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grailfinders · 3 years ago

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Fate and Phantasms #180

Coming in fourth is Team Satisfaction H ∴ T ∴ E, led by Helena Blavatsky (Archer) and her Sanat Kumara Wheel! Since most of her goodies come from a generous loan via historic spirits, she’s a Lorehold Warlock for NYARF, the wheel itself, and the explosions that come with it. She also dips into Artillerist Artificer to dump some more tech into your gun and get a doll, as well as Fighter for a couple more spins on the barrel. That last bit is, admittedly, powerbuilding, but Helena made her new spirit origin with help from two of histories greatest inventive minds, so she did it first.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: The final racers: Team Prefect of Public Decency and Monk Sanzang!

Race and Background

Like we said in her first appearance, Helena’s a human. But she’s also really small and smart, so we’ll make her a Rock Gnome instead. This gives her +2 Charisma and +1 Intelligence, Darkvision to dunk on dumb human eyes, Gnome Cunning for advantage on all soft stat saves against magic, Artificer’s Lore which doubles your History proficiency when figuring out how items work, and lastly you can Tinker to create small clockwork items. The Clockwork Toy is a simple Colonel Olcott, but we’ll get fancier models as we go through the build.

She’s still a Cloistered Scholar, giving her proficiency with History and Arcana.

Ability Scores

This is exactly the same as her first time around, so if you want justifications just check that one out. From top to bottom: Intelligence, Charisma, Dexterity, Constitution, Wisdom, Strength.

Class Levels

1. Warlock 1: Now for something that’s actually new. Starting off as a warlock is not new, but the School of Lorehold you get your magic from certainly is. When you join the class, you get some extra Spells to complement the ones you can already cast using your Charisma, as well as an Ancient Companion. When you finish a short or long rest, you can shove a spirit into a medium statue nearby, creating one of three Ancient Companions: the Healer, the Sage, or the Warrior. You have to use your bonus action to command it in combat, otherwise it will just dodge. You can have one companion at a time, and you can heal existing companions by channeling magic into them as an action, spending a spell slot.

Warriors get extra AC and can throw themselves between allies and danger as a reaction thanks to Warrior’s Protection, adding a d4 to an ally’s strength or dexterity saving throw.

Sages give their Sage’s Counsel to nearby allies, adding +2 to all their intelligence and wisdom checks.

Healers can grant a Healer’s Light to a creature as an action, granting it temporary HP.

There’s also some abilities they all have, but this bit’s already running long, so check the character sheet for all the details.

Here’s another bit that’ll take ages, Pact Magic! It uses your Charisma, and it recharges on short rests. You get the cantrips Eldritch Blast for your big water cannon, as well as Blade Ward for a short lived Ultraman transformation, giving you resistance to physical damage. We’ll get better stuff later.

For first level spells, grab Expeditious Retreat to speed yourself up and Witch Bolt for a little electricity Tesla snuck into the design. You also get Sacred Flame and Comprehend Languages from being a lorehold mage. You’ll need a lot more fire for your NP, but it’s a start.

Finishing off this massive first level is your proficiencies. You get Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as Religion to tell people the glory of the Mahatmas and Intimidation to help you break up fights between a modern thunder god and a man-sized lion.

2. Artificer 1: Bouncing over to artificer gets you Magical Tinkering, so you can slap a bunch of minor effects onto tiny objects. I’m sure a fantasy tape recorder in a feather will help your studies greatly.

You also get another Spell list, this time you cast and prepare your spells with your Intelligence. Also, while you are multiclassing here, pact magic and normal magic doesn’t mix your spell slots together, so just use the spell slots listed for each class at whatever level you are.

You get two cantrips, so grab Mending to patch up your wheel on the road (they don’t actually say you can heal an Ancient Companion with mending, but it’s a statue, I’m sure it’s fine.), as well as Light to spruce up your designs a bit. I’m pretty sure we made Tesla a human before, so that’d make him the only member of the team without darkvision. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.

As far as first level spells go, I’d make sure you pick up Longstrider. Making yourself faster is okay, but you should make your ride faster too.

3. Warlock 2: Moving back to warlock for a bit so you can get Eldritch Invocations, boons from your teammates for extra special powers. Armor of Shadows makes fighting in a bikini a slightly better idea thanks to your free casts of Mage Armor, making your AC 13 plus your dexterity modifier. You also get Agonizing Blast to up the pressure on NYARF, adding your charisma modifier to the damage of your eldritch blast.

It looks like your Sanat Kumara Wheel also comes with a bit of an automated defense system, or at least that’s the justification we’re using to justify grabbing Hellish Rebuke. Blast fire at people as a reaction if they hit you, it’s fun for the whole family!

4. Warlock 3: Third level warlocks get their pact boon. An obvious option here would be pact of the blade, but we’re already using eldritch blast for that one, so instead we’ll shore up your dolls with Pact of the Chain. Summon an imp, give it clockwork armor, there ya go.

To get your doll count up even higher, grab Flock of Familiars for some extra help, summoning up to three dolls (or two if you’ve already got one from Find Familiar). You can also blast down a door with Knock or stick a GPS chip on an item with Locate Object, both courtesy of the good people at Lorehold.

5. Warlock 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to become a Metamagic Adept, giving you two metamagic options and two sorcery points per long rest to use them with. I say you get two, but we’re really only here for Quickened Spell so you can cast eldritch blast as a bonus action. Since you also get a second beam per cast at level five, we just quadrupled your firepower in a single level. Not bad for a feat.

You also learn one more Edison goody attached to your wheel, Lightning Lure. Deals lightning damage, and drags enemies closer to the vehicle. It’s a shame it doesn’t last long enough to drag enemies around while you drive, but at that point I’m sure you can just use regular rope. On top of that, you learn Shatter for another kind of explosion to line your path as you run people over.

6. Artificer 2: Second level artificers can Infuse Items, up to two at a time. This adds major magical effects to existing items on your person, like Enhanced Arcane Focus making NYARF even deadlier with a +1 to its accuracy and damage, Homunculus Servant for another Olcott doll, Sending Stones to keep in touch with your pit crew, and a Bag of Holding just because it’s useful. You have to swap items between long rests, and you can only keep two in your head at any one time. I have no idea how this makes sense either, but it’s extra versatility, I guess?

7. Fighter 1: We’re dipping into fighter entirely for Action Surge, but we do get other stuff too. The Mariner fighting style gives you +1 to your armor when it’s not heavy, and you get a climbing and swimming speed to boot. You also get a Second Wind to heal yourself as a bonus action. It’s summer, make sure you take breaks so you can avoid heat syncope.

8. Fighter 2: Second level fighters get what we came for, Action Surge! Now you get a limitation free second action once per short rest, so you can shove three castings of Eldritch Blast into a single turn for six attacks. This is a little powerbuildy, but Helena did it first when she bought a gun from two genius-level inventors.

9. Artificer 3: NYARF’s getting pretty good, but if you want another kind of gun look no further than the Eldritch Cannon you get as part of being an Artillerist. This small or tiny guy takes an action to build, but afterwards, you can carry it in one hand for a sort of living gun. You can also just leave it on the ground and let it plod around. In either case, it’ll use your bonus action to command, and lasts 1 hour. It can be a Flamethrower, Force Ballista, or Protector, dealing fire damage, force damage, or temporary HP respectively.

You also get artillerist spells, like Shield and Thunderwave for more protection in an inappropriate combat outfit and more explosions for your NP.

You can always make The Right Tool for the Job over a short rest, creating a set of tools you need. They last until you make another set of tools.

10. Artificer 4: Use this ASI to bump up your Charisma for stronger and more accurate NYARF blasts.

11. Warlock 5: Fifth level warlocks get third level spells, like Tongues. You’re talking to ancient spirits from beyond our mortal ken, you’ll really want a translator, trust me. Speaking of, you also learn how to Speak with Dead and you can summon Spirit Guardians, all thanks to your Lorehold college grants. You also get an Eldritch Mind, giving you advantage on concentration saves.

In NYARF news, your Eldritch Blast deals three beams now for up to nine attacks in a single turn. This is why people don’t allow machine guns in their DND games.

12. Warlock 6: At sixth level, Lorehold Mages learn Lessons of the Past, giving you extra bonuses based on what version of the Sanat Kumara Wheel you’re riding. While you have a Healer bike, your HP maximum increases by your Warlock level, and you gain an extra 1d8 HP when you’re healed by a spell. If you’re riding a Sage, you get advantage on Arcana, History, Nature, and Religion checks, and once per turn you can add 1d8 force damage to a leveled spell. If you picked a Warrior, you can attack as part of your action if you cast a cantrip, and the attack deals an extra 1d8 radiant damage.

Finally, as an Archer class servant you gain some magic resistance thanks to Counterspell. You only have like, two third level spell slots, so don’t go too wild here.

13. Warlock 7: Seventh level warlocks get fourth level spells, like Dimension Door. Making an entrance has never been easier! Why awkwardly dismount your bike when you can teleport off instead? You can also create an Arcane Eye to keep an eye on your bike, and if it ever gets stolen you can use Stone Shape to make a new one, courtesy of Lorehold College.

Your last goody this level is the evocation Gift of the Ever-Living Ones, making your little bits of healing extra powerful. If your familiar is within 100 feet of you, any dice rolled to heal you always count as their maximum value for you. With any army of dolls grabbing drinks for you, your second winds are always pretty powerful.

14. Warlock 8: Use this ASI to become a bit more Resilient in your Dexterity saves. This bumps up your score by 1, and you get proficiency with dex saves. Somehow you can drive through a bunch of explosions and not die, so your dexterity saves have to be pretty good.

You also learn the spell Raulothim’s Psychic Lance to create a big shiny laser for your Ultraman reference.

15. Warlock 9: Ninth level warlocks get fifth level spells, like Contact Other Plane so you can finally talk to the Mahatma directly. You also get a Destructive Wave for one more explosive ride and Legend Lore. You’re a nerd, you know stuff. For your invocation, grab Repelling Blast to launch people backwards with the power of water!

16. Warlock 10: Tenth level Lorehold warlock is where things get extra spicy. Once per turn, Proficiency times per long rest, you can use your reaction to force a wisdom save against a creature you hit with an attack roll. If they fail, they become vulnerable to one damage type in that attack’s damage roll, doubling its damage until the end of its next turn. This includes the triggering attack.

This means, if you’re up against a particularly unwise opponent, there’s a pretty good chance you can double all those eldritch blast attacks, effectively attacking 18 times in a single turn. And it only gets sillier next level.

You also learn True Strike. I hope you’re aiming that thing, at least...

17. Warlock 11: Eleventh level warlocks get a Mystic Arcanum. Instead of letting you cast a sixth level spell each short rest, you get this, which limits you to casting a sixth level spell once per long rest without using a slot.

Conjure Fey lets you bring the Mahatmas back to earth with you, bringing in a Fey or Beast creature of CR 6 or lower for up to an hour. If you lose concentration though, it’ll be hostile and might attack you. Meddling with forces beyond your control isn’t a great strategy.

18. Warlock 12: Use your last ASI to bump up your Charisma for a bigger NYARF. Your watergun also makes your enemies all soggy and gross thanks to becoming a Lance of Lethargy, slowing them down once a turn. I mean you’re using eldritch blast anyways, might as well make it fancy.

19. Warlock 13: Your first and last seventh level Mystic Arcanum is going towards Crown of Stars for some long turn explosive fun. For an hour after casting,you can use a bonus action to throw small stars at enemies, dealing radiant damage on a hit.

20. Warlock 14: Your capstone level tunes you into History’s Whims, which kind of turns you into Ultraman. For up to a minute after you start it as a bonus action, you can pick one of three benefits to last until your next turn, as long as you don’t pick the same one twice in a row.

You can gain some Luck, adding a d6 to all incoming saving throws against damage for the round, Resistance for resistance to physical attacks, or Swiftness for more movement speed and no opportunity attacks.

You can transform yourself this way once per long rest, or by spending a fourth level spell slot.

Pros:

Remember how we were all “Sanson can do sooo much damage” when he got vulnerability strats, even if they were super awkward? Yeah, Helena’s Eldritch Blasts blow him out of the water, and they’re way easier to use. With twelve eldritch blasts in a single turn from Action Surge and Quickened Spell, plus vulnerability from War Echoes, Helena can pump out 2*(12d10+60) Force damage in a single turn, assuming all hit. (with an enhanced arcane focus that jumps to 2*(12d10+72)) On the low end, that’s 144 damage, which can down or seriously injure most builds. On the upper end, that’s over 360 damage, enough to take down a max constitution barbarian with the tough feat in a single turn. And the best part is, if they make their save you can just hold off on everything else for a round, you don’t have to commit unless it’ll work. It really is NYARF or nothing.

While we have made plenty of builds recently that ride around on stuff, but yours is the only one where your ride doubles as a built-in medic. With a healer Ancient Companion, your HP gets bumped up to a more reasonable amount, and it can heal you with your bonus action every turn. And if you’re fine, it can help out party members as well.

Speaking of, as an Artificer you can make plenty of gifts for your party as well, ranging from little trinkets to magical items for stronger attacks. On top of that, your bevy of familiars can be handed out to party members so you’re always within range if they need some healing.

Cons:

A lot of your stuff requires your bonus action to use; You can use your eldritch cannon for more damage without spending sorcery points, your Second Wind for healing, or your Ancient Companion to move around and provide support, but you can’t do all of those at the same time.

Since almost all of your magic is coming from your warlock levels, you don’t have many spells ready at any one time. You have three 1st level slots from Artfiicer, three 5th level slots from Warlock, and two Mystic Arcanums. Similarly, you can only really go ham with NYARF once a day. I’m not saying you can’t make a serious impact with what you’ve got, I’m just saying you’ll have to be careful with how you use it.

Without your ride you’re pretty Squishy, with slightly over 100 HP and an AC of 16. Normally that wouldn’t be that much of a problem for a mobility focused spellcaster, but destroying a boss in one round tends to draw a lot of attention. Be ready for that.

#fate grand order #fgo #D&D 5e #DND #Helena Blavatsky (Archer)#Fighter #Warlock #Artificer

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exactlyenoughglitter · 4 years ago

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Nocturne

AO3

Now let the day just slip away so the dark night may watch over you Like a child asleep, so warm and deep you will find me there, waiting for you

You don’t have to wonder why Just come and dream the night with me

She felt weightless and drowsy, despite having allowed herself to close her eyes only for a few seconds against a steel bird’s beam of light when it had come to survey the torn corpse of the giant apartment building. Ciri had stood on the elf’s feet and he had turned her away from the light, into the soft darkness that unfurled behind his tall form. Until the noise subsided, until prying eyes left them alone. White light had framed him, highlighting his contours and setting him between light and dark, where devils liked to play.

Where she had placed her feet on top of his boots, glistening red clung to earth. The Sage stood in it and held her above, away from the rivers of red.

Light and dark. Good and evil.

Ciri had closed her eyes and sunk into the night.

The music had stopped.

It was quiet, apart from the city’s ambiance and the rain. Fingertips roamed the seams on her back, moving faintly, from the tips of her hair come loose to where cotton left the skin undefended. Everything felt subdued like she was diving underwater, and with every breath she became increasingly familiar with the owner of the arms around her. Somewhere above the surface, in the back of her waking mind, she could still hear the trills of the flute playing its song of storms to the billowing green clouds that ate at the tallest of steel spires before drenching the concrete earth with dusted glass. No matter what the Knowing One played, Ciri couldn’t stop hearing the longing melody she had heard him perform once in a key-nosed boat on Easnadh; a long, long time ago, it now seemed, in the beautiful world of terrible elves.

The rain kept falling.

She felt herself losing sense of time.

Time does not matter.

Supple leather brushed against her jawline and she stirred against the momentary loss of warmth around her. Until a cool, inert wave spread across the base of her skull where long fingers had begun gently massaging, preparing her for magic that cocooned her mind in a feather blanket. It instilled calm and let the susurration of rain inside her, where always a fire or two raged. Aches and spasms too, which she hadn’t even been aware of, seemed to release their hold on her at the touch of knowing fingers. It felt incredibly soothing and unearned. At the thought of being given something for free another little fire kindled in her thoughts, but she was quickly persuaded to abandon the thought when another wave rolled across the taut muscles of her neck. A little rest, a little respite. It helped to remember that they were both drifters now; strangers at the end of the world.

In the warm, secure darkness of his shadow, Ciri barely registered when the thumbs of his hands began caressing her cheeks, pushing wisps of ashen hair out of her eyes. Carefully avoiding dipping against her scar, which often ached. Lately, he had begun suggesting he could heal it for her completely, though the woman was not sure if she should accept the offer. Looking at it reminded her of what was real.

Was it?

What was it that was more real about suffering than about happiness? Wouldn’t ridding herself of the harrowing reminder help her grow past it? Didn’t she want exactly that – to become someone else? She, who was singular and yet so often, in the abyss of space and time, no one. Ciri didn’t know; the spirit of truth often deceived her.

Whether due to the ministrations of magic or out of her own volition, or both, she felt her mind tarry at these thoughts, her muscles slackening further. It was difficult to resist the forgetfulness and dreams that tempted her when dark night could be this gentle.

Why focus on disturbing and unpleasant things now?

There was a tentative brush against her lips, a slow, circular, exploring motion. It quivered lightly, as if fearful of response. Ciri didn’t mind. Against the subdued tranquillity that had enveloped her, the touch felt distinct and singular, and she brushed her lips against its attentions. Lowering her lip, the tip of a thumb pushed forward against the wet inside, grazing her canine thoughtfully; and then made its way inside her mouth. An unexpected sweetness hit her tongue at the first slow stroke. Then again, but a little less; then less again, but it didn’t matter. If devils played here, then they were not the worst hosts.

A low sigh.

‘That’s good. That is very good, luned.’

Her eyes snapped open.

Why did she look so startled?

He had always secretly adored her like this – so candid and accepting, letting him take care of her every need. Trusting him to bear her burden with her. Who else, if not him?

But it had been so long. He didn’t know if he felt the same way anymore. Had she not abandoned him, had she not let herself be ensnared... Yet, here she was. Where had she been hiding all this time? Didn’t she know how terribly he had missed her? Last time they had seen each other, those eyes had pleaded with him, full of tears and remorse; how they had hurt each other on that day.

‘Avallac’h?’

Brilliant emeralds, blown wide in alarm and bewilderment.

You are mine. And I am yours.

He smiled bitterly.

‘What – what did you do?’

‘I gave you moon flower,’ he replied without hesitation. ‘It’s a mild anti-inflammatory and relaxant.’

Those accursed eyes widened inexorably. ‘No. No, no, this is not what I meant...’

You’re not a toad, my darling, he thought. You’re the hope of the worlds.

She had grown a lot in the time she had been on the run from them. Sadly, she still hadn’t learned how to phrase her requests so no one could take advantage of them. Oh, he couldn’t stay mad at her for his own outlandish expectations. Circumstance, both ill and fortunate, had nurtured this human girl so she had learned to focus all her efforts into her unfaltering will power and nothing else. Through that she had to carve out every new day better than the last. No matter who her sword happened to cut down, no matter the millions whose fate she irrevocably altered in the process. He was far beyond moralising. Like tonight, for example. His little, dancing Swallow.

‘Stop hiding behind your witchcraft.’

Hiding? Did she not realise –

She kissed him.

There were many ways in which Ciri could have made her life tamer, more predictable, and less overwhelming. Unfortunately, these somehow never looked like the best options in the moments before she unleashed something.

His lips were dry and fine, and unmoving.

For a heartbeat, she tasted nothing but herself and the sour fruits of her temper and clenched the front of the elf’s robes hard enough to leave tiny abrasions on the ball of her thumb. She refused – absolutely refused! – to believe she may have, once again, fallen on her own sword. She had liked how unrestrained he had been around her, his face unusually enlivened when he had circled her in dance tonight. He, too, must have felt it – that same call of possibility that had moved Ciri’s heart like strong gusts of summer wind in the steppe. Or he wouldn’t have entertained her to a look of astonishment when she’d broken through the spell of his tender darkness. He wouldn’t have...

A glacial bucket of dread washed down her back.

‘Who are you to dare abuse me with such miserable charity?’

Who was she? What was she doing?

Idiot.

Idiot!

In anger and humiliation, Ciri was about to retreat that very second, until she felt the sorcerer’s lips move against hers.

So, she stayed for a little longer.

