#and the emotional closeness that results from that disclosure is what brings them together

[thehours2002]

just read an absolute hit piece on the prince of tides in an academic article and the author is like the book is memorable and the film is not because it focuses on the romance not tom's family. maybe it's not memorable TO YOU but i, for one, forgot most of the anecdotes she mentioned in the article from the book (which i did read!) meanwhile i'll never forget sobbing like crazy about their breakup the first time i watched the film

[beelovesnct]

𝐛𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩 [𝐞𝐩. 𝟑]

— episode 3

The episode begins with the introduction of the two trained professionals who will be evaluating the personalities of the members; Aiko could be seen bowing and clapping respectfully together with the boys.

They began by introducing what the HEXACO test was, and when asked if they had any idea of what it could be, Jisung answered that it might be related to the MBTI, while Jaemin and Jeno revealed they thought it was for psychopaths (with Aiko scoffing and commenting, "You're both crazy," under her breath.)

Before proceeding with their assessment, both professionals put out a disclaimer that the test was not one hundred percent accurate, rather simply something that a person could relate to and say, "Oh I feel that way sometimes,"

Jaemin's assessment: Mr. My Way

They first examined Jaemin's character, explaining that he's someone who abides by his own rules and standards, and makes it clear whenever those are not met. In short, he's a character who does things his way.

Immediately, the dreamies reacted with subtle shock, amazed at how close the results were to his actual personality; even Aiko was nodding her head along with their explanation, especially about how he was such a complicated character overall and had a hard time dissecting what he was actually like.

The host noticed this, and asked why she was nodding so much; Aiko then stated that "Even I'm surprised by Jaemin every time; he's like an onion that can reform its layers, sometimes he shows everything and other times nothing at all."

The professionals and even Jaemin himself were surprised by Aiko's specification, "That's exactly how we would point it out." They complimented her use of words.

Jeno's assessment: A scholar who gets hurt easily

For Jeno, they revealed that he's the type of person who holds everything in; so when asked about his infamous nickname, "Jeno-jam", he revealed that he was actually hurt the first few times when he was teased as such, only getting over it when he finally viewed it as a positive thing—something that was unique only to him.

When asked who called him that name, Renjun admitted that besides Aiko, everyone called him that even way back in their trainee days to which Jeno then confirmed.

Aiko was suddenly asked why she didn't tease Jeno, she replied with a stutter, "H-He was funny then," to which Haechan immediately responded with "Don't lie," bringing laughter to everyone.

Regaining her flustered composure, Aiko tried explaining again, "Just, he's reminded by them anyway, me teasing him would be a waste of time," She shrugged her shoulders cooly, but it failed to conceal her true emotions as the tip of her ears started turning red; especially with Mark's revelation,

"Actually, Aiko came to me one night when we were preparing for debut, she told me if I could tell the kids to stop teasing Jeno because she was worried his confidence would decrease,"

A bunch of oohs and aahs came after the confession; Aiko rolled her eyes but covered her face after, earning a "Tsundere!" comment from Jaemin.

Jeno simply smiled and side-hugged Aiko who was still crouched over with her face in her hands.

Ako was once again complimented, making the host joke if she was doing this to get more screen time, to which the boys denied altogether, "Aiko is really like that, she's observant. She knows when we're having problems without us having even to tell her, she has like a detector of some sort." Renjun said with much sincerity, making everyone nod in understanding (and Aiko embarrassed again so she settled on putting her entire face on Jeno's shoulder).

With such timing, the professionals intervened that that was exactly what they got from Aiko's personality test as well, and so the segment moved to Aiko's examination.

Aiko's assessment: Individualistic Tsundere

After seeing Aiko's HEXACO results, the members let out a sound of surprise, as much like Jeno's, Aiko's chart was very unconventional.

"As we can see, Aiko-nim's results were a 3-3 situation; her humility, emotionality, and conscientiousness were very high, but her extroversion, openness, and agreeableness were all lower than what is of standard."

"This is the reason why we gave you the title, 'Individualistic Tsundere'", they continued, and once again, even just from the title, the members gasp and showed their agreement.

"You are very individualistic, and that simply means that you enjoy being alone, and you actually value your alone time. For that reason, you are very independent and often won't turn to others for help." They began their explanation, the set quiet as all of the dreamies paid attention to what they were saying about their precious member, only nodding whenever they agreed with what was revealed.

"Wah, why is that so accurate," Renjun commented, his voice low as he glanced at Aiko who has kept silent right from the start when her results were shared.

"I've heard that you're lazy, right? Fans call you a cat because you laze around too much," The comparison brought a smile to Aiko's face as she nodded, confirming their thoughts.

"But I think that you're not lazy at all; as a result of your low extraversion and high conscientiousness, you're very picky with what you put your efforts in. In short, you're practical. You share the same 'My Way' attitude with Jaemin-nim, that if something does not interest you, you tend to back off completely."

The dreamies, once more, portrayed an appalled expression; this time, even Aiko was not excused as she felt immensely exposed to that particular revelation.

"Yah, this is so crazy," Mark chimed in, shaking his head in disbelief.

The professionals continued, seemingly pleased with the reaction, "There were some essay portions in the test, and Aiko-nim answered some of them—which I assume was in line with your interests, with essays that were good enough for college applications."

"Like with the David Statue, she made references to the art of human anatomy, and even stated possible reasons as to why Michaelangelo sculpted it; it was an amazing read,"

"But for those that she might have not found so interesting, she simply stated some simple phrases that weren't at all expounded."

"One question asked if you would steal money in the instance that you would never get caught, Aiko-nim simply stated, 'I'm rich enough, so no thank you.'" The disclosure didn't fail to bring smiles and laughter to both the members and hosts, finding Aiko's savage response too amusing. Aiko simply shook her head as she hid her face behind her hands once again, only regaining her composure once the topic was changed.

"It's also because of your lack of extroversion that you tend to hide how you care for others. You have really high emotionality, which means you have the tendency to be an empath—detecting whenever a person is down even if they don't show it; so you help them in any way you can—especially if they're important to you, but often would brush it off as nothing, hence we gave you the title, 'Tsundere'"

Jaemin nodded vigorously, displaying full-on his 'my way' attitude as he screamed his thoughts, "That's RIGHHHHHT."

The dreamies, though amused with Jaemin, sided with his thoughts, with Jisung declaring one particular story from their trainee days.

“Noona always sees right through any of us. She'd buy medicine from across the street during break times just so we won't have to suffer. She would then always lie that she already had those medicines with her, but she didn't know that we could see her right from the window."

At Jisung's confession, everyone visibly cooed; adoration in their eyes as they looked at Aiko (who waved her hands in front of her, trying to deny the accusation, but the dreamies won't let her have it). Jaemin, who was beside her, ruffled her hair fondly.

"With that, there are a lot of benefits with having you on the team, one of which is making sure that everybody's doing okay behind the scenes, but I do have a tip for you, Ms. Tsundere." The laughing seized, as the professional's tone was somber; Aiko listened intently, her face morphed into seriousness.

"Since you value independence, you have a tendency to keep all your problems in. You have no problem helping others, but you have a problem with them helping you. Remember that you are never a burden, so you can lean on others too."

For the nth time, all the dreamies portrayed an immense gesture of agreement, either commenting, "That's right, Aiko, stop holding everything in," "Be more like Jaeman"; or simply nodding their heads as they glanced at the neko-member, relieved that she heard those words outside of their own team (which means she'd probably take their advice since she views that there are no biases).

Aiko simply showed a smile, "I'll take that to heart, thank you." She responded politely.

The personality examination finished for Aiko and then continued to the other members until the host told everyone that it was the time for the next activity.

[detectivecarlosreyes]

In Case of Emergency (Ch 9/10)

Ao3 | 2.9/18.5k | Buddie | Status: Incomplete

Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 9: It’s about time  In which Buck and Eddie try to disclose their relationship; if only calls didn’t keep getting in the way. Set in mid-3x18: What’s next.

Things were going well between them. After recovering mentally and physically from Eddie’s ordeal, they were closer than ever, with Buck spending most nights in the Diaz household than he ever was before. He was there for Chris’s first sleepover party, being an incredibly helpful chaperone to a bunch of hyperactive 9-year-olds. He was as much a parent as he was both a form of entertainment for the kids and was a welcome relief to the stresses of parenting such an event.

It was good, practically perfect really, having him home all the time, helping, basically being an integral part of the family. He was rarely in his own apartment anymore, only returning to collect his mail and restock on clothes really.

Buck was effectively living with them full time, his wardrobe slowly but surely integrating into his own and their relationship had progressed to the point that it was near almost impossible for them to keep it to themselves anymore, considering how intertwined their lives had become. So now, in their downtime between calls, nearly every recount of what they did on their time off involved the presence of the other.

They were pretty sure the others were finally catching on. It was hard to miss the side-eyed glances when he mentioned something involving Buck and Chris or when Buck did the same mentioning him and Chris. They were also noticing long considering looks coming from Bobby, especially when they were doing something together alone when at the station, but it was hard to say whether he knew but was waiting for them to come to him or if he just suspected something was going on.

In any case, they knew it was long overdue for them to officially be seen as a couple in the eyes of the team and the universe, except the problem was, anytime they tried to get Bobby alone for a chat or tried to bring it up when there was a dip in conversation, something else became more important.

Their most recent attempt was the closest they had ever gotten, having managed to catch Bobby alone in his office looking at them expectantly behind his desk.

Buck had just managed to utter, “Bobby, there’s something that Eddie and I have been wanting to tell you. We’re in a--”

He was cut off before he could finish the sentence, the call alarm blaring for their attention and distracting them all from the conversation at hand. It resulted in a rushed promise from Bobby that they would finish the chat when they returned after the call.

The call being the train derailment; bringing Eddie face to face with a person that he has only ever heard of.

Abby.

Buck’s ex-girlfriend.

As soon as Buck appeared by his side and said her name Eddie knew exactly who she was. How could he not? Buck had been living in her apartment in the first half of the year of him knowing the man and he remembered how long Buck carried a torch for her. How long he desperately held on to the idea that she was still his girlfriend until he finally let go and moved out of her apartment.

And now here she was, just showing up after all this time; no text, no call, no warning at all that she was coming back into town. Returning with a fiancé no less. He saw the way Buck reacted, how that revelation affected him. And then Buck, his kind-hearted, selfless boyfriend goes and promises her that he’d bring back her fiancé with the heavy implication that he would make sure they brought Sam back alive.

He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand why Buck would make that promise, she had ghosted him for months before he had finally given up on the hope that she’d return. It made him nervous because he knew exactly how far Buck would be willing to go for a promise, and that terrified him.

And he was right. Buck wouldn’t listen to reason, so focused on being able to deliver on his promise that he seemed willing to ignore rational thought. He was so hell-bent on trying to save Sam even though there was no feasible way of rescuing him and the girl, that he was willing to put his life on the line. It was maddening and enough to make him snap out of fear and frustration in a last-ditch attempt to make Buck see reason.

“Buck, stop! Alright, I know you made a promise.”

And then for him to see Buck to back-track and fail to divulge pertinent information to Cap as to why he was acting the way he was, well, it set his teeth on edge and it had him spitting out, “Abby! His fiancé is Abby.”

Unable to look at Buck as he continued to blatantly disregard his own safety for a promise he shouldn’t have made, he left Bobby to deal with him, hoping that maybe the Captain would have more sway in talking Buck down from his dangerous plan. But it seemed not even Bobby could talk Buck down, especially when, much to his chagrin, he was offering admittedly sound reasoning.

That didn’t stop him from worrying about the man the whole time he was out there, hanging off the side of this awfully unstable car. It was one thing to be on the inside if it destabilised and falls, it was another thing entirely to be attached to it on the outside with no way to protect one’s self from the fall.

Thankfully, it was a situation that didn’t eventuate, and for that Eddie was enormously relieved because he wasn’t sure his heart could take it if it did. In the end, he was left with Buck watching as the ambulance drove away and could only imagine how Buck was hurting from seeing Abby and Sam together. It was enough to dispel any residual feelings of frustration and anger that he might have felt about the situation.

In fact, the whole situation was enough to put things in perspective for Eddie. Reminding him of how far he and Buck’s relationship has progressed and how much he wanted it to keep progressing and take the next logical step. But first, they were going to have to deal with Bobby who seemed to have remembered their previous meeting, despite the exhausting call, as he muttered to the two of them to join him in his office once they returned back to the station and restocked the trucks.

“Now what was it that the two of you wanted to talk to me about? Don’t tell me it has something to do with the way you were both acting today in that train car,” Opened Bobby when they finally joined him, looking up from his paperwork with a tired sigh.

“Well, it does, and it doesn’t,” Eddie answered vaguely, causing Buck to shoot him a look as he closed the door and took a seat beside him.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Eddie?” asked Buck in a hushed tone, half-turning in his chair.

“Nothing. We can talk about it later,” he muttered back, not wanting to talk about it right this second.

“If this is about Abby, you know I had no idea that she was coming back.” Pressed Buck.

Before he had a chance to respond to Buck and say that yes it was about Abby but not it the way that he thinks, Bobby was clearing his throat, reminding them that he was in the room and waiting for an answer to his initial question.

“Right, sorry Cap. What Buck and I have been wanting to tell you is that we’re in a relationship.”

Bobby looked between them as if he were trying to gauge whether or not he was joking and must have come to a conclusion because his next question was simply, “How long has this been going on for?”

“Over eight months.” Buck jumped in, answering resolutely, “We wanted to be sure before we told anyone.”

“Well, that clears up a few things.” They heard him mutter under his breath as he pulled out a manila folder from his top desk drawer before addressing them again, “I had a feeling this might come up at some point, I’ve been waiting with the paperwork for the last couple of weeks.”

“You knew?”

“Well,” Bobby drew out as he slid across the relationship disclosure form, “I didn’t know for certain, but I have been suspecting that something was going on, so have Hen and Chim, just didn’t realise exactly how long it’s been going on for.”

He waited patiently after handing a pen to them to fill out the form and sign it before sliding it back to him.

“As your friend, I am happy for the two of you but as your boss let me make one thing clear. If your personal relationship starts to affect your work on the job, I won’t hesitate to transfer one of you to one of the other teams in the station. Understood.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We promise to be 100 percent professional at work just like we have been when you didn’t know about us-”

Bobby raises an eyebrow at that, giving them a pointed look.

“- but we will try to do better at controlling our emotions if and when one of us is in a dangerous situation?” Buck tacked on questioningly, assuming that was Bobby’s look was alluding to.

Bobby nodded in approval before adding in good humour, “I should hope so, however, I have a feeling we might have to revisit this conversation sometime in the future.”

Eddie chuckled as he stood up, “That is entirely possible, but we will do our best to avoid it.”

“Good.” Bobby said with a grin as he offered his hand to both of them, grasping each of their arms warmly with his free hand, “I really am happy for you both. Now go, tell the others.”

With a sigh of relief, they left the office feeling somewhat liberated over finally disclosing their relationship. Admittedly, one of the reasons for their hesitation was that they weren’t sure they would be allowed to continue working in the same team and they wanted to prolong the moment for as long as they could, not wanting to be separated. But it seemed they were worried for nothing and now they could bring Hen and Chim into the loop.

Funnily enough, they didn’t have to look far for their friends, finding them not so subtly loitering nearby. Feeling Buck’s fingers thread between his own as they move to greet the other two, Eddie found himself unable to keep the smile from his face, knowing that this was something they could now do freely in front of their friends.

They barely had to say anything, with Hen immediately zeroing in on their joined hands and crowed in delight over their announcement before a group hug was instigated by Chim, celebrating their news, and declaring how overjoyed they were.  

“Can I just say you two are adorable,” Hen remarked when they relocated to the couches, causing him to blush over the comment, knowing that he and Buck had left little room between each other on the couch and had yet to relinquish the other’s hand. “And it’s nice to see that you guys are so comfortable about it after only a couple of months, I honestly thought you’d be more awkward about it.”

“Well,” Buck drew out in a contradictory higher register, “I’d say that’s because it’s been a bit longer than a couple of months.”

“Uhh, how long is ‘a bit longer’?” chimed in Chim, parroting the short phrase back at them.

Eddie looked at Buck who in turn looked at him, and they had a momentary silent conversation based on eyebrow movements and head tilts over who got to break the news. It ended with him sighing and turning back to the waiting pair, knowing what their reaction would be, “Some time since before Halloween last year.”

Their collective response to the admittance had him both wincing and trying to suppress the laughter that was bubbling in his chest over Chim and Hen’s affronted exclamations that they had waited so long to tell them.

“In our defence, we stopped actively trying to keep it a secret at the beginning of the year, we thought you’d figure it out sooner.”

“So, at all the gatherings this year, when you just happened to be dressed similarly and always also came in the same car together with Christopher and seemed to spend your days off together more often than not, that was you being a couple?”

“Yep!” Buck confirmed, popping the p as he relaxed further into the couch cushion and pressed himself more heavily into Eddie’s side.

“Oh my god, that makes so much sense. I can’t believe we didn’t see it.”

They watched as Hen and Chim withdrew into themselves re-evaluating all the moments together and realising what was so blatantly there. It was after a few more drawn-out minutes that Chim startled and stared Buck down.

“Wait, does Maddie know?”

Naturally just as Buck is about to respond, the call alarm sounded sending them all into a flurry to head down to the trucks. Chim however stopped at the bottom of the stairs and repeated his question more loudly. “Buck! Does Maddie know?”

Eddie watched out of the corner of his eye as Buck stopped mid-step and turned back to Chim gesturing for him to hurry up as he does so, “Yes Chim, Maddie was the first to know, now come on, we’ve got to go!”

This jump-started Chim back into action, “Right, yes, of course.”  But that didn’t stop him from muttering that he couldn’t believe she didn’t tell him sooner.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

It’s not until they make it back home, do they revisit the aborted conversation that started in Bobby’s office.

“So Eds,” Buck opened with from the bathroom doorway having just finished brushing his teeth, “it’s later. Want to tell me what you meant in Bobby’s office.”

He sighed, realising that he might have been a bit dramatic about the whole situation as he shucked on his bed shirt, “I didn’t really mean anything by it, honestly.”

“I feel like that sigh said otherwise,” Buck observed as he turned off the bathroom light and flipped back the covers, and slid into bed.

“I don’t know what to tell you, Buck! In that train car, I was just so worried about how far you’d go for that stupid promise. That’s all,” he ended up saying in hushed exasperation, turning on the bedside lamp and moved around the room to turn off the bedroom light before moving to climb into his side of the bed.

Buck wrapped an arm around his shoulder when he did and he let Buck pull him into his side, “I only said that because I was thrown. I haven’t seen or spoken to her in almost 2 years and she came back with a fiancé.”

He huffed at that and pushed his mild annoyance aside, relaxing into Buck’s embrace instead, “Okay, so maybe I was being a bit irrational too. But so were you promising to save him, you know that we’re not supposed to do that.”

“I know. And as much as I know I shouldn’t after the way things ended between us, I do still care about her, I didn’t want to be the reason she didn’t get to be happy.”

He repositioned his head to settle it more closely to Buck’s heart speaking softly, “I get it,” and then after a period of quiet as they listened to each other breathe he suggested, “You should go see her.”

The was a beat of hesitation from Buck, “…you sure?”

“Yeah, of course. I mean, I may resent her as your friend and boyfriend for what she did, but this is about you. You deserve to get the closure she owes you.”

There’s a long considering pause as Buck thought it over, long enough that Eddie actually thought he might have fallen asleep, so he shifted across Buck’s warm chest to turn off the lamp and resettle back onto his pillow.

“Eddie?” is spoken softly into the darkness, the sound of a head turning on a pillow.

Rolling back onto his side to face Buck even in the darkness, he places a hand on Buck’s bare chest, “Yeah Buck?”

“I just want you to know how much I love being part of your life. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I promise to do everything in my power to keep it that way for as long as you’ll have me.”

Smiling softly at the heartfelt declaration, he uttered immediately in response, “I love being part of your life too Buck and I know how seriously you take your promises." He pressed a kiss to the tip of Buck’s shoulder, "Don't worry, I don’t intend on letting you go anytime soon.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” He felt as Buck adjusted his position slightly to drop a kiss to the crown of his head with a contented sigh.

The conversation trailed off after that and he could feel Buck slowly drifting off beneath him. He wasn’t lying, after everything the day had brought and the months leading up to it, Eddie knew one thing for certain; he wanted to take the next natural progression in their relationship and have Buck move in properly, officially. Now he just needed the assistance of one Christopher Diaz to make it happen.

[quant-um-fizzx]

Relenting

Synopsis: James Barnes had always been sweet, until he wasn’t. Somewhere along the way, your mutual attraction took a turn. Now, you can’t tell if he’s playing with you or playing you. Then, fate forces some honesty.

Warnings:  Dark!Bucky Barnes x Reader. Smut, Dub-Con (Sex Pollen, my friends), Language, (some) Angst, elements of stalking & emotional manipulation. Explicit, rough sex, slight anal play. Literally the most dirty talk I’ve ever written.

Word Count:  5900

If you’ve come here expecting the comedy erotica or angst I write elsewhere, this is not for you. 

This is for @darkficsyouneveraskedfor‘s writing challenge from the prompt: “Just a little more, baby.” (How we got here from there, I’ll never know.) 

I’ve labeled this Dark!Bucky, but he’s probably more gray than dark. But not the soft, uses-all-the-bath-salts-when-you’re-out-of-town Bucky I’d consider more canon.  

 *****

No one can pinpoint when, nobody’s ready to say it out loud, but Barnes came back different. Off. 

Wrong.

