#I don’t even think this person likes nettles so to do that is really foul 🤷🏽‍♀️

[bohemian-nights]

Because someone decided to use some gif’s I made without giving credit🙃:

(I could care less of it was a reaction gif, but a whole Nettles gifset 🙃)

I now will be using the evil bird app (just to re-post the gifs, moodboards, and stuff I make on here): https://twitter.com/dettlesdaily

To the person and any others who try it, you should know by now any funky crap you guys do I will find out about it😊

[cecilspeaks]

170 - To the Family and Friends

Love the winner, hate the win. Welcome to Night Vale.

I start today with sad news. I must inform you of the passing of Intern Victor. To the friends and family of Intern Victor, we extend our condolences. Oh, that reminds me. Our intern program has a new open spot available. Hours are flexible, as is time itself. You must be fluent in at least three languages, although one of those can be your own dream language, and another can be a future language that doesn’t yet exist. This is an entry level position. All applicants must have 30 years experience in the field of community radio, and have been the managing director of at least 2 radio stations, or equivalent unregistered stations broadcasting coded messages to our brave spies in the field. This is a non-paying position, but we do give you 4 credits to the institutions of your choice. Please apply in person by groveling before the Station Management door and crying: “Choose me! Choose me!” as their tendrils draw you slowly toward them. I look forward to meeting whoever is hired. Always so fun when we get a new intern.

And now for a look at the day’s news. The Night Vale Medical Association has ordered a review of the management of Night Vale Asylum, after a number of irregularities have cropped up involving a transdimensional missing plane and a pilot who could control people’s thoughts. “Honestly, we had a lot of cases like that back in the 60’s,” said Lonnie Chapman, chairman of the Medical Association. “Mental institutions used to be cruel places, where the fragile rift between dimensions was regularly breached and telekinetic powers were exploited. And people were treated as less than people, for the simple crime of having an illness that could not be found in the blood or the bile.” Lonnie settled back into the sagging comfort of his old arm chair, sighed and rubbed his forehead. “We endeavour to help, not to other,” he whispered. “It should be common sense, this kindness. Why is kindness not common sense?” He said this last so quietly that no one heard him. Dust motes circled tirelessly in the afternoon sun through the window. The Night Vale Medical Association is looking to shut down the outdated asylum and replace it with a brand new state of the art treatment center, located near Grove Park. More on this story as the story has more to it.

I guess I should get into a little more detail about how Intern Victor died, since some of you might be curious. You know, I think the story starts back in my very first days as host of this radio station. After the previous host, Leonard Burton, after – umm… ehhhh.. Once I took over as host of this radio station, Victor was one of my first interns. Eager and earnest and always helpful. He was first in the station in the morning and last one out at night. His research was impeccable. 

“That’s not true,” he would say every time I said something that wasn’t true. “That’s not true either,” he would say. He would say stuff like that a lot. He was very diligent. It kind of felt like we were starting this great adventure in radio broadcasting together. I thought that some day after I… after… ehhhhh.. ummm… once I was no longer host of this radio station, perhaps Victor would be the one to take over. “Some day, Victor,” I would murmur in the quietest hours of the night shift, “Some day maybe you will be where I am now.” “Maybe, Cecil,” he would say back into the intercom from the producer’s booth, “But for now, please stop murmuring that into the mic. We’re live right now. Then one day he told me he was leaving. That he appreciated all the time he had spent as an intern, that he had learned a lot, but that he felt his place in the world was not with radio after all. [sputters] “Not with radio?!” I sputtered. I simply did not understand the concept. “If there is not community radio, then what is there? What is there besides that? Will someone tell me what else there is?” “Thank you for our time together,” he said gently, and then he left. It would be the last time I saw him for many years.

And now a word from our sponsors. Today’s sponsor is White Claw’s new line of non-alcoholic alcoholic Seltzer beverages. Listen, everyone loves a good carbonated beverage. On a hot day, out at the beach, or not at the beach, the two places it is possible to be. It’s great to just pop one of those bad boys open and really let that water with bubbles rip on your gullet. But not everyone likes to drink alcohol, for a variety of reasons that are never ever your business. Just don’t ask or bring it up. It’s so easy to not do that. That’s why White Claw is proud to announce the newest version of our alcoholic Seltzer beverage, now without alcohol! It’s everything you loved about Seltzer water, but for the first time, you don’t have to get intoxicated. Flavors include blackberry, wild nettle, wet stone, and one we’re just calling “Tumbleweed Crush”. Even we aren’t completely clear on what that one tastes like, but hey, it’s water and it’ll make you burp without making you drunk. White Claw’s new line of non-alcoholic alcoholic Seltzer beverages. Available wherever you buy your alcoholic Seltzer beverages. This has been a word from our sponsors.

