#This has been a runa rant

[nimblermortal]

@drelmurn

Also, warning to neopagans: This one is not for you. I try to be polite and respectful about neopaganism and y'all do some cool stuff, but this is specifically complaining about things neopagans do. So if that's your jam, this is a good place to stop reading.

So the thing is, for assorted reasons we don't have any writing from actual Norse pagans. There's archaeological records and what you divine (ha) from those, but everyone serious is telling you that we cannot have any real idea of what these religious practices look like. There were groves; there were figurines of gods which had their own spaces; it seems likely that rich/powerful people were also priests; there were sacrifices of beasts and animals, and some really freaking creepy funeral rites.

(Part of the volcano rant is about how prior to the volcanic eruptions there is sun symbolism in the archaeological record, and afterward, none. Probably related to the whole "ash blocking out the sun in the Arctic Circle for three years straight, leading to the deaths of 40-60% of the population" thing. So we have that sort of record too.)

And I'm also going to preface with how when I took a bellydancing class the instructor was careful to tell us that she learned from someone who learned from someone from the regions this was practiced, so we were at best three removes from the culture. When we're talking about Norse paganism, we are a thousand years removed from the culture. Put a generation at 20 years, that is 50 generations. If we want to be super generous and assume that every other generation some grandparent taught their grandchild the secret rituals they remembered, we are still 25 removes from a living culture.

Nothing has actually survived.

But, you say, what about the Eddas? Those were written down in the medieval period. Those are contemporary.

Nope! Those were written by Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241). He's an Icelander. Iceland was officially Christianized in the year 1000, it's very easy to remember. Snorri was born 179 years after Christianity got enough of a grip to be enshrouded in law. I've been reading the Grágás (early law book, ~1260) and it has an initial section specifically on Christianity, with the punishments for things like men not knowing the words to baptize a child, much less daring to fast incorrectly. These people were not pagan. Snorri was writing down what he could guess from very old stories, and he begins by saying the gods were Asians from Troy.

There's just a period in medieval Europe when paganism was considered cool, and so everybody wanted their own pagans, and they tried to resurrect the concepts and everybody kind of suspiciously came up with the same general kind of paganism, which is an artifact both of like. How monotheists think about polytheism, and of wanting to keep the cool elements from what they heard from their friend in France or wherever. It's like how everybody knows that vampires can't be seen in mirrors.

So that brings us to my archnemesis Stephen Flowers, who would really prefer I called him Edred Thorsson.

Mr. Flowers originally decided to research runes "after I audibly 'heard' the sound 'RUNA' on a summer day in 1974." Two years later, in 1976, he completed his handbook of rune magic, which he assures you remains largely unchanged in this its third edition, because he uh spiritually inherited everything there was to know about runes in two years. He believes the Norse pagan "ancestors never died but rather were reborn, generation after generation, always keeping their secrets with them - until now, they are us" because who doesn't love some Hindi wheel of reincarnation in their Norse paganism.

So this sort of reincarnation/divine inspiration is one way he gives himself legitimacy. The next is by judicious use of Nazis, because Norse stuff has always had a problem with Nazism. Mr. Flowers, rather than disavowing Nazism in his introduction, goes with "Indeed, the Nazis made use of the runic forms in their most external aspects, akin to what we might call 'branding' today. The beginning rune vitki* of today may take some strange comfort from the fact that the runes did continu to show themselves to be such potent symbols in the twentieth century!"

He will grant that "the Germanic spirit itself was not at the heart of this 'bureaucratic blasphemy,' but rather it was a sort of pseudo-Christian messianic Manicheanism that owned the soul of the Nazi party." Far removed from the true religion Flowers intends to invent! He, after all, intends to create "a system as free as possible from any Judeo-Christian influence" with the classic random flinging of the Judeo- prefix in to seem more, I don't know, cosmopolitan, without showing any sign of having done the slightest research on Judaism and whether it might apply to his construct religion.

*Flowers proposes vitki as a practitioner of runic magic, which he refers to as galdrar. I have been sufficiently wrong often enough not to argue with him on this point; I will say only that there are many words for magic, and for all I know galdr (nominative singular) does refer to runic magic. I have not seen the word vitki elsewhere as yet.

I am probably getting overly het up about Stephen Flowers; I am prone to doing so. He concludes his introduction as follows:

Too long has the Westerner suffered "bearing the cross of alien fruits." They have had their chance and have failed time and again in their impotent effort to satisfy the depths of the IndoEuropean soil. Their aeon has come to an end; the time is ripe for a reemergence of the wisdom of the Eriloz (the vitki). The breakthrough of holy power must take place within the soul of each individual - and it is in this hope that this work has been wrought.

Which just. Having established the word vitki we're now going to add another cool foreign word for the same thing?? Westerners have suffered bearing the cross of Christianity?? It has failed to satisfy the depths of the IndoEuropean - look, it's just a list of white supremacist dogwhistles, okay. And I could be wrong about that, because I don't know white supremacist dogwhistles, but it sure reads like that to me!

I have a friend who is a neo-pagan and is studying Egyptian magic. Apparently the Egyptian practitioners wrote their things down. Which is cool and great, they had a writing system and they were using it, I know nothing about that and have nothing to say about it. She also says a lot of pagan practices are invented wholecloth, which is true and great. It's the "we are reviving a practice that has simply lain dormant for a thousand years until we arrived to accept this unbroken tradition" that drives me wild.

Anyway the key concepts include: appealing to some sense of an ancient unbroken tradition, which should appeal to you specifically because you are special in [spiritual and/or racial trait], and you can reject [practice that many people have been hurt by] because your special nature was reaching out to this the whole time. Sprinkle in appropriate symbols. Use some cool foreign-sounding words. Throw a minority under the bus if at all possible.

[i-can-not-art]

btw!! what´s your oc setting like? can ya give us an overview of the worldbuilding :0? modern? fantasy? etc... i´d love to know :D!!!

( <- feel free to be as rambly or brief as you want, im literally here for info :3) also i havent read through the couple oc asks you got, srry if this has already been asked haha

Perfect timing I just finished two pieces of concept art for Arcona!

