "Hey." An immediate voice crack wasn't a great start. Not that he knew any other way to begin. Any thoughts of their past two years together made Loki want to sob, now especially since he knew that he could very possibly never make any new ones with him. But he couldn't just stay silent. He had to say something, anything to make his guilt of not making Stephen stay the night with him lessen just a little bit. And according to the doctor, talking about their happy memories together could actually help. Hopefully. But it was nonetheless better than crying his eyes out for no reason. "Remember how we started dating?" Loki paused as if he was asking for an answer. "We were sophomores. You were in my chemistry class, and I always thought you were really cute, but I was too scared to talk to you and you were too nervous to, so we passed nothing but awkward glances and sarcastic comments for months on end. Until we got paired up for a project and you asked for my number. I gave it enthusiastically of course. From there we started talking and flirting a bit, although still too anxious to actually make a move, until you grabbed me when we were in the library and pushed me up against the back wall and asked to kiss me. You can guess what my response was." He chuckled dryly. "I might be able to say that I was already in love with you when you pulled back for air and gave me that little gorgeous smirk of yours, pulled my hips to yours, and whispered 'can I do it again?'. I was putty in your hands in the Greek philosophy section."

Loki quickly fell silent at the mention of his hands. With a small swallow, he managed to continue with a low voice. "When we were science class partners, you would tell me about how much you wanted to become a doctor. A neurosurgeon to be specific. I didn't exactly know why yet, you told me that a few months into our romantic relationship, but I eagerly listened about your plans for Columbia nonetheless. Not that-" he was crying again, "-not that that'll be possible now." Loki cleared his throat and tried to wipe his tears away with his trembling hands. "Even if you wake up." The student began to gently stroke his boyfriend's bandaged bicep while still staring at his lap, watching water splash onto where the excess of his oversized hoodie was rolled up and darkened the gray fabric.

It was Stephen's hoodie.

Using his feet, Loki slowly began to push his chair back until he eventually hit the wall, bunching his hands up in the hoodie's collar and raising it up to his nose, inhaling the signature cologne that he had fallen in love with over the last two years. The hood was soon flipped over his head and his knees were brought up to his chest, curling himself into the fetal position, and then finally letting all his tears out into the secure housing of Stephen's smell. That's where he had always been safe, and no matter either of their states, it still worked. Loki actually fell asleep like that after half an hour or so.

Stephen's parents found him in the morning and called Loki's family, and Thor ended up carrying him back home.

But as soon as he woke up he went back to the hospital. He wasn't missing the possibility of Stephen waking up.

10/31/21

I've still been going to school. Because my parents want me to. But I'm not doing well. My grades are beginning to sink from it, and the teachers don't care. I can't focus in class, I'm just thinking about if Stephen's going to wake up or not. What if he's waking up alone while I'm in Calculus? What if he flatlines when I'm in history? There's just too many probabilities. I don't give a shit about my grades, I just want Stephen back. I know that's such a stupid little kid thing to say since we are high schoolers, but it's been two years! And he's shown me so much love and care in that time that I don't know what I'd do without him. Not that anyone else seems to care. This is why I want Stephen back, he's the only friend I have left. In real life friend I mean. And I don't say that like I'm attached to his hip all the time, we have our own private time that I respect, but they all moved away. Why am I defending myself to a notebook? God this hospital is making me crazy. Stephen looks better, which I'm really glad about. Dr. Palmer tells me I've helped a lot by staying and talking to him, he should most likely wake up soon, but she did tell me that I can go home soon instead of only leaving for school and for showering. But I'm not doing that. At least not until he wakes up. If- WHEN he wakes up, I bet I'll get a lecture for not taking care of myself well enough just for him, so I'll probably be forced to go home more. God, I want him to lecture me. Just to hear his voice again. It's been over three weeks. I don't think I've worn anything besides underwear that isn't his. Jeans, sweatpants, shirts, hoodies, everything. It's the least I can do to replace the feeling of him being with me. At this time, I can't help but think of our Halloween's together. The first one we weren't even a month into dating, so we just bought a bunch of candy and ate candy at home while watching horror movies. But the next year, after a full 12 months of being in love, we dressed up as Gomez and Morticia Addams. Stephen looked unfairly hot in that striped suit with his hair slicked back and a teasing smile on his face. That was some good sex we had later on. Stephen said he had a thing for the dress I had on, as well as the red lipstick, which I believe since his hands barely left my hips the entire time I had it on. He also grinned from ear to ear when he saw the lipstick kiss marks I put on his collar. I love him. God I do. Please... I need him back.

Loki closed the notebook after his last few words of desperation and slipped his pencil behind his ear, raising his head up to look at Stephen with glassy eyes. He looked peaceful. By then all his scrapes and cuts were mostly healed, which made him look way better, but his hands were still pinned up in suspended holds with ragged scars lining his rough skin. More surgeries had been done on them, and Dr. Palmer once again said that he would be permanently disabled when he woke. Once again it hurt Loki's heart to think about how much pain that he must be in. The swollen scars didn't look like they felt nice. "I'm so sorry," Loki whispered as he reached up to his face and gently brushed his overgrown hair out of his face, still feeling guilty about the incident. "If I just made you stay you would still be here with me." Moving around the bed's guard rail, Loki sat on the edge of the mattress and sunk his fingers into his thick hair once more, gently toying with it as he began to talk again. "Remember junior prom? It was on February 26th; on the same night as the public prom that the school had put together. (We wanted to be alone.) You put on this navy blue suit of yours that perfectly brings out your eyes, and I bought this short green dress that made you grab my ass as soon as I came out of the house. You gave me an Agapanthus corsage that you had made yourself. And then, you kissed me, and told me that the flower meant 'never-fading love'. Like ours." A tear fell down Loki's cheek and plopped down onto Stephen's bare bicep. "I don't exactly know where me telling this story was going, my mind is a bit fuzzy and has been for weeks, hospitals being bad places to sleep plus depression isn't really an equation for good sleep, so I'll just say this. I'm not going anywhere until you return. And when you do, I'm not leaving either. Your recovery, physical therapy, going back to school, I'm going to be by your side. Okay?" Loki gently kissed Stephen's forehead and continued to stroke his hair, his other hand resting on the crook of his elbow and gently stroking his skin as if he was soothing him. "So please wake up."

With one last small peck Loki reluctantly slipped off the bed to enter the hospital bathroom, quickly using the bathroom before rubbing the sink water on his face as if that would wake him up from the haze that he had been living in, just moving from the hospital to school to the hospital to school and so on so forth. It was just a cycle of being depressed and near and being depressed and far. Fun.

Just deciding to repress his emotions for the billionth time that month, Loki shoves it down and goes back out into the main room, taking a book of Hamlet out of his bag to pass the time before he uncomfortably fell asleep in the chair. Most likely in just an hour or two since it was almost midnight. Every time he knocked unconscious in the overly small hospital chair with no support whatsoever, in front of the bed that Stephen laid in, Loki missed their cuddling more and more. Stephen's arms around him and his nose buried in the back of his neck was always the highlight of Loki's day/night. And it had been weeks since he was actually held. And by god did he need it.

But these thoughts quickly made him feel selfish. The thought that he was whining about not being held or not having his boyfriend confirmed as okay while Stephen had been struck disabled and in a coma sickened him to his core. More and more guilt stacked on top of his chest until he felt like he couldn't breathe, forced to snap his book shut and slam it on the floor. Why did everything have to hurt so much even though he didn't have a scar on him to show as evidence of his pain? It just made him feel so fake.

Loki sunk down into his seat and covered his once again teary eyes with his palms, bouncing his leg against the floor and digging his nails into his bare forehead, letting everything crash over him like a third wave tsunami. Not as extreme as the first, but it just made the present damage worse. Stop it. Stop it. STOP it. STOP IT. Loki was three seconds away from screaming out all the pain in his heart. But then he heard a groan that didn't belong to him echo in the otherwise empty room.

His palms flew to his thighs and he looked up at Stephen.

And his eyes were open!

With a gasp Loki jumped up from his chair and cupped his boyfriend's face, trying not to get too close to shock him, but just needing to hold him and let him see him. "Stephen, you're up!"

"Dewdrop... what happened?"

The student wanted to cry. He could speak. His voice was a bit strained, clearly tired and weary from lack of use, but it was there and that was all that counted. But besides that, the question couldn't be ignored. "You were in a crash baby, right after you left my house. Someone tail-boned you and you skidded off a cliff. Darling... it's Halloween."

"What?!"

Maybe he could have put it better. But Loki didn't really know how to explain it in any other way. "It's okay, darling, it's okay. Please, just focus on me for a second. Could you do that? Not the pain, not the fact that it's three and a half weeks later than you can remember, please look at my eyes and focus on me," he instructed as best he could, gently stroking his cheekbones with his thumbs and praying that he didn't glance down at his hands that he most likely could barely feel. He wanted to break that to him gently.

"I can do that."

"Alright, good. So yes, you were in a car crash and have been in a coma for about 25 days. Most of your scrapes, cuts, and bruises, have thankfully been healed. But your hands... they were crushed on impact.

#i hope you like it #to delete later #i am totally not hella nervous #lower your expections #now #do it

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jungle321jungle · 4 years ago

Text

Ask No Questions (I’ll Tell No Lies): Part Three

An Agent and a Con Man.

With such conflicting backgrounds it almost seemed laughable for the two to be soulmates. Fate had chosen this, but Logan had chosen to arrest the man across from him no matter what.

Taglist: @hells-missing-a-goat @angels-and-dreams @ollyollyoxinfree @gattonero17 @chumo-cookie @dreaming-always @anxiety-ismy-name @mrbubbajones @janustheliar @simplyapannightmare @why-do-you-care

Ao3 - Masterlist

~~~~

Part Three

“Daniel! You look positively dashing.”

Janus forced a smile on his face as he made his way over to Remy. The two exchanged the standard kiss on each cheek before he spoke, “Evening Remy. You’re looking well as always.”

“Well?” Remy asked, adjusting the sunglasses he had no use for in this event hall, “I was hoping for a better compliment than that.”

Janus resisted the urge to gag and he instead gave Remy’s companions a nod, before he looked back to the man with a suggestive smile on his face, “Well you have company here, I don't think they’d like to hear what it is I am really thinking.”

~~~~

“I assume your true thoughts were more... colorful?” Logan interrupted.

Janus gave a smile in return as he stirred more sugar than necessary into his coffee, “I know multiple languages, Agent. There were rainbows of all spectrums in my mind.”

~~~~

Remy gave a laugh and Janus barely had time to mentally prepare himself before Remy had thrown an arm around his waist- and it was dangerously low. “Well feel free to whisper then.”

Janus gave a smile as he leaned in and whispered, “Any finger below the belt will be broken.”

Remy didn’t even have the audacity to acknowledge the words as a threat as he instead pulled Janus closer to him, “I like how you think babe.”

“Daniel Perez,” Janus stated, introducing himself to Remy’s friends given it seemed the man wasn’t going to do it himself.

“He helped organize things here tonight,” Remy supplied. “He’s gonna help me get some nice stuff.”

“I didn’t organize anything,” Janus corrected with a modest smile. “I just convinced my father that there was a good investment in sponsoring the auction. And then in return he sent me to oversee his investment tonight, but I’m not worried so I think I’ll mainly oversee the alcohol.” The words were simple ones, but they were enough to cause the small group to chuckle, and for him to get an out. He turned to Remy with a tad bit of mischief in his eyes, “Would you like me to get you a drink? Champagne perhaps?”

Remy didn’t give him a reaction at all as he said that would be fine and let go. While Janus was thankful to move away he couldn’t help but be a tad frustrated. What would it take for Remy to do something other than give a smile that made him want to punch it off? He forced himself to take a calming breath as he headed to the open bar pulling out his phone as he did. He was greeted with a text from Remus.

I like him

Janus didn’t bother with a reply.

“Things just seem to be going amazing don't you think?”

Janus barely looked up as empty glasses were set before him, “How are we looking?”

“The Target just walked in,” Virgil replied as he poured. “And the artist is stationed.”

“Good. Then do me a favor and make sure he follows the plan?”

“I don’t leash him.”

Janus picked up the two glasses of champagne and turned to walk back to Remy, “Maybe you should.”

~~~~

“What? You’re not going to ask what my marvelous plan was?”

Logan blinked at Janus boredly in return, “Was I supposed to? Wasn’t the whole point of all this that you were going to tell me?”

“Well yes, but I’m telling you what I heard, saw, and thought. Clearly I did not see my own plan go down. I had an alibi all night.”

“Fine. Then do tell me Blank, what was this plan of yours?”

Janus opened his mouth to respond before he closed it, a smile playing on his lips. “Well, why don’t you tell me? ...How would you do it?”

“I’m not a criminal, I would never do such a thing.”

“Humor me,” Janus requested leaning forward in his chair. “I did say I am interested in how you think after all.”

Logan paused taking in the face across from him before he set the notepad he had been writing in down with a sigh. “Do I get any more details?”

“If you need them.”

“A rich club owner trying to buy a present for the victim’s birthday... and from what I understand your forger, Roman, and your thief, Virgil, were there. Roman to do what I am still not sure, and Virgil to blend in if he was posing as staff. And I assume Remus, your hacker, was in a safe location monitoring everything. And this was all at an auction for the elite. That is the basic information correct? Oh and of course there’s the painting that was stolen from the victim’s home.”

“I believe that’s all.”

“Well I supposed the first thing you would need to do is convince the victim, Thomas Sanders that he wants the forgery.”

“Alright, how?”

“How?” Logan repeated in agreement. He paused in thought his mind lacing and weaving together Janus’ words until he came to an answer. “You’d make sure he overhears.”

~~~~

Janus was thankful to escape Remy for the little time he could. He crossed the room of guests still milling about waiting for the event to start keeping a pleasant smile on his face as he did. There was an art to walking through a party. Janus had learned that he needed to smile, make eye contact, and flow as the people did- it didn’t matter that the crowd was taking him in the wrong direction- in a space like this he’d reach his destination through patience. He had learned that as he went he needed to have a small presence by way of giving compliments here, pausing to ask someone about their life there. But he always knew where to draw the line. He needed to speak just enough for them to wonder where they had met before- but not so much that they would need to ask him, and certainly not so much that they would dare remember him.

As he neared the Target coming towards him, he found himself morphing into a group casually and directly the conversation the way he wanted.

“What am I interested in?” he repeated louder than necessary as the Target came closer. “The Crown Jewels, by C. I can't believe that such a painting lost to time has resurfaced.”

“I didn’t even know it was up for bid,” One of the women commented. “I can’t believe it's been found.”

“I love C’s works,” someone else put in. “The whole man is an enigma. He’s only known by a letter, and isn't it true that even a depiction of his face has been lost to history? That he destroyed his only self portrait?”

“Any work of his would be a reflection of his soul wouldn’t it?” Janus asked stepping back slightly- only to bump into a man. As wine spilled down his sleeve he hurriedly turned and apologized to the man.

The Target was apologizing profusely himself. “I am so sorry! I will pay for your dry cleaning Mr.... um?”

“Perez,” Janus supplied. “Daniel Perez.”

