#I really love your IAU

[webhead3345]

Awww, thank you! It was a lot of fun to write and I just love the way you’ve set everything up in this AU. 😊 Here it is!

(I may have gotten a few details wrong (like who shares what rooms and what ages everyone should be in relation to each other), but hopefully it all still works okay. XD)

Malon was trying to clean. She was also trying not to lose her head.

It was a hard thing when Four had a blow out. It was a hard thing when Legend fell asleep while invisible and nearly drove her mad with worry. It was a hard thing when Twilight’s powers started acting up for some unknown reason and she had to calm down a frantic wolf.

All of those were hard enough on their own, but when they all happened in the same evening?

Time had been gone all day and was apparently working late without telling her because he still wasn’t back and it was time to start getting the boys to bed and Malon just wanted to have the house clean and a sweet snack ready for when he got back.

She’d hardly started on the cookie dough before Wild had zipped into the room and accidentally knocked over a jar of flour.

Immediately apologetic he had rushed to the sink where Twilight and Hyrule were doing the dishes while singing—loudly—with Four at their feet clapping out of beat. Wild shoved between his brothers and sent a spray of water shooting out of the sink off of some dish before he rushed past Malon with a wet rag before she could say more than “wait!” and plopped the sopping cloth onto the pile of flour.

“Wild, stop!” She said as she reached to pull him away from where he was spreading the wet and sticking the whole pile quickly to the floor.

“Ew,” Wild cringed, looking at the gooey rag. “That didn’t work.”

Malon took the rag with barely restrained frustration and smiled at him as she gently pushed him away. “I’ll deal with it, hon. Why don’t you get ready for bed.”

He wrinkled his nose, clearly wanting to do anything but that, but he obeyed and zipped out of the room just as fast as he’d come, making Four giggle at the gust of air.

“Fifteenth verse, same as the first! Gotta get better ‘cause it can’t get worse… Oh ttthhhhheeee horse put his foot put his foot on the ground!-”

Malon turned back to the now sticky mess and tried to hold back the snap that was creeping up her throat. They were entertaining Four. They weren’t doing it to be obnoxious.

Still, Wind sat in another corner of the kitchen with two cups that certainly didn’t need to be clinked and banged for the past quarter hour to see what sorts of noises they could make.

“Mom!” Legend poked his head into the kitchen, a scowl already written on his face. “Wild stole my book and he won’t tell me where he put it!”

The tattle tone grated on her nerves and she forced herself to take a deep breath before she looked up and raised her eyebrows at him. “Where is he?”

“WIIILD!!” Legend started yelling before he was even out of the kitchen and it made Malon cringe. “Come to Mom!!”

Was she getting a headache from all this noise or was she just imagining that?

A gust of air and then Wild was in front of her. He stepped back with a cringe. “Oops.” Wet flour goop stuck to his foot and he tracked it over the floor to get a towel to clean it off.

“Did you take Legend’s book?”

Wild glanced at Legend then looked back at her. “He stole my blanket first!”

“But I gave it back!”

“You threw it over my head so I nearly crashed into a wall!”

“Well that’s what you get for running in the house! I told you to quit and you didn’t listen!”

“-Horse put his foot put his foot on the ground! The horse put his foot put his foot on the ground! The horse put his foot put his foot on the ground! Ain’t this a terrible song?”

Bang bang. Ting. Tap tap. Bang.

“You don’t get to say what I get to do!”

“You kept poking me!”

“You wouldn’t quit reading!”

“That’s because I want to!”

“But that’s no fun!”

“Boys,” Malon tried to break through the chaos, but she could barely hear herself think over the faucet, the clinking of dishes, the raucous singing and the arguing, let alone hear herself speak.

“It’s fun to me! It doesn’t have to be fun to you.”

“But it’s almost bedtime! And you still haven’t played Speed with me like you said you would!”

“I didn’t say I would.”

“Yes you did!”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Boys!” Her hands were trembling and her head was throbbing but her boys just kept it up, other than Twilight whose singing hesitated as he glanced back at what was going on.

“I said I might play with you if you helped me clean the bathroom. I didn’t say I would.”

“That’s cheating!”

“LINK!!!” Malon’s snap sliced through the noise and it broke off with a discordant clatter.

The singing stopped as all three at the sink turned to look at her in shock and apprehension, a thin pink barrier disappearing around them almost as quickly as it appeared.

Wind’s clattering dishes dropped to the floor and he looked over in surprise.

Wild and Legend both jumped and their argument broke off.

“Go get ready for bed, both of you.” She snapped.

“But my-“ Legend’s complaint was cut off by Twilight stepping over and pushing them toward the door.

“Bedtime. Wild, will you get Legend’s book before you go?”

Wild nodded mutely, and then trotted off at a normal speed. Legend was quick on his heels.

Twilight hurried back to the sink and started work on the dishes again, whispering something quietly to Hyrule as they worked, now void of any singing.

Wind still openly stared at her, even as she turned back to the flour mess and started cleaning it up.

Agh, the faces they’d looked at her with! This silence was almost worse than the noise, but with her pulsing headache and her still bubbling frustration she couldn’t bring herself to try and break it.

Not to mention the shame every glance or staring gaze piled onto her shoulders. She shouldn’t have yelled. Shouldn’t have lost her temper and she knew that.

Twilight and Hyrule finished with the dishes while she was cleaning, and soon her eldest had herded all the other boys quietly out of the kitchen.

The flour was everywhere and she found her vision blurring as she tried to scrub up the stuff that Wild had already gotten wet.

It was a lot of wasted flour, and her cookie dough was still waiting to finish so she couldn’t just stop making it now like she wanted and Time still wasn’t home, and now all the boys were upset and did she just ruin their whole evening? They’d been having so much fun up to now, despite everything Malon was dealing with.

Her lips trembled, but she scrubbed harder at the floor—unnecessarily—and blinked back the tears.

The house was tense and quiet. She could hear the occasional creaks as her boys crept through the process of getting ready for bed.

It would have been peaceful if it wasn’t so dreadful instead.

“Mom?”

Malon nearly jumped out of her skin. She looked up to find Hyrule, standing with his hands nervously clasped in front of him and his pajamas already put on.

“Do you need help?”

Malon’s frustration and anger melted just a little and she sighed, her shoulders slumping as she looked at the clean floor she’d still been scrubbing at. “Not right now, Hyrule. Thank you.”

He still looked uncertain, so she forced herself to meet his gaze and smiled. “Mama’s just been having a hard day. I’m sorry I yelled.”

Hyrule relaxed a little at that. He fiddled with the edge of his night shirt and glanced at the door. “Didn’t scare me as much as Wild and Legend, I think.”

Malon cringed. She sighed and set her rag to the side, pushing to her feet and ruffling his brown curls. “You’re right.”

Her bowl of dough and already half-mixed ingredients called to her, but she ignored it as she and Hyrule left the kitchen.

Her boys were far more important than a few chocolate chip cookies.

Hyrule went to his own room with a quiet “good night” as she pushed open the door to Twilight and Wild’s room.

Both boys were on Wild’s bed, where the boy was curled up and Twilight was sitting next to him with a hand on his back.

Twilight looked up as she entered, then he pulled back and moved off the bed to give her room, quietly returning to his own.

“Wild?”

He looked up at her, his eyes a little red at the edges.

“Oh, hunny.” She sat down on the bed beside him and pulled him into a hug. “I’m sorry sweetheart. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I got a little overwhelmed and lost my temper and I shouldn’t have. Will you forgive me?”

Wild sniffed and nuzzled into her hold, giving a nod. “‘M sorry I overwhelmed you, mom.”

“It wasn’t you.” Malon assured him, even as his words broke her heart anew. “I’ve just had a hectic day. You could never overwhelm me. Got that?”

He just nodded again, squeezing her shirt as he pulled her closer.

They sat like that for a few minutes, before he finally pulled away and scrubbed at his face with his hand.

She stroked his head and quietly whispered, “I love you, Link.”

“Love you too,” he said softly back, giving her a smile.

She stood and said goodnight to Twilight, who seemed more relaxed now that things were clearly resolving, and the she slipped out to make her way to Hyrule and Legend’s room.

Hyrule was laying in his bed, staring toward Legend’s, which was notably empty other than the invisible lump that pressed down on it.

“Legend?”

The bed creaked as he moved, but he didn’t turn visible as she slipped into the room.

“Do you mind if I sit down, hun?”

He grunted and shifted again, making room presumably. Then he appeared, arms crossed and glaring at the wall to the side.

Malon placed herself gingerly beside him and touched his arm. “I’m sorry I lost my temper.”

That did it. He squeezed his arms tighter and his voice was strained. “I didn’t even do anything! Wild won’t leave me alone all night, he steals my book, and then I get sent to bed because of it!”

“It is bedtime, Legend,” Hyrule whispered from across the room.

That fact only made Legend growl. “Well it wasn’t when Wild got in the way of me reading! I just wanted to finish the chapter.” The last was less harsh than the first and be wilted a little with the words.

“I’m sorry you’ve not been having a great night, Legend.” Malon placed a hand on his shoulder. “And I’m sorry I yelled at you. I shouldn’t’ve no matter how bad of a day I was having.”

He hesitated at that. “You were having a bad day too?”

Malon ruffled his hair. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to finish your chapter, but there’s always tomorrow, right?”

He sighed and shrugged, but he did lean toward her, so she embraced him and he melted into it.

“Will you forgive me?”

“Yeah.” Legend adjusted to turn and wrap his arms around her in return. “Sorry for getting upset and saying you were the worst.”

Malon chuckled. “Didn’t know you said that.”

He flushed and ducked his head further so she couldn’t see. “I said it to Hyrule,” he muttered. Then he lifted his head and looked toward the boy in the other bed who was trying to pretend like he wasn’t watching the whole exchange, though he obviously was. “Sorry I snapped at you, Rulie.”

He perked up, and when Legend held out an arm to invite him into the hug, he scampered across the room to join them.

By the time Malon had tucked in all her boys and made certain they knew she wasn’t mad at them, her cookie dough was still waiting for her just where she’d left it.

She glared at it. “Now don’t you go making me lose it again,” she muttered as she finally got to form it into balls and put them in the oven.

It was around that time, as she was washing her hands, that the front door opened, breaking the now peaceful silence.

Time slipped into the clean kitchen and spotted her immediately, sneaking up behind to kiss her hair before she turned and he planted one on her forehead too.

Malon dried her hands and raised her eyebrows at him. “Where have you been all day?”

Time procured a small bouquet of roses from behind his back and she gasped. “Sorry. I got delayed at work, then something came up. I should’ve called.”

Malon took the roses and felt her eyes burn as her vision blurred again.

“Malon? Are you alright?” Time tilted his head and bent lower, touching one of her cheeks and wiping off an escaped tear.

“They’re beautiful,” she whispered.

“Not as beautiful as you.” He grinned and fiddled with a lock of her hair. “The red reminded me of you.”

She stuffed her face into the roses and let out a quiet sob.

Strong hands gently pulled her into a hug and she pushed the roses to one side so they wouldn’t be crushed.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s been a day,” she said quietly. “I’m just glad that you’re home.”

Umm… so I may have made a little IAU fanfiction, I hope you don’t mind. I just sometimes think of mom Malon and it’s always in IAU that I place her immediately, and then today I just started writing and a little 2k fic happened.