I didn’t finish with the story of how Intern Victor died, I guess. Ummm, let me quickly wrap that up. So, a few years after he left, he came back again. He was older than me now with salt and pepper hair and a stiffness to his walk. When he had left, he had been several years younger than me, but time changes us all, I suppose. “Cecil! I didn’t know if you’d still be here,” he said. I bristled at this, hearing a perceived implication that I should have gone on to something larger, that by staying put I had allowed him to be pull ahead of me in some intangible way. So I responded with manic friendliness to compensate. “Still here!” I shouted. “Great to see ya, buddy wo-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-how! What have you been up to?” He told me that he had left Night Vale, gotten an apartment just outside of somewhere called Fresno, that it was difficult at first, and that he felt lonely much of the time. But that he had slowly made friends, so many friends, and had found a job that became a career that became part of his life. He worked with teenagers who were going through a tough time, seeing them through to better times. He was very well liked for what he did, and he was very good at it. “But I’ve decided to retire,” he said. “I’m getting up in the years, you know? But wow, you don’t look like you’ve aged a day.” “I haven’t,” I said. He was so much older than me then. I wondered where the years had gone and what I might have accomplished, if I had aged as well. He had retired to Night Vale to be with his family and friends and the people who knew and loved him best, and relax into the soft years of his latter life. So that… wait. Well, that’s not how he died, but I have to get to this next report. I’ll finish it in a second.

And now traffic. There was a song once sung by sailors of an island in the west, where the sun would shine forever and not a minute less. They say that on that island a sailor could find their rest, finally let slip shut their eyelids on that island in the west. But I’ve been searching, and been searching all my life, as though some cruel test, and have never found my way to that island in the west. There was a song once sung by sailors and I believed it, I confess. A foul lie I still believe in, my sweet island in the west. This has been traffic.

Intern Victor lived in Night Vale for many years more. He was active in charities and volunteer groups, continuing to offer counseling to students at the local high school. He lived in the Hefty Sycamore Trailer Park, watering a garden of flowers that he kept in pots around his trailer. It seemed that Victor was even more busy in retirement than he had been in his long career. Returning to his community seemed to invigorate him. He helped Carlos with experiments at the labs, donning goggles and lab coats and writing down numbers with hearts around them, all of that science stuff. Carlos said he was surprisingly good at it for someone without training. He worked with Dana at City Hall, creating the No More Pit initiative, which strove to keep one teen a year from entering that pit on Clement Street and disappearing forever. Now, the initiative was unsuccessful and the pit continues to devour but they, it was the attempt that matters. He acted as a volunteer lifeguard at the Waterfront Recreation Area, at which he saved a record five people in one day from drowning! A truly astounding record when you consider that there is no water at the Waterfront Recreation Area, Night Vale having an entirely arid climate.

Yes, Intern Victor was accomplished and well liked. He would have made a fine host at this radio station some day, but he never showed much interest, which is a pity. Because after I… After, well… Who will take up that mantle? Not Victor, not anymore. Well, I guess I still haven’t told the story of how he died.

Uh, let me do that just After the weather. 

[A List for Spring” by Joseph Fink https://josephfink.bandcamp.com/]

Victor was in bed. The curatin over the window shifted slightly in the breeze, so the sun flickered in the room, shadow and bright, like a message from the world outside that he would never live to understand. His breath felt like a finite quantity, slowly drawn out of his chest. He knew that the last of it was coming soon. He wanted to use the drags of his breath for words that would sum up his life, but he couldn’t think of any. He could only think of “I am tired”. He could only think of “Thank you for being here.” He could only think of “I wish I had more time”, although eh didn’t know what he would have done with that time if he had any. 

Around his bed were the people who had known him throughout his life. There was his sister Carly, and his brother Herman, and his aunt Ronnie, ancient and brittle but apparently destined to outlive him. There was his friend from college, Norm, whose hands shook as he looked into Victor’s eyes. There was former mayor Dana and her brother, leaning into each other in sorrow, keeping each other upright as a family creature of grief. There was Carlos in an understated lab coat, frowning. There was nothing more scientific than death, and yet Carlos hated the fact of it. And he wrestled with the contradiction within himself. Some natural processes feel unnatural, no matter how many times they occur to us, they are a surprise that our whole life spends telegraphing.

In the corner was Rosario, one of the teenagers Victor had worked with back in Fresno, who had eventually moved to Night Vale after getting lost in the shelves of a strange antique shop and waking up in the vacant lot out back of the Ralphs. She was middle-aged now, her face glistened with tears. “Everything I am is because of you,” she said. Victor snorted. “Don’t blame me,” he said with one of those last precious breaths. And she grinned despite herself. “You were the first person that cared about who I was,” she said. “I’ll never forget you.” “Already I’m in past tense,” he said, but he grabbed her hand and clasped it in a fervent silent thank you. Because she was testament that he had been useful, and there was nothing more important in a human life than to be useful to other people.

I was there too, and I stepped forward. “You were the best intern I ever had,” I said. “I know,” he said, and he winked.