Holding her jaw, the elf investigated her with a velvety touch. His answers, each increasingly demanding, ran a smarting hunger that sent writhing warmth pooling in her stomach as it sought satiation. Her heart raced, her frustration dissolving into cinders of surprise, whereas she had been hoping for the pleasure of vengeance. An “aerial vehicle” zoomed past in the rain, flashing bright lights and sounding its alarm. It fell on deaf ears. She felt his hands settle around her ribs, pulling her forward, again onto his feet. And up, higher, closer – from her vantage point to his.

Ciri sought air.

Small, even teeth briefly grazed the sensitive tissue, drawing her breath from her, and his taste and scent filled her mind with cotton wool. A fox from a ruthless fairy tale, whom a human girl had led in swallow circles, weaving her own notes into his music, heel and toe, spin and bow, at the end of the world. Strange, old, and powerful; and secretive. So secretive. So deceptive. Never one thing, always only who he chose to appear as from moment to moment. How could he expect this to be enough for her? Who was he to her, really? Who did she want him to be? Would he show her something real for once? When she tried him with the tip of her tongue, his arms moved more securely around her, locking her in, and Ciri sighed.

I do not get lost.

I do not!

And yet, I feel lost now.

The knowing smile an indigo-haired beauty had given her by the fires of protest and justice flashed in her mind’s eye – the heady excitement of losing herself to the blasphemy and electricity of sensation. As with Iskra, as with Mistle... in a different time and place. Because, at the end of the day that was what she liked to do, wasn’t it? In this alien time and place, a call she could not explain had drawn her away from the fires until she had found the sorcerer giving himself over to his music in the shadow of ruin, waiting. Much like he had once waited on the shore of a green lake, smooth as a mirror, underneath a bird cherry blossom. Effortless and exciting were the shadows of the Night City – one of which had waited for her to bring the moments destiny was made of to him and had proceeded to watch her lose herself in them. In secret, with only the elf’s own eyes to witness it.

Ciri felt heat rising to her cheeks.

Why do you continue to allow yourself to become ensnared, stupid?

He stepped forward on instinct when she tried pulling away, carrying her on his feet effortlessly like a doll. Ciri caught a glimpse of the look in his unusual aquamarines. It brought her to a halt. Had it been anger, mockery, or sadness, she would have understood, because she had felt and seen all of these in him. Not, however, this haunted, ardent desire – this greed – with which the elf watched her now. It made her wonder whose shoes she was walking in tonight, and if she could fill them.

And it frightened her.

‘Where are you going?’ he whispered when she finally managed to take a shaky step back.

‘Away. Or... I don’t know. It doesn’t matter, does it?’ she managed an unsure laugh, attempting to compose herself and indicating to the marred luxury of the place. ‘Or is this to be our new home, or what?’

He gave her another one of his strange looks.

Well, let him. It was all he ever did, anyway.

Ciri swallowed nervously against his taste. She needed to clear her head; this wasn’t...

Blood pounded in his ears.

In a stream of flickering neon light, Crevan saw green eyes studying him, growing ever more distant by the second. Her breath, slightly sour under the sweet notes of the physalis liqueur, lingered against his tongue and he felt very raw.

‘It’s alright!’ he called after her retreating form.

That made her stop.

He licked his lip; a small bruise. No matter. But where had all that impromptu joy disappeared to? Obstinately, she avoided looking him in the eyes when he drew near. How adorable she was, he thought; twilight lent her a beautiful sense of vulnerability that he so often chose to overlook. Uncertain, yet fierce; defiant against her own emotions to the last. Against feeling a little lost. He could understand that. Truthfully, he felt a little lost too at the moment.

It was only natural for her to feel lonely in this world – in all the worlds – despite making acquaintances easily. Acquaintances; nothing more. The worship of the unknowing could not survive when days slipped away and she had to return to the eternal night. When her hair was pulled by the stars again. How could they understand her – her story was outlandish and out of this world, and people saw her only for who she became to them. Yet, Crevan had known her longer than she had known herself. He and his people were of the same eternal night that called to her at the end of the day.

He lifted his hand to the nape of her neck, brushing her ashen hair, but the girl flinched and there was no laughter in her anymore.

Why are you hiding, little Swallow? Do you think, perhaps, that I deceived you somehow? Do you think my witchcraft has made this happen? Oh, sweet girl, if only you knew.

‘What is alright?’ she asked.

Was she scared of him? Ridiculous; she didn’t have to be afraid. He was not angry; no-no! How could he be? She had returned to him. She had found him, as destiny desired.

‘It’s alright to seek comfort,’ he repeated slowly, tasting each word as if trying them for the first time. ‘I forgive you.’

The elf witnessed her shoulders tense and a switch flick before she reversed course and cut at him with her deadly emeralds. The oscillation was so abrupt he took a full step back, noting with delay the Force that had jumped to his fingertips.

‘Have I asked for your forgiveness?’ she exploded. ‘What would I have to ask it for!? For letting you play with me? For responding? I don’t know if you are aware, but it takes two!’

His eyes narrowed and a cruel smile broke on his handsome face at the impending rupture he had invited and, somewhere deep inside his soul, pleaded for.

How we hurt each other on that day, Lara; how unforgiving and unforgivably stupid I was.

The girl leaned as close up to him as possible without touching, exuding heat and fury, crackling like ball lightning, and whispered: ‘You want me; and you cannot stand it.’

Crevan had temporarily lost track of himself in what followed.

He remembered that what she had told him she had said with such offensive bluntness, such ignorant presumption, self-importance, and arrogance as if only she had been privy to the childishly obvious, and that he, a Knowing One, a scientist, an artist, a musician and a poet, and the voice of her miserable destiny, could not have possibly understood. That at the heart of it all, everything seemed to come down to the banal matter of irrational, irresistible desire that trampled under its feet the good, the beautiful and the right, and spat on faith, hope, and love only to be sated there and then. That he wanted what he was promised, that despite everything, he wanted her, and so much more. That at wanting all this, he was as lowly as the creature due to whose selfish whims elves, futures, and worlds burned.

He remembered that he had wanted to gouge out the beautiful eyes in her face. And that he could not help seeing red.

When Crevan came to it was to the sound of his own name. An untidy sound, but not yet the prayer he desired it to be. Not yet uttered with awareness of what she tempted him with. He looked at her from above, to monitor the swirl of emotions that coloured her features. Her unfortunate, mesmerising features that were dear to his dark heart.

We both have fantasies that hide behind our lies.

It distracted him, the look of her in his hands – he could do anything with her – and, displaying her special swiftness she used it. He felt fingers hook in his hair and deliver a maximally painful punishment. Crevan howled. How nasty, unruly, and underhanded she was: like her callous ancestor; not at all like the princess she was born to be. Zireael cried out when he squeezed her wrists in retribution, sealing them above her head with a command, and the elf greedily swallowed the sound off her lips.

Do yours play with mine? Only for tonight, let’s say?

Her chest moved against his like the tide then and, against charred wall, he held her captive. Oh, she was furious with him, and rightly so. Though she was not entirely innocent herself. Had she wished so, she could have run from him even now. But with her indulgent thoughts laid bare and her lidded eyes on the kitsch murals above, his pupil’s mouth fell open, gasping for the pittance of air he generously allowed when he focused on tearing whimpers from her as from a beloved flute – with a torment of kisses left in ashen hair, against a slender, white neck.

Is this how you imagine it? When you follow my music. When you say you hate it.

Weaving the silvery tresses around his fist, he yanked, and she bent against him like a spring branch, a cherry blossom. Young flesh tightened like a bow string and blood rushed under pale skin in red blooms, flushing where it would bruise later. Her heart beat furiously against the stroke of his tongue.

Not everything is as pretty as it looks; not everything. You wish I indulged myself. Do you know what that means?

So close, so small. So striking in her choice agony. Wanting without knowing, giving without thinking, taking everything – without mercy to him, or herself. Oh, the indestructible optimism of youth! With his palms clasped around her head, Crevan taught his baby midnight what was at the heart of him and her: however much she gave, it would never be enough for him; whatever he did for her, she would never forgive him. Was this any way to live?

Will we play together, O Swallow?

He let his hands wander under her layers, stroking and caressing taut flesh which, though roughened with scars, remained so impossibly soft and responsive he couldn't stifle a violent groan and wedged his knee in-between her legs. The girl cursed vilely and the elf kissed the tip of her nose in delight. What would it have gained the Sage to hide his perversion in this god-forsaken world? From whom exactly? Why bother? Lifting the human girl on his knee and causing sweet frictions, he offered her a chance to use him and take some more from him as he watched. Instead, she stiffened in response to his avarice and held her own admirably against the shudders his charged touch was designed to bring on. Oh, was something the matter for his lustful little dh’oine?

'Go on. Move a little.'

Gradually, he felt her starting to offer resistance to his grasp and stared at her furiously.

‘What happened to the “you”,’ she breathed, ‘from the good old days?’

The elf bit down on her neck, smothering her cry with his hand.

How can I disarm you?

‘It’s “You”, not the informal “you”,’ he reprimanded her softly in Ellylon. ‘Be polite.’

Her fingers scraped paint from the wall above.

How can I make you accept me?

‘Does my playing not please you?’ he murmured. ‘Does it not please you to know that you have my undivided attention?’

And then it was his turn.

Crevan’s breath hitched in his throat; his eyelids drooped. A small, pink tongue wandered against the inside of his palm. With strength at first, with a hint of teeth, until he gave it more leeway to wander. Then carefully and with thought behind its actions, drawing small fine lines of lightning along the creases of his palm and tasting him, circling gently against the ball of his thumb.

Bottomless green pupils stared at him defiantly. They arrested him on the crumbling edge of the pool of yearning that had been filling up drop by drop ever since insolent, intoxicated eyes had feigned apology for making a mess of things and left him, laughing, when the woman who lived inside their depths had responded to a call of happiness he could not compete with. Until he had given in what felt like centuries after the fact; until he had gone after his lady of the lake.

Avallac’h wavered on the edge, and fell in.

Impulse propelled her and need ground the grains of fear and hope to the raging of an excited heart in her throat. When the Sage’s hands had wrapped around her face with inhuman strength and her back had hit the wall, Ciri had considered leaping, as foul memories had returned: of hands like steel-pinchers, capable of both good and great evil. Yet how exactly had it been her fault this time? And now... now she tasted Power on his hands, at once bewildered by the sensation and amused at the elf’s own reaction: he trembled against her. Absolutely nothing seemed to line up tonight.

Only blasphemy and madness in the shards of broken mirrors.

Avallac’h hadn’t even noticed when the looking glass broke, but she bet it hadn’t been made 700 years ago either.

Closing her eyes as he shifted his palm so she could slide her tongue in-between his fingers, she felt his warm, uneven breath hit her cheek and wished above all for him to feel exactly how he made her feel – addicted and overwhelmed. She could not command magic like he did, but she would make it fair, damn it! Therefore, when he suddenly pulled away from her and set her back on her feet, Ciri didn’t know what to think, say, or do. Everything was changing too quickly.

The elf gave her a playful look.

‘A sorcerer’s hands, O Swallow, are their most prized property; after their mind,’ he said. ‘Through them, he becomes a bridge between Chaos and Reality – a shield or a sword, if you like, or anything else he can only imagine. They are very sensitive; I ask you to tread with care.’

‘Figures,’ she muttered, burning up at the memory of having suckled on long fingers, as if under a spell.

He raised an eyebrow, and she had to make an effort to not look like she cared.

‘Then do not use them to restrain me like this!’ she continued. ‘I do not appreciate being muzzled like a mule.’ Listing the least of his offences as if it were the worst; well, she didn’t have the entire god damn list ready anyhow.

‘You’re right. Often you say very many interesting things I would just hate to miss. Before you act in most peculiar ways.’

She stared at his mouth, its edges darkened by her teeth marks – a mouth she often wanted to punch. A mouth she wanted to press against herself.

‘I’ve found that a little bit of restraint, while sometimes simply necessary, is even more often sweet,’ he eyed her with a secret smile. ‘Perhaps you’ll learn it too one day.’

Ciri reached out, eager to continue on the path of madness until it lasted. She wrapped her arms around his neck, lifted a thigh and placed it on his hip to pull him toward her, and she saw shadows move behind his eyes at that, but in the end, the elf did not react. Only watched her, breathing deeply and evenly. The contrast to less than a minute ago was so incredible that the woman pinched her aching hand to make sure she had not fallen asleep. She grimaced, falling back on her feet, feeling rejected and confused – not a dream at all.

A circus!

He reached for her wrist which she had been shielding against her chest after the magical bindings had dissolved. Cooing softly, when she made an attempt to repel him, he lifted it against his lips and blew on it.

‘You dance beautifully,’ he said. ‘Relentlessly, you dance for the beginnings that one starts to miss long before the end.’

Ciri snorted and was about to say something acutely acidic, but the elf wasn’t done.

‘You with whom the world has so often treated cruelly. Viciously, until you yourself retaliate with equal ferocity. Without allowing a moment’s relief for discovering what brings you joy or for what keeps you awake at peaceful nights when dreams are easy to touch and feel soft as down feathers. Many in whom you’ve sought comfort, many who’ve claimed to love you, have hurt you. Without care for what brings you pleasure. And without patience to recognize how willingly you will learn and how quickly and completely you throw your lot in with good causes – if only shown kindness and understanding. A little love, Ciri.’

She did not know why her eyes had begun to prickle with tears; she just knew the tears were angry and yet, not entirely. It seemed that they couldn’t be one simple thing, however much she wished they could. And it hurt a lot more that way.

He doesn’t have the right to talk to me like this.

‘I enjoyed our dance earlier very much,’ he said quietly. ‘My child of destiny, you always prepare for the worst, yet are still ever eager to rely on moments’ fleeting blessings all the same. You desire to lose yourself in your archipelago of moments, knowing how impossible it really is for you. And so, you’ve learned to seek your freedom in the erasure of yourself, though aware of the acute loneliness that greets you every time you try. Now you will try the same with me, yet I cannot allow this to happen. Will you believe me if I say it is for your own good? Do you understand how important it is that you do not lose yourself in our dance, in the night? No matter what I do.’

Why was he saying these things to her? Why did he pull at her only to spit her back out – to... to what? Lecture? Negotiate? Ponder!?

Her gaze fell on the state of the sealed-off accommodation: the signs of an explosion and a fire, the smashed glass, the red on the floor. The red she had put there in her self-abandonment, he had waded through, and they had danced in together before the elf had held her away from it inside a mirage of peace. How simple and effective, and how stupidly she had fallen for it. Avallac’h was still himself; as if he had not contributed gallons of pain and blood in the name of saving what was dear to him.

Why did he care why she did what she did?

Shouldn’t he have been delighted to get this chance to rendezvous with his dead love? No matter that a meagre and poor copy. He would still get what he wanted – Ciri knew what it was. She had always known, somehow. After having been forced to spend so long together, after having born the weight of his strange looks and moods, the knowledge had solidified. She was aware this arrangement, this retreat, did not come for free – nothing ever did. Did he still think her stupid enough to not know that things were often not how they seemed? That Ciri could not really be happy and he could not be free, and hell, that even vice versa it held true, didn’t it? Why did he have to ruin for her the fantasy that the opposite could also be true, if only for a night?

A little love? She didn’t need love.

She wanted to see that self-forgetful, raw emotion in his eyes again and to feel him tugging at her hair until it hurt. She wanted his lips to spill the truth inside her mouth, mocking and bitter, and then take from her until her debt had been paid. She was so tired of being unable to either claim her freedom or disappear forever. More so, of being denied even a moment’s possibility to imagine.

Avallac’h drew her forward and embraced her. Ciri heard his heart beating in his chest, as fast and powerful as before, and not slowing down despite his mercurial change of manner just then. His hands, she realised, were shaking.

Her tears of wrath quickly ran dry against his robes.

‘This is not how I want you to see me. This is not who I wish to be for you. Believe me. You do not know nor want to know what I want, but one day I will tell you. I promise,’ he kissed the crown of her head softly, his voice changing. ‘Sweet girl, you deserve so much. Allow me to show you!’

Before Ciri could realise what was happening, the elf had clasped her around the waist and lifted her up like a sheaf. The world spun. She could only squeak when, in a couple of long steps, he had moved them both across the room with ease. In his arms she weighed as little as a kitten – as when she had first discovered this, it still infuriated her. Ciri thought she heard the Sage give a short laugh and glared.

He sat her down on the edge of a large round table.

Then something pale flashed in the corner of her eye; a doily? Where he had produced it from, Ciri had no idea.

‘Are you laying the table?’ she asked when he set it down behind her.

The sorcerer’s eyes widened briefly. Quaint and disorientating – perhaps that alone had been the point? Slowly and deliberately, he loosened the silver hasp of his collar and began removing his belt, indicating for her to do the same. He was in no hurry and smiled easily at her. Ciri swallowed. Her fingers clenched and her heart beat faster. If only she had not smashed that bottle earlier...

Desiring to watch and let the distance grow between herself and the woman whose shoes she had decided to wear tonight, she began only once the elf stopped half-way through, having revealed inked skin underneath the enchanted fabric. Avoiding his searching eyes, she touched him curiously, thinking, of a sudden, about everything.

A finger tipped her chin.

‘Come then.’

She sought his mouth.

Questions fled.

Throughout, he kept threading his fingers softly through her hair, discarding the pins and letting the ashen locks fall over her collarbones. Until it became all undone. She stretched her arms out over her head – the shirt fell on the floor – and caught him admiring. The work of his hands? The past? The present?

...me?

Why is it me?

For a moment she thought she saw infinite tenderness in his pale eyes, though it may have also been the dark, the poor lighting, or her own wishful thinking. In the shards of broken mirrors, who knew what really was and what wasn’t?

To hell with it!

Ciri pressed her lips against the elf’s chin, against his face, against the sharp curve of his ear, listening for the sharp intake of breath and enjoying the twinge it sent between her legs. She drew him onto her, letting warm palms undo the rest. What if we never leave? We could simply stay – here, at the end of the world. Then she would rather act; wrongly or rightly, may that be revealed later. Lean, yet well-built, he ran hot against her front, bending over her and spreading her thighs. She remembered having forgotten herself and having let her eyes wander over the stretch of his shoulders in a different world, when he hadn’t been aware. Or if he had, he had not minded – Ciri had discovered quickly that very little embarrassed the elf, despite his enduring, snide reproval of her manners. He had not minded enough to call me on it or... Hypocrite! Yet even so, the prospect of being able to uncover something he would rather wish to hide excited her. Everything buzzed once more and the rain could not put out the fires. Offering her belly, her ribs, her hips and her chest, she arched, letting her head fall back, and gave herself over to the cool night air.

Distant lights of the alien city blurred in her eyes.

A moment’s fleeting blessings... an archipelago of moments.

A wet kiss slipped down the side of her neck, wrapping around the beat of her heart, sucking her flesh into a hungry, waiting mouth. She felt her breast being taken into the palm of his hand, weighed and squeezed carefully and, if she hadn’t shivered uncontrollably just then, she would have thought also somewhat clinically. Ciri jerked back, pushing at his hands and pursing her lips against the desire to sigh, to make noise. Goose bumps ran along her limbs and she ignored them exactly like she defied the touch that stroked her back from top to bottom, circling the lines of her spine, waist, and hips. A touch that slipped in-between the waistband, shifting her trousers aside, and pulled her toward him – until she could feel the elf’s desire and realised once more how deceptive her perception of him could be.

Her breath soughed as fingers dipped into the heat that had flooded between her legs.

‘That's it, my dear.’ He kissed her slowly. ‘Just so.’

She fought to retain hold over the faceless and the nameless – the familiar. With her eyes closed, she managed to imagine for a moment that the shameless touch stirring her pleasure had appeared at her own beckoning. That this night would not be that different from the many nights before when she had let go. When she had succumbed to the desire to touch and be touched, to see, but above all else, to be seen, and had thus brought herself joy. Ultimately always alone in the end.

A tiny vibration passed through the sensitive tissue, inviting her to lift her hips toward the fingers that infiltrated between her lips without hindrance. A touch of magic. Her eyes flew open, her hands seeking to ground herself against the convulsion that shot through her.

‘Too much?’

Avallac’h was watching her peacefully, almost as if in a trance, the corner of his mouth tugging slightly at meeting her gaze. Probing, teasing – charting her, with practice. She could hear herself lap against his long fingers. Scraping heat rose inside her chest, flooding her neck and cheeks, mingling with fleeting irritation.