I enjoyed writing it, so I already had a lot of fun with it, but seeing as it’s your AU I thought I’d see if you wanted to see it? Absolutely no problem if not! I just wrote it for funsies and I got those so there’s no pressure at all, but I felt obligated to offer. 😅

Hey, I would love to see it!! I’m really flattered you wrote something honestly, I would absolutely love to read it if you’re willing to share :D

[janmisali]

every single topic i see you talking about, it sounds so much like you genuinely believe anyone who has any opinions not identical to yours is objectively wrong and can't possibly know as much as you or more about what they're talking about

in case that is anywhere close to what's going on: disliking things does not make you smarter than everyone who likes those things

and if it's not, maybe stop acting like it is??

okay so you're wrong about me in a couple different important ways,

one: I have literally no idea what it is that you think I "dislike". contextually, it sounds like you're referring to Pluto, which I love! I love all the dwarf planets. I think they're really neat! space is so cool!

two: I don't believe that "intelligence" is a real thing, and if you pay close attention to the words I've been saying, none of the things I've said are bad about Pluto Reclassification Opponents have been about them not being smart enough to understand the science. I'm assuming everyone is on the same level unless it becomes clear someone doesn't understand something, and I try to be helpful and explain things to people whenever that happens.

so, okay, just to be, as clear as possible all in one place. here is my actual honest stance on the Pluto reclassification:

the 2006 reclassification of Pluto was a necessary and well-thought-out reframing of how we think about the structure of the Solar System. it was in no way a "downgrade" or "demotion". Pluto was never very much like the eight planets to begin with, and now it's in a group of other objects that it fits in with much better.

the word "planet" has multiple uses, and the IAU definition is only one of them. I have no issue with people using the word "planet" to refer to things that are not technically-by-this-one-standard-definition "planets".

the specific thing that I have a problem with is when people say things like "Pluto is one of the nine planets" (the only definition of "planet" where this makes sense as a thing to say is "the things I was taught were planets in school, and nothing else"), or when people act like they're being personally attacked when lists of planets don't include Pluto, or (The Thing That Actually Started This) when someone makes a list of dwarf planets that does include Pluto.

there is a significant difference between using a word in a way that's different from a specific technical definition and insisting that anyone who does use that specific technical definition has done something immoral. I think it's bad that I can't talk about cool space facts on the internet without a hundred people arguing at me about how they think it's bad to refer to Pluto as a dwarf planet.

[zukkacore]

OK but Jace prime seeing Porter's interactions with the clones, seeing Porter not really love them and not realising that it's because they're not him. Thinking this is how Porter must be with him too and he must be too wrapped up in the moment to notice.

OK HONESTLY YEAH thats so real i was all in on fueling Jace’s specialist little boy sorcery prodigy Porter’s darling first acolyte complex but this is also real to me. Im holding in both hands rn. Just being like oh I was way too swept up in everything how could I be so stupid I keep trying to see something that isn’t there (it’s there). Also this is so epilogue coded (@iaus come get your dense boy). He’s never gonna get it.

[undisclosed-serendipity]

But that star of yours, next time you see it, look to it’s right. The wolf beside her, won’t never change. - Eli Whipp/Wounded Wolf, The English (2022)

Here I present my contribution to The English fandom, drawn digital on Procreate. I drew it with reference to the graph provided by International Astronomy Union (IAU) for the Scorpius constellation featuring the Lupus constellation beside it.

Ever since I heard the line from Eli, and then rewatching and finally understanding the introduction monologue spoken by Cornelia in the beginning, I have had this image in my head that I couldn’t shake. I have always loved the stars and I will always remember being 14 and awake at 4-5am on top of the freezing cold mountains in Taiwan to see the stars in the sky. Now that I have moved to Sweden, and the sky is so big here and when it gets really dark in the winter months I get to see stars ever so clearly in the sky.

Although there is some inconsistency found with what was said by Eli and the constellation being visible in US and whether the Wolf constellation was known in the Pawnee tribes in those years, after some research and discussion with the ever lovely @sagiow , I still find the idea so beautiful that the story of revenge wrapped up nicely with destiny and of course, magic. It's amazing so much so that the IAU graph for Scorpius has the whole Lupus constellation present inside, which made this possible.

(I went to see if the constellation of my star sign has any interesting constellation beside it and hahaha, I will wait for the day someone makes a story about Leo and Leo Minor -laughs-)

[moog-rt]

Newest Chapter of IAU was amazinggg, i’m so proud of you!! keep up the good work i really love your writing 💕

Thank you so muchhh!! You're seriously so sweet, and I'm thrilled you're enjoying this story so far <3

[hungarianrhapsodyof1986]

Seven’s a Lucky Number (part four)

Night Four

Ben half expected not to wake up the night next, but he did, and Joe was right beside him, silent.

“Enjoyed Catalina, didn’t you?” Ben asked, testing the waters.

“Yeah, sure did.” Joe said, and he smiled. “Especially the boat ride.”

Okay, so he was given another chance. He could forget about the previous night and pretend it never happened. That he never experienced Joe dying just by his side.

He was given another chance, but another chance to do what, exactly?

Ben had tried confessing before, but it didn’t work. He doubted it would work this time, and he doubted it would ever work. It just seemed as if Joe did not feel the same way. Just as his nightmare insisted.

And that nightmare sparked a fear in Ben. He would never admit it, of course, but it did. It made his blood run cold; made him lose hope. What if it was true? What if Joe truly saw him as nothing but a close friend (if he was lucky to even be called that)? All the more did it compel him to keep silent and treasure what he already had with Joe. Something bad brought about something good, and maybe—just maybe—this was the solution. His answer to this dilemma.

He knew he was lucky to have even met Joe. Since the first day of shooting, he had fallen in love with the man’s silly demeanour and chaotic energy. They say opposites attract, and although Ben had believed that at first, he stopped when he finally met Joe, for he could be silly and chaotic too. From the moment Joe gleefully said “hey man, I’m Joe,” and shook his hand did he feel a spark he never felt for anyone else before, and he knew that spark was special.

His internal thought parade made him look at Joe tenderly, silently adoring the very blessing who was this man. It made him want to pull Joe close to and tight against him, but he doubted Joe would be comfortable with that, so he kept his hands (or rather, his arms) to himself and smiled ahead.

“Hey,” Joe said, a smile evident in his voice. “What’re you thinking about, there?”

Ben turned to face him. “Oh. It’s nothing, really.”

“Oh?” Joe said somewhat teasingly. He inched closer to Ben and whispered into the blond’s ear “I don’t think it’s nothing.”

This is nothing, Ben thought to himself as he bit his lip. It’s nothing but a playful gesture, and nothing more. Don’t overthink it, you bloody idiot.

“You’re right,” Ben confessed, and Joe’s eyes flew wide. “It is something. But I’ll only tell you once we’re home. We wouldn’t want anyone else to hear, would we?”

“Hmm,” Joe hummed, as if thinking it. “I don’t know, man. I don’t think he’d give a damn...” he said, a bit flirtatiously. Oh, Joe, teasing him again.

But that was just Joe, wasn’t it? Always there to tease Ben? Ben enjoyed the attention, but sometimes he wondered why him, out of all people. There were other people he could tease, but he chose Ben. And Ben wanted to know why.

“That’s what you think, buddy,” Ben laughed, pushing Joe away coltishly. He noticed how the driver was eyeing them strangely through the mirror. “That’s what you think.”

Joe huffed. “Fine. I’ll wait till we get home. But... you won’t mind if I... leaned on your shoulder for a bit, would you?” he asked.

“You don’t need to ask, Joe,” Ben said truthfully. “Just go ahead.”

“Thanks, Ben.”

Ben smiled as Joe got himself more comfortable and leaned his head on Ben’s shoulder, just as he had done three nights ago.

I think we’re going to make it tonight, Ben thought to himself. The peace was comforting, but he avoided sleeping, himself, just in case the nightmare would come about again.

Little did he know that silent peace wouldn’t last.

Don’t Stop Me Now started playing on the radio and Joe practically jumped from his seat. He started singing along, and Ben just smiled and stared outside as he shook his head. Ah, classic, joyful Joe. Always up for having fun, no matter what time.

“Don’t stop me now! I’m having such a good time, I’m having a—Ben, join me, come on!”

“I’m fine, mate, go do your thing,” Ben said, chuckling. It felt an awful lot like Joe was dragging him to the dance floor, but he wouldn’t give in. Not too easily.

“Don’t stop me now, ‘cause I’m havin’ a good time! Don’t stop me now, yes I’m havin’ a good time—Ben, don’t be like that!”

Joe continued to sing until Ben finally joined him at “like at atom bomb, ready to oh, oh, oh, oh, oh explode!”

“That’s the thing!”

Ben was enjoying himself, although reminding both Joe and himself from time to time to quiet down a bit in order not to startle or disturb the driver. Queen songs continued to play on the radio until they arrived at Ben’s home, laughing their hearts away.

This was so far the perfect night, and Ben could not ask for anything more. Perhaps if he didn’t bring it up at all, the night would pass without any problem. Ben counted on it.

Ben got their luggages out of the cab’s trunk and opened the door to his house. Joe didn’t appear to forget their conversation in the car because, the moment they were settled down on the couch, Joe said “now, tell me what you were thinking about in the car.”

How much I’ve loved you since we first met, Ben wanted to say, but instead he said “Just our time in Catalina.” Joe looked at him expectantly. “Including the boat ride,” he added.

“You wanna talk about it? Just to pass the time,” Joe said somewhat nervously. What exactly was there to be nervous about?

Ben was more than willing to talk about it till the night passed, so he began the conversation. “What were your thoughts when we first arrived?” he asked.

“Well, I thought it’d be a fun experience; seeing Catalina with you. I wasn’t wrong.” Joe said, shrugging. “I’ve been to that island many times before, but I knew that time would be... special. Especially seeing it with a good pal.”

Ben put a hand on his chest, mock-pouting. “Aw, Joe, I’m flattered.”

In truth, his heart was leaping in his chest. Joe really thought it would be special... with him? But he said he was only a ‘good pal’. A friend, in other words.

Stop overthinking, stupid.

“Ben...” Joe said, chiding. He was serious, and that was one thing Ben adored about Joe. The man could definitely be serious when he knows the time is right. He was, just like Frankie, very perceptive, and he knew exactly what to say during various moments. It was very... ‘John Deacon’ of him.

“Sorry, sorry,” Ben said, raising his arms in pacification. “But really, I’m glad you thought it would be special.” He smiled.

“How ‘bout you?” Joe asked. “What did you think when we first arrived?”

That I would finally get the courage to tell you after all these months... but I was wrong.

“I thought it would be a meaningful time for both of us. A time where we could get to know each other more. I already knew we knew each other bit; our backgrounds and all that... family, you know... but there, I thought we would be able to understand each other on a different level.”

Oh god. Did that sound too intimate? Ben started to regret his words, although everything he said was nothing but unadulterated truth.

Joe swore. “Well, my thoughts pale to yours.”

“No! They don’t! Swear,” Ben said, and, like a child, drew a cross with his finger atop his heart. “They’re just as substantial as mine.”

Joe smiled, though his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. He was thinking of something—there was no doubt about that—but Ben wondered what he was thinking of; what thoughts were racing through that brilliant mind of his.

“What are you thinking of?” Ben asked, his words an echo of Joe’s just moments ago, in the cab.

Joe’s smile grew wider, his white teeth flashing in a grin. His hazel eyes twinkled with such pure mirth that Ben’s heart ached. “My favourite moment. In Catalina.”

“What was it, then?” Ben asked, genuinely curious.