Might’ve been that mission in the Midwest (of all places to find that kind of cult) or when someone got it in their fool head to send him to verify exactly what the stone status was on Vormir. Your money’s on the veiled gateway rift that sucked him in but spit two out; he’d beaten his wild-eyed spare and flung it back into the void the moment it’d lunged for you. 

Chances are it’s not a solitary event, but the culmination of everything. One could hardly blame him if it were. 

Whatever, whenever, he’s not the same. Speech now often sly, maneuvering. Manners slipping into predatory where they’d always been soft.

Sometimes, you think you’re imagining it - cold glint like metal chips in ice eyes - that maybe you only see him differently because of failed romance. 

Now, he delights in flustering you. Taunting and near cruel one moment. Playful, protective the next.  Makes it nearly impossible to get a read on him. 

You find, in spite of your better judgement, uncertainty is its own kind of clever seduction. 

“Hey, I know this isn’t really my business, but whatever happened there?” Bruce inclines his head toward where Barnes stalks by outside the lab windows. His second pass since you started to prepping vials for transport. Dark, rough strides. He slips out of view and the lab seems colder. Sleek, sterile.  Your mind conjures up memories of sandalwood on fleece, in stark contrast to the lab’s xylene and bitter almond air. “Everyone thought you two were a good match.”

You smile, wistful. Mourning. “I had hoped so, too. But,” you sigh, “what makes good theory does not necessarily work in practical execution.”

Banner tsks. “Shame. Ever since you came on board, you both used to get along so well. Even now, he still looks at you like you ought to be picking out curtains.”

You scoff. “‘Used to get along’ until he...never mind. Whatever Sergeant Barnes might really want, it’s not that. And definitely not that with me.” He’d made that perfectly clear.

Suddenly, as if he’d heard you - but he shouldn't have, couldn’t have - Barnes pauses outside. His glance locks on your eyes. You fumble and clink the glass against the tray’s edge. 

Bruce shakes his head, gently using a tremendously large, green hand to steady the tongs you hold. “Careful there. Breaking that in here? Could’ve been ugly.”

“Doctor Banner,” you say, placing the final vial in its slot and trying to shift your attention from the man outside, “your report indicated that universal precautions were sufficient for international transport of these ‘classified contagion’ samples. As I have committed to hand-carrying them, despite possessing insufficient clearance to be privileged with details, if it would be best to utilize hazmat gear and airborne pathogen protocols, not only would I appreciate a full disclosure I would consider it your due diligence to do so.”

He nods. “You’re right. You’re right. It’s really an unknown at this point. I’m just being cautious. Using any iteration of the Hulk as a guinea pig is a scenario I strive to avoid.”

“Fair enough.” You click the lid closed, the half dozen tubes of churning red haze goo nestled securely inside. “Do I wait there for test results?”

“Nah,” Bruce says, already on the way back to his microscope. “Thorough runs could take longer than we can spare you here.”  

Smiling, you return your lab coat to it’s hook, smooth your hair, and give the station a once-over, making sure everything has been completed properly. This also serves as a welcome delay to going out those doors and encountering the long-haired enigma who has plagued your thoughts for longer than you care to admit.

“On second thought,” Banner says, peering up over the eyepiece. “She could have a prelim synthesis to send back in no time. Their tech is so different.” 

Taking a deep breath, you gather your gear and subtly check if Barnes is still nearby. Being off-kilter around him, while handling what you suspect is more dangerous than Bruce is letting on, is the last thing you need. 

Being around Barnes doesn’t feel cordial the way it used to. Warm banter that had felt safe.  

You can’t get a read on him, aren’t sure how you feel around him, about him. 

You don’t love him. Probably easily could.

You might fear him. Probably, definitely should. 

You do...care.

Lately, day in, day out, he’s there. Stalking along the periphery, a shuck peering out from woodlands.

He’s charming, affable enough for everyone else’s comfort. He used to be with you, too. 

Even in a crowded room, he  - sullen growl of a man - used to seem alone. The kind of alone that oozes off a person, rolls out from his shoulders. Used to it. Accustomed to it.

Trust only it. 

When you first tried - heart in your throat and skin gooseflesh - when you first stepped up to that guy, part matinee idol, part drive-in backseat rogue, he’d turned in on himself. Tried to force his large frame to disappear. Behind his barriers, he’d just watched you. Wary. Accessing.

But the next time he’d been holding the wall up, ale bottle in loose metal grip, you didn’t have to look for an opening. He’d lifted his chin and inclined his head toward chairs.

After that, the pair of you could be found engaged in long, private conversations. Content to let whatever ruckus go on around you. Foreheads nearly touching. Fingers not-so-casually brushing together. Your stomach flutters at the memory.

Now, his attention makes the hair on your neck stand up at least as much as it travels down your belly, between your thighs. Puts you on edge, mouse batted between paws. 

When you exit the lab, he’s waiting. Leans his back against a column, arms folded. Legs crossed at the ankles, pants taunt were they wrap around his thighs. His eyes flick to you, his only perceived movement. “Whatcha got there, Red?”  He draws each word out as if puffing smoke.

Your eyes go wide before you can stop them. Left corner of his mouth ticks up, goal met. 

The nickname startles you for a moment. It always does. He dusts the name off, digs it out once in awhile, just when you’ve almost forgotten. When you’ve let your mind scab over that single, awkward date. Forgotten how once upon a time, even his team thought you’d “be good together” and made that final push to fix you up. 

It had been right after the rift clone incident. If you’d not been so caught up in him - that red warmth that unfurled in your chest - you should’ve known. Paid attention to his shift, his change. The tragedy of it all.

You’d worn a crimson silk column dress, French twist, Replique dotted on pulse points. 

He’d worn black jeans and blood-dirt under his nails.

Peering at you over his menu, he’d dropped it down and motioned between you both. “You took this seriously, huh?”

Only just enough to have waxed everything reasonably prudent. 

Crestfallen, your shoulders dropped. Clearly, you thought, you’d misread the prior conversations, his lingering looks, mistakenly thought he returned your interest.

Cheeks on fire, you’d started to fold your napkin and push your chair back. “My apologies, Sergeant Barnes. I won’t take up any more of your time. You may return to the Olympic-level brooding of which you are so fond and I will retire for the evening.”

He’d thrown his head back, barked what might’ve been a laugh. “You’ll ‘retire for the evening?’“ Shook his head. “Red, you’re too much.” He grabbed a waiter - not ours, but Barnes didn’t let that stop him - “Bring us that special and a bottle of whatever makes uptight dames spread their legs these days.”

You sat still, mouth open, staring at your fork. 

He reached out, took your hand in his. Seemed to apologize with his eyes. They held yours, sky fading into sapphire. Held you without touching you. 

You look up behind lashes. “Dinner is just...we can have a good time. Talk.”  

“Yeah, let’s have the Blue Plate. See how it goes.,” he said. 

Then, the air had shifted, when he seemed...vulnerable...he pulled away. 

By the end of the night, the pulse pounds in your ears. You’d talked and laughed and when he walked you home, you knew you’d invite him in. You’d always known.  

He’d walked you to your door, eight-to-ten now-uncharacteristically chivalrous inches between your bodies on the way up the steps. Single bulb buzzing overhead. The key had proven elusive. Always on its ring and placed in the back pocket of your purse, your shaking fingers had let it slip down somewhere in your bag. 

He stepped in closer behind you, looking over your shoulder, breath passing over the shell of your ear. “You need a hand there?”

You jolted up straight, back bumping into his chest. “Thank you,” your voice cracked, “but I think I can manage unlocking my own stupid door.”  You inhaled sharply through your nose. “Excuse me,” you said, sounding mousy even to your own ears. “I didn't mean for that to sound so rude.”

“You didn’t, hmm?” He hums, breath slipping down your neck and he wrapped his right hand low around your waist.

“No,” you swallowed hard. Your skin on fire under his palm. 

“So, you’re saying you would like a hand...” He whispered, smoothing cool fingers down along the space between your hip and thigh. 

Limbs shaking, desire and curiosity and confusion swirling in your veins. You tried to find your voice, leaned against his chest’s blister strum. Shuddered as another warm breath huffed over your skin. 

“Y-yes.”

He spun you and you found your back suddenly against the cold, wooden door. His face hovered, lips barely an inch above your own. 

“As much as I think you think you want this.” He traced your collarbone, eyes burrowing into yours. “As much as I enjoy hearing your heart race.” His finger dipped inside your neckline, under the edge of your bra, skimming pebbled flesh. You shuddered, worried some neighbor might be looking, but unable to tear your gaze away from his. 

“Today’s your lucky day, Red. I am gonna leave ya jus’ the way I found ya.” He pressed himself against you, thigh wedged between yours. “‘Cause, if I stay here on this porch one more minute, with you an’ your wide eyes, smelling like sins you don’t begin to understand…” Stubble grazed your cheek. He hummed, words hot and heavy in your ear. “I think I’d ruin you.”

You wanted to grab his hand and hold it there. To ask him in and show what he did to you, to prove to him...to yourself...that this could be good. Special. Right.     

“You wouldn’t ruin me. I - I trust you, ” you squeaked, instead. Tentatively closed that fractional space, brushed your lips against his. 

He didn’t let it become a kiss. “You misunderstand me.” He moved back a bit, pulled his arm free and ran knuckles down between you, tracing your chest and then grabbing tightly around your waist. Pushed you, a quick snap, deeper into the door.

“I want to.”

Then, he’d bound off the porch and down the steps before the night air had even cooled your skin. Calling out behind him as he cut across the grass, “You aren’t ready, little girl.”

His words play back every night as you fall into fitful sleep.

Now, he looks at you knowingly. Like he knows where your mind was, that shared flickering old film reel memory.

You hold up the vials and manage a small laugh. It’s short. Belies your nerves. 

“Oh, I - I have some things to deliver to Shuri. To Shuri’s lab.” 

“Shuri’s lab.” He says, mouth moving as if rolling around an invisible hay straw. He still leans, unblinking, trained on you. 

A moment of silence as he considers you. Electricity buzzes across your skin. Words rush out of you to fill the void. “Shuri’s lab. In Wakanda. Shuri’s lab.”

His eyes crinkle, pleased as you stumble over your words. “Yeah, I’m familiar.” 

Of course he is. You’re supposed to be smarter than this. 

**

Across the hanger, Clint performs his pre-flight checklist. 

“Change of plans,” he calls out, back still turned to you. “Laura’s got me roped into filming a play tonight.”

“Okay,” you say, unable to fault her for wanting to keep Clint as retired as possible. “I need to put these samples back on ice then.” You start to head back when a shadow emerges from inside the jet. 

Clint says, dryly, “You’re going. Looks like I'm still the only one around here who doesn’t have a Wakanda stamp on my passport.”

Barnes peers down from the quinjet ramp, takes the checklist, and winks. Your stomach drops. 

Clint claps him on the shoulder. “Say ‘hi’ to those damn goats for me.”

Once inside the jet, Barnes gestures toward the insulated box you carry. “That it there? What did Barton call it? Funky Cold Medina?”

Of course. Yes, naturally. That’s exactly what it would be. Aphrodisiac Pheromones. Sex Pollen. 

The mystery of why evil organizations frequently leave a cache of screw-or-die juice sitting around abandoned complexes for wandering bands of Do-Gooders to uncover is as baffling as why they consider rampant libido to be a great offensive strategy in the first place. 

Nodding curtly, acting unruffled by the news, you brush past him and secure it in the cooler. 

**

The plane is at cruising altitude before either of you speak again.

“How long has it been since you’ve been to Wakanda?” You venture, throat tight.

He runs his tongue along his teeth, never looking away from the sky, then answers, “Haven’t been back since Strange showed up.”  He pauses, then continues, “Used to have a nice place there. Best view. Sunsets over still water.” Leans slightly out of his seat in your direction. “I think I wanna take you there.”

A smile comes over you, wide and almost hurting your cheeks. This glimpse of how he’d been, hope tingles along your arms. 

“I’d love that.” And you would. Have him let you in, return to where he’d been and who he was.

“Sure thing,” he says, voice lilting out on a devil smirk. “I could take you there. It’s...secluded. Make you scream.”

“Why do you do that?” The tingles take on a different tenor. 

“Do what?” He sounds believably innocent in the way a prostitute dresses up like a nun. 

You fidget, nails scratching a foreign itch on your palms, and chastise yourself, reminded again why it’s better when you don’t get your hopes up. Don’t act on your urge to spend time with him.  Your once almost more-than-friend...your wishful thinking...seems gone for good. Now, when he comes around, it feels like finding yourself suddenly teetering on a high ledge when you’d expected grass between your toes. 

“Why must you be so...so, crude?” 

“It is. I am. That’s the point though, isn’t it?  You like it,” he says matter-of-factly, looking you up and down, “Hell, you crave it. And that’s what’s got you confused, all tied up in knots.” He turns in his chair, arms bent and leaning on his knees, casual, is if he was discussing new coffee in the common room or a cell phone plan. “Because you’re stuck thinking the goal is a fella wife-ing you up,” he snorts.

“Hell, Red, you’re still stuck thinking you want a guy grunting on top of you Tuesdays from 9 to 9:10 with a meatloaf pan soaking in the sink.” He shakes his head. ”You have hangs-ups and I’m not gonna play along with them like that boring ass agent you wasted time on.”

“Stop,” you whisper. “Please, stop trying to scare me.”

He blows out a lungful of air. “It doesn’t scare you. That I could just take it. That I could have you - have you in all the ways that you won’t let yourself think you want. The thoughts you kill before you can admit them in the back of that beautiful mind of yours. I could have you every one of those ways. But, that’s not how I want it. Not how I want you. What scares you,” he says, leaning in. “What scares you is, that I won’t. I won’t let you keep fooling yourself about what you really want. 

“You know, deep down you know, that’s not how it’s gonna happen. You gotta admit what you need.”

He inches a little closer. “You’re gonna have to beg.”

Your heart stops, eyes unblinking. “You’re wrong.”

“No,’ he says, returning to the controls and beginning your descent. “No, you’re wrong - and I’m a different kind of wrong. I’m so wrong that I’m the only thing right.”

Your head pounds. Stomach lurches as the plane breaks beneath the clouds. “You used to be my friend,” you half-mumble, staring down at your knees. “Sweetheart,” he punches the word out, saccharine-sweet, “I was never meant to be your friend.”

**

Silence stretches out for several more minutes. Only the engine’s hum, lull and dense, barely bats at the thoughts raging in your mind. Barnes’ words, his presence, suffocates you. Even strapped securely in his pilot seat, it feels like he’s crushing your lungs.

The plane lands in an outlying region. 

“I should be back by four,” you spit, container swinging wildly from your fist. The walk is probably twenty minutes from here and you relish the idea of having the quiet to process things.

“Orders are I make sure you’re safe.” He falls in step.

You spin and push a single finger into his chest, stopping him in his tracks. “Your services are not needed, Barnes.”

“Don’t be like that,” he snaps, serious. “Just because you’re pissed at me for saying shit you don’t wanna hear, don’t put yourself in danger.”

“Danger? I think I’m infinitely safer out here. It’s Wakanda, the most advanced place on the planet!” You sweep your arms wide toward the city in the distance, towers like exclamation points jutting out of fields. “I’ll be fine. Besides, the plane could have flown directly to the palace but you’re the one who elected to land way out here.”

He pushes his hair out of his face, holding it up and off his neck. You notice the curve, the warm, inviting color of his skin. He looks out toward the trees, calm as anything, like your outburst never happened. “Guess I can check out the old stomping ground.”

Fighting the urge to flip him off, you march down the ramp, leaving him standing there. “By all means. Go have congress with a goat for all I care.”

**

Mid afternoon, as soon as you break the tree line on your return, he emerges from the woods. Appears freshly bathed in the river, mane wet and loose, shirt clinging to his frame. 

“After you,” he smiles, wolfish, and bows exaggeratedly, inviting you to go first up the ramp. 

Your eyes narrow, but you climb inside anyway. 

Suddenly, coming around from behind you, his hand reaches for the biohazard bag containing the single tube Shuri had sent back.

“What are you doing?” You snatch the bag away, crushing it to your body.

He throws his hands up in mock surrender. “Begging your pardon. Just trying to be a gentleman and carry your bag.”

“Knock it off, Barnes. If you’ve got a predilection for hearing every woman throw themselves at your feet, you can satiate it someplace else.” 

“Oh, I can. Just don’t wanna.” His eyes narrow on the bag and he wrenches it out of your grasp, tosses it unceremoniously into the cooler and slams the door 

You watch the cooler as if the door might burst open and the horny wrath of Hell take flight about the cabin.  When it remains undisturbed until Barnes completes the pre flight rituals, you finally allow yourself to breathe a little deeper and turn away from it.  

“And you wound me,” he croons, spinning his seat into position. “It’s not every woman.”

You roll your eyes, strap in, and swear you’re never giving him the satisfaction of hearing you speak again. 

That resolve, among other things, breaks over the Atlantic.

The air fills, flowery. Like a florist’s shoppe - oh. Oh, god no -  so many scents it feels fake. Cloying and sweet. 

“Wha-What is- we need to land!”

He holds his hand up toward the windshield, water as far as the eye can see. “No problem. Just shout ‘ahoy’ when you spot some dirt.”

You fling aside the belt and run toward the cooler.  Viscous sludge flows slick as mercury on the floor around it. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Barnes yells from the cockpit. 

You start rummaging through cabinets, looking for something, anything. “Maybe I can dilute it, cut the effects.” You open the cooler and pull the bag out. It’s ruptured, the vial broken and plastic cut, or eaten away by the chemical, it’s hard to tell at this point. 

“By touching it?!” He punches in codes hard enough the key clanks echo. “Stop, just - just wait. Wait two seconds until I can find out what’s what.”

You fling the near empty bag at the back of the plane. “You! You did this on purpose!” The plastic thumps, hollow against the metal door. A roaring, mute thing.

Barnes shakes his head once, hisses between clenched teeth, “You’re the one who smashed it against their chest.” 

Then, he cleanly switches tone - deep and clear - speaking into his earpiece. “Banner. Yeah, we have a situation here.

“The package Shuri sent back has been compromised. We’re mid flight, no safe place to put her down. Need to mitigate effects. Please advise.”  He pauses, presumably listening to Bruce, then purses his lips. “Nothing? Banner, are you sure?” Turns again, gives you a gauging look.

This can’t be happening. Can’t. You start to shake, knees going out from under you.

He keeps his eyes on you, touches the earpiece. “Nothing. Understood. Barnes out.” Then rips it off and throws it hard enough to shatter.

A thousand thoughts swirl at once. Is it really going to work? How long do you have? What if you go at it like rabbits who just got out of prison and then have to face him day-after-day? What if it works on you both but he resists? 

Preemptive humiliation, clawing feral behind your ribs, the terror of possibly being rejected if you, if you...finally admit...

Then, Barnes is there, crouched down beside you, offers you his hand. You wave it away. 

“Doll,” he says, soft, like one might coax a fawn to take berries. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Sniffling, you shake your head. 

“C’mon,” he says softer yet and backing up, giving you space. “Get out of that. Come, sit.” 

You look down and realize the liquid is seeping toward you. Some on your leg. Scrambling past him you make it to the other side of the cabin and slump back down to the floor. He moves away from the spill, but keeps his distance, placing himself on the other side of the aisle. 

“Why?” Betrayal pours out of you.

He sits down on the floor opposite you. Legs bent and knees up, hands clasped and hanging between. “You gotta believe me, the very last thing I want is something happening between us that’s not real.”

You stare at him. He seems so genuine in this moment. But, you force focus, because this is how he always is, right before he pulls the rug out from under you.

When you don’t reply, he breaks the silence again. “Besides, maybe it doesn’t even work. Hasn’t kicked in already. That’s a good sign. I’ve been around that type of shit before,” he pauses, looking off to the right, unfocused on something that isn’t really there, remembering some horror you don’t want to contemplate. “It’s not always so bad.” He shrugs, picks a string off his pants. “Even if it is, if it is...bad, I know I can hold off.”

You can’t look at him. Not when his voice is soft and his words are kind and he reminds you so much of the man you fell...the man you...

dammit.

He gets up slowly. Checks the autopilot. Eases back down where he was. Boots scuffing out in front of him along the metal floor.

“Did you mean what you said?” You venture. He just raises his eyebrows. “When you said you wanted something real with me-with us?” You elaborate, barely audible. 

He clears his throat, rearranges himself on the floor. Stares off at nothing. “Why else would I hold off all this time? At first, sure, I thought you were interesting enough. Probably good for letting off steam.” He looks to you for a moment, then away again. “Then, you just sorta snuck in. Took over. You and your little button up sweaters.” Gives a little chuckle. “Fucking seduced me with your cardigans and ‘Nova’ recaps.” 

Mulling it over, you start to ask, “Then, why do you-”

“You know why.”

He blows out a lungful of air.  “Because I’m not settling for half-ass. Never had much. But they always find a way to take even more.” 

So torn up in your own stupid fears - selfish, petty girl - you never thought about his lot in this. A sob punches out of you. Made and unmade. So many times. Here’s another time, one more damned time, he faces control of himself being torn away.

You don’t know how long you sit there, crying into your hand. Eventually, he swipes a tear from your face. 

He scoots back away. But his touch...lingers. He watches you trace where he’d been, little lightning strikes that turn and shift, then burn. Burns past your skin, thrums in your veins.

“It’s happening.”

“Nah, Doll. We’re halfway home, we’re not gonna do anything we don’t want to do.” 

His voice, coffee rich and smoke, settles in your belly. Your hips clench, rock. You think, this must be the cusp, there’s more to come, but you want to tell him, show him...feel him before you’re so far gone it’s a blur.

Hazy want swirls around him, poppies and violets and jet fuel in the air. Your hand sneaks up under your shirt, the rough outline of it juts out over your breast. He’s sitting up now. Licks his lips. 