It can be… strange when we first meet someone when they are young and just started out, and are in the entry positions in the career they want, to realize they have the potential for an entire life. Victor ended up a great man. A man with deep roots in the community. A man who went from 10 years younger than me to several decades older than me. And I… well, I still think of him as an intern, and I suppose I always will, but his potential was realized upon the lives of everyone in that room, and many other lives still.

A strong breeze came through the window and the flickering of light increased, as though that incoherent messenger was getting more frantic to be understood. Victor knew that his finite breaths had reached their last few. And he did not use them to say anything at all. He smiled, and met each of our eyes, and then… And then after…

To the family and friends of Intern Victor. To the family. To our families, blood or chosen. They are the net on which we can fall again and again. To the friends, to our friends. The people who make life worth living. Who help us when we need help. Who we help when we need to help.

Intern Victor was a good intern. He was a good person. He is gone. We are here. Let’s make ourselves useful. To all families. To all friends.

Stay tuned next for a tall glass of water greedily, drunk by a person who did not realize they were thirsty until the liquid hit their lips.

Good night, Night Vale, Good night.

Today’s proverb: Earth is technically a sandwich, where the upper bread is stars and the lower bread is stars and the filling is rock and lava and a few incidental humans.

[aneonbullet]

All the tea questions! P.S. If you were a tree what kind of tree would you be and why? :-D

(  @maggiemitchellclark | xo  )

(  1. Rosehip tea: Which book did you love when you were younger?  )

I remember owning a book titled ‘ the silver slippers ‘ when I was in primary school and it was possibly one of my favourites back then. I don’t recall the story at all now, but I’m almost certain there was a gift of silver slippers, as something of a collectors item, on the cover of the book and that impressed me when I was little. I also loved a lot of the Goosebumps stories and the Famous Five books, too. I vaguely remember ‘ we’re going on a bear hunt ‘ as well, which was excellent and had to be read at least every other night. I also enjoyed ‘ the snowman ‘, although, it will probably never take the top spot compared to the film, and also ‘ where’s spot? ‘.

(  2. Oolong tea: Which book series could you read again?  )

The Vampire Chronicles, definitely, although I make a point of doing so now and again anyway. I also would read over Penryn & The End Of Days, specifically Angelfall, a couple more times without growing bored because I am and always have been smitten with those stories. Goosebumps, as well? I’m not sure if that counts, although I’m also not too sure if I would enjoy them as much as I used to, even if the books are miles better than the tv show - even if I did watch every episode. Would also re-read the Harry Potter books, Inkheart books and The Green Mile series, because obviously.

(  3. Rooibos: What is one of you favourite books?  )

I want to spout all my adoration for The Vampire Lestat again but I figure most people by now already know that I am wildly caught up on that book and its main character, so I’ll pick another, also excluding Angelfall because I do talk about that one a lot as well. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is a book I really love, as much as the film but I am always leaning more toward the latter with that particular story because of Jack Nicholson, like I can’t help it to be honest. I don’t know how many people have read that one, but I suppose the film counts in that department, as far as knowledge about the story goes.

(  4. Strawberry tea: Tell me about your first kiss, if you had one.  )

n/a

(  5. Apple tea: Tell me about your first break up, if you had one.  )

n/a

(  6. Earl Grey: Which countries have you visited?  )

France? can I also just make believe that Wales, Scotland and Ireland are all their own countries as well because I literally haven’t been further than those, unless you also count Jersey? but it’s one of the channel islands.

(  7. Chai: Where do you want to travel next?  )

Pennsylvania, Washington ( state ), California, San Francisco and .. not sure where else I might like to travel but I am sure many other places will be added over the years! if I eventually overcome my fear of flying.

(  8. Darjeeling: What languages do you speak?  )

Fluent only in English, but can utter a few scratchy phrases in Welsh, Irish and French. God bless muses and too severe a manner of educating ones self to make sure portrayals are accurate. But also bless high school staff & their patience in teaching some of the most awkward to learn languages out there.

(  9. Hop tea: Do you have a favourite tea? Which one?  )

Mint infused tea, because it’s oh so refreshing and it doesn’t really matter what type of mint leaf it is either. I’m not that picky with tea flavours, although I generally refuse to digest anything with blackcurrant in it ‘cause it makes a girl heave, y’know. I’m also prone to disliking the taste of liquorice, but in tea, if its paired with something else, I am usually okay to go ahead and drink it without fuss of complaints.

(  10. Herbal tea: Which person would you chose to travel the world with?  )

CAN I CHOOSE TWO PEOPLE, because it would be my best friend and my darling. I would be so content.

(  11. Nettle tea: Are you jealous on a person? Why?  )

I’m not totally sure I understand the phrasing of this question, but am going to assume it means are you jealous of anyone, which would be a resounding no. I don’t agree with jealousy, although often times prefer a little when its all down to relationships, because it eases my own struggles some.