(Ik this ask is probably about Spirit Chase but I don’t have that figured out yet so you get Arcona)

Long rant where I just dump all the world building below:

For background info, the world of Arcona is just a icy, icy, cold, snowy, tundra version of earth where big magical beasts exist. And SOMEHOW humanity has managed to survive and build cities around the planet, there’s roughly like 20 something but I only have three clearly thought out.

The concept arts show parts of Runa City which is the most advanced city and has one of the biggest populations, causing its infrastructure to be made of towering skyscrapers only held up by physics defying magic.

The first piece shows the entertainment district where magic trams are forced to weave through massive buildings filled with plays, movies, parties and whatever. It’s the most crowded (and tallest) part of the city and trying to navigate it only on ground will have you needing to walk up thousands of flights of stairs.

The second piece shows the production district where employees walk through machine filled building to storage units to who knows what else, to make goods. It’s owned by the corporations of the city and the higher up in the social ladder treat it as a hang out spot where they meet in the highest rooms.

The people native to each districts have pretty sour views on on other. Entertainment district people being viewed as lazy/immature and not understanding the real world. but production district people being viewed as slaving away for people who don’t care about them.

For the other two cities, theres Monolith city and Dendra city. (I don’t have them nearly as fleshed out as Runa City, but I literally don’t have any of the other cities fleshed out at all)

Monolith city is a medieval looking-ish setting with knights and kings and palaces, but still filled with the towering, magical and high tech buildings of Runa city (very heavily influenced by Nemonia)

Dendra city is the only city with naturally occurring foliage and plants, the buildings combine into the massive trees and mushrooms that grow there. It’s a mystery as to how the city got it’s dramatically different setting, but many think it has to do with a massive leviathan’s skull that lays at the heart of the city.

Unfortunately the main character is native to literally none of the cities and is also wanted in every city (except a certain one :3)

[str4wb3rry-m1lksh4k3s]

im so down bad rn

God the way they literally say ANYTHING to me just has me over here kicking my feet and giggling like a girl who got her crush to go with her to prom. They plague my mind at literally every moment throughout the day and THEY WERE IN MY DREAMS THE LAST FEW NIGHTS! Goodness i just want them to talk about anything that goes on in their silly little mind, and tell me about it. god they just rant about the shit their into and it has me in a literal fucking chokehold and makes me wanna commit vehicular manslaughter against orphans in the most loving way.

Me and them have been playing on VrChat together the past few days and its been so long since i genuinely felt this way about someone. They made me laugh so hard i sounded like a dying dolphin and holy shit i havent laughed like that IN TWO YEARS. They make mr so inexplicably happy whenever i get a notification from them on discord or instagram and the fact that [Runa] makes me so eager to get up in the morning and get ready is such a lovely feeling to have again. God, we havent known eachother or been dating for that long but just the thought of being able to call them mine makes me burst with elation and want to cry positively.

The way that they were so excited when a reference to Jurassic Park was made in The Tenth Floor: Part 2 filled my heart with so much joy i felt like i was going to explode. I just sat there with the dorkiest smile staring at their avatar, unable to do anything but agree with them as they got all happy. Good god, im positive this is love. Not the fake highschool love you do to get over someone, but one where you cherish the other person so much that it burns you to their core whenever they do anything and you just have to stop and admire their cute little goofy antics.

We have matching avatars in VrChat too which literally just adds fuel to the fire which is known as my heart in this case. The fact that they even wanted to spend time like that with me makes my heart ache. Everytime they reference something i told them in the past makes my knees feel like jello and my words get stuck in my throat. Nobody has ever made me feel this passionate about them before, and goodness gracious it kills me. Im on the edge of my seat whenever they start talking, and i never ever ever want that to change. One day i swear i will drive to their fucking house, despite living in different states, with as many gifts as i can possibly muster to bring. Ill give them my heart and soul.

But when I say this, I mean it fully. I would do anything for them. I want to have those childishly cheesy dates people envy. I would take them to every beautiful place and i severely want to make them feel so special about themself. If they were feeling sad i would bend over backwards just to get them feeling better, no matter the price. Goodness, i really really really just want the best for them. They deserve the world.

Me and them mainly talk on discord and the conversations we have fill my heart with so much admiration it kills me. One day I felt like I was dying mentally, and despite it being a big anniversary for them and their friend, they still checked in on me and wanted to make sure I was fine. Whenever we play games they make me freeze with how intelligent they are, and it makes me melt inside and i love that so much. Im literally crying as i write this because they make me feel so connected to this world. Ive always been disconnected and being able to feel complete again makes me so damn happy.

They never shame me for anything I say, and only tease lightly. We fit so well together, and I truly hope they feel that too. You make me so so happy, i genuinely hope you know that. Youve brightened up my life and im so thankful for that my nerdy tall ass hot sauce packet.

I love you so much Runa <3

- A.H.

[yandere-fics]

Here’s just a long ass rant of me rating how easy it would be for me to take down the yanderes.

First of all, these are all no no characters, meaning that I will never even be seen in close proximity to them: Sawyer, Veronia, Kassien. Y’know, most of the nonhumans. Nora is here too cuz I’m scared of her. And Ainsley cuz no, I don’t want to fight a crazed wizard obsessed with blood. I get very faintish from how blood smells and I just know that she'd use that against me. These guys can smite me the moment I even open my mouth… scary.

-First one I think I can defeat is my bby girl Miriel. Unless I’ve wrongly perceived her as weak and a damsel than she is beating my ass instead 😔. Also, her village will be coming for my bum if I harm their elf princess so I wouldn’t even try to fight her in the first place. 3.5/10

-I thought I could defeat Runa until I remembered that she’s a literal serial killer so 0/10, she’d kill me instead.