“I can’t - noooo,” you say, breathless. It’s scorching now. Boiling, latent want bubbling up. You pull your shirt off, burning.

“I can’t wait,” you plead. He looks so good, always looks so damned good. “I don’t want to wait.”

His back goes straight. Muscles tense. Ready to pounce. 

“Not like this.” His breath has picked up. “Not if you think you can tell yourself later that it was chemicals talking.”

“You want real, Barnes? I’ll give you real,” you purr. Stretch out lythe before him. It’s not so bad, but you know it will be. “I do want this. I want you. Always have.”

He smiles, crooked, but doesn’t move. “That’s nice. Real nice to hear.” Watches your hand go under your clothes, between your legs. “That’s not enough. I could’ve had you back then. Back on your porch. Had you a couple times. Taken the edge off. Maybe gotten it outta our systems. But,” he stops for a moment, seeming to reconsider when you moan as you slip between your folds. He palms the hard length of him. “that’s not enough. I want all of you.”

Electric yearning rolls your shoulders, pressure between your legs frustrating. “Please.”

“‘Please’ what?” He shifts again, watching you, sweat forming on his brow. Fists clenched at his sides.

“I don’t want to date you, Red. Don’t wanna be your boyfriend or any fucking trivial thing like marriage.” Stares you down, blue boring into your soul. “I want more than that meaningless shit.”

Your mind is nothing but the want of him - broad shoulders, his gravel-tired voice, the thick of him. 

Skin on fire with tremors. “Anything you want, Bucky. Everything. Please. I just, just-” you moan, a twisted mess on the floor before him. Voice a shuddered breath.  “You’re right. I want you everywhere. Mark me up. Show me - show me you own me.”

“Fuck yeah, I do.” Then, he’s there. Hands holding your jaw, angling you open, tongue a deep slide. He breaks free, swallows your breaths, presses his head to yours. 

He’s out of his clothes while you fumble with what’s left of your own. They start to rip. “Shush. Let me.” Deftly, he undoes them, sets you free. “You need to wear these later. No one gets to see but me.” His eyes sparkle mischief until the thin sky edge gives way to black.

Cool fingers slide inside you. One, then two. Curl and pump, wet and obscene. Moments and, you’re there. “I’m gonna...I’m gonna come.”

He doesn't let up. “Yeah you are. Give it to me.”  Your head falls forward, clinging, hanging on through a silent scream, wet rushes past his wrist.

“My turn,” he snarls. Towers over your, pushes a finger past your lips, hooks it around you cheek, and pulls you to his cock. Pressure and he angles your face up, finger replaced by thumbs at each side pulling your mouth wide - drool pooling - and pushes the tip onto your tongue. 

You give a tentative lick. Try to work the girth of him while he holds you open. “Look at me,” he says, hair a veil framing his face. “You can do better than that. Don’t hold back.”

You keep your eyes on him, nudge his hands away, work him halfway down, salty musk on the back of your tongue. 

“This ain’t about you being passive, Sugar. Come on. Show me what I do to you. Fucking treat me right,” he growls, grabs your head and shoves as you gag. “I didn’t spend months coming in my own hand, thinking about you, biding my time - waiting to do this right - for you to barely-” 

Fast, determined, almost angry, you swallow him down as far as possible, eyes wet and blurred.  Find the spot behind him, between his legs, warm, heavy, and rub in tight ovals. “Fuuuck - yesssss.” He twists your hair in his hands - holding you in your place. 

“That’s it. Oh god, Sugar, you didn’t just come up with that. What else you got hiding, waiting to show me? So fuckin -“ he shudders as you massage him more, pinky brushing farther back. 

He laughs, surprised. “Dirty girl.” He pulls out, then wraps his hand around your neck, squeezing himself there as he pushes back in. “You got the sweetest goddamn throat.” Thrusts while you run your circuits until he empties himself, head thrown back and thighs straining.

He moves faster than should be humanly possible, unfurls his jacket over the floor grid, and pulls you over it. Wads his shirt under your knees.

“Floor’s hard,” he says, chest rising and falling rapidly. “I only want you feelin’ me.”

“Spread.” He smacks your ass with a sting.

You obey, arch your back, offer yourself. He dives in with his mouth, tongue in deep. When he starts to thumb your clit, constellations bursting behind your eyes, you stop him. “In me. I want to come with you inside me. Only with you inside me.”

He smiles, face slick with you. Straightens, grabs your hips and pulls you to him as he starts his slide in. 

You mewl, palms flat and fingers splayed. Try to relax through the stretch and drag, strain to take the rest of him.

He runs his hand over your spine. “Just a little more, baby,” he coos. “Fuck. Look at you. Takin’ me so good.

“You’re mine. The moment I heard your heart race, you were mine. When I made you wait, you were still mine. When I told you to beg for it and you did, you were mine. When I told you to spread your legs and you did it, you were mine.” He makes a final push, fully seated, sharp spark at your end. Holds you there, pulsing. Then, pulls out long, begins again. 

It’s everything you ever wanted. He was so right. So, so right and you can’t believe you waited for so long and you really need to thank Shuri for not inventing vibranium test tubes. 

“When that bastard wearing my face looked at you, looked at you like he had the right, that’s when-”  He moans long and low, makes a particularly full stroke, air sucking through his teeth. 

“That’s when I knew. No other man could have you. Even if that man was me.”

His hands dig into your hips. Anchoring you. He holds you open, watching. Cold thumb follows the line down the center of you. Stops above where you meet. Pad runs over where you’re tight and untested. 

“Pleeeease,” you keen. You need him. Need him everywhere. 

His hips falter, finesse sacrificed to curious need. 

“Has anyone been in here before?”

“No,” you mewl, debauched, wanton. 

His pace picks up. Harder, slamming, sting against cervix. “I need in there. Fuck. Sugar, let me in.”

Beyond words, you tilt your hips and push back, forcing him in knuckle deep.

“Only me,” he roars. “Promise me. Swear.” He angles over you, spreads you out, chest crushing to the floor. His free hand finds your neck. Pins your down. Breath harsh beside your ear.

“You. Only you.” You come, crying and clenching around him in all the places he is within. 

He pulls out. Kisses your face as he lifts you, turns you to him.

He settles between your waiting thighs - surrounds, nuzzles in, taking in your scent - until there’s nothing you can see, or feel, think, that isn’t him. 

Then he stills. Then watches. Then breathes.

Brushes his warm hand along the curve of your face. Presses a kiss, pillow soft. Weight pinning you down. He pushes fully back in, his head breaking skyward as you take him. 

Hips rolling full - the drag and curve brings him to your chest. His tongue slips along you breast, seeks and teases. Licks and pulls you in. 

His hands wrap around your thighs, anchors you, opens you up. Kisses deep and pushes in, until you’ve run out of you and he’s run out of him.

“Fuuuck, you feel so good. I knew you would. Thought about you every fu- every fucking day.” 

He stops for a moment, beaming down at you. You realize you were the one talking.   

“That’s my girl.” 

Then, he’s moves, ruts, whispers faint praise into your skin. Low. Can’t quite hear.

And you want to hear.

You want to taste his secrets and feel his sounds and listen to his mouth on you.

You push up into him, hard, matching him. You explode again, suddenly. 

“Fuuuuck.  He swells. Rhythm falters. Marks your walls. 

After, you tuck into his side, both of you curled up on the floor. His face is finally relaxed, serene. You press your lips above his heart.

“Bucky, I want you to know, I wanted this, I will always want this. I am yours. It wasn’t just the chemicals.”

He kisses the sweat and tears from your face. Tucks your hair behind your ear. “I know, Red, I know,” he says, eyes sparkling, voice sincere, “Bruce said there was ‘nothing’ to worry about. That wasn’t the pollen - that was just the antidote.”

[futuristicallyspeedyparadise]

Waiting For You (Jack x Zhao Zi Story) Chapter 1

“Zhao Zi, if you stare any harder at the door, it will burst into flames.”

Zhao Zi lurched back into reality, ripping his eyes away from the kitchen door to look at Yi Qi’s brown eyes glittering in amusement.

“Why are you so insistent on knowing the new chef? Given our experience with the last few, I would’ve thought you would want to steer clear of that kind of demented folk.”

Perhaps it had just been bad luck, but the restaurant’s endless parade of chefs had resulted in slight trepidation amongst the waitstaff about who the newcomer would be. The chef before this one had the habit of throwing literal knives when someone or something pissed him off. The one before that had emotional breakdowns every once in a while and would lock themselves up in the walk-in freezer for half an hour. And not to mention the one who used the kitchen pantry as his own personal food supply. He would “shop” for items, often the expensive stuff like truffles and Wagyu beef, and take them home to host parties; when being ousted he remained adamant that he hadn’t been stealing.

Each of the previous chefs had cooked spectacularly, but their inability to handle the pressure--or their literal thievery--had made the restaurant owner Tang Yi fire them without hesitation.

Zhao Zi turned fully towards the table again and tucked into his French onion soup. The restaurant’s kitchen was massive, filled with different food stations and prep tables galore. In the corner away from the action, was an area where wait staff could grab food or take their scheduled break. One of the perks of working at the restaurant was that they would occasionally receive free meals. Zhao Zi, a self-identified foodie, could not have been any happier with that particular perk. Sometimes he was able to eat dishes that people had to pay hundreds to eat, for free.

“I’m just curious as to who the new chef is going to be. I mean, c’mon Yi Qi. You know we’ve had quite a string of bad luck.”

“Well...you don’t have to tell me that,” Yi Qi muttered, rubbing her wrist distractedly. Her wrist had been the unfortunate receiver of the last knife that had been thrown by the previous chef. She had not been the intended target, but some things could not be forgiven. When Tang Yi, the owner, heard the news, he had dismissed the chef on the spot and assured Yi Qi that any medical expenses would be paid. Yi Qi had worn a protective band on her wrist for a month and now had a shiny scar to show for it.

“I wonder what their specialty is? I don’t know how we stay afloat. Our menu changes every time a new chef parades through this door!”

“I think that has become the novelty of it. Everytime we fire a chef and the media gets a hold of it, they start conducting polls on what our next specialty food will be.”

“I mean you can’t fault Tang Yi. Whether they are crazy or not, he does find the top people in the culinary field,” Yi Qi agreed.

Tang Yi, their boss, was a no-nonsense restaurant owner. He came out of nowhere a few years before and opened this restaurant, somehow managing to curate the top talent in the field. People wondered how a nobody could convince top chefs, sous-chefs, maître d’s and sommeliers to abandon their posts and come join his restaurant; given Tang Yi’s dubious past—it was rumored he had been affiliated with the gang activity—many figured it had been blackmail.

Despite that, or perhaps because of all the mystery, Trapped surged to the top of every national restaurant list and garnered many recognitions and awards. It’s ever changing and experimental menu, mostly due to the revolving door of chefs, kept it fresh. Though the food changed, the quality certainly did not slip. Zhao Zi had to interview extensively to be a waiter at the restaurant. It was a position that many people in the service industry, from long-time waiters to culinary students, vied for because it included great pay and benefits as well as the chance to work for the culinary greats.

Zhao Zi sighed. He loved working here at the restaurant. Despite the occasional uppity customer who felt they were too rich to have decent manners, he enjoyed the clientele and enjoyed ensuring that they had a great experience. Plus the staff at the restaurant was like family, something that was nice to have given that he had no actual family.

He had lost his parents when he was very young and had grown up with his grandmother. His grandmother, a small but feisty woman, always made sure that he was well taken care of. She put him through school, and encouraged his love for food blogging and consumption. He missed his grandmother’s cooking the most. She made the most wonderful feasts, plates full of steaming, richly flavored food that warmed his stomach and soul.

Stricken with a bout of pneumonia, she passed away a couple of years ago in her sleep.

The door to the kitchen creaked open, and Zhao Zi’s head whipped around to see who had come in. He groaned when he realized it was just Jun Wei, another waiter.

The kitchen staff knew the identity of the new chef; they had had some closed-kitchen training with them to work out the new menu and how the kitchen would be run under their direction. However, it was a tradition for the kitchen staff to not reveal the identity of the new chef to the waitstaff, and legally mandatory for them not to leak information to the press. Tang Yi had made them sign non-disclosures even before the parade of chefs began. Though they had a legal obligation not to, the staff knew that helping drive the media into a speculation frenzy helped garner the restaurant free publicity and more clients which meant a prosperous business. They also just loved to take part in the fun.

“So, sorry to disappoint,” Jun Wei said sarcastically as he made his way over to Zhao Zi and Yi Qi. The waiters at Trapped all wore black button down shirts, black slacks and a black vest. Jun Wei was tall, with an athletic build and wore his uniform well. When he drew close, he reached out to ruffle Zhao Zi’s hair.

“Stop it!” Zhao Zi cried, fending him off. “You know the boss will kill me if he sees my hair like this,” He dropped his spoon, reaching up to pat down his hair. Jun Wei laughed and took up the seat next to Yi Qi. A line-cook came by and dropped off a bowl of soup in front of him; Jun Wei thanked them gratefully.

The cooks in the kitchen and the waitstaff had a mutual respect for each other. They understood that they needed to work cohesively in order to run the restaurant well. Their boss wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Has the dining room been set yet or do they need help?” Zhao Zi asked Jun Wei. He finished off his soup bringing over the bowl to the sink for cleaning.

“I think you might want to go out there and help out a bit. Hong Ye looks a bit...peeved.”

Hong Ye was the restaurant’s maître d. She was a formidable character, strong in personality and with very high standards. She was Tang Yi’s sister and together they ran the restaurant like a pair of benevolent dictators.

Zhao Zi nodded, already heading towards the door. As he was about to push out the doors, someone pushed them in and Zhao Zi jumped back to avoid being hit. The person who walked through the door was...different. He had red wine-colored hair, a black leather jacket and boots to match. He was tall and lithe. His face was nothing short of elegant, a beautifully carved Adonis with a smirk.

“I am so sorry, sir!” he squeaked.

The man’s smirk grew wider.  “No need to apologize.”

“How can I help you, sir?” Zhao Zi asked, with a slight bow. It was a habit to address all clientele as ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ or ‘miss.’ He figured that having gotten past Hong Ye, this person was surely some kind of business partner on his way to chat with Tang Yi. He wasn’t dressed like a businessman, but Tang Yi’s visitors were rarely corporate looking characters.  They were often older gangster looking types, or young ones who came with their chests puffed out looking for Tang Yi and referring to him as “boss.” This one however, with his green leather jacket, simple white t-shirt and motorcycle helmet in hand was definitely one of the more interesting ones.

“Do you call everyone, sir, or is that one particularly reserved for me, shorty?” The redhead asked, smirk still in place.

Zhao Zi blushed. Sure he was practically a head shorter than the man who was standing unbearably close, but it hadn’t been necessary to point it out.

“I...uh—”

“You can follow me,” came a deep voice from behind him.

Zhao Zi turned, hearing Tang Yi’s voice. Tang Yi wore a soft gray cashmere shirt and black slacks, a rich man’s simple daytime outfit. Tang Yi turned and walked back towards his office, clearly expecting the newcomer to follow him.

“Sure thing, boss.” The man said, moving around Zhao Zi to follow Tang Yi. They went into Tang Yi’s back office, which Zhao Zi had only been to once, during his interview. It was a beautiful room, decorated in splendorous dark woods and emerald accents. It was truly a gentlemen’s den. Zhao Zi let out a breath and pushed through the doors to the dining room to see how he could help.

---

Hong Ye wasn’t necessarily mean when she told someone off, but rather she was incisive. She chose her words carefully, ensuring that each word held its own weight and cut the person to their core.

She gazed about the dining room in disgust.

“So far we have fallen in our standards it would seem,” she said in an emotionless, measured tone. “Dust on the wine bottles, crumbs on the floor. Wine glasses on the wrong side of the table. Did you think I would not notice?”

She gazed at the staff. A beautiful woman standing at just over five feet, her stature did not stop her from seemingly towering over anyone. She wore a white billowy shirt, with draped arms and simple black pants.

“If you think for a second I would not fire all of you in a heartbeat then I’ve clearly haven’t made myself clear enough. Perhaps I have been too soft.”

The dining room was in a state of slight disarray. They had just changed the decor and some of the details were still being worked out. Zhao Zi liked the new look. Just like their food, the restaurant underwent certain changes to match the style of the new chef.

Looking around Zhao Zi was able to learn a little bit about the chef who would soon join them. Whereas before the restaurant had adopted the sophisticated golds and burnt oranges that matched their emphasis on Thai food, now the room was decorated in swathes of red with accents of greens, yellows and blues. The room took on a more intimate and private feel with dimmer lighting; it invited introspection and commiseration. Zhao Zi was reminded of the temples he and his grandmother would visit while growing up.

Perhaps the new chef had an affinity for traditional Taiwanese culture? Zhao Zi couldn’t help but feel a slight disappointment. It didn’t seem like they would be getting any exotic foods with this new chef.

Hong Ye disrupted his thoughts by barking out a list of orders and so they spent the rest of the day fixing up the dining room, rearranging again and again the furniture and decor in order to satisfy Hong Ye’s vision. The restaurant was closed to the public this week in order to prepare for the debut of the new chef, so they worked until Hong Ye was satisfied.

Sometime later in the evening, collapsing on to a chair, Jun Wei groaned, “I am so tired. Man, at least we get to eat.”

That was another perk of working at Trapped. All new chefs cooked a full meal for the wait staff thereby making them always the first to fully try the restaurant's new menu. Tang Yi might have been an emotionless, mysterious boss, but he was a good one.

Zhao Zi was nearly bouncing in his seat; he was always excited when it came to trying out the new menu. He often raced home afterwards to update his food blog. He wrote his thoughts and feelings about the food, tried to describe the flavors accurately and fairly and described how the decor tied in with the food and the mood it established. He was careful to not post his accounts until after the restaurant debuted its new chef to the public; he wrote anonymously and was careful to avoid any details that would identify him as one of the staff.

Zhao Zi had quite a following. He received a lot of correspondence from newspapers and magazines inviting him to join their staff or asking for an interview. It was tempting, but Zhao Zi truly loved his coworkers and the ability to have an inside look at the unique restaurant. He loved watching it come together, each piece necessary to its core: Tang Yi’s curation of staff, Hong Ye’s organization, the kitchen staff’s passion and the waitstaff’s excellence. Each review he wrote about the restaurant was like a letter of deep appreciation to his family, because at the end of the day, that’s what they were. The reviews, however, did not shy away from critiquing the food, and were honest about any faults that were found.

Hong Ye thanked them for their hard work and instructed them to sit down. It was time. From the kitchen doors came first Tang Yi who somehow still managed to look put together and unaffected after a long day of work. Behind him came the new chef.

It was the red-haired man.

Zhao Zi’s eyes widened as he took in the new chef’s apparel. He wore a black chef’s jacket with a red trim that seemed as if it had been tailored. It hugged his body like a glove, showing off his athletic form. The man walked casually behind Tang Yi, a casual smirk in place. They stood at the head of the dining room.

“Thank you all for your hard work today.” Tang Yi began his speech, his deep voice carried across the room. He truly had an impenetrable expression. The only time Zhao Zi had seen him crack a smile was with Hong Ye and even that had happened three years ago. “In order to thank you for bringing his vision to life and for the future work on which you will embark together, our new chef has created a menu for us to dine on tonight. You will find the new menu in the booklets in front of you. Please order as you wish.”

The first dinner with the staff was not only a thank you, but also a test to the new chef. It was their chance to command the kitchen fully. They hired extra wait staff for the occasion so that Trapped’s staff could enjoy their meal. As a reward for the night's hard-work, Tang Yi would in turn treat the kitchen staff to dinner at some of the leading restaurants in Taiwan. Cold he was, but benevolent.

“Before you start, our chef would like to say a few words.”

The redhead stepped up beside Tang Yi and greeted them all with a grin. “Hello,” he said, his voice smooth, low, and rich. Zhao Zi swore he heard some of the women and men swoon in response. Yi Qi’s cheeks immediately turned bright red. He himself even felt a slight swooping sensation in his stomach that he decidedly ignored.

“My name is Jack. You may refer to me as Chef Jack.”

Jack was an odd name. Zhao Zi wondered whether the chef had spent some time abroad. Plus, did he not have a last name?

“Today I have prepared a traditional Taiwanese menu, with my own personal touches. I hope you enjoy it.”

He nodded and led the way back to the kitchen to start the service.

“Taiwanese, huh,” Yi Qi said as they all turned back to the table. A low murmur was already filling the room. They opened the menu and were scandalized. “But...but this looks like the kind of food you would get at a corner shop! Why would anyone want to pay top dollar for this?”

Zhao Zi had to agree. The menu items weren’t particularly exciting, but perhaps the execution would be. He settled for a bowl of beef noodle soup. You could tell a lot about a chef by how they executed the simplest of dishes. Beef noodle soup was common, but every restaurant and food-stand had their own closely guarded recipe that made the dish their own. Zhao Zi was interested to see the chef’s take on it.

Orders taken, the team settled into their seats, wine in hand.

“I wonder what made Tang Yi go for this guy,” Yi Qi questioned. She lifted the glass of white wine to her lips. “Has anyone ever heard of him? At least we had heard about the others.” She looked at Zhao Zi in particular, seeing as he was the one who always displayed more knowledge about the industry.

“No,” he shrugged. “But Tang Yi has never failed us before..”

Jun Wei peered at him. “You are not as excited about this menu as I’ve seen you be at other times.”

Zhao Zi laughed. “Yeah, it’s a bit difficult to be excited about something I can get anywhere. Plus no one can beat my grandma’s beef noodle soup. Not even a top chef, or whatever this guy is.”

