#anc even now the stuff follows me!

[fuckthisappinparticular]

Spiders are alright. What really scares me is mold

Reasons to burn down a room, right?

[wolfisland]

hey do you have any first time concert tips

YES!

just as a disclaimer, im physically disabled, australian, and i live in a large city, and those can definitely make a difference here

but heres some tips or things i generally try to follow for myself, under the cut!

⭐ always carry portable chargers. multiple if possible

⭐ stay hydrated. enclosed venues get hot and sweaty and gross and if youre moving around a lot you WILL get dehydrated. some venues offer free water, take advantage of it. also stay masked bc i cannot stress enough what a perfect breeding ground for illness venues can be

⭐ protect your ears. there are loads of noise reduction earbuds marketed towards concerts and loud environments in particular, and honestly in my experience theyre kind of overpricer, but protection is absolutely vital, ESPECIALLY in smaller venues in my experience. noise over 70db over prolonged periods of time will start to damage your hearing and ive seen 90db as the LOWER end for concerts ive been to.

⭐ if you have any headphones or earbuds with active noise cancellation these are also great options, i actually prefer wearing my headphones just with anc on than i do my silly little specialized loop earbuds.

⭐ try not to go to these events alone if you can help it. most concerts are at night and most concerts are at licensed venues and whether youre drinking or not, there will likely be people acting like fools around you. it goes without saying to NEVER accept a drink you didnt watch be mixed or opened yourself.

⭐ make sure people know where you are and make sure you always have enough money easily accessible to you (either in cash, or in your bank account) to pay for an uber or cab or whatever. if its a big concert theres a decent chance itll fuck up public transport. ive left shows at 11 pm and not gotten home til 3 am just because of how crowded shit is and how fucked public transport is after like 10-11 pm

⭐ get your concert merch before the show starts. like every time i am so serious if you wait til after the show 7 times out of 10 whatever you want will be gone.

⭐ if theres an opener i can almost promise you you will not see your headliner for like half an hour after the opener finishes. go pee now

⭐ in some areas if youre disabled just call the venue and ask for accommodations. i can usually make sure i get seated (for free) because im disabled and it makes such a huge difference its not even funny. like just ask. theres no harm in asking, worst case scenario is they say they cant help when you were gonna to to the show anyways. some venues will also make sure security keeps an eye on you so you can exit safely after the show too.

⭐ if youre trying to get close to the front at a show, barricade for example, youre almost always gonna need to show up way earlier than you think you are. an hour? try three. get there early and make yourself comfortable. itll suck and you might not even get close but when you do it fucking rules

⭐ dont be that person who has to get told to shut up. dont be rude or heckle the artists if they arent taking the piss themselves. dont throw shit at them. dont try and climb up on the stage. dont keep yelling while theyre talking. dont interrupt them while theyre talking by showing requests for stuff that isnt on the setlist. if youre close to the stage you might be able to see the setlist (and you might even get the setlist after the show if youre close enough or linger around) OR you can probably search up sets the artists have played recently to get a better idea. dont be a tool.

⭐ pit etiquette sucks rn. covid has made people forgot how to fucking behave and if the artist themselves doesnt set some boundaries dont trust that the venues rules around pits will be respected either. i am so serious. people die in pits so be careful. also tbh almost always unless youre like BIG VENUE big, if you call for a pit and wont get in it yourself youre nothing to me sorry

⭐ if you can, support the openers too! if youre lucky theyll be at the merch stands themselves after if the stand is selling their merch too. definitely go say hi and grab like a shirt or sticker or poster or cd or whatever if you can.

⭐ you will get charged like $20 for a vodka redbull. dont let them charge you $20 for a vodka redbull. pre game elsewhere if youre gonna drink.

⭐ if i think of anything else ill come back here and drop it, feel free to dm me about any of this

[sepublic]

SEASON 2 OF THE OWL HOUSE!!!

          RUHGISN/LIFNALARNGLIENARE

           Onto business first and foremost! We get twenty-one episodes, an extra one to make up for the rather odd, nineteen-count from the first season! That’s forty episodes in total! Then Season 3…

           OH, Season 3… I love it but it hurts! The Lord giveth and taketh away, it’s confirmed, but it’s only THREE 44-minute specials! By my calculations, that’s about the length of SIX normal episodes… THE OWL HOUSE IS SO DANG POPULAR AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO DISNEY?!?!! First Amphibia’s finale gets screwed over, THEN this?! But at least Amphibia gets its full third season… At least I assumeit does, oh for the love of Titan if it doesn’t…

           It is extremely imperative that we petition Disney to let TOH’s third season be full-length! Because Dana herself admitted that the main reason she left Twitter was to cope with THAT news, and… OH MY GOD POOR DANA you fought SO hard against all odds to give us this show, this previous love-child of your mind and heart and spite, for this!? But it might not be too late- If we assault Disney with our demand, they MIGHT just change their mind! SO GET ON WITH IT! Let the cartoon community rally AGAIN!

           But, right-

           The first half of episodes for Season 2 is going to be TEN episodes, the second half will be eleven! Already better than the first season, but as a reminder, that’s what we’re getting so far before our mid-season hiatus! And on THAT note…

           We have confirmation for the first FIVE episodes, which will begin airing just a mere FOUR WEEKS from now! We have Separate Tides, Escaping Expulsion, Echoes of the Past, Keeping Up A-fear-ances, and Through the Looking Glass Ruins!

           These episode titles spell out “SEEK T”, presumably “Seek t(he)”, so we can already guess the next two episodes after TtLGR! That leaves fourteen more letters for the Season 2 message; The last one was “A witch loses a true way,” so perhaps this season is advising Luz to seek something that will help her get back home? Something that will help her confront and defeat Belos? A little bit of both?

           Separate Tides is the season premiere! Luz is feeling guilty about the loss of Eda’s powers, poor girl, so she’s going to set sail for a lucrative bounty? Interesting… Perhaps a real Bloom of Eternal Youth? Something magical and bile-related? More lore on the nature of magic and its origins???

           Escaping Expulsion… hoo boy, THAT’s what we’ve all been looking forward to! Odalia and Alador get Luz, Willow, and Gus expelled?! No rights for them, even if that was already obvious but WOW. But more importantly, Luz strikes a deal with the two?!? What do Odalia and Alador want from Luz, to get her back into Hexside?!?!

           Dana mentioned how Season 1 had more focus on Hexside at Disney’s request. Given how Season 2 is more her style and freedom, we might see Luz and the others remain expelled from Hexside, if only to detach them from the coven system for the time being as their rebellion grows… And give focus to OTHER things as well! Which is going to suck a LOT and I’m going to hate Odie and Al even more for this, taking away not just Luz’s opportunity but also Willow and Gus’… Especially Willow since they DID follow through on that threat, holy shit, Amity and Willow must be hurt and traumatized from this!

           But what do Odalia and Alador want from Luz? Do they want to use her as leverage against Belos? To use her FOR Belos? I’m suddenly reminded of that idea I had about Odalia and Alador being interested in Luz as like, an actual suitor for Amity… GOD my Lumity heart would actually love it if that were the case! Obviously in the long run it’s bad and for THEIR purposes, but the idea of Luz learning to be more proper for them, for AMITY really… Oh man, this is reminding me of my speculation of Luz and Alador parallels! We might just see what makes Alador so interesting to Dana in this episode, and just the SECOND one of Season 2, no less- Right into the story meat!

           ECHOES OF THE PAST! King lore! KING LORE!!! Even better Luz, Lilith, and… HOOTY… go to a new island?! An island related to King’s past? Is Eda sticking with King to make sure he doesn’t do anything, or god, did King’s antics get her into trouble again? And Hooty… HOOTY is coming with Luz and Lilith???! I’m grateful for Luz and Lilith interaction, we might get to see them talk things over, but how is Hooty…? Is the house coming along?

           Dana mentioned two spoilers and a lie, one of them was Hooty leaving the house! I guess this is one of them… The others were Camila beating someone up and Gus getting a growth spurt, which we’ll get onto later; So I think Camila beating someone up is the lie! Dang it… But a dangerous new island, could this be related to the various pieces of Titan bones mentioned in The Unauthorized History of the Boiling Isles, scattered throughout the boiling seas, all alluding to another incomplete Titan?!

           Are they KING’S REMAINS??! And his bones are incomplete because he still has his SKULL!!!!

           Keeping Up A-fear-ances is pretty obviously Gwendolyn. Screw you, Gwen, and the confirmation that her presence is causing strain for everyone… YIKES. Hopefully we’ll get Young Eda and Lilith backstory, and see how they transitioned from the YBOS flashback to present-day! Perhaps Gwendolyn DID help Eda when she first transformed… Either way, I do not like her. But she’ll be fascinating to see!

           Through the Looking Glass Ruins! As I said before, Gus gets a growth spurt, and he’s trying to impress kids from Glandus… Which YES GLANDUS, more schools lore! But uhh… If they’re at Glandus, is it because they didn’t get back into Hexside after all, and they’re moving to a different school? Luz and Amity are exploring a dangerous library there, which, Lost in Language flashbacks! But why is AMITY there… Oh Titan, does SHE choose to leave Hexside at the end of Escaping Expulsion, as a means of defying her parents’ will, to go with the friends she loves! If so… YEAH AMITY! That, or she’s out on a visit. Will Amity run from home and live with the others, or maybe Willow and her dads? Gus and Perry? Or will she still be at the Blight Manor… Dana wasn’t kidding about Emira and Edric being distracted from Grom!

           Maybe Amity works something out that gets her expelled from Hexside, and Glandus is the new school for her, who knows? Perhaps it’s because of Belos, and so Odalia and Alador are furious, but they want their kid at a school regardless, so Glandus it is! The Hexside Banshees lost their best captain… Not that she was even playing so it doesn’t matter, but still! THIS would be quite a shock and change for Amity! And Luz, Willow, and Gus… Dang, they’re just losing a lot huh?

           If they ARE going to Glandus and enrolling there, then maybe the episode will end in a failure, or maybe they’re pretending to in order to access the library, maybe a library incident will get their enrollment cancelled! I’m interested in seeing Glandus’ location, we know it’s on an island elsewhere… I kind of want to see the principal of Glandus, will they be cool like Bump? Have a rivalry with him??? Hexside lore??? FORBIDDEN SHIP BETWEEN BUMP AND GLANDUS PRINCIPAL??!?!

           But yeah, those are the episode synopses, and they promise a LOT! It seems each episode so far is just pure character or plot stuff… Not to dunk on ‘filler’, which I think is misused for a lot of episodes honestly, but I like it! I guess Dana and crew have to make the most of their time thanks to Disney’s weird thing with Season 3, screw you Mickey… But yeah! I’m definitely gonna say more stuff and talk about the intro, but for now, I AM HYPED!!!

[aquarianwisp]

Cleansing, blessing, and protection basics

If you are new to witchcraft this guide is for you, but even if you are seasoned in the craft I still think it’s a really good idea to read other witches posts for new ideas and inspiration!~ Cleansing is such an important practice for anyone, not just witches. It is very commonly seen in many different cultures and religions worldwide and is practised in many different ways depending on the tools being used. Cleansing can be done with the help of deities or spirits, or it can be done in a secular way as well with reliance on your own energy or tools. Some people have different beliefs around when cleansing should be done and what rituals should be done at different times of the year. My path is one that works with the natural flows of energy around me, and I call upon deities and spirits to help me in my workings. I cleanse as I feel it is needed, and during the new moon period as well. However, you can adjust your practices to suit your own path and what makes you feel happiest.