(  12. Ice tea: Do you miss somebody? Why?  )

Ohhh yas, very much so. I miss my grandparents, my bunny rabbit and my cat. I also miss my other grandparents puppy, but at least she is alive and well and I can go see her whenever I want. I’ve struggled to get over the loss of both my grandparents within the space of a few years ( on my dads side / my grandparents on my mums side are still going strong ). It’s never gotten any easier and with the loss of pets before and between those tragedies - it’s been really rough and I am too much of an emotionally sensitive person to combat all the negative energy I’ve had floating around me since then. I wish I could. I need to try harder.

(  13. Yellow tea: What shampoo do you use?  )

Herbal Essences, most of the time. I actually don’t fuss over which products for my hair, ‘cause I’ll willlingly pick a kiddy shampoo and conditioner if I like the look of it or it has a nice smell, plus it’s a hell of a lot cheaper! No Tears, for whatever reason, was always my favourite as a child and I still use it now, even if the slogan is a huge lie.

(  14. Peppermint tea: What is your favourite gif at the moment?  )

(  15. Ceylon tea: Do you have a song you like, but have bad memories with?  )

Pfft. I have a whole playlist full of these and all the memories attached to the buggers. I’ll pick just two, because it would be dragging on forever if I listed more. When I was little and would stay at my grandparents of a Saturday and Sunday, I would watch a lot of animated films and one of those was ‘ the land before time ‘ and the day I lost my nanna, ‘ if we hold on together ‘ made an appearance on shuffle and I couldn’t not connect the two. Another - the day I lost my grandad, I did the same thing with the shuffle of my music, but continued flicking through until I’d found what I was looking for. I automatically associated Welsh choirs with him over the years because he loved them so much, and ‘ this feeling inside ‘ by mairi macinnes was one I found no more than a year before he died. It took a lot for me to get through that not long after. My favourite musical, Joseph, has been difficult for me to see or listen to since losing them both, because that was watched every single weekend I stayed with them.

(  16. Hibiscus tea: What is a song you can always hear?  )

Anything from the 50′s or 60′s, because it’s generally lighthearted and nothing too upsetting or emotional for me - although some of it is, like royally depressing .. but they had all the boppy and jolly music most of all, so I do okay with those eras at any time really.

(  17. Flowering tea: What is a movie you can always watch?  )

Bird On A Wire! always that one, here. There is nothing I love more than settling down and watching that, ‘cause it can be done no matter the mood I am in and if I’m feeling down, it instantly gives me a boost. I absolutely love it, but I think most people are aware of that one now.

(  18. Pu-erh tea: What is a book you can recommend to others?  )

Angelfall, and all the books that follow it. I also think people might like Before I Go To Sleep and as I never find that anyone has read it other than me on this website, it kinda sucks a bit. I have sooo many feels about that - but not about the film they made .. even though Nicole Kidman was the star in it, surprisingly. It was poor in comparison & was a classic example of why the book is generally better than the film, urgh.

(  19. Turkish tea: What is your favourite cake?  )

Coffee cake! I am not much a fan of cakes in general, but if it’s got coffee frosting and/or coffee buttercream I am right there taking a slice. However, if brownies and cheesecakes count as well, then I’ll have those.

(  20. Green tea: What was the first movie you saw in a cinema?  )

Mulan! my mother took me to see that one when it came out but I don’t recall many memories from that day, though I really wish I did. My memory of childhood is bloody awful, but it makes sense, seeing as I can barely remember a week ago, let alone several years.

(  21. Blueberry-Muffin tea: Tell me a memory, which makes you smile.  )

I think being proposed to has got to be the biggest memory that made me smile, honestly. I can’t think of anything - really, to top that one, although there have been many lovely things since then. I also found that every time I got to take care of my grandparents puppy was a nice memory, too. I don’t know if I’ll be taking care of her again for the rest of the year and I am going to miss that need to look after her, because it made me feel good, too and it gave me something to be productive for. I think it also distracted me from unhappy thoughts and foul moods and I miss her all the more for the loss of those feelings, too. But, thinking about the two weeks I had her for, does make me very happy and even though I am forever looking around for her now, I know I can go visit if I want to.

(  22. Panda tea: Do you have pets? Which one?  )

I have a cat! no idea of his breed, though. He is very posh, in himself .. as well as how he looks and is a stunning colour. Pure white, but has tortoise shell patterns dotted here and there. His name is Martin and I did not choose it for him ( I feel sorry for the lil guy really ), although if it had been my choice in naming him, he would have had an unusual Disney related name, no doubt.

(  23. Butter tea: Show / Tell me about one thing in your room you find awesome.  )

Kylo Ren cutout? but also my Jared Joker poster and my ever faithful Captain Jack Sparrow statue that has been with me for several years now and is still talking strong! I should record it one day; he has a few phrases that he offers when you wave your hand in front of his face. I think some of the paint has come off the tip of his nose & I need to fix that detail but other than that, he’s doing pretty good.