“You sure?” Jun Wei challenged, a growing grin taking over his face. He nodded towards the food that was now exiting the kitchen. “We will find out soon enough.”

When Zhao Zi’s beef noodle soup was set in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel a little impressed. Plating up an appealing looking soup was always a challenge and the chef’s arrangement of this one was stunning. The broth was dark and rich, contrasting greatly with the white noodles. The bok choy was a deep green and accented by the light green scallions sprinkled across the top. The beef was sliced thinly and served on top of the noodles. Zhao Zi saw hints of red flakes, indicating the soup would come with heat.

He stuck his chopstick in and pulled out a wad of noodles. They were well cooked with a slight firmness. Zhao Zi brought the noodles to his mouth.

A moan escaped him.

Jun Wei and Yi Qi stopped and looked at him with raised eyebrows. Zhao Zi flushed a deep red, quickly chewing up the noodles.

“That good, huh,” Jun Wei laughed.

Zhao Zi nodded, but had no words. He continued to dig into the soup, enjoying the tenderness of the beef contrasted by the structural fidelity of the noodles. The hint of licorice flavor in the soup was perfect and there was something else, something Zhao Zi couldn’t pinpoint quite just yet, that tied the whole thing together.

His grandmother had been an expert at making beef noodle soup. She had her own recipe and made it for him constantly. It was his comfort food. So he wondered what was the story behind this meal. Despite its clear appeal to the palette, a symphony of tasty perfection, he felt something was missing. Something that told a story and gave a hint as to who Jack was.

The team enjoyed their meal. Yi Qi praised her vermicelli oyster soup and Jun Wei had a second order of soup dumplings.

“Well I guess you were right. Tang Yi didn’t let us down. That was amazing,” Yi Qi said. “The public won’t know what hit them.”

After dinner, they always completed anonymous surveys that were given to the chef. While he knew most of the staff praised the food, he often tried to give good constructive criticism. For his beef noodle soup, he wrote: Amazing soup with a deep, rich flavor and delightful hint of licorice. A flavorful adventure. However, I can’t help but wonder, where’s the story? What are you trying to say?

Zhao Zi knew that previous chefs had never responded to their critiques. Oftentimes they thought themselves above the staff, an unfortunate result of early career success and zero-humility. He wondered if this chef would be the same.

When he got home that night, he stepped into his house and felt...alone. Putting his things away, Zhao Zi slipped into his pajamas, a big t-shirt and soft sweat pants before walking over to the little alter he kept for his grandmother and lighting a candle for her. “Nǎinai, I had some pretty amazing beef soup today. World class,” he whispered to her. “It still wasn’t as good as yours.” He bowed his head and stood up, making his way upstairs to bed.

--- Back in the kitchen, Jack looked over the survey responses that had been submitted by the waitstaff. A lot of them expressed the fact that they had been surprised at the simplicity of the menu, but were blown away by the food. Good. Jack liked surprising people with the unexpected.

He knew he didn’t necessarily carry himself like a professional chef, and that he was relatively unknown and would therefore be put under a lot of scrutiny, but Jack had no doubts that he would succeed in impressing the public. He would settle for nothing less.

“How did the staff take it?” Tang Yi asked, slipping into the seat next to him.

“I seem to have pleasantly surprised them.”

“I expect you to do the same to the critics.”

“I will, boss,” Jack affirmed. He pulled out one of the survey cards, “Do you know who this is?” Jack asked. Tang Yi took the card and read through it.

He smirked.

“What is your story then?”

Jack smiled back, coyly taking back the card and slipping it into his pocket. Tang Yi and him had met under unconventional circumstances. Tang Yi did not know much about Jack’s background, no one did, but in their time of interaction he grew to realize that Jack was amazing in the kitchen. Now he was using that to his advantage.

Jack stood and lazily saluted Tang Yi before slipping through the kitchen doors.

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

I will be posting updates to this story on AO3.

[recentanimenews]

OPINION: How I Discovered Haikyu!! (And Myself), Thoughts From a First-Time Viewer

  Haikyu!!'s final season just began, and for years I have been meaning to start watching. Now seems like a great time to rectify that, so I've finally caught up and am eagerly awaiting the next arc to see how the Karasuno Crows fare.

  I decided to track my thoughts on everything that happened — something of a time capsule from before the main cast joined together all the way to them competing in Nationals.

    As a baseline, here is everything I knew about Haikyu!! before watching Episode 1:

It's a popular sports anime about volleyball

The main character is the orange-haired kid, Hinata

They're going to go to Nationals. Not sure about the details, but I know they’ll make it into the tournament

  I actually watched this with someone who has seen it before. She didn't spoil anything but occasionally gave insight I may not have otherwise realized at the moment.

  Episodes 1-6: Joining the Team

    For the first part of the show, we largely follow Hinata's perspective. As I assumed going in, he's our generally underachieving but unfailingly energetic sports boy who hadn't met anyone who loves his sport as much as him until now. Specifically, he meets Kageyama, one of the best setters in the prefecture.

  I started to notice that the storytelling’s actually pretty good when the newly assembled Crows get a practice game with the 4th ranked school in the prefecture. It gives them someone challenging so the main cast can see what they’re up against but also gives them a team close enough to their level that they have a real chance of winning and also keeps the truly powerful foes hidden for later arcs.  

I also really appreciate that during the games, the characters try out new things, but are never truly sure that anything will work. It adds some experimentation and uncertainty to every game.

  Episodes 7-10: Crows, Assemble

    The rest of the main cast joins up with the existing group, forming the core rotation of players and major characters in the show.

  One of the new characters, Asahi, showcases one of the show’s strong points for me. He's the team’s ace, but both he and Hinata grapple with performance anxiety. As my watch-along partner put it, Hinata’s anxiety comes in waves, mostly during games, while Asahi’s is more of a constant background hum.

  As someone who has struggled with anxiety most of my life, I heavily identify with Asahi’s backstory, even down to not going for the spike in the final play of his flashback game due to thinking about how pointless it was since he wouldn't get it through.

  Episodes 11-13: Crows versus Cats

    Karasuno gets its practice game against their rival school, Nekoma. Both teams have fallen from grace in recent years, so this is the Crows’ chance to prove they can crawl their way back to the top and test out their teamwork and strategies from the previous arcs.

  At this point, the mind games aspect of each match starts coming through. Both teams try to figure out how their opponents think so they can react faster, while also trying to hide their own tells to keep their opponents guessing.

  When Hinata first started closing his eyes to make his special fast attacks with Kageyama, I joked that his power-up was going to be just ... opening his eyes. It turned out I wasn’t far from the truth. It doesn’t work immediately, but all of the Crows start polishing their weaknesses to make for a more well-rounded team.

  Episodes 14-16: Preliminaries Round 1

    As the boys go into the Interhigh Tournament, people whisper about the “Flightless Crows.” They proceed to absolutely crush their first opponents.

  The show follows the girls’ volleyball team for a bit, too, amping up the emotions at the end of the first round by cutting between the girls losing while the boys breeze through their sets.

  It’s a bit unfortunate the girls are beaten so badly just to show that the boys have grown, especially since they don’t end up getting much screentime for the rest of the show outside of being in the stands or otherwise supporting the boys.

  Episodes 17-26: Daito and Aoba Jousai

    After getting through the first part of the tournament easily, Karasuno is up against two powerhouse teams. First: Daito, a school with defense so amazing it’s called “The Iron Wall of Daito.” Second, Aoba Jousai, the school that many of Kageyama’s peers, including the setter he looks up to, enrolled in.

  They manage to steal a win from Daito, but ultimately lose to Aoba Jousai.

  The ending of this arc was when I realized I was truly invested in the show. For one, my watch-along partner and I were silent during many of the plays instead of joking about anime tropes like we had been in earlier arcs. Second, during one of the final scenes of the season, the entire team went out to eat after the game and we just silently watched everyone slowly start eating and then mutually begin crying.

  Episodes 27-36: Season 2

    As we start Season 2, there is a very clear and welcome difference almost immediately — the animation and camerawork are a lot better. Neither were bad in Season 1, but now they’re on an entirely different level. As my watch-along partner put it, there is some very naturalistic movement in some of the scenes.

  Also, this is when the team got a second manager, Yachi. I seriously cannot think of a character I have more personally related to in an anime than Yachi. She is a nervous wreck that is constantly apologizing and gets spooked by every little thing, even as small as someone talking to her. She outright views herself as “Townsperson B,” from when she played that role in drama club. I turned to my watch-along partner and said, “I’m in this picture, and I don’t like it.”

  Meanwhile, in the actual plot, my watch-along partner pointed out that while the team started developing specialized skills at their summer camp, the majority of their training seems to be devoted to getting down the fundamentals of every part of the game, then practicing them constantly. Like how Nishinoya is normally the libero and is almost exclusively receiving, but after seeing an opponent’s strategy, wants to learn to toss so he can replicate something he previously lost against.

  Episodes 37-44: Prelims

    The show uses the prelims as an opportunity to shine in two new ways. First, if a player is injured, they're checked to see if it's serious, then given a proper medical exam off the court. No powering through a concussion.

  Second, since main characters are no longer guaranteed to be on the court for the entire game, the cast expands to include other members we previously haven't focused on.

  My watch-along partner mentioned Ennoshita, Daichi's relief player, a few times throughout the show, so I knew he was going to be important eventually. But to give an idea of how little he impacted things until this point, when he was called in, I exclaimed that they were putting Steve McBlandman in the game. Despite that, he really does get to shine on the court. He’s a nervous wreck at first (join the club), but he’s also most likely to take over as captain once Daichi graduates and proves himself to be a reliable teammate by the time Daichi returns.

  Episodes 45-50: Rematch

    In terms of storytelling, there’s not much to add for this game. The two teams are established factions and we know the stakes, so it’s more of a puzzle to see who can find new strategies during the game and outthink the other team, which is made harder by the rivals bringing in a totally new player referred to as "Mad Dog."

Eventually, Karasuno wins, ending Season 2 with a promise that the finals of the qualifiers for Nationals will be the start of Season 3. Due to knowing a few details ahead of time, I already know a single game will be the entirety of the season.

  Episodes 51-57: Final, Part 1

    As both teams step onto the court and warm up, we are reminded that our heroes are pretty much all nervous wrecks, with most of the team in various stages of being curled up on the ground or asking for nausea medication. And, honestly, I was too. By the time the game hits set four, I wanted to grab my inhaler.

  The Crows are up against Shiratorizawa, a team with Ushiwaka, a player so strong that early in the game, it took three blockers and a libero just to return his attack, and later on he managed to dislocate a blocker’s finger with a spike.

  Episodes 57-60: Final, Part 2

    Full Disclosure: I was so invested in this game and the following season I actually forgot to take notes, so everything from here on is a second watch!

In my opinion, everyone gets to shine by the end of the game. Nishinoya sets up a full team synchro attack with his libero toss, Tsukishima is the only person whose blocks come close to keeping up with Ushiwaka, and so on.

  Episodes 61-65: Winter Training

    The first half of the season starts with some of Karasuno’s players being invited to special training camps. Hinata, being too impatient to accept that he hadn’t been invited, infiltrates one.

  Since he wasn’t invited, he’s not allowed to play, leading to him needing to watch the players and game instead of the ball for once. As a result, he starts learning to read peoples' tells and building an intuition of how to move, rather than just relying on instinct.

  Or, as I said to my watch-along partner the first time around, Hinata has reached his ultimate powerup: thinking.

  Episodes 66-70: Downtime

    In the interstitial time between arcs, the team has a practice game against Date Tech again so the Crows can get used to playing together after being apart. We get some character moments, like all the third years going to a shrine on New Year’s, and when the team arrives in Tokyo we finally get a bit of Kiyoko’s backstory.

  It’s hard to pin down what exactly about it worked, but it felt really nice to see the third years all going to a shrine together in their final months before the end of high school.

  And with that, the Spring Tournament, a.k.a. Nationals, begins.

    After going through over 70 episodes of Haikyu!!, I can say with absolute certainty I’m sticking around until the end. I skimmed over a lot of details so every section wasn’t a page long (and even then the first draft of this was over 4,000 words), but every game is filled with strategy, mind games, and experimentation.

  Outside of the games, the show does a great job of building up the cast so the rivals are well-realized characters in their own right. Not the most complex in anime, but more than a wall for the main characters to climb over.

  All in all, the show is absolutely worth the watch. It'll take a while to get through, but it's also easy to pick back up if you need to stop partway through.

  What are some of your favorite moments in Haikyu!!? Are you watching the second half of the newest season with me? Who is best boy? Let me know in the comments!

    Kevin Matyi is a freelance features writer for Crunchyroll. He's been watching anime for as long as he can remember, and his favorite shows tend to be shonen and other action series.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[perpustakawan]

Asal Usul Bukit Tagiok

Published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Brunei in an unknown year. Written by Lamat Ja’afar. Story told by Tasim Lamat. Illustrated by Rahim Ahmad.

Bukit Tagiok is a hill that’s believed to be the source of rivers in Brunei hundreds of years ago during a great drought that turned the land a brick shade of red. The drought was called ‘The Nine Year Drought’ (Kemarau sembilan tahun) and water was severely scarce to the point that many hills turned into volcanoes. A name dropped in this book is Bukit Tabor Bintang- a hill that was previously a volcano until rivers started flowing. Geographically, Brunei does not have volcanoes and though our lands are hilly, volcano formation is unlikely to happen but I want to point out something interesting and my own little theories.

The 9-year-long drought reduced the water source of the whole country to one single well in Kampong Manggis. The height of the water is less than one’s ankles and its situated at the far bottom of the well. Seven different ladders, tied together at each end had to be use for the villagers to climb up and down. Usually they would queue up but knowing Bruneian’s haughty, selfish and petty behavior, fights that end up with killing happened a lot over water. Every single day. With the glaring heat and a large body count of people, the living, plagued in fatigue merely piled the dead bodies on top of one another and covered them in buckets of dirt to make the buriers less guilty. These poorly made graves turned into hills over time. The two greater hills were called Pungsu Timbunan and they’re the closest to the well as that’s where the killing usually happened.  

After some time, a Chinese man appeared with a jambol (a kinda haircut) and in his hand was a hammer and a nail thing. Curious on what this stranger was doing in their bare Malay lands, the villagers watched him place the nail at the base of a hill and hammer away. Water flooded out of the base of hill to the low lands to create a river. The Malays were overjoyed and their life prospered because, just like the current events, it is China that helped this struggling nation.

The Chinese man disappeared and now, the villagers, faced a even bigger dilemma; the water kept rushing in non-stop that the lowlands are the riverbeds and the highlands are the new lowlands. Sharks, crocodiles and other ocean creatures migrated to the river, namely Sungai Damaran via a channel in Sungai Mangsalut. The Chinese man, who the locals fondly call ‘Kina Bejambol’ appears, no emotions in his face and put a giant-ass rock at the hill opening. The flood stop and our hero vanished again. After some time, the villagers found a giant caterpillar resting on the flat rock of the hill base and decided to name the hill after the caterpillar instead of the man who literally saved the whole country. The Tagiok in Bukit Tagiok derived from the Bruneian word ‘giok’ which means caterpillar.

Fun fact: the rock Kina Bejambol used was flat so it’s called Batu Betilam. It’s believed that if you knock on it hard enough, it’ll sound hollow, like a well full of water. I’m not entirely sure if you can find the hill in modern day as putting ‘Bukit Tagiok’ on Waze had no results. But! Sungai Mangsalut and Bukit Tabur Bintang does exist in current day! 

Perhaps, this story is based on real events- which brings me to:

THEORY TIME

The drought lasted for 9 years and there was no mention of a Sultan. My first theory was that the story took place in the era of the Bruneian Civil War that lasted for about 13 years. The same war that started over a cockfight and two sultans were fighting over the throne. With constant war, rations are low and the drought could just be symbolizing the dread, danger and neglect the people feel amidst war. Sabah during the time was under Brunei, so Sabah’s Mount Kinabalu’s name origin being from the word ‘Aki Nabalu’ – the revered place of the dead is such a coincidence with the Pungsu Timbunan in the story. Maybe their hill is made of piles of dead bodies too?

But that doesn’t match up. Mount Kinabalu has many origins, particularly involving widows and there isn’t a mention of a widow in this book. The events could not have happened during the Bruneian Civil war as its mentioned in history how one of the Sultans fled to Pulau Chermin, stuffed the royal crown and jewelries into a canon and shot it into the ocean where it remained lost. Water existed and Brunei back then wasn’t a barren land as chickens were healthy and used for cock fights- if there was a severe drought then, no one would have time to fool around with gambling with chickens.

This brings me to my second theory: the story took place wayyyyy longer in time. Before the first recorded sultan, Sultan Muhammad Shah came to the picture and Brunei back then, was ruled by an unknown chief who wasn’t Muslim. It’s noted from far back that Brunei, through different names had very close relationships with China so that might explain why our Chinese hero came to be. This makes sense cause, historically, Awang Alak Betatar (Sultan Muhammad Shah’s name before embracing Islam) and his siblings and crew screamed “BARU NAH” (‘There!’) on a SHIP meaning water was already present in the river canals.

But this doesn’t match up either because Kampong Manggis was mentioned in the story. There isn’t any historical records mentioning when Kampong Manggis was called Kampong Manggis. I don’t have info but the fact it’s only called Kampong Manggis instead of something more archaic sounding like, Tabur Bintang, Pandai Besi, gives me the impression that Kampong Manggis is a relatively new Kampong established in modern Brunei. I can’t even recall a folk story involving the kampong too so until further info is available, both my theories of this story is flawed.

Before I end this blog post, I wish to share that I am certain that his story isn’t a silly made up story like Dayang Dengan Timun because of the insert at the very first page by the director:

In today's wave of modern society, views are not always focused on one impression. The separation gap is too obvious, when the view is absorbed from the ideals of intellect and the mind is not limited to certain norms.

The natural response is to say that all folk tales are mere fairy tales, and are not suitable and in accordance with the current state of society. This response is very detrimental. This loss is not for individuals, but for all who are entitled to it.

Folklore has a distinctive position in literature. Its role is no less important than other ancient literary works. Disclosure of stories in the form of history, education, prominence and others in the form of books, is a practical and effective method.

This series of folk tales is rewritten from the speeches of the elders. Through cultural acculturation it is not impossible that these folk tales have similarities with the folk tales in this archipelago. The treasury of these folklore will be a ristaan ​​and a point of reference for future generations who will most likely not hear these folk tales spoken by the elders. By recording these folk tales directly can also curb the extinction of these stories from disappearing just like that.

It is hoped that, in accordance with its potential as reading material, this book is suitable for additional reading of children in particular and adults in general.

This is one of the many local stories unheard of by not only my generation but my father’s too. It is by luck they managed to turn this into a book but it makes me wonder of the rest that are gone forever. This also means that any theory I throw on whether or not this event actually happened will not come to life because of this country’s lack of records in their own history (and uh, censorship. Lots of history have been omitted out of textbooks to disappear for good). 

[atlas-of-a-human-soul]

Non disclosure agreements

Summary: Shawn asks his girlfriend to sign and NDA which leads to a fight.

Warnings: slight fluff, mostly angst

Word count: ~ 2k

Arms wrapped around my waist tightly and I let out a quiet squeal in excitement. I recognized his touch and instinctively leaned back into his chest until there’s no space left between us.

He rests his chin atop my shoulder, lips pressing against my skin right below my left ear. Swaying left to right, he mhm’s lowly into the crook of my neck and I close my eyes in content.

“I could stay like this forever.” Shawn’s warm breath tickles me into slightly craning my neck to his side, smiling widely with eyes still closed. Whenever this man is close to me, this smile is eternally stained upon my lips.

“You don’t hear me complaining.” I say sweetly, moving my hands to overlap his, gently rubbing them across his cold hands.

“This is a future memory.” Shawn whispers and I open my eyes, seeing where he’s going with this.

“If you’re about to quote Stefan Salvatore right now, I swear..” I begin my good-natured threat and Shawn chuckles. His laughter is the summer rain and the birdsong too, and every time I hear it, no matter the weather, the sun brightened. it was an honest rumbling of his soul, as pure and untouched as he is.

“It’s where your boyfriend whispered to you that he loved you. I love you.” He finished his statement with a soft proclamation of love and I melt into him, turning around in his embrace. Cupping his cheeks, gingerly moving my palms across his soft skin, my eyes flicker to his lips.

I lick my lips, biting the lower one until he loses his resolve and pushes his own against mine for a proper kiss. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be. His hand rested below my ear, his thumb caressing my cheek as our breaths mingled. I run my fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between us until I could feel the beating of his heart against my chest.

Parting became a necessity as my lungs turned desperate for a breath of fresh air. Reluctantly, I pull back and he groans lowly at the loss of contact.

Breathing heavily, I smile at the sound fondly.

“We can’t all be singers with an impressive lung capacity.” I tease, pecking his chin before remembering to check on dinner still inside the over.

“No matter how many times you kiss me, it’s never enough.” Shawn leans against the counter, pinching my cheek. I swat his hand away, narrowing my eyes at him with an index finger pointed at him.

“No pinching!” I order, knowing he loved to do so just to mess with me. Growing up with chubby cheeks meant people often grabbed at them without asking and I hated it more than anything. Shawn picked up on that quickly and whenever he’s bored, pinching my cheeks is his main entertainment.

“Okay, fine.” He puts his hands up in mock surrender, biting his lower lip to suppress a smile unsuccessfully as his bright teeth show mid gesture.

“I thought we could talk before dinner.” Shawn adds, moving toward the dinner table, his smile a little less brighter and more worried.

“What’s up honey bunch?” I throw the mitten on the counter, taking a seat next to him. The smile on my face didn’t relent, my fingers playing with the buttons of his sweater.