‘A little.’

Another lighter wave followed. Every charged brush seemed to attune seamlessly with the intensity of the emotion that prevailed in her imagination at the moment and gradually, he eased her into a comfortable rhythm of slow torture that nurtured her arousal on a knife’s edge.

And if he takes hold of my soul – what for?

It felt good. That was all. Closing her eyes, Ciri tried to follow the sensations inside that she knew led her somewhere familiar and safe – to a kind of home within herself. It was a fragile construction, made of star silences and ceaseless movement, of leavings and returns. It was fleeting, and every time she arrived there she re-arranged it just in case, though she loved it always – she loved living, moving, and leaving behind shards of her intoxicated heart. Perhaps somewhere, sometime, they’d take root and call her back.

He encircled her by the waist, dipping her off-balance onto white lace and she felt a single finger penetrate her; followed, shortly after, by another. Caressing adoringly.

‘You deserve so much.’

Soft laughter escaped the woman’s lips and flew off, into the night.

Crevan relished the sensation of her mouth filling with saliva, her sparkling laughter withdrawing inside her when he instructed the tide to recede once more. Tiny eruptions sprinkled the steady rise and fall of the curve of her chest, raising little hair on lambent skin and making her fingers clench around his bicep. It did strange things to his mind, witnessing her be this keen and receptive. How quickly she filled up with desirous, nervous energy that made her burn like a copper sparkler! Magic, which the girl stubbornly claimed to have forsaken, rushed under her perspiring skin, sweet and electric against his tongue. The sorcery of the Alders.

The elf decided this was not nearly enough for him. Or her.

He leaned over her breasts, kissing and biting gently and savouring the flavour that was unmistakably hers, while attempting to quell the childish disappointment that bothered him eternally – like a disgusting little horsefly. She was... different than he remembered. How so? He knew her. Perhaps he simply needed to take a closer look? Patiently, one at a time, he nudged the rise of her nipples with his tongue, smiling and stopping his fingers deep within her when she gave a drawn out moan, full of need, trembling so hard he had to press down on her for restraint.

‘Avallac’h...’

Why do you give yourself to men? Why do you love them so much? Men, who do not love you, or care about your sacrifices. Men, who defile, destroy, and forget even their own.

‘Please, will you just... help –’

The elf didn’t listen to the end of her plea, instead hearing in his head the words uttered centuries ago. Doleful, harsh, cruel words that had ended in fire. He couldn’t convince her back then. Withdrawing and ridding her of breeches entirely, he pushed himself down, leaving a trail of kisses along the honed curve of her abdomen until his hands settled on her hips and he came above her aching centre. He heard his own heart beating then and, running his hands under her hips, squeezing and lifting her toward him, he gave the Swallow a small kiss. One. On the slick softness of her flowering lips.

Will you stay this time? Will you stay forever? Will you cross the great divide? Back to us. Back to me.

She gave a stifled lament, and became very still.

Reigning in his breathing and heart, he bestowed small kisses on the insides of her thighs, tasting her core a little at a time to remind and reassure that he would not neglect her. He would be so very good to her – he would help her find her way. For a moment, his eyes lingered on the rose tattoo that looked out of place somehow, until he recalled the blond-haired girl she did not want to talk about with him, though she often remembered her – sadly, with a complicated sense of longing.

Is your poison that different from mine?

Her eyes, he saw, had opened, but she wasn’t availing him of their beauty; blinking rapidly and gazing off into distance, at the far-off lights of the world of artificers around them. Their “new home” where might had draped itself in the appearance of magic. She liked it here, of course. So ugly and fake and... at liberty – to call itself whatever it wanted. So below them both, and yet –

A lot like this rose.

He was no common butcher, bandit, or cur, yet a part of Crevan wanted to rip down the veneer of this illusion of freedom she had been building in secret and crush it under his heels alongside the artificiality this world infected her with. Part of him, however, liked to watch hope kindling in her, even if it risked dragging her away from him one day.

Into the arms of the faceless and the nameless, the unknowing, who run their tongues with banal promises of happiness that they cannot bring and that will not stay.

Who comb your beautiful hair in admiration of their own nerve and prowess after having you – once, twice, as many times as you like; when they should be kissing your feet as you pass.

Her back arched, her hands snuck into his hair, and she pulled. Brushing aside the indignation – the jealousy! – in his heart, the elf pushed inside her with his tongue: his dancing swallow, precious and sweet, the first of spring, abandoned in his hands.

Dance for me!

Hungry for her taste, he kissed her intensely and attentively, completing what his fingers had begun. Warmth rolled off her in waves as her thighs strained against his hold, her body spasming, and her voice breaking into ever tenderer whimpers. Calmly, he let her drive herself against his face, smearing him as he suckled and kept swallowing her quivers, one after another, until she fell back against lace covers on chrome, pulsing, sweaty and so very soft.

Dance, Zireael – ensnared in Time’s cold cathedral. Like taking scissors to the skies, your flight slits through fear.

Climbing onto the table he lifted her legs onto his shoulders, not caring at all to let her go yet. Continuing to caress her warm and thirsty flesh with his tongue, Crevan laughed lightly when she complained, her voice small and dissolute and cracking under the weight of her own desire. Her young and ardent body intoxicated him, and he had never denied being greedy. He wanted more of her honesty and delightful agony, and, feeling the familiar press of desire in his groin, he wanted to feel what it would be like to get inside her tonight.

If it were to end in fire, let it all burn down at once – wasn’t this her philosophy?

Again she trembled, murmuring his name in the way he liked to hear it, straining and struggling until she had finally wrung herself out of his hands. Let that be that then. He licked his lips, breathing heavily, and felt, for the first time in a long time, utterly undone. Leaning over, he looked on her heaving shape: her long ashen-hair spread around her head like a halo. His beautiful, scarred nightmare. Would you like me to show you how you appear in my dreams? A moment, Zireael. I will, in a moment. Looking for her mouth, he shifted a lock behind her ear – her round ear, hidden in ash.

Do you see this, Lara, my love?

He gathered her in his arms. Glass crunched under his boots.

What madness! Do you see what exquisite punishment fate delivers on me? On your behalf.

‘Did you like it?’ he whispered, cradling her. ‘How do you feel? Do not be shy and tell me.’

But Zireael did not appear to share in his elation, her gaze lost somewhere he could not follow. She gave a thoughtful smile, resting her arms around his neck. Not embarrassed at all at tasting herself off his lips, it seemed.

‘What is it? Hm?’ he touched her nose. ‘Talk to me.’

Small, impassioned, and alive.

Alive!

If she had asked anything of him right now...

‘Zireael?’

‘It’s nothing. I just –’

Who knows what she would have told him in the end. When he linked their minds, he almost dropped her due to witnessing the contrast between what she was thinking and what she, in fact, did - the heat of her action, the coolness of her thought.

‘– would like a rest... yet you call me irresponsible for wishing for it. Always in conflict, always between two worlds – I would like to be at peace one day. To choose a nook, make a final choice – my own...’

Running her tongue along his index finger, she sucked him into her mouth, observing him with languid, evil eyes. She didn’t like it when he read her, but to his credit he kept his violations discreet, and thus rarely dismayed her.

‘Me en'ca minne, please...’

‘What?’

‘If you insist like this –’

‘Will you come?’ her eyes narrowed enchantingly. ‘On top of me?’

Crevan may have laughed, or groaned, but then she had placed her hand against his chest and he had obeyed, lost in the boreal greens that defied time and hatred and death; that coalesced above and beyond, in the archipelago of moments, and laughed at him from beyond the grave.

Falling back onto a couch the elf pulled the girl into his lap and hugged her until she squirmed under his hands. Her lips, shameless and burnt with love, moved against his with sweet timidity, devoid of the swagger she wore on herself like a shield at all times against further hurt and abandonment. The tenderness this instilled in his heart aroused him tremendously. He imagined clasping her wrists together and tying them with a gentle, secure knot, and also finding something for her calves... silk, scarves – anything that would not intimidate, that would set her at ease with him. It had to feel as soft as herself. But he would make the bindings firm to ensure she would not fly off, that she would struggle while in his power, feeling safe and adored, until white, hot pleasure had claimed her – repeatedly. Because once would have hardly sufficed; he never taught half-heartedly.

Until you will open your wounds, and make them a garden.

Listening carefully – to her heart, his own, to time and the ghosts – he pressed her close, and penetrated her.

‘A-ah! Slower-slower...’

‘Shh-shh-shh, it’s alright.’

‘It hurts a little.’

‘It’s alright,’ he rasped, slowing, eyes dark with desire. ‘It’ll be alright. I’m sorry. I could wait no longer.’

Yet his movement elicited another contorted sob from her and it gnawed on his soul like dry ice how she sought to subdue it. Touching her soaked inner lips with his fingers, the elf rubbed softly where he'd entered her. What exquisite pain ate at him below the kidneys – she was so narrow, so wet and hot. For him and only him... Tonight and always. Isn’t that right, my beautiful girl? Only for me. For a while, he thus tried to soothe her, caressing her with his hands and tongue, despite everything in him boiling and cracking with frightful hunger. His little Swallow demanded gentleness and deserved all the care and patience he could extend her. He had given his word.

What will we do to each other? What will we become?

At the touch of his magic the girl yelped and stared.

He felt very happy.

‘After you.’

Aided along by soothing touch, the witcheress sunk on him slowly while he watched, like an artist appreciating his creation. Her tangled hair stuck to her neck, her lips parting for a wail that faded into an indulgent sigh as she allowed him inside, little by little. Dripping on him, sticky, sweet. Her thighs hugging his sides. Her fingers spreading across his chest, touching down on his heartbeat. And though he couldn’t help looking inside her thoughts out of caution and habit, he needn’t have. Every anxiety, bliss, and sensation revealed itself at once, and the elf struggled at the sight of pliant flesh stretching around his length, swallowing him and his sanity whole.

Perhaps he should have let her go, but could he really?

In daytime, nothing would have been easier – it sufficed to press on her unrefined soft spots, of which she had many, and the illusion Crevan laboured under would have instantly shattered into so many smithereens. Now? Now he wished to drive her to exhaustion, until she whimpered brokenly and begged him, until she cooed in her sleep, sweaty, found and taken care of, and wrapped tightly around him. Not once considering leaving him.

He realised the enchantment wielding its power over him. It had begun working on him long before her birth, turning into a compulsion when he had met her, and into an addiction when he had first felt acute anger pierce him over the thought of someone else’s hands touching her. So long ago it now seemed, when she had been to Tir ná Lia. He had understood nothing at the time, yet he had understood one thing that applied equally now as it had long ago: he had never been free to choose. And neither had she.

The honeyed warmth of her womb enveloped him, dragging him in a spiralling descent that dizzied and revealed. No more discomfort or regret on her face; only self-abandonment and delicious distress. He wound his fingers in her hair and tore her neck back, disrupting the pace she had chosen – more comfortable for her than him – and, when she was able, she paid him back in kind with her teeth. An animal and an angel. His black diamond who tames the night itself and makes it dance to her tune. The thought ate at his spirit, his will, his heart, and he groaned into her mouth. Greedily, her hips rolled in tandem with his, her skin gleaming with effort, until the pleading, distressed sounds gushing from her lips began losing their coherence, becoming increasingly vulnerable as she continued to sit on him.

Good girl. Trust me. Take from me. What took you so long? What kept you?

Over and over, he squeezed into the ardent body. And when exhaustion began settling in the woman’s thighs, he seized her around the waist and slid on top of her, penetrating to the end. Feeling her arch her back he regretted only that he could not keep gazing freely at the desperation building inside haunting eyes. He would have liked to linger, to take her slowly. Have her crumple the sheets in exasperation and experience the torture Crevan had felt every time she had innocuously coiled around him during their travels. Yet, he did not dare to tempt fate again.

‘My sweet child. My joy, my darling... I waited for you. So long, I waited,’ he murmured in-between thrusts. ‘How I missed you. Terribly. How I searched – now you will stay. Won’t you, my love? You will stay, for Dana help me, how I do not want to let you go... never, Ciri... never again...’

Make your final choice. Want what I want. Stay...

When he changed the angle and she moaned around the fingers between her lips, he wondered if uncovering his secret felt worth it to her yet. You cannot run away from knowledge, Swallow, once you decide to pursue it. When she attempted to stretch out her spine, away from him – in opposite to how he guided them – the sorcerer sunk on her small form and drew her tightly against himself, denying her all reprieve. It always comes – at a price.

‘Give me your word, luned. Promise me, you will stay.'

‘You’ll have to put a spell on me. Make me.’

He ground against her, desperation and anger choking him once more at her thoughtlessness. It hurt her.

Fingers gripping hair – his, hers – hot breath against the temple – his – an arm squeezing around the ribcage, leaving red welts behind on pale skin – hers.

It hurt him. Her childish flippancy. She should not invite him, tempt him. She didn't know he would pull her very soul from her to ensure she stayed.

Faintly though, he then heard the girl speak.

‘Don't lose me. Don’t leave... please. Don’t leave me alone again.’

And Crevan promised. He would see her through to the ends of her earth, where only oblivion yawned. Like a yellowed aspen leaf, he felt her writhe in distress, trying to recede into herself and away from the promise shared with her, and he refused to let her leave.

‘Look at me. Open your eyes and look at me!’

‘More.’

He bowed before her wish. Bending his back, he leaned his forehead against hers and kissed away the salty wetness beside her beautiful eyes. No pain, little one. She’ll never be alone again. He’ll fill her. He’ll make her see what he sees. She’s something more. Feeling her buck fruitlessly against his hips as she convulsed around him, he revelled in the trembling contractions that pulled him deeper into the secret warmth of her – where innocence lay. He would not allow her to fly away. He would not have time repeat itself in vicious recurrence when hope had finally bared itself on the palm of his hand.

Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive...

Her eyes, when she opened them again, were pure witch fire.

His restraint broke.

Overcome by a need that terrified him, he loosened his hold around her to move faster and deeper into warm flesh, deaf and blind, uncaring of her quivering. What he told her then was at once mellifluous and obscene. Her skin stuck to his, the smell and feel of her sucking onto his every thought, every memory like a vicious leech and he felt as if imprinting onto the face of a bold human girl with beautiful emerald eyes, intersected by a scar on her cheek. No other, just her. Just her... his Swallow, the first of spring.

He crashed on top of her, pouring into her at the end of his lust.

At some indeterminate point in time, the elf stirred – to the curious absence of the patter of rain, as it were. Shifting, he felt his seed spill out of a cooled body and Ciri gave a quiet moan, tightening around him imperceptibly. He looked at her for a long time.

Then he extracted himself from night’s embrace, gathered the woman against him, and got up.

---//---

Avallac’h stirred the concoction one last time – with a straw in the shape of a giraffe, because the kitchen, to his great misfortune, had been wiped out by the fire, and thus this novelty lab had to do. He had remembered too late how asinine this half-baked alchemy was – after he had already prepared two thirds of his precious ingredients. He didn’t have to waste resources when there already were alternatives in this post-biological nightmare. It served as some amusement to him that humans in this world had taken to contraception out of sheer hedonism, yet it didn’t quite make up for the daze in which he operated this morning.

Incinerating the straw and wiping the surface of the round table, the elf pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. His gaze fell on a broken piece of simulacrum tech in the corner. Mechanical thought patterns were what stood between humans and paradise.

What he'd gotten up for had also been... mechanical.

They were on the run. The timing wasn’t right: the roots between them were still shallow, and her trust in him fragile, to be nurtured at all cost. The fabric of the fate he had foreseen was delicate, and this time he wanted to be absolutely sure.

And yet...

‘What if we never leave? We could simply stay – here, at the end of the world.’

There were many spheres, many times and places, moments through which fate branched, forked, and twisted.

Crevan covered the cup with a saucer, left it, and went to wake the Swallow, walking across the shards of a broken mirror barely a quarter of a year old. He wanted to take another look and think. Before what was meant next...

#the witcher #avallac'h #ciri #cirilla fiona elen riannon #cirillac'h #cirillach #ciri x avallac'h #the witcher fanfic #smut #psychoanalysis #aen elle #lara dorren #crevan espane aep caomhan macha

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cobaltcaster · 4 years ago

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⚪3⚪Where to Conduct Your Spells

Location is important, but you must be practical and do what’s best for you. There are pros and cons to everything, and where to cast a spell is no different. There are those who will say there is nothing like the outside to spin your magic. However, if you live in the middle of downtown Los Angeles, Detroit, Atlanta, or New York, that is not a very wise choice. As we live in modern times of condominium life, the noise of speeding cars and construction vehicles outside may be too chaotic. In medieval times, for example, things like ambulances , airplanes, railroad trains, an automobile horns were not a concern. Therefore, think in the now and not about what our ancestors situations' were. Consider your specific location and determine what alternatives you have available. Inside It is easier to conduct spells inside, due to the fact that wind will not keep blowing out your candles, you have electricity for music, there is privacy and also safety. As you are accessing the powers of the Moon, try to find a spot when you can see the Moon, if possible. But above all, be comfortable. If there is a room in your home where you can see the Moon but you are not relaxed in that area, do not use it. As you are accessing the powers of the Moon, try to find a spot when you can see the moon, if possible. But above all, be comfortable. If there is a room in your home where you can see the moon but you are not relaxed in that area, do not use it. If you're conducting your spell during the day or are someplace without windows or any of you of the sky, use a representation of the Moon. A picture of the Moon works well ( feel free to draw your own ) or any item that represents the Moon. You can purchase a terracotta Moon decoration at most garden centers or make one out of cardboard or anything you have available. A Moon pendant or pin would do. Be creative; anything you feel that represents the Moon is perfect for you. Keep in mind, your privacy is a must. There should be no one else in the room with you unless they are directly participating in this ritual. If you have a large family and have a difficult time finding a place to be alone, you can always opt for the bathroom. It may sound comical, but I performed one of my best spells in the bathroom at a Holiday Inn as I was sharing a room with a friend who was not like minded. Outside To do a spell outside is excellent as you are surrounded by nature. However, the majority of people do not have acres of land where they can be assured privacy. Even in a park or on a bench, there is a probability of you attracting onlookers and people passing by. A backyard is workable, but if you have noisy neighbors, barking dogs, or a delivery person that may show up unexpectedly, it is not a good idea. Remember that you should not be trying to gain attention. Be discreet, and the power is more effective. If you are one of the lucky ones who has a privacy fence or lots of land around you, you might give it a try. The use of candles may not work if it is a windy day. Whatever you do, make sure you always feel safe. If you cast your spell in the evening and are afraid someone will sneak up on you, it will defeat the purpose. Why add stress to your spell? Usually a group of people is better for outdoor spells. Weigh the positives and the negatives and make a choice. I have perform spells outside as well as inside, and the results have not been more successful one way or the other. I must admit, though, if you have the opportunity to perform magick amidst nature, do venture to do so. The experience is very enchanting. Tree Magick For those who are able to utilize the wonders of the outside world in area that has many trees, you may want to conduct your spell under or near a special tree. It could be a tree you just get a "Good Feeling" from or a specific tree you seek has a special quality. I conduct many spells under an orange tree in my own backyard. Many cultures feel trees have creative properties and can dispel negative energy from a person without harming the tree. This is why sometimes just a walk through national forest or the local park can calm you. If you perform a spell near a special tree, take a moment and feel the energy from that particular tree. Thank the tree for the vibration that is giving you. Native Americans and other cultures believe that a tree embodies a living spirit. Don't be surprised, but hugging trees is not as uncommon as one would think. Sometimes a tree has a specific quality that we need ----- something that has been depleted within our own bodies. Hence, we have a need to put back that vital force. These are the trees we are usually drawn to, as they can rejuvenate us without taking it away from themselves. Example: If your interest in romance has been virtually zero due to conditions in your life like overworking, traveling, or just being without a partner, you may have the need to put yourself near or even hug an oak tree. The oak is said to increase sexuality! "Nothing ventured nothing gained." Following is a small list of trees expressing qualities and essences that are said to be of their nature. Ash: Peace, protection, prosperity, strength Birch: New beginnings, healing of wounds and burns Ceder: Courage, longevity, wealth, self esteem, purification Coconut Palm: Purity, honor, relaxation Cypress: Past life issues, comfort, protection; eases the loss of anything Elder: Transformation and change, peaceful sleep, self confidence Elm: Protection and meditation, stops slander Eucalyptus: Healing, protection, moon affinity Lilac: Activate chakras ( energy centers ), healing of back pain Lime: Divination, development, cleansing Magnolia: Fidelity, changes, relaxation and calmness Maple: Longevity, love, money Myrtle: Fertility, balance, youth, riches Oak: Increasing sexuality, luck, strength Pear: Clarity, energy, confidence, reduction of stress Pecan: Career issues and job seeking, money, discipline Pine: Prosperity, purification, health, exorcism Plum: Love and healing, self-confidence Polar: Astral projection, wisdom, mental healing, starting over Walnut: Depression, healing, heals infertility Willow: Wishes coming true, seductiveness, protection, energy to the sick The magick in trees does not have to be activated only when carrying out Moon spells, but can be accessed anytime as a natural wealth of refreshment to your body, mind, and spirit. Always thank the tree in silence with a nod of your head for allowing you to receive its special essential qualities and for absorbing your negativity. For the record, the tree is not harmed by this process ---- it shakes your energy away via the elements and is refreshed within seconds.