“I’ll tell if you tell,” Joe answered, and Ben knew how precious that moment must’ve been for Joe, to treat it as a valued secret that must be stored away and be revealed only to the people he trusted most. Ben felt fortunate to be one of those people, and though he must hold Joe at a distance, he was almost content with the knowledge that simple statement gave him.

He still ached for more, but it was better only he suffer than have them both hurt.

“Okay, then... my favourite part of the whole trip... was the time when we were on the balcony.”

“Hey!” Joe exclaimed, almost making Ben jump in his seat. “Copycat! That’s my favourite moment, too!”

“Really?” Ben asked, not that all surprised, for it truly was a memorable and intimate night shared only by the two of them.

No wine, no gin, no beer, nothing at all. Just the two of them and the stars.

Ben closed his eyes to recall that night.

***

“Today was a good day,” Joe said, staring up at the starry, cloudless sky. He then pointed at something above. Ben tried to set his gaze on that direction, seeing a group of stars clustered together. “Oh. There’s Ursa Major.”

“Isn’t that the Big Dipper?” Ben asked.

“You’re right, it also is the Big Dipper, but the Big Dipper is nothing but an asterism of the constellation Ursa Major,” Joe replied.

Ben remembered this from his astronomy class in seventh grade, but he loved to see Joe gush about anything in the world, may it be baseball or astronomy, so he asked “an aster—what?”

“Didn’t you pay attention to your seventh grade astronomy class?” Joe asked, shifting in his seat, turning his head to look at Ben. The latter caught his gaze and did his best to look guilty in the dim light. Joe sighed good-naturedly.

“An asterism,” Joe said, “is a popular pattern of stars that is not part of the 88 official constellations of the IAU.”

“Ah, I see,” Ben said, nodding his head. “You must know a lot about these things.”

Joe huffed a laugh. “Hardly. Astronomy has always just... interested me, you know? I never wanted it to be part of my profession, but I guess it’s just everywhere, huh?”

“Speaking of which, what would your next movie be all about? If you don’t mind telling me, of course.”

“Hmm... not sure yet, but maybe one day, I’ll make a movie about space. And maybe... maybe I’d cast you as the lead.”

“And be the hunkiest astronaut to ever have lived?” Ben asked playfully. It didn’t look like Joe appreciated the joke.

“No. You’d be the smartest, most compassionate and hardworking scientist to have ever walked the earth,” Joe said earnestly. “Ben... you’re more than just a pretty face, you know that? You’re so much more than that.”

Ben’s jaw dropped at that, and he was found completely astonished at Joe’s words.

Joe continued. “And anyone who dares say the opposite can just piss off for good.”

“Joe... thank you.”

“No. Thank you, Ben. For everything. For being my best buddy, the most amazing colleague... just. Everything.”

“I could say the same for you.”

“This was the best vacay I ever had with anyone, honestly. And although we’ll be well on our separate ways tomorrow... I want you to know this meant so much to me. More than both of us—or anyone in the world, really—would ever know.”

“Joe, I—“

“Unless.”

“Unless what?”

“Ben. It wouldn’t bother you if I accompanied you back to London, would it?”

“Joe, I think I can do that well on my own. I don’t want to trouble you.”

“You won’t. Promise.” Joe drew a cross with his finger on his chest.

“Really, Joe.”

“And really, Ben.”

Ben huffed. “Fine. But no complaining about jet lag or anything. Got it?” he said, frisky.

“Yeah, sure. Now, let’s go inside.”

And so it was: the two went inside and brushed their teeth in their shared bathroom, arms almost brushing, so close yet not quite.

When they had finished, they slipped into their separate beds, and Joe answered text messages on his phone.

Mom:

<How’s everything, honey?>

<Enjoying your time with Ben?>

He replied:

<Everything’s going pretty well, Mom>

<Enjoying everything immensely>

Mom:

<So when are you bringing him over?>

He replied:

<Mom!>

<It’s not like that>

<Not yet>

<I don’t know if it’s even possible, actually>

Mom:

<Well, Joe. Whether he likes you back or not, treasure what you both have. It’s hard to find people like Ben these days, and I hope... I hope everything goes well between the two of you>

He replied:

<I do treasure it, Mom. I treasure it a lot. Yeah, it’s hard... that’s why I’m so grateful to have met him. I hope everything goes well, too>

Mom:

<Just talk to me when you need, dear. Have a good night there!>

He replied:

<Thanks... have a nice day, Mom>

Next was from Rami:

<Hey man, how’s it going between you and Ben?>

He replied:

<Good. Very good. You and Lucy?>

Rami:

<Extremely well. Hope to propose to her soon>

He replied:

<Might be too soon for that man. Don’t want to overwhelm her, right?>

Rami:

<Of course, of course. I’ll give her time. But back to topic>

<When are you going to tell him?>

He replied:

<I have a feeling... tomorrow night>

Rami:

<!!!>

<Well, good luck, Joe>

He replied:

<Thanks, Rami>

And from Gwilym:

<You ready to tell him yet?>

He replied:

<Yeah. I think so>

Gwilym:

<So when are you going to tell him?>

He replied:

<Tomorrow night>

Gwilym:

<Remember, Joe. Just stay calm and tell him everything earnestly. If all things go well, then that’s great. But if not... then remember, you got us to fall onto>

He replied:

<Yup. Got it>

<I’m so tired... better sleep now>

Gwilym:

<Okay, Joe. Goodnight there>

He replied:

<Night, Gwil>

Joe shut off his phone and glanced at Ben who was laying down on the blanket.

Guy might freeze sometime in the night, Joe thought to himself. Better do something about it.

Joe carefully pulled the blanket from under Ben and placed it atop the other man, covering his body till the chin. He stared at the blond for a while, wondering what he must’ve done to be able to have met this man.

Well, whatever it was, it must’ve been a very good thing.

Ben was murmuring in his sleep. Adorable, Joe thought.

He snuck a light kiss on Ben’s forehead, cautious so he may not accidentally wake him. Ben’s murmuring stopped, and Joe went back to bed and shut the light off with a smile on his face.

***

“Mmm... best night of my life,” Ben said.

“Same for me,” Joe said, smiling softly. He looked so precious, with his slight scruff. The crinkling sides of his eyes while he smiled. His soft complexion that radiated only a childlike joy.

“Ah, come here,” Ben said, and Joe willingly placed his head on Ben’s lap.

“I’m... really tired, Ben,” he said.

“So am I,” Ben said. “You can sleep now, if you want. I won’t disturb you.”

“Won’t you feel uncomfortable?”

“Inconsequential.”

Joe yawned. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but just couldn’t. It clearly seemed like he was basically itching to tell him something. And honestly, so did Ben. He still wouldn’t say anything. What if Joe pushes him away? What if he ruins the best thing that’s ever happened in his life? He just won’t allow that to happen.

So he remained silent, instead carding his fingers through Joe’s hair just as he did the night before. He wouldn’t push Joe either. Whether Joe would say something was his own choice, not Ben’s.

Maybe this time, Joe wouldn’t leave. Maybe this time, Joe wouldn’t die. He wouldn’t. They’re both safe and sound, and there’s nothing that could ever change that.

Ben closed his eyes, waiting for the morning to come.

***TO BE CONTINUED***

[hereticaloracles]

TNO Watch: Eris

Helios on Eris– So, somehow in my accounting of the Transneptunians, I managed to overlook the biggest, most prolific of them all (however not the first to be discovered past Pluto!)- Eris! Now I can’t rightly finish off the archive without her, now can I? So without further ado, let me formally welcome back the most controversial dwarf planet back into the party! Gird your loins, y’all

The Astronomy– Eris is the most massive and second-largest (by volume) dwarf planet (and plutoid) known in the Solar System. Eris was discovered in January 2005, and in September 2006 it was named after Eris, the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Eris is the ninth most massive object directly orbiting the Sun, and the 16th most massive overall, because seven moons are more massive than all known dwarf planets. It is also the largest which has not yet been visited by a spacecraft. Eris was measured to be 2,326 ± 12 kilometers (1,445.3 ± 7.5 mi) in diameter. Eris’s mass is about 0.27% of the Earth mass, about 27% more than dwarf planet Pluto, although Pluto is slightly larger by volume.

Eris is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) and a member of a high-eccentricity population known as the scattered disk. It has one known moon, Dysnomia. As of February 2016, its distance from the Sun was 96.3 astronomical units (1.441×1010 km; 8.95×109 mi), roughly three times that of Pluto. With the exception of some long-period comets, until 2018 VG18 was discovered on December 17, 2018, Eris and Dysnomia were the most distant known natural objects in the Solar System.[

Because Eris appeared to be larger than Pluto, NASA initially described it as the Solar System’s tenth planet. This, along with the prospect of other objects of similar size being discovered in the future, motivated the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term planet for the first time. Under the IAU definition approved on August 24, 2006, Eris is a “dwarf planet”, along with objects such as Pluto, Ceres, Haumea and Makemake thereby reducing the number of known planets in the Solar System to eight, the same as before Pluto’s discovery in 1930. Observations of a stellar occultation by Eris in 2010 showed that its diameter was 2,326 ± 12 kilometers (1,445.3 ± 7.5 mi), very slightly less than Pluto, which was measured by New Horizons in July 2015.

The Myth– Eris is the Greek goddess of strife and discord. The most famous tale of Eris recounts her initiating the Trojan War by causing the Judgement of Paris. The goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite had been invited along with the rest of Olympus to the forced wedding of Peleus and Thetis, who would become the parents of Achilles, but Eris had been snubbed because of her troublemaking inclinations.

She, therefore (as mentioned at the Kypria according to Proclus as part of a plan hatched by Zeus and Themis) tossed into the party the Apple of Discord, a golden apple inscribed Ancient Greek: τῇ καλλίστῃ, “For the most beautiful one”, or “To the Fairest One” – provoking the goddesses to begin quarreling about the appropriate recipient. The hapless Paris, Prince of Troy, was appointed to select the fairest by Zeus. The goddesses stripped naked to try to win Paris’s decision and also attempted to bribe him. Hera offered political power; Athena promised infinite wisdom; and Aphrodite tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. While Greek culture placed a greater emphasis on prowess and power, Paris chose to award the apple to Aphrodite, thereby dooming his city, which was destroyed in the war that ensued.

Another story of Eris includes Hera and the love of Polytekhnos and Aedon. They claimed to love each other more than Hera and Zeus were in love. This angered Hera, so she sent Eris to wreak discord upon them. Polytekhnos was finishing off a chariot board, and Aedon a web she had been weaving. Eris said to them, “Whosoever finishes thine task last shall have to present the other with a female servant!” Aedon won. But Polytekhnos was not happy by his defeat, so he came to Khelidon, Aedon’s sister, and raped her. He then disguised her as a slave, presenting her to Aedon. When Aedon discovered this was indeed her sister, she chopped up Polytekhnos’s son and fed him to Polytekhnos. The gods were not pleased, so they turned them all into birds.

Eris has been adopted as the patron deity of the modern Discordian religion, which was begun in the late 1950s by Gregory Hill and Kerry Wendell Thornley under the pen names of “Malaclypse the Younger” and “Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst”. The Discordian version of Eris is considerably lighter in comparison to the rather malevolent Graeco-Roman original, wherein she is depicted as a positive (albeit mischievous) force of chaotic creation.