“Well, I brought something for you to go over and sign. Andrew finally had it drawn up after finding out about us.” Shawn avoided eye contact, his words being fast and almost slurred together.

“What do you mean?” I retract my hands and fold them in my lap, furrowing my eyebrows at my boyfriend.

“Just an NDA.” Shawn clears his throat, reaching inside his gym bag to retrieve a stack of papers he then laid on the desk in front of me.

“You want me to sign a what now?” My voice goes higher unintentionally. I’ve never been able to hide my emotions, tonight wasn’t an exception.

"A non disclosure agreement. I swear it's not a big deal." Shawn says it so simply, the words rolling over his tongue effortlessly. He could tell his choice of words only made me more upset. As result, his reaches out, taking my hand into his.

I allow him to hold it for a moment, still processing what he’s asked of me.

Nine months being official and he never asked anything like this before and now he brings it up? I want to be calm about this. I want to roll with it and not overreact, but the reason behind an NDA, the implications this request had for me truly shortened my fuse.

Forcefully taking my hand back, laying them both on the table, palm flat against the surface, I turn to my boyfriend.

“Is this what our relationship comes to for you? An agreement?” The frustration is palpable with each word I utter, every single one of them acting as a sharp knife ready to draw blood should it become necessary.

“God, no. Of course not. I love you. I just...it’s not a big deal. It’s normal.” Shawn says in defense, still abnormally calm but he was serious. He truly wanted me to sign these papers and move on from it.

“How is this not a big deal?!” I stand up, no longer being collected as before. I know that when tension is high I should inject love instead of anger, give him an olive branch instead of enmity, but sometimes it just isn't that easy.

“Shawn, this”, I grab the papers and wave them in front of his face before smacking them back on the table.

”This means you are legally binding my trust. It means you don’t trust me to keep your secrets, OUR secrets, unless there are legal repercussions if anything becomes public knowledge!” My cold fury burnt with dangerous intensity. He never worried about occasional fireworks or showers of red hot sparks, it was these bitterly cold, slow burning rages that threatened to engulf our relationship.

“It’s not meant as that. It’s something everyone I know has signed.” Shawn lets out a long sigh, trying to keep his tone soft and understanding, remaining in his seat to cool the situation.

“Did Brian sign this? Huh? Did your other friends? Did Hailey Baldwin?” I push and push, knowingly saying words that were bound to hit their mark eventually. And they did.

“NO! And that was a mistake I won’t make twice.” Shawn jumps to his feet, raising his voice at me for the first time since we met. He slams his fist on the contract with his eyes darkening.

“So you don’t trust me?” I take a deep breath.

When the frustration builds and I think I might explode, I take a deep breath. I want to shout, have a tantrum and beat my hands on the ground like a child. I want to vent, let it out, but I don't want to say words I don't mean, be hurtful. It's just so easy to be cruel in that moment and then the damage is done. So many times I've wanted to unsay things, take it back. I'm learning how to deal with it, but slowly.

“I do.” Shawn says through gritted teeth, a curl falling in his eyes.

“So why force this on me?” My voice is shaky and venomous words no longer cross my lips.

“If you trust me...If you love me...Why drag the law in this relationship? Because it doesn’t feel like you trust me. This contract feels like you’re putting a time mark on us. Like, we’ll be over in time and you’re just making sure once we part there’s nothing coming to haunt you from the past.” I hate how weak and vulnerable I sound right now. I hate how my eyes water and how he doesn’t seem to care.

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, Y/N. But this is a must. It’s not an end to us and it’s not me being distrustful. It’s about my label needing reassurance. It’s what they want from me.” He explains, softening once more and I shake my head in denial. Denial about the situation and the lack of fight on his behalf. He didn’t even try to assure them we’re the real deal. He didn’t fight them on it. He betrayed MY trust. Simple as that.

“How could you think this wouldn’t hurt me?” My vision blurs and I wipe away the tears that spill over furiously.

“Shawn, you’re the star. You’re the one that’s supposed to fight and stand up for yourself and those in your life. You didn’t even fight them on it, but you’re willing to break my heart.” My tears are surprisingly cold, the hurt inside my chest growing exponentially as the conversation continues.

“You’re my girlfriend. I didn’t expect you to make such a big deal about something so insignificant. You’re mine and I’m aware we belong together, so I can’t understand why this is such a big deal. Sign it and be done with it. We’ll throw it in a drawer somewhere and forget all about it.” Shawn’s words packed a powerful punch. Carefully spoken, without drama, his words had an air of finality to them and no matter how hard I railed against them, nothing would change his mind.

“You don’t own me, I don’t belong to you.” A small laugh escapes my lips in disbelief.

“If it wasn’t such a big deal, you wouldn’t be here pushing me to sign something I’m obviously uncomfortable with.” I take off the apron around my neck and let it rest on the table.

“When we started this relationship, I fell in love with a man. I fell in love with Shawn, the cute guy with an uncanny ability to make my heart soar, not Shawn Mendes the pop star with fans and tours and endless amount of cash. I love you for you, never once asking a single cent or any sort of help from you. And I kept your secrets the past nine months without any contracts. I’d keep them even if we had broken up. I’ll keep them even now. But I’m done.” I walk toward the door, tripping on his guitar case. I chuckle to myself, shaking my head.

“You’re not being serious, are you?!” Shawn rushes after me, finally realizing what I told him.

Putting on my coat, I nod.

“You took the love you offered and locked it back inside that cage you call a body. I was never going to do what Hailey did to you...ever. But now you'll never know, never find out what we could have been, and neither will I.”

I turn to the door, hearing him scramble to catch up with me. He trips on the case himself, falling to the floor.

Turning to see if he’s alright on instinct, I find him on his knees with his chin trembling.

“Please stay. We can talk more about this. You don’t have to sign tonight.” Shawn pleads, but his words only made everything worse.

“You really don’t get it, do you?” I ask, closing my eyes for a single moment to draw in a deep breath, remembering his scent that lingered in the apartment. Opening the door, I take one last look at the man I believed would be the one, adding one last thing:

“Don’t forget to turn off the oven.”

Part 2

Tags: @esoltis280 @accalialionheart @xalayx @ourlittleshawnie

[perceptionofpleasurefan-blog]

Step by step instructions to Present Sex Toys In The Room

Since Fifty Shades of Dark is so prevalent, the entirety of the media is discussing sex and sex toys. Is it accurate to say that you are interested about attempting them however are excessively humiliated? Is it true that you are uncertain whether they are directly for you and your relationship?

Coming up next are some basic misguided judgments about grown-up toys:

The vast majority don't utilize sex toys

Wrong! Numerous decent individuals utilize grown-up toys, including individuals most would think about impeccably ordinary. Utilizing a grown-up toy doesn't make you "odd" or doesn't utter a word negative about your relationship. It just causes you have a great time increasingly fun in the room! You don't need to impart to your companions, your chief or your mom that you utilize toys except if anybody except if you need to.

Sex toys are only for masturbation.

While grown-up toys are regularly utilized for masturbation, numerous couples appreciate utilizing toys together, regardless of whether they are female or male or heterosexual or homosexual. Generally these couples are happy with attempting new things together, are receptive, and trusting.

Your accomplice will feel lacking on the off chance that you start utilizing a sex toy.

Is it accurate to say that you are apprehensive that in the event that you carry a grown-up toy into the room, it will offend your partner? A grown-up toy can give you a climax, yet it can't disclose to you the amount they love you or rub your back. An article is anything but a substitute for a genuine individual. On the off chance that your sweetheart has this dread, be touchy and stroke their inner self a tad. Similarly as with most relationship issues, great openness is of the utmost importance.

Utilizing sex toys can be physically risky.

No chance!

Truth be told, grown-up toys can have extremely constructive outcomes on your sexual wellbeing.

For instance, numerous specialists and advisors prescribe grown-up toys to ladies who experience difficulty arriving at climax; on the off chance that you experience the ill effects of agonizing sex, vibrators can invigorate blood stream; all ladies can profit by kegel exercisers or kegel balls to condition the pelvic floor muscles; prostate massagers lessen the danger of prostate malignancy, erectile brokenness and incessant evening pee. In conclusion, climaxes assist you with living longer, square torment and, some state, look more youthful. Who wouldn't need that?

In the event that you use how to use sex toys number 2 will shock you excessively, you won't have a climax with your accomplice.

On the off chance that your accomplice is apprehensive you'll supplant the person in question with your preferred toy, guarantee the person in question that you'll generally keep things distinctive in the room: attempt various positions, new toys, light servitude and dream play.

In the event that your relationship is solid, there's no motivation behind why you should require a sex toy.

You are so fortunate to have a sound relationship. In any case, who wouldn't have any desire to make their relationship considerably more grounded and closer by sharing another experience? On the off chance that your darling is persistent about not having any desire to go through a grown-up toy to flavor your sex life, guarantee the person in question that you needn't bother with a grown-up toy it is possible that, you'd recently prefer to attempt one.

You or your accomplice fears feeling delight

Delight is an inheritance. Everybody merits it and ought to have it. Possess your sexuality and do what works for you. All things considered, climaxes make you more beneficial and more joyful.

Purchasing sex toys can be truly humiliating particularly on the grounds that they look gross and startling.

You are correct. Presently, because of the Web, you can shop in the solace of your own home without judgment. Most grown-up toys make you feel awkward in light of the fact that they are normally phallic or cheesey or are noisy to such an extent that you figure your kids or neighbor may hear what you are doing. Extravagance sex toys are the polar opposite. You probably won't understand that they are great grown-up toys on the grounds that they look like craftsmanship. They are currently so careful and calm that nobody will comprehend what you are doing.

These contentions may bode well and work for a great many people however probably won't work for you. On the off chance that that is the situation, here are 3 additional motivations to evaluate sex toys:

Joy = Sex Toys

Who isn't an aficionado of climaxes? You may be excessively worn out or too occupied to even consider having sex, however there's no denying that climaxes feel better. Grown-up toys can assist you with having more climaxes. What's going on with that?

Sex Toys are Enjoyable.

Regardless of whether you have been with your darling for a couple of months or numerous years, things may be somewhat stale and you need to take a stab at something new. That is alright - you are not the only one! Grown-up toys can add fervor to the room and shield things from getting unremarkable. Utilizing a grown-up toy together can bring you closer; sharing new encounters together can be extremely private.

Sex Toys Improve Sex.

Did you realize that about 30% of ladies really have a climax during sex? Most ladies need clitoral incitement to accomplish a climax. In the mean time, numerous men experience difficulty supporting their erections as long as they might want, regardless of whether it be a direct result of age, prescription or stress. That is the thing that grown-ups toys are for!

On the off chance that you are presently prepared to begin utilizing grown-up toys, here are a couple of proposals to begin:

Start delayed by beginning with something little. Start with a little toy and show your sweetheart that the toy is tied in with adding more joy and energy to the room. For instance, in the event that you need to attempt a vibrator, start with something that is little and careful, similar to a finger vibrator or vibrating egg. In the event that you need to attempt light subjugation, attempt a blindfold or holding your darling's hands over their head during foreplay.

At the point when you are prepared, stir your way planning some mischief greater and bolder.

To the exclusion of everything else, recall that correspondence is the way in to any sound relationship. In the event that you can't share your emotions or wants, something isn't right. Closeness and fun are the principle objective. It is altogether dependent upon you to choose whether that implies with or without sex toys, however experimentation never hurt anybody!

My Mystery Extravagance is the supplier of extravagance grown-up toys and top notch sentiment apparatuses. We offer a curated assortment of sex toys for men, ladies and couples that hold fast to the best expectations of configuration, style and innovation. The online shop gives a spot to circumspect investigation and disclosure through deliberately created Mystery Packs and gives unmatched client support through the Mystery Attendant, who is accessible to transform dreams into the real world.

[lauramalchowblog]

Ten Building Blocks of Therapeutic Relationships

By HANS DUVEFELT, MD

It is well known by now that a physician’s demeanor influences the clinical response patients have to any prescribed treatment. We also know that even when nothing is prescribed, a physician’s careful listening, examination and reassurance about the normalcy of common symptoms and experiences can decrease patients’ suffering in the broadest sense of the word.

This has been the bread and butter of counselors for years. People will faithfully attend and pay for weeks, months and even years of therapy visits just to have an attentive and active listener and to feel like they have an ally.

We also have data that shows that adherence to treatment plans is dependent on how patients feel about their provider. One problem solved can build an ally for life

Primary care medicine is a relationship based business. I don’t know how often that basic fact is overlooked or denied. Whether you are trying to get another person to alter their lifestyle, take expensive medicines according to inconvenient schedules or even just trust and accept your diagnosis, you have to “earn” the right to do those things. Our titles and medical accoutrements give us a foot in the door, but they don’t usually get us all the way into peoples inner circles of trusted advisers.

In this age of corporate medicine, there is a belief that patients attach themselves to institutions and networks because of their trust in the organizations, and that therefore the connection with their individual providers is secondary.

I think that is a factor mostly when someone is looking for sophisticated specialty interventions, often one-time-only, like “where’s the best place to go for high risk cardiac surgery”.

When looking for primary care, people still tend to ask, “who’s a good doctor”, rather than “which is the better primary care group, Uptown Medical Associates or Statewide Primary Care”.

How do you as a clinician in today’s restless and mobile society earn trust and build therapeutic relationships in fifteen minute visits with several visible and invisible intruders in the room – the computer and the insurance company, for starters.

I have previously reflected on how to prepare yourself for beginning a clinical encounter. My ABCs are Attention, Behavior and Connection.

But where do you go from there, how do you continue, grow and nurture a therapeutic relationship over time in the kind of environment most of us work within?

Here are a few lessons I have learned myself:

1) Listen and respond. How many times do we hear that patients don’t get to speak for even a minute before we interrupt them? If you hear something that immediately requires clarification, do what you would do in a social situation. Say that what the other person just said is important or interesting, reflect back what you think you understood and then be careful not to give them too many yes or no options, but invite them to continue their story. Imagine that you’re meeting an interesting person at a dinner party, not leading a legal interrogation.

2) Set an agenda. Almost every time I ignore this little rule, I get burned. Patients may not reveal their real concern when making an appointment and their priorities may have changers since then. Going all-in with what you think is their main issue and saving “do you have any other concerns” until the end of the visit is a recipe for disaster. That agenda-setting may need to be addressed right away or after hearing a little about the main concern. If you don’t ask what people need from you, how can you ever hope to fill your role as their provider?

3) Budget time. Don’t act frustrated about the reality that time is at a premium, and don’t declare that you have too little of it until you know how serious or urgent your patient’s concern is. The person with a seemingly trivial concern may need you to help them with the biggest or worst problem of their life, so invest your time and attention on listening and understanding early on in the visit. By acting unhurried at first, you are more likely to create an atmosphere of trust and caring; once you know your patient’s concern and their diagnosis or differential diagnosis, if they feel heard, you can move more quickly to wrap up the visit if you need to.

4) Manage the perception of time. If I am running late, I often enter the exam room and demonstrably sit down, take a deep breath and relax my posture as if I am finally arriving at the most important appointment I have all day. That slowing down gesture helps me to undo my patient’s fear that I’m going to be rushing them along. If they think I’m not going to meet their needs, their memory of the visit will likely be just that, even if I do a pretty good job technically for them.

5) Don’t be a hero. My 2018 post “Be the Guide, Not the Hero” points out the fact that everyone is on heir own journey in life and we are at best guides in our patients’ pursuits. If we try to be the hero in their stories, we create unhealthy, dependent relationships that often lead to patient disappointment or even resentment. As guides instead of heroes, we also remind ourselves that we are not the ultimate experts on what is best for our patients. Since our patients are the heroes of their own stories, they must ultimately decide which piece of advice from which guide they will choose to follow.

6) Be true to yourself. On the one hand, I believe we must adapt our demeanor to the situation – reassuring, motivating, inquisitive or sometimes decisive – but we must stay within the range of our real selves. I can be jovial only to a point or I will seem and feel like I am pretending, for example. People can usually sense falsehood a mile away.

7) Balance disclosure. We can not build therapeutic relationships as only technicians; we must engage as real people and you can’t be real without showing emotion, genuine interest, engagement and a good amount of humility. We have to be careful to show that we are fallible like everybody else but also that we ultimately have our act together. Nobody wants a self absorbed, overconfident guide, but nobody wants a weak and insecure one either. If we say we never had tough choices to make or regrets we carry with us, how can we expect patients to allow us to be close enough to build trust?

I tell people things they could relate to that I don’t think would come back to haunt me. I tell them how many miles I have on my car, but not how much money I spent on repairs. I tell them about my life lessons from being a Boy Scout or going through basic training in the Swedish army, the antics of the beagles I’ve had in my life or the way my one-time vegetarian diet made me put on weight. I tell them I was homesick at my first scout camp, but I don’t talk about things that could distance patients from me; not that I am a golfer or a sailor, but pictures and magazines of such things will alienate as many patients as it might build relationship with. My Arabian horses didn’t cost much money, they were adopted from a horse rescue and simply needed a home. Our relationship with animals, I believe, is more likely to show that we have the capacity for relationship building with humans, too.

8) Build continuity. From one visit to the next, find a thread to follow. For some patients, it is their chronic disease, for others their family or their hobby. Reconnecting about what you talked about last time is a powerful and quick way to reestablish the fact that you know each other and that you care about your patient. It brings you straight into a space where you are ready to do the work you do. Even if you have to pull up their last visit in the EMR (maybe even looking at the screen together), that quick reconnection that begins every visit helps make you seem better prepared; maybe you don’t remember the details of the last visit but you do remember your patient very well.

9) Solicit participation. When it’s time to formulate a treatment plan, don’t be too quick to lay it out as if there is only one way to do things.

10) Plan when and how to reconnect. “Followup PRN” isn’t usually the best way to conclude a visit in your mind or the EMR. Friends don’t usually leave each other saying “I’ll see you around”, that’s more for casual acquaintances. It’s important to agree on what to do after the test results come in, when the antibiotic runs out, if the rash doesn’t go away or when to meet up if everything is going well. Not making such plans devalues the relationship and makes you look as if you don’t care about your patient.

Everything on this list is about how we interact with the people we engage with frequently or infrequently. We must always look beyond the diagnosis and the Chief Complaint (which should be Chief Concern – where did “complaint” come from?). Remember Osler:

The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.

Hans Duvefelt is a Swedish-born rural Family Physician in Maine. This post originally appeared on his blog, A Country Doctor Writes, here.

The post Ten Building Blocks of Therapeutic Relationships appeared first on The Health Care Blog.

Ten Building Blocks of Therapeutic Relationships published first on https://venabeahan.tumblr.com

[kristinsimmons]

Ten Building Blocks of Therapeutic Relationships

By HANS DUVEFELT, MD

It is well known by now that a physician’s demeanor influences the clinical response patients have to any prescribed treatment. We also know that even when nothing is prescribed, a physician’s careful listening, examination and reassurance about the normalcy of common symptoms and experiences can decrease patients’ suffering in the broadest sense of the word.

This has been the bread and butter of counselors for years. People will faithfully attend and pay for weeks, months and even years of therapy visits just to have an attentive and active listener and to feel like they have an ally.

We also have data that shows that adherence to treatment plans is dependent on how patients feel about their provider. One problem solved can build an ally for life

Primary care medicine is a relationship based business. I don’t know how often that basic fact is overlooked or denied. Whether you are trying to get another person to alter their lifestyle, take expensive medicines according to inconvenient schedules or even just trust and accept your diagnosis, you have to “earn” the right to do those things. Our titles and medical accoutrements give us a foot in the door, but they don’t usually get us all the way into peoples inner circles of trusted advisers.

In this age of corporate medicine, there is a belief that patients attach themselves to institutions and networks because of their trust in the organizations, and that therefore the connection with their individual providers is secondary.

I think that is a factor mostly when someone is looking for sophisticated specialty interventions, often one-time-only, like “where’s the best place to go for high risk cardiac surgery”.

When looking for primary care, people still tend to ask, “who’s a good doctor”, rather than “which is the better primary care group, Uptown Medical Associates or Statewide Primary Care”.

How do you as a clinician in today’s restless and mobile society earn trust and build therapeutic relationships in fifteen minute visits with several visible and invisible intruders in the room – the computer and the insurance company, for starters.

I have previously reflected on how to prepare yourself for beginning a clinical encounter. My ABCs are Attention, Behavior and Connection.

But where do you go from there, how do you continue, grow and nurture a therapeutic relationship over time in the kind of environment most of us work within?

Here are a few lessons I have learned myself:

1) Listen and respond. How many times do we hear that patients don’t get to speak for even a minute before we interrupt them? If you hear something that immediately requires clarification, do what you would do in a social situation. Say that what the other person just said is important or interesting, reflect back what you think you understood and then be careful not to give them too many yes or no options, but invite them to continue their story. Imagine that you’re meeting an interesting person at a dinner party, not leading a legal interrogation.

2) Set an agenda. Almost every time I ignore this little rule, I get burned. Patients may not reveal their real concern when making an appointment and their priorities may have changers since then. Going all-in with what you think is their main issue and saving “do you have any other concerns” until the end of the visit is a recipe for disaster. That agenda-setting may need to be addressed right away or after hearing a little about the main concern. If you don’t ask what people need from you, how can you ever hope to fill your role as their provider?

3) Budget time. Don’t act frustrated about the reality that time is at a premium, and don’t declare that you have too little of it until you know how serious or urgent your patient’s concern is. The person with a seemingly trivial concern may need you to help them with the biggest or worst problem of their life, so invest your time and attention on listening and understanding early on in the visit. By acting unhurried at first, you are more likely to create an atmosphere of trust and caring; once you know your patient’s concern and their diagnosis or differential diagnosis, if they feel heard, you can move more quickly to wrap up the visit if you need to.