Which Direction to Face

Another gift of nature and an important factor to consider when initiating a Moon spell is the direction in which to face. Compass directions North, South, East, and West are very significant and casting the spell. By facing the proper direction, you are utilizing the vibration or energy that it offers. The powers of the four directions are a free gift of nature that is often overlooked. You can also think of the four directions as the Four Winds. You can “bring up the winds” from the north, south, east, and west. This means you will still stand facing a compass point, but will invoke the energy to blow toward you in the form of a gust. By not bringing up the winds, the flow of the vital forces are far more gentle, which is often necessary. It depends on the type of spell whether you only face a specific direction or you face that direction and also bring up the winds. One might compare it to an electrical fan with two speeds. The flow of air is coming from the same source, but you control how quickly or slowly it reaches you. Also, bare in mind that you most likely will not actually feel the wind that you have summoned. However, the invisible activity through the air will make its way to your spell area and serve you far beyond your realm of thought. There is magick in the air! For each individual spell in this book ( blog ), I provide you with the direction in which to face. I also suggest whether to bring up the winds or not and provide you the invocations on how to do so. In addition, for spells you create on your own, as well as for your own general information, I have included the following details about the vibration that emanates from each Compass Direction. NORTH corresponds to the element of earth. Face north for health issues, healing of the body, spirituality, increasing or developing your intuition, using some type of divination, for transcending the physical and trying to communicate with someone telepathically, and in asking for guidance from whomever or whatever you call your higher power. This is the most powerful direction. SOUTH corresponds to the element of Fire. Face south for love issues, relationships of any kind, creative and artistic pursuits, anything of a romantic or emotional nature. EAST corresponds to the element of air. Face east for career issues, strength, clarity, new business opportunities, financial matters and any endeavor requiring extra energy, healing of the mind, new beginnings. WEST corresponds to the element of water. Face for letting go and moving on, increasing self-esteem, forgiving yourself or someone else, cleansing, unconditional love. Special Note: When in doubt as to which direction to turn, face north, because it is the foundation of all things. If the compass direction you're using does not put you in the view of the Moon, do not be concerned. The energy of the Moon enters from all around you even if your back is to her. Try to face the other direction that I suggest in the spells as opposed to face in the Moon itself. The energy coming down from the Moon is all you need to acknowledge. For the best of both worlds, conduct your spell outside when the Moon is directly overhead or almost overhead. That way, you can see the Moon from any direction. Another suggestion is what I often do: Sometimes when I am casting a spell inside, I peak my head out the door for a few seconds to get a glimpse of the Moon to feel the connection but then come back inside and perform my ritual. Relax .... Moon vibrations can permeate through rooftops, mountains, clouds, rain, snow, and even the apartment of the people above you. [[ Back to List of Preparations ! ]]

#Where to Conduct Your Spells #Tree Magick #Tree Magic #Wiccan #Wiccan Preparation #Moon Spells #Moon Spell #Diane Ahlquist

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keeroo92 · 5 years ago

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Savior, Bloodstain, Hellfire, Shadow Ch8 V x Reader

Chapter 8 - A Taste of Heaven

NSFW

____________________________________

May 30th, 3:12 pm

As V touches down, his snow-white hair fading back to black, he loses his balance and falls to one knee. You’re still standing where he left you, having watched the entire display of raw, unrestrained power from a safe distance. Now, you run towards him in concern. Despite the last few days of his sullenness and almost total disregard of you, you are drawn to him by an almost electric pull.

“V!” You gasp out as you reach him, leaning down to help him stand. “Are you alright?”

He ignores your arms reaching out to help him rise and utter agony flashes across his face as he grunts, straining to lift his own body weight and favoring his injured left side heavily.

“I’m fine,” he mutters stubbornly.

Your vision swims as rage overtakes you at his words. He just single handedly wiped out eleven Empusa and a Queen, something you would have needed hours to accomplish, if you even could, then collapses, and expects you to accept that he’s fine?!

Like. HELL.

You tremble with the force of your anger as the silence and painful lack of contact with V over the last few days overwhelms you, vision going red as you reach forward to land a hard smack across his cheek. His eyes widen as he recoils, lips parting in shock as he almost falls to the ground, but he manages to stay upright as you scream at him.

“What the actual FUCK, V?! You are NOT FINE! Goddamnit, I’m here to help you stay alive, not watch you exhaust yourself to the point of near death! LET ME HELP YOU or I swear to GOD, I will punch you in the throat so hard Nightmare will feel it from your fucking gorgeous HAIR!!!”

You pause, breathing hard as your rage cools from a boil to a simmer in your gut. V looks at you through his silky hair you so enjoyed touching and smirks. SMIRKS!

“You think my hair is gorgeous?” he asks you innocently.

You shove him in the chest and he staggers, catching himself with his cane before he falls. You give him your very best Death Glare, with capital letters thank you very much, and he starts laughing!

The sound almost, almost, shakes you out of your rage.

“This isn’t funny, V! I know you’re some badass devil hunter summoner and you probably have a fourth fucking summon hidden in your goddamn EYELASHES, but – goddamn it stop laughing!”

He struggles for a moment but finally stops laughing. He looks at you earnestly, the most heartfelt look he’s given you in days. Your anger deflates, retreating into a sharp sadness as you wonder what’s been going on in his head to have made him treat you so coldly.

His eyes narrow and he bites his lip, looking away, and you realize you must’ve asked that question out loud. Refusing to retreat, you cross your arms and wait for him to answer you and prepare another slap if he says something stupid.

“Y/N…” he shifts his weight, clearly uncomfortable with what he needs to say. “I apologize for my behavior. I have not been… myself since I was injured. I don’t do well when I feel powerless. There are things about me I cannot tell you, but going forward I will treat you with more kindness. Can you forgive me?”

You growl deep in the back of your throat, not satisfied with his half-answer. “That doesn’t answer my question, V. What’s going on with you?”

He looks at his feet, hiding his emerald gaze from you behind his hair.

“I… I allowed my frustration to get the better of me. We’re running out of time to catch up, and it gets under my skin. I… believed our interactions to be a distraction that would slow us down even further, and I can’t allow any further delays. Again, I apologize.”

You huff, still not satisfied but realizing that’s the most straightforward answer you’re going to get. There’s still one last question he has to answer before you move on, though.

You reach out, not daring to even breathe as you rest your hand on his shoulder. He looks up at you again, waiting. You bite your lower lip, terrified of his answer but needing to know all the same.

“Do you really think this… I… am just a distraction and nothing more?”

You realize you’re crying again as you watch his face, searching for any shred of fondness or affection for you. His face shifts back to the flat, dead arrangement of his features he’s worn for the last few days and your heart breaks for an instant before his eyes fill with tenderness and his mouth twists into the tiniest of smiles. Your heart soars as he speaks.

“You are so much more that a distraction to me,” he finally responds, reaching out to tuck a lock of hair behind your ear and you smile gently at him, hesitantly leaning into his touch. It feels magical to have his skin on yours again, even just this small contact makes you dizzy with relieved tension and eased fears.

“Then I forgive you. Just DON’T. DO IT. AGAIN.” You punctuate the last few words with pokes to his chest and he strokes your cheek with his thumb, wiping away the remnants of your tears as he speaks.

“Never.”

____________________________________

Barely a half hour later, recognition stirs within your mind as you turn down a new street.

I know this place…

You walk a little faster, V doing his best to keep up as you stride to a familiar building. He frowns as he reads the sign aloud.

“Frank’s Bar and Grill? Why have we stopped here?”

“I used to work here and I think there may be something here to lift your spirits.”

You smile, spotting exactly what you were hoping to see in the parking lot. You push the door open and it thankfully opens; the demons appeared during business hours, it seems. V follows you inside the dark bar and pauses, waiting for his eyes to adjust. You know the bar well enough to not need to pause; the familiar booths and motorcycle memorabilia greeting you through the darkness like an old friend. You carefully pick your way behind the bar, arms outstretched just in case someone left a bar stool too far out or something. Your hand slides down the wooden bar, feeling the familiar grain of the oak under your fingertips until you reach the register. You duck down, looking beneath the counter and find what you’d been looking for – keys. You also take a moment to stow a couple mostly-full bottles in your bag with a mischievous smirk.

You stand up, triumphantly jangling the keys for V to hear.

“You’re about to feel so, so much better…”

As you walk back to V, you spot a long piece of shiny metal on your right. You smile and pick it up, glad to finally have a more suitable weapon. You give the metallic baseball bat a few swings, then head to V and lead him back into the sunshine outside, hastily wrapping the strap of your bag around the bat to free your hands.

The keys turn out to be for an old Yamaha motorcycle, dark blue and decorated with several tasteless stickers. The backseat is small and doesn’t have a back to it so V won’t be able to lean back. You grin at him as you climb into the driver’s seat and turn the key, the engine roaring to life. You chuckle as he jumps slightly at the sound and you toss him a helmet.

“See V? Told you we’d find a way to catch up. Look, it even has a mostly full tank of gas!” you shout as he approaches, struggling to be heard over the engine’s roar. He carefully gets on behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist to hold on.

“Indeed you did! You do know how to drive this, right?” he yells in your ear. You twist the throttle in response, making the machine somehow make even more noise.

“Now hold on!” you shout and kick with your left foot while squeezing the lever on the left handlebar simultaneously, shifting into gear as you barely twist the right handlebar, and he grips your waist even more tightly as the bike smoothly rolls forward out of the parking lot. Once on the main road, you twist the accelerator again and kick, shifting into second gear as you build a little more speed. V’s hands on your waist grip you tightly but not painfully, and you take a moment to revel in his hands on your body, wondering what it would feel like for him to touch you in other areas. You can barely hear V over the bike’s engine as he yells at top volume.

“I’ve never been on one of these before!”

You smirk, enjoying the fact that you finally found something you can do that he can’t that directly contributes to his mission.

“Just don’t let go of my waist and lean with me during turns! Don’t worry, I’ve got this!” you shout back to him as you shift into third, zooming past areas that would have taken all day to walk through. You have to backtrack frequently as the roads are blocked by vehicles, debris, and the strange elevation changes caused by the tree. Your mind drifts as you drive, remembering the day your ex taught you to ride. A long and exhausting day, but even more exhausting was the man himself.

I’m glad I got away from him.

The wind rushes by you as you cruise through the city, time passing in a blur. You drive until dusk and finally slow in a residential area. Houses spread out around you, white picket fences and perfectly landscaped gardens like icing on a cake. You park in a cul-de-sac and V slowly lets go of your waist, giving you a slight pang at the loss of sensation. You stretch your arms to the sides, then take off the stifling helmet and dismount, V doing the same.

“We covered so much ground today. We might actually be able to meet Nero and Nico tomorrow,” he says happily. You don’t think you’ve ever seen him this pleased; he almost seems to bounce as he strides to the nearest house.

“I hope they’re doing alright…” you respond, quickly catching up to him by the door. The house isn’t huge, a single story. You try the door and find it locked.

“Allow me,” V says dramatically and you back away instinctively. He gestures with one arm, summoning Shadow. She materializes in a blur, already barreling toward the door to the house. She crashes against it, ripping the door right off its hinges and flinging it ten feet into the room beyond. V gives her a rewarding pat as the pair of you head inside. She purrs loudly as you scratch under her chin as you pass, then vanishes in a cloud of black shards.

You try not to look at the photos lining the entryway of a happy family, but you find yourself hoping they escaped the carnage. The home is freezing cold, colder than outside. Someone must have left the AC on. You and V explore the house cautiously, wary of any demonic activity. Your eyes skim the living area, looking homey with a lumpy looking brown couch and oak coffee table set before the television. You turn left and find a kitchen, dirty dinner dishes still stacked in the sink. The linoleum floor clacks beneath your feet as you check the cupboards, finding pasta and a bottle of sauce to your immense pleasure.

“Help me look for a pot to cook pasta in, and a saucepan too,” you instruct him and he starts opening cupboards systematically across from you.

You try the stove top, fairly certain it won’t be functional but pleasantly surprised when a gas flame shoots out. V brings you a large pot and a laughably small saucepan. The water works when you turn the faucet and you lock eyes with V for a moment in utter joy.

“V… we might get to shower!” you tell him excitedly and he smirks at your enthusiasm.

You cook the pasta and heat the sauce, making a simple but satisfying meal for the two of you. You eat in near silence, too busy enjoying the food to talk. For a time the only sound is the clatter of silverware on plates, which V had brought you as well. You look over at him and see him slurp up some pasta that had been dangling from his full lips. You chuckle at the sight and he glances at you, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

“You have a little sauce on your chin,” you tell him, and he wipes his chin with the back of his wrist, missing the sauce entirely. You laugh again and reach out a hand to help him.

“Here, let me,” you say, and he holds perfectly still as your fingers brush against his chin, his stubble scraping your fingertips and sending a jolt through you. Your hand trembles a bit, partially from fatigue and partially due to the sensation of touching him so intimately. He takes the opportunity to take your fingers in his mouth and you feel his warm tongue licking away the sauce you had removed from his chin, his mouth sucking gently.

That feels… oh my…

His tongue caresses your fingers once more, the sauce long gone, and you barely suppress a moan as heat pools low in your stomach. He lets your fingers go and looks you right in the eyes.

“Delicious…” he whispers in a downright dangerously seductive tone and another surge of arousal rises within you, making your head feel light and your heart beat excitedly.

You swallow nervously at the sparkle in his eyes, the smirk on his tempting lips proving that he knows exactly the effect he’s having on you. You blush, suddenly overly aware of your unkempt hair and unwashed body.

“I… I’m going to go try the shower…” you stammer out and somehow manage to step away from him.

“I’ll be picturing you in there until I get my turn. Take your time,” he growls, eyes carefully watching your stride. Your body betrays you as you pause at his words, a heady gush of warm energy shooting from your toes to the top of your head, but you keep walking, determined to scrub away the filth of the last… however long it had been since your last actual shower.

You find the shower easily enough, barely noticing the blue walls and seafoam green towels on the rack. You fiddle with the knobs and are rewarded with a chilled spray of water. You wait, hoping for hot water, and almost cry in happiness when the temperature shifts. You strip, indulging yourself slightly and imagining V’s hands removing your clothes, and step into the hot spray.

You ruminate on the last few days, remembering all the interruptions in moments of almost-kissing, and you growl in frustration.

Damn demons. Damn Griffon. Damn V’s dumb ego and rush to deal with Urizen. All I want is five minutes, five minutes to fucking kiss the guy…

You imagine what it might feel like to have his lips against yours, that adorable smirk opening to let you taste him. The flirting, the banter, the almosts have been driving you mad with desire. You remember the feeling of leaning on his shoulder, sharing trail mix. His arm wrapping around your waist after you hugged him. The look of hunger in his emerald eyes each time you were within inches of each other.

You need release like a blanket on a snow day, and your hand drifts to your stomach, sliding lower to open yourself up. The thoughts keep coming, ever faster. The press of his lips on your wrist, his hand in yours. The timbre of his voice as he’d confessed his interest in you. Your fingers in his mouth, oh my… His hands in your air, washing it.

Your fingers move faster and faster against your sensitive bundle of nerves, quiet gasps escaping your lips as you rock your hips against your hand. Blood thunders in your ears as you put pressure on that one little spot, rubbing hard and fast now. You think of the feel of his hair through your fingertips, the silky softness of it, and you wonder how he’d react if you pulled it and you come undone as you visualize the look on his face, a single long moan escaping you as your release pulses through your body in a tidal wave of pleasure.

____________________________________

V hears the water turn on and smiles, extremely gratified by your reaction to his playful teasing over dinner. He only pictures you in the shower for a moment before respectfully redirecting his thoughts. He stands, gathering the dishes together and bringing them to the sink.

There’s no point actually washing them, considering the circumstances, but at the least I can clear the area so Y/N can cook if she wants to in the morning.

He reflects on the change within him since you slapped him and yelled at him. Seeing the rage on your face and remembering your obvious worry over the days prior to it had shaken something within him, something bold and hungry, that tiny voice in the back of his mind screaming as it finally broke the thick walls he’d built to contain it and took control. He didn’t want to ignore how he felt about you anymore; in fact, he couldn’t. If he’d ever had any chance of not caring for you, it was long passed.

His entire existence was centered around one purpose – to defeat Urizen, and goddamnit he wanted more than that! And he didn’t want to die most of all. Perhaps it was selfish of him, to picture a fantasy of being happy with you, but tonight he doesn’t care.

To pass the time, he explores the house more fully, indulging his curiosity. It seems a family of two women and a young child lived here, the pictures on the walls featuring them smiling and playing together. He finds the child’s room but doesn’t enter; it felt strange to even consider snooping on a child. Instead he wanders toward where the sounds of you showering are emanating from, assuming it leads to the master bedroom. His cane clicks against the wood flooring, sheath left in the main area of the home.

He mentally congratulates himself when he proves himself correct. The bed looks quite large, easily enough room for you both, and he smiles gently at the idea of sleeping next to you again. Maybe this time he’ll even have the nerve to touch you?

He hears a door open, and glances back to the bathroom to see you standing in the hallway wearing nothing but a towel. You walk toward him with lidded eyes and he swallows, mouth suddenly dry at the sight of your still-wet skin and damp hair.

“All yours, I left the water on for you too. Maybe next time we can share?” you say coquettishly as you pass him, and the image of your naked forms pressed together beneath the warm spray makes him harden slightly and he has to suppress a moan. He turns to watch you walk to the closet, your hips swaying more than normal and catches a whiff of the vanilla soap you used.

Tease… two can play at that game.

“I doubt we’d get very clean… in fact, I guarantee it…” he says with a smirk as he walks away, leaving you to your thoughts. He reaches the bathroom and goes to close the door, then smirks and leaves it open a few inches. He starts removing his clothes, wondering if there was time to wash them as well. The leather of his coat stood up fairly well to demon blood and ichor, but his pants were a different story once again. Sighing, he reaches out to test the water.

It is a pleasing temperature, hot enough to make him feel comfortable. He steps into the spray eagerly, letting out a loud groan of pleasure as the water hits his exhausted body. He braces his unhurt arm against the wall, leaning into the water and letting it soak his hair and bandage. He tilts his face up into the spray, letting the water cleanse away all the time spent fighting and riding behind you.

Eventually, he looks at the available soaps and shampoos. Most are far too strongly scented for his liking, but one is a subtle lavender scent and he uses that on his hair. He massages the shampoo into his scalp and remembers the way you caressed his hair a few short days ago. He smiles, turning around to rinse away the suds.

He takes his time washing his body; to slip and fall here would be terribly embarrassing. As he reaches his groin, his thoughts return to the feel of your touch, the taste of your fingers mixed with pasta sauce, the sound of your laugh. He remembers the very first day you met, when you slid into him in the back of Nico’s van and absentmindedly strokes himself.

I shouldn’t be doing this…

Yet his hand keeps moving, and the thoughts keep coming to mind. The glassy eyed look you got when he teased you. The way your arms felt around him when you bandaged him. The power of your body leaning during motorcycle turns. The feeling of kissing the soft skin of your wrist. All the moments that have been building between you run through his mind as his hand quickens, breath coming in pants now.