~~~~

“Let me stop you there.”

“What?” Logan asked, slightly annoyed. “Is that not how it went? Planting the idea of the painting in his mind? And I assume you most certainly had your hacker place images of The Crown Jewels all over his web searches.”

“While I won’t deny that, but rather I’d like to ask you something... What was it I told you when we first started this conversation?”

“Your real name.”

“Before that.”

Logan paused his eyebrows knit as he glanced over his notes, he didn’t have anything written prior to the man’s true name.

“It was back before we left my place,” Janus started. “I told you that I had...”

“You told me that you...” Logan paused racking his brain as he tried to run through their long conversation through his mind before letting out a curse. “You met the victim last night.”

“Ding ding! So, how do you think it went down if I didn’t interact with him on the night of the auction?”

Logan drummed his fingers on the table slightly as he thought, “Well... just because you usually take the lead as the grifter... doesn’t mean that you have to.”

“Go on.”

~~~~

Roman was itching for his chance to do something. Until now he had been flowing among the guests with ease, Janus’ lessons- lectures echoing in his skull. It was truly annoying, it had been years since he and Janus met, and yet he still couldn't get that nagging voice giving orders out of his skull. Roman gave a laugh as the rest of the group he was with did before he took a breath pushing memories of Janus away as he moved on to the next group. But unfortunately they resurfaced. “There was an art to walking through a party,” Janus would say. And quite frankly with that Roman couldn’t disagree. The flow of people were like the strokes of a brush. Each one different yet distinct and completely and utterly connected despite itself. And each one would interact with another and many different ways. So Roman followed the strokes of the painting he could not fully yet see. He could visualize it though, everything he wished to go right tonight and in the future, but Remy had already been one unexpected blemish and he hoped there wouldn’t be more. So to do his part, Roman smiled, laughed, and talked his way in and out of groups of people- out of swirls of paint until he found the portion of the canvas which would become his masterpiece.

And all it took was one intentional step back.

The Target was apologizing profusely. “I am so sorry. I will pay for your dry cleaning Mr. um?”

“It’s not important,” Roman told him with an easy going smile. “I’m no one of your status Mr. Sanders, and this blazer is almost out of season anyway.”

“Everyone is important in their own way,” the man disagreed. “But I couldn’t help but overhear. Is it true The Crown Jewels is up for auction tonight?”

“It is,” Roman nodded before he gave a slight laugh, “but now that I know you’re interested I’m not sure I have enough to buy it myself.” As the group laughed with him Roman felt his phone buzz in his pocket, Remus was right on time. He quickly apologized to the group he was with and the Target as he put his phone to his ear and fought the flow to head towards the back room.

~~~~

“Better?” Logan asked.

“Much. But I’m not letting you off that easy. How do you think we got the painting accepted? Or how we made sure Thomas didn’t buy it?”

“I’m still working on the first question,” Logan admitted. “But if you had Virgil handing out drinks he could easily slip something in the victim’s which would upset his stomach and cause him to leave.”

“Close, but I’ll give you one for free. Virgil also helped with the distribution of the small appetizers which went around and conveniently found their way to the majority of the people interested in the painting.”

“The ones you hadn’t used as plants.”

“Precisely.”

“So with them and Thomas Sanders gone, Remy was free to buy the painting. And as for getting the painting appraised and inspected... You could have just paid someone off, but that’s not your style.”

“You know me too well, Agent.”

Logan paused scenarios running through his mind as his fingers tapped on the table. There were options- many of them. Time seemed to pass incredibly slowly as he did. He could feel the sun beating down his arm given it had changed positions but he didn’t think to adjust how he sat. He needed to come up with an answer before Janus lost interest. But how was he supposed to come to a single conclusion with so little infor- “You told me your job was an appraiser at first didn’t you?”

Janus gave a satisfied yet surprised smile, “If you have an idea, then tell it.”

~~~~

It had been just over two weeks since Janus had started his job as the newest personal assistant to a man who seemed to have a revolving door of them. Two weeks were barely anything in the larger scheme of things, but they had felt like eternity. He had been sent off on so many pointless errands and he had been running all around the city so often that he seldom had time for what he had actually gotten the job to do. Not to mention the man called his boss was one of the largest assholes he had met (first Remy and now this man? Janus seemed to have terrible luck). His boss barely acknowledged his presence when he was around and when he did, it seemed Carlos was the hardest name in the world to remember.

“His assistants leave so often he doesn’t know any of their names,” a woman had told him pityingly once.

That Janus understood. It was part of the reason he had gotten the job. What he didn’t understand was why nine times out of ten he was called by a female name.

“Marta you're three minutes late.”

Janus attempted to keep his mask on, “I’m sorry sir. There was traffic.”

“Account for it next time.”

“Yes sir.”

“What’s next on my schedule?”

“Well given you canceled your meetings involving any gallery heads today, what's next is a meeting with a man who found an old painting in his grandfather’s home and would like it appraised.”

“Send to a grunt worker to do. Or hell, do it yourself for all I care.”

“I have not been trained in this sir. Also given if the painting is real it would be best to have your name on it.”

For the first time the man across the desk looked up from his computer to stare at the face Janus had put on. “What is it?”

“The Crown Jewels sir.”

The man leaned back in surprise and Janus could see the scheme forming in the man’s mind. His suspicions were only confirmed as the man said, “Does he know its worth?”

“I doubt it.”

“Keep it that way. And make sure we’re the only ones who know about it.”

“Yes sir.”

Greed would always be a fun thing to twist.

~~~~

“And then you’d have Roman come with the painting and the man wouldn’t really be too interested in if the painting was real or not. He’d be more interested in the amount of money he could make and the notoriety he could gain.”

“All true, but you’re missing something.”

“Which is?”

“Someone would notice if Roman carried that large painting in its frame. He had to roll it up to bring it. So if it is simply a painting... then how do we get a bug in Thomas’ villa?”

“The appraiser of art probably would know someone in framing...”

“I’d assume.”

“So you’d put someone there as well, to plant the bug in the frame.”

~~~~

“This one isn’t right either.”

“What about this one sir?”

“Hm? Oh Carmen you’re a genius! This one it is. I'm headed to my next meeting, you stay and coordinate.”

Remus bit the inside his lip as he tried not to laugh as Janus gave his boss a nod. Even from his spot across the room he could see Janus’ annoyance slipping through. It was always funny to him. Seeing the true Janus beneath the layers of makeup, wigs, and contacts. As much as he tried, he was always the same person- and yet Janus seemed to be the only one who couldn’t see that.

Remus sat the counter listening casually to their conversation as he awaited customers. Not like there would be many of them. There hadn’t been someone in at all yesterday, and yet his boss didn’t seem to have noticed. Remus of course had mainly because it just shined light on the fact that he was bored out of his mind. There were so many things he could be doing. He could be playing games, hacking people for the hell of it, watching something, or doing all of the above at once. And yet he was restricted to an old framing shop and his phone. His phone of course was the saving grace, he had recently bought the newest model when he and Roman had returned to visit their parents a few months prior, and since it had rarely left his hands for more than a moment. That had been an interesting trip... he had hung out at the marina, drank, partied, and hacked his father’s company for sport. But then he again aside from boring moments like now that’s all he ever did.

“I’m going to have you lock up today, alright? I have a few things to do.”

Remus gave the man his heartfelt promise that all would be in good hands. So when closing time came, and he had locked up Remus had nearly run for his backpack and pulled his laptop from it. He couldn’t stop himself from silently running his fingers over the keys in anticipation as he turned it on and signed in. When he had he got to work. First pulling up his secure servers before he pulled the bug from his bag and began to sync it. His fingers danced across the keyboard as he worked the colors he had programmed lighting up after each press of a key. This was what he loved doing, sure the rest of it was fun. But using the skills he had gained out of spite was the greatest thing. If only it had lasted longer. But when he was done he shut his laptop and put it back and took the bug with him as he went to the painting. It was already in the process of being framed, but as Janus had anticipated Remus’ boss wouldn’t be done until the following day due wanting to be extra careful and delicate given the nature of the “rare” and “one of a kind” painting. He ran his fingers gently across the wood and metal until he found the spot he had recognized and he pushed it forward before pressing it down. The small compartment opened inward and he dropped the small bug into it before he pulled the cover back into its slot.

~~~~

“While I am convinced that the bug was hidden in the frame,” Logan said, interrupting himself. “I don’t understand why the need to steal the entire painting last night.”

Logan didn’t miss Janus’ smile dip slightly before it was replaced. “We haven’t reached that part of the story just yet. But-” Janus stopped suddenly as the ringing of a phone could be heard. “Sorry.” He pulled it from his pocket and answered it in on motion. “Yes? ...What am I doing? I’m working. There was an-” his eyes looked over Logan’s form before he spoke again. “An unforeseen circumstance, but I am dealing with the predicament. What are you doing?”

As the conversation continued Logan couldn't help but analyze the man across from him as he did. Janus’ body language screamed he was relaxed, and he was incapable of lying in Logan’s presence, and yet somehow everything he was doing seemed to be for show. He wasn’t actively lying, but without hearing the other side of the conversation there was no way Logan could know the scale of this lie of omission.

“Well I do trust you can handle that yourself,” Janus was saying. “Or are you suddenly incapable? ...Virgil, despise is a strong word... You wound me. I nearly- he hung up on me.”

“Working?” Logan repeated.

“Well you seem firm in not wishing to romance me so yes, I’m working. Going above and beyond my usual methods, but given you have no warrant for my arrest and yet you’re here anyway, you’re doing the same. Anyway what was I saying?”

“Stealing the painting.”

“Right, right. But before I tell you about that, don't you want to hear more about how I dealt with Remy?”

“Quite frankly it doesn’t sound like I have much of a choice.”

~~~~

“So everything is set for tomorrow then?”

Janus raised an eyebrow, “How many times do you plan on asking me that? This is my line of work you know.”

“Not really sure you should be using that as the basis.”

“Says the man who drugged me.”

“Oi, who’s fault is it really that you got drugged?”

Janus could only stare at the man seated across from him in disbelief, “Yours!”

“Run me through it again,” Remy ordered as he made himself comfortable with both legs thrown over the side of Janus’ arm chair.

Janus rolled his eyes, but ultimately he complied. “It's simple, you and I keep Thomas with the guests and out of his office, while my guy runs in, grabs the bug and leaves. And he’ll be under the cover of my hacker.”

“Why not leave the thing? You said it was sending you the audio already. Why retrieve it?”

“Because, once the blackmailing begins those people are going to go knocking down Thomas’ door and he’ll do the math that all this started after he got the painting. He can then tear it apart, but if there’s nothing to find and no way to trace us. The end.”

Remy didn't seem completely satisfied but given he was too busy typing away at his phone to speak, Janus took it as an opportunity. “Why do you even want to participate in this? Did Thomas do something to you?”

“What does it matter to you?”

“It doesn't.”

“Then keep it that way.”

“Did you decide what you want yet?” Janus asked to redirect the conversation. “I’m leaving soon and I rather finish everything before I leave.”

Remy paused before he turned in his seat to sit properly. He flicked his sunglasses up and his unsettling gaze fixed itself on Janus, “What if I told you want to stay?”

“That’s not of equal value,” Janus replied automatically. “You’re already getting a cut of the future profits.”

“But think of all the fun we could have, babe!”

“No.”

Remy gave a frown as he considered Janus before he gave a shrug, “Then I’ll have to keep thinking.”

“Please tell me things are set. Somehow each time I spend time with Remy my skin crawls more instead of less.”

“Everything is set,” Virgil confirmed from the other side of the line. “Roman got us each a ticket to different places and then from there we’re on our own and as agreed we will meet up in a month. Even different forms of transport.”

“Good.”

“But how do you plan on getting out without Remy knowing? The rest of us should manage but it's clear he’s uh... attached to you.”

Janus gave a sigh, “I plan to give him a little diversion of sorts. The day after next is when we leave. You all don't need to worry about me I’ll-”

“I’ve never worried about you once in my life.”

“Please remind me why I am friends with you?”

Virgil ignored him, “So how are you getting out? Remy’s clearly got connections based off of what Remus reported. Dangerous connections.”

“Well that sounded a tad like concern didn't it?”

“Janus.”

“Fine. I’ve been acting more distant to Remy later and at the party I’ll drop a rumor to his friends. I’m almost done spinning the silk around him, and then once I break it hopefully he should get stuck long enough that I have enough time to leave. It should take him about 18 hours after the party starts to get free and come after me, but my flight is in 19, and I plan to be at the airport past security long before that.”

“Don't fuck up then. I’ll talk to you after.”

Thomas’ villa was beautiful. That Janus already knew from all the pictures and planning done, but it was entirely different seeing it.

“Quite the place right?” Remy asked pulling Janus close.

His two friends eagerly nodded in agreement, and with that the four of them headed to the door. When they approached the door was already opening to allow them entry. And when they had it was clear the party was in full swing inside. People looked up as they entered, most likely wondering why Remy had bothered showing up this late when the party had started closer to eight, but then again most of them probably knew that Remy had a flair for the dramatic. Perhaps that was why no one commented on how late they were. Rather they hurriedly shoved drinks into their hands and absorbed them into the conversation.

“Remy!”

Janus turned with Remy and turned to look at Thomas Sanders. It was kind of strange, meeting the man he had come to the city for months after he had planned it. He had access to every detail Remus could dig up about the man’s life, and he had been listening in on Thomas’ conversations for weeks, and yet here and now was the first time they had ever locked eyes.

“Thomas!” Remy greeted with a slight slur as he greeted the other man. “How are ya?”

“I’ve been good. But how have you been? I have been trying to contact you for weeks to thank you properly for the painting!”

Remy gave him a dismissive wave, “See I ignored those because I didn’t want you trying to give it back to me. This is to make up for all the birthdays I missed in the past and those I’ll miss in the future.”

Thomas gave a laugh in response, “Of course. And oh, hello to your friends.”

“You already know those two, but this is Daniel Perez,” Remy introduced.

Janus gave the man a smile, “Nice to meet you.”

“You too. But um, Remy?” Thomas asked. “Can I pull you aside to talk for a minute?” Thomas asked.

“Sure thing babe!”

Janus watched as they walked off to the side, and as he went back to the conversation happening in front of him he kept glancing over to the two. As time passed the friends finally noticed.

“Daniel?”

Janus turned from where he had been watching to face Remy’s two friends. “Hm?”

“I said you should join us next week at the network's party,” Sofia told him. Janus had been listening to their conversation of course, but Sofia and Manuel were co hosts for entertainment news, and if he wanted them to take up his story he’d need to up the drama.

“Oh,” he nodded slowly before his gaze flickered back to Remy. “I’m... not sure if I can make it.”

Manuel took the bait, “Is something going on between you two?”

Janus shook his head quickly, his eyes darting over the listening ears he amassed from neighboring people, “It's fine really. I shouldn’t...”

“You can tell us,” Sofia insisted.

Janus gave a sigh before he leaned in slightly, “I just don’t know if I can do this anymore. The hot and cold, I mean.”

“I know he’s a flirt but he's a good person.”

Her partner gave a nod, “He’s just trying to have fun before he settles down with his soulmate. Didn’t you say you were doing the same?”

“Well yes but...”

“But?”

Janus paused looking around before he leaned in again, “I found my soulmate.”

“Oh who?”

The woman beside him slapped him on the arm, “Idiot, he means Remy!” she hissed.

“Oh... oh... I understand. Wait, you said hot and cold?”

Janus gave a nod and let his gaze fall to the floor, “He... he dismissed me... I’ve been staying here trying to hope something will change but it never goes further than anything you guys see. He puts an arm around me and shows me off but he... he dismissed me.” Janus gave a slight sniffle and he forced himself to look up the ceiling blink repeatedly as if trying to hold in tears.

“Oh my God,” Sofia gasped. “He did? I am going to-”

“Don’t!” Janus told her quickly. “Please. I just want to enjoy tonight and then I-I’m actually leaving to go on a trip tomorrow. I just... I just need to-”

“Somewhere to think?” Manuel guessed.

“Yeah... but please don't tell him I told you. I don't want more drama. He’ll try to stop me from leaving and I just need to be alone. I’m only here tonight because I promised him weeks ago that I’d come.”

“You poor thing,” Sofia frowned, gently taking his face in her hands and wiping away the beginning of tears. “We’ll keep your secret. And give him a stern talking to once you’re gone okay?”

Janus gave her a thankful smile. “Okay.”