A quote from the Principia Discordia, the first holy book of Discordianism, attempts to clear up the matter: One day Mal-2 consulted his Pineal Gland and asked Eris if She really created all of those terrible things. She told him that She had always liked the Old Greeks, but that they cannot be trusted with historical matters. “They were,” She added, “victims of indigestion, you know.” Suffice it to say that Eris is not hateful or malicious. But she is mischievous and does get a little bitchy at times.

The story of Eris being snubbed and indirectly starting the Trojan War is recorded in the Principia and is referred to as the Original Snub. The Principia Discordia states that her parents may be as described in Greek legend, or that she may be the daughter of Void. She is the Goddess of Disorder and Being, whereas her sister Aneris (called the equivalent of Harmonia by the Mythics of Harmonia) is the goddess of Order and Non-Being. Their brother is Spirituality.

Discordian Eris is looked upon as a foil to the preoccupation of western philosophy in attempting to find order in the chaos of reality, in prescribing order to be synonymous with truth. Discordian Eris teaches us that the only truth is chaos and that order and disorder are simply temporary filters applied to the lenses through which we view the chaos. This is known as the Aneristic Illusion.

Why She Matters– Okay, its no secret that Eris is fantastic and I love her. Yes, Eris is chaos, but you know what? So is life. You can try and plan and make things nice and neat, but then the Universe comes through like a toddler who just learned how to walk, hellbent on getting to the other side of the room- consequences be damned. Eris is that universal action. Make no mistake, she is a destroyer and lives for the battlefield, but she also loves to dance, finding the beat in the deaths of men clamoring to prove that they are right to unseen forces (but most of all, themselves). If Mars ever did drag, she would look like Eris (and you bet your ass there would be death drops and shablams like you’ve never seen before!)

When people (read: hecklers) try to come at me with proof that astrology works (but who don’t have their birth time handy for me to utterly eviscerate them) I point to Eris. I remember when she was discovered, and the excitement that her unveiling brought to all of us. And then I remember, quite vividly, the fallout from the IAU decision after she was named but then relegated to dwarf planet status. It was a repeat of the Judgement of Paris myth! She was snubbed, yet again, by the authority, and Pluto was caught up in the fallout as collateral damage just because she was bigger than him (men and size issues, amirite?). And the authority paid for it in the end! Even total luddites who don’t follow the whirling and twirling of the planets (dwarf or otherwise) have a strong opinion about the decision. It made people care about these crazy space rocks, which brings me great happiness.

We aren’t all running around fighting all the time in this modern age, so how do we look at Eris now? A primal force of chaos doesn’t really mesh with our modern sensibilities- or does it? One of the more enlightening views on Eris comes when we consider her in terms of Justice, especially against any kind of oppressive authority. This can be seen in almost every major social movement to demand better treatment, to deny an oppressive ruling class its ability to exploit those below it- Stonewall, May Day, Ferguson, Rodney King, The Arab Spring…. Hell, even the Boston Tea Party! Eris is that urge we feel to stand our ground and refuse to roll over to the bad guys. Eris is the urge to fight for our rights. Yes, it can get violent- but better short violence that changes things for the better than the long, slow violence of inaction. Far better to live boldly and bravely. More commonly though, Eris spurs us on to fight with our racist uncles on Facebook or send petty gifs in the group chats calling out our friends for being slutty… but like, in an endearing way. In fact you could solidly call Eris the Goddess of Shade. Hey, not every action can be a revolutionary one after all- sometimes you just want to get brunch with your girls.

Eris isnt just Chaos, by the way- she also represents Strife. More specifically, what you are striving for. What do you want out of this life? If you are lost, look to Eris and she can help you find your way when you’ve lost it. Mind you, you’ll be in for a HELL of a trip with her (more Thelma and Louise than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas- That’s solidly Arawn territory) and you might not survive, but at least you’ll know!

Now, we all have all of these planets and asteroids SOMEWHERE in our chart, so in you is the seed of chaos- even the most holier-than-thou Libra. As with all of the Transneptunians, look at her house placement, not necessarily the sign, to see her effect. To find out where she shows up in your chart, go to astro.com, put in your birth details and in the extended options, all the way at the bottom of the next page, there will be a menu of additional objects. Under that is a blank space where you can enter the number 136199, for Eris. Once you have it entered, generate the chart! Where does Eris affect your life? Let us know in the comments below!

Support us on Patreon so that we can keep delivering content like this! https://www.patreon.com/hereticaloracles

TNO Watch: Eris was originally published on Heretical Oracles

[rainbow-taishi]

First of all, I love your planet characters, their designs are super cool, second, I was wondering if you have any concepts for the dwarf planets or important moons like Europa or Titan? I'm kinda a big space nerd and was just curious if you thought about those >

For the updated designs, these are the only ones I can show for the sneak peek ;)

[Image Above: Haumea, Makemake, Pluto, Eris, Ceres]

134340 Pluto

Once one of the main planets of the solar system before his reclassification in 2006. He is soft-spoken and usually talks to his silent moon, Charon.  He’s currently coping up on being a dwarf planet and ‘big brother’ to his new companions (but he usually  fails at it).

136199 Eris

She’s a bit rude to Pluto (in a tsundere way) and refuses to call him 'big brother’. She usually carries a creepy doll called, 'Dysnomia’.

1 Ceres

The eldest among the dwarf planets, she is the only one who lives separately to the other minor planets. 

Because she’s Mars and Jupiter’s neighbour, she somehow picked on some of their manners. She can be very enthusiastic and creepy at the same time. She acts like a big sister to the other dwarf planets…and Neptune.

136472 Makemake

One of the newest members of the minor planet class. His personality resembles Pluto a bit but a bit more upbeat. He has a bunny hat and was nicknamed 'Bunny’ because he was found on Easter Day.

136108 Haumea

A serious young lady. She’s usually silent but could be snarky at times. She likes to tease Makemake. When Christmas comes she usually dresses up as Santa to give presents. She has two circular hair clips which she named 'Hi'iaka’ and 'Namaka’.

++++++++++++++

FROM OLD STRIPS

Some other TNOs that are potentially dwarf planets but not recognized by IAU (Old designs)

90377 SednaSedna is a quirky red-headed young woman who lives really REALLY faraway from Sun.She’s such a ridiculous procrastinator that she takes more than 10000 years to complete a task(do not ask her to do something for you, unless you live that long ). Her place is really cold that’s why she wears layers of clothes. She probably lives alone.

50000 QuaoarQuaoar is a relative of Makemake and a close friend of Pluto(literally and figuratively). He’s named after a native-American creation god.His size was constantly revised over time, so no one knows his exact measurements. Some say he used to be bigger than he is now… until a certain incident, He has a familiar, a raven named Weywot. 

90482 Orcus and Vanth(Moon)Also called the Anti-PlutoA relative of Pluto which acts and looks almost similar yet opposite to him, just like a mirror. Even his name is a counterpart underworld god like Pluto’s.He has a moon named Vanth which acts like a counterpart of Charon. Pluto thinks it’s a bit creepy.

(225088) 2007 OR10Once nicknamed 'Snow White’(which turned out inappropriate), 2007 OR10 is on a journey of self-discovery.After all, this guy still has no official name.Has reddish-hair due to methane exposed in radiation and might be similar to Quaoar.One of the top three guys who live far away in the solar system, along with Sedna and Eris.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

MOON RELATED STRIPS and Illustrations (Luna and other moons) I may have missed some since I drew a lot of non-main storyline strips

All (well, most, of them)

Link

Link

Luna

Link

Link

Link

Link

Link

Link

Phobos and Deimos:

Link

Link

Link

Link

Link

Galilean 4 (Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto):

Link

Link

Link

Link

Link

Link

Link

Link

Saturn’s Principal Moons (Titan, Enceladus, Iapetus, Dione, Tethys, Rhea and Death Star Mimas):

Link

Link

Link

Uranus’s 5 largest moons ( Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Ariel and Miranda)

Link

Some of Neptune’s moons (Triton and Nereid (There’s also Proteus but he’s only appeared in illustrations) ):

Link

Pluto’s Moons (Charon mostly, but the others appear from time to time):

Link

Link

Link

Link

[vacuously-true]

"is no one going to bring up" buddy you are talking to the "moon is a planet" blog. The internet dork with an astronomy minor who decided to make "moon is a planet" 80% of her personality. The original image in this post was obtained while I was making a presentation for my students about how the moon should be considered a planet. This is so funny. You are correct, but you don't gotta tell me lol.

But since this post has come around to my favorite subject anyway:

I'm not actually aware of your claim that scientists have discovered 500+ objects in our solar system that would have been planets under an old definition. For one thing, this would be hard, because until the IAU 2006 definition, there wasn't really a definition of planet at all. The ancient definition was "thing in the sky that moves relative to the fixed stars," so included the sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. But then as we got a better picture of the solar system, we understood a kind of planet that was orbiting the sun (but didn't really formalize this definition) and kicked the sun and moon out and added Earth, then added Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto as we discovered them, not because they fit an official definition but because our official definition was basically "Why would I need to make a formal definition of planet, don't you think I'd know a planet if I saw one? Now THAT'S a planet." But then yeah we started to discover a lot of smaller stuff out in our solar system and a lot of those objects don't seem like planets compared to the eight planets we recognize because they aren't very significant or notable (not round, too far away, too close to other stuff, weird orbit). And then there were objects which are kind of in between. I'm not sure that there were 500+ such objects discovered before 2006, so if you've got a source I'd love to see it. But that's not really the point- we wanted "planet" to mean "significant body orbiting the sun" because that's always what we wanted it to mean and as we realized there's also a lot of insignificant junk and potatoes in our solar system, we realized maybe our "I'll know a planet when I see it" classification strategy was not going to cut it and we needed something more clear cut. Not because we found 500+ planets and didn't want them, but because we found hundreds of Things and knew some of them were significant in the way a "planet" should be and some of them weren't and we wanted a way to draw the line.

So I would argue that excluding many dwarf planets and large asteroids from the definition of planet makes a lot more sense than "the US government declaring ‘Pizza’ a vegetable so it can be served in schools," or "removing animals from the endangered species list simply because its too much work to give them legal protection." I also think the current definition of a planet is trash because it's contradictory in some ways and excludes things that seem to me to meet the requirement of being "significant" which is supposed to be captured by the definition, but I do not think a better one would include hundreds of dwarf planets and asteroids. The main planets in the solar system, in my opinion, genuinely are very different from all of those things. The question is just how do you draw the line so that it includes/excludes the things it want it to. How do you make a reasonable definition of the category of planet?

You said- "In theory an organization system is built to reflect the world. But sometimes people get so caught up in making things look nice they try to make the world fit the categories. And when that doesn't work, they change the categories in such a way that it make the world LOOK different even then it isn’t." and I agree with you in some ways but I also do not think a system that categorized Jupiter and Earth as the same kind of object as an asteroid would be one that reflected the world very well. I think our current definition excludes some things I would consider planets- but not hundreds of them. (In our solar system at least.)

Your description of why Luna is a planet is also confusing to me (Why would Pluto not being a planet make it make more sense to include Luna? I would think INCLUDING Pluto makes a better case for Luna because then hey Luna is bigger than that one planet so it should also be in the club.) (All planets with satellites orbit around the center of mass with their satellites which is not technically the center of the planet, that's not unique to our double planet system, what WOULD be impressive is if the center of mass was no longer inside Earth, which will be the case in the future for our system since Luna and Earth are growing apart) but I have made many Luna posts you might enjoy so I'm not going to go on about this too much right now.