(  24. Hot chocolate: Do you have (a) stuffed animal(s) sitting in your room? Which one(s)?  )

I used to have a bed full of them! but I have since donated them all to charity, save for my Eeyore, whom I will not part with, ever. I have several teddy eeyores, but only one here ( the others are at my dads ). The one I have in this house was given to me by my darling several years ago and has always been on my bed next to me. Is also the one often in my photo’s of myself.

(  25. Flavors: What is your favourite word?  )

Iridescent - I’m not sure why that exactly, but whilst its meaning makes me think of rainbows and every colour, it just sounds nice when you say it, as well.

(  26. Jasmin tea: Can you draw / paint? Wanna show me something?  )

Uhh, I used to draw and paint, though the former was probably given more attention and I still could never do it all that well. I have drawings of Itachi from Naruto, Lucy from Elfen Lied, Kurt Cobain, Captain Jack Sparrow, and all kinds of flowers, but it was never anything impressive so I don’t think I’ll be showing those off anytime soon.

(  27. Kombucha: What do you order on a pizza?  )

Unpopular opinion: I actually hate pizza. I don’t even have anything to really add to that, aha.

(  28. Cloud tea: Which movie do you want to watch next?  )

War for the Planet of the Apes! actually picking a day when I go away for the week this month to go watch it and I am so ready for more tears. I’m really excited, because I have suchhh adoration for Caesar and the trailer looks just amazing to me. It looks even better than the other two films, but I sharn’t pass judgement until I have watched it.. so excITE though.

(  29. Gunpowder tea: If you had the chance: would you go to space?  )

After watching ‘ Life ‘ a few days ago, absolutely not. But, I figure thats purely horror themes to frighten the shite out of everyone who watched it, so I’ll say yes, because I would love to explore up there.

(  30. Matcha: Bonus question  : If you were a tree what kind of tree would you be and why?  )

Hedera, purely because it is my Celtic Tree as far as zodiac themes go and I actually love the tree, thankfully. I do like the description of said tree for my birth month as well. ‘ Among other cherished qualities of the Ivy Celtic tree astrology sign, most prized is your ability to overcome all odds. You have a sharp intellect, but more obvious is your compassion and loyalty to others. You have a giving nature,  and are always there to lend a helping hand. You are born at a time of the waning sun so life  an be difficult for you at times. This sometimes seems unfair because it appears that obstacles are coming at with no  prompting on your part. Nevertheless, you endure troubling times with silent perseverance and soulful grace. Indeed, Ivy signs have a tendency to be deeply spiritual and cling to a deep-rooted faith that typically sees them  trough adversity. You are soft spoken, but have a keen wit about you. You are charming, charismatic, and can effectively hold your own in most social settings.‘

[zani-is-a-stan]

Suzani reads AF: Chapter 3 - In The Mountains

All the other chapters: Prologue Chapter 1 - Bee Stings Chapter 2 - The Silver Touch

I’m reading AF and liveblogging my response. This is partly because RH’s books are so densely woven that I want to make sure I catch every detail I can on the first read. I pounded most of the other RotE books, and discovered an insane amount of details on my second and third read-throughs that I completely missed the first time. I’m also inventing reasons to slow down because i want to savor the fuck out of this book.

I will not be responding to any comments on these posts until I’ve finished the book - to save myself from spoilers.

And I just wrote a bunch of junk so that you could turn away before the spoilers in case you made it here by accident.

Spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk

Predictions based on chapter title: We’re in the mountains. -_-

Preface text: I don’t get this one. I don’t enjoy it either. Well ... I *get* it. Someone’s watching serpents hatch and capturing while an Other watches. I don’t like this at all. It’s bad news bears. AND it’s being done by a White wearing green and gold, colors we just learned were associated with Withywoods. Is it Beloved being so sinister? Is it Bee herself? Is it someone from a very long time ago? Is it metaphorical? Will Amber win over the keepers of the blue and gold dragons only to be turned on by Heeby and Rapskal? Is it a metaphor about how enslaving other will only lead to them turning on you and consuming them? The whole thing feels very ominous and I don’t want Heeby to eat Beloved. Or Beloved to enslave serpents.

Bee wakes up: You know, the first time I read a Bee-narrated chapter, I was angry and stressed about it. This wasn’t the Fitz book I was looking for! When the messenger turned our to be not Beloved, I was furious! I had skipped over RWC to go straight to the Fitz and the Fool books after Tawny man because I was so intoxicated with the OTP. The slow-downs and re-reads have forced me to appreciate the series from a perspective that incorporated more than just skimming the passages until I got to the next occurrence of the OTP being in the same room together. I’m really glad this change happened for me, for a few reasons. It allowed me a greater appreciation of what a true master of the craft Hobb is. It also allowed me to fall in love with all these other characters! Mostly Lant and Bee, but the rest of them too.

So I was really happy when this book opened with a scene of badass, 8-year-old Bee clobbering her kidnappers in the face with a club, and never ever giving up. She’s amazing. She’s inspiring. And give me another story of any genre where the true hero is a magic 8 year old girl ... and it’s as cool as this?