~~~~

“How long did they manage to keep the secret?” Logan questioned.

“Do you not watch the news?” Janus asked with a smile.

“I was more concerned about coming to arrest you.”

Janus gave a laugh in reply and Logan silently hated how much he tuned in to the pleasant sound. “They didn’t make it twelve hours, but Daniel’s name was kept out of it. And Remy is currently stormed by paparazzi, but he’ll make it out sooner than later.”

“I see. And you claimed you’re leaving today?”

“Is that a problem?”

“It might be... but what happened for the rest of the night?”

“I did my part, kept my alibi. Remy was talking to Thomas most of the night, so I left it to him to ensure Thomas was distracted and Virgil wasn’t caught. The end.”

“That’s it? Logan asked in disbelief. “There must be more.”

“Oh? Do you like my story that much, Agent?”

Logan ignored him. “What about the painting? Why steal it? What is to be gained? I highly doubt that you were suddenly feeling bad about lying about rediscorved art.”

“Of course not. No that was... a hiccup of sorts... as if the murder wasn’t already.”

“What do you mean?”

Janus gave a small sigh and rubbed at the bridge of his nose as if upset at the thought of it, but he told the story nonetheless.

~~~~

The moment Remus had altered the security footage he was moving. He left the staff quarters and headed to the base of the villa. He checked his surroundings to ensure he was alone twice, but then he could hear Remus’ voice in his ear.

“No one is watching you but me Virgie.”

“Something feels off,” Virgil whispered back.

“You’re always paranoid. I wouldn’t let you get caught. No! What? He deserves a red card for that, not a yellow!”

“Are- are you watching the game without me?”

“Hurry back and I won't have to. Oh do you want color commentary in the meantime?”

“No.”

The word was ignored as Remus began to describe the game going on, and Virgil did his best to ignore it as he began his ascent up the trellis. He bit his tongue as he climbed silently worried about whether it would hold his weight (despite the fact he had tested it multiple times previously) but even so he climbed it. The trellis came to a stop beneath the balcony so now came the next issue. He took a deep breath and pulled the metal spikes from his belt and stabbed one in above him before he did the same with the next. And then he was hanging. It was slower moving than he’d like to admit, but he had done this in harder locations higher from the ground. He reached the end of the underside of the balcony and reached up to begin the turn from underneath to the side. He just needed to keep his foc-

“Goal! Yes!”

Virgil jerked in surprise and quickly steadied himself as his heart rate spiked. “Remus?”

“That was such a good- hm?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“You could at least say please, manners are everything Virgie.”

Virgil held in a retort as he climbed further and reached up for the railing. It wasn’t until he had both feet firmly placed on the other side of it did he calm even slightly. The halls were empty and Remus was monitoring, but that didn’t mean that Virgil was planning to move slowly. He hurried down the hall keeping his steps as quiet as possible and headed toward the office. He glanced back and forth out of habit before pulling out his lockpicks. The long pieces of metal were as familiar to him as his own fingers, and perhaps that's why in a few expert clicks, the door was open and he was on the other side of it. The room was dark and quiet, but that was to be accepted given the host was elsewhere in his home. Virgil took a step in turning on his headlamp as he did. When he did, the painting was easy to spot. It hung on the wall behind the small bar looking out to the rest of the room. He went to it quickly and ran his fingers over it looking for the compartment Remus had engineered, but he couldn’t find it.

“Remus, where is it? The opening?”

“Bottom left.”

Virgil frowned and put pressure on the spot once more only succeeding in deepening his frown. “It's not here.”

“Yes it is.”

“No its-”

“Just shove it forward then- Someone’s walking your way. Get it and get out.”

“I would if I could.”

What must’ve been a Greek swear echoed in the earpiece, “It's the Target, I don't know if he’s headed for the office or somewhere else, but he’s about to turn to the hall. Get out now.”

Virgil could hear the footsteps now. He bit his tongue in thought as panic rose in his chest. He hurriedly turned off the headlamp as they grew closer each one echoing on the floor as it came closer. But there was nowhere to hide in this room- not if he didn’t know what the man was coming in here to do. Damnit, what was Janus even doing? The idiot only had one job for the evening and it seemed he couldn’t do that. Would Virgil really have to teach him everything?

Virgil ran eyes over the room in the dark before a wardrobe stuck out to him and with no other choice he bit back a curse as he moved to the door- locked it- and ran for the wardrobe. He had just closed the door behind him when the office door opened. From his spot holding his breath amongst the rich man’s clothes (hell why did this man even have a wardrobe in his office? Did rich people change clothes in the middle of meetings?) Virgil could only see the light of the room, but he could hear. The Target had crossed the room and was rummaging through his desk. Time seemed to slow as Virgil’s body cramped at the uncomfortable position, he couldn't risk moving. He was already barely fitting in the space as it was, and movement could cause the door to open and he couldn’t have that even if the cramping on his leg could be due to his former injury. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about the feeling. This was no different than any other challenge. Challenges were the breath of life. They were what inspired Virgil to move forward despite everything, because nothing came easy. His mom had taught him that, and even if she hadn’t he had realized it soon enough. Because what came easy wasn’t always deserved.

The closing of the office door and the click of the lock were like blessings. Virgil climbed out giving a sigh of relief as he did. He flexed his leg a few times before he closed the wardrobe and moved to stand in front of the painting once more. But he still had no clue how to access the planted bug.

It was another swear in his ears which distracted Virgil from his analysis of the frame. “I need you to stop talking about the game.”

“I...I think he’s dead.”

Virgil froze, “What?”

“I-I don't... I looked back to the game and when I looked back there’s a ton of blood on the floor!”

“What where?”

“At the end of the hall!”

“I’ve had enough,” Virgil decided, removing the large painting from the wall. “Drive the van as close as you can get.”

~~~~

“He was spooked by the victim’s death and took the whole painting then?”

“Yes,” Janus nodded tiredly. “Virgil has been doing this longer than me, but he isn't as skilled in keeping his emotions in check.”

“And the reason there is no footage of the murder is because Remus had already been looping that area because Virgil was due to make his escape that way.”

“Correct.”

Logan paused in thought as he squinted at Janus as the words settled in his mind. And just like that all at once, the riddle had an answer, “That would mean the killer had to know that the footage was being manipulated.”

“They would.”

“And the only person who knew what was happening that night, who was there, and who wasn’t you or Virgil was... Remy.”

“I came to the same conclusion,” Janus nodded.

“But why would he-”

“I’m sure you can figure that out yourself, Agent. My story was about what I am doing in this city. Not about the murder.”

“They’re connected,” Logan argued. “This means Remy has been murdering people for weeks! And-”

“Perhaps, but they also are only strung together by the word of a chronic liar and an Agent out of line.”

Logan faltered as he looked into Janus’ eyes. The man had let his confident mask shatter to reveal what was true because at this point it didn’t matter. Logan already knew the truth, he had known it since the conversation had started or perhaps even before then, in this situation, he was powerless.

“I’ll catch him,” Logan said anyway. “Remy will be charged.”

“I believe that you’ll try. But now, Agent... I think I should be going.”

No. “You can’t-”

“Why not?” he asked standing. “This is a conversation, not an interrogation after all. One happening off the record. Even if you were to arrest me one day in the future, this would all be more than circumstantial. So I need to leave the country before Remy catches up with me.”

No no no no.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to find Blank, get his answers and arrest the man no matter what. It didn't matter that Blank or Janus was his soulmate. It didn’t matter that he didn’t even have permission. All that mattered was that he couldn’t let Janus walk away. He had been doing this for too long. For so long he had been chasing the wolf in sheep’s clothing and his merry band, he had been running through countries and letting time pass. It had been over two years followed by six months of riding a desk hoping and praying for this moment. He had spent six months pretending he was satisfied as long as he had Patton but this moment here was what he had been yearning for so it couldn’t just- just end.

Emotions had never been Logan’s strong suit. Everyone who knew him knew that. But never more than now did Logan wish he could explain the passion- the anger- the fear- the joy- the sadness and more that filled him to the brim.

“Please remember that this case isn’t everything. I know you’ve devoted yourself to it kiddo- and you know I love how into your work you get but... but you’re more than the case.”

Patton had said and meant those words, but here and now Logan wasn’t sure if they were true. Because even if he could arrest Janus here and now what would come from it? He’d arrest the man, and feel better for what? A day? A week? A month? But it wouldn't change that he would still be chained down by his desk by his superiors. It hurt. More than emotionally it hurt physically. There was a pain in his chest and it hurt. It hurt more than he wanted to admit- even if it was just admitting it to his soul. It was hard to admit that he needed more than Patton- when he knew that Patton would give him everything if he dared say the word. He needed his job- what he truly loved more than any person. And the only way he could keep any grasp on his former position and the former case... was to let Janus go.

“I will arrest you,” Logan promised finally.

Janus gave him a smirk and a slight nod of the head, “Let’s see if you keep that promise Logan... And when we meet again, do me a favor and try to be more romantic. If you do... perhaps I’ll have another story for you.”

~~~~~

“Lo!”

Logan lifted his head to see his lover’s face.

“What happened? Are you okay? Did you-”

Patton’s words were cut off as Logan moved forward to embrace his fiancé tightly.

“Lo?” Patton asked softly as he hugged him back.

“I’m sorry,” Logan told him as he buried his face in Patton’s shoulder. “I should’ve been better to you.”

“Hush,” Patton chided. “What could be better than hugging you? Well I guess I prefer it when you’re smiling and hugging me. But this can lead to smiling Logan so it's okay.”

Logan couldn't stop the small chuckle which left his mouth.

“Oh I hear him already.”

Logan shook his head as he pulled back enough to wipe at his eyes, “I love you, Patton.”

Patton gave him a bright smile back, “I love you too. Now I’m going to start dinner and you can tell me about your day and if you met Blank some other time if you don't want to talk now, okay?”

“I met him,” Logan confirmed. “And... well, I got more than I bargained for.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, have you ever considered the thought of having two soulmates?”

Patton’s mouth dropped open in surprise, “No way!”

“Yeah... he is.”

“Wow... well I know I just said I’d wait, but can I go back on it?”

Logan gave a laugh as he pulled Patton close to him again, “Yeah... you can.”

~~~~

This line of work was never something he had seen himself in. He had grown up thinking his only choice in life was to become a businessman and be better than those he was exposed to. And then he had witnessed a robbery, and he fell head first to a world he hadn’t known. And despite everything he had fallen in love with it. The art slipping his way into any group was something he had learned, and it was the art of the lie that he had perfected which allowed him to be such a notorious conman. And nothing could be better than that. Cons allowed him to meet amazing people, travel, and do something only he could. Others could steal, others could paint, others could hack, but only he could weave one another together to reach the goal. Only he was the one who could put things together- or he was supposed to be. But Logan was an anomaly, and even if Janus had the ability to lie to him he was sure the man would have figured him out on his own. “A long while,” that’s how long Logan claimed to have been tracking him. He couldn't help but wonder how long that had been. How long had it been that he had left behind enough clues to let his soulmate into his mind? He'd have to do better if he didn’t want to come this close to being caught again. But at the same time... the thought of Logan catching him wasn’t a bad one. Janus gave himself a quick and mental shake, no. He had other people to think about, and- and if Logan did catch up with him he was sure as hell going to make the other man earn it.

A soft sigh left his lips as he tried not to think about how uncomfortable the coach seats were as the plane moved closer and closer to the tarmac. It had been a longer flight than he had anticipated given the weather not allowing them to land, but now he was more than grateful for a chance to stretch his legs. Then it was off for a month of relaxation and planning before doing it all over again. As the plane landed and began to taxi he reached for his phone and pulled it out to turn it on and was greeted by a barrage of texts.

He didn't recognize the number having wiped off all personal data before boarding the plane, but reading through them it was clear enough who they were from.

What the hell Daniel!? WE HAD A DEAL

Bitch where the fuck r u

I will fkin find you!

What do uthink ur smart or someth?

I have ppl everywhre. They told me about u!