Reasons to cleanse and when it should be done: Cleansing is so important for many reasons. It gets rid of heavy emotional energy, it prevents us from being influenced by unwanted energies, it gets rid of negative entities, and it helps to protect us in some cases, depending on what you are doing. You might want to cleanse when there has been a fight, or when an activity has been repeated in an area (like stress in a workplace) and a residue of the emotions felt while doing that activity has been left.  Another time to cleanse would be after someone has been sick. It is best to wait until the person has become well again because if you cleanse while they are resting in their sick room and you use smoke you may make them feel more unwell. Once they are better again, it is good to go into the room they were resting in and give it a good cleanse to banish evil spirits and fumigate. Overall though, it is good to give things a cleanse even if nothing negative has happened. Spiritual people don’t always feel wonderful and magical all the time, and we aren’t immune to creating bad energy. Sometimes you come home and you’ve had a bad day, or you might just be tired, or you feel angry, stressed, etc. Maybe you’ve had a party and all your friends left their energy in your house. Even if nothing happened, this everyday stuff just builds up and needs to be removed every now and then. This is why it’s often good to set a regular cleansing time, such as the monthly new moon as well. Things that can be cleansed Pretty much anything can be cleansed. Commonly though, people cleanse their homes, their bodies, other people, objects, spiritual tools, and charms. There is really no end to what can be cleansed, and there is no end to what can pick up negative energy. Even your phone could pick up negative energy, and you then carry that around everywhere and touch it non-stop, allowing it to affect you. Tarot cards and other divination tools I would actually suggest to cleanse more often than other tools because they tend to pick up negative energies faster.  What you can use to cleanse Smoke- This is one of the most common methods for cleansing, and you can use bundles of dried herbs, resins, or incenses to do this. You just need to light them up and waft the smoke around whatever is being cleansed. Cleaning your house- Clutter, dirt, mould, and mess attract bad energy that likes to hang in your laundry pile. Cleaning also helps us feel a lot less stressed, making room inside of you to experience healing energies. Don’t forget that mould and other ugly things can make you sick and affect your mental health as well, so it is very important to keep yourself and your home clean. Water- In some cultures water is considered to be very sacred and purifying, and is utilized by taking cleansing baths and showers, washing the body or objects that are being cleansed, floor washes, and just by sprinkling. Be careful with this one though, because if you do not dry some surfaces they may become mouldy. Some types of crystals and natural materials like bones and wood don’t really like water and may become damaged from it. It is better to cleanse these with salt or smoke. Fire- Again, in some cultures, fire is considered very sacred and holy. You do not need to burn your house down to achieve this. Be careful with this one, because you do not want to become a crispy sausage. But fire can be represented in smoke cleansing, or it can be used to banish things by burning something that represents what it is that you wish to get rid of. I often find that speaking or praying over a flame and asking help from fire to remove something will result in massive energetic changes- especially long term. Please ensure to never leave a fire unattended- this is basic common sense but you’d be surprised how many people don’t follow this!  Air- A cool breeze can work wonders to clear energy! It’s so nice to open your windows and doors and let the cool air flow through the home.  Salt- We all know salt preserves things from bacteria and other nasties, but it also has a very electrical charge almost, it carries a lot of powerful energy. So it is really good for cleansing, especially when entities are around. I like to keep some by my bed to keep entities away from me while sleeping and to prevent bad dreams. Sound- Sound is really powerful, especially because we know that sound carries vibrations and can carry them far. Bells, singing bowls, drums, your voice, clapping, youtube healing frequency videos, chanting, and prayer are all really amazing at cleansing things. Heck, even pots and pans can be bashed together to clear entities. I also sometimes feel like spirits are sleeping, so I usually wake them up with gentle bells. Mists and floor washes- Again, water here, but usually, this is a good option if you can’t burn things. Beware again though, that you don’t leave things wet otherwise they can grow mould and as I said before, some types of crystals and natural materials like bones and wood don’t really like water. Usually, though, these are just water mixed with something such as essential oils, herbs, crystals or salt etc, which have been chosen to imbue the water with a certain element or property. These are then spritzed with a spray bottle around or on whatever you are cleansing. Floor washes can be mopped or thrown over the floor. Oils, alcohols, floral waters, and vinegar- Essential oils such as peppermint, myrrh, frankincense, eucalyptus, and myrtle are really good for cleansing things, especially if you cannot use smoke again. Diffusing essential oils is also a very common practice outside of the spiritual community so this might be a good option if you aren’t able to be so open about your path.  Alcohols such as Florida water are often used in cleansing, but keep in mind that some people consider Florida water to belong to closed cultures. Some people, however, disagree with this. But, you can always make your own floral waters for cleansing or you can buy them from essential oil manufacturers as a byproduct of essential oil production. You do not need to use Florida water if you are concerned about appropriation here. Floral waters are often sold by essential oil wholesalers, as they are usually sold to cosmetic manufacturers for use in moisturizers and balms. You can buy rose water or orange blossom water from Middle Eastern supermarkets, or if you are lucky enough they might be available in your local supermarket as well. Vinegar is really good to cleanse and also for cleaning. You can mix lemon and tea tree essential oil into vinegar, and these together are really good for cleaning and removing unwanted energy around the home. Vinegar is also good for banishments.  Some basic and good ways to cleanse a home: When cleansing a home, pay attention not only to the rooms but especially to the doors, windows and any mirrors. A lot of things are happening energetically in those spaces and they are usually hot spots for activity. Using salt and water: To cleanse a home with these, sprinkle water around the walls, and place a small sprinkle of salt in each corner of every room. You can also place salt along the front of a door, or along a windowsill. Sometimes though, salt can damage paint so don’t leave it on painted surfaces for too long. You can also paint protective symbols over the door and window frames with the water. Using smoke from herbs, resins or incense: To cleanse using these, take the smoke around to each room and move it in an anticlockwise circle three times. Also make sure to waft a lot of smoke around doors, windows and mirrors.  Sound and prayer: You can go around each room with instruments, or you can sing over or speak over your home to cleanse it. If you choose to pray, make sure to state what needs to be removed, and what will happen within that space instead. Eg. “May all anger, hurt, stress, and any other unwanted energies leave this space. May this room be safe, still, and peaceful, and may we experience joy, laughter and happiness in this room.” How do I know if there are entities in the room? If you are practised enough in sensing energies you will know straight away. However, if you are a beginner please keep in mind that your fear of entities alone can mean that you might believe there is an entity in your home even when there isn’t, or your fear might even attract one. Sometimes we can also fall prey to the power of influential words, and a psychic or someone else who senses energies might claim that you have a spirit in your home and then you will start seeing signs for its existence even if nothing is there. Even if the psychic didn’t pick up on a negative entity, but just said the word “spirit”, many people have different interpretations for this word based on religious beliefs, influence from movies and pop culture, etc. You may have misunderstood. In fact, there are a lot of spirits around us all the time, ancestral spirits, household spirits, plant and animal spirits- and not all of them mean harm. But some people interpret the word spirit to instantly mean the worst. Mould can also affect your mental health and if it has made you unwell enough it can make you hallucinate and see entities or experience haunting activity. Check for things like this before worrying and stressing yourself unnecessarily. If you had an entity that meant harm, you would just know. And until you experience the sense of “just knowing” this kind of thing, you probably will not understand what I mean here.  Energy flowering and blessings Once you have cleansed a space and depending on what you used to cleanse, the space or object might feel like a blank canvas. You need to do what is called energy flowering or charging to reconfigure the energy of a space or item. Energy flowering is usually done with floral waters, resins, crystals, or incense sticks. Bundles of herbs are used mostly for cleansing, but depending on the herb they can be used for flowering as well. But in my personal opinion herb bundles are best for cleansing only. Salt or soil can also be used for this- as I said before salt seems to carry a very electrical feeling energy, and soil from the earth can also be used to recharge objects. Resins are really good for raising vibrations and creating healing and beautiful emotional energies.  To recharge with incenses or resins, waft the energy around the home but in clockwise circles and if possible use your dominant hand. You can also hold objects like tarot cards or crystals in the smoke or you can waft the smoke towards yourself or someone else. Cinnamon, sandal, frankincense, myrrh, and dragons blood are really good for this purpose.  To recharge with floral waters, you can wash objects in them, or you can sprinkle them around the walls, doors, and windows. Altar spaces and deity images usually really like this type of cleansing. To recharge objects with soil, bury them until they feel ready. Make sure to leave yourself a marker on the ground so you know where they are buried. If you live in an apartment, you can definitely bury things in a pot of soil. If you cannot get soil you can also leave objects on a bed of salt for as long as needed. To recharge using crystals, place the crystal you want to use over the object or within the space and leave it for as long as needed. Clear quartz is a good energy conductor and will bring intense universal energies down. Copper is also really good for conducting energy, so if you have any copper items they can help recharge an item or space as well. Blessings A blessing ritual is a really lovely way to give a room, a person, or an object your goodwill, and also to call down the highest good upon something. You can make a charm to bless someone, you can pray or speak over someone or something, or you can also anoint objects, places, or people with sacred oils. This is also where some fun stuff like glitter, colourful threads, beads and other cool stuff can work its way into your magic. A basic blessing ritual for a person White, pink, and green candles Rose water Salt Rice Anointing oil Honeysuckle incense A bowl of water, soap and a towel.

Create a small mixture of salt, rice, and your anointing oil. Keep some of these ingredients separate and to the side. Wash the hands of the person you are blessing with the rose water, and rub the salt, rice, and oil mixture into their hands gently. They can rest their hands for a bit until the ritual is done. Sprinkle their head with the rose water, and offer rice and salt to them in the direction of their mouth (they don’t have to eat it so don’t shove it in their mouth lol) and also to the each side of their temples and the top of their head (you just need to hold it in your hand and point it in the directions listed above). Waft the incense around them three times clockwise, and offer the candles to them by moving them in a clockwise circle three times as well around the person. As you are doing this you can say out loud or in your heart “May you be well, may you be protected, and may you be free from suffering.” Think of everything good that you wish for this person as you are doing this ritual.  Anoint their forehead at the hairline with the oil. You can then offer them the soap, water and towel for them to clean their hands once all this is done. The ritual is complete! Making charms for blessing and protection You can make charm bags and fill them with all sorts of fun stuff like colourful glitters, sequins, crytals, herbs, meaningful items, images of deities, or handwritten prayers or sigils. Colourful glitters are cool because glitter is fabulous, and all the colours have meanings associated with them so you can pick the colours based on what you want to achieve. You can also make yourself some jewellery, and if you want to you could use religious icons or images in your jewellery, or choose colourful beads that represent certain ideas, archetypes, or deities.  Other charms can also be candles or herbs for example. You could hang dried herbs around the home, or you can anoint a candle with an oil of choice and it will act as a charm. You can also anoint jewellery with oils. Making a charm from jewellery Select a piece of jewellery. It is better if it is made of something like gold or silver, as fashion jewellery can become damaged from oils of whatever you might use. Beadwork should be fine. You can make this into a ritual if you like, or you can keep it simple. Personally, I like to keep things simple when it comes to making charms, but each to their own. You can remix this however you like to suit your needs.  Before you start, I believe it is respectful to ask the object if it wants to become a charm. Even inanimate objects contain the spirit of the universe or contain a consciousness. You cannot force it to serve you, so please ask respectfully if it is happy to help you. You will sense the answer with your intuition, or you might experience other phenomena such as synchronicities, seeing or sensing colours or energy, or hearing something. Just listen patiently. If it says yes, wash the object in water to purify it and leave it on a bed of salt for a hot minute. Light some candles with the colour that corresponds to your intention, and burns some incense. Anoint the charm in a blessing oil, and ask it to carry this intent for you. You can pray over it or speak over it what you intend for this charm. Give the offerings of candles and incense to the charm and thank it for helping you. It is respectful to bow before the object while giving it thanks.

It is now ready to wear, but you might want to clean it off. I can’t imagine jewellery with caked-on salt looks too nice. Creating protective charms for the home Religious iconography near doorways is a really good option if you are able to openly display these. Some cultures make protective charms from certain objects like horseshoes, chilli peppers, bells, lemons, sigils, or similar items from temples and shrines. In each case, it is again respectful to ask the object if it wants to help you.  You can do a similar ritual to the above, or you can make your own charms for the house. Basil charm to call down holy fire Basil is a herb I use in spiritual healing because I find it often has a very fiery energy that can really intensely open up and allow universal energy to flow. It is very simple to make, all you need to do is dry a bunch of basil. Ask if it is happy to serve as a charm for the home. If it says yes you can hang it in the home up high above the head, and preferably in the main room such as a lounge room so that everyone can be influenced.

Bay leaf doorway charm Sew some dried bay leaves together in a chain, big enough to fit the measurements of the door frame you wish to place it over. Once the length of the chain is big enough for the door, ask the object if it wants to serve you. If the answer is yes, hang it above your door frame. This will protect evil spirits from entering the home and will bring luck and abundance to those inside.  Jar of holy salts for the bedside Combine sea salt in a jar with oils such as peppermint, frankincense, orange and lavender. You can mix in some of the same dried herbs if you like as well. Ask the object if it wishes to serve you, and if yes place it by the bed. This is a protective charm that will ensure a peaceful sleep without being bothered by bad dreams, negative entities, or anything else that you want to keep away. I had a friend who had a terrifying experience of having his name yelled at him by some sort of spirit just as he sat down to sleep. This charm has helped him feel calm and protected and he has not experienced the issue since.

Maintaining charms Charms do not want to be forgotten. They can often become spiritually blank or deadened and will be unable to continue their purpose if they are not cared for. They need love, they are a consciousness that wishes for its own happiness. One of the best ways to keep charms happy I find is to talk to them and build a relationship with them. In the morning when I do my regular incense burning and candle lighting I also give them offerings as well, by going around the house and waving the incense and candles towards them. I might also re-anoint them when needed. I find that if the object is respected as being holy and as being part of the family it will continue to happily serve the home. Don’t forget this step to give your charms love and treat them as if they are alive with consciousness!  ♥ Building a relationship with the spirits of the home and land for protection Just as charms contain a consciousness, so do all inanimate and animate objects in the home and on the land which your home resides. It is good to honour these spirits and energies with offerings, and they can, in turn, be called upon to protect the home. I always leave incense burning in a safe place outside as an offering to the spirits of the land and home, and as I do so I ask for their protection upon the home. Over time, you will be able to sense their energies more and they will begin to surround you and protect you. You do not need to do much here except allow time and routine to do the work for you. 

[fandom-puff]

Mistake

Pairing: Alfie Solomons x ShelbySister!Reader

Requested by: anon

Summary: Alfie knew he made a mistake when he pushed you away, and when you show up in the middle of a meeting with Tommy, it all comes flooding back to him

AN: sorry writing has been few and far between this past week. I’m honestly not feeling much inspiration to write the requests in my inbox (don’t worry- if I’m not writing yours I’ll say- plz don’t bombard me asking if I’m doing this that abd the other!). Also, tomorrow, I’m gonna make a start on the kinktober stuff, so I can get it all queued up for the relevant days. Anyways, enjoy.

Gif creds to owner

Warnings: swearing

He remembered it, plain as day.

The way your smile faded into a deep frown; the way your bright eyes dulled, before filling up with tears; the movement of your lips, despite no words coming out; the cream cake you had left on his desk as you fled the bakery before the tears could fall.

He couldn’t bring himself to eat the pretty cake, slightly squashed from being in your bag, the icing a little lopsided...

He let ollie have it when he told him to cancel they table at the restaurant he was meant to be taking you to that very night. “Shame, that, Boss. She seemed to really like you,” ollie said, leaving the room before he could get a clip round the ear.

“Yeah... yeah it is,” Alfie had mumbled into nothingness, staring at the door rattling in its frame. He brooded for weeks, hardly seeing anyone, snapping at those he did. But it was more than his life’s worth to even think about seeing the Shelby girl as much as he had been. If word of your illicit relationship reached Birmingham, all deals with the brothers would be off- as well as, most likely, his head.

Or cock, he thought shrewdly, sighing as a telegram from Birmingham came through. It had been three months since he last saw hide nor hair of a Shelby, and he could only imagine what Tommy wanted with him now.

***

Life in small heath was, admittedly, not as glamorous as it was in London, and no where near as exciting as the bakery in Camden Town. Still, it was your home, and you adored every inch of it. On your first night back- the train had been delayed- you went to your aunt Pol’s not wanting to deal with Tommy’s bombardment of questions at that hour. Once Polly had lowered the gun she held to your forehead as you came into the house unannounced, she pulled you into a tight hug and fixed you some whiskey, sensing that tea probably wasn’t strong enough.

“I’ll talk to tommy,” she said gently. “Tell him the deals off. He shouldn’t have sent you in the first place, not to London. Not on your own,” she said, before tucking you up in bed. You were glad no one had told her that her niece had been to barter with Solomons all those months ago (she would never have allowed it in the first place). Even if she sensed your heart shattering into a million pieces, she was none the wiser to who caused your heartache. You were fine with that.

***

That was until three months since your return- and not a word said to tommy about the issue with Solomons- you barged into Tommy’s office.

“Cakes and pies for you, boys! Can go running a business on empty bellies- shit. Sorry Tom. No one told me you had a meeting. Wasn’t in the diary,” you said bashfully as John grinned at you.

“Not to worry, YN. Mr Solomons dropped by,” tommy said cooly as John took the cakes off you and put them on the counter with the whiskey. “Polly seems to think that all business deals with Mr Solomons here have been rejected. Deal’s off, she told me,” you gulped under the gaze of your older brothers, biting you lip slightly as Alfie turned slowly to you, the wide brim of his hat casting shadows over your face.

“Why don’t you come and sit down, Miss YN?” He said. You squeezed your eyes shut before opening them. It had been so long since you’d heard him speak.

“Don’t you bloody tell our sister what to do,” Arthur growled from the side of Tommy’s desk.