-Now, Theanna, Abigail, and Elisha are all humans so I can fight them, I think. If I fight Theanna, that means I have to go against Abigail first and I think that’s just tiresome. Even if I somehow managed to beat Abigail(which is near impossible unfortunately), I would be too exhausted to fight Theanna. Also, like with Miriel, the whole kingdom's army will come after me for trying to harm their ruler. I could just throw bombs at them though, they’re humans, they can’t survive that. 7/10 with bombs, 0/10 without bombs :(

-I kinda forgot about Elisha but that’s actually because I already mentally noted that I cannot fight against the literal chosen one. 0.0/10

-The Anderson sisters are easy peasy, they don’t have magic to help them. I can take down Skylar and Darla but Sophie and Ellie would be tricky to fight since they are better at fighting/killing. Honestly, it would have been easy if they all didn’t like each other. If I beat one up, the other will kill me, so like... 2/10 or I could bomb them like the others.

Here's the weird thing about Miriel, it all depends on where this fight is happening, if it's anywhere near nature she has an advantage even if there's just a small patch of grass, she rolls advantage just purely being near it, it's sort of an elf thing.

When I first saw this I thought it was just like trying to escape them if they were your yanderes but then I realized you're actually fighting to the death lol.

Runa is a city elf which means she rolls no advantage based solely on never ever being near nature to refresh so even if the fight were outside, she wouldn't have a boost cause she doesn't know how to connect with nature. You still probably loose though on the basis of elves and their nature ability to dodge shit.

I think even if you don't have to fight Abigail beforehand, Theanna is basically untouchable due to the weird thing that she does monthly underneath the garden meaning she's got some hidden skills.

And yeah when it comes to the Anderson sisters there's no element of surprise, it's not like you can go from one to another ambushing them because they all keep tabs on eachother even if they refuse to communicate properly for some reason. The best bet is to start with Sophie, then sneak up and get Skye in the house and hope you can make it to the other two before they realize the tracker on their phone has not moved which means their sisters are not following their normal daily routine. The hardest part is getting into Ellie's apartment because she's got good security systems in place.

0/10 I would not win in any fight. My best bet is to surrender and hope they aren't angry enough to kill me.

[krattgirl124]

Fun facts on the New Generation AU:

Dagur and Eret babysit the Hicstrid kids the most out of all of their other allies.

Gobber is the village therapist and is the one everyone can come to for advice on certain topics (coming out of the closet being the most common one)

Because Grimmel doesn’t exist in this AU, there are more Night/Light Furies in the world, most of them now living on Berk ever since Toothless became the alpha.

Fang, Ethan’s Whispering Death, HATES it whenever anyone who isn’t Ethan tries to ride her solo. She will throw the biggest tantrums ever and do anything to get them off. The only two exceptions are Tuffnut and Puffnut.

Salva loves to bite her brothers, she’s the most feral one of the Hicstrid kids.

Viggo has also befriended a Zippleback, which is how he’s able to get the gas for his sword. The Zippleback was already friends with Savior the Monstrous Nightmare, and their names are Crackle and Zap.

Ethan can’t swim.

Hiccup constantly teaches his kids how to build and invent stuff and is very proud of all their achievements.

Snotlout is very proud of his daughters and will constantly let them know because he never got that treatment from his father and wants to break the cycle of abuse.

Ruffnut will never have kids of her own in the future, but was more than willing to be the surrogate to Fluffnut and Puffnut so her brother and Snotlout could have their own family.

Fluffnut and Ethan have a one week age difference. Puffnut is nine months younger than the both of them.

Runa is non-binary

Fluffnut is trans MTF and has a very supportive family.

The “Troll” that would constantly steal Gobber’s socks was a titanwing terrible terror.

Viggo crafted an entire armor set made out of shed Skrill scales to protect himself whenever he flew on Shockwave, he has been zapped a couple times on accident, which makes his dragon panic.

Shockwave has severe separation anxiety.

Savior is clingy.

Fang is not the smartest Whispering Death out there.

Dante has started building newer and more advanced prosthetics for both himself and his family.

Puffnut has a Typhoomerang named Blaze, he’s an asshole.

Fluffnut has a Thunderdrum named Boomer, who is also quite stupid.

Hookfang spoils the Thorston-Jorgenson kids as much as he can in Monstrous Nightmare ways

Ethan loses a foot from a Changewing’s acid

Windshear has become very protective over Cory and Runa that she has occasionally attacked Fishlegs

Fishlegs is poly and Heather is okay with it as long as he tells her about every partner.

Asdis and Halvor are twins, with Asdis being the eldest and already destined to be the new DotW queen and Berserker Chieftess, yet Halvor desperately wants to be the berserker chief.

Speer is known as Speer the Psychotic because if he really hates you, he throws his shit at you…literally.

Salva will always name her dragons the most human names possible (Chloe the Deathsong, Pierce the Grim Gnasher, Jared the Scauldron)

Ethan trash talks whenever he plays Maces and Talons, which is probably why he rarely wins.

Ethan was conceived on Defenders of the Wing, and Speer was conceived on Berk.

Gustav and Gruffnut are both evil and work for Ryker (yes he’s still alive in this AU)

Ryker is ace

Asdis has a Triple Stryke named Blister

Speer had a Terrible Terror named Skrill

Halvor has no dragon of his own so far

Ethan will be 4’11 at the tallest, mention how short he is and he will start yelling.

Mala will listen to Dagur rant about his interests for hours on end, she loves listening to him rant.

Ethan and Puffnut got trapped and forced to participate in dragon fights, it’s where Ethan met the Changewing that took his foot.

Astrid beats the ever living hell out of the Hunter that had captured Ethan and put him in the dragon fights, making sure that his body became so mangled and bloodied that no one would be able to recognize it again.

Valka technically tamed the Screaming Death, and he and the other Whispering Deaths now live on Dark Deep after their island was attacked.

All of the Hicstrid kids use some of Valka’s tactic to help tame more wild dragons.

Ethan and Salva have tiny scars on their faces from Cloudjumper (they were all accidental). Ethan has a scar on his lip, Salva has a scar on her cheek.

Ethan has a scar on his neck from Fang, they were both young and stupid.

Dante took a Skrill from a Hunter when he was 5 and named it Zappy.

Dagur adopts a baby Skrill.

Dante has a scar on his cheek from Drago Bludvist (yeah, he’s alive too)

[somekidnamedkai]

How I Feel As A WLW and WLM Reader & Fan

So. I’m one of the members of lovestruck who’s big on both wlw and wlm on the app. Although im more known probably for wlm seeing as that’s where more of my favorites are from.