I really shouldn’t be doing this…

His mind transitions from memory to things he hopes are yet to come and he pictures you lying beneath him, eyes glassy as he enters you for the first time. Imagines the taste of your mouth on his. Imagines his hands on your skin, touching you everywhere. Imagines the sounds you might make when you come undone, just for him.

At that, he explodes. He lets out a long, shuddering breath, trying to be as quiet as possible, but a tiny moan slips past his parted lips. He stands there, slowly pumping through his pleasure as his mind goes blank, his imagination finally satiated.

He finishes cleaning himself and shuts off the water, carefully stepping out of the shower to get a towel. His emerald gaze checks the door, seeing it still as he’d left it, untouched. He towels his hair and stares into the mirror as he wraps it around his waist.

Get a hold of yourself. Focus.

The recently released voice within him voices the thought he’s been avoiding since the moment of his creation; I don’t want to. I want to live.

He turns away from his reflection with a sigh and steps out into the bedroom to find you in a pair of pajama bottoms and a tight t-shirt, lying in bed with the covers turned already for him and another set of pajamas laid out. He smiles, pleased to see the invitation. He watches your face as he stands before you, towel slung purposefully low on his hips and water still dripping down his patterned chest. You part your lips and he quirks an eyebrow at you playfully as he steps forward to take the pajamas, turning only after you look away blushing.

He returns to the bathroom to change, still thinking about the way your blush makes you glow. He dresses quickly, exhaustion hitting him even as thoughts of you continue racing through his mind. He comes back to the bedroom, having not bothered with the shirt you’d left for him, and he relishes the way your glinting eyes roam his body as he approaches the bed. He yawns, and you smile as he joins you in bed.

You face each other silently for a moment, both enjoying the peace. You reach out to touch his hair, and his eyes drift closed. His face relaxes as you touch him and he leans into your hand. You stop and turn over, grabbing the hairbrush you’d found.

“Sit up, V. I’m going to brush your hair,” you tell him. He smirks but rises obediently, eyes still closed. You begin at the ends, working your way through the tangled mass of wet strands as gently as you can.

“Thank you,” he sighs contentedly. You brush his hair gently, the strokes soothing and full of tenderness he has not known since he was a child. You brush until all the tangles are gone, then gently press his shoulder to make him lie back down. You put the brush back and turn to face him again. Your hand reaches out to stroke his hair again and he chuckles.

“You really like my hair, eh?”

You blush but murmur a yes.

“What else do you like?” he asks softly, playfully.

Your hand moves from his hair to his neck to trace one of the dark lines of his tattoos. You keep going, hand gliding down his chest. You scoot closer to him, until you’re only inches apart and he wraps an arm around you. He opens his eyes, meeting yours immediately. You gasp softly at the look of affection in his emerald orbs and he pulls you even closer to him. You can smell the lavender soap he used, already mixing with his natural scent. The combination is easily the best thing you’ve ever smelled.

You and V move in unison, closing the distance between you at long last, uninterrupted as you finally, blessedly feel his lips on yours. Your lips meet gently, cautiously. His mouth is so soft against yours you almost think you’ve imagined it. Then you hear him inhale deeply and press his lips more firmly against yours, moving against you deliciously. You moan softly and he pulls back.

“So that’s what heaven tastes like…” he whispers softly, and you stroke his cheek affectionately. He turns his head to kiss your palm, then settles against the pillows.

“Goodnight, my poet…” you whisper back.

“Goodnight, my little fox…” he murmurs, and you both drift into a deep, dreamless sleep, still holding each other close.

#dmc5 v #dmc5 #dmc #v x reader #v x you #fanfic #reader insert #slow burn #SBHS #fluff #lemon #spicy #vitale #devil may cry #dmcv

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madamlaydebug · 6 years ago

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~ A Pleiadian Message: Liberation through the Essence of Sunlight ~

Beloved ones, we greet you. We bring forward exciting news of this next phase of this New Dawning era. In late June 2015, there was a completion with this series of shattering of veils. This has set into motion an incredible transformational opportunity for all of you who are awake. This was an end of one phase on your planet and the beginning of a new sacred way. Bringing you forward to a “next step” for all humanity on your planet.

There has been a complete multi-dimensional shift in the magnetic energetic setting around the earth plane. This shift makes these energetic changes possible now. This change opens the dimensional veils, bringing an opportunity of renewal to your spiritual, emotional and physical body.

It has been a long journey for each one of you. You have been held and confined by this 3rd dimensional illusion in this lifetime, and indeed for many lifetimes on your planet. This powerful cloak of 3rd dimensional illusion has kept you in a place of struggle, confusion and a belief in lack. Holding you in a seemingly powerless position.

This magnetic shift has set off a new potential for you to awaken, a new potential in which you can birth yourself. We would liken it to a light womb being birthed around your planet, making it possible for each one of you to self-birth consciously. This light womb is a vehicle in which to create a metamorphic change within your physical and energetic bodies.

The light rays

Accompanying this magnetic shift is an unprecedented transformational change within the light rays of the sun, enabling the rays of the sun to carry a new light frequency. These light rays act as a mirror creating a series of light reflections throughout the earth plane. As you align through these light reflections, you experience a dimensional shift within your consciousness, which aligns you beyond the 3rd dimensional illusion, beyond the constraints of this earth plane.

The sun holds the reflected light of all that you are in reality. Within this frequency of light is carried your full capability to recreate your own abundance on all levels. You are being asked at this time to bring back your creation light element that is reflected from the sun into all aspects of your world.

Part of the plan as a human being is for you to move into this process of self-birthing through your own conscious choice action of free will. This process involves you aligning directly with this higher source frequency that is now contained within the sun’s light. This light source holds a mirror up to you, containing multi-dimensional reflections of the pure source light of your higher self.

This new frequency

The rising of the sun each morning over your horizon carries this new frequency of light, and this frequency is held within each individual ray of light. As these rays of light penetrate your planet there are a series of multi-dimensional reflections created by these rays.

The energy of renewal from the light of the sun is at its fullest potential at sunrise and sunset. This is the time where the veils are most thin, where the magic is most potent for you.

As you witness the sun at these times, it is important to open up to what we call the Conscious breath. The breath itself is in and out of the mouth, like a deep sigh. As you take a deep breath in, you need to open to the reflected light of the sun, drawing it forth within you. You can do this by bringing your awareness towards the sun’s reflected light and take that conscious breath in the mouth, and as you breathe out of the mouth there is a natural “letting go” process. The reflected light that you consciously take in creates a letting go process within you.

The essence of the sunlight carries the elements that you have been waiting for. As you breathe in with the conscious breath, the frequency of light held in the sunlight rays can open up through the cells of your body, creating rejuvenation and a renewal within each cell. Your cell receives an imprint of light. This imprint carries a frequency that dislodges the denser energy of the 3rd dimensional illusion held within the cell. Your body can simply release old patterns of stored anger, fear, anxiety, guilt, shame and sadness, for example.

Reflected light

These denser issues will simply leave your body and energetic field, creating a huge transformation and liberation within you. This is a natural outcome of the action of receiving light, because the density cannot continue to be sustained in your body as you take in these higher frequencies that are held within this reflected light.

These reflections held within the light rays of the sun can be found and utilized through the sunlight flowing through the trees, the sunlight reflected on the lake, the sunlight reflected on a single drop of dew on a leaf or flower and even the rays of light coming through a window into your home!

Open up consciously, look around and witness how this reflected light is everywhere and all around you in so many varied shades, within so many different elements. You can easily reach out to the light with your consciousness, touch the light gently with your awareness, and then take a Conscious breath and receive this light into your cells, into your very being.

The manifestation of this frequency of light held within the sun’s rays was always destined to anchor on your planet at this time. Your timing is perfect and this is your time to recollect your sacred design. Know that we are here to assist you as you move through your re-alignment process.

Align to the rays

To begin your self-birthing process, you need to align to the rays of light, and “let go” as this reflected light opens up a process for your own light frequency to imbed within the cells of your body. Through this interaction, it is important that you open up to consciously receive as your DNA strands are re-positioned, creating changes to your energetic makeup.

Your cells need to begin this process of metamorphosis, and this is achieved through taking in the frequency of this light that the sun’s rays can now provide to you. This action of metamorphosis that takes place within your cells will allow you to begin to receive a nutritional factor that is also being provided through the sun’s rays and the reflected light from the sun. This nutritional aspect of the energy you will receive has been designed to support your new energetic nutritional needs, as well as protecting your system from some of the harmful effects that are to be found in the foods that are on your planet.

Know that the food being made available to you on this planet is being broken down nutritionally. There is a systematic undermining process taking place within your society and this is severely affecting your energetic system. Your physical systems, as well as your whole nervous system, are being compromised. All your senses are being adversely affected through this negative food system that has been set in place by certain human beings on your planet for control.

You can now set in motion another process to counteract what is taking place on your planet by working with this reflected light from the source of the sun’s rays. Now it is your time to liberate your self from another level of these aspects of illusion and be in control of your own destiny!

Your next step

You need this support now, for your next step. You need the nutritional support to allow your systems to fully transform electrically and to support your energetic bodies, physical systems and your expanding light consciousness.

Your physical bodies have been deeply impacted by living with the illusion on this earth plane, and your emotional body also carries aspects of the density of this illusion. Each cell of your body holds the frequency of this illusion and now this illusion can be released from your system. Your body is ready for this. The programming of struggle, existing continually in survival mode and living in this illusion of powerlessness can be over now.

As the veils on your planet continue to shatter, there will be an ongoing liberation frequency birthing throughout your earth plane from the rising frequency of reflected light.

There is going to be a creation energy filtered through the rays of this light, activating your natural ability to align further to this creation through the sun’s frequency rays. Each one of your cells within your body and energetic field will be infused through these reflections, bringing forth many opportunities for each one of you to access a deeper understanding of what is held within Truth. This Truth carries a frequency of light that further adds to this renewal within you.

These reflections from the rays of the sun herald forward a message of truth and hope for each one of you, to not only witness, but to become a part of this living message. If you are willing, through a conscious choice decision, you can join and begin to flow with these rays of truth. You can play your part now by just accepting the light that you feel, see and sense in the moment.

As you align through the sun’s rays consciously, you begin to align to a deeper and more profound aspect of your self. You, through your conscious choice action of working within these reflections, are enabled through a “knowing.” This knowing naturally becomes manifest through you.

A powerful catalyst

This wave of renewal begins to permeate to every aspect of your being. You then become a powerful catalyst for all humanity as you naturally carry the frequency of this new wave of conscious alignment within you. You will be holding these reflections of light and transmitting them outwards through the planet to all humanity.

As you move forward on this journey of self-renewal, you will begin a rejuvenation process within the cells of your body. You will begin to recognize your Spirit. You will begin to remember the aspect of love that truly exists, the love that you are.

The jadedness that has come from living within this illusion on this earth plane will begin to dissolve as you once again turn back towards the instinctive joy of being alive within the universe. You can regain your spirit of spontaneity and realign to your own God creation elements of which you are a part. You will begin to recognize the very elements from which you were originally formed, the God consciousness. It is time to return to this love element frequency and become all of this once more.

You can begin right now, just from the simple step of opening to the reflected light of the sun that exists around you right in this moment of time.

As these old barriers leave your body, this light, your light, is mirrored through the sun’s rays that naturally realign you beyond the illusion and limitation of this 3rd dimensional dynamic, moving you back to the Truth of your existence for this time.

This is your next step, for you to begin to emerge like a butterfly, from the cocoon into the light, flying free into the wind.

This has always been the time for Self Liberation. This time is all about you liberating your self through conscious choice.

Blessings, The Pleiadians

~ Christine Day

www.christinedayonline.com

Art/photo Marika Nousiainen Os Prepula

JOIN HERE

In Universal Service ◊ Keeper of The Diamond Light Codes

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thatboomerkid · 6 years ago

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Special Weapons Requisition

Special Weapons Requisition -- Pathfinder Power-Armor Feat

Cutting-edge tech, for hunting the most cunning of prey. May the witch learn dread, to know that your field-gear is nearly as deadly as your fighting-spirit.

Brought to you absolutely free to play, to test & to share, as always, by the fine folks of my Patreon.

image from here

Prerequisite: Electrical Touch class ability

Benefit: You may expend one daily use of your electrical touch as a standard action to use guardian drone as a spell-like ability.

Your character level is the caster level for this and all other spell-like abilities granted by this feat (see below); you use your Intelligence modifier to determine your concentration check bonus. The saving throw against these special spell-like abilities, if any, is equal to 10 + ½ your character level + your Intelligence bonus. Spell-like abilities granted by this feat are not considered spells nor supernatural effects for purposes of the Anti-Witchcraft Armor Integrated Combat Enhancile Code of Conduct; you may freely employ such abilities without violating your own Code or the Code of an ally nor disqualifying yourself from the AWAICE class prerequisites.

At 5th level, you may also spend two daily uses of your electrical touch as a standard action to instead use blade drone.

At 10th level, you may spend three daily uses of your electrical touch as a swift action to use quickened guardian drone.

At 15th level, you may spend four daily uses of your electrical touch as a standard action to use hunter seeker drone; additionally, you may spend four daily uses of your electrical touch as a swift action to use quickened blade drone.

In addition, three times per day -- as a full-round action -- you may magically call a Blackmon Class Walker with the advanced template and spell resistance equal to (your level + 11) to your side. This ability is the equivalent of a summon monster spell of a level equal to one-third your character level and has an unlimited duration; this special construct immediately appears adjacent to you and may be dismissed once more as a standard action. If your vehicle is destroyed or banished, you may not summon another Blackmon Class Walker for 30 days. During this 30-day period, you suffer a –1 penalty on attack and weapon damage rolls.

Designer’s Note: Within the context of an Eve of Dreams & the AWAKE campaign, which uses the E6 rule-set, this ability is often gained alongside the Engineered Godhood feat.

#pathfinder #Power Armor #witch hunter #feat #machinesmith #Louis Porter #louis porter jr design #31 haunted days #special bonus content

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rennyji · 3 years ago

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July 21st Morning Tweets...

---

So in the third mentioning of some of the epic Indian Mohanlal movies is the movie:“Yodha”- not Star Wars yodha or is that Yoda?!- I feel YodHa is a movie ahead of its time, and am surprised that for that time period, the creators had the imagination and budget. It’s a movie about a man who travels to Nepal and rescues one of those Enlightened bald Buddha like kids from something evil, as he is destined to be a protector. The boy is referred to as “Rimpochay” but is nicknamed “Unni Kutta” based on how his bald head reminds the main character of an egg. One of the advice passed onto Rimpochay, while they’re on the run, is, always be and look ur best. Mohanlal’s words, I believe, are to “look smart”. I think all Indians at one time or another, before America were about ironing their clothes, shaving, looking their best. I think the Brits still have this idea. To be at the risk of being conceited, when my balding fat self goes places, it’d be nice if the superficial orchestrators stopped using my cultural practices for entertainment. Whatever I am, however I am, I’m just a regular guy, minding his own business.

---

After a decade of nonsense and degrading cr*p, using some things I wanted to pass on, after literally having my senses restored from removing myself from some things, the secondary orchestrators (different from the primary) may try to sum up the entirety of their phenomena as something spiritual and magical from whats passed on a decade later. In the Bible, it’s projected that we shouldn’t judge others. Why? Because what you see in an instant of time is the amalgamation of several preceding past incidents, emotions, memories, thought process, personal interactions, and so much more…without any of that, who the h*ll are any of us to judge another…But that doesn’t apply to the phenomena…you actually “know” it’s happening vs me, that too from the beginning, middle, and end. Don’t insult words and actions that stand out in the world or our minds, by comparing a disgusting scenario as something that also stands out, based on some interesting incidents in passing. To the orchestrators, how low will you go with evading personal space for entertainment? Will you even intrude in a prayer to Almighty God for your ends? I mean what do you say to that?

---

So I admire the gentleness in most women and the femininity to their voices...but I've also come to admire strength. A decade, a decade and a half ago, with the my same appreciation for nice things, beauty, and in that spirit: beautiful women, I think, when it came to looking towards serious things like a future, I would've settled on any pretty face. After a decade and a half in h*ll, where I face off against America, their sadistic government, law enforcement, military (who like to watch you bleed before taking ur life in whatever advanced means at their disposal), the America who mislead the entire world, being against me, I have one additional criteria to nice smiles in my life partner...

I need a strong woman like in the first clip...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tH1FzD1YY8

-I need a woman who I can face off armies with, figurative and maybe even literal (as who knows what America will do with mind reading/mind control, and then combining it with my perspectives on religion to result in crowds being sedated rather than acting on/living the perspective).

-Note the second clip. I mean white, black, brown, East Asian translucent to yellowish tan, whatever...ultimately, I need a woman who's insightful and will able to exercise her anger and powers of communication. I need a woman of strength.

-From 300, Check out Leonidas's wife amidst the Spartan council/her speech, and how she doesn't cry when humiliated by the man towards the end, but acts accordingly to a traitor of her nation for that time...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15pCcwtCS

I need a woman whose gentle and fierce/a fighter. Gentle as a breeze but fierce as a storm. Also someone who will give me peace of mind.

---

So knowing the orchestrators will provoke me more if I say it, I’m gonna say I’m gonna stop with talk related to the following cr*p anyway (I.e. trying to get me to think things):

So, call me crazy, “but I detect a pattern of movement” that comes along as “what is this really about?/or is that what it is?/ as a matter of fact this/that…” in speech/conversation.

There are “other patterns of human behavior,” but this is what caught my interest.

You wanna know the truth? For the last decade and a half, I have been talking about the very thing steering you, getting you to talk, as it evolved through the years in the things it involves or it’s various complexities. I mean, list it out in terms of what all this increasingly involves…what does it for the primary (v.s. the Secondary)orchestrators when they’re horny, is to get me to go on for years about a girl… I think they try to make all of this about a girl, a stray group of kids…and hey, maybe the party school may not have been as bad as pictured-when they could’ve been managing something with the cards dealt to them (rather carelessly), from someone more authoritative… Now, for the sake of argument, I moved to another country and lived there for a year, when the orchestrators, randomly, abruptly, had family members, remove me from that country for bizarre reasons at the time. I’m back in America and the rest is history. I was being in another country like India, while being named first in programming training camps, 5 times in a row, when I, a computer science graduate from a state school, was studying/competing, among electrical, chemical or whatever engineers…what is the relevance of a girl or stray kids for that context/time period? A decade and a half later, what is its relevance? If any of you really share the sentiment of “hey bro, what is this really about?” This is about ur American government trying to complete a secret project with everyone’s help, hiding in plain sight, while what comes off as a party school in behavior in sounds, distracts everyone with sweet/wonderful things, to sedate your true reactions to an abomination, while numbing me with ECT procedures for talking about the reality that is actually transpiring, or to get you the audience to take it lightly when ur police make me walk without shoes without talking to me, or years later, gather round me again through 4 suvs… Not even Hitler and the Nazis were this cunning when they experimented on the Jews for eye color and things…and how long was World War II?according to Google, it was 6 years long, from September 1, 1939 – September 2, 1945 . 6 years for the Jews and more for me, because they don’t look as Middle Eastern as me, maybe? how long was the individual experiments on the Jews in Nazi Germany? Did it involve the world, or even that part of Europe, in its entirety? Ive learned through this decade plus of war/experimentation on an individual-that too shamefully to me i.e. one of your American citizens-“you can never trust an American. “ They’re all instruction based acts as a people. Your actions speak louder than words. Americans will stab you in the back, in their relentless actions, be it getting family members to betray you, doctors to shock ur brain, or having the police come at you in 4 vehicles.

-At this time, I’m asking the American pagan gods to leave me be…out of my mind, out of my life. Know I spit on your flags in front of my house daily and if I could uproot it from the front of my house, I’d wipe my a*s with it, for a decade of senseless torture.--…a devil worse than Hitler shouldn’t even get that much nourishment through my spit on its symbol of hatred and lack of freedom…man it’s the craziest thing…right after writing this, it felt like my mom nodded in approval. So happy she magically knew and agree. -Punish my family and me more oh esteemed (but not really esteemed) nation of nations, oh America…I’d bow before you but ummm I have sour knees…

I mean there’s that, and of course free will - I only bow before The God, capital "G".