“Shut up Arthur,” you and tommy said at the same time as Tom directed you to sit down next to Alfie anc across from him. “Now, YN, I sent you to London last year for a very simple purpose. To get Mr Solomons on our side. Now, you come back to small heath eight months later, telling me that there’s no deal. That mr Solomons got cold feet. Now that, YN, is bullshit. Because we all know what a negotiatior you are. Lord knows, it’s a wonder we got anything done while you were little, forever insisting we teach you things you had no need to know,”

You looked to your knees, before looking back up at tommy, decided to fix him with a matching icy stare. You would not be lectured by your brother, not now that you were a woman yourself.

“And then, three months after her return,” he continued. “It comes to light, Solomons, that there was a deal. But you sent my sister away with no real explanation,” he turned to Alfie. “And I’d like to... put that to rights, if you will. Your lot need us, Alfie, as much as we need you. Now. Explain. Why’s my sister sent away despite her very reasonable deal, Hm?”

It was quiet for a moment, and you hoped to any god who was listening that Alfie would bluff his way out with one of his meandering speeches.

“Right, well, you see right,” a promising start... “you send your little sister, who’s a proper little woman, right, down into my bakery, with her pretty eyes and her flirty laughing, yeah? You send your little sister down to Camden Town to seduce me,”

Shut the fuck up, Alfie, you thought.

“And yeah, I admit it worked for a bit, yeah, took her out a few times an’ all,” Tommy’s eyes hardened, and Arthur and John had murderous expressions on their faces. “We was getting along alright, wasn’t we, YN, love?” You nodded, your jaw tense. You would certainly be in trouble with your brothers after this. “But then I sent her away. Told her ‘nah, YN, pet, we can’t keep this up, right? Too fuckin’ dangerous for you down here, yeah. And what would your brothers think, eh? What if you end up pregnant or summin’” I said to her, right, and sent her back up to this shithole to keep her out of trouble,” he leaned back in his chair, as if his explanation had solved everything.

It most certainly had not.

If looks could kill, Alfie Solomons would definitely be six feet under, under the harsh glare of the Shelby brothers. You snapped.

“For fucks sake!” You cried. “So I’m seeing Alfie fucking Solomons! So what?” You demanded. “What’re your going to do about it, eh? Cut him a new smile and have half of London after us, eh? You said it yourself, Tommy, we need Solomons as much as his lot need the Shelby’s!”

Your chest rose and fell with fury, and Alfie couldn’t help the gaze of adoration that he bestowed upon you.

“YN,” Arthur said, his measured voice forced, as if he was trying very hard not to shout. “If this man... this-this bastard has hurt you or threatened you-”

“Oh shut up, Arthur. Not every man is a threat to me,”

“But YN, you’re-”

“I’m what, John, eh? Delicate? Stupid? Too young? Fuck off. How many times have aunt Pol, Ada and I fixed your messes, eh? I think I know what I’m doing!”

You rounded on tommy, who was suspiciously quiet. “Alfie Solomons is a very dangerous man, YN,” he said steadily.

“Oi, Tommy, mate, I am right here. I let Arthur slide, yeah, Cos he’s off his rocker,”

“Shut it, Alfie,” you hissed, and he held his hands up in surrender. “Tom. I’ve grown up around dangerous men. All my life, I’ve had dangerous men around me. Dangerous men walked me to school. Dangerous men helped with my homework. Dangerous men took me for my first proper drink. Dangerous men have and always will be my family,” you spoke with such passion, your eyebrows firmly knitted together as you spoke, jaw set the way it always did when you refused to back down. “I am not a child anymore, boys. I can’t be tucked away nice and quiet in Small Heath all my life. Just be glad that you’re aware of this now and not when I’m four months pregnant with a baby I’ve no intention of getting rid of!” You swiped angrily at the tears that had trickled down your cheeks as you glared tommy down.

Sighing, he stubbed out his cigarette and stood up, straightening his jacket. “That’s that then,” he said, beckoning an unwilling Arthur and John to follow him (both murmuring angrily and confused).

“Oh and Solomons? I expect to see a ring on my sister’s finger by Sunday,” he said, before slamming the door shut.

Tags: @lotsoffandomrecs @rai-strangebr @peakyswritings @fifty-shadesof-tommyshelby @zodiyack @haphazardhufflepuff

@raccoon-is-my-spirit-animal @anyataylcrjoys @hiddensapphic @rabeccablake @halepea @eleven-times-lively

[goldkirk]

My five happy things today

1) I’m finally making the effort to re-bond with Aoife SERIOUSLY and drag myself out of my moping pit lately and it’s paying off so much, she’s so much more wanting to interact with ME and sit for pets from ME and follow ME around like a puppy

2) I just remembered I still have part of the smoothie in the fridge from last night

3) the weather is super muggy but it’s not as as last week still and I’m so so so so so so grateful and so much more able to be awake and do things than I have been most of this month. I’m SO HAPPY ABOUT THAT

4) I’m so grateful to not be depressed. I’m so grateful to not feel that way all the time oh man and to not be dissociating more than once or twice a month I haven’t felt this good mental health wise since age…12? I’m so grateful I’m so grateful I’m so grateful I’m so grateful (it’s been less than a year since I was in such a bad state that I wasn’t even able to spent one single day not in terror and total overload and despair and now I have a DOG which I didn’t expect to get for years and I don’t have a body full of physical panic at all times and I don’t have nightmares every single night anymore and I’m safer and less scared and I am much much more stable AND I found out about contacts you can wear for a whole month straight AND how better your skin can feel if you just moisturize it sometimes and I’m so blown away at how different it is from last year at this time. Also my nephew is safer now so while I really fucked things up along the way of that mess things have worked out more than they were last year in terms of safety anc daily living for that family so we’ll call all of that a win!

5) I’m doing a good job of reaching out to 3 people each day that I’ve ghosted and gotten behind on messages with (I’m so sorry to all of you on here—tumblr is overwhelming still rn and I usually don’t have eno h energy left for it, but I’m almost finished with other platforms, so soon I’ll be back on here more and able to start answering more asks and stuff that you’ve been waiting on for ages 😓💕)

6) (BONUS) I FINALLY AM WELL ENOUGH TO BE DOING HOBBIES AGAIN AND NOT JUST HOBBIES BUT SOMETIMES TRYING A NEW HOBBY!!!!!! Do you know how many years it’s been since I tried ANY new craft hobby? At least six. I just tried diamond painting and I’m getting my first tatting shuttle and bobbin set next week!!!! Guys I READ AND FINISHED A BOOK!!!!! not an audiobook, a REAL PRINTED CHAPTER BOOK I read a WHOLE book in less than a week!!!!! I haven’t finished a book by myself in over a YEAR till now! I just read a BOOK I JUST READ A BOOK I AM SO HAPPY MY BRAIN IS SLOWLY HEALING I AM SO HAPPY I READ A BOOK

[anotherkpopvictim]

Broken But Healing - Hoseok X BTS Littlespace Drabble

“Imogen asked: I’d love little Hobi being really unwell (maybe even a hospital trip) and just being taken care of by the rest of the members.”

A/N: First of all, thank you so much for requesting! I changed it slightly to an injury sending Hobi to the hospital instead of an illness or something. I hope I did your request justice.

Second, I am so sorry for posting this literally months after you requested it. Sometimes life just doesn’t bring me the will or inspiration to write, but I finally got it finished in a way that I liked.

Relationship: Little!Hoseok X Caregivers!BTS

Rating: G

Words: 2114

Hurt/comfort, fluff

DISCLAIMER: I don’t know shit about medical stuff so I’m sorry if it’s inaccurate but I tried my best.

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Hoseok knew that going into a career that involved dancing meant having sore feet all the time and countless other injuries. It was unavoidable. He’d been lucky enough in his thirteen years of dancing not to have done anything severe. He’d never even broken a bone before.

However, there was a first time for everything.

All the BTS members and staff were gathered together in the rented performance hall, polishing everything up for the online concert they were going to be having in just a few weeks’ time.

Hoseok made a simple misstep while going through the choreography and his foot missed the stage, instead plunging him off of the rather high platform they were on.

As the lead dancer felt the breath knock out of him and an excruciating pain running up his left leg, he could hear the distant-sounding calls of his bandmates.

“Hoseok-ah!”

“Hyung!”

Namjoon was the first one to reach him, followed quickly by the other members and some of their staff. The leader had wide, concerned eyes as he kneeled next to Hoseok’s collapsed form. “Hobi-hyung, can you hear me?”

There were a few startled gasps and a couple swear words from the others, but Hoseok could barely focus on anything other than Namjoon’s face, the floaty feeling in his head, and the sudden numbness in his whole body.

“Hobi-hyung,” Namjoon repeated, trying his best to keep his voice calm.

Hoseok swallowed, “J-Joonie?” his tone was soft and airy, instantly giving away his little headspace. “H-Hobi f-fell.”

Namjoon, who immediately crowded in closer when he realized the other was in littlespace, took his hand and smiled sadly. “I know you did, baby. It was a pretty bad fall.”

Seokjin came into his view, immediately taking up Hoseok’s other hand. “Can you tell hyungs how you’re feeling, sweetheart?”

“I-It hurt before, but the pain went away now,” Hoseok replied softly.

Seokjin and Namjoon shared a concerned look between them at that.

Before anything else could be said, Jimin appeared at Hoseok’s head, upside down in his vision. “Baby, it looks like you’re gonna get to ride in an ambulance today, isn’t that cool?”

“Am-bu-ance,” Hoseok sounded out, eyes widening. “B-But the pain is gone. Hobi doesn’t need help.”

“Your leg is hurt, honey,” Seokjin said, kissing the little’s knuckles in comfort. “A doctor needs to look at it.”

Hoseok whined, looking between his three bandmates. “H-Hurt? I-Is it bad?”

There was a silence before Jimin smiled at him, though even upside down it looked more like a wince. “It’s pretty bad, baby.”

Almost instinctively, Hoseok lifted his head to glance down at his legs but was stopped by his three boyfriends pushing him back and shaking their heads frantically at him.

“No, don’t get up, sweetheart,” Seokjin said, a strained smile on his lips. “Don’t look at it.”

“Just look at us,” Jimin added, running his fingers through Hoseok’s disheveled dark locks.

Hoseok was so distracted and out of it that he barely noticed when the paramedics arrived, nor when they stabilized his leg. He frowned when he was lifted onto a gurney and the world began flying by. He immediately missed the warmth of Seokjin, Namjoon, and Jimin’s hands on him.

Yoongi came into his view before he could whine in displeasure, running a hand through the younger’s hair before they lifted him into the ambulance. The eldest rapper hopped in after him and sat next to him as the vehicle started up.

“I’m right here, Hobi-ah. Hyung’s right here, love,” Yoongi assured him.

A few seconds went by (or a few minutes - Hoseok’s mind was getting too fuzzy to understand time properly) before the younger spoke up. “H-Hyungie, don’t feel good.”

“I know you don’t, bub,” Yoongi replied softly. “It’ll be okay, though. I promise.”

Hoseok didn’t get to hear anymore before he fell completely into unconsciousness, but the older man’s words made him feel more at ease.

------------------------------------------

“How is he?” Jungkook stood up abruptly in the private waiting room as Yoongi walked in. Jimin put a hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle tug so he would sit back down.

Yoongi sighed, “He passed out on the way here. The paramedics said it was from shock but his vital signs were normal, if a bit elevated but they said it was to be expected. They just took him into the operating room so I had to leave him.”

“Did they say anything about how badly his leg was broken?” Namjoon asked worriedly.

Yoongi shook his head and sunk into Taehyung’s lap, who wasted no time wrapping his arms around his hyung.

Being a dancer and just an active person in general, all of them were worried about how long this injury was going to affect their boyfriend and how he would get through it.

It felt like forever before the doctor finally came into the room, a small smile on his lips. “Jung Hoseok is doing alright,” he said before anything else. The man was on the shorter side and probably in his late forties, a pair of black-framed glasses sitting on his nose. Dr. Song was one of the doctors that frequently tended to the BTS members, so it was nice to see a familiar face.

All six of them were on their feet and anxiously awaiting what the doctor would say next.

The man took a deep breath and glanced down at his file. “Hoseok-ssi suffered an impacted fracture of his left fibula and caused some damage internally, but nothing major was disrupted. Thankfully, he only has two hairline fractures in his tibia that should heal within a few weeks.”

They all let out a simultaneous sigh of relief; at least Hoseok hadn’t broken both leg bones.

“And the operation went alright?” Seokjin asked.

Dr. Song nodded, “Smooth sailing. He’ll be in a cast for about eight or nine weeks. After that, with some physical therapy, he should be back to dancing by the beginning of next year.”

“That’s good to hear,” Jimin said with a smile. “Thank you so much for everything, Dr. Song.”

The man smiled back at him. “No need to thank me. I can take you to him now if you’d like, though he is still unconscious at the moment.”

The six of them eagerly followed the doctor through the maze of hallways until they reached a room marked with ‘Private Room #7’ written on it in clear, bold letters.

“He should be awake within the hour but he’ll probably be out of it for a good while after that. We’ve given him some medication for the pain and judging by the notes on his file that says he’s sensitive to drugs, he’ll most likely be a bit loopy.” Dr. Song explained as he led them into the private room.

The room itself was fairly large and had a sofa and a few chairs around for seating. Dr. Song moved to pull aside a curtain that revealed Hoseok laying on the hospital bed. He only had an IV in his hand and a heartrate monitor over his left pointer finger. They observed their boyfriend’s paler than normal complexion but peaceful face as he slept.

“I’ll come back in a little while with some prescriptions to help with his pain,” Dr. Song gave a quick smile and bow which the boys all returned before the man left the room.

As soon as the doctor had disappeared, all six pairs of eyes were back on their boyfriend’s unconscious form and a silence fell over the room for a few minutes.

“He’s not going to be happy when he wakes up to find himself in the hospital,” Yoongi commented.

Jimin hummed in agreement, “He hates hospitals.”

They all knew how much of an understatement that was. Hoseok had a huge phobia of hospitals. Thankfully, their private room was fairly comfortable and homey, only the IV and monitor giving an indicator it was a hospital room at all.

“Do you think he’ll be Little?” Seokjin asked.

“Hard to say for sure,” Namjoon replied. “Though I think he might slip pretty quickly even if he wakes up Big.”

Jungkook was the one that looked away from Hoseok long enough to realize that they were kind of just creepily standing around his bed, hovering over him. “I think we’ll scare him if he wakes up and sees us like this.”

They went about gathering some chairs and along with the couch in the room, there was enough seating for all of them.

Taehyung was leaning on his hand as he watched Hoseok once more. He pouted and sighed, “I feel bad for hyung. I hope his leg will heal alright.”

Yoongi reached over from his seat to ruffled Taehyung’s hair, a fond smile on his lips. “We’ll do everything we can to help him, and we can hope.”