Dwalia and Alaria’s character progression: Dwalia’s coming across as more desperate and petty and cruel than she even did in the first chapter. I wonder where this is going to end up ... The closer we draw to her character, the worse of a person she is revealed to be. And Alaria is suddenly a threat, when before she might have been a character Bee could have turned into an ally. A petty, cruel threat. Dwalia is a person who hold the power of intimidation on those around her, and the people around haven’t yet figured out that there are more of them than her. AND we learn that Dwalia was perhaps in love with the Pale Woman, and this all was a revenge trip. This makes her even more dangerous, I think. I love the detail of her just assuming that the values of another culture (regarding Chalced and Kerf’s family) don’t matter, and she can manipulate any situation to get her way.

New names Symphe. Who is Symphe? Are they one of the four? Symphe might be french, but it popped up in an old english dictionary as part of a root word for the harmonious implications in the word ‘symphony’, and the ‘sym’ aspect as a root for the work ‘sympathy’. So ... someone often in agreement with others? Someone passive? A supporter? And then .... is it possible that Symphe picked the luriks she picked to accompany Dwalia to attempt to turn her away from Bee? Is it possible that Symphe is on ‘our’ side?

Also, this is a good time to bring up that the word ‘Kerf’ means ‘cut’.

Ilistore! The Pale Woman finally has a name! And uh-oh, some heavy implications with this one ... Ilistore sounds not unlike ‘illusion’ or ‘illusory’, which would make sense, as she used the Skill to blind people a lot. But what it really sounds like is ‘Alastair’ or ‘Alaster’ - which mean ‘defender of mankind’, ‘avenger of evil deeds’, 'he who does not forget', 'avenger', 'persecutor', 'tormenter’, 'one who suffers from divine vengeance'. So ... what if she was the actual right White Prophet after all? Obvi a sociopathic evil bitch, but ... what if she was also ... right?

Prillkop Oh man. I wanted so much for this dude to have been a bad guy luring Beloved back to Clerres instead of a good guy who’s probably dead now.

Bee’s Treasures In addition to Per’s hat and Molly’s candle, she now has Lady Thyme’s shawl. Taken of necessity, but still portentous? But Dwalia get the item that was Fitz’s. That’s probably not good, whatever it was. Bee’s First Kill Reppin’s slow death reminds me of the first time I read the scene in Assassin’s Quest where Fitz has to listen to a very young man cry in the road until he dies of the slow poison he had given him. The difference is, Fitz is somewhat tormented by the experience, even though it was the only way to save himself. Bee regrets, but with Nighteyes encouraging her, knew she did what she had to survive. Reppin, Alaria and Vindeliar God, these three are like watching middle school social dynamics play out in front of my eyes. Fucking ow. I really hope Vindeliar makes it out of this in one piece. It’s not his fault he’s been used like this and treated so badly. Important Plot Points I think (for now) that Symphe, Coultrie and Capra are all of the Four. Confirmation that Whites (at least Beloved) have multiple catalysts.

Hoo boy! So ... the Unexpected Sun’s victory is supposed to be absolute, and the recapturing of Beloved proves (to the Servants) that Fitz was not the Unexpected Sun. The reasoning for this is a key to understanding the way they think: victory is the destruction of their opponents. To lose any one aspect of a conflict is to negate any success. This is very different from Beloved’s approach of ‘one little ant at a time’. It shows their paranoia. It shows as well that they see themselves as in battle against something.

Beloved’s catalysts: an assassin (Fitz), a nine-fingered slave boy (Wintrow, who Amber completely missed out on any contact with until everything was over), a ship’s captain (could be Wintrow again ... could be Althea? even though she wasn’t technically a captain. I don’t think it’s Kennit, although it would make complete sense if it was given his historical significance. Wouldn’t it be a damn laugh if it was Grag?), a spoiled girl (Malta, duh), a noble bastard (Fitzy Fitz. Or ... Chade?)

Vindeliar had, or has a sister.

Beloved probably didn’t escape, but was deliberately released. Seems likely. He was a fucking mess, not a Shawshank.

DUDE! The White that Beloved one was is TOTALLY singing through time at Bee! Is she also trying to manipulate Kerf? Did she push him to do what he did? It’s basically because of him that they go through the pillar as they do. When he says “Darker than Death” .... what does he mean? The blood? Bee?

“So, I had that.” THIS IS MY FAVORITE LINE SO FAR!

Dreams Alaria dreams the destroyer (currently being assumed by me to be Fitz) brings foul fumes and death. An acorn (currently being assumed by me to be Bee) is taken inside what I assume is Clerres and becomes the destroyer. Bee mentions the dream from Fool’s Assasin with the puppet with an acorn head, being wielded by what I had assumed was Beloved. I’m going to go back and look at that one again - I had a hard time with it the first time around bc, much like the dream in the beginning of this chapter, it implied that Beloved was a Bad Guy. Reppin dreams that destruction comes (and for her, it does sooner than others.) Vindeliar dreams what seems to be poiting us to the same concept - Bee is brought to Clerres, is ‘opened’ or ‘crushed’ and that triggers a big destruction.