---

In an old 300 page elaboration of a complaint, upon realizing there’s a reaction to my writing from the cars below the hill my studio apartment house that it rested on, I said “darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to lasting light.” In broad daylight, a great evil is happening. Because of modern times, American corniness to things, seeing me in the ways I’m seen, you don’t take those words with the same seriousness. Darkness thrives in the void means in broad daylight, something, by very nature against the legal system l and free will, is happening. Be warned. I even said “time immemorial with the that sentence mentioned. The flaws of human behavior date at least as far back as 2000 years, in the days of Christ. Human nature, in its flaws, continues…

My perception towards all this is through a Psalm, a priest from my old Church directed my way: Psalm 3…

It goes:

Lord, how many are my foes!

How many rise up against me!

(Literally the world is one team of conviction and practice towards me, at least through instruction following in place of what’s in the heart. In this regard, a foe, an enemy, are those who don’t heed my words and talk to me, but instead obey the instructions from the false American gods about how I allegedly want my reality, my world, to be.

Many are saying of me,

“God will not deliver him.(B)”[b]

(The primary orchestrators wants me to ponder,through a spiteful tone, in the spirit of the pagans of old: “where is your God?”)

But you, Lord, are a shield(C) around me,

my glory, the One who lifts my head high.(D)

(If I “appear ‘in forms’ of my head high”, (and don’t want ur pity in this”) know that I ur neighbor( in the spirit of the Golden Rule) am the product of a decade plus abuse. Inside is fire.

I call out to the Lord,(E)

and he answers me from his holy mountain.(F)

(The Lord directs me with seemingly ridiculous answers in places and purchases and words and actions, so that I may endure)

I lie down and sleep;(G)

I wake again,(H) because the Lord sustains me.

(Self explanatory)

-6

I will not fear(I) though tens of thousands

assail me on every side.(J)

(I.e. the world, that America’s deception and trickery, misled against me. I will not bow to the law enforcement or military or the false American gods

-or their undeserved technology - probably given to them in the same way the Greek god, Ares, screws humankind by giving them weapons ahead of their time, in the movie, Wonder Woman, so that theyll destroy each other...)

Arise,(K) Lord!

Deliver me,(L) my God!

Strike(M) all my enemies on the jaw;

break the teeth(N) of the wicked.

(After a decade plus of invisible torture, while publicly portrayed in a different, probably pleasant, light, be sure justice and vengeance are a deep desire of mine.

With some people, they truly are destined for h*ll itself. A decade plus of showing the other cheek, using words-this verse from Psalm 3 shows, from the Old Testament, that even vengeance in place of forgiveness, will be with God’s backing, in extraordinary circumstances.

In Matthew 13:41-42, our preacher of love and forgiveness, but who also speaks of bringing the sword, says:

41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Not even Christ will act on the weeping and gnashing of teeth of those thrown into the fire to be burned, after great evils…as I said before, if we are the Body Of Christ, those responsible for my situation are like tumors/cancers that will be removed from the Body of Christ.

Christians, at least, from whom I’ve run into, are thinking religion is a wishy washy thing where your minds get into some drunken high.

Christianity “is” “about” peace, but also about being vigilant, alert, focused, through pursuits of the mental Kingdom of God.)

From the Lord comes deliverance.(O)

May your blessing(P) be on your people.

(The evil Americans, after a decade of realization on my part and indigestible evil from theirs, (from my Indian dialect vs the overall language: “gray-hic-an pat-Atha maha vir-thee-aid-a/do-shum…”), the Americans will not stop, despite actual cries for help from me for 10+ years - and that’s when their delusion based thinking, thinks that God will pity their cries in the eternal fire.

It is said by Christ,

In Matthew 25:40,

It is said,

And the King shall answer and say unto them, ‘Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.’

In these hard times, all I needed was a witness to tell me my conclusions on what’s transpiring are true or confirming that something is in fact, transpiring. I could’ve used that to end a decade plus of suffering and abuse. But you chose and followed the false gods, in the primary orchestrators

It is said:

In Matthew 25:35-40,

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,(A) 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me,(B) I was sick and you looked after me,(C) I was in prison and you came to visit me.’(D)

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

You inflicted this 10 year nonsense on God Himself, through the third person of the Christian Trinity: the Holy Spirit, which resides in every human and walks with them from Baptism. For the Hindus and others, I think this relates to the belief of “Atman”…

I pray that at the designated time for the end of my problem, before this world and the orchestrators and their timeline, that God will bless me with divine deliverance, with or without His true people.

---

Always bear in mind that World War II lasted 6 years, where 6 million Jews were murdered & some experimented on with things like eye color...that was by European Hitler...- -today theAmerican false gods, inMoreThan aDecade of mindExperiments,usingHumanity as itsRightHand, torment anIndian, or MiddleEastern lookingMan... Even World War II-a 6 yearSituation where @ least those Jews had privilege of humanCompany - does it compare 2 what theAmericans do, where they leave me with no one to even talk to for a decade plus, and have humanity on one side in belief/practice vs me?

---

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jagadeeshkrishnan · 4 years ago

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The Path of Experience

There is a mysterious substance behind man's existence. The wise men have tried to define and explain it, but most people have not yet been able to understand it. In the last decades, a tremendous awakening has taken place all over the world and now people have accepted the fact that there is a very mysterious power at the core, at the basis of existence.

From where do the thoughts come and from where does the consciousness emanate? There are thousands of such questions which man has not been able to answer. We can discuss and explain them very clearly in theoretical terms, but they will never be understood in this way, because this mysterious substance is not a matter of knowledge, but of experience. We may have perfected our intellectual concepts; we may comprehend the nature of the substance in perfect mathematical terms and be able to explain it in thousands of equations, but the ultimate thing that needs to be achieved is 'the experience'.

When we realise the necessity of the experience, then we have to take a different direction altogether. The experience is not an outcome of intellect or even of scientific thinking, it is the culmination of a process of jumping over the mind. Knowledge is confined within the category of the mind; the experience is beyond mind, intellect, and emotion. Knowledge can be redefined but experience cannot. What is the way to the experience? Do we get this experience through a process of transmission? Can this experience be explained and understood, or is it an outcome of a process in which you transcend time and space barriers?

We know of two ways to achieve this experience, the vedic way and the tantric way. We have heard plenty about the vedic way in the past, but now we are talking about the tantric way of discovering this mysterious substance. Maybe you already have your own personal opinion about tantra. If so, for the time being, please forget all those concepts, otherwise it may' not be possible for you to comprehend the entire role of tantra. Tantra literally means expansion of consciousness and liberation of energy. There are books which say that tantra is occultism, magic, sexual sublimation, or an underground spiritual practice. However, this is not the grammatical, etymological, philosophical or traditional meaning of tantra.

A process by which you are able to expand your personal consciousness is one aspect of tantra. Our consciousness is confined within an area; the mind functions within a given space. The activities of the mind and its capacities are related to the senses and sense experience. For example, you can only hear as much as your auditory system allows you; you can only see as far as your optic system allows you. This is the limitation of the personal mind. There are minute forms in this universe which you are unable to see. There are resonant waves of sound which you are unable to hear. This indicates that the mind functions within a very small, confined area.

Therefore, what we have to do is to break the barriers, then the mind can flow out of its confinement and experience infinity. But mind is dependent on the information supplied. If the sensory channels are incapable of supplying the information, then the mind is paralysed. If your judgement, logic, or mathematics fail to supply the necessary information and decisions to the mind, the mind fails. This is the limitation of mind. If you want to break this behaviour pattern, then you have to adopt a new system; you have to expand the mind.

Science of mantra and yantra

Expansion of mind takes place through certain techniques in which you isolate the mind and allow it to slow down. This is the process of tantric techniques. In this system the first technique is the science of mantra. If you want to expand the mind and realise the mysterious substance behind man's existence, then mantra is the first step.

Mantra is a vehicle for awakening the deeper forces within oneself. Each mantra has certain wavelengths and frequencies that are able to penetrate the internal structure of the mind. If you practise a mantra even without trying to concentrate your mind, the sound waves that resonate during the practice permeate through and through your physical and inter-physical system. The different types of waves that you initiate while repeating the mantra, permeate a new dimension of your consciousness according to your practices. When you chant mantra, sometimes it produces standing waves, resonant waves, or rhythmic waves. When these various waves are produced, they not only influence the atmosphere outside, but the whole mental structure of your personality.

A sound is not just a noise. It is a wave that carries electrical vibrations with certain amounts of energy. When you practise mantra, the sound produced moves in a certain pattern. However, the sound recorded by your consciousness is not exactly the same as the sound heard through your ears. In the deeper mind, the sound of each mantra has its own archetype. Therefore, the sound of mantra has a totally different effect on our consciousness than other sounds which we may produce or utter.

Many people ask, 'What is Om?' Om is the dimension of your consciousness. When you chant Om, it penetrates into your consciousness and assumes a geometrical pattern. Every sound has a specific form- circular, triangular, rectangular, hexagonal, and almost any combination of so many types of geometrical patterns. These forms are not hypothetical, suppositional or imaginary. They are archetypes, and each sound has its own corresponding archetype. The archetype of mantra is known as yantra, and therefore, mantra is the subtle form of everything.

No need for concentration

The mantra you practise creates a lot of force within your inner self. Although you can concentrate with the help of a mantra, mantra is not a tool of concentration. The purpose of mantra is to permeate your whole body, mind, and spirit with resonant vibrations. Therefore, when you are practising mantra, even if your mind is not concentrated but jumping from thought to thought, you are still getting the full benefits.

Once I told my guru that the mantra he had given me was of no use because when I practised it, my mind would jump about like a monkey. What is the value of repeating a mantra if it doesn't concentrate the mind?

He gave me some very practical advice: 'You do so many things in life which apparently have no value. So why don't you continue with the mantra for an extra five minutes.' I repeated my mantra as he ordered for years together with absolute regularity. Even though I had no faith in it, the mantra had very deep and powerful effects on the whole structure of my consciousness. I practise it even today. So in tantric techniques, mantra is the first and foremost practice, which does not require concentration.

Expression rather than suppression

Everybody wants to realise and experience the mysterious substance behind man's existence, but they don't want to break the wall which separates them from it. They paint it again and again and keep the secret substance in obscurity.

When you sit for meditation and a thought comes, you suppress it. Thoughts of worry, anxiety, passion, anguish - different types of thoughts come to the mind when you practise mantra meditation. If you leave them unattended, they will crop up again. This is not the tantric way. The tantric way of dealing with the mind is to attend to each thought as it arises, and finish with it forever. That is the only way you will surpass it.

Even if you are able to isolate your mind, you cannot channelize it. You may be able to disassociate the mind from the sensory channels so that the senses cannot supply stimuli, but what about the inherent nature of the mind ? Mind is a bundle of samskaras, impressions. There are thousands of memories, of experiences. How are you going to deal with this multifarious nature of the mind? If you try to perform mental genocide, you will have to pay horribly. How many impressions in the mind are you going to decry, and who is going to do the job? This is how you create animosity within your own personality. Your religious mind says this is bad, and your free mind says it is good. So you already have two checks on one mind. This creates what we call internal conflict, which ultimately makes you schizophrenic.

You must allow the mind to think without opposing, abusing, or hating it. If there are any evil thoughts in the mind, learn to accept them; do not suppress them. Whatever thoughts arise, learn to face them with full awareness. They are your inheritance from childhood, from your parents, and from society. They are your personality, your structure. They are 'you', and you must not try to kill yourself. Therefore, when you practise mantra, please don't quarrel with yourself. If your mind is running into fantasies, let it go.

Learn to witness the mind. Sometimes it regresses into the remote past, sometimes it goes into the very distant and unclear future. If you allow your mind total independence and liberty, it will transcend itself even without your knowledge. The path of experience is not so long and tedious. The experience is here and now. It is already in you, so you don't have to develop it. It has always been in existence, but you are not able to experience it because you are bound by certain limitations. Allow your mind to flow, to break its barriers, to be anarchical, to wander freely like a vagabond, to commit crimes (inside, of course). Allow it to find itself, give it space to run, and let it experience psychic forms. Don't worry about bad thoughts, or be happy about good ones. Just see them as you see cars moving down the street. You are aware of them, but you have no personal involvement. Like this, there is endless traffic in the mind, and when you are trying to practise mantra, the rush hour begins.

The mind is constantly resonating, vibrating with all kinds of impressions, even now, but you don't see it, you don't know it, because your senses are engaged. As soon as you isolate your mind, you can see the whole beautiful game it constantly plays. The more you evolve in spiritual life, the more you become aware of the homogeneity of the mind. So therefore, in tantra, do not aim at killing any of the expressions of the mind. Mind is not your problem at all- you are the mind's problem, always wanting more experiences. So whenever you practise mantra, yantra or kriya yoga, please remember that you are not going to fight with the mind. As you practise your sadhana, you must see that you don't interfere at all with the mind and the experiences that come to you.

Bindu - the ultimate point

In tantra the way of meditation is spontaneous. In kriya yoga, for example, there comes a moment when you experience expanded consciousness even if you do not want to. Tantra is liberation of energy. This energy, called shakti, is the sum total of the creation of the universe. To be in tune with shakti is the discovery of the self. The destiny of man is to discover the absolute universal energy. This is the bindu, the point. In a circle, there is one curve which represents time, a second curve which represents space, a third curve which represents object, and a fourth curve which represents transcendental consciousness. Then there is bindu, the point or dot at the centre which represents the absolute. This is the nature of reality and of the universe- time, space, object, transcendence, and the ultimate point.

In tantra, the emphasis is on bindu. The whole universe is an expansion from that bindu; matter has exploded out of bindu. Bindu is one absolute, but it has divided itself into millions. It is endless, and every speck of creation is absolute. There is no imperfection in this great universe, in everything you see around you- past, present and future. That is the extent of bindu.

So the bindu point at the eyebrow centre is the nucleus of the universal mind. It is the tiniest of points which explodes into the whole of creativity. When you concentrate on bindu, what happens? Time and space come closer. Otherwise they are very far from each other.

Imagine what is time and what is space. They are not outside- they are within the mind. Time and space are qualities, characteristics of the mind. If there is no time and no space, there is no mind; and if there is no mind, there is no time and no space. When you say mind, you must assume time and space, and when you say time and space, you must assume mind.

When you concentrate on bindu, time and space come closer. Time is positive and space is negative. One is Shiva and the other is Shakti. In symbolic language, one is male and the other female; one is plus and the other is minus. Mind consists of time and space; if you separate them, mind drops away. Bring them together and mind is assembled.

If you bring time and space together and connect them, what happens? It is the same as when you bring two electric wires, one positive and one negative, together- there is a spark. Bring time and space together and they will start sparking. But if you bring them closer to the bindu, there is an explosion of energy, like a bomb. This explosion is the self in tantra. I use the word explosion here but actually words have no meaning in spiritual life. Only the experience has any relevance.

Bindu is the womb of matter and the two poles of universal mind are time and space. We exist in time and space, so we can't take time or space and throw them away. Only at the time of death, are time and space withdrawn into the universal mind at two different poles. Then they leave the body and enter into another body. But this is not what we mean here. We are talking about liberation of time and space, about active participation of time and space in relation to spiritual life. Therefore, when you practise concentration on bindu in the eyebrow centre, whatever experience arises, you must only feel that time and space are coming closer to each other. When this explosive awakening takes place, then what happens? Matter issues forth- the universal mind breaks into millions of fragments. It is all in the form of nebulae with each fragment a complete bindu, an absolute creator. It is like the atom splitting itself into thousands of atoms, all over.

At this time you have completed your evolution; the destiny of human life has been fulfilled. Just as when you finish university, you go out into the world and begin to work. So in spiritual life, when you have completed your evolutionary cycle, you go out and become a co-creator, a junior god. That's the ultimate goal to which tantra leads mankind.

Satsang on Tantra

Can you tell us about the origin of Tantra?

Tantra is the first discovery of man. It predates vedic literature but it was not recorded in the written form until after the vedic period.

In ancient days when man was living closer to nature, he moved with the spontaneity of natural behaviour. His concepts about philosophy, God and morality were not the basic philosophy of a society, nation or religion- they were more for his own personal evolution. He began to think about realising a higher status in life rather than the higher values of a society. You must differentiate between these two. Higher values in life is spirituality. Higher values of a society is civilisation and a nation. In our world today there are many countries with higher social standards, but with very low values of life.

This tantric system did not spring from any organised system or planned method. It originated with each individual as a natural urge. To give you a very gross example: hunger is not an organised urge. A man feels hunger individually and tries to satisfy it by any means available. If he is beneath a fruit tree he will eat fruit; if he is in the forest he will hunt an animal for his food and so on. In this same way tantra developed with the individual.

As the evolution of man took place, he experienced many peculiar things and he began to wonder how they happened. For example, if someone dreamed that something was going to happen and it actually did happen, he began to wonder how he could dream of the events to come. So the thinking people began to seek the source of their intuitive knowledge and finally they came to conclude that there was a higher mind and that mind was not restricted by time and space. Man began to think of his existence, wanting to overcome his mental limitations and to realise that higher spiritual being within. For this purpose he developed certain practices which aroused his personal consciousness, made him more intuitive, and increased his awareness. This is how tantra began and continued expanding.

In many different countries, including India and Mexico, hundreds of practices were developed for the awakening of one particular faculty. People tried various methods of concentration and worship of gods. They tried herbs, minerals, narcotics, alcohol, fermented substances, chanting of mantras, the use of sounds like the drum, bell, conch, and all forms of music and dancing. However, it was chaotic in the beginning without books or a proper system.

It was not until later, after the vedic period, that certain spiritually minded people realised the great potential that lay within the tantric system and wrote it down in book form. Some suggested austere and puritanical life. Others recommended meditation and spiritual practices, and there were some who suggested the path of devotion and religion. This is how the science of tantra developed in the course of time.

What is the link between the ancient civilisations and the practices of tantra which are being revived today?

A lot will have to be said about it. As far as we know, the Atlantis civilisation was aware of the different tantric practices, symbology and other forms of experience. These were already present in the human mind in the Atlantean era, some 45,000 years ago. Every form of knowledge has its symbol in the universal mind. Just as modern computers have a symbolical language, so the human brain possesses archetypes in the form of geometrical shapes which we know as yantras in the science of tantra. Utilising these yantras the Atlantean people were able to organise the knowledge and create a structure of experience which enabled the individual to become aware of the psychic dimension of his personality.

Eventually some crisis must have occurred, compelling the Atlanteans to make a fast exodus. Some of them went as far a field as Latin America, while others went to the European continent, to the Indian subcontinent and to the Far East. I have been through many different countries and I was surprised to see some of the pre-Colombian art pieces in San Agustin, Colombia, and in Lima, Peru. In the open air museums there, the yogic postures, mudras, bandhas and yantras are clearly depicted in stone and terracotta figures.

Unfortunately, in almost every country, the tantric tradition is completely lost today. But the tradition was quietly maintained in India by some very sincere people who had the help of the more conscious and influential of the country. If you read through the most ancient books - the Vedas, Upanishads and Puranas, you will realise that the tantric tradition was the basis of every kind of knowledge in former times.

Nowadays, the basis of this knowledge remains encoded in the language, pictures and diagrams of tantra. Only very recently have scientists been able to discover that the human mind possesses its own archetypes and endless forms, symbols and languages, and that the understanding of language and perception depends on what is already contained in the universal mind.

Global evidence strongly suggests that a prior ancient civilisation has already realised, recognised and understood the reality of the universal mind and the individual mind. However, in spite of all the evidence, universal mind is still just a concept or hypothesis.

What are the differences between Indian tantra and Tibetan tantra?

In the Buddhist period, tantra was divided into two aspects, known as purusha, consciousness, and shakti or energy. Both consciousness and energy are within us in a united form. But for creation to take place, they have to first be realised separately. Now when you separate them, either you follow the prakriti path (shakti) or you follow consciousness (purusha). The Buddhist system preferred to follow the path of purusha tantra, whereas in India they followed the path known as prakriti tantra.

I will explain it to you in a different way. When you sit for meditation there are two distinct things which come before you. One is the awareness of consciousness, and the second is awareness of the experience. Now, what exactly are you going to do? You try to eradicate one of them. If you are meditating on a particular point and any thought or experience comes into your mind, you push it out and try to maintain consciousness. You try to separate consciousness from all experiences, thoughts and feelings; from every point of mental activity. This means that you are following the tantra of purusha.