----------------------------------------------

Hoseok blinked his eyes open, though they felt like they were weighed down by lead. He was met with the sight of a white ceiling and tan walls and unmistakable machinery beside him, and his six boyfriends scattered around the room.

Namjoon and Jimin were curled up together in a comfy chair on the right side of the bed Hoseok was on, fast asleep. Yoongi and Jin were slumped together on a couch a few feet away from the end of the bed, also fast asleep.

The only two who seemed to be awake were the maknaes. Taehyung and Jungkook were both seated on a chair together on Hoseok’s left, speaking softly with each other. When they caught sight of Hoseok’s open eyes they sat up straighter and looked at him with wide eyes.

“Hyung!” Jungkook blurted out.

Taehyung immediately shushed him, “Don’t wake the others.” Then he turned back to Hoseok with that gentle, boxy smile of his. “I’m so glad you’re awake, hyung. You really scared us earlier.”

Hoseok blinked at them, still trying to put the puzzle pieces of what had happened together. He was in a hospital - that much he had gathered - but the why was what he didn’t know.

Jungkook seemed to read his mind and said softly, “You had an accident during our concert rehearsal earlier.”

Oh, now he remembered.

Hoseok’s face paled and his eyes widened as his mind replayed the horrible experience. Tears welled up in his eyes before he could stop them, and he sniffled loudly. “H-Hobi gots hurt!” he managed out with a scratchy voice.

Jungkook instantly got up and hurried out of the room to get him a cup of water, while Taehyung’s face softened at Little Hobi. “You did, bub.” He replied, taking one of Hoseok’s hands into his own. “But you’re going to be just fine. Do you hurt at all right now, sweetheart?”

Hoseok shook his head and Taehyung smiled, relieved.

Jungkook returned with a large Styrofoam cup of iced water. He held it out and positioned the straw for Hoseok to take a sip. The cool water instantly helped the dryness in his throat.

“D-Does...” Little Hobi started, “Does Hobi have booboos?”

Taehyung and Jungkook shared a glance before Taehyung answered, “Yeah, baby. You broke your leg, but the doctor fixed it up in a cast so it can heal quickly.”

Hoseok let out a little whine as he looked at his legs, obscured from his view by a mountain of blankets (Seokjin’s doing probably). One leg was obviously larger than the other because of the cast, but at least he wasn’t in any pain.

“Hobi hyu- I mean, Hobi love,” Jungkook said, grabbing his attention once more. “I got some colorful markers from the nurses,” he held up a small bag of markers that Hoseok had missed, “I thought maybe we could draw pretty things all over your cast to help it get better. What do you think?”

Hoseok’s eyes widened and he smiled, tiredly but happily. “Yes, yes! Please Kookie. Please Taehyungie! Draw pretty pictures, please!”

The two maknaes chuckled fondly. Taehyung nodded, “Of course, love.”

Hoseok wasn’t so scared when Jungkook maneuvered the blankets off of his left leg and revealed the bulky cast covering most of his leg. It looked too plain, but Taehyung and Jungkook quickly worked to fix that by covering it in a variety of colors.

Hoseok giggled as the other two bickered about their drawings, feeling the last of the absolute fear he’d felt earlier leave him completely. He was still uncomfortable in the hospital, his fear ever lingering, and he was even more scared about his leg healing, but he knew he had his six boyfriends right by his side (quite literally, right now) who would help him through the tough weeks to come.

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A/N: Fun fact: I have never broken a bone before so I don’t know actually know what it feels like. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it!!

[popculture-etc]

Kenny Rogers, Adam Schlesinger,...coping with 2020

Worst year ever although there were some good.

It’s too early yet for me to do a quick look back on what 2020 is like here as we’re only going to be in the first of December tomorrow (it’s Nov 30 here) but I just have to as two losses this year broke me. Kind of, well, especially the second one.

You see, before East Asian pop, Jpop and Kpop, Western pop culture was my thing. It still is and this pandemic has made me go back to that recently starting with...the Beach Boys (their westcoast sound caught me, hook, line, and sinker and I wasn’t very fond of the Beatles to begin with...to be completely honest) I’m currently chillin’ to right now, as I write this post. I’m really weak to the westcoast sound. Beach sound/s in general, rather. I’m a big fan of the beach where nature goes, for one. Since some time, a few years ago, deep chill and tropical house music has been my go-to when I want to chill or calm myself down after an outburst of sorts and I put them on when I just feel meh, especially on Fridays. When I dream of being by the sea, the beach or in some island on my own. I live in a country with a lot of beaches and the Visayas here is basically island region Philippines, lol. Like most people, I listen to music according to mood just like the way I dress according to mood. And...it’s no wonder, really that I’m so into the Beach Boys now. RIP the Beatles. My dad played some songs of theirs on the guitar or so but the hold they have on me waned later on and I just think now how overrated they were back then. They did have good songs but when talking of good music, as in really good that it retains the same sound style or so, it’s the Beach Boys for me. Brian Wilson is the man despite his issues and personal struggles.

Anyway, we’re going quickly off tangent. I’ll save the Beach Boys fangirling for another day. lol.

I grew up with western pop culture rife all around me thanks to my American, cowboy country and folk music listening dad, my Carpenters-loving mom and then, college-aged aunts who’d made me see the Titanic film more than my fingers could count---the third is clearly an exaggeration but well...some of it is true and they were why I got into American films like Pretty Woman (we have this in good ol’ VHS in our family home, my grandparents’ in Jasaan), Mannequin, Ghost etc. in the late 80s, coming into the early 90s. So, tired of all the kdrama and uninteresting kvariety shows on tvn and the rebranded local channel, Kapamilya (long story for what we formerly know as ABS-CBN, the nation’s a mess right now and our gov’t’s just...ick!), I’d retreated to my cave and got into old tv shows I’d watched as a kid instead like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and it’s been, well, moving on from there. I’m checking out Twin Peaks later. I’ve been watching old Hollywood films too. Some revisits on this include: Casablanca, Gone With The Wind, and especially A Streetcar Named Desire will always and forever be my favorite. Very young and cute and good looking Marlon Brando, ugh. I have some others in the stash which include Bonnie and Clyde I’ll be getting into much, much later, maybe over the weekends and holidays. In sum, I have a long history with western pop culture, especially America’s, more than I have with Japan’s and South Korea’s. The latter being very, very recent so it doesn’t really compare as much.

Let’s get right down to it...

So 2020 had us lose Kenny Rogers to natural causes on March 20 in a hospice and after, Adam Schlesinger to COVID 19 complications on April 1. I know the latter as the songwriter of The Wonders’ That Thing You Do from the film sharing the same song title. I know Kenny Rogers well because my dad listens to him over and over in the car. In pretty much the same way, I know the words to Islands in the Stream by heart and I accept and revere it as one of the best, if not THE BEST country-pop duet songs of all time between Kenny and Dolly Parton...as far as country and pop music in the US of A’re concerned, of course. Miley and Shawn Mendez’s cover of it I’d seen recently was alright but nothing still beats the OG one, as always. With music, it’s just, really always the case.

Kenny departing from us March this year was alright. He was well cared for in a hospice and at the right age too, to leave us and this mess of a world behind for the afterlife. Sounds grim but not really. Heh. He died of natural causes so we know he was at peace and accepted then that his time has come. Fans and long-time listeners of his should also be at peace with this knowledge. I don’t consider myself a fan but since he’s been around so much because my dad plays his songs in the car often, I’m the same. I’ve accepted his passing away early this year. He’s lived his life well and given us good music to listen to should we like to remember him and his works and celebrate his life and legacy doing so.

Schlesinger’s case was way worse because, well, COVID 19. And it’s well...I guess we all saw it coming, me included, that I’d just learned, watching the one of many national English news on ANC that ‘pandemic’ is the word of the year according to Merriam-Webster. Timely, huh? Yep. Predictable, really. Sarcasm noted here.

So if someone ever asks what 2020 was about, we only have to say that according to Merriam-Webster, it’s the global (COVID 19) pandemic. Short, not-so-sweet, succinct, and grim. Yep.

This one, Schlesinger’s case, is something I still find difficult to accept. He was only 52 years old! He was at the prime of his life and had some projects still he was working on at the time of his passing so WHY?! I suppose that’s all of us who followed him and his extensive work on tv, film, the stage and his own band, Fountains of Wayne when we heard news he’s passed away due to COVID 19 complications. It’s definitely me now though I learned of it late. Heh.

To cope with the sadness of losing Schlesinger, gone too soon at 52 years old and with an impressive Hollywood tv, stage, film resume to his name since and his own band’s, Fountains of Wayne (FoW) really good discography, by the way, I’ve been listening to FoW’s Welcome Interstate Managers---all of the contents of said album/record---and That Thing You Do’s OST with the Beach Boys’ Sounds of Summer Best of in between. My favorite song on Welcome Interstate Managers is the sarcastic take on real life as an everyday worker in sales, Bright Future in Sales. As much as I like chill sounds where music goes, I like me some music with lyrics jolting us back to grim reality in much the same way I like films (indies, mostly, or lesser known short and full-length ones) that tackle social issues not frequently discussed in public or so but we are aware are there, still plaguing much of today’s society. I live for cynical, satirical, ironic, and even hyperbolic stuff about real life actually. It may be why I’m so entrenched and attached to the era where we all hated ourselves---the 90s. Although one would say much of that sentiment or feeling did carry itself to the 2000s, though. I don’t know about you, but until now, I still hate or have heavy dislike for myself and everything else around me, especially our gov’t or current admin here in the Philippines, and people in general so I don’t think it ever really goes away. And going off tangent again for the nth time today.

Anyway, my 1996 was That Thing You Do on HBO in our household...on and off along with other 90s films like The Craft, Clueless, Jawbreakers (I think this still plays in Cinemax from time to time) so of course losing Schlesinger also was...rather, is hard. He’s done so much and he was supposed to be working on more and he’s left such a deep mark here for us, avid fans of American pop culture...I suppose, even the casual ones. Aside from his That Thing You Do, I’d also seen Josie and the Pussycats at some point. I don’t remember when, where...though I did watch some episodes of the cartoon on Cartoon Network (CN) so of course, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the film of it as well. He worked on a track or some tracks there, too. 

2020 sucks. COVID 19 sucks. This global pandemic sucks. But at least there’re films, tv shows, music, stage musical plays turned movies (Jonathan Larson’s Tick, Tick...Boom! is coming to us soon with Andrew Garfield in the lead---I’m wary of Garfield being a forgettable actor since The Amazing Spider Man because Dane Dehaan was what made that for me, to be quite honest so I’m not so sure of him being Jon here and as a self-respecting Larson fan since Rent, I’d rather they casted Neil Patrick Harris/NPH since he was in the London stage for this way back anyway...) to keep us entertained and fine until then. What would it take for ‘rona, and I’m not talking about the American Corona beer here that’s really popular in the west coast, to go away? I, like the rest of you in self isolation or quarantine, tend to think so but I don’t think we’ll have any answer to that until the vaccines are well underway by spring next year. Or at least, that’s what health authorities and scientists tell us anyway. I get reminded of it often in the news and I only tune in to that once in a while now because even that, following that daily, breaks my mental faculties down due to stress and pressure and all and I can’t have that when I still have so much, at the back of my mind, to do.

But anyway, time to conclude this one with one of my favorite The Wonders songs, All My Only Dreams just to end on a good note, better than the last paragraph’s ending at least and to remember Schlesinger as well that we’d lost this year along with plenty others we’d met in passing who’ve also left this world especially due to COVID 19 complications. I know we know a lot of those. For me, it’s a distant relative or family member I’d known since young but don’t have particular fluffy bunny feelings for because of some things that happened between the guy and me growing up in the NCR/Caloocan City to be exact. There’s also my good friend and former co-worker’s only remaining parent, her dad and a few more, I’m sure. So I hope 2021 would be better but I doubt it...very much. It’s still looking pretty dim, grim and bleak from here, where I’m currently standing in 2020.

Before we really end though, COVID 19 is definitely not a hoax. It hasn’t been since the first cases started in Wuhan, China. It’s just, only been getting worse and still continue to claim lives and spread to more people even those at home. So as someone who comes from a household of mostly medical workers or health care workers here, we should really be very careful about and around it. Let’s take the necessary health protocols seriously like wearing a mask out and maybe the face shield too and always keeping the sanitizers, alcohols in our bags among others---hygiene and sanitation, disinfection. It may come off really anal of me and I am not anal (I don’t like people with Type A personalities in the first place, lol...I’m just a very cautious Virgo, really, and a Type X---mix of Type C and D personalities) but seriously, SERIOUSLY, I can’t stress this enough, COVID 19, the virus SARS-COV2, that causes it is real. Very real and once it’s in your system, it can go the fatal, deadly way or just the mild and you’ll recover later anyway way. It’s not picking which people should die next and which should not, really. It’s really just there making a mess of things that are already messy since the beginning. My point being, it’s just better if we don’t spread it or are careful enough not to contract it with following health protocols set by health experts, scientists to help us get by this...pandemic. 

Well here’s to 2020 being over soon and 2021 creeping in on us soon enough. 

P.S.

Billie Armstrong of Greenday upped a cover of That Thing You Do as a tribute to Adam and the youtube live of the Wonders coming together again to pay tribute to and celebrate Adam’s life may still be up on the ‘tube. I have yet to see the latter but enjoyed the former. They are just so...sweet and precious. Ugh. Adam Schlesinger, gone too soon indeed. :(

PPS

Another songwriter/contributor in the TTYD OST passed away last year, too. Rick Elias. Cause of death is brain cancer. I had a friend from college, young and so full of life and dreams, who passed away due to the same thing so I’m kind of aware how this goes. Ugh. Cancer sucks. All of these are just so...sad. Depressing, actually.

[dear-trashpanda]

Healthy Coping, PT. 1 – Sensory Hypersensitivity

So, I decided to make a series that focuses on different issues that give me a hard time, and I'll give you a detailed account on the techniques, tools and distractions I use to get through the tough times.

I'm planning to go through the following subjects:

Sensory hypersensitivity

Depression

Sleeping problems

Eating problems

Anxiety in various situations

Communication + Social troubles

DID related issues

These are the ones I could think of now, but there might be more coming, if there is something I forgot.

-----------

Part 1: Sensory Hypersensitivity

I have a lot of sensitivities, and while some of them are relatively easy to ignore, others make my life quite difficult/unpleasant. Since I grew up undiagnosed, and thus having to "pass for normal", I built myself a plethora of useful little tricks to survive when the world gets too much. Here they are, I hope you can find some that might help you!