You know, when Hobb really pushes me to expect a certain outcome of a situation, i just don’t know if I believe her.

Bee holds a torch under a wasps nest at a crossroads (could be where they are now, with Dwalia being the wasp’s nest.) I like this theory because it ties in beautifully with Kerf’s assertion that killing for no reason will harm Bee if she does it, but won’t harm Dwalia if she does it, by comparing Dwalia to a wasp. As Nighteyes said in Fool’s Errand of Fitz.

A scarred girl weeps with Nettle while they hold a baby. Is the scarred girl Nettle’s unborn baby, changed from her contact with Tintaglia? Is Bee the scarred girl, and the baby her niece? Will be she back home in time for Nettle’s child to be born? A man burns porridge, (no idea on this one) the wolfpack (the Farseers?)howls in despair. The blackness of the destruction is acid, and brings down dragons, destroying their wings.

**There is a thing that only Bee can do!**

And at the end of it all, Bee cries out to her father. Because she loves and needs him --- but will it be a Skill call?

[ecotone99]

I was Visited by a Vampire Every Night Between the ages of Eight and Twelve

I don't know what you think you know about vampires, but I bet it's mostly bullshit.

My vampire was small, strangely ageless, and wore simple things like t-shirts and slacks.

Their gender was unclear to me, but it somehow seemed to veer towards "female", so I'll refer to her as "she."

She made no sound at all, except for when she spoke, which was seldom.

She'd pass straight through my wall as if it weren't there. She glided, gracefully.

Like a kite that's escaped.

Before started to feed, she'd swirl above me four or five times, like a dog before it sits.

I'd be paralized, all the while, from the neck down. I couldn't even breathe, though through some foul magic, she'd keep me alive all night.

She'd drink blood, from my finger, or sometimes my wrist, but never the neck. It felt a little like a nettle-sting.

Then she'd sit on the end of my bed for the longest time, like a gargoyle in the dark. Then she'd feed again. Then she'd leave until the next night.

Most girls would scream the house down, but not me. I'd learned from a very young age that my momma never came running when I cried.

My momma never came running at all. She hated me. Always had. Blamed me for driving my daddy away.

I did tell momma about my vampire, just once. And do you know what she said? "Good." Then she turned back to the T.V. and swigged some more whisky mixed with vicodin.

Soon, I became less afraid of my vampire. I guess it became sorta normal.

She only took a little blood, each night. Which made me even paler and weaker than I'd been, previously; and I was ALWAYS sickly, from malnutrition. But no-one noticed any change in me. No-one really noticed me at all.

She must've taken a shine to me, for about six months in, she said that as a special favor, since my blood tasted the very best she'd ever drank, I could ask her ONE question, every year, on my birthday. She told me that vampires know everything, and always tell the truth.

So I racked my young brains, and when my ninth birthday arrived, I asked her why she'd chosen me.

"Because you're the sort of person who is totally alone." She answered. "Nobody will ever help you, when you speak of me."

On my tenth birthday I asked her if she'd stop visiting me. "Hopefully." She answered.

On my eleventh, I asked her name. A waste of a question, I guess, but I was dying to know. "I never had one." She answered.

On my twelfth birthday, I lay dying. I'd swapped my tic-tacs for my momma's vicodin. My words were slurred when my vampire arrived. "Is there an afterlife?" I asked.

"For your momma, maybe. But not for us." And she showed me, in a mirror, my first set of fangs. I'd never seen my own smile before.

submitted by /u/Hack_Shuck [link] [comments] source https://www.reddit.com/r/shortscarystories/comments/hdj7qv/i_was_visited_by_a_vampire_every_night_between/ via Blogger https://ift.tt/3eop4Mf

[bohemian-nights]

For the life of me I can’t understand how people think it’s acceptable for House of the Dragon a show that is pushing for more diversity (making the Velaryon’s Black and Mysaria Asian) to race bend the only canonical black character. If they wanted to race bend any of the characters they could’ve made Alys Rivers Indian. They could make Sara Snow Mexican and so on. It’s just so frustrating to see this happen time and time again in media when it comes to the portrayal of WOC in general but especially black women.

Like I don't care if people ship Daemyra you know? If shipping those two makes them happy go for it. My only thing is I just want them to stop with the racist shit they say about all the WOC in Daemon's life. From his lovers (cause they've said some racist shit about Mysaria too) to his wife and to even his daughters. At this point I'm convinced half of them don't even like Daemon because if they did they wouldn't stay shitting on the women who at one point or another were/are important to him.

Idk 🤷🏽‍♀️ it's just very strange to me.