In prakriti tantra, the practices develop concentration in order to explode the shakti from within. Many thoughts, many experiences and psychic visions will come into your mind and you may actually forget your mantra (Om), which is the symbol of purusha. Instead you will follow the experiences. You may see a blue sky, clouds, bright colours or any other symbol. Whatever you see you follow.

When you concentrate your mind on a symbol and continue to concentrate on that symbol, it is known as the path of purusha tantra. But when you become aware of the effects of that concentration meditation, it is called prakriti tantra. Tibet follows the tantra of purusha, and India the tantra of prakriti.

What are the different kinds of tantra?

In order to develop the higher mind, numerous practices were devised and these practices formed the different paths of tantra. The first path is known as dakshina marga or 'right hand tantra'. It is for those who are beginning to live a spiritual life, whether they are renunciates or householders. This path talks of austerity and purity - purity of thought, food, life and devotion, as in Christianity and Hinduism. The path of 'right hand tantra' is a very slow one which can be compared to travelling by bullock cart.

Of course many people were not satisfied with this path, so they made it more powerful by adding the practices of yoga- asana, pranayama, mudra, bandha, hatha yoga. But still they found that this was not a very quick way. The only difference was that it was like travelling by bicycle. So they discovered new ways, including the path of kundalini yoga.

In kundalini yoga they discovered mooladhara chakra and that if you can awaken this chakra, you can easily develop the higher mind. So the next thing they realised was that the sexual act could accomplish this. During the sexual act, two opposite energies are created by the man and the woman, and these energies can cause an explosive awakening in mooladhara chakra.

Then the question arose: 'But everybody does it, and their kundalini doesn't awaken?' So they began to think about it. Then came the practices of vajroli mudra and sahajoli mudra. Utilising vajroli mudra, the shakti could be prevented from passing out. Generally when orgasm ends, a fall takes place, but if the orgasm can be contained or continued, mooladhara awakens and shakti can be directed up into the brain. Now the whole position changed, and the people began to practise this new form of tantra in great numbers. This became known as vama marga, the 'left hand tantra'.

In kundalini yoga the brain is said to be the centre of higher consciousness, but it is not fully functioning. The brain has different areas and most of them are totally inactive. These inactive zones have special capacities which can be evolved through the tantric practices. Out of all the tantric systems, the quickest is the left hand path, but the right hand path is for a beginner. If you have no mental control, then you must follow right hand tantra, but if you are an advanced sadhaka or a yogi, and have control over your mind, you can practise left hand tantra.

The use of herbs was also introduced. About five to ten thousand years ago there was a plant, a type of creeper, named soma. They used to make a beverage or juice from soma and drink it on full moon night. With this they were able to transcend time, space and object. But they soon found that soma was not suitable for all, because many people could not face the transcendental experiences which it brought on. So they began to search for smoother ways as well.

There is a dialogue between Shiva and Parvati. Parvati, as a disciple, approaches Shiva and asks him the way to develop one's innate power. Shiva instructs her that there are not one, but thousands of ways. For those people who are not very evolved, and who have animal tendencies, there are certain practices. Those who have human tendencies have other types of practices, and those who are sattvic, quiet in nature, have different practices again. So in fact, in the science of tantra, there are as many practices as there are human temperaments.

Why is there so much secrecy attached to the tantric practices?

There is nothing to hide in the tantric tradition, but for over ten centuries we have lived under the subjugation of those who followed different religious and political philosophies. These traditions considered some of the elements of tantra as sinful. Therefore, the attitude of the people towards tantra has changed, and so these questions are being asked. People have been converted to such an extent that their philosophical respect for tantra has been shattered and annihilated.

According to dharma the marital relationship, or the relationship between the two forces of nature, can never be considered sinful. It was considered as a dharma, a samskara. This is made clear in the vedic Smritis also. If you study the life of the rishis and munis of the past, you will understand that some of the elements considered as sinful by certain traditions are not considered as such in vedic tradition.

The word tantra is a composition of two words, 'tanoti' and 'trayati'. Tanoti represents expansion and trayati stands for liberation. Therefore, tantra means expansion of mind and liberation of energy. Just as you liberate energy from matter, shakti is liberated from the mind. Here liberation does not stand to denote a religious state; liberation should be understood in the light of modern science. Energy is liberated from matter in the same way as butter is separated from milk. This is tantra.

What is the relationship between yoga and tantra?

Yoga is an offshoot of tantra. The practices of mahamudra, mahabheda mudra, siddhasana, padmasana, pranayama and so on, are all from the tantric texts. All the practices of hatha yoga and bhakti yoga were a part of tantra. The system of mantra is considered to be the very definition of tantra, and yantras and mandalas constitute the very life, the very substance of tantra. Kriya yoga is a part of tantra, and kundalini yoga, with its concepts of chakra awakening; ida, pingala and sushumna nadis, also arose from tantra.

Therefore, yoga as we know it today, is in fact tantra. But during history, people started criticising tantra because it accepted sexual life. Some religions believed that sexual life was not the divine life, others thought that if you want to rise high, you should abstain from sex. There were some religions which taught that sex was a sin. So when these religions became powerful, they began to oppose tantra.

Then the wise people took yoga out of tantra. They abandoned that part that was criticised and adopted that which was acceptable. So yoga is an offshoot of tantra.

How does the path of tantra differ from that of raja yoga?

In raja yoga there is withdrawal from life; in tantra there is acceptance of life. If a person drinks, leads an active sexual life, or eats meat, he can still evolve in the system of tantra. But in certain orthodox systems, these things are considered to be unholy, and if you have recourse to them, you will fall spiritually. In tantra, your way of life, according to your nature, is no barrier to spiritual illumination. Whether you drink or not is never held against you. Whether you are married or leading the life of a celibate, it is perfectly all right. Tantra will not force you to go against your beliefs.

The main premise in tantra yoga is that spiritual awakening can be had by anyone, under any circumstances, at any level of existence. Man should not oppose or antagonise nature; he should be spontaneous and learn to flow with it. If he opposes nature, he will develop a split personality by creating two patterns of thought.

When travelling in India and Nepal, I was intrigued by the temple art. Can you tell me why they display sexual interaction in such a spectacular manner?

Did you try to think about it? That which is behind the veil should be placed in front. Inhibitions have to be broken, so that the mind is exploded, so that there is nothing in the mind that is secret. By creating a social philosophy and social traditions, man hides from himself. This is not absolutely necessary. Man has certain inhibitions and these inhibitions have made him hide things. But the hidden things remain in his mind, unanalysed, unexpressed and unattended. Eventually they become archetypes, influencing the deeper personality.

One may not even know that this process is happening. These hidden things may influence the body or mind, leading to a cancer or perhaps disturbing the family relationships. They may damage the personality or they may inspire the creative faculties within the artist.

The statues in the great temples are the creations of artists. These painters and sculptors were very free. They thought about these hidden things and brought them to the public eye through their creations, so that people could see them for thousands of years. I have seen these temples in Nepal, Jaganath Puri, Konorak, and Khajuraho many times. But they hold no surprise, shame or fascination for me. Once the veil is lifted, the deep archetypes within the mind become known. Then the symbols or forms which express them are understood for what they are without any sense of repulsion or intrigue.

When most people look at these symbols, they see something which they know, but which they don't want to face. An area of consciousness is behind the curtain, and the curtain has to be thrown aside. I can see what I know; I don't see any difference between the temple art and the pictures in a gallery or exhibition. I can see them both equally because for me nothing new is depicted. Why shouldn't these forms be expressed? After all, they represent a necessary aspect of creation.

Jagadeesh Krishnan

Psychologists and International Author

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katsbookcornerreads · 6 years ago

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Chapter Two “No, no, no, no…” The words whirled around his head as he raced across the field, opening his mind completely to the beautiful woman while trying to hold back the newly reawakened Dragon King with whom he shared his soul. Fear. Desperation. Flying. Freedom. It all jumbled together in a cacophony of chaos. “Elizabeth!” He roared into her mind. From one racing step to the next, her emotions overrode his. He could see through her eyes. Feel the beat of her heart within his chest, her breath became his, and her unparalleled need to be free from her innate Empathy cannibalizing her from the inside out sunk its jagged teeth into the very fiber of his being. Ripping the door from her vehicle, tearing the seatbelt suspending her in midair, he cradled her in his arms. Pulling her to his chest, he struggled to take his first unhindered breath since being blinded her headlights. Holding her so close, he fought against the effervescent currents of electricity streaking through his body, igniting his long-dormant desire. Yes, it validated their connection. Yes, it brought the truth he’d known since the first time she unknowingly reached for his mind. Yes, she was the One the Universe had made for him. The single, solitary person in all the world who could bring light to his lost, useless soul, only she could repair his broken spirit, might even be able to give him back that which he’d lost so long ago… But none of that matters. He was unworthy, unclean, and without hope. Destiny held only endless roaming as a lone Dragon. Hope only held the prayer until Fate would finally, blessedly send him to the depths of Hell. Throwing his cloak to the ground, he carefully laid Elizabeth on the dingy, rough material as he made quick work of examining her for external injuries. Letting just the tips of his fingers graze her delicate skin, he started at the gash on her forehead working his way down. Taking his time, he healed her external wounds while looking for internal injuries. Feeling as if his purpose was miraculously restored, Raynor, the Berserker known as the Beast, jerked to a stop when the jagged edge of her broken ribs collided with his healing magic https://www.instagram.com/valentine5062/p/Bqk4-SMFwAd/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1bq0fjciivl0j

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watchilove · 4 years ago

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Reflecting the minimalist philosophy that underpins new Rolls-Royce Ghost, highlights of this transformative motor car are listed in short form:

The most technologically advanced Rolls-Royce yet

Succeeds the most successful product in the marque’s 116-year history

Reflects ‘Post Opulent’ design philosophy, rejecting superficial expressions of wealth

Built on rigid aluminium Rolls-Royce spaceframe architecture

All-wheel drive and all-wheel steering for unprecedented poise and surefootedness

World-first Planar suspension system significantly increases agility and effortlessness

Equipped with hallmark 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12 engine, delivering 571PS and 850nm

For effortless egress, doors now electrically open as well as close

Interior components tuned to specific resonant frequency to create a sense of serenity

Down lit Pantheon grille discreetly illuminates Rolls-Royce iconography

Illuminated Fascia debuts featuring Ghost nameplate surrounded by more than 850 stars

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“The first Goodwood Ghost was a response to a whole new generation of clients, both in age and attitude. These men and women asked us for a slightly smaller, less ostentatious means to own a Rolls-Royce. The success of the product we created for them fulfilled our most ambitious expectations. Over its ten-year lifespan, which began in 2009, Ghost has become the most successful model in the marque’s 116-year history.

Rolls-Royce Ghost

To create a new product that would resonate with our Ghost clients for the next ten years meant we had to listen carefully to their demands. Today we set new standards in customer-centricity by creating a completely new motor car for a unique group of Rolls-Royce’s clients. These business leaders and entrepreneurs demand more of their Ghost than ever. They require a new type of super-luxury saloon that is dynamic, serenely comfortable and perfect in its minimalism. Ghost is this product.

Rolls-Royce Ghost

The only components that we carried over from the first Goodwood Ghost were the Spirit of Ecstasy and umbrellas. Everything else was designed, crafted and engineered from the ground up. The result is the most technologically advanced Rolls-Royce yet. It distils the pillars of our brand into a beautiful, minimalist, yet highly complex product that is perfectly in harmony with our Ghost clients’ needs and perfectly in tune with the times.” – Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

Rolls-Royce Ghost

Introduction

In 2009, Rolls-Royce announced a new addition to its portfolio that offered something entirely different to its flagship Phantom. This product resonated with a new group of men and women who responded to the marque’s relentless pursuit of perfection in design, engineering and craftsmanship, but sought a more modest and minimalist expression of Rolls-Royce. The execution of the first Goodwood Ghost, and its laser focus on meeting the demands of its clients, was an unmitigated success, and over the course of its ten-year lifecycle, this transformative motor car became the most successful product in the company’s 116-year history. Ghost’s formidable success was vital in enabling the brand to scale up production, invest in its capabilities and establish Rolls-Royce as the truly global brand it is today.

Additionally, Ghost’s decade-long market presence enabled the marque’s Luxury Intelligence Specialists to gather vital information about developing behaviours in how Ghost clients use their motor car, how they commission it and how they perceive Rolls-Royce. These highly successful and diverse entrepreneurs and founders, who selected this product to celebrate their ongoing ascension, were citizens of the world – they had been educated abroad, they travelled extensively and experienced Rolls-Royce in many cultures.

Rolls-Royce Ghost

Due to Ghost’s energetic, dynamic personality, these clients came to realise that the Rolls-Royce brand could offer more than a chauffeur-driven experience. Indeed, in the United States of America and areas of Europe, clients were self-driving their Ghost from the very early stages of its introduction. Meanwhile, in Asia, clients were engaging heavily in the connected technology on board, be it for business or pleasure.

Across all markets, when clients commissioned their Ghost they asked the marque’s representatives about the driving experience, even if they had selected an extended wheelbase. During the weekend, this business tool morphed into a discreet celebration – clients would switch to the driver’s seat and relish a trip to a restaurant or second home with their friends and family. They celebrated this breadth of character, and this reflected in less formal colourways and more personalisation in the driver’s eyeline. These were profound learnings.

Meanwhile, at Goodwood, significant advances were being made with the marque’s proprietary aluminium spaceframe architecture. First used on Phantom, then Cullinan, this spaceframe is unique to Rolls-Royce and enables the brand’s designers and engineers to develop an authentically super-luxury product, free from the constraints of platforms used to underpin high-volume vehicles. As Ghost clients required even more of their motor car, Rolls-Royce used its architecture to respond, incorporating technology such as all-wheel drive and all-wheel steering in Ghost, unlocking an entirely new, purposeful personality.

Concurrently, the design team were tracking an emerging movement that came to define Ghost’s aesthetic treatment. It spoke of a shifting attitude among Ghost clients in the way success is expressed. Named ‘Post Opulence’ internally, it is characterised by reduction and substance. In service to this, exceptional materials must be selected and celebrated. Design must be limited, intelligent and unobtrusive. This philosophy is the antithesis of ‘premium mediocracy’, a term coined by the fashion cognoscenti. This refers to products that use superficial treatments, such as large branding or, in the context of motor cars, busy stitching and other devices that create an illusion of luxury by dressing products lacking in substance in a premium skin.

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The collective result is new Ghost. This is a motor car precisely tailored to its clients, that appears perfect in its simplicity, that is underpinned by remarkable substance, that is less but better.

The marque’s designers, engineers and craftspeople demanded the freedom to create a very specific personality for new Ghost. These men and women were only able to create an authentically super-luxury product without the constraints of platforms used to underpin lesser, high-volume vehicles. Hence, the Rolls-Royce proprietary aluminium spaceframe architecture.

Reserved exclusively for Rolls-Royce, this architecture already underpins its flagship, Phantom, and its transformative SUV, Cullinan. The spaceframe’s flexibility and scalability freed the marque to serve the unique aesthetic and mechanical demands of new Ghost, and in doing so created an acoustically superior, highly rigid and dynamic proposition for Ghost within the Rolls-Royce product portfolio.

Rolls-Royce Ghost

In its most pared back form, the Rolls-Royce architecture is based around four fixed points, one at each corner of the motor car. The moveable aluminium bulkhead, floor, crossmembers and sill panels were positioned specifically to ensure new Ghost meets client expectations as a motor car that is equally enjoyable to drive as it is to be driven in. Two of the cast suspension mounting assembles were pushed to the very front of new Ghost, placing its 6.75-litre V12 behind the front axle to achieve an optimum 50/50 weight distribution.

To accommodate this without intruding on new Ghost’s interior suite, its overall length has grown by 89mm, compared to the first Goodwood Ghost, to 5546mm, and its overall width has grown by 30mm to 1978mm. Significant changes were also made to the double-skinned bulkhead and floor structure packaging.

These were undertaken to incorporate an all-wheel drivetrain, all-wheel steering and completely redesigned Planar Suspension System, which further enhances the marque’s hallmark Magic Carpet Ride. This was achieved without compromising the motor car’s low centre of gravity, which aids cornering dynamics.

Further capitalising on the marque’s aluminium expertise, the metal superstructure of new Ghost is 100% made of the material. The car’s outer body is rendered as one clean, expansive piece, flowing seamlessly from the A-pillar, over the roof and backwards to the rear of the car, recalling the seemingly one-piece coachbuilt Silver Dawn and Silver Cloud models.

This complete absence of shut lines allows clients to run their eye from the front to the rear of the car uninterrupted by ungainly body seams. To achieve this, four craftsmen hand weld the body together simultaneously to ensure a perfectly continuous seam. In addition, 100% aluminium, laser-welded doors have been used. This not only offers weight benefits and remarkable 40,000Nm/deg stiffness, but the material has a lower acoustic impedance than steel, improving cabin ambience.

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6.75-Litre Twin-Turbocharged V12

Client feedback asking for near-instant torque and near-silent running led the marque to further develop the Rolls-Royce 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine. A bespoke Ghost engine map was created to ensure ample performance for this dynamic motor car, delivering 563bhp/420kW and 850Nm/627lb ft of torque to the all-wheel steer, all-wheel drivetrain. Commensurate with clients’ expectations, maximum torque is available from just 1600rpm – only 600rpm above tick-over. To further refine its already remarkable acoustic properties, the air intake system incorporated larger porting to reduce engine presence in the interior suite.

The marque’s hallmark Magic Carpet Ride has evolved. For new Ghost, engineering specialists redesigned the motor car’s suspension completely to deliver what is called the Planar Suspension System. Named after a geometric plane, which is completely flat and level, the system is the result of ten collective years of testing and development to create a sense of flight on land never before achieved by a motor car.

Rolls-Royce Ghost

Created through physical engineering developments as well as sophisticated scanning and software technology, it incorporates a world-first Upper Wishbone Damper unit above the front suspension assembly, creating an even more stable and effortless ride. This works alongside the Flagbearer system, which uses cameras to read the road ahead and prepare the suspension system for any changes in road surface, as well as the marque’s Satellite Aided Transmission. These technologies are managed as one through a bespoke Planar software system. New Ghost can now anticipate and react to the most demanding road surfaces.

The Upper Wishbone Damper alone was the result of five collective years of road and bench testing. Reserved exclusively for Rolls-Royce, this technology further evolves the marque’s double-wishbone Magic Carpet Ride suspension system. The ethos of the marque’s founder, Sir Henry Royce, was “Take the best that exists and make it better,” and in this spirit chassis specialists developed the Upper Wishbone Damper to further improve the continuously variable, electronically controlled shock absorbers and the self-levelling high-volume air strut assembles. It has never before been applied to a production motor car.

The five-link rear axle benefits from the same self-levelling high-volume air suspension technology, as well as rear-wheel steering. Both axles are managed via the marque’s Planar software. This also governs new Ghost’s other chassis technologies, including the all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering, stability control and self-drying braking systems, to ensure the motor car is reacting as one to changes in surfaces or grip levels while also maintaining a spirited, dynamic personality.

The Planar software also manages information that requires new Ghost to proactively adapt to intrusions in the road ahead. The first of these technologies is the marque’s Flagbearer system. Evocative of the men who were required by law to carry a red flag ahead of early motor cars, this technology consists of a stereo camera system integrated in the windscreen to see the road ahead, adjusting suspension proactively rather than reactively up to 100km/h. The second is Rolls-Royce’s Satellite Aided Transmission system, which draws GPS data to pre-select the optimum gear for upcoming corners. The result is unprecedented levels of ride comfort and control for a motor car.

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Effortless Doors

Rolls-Royce clients have enjoyed self-closing doors since the first Goodwood Phantom. Operated by a button on the dashboard and on the C-pillar for motor cars with rear doors, this innovation has been celebrated among customers. For new Ghost, the marque’s engineers elected to further develop this hallmark technology and, for the first time, clients can now also open the doors with power assistance.

Clients first open the door with one pull of the interior handle, then allow the handle to return to its resting position while they check for potential hazards, and then pull and hold it for full power assistance on opening. Once the door is opened sufficiently for the client’s egress, they simply stop pulling the handle, which engages a door brake.

Once the client has alighted, they are able to close the door completely automatically at the push of a button on the exterior door handle. If they prefer to close the door manually, the operation is power assisted. On-board longitudinal and transverse sensors, as well as G-force sensors fitted to each door, allow the same speed of operation regardless of hill or driveway angles.