Tactile toys: I have a ridiculously large array of toys I can interact with by touching them. I use clay, slimes, squishes and just different objects I like the texture of. I collect these small items and I keep them at strategic places so I can always have one at hand. How I use them: whenever I feel overwhelmed or just need to self-soothe, I find the texture my hands are craving at the moment and I squeeze/rub/hold them, I close my eyes and focus all my attention on the object I'm holding and the feeling it gives my fingers. This is working great for me because the feeling distracts me from the source of my distress, and the rhythmical movement helps me discharge the tension built up by the distressing situation. My favourite one: I have a little narwhal that has a slow-rising quishy inside covered in a super soft plush surface material. It's the perfect sensory toy for me because it's small, so I can have it with me when I'm out and about, it's pleasant to the touch, and I can give this guy a hard squeeze when I'm anxious, and bask in the joy of it slowly rising back to its original shape.

Noise cancelling headphones/true wireless earbuds: a friend of mine gave me a pair of great active noise cancelling headphones and it turned out to be a life-saver. Sometimes I don't even listen to music, I just have them on to block out the outside world. The only downside of those is that they are huge and bulky, so sneaking around with them is not an option. That's why I got myself a pair of true wireless earbuds. While these don't have ANC, their shape and snug fit makes for a great noise cancelling effect, and they are tiny, so I can have them discreetly on when I'm in a situation I have to get rid of the sounds around me (just the noise level of a store can easily overwhelm me), but it would be considered rude to be wearing headphones, or I can't have them with me for some other reason. They are also practical from a size point of view, since I can have them and their little charging pod in my pockets at all times. How I use them: I usually wear the headphones at home and the earbuds when I'm out and about. I also use a single earbud for sleeping, if I can't listen to my sleep sounds out loud. They are great for music, nature sounds or podcasts, and I can listen on them at a high volume as well, because they don't leak sound, so I'm not disturbing others with them. My favourite one: it's hard to tell, but I tend to use the earbuds more often, because wearing headphones gives me a headache after a while (because it's squeezing on my head), so the earbuds are more practical in that sense, although they can't live up to the sound quality of the headphones, so those are definitely better for music.

Fairy lights: Christmas lights are not just for Christmas! One of my favourite methods of creating soft ambient lighting is hanging garlands of fairy lights on my ceiling. One by one these little bulbs aren't intense enough to bother my eyes, but together they actually provide enough light that you can do basically anything by them. How I use them: I actually hooked them up to a switch socket (dunno if it's universal, but in Scandinavia most electrical outlets come with a safety switch, so you can turn off the power when you're not using them), and I just use them instead of a ceiling lamp. I like the warm white coloured ones the most, but it's entirely up to you and your preferences. My favourite one: I have a chain of fake light bulbs with little LED fairy lights inside them, they look absolutely adorable!

Scented items: smelling things is one of my favourite ways to decompress. Not only do smells bring back the strongest/most vivid memories, they are also the perfect reinforcement of pleasant/calming fantasies. I have scented candles, little pillows filled with lavender, different essential oils and perfumes I use in different situations. How I use them: I like to create positive triggers with smells. For example, if I know I'm going to be relaxing in my room, I spray a bit of my favourite scented humidifier in the air, so the room has a distinct smell while I'm doing the comfy/relaxing thing there, and every time I can no longer smell it, I add another puff. I do this consistently every time I am doing the relax routine, so after a while, a link is formed between the smell and the relaxed mood. Once the link is in place, I can use it as a positive trigger to put myself in a relaxed state just by smelling the same smell. My favourite one: lavenders for relaxing and my citrus body spray for a refreshed, happy mood.

"Easy foods": sometimes the reason I cannot eat is because the intensity/complexity of most foods' taste is overwhelming. For these occasions I've tested out some easy foods that I can still eat even when nothing else goes down. They are usually quite bland, but that's kind of the point... How I use them: If I realise I can't eat other food because of its intensity, I mentally go through the list of the simple tastes, trying to imagine myself eating them and hopefully I find one that would work. If I don't, I just drink some water, and then periodically repeat the exercise until I'm hungry enough so I can make myself eat something simple. My favourite one: rice fried with eggs and veggies. Rice and eggs, it doesn't get much simpler than that. It's warm, it's filling, and if you throw some veggies in there, it's also quite healthy. A little salt and pepper, and it's the perfect simple food.

Bonus round – clothing and shoes: if you are anything like me, you might know the total pain of being distracted the whole day because your shoes are a bit too tight or the fabric of your only clean shirt is rubbing painfully on your skin. I grew up thinking that the world was just a mildly, but constantly unpleasant place, and I was already a grown-up when I learnt that shoes and clothes don't have to hurt. Today, I shop with my fingertips, and I only wear stuff I'm actually comfortable in. I've learnt that I'm not obligated to "look good" for society's sake, and built my wardrobe around comfort and practicality. Important things to consider when you're buying new clothes/shoes: Make sure your skin agrees with the fabric, and don't buy stuff that looks good but drives you crazy with its texture. When buying shoes, remember, they have to be comfy in the store. The whole "you have to break them in" thing is bullshit, if they hurt in the store, they'll always hurt, and you don't want to put up with (potentially permanent) foot/leg/back pain for a pair of good-looking shoes.

I hope some of these tips will work for you and make your life easier. Feel free to add your own sensory relief techniques below!

~TP

[whatarubberchicken]

The Bodyguard’s Tale -Chapter 5

The sh*t hath hit-ith the fan... ith.

<<Previous - Ao3 or ff.net - Next>>

Chapter 5

It took two more days for the accursed heat—or rut or whatever, Keith had already decided he hated it—to run its course. That was two days of pain and longing and loneliness—Lance didn’t make another appearance, and when Shiro was able to come see him, he kept his visits short because Keith got more and more snappy as the days went by.

Finally, he was able to resume his duties, with no small amount of relief. (And maybe it was just his imagination, but Hunk looked relieved too. Apparently, Lance had been extra snippy as well.) To his surprise, Lance actually gave him the silent treatment for a whole day, even after Keith tried to apologize for what had happened.

The day after that, he went to the prince’s chambers, fully intending to clear the air. Nothing major, he could do this. He just had to explain that he hadn’t been in his right mind, and nothing they’d said or done should be—Wait, where was Lance?

He wasn’t in his room.

He wasn’t in any of his usual haunts in the castle.

“Lance?”

Keith was starting to get nervous. Had Lance actually been kidnapped? During his time here, he’d been led to believe that nobody hated the royal family and his job was purely for ceremony! Surely—

“Hey, Keith,” Shiro called cheerfully, strolling down the halls with another ambassador. Keith wasn’t sure if their name was really Pidge or something else, he couldn’t figure this person out. (But they were from Olkarion, so maybe that was the point? The Olkari did love their puzzles….) “I thought you were with Lance.”

“I’m looking for Lance,” Keith corrected. “Have you seen him?”

The two ambassadors shared an ‘eek’ look.

“He was heading for the space port,” Pidge said. “Said he was meeting you there.”

“Oh, quiznak.” Keith took off running. Once he got to the space port, he searched every passenger vehicle he could find, praying that Lance hadn’t gotten a note from somebody claiming to be Keith so they could kidnap him and—wait, weren’t those the new prototypes King Alfor was designing?

Keith paused in his search to look more carefully. Why was the blue one activated?

Blue just happened to be Lance’s favorite color….

He raced over and entered the giant blue lion (Alfor had said they were a tribute to some kind of ancient Altean lion god or something) just before the jaw snapped shut. Even though Keith had never been in a ship like this before, he somehow knew exactly where to go.

Sure enough, there was Lance, sitting in the pilot’s seat.

“WHAT do you think you are doing?!” Keith snapped, storming up behind him.

Lance looked surprised to see him. “Aww, Blue, why’d you let him in?”

“Are you talking to the ship?!”

“Of course,” Lance said, stroking the side of the chair lovingly. “My pretty girl is very sensitive, you know. Not everybody sees me as ‘just their job.’”

Keith facepalmed. “We’re not even going to delve into everything that’s wrong with that statement—just, get up, we’re leaving.”

“No way!” Lance said, settling himself deeper into the seat. “I was just getting a feel for her!” He grabbed the controls.

“Lance, this is a prototype that your father has been working on for decaphoebs!” Keith pointed out. “Even if he gave you permission to fly it, which he won’t, it’s not equipped for—”

The rest of his statement was cut off by a loud roar, and then Keith was forced to grab onto the back of Lance’s chair as the lion blasted off. Lance whooped with excitement as the space port dwindled away behind them. With so many loops and swoops, even without gravity, Keith was starting to get a little dizzy.

“You are the worst pilot ever!!” he yelled, his teeth jarring together as Lance grazed yet another asteroid. “Did you even take a class on how to fly one of these things?!”

“Of course not!” Lance shouted back, not an inch of remorse in his tone. “As you said, they’re prototypes! And it’s almost like it’s on autopilot—”

“AUTOPILOT AROUND THAT MOON, THEN!!”

“WHOOPS!” The Blue Lion lurched out of the way at the very last second. “Oof, that could’ve been bad.”

“BAD?! YOU ALMOST FLATTENED US!”

“Relax, Keithy! Has anyone ever told you you’re a very uptight kinda guy?” Lance teased, glancing up at Keith from where he still had a firm grip on the controls. “Hey, I know! Let’s take this baby to the Space Mall!”

“La-ance,” Keith groaned, but there was nothing he could do. Blue didn’t respond when he tried to wrench the controls away from Lance. And that was when he remembered King Alfor’s speech about how these ships would choose their own pilots:  if you could get it to start, you could have it. But he didn’t think the king meant for his son to take the thing joyriding! Ugh, maybe he could spin this as some sort of training exercise?!

And secondly, he was kind of offended that Lance still considered him uptight. He’d loosened up a lot since he’d come to live on Altea! Didn’t Lance remember the Klanmüirls? Or the narwhals? None of the other Galra Commanders he knew would ever stand for that sort of thing!

The next thing he knew, they were actually at the Space Mall and Lance was getting out. Great. How was this his life? The good part was, they didn’t need to lock anything, because the Blue Lion put up a particle barrier as soon as they were clear, the bad part was… well, Lance in a space mall was like a kid in a candy store.

He wanted to go everywhere. At light speed.

After the fifth time Lance ran away from him, though, Keith was starting to sense a pattern: light speed was only being used to get away from his bodyguard. He quickly grabbed the prince in the hallway before he could dart off again.

“Look, I get that you’re mad at me—” he started.

“What?! Mad at you? Why, in all the cosmos, would I be mad at you, Keithy?!” Lance said, loudly and sarcastically.

Keith felt his eye twitch. “Can we not do this in public, please?” he asked quietly.

“Why not? Am I making you uncomfortable? Am I—” To Keith’s surprise, Lance cut himself off with a deep breath and a sigh. “Look, I’m sorry. I just thought….” He trailed off with another sigh.

“You just thought what?” Keith asked, curious at the way Lance was blushing. No, surely not….

“Nevermind,” Lance said. He spotted something over Keith’s shoulder. “WHAT is THAT??” he exclaimed, pointing. Keith turned to look, only to find himself being pulled into a shop that sold all kinds of things. Knick-knacks, appliances, you name it. And it all came from—

“Earth?!” he exclaimed, as the salesman tried to get them interested in a strange-looking water fountain that doubled as a chair. “All of this comes from Earth??” He was suddenly much more interested in the merchandise. And, oh man, they HAD to get Shiro something!

Lance, meanwhile, was enamored with a large, benign-looking animal that stared out at them peacefully and occasionally said, “Moo.”

“I love her!” he squealed, hugging the animal. “I’m going to take her, and keep her, and hug her, and—”

“That there is a Kaltenecker,” the salesman said proudly. “One free with every purchase!”

Lance’s eyes gleamed.

“You can get ONE!” Keith said quickly, before Lance could buy out the whole store. Lance pouted, but Keith stood firm. “One for now,” he negotiated. “Just to make sure you can take care of her and she doesn’t come with any weird… surprises.”

After a bit more whining, Lance agreed, and for their purchase, they bought Shiro a rectangle with some weird drawings on it that the salesman insisted was an entertainment box. (Keith didn’t see how such a thing would be entertaining, but maybe Shiro would know how to work it.)

Then, Lance was starving, and they had to get some food. Keith agreed, but he didn’t think Kaltenecker enjoyed Lance’s attempts to serve her whatever Vrepit Sal’s had given them. He also had no idea what she was chewing on….

“Is that a cow?” they heard a familiar voice exclaim. Keith and Lance looked over, and sure enough, there was Shiro, heading straight for them. Followed closely by Pidge and an irate-looking Hunk.

“She’s my new Kaltenecker!” Lance said proudly.

“Kaltenecker?” Shiro repeated, looking at Keith.

“I don’t know,” he said, throwing his hands up helplessly. “It doesn’t seem like it’s gonna eat him, so I figured it’d be okay.”

Shiro at least had the decency to laugh into his hand.

“Oh man,” Hunk said, also examining the creature, “I dunno how this is gonna do in the Klanmüirl enclosure, but hey, I’m sure we’ll work something out.” He turned to Lance. “So, bad news, your dad says you’re grounded.”

“Awww,” Lance groaned.

“And good news, he’s so stoked you got a Lion running, it’s probably not gonna be for long,” Hunk continued.

“Yes!” Lance fist-pumped.

“More good news, you activating a Lion seems to have kicked them all into gear, because the Yellow one chose me, and Green chose Pidge here.”

Beside him, Pidge waved absently, looking more interested in the little box they’d gotten for Shiro.

“REALLY?” Lance looked delighted.

“Yeah, so as soon as you get home, we’re gonna have to do a bunch of tests and stuff, but until then, more bad news…,” Hunk bit his lip and looked uncertain. “You guys didn’t just happen to bring Allura with you, did you? ‘Cause nobody can find her or Lotor anywhere.”

Lance sat straight up. “Allura’s missing?!”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Hunk said, waving his hand dismissively. “More importantly, what the heck are you guys eating? Is that even food?!” He examined their lunch with expressions that ranged from “interested” to “horrified.”

Lance and Keith exchange a glance that needed no words. Their siblings weren’t the type to just go off without any warnings to anybody, that was their MO. Allura and Lotor were too… responsible. Whatever had happened….

“You’re right, Hunk,” Lance said, quickly. “Let’s get some real food back at the castle! I wanna see who else gets a Lion. You want one, Keithy? You know you do!” he teased.

“No, I’ve got my hands full with you,” Keith grumbled. (Yes, he did. He really did. He’d seen how quickly and effortlessly Blue had responded to Lance’s handling and he was certain he could do better…. Oh, how he wanted a chance!)

“How about you, Shiro?” Lance was asking, talking fast to cover up his nervousness about his sister’s disappearance.

“I thought I felt something from the Black one,” Shiro admitted, still absently petting Kaltenecker. “But King Alfor assured me it wouldn’t move until the others were paired off. Something about it being the leader.”

“Cool! Well, lead on, Captain, Sir!”