ANd when i tell them that u fkin destroyed me?

i’ll kill u

They went on like that for a while but Janus paid them no mind, and he did his best not to smile as he picked up his napkin and rubbed it over the phone. When it was his turn he climbed out and took down his carry on and moved to leave. He gave his thanks to the flight attendants as he did, ensuring he complimented a woman’s earrings as he did so he could drop the napkin- and phone in her trash without her noticing.

“One month to relax,” he breathed out as he left the plane. One month of no work... he wasn’t entirely sure he would survive that long without doing what he loved. But, perhaps it would make quite the prologue.

~~~~

Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Sequel

The end! But as you see above I'm planning for sequel! So I hope you're curious about learning more about the history of Janus and crew and about Remy. So yeah, until then!

#the two workaholics love each other for loving work #soulmate au #loceit #logicality #murder mystery #character death mention #Janus Sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #patton sanders #c!thomas #ts remy sanders #agent #conman

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blackypanther9 · 4 years ago

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Part 27 - Past 1

youtube

No one's POV....

You both went into the castle, as you arrived back. You and Loki started a race against each other to Frigga’s chamber, like the old times. You both laughed and tried to cheat. You won the race closely. You both catched your breath again, before, you knocked at the door.

"Come in.", Frigga’s voice said softly.

You opened the door slowly. Frigga turned around and smiled as she saw you both.

"Destiny ! Loki ! I am glad you are alright ! What do you need ?", she asked you.

"I wanted to ask if Loki can join us with the meditation... He needs to learn that.", you answered.

"You completed your lessons...", she said confused.

"I didn't. I know you and Odin try to hide something... You heard my name before... Did I... did I lived once before ?"

Frigga stared at you. She sighed and nodded.

"You were alive 2 times before. And I see that you don't remember anything.", she said.

"I would like to continue my lessons with you and Loki and... meditate so much and deep, until I have at least one flashback. Please Frigga. Help me.", you begged.

She looked at you both then sighed and nodded.

"Sit down on my bed. We start.", she told.

"Does Loki need magic for this ?", you asked.

"No. I will use the magic with you. Loki doesn't need his own."

"Okay..."

"You know how it works."

You nodded. Loki sat on your right and Frigga on your left. You took Friggas hand and Lokis.

"Close your eyes Loki and think about nothing. Let yourself fall into the darkness, it will show light, once you landed.", you instructed.

He did as you told him and Frigga and you closed your own eyes. Everything went black.

Your POV....

'Darkness....that's the first and last thing I saw and knew. It was dark and I felt cold. Where am I ?'

I heard myself.

"Did you hear that too ?", Loki asked.

"Yes I did.", Frigga said.

"Me too.", I told them.

I heard muffled voices. They slowly became clearer.

"....every time.", I heard someone say.

"Of course I can ! It wouldn't be fun, if I can't do mischievous things around here. It's my nature.", I heard myself.

"Dest...Some day the Allfather will throw you into the dungeons, if you don't stop..."

"Jackson... I know what I am doing and besides... he wouldn't do that, because I am the best General here. A little of Mischief won't kill them."

I saw images now. I saw myself and a very young man talking to each other.

"I hope the Dark Elves will keep the truce now...", Jackson said.

"I hope so too."

"It was a good strategy to kill them and save us. We and the Allfather should have listened to you..."

"It's okay. Everyone makes mistakes. Besides I was actually just a guard, King Bor did everything right."

"We still feel bad... we could have avoided it..."

"Like I said, King Bor and the rest of you did everything right. You can't just trust some newbie guard, who only caused Mischief in the castle. It was fine. I needed to prove myself, to be worthy your trust, even if I am one for Mischief."

The man smiled.

"When I am out of this level and I become a guard, then I wanna be like you. You aren't just my friend, you are like a sister to me sometimes."

"But now you still are just a Newbie ! And that means you follow my orders, care for my horse and polish my armor. And now I tell you something..."

"What ?"

"Polish my helmet and you are free to go for the rest of the day, Jackson.", I told him.

"Oh man... I just did it the day before yesterday !"

"Welp ! Polish it again ! It is dirty like hell knows ! I had a fight today. Be glad I don't let you polish the rest of my armor. Now...shoo, shoo, Newbie ! Make my helmet shiny !"

He walked off, mumbling something, but he was smiling.

The pictures changed and I was in Jotunheim. I saw a little Frost Giant and then somebody with Loki’s helmet on. Playing with the little one.

"C'mon ! You can do better ! And now...Show me all you got, my bull !", the Frost Giant boy said excited.

"As you wish, prince Laufey.", I heard myself say.

My past me ran at him and he dodged my horns.

"Ole !", he yelled happily.

My past me laughed.

"You are so funny sometimes.", I said.

"Says the one who has horns like a goat !", he laughed.

"Hey ! This helmet is special to me !", I defended myself.

"I know ! I know ! Whoever can wear your helmet too, is your future. Your lover forever. He is the chosen one, who you will give your love and heart to. The person to share secrets and knowledge with.", Laufey sighed.

"What's wrong little one ?"

"I wish I was that person..."

"Oh Laufey ! I am too old for you. You are 5 years old and I am 404. That would never work.", I laughed.

He giggled too. Then he stopped.

"What about the Dark Elves ? Are they planning a war again ?"

"I don't know, Laufey. We didn't hear anything."

Another images appeared. I laid on my bed and rested. Suddenly the door flew open.

"General Destiny !", Jackson screamed.

"What is it now ?", I asked bored.

"The Dark Elves are planning something big ! Malekith wants to destroy us in 3 days !! He has a weapon called the Aether !"

"What ?! In 3 days is the Convergence !"

"What do we do ?!"

"Take these 3 days to train, nonstop ! We need to be prepared for it ! GO, GO, GO !!"

He nodded and ran out.

The pictures changed again. We were in war against the Dark Elves.

"Destiny, what shall we do ?", Bor asked.

"I...I don't really know... I am not sure what the Aether can do and Malekith has planned... All I know is that we can't show mercy. We will kill every Dark Elf, who comes near us.", I answered.

"I protect your back, if you protect mine, General Dust.", Jackson told.

My past me smiled at him and nodded.

"It's a deal then.", we both said.

"Well...let's make this work.", Bor said.

And with that we all ran into the Dark Elves. We killed and got killed. It was a bloodbath. I saw Malekith and the keeper of the Aether. I saw 4 of our man.

"Hey you ! You 4 ! Get up there and make Malekith busy ! Don't die ! Go, Go, GO !!!", I told them.

They nodded and made their way there. I looked around and saw Jackson in trouble. I threw a dagger in this Dark Elf and Jackson turned around. He saw the Dark Elf and then looked at me.

"Thanks !", he yelled.

"Keep fighting !", I yelled back.

He did as I told and I ran up to Bor.

"My King ! Tell Heimdall, our Gatekeeper, that he needs to look through my eyes, the whole time. As soon as he sees a chance to get the Aether... he opens the Bifrost and teleports the Aether away as fast as he can ! It's our only chance !", I said.

"He knows !", he said after 10 seconds.

I nodded and teleported away. The guards were there, keeping Malekith and 3 other Dark Elves busy. I stayed in the shadows and as Malekith killed the last guard the Bifrost opened. Malekith ran to it, but I jumped out and fought against him, until the Aether was gone. He was finished. I looked around and saw Jackson in bad trouble. Behind and in front of him were Dark Elves, ready to stab him down to the same time. I teleported there and pushed him away, just in time, as they moved their swords in light speed, inside me. I let out an energy blast and killed them, after that I broke down.

"Destiny !", Jackson yelled shocked.

"I am...fine....", I said.

"Here let me pull them out !", he came closer and wanted to start.

"No ! I will bleed out then ! Let them inside me. Maybe I can make it to the healing wing and survive."

He backed away.

"Okay..."

I slowly stood up and walked away. Bor wanted me on a horse, but I would have fallen asleep, without moving myself and would have never awoken again. We all made it into the castle, after that I fell down to the ground and into the darkness.

"DESTINY !!", was all I heard muffled.

The pictures changed again. I was in a big room with a few corpses.

My past me sat up and looked at itself. I looked the same. I looked around and saw my old dead, too damaged, body. I had a new one and snickered. I stood up and turned invisible. I went down some corridors and stopped at a door, opened it and went through it. On a bed sat Jackson with the helmet of Loki. He cried and polished it. I flew behind his figure and almost touched his shoulder. I looked over it, turned myself visible and smiled. I whispered in his ear...

"Why are you crying my friend ?"

"D-Destiny is d-dead... It's all my fault ! I should have watched out more !"

"My friend... I am right here. I am alive and healthy. No need to cry."

He turned around and saw me. He put the helmet on the bed and threw his arms around me. He hugged my tightly.

"You are alive ! You are real ! I can't believe it !", he said happily.

"Yeah...well let's annoy the others and tell them the bad news, that I still am alive. Guess nobody would have missed me much...", I told and chuckled.

"Bullcrap ! They all shared tears as they knew that you won't awaken ever again. Even King Bor and Prince Odin. He hoped you would survive."

I pulled out a picture of him, Frigga, Bor and me. I smiled.

"And I thought he hated me, because I always tricked and annoyed him first."

"No. He even wanted to keep your dead body in honor. He didn't want it to burn away or something."

"Still Odin I see.", I giggled.

"Let's cause us a little, painless Mischief. What do you think ? In the end they are all in the throne room.", I said.

He groaned playfully.

"You and your stupid natural Mischief part.", he said.

I laughed and we started. Some weapons were now at somebody elses room, some food was stolen and laid somewhere else. Some armor got destroyed or stolen. And in the end we all laughed, as they found out in the throne room, that it was me and I am still alive.

The pictures changed another time....

Part 28

Masterlist with all Chapters of this Story click here !

#Marvel #Loki Odinson #Loki Laufeyson #Thor #Loki x Reader

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nyeonisparks · 5 years ago

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BEAUTY AND THE BEAST PT. 2

The grip on my throat was firm, breathing seemed out of the question. For once in my life, I was thankful for my uncanny strength. My hands instinctively clenched together, my body shifted on its own, I took a swing with enough intensity to at least get the man off of me. Blood gushed from my adversary. He covered his nose, his smirk never faltering. "You caught me off guard, normal people would instinctively grab their foes wrist, in hopes of them letting go."

"uck," I choked on my words, trying to breathe again. I staggered over to him, clearing my throat. He tilted his head to the side, glancing at me.

"Now, I'm gonna kick your smarmy little ass!" Stepping forward, I swung at him; however, he dogged my attack with incredible speed.

"And why do I need my ass kicked? You were the one who came into my home," He was right, I loathe violence, yet here I am, using it on someone who was just defending their own space. "Hehe, and you said I was the monster, but look at you, hurting an innocent man" no, he's wrong, I was defending myself, he was at my throat.

His eyes looked at me in a way no village had. There was no anger, no hate, no fear. For someone that had just gotten their nose punched in, he didn't seem too frightened of me. "Look, I'm sorry for intruding, I was just trying to escape the storm, and I'm also sorry for calling you a monster," I know how much it hurts to be called a monster too. He didn't say anything, it was almost like he had lost all interest in me. "Is your nose okay?" Even though I didn't start the fight, I felt guilty.

"I'm fine, you can leave now" His tone was bitter, he had turned his back on me,

"Sorry to be a bother but, I have no place to go," I had to swallow my pride and think rationally.

"That's not my problem," anger arose in me, but I held it back.

"Please, can you help me" He looked over his shoulder at me, his nose bleeding at the bridge, my knuckles had scraped off the skin. I felt judged by his eyes. He turned to face me again, walking closer, I was on guard this time, no way was I gonna fall for the same trick twice.

"Beg"

"Excuse me, I don't think I heard you right" I hope to god I didn't hear him right.

"Get on your knees, and beg," His voice was rigid, yet he wore a smile.

"No way in hell am I doing that!"

"Then leave, get eaten by wolves, starve to death for all I care," He shrugged his shoulders. I knew if worse came to worse, I could always go back to the village; however, I had abandoned my friends, I wouldn't be able to face them again, I would be too ashamed. I knelt down,

"Please... Please let me stay," I looked up for his approval. He seemed pleased.

"Good boy" It was faint, but I heard him loud and clear before I could protest, he spoke, "You can stay for the night."

"For tonight!" I shouted, "I have nowhere to go, what am I supposed to do tomorrow!?" He laughed

"Beg again," a low growl escaped me. Of course, the one place I stumbled upon had a sadist living in it with horns and goat feet, who is so kind as to let me stay one night, after begging. What is he, the devil's spawn? Or is he the devil himself?

"I'm Heiwajima Shizuo, I used to live in a village not far from here."

"What caused you to be thrown onto my doorstep?" the man asked.

I sighed,

"I have unnatural strength, when I was younger, I ran around destroying anything that pissed me off or using it to fight anyone who pissed me off" I inhaled deeply before I continued, letting my nerves cool down. "Then I met Tom-san, he was always so kind to me, he helped me pick up some tricks to calm me down, although he would get bullied by the other kids, so I beat them up. Now that we're older, it seems like all the villagers hate Tom just for being around me, I can't be a burden to him any longer." The man nodded along.

"So, you want to become my burden instead?"

"WHY ARE YOU SUCH AN ASSHOLE!!" He shrugged

"I'm Orihara Izaya," His Arm stretched out, claws emerging like daggers.

"Oh, uh, nice to meet you" Izaya cupped my hand with both of his,

"Will you join me for dinner, I want to hear more about this power of yours" He tilted his hand with a smile. I

Nodded,

Izaya pointed up the stairs, I turned towards the direction. "There is a room on the left, have Saki take you there, I have work to do."

"Work, what kind o-"when I turned to face him, he was already gone.

I trudged up the long staircase, Izaya had descended from. His candelabra sat on the thick corner of the railing. I grasped the light source in my hand

"Ahh, not so hard!" it screeched, startling me. I looked more closely at the candelabra; the design was a girl holding the candles. "Your grip is too tight," she said.

"Oh, sorry," I loosen my hand a bit, "Is that better?"

"Yes, thank you, I'm Saki, by the way," So this was what Saki Izaya had mentioned. I introduced myself and asked about a room Izaya had told me about. Saki was happy to guide me down the dark hallway. With Saki by my side, the darkness shewed away.

"Do you know why the mirrors are smashed?" I asked,

"I can't say for sure," she smiled, but her eyes clouded with sadness. "Izaya-san must be happy you're here."

"Tsk, I don't think so, he told me I can only stay for tonight," Saki giggled, but didn't say anything else. "Why do you think he's happy I'm here?"

"He's lonely," She said,

At the end of the hallway stood a large wooden door, elegant designs were carved so nicely into the wood. A silver handle was dusted over. I opened the door, stepping into the room. A bed layout in front of me. It looked so cozy, and I was so tired. Even though I wanted to give in to sleep, I couldn't. Izaya had invited me for dinner, I didn't give a verbal response, but I had nodded in agreement.

"Dinner won't be ready for a while," Saki informed me.

"What am I supposed to do until then?"

"Read something, that's what I see Izaya-san do all the time."

"I don't know how... to read," I felt embarrassed, my face flushed, and I set Saki down on a nightstand.