But honestly, this is kinda more how I feel personally from my PERSONAL experiences on being in both sides of the fandoms.

Yours might be different, but this is my experience. So, yea. This is from my POV.

The fandom is honestly so separated it’s hard to enjoy almost anything.

Now I have a better experience with the wlm side than i so the wlw side. By a landslide. And it’s not because i read more male LIs. Because trust me, I hate multiple male LIs, more than i do female, actually.

But honestly my wlm side friends are amazing. We share lots of favorites, especially Cal, which is how I met some of them. My friend introduced me to her friends who liked Cal and yeah. Here we are. If you’re my friend blame Steph lol.

But back to the post, my wlm are all so nice and supportive, in fact all of them, as far as i remember, read the wlw and wlnb routes.

So honestly, I talk with them more, whether it be ranting, talking about an LI or just talking because we’re friends.

But my experience with the wlw, is more rocky. I’m always finding myself to have to watch what i say around them so i don’t make them mad. Even with the blog im a ghostwriter for, wlw-lovestruck-fiction, go follow it lol.

I often get snapped at whenever i rant, or say i don’t like a certain LI. I find myself getting attacked for ranting about a guy LI at times because “Loreleis route got treated badly” yea, so did every other VN LI, except Juliette. So you can’t say Lorelei without saying the others, especially renzei.

And if I say i don’t like a certain female LI, I find myself getting attacked a lot for just not liking her. For example, I don’t like Runa and OH MY GOD. The amount of people who got pissy about that. They, some of them anyways, kept trying to change my mind and make me see Runa as a victim and she’s an innocent lil angel. Which pisses me off. Because she isn’t.

There are plenty of guy LIs my friends love, Astraeus for example, I hate him. But he’s one of my friends favorite. So instead of trying to make me change my mind, she accepts my opinion. She doesn’t try to make me like him, and I don’t try to make her hate him. It’s a personal opinion.

There’s over 100 LIs, 111 to be exact. So why do I have to like Runa? Or Viv? There’s so many LIs for a REASON. Because not everyone is gonna love the same LI. I don’t like Runa, Viv, Aurora, Xenia, Astraeus, Clyde, Joaquin, Chance, Reiner, or Antares. And that’s okay. Because it’s MY opinion.

I can’t express my opinions for LIs on the wlw side without getting attacked for it, or getting pissy responses.

I can’t say I like a certain guy LI, or i’m upset he’s ending *cough* SASCHA *cough*

I’ll also just sit through conversations of the wlw fanbase just expressing their absolute HATRED for some of my favorite LIs, but if i don’t say i’ll bend over backwards for Xenia, I get attacked.

And it honestly, makes me want to just leave the wlw side. I have a couple of friends there, and i’m a ghostwriter for a blog, but I just can’t stand that side at times.

Being on both sides of the fandoms really sucks because I feel like I have to just pick a side at times, because of just how separated this fandom is.

Almost no ons cares about ANYTHING unless it affects their LIs.

All the wlm dropping like flies lately? Almost all i’ve seen from the wlw side is happiness and laughter that there’s less wlm routes, because that leaves more room for them and their routes.

Me and some of my friends were talking, and she said this

Which as you can see, I agreed. It really feels like the wlm side of this fandom is being kicked out and is just unwanted and unwelcomed. And that may be how it is for some wlw fans.

But lovestruck isn’t a wlw exclusive app. It never has been. And won’t ever be. It was always wlm and wlw. and now mlm and wlmb.

So it’s unfair to treat the wlm fans like they have no place here. When the app is jusy as much their as it is for wlw.

There are times where I just don’t want to be apart of this fandom because of how I get treated. On either side. If this is what it’s like being a wlm member, I don’t want to stay. But I don’t want to be on the wlw side if this is how they act. It’s exhausting.

In conclusion, being on both sides of this fandom sucks, because it truly feels like I need to pick a side, because you can’t like both apparently, and at times it just makes me want to delete the game and just leave the fandom because it’s annoying to feel like I have to pick a certain side of LIs.

And once again, these are just MY personal experiences with the two sides. It maybe different for you, but that’s how it is for me.

[wlw-lovestruck-fiction]

So I've been questioning my gender identity for almost 2 years now and one of the main reasons I think it's taking me so long to even get close to figuring it out is pronouns. I really want to experiment with them and try out different stuff, but the thing is that while I've had different pronouns in my bio for a LONG time now, no one has used them. And I don't mean like people are using the wrong pronouns on purpose, it's the fact that in basically all my online interactions there has never been a need to refer to me in the third person. So that sucks. It also doesn't help that even tho I have people in my life that would 100% understand and support me if I were to change my pronouns(and I know cuz we literally talked about it) I am too chickenshit to actually ask them to. And another problem is that there is basically no way of using gender neutral terms/pronouns in my native language and I'm even more scared of asking my friends to use he/him than I am of they/them, not only because I present femme and don't really have any intentions of changing that but also bc I am not sure how I'll like he/him and I feel like if I ask them to change the way they think and speak of me and I end up not liking it, it'll be a huge waste of everyone's time and energy. And like I know that people are allowed to mess up and get things wrong and transmasc people are 10000% valid no matter how they present but like. In my brain none of that applies to me. Which absolutely blows.

And while pronouns don't equal gender, I thinm trying out different ones would really help me figure shit out bc when I try to analyze my feelings about my gender and body it's always like: do I hate my body bc I have internalised fatphobia or am I not cis? Do I feel icky about vajayjays and peepees bc I'm ace or am I nb? Do I hate my tatas and want to bind bc they're huge and cause me pain or is it dysphoria? I have no idea and it's driving me nuts.

Anyway sorry for the long rant I just really needed to vent.

