#She shows up

[ilbound]

@saiakv has requested a story : ❰❰ PIN ❱❱ sender pins receiver during a fight/training  ( for verona ♥ )

𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅.

Through the ages , up until rather recently , the Valhyr clan was INFAMOUS for its cursed techniques , for the powerful progeny it produced.  These women sought p e r f e c t i o n in their craft , but in turn , near-completely neglected other necessary areas of a proper training regime.  Many of them , even the council and foremothers ( namely the matriarchs ) , did not endeavor to teach their rising generations much in the way of combat ( tell me , what use is learning a man’s art of brawling sport , when we can simply dismantle an opponent from the mind outwards ? they questioned , conceited & all too set in their ways ) .  And it soon became apparent that Verona made for a prime example of such ; for all her training , for all the resources granted unto her as a ‘ prodigal daughter ’ , she had very little understanding of TRUE BATTLE beyond demonstrations of barbaric force and slaughter.

She confessed , of course , to Suguru , outright admitting to her vanity.  There’s no use for it , she had told him in passing , I need it not , for no man withstands the maw of a woman ripping his throat and uprooting his mind.

A challenge it was not.  At least , she did not THINK it was , until he countered the supposed gauntlet with one of his own : an offer to put her mettle to the test , to train her and allow her the ability to learn something new.  After all , who’s to say you cannot teach an old dog new tricks ?  Even if this particular breed be especially s t u b b o r n .

Not one to be outdone , she accepted ( though the instant the words left her mouth , she could tell it was a mistake , it was a losing battle & one she did not know whether she was prepared to face ) .

It made for a quick enough fight.  For as strategic as Verona is , her attacks were all ferocity , all brute force and none of the marked precision necessary to keep pace with someone who knew better.  Every strike is easily parried , easily countered and thwarted , her erratic savagery becoming as predictable as any predator being backed into a corner and growing increasingly f l u s t e r e d .

This is not the first time Verona has been confronted with the severe neglect in education which has left her straggling behind others.  But it IS the first time she has been shown it so d i r e c t l y , by someone she holds trust and respect for.  She is not sure what is it that wounds her more ; her fraying composure in the face of own fallacy , or the fact a MAN has gotten the better of her , laying her out on her back and pinning her there on the mat.  Breathless , grasping for some semblance of control over the situation ( not that the knowing smile curling suguru’s lips helps her any ) , Verona groans softly , claws digging furrows at her sides in f r u s t r a t i o n , sharp teeth bared and form tense as if to spring once more.  Fighting is typically so SIMPLE for her , and now this ⸺ O' how the mighty do fall !  Literally , in this case , left there scowling up at her companion with ire writ plainly upon her features.

Scorn soon fades as she expels a sigh , eyes rolling.  ❝ Yes , fine , very good , ❞ Verona drawls sardonically , though her biting tone does nothing to hide the b a r e s t twinge of praise hidden beneath , ❝ Would you like me to say you are the better of us ?  Afraid my pride’ll not allow it. ❞  Mistake her not , there is an affection there , an admiration for his skill over her own.  After a moment she adds , ❝ Anyone ever tell you you HIT LIKE A GIRL ? ❞  Odd as it is , this is a c o m p l i m e n t , given her heritage and sense of superiority.  ❝ And I must confess , I am not much used to this view , ❞ Being beneath anyone , she means.  Her head tilts , painted lips twisting into her usual coquettish little smile , ❝ I suppose I might be convinced to enjoy it , though. ❞

[thatrandomblogsays]

Annabeth: I, a child, had to earn Thalia’s love, that’s how the world works! I have to earn my moms love. Love is transactional, you gotta be worthy of it first silly :)

Percy, listening to this on the train

[novaneondream]

Anyways what kind of music do you think Eri listens to

[hoshizoralone]

reflection

[chloesimaginationthings]

Death looms over Vanny's shoulder in FNAF..

[mebssann]

And what do you think you're doing Simon?

[narwhalsarefalling]

my mother taught me to crochet when i was young. she was left handed, so she taught me how in the bathroom mirror so her hands would be in the right position.

she learned to crochet from her grandmother, who was right handed. her grandma was the one that originally used the bathroom mirror to teach her granddaughter properly.

i find something poetic about that. here in this bathroom mirror, through generations, we adapt to our young who have a different way of learning and interacting with the world

[kagoutiss]

i’ll take care of everything

[anna-scribbles]

emma dupain cheng on the brain😽🎀

more:

[zephyrine-gale]

acheron

[pinacoladamatata]

The Dread Wolf's Heart...

"Where I am going is terrible"

"It won't be terrible if you're with me"

[ambrosiagourmet]

I think one of the biggest tragedies of Laios & Falin and their relationship is how much his actions impact her life. But like. Specifically how much they WOULDN’T impact her life as much if they weren’t both stuck in such a shitty abusive situation.

This part of the Falin-tries-makeup daydream hour comic is what got me thinking about it again because truly it just... it seems like such a like an offhand comment that I'm sure Laios didn't mean to be cruel or anything. That's just like. A little kid not thinking about what they are saying. ESPECIALLY when the kid in question is Laios.

But man they depended on each other SO much as kids. Too much. It really feels like they didn't have any other source of positive reinforcement, or anyone else to share themselves with. So of course an offhand comment like that has a huge impact on Falin.

Or this little bit from one of the flashbacks:

This tears me apart. Do you think it tears him apart to think about? I think it does. I think Laios holds every small failure to care for Falin against himself.

And then there's the Bigger stuff. The way that him coping with his own trauma ended up impacting her.

Like his interest in monsters. Like him going to find a ghost, and accidentally revealing Falin's magic to the whole village in the process.

Like him needing to leave. And leaving her behind.

He shaped her life so much, and he carries so much guilt for it. And again, there should have been other people there to help. The same things that made Laios need to leave home are the things that made his leaving so hard on Falin. She ate alone after that. She shouldn't have had to eat alone just because Laios wasn't there.

She was 9 when he left for school, and he was 11.

Nine. And Laios feels like he failed her because he didn't stand by her through this better. As an eleven year old.

Both of these kids deserved so much better from the world.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

why aren't there more mysteries that take place in nursing homes & retirement communities. i want to watch a group of deranged retirees-cum-amateur-detectives combine their powers of:

decades of life experience

boredom-fueled busybody shamelessness

access to the most gossipy next-door-neighbors in existence

"I am too old to be arrested and/or give a shit" attitude

and solve crimes. this should be an enormous subgenre.

[alnilaem]

*heavy sigh* ……. Price

[arkashas]

i was curious so i looked up what story alana was reading to abigail and it's about a inmate who escapes a prison and ends up killing an entire family. she was reading that to a teenage girl who just narrowly escaped being killed by her serial killer father. anyway i never want to hear about how normal and well adjusted alana is ever again

[aardvaark]

i think maggie would be the only person in the leverage universe who DOES notice the leverage team members occasionally becoming famous. like she’d tune into the world news and then have to call the team to check if sophie really died in a small european country during a turbulent election. "no but wasn’t my funeral so poignant? they put my face on the $20 note!" okay great glad to know you’re not dead. she watches a game of baseball on TV and just sighs deeply when the camera pans to eliot. next time she sees the team, she compliments his baseball skills. for some reason he mutters something about a sandwich while looking wistfully into the distance.