Googled "planet" and got this panel

[skyward-floored]

I have a request, IAU Four being a mentor to Sun and Sky’s triplets in the future since well, I think the triplets refer to to triforce heroes Links, right? I say this cause well, why not? And I think it’ll be really cool so uhhh I hope you do not mind :D

Yep, the triplets are the tri force heroes Links :) I had to slip them in somehow, I’m too attached to them lol.

Another fic where Four is a little older, probably similar in time to that one with him and Wind I wrote the other week. Early teens. Ish.

(requests are closed)

————————————————————

Wild’s motorcycle pulled to a stop on the edge of the street, Four removing his arms from around his older brother as he turned off the bike.

“Alright Smithy, don’t take too long, I’ve got to go in like fifteen minutes,” Wild said, and Four nodded, taking his helmet off and handing it to Wild.

“No problem, I’ll be quick. Though if you want to make sure I don’t take too long, you could just come in with me,” Four said as he hopped off his brother’s motorcycle. “I bet Sky is home, and the triplets haven’t seen you in weeks.”

Wild’s face scrunched. “I’d love to, but you know Azy would just foretell my doom or whatever.”

Four snorted. “He only did that once.”

“Yeah, and he was right!”

“You fell down the stairs, Wild. You literally do that all the time.”

Wild rolled his eyes as Four smirked, and waved him in. “Yeah yeah whatever, go on. I don’t have all day, hop to it.”

Four let out a laugh, and walked up the sidewalk to Sky and Sun’s house, listening to the wind chimes on their front porch, and wondering idly if Aryll had talked to any rare birds lately. He paused to look at some chalk drawings of birds and oddly-shaped people on the path, and in doing so, didn’t notice a blond head pop up from behind a bush, or the excited gasp ring through the yard.

“Four! Four!” a voice squealed, and Four turned around just in time to see one of his cousins launch himself at his arms.

Four yelped and dropped the bag he’d been holding, catching Crimson just in time. The boy giggled wildly as he hugged him, rufous eyes sparkling, and Four sighed and ruffled his hair, glad he’d been able to drop the bag in the soft grass.

“Hi Crim, happy to see you too. Where’re your brothers?” Four asked as he looked around, and Crimson bounced back out of his arms, and began tugging him forward.

“Backyard! Sage zapped Aryll so Mommy kicked him outside, and Azy was keeping him company,” he reported as he dragged Four forward, Four just barely grabbing his bag. “Come on come on!”

“Just a second, I’ve got to return something first,” Four said as he was dragged inside. “Aryll?”

A blonde head peered around the corner, and Aryll smiled at the sight of him.

“Oh, hi Four,” his other cousin said, nursing a hand close to her chest as she walked into the room. “What’s up?”

Four saw some reddish marks on her skin as she turned her hand, and he winced. If the bandages were anything to go by, it looked like Sage had gotten her pretty good.

Little kids with powers were always something of a hazard.

Aryll was looking at him expectantly, and Four shook himself, reaching into the bag he’d brought and pulling out the box that was inside.

“I fixed your telescope,” he grinned, and carefully unwrapped and it handed it to her. Aryll’s face lit up and she squealed, running over and taking it gently from his grasp.

“Oh it’s perfect! You totally fixed it!” she said, looking through the glass. “Thank you so much Four!”

“No problem, glad I could help,” Four grinned, and then got tugged away again by Crimson.

“Come onnnnn,” Crimson groaned, and Four gave in and let him pull him outside with one last wave at Aryll.

They went out the back door and saw Sage at the swing set, flopped on a swing on his stomach, expression glum. Azure was happily swinging in the swing next to him, and he waved as Four came out, pumping his legs so he’d go higher.

“Look Four! I’m taller than you!” he called as he swung up into the air, and Four smiled.

“Wow, looks like it. Hi Azure. And hi Sage,” he greeted next, and Sage mumbled a hi in return, poking at the dirt.

Four hummed at the lackluster response, and sat down next to him as Crimson got on another swing, looking at his little cousin. Sage kept poking at the dirt, and Four gave him a poke in return, ignoring the light shock of static he got for his trouble.

“So, you shocked Aryll again, huh.”

“Not on purpose,” Sage mumbled, adding a head to his dirt stick-figure. “She’s just so bossy sometimes, and she wasn’t listening and then I got mad and I zapped her— by accident. Honest.”

“You need better control, kiddo,” Four said, and Sage growled, kicking at his picture to erase it.

“Everyone says that. Aryll says it, Mommy says it, Daddy—”

Sage went abruptly quiet, and Four raised an eyebrow as he went back to drawing in the dirt.

“...My powers are just trouble,” he finished quietly.

Four couldn’t help his chuckle, and he leaned back against a pole as Sage gave him a pouty look.

“Why are you laughing?!”

“I’m not laughing at you, calm down,” Four assured. “It’s just that I thought the same thing sooooo many times.”

Sage looked baffled. “You thought your powers were trouble?”

“What?” Azure gasped from his swing, and Crimson jumped off, landing next to Four and Sage.

“No way!” he added, and Four nodded.

“They were, trust me. It’s not easy controlling four separate things, not to mention splitting into four pieces of yourself. Sometimes I think I’d just go crazy.”

Crimson tilted his head. “Did you?”

Four gave him a look. “No. Well, not really, anyway. No more than what would’ve happened otherwise.”

Azure hopped off his swing too, and sat next to his brothers, giving Four a curious look. Sage still seemed grumpy though, and guilty as well, and Four sighed and patted his knee.

“You’ll get better Sage, don’t worry. You just need to practice some more. It takes time for powers to donwhat you want, trust me.”

“But what if they just get worse?” Sage asked, biting his lip. “What if I do something bad with them without trying? What if I give somebody marks like... Daddy has?”

His voice got quiet at the end, and Four took his hand and squeezed it.

“Sage, I know you’d never do something like that,” he assured. “Accidents happen, but they’re just... accidents. You don’t mean for them to happen. And I don’t think you would ever accidentally give somebody marks like what your Dad has.”

That’s not something you do by accident, he thought with a brief grimace.

Four shook his head. “You just need to work on them a bit, Sage. I know you’ll start getting your powers more under control,” he said encouragingly, and Sage sighed.

“If you’re sure,” he said quietly, and Four nodded.

“Totally sure. If I can get the hang of four different powers in four pieces of myself, I bet you can handle lightning just fine.”

He poked Sage’s nose, and Sage smiled, finally starting to look better.

“Four! Are you done yet? It’s time to go!” Wild’s voice shouted from the front yard, and Four hummed and stood up.

“Looks like I’ve got to get going,” he said, and the triplets all let out awws.

“You just got here!” Azure complained.

“Do you gotta?” Crimson whined, and Four nodded.

“Yep. You know how cranky Wild gets when he’s late for things. But before we go, maybe you should say hi to him,” Four mentioned with a grin, and Crimson and Azure jumped to their feet and ran around to the front yard.

Four heard a yelp a few moments later that signaled Wild getting jumped on by cousins, and he chuckled before looking back at Sage.

“Have you apologized to Aryll for zapping her yet?” he asked, and Sage shifted awkwardly.

“...No.”

“Well that sounds like a good place to start for now,” Four said kindly. “I’ll try and come over again soon. Maybe I can help you with practicing your powers.”

“Really?” Sage said, perking up. “Thanks Four!”

He jumped up and hugged him, and Four patted his head, wishing he could do more for his little cousin. Maybe he should at least talk to Sky about some things...

“Four!” Wild called again, and Four drew back and stood up.

“C’mon, let’s go see Wild,” he said with a smile.

Sage returned it and took his hand, and the two of them walked around to the front yard, watching as Crimson and Azure both managed to pull Wild to the ground, squealing with laughter.

[zukkacore]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ SURPRISE ANOTHER ONE WITH ME SPECIFICALLY POINTING OUT POINTS I LIKE ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Anything you want to talk about about the Devil’s Honey, J2’s thought process, the themes between the Lover’s universe stories

Sending so much love and appreciation your way 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

OK i was gonna talk abt the devil's honey b/c it was tangientally related to a scene Bambi wanted me to talk abt but i'll talk abt it here since u asked so so so nicely.

Anyway. Funny admission. Can you believe there was a version of the draft that didn't include any of the devil's honey stuff at all? When i said i was finished, that was the version! However, i mentioned that The j2porter scene in ch 6 was actually a scene i basically wrote last night mostly on my phone. I don't remember what compelled me to do it (honestly it might've just been insecurity b/c i felt like the chapter was too short. But maybe I did sense there was something incomplete about it)

Actually, I think I realized I needed the scene b/c of what Jace said about Porter in the scene. Like. To go from that reveal to them sleeping with each other felt kind of. Strange. I had to wrangle with J2's new fear that was sitting side by side with the fact that he was born to love Porter Cliffbreaker. Hence the Devil's honey.

I joked abt this. like. Epilogue by @iaus was obviously such an inspiration for Chapter 7... I just thought the use of Devil's honey to rewrite Jace's memories was so so clever. I didn't use it as concretely, Idk how it it comes across but basically the idea was that. There are three specific things (three specific Lies) that J2 is telling himself that is basically overwriting his memories and rewriting his fear, that b/c of the devil's honey, he starts to believe. That's how he gets over his fear of Porter. And why he's ok with "sharing" porter. And All the mentions of Porter going to pray before he leaves, they were not in the original draft so. All the times J2 mentions Porter's mouth being sweet, yeah. That's what that is

The three Things (lies?) that J2 is telling himself:

I want this.

I want everything.

Porter deserves everything.

And they all kinda work together in an order kind of. Constructing the way he thinks and feels sort of IN ACTION until we get the J2 at the end of the chapter

Devi's honey helps a person tell a convincing lie, and the side effect is that they can believe the lie themself. So basically, I think the most important step in J2's journey is step 1: "I want this". Again, I actually finished an earlier draft and had completely just glossed over Jace admitting some facet of what happened to him, then i realizaed how important and frighteninng the phrase "he shouldve thought about that before he put a cavern in my chest" would be to J2 who is basically Porter's precious little bird. And Porter does treat J2 like he's precious b/c he's basically the last semblance of Jace! He's the parting gift, he's a fraction of Jace himself, he can renact what it's like to be WITH jace, to not LOSE jace. I wrote the Porter half of ch 6 basically on my phone last night and. So. there was this leap of logic and.

If i'm being charitable toward myself, I don't think the devil's honey is a contrivance. Just to get them where I wanna get them. I think J2's Fear of porter IS there, it would've always been there, and he always would've needed to surmount it if he knew the truth about what happened to Jace. That's the first part of the Lie: "I want this". And he does. He wants Porter so badly. But in the beginning, his fear is still holding him back. It's why he keeps mentioning being afraid in Porter's office and being like "that was weird, right? That's just love" because the symptoms of fear/anxiety in general and like. Anxiety b/c you have a crush really are kinda similar!

(His heart is racing. Porter's grip is tight, painful. He’s anxious, but why ?)

(J2 is frightened. But of what, exactly?)

(What was he so afraid of again, in Porter’s office? The pounding of his heart, that’s love, isn’t it? The ecstasy of worship? The gift of divine purpose?)

(He feels powerful in the way a surge makes him feel powerful—the scared kid trembling in Porter’s arms from the other day is gone. Porter wants him to take some goddamn action for himself? Look at him now. He's giving Porter everything. Porter deserves everything.)

Etc etc.

This Also goes hand in hand with the Devil's Honey reworking his memories about the fight with Jace in the office.

(There was something Jace said. He can’t remember.)