First of all, dear.. don't be so hard on yourself! Gender is fluid and not always easy to figure out 🤗 I can tell you that ever since I've had people using 'she/they' pronouns for me, it has definitely helped me in that process! So I can see how you would feel it would help. But it isn't a sure fire way to know either. I find myself having more 'they' days than 'she' days since then, and while I'm not sure exactly what that means yet, I'm just rolling with it 😊 It is rather unfortunate that you live in an area where you don't have gender neutral pronouns available to you, tho 😒 But still.. even just bringing people into your inner struggle with it, can help sometimes 🤗 And it may take you a bit to be able to do that, and that's okay! Also - there's no right way to be any spectrum of gender, so just be you. Figure out what makes you feel more comfortable in your skin, and go with it! And for anyone who doesn't agree or fails to respect your decisions, all you can do is try your best to educate them and hope that they learn how to accept you for who you are. Until then, dear Anon, I wish you the best with this. And we are here for you anytime you need to talk it out 🤗♥️ - Mod Runa

[peachynkeeen]

For the tropes meme, #39 with Harvey! ^.^

Thank you Runa!

39. Having a bad day and the other noticing

You’re sitting in the living room, curled up in a wool blanket, a book and hot mug of coffee in hand. Your cat is sprawled at your feet and the fireplace crackles with warmth. Your kids have been in bed for hours, and you’ve enjoyed your long evening to yourself. Winter is famously your laziest month of the year, and, after seeing the signs of a blizzard when you woke this morning, you decided to give up any sort of productivity. You’re glad you did; when you glance out the window, all you can see is white.

The slamming of the door makes you jump. You look up to see your husband at the door, hastily kicking off his winter boots. He brushes the snow off his green coat and lays it on the back of a chair. The snow he brought in is already a puddle of water on the hardwood floor, but his mustache is still white from the flakes latched onto it.

“I see Ol’ Man Winter has come to visit me,” you joke, referencing his frozen mustache. “Have you brought gifts?”

Harvey grunts and wipes the snow from his upper lip with no sign of amusement. He moves to the refrigerator, not saying a word.

Your smile falls slightly. “Is everything alright, dear?”

He ignores your question, rifling through the fridge. “Are we all out of pickles?”

You get up from the couch and warily approach him, as if he’s a deer that might run away from any sign of sudden movement.

“I…I ate the last one,” you say.

He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration, pushing his glasses askew. You put a hand on his arm, and he stiffens at your touch. You quickly pull away, scared you just made things worse. He quickly looks up to you and reaches out for your hand. He readjusts his glasses as he shakes his head. “No…honey, I’m not mad at you for something silly like that. It’s just been a long day. A hard day.”

You pull him closer and envelop him in a hug. His body is cold, even though he had several layers on for the blizzard. You rub circles on his back, hoping the friction will help warm him. He melts into you. He is a big man, and, consequently, very heavy, but you hold onto him as tightly as you can, trying to keep you both standing.

After a few minutes, you feel your knees about to give out and you move away from him. He whines in response, the sudden loss of warmth causing him to shiver. You give him a light peck on the cheek and lead him to the couch, where you force him to sit. You pile the blankets on top of him and plop the cat (much to its chagrin) onto his lap. As he scratches its ears, you pull his soaking, cold socks off his feet and rub the feeling back into his toes. When you’re certain he’s comfortable, you go down to the cellar for a special treat: an ancient fruit wine you’ve been saving for 5 years.

Harvey notices the label as you sit next to him, about to pull the cork. He puts a hand on yours, stopping you. “But…you’ve been saving this for a special occasion. I don’t want to waste it on today.”

You smile and press a brief kiss to his lips. “What occasion are we waiting for? We’re married, we have two kids… there’s nothing left to celebrate until we retire. You deserve this tonight.”

Harvey’s eyes continue to protest, but his lips stay silent. You pour a glass for both of you, and he takes his gratefully. You chat for a while, or rather, he chats while you listen. He tells you about his day, how Vincent had managed to have a cold and a sprained ankle at the same time, and that Emily had insisted that her crystals were a better cure for the flu than his prescription. Not to mention the huge pile of paperwork that had been left waiting for him at the end of the day. 

When he is finished, he looks at you, eyes wide. “I’m sorry for complaining so much, it’s not like me, I just-”

You kiss him, not letting him continue. He’s hesitant at first, still anxious about his ranting, but he quickly reciprocates, pulling you closer. When you feel his tongue graze your lip, you break your kiss and press your forehead against his. You can see in his eyes that he wants more, much more. But you smile and shake your head. “You need rest.”

“But-”

“Tomorrow,” you say, breaking free of his embrace. He concedes, and you move to the end of the  couch and let his head sink into your lap. His eyes are closed, his face is peaceful, and the cat is purring softly on his lap. 

“Thank you,” he whispers. You run your hand through his hair, gently lulling him to sleep. 

“Anything for you, Harvey.”

[alteredphoenix]

A Rant on Elves and Magic Addiction

So advancements in medical science is set at the same pace on Azeroth as it is on Earth or the collective population of its magical communities either forgot or still doesn’t know how to treat magic addiction because the Legion Tailoring questline (at least up until you have to go to Suramar, that’s where I stopped for the night) shouldn’t have ended the way it did.

Like, I’m doing this on a warlock alt who happens to be a blood elf. I RP him as a guy who turns to practicing destructive magic to fight against demons and was there - front and center - when the Black Temple was raided, and then at the Sunwell Plateau proper in TBC. You bet he saw friends and families and strangers turn to Withered during his time at Falthrien Academy. He doesn’t tap into the Sunwell anymore, not since it was cleansed (and Light and Fel don’t jive well together, the headaches are a bitch and a half, meaning in the time between TBC and Legion and up to Shadowlands he’s found other recourses of magic to slake his innate thirst because (a) demons aren’t going to stop being a nuisance the moment Argus the Unmaker bites the dust, (b) sin’dorei society has been moving toward a marriage of Light and Arcane from the Sunwell plus the amicable relations with the shal’dorei, and (c) said transition has most likely outlawed practicing demonology, necromancy, and Shadow magic the sin’dorei used to dabble in at least since post-TBC. So my lock knows what withdrawal is like.

Every blood elf - and high elf - should know what it’s like.