"That's okay, Izaya-san can teach you" The thought of that left a bad taste in my mouth. There just is something off with this guy. I don't like him. I laid down in the bed, letting my limbs seek into the plush. Saki watched me from the nightstand. What am I supposed to do? I feel so trapped. Some time had passed, Saki told me to get changed into something more presentable for dinner. I did as I was told, in the room stood a wardrobe. I quickly changed, discarding my old rags for soft silks—a white button-down, with a black and red vest, and complementary slacks. Saki escorted me to the Dinner room. But it was more like me accompanying her as she told me directions. I was guided into a well-lit room, with a full dining table filled with food. Izaya sat at the head of the table. I seated myself beside him, setting Saki down on the table, Izaya glanced at her, and she did her best nod, then descended from the table with the help of a chair. Now it was just Izaya and me alone.

I served myself a plate of food and started eating, I didn't notice how starved I was. Izaya watched me scarf down my meal, not even touching his.

"Aren't you going to eat?" I asked

"I much rather watch you" Tremors ran down my spine, I shivered at these words. Why was this guy so weird? His claws tapped in a rhythm on the tabletop. I watched them intently, they looked trimmed and clean. "Do you like them?" His voice caught me off guard, and I quickly turned away.

"oh, uh, sorry, I didn't notice.." I trailed off, facing my attention towards him as he pulled on my hand,

"You can touch them if you want," he said. I took his hand into my own. Rubbing my thumb over his smooth nails. Their deep black color didn't stop at the nail, the darkness traveled till the bend of his fingers. As I kept looking, I noticed feathers prickled out at his wrist. His long sleeves encased the rest of his arm, but my curiosity made me long to see how far up his arm the feathers ran.

"They're pretty," I admitted. Izaya's beaming smile wasn't unusual, but what surprised me was when he rose from his chair and gripped the back of mine. "You know..." he lifted my chin up, enticing me with his somber eyes. "You're not so bad yourself," he purred, he was so close to me. My cheeks heated and I looked away,

"W-what are you doing" my voice was uneasy. Suddenly Tom's words came flooding back to me,

"until he became aware of his selfishness."

"Do you think I'm a fool.." my attention shifted to my lap, blonde lockes covering my heated face. I could feel him trying to tilt my head back towards him. Even though he’d lose this battle. He hummed "What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me, I get it now, why you let me stay, why you had me come to dinner, and why you're trying to kiss me… you think the curse will be lifted by a kiss? You really are selfish" The air went stiff. Pulling away he hissed out,

"How predictable," bearing a pained expression, eyes glaring into me, it was clear that my predictions were right, he only gave me the option of staying here so he could use me to break his curse. He couldn't defend his actions from the truth. "Why did you have to come here, did she bring you here out of spite?" I could hear the gritting out his teeth,

"What? Who are you talking about?"

"The fairy" I watched him dip his claws into his wine glass, his features faded back into his smug smirk. A swift motion of his hand that had been dipped into the wine sliced at my chest, I was quick to back up, my chair getting knocked over in the process; however it had already been too late, a wound started spewing blood from my chest. "Now, you will be staying here with me," I was frozen. "Did you think I came unprepared? Obviously, there was a chance you would figure out my plan, it wasn't a very elaborate one" He snickered, "So I had a backup, what was in my glass wasn't wine, it was poison, I had one of my servants make it for me. It’s a slow working poison, so it won’t become deadly for about a week or two."

"What the hell!" I shouted

"Don't worry, there's an antidote, but you’ll only get it if you help lift the curse. However, if you don't lift it in time, you will end up like the rest of the unfortunate,in a ditch, dead." He cackled out, "Isn't this fun?"

"I shouldn’t have left the village” The realization hitting me too late, I had let myself get poisoned.

This wasn’t my original idea, I was inspired by a post @shizaya-incorrectquotes reposted. I’m pretty sure the creator of this writing prompt was @whowhatmeow

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skvaderarts · 4 years ago

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Hiraeth Chapter 16: Absolution

Masterlist can be found Here!

Chapter Sixteen: Absolution

Note: This was a fun chapter to write. Would have been funnier if I hadn’t looked up and realized that it was 10:35 am and I hadn’t been to sleep yet, but that’ what happens when you start at like 5 am. Anyway, at least I have power and I got my tax return today. Every cloud!

(-~-)

Sirrus had always hated desk work. It was a dull drudgery of office politics, debauchery, and self-indulgent toxic sabotage over nothing in particular just to get in the good books of a group of misinformed members of upper management who couldn’t care less either way. The sheer monotony of the entire exchange was enough to make one crave the sweet embrace of death. But fieldwork… oh, fieldwork was where he flourished.

It had been a substantial amount of time since he’d gotten to stand up out of this ergonomic chair and really stretch his wings a little. He was going to cherish this. It was the thrill of the chase that he found so alluring. The opportunity to discharge one’s power in the form of a battle, especially against a strong opponent, was one that he would rarely turn down, regardless of the stakes or the reasons involved. Call it bloodlust, a fatal flaw in his programming, or simply arrogance. He couldn’t be bothered to keep up with the growing list of insults levied against him or even attempt to find the part of him that cared enough to remember them. At the end of the day, what he did was in service to the greater good and to the benefit of the very people who would so quickly cast him aside.

Unfortunately, that was the life of an Adjudicator. You served as judge, jury, and executioner as much as you were a victim of the same mindset. Every action he took had consequences, even the ones he didn’t take or choose. That was simply the curse of his position. And that was the very reason why despite that being his career, he didn’t indulge in any such activities. They didn’t get to the root of these kinds of problems, and they most certainly didn’t present a meaningful solution to these kinds of issues.

But what he was doing to this demon right now? That was progress. At least, as far as he was concerned. He only wished that the wretched creature hadn’t taken things so far.

Dodging what would have been a well-placed strike from the gigantic beast’s axe, he stepped back and took a moment to get a better look at it. From what he had learned in the last few minutes or so, the creature took a moment to lift the heavy instrument that it desired to use against him, and that would be its undoing. Standing at the height of a small office building, the colossal flaming minotaur brandished its large axe, hot, vengeful blue flames overflowing from its putrid maw. The entire space that they occupied reeked of sulfur and despair, but Sirrus was unmoved, at least for the most part. While he had never faced this particular opponent, that was what he found so interesting. He’d seen members of demon families before during his studies, and was somewhat certain that he’d seen a red version of this same demon that brandished a colossal hammer, but he’d never seen a member of the goat Clan this large. Did it even count? The last time he’d checked, a bull wasn’t a goat. But it had been a while since he’d done so, and maybe demons just worked a little bit differently. Whatever the case may be, he could worry about that after he struck it dead. He was in no hurry, and it didn’t seem to be either.

With a petulant, almost scornful flick of his long black coat, Sirrus faced the creature head-on, folding his arms across his chest in a manner not entirely dissimilar to that of a disappointed parent. There was no sign of anything even remotely close to fear or concern on his face. Perhaps mild amusement, but nothing more.

“I would explain to you why it isn’t a very good idea to challenge me, but I don’t believe you possess the necessary intelligence to discern what I’m even saying to you right now.” He shook his head, chuckling darkly under his breath. Demons were fascinating creatures, but the lesser variants were simply stupefyingly unintelligent. “But no matter, my friend. You don’t need to. I speak your language. And besides, there’s no need to provide you with anything meaningful to take back to your masters in hell. Your swift departure will be enough.”

The towering creature gave him an almost confused look, its blank expression a clear indicator that it was both more intelligent than he might have first thought, but still thoroughly stupid. It clasped its huge axe in its hands, tapping it against its palm for a moment before bending over and snorting flames hot enough to turn his skin to ash and melt his eyes out of his skull. His hood fell off and his hair blew backward, but he was otherwise unaffected. This only seemed to irritate the demon further as it stood up and snarled in discontent, brandishing its axe yet again.

“You seem incensed. Perhaps I was mistaken in regards to your intellect. At least you can tell when you’re making a fool out of yourself. That’s more than I can say for myself at times.” He shook his head playfully, reaching back to loosen his coat. Yes, it seemed that it was still there. Right where he’d left it. “But it matters not. Words have little merit in these sorts of situations. Only might has the will to shape the course of our actions now. And if you’re looking for a foe to square up against, then I welcome the challenge, in spite of how meager, meaningless, and short it will turn out to be.”

As if it perfectly understood his adamant dismissal of its strength, the demon roared, rattling the space around it. The temporary barrier that he’d erected around them shuttered, but it failed to falter, much to the relief of its creator. Yes, it was probably best that he actually kill the demon now before it was able to find a way over the tall walls it was surrounded by and make its escape. Or worse, the barrier could come crashing down, allowing flames several times hotter than any structure was built to withstand to come into contact with the simple wooden buildings that surrounded the area. This needed to end here and now before things got out of control. Enough posturing.

“I would appreciate it if you could hold still for a moment. That would make things substantially easier.” The redhead said as he shrugged out of one arm of his coat, the open button flaps and upper part of the garment only held in place by his remaining sleeved arm and the zipper that stretched up the length of his torso. The wind whipped around them both as he withdrew his blade, the think piece of metal gleaming in the bright light as he ran his hand down the length of the blade, coating it with a thin layer of vibrant purple flame. There would be no need to use any more of this power than necessary. One strike with a flame this hot would be more than enough to end a battle like this. And just when things were starting to become interesting. What a shame…

Sensing the shift in the air around it, the demon attempted to strike him as he was preparing his attack, hoping to take him off guard. Instead, its axe came crashing down around him, the segment closest to the very top of its head cut clean through by a knowing strike from its advisory. The stray blade crashed through the barrier and cartwheeled out of sight, tearing through the thin segment of woodlands as it left his line of sight. Sirrus shook his head, somehow just knowing that it was going to hit something it wasn’t supposed to. One could only hope that its owner ceased to exist before it was able to do anything substantial in regards to damage to the surrounding area. All the more reason to get this over and done with quickly.

He surged forward, using the demon’s residual discharged flames to increase the range of his own, burning them like fuel in a furnace. He leaped towards the demon’s head and, with one well-placed, forceful jab, the long blade pierced the demon’s thick hyde, destroying it from within. Even a demon this hot couldn’t withstand such a powerful piercing blow from within its own body. Unfortunately for it, its internal organs were not nearly as resistant to heat as its flaming fur-covered epidermis was. What a shame.

Upon facing such a powerful and decisive mortal blow, the creature buckled, crashing towards the ground on its knees and letting out lose an ear-shattering, gurgle-filled death screech, a startled and pained expression upon its contorted face. It then fell forward, dropping what was left of its weapon onto the ground and allowing it to turn to ash as the demon suddenly began to cool off, omitting a large cloud of white vapor and smoke. It was as if it were a blade being quenched in cold water, or a hot flame subjected to liquid nitrogen. But as the life left it, so did the very last of its flames, the beast exhaling one final time before going totally still like a fragile stone statue. Sirrus approached the now deceased beast and used a single finger to poke it, the gesture causing a crack to form in it than then progressed into a network of thin spiderweb hair cracks. Within moments, it crumbled to the ground in a sad mixture of ash and dust, the once towering behemoth now nothing more than charcoal. What an undignified ending to something so impressive.

But just as quickly as the fight had ended, he sensed the presence of something more. Turning to face what he assumed to be another opponent, he came face to face with a familiar set of devil hunters, the small group wearing a colorful variety of expressions upon their faces. Oh, they had seen him do all of that, hadn’t they? Well, this was going to take some explaining.

(-~-)

None of them had come there expecting to fight demonic goats in the center of town any more than they had expected to see an army of demonic goats, but here they were, doing just that. Nero kicked one of the foolish creatures as he pulled his blade from within another one of its kind, tossing a wayward glance over towards the rest of the group. Dante was making short work of one of the short golem creatures with his shotgun, and Vergil has just knocked one of the flying goat beasts out of the sky before plummeting downwards towards its form above, cleaving it in two.

Much to the dismay of one of the other golem creatures, Shadow had just taken the liberty of biting off half of its body before swallowing it, a spectacle that Griffon didn’t seem to agree with in the slightest. In fact, he seemed rather revolted to be covered in the sticky blue and black substance that they oozed when injured. And for that crime he electrocuted it a second time, flapping frantically as it flopped over uselessly on the ground, its spilled guts pooling below it as it faded away.

“V, why do you have to invite me to this kind of crap. Unlike you, I have standards. Do you have any idea how long it’s going to take for me to pick all of this sticky blue gunk out of my feathers? Ages! It’s going to take ages!” The plucky bird stole a momentary glance at Shadow, horror apparent in his face (somehow) as he realized that his feline companion was in the process of chewing up and devouring what was left of her target. The slimy mess that it made as she did so was as revolting to look at as it was to listen to. “Oh, Shirly, why would you eat that? What kind of cat does something like that? Your gonna be coughing up chunks of that thing with your furballs for months, ya know that? Your basically eating glue! How many times do I have to tell you not to eat shit like this?! V, say something to already!”

Much to the demonic avian’s despair, V was preoccupied at the moment. Simply keeping his eyes trained on this many moving targets and assessing who was doing battle against what was a monumental task in of itself. He’d never attempted to fight so many foes before, especially in the company of so many other devil hunters. It was strangely exhilarating, but equally exhausting, and he wasn’t sure what to make of it. In truth, he was slightly turned around by the sheer amount of commotion, but his past experiences were enough to reassure him. As long as he kept his head and stayed calm, nothing bad should-

“Wait, what the fuck is that?!” A familiar woman’s voice shouted from a few yards away. V turned to face Nico, curious as to what had caught the mechanic’s eye. Hadn’t she just left a moment ago? And what was she talking about?

“Did you have a change of heart and turn back before it was too late?” Nero asked almost sarcastically, joining V in his surprised state. Neither of them could understand what she was still there. After all, just a few moments ago, she had decided to go into the forest to see what was going on. But before either of them could say anything else, the loud thudding that they had once completely ignored suddenly occurred to them. Within seconds, a large slab of razor-sharp metal came tumbling through the town square, tearing up the cobblestone pavement in large chunks and flattening an entire row of hapless demons as it crashed into the large fountain that sat in the middle of the plaza. Vergil jumped back out of the way of the blade, but still found himself wet, the water somehow managing to soak him in spite of his best efforts. But at least he hadn’t been cut in half by… whatever this was supposed to be.