He can't stop thinking about "Cavern in my chest", but he wants this. He wants Porter to be happy. And he wants Porter to have Jace. So what Porter did to Jace, it stops being important to J2. It stops scaring him. To the point where he literally forgets about it.

Part 2 & 3 are sorta working in tandem to me. Part 2 aka I want everything is the incantation for J2 to be ok with invoking Jace to me, as opposed to wanting it to be just him. Because he Knows Porter loves Jace. Loves jaceprime more than him. So if he wants to feel everything from Porter, he has to tell himself he's ok with being Jace's replacement. (it's also why he does the Detect Thoughts)

Part 3: Porter deserves everything. This was invoked before P2 to i think it could've happened in either order for it to work. Again, the devil's honey working on. something that I think is a partial truth for J2 that does make him distinct from Jace. I think Jace's want is ultimately selfish, as explored in IYWD. He wants Porter to stay with him, for them to live a mundane life doing laundry and taxes together. He wants that more than the ascension but he loves Porter so he's willing to work for the Ascension. Whereas J2 loves Porter at this point enough to let him go. If he can let him go to let Jace have him, to share him, he can let him go for the Ascension. And on a mechanical level for the story, this is so J2 can be ok with essentially the idea not just of being Jace, but of "sharing" Porter.

Why limit yourself to one when you could have the flock?

The thing is that when J2 invokes Jace earlier, I think on an outside level it's kinda tragic, b/c he's losing himself to become jace, but from the inside, J2 is genuinely moved by Jace's love for Porter, he thinks their love for each other its strong, its transcendent, its the blueprint that he covets so deeply and can never get himself so to invoke that, to inhabit that, it feels good to be a messenger, to play-act as someone who feels that deeply for Porter, and to be on the receiving end of that FROM Porter. He wants everything. He can only get everything from Porter if he inhabits being Jace. So he convinces himself that he wants that. It's why he's so ok with being reduced to an object, a gift, by the end whereas in chapter 4 he was really strongly trying to assert that he also CHOSE this.

I'll fully admit I went to church throughout a decent portion of my life and like. I never ever ever ever understood that idea of like. The ecstasy of worship or of feeling the holy spirit convening and running through you that is sometimes described but, like, I get it now b/c that's totally what I think is happening here. And as much as he wants to keep Porter to himself, he genuinely was heartbroken in chapter 6 at the idea that Jace and Porter love each other very profoundly and could not be together, he was willing to tell Jace that even thought he also loves Porter and wants to keep him. So again, it's not a total lie that he believes Porter deserves everything. But as he's repeating this idea, he's becoming more and more ok with this idea that Jace can and should return to Porter's life. That's a good thing that Porter deserves and that he would be ok with. Porter deserves everything.

J2 is getting what he wants. He gets to be by Porter's side, despite the risk. (And in his memories, Jace looks so happy. Doesn't Porter deserve that, too?)

At the same time. I think by the very very very end of the chapter you can see the effects slightly fading.

Through repetition it becomes prayer. I want this. I want everything. Porter deserves everything. He believes that, doesn't he?

It's that sliver of doubt at the very very end.

I'm trying to think if there's anything else. If there is I'll probably just reblog it and tack in on at the end

[dariaelenaaa]

2020 : So far, so good... but there s always a "but".

Nu vreau să îmi fac speranțe la fel cum îmi fac când vorbesc cu vreun tip sau cel puțin când vorbeam, am lăsat obiceiul ăsta în urma mea, dar 2020 deja îmi zâmbește frumos fiindcă și eu i-am zâmbit frumos încă din prima zi în care a venit.

Am simțit că sunt un nou om cu noi perspective și înțelegeri. O persoană care va aborda diferit acest an și cei ce urmează după el, dar se pare că am avut ceva "unfinished business" cu 2019. Nu prea i-a fost de ajuns scrisoarea mea de la revedere, așa că am avut un plan B, like I always do.

O seară călduroasă de 10 ianuare care a schimbat jocul...

Câțiva mici demoni au mai rămas în mine și au vrut să facă un nou spectacol ca de început de an. În ultimele zile mi-am pierdut cumpătul și răbdarea. Defectul meu cel mai mare a luat control din nou : nervii - lucrul care am avut impresia că mă va omorî într-o zi & îmi va lua tot ce am și ce nu am încă. Dar atunci am zis că e momentul să opresc asta, fiindcă numai eu eram capabilă de treaba asta. No one else.

So what did I do? Din cauza impulsului meu negativ, am luat instinctiv o foaie și mi-am scris toate gândurile negative ce-mi treceau prin minte, ce nu-mi place la mine, ce aș vrea să schimb la mine încât să mă mulțumesc sufletește. Să fiu în sfârșit împăcată cu mine, căci nu am mai fost timp de aproape un an & that shit hurts more than a break-up. Apoi am pus-o în jurnalul meu și am lăsat-o acolo, plângând și cerând ajutorul cuiva. Dar instinctul mi-a spus că doar eu mă pot ajuta. Nu înțelegeam cum să fac asta. Până s-a aprins beculețul...

Am luat foaia din jurnal, o brichetă din bucătărie, o haină groasă de a tatei să nu fac frigul și am plecat să iau o gură de aer și să termin ce aveam de terminat acum mult timp. M-am dus cât mai departe, doar eu cu mine și gândurile mele negre și am stat la o discuție profundă. După ce am spus ce am avut de zis, am făcut pasul. Am lăsat-o pe Daria din 2019 să rămână acolo pentru totdeauna & never ever coming back. I burned it. I loved it. So much mixed feelings about this, but one thing s for sure : sunt un om nou care atrage numai energie pozitivă & se vede de data asta. Un rezultat vizibil și clar!

Este o chestie psihologică treaba asta, îmi place să fiu documentată cu lucuri care mă pot ajuta să mă perfecționez din fiecare domeniu. Chiar și cand am schimbat lichidul de parbriz cu instructorul meu auto la mașina pe care o conduc. Small steps, but I m getting there. Revenind, de când am ars foaia aceea, văd cu alți ochi lucrurile, cum trebuia să le văd de atât de mult timp, dar mi-a fost frică. O frică puerilă bănuiesc, dar tot frică. Au trecut decât 2 zile, dar cumva mi-am impus asta în subconștient, iar lumea din jurul meu vede asta.

Să-ți dau un exemplu : aseară am avut un majorat blană, cum se spune în termenii adolescentinieni din secolul 21. Dar pe bune, chiar a fost genial & mă bucur că am reușit să văd o altă persoană împlinită, really the best thing. Am simțit un feeling bun despre această petrecere de la început, dar am lăsat firul să-și urmeze cursul. Dar un lucru este cert și trebuie să mă aprobi. Când mergi la o petrecere de genul, trebuie să fi super aranjat & gătit ca să întorci niște fețe. Guilty pleasure uneori, no lie, dar în seara aia nu am venit cu un scop de genul. Am venit cu scopul să conversez, să dansez & să mă distrez maxim. Și pot spune că mi-am îndeplinit toate scopurile propuse de mine, dar un anume lucru mi-a rămas cu certitudine în minte și nu pot să mi-l scot din cap. Am ieșit afară cu prietena mea și erau mai mulți tovarăși de ai noștri pe acolo, am mers să salutăm. Până când o anume persoană m-a remarcat : "Daria, nu? Am văzut că tu scrii. Am citit, este foarte frumos ce faci. Să continui să faci asta." Atunci am realizat că cineva mi-a observat mintea și sufletul, și nu corpul pentru un moment. Am simțit că nu e real & că cineva chiar citește ce gânduri scriu. It was overwhelming. Dacă citești acest articol, te știi tu. Poate mai apucăm să stăm de vorbă despre viață & să plecăm ultimii de la local și să mă susții si la final. This article was trully inspiring because of that. Thank you!

Mi-am dat seama că odată ce am dat foc acelei foi, am atras toată energia pozitivă asupra mea. It feels nice & refreshing. Și tu ar trebui să încerci asta, îți promit că lumea va fi altfel. O să te țin la curent dacă o să-mi meargă în continuare la fel, dar am speranță.

My advice : ține un jurnal & scrie acolo totul. Nu ca atunci când eram mici & ni-l luau fie părinții, fie prietenii să ni-l citească. Acum e serios. Eu am 19 ani aproape & nu este o rușine să scrii în jurnal, ci chiar o binecuvântare. Hold on to that! There s so many things to come & you should write about it... Also, put yourself first & everytime you fall down, do the best to get up on your feet and be the best version of yourself every single day, because you deserve to be that.

Here's one of the songs that litterally saved me. Enjoy it & if you need someone to talk to, don't be ashamed and talk. Let's leave the hate behind & let's help each other. Even if we're not close or whatever, strangers can be a good therapy to your soul. I'll be here always.

Love, Daria.

[evening-laced-moon-archived]

Stolen From: @nekofantasia

Tagging: Whoever wants to do it.

A  -  AGE : 15, almost 16 B  -  BIRTHPLACE : San Fransisco, California C  -  CURRENT  TIME : 9:00PM D  -  DRINK  YOU  HAD  LAST : Milk with some coffee and creamer mixed in E  -  EASIEST  PERSON  TO  TALK  TO : My “parents,” Bibi and Kevin. F  -  FAVORITE  SONG : Just ONE?! Fuck that, take all of these songs, because I’m a bona fide audiophile. G  -  GROSSEST  MEMORY : Oh dear... there was an incident in Yosemite involving me getting a bit carsick... I’d rather not remember. At least, that is the most disgusting one unless something else is slipping by me... H  -  HORROR  YES  OR  HORROR  NO : Horror IT DEPENDS. Horror movies are bad for my anxiety due to jumpscares, but things like Danganronpa or general gorefests are perfectly ok. I  -  IN  LOVE ? : Nope, not yet. J  -  JEALOUS  OF  PEOPLE : Rarely. Because I’m aware of how spoiled I am. I try not to take it for granted, but it can slip my mind. K  -  KILLED  SOMEONE : Killed many a bug, but not people... yet. L  -  LOVE  AT  FIRST  SIGHT  OR  SHOULD  I   WALK  BACK  BY  AGAIN ? : HELL NO, GTFO. M  -  MIDDLE  NAME(S): Sarah N  -  NUMBER  OF  SIBLINGS : One younger sister, whom I hate with every fiber of my being. O  -  ONE  WISH : If it’s not infinite wishes that I activate voluntarily, then financial stability for myself and my loved ones. Or unimaginable pain for those who deserve it. Preferably the former. P  -  PERSON  YOU  CALLED  LAST : My “mom,” Bibi. Q  -  QUESTION  YOU’RE  ALWAYS ASKED : “Can you shut up???” from my sister. R  -  REASON  TO  SMILE : The pain and anguish of those I hate. Also, seeing my friends happy and healthy. S  -  SONG  YOU  SANG  LAST : Echoes, The Blue Sea, A Collection of Poems by Aglaophonos Grasping Great Numbers by Neru T  -  TOP  3  FICTIONAL  CHARACTERS : Yukari Kotozume, Ouma Kokichi, Chihiro Fujisaki U  -  UNDERWEAR  COLOR : White V  -  VACATION : Seattle, Hawaii, Italy, Singapore or Japan. I’d love to return to these places once more. For someplace new, I’d say Michigan so I can meet my friends/”parents.” W  -  WHEN’S  YOUR  BIRTHDAY : October 19th. X  -  XRAYS ? : Once, when I displaced a ligament. Y  -  YOUR  FAVORITE  FOOD : Mostly Japanese food, though I really like sweets of most kinds. I’m not picky, nor do I have a definite favorite.  Z  -  ZODIAC  SIGN : Libra. For those IAU people out there, it’d be Virgo.