“Ha ha, Lance,” Shiro said dryly, as they all headed back towards the entrance. “Tell me, what are you going to do with a cow, anyway?”

“I dunno,” Lance said, giving it another hug. “What do you usually do with cows?”

“I could teach you how to milk it.”

“Really?! What’s that?”

Shiro’s explanation left Keith a little weirded out, but Lance seemed eager enough to try. Not that he got much of a chance. After flying the three Lions back to Altea, they were greeted by an excited crowd in the Lions’ hangar at the space port, all of them eager to try for the remaining two. Black and Red’s shields remained up, however, even when Lance tried to push his way to the front of the crowd.

Keith, already nervous about potential assassins in this crowd, got the signal from Alfor to get his son out of there, and quickly pulled Lance away. It didn’t matter if the prince was complaining that he could hold his own. Nor did it matter that Hunk and Pidge had carefully separated themselves already to try to take control of this mess. Even the fact that Keith could hear a low rumbling in the back of his brain that sounded like purring when he looked at the Red Lion… his first and only priority was Lance’s safety. Altea had already lost its heir today, they didn’t need to lose the spare too.

Fortunately, the king and queen joined them in Lance’s room soon after, before Keith and Shiro ran out of ways to keep him distracted. Queen Melenor ran straight to Lance and threw her arms around him, sobbing. That was the first indication they’d gotten that something was truly wrong.

“We thought maybe Lance had convinced Allura to take him with her,” Alfor said, looking pale and shaken. He laid a heavy hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Thank you for always taking such good care of my son.”

“Sir?” he said, unable to keep his questioning tone to himself.

“What’s going on?” Lance asked, his voice wavering as he started to panic. “Where’s Allura? Mom?! Dad?!”

“All we found was a note!” Queen Melenor burst into tears again and hugged Lance even tighter.

“It seems she and Prince Lotor have spent their time together—when they were supposed to be courting—researching how to get to Oriande,” Alfor said, regretfully shaking his head.

“Oriande?” Lance yelped. “But that’s—that’s a myth!” Keith could tell: now Lance was truly panicking. “And, even if it wasn’t, all the stories say it’s a… a….”

“A one-way journey,” Alfor finished for him. “Which is why, if we don’t find them soon, we may have to declare your sister missing… indefinitely.”

“NO!” Lance cried, wrenching himself away from his mother. Keith quickly caught him in his arms—not tight enough to cage, just enough to ground him—and led him over to a small padded bench nearby. Lance sat, still shaking his head in denial but not trying to get away from Keith. “No, no, no… there’s has to be way—the Lions! Dad, could we use the Lions to get to her?!”

“We don’t even know which way they’ve gone,” Alfor reminded him sadly. “I, too, looked for Oriande in my youth, but I never even came close. I finally forced myself to abandon the hunt when your mother became pregnant. And now, I—” the poor king swallowed and looked away, “I regret every bedtime story I ever told you two about that place.”

Both Lance and Queen Melenor hurried to reassure their king that, no, none of this was his fault. They loved him and they’d get through this as a family. Meanwhile, Keith stood off to the side, watching silently.

Lotor. Lotor was missing too, but instead of being anxious or worried about him, all Keith could think was, ‘Dammit, brother! You’re going to cost us the alliance! What were you thinking?!’

Was that normal? Surely, he should be upset, right? Crying and worried about his family like Lance? Why—why wasn’t he?

He heard Shiro come up behind him and looked over when he felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“You okay?” Shiro asked.

Keith thought about it for a moment. “I’m worried about Allura,” he finally confessed. “And I’m a little annoyed at Lotor. I’m sure he talked her into it, after all. He’s been obsessed with Altean lore ever since we were kids.” He looked at his friend. “Is that…? Shouldn’t I be worried, or panicking, or something? I mean—” Keith faltered. “He’s my brother! I’ve always been loyal, to him and the Empire, but…. Is there something wrong with me?”

“I doubt it,” Shiro said, the knowing smile back on his face. “Think about it. If it was Lance who was missing, what would you do?”

“I’d pull out all the stops to find him immediately,” Keith said, not even having to think about it. “I’d use every resource I had until I found him. No matter how long it took.” His chest constricted painfully just thinking about a scenario like that.

Shiro was giving him that look that said he was almost there in getting the correct answer; he just needed to dig a little deeper. Keith thought about it.

“But… that’s just because he’s my responsibility, isn’t it?” he asked, almost desperately. “It doesn’t mean anything….”

Shiro gave him a much softer smile, his eyes twinkling with laughter. “I didn’t say anything about that,” he pointed out. “But fine, if you want to play that game, imagine if Lance wasn’t your responsibility. Would you still feel the same?”

“I—I don’t know!” Keith exclaimed, much too loudly. It caught the attention of the royal family, who realized the two were still in the room with them.

“Think about it,” Shiro whispered, as King Alfor made his way over to them.

“Ah, Prince Keithyr,” he said uneasily. Keith winced. Oh, right. Now that Lotor was gone, he was expected to take on ambassador duties for the Empire, wasn’t he? This was gonna get awkward. “Our most humble apologies and deepest condolences go out to you and the Empire as well. Forgive me my momentary lapse in protocol—”

Yep. Super awkward.

“Please, your majesty,” he said, holding up a hand to forestall any further ‘niceties.’ “You don’t ever need to apologize to me. Officially, I can’t apologize to you either, but—” he sighed, “unofficially, I want to kick my brother in the….” He trailed off with a vague handwave, very aware that it was against protocol to swear in front of the local monarch.

“Quiznak?” King Alfor finished for him with a small smile.

Keith shrugged helplessly. Yeah. That. Thank God the Alteans had come up with such an all-inclusive word.

“I’ll need to get ahold of the Emperor, to see how he wants to handle all of this….” Ugh, his list of responsibilities had just grown exponentially!

“Yes, I’ll need to make a statement as well…,” King Alfor trailed off, no doubt making his own list of new duties in the light of this tragedy.

Keith only half-paid attention, he kept glancing at Lance. For any other disaster, he’d be over there, making sure the prince was comfortable and didn’t do anything stupid… maybe offer him a friendly shoulder to cry on, or a bowl of his favorite comfort food. Now, all he could do was watch as Lance buried his face in his hands, trying to stifle his sobs.

And Keith hated it.

[cienie-isengardu]

What is up with Shirai Ryu?

Or, is Hanzo a hypocrite?

While looking through various MK11 intros, I’m kind of tired about the whole “honor” stuff that Hanzo and Kuai Liang and so many other characters like to talk. Mainly, because honor is very unspecified term whose meaning (thus the line between acting honorable and dishonorable) will change from one person to another. And as much I love cultural clashes between characters of different clans / fraction or realms, Hanzo’s talks about Shirai Ryu make me wonder what the hell is going on with his clan right now?

Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu were rival clans for ages, but the japanese ninjas - and the whole ninjutsu created by them - has its roots in Lin Kuei teaching. Bi-Han called himself thief and assassin and we know that ninjas played similar roles through the ages. Stealing, killing, doing all dirty job someone paid for, it was what Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu did for years. The two fractions of course vary in clan traditions and family matters, but I think we can all agree that morally wise, assassins and master thieves aren’t the common image of honorable men, right?

Of course, both Hanzo and Kuai Liang decided to reform their respective clans, pledged to serve Earthrealm as the protectors rather than working for anyone who can afford their service. Thus both grandmasters reject job offers from gods & Outworlders alike; reject offers that would pose a danger to their home realm. What is nice and all, but clan has its own needs; there are people who must be feed, clothed, sheltered, medically equipped, armed with the right equipment and trained. This of course cost a lot money and maybe the Shirai Ryu and Lin Kuei do have the right funds accumulated over the centuries. But as far as MK11 intros are concerned, Sub-Zero most likely did not change completely Lin Kuei. Of course, Kuai Liang’s clan is meant to be protectors of Earthrealm, but there is still (rogue) Frost who is proud to be an assassin. And since she joined the clan between MK9 and X, the fact she is so aware of the clan history, the feud with Shirai Ryu and assassins traditions may imply that at least to some degree Lin Kuei is/was still involved in “old bussiness”. Whatever the case - Lin Kuei still training assassins who just don’t work anymore for “outsiders” or Frost (with Noob) being a rogue " remains of ancient glory”,  both versions are representing the better and the darker sides of Sub-Zero’s fraction.

Hanzo on another hand, as solely representation of Shirai Ryu in MK11 game, seems at times as, well, deluded person. Especially when intros aren’t clear if that was supposed to be P.O.V of current or past Hanzo.

First, let me quote little backstory provided by MK: Mythologies Sub-Zero:

Scorpion is the code name for a modern day member of the Shirai Ryu named Hanzo Hasashi [...] He learned this technique from his own father, a ninja himself who forbade his son to become a member of this ancient group of assassins and wanted him to accept the trappings of modern day life. But the lure of quick money and his own wish to afford his wife and child the finest in life force him to join the Shirai Ryu.

His latest mission leads him into the heart of China, home of the rival Lin Kuei and location of the Shaolin temple where his mission is to steal the sacred Map of Elements.

So, Shirai Ryu are ancient group of assassins, the last mission of Scorpion was to steal the sacred Map of Elements from Shaolin Temple and Hanzo wasn’t forced to join the clan, he did it mainly for money to afford his family in finest way.

After coming back to life, Hanzo made great effort to redeem his clan and became ally to other heroes. At the same time, he himself says Shirai Ryu are not bound to Special Forces (U.S.)’s laws what results in fact Sonya Blade keeps eye on Hanzo and his clan. Probably attacking SF’s base and killing captured Quan Chi is/was still fresh in her mind. Anyway, the real question is, what Shirai Ryu does? What kind of jobs the clan takes, from where Hanzo get money to cover needs of his ninjas and funds to rebuild destroyed years ago home? What Shirai Ryu ninjas do between crisises threatening safety of Earthrealm?

The reason why I wonder such things is tied up with Hanzo’s character banters, particularly with other merceneries.

Scorpion: Why seek out my clan?

Kano: You're a clan of assassins, ain't you?

Scorpion: You refer to the Lin Kuei.

It is hard to tell, if Scorpion here is the younger or current version thus if he talks about old Lin Kuei (a true statement about clan of assassins then) or refer to Kuai Liang’s one clan that was supposed to change for better. Whatever the case, if clan of assassins is what refers to Lin Kuei, I’m sorry, what Shirai Ryu is or was then? Because it was assassin clan too not so long ago and Hanzo himself joined and worked for such group.

Kabal: The Shirai Ryu hiring, Scorpion? Scorpion: We're family, not mercenaries.

Not mercenaries, said a man who was once hired to steal sacred Map and did it solely for money (or maybe even satisfation/chance to kill Lin Kuei). Even if Hanzo is speaking only about current situation of clan, it still does not answer are his ninjas involved in illegal jobs or are they just train in case of emergency?

This statement (and other intros with Jacqui anc Jax) makes it clear to join Shirai Ryu means became part of the clan for good. But frankly, that still does not mean that family unit like ninja clan can’t (couldn’t) be mercenaries. I mean, mercenary is person primarily concerned with making money at the expense of ethics and you know, taking jobs like assassination or theft is, well, dark side of mercenary profession. Soo, did Hanzo’s statement “not mercenaries“ was purely about joining the clan (not hiring unknown people) or as a whole, no more doing illegal stuff by his clan to gain money?

Erron: I thought Shirai Ryu were mercs. Scorpion: You understand little, Black. Erron: I've killed people for being less rude. 

This one is similar to the previous intro but I feel this time the focus is more on the past of Shirai Ryu, since Erron (as hired gun by Shang Tsung / Shao Kahn) lives for one or two hundred years so he may be familiar with old!Shirai Ryu ninjas reputation.

Of course, Hanzo may be right, Black (and us, for that matter) as outsider, does not have insight into internal clan traditions, ethics or internal matters thus the lack of understanding may lead him (and me) to incorrect conclusion. Maybe Shirai Ryu for ages served Japan in a way Special Forces serves now USA? Maybe they worked always for their homeland’s well being? We don’t know. But then if Shirai Ryu aren’t/weren’t mercs, how else one should think about ninja clan that send his own warrior to Shaolin Temple in foreign (hostile) territory to steal sacred artifact while being paid by some weirdo (Quan Chi)? Like, how that was more honorable than, let’s say, Erron working for Kotal?

   Scorp: There will be no deal, Kano.    Kano: Gotta make a buck, mate.    Scorp: The Shirai Ryu are not criminals.

Hanzo says his clan members aren’t criminals. I sorry, aren’t attacking Special Forces, the supposed allies, isn’t sort of crime? Even if two years passed since then, Shirai Ryu ninjas went to foreign country and attacked its army (who were at times helping refuges from Outworld). Of course, they weren’t motivated by greed or bad will, they were following their grandmaster. But Hanzo literally put his own need for revenge above needs of other heroes, including dead ones. Oh, and let’s no forget that past!Hanzo attacked Shaolin monks and killed who knows how many of them. Indeed, no criminals, ha!

Scorpion: The Shirai Ryu do not respect thieves. Kollector: I collect only what is due Shao Kahn. Scorpion: It is robbery, nothing more.

Sorry, what was your last mission again? Stealing from Shaolin Monks some precious map for some dude Quan Chi? I’m sure Shirai Ryu would never respect thieves! Riiiight.

Hanzo of course may talk about reformed Shirai Ryu, but that would look, once again, like he keep silent about past sins. Unless he really believe his clan never did anything dishonorable.

It’s hard not to wonder how exactly Hanzo reformed Shirai Ryu is he alone seems to ignore his own deeds. Mercs are looked down, so are thieves or in general, people working for money. As much as I can agree than Black Dragons - especially Kano - are the worst kind of scum, it would be actually nice to learn more about Shirai Ryu ethics or how ninja define honor. We know that for Hanzo, his “clan's honor is priceless” but he himself did a lot questionable stuff through the course of all games.

My biggest problem with Scorpion and his talk about honor (or in some causes, how pretty quick he is to accuse others of lack of thereof) is the contrast with Kuai Liang. Sub-Zero is the one willing to admit faults of his clan while Hanzo rarely acknowledges such in Shirai Ryu. Sub-Zero is the one trying hard to estabilish Lin Kuei as protectors of Earthrealm AND ally to other heroes, while Scorpion for a long time freely(?) keep himself and his clan isolated. Of course, both grandmasters treat Earthrealm’s best interest as priority, but between them two, it’s Kuai who is seen actively protecting Earth while Hanzo often was the source of problems, like killing capuring Quan Chi. Mind you, I don’t think Hanzo was wrong to assume as long as evil sorcerer will live, Earth is in danger (though, since Quan Chi is demon(?) shouldn’t he reborn in Netherrealm at some point?). But attacking your supposed allies and destroying the one chance to save fallen and enslaved comrades because Hanzo knows better does not strike me as the most honorable thing.