Micro-Environment Purification System

New Ghost benefits from a new Micro-Environment Purification System (MEPS). Existing air filtration technology was further developed to incorporate a full suite of hardware and software improvements. Highly sensitive Impurity Detection Sensors were introduced to detect ambient air quality, automatically switching fresh air intakes to Recirculation Mode if unacceptable levels of airborne contaminants are present. This channels all cabin air through a nanofleece filter, which is capable of removing nearly all ultra-fine particles from the Rolls-Royce’s micro- environment in less than two minutes.

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The Most Technologically Advanced Rolls-Royce Yet

New Ghost is perfect in its simplicity, but creating this pure and detoxifying environment was one of the greatest challenges in the marque’s history. Indeed, new Ghost is the most technologically advanced motor car Rolls-Royce has ever produced. Further equipment includes: LED and laser headlights with more than 600m of illuminated range, vision assist, including day- and night-time wildlife and pedestrian warning; alertness assistant; a four-camera system with panoramic view, all-round visibility and helicopter view; active cruise control; collision warning; cross-traffic warning; lane departure and lane change warning; an industry-leading 7×3 high-resolution head-up display; Wi-Fi hotspot; self-park; and the very latest navigation and entertainment systems.

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Acoustics – The Formula for Serenity

Ghost clients operate in complicated business worlds. From the moment they step into the interior suite of their Rolls-Royce, it is essential that they are imbued with a sense of wellness. Visually, this is the result of an obsessive approach to reduction and unwavering dedication to material quality and substance. Experientially, however, this is achieved through peerless chassis and drivetrain engineering, as well as an unrelenting approach to creating a serene acoustic ambience within the interior suite. Rolls-Royce acoustic engineers are experts in serenity.

Rolls-Royce Ghost

For new Ghost, it was decided that this expertise would be formalised and the marque’s specialists would create a Formula for Serenity that could help inform future products.

The first element of this formula is the Rolls-Royce spaceframe architecture. Its aluminium construction has a higher acoustic impedance compared to steel. Additionally, it is constructed from complex forms, rather than flat, resonant surfaces. Both the bulkhead and floor sections are also double-skinned, sandwiching composite damping felts to reduce road noise intruding into the passenger suite. Larger sections of the architecture have also been created with specific access points for the installation of acoustic damping materials – new Ghost uses more than 100kg in total, applied in the doors, roof, between the double-glazed windows, inside the tyres and within nearly all of the architecture itself.

Rolls-Royce Ghost

Once a highly insulated sound stage is created, components that generate almost imperceptible sound waves are tracked and modified. These are known by acoustic engineers as ‘hidden inputs’. In the development of new Ghost, every component was interrogated to assess whether it created noises that engineers defined as unacceptable and were completely reengineered as a result. The inside of the air conditioning ducting, for example, created an unacceptable level of wind noise so it was removed and polished to inform the production of the final component. Even drivetrain hardware was adjusted to create new Ghost’s near-silent soundstage – the diameter of the prop shaft was adjusted and its rigidity increased to improve acoustics.

The final element of the formula is harmonising the car. The marque’s acoustic specialists experimented with a completely silent interior suite, but found the experience to be disorientating. To overcome this, they elected to create a ‘whisper’, a soft undertone that is experienced as a single, subtle note.

To achieve this, each component had to be tuned so it shared a common resonant frequency. The seat frames in early prototypes, for example, resonated at a different frequency to the body, so damping units were developed to bring the noise together into a single note. Additionally, the large, 507-litre boot cavity produced a low frequency that could be felt at motorway speeds – ports were built underneath the rear parcel shelf that allowed these disruptive sound waves to escape and therefore better harmonise new Ghost’s overall acoustics.

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Bespoke Audio

As well as creating a serene environment for clients to enjoy in near silence, Rolls-Royce’s pursuit of acoustic perfection created an unparalleled sound stage for the marque’s Bespoke Audio engineers. These men and women were embedded in the architecture’s design phase to create a sound system for new Ghost, engineering audio quality into the very fabric of the motor car. New Ghost incorporates a resonance chamber into the body’s sill section; the frequency response of the Bespoke Audio speaker component defined the chamber’s size and shape. In essence, this transforms the motor car into a subwoofer.

A powerful amplifier controls 18 channels (one for each speaker), providing a 1300W output. State-of-the-art optimisation technology and high-precision magnesium-ceramic compound speaker cones enable infinitesimal changes in sound with an outstanding frequency response. For new Ghost, exciter speakers were used alongside more conventional cone-type speakers. These units are bonded to the surface of an object, imparting vibration from the exciter’s moving mass directly into it – in the case of new Ghost, the Starlight Headliner, in effect transforming the motor car’s ceiling into a large speaker.

Two active microphones in the cabin also enable an adaptive function, detecting the absence or overemphasis of frequencies before triggering the amplifier to adjust the loudness of certain frequency ranges to counteract it. The Bespoke Audio system makes the most of the highest quality uncompressed music, providing an exceptional listening experience.

Rolls-Royce Ghost

Design – Exterior

Since the launch of the first Goodwood Rolls-Royce, great care has been taken to create a distinctive aesthetic universe for each motor car. These unique domains have been created based on the design values to which different layers of Rolls-Royce clients respond. New Ghost reflects an evolved appreciation of luxury, one defined by minimalism and purity, but underpinned by great substance. In the pre-sketch ideation phase of new Ghost’s design development, this treatment was named ‘Post Opulence’ – a movement defined by authenticity of materials rather than overt statement, which had already established roots in architecture, fashion, jewellery and boat design.

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Pursuing this minimalist aesthetic for new Ghost was the design team’s absolute objective throughout. The desired treatment was not sterile, but confident in its purity and unmistakeably belonging to a Rolls-Royce. This begins with the car’s first impression. Rolls-Royce’s proprietary architecture allowed the design team to increase the width by 30mm, subtly communicating presence. This is framed by sharp bow lines that intersect with an angular light signature, creating an assertive yet beautiful front end.

In addition, new Ghost was given its own ethereal front-end character. This was achieved not by way of overt design, but with light. 20 LEDS underneath the top of the radiator grille subtly illuminate the veins. During the development phase, early prototypes were over-effective and the light reflecting from the polished uprights looked too striking. In the spirit of Post Opulent aesthetics, the marque’s engineering team brushed the back of the metal grille bars, making them less reflective, subduing the effect and perfecting the restrained glow desired.

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The front of new Ghost is an exemplar of the design team’s obsession with reduction. Owing to the hand-welded aluminium body structures, the main structure of the car appears as one fluid canvas, uninterrupted by shut lines, recalling the coachbuilt Silver Dawn and Silver Cloud. For the first time, the Spirit of Ecstasy is not surrounded by panel lines but rather stands sits within her own ‘lake’ of bonnet.

Turning to the flanks, a single straight stroke is used to emphasise the motor car’s length. The lower ‘waft line’ borrows from boat design and uses reflection to lighten the surfacing and create a pure, uncomplicated sense of motion.

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Moving to the glasshouse, it is wilfully neutral, with both doors sharing an equally proportioned window graphic, gesturing that new Ghost strikes a balance as both a driver-oriented and a chauffeur-driven car. A subtly arched roof line gently proclaims its dynamic intent. The rear end follows this sense of movement and resolves in a taper.

The subtle near-square rear light graphic has become a tenet of contemporary Rolls-Royce design. It remains, but has been modernised with a slight forward tilt. Not surrounded by shut lines, it appears as if it is an island within the painted surface.

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However, creating an environment defined by reduction, simplicity and elegance is an extremely complex endeavour. It also relies on sourcing the very finest materials; leathers, woods and metals left unembellished will invite the scrutiny of these most discerning of clients. To this end, each of the 20 half hides used to create the interior suite of new Ghost are subject to the automotive industry’s most exhaustive quality control checks to ensure that each of the 338 panels used – however visible – is of the very best quality. Further demonstrating the marque’s competence in leathercraft, complex, busy stitchwork has been eschewed for scant but incredibly long and perfectly straight lines, again welcoming scrutiny from the marque’s clients.

Wood sets for new Ghost are available in an open-pore finish, bravely showcasing materials in their naked form. Indeed, two new finishes have been developed specifically for the motor car. The first is Obsidian Ayous, inspired by the rich versatility of colours found in lava rock. The second is Dark Amber; this introduces subtle glamour to the interior suite by integrating veins of fine aluminium particles into the dark wood. As with the leather finishes, this material is left exposed as long, single-veneer leaves, bisected only by cold-to-the-touch real metal vents, through which MEPS-filtered air reaches the cabin.

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Bespoke – Illuminated Fascia

For new Ghost, the marque’s Bespoke Collective of designers, engineers and craftspeople created Illuminated Fascia: a world-first innovation that subtly echoes the Starlight Headliner, which has become as much a part of Rolls-Royce iconography as the Spirit of Ecstasy, Pantheon Grille and ‘Double R’ monogram.

Rolls-Royce Ghost

Developed over the course of two years and more than 10,000 collective hours, this remarkable piece brings an ethereal glowing Ghost nameplate, surrounded by more than 850 stars, into the interior suite of the motor car. Located on the passenger side of the dashboard, the constellation and wordmark are completely invisible when the interior lights are not in operation.

Perfectly attuned to new Ghost’s Post Opulent design treatment, the Bespoke Collective chose not to use simple screen technology to achieve the effect they desired. Instead, they embarked on creating a highly complex and true luxury innovation. The illumination itself comes from 152 LEDs mounted above and beneath the fascia, each meticulously colour matched to the cabin’s clock and instrument dial lighting. To ensure the Ghost wordmark is lit evenly, a 2mm-thick light guide is used, featuring more than 90,000 laser-etched dots across the surface. This not only disperses the light evenly but creates a twinkling effect as the eye moves across the fascia, echoing the subtle sparkle of the Starlight Headliner.

Extensive engineering work was undertaken to ensure the Illuminated Fascia remains completely invisible while not operational. To achieve this, three layers of composite materials are used. The first is a piano-black substrate, which is laser etched to allow light to shine through the wordmark and star cluster. This is then overlaid with a layer of dark-tinted lacquer, hiding the lettering when not in use. Finally, the fascia is sealed with a layer of subtly tinted lacquer before being hand polished to achieve a perfectly uniform, 0.5mm thick high-gloss finish, matching other high-gloss accents incorporated into the interior.

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Rolls-Royce Ghost Technical Specifications

Rolls-Royce Ghost Gallery

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The new Rolls-Royce Ghost Reflecting the minimalist philosophy that underpins new Rolls-Royce Ghost, highlights of this transformative motor car are listed in short form:

#automotive #Ghost #news #Press release #Rolls-Royce #Rolls-Royce Ghost

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Xbox Game Pass: New Games for September 2020 Revealed

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Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s subscription service for Xbox One owners. It’s designed to be like a “Netflix for games,” where you pay a simple monthly rate and get access to loads of games for download. It’s not to be confused with the Xbox Live Gold membership, which gives users a selection of free games each month.

There was a huge surge in popularity and profile for Xbox Game Pass in 2018, mainly due to Microsoft unveiling a strategy that puts brand new games on the service. Sea of Thieves was the first example of this, followed by State of Decay 2. Crackdown 3 launched on Feb. 15. Since then, the service has seen the Day 1 launch of several Xbox exclusives, including Gears 5, The Outer Worlds, and Halo: Reach on the Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

Membership to Xbox Game Pass will set you back $9.99 per month. You can now also get an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription for $1 for the first month and $14.99 a month after that. The subscription includes an Xbox Live Gold membership as well as all of the games offered on Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass for PC.

New games are added each month to Xbox Game Pass. Here are the games coming this month (with descriptions courtesy of the Xbox team):

Xbox Game Pass: Games for September 2020

Crusader Kings III (PC) – September 1

“This grand strategy game puts you at the head of a noble house in a deeply researched medieval world. Use your armies, your diplomacy, and your wit to expand and elevate your dynasty. Each generation brings new characters and new challenges as pesky plotters, turbulent priests and ungrateful children challenge your efforts to keep your realm and your family in line. Pre-install now, so you’re ready when Sept comes.”

Resident Evil 7 Biohazard (Console & PC) – September 3

“Menace and desperation seethe through the rotting walls of an abandoned southern farmhouse. Resident Evil 7 biohazard marks a new beginning for survival horror with a shift to an immersive first-person perspective. Powered by the RE Engine, graphics reach new heights of incredible photorealism to further draw players into the disturbing game world.”

Xbox Game Pass: Games for August 2020

Darksiders: Genesis (Console) – August 6

“An action/adventure game that tears its way through hordes of demons, angels, and everything in-between on its way to Hell and back with guns blazing and swords swinging. Genesis gives players their first look at the world of Darksiders before the events of the original game. Furthermore, it introduces the fourth and last horseman Strife, as well as co-op gameplay for the first time in the franchise.”

It Lurks Below (Console & PC) – August 6

“The world is being slowly corrupted, and you have awoken from a terrible dream. Create a customized character and choose from several different classes to delve deep into the mysteries of what evil lurks below. Dig down and explore the randomly generated levels, find random items, and combat deadly monsters to get the answers in this retro-styled, 2D, action-oriented, survival RPG by David Brevik.”

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan (Console) – August 6

“Five friends set sail on a holiday diving trip and as the day unfolds, a storm rolls in and their trip soon changes into something much more sinister. Who will live? Who will die? It’s up to you and the choices you make. You can also share your terrifying story with a friend online or go for safety in numbers with the up-to-five-players offline “movie night” mode.”

Trailmakers (Console & PC) – August 6

“Build an amazing vehicle out of blocks and explore an alien planet in Trailmakers. This physics-based action game lets you build anything from hypercars and helicopters to hovercrafts and hydrofoils. Play solo or with friends in huge sandbox maps or perfect your race car to perfection in the Trailmakers Rally.”

UnderMine (Console & PC) – August 6

“Delve deep into the UnderMine and discover its secrets, one peasant at a time! UnderMine is an action-adventure roguelike that blends combat and dungeon crawling with RPG-like progression. Mine gold, die, upgrade yourself, and try again! Challenge dangerous bosses and rescue helpful characters that supply new upgrades for your adventure. Decipher the cryptic messages of the UnderMine’s residents and unfold the mystery at the heart of the dungeon.”

Xeno Crisis (Console & PC) – August 6

“Run and gun your way through seven distinct areas and master an arsenal of ten different weapons as you take on thousands of varied adversaries in this top-down arena shooter for one or two players. It will require guile, composure, and good judgment to have a chance of reaching the final showdown. Xeno Crisis is a genuine 16-bit throwback for those who enjoy a challenge, with superb pixel art and a blistering soundtrack.”

Final Fantasy VII HD (Console & PC) – August 13

“Relive the RPG that redefined gaming. The world has fallen under the dominion of the Shinra Electric Power Company, a sinister corporation that has monopolized the planet’s very life force as Mako energy. Cloud Strife, a former member of Shinra’s elite Soldier unit, now turned mercenary, lends his aid to the rebels, unaware that he will be drawn into an epic battle for the fate of the planet, while having to come to terms with his own lost past.”

Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC) – August 18

“From Xbox Game Studios, available with Xbox Game Pass (PC or Ultimate) on day one! From light planes to wide-body jets, fly highly detailed and accurate aircraft in the next generation of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Test your piloting skills against the challenges of real-time atmospheric simulation and live weather in a dynamic and living world. The world is at your fingertips.”

Spiritfarer (Console & PC) – August 18

“Learn how to say goodbye in this cozy management game about dying. Playing as Stella the spiritfarer, build a boat to explore an imaginative world in search of spirits seeking passage to the afterlife. Befriend and care for your passengers as you farm, mine, fish, harvest, cook, and craft your way across mystical seas on your hand-crafted ferry. Run, jump, zip, and glide your way through elegantly constructed platforming levels. Bring along a friend to join the fun as Daffodil the Cat, in optional two player local co-op. Spend relaxing quality time with your spirit passengers, create lasting memories, and, ultimately, learn how to say goodbye to your cherished spirit friends.”

Battletoads (Console & PC) – August 20

“From Xbox Game Studios, available with Xbox Game Pass on day one! The wait is over! Rash, Zitz, and Pimple are returning at last to smash-hit their way through an all-new action-packed adventure of choreographed chaos, and couch co-op may never be the same again. 1-3 players will take control of the Battletoads and team up to storm through wild and unpredictable stages with only one rule – expect the unexpected. Teamwork makes the dream work in a drop-in, drop-out gameplay blast, filled with over-the-top gameplay moments that anyone can enjoy, but only a True ‘Toad’ can master. Pre-install now, so you’re ready to play when it drops!”

Crossing Souls (PC) – August 20

“It’s 1986 in California, and a group of friends will live the summer of their lives after a mysterious discovery in the woods outside their quiet town. By uncovering an artifact whose powers they don’t fully understand, these remarkable kids will defy the laws of nature and somehow interact between two planes of reality: life and death. Their curiosity will trigger a series of unexpected events that will get them involved in a government conspiracy and a mysterious U.S. Army general with his own nefarious plans.”

Darksiders: Genesis (PC) – August 20

“Darksiders: Genesis is an action/adventure game that tears its way through hordes of demons, angels, and everything in-between on its way to Hell and back with guns blazing and swords swinging. Genesis gives players their first look at the world of Darksiders before the events of the original game. Furthermore, it introduces the fourth and last horseman Strife, as well as Co-op gameplay for the first time in the history of the franchise.”

Don’t Starve: Giant Edition (Console & PC) – August 20

“Don’t Starve: Giant Edition is an uncompromising wilderness survival game full of science and magic. You play as Wilson, an intrepid Gentleman Scientist who has been trapped by a demon and transported to a mysterious wilderness world. Wilson must learn to exploit his environment and its inhabitants if he ever hopes to escape and find his way back home. Don’t Starve: Giant Edition includes the original hit game Don’t Starve and the Reign of Giants expansion which adds new playable characters, seasonal bosses, weather conditions, new biomes, creatures, and more!”

New Super Lucky’s Tale (Console & PC) – August 21

“Join Lucky on his thrilling journey through the Book of Ages, a magical artifact that opens doors to amazing worlds. Meet new friends, explore exciting lands, and recover the missing pages from the evil sorcerer Jinx and his villainous family, the dreaded Kitty Litter. A complete re-imagining of the original Super Lucky’s Tale, with new content, an improved story, and major overhauls to the camera and player controls, New Super Lucky’s Tale is the definitive Lucky experience and a love letter to classic 3D platformers!”

Hypnospace Outlaw (Console & PC) – August 27

“Hypnospace Outlaw is a ’90s internet simulator in which you scour Hypnospace’s wide variety of weird and wonderful websites to hunt down wrongdoers, while also keeping an eye on your inbox, avoiding viruses and adware, and downloading a plethora of apps that may or may not be useful. In your spare time, you can customize your HypnOS desktop however you see fit, with a variety of downloads, wallpapers, screen savers, and helper bots to keep you company.”

Tell Me Why: Chapter 1 (Console & PC) – August 27

“From Xbox Game Studios, available with Xbox Game Pass on day one! Tell Me Why is the latest narrative adventure game from DONTNOD Entertainment, the studio behind the beloved franchise, Life is Strange. In this intimate mystery, twins Tyler and Alyson Ronan use their supernatural bond to unravel the memories of their loving but troubled childhood in beautiful small-town Alaska. Pre-install now, so you’re ready to play the moment Chapter 1 is available!”

Double Kick Heroes (Console & PC) ID@Xbox – August 28

“Double Kick Heroes mixes a shoot’em up with a rhythm game! In story mode, you must survive on the highway to hell by killing monsters with your gundillac! Struggle through the 30 levels of total madness and escape from this nightmare! Only the power of Metal can save your band! In arcade mode, jump right into the action and play your favorite tracks from the game. Features – Double Kick zombies in the face with insane Metal music!”

Wasteland 3 (Console & PC) – August 28

“From Xbox Game Studios, available with Xbox Game Pass on day one! Wasteland 3 is a squad-based RPG from inXile entertainment, featuring challenging tactical turn-based combat and a deep, reactive story full of twists, turns, and brutal ethical decisions that will keep you hooked whether you’re a Wasteland veteran or new to the series. Create a squad of up to six Rangers and customize them with perks and abilities geared to your playstyle. Pre-install now, so it’s ready to play when you are!”

The post Xbox Game Pass: New Games for September 2020 Revealed appeared first on Den of Geek.

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