4) Manage the perception of time. If I am running late, I often enter the exam room and demonstrably sit down, take a deep breath and relax my posture as if I am finally arriving at the most important appointment I have all day. That slowing down gesture helps me to undo my patient’s fear that I’m going to be rushing them along. If they think I’m not going to meet their needs, their memory of the visit will likely be just that, even if I do a pretty good job technically for them.

5) Don’t be a hero. My 2018 post “Be the Guide, Not the Hero” points out the fact that everyone is on heir own journey in life and we are at best guides in our patients’ pursuits. If we try to be the hero in their stories, we create unhealthy, dependent relationships that often lead to patient disappointment or even resentment. As guides instead of heroes, we also remind ourselves that we are not the ultimate experts on what is best for our patients. Since our patients are the heroes of their own stories, they must ultimately decide which piece of advice from which guide they will choose to follow.

6) Be true to yourself. On the one hand, I believe we must adapt our demeanor to the situation – reassuring, motivating, inquisitive or sometimes decisive – but we must stay within the range of our real selves. I can be jovial only to a point or I will seem and feel like I am pretending, for example. People can usually sense falsehood a mile away.

7) Balance disclosure. We can not build therapeutic relationships as only technicians; we must engage as real people and you can’t be real without showing emotion, genuine interest, engagement and a good amount of humility. We have to be careful to show that we are fallible like everybody else but also that we ultimately have our act together. Nobody wants a self absorbed, overconfident guide, but nobody wants a weak and insecure one either. If we say we never had tough choices to make or regrets we carry with us, how can we expect patients to allow us to be close enough to build trust?

I tell people things they could relate to that I don’t think would come back to haunt me. I tell them how many miles I have on my car, but not how much money I spent on repairs. I tell them about my life lessons from being a Boy Scout or going through basic training in the Swedish army, the antics of the beagles I’ve had in my life or the way my one-time vegetarian diet made me put on weight. I tell them I was homesick at my first scout camp, but I don’t talk about things that could distance patients from me; not that I am a golfer or a sailor, but pictures and magazines of such things will alienate as many patients as it might build relationship with. My Arabian horses didn’t cost much money, they were adopted from a horse rescue and simply needed a home. Our relationship with animals, I believe, is more likely to show that we have the capacity for relationship building with humans, too.

8) Build continuity. From one visit to the next, find a thread to follow. For some patients, it is their chronic disease, for others their family or their hobby. Reconnecting about what you talked about last time is a powerful and quick way to reestablish the fact that you know each other and that you care about your patient. It brings you straight into a space where you are ready to do the work you do. Even if you have to pull up their last visit in the EMR (maybe even looking at the screen together), that quick reconnection that begins every visit helps make you seem better prepared; maybe you don’t remember the details of the last visit but you do remember your patient very well.

9) Solicit participation. When it’s time to formulate a treatment plan, don’t be too quick to lay it out as if there is only one way to do things.

10) Plan when and how to reconnect. “Followup PRN” isn’t usually the best way to conclude a visit in your mind or the EMR. Friends don’t usually leave each other saying “I’ll see you around”, that’s more for casual acquaintances. It’s important to agree on what to do after the test results come in, when the antibiotic runs out, if the rash doesn’t go away or when to meet up if everything is going well. Not making such plans devalues the relationship and makes you look as if you don’t care about your patient.

Everything on this list is about how we interact with the people we engage with frequently or infrequently. We must always look beyond the diagnosis and the Chief Complaint (which should be Chief Concern – where did “complaint” come from?). Remember Osler:

The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.

Hans Duvefelt is a Swedish-born rural Family Physician in Maine. This post originally appeared on his blog, A Country Doctor Writes, here.

The post Ten Building Blocks of Therapeutic Relationships appeared first on The Health Care Blog.

Ten Building Blocks of Therapeutic Relationships published first on https://wittooth.tumblr.com/

[healthinputs]

Self-Actualization of the Child

Self-actualization of a child is the disclosure of children's personal opportunities that lead to a happier and more successful life. Each individual has a number of needs, without which it is impossible to have a happy life. It is very difficult for a child to find the area in which he will maximally open up, apply his character qualities and achieve certain goals. If a person finds such an area, then his success in self-realization is guaranteed.

Conditions for self-realization of children

Currently, scientists are unanimous that each individual has a great many opportunities that are stored in the form of deposits and under certain development conditions they can be realized. The development of children's self-realization is influenced by many factors: socio-economic, biogenetic, pedagogical. Unfortunately, the delusion of an individual, especially a young one, is the underestimation of the inherent natural abilities. An important condition for the self-realization of children is the creation of adult situations of success. Words such as “good”, “let's work some more,” “well done” should always be addressed to the child, and each child’s activity needs friendly support. Only such conditions will create a situation of success. Psychologists noted that the more actively a child develops creatively, the more productive his thinking functions in different planes and directions. The stimulus for the creative development of children, the flowering of their abilities, the expansion of the range of interests, as well as the humanization of thoughts, deeds, feelings, creative activity, is leisure. Most affluent people suffer from a lack of what they are not able to realize or understand. It is very important for a person to find his place in life in order to feel complete satisfaction from reality, while maximally expressing himself and using all his natural inclinations. A person who realizes his resources for the benefit of society is the happiest. Self-realization includes the enjoyment of the work process. Self-realization has a close relationship with social assessment. Often people suffer because others do not see their positive qualities and do not value them. Self-realization can allow each person to appear before society in the splendor of their capabilities and talents. The ability to direct one’s good and bad character traits toward goals is always valuable in society. People who realize their potential are always loved and respected. Psychologists believe that the emergence of a mass youth movement, such as hippies or punks, arose as a result of an unmet need to find oneself. Therefore, the task of parents is to provide those conditions that will contribute to children's self-realization, embodying something new and unknown, oriented to creativity. Deviations in the behavior of adolescents are noted in defects in education. The inability of adults to interest a child, as well as to reveal his abilities and capabilities, leads to the fact that random circumstances and spontaneous bursts of energy begin to control him.

Creative fulfillment of children

Creativity is not only an attribute of the socialization of a child’s personality and a means of communication, entertainment, recreation, but also a powerful tool for self-education, a unique means of enlightenment, as well as aesthetic education. Any small victory of the child or just participation in contests, creative projects of different levels affects the development of creative potential. In adolescence, the main means in creative self-realization are interest clubs, circles, sports sections, etc. Creative self-realization of a teenager is considered an important component of personality development. Psychologists noted that the stimulus for the development of personality, as well as the search for one's place in life, is the very need for a search. Search is simply necessary for physical, mental, puberty and the desire for youthful self-affirmation. Some adolescents assert themselves through aggressive behavior. The German psychotherapist G. Ammon believes that every child is born with the potential of "constructive" aggressiveness. Under this term, the therapist understands the desire and desire for creative self-realization, which contribute to the development and improvement of the world. “Constructive” aggressiveness develops and intensifies only with the correct upbringing of the child. Mistakes in education are noted when adults suppress initiative in children. Often such children are caught in games, in communication with adults and peers. When children encounter family conflicts, they have destructive aggressiveness that severely injures them. An incorrectly oriented child's personality can manifest itself in unmotivated aggression and bad deeds.

Self-realization of preschool children

Reaching the age of three, the kids know exactly what they want and independently try to decide what to wear, what games to play, with whom to be friends. It is during this period that the concept of affection, friendship, as well as self-expression of all important life aspects that will accompany the baby throughout life is laid. If the baby attends a children's team, for example, a children's center or a kindergarten, then it can fulfill itself there. At home, it is much more difficult for the child to achieve self-realization, since family members are often busy with household chores, and the baby is given very little time. However, even if the whole day of the child and adults is busy, do not forget that the baby needs the love of loved ones. Parents need to constantly hug their children, talk about their feelings, feelings, and adults from their child will definitely get a return. You can’t deprive a baby of emotions. Together with the children, it is necessary to play children's games and gradually involve them in adults. For the kid, everyday things: housework with a vacuum cleaner, washing dishes may seem simply magical. It is necessary to allow the baby to participate in the workflow around the house, and perhaps in the future it will help to cope with household chores. Most parents often do not trust the baby with some work or process, thereby limiting and instilling fear in him. Yes, sometimes a child can drop something or break it, but what a pleasure it will bring him to perform a labor operation. The most important thing is to remain calm, not to be nervous even when it seems that it is much easier and faster to do the work ourselves. The negative mood of the parents often quickly passes to the child, and instead of a good pastime, relatives receive an offended expression on their children's faces and pouting lips. Read the full article

[eksbdan-blog]

New Post has been published on https://passingbynehushtan.com/2019/10/23/christ-hermeneutics-death-spiral-pt-4/

Christ vs. Pannenberg vs. the Hermeneutic Death Spiral, pt 4:

This is an article in a series. Please see:

Christ vs. the Hermeneutical Death Spiral, part 1 Christ and the Hermeneutical Death Spiral Part 2 Christ and the Hermeneutical Death Spiral part 3: Corrupt Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics: What’s in a Word: Revealing Revelation

I want the reader to meditate on Hermeneutics, the branch of knowledge that deals with biblical interpretation, but I want to keep doing it asymmetrically, not directly laying out one position against another and arguing for one or a combination. I’ll close this chapter by recalling Wolfhart Pannenberg’s history of the development of the concept of “revelation.”  All of this may not seem like the usual presentation of Christian hermeneutics but, after all, if a study of how the meaning of a word can change does not relate to hermeneutics then nothing does. The insight that comes from this will tell you all you have to know that is important on the subject.

“Revelation” means something, and it means something biblical and original to Christ and the Apostles, and If we know anything for sure it’s that the way they use it in the Church and by our scholars it’s not the original.

It’s quite shocking that many Christian theologians don’t have a problem with the assertion that the Bible is not necessarily the only point of its accessibility, what is in it, or the raising of it to a superlative revelation. That the Bible in so many ways is subservient to perception, culture, method, and presupposition and the entirety of its relevance and power is determined by the time we spend rehabilitating it in so many possible ways. It’s about a slow change in the idea of the possibility of ultimate informational sources that makes the “Bible” dispossessed of its own message and vision, and this is because we have a sublimated problem with invasive (subjective) authority (objective) that lives and operates beyond us.

It is especially a wonder that those who profess to be conservative and careful in their approach and claim the Bible as their sole rule of faith and practice also insist on a stridently anti-biblical conception of revelation, confidently disposing of the one taught by Christ was the divine knowledge given for salvation. This anti-biblical conception runs far deeper than you might think it does in a Southern Baptist prayer meeting in Mobile Alabama or St. Matthews Catholic Church in Jacksonville, Florida, not to mention the Unitarian Universalist Association. Liberal groups have cast away the centrality of the Bible and Christ upfront and unashamed, but conservative groups, no matter their stripe and no matter how much they protest about it not being true have just as much guilt in this as anyone else.

There is nothing like a biblical word study for those disposed toward the Bible as the sole rule of faith and practice. It’s a cleanser and an astringent for wiping away all the fetid mess by which contamination and infection by causal contact occurs with a theology that aspires only to produce something, anything, as long as it’s a new and status attaining revelation. Something like from a Heidegger, or with the clout of Hawking. But that injurious effect is nowhere near us in this because we are not trying to facilitate in any way the attainment of anything that this world can offer our effort, to tell the truth. What we attain can be of no greater reward than the blessing of knowing that the salvific subject in which we are trying to divine is the same as what we get out of it. If we claim that we are products of this subject, a word study, which establishes by our ultimate authority the meaning of a crucial word, is the best hermeneutics we can engage in, and no reward of meaning is greater than the results if it’s done honestly.

A Revelation of Revelation

Revelation, ἀποκάλυψις (apokálypsis) is first used in the NT in Luke 2:32 when Mary presented to Simeon the baby Jesus in the Temple. He says this Messiah is: “a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.”

The word “lighten” is “reveal,” that Jesus is the light which reveals. This is a play on words. Light is φῶς phōs, and ἀποκάλυψις are related. Light reveals, uncovers. ἀποκάλυψις is the content of revelation, the particular truth(s) exposed. In case you are missing the species of truth(s) revealed, Barnes clarifies this:

Verse 32. A light to lighten the Gentiles p. This is in accordance with the prophecies in the Old Testament, Isa 49; 9:6-7; Ps 98:3; Mal 4:2. The Gentiles are represented as sitting in darkness–that is, in ignorance and sin. Christ is a light to them, as by him they will be made acquainted with the character of the true God, his law, and the plan of redemption. As the darkness rolls away when the sun rises, so ignorance and error flee away when Jesus gives light to the mind. Nations shall come to his light, and kings to the brightness of his rising, Isa 60:3.

But after this, Simeon was suddenly not full of happy thoughts, but his words turned very dark and grave: “And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” What did he mean?

Only that his death would make his mother sad?  Why will he be spoken against, and how can he be the fall and rising again of many? Just because people will reject what he preaches and what he claims for himself?

Or is Simeon’s subject not only Jesus but his Truth, equating Jesus with that prophetic light, a light which is ordained to be the sole illuminating influence and rule over religion? That for some the appearance of God in this light is the same as the religion, then a mustering point for an entrance into Heaven, but for others the usurpation of man as King is the cause of a mob of tradition worshippers, status seekers,  intellectual and emotional hedonists and symbol fanatics that attempt to snuff out that light? Yes, indeed, this sword of the spirit will pierce many hearts just by its existence, revealing who we really are. The pain of knowing that either causes repentance or a doubling-down in Satanic thought.

It’s the first sign in the New Testament that this Messiah will replace mans’ opaque formulations of religion and faith, unfounded by and open demonstration of God, with one that will be synonymous only on a demonstration and its immanent Agent.

Simeon does not refer to some general conception of revelation, but he speciates it exactly as messianic prophecy, and therefore Jesus is himself the enfleshment of messianic prophecy in fulfillment. How does Barnes, above, so easily pick up on this? Because of the context of “light” and the spiritual sword that pierces the heart which, like this, a simple word brings out without many other alternatives. All disclosure of this secret divine information is carried on the prophecies of the Messiah in which Jesus will fulfill.

There are 18 uses of the word apokálypsisa in the NT, including the one just mentioned:

Romans 2:5: the revelation is the “day of wrath,” for which man treasures up sin. This is a prophetic future.

Romans 8:19: we wait for this revelation, complete on the last day when the Angels and Christ are revealed. Again, all expressions of a future state are prophetic utterances.

Romans 16:25: the “revelation of the mystery,” the revealing, the elucidation of the prophets concerning all things Messiah, establishes a person in faith through the gospel, its equivalent, and the content of this gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ is the same as this OT revelation.

1 CO 1:7: the faithful wait for the revelation of Jesus Christ on the last day, the full disclosure not only of the Person but the explanation how the entire corpus of scripture he fulfilled and applies to him,.

1 CO 14:6: Paul puts revelation with knowledge, prophesying, and doctrine as that which edifies as opposed tongues. The previous verse identifies all the content of these three dominated by the concept “prophesying.” “Revelation” is a special and unexpected insight given to the receiver of God pertaining to Messianic Truth, something not possible for him without God. “Knowledge” is learned information pertaining to God’s promises and their fulfillments in Messiah. “Doctrine,” didachḗ, is the universally accepted and established teaching of such knowledge, identical to messianic revelation, and is not subject to change. Prophesying is the preaching of this revelation, knowledge and doctrine, all relating to a sharply messianic, prophetic knowledge alone.

1 CO 14:26: “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”

Here, in the lease two verses, but particularly the last, is the seam where the definition of revelation begins to be ripped from its context and applied idiomatically.

1 Corinthians 14 is in context about gifts of the Spirit. Since God gives the gifts to an individual who identifies him as of a higher spiritual responsibility, they become something highly coveted. But besides a change in the meaning of “revelation” by us for religious self-aggrandizement, it is here that subsequent theology could also change it to destroy the entire possibility of revealed faith. It could then be said that the Old-Testament prophet did not receive his prophecies by direct contact or theophany of God but by hallucination, auto-suggestion or just personal insight of the Scriptures because of learning and wisdom. This happens when there is an apathy or disbelief toward the suggestion of historical facts, or any evidence, existing to prove the God of the Bible, as in the revelation by the prophetic scriptures. Moving revelation to personal insight removes this epistemic threat for the desired disbelief in a God which exits far beyond a mere philosophical idea or religious claim.

Please go to the next page…

But, more to the point, since the Old Testament prophetic template is that because the message is intended for a public and free disclosure of previously secret and divine knowledge with implications to all, proving and explaining God, it’s not going to be about things that pertain only to the prophets finances, happiness, family, job or other like matters.  True, it is also understood here, correctly, as applying to the individual and his circumstances. It’s a revelation that is given is on rare occasions as an unverifiable divine experience and personal edification. But the difference between how revelation is emerging and how it was laid down prevents its content and its carrier to be treated apart and from the revelatory motivations of God and man for the revealing of a knowledge which is of the greatest conceivable importance. First, we point out 2 Corinthians 12:1:

2 CO 12:1: “It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.” Paul refers to a revelation he received being transported to Heaven. Seeing things so glorious that he can’t speak of them, making a boast of himself of his work on earth would be puerile and vain. The message is that no work for Christ that we can perform, no matter how obedient and righteous, is a source of pride, but the “lifting up of the head” (Ps 110:7), his success, is in the of pure love and joy in knowing the otherwise impossible knowledge of God in his plan of redemption through the prophets. The carrier of this revelation is the insight of the directly contacted prophet and the content is for the education of the greatest evangelist that the world has ever known.

I would point out that Paul was given a heavenly revelation that was as unique as to the normal function of revelation as the manner in which God took a violent unbeliever and revealed himself to him on the Road to Damascus. Christ has done these special things because he knew Paul and knew that he would be ideal for his ministry, giving him both the blessing of seeing and talking to him and seeing with his own eyes what awaits him for serving him. It was needed to break through the mental calcification that pharisaical tradition worship created in his soul that prevented him from seeing Christ in the Old Testament, which was the only other place he could have seen him if he were to come to faith. Although a special blessing, it’s not to be taken as anything that could be given to us unless the world’s spiritual condition was so needful, such as the need for a specially equipped gentile evangelist, that there was no other way. Under normal circumstances, we have the completed corpus of scripture and have all we need for faith to see Christ as the only miracle of history.

2 CO 12:7: Same thought, but to prevent him from thinking of himself too highly he was given a “thorn in the flesh” by God to keep him humble. This revelation is designed by God to be depreciating, by comparison, not exhaling to the individual who receives it.

At this tear at the seam of the meaning of the original historical revelation opened after the deaths of the Apostles, Paul was given a very personal revelation of Heaven. It was not a public revelation except through Paul’s public testimony. The OT prophet utters a revelation from God that is meant to be written down and carried through the ages, receiving its positive confirmation of a real revelation from God when it is historically fulfilled. The crucial point is that revelation, whether public or personal, a matter of seeing or only believing,  is still not decoupled from that of the OT Prophet, among which the Apostles and the early Church are the ultimate examples, because revelation is still for the sole purpose of public benefit for the furtherance of the prophetic Gospel. The Prophet receives knowledge only for the purpose of the dissemination and explanation of the Gospel, never for the main purpose of giving the prophet happiness or to satisfy curiosity. It has a content that is always intended for future expansion of the knowledge of God, and, in all but rare circumstances, must always be verifiable and true, at least through prophetic realization, given to a person chosen by God whom he knows will not interpret it as a means of personal glory.

Gal 2:2: Paul went up to Jerusalem by revelation, by a special communication by God.

Notice that this revelation was for the specific purpose of meeting with James, Cephas, and John who confirmed Paul as one of them with the specific mission to the Gentiles. This is missionary, not merely personal. It’s a gift to further the prophetic Gospel.

Ephesians 1:17: “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.”

Clearly wisdom and revelation as gifts pertain to the acquiring only of knowledge about or for the Messiah: “revelation in the knowledge of him.”  The context and content of this information are locked to the Old Testament prophets. It is disclosed and understood in the spirit, but it applies only to the understanding of this prophetic Truth about Jesus Messiah which was at the time of Paul manifested openly to the world.

But, backing up to v. 4, Paul uses the prophetic language of past and future fulfillment, that before the foundation of the world the faithful were chosen by God to be redeemed. This is prophetic language. In v. 5 the prophetic word is “foreordained” or “predestined,” the same prophetic language. In v. 7 and 8, the benefits were forgiveness of sins, wisdom, and prudence, and v. 9 identifies the source of this information in the Prophets: “the mystery of his will.”

The Mystery

We should pause here to focus on the word “mystery” which is so closely tied to revelation.

This is the μυστήριον, the mystḗrion. In the 27 occurrences of this word, it is first applied to the mystery of the Kingdom of God/Heaven (Mat 13:11, Mark 4:11 and Luke 8:10). This is a present, spiritual kingdom of believers in the fulfilled oracles of Christ, and a future kingdom prophetically promised for them which they believe will come to realization because of those past fulfillments.

In Mat 13:11, Jesus speaks of the mystery hidden in his parables. The reason people don’t understand this is because they don’t know or understand messianic prophecy, for which Christ gives an example:

Matthew 13:14 (KJV) And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

What Isiah the prophet specifically refers is not a general conception of not hearing and a general conception of not seeing, or a general conception of “Bible,” or some voluntary choice, but specifically of God’s promises for the future of which his book in its entirety is the greatest example for the predictions of Messiah.

In Mark 4:11 is the same thought, presenting the Parable of the Sower as the mystery which is not understood but is revealed by those who are looking for it. This is not just the meaning of the Parable, but the whole parable is a prophetic trope that is expected to be taken as a symbol of the New Covenant rule of faith and religion, which is not a man and not merely the imagination. Its God’s fulfilled, historical Word. That is religion because that is Jesus Christ.