The discourse surrounding Nettles is absolutely crazy and you can tell it’s being fueled by anti-black weirdos who are mainly Dumbnyra stans(lol Team Green have their issues too, but they aren’t the ones who are advocating to race bend Nettles 🙃)

Honestly, I did not have a problem with Dumbnyra(and yes I’m going to call it that) at the beginning of the show. I was indifferent to it. However, that quickly changed when most of the fans started to show themselves to be the racist psychopaths that they are. Down to them literally calling Laena the n-word and celebrating her death🙃:

You might say it’s just a couple of the more “extreme” fans that feel that way, but literally go on their blogs, Twitter accounts, etc., and 90% are arguing some bs.

If it’s not bashing Laena(yes they are still doing this even though she’s dead and according to them Rhaenyra was the love of Daemon’s life so it really doesn’t make sense to do all of this for a dead woman who paled in comparison to the “love of his life”🙃) it’s bashing Nettles.

Boy, do they hate Nettles. I'm posting her picture cause this is the face of their nightmares🤣

If it’s not saying Daemon never loved her and she was just this “giant misunderstanding” between himself and the “love of his life” despite him literally going against his wife and queen’s orders to save her, it’s saying how she’s Daemon’s daughter or Daemon saw her like a daughter.

Their relationship was 100% paternal or mentee/ mentor. Stop mentioning the bath’s which were father-daughter bonding time or the fact that they might’ve slept in the same bed which was just done to comfort a frightened child. Daemon would never get with someone so black I mean so foul-mouthed in canon. She’s just his child😅

Why do you want a bada** with a middle-aged white man? You’re the one with the problem, not me even though I’m trying to infantilize a young black woman and pidgin hole her into the “strong independent black woman” trope while supporting a white woman getting with her uncle cause I can relate to her. I refuse to read the books(or parts of the books) because every time I do I want to ripe out my hair when Daemon and Nettles' relationship is mentioned 🙃

Anyway, if it’s not saying she’s going to be cut and replaced with Rhaena(cause then they know that the relationship would actually be non-romantic☺️), it’s saying and actively hoping she’ll be race bent because they can’t stand the thought of Daemon being with a black woman💁🏽‍♀️:

All minorities are the same don’t cha know 😀and we have too many black people on this show. What we have Corlys, his sons, Rhaena, and Baela. Yes, Rhaena and Baela are mixed, but they count as representation cause their skin isn’t white and I can’t relate because of that. Why add the only in-canon black person when we have a whopping 5 whole black people in a sea of whites 🙃

Also, we don’t know what race Nettles is even though we have pictures of her in the lore and in the books as well as descriptions of her appearance that show that she is black, but again every time Nettles is mentioned I get triggered so I skip over her parts😀

Moving on. If it’s not bashing Nettles they are blatantly ignoring that Rhaena and Baela are Daemon’s daughters and his only daughters. They’ll literally draw a million and one pictures of lizard baby (that’s what I’m calling it, cause again, these people don’t deserve respect) and pretend like it ever drew breath and that it is his only daughter🙃 Or my personal favorite which is essentially Daemon is a good father because he didn’t abandon them on the side of the road (where they belong).

They were educated, clothed, and fed, children don’t need affection, stop complaining. The fandom loves Rhaena and Baela🙃. No one cares about poor Rhaenyra and her boys(who Daemon sees as his real children cause they share the same skin color🙃). That’s why I draw, write, and gif for these poor neglected souls and completely leave out the black ingrates, I mean Rhaena and Baela😅

Finally Mysaria. Oh, Mysaria, I’ve got my own problems with her, but yeah they do bash her by pinning all of Rhaenyra’s psycho deeds on her(so much for your girl being a queen who has "agency"🙃).

Like yeah, she’s not innocent, but she’s not the only one who isn’t innocent, and while I definitely don’t think Daemon was ever that in love with her given how quickly he was willing to call her a wh*re, it hasn’t escaped my notice that the only reason why she isn’t that much of a focus is because they do regulate her to just a wh*re 🙃

They hate Rhea too and try to make her into a groomer to justify Daemon murdering her, but we aren’t going to get into that because we are talking about how this fandom treats the non-white women of Daemon’s life.

Look, I could go on and on, but this ship literally attracts the most racist, white supremacist-leaning, self-hating fans(yes there are Black and other non-white fans who will literally throw their own under a bus for this ship🤦🏽‍♀️), and anti-Black fans by the boat load. And the thing is, they all hide behind “feminism” when called out for it🤣🤣🤣

Yeah, you can ship what you want, but it’s pretty obvious at this point it’s beyond shipping. If you are literally bashing every single woman and girl (especially the non-white women/girls) besides Rhaenyra in Daemon’s life then dude there is something wrong here.

They definitely aren’t Daemon fans(hell he probably has about as many actual fans as Nettles does🤦🏽‍♀️). They are Rhaenyra self-inserters who are pissed off that their ship is on borrowed time and “their man” is about to “leave” their self-insert in the dust for gasp 😱 a black woman so they are taking all the shots they can to feel better about this Titanic ship 🤷🏽‍♀️