[kin0seok]

IAU(Idol Arts University)

this is the first fic I’ve ever written. I’m not a writer so don’t judge lol.

this is pretty much fluff, comedy and thirst, there won’t be any smut sorry. read if it you want. I’m writing this for my own enjoyment really, but some mutuals told me i should post it. 

SF9 X Pentagon X Laith & Kari (there will be other random idols thrown in here and there)

This a multi chapter fic and it’s gonna be hella long

The Main characters are fixed. their based off of me and my BFF

I’m Laith in the story btw. 

IAU is a somewhat Small Private Arts university. This is what happens when two boy crazy/Thirsty girls get thrown in the mix of it. 

                                    Chapter 1: This is Paradise

Laith had just stopped the moving truck in front of their new place when she looked at her bff Kari and said “Can you believe we just bought this place, what are we about to get ourselves into?”

“I honestly can’t, but it should be a fun adventure!” Kari replied, “And Dahlia said this place should be paradise for the two of us!”

“why do you think she would say that?” she looked at Laith with a slightly puzzled look before opening the door of the truck and hoping out.

Laith shrugged slightly while wondering the same thing to herself. She did find it odd that Dahlia said that, but then again she did know her and kari the best out of all of their friends. What exactly would be paradise to the two of them?

The two girls had decided it was time for something new in their lives, they were getting tired of the same old boring thing day in and day out, they were craving adventure. Adventure so happened to find them one day when their friend Dahlia offered to sell them her place and her business. She owned a cafe and dance & music studio near a private arts university, it had practice rooms for dancing and sound proof rooms for practicing music and also a few small recording studios. Dahlia thought it was perfect for the artsy town, there were already a few cafes in town and a couple of dance and music studios but she figured one with a cafe connected would be perfect for a place that was near the school. Plus there wasn’t a dance or music studio near the school, of course they probably had to have their own stuff in the university but it was a small university that opened only about 30 years ago and only had about 200 or so students. So Dahlia opened her business a few years ago and it was always frequented by the students of the university, so much so that the school decided to sign a contract with her to make it exclusive to the universities students.

Laith hopped out of the truck and looked around, the business was located a few blocks away from the school in a beautiful neighborhood of vintage brownstone houses. Laith had always wanted to live in a place like this, being a small town girl she wasn’t a big fan of cities so she never had the opportunity to live in a place like this before, but she decided it was time for something new and she’d seen pictures of Dahlia’s house and she absolutely loved it.

Kari came around to the side of the truck that Laith was standing on and looked at her watch. “ Where the hell is Dahlia? She said she’d meet us here at 9 a.m.”

“You know Dahlia.” Laith replied, “ When has she ever been on time for anything? Hell her mom even says she was late for her own birth!” “Shit you right.” Kari replied with a chuckle, their friend honestly was never on time for anything. It would have been better to tell her to meet them and hour earlier and have her actually show up on time.  

Just then a loud Harley Davidson motorcycle pulled up in front of the moving truck and a long legged brunette with pale skin and bright green eyes got off of it. “Sorry I’m late guys, trying to put a whole house's worth of things into storage is a bitch and a half!”

“It’s cool Dahlia, we were expecting it.” Laith said to her long time friend, “Don’t you think we know about your lack of time management?”

“My time management skills aren’t that bad! Anyways, come here and hug me you bitches, it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other!” Dahlia replied as she ran up to the two friends and embraced both of them.

The two girls embraced for a while, it had been almost 3 years since they’d seen each other. Of course there was facetime and the skype call here and there but they hadn’t all been in the same place at the same time for what seemed like an eternity. They had all been best friends since college, meeting when Laith and Dahlia were seniors and Karina had just entered their university as a freshman. They had met in a boring English Lit. class that Laith had needed to retake after failing for the 3rd time and Dahlia had decided to keep her company, and hopefully she could help her pass this time. They had both just happened to sit next to Kari who was sitting in a row of the lecture hall alone when their super attractive professor walked in and Laith looked at Dahlia and said “I might have to fail this shit for a 4th time!” to which Kari replied, “Bitch me too! I mean not for a 4th time cause this is my first time taking the class, but if he keeps teaching it there may be a 4th time.”

To that comment Laith replied “I’m Laith and this is Dahlia, we’re now best friends and you can’t object to it.” while extending her hand for a handshake.

“I’m totally cool with this!” Kari replied placing her hand in Laith’s and shaking it. There and then begin the crazy friendship that belonged to the 3 of them. They were practically the same person. Especially Laith and Kari, there was no separating them since that day.

“Sooo…. Are we just gonna stand out here hugging all day or what?” Kari finally asked. They’d been driving all day and now that they were here she was ready to move her stuff in and get things started.

“Oh!” Dahlia exclaimed, “I have to give you guys the keys and go over stuff for the business and studios with you guys before my flight in 4 hours!”

“God forbid you’re actually late for something again!” Laith replied sarcastically, “Though i’ve never known you to be late for a flight. I guess you’re only on time when it’s something you want to do.”

“I mean I could just totally keep the keys if you’re going to be a bitch” Dahlia looked to her and said as she began to dangle a set of keys in front of Laith’s face. “Behold the keys of paradise! I can totally keep them if that’s what you want.”

Laith grabbed the keys out of Dahlia’s hands. “The fuck you are, and anyways why do you keep calling this place paradise?”

“You’ll see.” Dahlia told her with a wink while she placed her arms around Kari’s Shoulders, “Anyways I’m going to take Kari inside the cafe and go over business stuff because I know how much you hate it. You can start moving boxes Ms. She-Hulk.” And With that Dahlia and Kari turned and proceeded to walk into the cafe.  

“Who the fuck are you calling a She-Hulk!” Laith yelled after her while walking to the back of the truck and opening it so she could start moving some boxes in. “I can’t help that I’m slightly strong.”

Looking into the truck Laith begin to survey what was inside and decided to move the boxes of unimportant non-breakable stuff first and save the rest for when Kari came back. She grabbed 2 somewhat heavy boxes filled with books and stacked them on top of eachother. After getting the boxes situated in her hands Laith realized that she couldn’t see over them, “Well shit.” she exclaimed to herself, “I probably should just bring in one at a time, but i don’t feel like taking multiple trips.” She stood there and thought for a moment before deciding. “Fuck it, We’ll do it live and the house is just right there. What could possibly go wrong.”

In Laith’s case a lot could go wrong in a short period of time. As she began to walk towards the house with the two boxes she forgot to account for the height of the curb as she stepped up. The tip of her shoe clipped the curb and being unable to stop herself she began to fall forward.

“OH FUCK!” She cried out as she prepared herself to faceplant in the worse way possible with the two boxes. Luckily for her a curious bystander had been watching her as she talked with herself about whether she should carry both the boxes in at once or just one at a time.

“Whoa!” The bystander said as he ran towards Laith and caught her and the boxes before they hit the ground. “Are you ok?”

Having closed her eyes in preparation for her untimely demise because of the street curb Laith slowly opened them upon realizing someone had saved her. “I’m totally good!” Laith replied to the stranger as she got herself upright. Bending down she lightly rubbed the ankle she had tripped with checking for any sore spots, the last thing she needed was an injury before her new life could begin.

“Luckily for me I’m pretty sturdy! I think my body was made strong because I”m so -.” Laith’s words were halted mid sentence as she finally looked up at the stranger and was met with one of the most handsome faces she’d ever seen.

“Holy shit… I mean thanks!” she said as she tried not to look anymore weird than she already did.

The boy was tall with perfectly tanned skin, a strong neck with a very attractive adams apple. Which led to a jawline almost sharp enough to kill a man, plump lips perfectly high cheekbones and attractive kind eyes.

“You must be one of the new owners of the cafe and studio!” He said to Laith While motioning behind him to the cafe, “Dahlia noona said that two of her friends had bought it from her!”

“Yes I am.” Was all Laith could say in response to the gorgeous guy that was standing in front of her. Most of her mental strength was being used try to get her face to not look like a deer that was about to be hit by a 1 ton truck. She wasn’t sure if she was succeeding because the gorgeous guy let out a light chuckle. God why was even his laugh hot as fuck Laith thought to herself.

The stranger stuck out his hand and offered it to Laith to shake, “I’m Hongseok. You are?...” he asked her while looking at her expectantly waiting for her to take the hand he offered.

Still feeling awestruck it took Laith a minute or two to realize that Hongseok was Introducing himself to her. “Oh! Sorry!” she exclaimed while taking his hand and shaking it, “I’m Laith. You know Dahlia?” she asked him.

“Yeah I”m a Junior at IAU. I come here all the time, our school set it up to where the students have exclusive rights to use the cafe and studios.”

“Oh yeah, Dahlia told me all about that! By the way, what does IAU mean?” Laith asked him, to be honest she wasn’t very familiar with the school. She new a few famous and actors came from the school but she’d never looked it up.

“Idol Arts University. It’s just a few blocks that way.” Hongseok said point to the direction in front of him, “Speaking of which I should go, I’m gonna be late for class! If you’re still moving stuff in when i’m finished with classes I’ll come and help you move the furniture and stuff in, how does that sound?”

“That sounds like the best thing ever” Laith replied trying not to seem like she was totally down for him to move anything and everything she owned, “I’m sure we’ll still be moving stuff in, if you haven’t noticed we have a lot of shit.”

Looking over into the truck Hongseok replied, “It seems like you do! Well Laith it was nice meeting, and I’ll be back later to help you move. I really gotta go though!” And with that the boy jogged off in the direction he sad the university was in.

Forgetting the two boxes she had planned on bringing into the house just moments ago Laith ran inside the cafe to go tell Kari what just happened. “BITCH! She was right!” she exclaimed.

“What the hell are you talking about Laith.” Kari replied looking at her friend curiously. Who was right?

“Dahlia was right! This place is paradise.” Laith as she begin to tell her friend about everything that just went down outside. “He’s Fucking gorgeous! I nearly needed a whole bottle of water just looking at him!”

“For real?!” Kari exclaimed with excitement, then suddenly sounding slightly dejected she said, “Damn, why did you have to meet him first?”

“Don’t worry.” Dahlia suddenly interjected, “There is more where that came from.” A grin suddenly appeared on her face. “I wasn’t lying when I said this place would be paradise for you two. I know what kind of boy crazy thirsty hoes you two are. Did you not look up what kind of school IAU is?”

“No…..” Kari responded looking at Dahlia with a look that clearly said ‘why would we possibly need to look that up?’

“It’s an all boys school, and all the boys that go there are that gorgeous.” Dahlia told them . Smiling even bigger as Kari and Laith looked at each other with wide eyes.

“If the way Laith Just described this Hongseok guy is true, then this place is fucking paradise!” Kari exclaimed suddenly feeling very excited

“Oh it is.” Dahlia said to them, “I hope you’re prepared for what you just walked in to.

“You bet your ass we are!” Laith excitedly said “Dahlia I’m now going to leave everything I own to you in my will.”

“Even that gorgeous black and red victorian dress?” Dahlia asked, she’d been eyeing that dress since Laith showed her the picture of it.

“No, everything but that, I’m getting buried in that.” Laith said. There was no way in hell Dahlia was getting her hands on that dress. And as the friends bantered back and for a while, neither Kari nor Laith knew what one hell of a ride this new adventure was going to be for them.