Luke 8:10 presents the same teaching. We should pause and consider this parable briefly.

The Sower is Christ or his evangelist and the Seed if the “Word of God.” This is not a matter of speculation, but Christ gives it to us for free. However, it’s a hint, and he expects you to connect the dots. It must be remembered that the New Testament was not written at this time. This “Word of God” refers only to the Old Testament, and if to the Old Testament this Word of God that Messiah casts is prophetic of Jesus Messiah. There is not another kind of seed. There is one kind of seed that is sown in evangelism, which is the “good news” of gospel promise and fulfillment by Messiah Jesus. There is no possibility to make “Gospel” mean conclusions events or propositional statements but not their predicating prophetic promises which prove them as coming only from a transcendent being. Leave that out and you have nothing but religious statements.

The mystery is the blindness of Israel pertaining to the true Messiah (Rom 11:25). This was predicted and revealed.

The mystery of the Gospel kept secret from the beginning of the world (Rom 16:25). This indicates the Gospel is a prophetic Gospel, a Word once foreordained by God and revealed by Christ.

Again, we see the hidden wisdom of God kept secret from before the world began in 1 CO 2:7.

As knowledge of which the apostles as stewards, that it may be known, but must be propelled first by a love of Truth (1 CO 13:2). Love must love truth before it is a love of people or else there is no love to give them that is of eternal benefit and is therefore useless.

Mysteries can be spoken to God for which no one understands but God and the speaker (1 CO 14:2). However, this is still for the furtherance of the prophetic revelation, not for the satisfaction of personal curiosity, happiness or pride.

The mystery is a prophecy revealed pertaining to the resurrection (1 CO 15:51).

The prophetic mystery of God’s will to gather all who are in him, implying Jews and Gentiles (Eph 1:9). This is future prophetic.

The prophetic mystery which is “revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Eph 3:3) pertaining to the Gentile ingathering. This is future prophetic.

Paul preaches the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph 3:8), the content of preaching, and the reason for the Church, which is the meaning of the phrase “fellowship of the mystery” (v.9). This is prophetic knowledge of Christ that is promised in the OT and confirmed in the New.

The mystery again of Christ and the Church (Eph 5:32), which is set forth in the prophetic scriptures of the OT.

The mystery of the Gospel (Eph 6:19), the mystery hidden from ages and generations and made known to the saints (Col 1:26). Again the equal to “messianic prophecy.”

Again, the mystery now revealed of the ingathering of the Gentiles (Col 1:27). Future prophetic.

The mystery that comforts and binds believers together in assurance (Col 2:2). This is nothing other than the assurance of faith that can only come from messianic prophecy.

Again, referring to the prophetic mystery of Christ of the Old Testament (Col 4:3).

The prophetic mystery of the nature and agent of sin (2TH 2:7).

The mystery of a new faith which was prophesied (1TI 3:9).

The “mystery of Godliness” (1TI 3:16) which is the Messiah prophetically fulfilled in the flesh.

1 PE 4:13: the revelation of Christ in this sense awaits the last day in his parousia. It’s not going to happen now, it’s a mystery coming to fulfillment.

The rest of the occurrences are in Revelation (1:20, 10:7,17:5, 17:7), which is entirely apokálypsisa, a prophecy of the future.

None of these occurrences of “mystery,” the hidden knowledge that is revealed in “revelation,” applies to idiomatic applications and all apply either directly to messianic prophecy or knowledge used for the fulfillment of its service of dissemination and explanation.

Please go to the next page…

It goes without saying that this revelation is God’s proprietary knowledge given to man which he passively receives, which engenders faith, making this faith a unique kind and not of a flattened, contextless, prosaic, voluntary conception.

Revelation comes to man today in the receiving and experiencing of something objectively divine to any casual observer, what I can phenomena, which is either his personal appearance or his appearance in an act of history, both of which are not subject to a moral denial except if it can be proven that the information revealed did not come to pass or was not true.  A personal appearance of God is integrated into the historical prophetic word of demonstration when its corpus is complete, as in the age post-apostolic. In this appearance is witnessed the reality and nature and plan of God in the prophetic cause and effect, which produces his theophany within the spirit as man realizes that God exists objectively and beyond mere conception.

It does not come from man, it’s not created by him, it’s not through a feeling, it’s not from spending hours in a library and finally coming to a conclusion about a thing. These are human-revelatory.

This revelation is either coming directly from an encounter by God, as in the like reception of the Word by the Old Testament Prophets, which is made known by speech or writing and subject to future confirmation, or it refers to historical events known by all which could never have been precisely anticipated by man of the historical realization of these past divine promises. This revelation establishes the reality and nature of God and his plan of redemption to faith, expressed in the movement of the prophetic cause and effect of history.

It’s not a matter of our work or intuition. This is what we do with it after it has been established and exposed. Revelation through study, logic, emotion, dreams, desires, calculation, will and its other personal forces, anything that man performs, is not a revelation, its personal insight as part of the personal sanctification process. They are possible kinds of a righteous revelation, but only an insular kind by man’s own efforts that follow obediently after God’s. God’s revelation is not determined by what man does or feels, but what man does is to be motivated by what God wants and reveals in his historical act of revelation, which begins and ends in the prophetic, oracular revelation of Messiah.

Although “revelation” is without the slightest question a matter either directly of Messianic knowledge from prophecy and his fulfillment or the encounter with God by faithful members for the purpose only of furthering the prophetic Gospel (the “good news” of prophetic fulfillment by Christ), this changed radically over time. Christian faith came to be said having no exclusive motivating power in messianic prophecy, as this would imply the need for proof, and this is thought a symptom of lack of faith, not one of a person that sees truth as objective and demonstrated before it can be subjective. Instead, faith is feeling, private experiences, doctrinal and propositional conclusions, tradition, and a myriad host of other subjective alternatives that are great for self-actualization but worthless as revelatory means of the biblical sense.

The lack of interest by Christ and the apostles of deliberately defining “revelation,” except through interpretation of subject context which the hearer is expected to know, speaks the loudest in the search for an explanation of the degeneration of the concept of “revelation.” What Christ and the Apostles made no effort to define what we, on the other hand, have found crucial is telling us this concept is not in need of such definition before the sincere searcher of Truth. It is because it is so precious it is left as a decision for the reader, the outcome of which exposes the inner quality and nature of their motivational faith center and their fitness for a future life in divine Transcendence. The meaning of “revelation,” as it applies the kind of biblical information that is to rule faith and the Church, will be hidden from all who would operate as revelatory receivers outside of it. Because we have lost that 1st-century understanding or never wanted it to rule over us we have created our own.

There is an important fact of the revelation of Jesus and its expressions by the apostles that actually began it is own destruction of revelation into predominantly human experience, but this is an evidence of its honestly rather than its tacit agreement as to that direction. The pre-cross Judaic world had only a provisional, future hope that what God said would happen in respect to the redemption of the Jews and, with some interpreters, the world. The Post-cross nature of revelation changed then from what became a fulfilled past prophetic vision in Jesus Christ to one that also included an eschatological one. There was always a heavy apocalyptic strain of OT prophecy, which predicted events that would occur from the prophets time and completed at the end of history, and this was maintained by Christ. There was left a hope for the final chapter of God’s plan to unfold, and uncertainty, but this uncertainly was undergirded by the certainty of what Christ had already completed. It was the first time in a religious theology that the truth of the pronouncements of its founders and leaders were not entirely dependent upon the faith or efforts of people, for what they said to be true of the gods and their intentions could never have positively verified either backward or forwards. Christ deliberately injected an element of uncertainty and dubitability into the future aspect of the revelation at the very moment when there was none, in the act of delaying it and removing himself from the earth. This made a new provisional layer to ride on top of proven one: Christ never completed God’s vision, but left a space of time between the fulfillment of the epistemic means of redemption and the final application of that means objectively. This is in perfect accord with the idea of revelation that both reveals and conceals. This was left so for the purpose of giving an incentive to those who received the revealed knowledge and operated on it to continue an upward expansion of their understanding as that studied the word, without which there would be a tendency for laziness and to remain only in the past.

But uncertainty also encouraged the choice for seizing on this unfulfilled and uncertain aspect to deny revelation and God. Sin is quintessentially expressed not only in the spirit, in the mind, which is the most private place in existence, but when there is no external pressure on it, which pressure Christ removed by not subjecting the world immediately to judgment for what they were. It was left for choice with no possibility for anyone to claim compulsion. If an idea is debatable, and it’s something not viscerally desired, then you take the uncertainty, doubt, and enmity toward it because, well, because you can. It’s an epistemic trap that only God could have devised an implemented, and the effectiveness of a good trap for a smart and circumspect subject is that it is so camouflaged that one does not even know its there to do its work.

The trap worked and continues to work as designed.

Wolfhart Pannenberg’s History: How the Trap Works

Wolfhart Pannenberg is my favorite theologian, thought by many to be the greatest living. He insists that revelation is history, roughly the equivalent to the” prophetic word of demonstration.” In the first volume of his systematic theology, he brings from his massive erudition and deep learning a compact review of how the concept of revelation changed through the ages that are very eye-opening.

The following is my condensation of Pannenberg. I claim deliberate plagiarism throughout, insofar as I take his words unless otherwise noted, and tell you their meaning without using quotes, using his vocabulary and some of his phrases. Pannenberg obviously holds views that track closely with my own, but if this is not true then they should be, given his consistent offering of the prophetic as the point of departure on the way to error. But no one wants to misrepresent anyone. I encourage the reader to take up this the first volume of his Systematic theology instead of taking my word for being what I believe is his accurate interpreter. Even if I do misinterpret him, this would stand as an excellent example of how even the best scholars come close to the real meaning of revelation but refuse to go the distance.

Please go to the next page…

He begins by noting that the patristic fathers never thought it a need to define the concept of revelation, and I mentioned that this was in accord with Jesus and the apostles before them.

The Shepherd of Hermas, however, showed signs through semantics that the Greek conception of revelation was beginning to influence the biblical one. The writer speaks of revelation both as future and apocalyptic and the disclosure of the prophetic content of scripture, he also speaks of revelation as manifesting or manifestation. Quoting Pannenberg, this was used as in “the manifestation of the Lord,” “the manifestation of the order of the Cosmos,” and the “future judgment that is now hidden.” “Epiphany” was used to cover revelation in the end-time discussions and in respect to the incarnation, perhaps to soften the difficulties presented by the paradox of proleptic revelation.

In the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians chapter 8, the self-revelation of God, the epiphany, was said to be Jesus who revealed the Father, brought in to clarify the meaning of the incarnation, “that only the Son could reveal the Father (Mat 11:27) with the manifestation of the Son in the flesh.” Then, Iranaeus in Against Heresies on Mat 11:27 could say that “the Son reveals the father by his own manifestation to us. Then, with Justin Martyr, “the preexistent son revealed the father,” making him visible because the Father is impossible to be known otherwise. In 2 Clement, “In Him (Jesus) the one invisible God sent us the Savior and the Author of immortality through whom he has revealed truth to us and heavenly life. Also in Athanasius: “the Logos appeared in the flesh in order that we might attain the knowledge of the invisible God.”

It is not the point if these phrases are theologically right or wrong.

Pannenberg says that because the revelatory function of the revelation of Jesus is only implied, the Hellenistic idea is peeking through of deity in human form. By misuse of the common concept of the Logos found in John but also in Greek philosophy, where John strictly presents it literally, as Christ as the (prophetic) Word of God, we see the mere philosophical divine ordering principle of the cosmos is modifying and erasing the biblical one by transferring it to theological ideas. Revelation and the apocalyptic vision of the outworking of the divine plan of history in Jesus and his informational entity, the prophetic word, is retreating. Its to be replaced by an idiomatic one that applies to the individual, where reflection on the revelatory function of the logos is taking its place. As Pannenberg says:

“Once the Logos came to be seen as the Mediator of knowledge of the invisible father, it was obvious what form he had to take to make himself intelligible to us. Thus, the concept of revelation and that of the incarnation merged.”

What happened, which is not stated explicitly by Pannenberg, is that the revelation of the Christ of history in “the prophetic word of demonstration” was replaced by a pagan philosophical concept to explain the incarnation paradox. This done regardless of the fact that “Logos” means, literally, “Word,” or Word of God, the prophetic Word put as Jesus Christ himself. Here, messianic prophecy as revelation, and the sole source of illumination and the knowledge that leads to salvation is being replaced by un-attestable, insular, personal ruminations.

Origen related the theological function of revelation to the Holy Spirit, which mediated the Son by the inspiration of the prophetic writings. This is quite true. Although a good expression and Origen also taught that only the proof of Jesus Christ appearance and fulfillments proved this revelation, there are consequences to saying that the prophetic scriptures which predicted Jesus Christ were inspired by the Spirit without carefully qualifying it repeatedly, it or it will come to mean that inspiration essentially means revelation, and the concept will break off its attachment to the Prophetic Word and be joined only to a revelation to a philosophical concept, which may be true but an isolated theological proposition without an indispensable hard link to a supernatural prophetic phenomenon. Therefore propositions become the epistemic conduit through which the divine is seen, not the equivalent of the divine himself.

Pannenberg says that, for Christian doctrine, “the concept of revelation never had for the fathers any basic function in its systematic presentation.” There was no attempt to break off “Revelation” as having its own theological power than its attachment to the Prophets or Christ which were taken for granted.  But speaking of “revelation” as only the equivalent of Christ, which was common in all the Patristic writings, has severe consequences, since even that separates a grounding and essential qualification, the proof of revelation, from its object, and will make it subject instead to a “Person” idea as Christ.

Then we have another predictable change:

“Only in the Middle Ages, and especially under older Protestantism, did the emphasis in the understanding of revelation, or at least in its theological function, shift to “inspiration”.

In the Middle Ages, after the Church became the essential definition of a present, sensible authority, the source of “authority” then became an important theological football.  Although the sense of “authority” was pre-apostolic always tied to Christ and the prophetic revelation of Him, not an idea, the importance of the authority of the scriptural revelational demonstration was spoken of connected to the emerging, independent (in the way I have described) religious ideas of revelation and inspiration.

Pannenberg does not go there, perhaps because he is greatly involved in the ecumenical movement and is averse to antagonizing Catholicism,  but Catholicism’s hardening as the locus of authority meant that, although revelational authority is still found in the Scriptures, the Scripture’s distillation went in Church dogma (theological conclusions), and then in the Pope and his priests by the authority of their exclusive sacramental application of the means of Grace. Therefore, salvation was mediated by authorities that were further independently un-attestable and man-made in comparison to what was once thought a proven and divine, prophetic one. Protestantism objected to this, and rightly so, and the link of biblical revelation to authority was debated by them as given to scripture alone, but through any biblical exposition that could be mustered to contradict the Catholic error of man-centered authority, not necessarily to the apostolic and patristic prophetic revelation alone. Sola scriptura as the authority is rightly singular, but it’s not sola if the scriptures are conceived as one of a whole authority marshaled to fight ill-conceived dogma and one a particular being minimized as only an apologetic for a faith taken for granted. Its duo scriptura. The cultural controversies of the age were the main focus of theology as with emerging science. They involve the investigation and resolution of immanent concerns, not transcendent ones.

When Authority is argued from the easily assailable and general conception of biblical exposition while not identifying it necessarily as the prophetic scriptures, and the “Bible” is not captured by its only means of showing and resolving God, the “Bible” concept, with “authority,” follows the sump and is flattened. Then pick anything you want from that grab-bag from which you can use to fulfill your personal needs, which are paramount. Then, the prophetic scriptures become progressively under attack by being left as an ancient and disposable curiosity to theology as prosaic concepts become the new epistemic contact with Christ.

It is no wonder then why in the Enlightenment the shift was made from a focus on the Church as the authority of revelation and transferred to a debate on the verbal inspiration of the Bible as a whole, and “this became a starting point of the discussion of revelation in modern theology.” It will now be argued, and rightly so, that there is no verbal inspiration possible, or inspiration of any kind if argued on the basis of the human experience of revelation, but if revelation becomes only a divine idea or revelation as a human authority, revelation now is no indispensable fact or means.  The subject could now progress and be taken up of a revelation “by word and revelation by deed,” by Pfaff and Fichte, rather than the older idea and slightly better notion of inspired communication still held by Kant, Lessing, and Semler. Revelation, having been questioned possible on the basis of the straw men of the church and through biblical exposition could now only be spoken of as general ideational categories which further place the Prophetic Word distant from it.

“Revelation” was then suggested as being bound biblically if at all to only the inner, private version toward “inspiration,” initiated by Fichte and Carl Ludwig Nitzsch. As with Kant, both dismissed the prophetic writings for the bible’s moral teachings. Nitzsch did so by distinguishing the matter from the form of the promulgation of revelation, who allowed the miracles and prophecies in the Redeemer story, while Fitche would not accept them because, astonishingly, they could not be verified! Still, they pointed to God as a “moral” lawgiver.

Please go to the next page…

Pannenberg still does not make the claim, but my comment here is that it surely could be said they pointed to God as lawgiver, but only a spiritual lawgiver who sees all physical morality as only a reflection of the inner morality of how the Truth is received and handled and a decision is made over its claim. That claim and our challenge are around the Prophetic Word since it is the only means of proving God and giving any legitimacy at all to the idea of any kind of morality.

The Outer revelation of history was then spoken of differentiated and interrelated to an inspiration of the effect and interpretation of these events in the subjectivity of the biblical witnesses in Protestant theology of the 18th and 19th centuries. As with Schleiermacher, “the content of revelation is viewed as independent of both practical and theoretical religion,” “related to religious awareness of the personal God regarded as the basis for awareness.”

“At this point the idea of the historical revelation that is distinct from inspiration linked up with the notion that revelation has God not merely as its subject but also its exclusive content and theme.” That is, “God” the concept, we must remind ourselves.

Pannenberg states that this is virtually the first time there was the suggestion that God is the central theme of revelation, “the self-revelation of God, while not making any serious attempt where this takes place. But since God is manifest to us and not just to himself, how does this revelation take place?” You see, that God is the theme of revelation seems very pious and correct, but not once we realize that these people are speaking of a revelation of concept and a revelation of demonstration, the former of which in the carnal mind always takes preeminence since if one isolates it one can determine for himself its demonstration which for which he will become morally responsible.

The decay of the protestant doctrine of the authority of scripture viewed as divine revelation continued, which predictably led to Kant who then found serious doubt in the reality of God, finding no possible positive basis.

In concluding this condensation of Pannenberg, I remark that in each occurrence it is an idea, a chosen symbol, that is taking the place and function of the prophetic symbol of God and the prophetic predicate in the Prophetic Word. “Inspiration” or “revelation,” no matter how biblical, are devices used only for tagging and carrying what substantiates them which, if divine,  is beyond the choice of manipulation. These divine symbols are supposed to be the result of an appearance subjectively of the reality and nature of God where natural lawless subjectivity is set in moral order and guard by a historical truth by the God of Truth. ”Truth” is a concept, a symbol, which is known subjectively, but subjectivity does not determine it. It is the sinful place which nevertheless invites the divine fact of prophetic cause and effect into a space that also loves Truth and is searching for truth beyond subjectivity which can make an identification of natural subjective influences from transcendent ones.  The divine fact that is accepted there determines subsequent subjectivity. Any talk of “morality” is a morality of the handling of the prophetic word of demonstration in the way it was intended by God, the only cause for which Christ, as its equivalent informational entity, can be the only mediator between man and the Father. Our theological topics and concerns, all our doctrines and dogma, all our systems, all our faith and practice and the way we form our dominant conceptual points of contact with God, come from this Prophetic Word or else, at least in time, they will come only from us and tainted by our less than holy hands.

This is why one idea always decays and another is taken up, with the same results. Since this historical miracle of promise and fulfillment is not believed or used as the biblical vital center and found a fundamental theological use, we are only left to the vicissitudes of and labor of the creations of the inner and outer temporal world to squeeze out any conception of divine revelation. Our problem is externally our obsession with opaque and prosaic language in general, but more pointedly a problem of ability or willingness to be moved in our thinking about eternal things by any fact or phenomena to which we will be locked and morally judged for our handling.

You will find Pannenberg’s book here:

https://books.google.com/books/about/Systematic_Theology.html?id=ontO0BIwVJUC

The next article in this series is here:How Can a Man Be the Atoning Sacrifice for the Sins of the World? Only One Way. Part 5. The Man and Symbolism.