Maybe this is my fault for having the benefit of future events, since the Legion Tailoring questline takes place prior to the Suramar Insurrection Arc and Nighthold raid (so that means no arcan’dor to cure the nightborne of their affliction and no Liadrin and Rommath hitting it off with Thalyssra by the time you enter the zone proper), but I just couldn’t help but think how baffling the scenario played out. Like, the tailoring shop is right next door to the first aid station. Why did no one think to send Lyndras there and administer some sort of medicine to offset the hunger pangs until Shal’Aran was established at the earliest and arcwine could be smuggled in?

I’m not going to mention the PC, because you’re the narrative vehicle in an MMO and, not to discount one’s RP - by game lore you’re either part of a special strike corp - if you go by Tides of War - or a hired mercenary that just happens to be getting paid by Alliance or Horde. But you’re in a magic city, and a good chunk of that city consists of elves that have gone through withdrawal after the Sunwell’s implosion. I get resources and people are stretched thin and being funneled toward the war effort but WHY was this poor guy just left UNATTENDED after the second time he runs off for a fix? Instead of throwing him into the Violet Hold where he clearly withers and you have to put him down.

However, given all of the above, Lyndras probably wouldn’t have fared much better than Runas. With some help the former would’ve been given more time to live, depending on how long the timeframe between Shal’Aran’s expansion and the start of the arcwine smuggling operations is, whereas the latter withers despite draining what little mana there is to be had from blue dragon whelplings and grinding mana crystals sticking out of Zarkhenar. Pre-arcan’dor nightborne require the sustenance of the Nightwell, being from arcane energy or arcwine, to offset withering, and while we don’t know how long Lyndras and Runas were away from Suramar City their chances of survival were low when we’re first introduced to them.

This questline is probably a case of Blizzard not looking too deeply into the story and writing it “as-is”, since, again, this is set pre-Suramar and, in all fairness, you don’t quite know why these withered, ill-looking elves are turning into mindless shamblers. One should not be blamed for thinking ‘they’re regressing the same way the blood elves were’, because until the Suramar Insurrection Arc you aren’t made aware of the fact that withering is a result of the lack of Nightwell tapping and the Wretched state of blood elves a result of abusing magic (scarcity versus overabundance). Still, you’d think blood elves, like my warlock, would take note of Lyndras’s condition and bring it up to the Kirin Tor. Maybe, oh I don’t know, keep an eye on the guy and not lock him inside a prison where the rest of the otherworldly monsters and dangerous criminals are at!

(This got way too long for a rant, but I was gutted by the foresight of Lyndras’s obvious outcome and had the bitter taste of it in my mouth. Only one tailoring trainer is upset by this, but I’ll give Blizzard the benefit of the doubt because she’s the one you interact with the most as you’re learning patterns.

There’s also the matter of bringing up magic addiction and how that still hasn’t been cured regardless of the possibility, one that’s mentioned in the blood elf intro in Cataclysm, the cleansed Sunwell might free them of their dependency. But that isn’t about that here, and I’m saving it for another post, anyway, because BOY do I go hard on that one.)

I’m just going to make the ‘medical science moves at the same rate as advancements as Earth’s’ my own personal headcanon. It’ll help me sleep and think a little better and a lot less infuriatingly on the brain.)

[allthegodstars]

Sapphire Flames Snippets

Little Snippet:

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences occupied a nine-story building on Old Spanish Trail. Its blocky lines, rectangular windows, and orange brick practically screamed that it housed some sort of government agency. 

I maneuvered our Honda Element into the parking lot. It used to be our surveillance vehicle, but last year Grandma Frida decided to rebuild it from wheels up.  Now the Element sported a new engine, a reinforced suspension, and custom dampers for enhanced shock absorption. The windows were bulletproof, and the new glass had both the safety glazing and a polycarbonate layer on the inside, so if someone did shoot at us, the windows would crack but hold together. And most importantly, the Element was now equipped with B5 level armor, which meant it would stop most handguns and shotgun blasts.  It could have been armored enough to withstand a sniper shot; however, Grandma Frida reasoned that our best chance of survival was getting away fast, and armor was heavy, so she stopped at B5 and added a reinforced floor and run-flat tires. 

Unfortunately, even Grandma Frida had her limits, and steering was a bit sluggish.  I was used to it by now and I aimed for a parking spot in the middle row.

“So, what’s with you and Alessandro Sagredo?”  Runa asked.

The steering was sluggish, but the brakes worked perfectly.  I jerked forward, and my seat belt slammed me back.

“Nothing.”

“Aha.”  Runa pulled on her own seat belt.  “That’s why we screeched to a stop halfway into the parking space?”

“My foot slipped.”  I gently eased forward and brought the Element to a smooth stop.

Last night, after Bern carried Rutger into the guest bedroom and Runa settled in on inflatable mattress next to him, I went back to my office, rescued Alessandro’s picture from my desk drawer, and brought it upstairs to my bedroom. He looked so carefree, caught in a magic moment somewhere sunny and warm.  When I looked at the picture, a disquieting, unpleasant feeling squeezed my chest, not pain exactly, but a kind of discomfort. I stood in my bedroom and wished with everything I had that I was there, in the sun, with a backdrop of green mountains and Alessandro and I were going somewhere.  Together.

It was stupid, and childish, and it would never be.  I hid it all inside, put the picture on my nightstand, and went to bed.

“So, you’re just going to go with ‘nothing?’” Runa asked.

“That’s right.”

“Your sister said you met during your trials.”

Sistercide was not a word, but it would be after today. “Yes.”

“Yes what?  Is there a story behind that?”

No. He didn’t follow me on Instagram, and he didn’t take my breath away during the trials.  And he definitely didn’t show up under my window after trying to convince me to go for a drive.  

 “We met during the trials, and my sisters haven’t stopped trolling me about it for the last three years.  There is absolutely nothing between me and Alessandro Sagredo.”

Strictly speaking, there was 5,561 miles between our warehouse and the Sagredo estate near Venice, Italy.  A commercial flight with one stop could get me to Venice in thirteen hours. 

“Your cheeks are turning pink,” Runa said.  “Are you imagining there being nothing between you and Alessandro?”

***

On Rants, Well Deserved Nature Of:

As I’ve pointed out four times now, this entire incident has been recorded by security cameras. The footage will show that Ms. Etterson and I were attacked without provocation and we defended ourselves as is our right under Article 3 paragraph 1 through 4 of the House Protection Act.”