[freudensteins-monster]

Un Nuovo Mondo

I wanted to write something for Bucky's 100th birthday and for some reason it sounded best as a follow up to my previous fic, Bella Notte. But I don't think that you need to read it to follow this. All you really need to know is that Darcy manages the science department at the Avengers upstate facility, and she and Bucky have been dating for several months.

Also, Un Nuovo Mondo is supposed to translate to "A Whole New World", from Disney's Aladdin because "Bella Notte" came from Disney's Lady and the Tramp.

“Shit,” Darcy muttered to herself as she finally started wrapping up for the night, three hours later than she had planned.

The day had started out so well, in bed with the birthday boy, but leave it to Jane to almost start an international incident in the pursuit of knowledge. After what seemed like an age on the phone, being transferred between a dozen embassy offices, and a couple of wire transfers to a few easily persuaded Latverian government officials, Jane was finally on her way home and Darcy was seriously late for Bucky’s birthday party.

“Shit, shit, shit…” she chanted as she double-timed it back to the residential building, wrapping her coat around her to ward off the cold.

The party was in full swing by the time she snuck into the common room, small clusters of people milling about as big band music played through the overhead speakers. She stumbled when she caught sight of the vintage motorcycle in the centre of the room, and the coffee table strewn with ripped wrapping paper and a small arsenal of weapons (and an electric buffer with a gift tag that read “To: Terminator”). She bit back on the urge to yell at the crazy people and their complete and utter disregard for workplace health and safety practices, reminding herself that she was not responsible for this particular group of crazy people, and headed straight for the cake. She was halfway through her second piece when she realised someone had actually gone to the trouble of covering it with a hundred silver candles, but then the staff in the cafeteria loved Bucky, so it wasn’t too hard to imagine them going the extra mile for the birthday boy. Speaking of…

“Where’s Bucky?” Darcy asked Steve, licking frosting off her thumb.

“Uh…” Steve glanced around the room, apparently oblivious to his best friend’s absence until Darcy pointed it out. “I think he went out for some air.”

“Air?” Darcy scoffed, glaring out the window at the frost-covered ground.

Steve smiled and shrugged, a gesture that seemed to say, “Winter Soldier, am I right?”

Darcy rolled her eyes in response and went in search of her boyfriend. She made a quick detour to their shared apartment to change into her warmest winter coat, the one she swore made her look like the Michelin Man, before venturing back outside. She found Bucky lying in a cheap recliner that, along with some other patio furniture, had mysteriously appeared atop one of the man-made hills during the summer, around the time of Clint’s last visit, and promptly lay next to him in order to bask in his radiator-like body heat.

“I’m so sorry I missed your party,” Darcy sighed.

“Don’t be,” Bucky replied, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he wrapped her in his arms. “We had our party this morning.”

“Breakfast in bed is not a party.”

“You were mostly naked and there were chocolate chip pancakes; it was an awesome party,” Bucky countered with a smirk.

“We could be having another mostly naked party, you know, inside where it’s warm,” she teased.

“I just need a minute,” Bucky replied quietly.

“The party too much? I told Steve not to make it a surprise party.”

“Please,” Bucky snorted. “Punk couldn’t keep a secret from me if he tried. I knew he was planning something weeks ago.”

“Natasha warned you?”

“…no.”

“Liar,” Darcy smiled, burrowing closer to her favourite heat source. “Oh! I almost forgot your present,” she mumbled, rifling through her pockets.

“You already got me something,” Bucky tried to argue before being swiftly cut off.

“Mostly naked pancakes don’t count, Bucky. Here,” she grinned, passing him a piece of paper with a gloved hand.

“What does it mean?” he asked with a furrowed brow as he read over the string of numbers.

“Those are the coordinates for TRAPPIST-1e.”

“The first planet in the habitable zone?” he queried. “…I don’t understand.”

“Well,” Darcy preened. “As the former assistant to a renowned astrophysicist, I happen to know a guy from the International Astronomical Union. I may have also gotten drunk with him the last time we passed through France and damn, is that guy chatty after a bottle of wine.”

“Is there a point to this story?” Bucky teased.

“The point, Mr Barnes, is that I had sufficient enough blackmail material on him to garner a favour.”

“What kind of favour?” Bucky asked warily.

“I got him to rename the planet,” Darcy blurted.

“What?”

“I got him to rename the planet,” Darcy repeated excitedly. “So, from now on, until such time they get around to giving it a ‘proper’ name, the planet will be known by the designation JBB-1917.”

“You… you named a planet after me?” Bucky asked, mind reeling. “Holy shit, Darce.”

“Do you like it? I mean, as presents go, something you can actually touch might’ve been better,” she rambled, chewing on her bottom lip.

Bucky silenced her fears with a kiss, and then another one. “It’s perfect, Darcy. It’s the most amazing thing anyone’s ever given me.”

“Yeah?” Darcy grinned. “Does that mean we can go inside so I can rub it in everyone’s faces?”

“You sure that’s not just a ruse to go back where it’s warm?” Bucky laughed.

“Of course it’s a ruse, Bucky! It’s freezing out here! Pleasepleaseplease,” she begged, rolling off the recliner and weakly attempting to drag Bucky with her.

“Alright, alright,” Bucky whined as he got up. He gave Darcy a mischievous smirk and before she had a chance to react he threw her over his shoulder and raced back to the main building, laughing as he ran.

“I was thinking…” Bucky mused aloud later that night as he curled up in bed with his best girl.

“Mmm?” Darcy replied drowsily.

“The La Silla Observatory in Chile’s the best place to see my namesake.”

“Uhuh…”

“And Steve did get me that motorcycle for my birthday.”

“Yeah…?” Darcy shifted so she could better see his slightly nervous expression.

“Do you wanna go on a road trip with me?”

“Really?”

“Yes. I mean, I haven’t really gone anywhere since I became a free man. And I honestly don’t remember going on vacation in my whole damn life. A hundred years, and I never went anywhere unless I was ordered to or on the run. Some time away with my girl might be nice,” he posited, pulling her close.

“Hmm… I guess it would be nice to travel to a foreign country without the whole the-world-is-ending shtick ruining everything. And I could do with a break from work. How long were you thinking?”

“The trip might take us a month. Two, if we do it right.”

“A road trip. On a motorcycle. For two months?” Darcy repeated in disbelief.

“Or we could drive down and hitch a ride on a quinjet back, or vice versa. Whatever you want,” Bucky shrugged, trying for nonchalance and missing.

“You don’t think that’s going to be, like, the ultimate relationship test?” she asked timidly.

Bucky smiled and did his best to kiss away her fears. “I think we’ll pass with flying colours, sweetheart.”

In fact, Bucky had such faith in the strength of their relationship that by the time Darcy had put in her vacation leave and prepped her assistants for her absence he had dug up enough dirt on members of the IAU to have them rename JBB-1917’s sun DAL-1989, and had an engagement ring, commissioned from the finest forge in Asgard, tucked safely in his backpack.

[rahra-rogue]

when people are convinced that narcissa malfoy nee black was named after the stars and make public posts about it...

So, earlier on this morning I was searching through the Narcissa Black tag, when I come across this post right a the very top of the tag:

“It kills me when people make comments about how Narcissa wasn’t named in the Black tradition of constellations. She was! Narcissa is the female form of Narcissus, the constellation of the twins Castor and Pollux.”

The person who posted this, also had gone on to reblog their own post to add this additional information:

“Also, maybe this was on purpose. Maybe Cygnus was upset that after three children he still did not have a male heir and chose to name his last daughter after a masculine named constellation. Just sayin’.”

Now, if anyone knows me well enough, they will know how much I adore Narcissa and the Black family, and the entire Harry Potter series. And how there is no way I could just brush past this post and not say something. So I took a screenshot of the post to show to a couple of my favourite people, because I was so baffled that someone could actually believe this.

This person,  has within the last hour now removed these posts (because, I hope, someone else has taken the time to actually correct them - this is also why I am choosing not to name their blog publicly) but when I showed them to my one of my friends, she let me see that she’d had the same argument with another blog (which, happens to suspiciously be named similarly to the one I saw posting, so we are both wondering if it is the same person). But none the less, this other person had replied to a post about the Black family’s names with:

“Actually, Narcissa is named after a constellation as well.”

Now this takes me on to the reason I am making this post -

NARCISSA MALFOY NEE BLACK WAS ABSOLUTELY 100% -NOT- NAMED AFTER A CONSTELLATION.

She wasn’t. This point has been made very clear so many times over at least the last decade. 

There are two possibilities of where her name comes from:

(i). Narcissa derives from Narcissus, the plant. Narcissus is a genus of perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, but more commonly to me and you, it is a daffodil. Not a star or constellation, but a flower that dies back in to an underground bulb after flowering, and regrows at the same time (usually spring) the following year. 

(ii). Narcissa possibly also derives from Narcissus, in Greek Mythology.  Narcissus (/nɑːrˈsɪsəs/; Greek: Νάρκισσος, Nárkissos) was a hunter from Thespiae in Boeotia who was known for his beauty. He was the son of the river god Cephissus and nymph Liriope. He was proud, in that he disdained those who loved him. Nemesis noticed this behavior and attracted Narcissus to a pool, where he saw his own reflection in the water and fell in love with it, not realizing it was merely an image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, Narcissus lost his will to live. He stared at his reflection until he died. Narcissus is the origin of the term narcissism, a fixation with oneself and one’s physical appearance.

Now there are other possibilities from where her name come from, if you type the word "Narcissus" in to google, it will bring up other possibilities, but none of which have any links to astronomy.

So that leaves me to wonder, just where are these people (or person) getting their information from? Where is it that they are certain she is named after a star when she quite clearly is not? Well, after a quick trip to Google myself, I found their supposedly "credible" source.

www.staracle.com

They are literally claiming that they are right and everyone else is wrong based off of a ridiculous, and 100% unofficial name your own star for free website. 

This website allows literally anyone to create an account and name their own star whatever they like for free, or you can pay money to get a silly online certificate. You only have to take a look around this website to know that it is in no way official. They literally state EXACTLY THIS themselves: 

“The only official authority to name stars is the International Astronomical Union (IAU). And they won't let you name a star. Therefore, any star naming service you find on the Internet will simply keep your name in their private database, but it will never be the star's official name.” (x)

If people don’t believe that you can’t officially name a star unless you are the IAU, there is also this article here (x) 

But yet, because someone has named a star Narcissus on this website, people are honestly believing that it is fact that Narcissa Malfoy nee Black was also named after a star like the rest of her family. 

Even if we were to take this website as being actual fact, if we were to assume that JK Rowling herself thought that it must be true since this website has a star named after her, the dates don’t add up at all. 

Any Potter fan, or person with the ability to Google can tell you that ALL of the Harry Potter books were released by the year 2007, and all of the films were out by 2011. But, staracle kindly lets people know when others named stars, and when did some ordinary member of the public name one Narcissus? In 2014. LONG after Narcissa had been introduced in to our lives and won our hearts. So there is no way anyone can even suggest that our Queen JK must have seen this website when she named Draco’s mother. 

And so there you have it. Narcissa was not named after the stars. Any information online that suggests that she is, is in no way fact. It’s unofficial nonsense that even I can do myself.

I really wish that people would really read their sources on the internet, rather than just seeing a name on a website and thinking WELL THIS MUST BE TRUE. Because it would save people jumping to correct them. 

And it would save ridiculously long posts like this one.