As if one cue, Dante finished off the demon that he was fighting and turned to face the scene that had drawn everyone’s attention. Lucia pulled both of her elegant blades out of what remained of the last two goat demons as they tumbled to the ground lifelessly, disintegrating a moment later. A few throwing daggers made short work of the final golem before she holstered her blades and opted to join them, the group slowly gathering around the van-sized chunk of razor-sharp metal that had destroyed the central plaza. And yet, somehow the sight of this gargantuan piece of metal was secondary to the absolutely furious look on Vergil’s face. The majority of them would have laughed at how disheveled and grumpy he looked if they weren’t certain that he would probably stab them. And the sudden realization that he did, in fact, look just like his identical twin was somehow physically shocking to basically everyone present who wasn’t Dante himself. Something just wasn’t right about seeing him with his hair like that.

What the hell is this.” Dante said as he gestured towards the hunk of broken steel, clearly as amused as he was out of the loop. A quick glance over at his twin revealed his less than desirable state, and despite the obvious risk to his health and safety, Dante simply couldn’t help himself. He knew full well how much Vergil hated when his hair did that, and his hatred of being soaking wet was perhaps second only to his hatred of having unwanted social interaction sprung on him without a moment’s notice. “Oh, hey Vergil. I like the new haircut! Copying my look, are ya? Well, it’s about time. It’s a good look if I do say so myse-”

Before he could answer, he found himself impaled to the ground with Yamato, looking up towards the sky on his back as his head and body tried to physically reorientate themselves. He’d ended up where he was so rapidly that his center of balance physically couldn’t cope with the travel time. The only way that that could have happened in the way that it had was if Vergil had actually thrown Yamato at his younger twin as if it were a javelin, and the youngest son of the Dark Knight Sparda found that both impressive and unsettling. It was an extraordinary savage response to something so benign, but it was still somewhat amusing to know that Vergil had become that savage as he’d grown older. It seemed that while he himself had grown calmer as he’d aged, his normally placid twin had done precisely the opposite. They were like the north and south pole: predestined to oppose one another, regardless of their orbit as if purely to spite one another. How very poetic and ironic.

Seemingly sensing the change in the atmosphere around himself, Vergil gave a knowing glance back at V. The young summoner stood with his arms folded, cane in hand, and an unamused look on his face. Nero seemed equally miffed, but somehow still managed to look less intimidating than his slightly older sibling, the older of the pair’s accompanying summons also sharing in the act of giving him side-eye. Much to their collective despair, Nico irrupted into hysterical laughter, pointing and laughing at Dante as she attempted to compose herself.

“Holy shit, how’d he even do that so fast?!” She said, nearly choking as she coughed, covering her mouth with her hand and bending over. “I’m sorry, Dante, but holy goddamn, that looked like it hurt! I’m willin’ to bet your gonna feel that one in the monrin’! Why do you get yourself into this kinda crap? You knew damn well he was gonna do that! Anyone with eyes could see it, and you’re his twin brother for cryin’ out loud!”

Chuckling slightly, Griffon landed on V’s head, nearly toppling him over. “I mean, missy’s right though. He had to see that one coming. I don’t even feel bad for him. Nope, it’s plain old comedy. That’s all there is to it!”

Nero shook his head, shooting both Nico and Griffon a dirty look. “Guys, don’t be like that! Stop encouraging him! We need him to stop stabbing people when he gets pissed off. We’re never gonna get anywhere at this rate!” Nero gestured towards his older sibling and then craned his neck towards the large blue demonic bird as if to signal to him to look at Griffon despite the fact that he was sitting on his head and entirely out of his line of sight. Come on, V. You tell him! He’s your bird or whatever.”

The white-haired Summoner shrugged nebulously, closing his eyes as if he suddenly felt a migraine coming on just from having to be there. “Nero… I don’t have the mental energy to babysit Griffon all day. It’s exhausting enough just being myself.” He sighed, suddenly exhausted by every present member of his family. They were a special type of insane at times. Okay, at all times. “I agree with your sentiments, but my point stands. A better use of our time would be to go and see what became of that Adjudicator. The sky isn’t on fire anymore, and I feel he might have something to do with what just happened to the fountain. By this point, Dante should be adept at removing blades from his chest. It comes with the territory, what with him being our father’s brother and all.”

Griffon snickered. “That must be one hell of a special type of lifelong learning experience, eh V? My working theory is that while they both heal physically from their wounds, their brains don’t. So all those head injuries must be getting to Dante by this point. I mean, he is pretty old, and you must be crazy to keep doing dumb stuff like that that he knows will get him killed eventually.”

Dante attempted to sit up, but the sword wouldn’t let him do so all the way. “Hey, shut it bird. I’m not that old. Vergil’s the one with grandkids! Your not old until your someone’s granddad.”

Lucia shook her head and folded her arms, clearly done with both of them and their collective shenanigans. Yes, they were most certainly twins. It all made perfect sense now. “But if he’s old, that means you are as well, Dante. Did you forget that you twins? You’re the same exact age. That’s not how that works. That’s not how any of this works.”

He stared at her blankly for a moment, an unreadable look on his face. He looked almost as if he had been profoundly betrayed in some sort of way, but it was honestly difficult to tell. “... Why did you have to go there, Lucia? I trusted you. I thought we were friends. Your supposed to have my back, ya know?”

Vergil smirked momentarily. Yes, he was starting to like this young woman. She was far too intelligent and well-mannered to be one of Dante’s companions. He simply didn’t understand it. “Not siring offspring doesn’t mean that you’re not going to age, Brother. Your young friend simply comprehends the concept of basic biology and possesses a monochrome of sense. It’s something you wouldn’t know much about.”

Dante looked at them blankly for a moment before shaking his head and removing Yamato from his chest. Despite everything, that sword never hurt less when he got stabbed with it. “I’m never going to understand how you got two different women to sleep with you, Vergil. But whatever. Let’s see what the hell happened in the woods.

(-~-)

And just like that, I’ve somehow written eight more pages of this fic. I stepped out to go get something for 5 minutes, only to return to find that my pc and rebooted due to a BSOD error. It’s been one of those days. Anyway, see you on Wednesday, and thanks for reading this chapter!

#Hiraeth #Post Devil May Cry V #DMC #DMC OC #DMC AU #DMC5 #DMCV #Devil May Cry 5 #Devil May Cry V #Devil May Cry #Post Devil May Cry 5 #V

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tisthenightofthewitch · 6 years ago

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GHOST // Arise From Leviathan’s Shadow

Mar 25, 2019 / WORDS Tom Valcanis / PHOTOS Elizabeth Sharpe

At Download Australia this year, Ghost had the toughest gig of all. Playing at the same time as Slayer. At the last time Slayer would ever play. Ouch.

Tobias Forge, aka Cardinal Copia, must have marshalled all his diabolical powers to pull punters away from the last chance to experience Raining Blood or Angel of Death. Ghost’s singular blend of pop and apocalyptic metal is a sight and sound to behold. The flock is shepherded by the mesmeric Cardinal Copia as bandleader and high priest of sin. Cardinal Copia might be a character in an elaborate charade; but what of the man behind the vestments? Talking to Tobias Forge out of uniform and relaxing against a boudoir-like velour booth trimmed in a royal purple, he sits cross legged, wrapped in leather battle-jacket. He’s unassuming. He wears well-combed hair that doesn’t touch his ears. Ripped jeans at the knees and a Voivod Dimension Hatross t-shirt. If you didn’t know what he looked like, you’d never guess he led a worldwide congregation of metal fanatics. Even so, Ghost’s many influences he wears on his lapel: King Diamond (of course), Kreator, and a mandatory Slayerbadge. So what lent Mr. Forge such reverence for the arcane and black arts? We find out in a post-Download audience with the Cardinal …

How were the shows? Playing up against Slayer must have been a rare honour and challenge.

It was what it was. We did this for a higher purpose, and that is to come back and do the full thing.

Was it a success giving Australian fans a live taste of Prequelle?

I think it was successful because we came down here, rekindled our relationship with the promoter, and rekindled our relationship with media again, and to the fan base that we had, that it seems to have expanded even though we haven’t been here for five years.

Wow, it has been a long time.

The goal was to get back here and get the promoter to understand that you need to get us back and not play a festival. That was my only goal of coming.

In Prequelle, the album touches on the black death and apocalyptic themes. The end times. With so many crises happening around the world today, would you be forgiven for thinking the same thing today?

Yes, but I don’t think it necessarily has to be apocalyptic. I hope that there are enough people in the world believing in a fruitful, peaceful society, that would actively or are actively working for the apocalypse not to happen, the apocalypse being, I guess, the end of the world. I even think so even with presidents in charge. If he was really, really, really dangerous, for real, no one is that stern of a believer in democracy that they would just, “Oh, but this is the president you chose. He can do whatever he wants in the name of democracy.” If he was really, really, really, really, really close to destroying the world, they would shoot him in the back of his head.

Do you think it’s just divisive rhetoric? People talking tough?

I think the guy in charge as of this moment is obviously a great example of worsened rhetorics. I think that the risk of having him around is obviously multiple different things, but I think it’s the idea of refraining from sophisticated sort of politics talk that is sometimes still needed. There is a certain code, there’s a certain mannerism that I think is worth learning. This goes from everything from a 12 year old talking to a 90 year old. You just need to shape your lingo in order to be able to manoeuvre yourself between different age groups and different people. I speak to, in one way, if I talk to my buddies, I speak in a different way than if I talk to a 65 year old executive. I think that that is an art form, and that most people should master it in some way or form.

I think that if you have a so called master in charge who looks down upon that, shuns away from that, I think that that’s remarkable. Now I’m obviously just talking about rhetorics and linguistically, but I’m talking about the, as you say, rhetorics and how you speak to the world. I understand that a lot of people like politicians that say direct things and is witty and all that. Yes. Let’s move forward, but I think that there’s also a level of levelheadedness that I think a politician should do. I think that this is just a side step. It will probably go back a little bit to what it is in the rest of the world and what it has been before.

Ghost talks about fire, hell, and brimstone—is that a place you have thought about? A physical manifestation of hell?

Ever since I was a very little kid, I’ve always been interested in religion, and specifically obviously Hebrew religion, just because I grew up in a Christian country. Cinematically as well, I grew up watching a lot of biblical films. I’m talking about The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, stuff like that, The Temptation of Christ. So, I’ve always been very fascinated by things like that. When I came into adolescence and started getting fascinated by occult and satanic themes, of course, I’m an imaginative person, so I do have a lot of visual fantasies about what it is or could be. But my fantasising aesthetic younger self is also holding a little bit more of a rational grown up person, and we’re struggling together to try to figure out how things are. But I could sit here and ponder ’til my dying days, because I have no idea. No one else knows, anyway.

The limited view of Scandinavian spirituality, we get from black metal. The Hel Vete circle. Church burnings. Those on the outside assume Scandinavia is this region steeped in Christian dogma and practice.

Yes. From a greater political point of view, Christianity has not been very dominant in Sweden in the modern day and age, but more on a local and municipal level. Where I come from, there were and there are still more mundane forces in society that is controlled by church or churches. They’re more private churches like that.

So it’s not like Poland, where Catholicism is so intertwined with civil society. Which makes Nergal of Behemoth such a vocal anti-theist, I suppose.

From a little person point of view in a little city, there are definitely things that I have, throughout my life, been rebelling against. But Sweden is nowhere near … we don’t really have the same Christian church presence from a law making point of view that they have in Poland. I come from a pretty secular country where you can basically say almost anything you like.

Almost anything.

Yeah. There are obviously some PC things that sort of makes certain things not okay, but anything that has to do with Satanism and all that, that’s fine.

Satanism seems to be a bit old hat now. People are shocked by seemingly more mundane political things these days.

Yes. I mean, of course. This is a conversation that I have more than often when I am outside of Scandinavia, because I’ve never regarded Ghost as being that provocative. Because I come from, again, a secularised country where freedom of speech is quite cherished. I come from a country where metal has always been very strong, where black and death metal had a big proving ground. Also, it’s part of my DNA, since I’ve been a rock fan for as long as I can remember. I’ve been a black and death metal fan ever since I was 11 years old, something like that. For me, writing Satanic lyrics and throwing around upside down crosses and pentagrams and goats and all that, for me, is so natural that it’s not as much of an appliance as it was for people in the Satanic panic, 1969. Because then it was something that you did because it was groovy with your 20 year old friends. You were also 20 years old, and two years ago you didn’t even know what Satanic was.

So, for me, it was never meant as a, “This is a way to upset mainstream media.” Never, because I didn’t even thought that we were going to be in anything remotely like any mainstream media. Whereas in America now when we have achieved some sort of mainstream following, they regard sometimes our image and my choice of presenting myself and then the band as radical, provocative imagery.

Really? Still?

Yes. I understand intellectually, of course, that it’s regarded like that, but that was never the intent. I find it more mind boggling that a lot of the provocation that we cause is actually within the metal realms of people who are puritan and have a hard time labelling us what we are and why we are metal or not.

So the puritanism comes from certain sections of metaldom itself; thou shalt not mix pop with metal. That kind of thing.

From a progressive point of view, yes. But if we were talking about old school death metal, I would be very opinionated in a way that would probably come off as similarly closed minded. So, I completely understand where those tendencies come from, so I don’t grieve that someone doesn’t like us because we don’t sound as metal as Mercyful Fate does. It’s like, “It’s fine.”

We’ll be touring consecutively ’til the end of the year, and then I’m due back in the studio in January.Between January and May, I hope that we will be doing a few minor tours, possibly returning here. That’s my goal for at least here, to come back within this album cycle and do it properly. Happy?

I think I am, Tobias. I think I am.

ALL RIGHTS OWNED BY HYSTERIA MAGAZINE

#Tobias Forge #Tobias Interview #the band ghost #Cardinal Copia

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midnightcalibration · 5 years ago

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Merry Bobunk Christmas!

What: Short Fanfiction

Fandom: Avengers

Characters: Read the tags for the list.

Why: ‘Cos me and a friend of mine came up with the idea of giving a Christmas role to each avenger, and I decided to write this.