Once again, what is honor in Mortal Kombat? How Hanzo or Kuai Liang or Raiden or anyone define such matter?

I keep wonder about that, because Hanzo talks a lot about how Shirai Ryu are honorable while other merceneries are just thugs and all. What sounds a bit like hypocrisy when one look at Scorpion’s own history. Especially when younger!Hanzo is involved, because he is still the prime example of Shirai Ryu ninja working not-so-long-ago as assassin and thief.

But yeah, sure, everyone is greedy bastard and thug, even if said person is doing the same stuff like (old) Shirai Ryu did.

[imbeccablee]

for ship ask: 5, 13, 32!

5. Do you have any poly ships?

Oh, tons! 

My biggest one would probably be sorikai—Sora, Kairi, and Riku—from kingdom hearts. They’ve been besties for years in game and each of their goals in game is to, basically, return home and make sure the other two are safe. They’re best friends and i love them!!

There’s also Jlaireby, which is Jim, Claire, and Toby from Trollhunters. I ship them for the same reasons as stated above. These three have such good chemistry and they love each other so much!!!

There are various poly ships in MHA that are pretty cute too, like izuku, ochako and iida, or those three and todoroki, or kirishima, bakugou and kaminari, but I don’t actively ship these as much.

13. Has a ship ever broken your heart?

I don’t think so. I tend to ship the characters most likely to get together, so there’s normally no like “too bad these characters won’t ever get together”, and most of the time the shows I watch have happy endings. Also when it comes to romance, I normally respect whatever the writers choose to make canon, even if I didn’t really ship it (see allur//ance from vol//tron)

32. Share five must-read fics

Yesterday Upon the Stair by pitviperofdoom

Midoriya Izuku has always been written off as weird. As if it's not bad enough to be the quirkless weakling, he has to be the weird quirkless weakling on top of it.

But truthfully, the "weird" part is the only part that's accurate. He's determined not to be a weakling, and in spite of what it says on paper, he's not actually quirkless. Even before meeting All-Might and taking on the power of One For All, Izuku isn't quirkless.

Not that anyone would believe it if he told them.

I am absolutely in love with this fic!!! it’s an au where Izuku has a quirk that allows him to see ghosts and it follows all the way to the Eri arc. It’s so so sooooo good and i HIGHLY recommend it.

Occurrences in the Lives of a Couple of Hopelessly Oblivious Dorks series by Cipher032

A series on the roller coaster that is high school relationships, platonic and otherwise, as Deku and Ochako proceed through their high school careers.

Includes New Horizons and Roads Well Traveled.

Yes this is a series and not a specific fic, but both New Horizons and Roads Well Traveled are really good!!! Either fic is from the point of view of Ochako and Izuku respectively and are about how the two of them navigate their second year while dealing with the ups and downs of their friendship and also as they figure out exactly how they feel for each other. It’s incredibly in character and I absolutely love how Cipher is writing it!!

Catching Up by EchoFour

After a couple of rogue gems put her life at risk, Connie questions everything. She's loved being a Crystal Gem for four years. Training and fighting at Steven's side give her whole life meaning. But as Steven has learned more about the power he possesses and grasped more of it for his own, she's worried she can't keep up.

But Connie Maheswaran has never been the kind of person to give up just because of a little thing like human limits. Whatever it takes, whatever she has to risk, she will find a way to catch up.

This was an incredibly interesting take on best girl Connie Maheswaran and also just a really cool idea in general. It’s now part of a series that has a sequel in the works, and it has some of that adorable Connverse, as well as one of my FAVORITE stevonnie scenes I’ve ever read in one of the later chapters sooooo yeah. FANTASTIC FIC.

The Third Option by Uncertainty_Principle

Homecoming A/U.

Ben and May divorced before Peter’s parents died, so when Ben is murdered Peter goes into foster care. It takes just a tiny taste of superpowers for Peter to decide he doesn’t want to put up with his horrible foster father anymore—the streets are infinitely more appealing. All he wants is to be Spider-Man anyway.

So he leaves.

Simple.

Simple, that is, until Iron Man needs Spider-Man’s help. Peter isn’t about to turn down an opportunity to fight alongside Tony Freaking Stark, but he also isn’t going to let his hero know that his recruit is a fifteen-year-old homeless dropout. So they strike a deal. Peter will help Tony. In return, the mask stays on.

And that’s when things get complicated.

This fic, man........................ this fic.................... fucking heartbreaking. it’s written so god damn well. it has such DELECTABLE iron dad................ it is Not a happy fic but it’s so so so so so GOOD................................................... im love

 and finally

Kingdom Hearts Ψ by HouseofSannae

An alternate take on what Could Have Been

yes this is another series. yes it is Incredibly Long. yes it is REALLY. FUCKING. GOOD.

it was plotted and started pre-kh3 and it’s incredibly intriguing!!! very wonderful character development and realistic relationships, both good and bad, between different characters. No seriously though, this characterization is So Good. I only have two complaints, one of which is serious and the other of which is just bc im me lol.

1. Recently it’s been a little on the nose about its Life Lessons, if you will. It has good messages and stuff, but sometimes it feels kind of forced. Do Not Let This Stop You From Reading Though. It’s So Good.

2. Sora is in nearly every fic but rarely has an essential part to it and It’s Blasphemy. not really, but i love sora, he’s my son, and the fact he’s kinda been pushed to the backburner the whole time. it make SENSE why bc he doesn’t exactly need the development BUUUUUUUT i love him and want more of him.

well, there you go! a couple of fics that i absolute adore!! thanks for asking rex!!

[kekeslider]

hi, i’ve seen some people say that catra and adora’s friendship in the past was toxic and that catra used adora to get her way and stuff and i was wondering what you think about that? i don’t get it at all and thought it was clear that catra cared about adora but maybe i’m missing something??

So historically, people have asked my opinion of other peoples opinions and then people have gotten mad at me for answering, so I want to preface this by saying I don’t even know who has said this or why nor do I know the entirety of what they’ve said about it. I’m just going to answer the question as it’s been presented to me here.

The short version is that I think that’s a very one-dimensional read on their relationship that deliberately ignores clear canon facts. I’m not sure if it’s another attempt to prove that catradora is a bad ship or what, but it reads as something that’s been pulled out of nowhere. Longer answer under the cut

So, to start with, we need to acknowledge that Catra and Adora’s relationship while they’re at the Horde IS toxic/unhealthy. It’s extremely codependent, Catra is being abused while Adora receives constant praise, and they’re both in a situation where they’re being used, abused, manipulated, etc. That’s because of their surroundings. It would be impossible to have a fully healthy relationship in a situation like the one they grew up in because the environment itself is unhealthy. That’s, like, the entire point I feel. Horde bad, yanno? There’s also issues of Catra feeling inadequate and like she’s always in Adora’s shadow bc of the way Shadow Weaver clearly prefers Adora and hates Catra, there’s Adora feeling like she’s responsible for Catra in some way, and neither really get to be fully realized individuals because they’re essentially in a survival scenario. They HAVE to be codependent to get by, but it’s evidence that they DO care about each other.

Saying that Catra uses Adora to get her way is a sort of…. bad presentation of what happens. If I were to guess, I’d say maybe they’re basing that on the beginning training sequence when Catra waits until the last minute to swoop in and “help” because it’s the only example I can think that would match that suggestion

I mean I wanna start by saying that this seems like a reference to Catra being, you know, a cat. When cats hunt they stalk their prey (first img) and wait for the best moment to pounce (second img). The other thing to note is that this is a training exercise, something that Catra clearly doesn’t care about simply because she’s already learned over her whole life that no matter what, she’ll never get the kind of praise and appreciation Adora does. But when it’s real life, when Adora first fell off the flying boat thingy, Catra goes back for her, at that point she wasn’t thinking about wanting to be rid of Adora, she was just wanting to save her friend, and that remains the case for several episodes to follow.

I’m wondering at what point before Adora left the Horde did Catra “get her way”? Was Catra just trying to get her way when Adora stopped Shadow Weaver from hurting Catra? Because it strikes me as very nasty to frame one abused child trying to help another as one of them just trying to get her way, as if it’s just her being a spoiled brat or manipulator or something. Adora was probably essential to Catra surviving in the Horde, but I can’t image framing that as a character flaw of Catra’s rather than a heinous crime committed by Shadow Weaver.

The thing is that Catra and Adora very clearly DO care about each other but it wasn’t possible for it to be healthy because of their environment and upbringing. That’s also why I side eye people who are okay with shipping catradora before Adora leaves the Horde, but not present canon catradora. They’re both wildly unhealthy, which is why most people want Catra to break away from the Horde and redeem herself before actually being in a relationship with Adora, so both of them can be in better places and able to act properly within the relationship. It’s ALL the same ship no matter what time period you’re shipping it in, but if it’s wrong to romanticize their current dynamic, it’s wrong to romanticize their past as well. But seriously, catradora is a ship about redemption and change and development. Shipping, for me, isn’t about saying “right now they could be in a good, healthy, lasting relationship,” it’s about suggesting that both have the foundations for those things, they just need to progress as people to a point where it’s possible. Like, so many of us shipped k/ance from day 1, but were they able to have a good relationship in s1? Probably not, they both needed to grow. That’s what happens in shows: characters develop and change and when you ship characters you hope they develop on a path that leads them to the same destination. Or you just ship for funsies, whichever. That got a bit off topic but you know me I never shut up.

Also, I completely lost my train of thought during that little detour so I’m gonna end here. There was definitely something else I meant to add but it’s just gone idk

[legendarypotat]

Anyone want to read a crack theory?

So, I have a crack theory. I don’t usually post them but I thought this one is interesting. I come up with this stuff when I am half asleep, so please take it with a grain of salt. It’s like the biggest reach in the history of reaches. I am also really bad at writing. 

This crack theory actually tried to explain the Feud episode. There are many reasons why the Feud episode is weird and out of place. I am not gonna analyze that though. This theory is trying to explain WHY it is weird.

The simple answer is that it was all a dream. I might not be an expert on dreams and the unconscious mind but if I remember correctly, dreams are a way our brains try to organize and make sense of what happened when we were awake and conscious. Bob might have influenced a bit of that dream, but I think most of the stuff that happened in that episode was a product of the Paladins subconscious. So the threat that they faced in their dream might have not been real but it was symbolic and I think I founded some metaphors that I didn’t want to find.

Prepare for the Langst.

The first thing I want to address, is that in my eyes that episode was Lance centric. Even Lance position in the game was centered. Surrounded by his friends by either side. And if I am not mistaken, Lance had the most screen time that episode. In consequence, most of the things that happened in that episode revolved around Lance.

I founded 3 huge metaphors surrounding Lance.

 Lance worthiness as the paladin of the red lion.

Ironically this was the last metaphor I founded but it’s important because it kind of explains the following ones. This part was the weirdest in my opinion. Lance is supposed to be the most perceptive out of the group but when Keith goes up to draw, everyone except for Lance gets a right answer. It’s funnier if you remember that Lance is Keith’s right hand. Shouldn’t Lance have a better understanding of Keith? Not to mention he didn’t contribute at gaining any points.

I am not saying that Lance does not deserve to be the right hand of Voltron. But I think that it is something that has been or is running through Lance’s mind. It happened before when Shiro came back and Lance thought he should step back from the team because that will be the better option. Fortunately, Keith was there to bring him back to his senses. 

The gravity of his self esteem issues.

This is the one that I noticed first because I am really not fund of Lance being degraded to the dumb one, even if it is a dream. But it happened and this is the way I tried to make sense of it. There must be someone on the team that thinks Lance is dumb, and I think it is Lance himself. Is not hard to believe. After all, my fave A//urance moment was when Allura helped Lance see he was not the goofball. The weird part here is that the last time the “Lance is dumb” trope was brought up was in season 3. Why bring it up now? Why is it resurfacing as a dream? I really have no idea. 

It’s alarming though, how Lance went from not considering himself dumb, to feeling he had to prove he wasn’t dumb, to actually embracing the idea that he was the dumb one. It just bothers me because it was always a maybe in Lance’s mind. I just want to smack Bob.

But wait, there is more.

The isolation tube? Remember there were metas talking about how Lance had started to isolate himself from the team.

The acid? How his insecurities are slowly eating him up.

I don’t like where this is all going.

 The solution to those issues.

I am not saying Plance but Plance. I remember there was a post on the tag that made reference to how weird it was for Allura to be addressed by Bob only to be ignored and pin point Pidge. But in this crack theory, there is an explanation. Let’s back track a little.

So Lance is slowly being eaten alive by the acid, that in this crack theory represents his insecurities. Someone has to save him. Who is it gonna be? Bob addressed Allura as a possibility. Interesting, A//urance was addressed this season as well. But then Bob does a complete 180 and turns to Pidge and highlights her brains to play a game of... minigolf(?) And Pidge does get Lance out of that acid and in a very unexpected way. Did you guys really expected for Pidge to smack the camera and tackle Bob? I love my girl :’) To me that symbolizes how Pidge is gonna step in and finally bring a closure to Lance’s arc in a very unexpected way.

And another sweet thing I noticed: 

The staff could had placed this episode anywhere during the first half of season 7, but they decided to place it after the “Don’t you touch her!” episode. Lance trying to save Pidge in the previous episode and then Pidge saving Lance in the next one. Might be a coincidence. 

So this is what I concluded:

I think this episode was foreshadowing something that will happen in season 8. From what I understood, Lance is gonna be tested about his worthiness of being the red lion paladin, which might spike his insecurities. The resolve will be something involving Pidge. As another awesome post has already pointed out, Lance and Pidge have not seen through their lion’s eyes yet. And if this crack theory makes any sense, then it kind of further proves that is inevitable for us to not see a Plance moment in season 8. Be it romantic or platonic, it will be there. Everything is adding up. 

Or I might be delusional. That’s always an option. 

P.s. I love how the 3 metaphors reference my top 3 Lance endgames. In order presented: K/ance, A//urance and Plance.

P.s.s. Notice how Keith, Lance and Pidge were the only ones to play? I have always thought there was something weird going around them 3. Am I the only one?

P.s.s.s. I really doubt the writing staff will be that stupid to bring “the Lance is dumb” trope back unless it was with a purpose. 

[all-things-voltron-blog]

The prompt for #5 was “You’re burning up.”

Pairing: Plance, (Pidge x Lance)

I was so happy when I got this, sickfics are my favorite, and I was excited to finally write one.

This request was from my original blog, but that blog is not active anymore. So I’ve posted it here.

@honestlyprettychill Hope this cheers you up or at least makes you smile for a minute!

Anyway, hope you enjoy!  A huge thank you to @velocitytimes2 for betaing!! Again, you’re the best! ~Shijin

-------------------------

Lance knew something was wrong the moment he woke up. His head throbbed, his throat hurt, and he was convinced that he was warm as hell.