“Is that so?” Sgt. Munoz’s eyebrows crept up a quarter of an inch.

“You have no cause to detain either me or Runa Etterson.  We have cooperated, and we have given our statements.”

“Ms. Baylor.”  He frowned.  “You wouldn’t happen to have an older sister, would you?”

That was just too much. “When Nevada encountered you, she was under a great deal of stress trying to keep us alive and save Houston.  She didn’t have a chance to note that every time there was an incident requiring a law enforcement response, you mysteriously appeared on the scene.  But I did.”

He watched me, impassive.   I kept going.

“You are attached to the House Response Unit of Houston PD, tasked specifically with handling incidents involving Houses.  Every member of this unit is assigned a number of families, in which he becomes expert. So, you know perfectly well that I have an older sister and that she is currently out of the country.  You know the names of every person in our family, their birth dates, and their magic. You probably know the exact nature of my powers, despite the fact that my records are sealed.  You are here because my last name popped up in your system. So please don’t insult my intelligence.”

***

When English Language Is Just Not Enough:

Warning: hilariously odd bad language ahead. Poor Catalina.

Bug served as Rogan’s surveillance specialist. Magically altered, he processed visual information at an astonishing rate. If anybody could find [Redacted], Bug could. He was also fanatically loyal to Rogan.

The moment we involved Bug, Rogan would know every detail of what we asked and why. Then Nevada would know, and, considering the usual colorful way Bug made his reports, there was a strong possibility that she would freak out. Bug found the vast array of curses available to an average English speaker completely inadequate and used every opportunity to add his own, which often amounted to a random collection of expletives that left you befuddled. I could just imagine the way that report would go.

“Hey, so you’ll never believe this dick fart thing: they want me to find [Redacted]. Isn’t that just pork balls? The gnome molester apparently stabbed somebody. Whore dimwit shit brain dungarees!”

***

A Simple Menu:

Since it was my turn to cook breakfast anyway, I headed to the kitchen.  Cooking was basically my and Mom’s job.  When Nevada lived with us, she was too busy keeping us fed and clothed. Bern and Leon usually made meat, preferably, steak, and they served it charred on top and raw in the middle. Grandma Frida came from the generation when things weren’t cooked unless they were slightly burned, and my younger sister, who was actually a decent cook, when she had to be, couldn’t be trusted to stay in the kitchen for the duration of the cooking process.  She’d start something and then end up outside texting to her friends or in the media room laughing at some show, while we raced to save the meal. 

I decided on a simple menu. I put two packs of bacon into two baking pans and popped them in the oven, mixed the batter for the blueberry pancakes, and called Nevada while chopping mushrooms for the egg, mushroom, and cheese scramble.

***

Just You Wait:

My cell rang. An unlisted number. Oh good. Ten to one, somebody wanted to sell me super-special medical insurance or inform me that the IRS was about to arrest me unless I dropped everything and bought an armful of gift cards at Wal-Mart.

I answered it. “What is it?”

“You’re tracking me,” Alessandro said.

Runa’s eyes went big.

“I am not tracking you,” I told him. Technically, it wasn’t even a lie.

“You’re having me tracked. I understand that I’m irresistible. It’s a cross I bear. But do try to have some self-control, Catalina. I’m embarrassed for you.”

He… Argh. “As I recall, I never had a problem resisting you.”

“I thought we agreed that you would drop this.”

“I didn’t agree to anything.”

“Catalina, listen to me. This is serious, the people involved are dangerous, and your well-being is important to me.”

Since when? “Why don’t you tell me more about it? Maybe if I fully understand the danger, I’ll stay out of it.”

“No, you won’t. You have no sense.”

“I have all kinds of sense.”

“This is your last warning, Catalina.”

“Or what?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to find out.”

He hung up.

“I have all kinds of sense?” Runa quoted.

“I was too mad to think of a snappy comeback.”

I glared at the phone. Insufferable ass. When I got my hands on him, I would pry his mind open like a tin can.  And then I would make him do a little dance, record it, and play it for him on a loop after I drained my magic off. Irresistible. I’ll show you irresistible. Just you wait.

***

A Pithivier:

Steps sounded behind me. I turned. Runa caught up with us. “Matilda said you would be out here. That child is odd.”

More like unsettling, until you got to know her. “She’s an animal mage. They are unique. Did something bad happen?”

“You mean in addition to everything else?  No.”

We both watched Shadow sniffing at cracks in the asphalt.

 “Whatever is cooking in the kitchen smells amazing.  What are we having?”

“Lemon roasted chicken with rosemary baked potatoes, chive butter, kale and brussels sprout salad with tahini maple dressing, and an apple pithivier.”

Runa gave me a long look.

“I cook when I’m stressed out. It sounds more complicated than it is. In reality, it’s mostly season things, dump them in a baking pan, and stick them in the oven.”

“What’s a P.T.V.A.?”

“It’s a French pie-cake made with puff pastry.  The traditional version uses rum and almonds, but nobody likes rum, so I make mine with apples.”

***

For more check notes.

[greeneyedguide]

When it comes to food, I’m not a fan of the term “clean energy”. I get what this term is trying to convey, but as a food scientist, the term makes me laugh inside. Same thing with the concept of a “zero-calorie energy drink” (because a calorie is a measurement of energy). “Food Science v Marketing” rant over, let me tell you about a new source of “clean energy”.

The Energy Drink for the Month of February is Runa Clean Energy.

Energy Drink of the Month — February 2015

The Berry flavor is my favorite (shocker, if you’ve been following my other monthly picks). I prefer not to drink my calories, but I much prefer the sweetness of the Berry flavor than the zero-calorie version. I tried the “Original Zero with a hint of lime” and, my word, it has an interesting flavor profile. It starts with a carbonated zing akin to citric acid, then the hint of lime shows up, followed by some earthly botanical notes that are reminiscent of iced tea but slightly different, and not unpleasant. The berry flavor is much more my style – short, sweet, and subtly strong.