Words: Almost 1800 according to my text editor.

Quality: Probably with a lot of typos and awful grammar.

Stupidity level: High (I hope).

---------------------------------------

Tony is coming back to his workshop to continue one of his most important projects of the year. He hadn't slept since whenever the last time was, but who needs sleep when you've got coffee? He pities those who can't drink the miraculous brew.

As he enters the room the first thing he notices is DUM-E fighting against the cables of some Christmas lights. The lights are winning... Oh! Now U is trying to help his brother, that's nice. Aaaand now he's stuck too. Tony can't believe he won a prize for one of those things.

"Dum-E, U, stop destroying my delicate work, if you please."

Sparks jump out of the lights.

"You know those lights are supposed to last, not turn into fireworks. Sto- Ah- great! The workshop is on fire. Congratulations! Now it would be a good time to use your skills with the fire extinguisher, Dum-E," Tony says as he grabs said object himself, "Though I'm not sure you would still point it at me, instead of the fire..."

After putting the fire out and helping his not so intelligent bots, he gets back to work. He is just a little bit tired, but he has to finish it in time.

Last years had been chaotic. He never had time to properly put on a good Christmas decoration show for everybody. It's not like he is a traditionalist, or even believes in Christmas. For him, it is a time where people start to compete to see who has the best circus in town. And he, as the Stark he is, cannot just let it pass. He is the greatest showman there is. Sorry, Hugh Jackman, not sorry.

Has he hears the "bing" of the elevator sound he looks in its direction and sees the best two presents he is lucky to have in his life. Pepper is holding Morgan's hand while the little pea giggles as she skips and pulls her mother with her. Only when they got closer he notices something is odd. They are wearing costumes.

"What do we have here?" Tony asks. "An elf munchkin coming straight from Santa's workshop? And she's bringing with her a..." what is Pep supposed to be? "Gingerbread woman? Seriously?" He snorts. "Is it because of your hair?"

"Well, this Santa's little helper here thought you might need a sweet cookie to help you work," Pepper replies.

"Ok," he snorts again, "that sounds like something you would never say."

"Well, I didn't say it, Miss M. did."

Another "bing" echoes in the air and Peter comes out rushing and talking non-stop, "Oh, So sorry I am late Mr. Stark, I had to help like half of the people I saw when coming here as well as save like seven cats from trees and woah I even found a goat on one, Did you know goats climb trees? It's amazing, I mean I knew that already but I never thought I would see one in New York, And-"

"Calm down, Speedy Gonzalez! Have you ever heard about punctuation? And, I don't know, breathing?" Tony sasses before noticing Peter is also wearing an elf costume. "Did you go around saving old ladies from crosswalks in that?"

"Oh this?" Peter looks at himself, "I wasn't sure what to dress as but then Morgan told me she needed an elf brother and I was happy to be hers!"

Okay. That makes sense, Tony guesses.

"Has the party already started?"

Tony jerks his head and sees Rhodey, in a ridiculous candy cane suit. Like, seriously, what is going on? Why is platypus wearing that colorful, er-, thing, where only his face is visible?

"What's up, honey bear? Did you get abducted by aliens, where they did all these terrible things to you, and now you have a nineteen year old college student clown soul trapped in your body? Come on, Rho-rho, you can do it! You can win the fight for the right of control. Now really, what party?"

"Ha-ha. Very funny, Tones," Rhodey says with a fake laugh. "I hope you haven't forgot that today is Bobunk day."

The fu-?

"Bobunk is my favorite!" Morgan almost squeals. "It's what makes Christmas magical."

"It sure is, honey," Pepper agrees and Peter nods. OK, maybe he drank too much coffee. Or not enough!

He turns to his desk to get his mug so he can wash down the brown liquid. It is then he notices two big present boxes near the wall, that were not there before.

"Who the hell put that there?"

"Boss, you should mind your language! Morgan has ears." FRIDAY spoke.

"Sorry honey bee," Tony says trying to ignore that the sentence "has ears" was a bit odd, in the context. Like, it is true, but perhaps not the best way to put it. Maybe he needs to check FRIDAYS NL program, and see if she's not trying to learn her vocabulary from websites where people forget the difference between "they're", "their" and "there". Anyway, the presents! What are they doing there?

As he approaches the packages, they "explode" with a loud pop revealing Nat and Clint smiling from ear to ear, with present bows in their heads, dressed in wrapping paper, and shouting "SURPRISE! MERRY BOBUNK CHRISTMAS!!!"

Okay, now he is sure they are trying to troll him. He gets it, he deserves it for all the times he did the same. It was never at this level of crazy, though. He would keep it to wit and sarcasm.

*knock, knock, knock*

The sound came from the balcony glass doors. It is dark outside and Tony can't see anyone. And who would enter through the balcony? Except for him, of course? He purposefully ignored it.

*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK*

He looks again. Nothing. He resists the urge to ignore it again, but then whoever is outside is probably freezing. And they are just pranking him in a weird way, they don't deserve to turn into ice cubes, right?

When he opens the door, he sees a snowman. Dressed. As. Captain. America.

"Ahah, joke is on you! This is more of a jab to Capsicle, not me."

"What are you talking about, Tony?" The voice sounds so much like Steve's. Where the- "Holy shit!"

"Language!"

The effing snowman is speaking. IT. IS. SPEAKING! Like, it is not Rogers dressed as a snowman. It is a effing snowman, like a real one.

"How are you doing it?" Tony is still perplexed. And not even sure he can believe Olaf here actually had enough humor in him to be passing as a snowman.

"Doing what, Tony?" the freaking snowman actually frowned.

"Make it so realistic?"

"Tony, do you always need to be so rude?"

"Wha-" *CLASH*

Tony rushes inside to see what has been broken. He hopes it wasn't anything related with his Christmas project.

He stops. Thor is there, blinking. Not with his eyes, no. He is lighting on and off in several spots. You know.... like Christmas lights!!! And he is fighting is bots!

"I challengeth thee to fight me with honor, arms of metall. Thee shalt learn the warth of the mightie lightning!"

"Pepper! Pepper Ann!" Tony calls.

"What is it, Tony?"

"What is happening? Please tell me you are seeing how weird this is. I'm not going crazy, right? I don't do crazy."

"What are you talking about?" she smiles, "You are always crazy. Come! Let's see the nativity scene."

"We don't have a nativity scene, Pepsy Pep."

Pepper chuckles as she points to two new figures. Yep! He gives up. Yep, yep. For the good of his sanity, he's going to pretend everything is normal.

Wanda is dressed as Virgin Mary, and is hugging(?) Vision who seems to be wrapped in a big blanket, and very naked under it.

"Hey there, Mary, baby Jesus." Tony acknowledges. "Where is Joseph?"

Vision replied with baby cries. Totally normal.

"I'm a single mother."

"Oh yes, of course you are. Sorry for the assumption."

"I am Groot!"

"You're right, you a-" Did the tree just talked?

"Meow!" T'Challa says, his cat tail wagging as he "paws" at panicking Bucky and Scott, who are hanging from the tree - which has grown, just a note - like Christmas tree decorations. From above, Sam and Hope are laughing. They have wings so they can fly away from the sharp claws of the King of Wakanda.

Of course this is normal. He just probably traveled to an alternate universe. He just needs to know how to go back to his sane plane of reality.

The tree is gigantic, now. It's breaking the glass doors and cracking the walls. It is threatening to destroy the whole tower. This can't be. No matter how everyone is ignoring what is happening, this is dangerous and he can't let anyone get hurt. Specially Pepper and Morgan.

He makes a gesture to call his suit, and flies outside to assess the damage. Curiously enough, nothing seems to be in danger.

"Boss!"

"Yes FRIDAY?"

"We have an UFO incoming, and fast."

"Say what now?"

He looks and sees something is coming his way. His GUI zooms on the object.

"This is normal, this is normal, this is normal."

"SANTA SMAAAAAASH!" Green Hulk Santa yells, as he flies through Tony in a sled pushed by a black reindeer with a helmet that looked the exact same as Loki's.

They smash into the tower, because why wouldn't they, right? The 'K' of the STARK lettering of the tower falls.

Then he sees it! It all makes sense, now! This is Bobunk Christmas in its perfection! This is his destiny.

Letting himself accept the Christmas spirit burning inside him, he flies to the top of the tower, that now was more tree than anything else, opens his arms and legs and turns on the repulsors, casting a magnificent light, turning into a blinding shining star.

He feels magnificent!

Everyone on the street below start to cheer and applauding the exhibition. He did it! He got the best Christmas decoration of the world!

"Stark!" Everyone shouts.

"Stark!"

"Please! This is not about me," he says.

"STARK, WAKE UP!"

Tony jerks as he wakes up.

Fury is towering over him with a disapproving frown. Everything is back to normal, since it had all been a dream.

"Stark, why are you looking at me like that?" Fury asks, with actual confusion painted in his face.

"I makes total sense!"

"What does?"

"You!"

"Me?"

"You are my Bobunk Christmas Grinch!"

THE END!

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dailyaudiobible · 5 years ago

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02/17/2020 DAB Transcript

Leviticus 4:1-5:19, Mark 2:13-3:6, Psalms 36:1-12, Proverbs 10:1-2

Today is the 17th day of February, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it's great, great, great to be here with you today for the last time from Rome, at least for now. This…a couple hours we’ll be boarding the flight over to Tel Aviv and then getting about the business of preparing for the Daily Audio Bible pilgrimage 2020. So, thank you for your continued prayers. Definitely been battling the fatigue but that's just kind of…that's part of it, but another day or two and we’ll be acclimated. Anyway, we've come here together to allow God's word to wash into our lives and to carry us forward into this week. And, so let's do that. We’re reading from the New International Version this week and we have begun the book of Leviticus and I…I think it was yesterday…I think it was yesterday I mentioned this, you know, this is a book of the law. So, we’re kind of reading a law book, So, we could go, “well, this is…this is different. Like what…what happened? It got boring all the sudden” or whatever but we need to pay attention to the different literary styles that are going on. We love the narrative style, right, because it's telling us a story. This happened, then this happened next, then this happened next and then there was this drama, and then this happened next, whereas now we’re…we’re kind of reading the ordinances and laws that will govern and…and actually create and hold together this people that God has chosen who He has brought into the wilderness so that he might dwell among His people, but also so that they might become acutely aware that there is no hope outside of God. So, today we’ll read Leviticus chapters 4 and 5.

Commentary:

Okay, let's talk about the riveting story being told in the book of Leviticus right now. I understand it’s not a riveting story. It's a lot to do with sacrifices and atoning for sin and it's very involved. Like, there’s a lot of…a lot to do. So, what's the deal here? Like the most high God likes to smell burning animal carcasses? Like He just…He loves and that's why He wants all these sacrifices. Is that what's going on here? We will find throughout the Scriptures that God will comment on this and tell us, “no” that’s not what He's after. He has a people who are former slaves who have no idea how to be anything else who are a stiff necked and rebellious people who have already turned to false gods in the wilderness after all they saw God do to bring them out of Egypt and He's trying to draw them to Himself and give them, bestow upon them an identity as chosen, no longer slaves, you are chosen. So, what could destroy all that? Like what would mess that plan up? Sin. It always messes the plan up. And, so, we’re seeing get kinda woven into the fabric of this new culture. Sin is a big deal. It's complicated. There’s a lot to do. But it's also costly. So, we can like read the book of the law, we can read the laws and here's a people are supposed to do and we can just be like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah but let's personalize this…like…let's make this personal. We’re out in the desert and as the Bible has said today, we…we discovered, we…we realized that we had rebelled against God in some way. So, we become aware that something is come between us and God. And our hearts, we feel it, we sense it, we know it, we need to repent, and a sacrifice is required in this new culture. And, so, we have to go to our flock, and we have to select a goat or sheep, whatever the case may be, we have to select a perfect one and there aren’t too many of those. And we’ve been raising, we’ve been raising this livestock, we’ve…we’ve been shepherding this livestock. They have names, they know our voice. We’re…we care for them and we have to take the perfect one and lead it to the altar and then we have to take its life right there. We would probably not walk away from that experience feeling really really awesome about our sin. We would be can continually reminded of the price of sin. We would be continually reminded that…that this rebellion that can live in us, that can…that can have us doing crazy things like worshiping false gods in the wilderness, this will destroy our relationship with God. And, so, he's weaving it in. This is a big deal, a costly deal, a complicated deal because we need to be reminded how dangerous it is.

So, now Jesus has come and as we learn the Scriptures, He became the final sacrifice. So, we don't need to keep a flock of goats just in case. We look to the cross. And…and in truth if we’re just…if we’re just honest here. Yes, we would not want to go back to a sacrificial system in any way whatsoever. But when you look at it in its context and what it is teaching, you understand that it is a continual reminder of how dangerous and devastating rebellion and sin against God can be. Now we look to the cross, but often we don't…often we don't look to the cross and see the sacrifice upon that cross, dying in our place. So, yes, our sins are forgiven, but we should never forget what it cost. And we see that not forgetting what it cost is important to God because here in the Old Testament in Leviticus He's bit building in a very tangible reminder.

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank You, we thank You for Your sacrifice. We take this moment as we’re…as we’re observing the giving of the law and…and sacrifices for sin, it brings us back to You. And we confess that so often we’re just…just taking it for granted…it’s just a foregone conclusion. Of course, we’ve been forgiven but we don't often slow down and understand what it cost. So, we ask Holy Spirit that You would come and remind us throughout this day, that we would take it to heart, that…that this wouldn't be something that we just grow jaded to, that we just get used to, that…that we would remember what it took to bring us our freedom. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it's home base, it’s where you find what going on around here.

So, yeah, what's going on around here for the next bit is the pilgrimage, the annual pilgrimage that we take to the land of the Bible each year. So, we had a little stop for a couple of days to do some photography and filming in Italy in Rome and we were able to see a lot of just the archaeological ruins from the Roman empire time, really…really connecting those stories back into Israel. Israel, of course, at the time of Jesus was the province of Syria was the province of the Roman Empire. So, there are a good deal of Roman Empire artifacts and ruins in Israel as well. So, today we will fly over to Tel Aviv and then, yeah, begin unpacking and getting ready for the excursion we’re gonna be on.

Tomorrow evening is our inaugural dinner and kinda orientation. And that's always so fun finally to get everybody completely wide-eyed and wired on adrenaline but completely like backwards in their body clock. It’s just such...so…such a strange sensation but such fun. And, so, we’re looking forward to that. I will be making what I believe will be my final attempt to get to the ancient ruins of this Philistine stronghold known in the Bible as Akron. And years past…those of you like that have been around the Daily Audio Bible for several years, you’ll know…like we’ve made two different attempts because there are five Philistine cities spoken of in the Bible and we filmed three of them. And Akron is the fourth one. The fifth one is Gaza and that's not anywhere near safe to go to and from what I understand there’s really nothing…there’s no archaeology there. So, I’ve been trying to get the…the…the…the film and the…the photographs of this place for several times but it's…like there are lots and lots of archaeological sites in Israel. And…but not all of them are accessible or visitible. You have to like go out in a four-wheel-drive way out somewhere and this is…this is kind of one of them and we’ve been stuck twice, two different years having to get pulled out of fields by tractors, last year being the most recent attempt. This year I'm pretty sure we are prepared. So, that’ll be tomorrow on the way down to Ashdod where we will all meet up and begin our journey.