He groaned. This probably had to do something with all the samples they were moving yesterday. Allura and Coran had landed the castle onto a planet filled with plants that were supposedly helpful in medicine, and the paladins had carried crates of these plants into the castle for research.

It seemed to have the opposite effect on humans.

(With the others)

“Hey, where’s Lance?” Shiro asked as he made his way into the dining room.

Hunk and Keith eyed each other.

“I thought that he was coming with you. I didn’t see him in the training room this morning,” Keith said.

“He wasn’t in the kitchen this morning either. He’s usually there keeping me company while I make breakfast,” Hunk added.

“Pidge, was Lance helping you in the hangers?” Shiro asked as he passed a bowl of food goo to Pidge. Keith and Hunk glanced up, spoon halfway to their mouths, to look at Pidge as Coran entered.

“No, I slept there last night and he didn’t come in this morning either.” It was then that everyone noticed that her hair was disheveled and that she sported bags under her eyes.

“Would somebody go check on number 2?” Coran asked. He turned to look at the paladins.  “What about you, number 5?” Coran asked, facing her.

“W-why me?” Pidge asked, exhaustion and uncertainty clearly evident in her voice.

“All of us annoyed him the other day except for you. He wouldn’t kill you if you walked in.” said Keith.

“Yeah, I blew up at him for moving all the utensils around in the kitchen.” Hunk said.

“Ugh, fine,” Pidge said, getting out of her seat and heading for the door. “You guys owe me.” she called over her shoulder.

-----

The door of his room hissed as it opened. Around the fog of his mind, he couldn’t focus on details and colors, but he recognized Pidge’s dark, bleary figure.

“-ance? Lance? The team elected me to see why you weren’t at breakfast today. We were supposed to prep for the diplomatic thing, remember?” She moved closer to his bed. “Hey, what’s wrong with you?”

“Dunno,” Lance replied in a raspy voice, “this has got to do with all the weird stuff we were moving yesterday.”

Pidge nodded as she tentatively placed her small hand on his forehead, and drew it back because of the heat. “You’re burning up. I’ll go and ask Coran what to do.”

She was out the door in a few seconds.

----

“Coran, Lance is really sick.” Pidge said. “He’s got a fever and it’s most likely got to do with all the stuff we were moving yesterday.”

“O-kay, but the real question is, what caused Lance to get a fever, and are the other paladins in danger of getting it as well?”

Pidge followed Coran to the storage area. Looking at the boxes, he pointed at one. “This was the only crate that was different from all the others. Lance carried this plant in but nobody else did.” Coran took a leaf from the plant, and popped it into a biological scanner at the end of the room. “And there’s the problem. I should’ve known. The bacteria on this plant is not good for those with your genetic makeup.”

Coran led her to the medicine cabinet next to the control room. Pulling out a couple packs of medicine, he handed them to her. “These should bring his fever down and these should fight the bacteria.”

Pidge smiled. “Thanks Coran. Everyone’s leaving for the diplomatic meeting though. So nobody’s going to be here to help Lance.”

“Somebody will have to stay and take care of Lance then. Number 5, you’re already on this, right?”

“Yep, I’m on it. Plus I can work on the faulty engine while I’m here.” Pidge answered.

“Good call. I’ll tell the others. See you in a few days!”  Coran said.

Pidge smiled as Coran walked away and started rifling through the cabinets.

A few minutes later, she was still rifling through the medicine cabinet again when Hunk came running up to her. “I heard Lance was sick. I made some soup from the food goo. Here it is.” He handed her a thermos and a bowl. “Tell him that everyone says to feel better soon. We’ve gotta leave now.” He gave her a quick hug. “See you in a few days Pidge!”

----

Pidge came back to Lance’s room five minutes later. When she returned, she came back carrying a thermometer, a thermos, a tablet, a bowl, an assortment of medicine, and a cloth.

Bringing a chair to the side of his bed, she popped the thermometer into his mouth and started answering his unasked questions. “Everyone else left for the diplomatic thing. They won’t be back for a few days at least. I volunteered to stay behind to watch you and keep you company. Hunk made a soup with the food goo, that’s what’s in the thermos.” She poured out a little soup in the bowl. “Coran says that that it’s a bacterial infection, because we tested the yellow stuff that you carried in, and that was the only thing that would be harmful to humans. Nobody else touched it though, so we should all be fine. Catching it will be unlikely.” She removed the thermometer and passed him the bowl. “I don’t even know why I brought this thermometer. It measures in ackheebs. Well, that wasn’t any help at all.” Sighing, she chucked the thermometer across the room.

As Lance sipped the hot soup, Pidge took the cloth into the attached bathroom. Lance heard the water running as she placed it under the cool water.

Lance finished the rest of the soup as she returned. Pidge placed the cool cloth on his forehead and passed Lance a glass of water and two pills as he sighed in relief.  “One should help with the fever and the other should kill the bacteria.”

Gulping the medicine down, he eyed the tablet. “What’s that for?”

“Well, knowing you, you’d be bored stuck in bed so this tablet has old Altean movies and TV shows. Seeing as they speak English, it should be alright.” Pidge handed Lance the tablet. When he saw Lance’s questioning look, she asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Wouldn’t you like to watch movies and stuff too?”  Lance asked.

Pidge shrugged her shoulders. “I was gonna do some castle maintenance.”

“Watch a movie with me,” Lance said. “It’s lonely to watch a movie by yourself.”

“Okay, but wouldn’t you be uncomfortable? I’m sitting way over here.”

“Just come up here.”

“Y-you’re sure?”

“Yeah, why not?”

As Pidge climbed in next to Lance, he was surprised to see how small she was compared to him. He knew that she was small, but seeing her frame next to his long, lanky one was still a shock. Her face was at his level, but the tips of her toes didn’t reached the end of his knees but just barely. He felt her ribs as she leaned into his warmth. ‘She hasn’t been eating,’ Lance thought. ‘I’ve gotta make sure she eats.’ He also did not fail to notice that she fit perfectly into his side. Or that her laugh sounded like bells whenever a character did something funny. He also didn’t fail to notice that her feet twitched whenever a character got into a tricky situation. Although his room was pitch black except the glowing screen in front of them, the barest trace of her smile illuminated by the blue light lit up and filled the room. When she was scared, she squeezed his hand, and during those moments Lance noticed that her small hands were littered with calluses.‘She’s probably been tinkering a little too much. I’ve gotta remind her to take breaks.’  That’s when the realization hit him. General affection for his teammate had now blossomed into something more. When, exactly he didn’t  know. He didn’t want to admit it then, but there was no hiding from the truth now.

As she brushed her brown hair away from her eyes, he realized that he had it bad for his friend. He had it so, so bad.

An hour into the movie, he realized that Pidge had fallen asleep. It was then that Lance had the courage to press his lips to her forehead. Smiling, he removed her glasses, paused the movie, and settled in to sleep.

Maybe one day, he’d tell her how he really feels.

---------

Hope you enjoyed! If you’d like me to write a hurt/comfort fic for Plance as well, please look at my original post and drop a request in the ask box! Or if you have ideas for Plance fics in general, drop one in the ask box as well!

Thank you for reading! Until next time, Ciao!  ~~Shijin

(the reason why I’m signing it with Shijin is because this blog is run by two people-- my friend Kurutta also runs the blog with me.)

[lanceville]

Hello, I really want to get this out of my mind, so I hope I do not bother you, if I bother you please ignore me, ok this will be long. I saw one of your previous answers, where you say that you feel different or with a weird mood, I've also been feeling weird, and I've been thinking about things that really stress me, I'm in a mood so pessimistic and depressing that I come crazy and terrible ideas about many things (part1)

one of those strange thoughts is this: LM and JDS have said (or so I’ve heard correct me if I’m wrong) that they do not want to talk much to avoid surprises about the plot of the following seasons … so I came this horrible thought. if they for example do not want to ruin the surprise about Klance by becoming a canon, Why do they talk so much about them? (part2)

why they give the fans so many hopes and make them believe that they will become canon if they want it to be a “surprise”?. then my pessimistic thoughts lead me to this, the surprise is not klance becoming canon, the surprise will be that another ship either All//ance, K and R or even worse She//ith is the one that will become canon. So if I’m not bothering you I’d appreciate it if you answered this, I’m sorry for bothering you with this stupidity (last part)

it’s alright bro, i gotchu. 

first, it’s true that lm and jds and known to be super secretive about the plot and upcoming events, and they have been vague about lance’s and keith’s relationship until this interview. there are instances were they were talked about them in a romantic context several times too but i’m just gonna focus on this video for now. there are two reasons that they have decided to openly talk about it like that:

1. they were approached specifically by the author of this article to hear out what they think about the “science behind shipping,” since they’re the executive producers of the show with the most popular ship on the internet.

2. they’ve realized it’s necessary to keep avoiding klance at this point. the klance fandom is huge, and no matter how much they try hide who the endgame will be or even sway us a little bit from it, the klance fandom only grows each time. they never expected klance to gain such a huge fanbase so quickly and for the fans to pick up on the hints that easily. it was as if they were still in shock and denial that their endgame surprise has been exposed, but there’s no use denying it at this point. they know we’ll forever believe in the ship, so since everything’s exposed, they don’t see why they can’t engage with the fans about them. if it is really not the endgame ship, they would’ve tried to do more damage control to not break the hopes and fail the expectations of the fans later, but they only spoke positively about klance in that video.

and don’t allow yourself to think that, annonie. i know that it’s really worrying because of how little keith and lance have interacted in the past few seasons, but that does not mean in any way that their relationship has regressed. season six especially was the very definition of intense, and there was barely any time for keith to interact with any of the other paladins besides shiro. keith, especially, was under a lot of pressure, and they were all stressed. but now since everything’s calmed down and keith’s finally back on the team, things will get better. have faith. 

(gonna put the rest under read more bc this has tuned way longer than expected)

and about other ships becoming canon, you can rule that idea out by the process of elimination.

keith/romelle and keith/allura are never gonna happen. you know why?

the endgame is between two main characters (”characters who have been present since the beginning″ aka the paladins). romelle isn’t

keith and allura have only ever interacted in what would seem like (but it isn’t) a romantic fashion in s2, and it was just bc of keith’s heritage. even though it’s kinda disappointing since i’d like to see more of their friendship, they’ve barely interacted with each other outside of missions. there’s no way they’re gonna develop romantic feelings for each other when neither has shown interest in the other.

literally

also dude keith’s clearly not straight. no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise, the man isn’t. one look at him is enough to know that.

biggest proof is allura, a gorgeous space princess who everybody swoons over, falling right into his arms and him not even blinking a goddamn eye. his indifferent expression still cackles me tbh.

also, it’s known that the endgame involves lance, so if it’s a ship that does not include lance, then nah it’s not happening.

not gonna even bother with why shiteihaha will never become canon in a bazillion realities because it’s ridiculously clear as to why to those who have at least 2 functional brain cells. don’t even let that idea cross your mind.

this leaves us with all//ance. tbh, it did have a chance of becoming canon up until s5. but dude, after watching s6, i was like “did they just really kill this ship.” all//ance is really cute and sweet, and i wouldn’t have minded it becoming canon since both allura and lance really care about each and i loooooooooove their friendship so goddamn much. but this is the thing. what allura and lance have is friendship. they both were really good friends up until the writers decided to bring lance’s crush back from the bottomless pits for drama’s sake. lance’s crush on allura is so valid man. he truly does like her. but the thing that killed the ship wasn’t this; it was the whole love triangle drama. allura fell in love with lotor and never requited lance’s feelings even when she knew about them, meaning she does not view lance that way, and it’s her right - she can like whoever she wants. the writers said that romance will happen naturally in the show. if allura would ever reciprocate lance’s feelings, she would’ve at least displayed some signs of that at this point. she got to know lance and see some of his greatest moments. she even got to experience what lance dying would feel like, yet she still didn’t develop any romantic feelings towards him. if feelings of loss and grieve didn’t make her realize how important lance is to her romantically, then that’s because there are no romantic feelings present in the first place. it would not make sense at all for her to develop feelings for him later on. she cares deeply about him as a friend, and romantic love is not some upgraded form of friendship love - it’s a totally different type of the same class, and that’s what she feels about him.

it would be utterly cruel and unfair for both if they end up together after the shit that has happened in s6. allura would never find a lotor in lance, and lance would always feel inferior if he gets with allura because he know’s he’s no lotor - that he isn’t who she wants (lance is much better than all the boys in the entire universe and whoever has him is literally the luckiest person ever but this is not the point so moving on). allura’s feelings for lance would not be genuine, which would make allura feel bad because she would never want to make lance feel like a rebound or a second choice. lance, on the other hand, really likes allura, and being the helplessly selfless person he is, would accept to be allura’s rebound while being fully aware of it and accepting his fate as a second choice which, god, would take a heavy fricking toll on his already bad self-esteem issues. seriously man, every time i think about them getting together after s6, their relationship is just full of heartbreak and hurt, and i don’t want either of them to feel like that because they don’t deserve it. even the showrunners admitted that them getting together right after would be a disservice to both of them. i fucking love them both and their friendship so much and i don’t want anything to ruin it.

i wanna also elaborate on another point. if you’ve noticed, allura and lance shared a couple scenes that paralleled klance’s but they’re slightly more romantically-coded (the scene might seem this way but since allura has 0 romantic interest in lance it ain’t, but anyway). the reason i think they included such parallels is to tell the audience that, “if you see those a///rance scenes as romantic, then those previous klance scene were meant to be romantic as well :)” as i mentioned before, the writers were quite surprised we have picked up on klance pretty quickly and early. since they might’ve thought we wouldn’t, they might’ve thought “something” was needed to hint at where they’re planning on taking klance’s relationship, and that “something” is all//ance. but unlike all/urance’s scenes (especially the dying lance moment which resembled the bonding moment) where the romantic interest is one-sided, the similar feelings in klance’s scenes are reciprocated by both parties (bonding!!!! moment!!!!).

now then, guess which ship we’re left with!!!!! yup! it’s klance. i could go on and on and on and on about how they!!! are!!! gonna!!! be!!! canon!!! but i’ve seriously spoken too much (and i cant feel my fingers anymore erfberk) and i don’t even know if you even have read it all the way to end bc ik i’m quite boring when i explain stuff ebjrvkebr but!!! seriously dude. just go rewatch s3. that’s all the confirmation you need of their budding romance. they have some of the most trope-y romantic scenes. and dude, i say all that but, whatever happens, i will forever believe that there’s no better ship in this show than klance. nothing will surpass it. 

edit: gonna just add the petty ask i sent voltron (that i knew they were never gonna answer but i had to send it nonetheless bc i needed to let the salt inside me out somehow lmao) because it’s succinct and summarizes what i said above lmao