5 Reasons to Recharge with Runa Clean Energy

ONE — Alternative Energy

Ever herd of guayusa? Pronounced “gwhy-you-sa”, this plant is the Amazonian cousin of yerba mate. While the leaves of guayusa are brewed like tea leaves, the lack of tannins means less of the bitter, astringent taste that’s characteristic of green, black and white teas.

This new source of caffeine has two benefits: First of all, yerba mate and guarana have developed negative connotations due to their use in energy drinks (and the controversy surrounding them). If you want to avoid the bitter taste of tea and the “save-your-liver” lectures from those who believe all energy drinks are bad for you, this new source of caffeine is your answer. The second benefit to guayusa is that because it’s novel, there are less people trying to source it and thus, more of it to go around. When demand of ginkgo biloba started to skyrocket, so did the cases of economic adulteration. Not enough supply to meet demand? Someone’s going to start providing knock-offs to reap those unmet sales requests. Finding new sources of America’s favorite drug (caffeine), means there’s less chance of depleting natural resources.

TWO — Caffeine with a Cause

I love energy drinks with a good story. There are some energy drinks that donate proceeds of each sale to charity, and then there are those who give back in other ways. Runa is fair-trade certified, and supports the small farmers and local communities to build a sustainable supply chain. To learn more about the Runa Foundation, see below.

http://www.fundacionruna.org/our-work.html

THREE — Guayusa Your Way

A big part of consuming caffeine safely is about slowing your rate of consumption. In the Energy Drink Guide, Mr. Swift and Mr. Thrift demonstrate that nursing your caffeine instead of chugging it makes the effects of caffeine last longer, and helps mitigate an energy crash. While Runa Clean Energy comes in an 8.4 ounce can, there’s also a bottled version. If you’re trying to wean your caffeine intake, you can take a sip, reseal the bottle, and try to make one serving last a whole day (or two). Note – the glass bottles show a bit of particulate at the bottom so if you’re a “no-pulp” person like me, the cans might be a better option. You could also get fancy with your brewing and try the pyramid infusers or looseleaf tins, or just go the traditional route and get a box of tea bags.

The Runa Family – http://runa.org/products/#Products

FOUR — Polyphenols (antioxidants), Amino Acids, and Liquid Courage

While isolated antioxidants have failed to show the same health benefits in the human body as they do in a test tube, there’s plenty of credible evidence on the health benefits of drinking green tea. Guayusa contains twice the antioxidants of green tea, according to the Runa website. The “super-leaf” also contains essential amino acids (though the energy drink itself contains zero grams of protein). If none of that encourages you to try Runa Clean Energy, perhaps this will: traditional use of guayusa includes consumption before nighttime hunting trips, as the guayusa gave the hunters mental strength, courage and focus. Who doesn’t want more of that?

#gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

What is Runa? Guayusa? Clean Energy?

Runa Clean Energy Berry Nutrition Facts

Fair Trade Organic Non-GMO Kosher etc

FIVE — 5 Levels of Fatigue = Level 3.99

Knowing your Level of Fatigue will help you find the right energy drink for your situation. Always reaching for the same caffeine concoction is a good way to build a tolerance or habitual craving. Furthermore, you can mitigate caffeine over-consumption by NOT reaching for caffeine when you are tired due to dehydration, or when you’re so tired that only sleep will save you. This is the 5 Levels of Fatigue system, and each level matches a specific set of recommendations.

If this is too much caffeine for you, the bottled versions have less caffeine and can be re-sealed and saved for later.

Runa Clean Energy provides more caffeine than the most popular energy drink of this size. If 80 milligrams of caffeine isn’t enough for you, or if you want something that tastes a little more like tea and less like over-sweetened juice, Runa Clean Energy is a good option. However, it is on the very cusp of Level 3. Caffeine contents greater than 120 milligrams per serving are considered Level 4, but the lack of carbonation is the reason Runa Clean Energy is still on the high end of Level 3. Carbonation irritates the stomach lining slightly, allowing caffeine to get absorbed that much quicker. You’ll want to save those Level 4 drinks for energy emergencies like all-nighters, swing shifts, and long road trips.

Bottom Line

Runa Clean Energy is not the energy drink you should reach for when you are bored or dehydrated. With 120 milligrams of caffeine per serving, it is best saved for those Monday mornings when you would give up $100 if it meant sleeping one more hour. It’s no coincidence Runa means “fully alive”. Runa Clean Energy is an energy drink you can feel good about drinking, not just because it’s rich in antioxidants, but because the makers of Runa are actively supporting the guayusa farmers to ensure fair-trade and sustainable growth. Finally, when someone inquires about that beverage you’re drinking with the healthy looking leaf on the can, you’ll get encouraging nods (or blank stares) instead of concerned frowns when you respond, “It’s ‘gwhy-you-sa’ “.

— Green-Eyed Guide

References and Related Reading:

Caffeine Informer on Runa Clean Energy

National Geographic: “Ecuador’s ‘Superleaf’ Tea: Could it Replace Your Afternoon Coffee?”

Runa Main Site and Runa Facebook Page

Caffeine Safe Limits: Determine Your Safe Daily Dose

5 Most Shocking Risk Assessments (***including ginkgo biloba***)

Are You a Monster or a Rock Star: A Guide to Energy Drinks — How They Work, Why They Work, How to Use Them Safely

best saved for those mornings you'd give up $100 to sleep one more hour When it comes to food, I'm not a fan of the term "clean energy". I get what this term is trying to convey, but as a food scientist, the term makes me laugh inside.

[wlw-lovestruck-fiction]

Quick rant... so I hate hate hugs and really any type of physical affection(unless it’s from someone I trust with my life) but like... I need a hug right now. This COVID crap has touch starved me, a person who hates any type of physical affection. And my state is currently one of the worst for cases and nobody where’s there mask and I like... I just wanna hug but I don’t want COVID... anyway that’s been my TedTalk (sorry if my English is bad)

Oh, fuck. Totally valid, though, Anon. Touched starved is a mood that I think a lot of us can relate to right now 🙄 I'm hoping Covid gets less severe soon too, because there are definitely some people in my life that I need to visit and hug until my arms fall off 😏 Also - Your English was perfect, dear 😁 - Mod Runa