So, thank you to everyone out there for your continued prayers over all of this. We’ll need it. We’ll need it every single day and we appreciate it more than you know.

I’ll remind you the Israel 2021 pilgrimage is now…we’re now…we’re now receiving registrations for next year's trip, which is about a year from now. All of our Daily Audio Bible events and trips fill up pretty fast. This this one will probably be mostly, if not completely full by the time we get back. So, yeah, you can check it out at dailyaudiobible.com. Look in the Initiatives section and you'll find Israel 2021 and you’ll get all of the details, everything that you would need to know. And, yeah, looking forward to seeing you next year in Jerusalem.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't thank you enough. We wouldn't be here if we weren’t in this together. So, I thank you. There is a link on the homepage. If you're using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request a comment you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey DABber family my name’s Mark from Columbus Ohio and I’ve called and once. I’m still relatively new, just started listening last summer __ participate with this family being able to start the day off with the word of God has…has…has been quite…quite…beneficial to me. And I am a COPD…end-stage COPD I’ve been diagnosed and as I’m calling for prayer because I need faith. And I worked so hard last summer to…to qualify for __ reduction surgery and my CO2 levels would go down and stay down. Now they’ve tried to __ have a transplant team. They’re telling me that one of the reasons…one of the qualifications is I need someone to take care of me 24 hours a day, you know, 24 day care after surgery but they do want it to be anyone from a healthcare agency, they want it to be a family or friend, you know, a family member or friend. And I’m…I’m not, you know, I don’t have that, you know. And I guess they all have their own agenda. I just, you know, and not being able qualify for this LVIS last summer, not being able to meet the requirements of this other thing, it just doesn’t do a whole lot for my faith. You know, I keep inquiring, I keep asking God what His will is and I just…I don’t know…I don’t know. You know, He knows what I’m trying to do, He knows my hopes, He knows my dreams __ you know…

Hi family this is Janice calling from Goodyear Arizona and I just have an encouragement for sweet Laura B in Boynton Beach. Sweetie your message for your friend Ricky really touched my heart and I have put him in my prayer book, and I promise to keep praying for Ricky and yourself that you are and encourager as I try to be. So, God bless you honey. And on another note my husband David who fell and got a concussion and went into a coma, he has a doctor’s appointment today. The doctors are just freaked out because the brain bleed is gone and there was no swelling and he’s back to his old self. So, praise God and thank you for your prayers. I love you all and I’ll be in touch again soon. God bless you.

Good morning DAB family this is Terry from Kansas City and I think I’d love to change my name to Blessed by Jesus. I used to live in Albuquerque for almost 34 years and so this morning on February 11th as I heard Marlowe from Albuquerque, Marla I felt that I know you and I could just feel a connection about being a little socially awkward, you call it social anxiety and that’s how I should refer to it for you. I was so excited to hear that God had allowed you to feel comfortable meeting Suzanne and my prayer for you is that you will continue to be able to reach out to her and that God will move you forward and give you wonderful days meeting wonderful people and that is my prayer for you. And also, God’s Little Bird, I was a substitute teacher for many, many years and I can feel your angst in wanting to serve your students and do that and proclaim Christ in your actions and in the way that you love on them. I am praying that God will give you clarity as to what to do in your profession or whether or not to leave your profession but I challenge you to continue to serve your students in godly excellence knowing what He wants you to present to those students. And I want to remind you that you are planting seeds. Whether or not you’re able to see the fruit of your efforts I don’t know but somewhere down the line those students are going to shine because they had you as a teacher. I pray for your peace, your mental and spiritual protection while you’re in the classroom, and I pray that joy will be restored to you…

Hey Daily Audio Bible family I’m calling into pray for God’s Little Bird. Today is the 10th maybe…no it’s the 11th…today is the 11th. She called in, she’s a teacher, and she’s struggling because the kids that come through…and it’s interesting that she called when she did because immediately before her, I think it was immediately before her, a woman called and prayed for the kids in the Daily Audio Bible listeners…but I just wanted to give you some encouragement God’s Little Bird. God is using you. As a Christian teaching kids in this country you are so, so, so, so, so important. So, it’s…it’s not going to be easy because you have to stand as…as a pillar of light in just an absolute hurricane because people who suddenly refuse to believe God instill those values into their kids and their kids go out into school and eventually the workplace and they may never come into contact with a Christian who could be the difference between life and death, between heaven and hell. So, I just want to encourage you that if you can be a witness to even one of those kids then every day of the decades that you will have invested in this career will be so worth it. And we will see that child in eternity. So, I encourage you to pray about it, but please just know that on behalf of an older sister to kids in the school system that I am so grateful for teachers like you. God bless you. Bye.

[singing starts] One peace like a river attendeth my way when sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot thou has taught thee to say it is well, it is well with my soul [singing ends]. Father God thank You that we can say that when we are in the midst of the storms of this life. Father God thank You so much for this day. I pray Lord that You would be going before us and preparing it for us, that You’d be giving us strength and energy and courage to face this day, that You’d also be giving us patience to wait upon You and to listen to You. Thank You for what You are teaching us this day. Thank You for Your blessings this day. Thank You for those opportunities. Lord it’s so easy to get dragged down into the misery of…of the world and the general drudge of living as it can feel sometimes. Help us to fix our eyes upon You. Help us to keep running forward, moving forward towards the goal. In Jesus’ holy and precious name. Amen. Hi guys, Michaela from Gloucester. Hope You have a blessed day wherever You are.

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warsofasoiaf · 6 years ago

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Hergrim and the Westerlands Campaign, Pt. 5

Oh, you misunderstand. It’s the depiction of it that gives Alexander one of the reputations of being this unconventional movement wizard. Cao Cao’s movement being exaggerated way before the 200 liis sort of the same effect. It’s a brilliant move, but heroic mythmaking makes it into something different entirely, and GRRM likes to use some of the heroic mythmaking for his fantasy story, which was part of my original point with the whole Birnam wood deal.

Ah, I get you now. I was being far too literal rather than thematic. I don’t have anything against heroic mythmaking per say, just so long as it’s used correctly. Using the Battle on the Ice as presented in Alexander Nevsky as the model for Stannis’ upcoming battle in TWOW (assuming that the Night Lamp theory is correct) is an excellent example. In real life, the ice never cracked under the retreating knights and they didn’t drown (and casualties were actually relatively light for the Germans), but GRRM definitely seems to be heading in the direction of a similar scenario. However, he’s not just well and truly prepared the ground for the deception to revealed, but created a situation in which it can plausibly happen.

With Robb’s campaign in the Westerlands, I can buy Grey Wind finding the goat track (or it being attributed to him instead of some peasant or smuggler) and Robb making use of it to bypass the garrison at the Golden Tooth. I can even imagine him surprising Stafford’s army in a night attack and destroying it. These are plausible scenarios and fit well with the various bits of mythmaking from historical sources. The thing I have an issue with is Robb’s very large and noticeable army managing to move a couple of hundred miles through enemy territory undetected. That’s just a shade above mythmaking than I’m willing to accept.

This is a weird thing because I get all sorts of conflicting information on the Westerlands-Riverlands northern pass, in impassibility and defense. Do the Westerlings control that stretch of land, can you drive an army column through it? Another reason why an atlas would be awesome.

WOIAF has the Westerlands firmly in control of the narrow strip of land from about halfway along Ironman’s Bay down to the low mountains/high hills north of the Tumblestone. I’d say that you could definitely drive an army through it, though it’s possible that a lot of the land is marginal and tends towards pasturalism and supplemental rye or oat based agriculture and thus couldn’t sustain a large army.

Relooking at the maps just now, I’m puzzled myself regarding the Tumblestone’s valley, since none of the maps, whether the original maps in AGOT, the map in ADWD, the above map from WOIAF or the maps from Lands of Ice and Fire show anything like a serious barrier to an army along that valley. The lack of a major road isn’t really that serious an impediment, and none of the terrain looks to be unsuited to an army, unlike the mountain range passing through the Golden Tooth. Any ideas?

Noted, I’m just pointing out that the lack of sallies and trying to figure out why they didn’t utilize the castle network that they had.

That’s a fair point. It’s hard to tell whether it’s down to a lack of manpower or GRRM’s relative unfamiliarity with the small scale of medieval warfare.

I normally agree that Tywin is a cautious commander, but his notorious blind spot comes when Lannister dominance and supremacy (joined at the hip with his own) is challenged. The Clegane plot is evidence of that, he lucks out significantly in Robert not being around and Eddard capable of influencing him at court, and in Clegane attacking a royal banner at the Mummer’s Ford.

Another fair point, and one I’ll concede without qualification having thought it over some more. Tywin would indeed be likely to go for a decisive hammer blow and throw all his spare strength at it if Robb baited his trap appropriately (such as with himself or someone wearing his armour and next to the Stark banner).

According to the PrivateMajor Timeline, Whispering Wood happens 22 Dec and Whispering Wood happens 9 Jan. Figure that Jaime spent some time resting his troops and investing the siege, and I think he doesn’t have enough time to hit Fairmarket.

I’ll have to respectfully disagree with the PrivateMajor Timeline. 14-18 days would be a conservative estimate of the time between the battle under the Golden Tooth and the battle outside Riverrun (I prefer 10-14 given a distance of 140 miles). Catelyn VIII (AGOT) has the Golden Tooth happening “less than a fortnight past”. Robb is still at Moat Cailin then so, depending on how much less than a fortnight the battle was, the battle at Riverrun might have already occurred. either way, it probably occurred soon after he began the track through the Neck. Given the distances involved, Jaime had at least a month before Robb even reached the Twins (as per my last post) in which to rest his men and send a detachment to Fairmarket.

I wouldn’t be surprised again if Jaime did go slim on the baggage train explicitly because he was said to be aggressively hunting down raiders and didn’t want to bother with such trivialities. I agree that if that was the case, it’s overegging the pudding, unless Jaime’s later chapters were going to have him get gritty with the baggage train metrics.

Which is still a potential problem for Robb. Maybe he has another detachment to hit it at, or close enough to, the same time as Jaime’s main body, but I doubt the terrain is going to be quite as good for an ambush, any unforeseen delays in attack might well allow large portion to scatter, including mounted men who could flee back to the camps (and who would be wearing little to no armour, and thus able to move faster for longer), and some might well escape in any case. Historically, it’s proven very difficult to achieve complete annihilation in the necessary manner.

This is a good discussion, I hope the readers are getting as much from it as I am.

Ditto!

Hergrim and the Westerlands Campaign, Pt. 6

Ah, I get you now. I was being far too literal rather than thematic. I don’t have anything against heroic mythmaking per say, just so long as it’s used correctly.

Same. From a writing perspective it’s actually quite brilliant, because the dramatic considerations have already been made in the course of heroic myth-making. This isn’t to undercut GRRM’s ability to craft drama or the written word, he is talented at both, but the more audiences change, the more they stay the same.

The thing I have an issue with is Robb’s very large and noticeable army managing to move a couple of hundred miles through enemy territory undetected. That’s just a shade above mythmaking than I’m willing to accept.

I suppose that’s fair. I admit, it works more as a character piece of the military prodigy dead before his time ala Alexander the Great than the nuts and bolts of every movement. Perhaps if Robb or a POV near him were given some more wordspace, we could have seen some more ground as to how that worked, or more stuff to complain about.

WOIAF has the Westerlands firmly in control of the narrow strip of land from about halfway along Ironman’s Bay down to the low mountains/high hills north of the Tumblestone.

The lack of a major road isn’t really that serious an impediment, and none of the terrain looks to be unsuited to an army, unlike the mountain range passing through the Golden Tooth. Any ideas?

I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of those maps, especially the Vale one. I’ve always pictured that stretch as treacherous, barely passable, rain-swept cliffs, with any road similar to the Yungas Road, prone to collapse, simply because we don’t see the house charged with holding that northern pass held in the same esteem as the Leffords, Crakehalls, and Serretts, the guardian houses of the Westerlands on the principal roads. Similarly, we don’t see ironborn landing at that area by Seagard and marching into the Westerlands to pillage under the Hoare overlordship of the Riverlands. But I’ve got nothing that gives me a firm “this is it” on that terrain.

That’s a fair point. It’s hard to tell whether it’s down to a lack of manpower or GRRM’s relative unfamiliarity with the small scale of medieval warfare.

No reason it can’t be both. GRRM has a pretty big blind spot when it comes to numbers.

Then the question would be whether he would pull an Artys Arryn at the Seven Stars. I’m doubtful, if only because it seems that the Northern commanders (Roose excepted) seem to mandate putting one’s self in the place of greatest danger in an extension of “he who passes the sentence swings the sword” to the sphere of military command. I’d pick Robb over Tywin if only because Robb has been handily defeating Lannister armies before, but I am 100% with you that a hypothetical Tywin-Robb cavalry showdown is a far higher hurdle.

Well, this would be more something to take up with PrivateMajor than myself, but Jaime’s army did take Raventree Hall and burn it before the Whispering Wood. That might explain some of the delay. Similarly, chasing Marq Piper around might cost Jaime a few days, as might giving his men a rest day after the battle of Riverrun as a celebratory reward, along with some strongly worded demands to Tytos Blackwood for his surrender of the Riverlander garrison.

Historically, it’s proven very difficult to achieve complete annihilation in the necessary manner.

No arguments there, unless there’s an encirclement like at Cannae.

Ditto!

Well, if @tbhasaka is any judge, they’re liking it. Now I need to stop playing Resident Evil 2 and Hearts of Iron 4.

-SLAL

#hergrim #war of the five kings #strategy #robb stark #submission

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