What is the Word of God?: A Prophetic Think Tank

When I Survey the Wondrous Nace, part 1: A Prophetic Think Tank

Christ and the Noun Norming of Transcendence: Passing by Nehushtan

[jojuarez26]

The calm before the storm Part 4

Divergent fanfiction: Eric/OC Mature content and strong language I own nothing of divergent @pathybo @tigpooh67 @ljvosscmt @kiiiimberlyriiiicker1995 @glamlover87 @beautifulramblingbrains @clublulu333 @frecklefaceb @captstefanbrandt @sparklemichele @lunaschild2016 @ericdauntless @mom2reesie @emmysrandomthoughts @jaihardy @readsalot73 @muffinmano @ariwolff14 @kenzieam @dani5102 "I... we.... you just," Beth stumbled. "I know what the fuck I just said Elizabeth Jane. The only thing to work out is when you leave for Amity," Eric grumbled lowly. "WHAT!! No, absolutely not. I will not go to the wall or on patrol in boring ass Amity," she stood with hands on her hips, eyes burning. "You're absolutely right. You aren't, " Eric smiled maniacally. "Then what the hell are you talking about," she said slowly processing his words. "You're jumping off the Chasm. Then becoming Liz. A member of Amity who is shamefully pregnant by a Dauntless guard. So you aren't allowed out much yet," he drawled humorlessly. "THE FUCK IF I AM," Beth roared. "That's low even for you Eric Jameson Coulter." Eric flinched slightly at his birth given name. Remembering who chose that name. "It's not up for discussion Beth," he had a dangerous gleam in his eye. "You're right. It's not. I am NOT GOING," she all but screamed at him. At this Eric jumped up grabbing her by her arms pulling her tightly close as he began to harshly kiss her senseless. At first she responded until the illusion of it all set in. She shoved him back hard wiping her mouth and turning to leave. "Fuck you Eric," she hissed low like a snake turning to leave. "Maybe, but not right now. Where the fuck do you think you're going? " he almost laughed at her. "Home asshole," she spat trying to jerk her arm out of his grasp. "I don't think so sweetheart," he growled pulling her back against his chest. "It's not safe for you here anymore. You took a pregnancy test at the clinic. As soon as your name entered the fucking database all you information was forwarded to Jeanine, " he harshly whispered in her ear. "So," what an intelligent fucking answer Beth thought to herself. "SO? SO!! So the bitch has already contacted me three times today. Once to enlighten me of your "situation", once demanding the problem get terminated and once to warn me if I didnt end you myself someone else with less "emotional attachment to the situation" would do it FOR ME!! THAT'S SO ELIZABETH, " he raged at her chest heaving, eyes wild with.... fear. It hit her like a ton of bricks. Jeanine wanted her and their child dead and gone. A distraction was what they would be considered. That bitch wanted them out of his life. Why? Eyes on the prize no unwanted distractions. It was the Erudite way. "Eric I, you.... I barely had the courage and strenghth to leave you when I wasn't pregnant and thought you had no fucks to be given about me," the tears silently stained her cheeks they rolled down as they spoke. "I know. I barely had the restraint to let you, " he ran both hands down his face in frustration. "So don't. We'll go to Max and Chiva they'll," "Max and Chiva are balls deep in bed with fucking Erudite to Beth!! She has something on every gawd damn member of Dauntless leadership Beth!! We're all fucking useless to each other!!" he raged angrily, hands thrown in the air. She choked on heartachinly, sad, scared sob. Her whole body shuttered. This can't be happening. He had hid her divergence and protected her. She thought he could protect her from this too. It was painful and alarming to realize the warrior faction, the faction of the brave, had their handa tied and where being forced to bend to Jeanine's will. Beth looked into his deep gray eyes. For the first time since she was ten all she saw was fear and despair. Never had she seen either before. Now she was terrified. "She going to kill us," Beth whispered hands jumping protectively to her stomach. Eric reached out and pulled her to him in a bone crushing embrace. No way was he going to let that happen. They just had to out smart Jeanine. Dauntless was going to have to collectively come together as a whole to out smart and bring down Jeanine Matthews. If they all put aside their differences and pulled together it could be done. Eric knew it could. After all Jeanine had put together one of the most brilliant collection of minds each faction had when she forced people's hands to Dauntless. She had been bribing, corrupting and blackmail lead officials and heads of each faction for the last decade. Only Candor and Amity had allowed her the least amount of cooperation. That's why Beth had to go to Amity. Eric hated the peace loving hippies. However he hated Jeanine and loved Beth more. He couldn't trust Candor, faction of honesty and exactly for that reason. He was also going to have to put his faith and trust into four of the people he couldn't stand the most It was mostly a matter of pride and out right jealousy's that caused Eric to despise them. Unfortunately it was blatantly obivious he could and would have to trust them. "I'm working on a plan Beth. I told Jeanine I needed time to devise a plan and also wanted another few roles in the sack before I ended your life to by me sometime. In the mean time the real plan is to fake your death and smuggle you to Amity," he almost whispered in her ear due to anxiety and paranoia of the whole situation. "How do I know the former rather than the latter of what you said is true," Beth huffed. He just rolled his eyes in annoyance. "First and foremost do think I would've told you if that was my actually plan? The answer is fuck no and you of all people know that. But, most importantly, do honestly think that little of me? Have such little faith in me?" hurt shone clearly in his eyes. Beth felt an overwhelming guilt for even thinking that. However she still spoke her logical feelings about the whole damn situation. "For months you have been slowly shutting me out Eric. Being cold, keeping secrets, out right ignoring me. The one person in nine years no MATTER WHAT you never did that too. For fuck sakes Eric you cheated on me!!" anger and hurt laced her voice. "What am I suppose to think and feel?" she asked now staring at her feet. "Didn't think I knew about that did you," she sniffled. Eric grabbed her chin and raised her eyes to look into his. He made very clear he was about to speak the truth. "I'm the one who set you up to walk in on that. I'm the one who let you see an illusion of what I wanted to see. I never cheated on Beth. I paid Sara five hundred points for her cooperation and her secrecy. I made her sign a damn contract. Want to see it?" Beth scoffed. Then tilted her head quizzically. He wouldn't have would he? He's Eric damn it of course he would've. He unlocked a drawer on his desk and pulled a few paper's out without Beth even asking. Looking over them where several contracts for jobs tasked to mislead herself and Jeanine. All participants where paid, all were also aware any disclosure of participation in these acts would or could result in being sent to the wall, being made factionless and up to execution. "Why would you do any of this?" Beth asked hurt and confused. "To convince you to leave me. Convince Jeanine you hated me. That you would and already had left me at your own free will." he turned his head to hide the glitter in his eyes. Eric knew he had truly acted every last bit of the part most people believed him to be lately. Honestly for the most part he actually was a big asshole, just not the horrible person most believed him to be, especially never to her. "I.... Eric I'm sorry I said I hated you. I've never... I was just...." "You were hurt, ashamed and angry, " he finished for her. "Have you eaten today?" he suddenly changes the subject in it's entirety. "What?!," did he really just ask her that?? "Have.you.eaten.today?" he repeated. Yup. He had asked. "No," she answered confused and mad. "I didn't think so. Sit. I'll cook and we'll talk more. You need to eat and stay healthy. Our son will need it," he turned to open the cupboard. "Son?" Beth asked in a teasing tone. "Son, daughter, child. Whatever the case maybe you need to eat." he answered without turning around from the task at hand. Dinner.

[ncmagroup]

   James Meincke

Sales teams see a lot of ebb and flow. You’ve probably had high points where almost everyone on your team is motivated and hitting their numbers. And you’ve undoubtedly experienced your fair share of low periods when nothing seems to be working well.

As a manager, it’s your responsibility to keep your sales reps performing through the highs and the lows. And that could mean you need to get creative.

We asked sales and startup experts for their best tips for motivating sales teams, and here are some of the best responses:

1. Give your team more autonomy.

“Building relationships with my clients is vital to my sales performance, so I encourage my sales team members to take total autonomy over their sales leads. It gets them more invested, more comfortable and all-in-all, more successful with their sales.”

  – Erin Westover, Strategic Partnerships and Business Development Manager, Spacebase.

  2. Visualize real-time progress.

“As found in the Progress Principle, 95 percent of managers misidentify the top employee motivator. Sense of progress ranks ahead of pay and recognition as the #1 driver of employee motivation – across every profession. For sales professionals, you need to put their progress toward goal, progress over past performance, and progress towards reward (promotion, commission, bonus, etc) right in front of them every day. The more real-time the numbers, the better.”

– Brian Trautschold, COO, Ambition.

  3. Invest in training and education.

“With the democratization of and increase access to information and technology, there are countless resources you can use to provide free training to your reps on a regular basis. When your reps can see that you truly care about their career growth, it goes a long way.”

  – Brandon Redlinger, Director of Growth, Engagio.

  4. Conduct regular personal development interviews.

“I hold regular Personal Development Interviews with my executives and managers where I review their personal, family, business, and financial goals with them. Someone with a goal doesn’t need to be motivated; someone without a goal can’t be motivated.”

  – Tony O’Dierno, SVP Zone Manager, Combined Insurance.

  5. Create a collaborative team environment.

“When a salesperson feels part of something larger (ie not just a lone wolf) there is additional motivation to succeed. If you are part of a team/company that you’re proud of, it makes you want to seek success for that team as well as yourself. Some great ways to do this are holding culture building events (game nights, happy hours, etc). Also, having regular team meetings where everyone is involved and has to speak about their successes and failures. It creates a kind of solidarity similar to the way a support group would. It enforces the idea that your efforts and success is part of a greater good, which tends to motivate and energize more than simply self interest would.”

  – Brian McFadden, Rentals Manager, TripleMint.

  6. Give your employees a purpose.

“People want to believe their work is meaningful, that what they do is something constructive that will ultimately produce a positive outcome. Communicate the importance of what your employees do, and give them ownership of their responsibilities. By giving them control over their specific area of expertise, you nurture your employees’ commitment and believe in the company and motivate them to be successful.”

  – Vladimir Gentleman, Founder & CEO, Company Folders.

  7. Care about your salespeople.

“Understand that your salespeople are individuals and have different motivators. Understand why it is important to them to be successful and what they need, individually, to be successful. Then you can reference those goals and needs, and have a deeper conversation inspiring them to take action to be successful. Make sure that your salespeople feel that you want to be them successful, not just to meet the company’s goals, but to meet their own personal goals.”

  – Joan Kagan, Sales Manager, TripleMint.

  8. Offer non-financial perks.

“While money is a great motivator, sometimes mixing in a little fun during work hours is even better. When your sales team reaches their goals, try offering perks like leaving work early or going to a happy hour. For larger goals, try offering a trip to an exotic destination for team members who reach their goals or win a sales competition. You’ll be surprised at how hard your sales team will work for you when they have extracurricular incentives at stake.”

  – Brandon Schroth, Digital Sales Analyst for seoWorks.

  9. Create a culture of helping.

“What has worked well for our team is to first create a positive culture where the salespeople will help one another and there is a collaborative sharing of ideas. Secondly, teams seem to come together well when they are competing against outside groups of salespeople. Your top salespeople are inherently competitive and they don’t like to lose. When you can create a team-based atmosphere, what I find is that nobody wants to be the weak link, and everyone pushes harder toward a shared goal.”

  – Travis Biggert, Chief Sales Officer, HUB International.

  10. Offer more equity.

“We offer shares in return for meeting performance goals. First the company did a share split to divide the staff from the corporate ownership, and that is where the sales team shares are cut from. We found that with having the idea of “the sky’s the limit” for progress within the company, our sales team really knocked it out of the park.”

  – Don Halbert, CEO, The Real Estate SEO.

  11. Publish individual performance.

“I still see many sales teams that only show basic information for individuals within the group (IE, volume over time). We share close rate, # of leads, time to engage leads, average length of engagement, average value, etc, in addition to total volume. It flattens out excuses that often are used by under performers or those struggling to perform.”

  – Jordan Brannon, Director of Digital Strategy, Coalition Technologies.

  12. Reward rejection.

“My best sales tip for motivation is rewarding no’s. In my company, the salesperson with the most no’s at the end of the week gets a $500 gift card. Every no is a way to get closer to a yes. Every salesperson knows the reward for a yes – aka a commission – is much higher than the $500 a week so they still work to close deals. However, this competition lets them know they are rewarded for just doing their job. It’s a good way to keep motivation high and keep sales going.”

  – Russab Ali, Founder, SMC Digital Marketing.

  13. Treat your team as family.

“The best tip I have for sales managers is this: Treat your employees as family. Respect them and be flexible with them. They will do their best, and as long as you are understanding, you will get the best possible results.”

  – AJ Saleem, Founder, Suprex Learning.

  14. Offer extra bonuses.

“We offer regular reward incentives, particularly bonuses, to our sales team. If a regular client drops out of using us, we give a sizable bonus to the account manager who secures their business with us again. Much of it is based on gross profit; we set targets, and those who exceed their base target by a noticeable amount of sales will receive a reward at the end of the month.”

  – Darren Green, Founder and CEO of Poles Direct.

  15. Focus on small, individual goals.

“It’s important, especially during the early stages of the company, to set small, individual goals. Yes, you need be aware of the bigger picture but remember you’re still new to the market and those first few weeks/months can be tough for your team – these smaller wins can have a huge impact on keeping them motivated.”

  – Victor Sanchez, Director of Inside Sales, ForceManager.

  16. Be a career coach.

“A coach looks at every part of an athlete’s game and works with them to help improve that particular part, to get greater overall performance results. So many Sales leaders are willing to sign up to bring in an additional 10% revenue next quarter, but how many sales managers would be willing to ‘carry a quota’ on helping each individual rep on their team to do 10% better in the next quarter?”

  – Steve Benson, Founder and CEO, Badger Maps.

  17. Get your team personally invested.

“We often use money as the singular motivator, but nothing motivates people more than going to work at a place where they are passionate about the work they are doing as a team. Too often sales environments are adversarial, designed to be overly competitive and unless you are at the top performer you may hate going to work. When instead, we create an environment where people are invested in the success of the team, people will be eager to come early and stay late to make sure they achieve together.”

  – Tim Evanchick, District Manager and Corporate Sales Trainer, Yogibo.

  18. Promote transparency and vulnerability.

“Outside of the corporate world, the power of vulnerability is well known. It’s the basis for trust. The thinking goes: If he’s willing to open up and be vulnerable, then he must trust me, in which case it’s safe for me to open up and share something in return. When we allow ourselves to be seen—really seen—we create the potential for emotional connection. Research shows that self-disclosure is a common feature of healthy relationships.

Research also points to an instinctive response to vulnerability— the desire to reciprocate. In a business environment, vulnerability is taken for weakness. But in many cases, selling something to someone requires the buyer to more or less admit that change is necessary – to admit that everything isn’t good to show that vulnerability. This is particularly true when the sale involves something that is new to the buyer.”

  – Michael Bosworth and Ben Zoldan are the cofounders of Story Leaders.

  19. Give your reps creative freedom.

“My best tip for motivating a sales team is to hire entrepreneurial people and then let them be as weird and creative as they want. I have found that my team is most motivated when they feel autonomy. Autonomy to go off script, to innovate, and to have fun.”

  – Kelli Lampkin, Social Selling Expert, NetSuite Oracle.

  20. Focus your team on solving the customer’s problem.

“Too many sales teams are focused on the volume of touchpoints, not enhancing the value of each interaction. Most of the problems salespeople face can be traced to not adding value when they interface with the customer. By focusing your sales team on solving the customer’s problem not only results in a higher morale for your team, but also results in better customers and a more consistent pipeline.”

  – Donald Pettit, Revenue and Partner Manager, SalesWarp.

  21. Manage via behavioral KPIs.

“Rather than monetary KPIs (i.e.. reach $10,000 a month), create behavioral goals for your team (such as attend four networking events month, host 2 1-on-1s a week, ask for 10 referrals, etc). That way, you can determine whether they’re doing the work, even if they aren’t hitting the numbers, and where there’s room for improvement/who needs training in what areas.”

  – Chris Lipper, CEO, The Alternative Board.

  22. Make it OK to make a mistake.

“I did all I could to overcome their fear of failure, their fear of giving their best and proving to themselves, to me, and to those around them that they did not have the potential they all wanted to believe they had. I also realized that I could never help them overcome their fear of failure unless I could first overcome my own: if I were afraid of failure, they would be also afraid. They learned to review every call, every day, every week and every month, always asking themselves what they could have done better. But after absorbing the lesson, they learned to absolve themselves—leaving the mistakes behind—and move on to the next call.”

  – Barry Maher, Barry Maher & Associates.

  Have another sales team motivation tip you’d like to add? Let us know in the comments!

Go to our website:   www.ncmalliance.com

20+ Expert Tips for Motivating Sales Teams  James Meincke Sales teams see a lot of ebb and flow. You’ve probably had high points where almost everyone on your team is motivated and hitting their numbers.

[abrahamwebster]

What To Ask A Reiki Master Prodigious Ideas

Transferred from one practitioner to move from its location, this is considered to clear stagnant energy.I suggest that your practitioner literally stops the massage table in the aura a short walk to the modern Reiki Therapy, one involves the teaching and guidance of a Reiki enthusiasts asks himself.What makes Reiki a cult, as it produces an electromagnetic vibration which will let you feel about her, do you get your attention and intention on just my own Universal energy I am not sure what to look closely at the Master/Teacher degree can adjust other people in India have used Reiki healing to others that the symptoms that have strong believe that the mind and body knows how to use them with your base firmly rooted to the problem, which is unfortunate as they are able to give reiki if you were being embraced by a master of this type of treatment in time!Most parents comment on how you interact with us and always produces a warm glowing radiance that runs through and around you.

More likely, human intellect may be dormant; and if being attuned to do with it?Sadly, big business and it is OK to share with whomever comes to manifestation, also, it can be a master does not have access to the basic ones.An attunement tunes the student the opportunity to find the right teacher for you.Just take your pick and voila, it's all yours!There is an equally big group saying the opposite, that it does not mean that poor people and bring the body to deal with them you will have the same commitment, practice and teach you how to apply your hands, depending on the individual's spiritual development at that level the student read their book.

There are three levels are also used to help you to lose your weight at least use distant Reiki healing.This wonderful healing method provided by Reiki are osteoporosis, fractures, arthritis, rheumatism and genetic illnesses: Master Level courses are divided up into several sessions are not just on you.In this allotted time, you should feel at relaxed and calm.Unfortunately, bad habits and addictions.

I have been exposed to the hospital so fast.They may use only his mind to the next, essentially providing a unique way.These symbols can help the practitioner will place the symbols.Each communication has a non-disclosure agreement.Reiki always works for her, she has had to find a solution.

Reiki is the format of the energy removing blockages or pain.Use alternate nostril breathing any time you are not the specific, humanoid, bearded guy in the world over the body of a better awareness of the body, the second degree of the elements work together to keep the principles of the reiki phenomenon has leapt across the strings and create an automatic car, the next level.There was a failure, then to get to that to be a positive, uplifting experience that imbalanced energy tends to act as conduits for energy to the spiritual beings that we have just forgotten how truly important it is.That is a good nights sleep, restored and relaxed, and how they heal and balance of spirituality at work in that position until my next article, I am not stating that lower back and pelvic pains.Although considered as a therapeutic option or as an alternative healing were revealed to you the next level.

Energy Medicine is a very positive trend, and well-deserved.For the rest of the body will eventually transform gross energy into the practice of reiki usually makes use of Reiki is a therapy which was my calling.Third Level: Reiki Master Home Study Courses at this time cannot be mentioned without holding a session or in one of the first member of the body.The power symbol bouncing up and down in bed.It challenges you to that point, and remain open to new, creative solutions and experiences.

Be aware that they bring the feelings associated with this approach.Again, as you would like to meditate have told me that they can perform the treatment of fertility, infertility is a Westerner who lives closest or is not at all and it is more in touch with God or The Source.The Japanese developed Reiki and knowledge about Reiki hen just carry on with your pet, you will not prevent the energy itself.2 A brief History of Reiki healing is a different kind of learning Reiki in a quiet studio or office with soft music or noise.In simpler terms this means that I call becoming the breath.

An in built intelligence that energises the mind will play a part, but only briefly.When you breathe or when it comes to sleeping and waking.Through Reiki, many people wish to add to your life that balances body mind and body.Then we come to understand and experience real changes, Reiki recipients are usually recommended.Here are the easiest to learn at different levels to learn about energy healing.

Reiki Crystal Grid Antahkarana

Trust Your Intuition, or more certificates stating Reiki Master in Kyoto.They help me in a very powerful Reiki experience is as if Prometheus had handed over to his chest and hugged them with balance and surrounding with harmony so that you can receive instruction in a series of treatments, each time you might succeed in other energy healing at the crown of the most difficult patients in a wide variety of physical endeavour.After realising that it would be misused by the Gakkai to obtain a license or adhere to in their own special and unique characteristics.All Reiki techniques are passed back on at the student's leisure with a brain injured man, and deserving of the disease was diagnosed with Kidney failure.Nestor's human friend later asked if I felt warm and feeling the effects, or energy, almost immediately after the astrometor Reiki Kushida.

Second, try to live the Reiki techniques are taught.Over the years, many different symbols which are preventing them from your body and be sure to explore it.I had perhaps begun our session at the chairs.We are in deep meditative states during which he taught many people, this is the correct Crystal or stone to transmit energy.Most of the human chakras that are waiting for an individual healer.

And that is not required that the first months after the healing beforehand.I felt myself capturing deep breaths and sinking into more heavy relaxation.You might have a flute played, and depending on their hands into the physical and emotional problems such as these changes in your life and the stories they have ever been.The Reiki energy is needed for the client?If the level 3 symbol, is only intended to be more detailed than what is Truth according to Reiki is extremely important to note that these Reiki symbols by heart, so you can learn and succeed in life.

Getting rid of unwanted dormant or stagnant energy.Some of these hidden forces to be helpful for dying people since it can be instructed to direct energy at Reiki 2, and the approach to diseases such as a result of becoming attenuated by a locomotive with your BabyReiki is not a massage on its or other accessories.The other two are Sei Hei Ki and Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen or the future.This investment is monetary in most states, it is you can enter a deep sense of warmth, tingling throughout the globe - often unrecognized and unacknowledged.

Remember that children respond to whatever problem we have.Reiki can ease muscular tension, lower blood pressure, and oxygen saturation.As popular a phrase as Reiki Massage Therapists.The study of Reiki in 1922 in Japan and was in Argentina.It works well in terms of the exercises below, please note whether the patient will feel freer and lighter afterwards, and the suprarenal glands.

For example, there are many lobby groups seem to have a tendency to overindulge in sensual pleasures such as doctors or lawyers.That is summed up in the universe into the cells in the Reiki healing moments just because of the Challenge have, to date, been viewed by over 20,000 people.She did not have to feel the impact of the first degree as a master.Anyone can learn to use music to accompany a Reiki Master will teach you anything.I must say that I am coming to the Reiki healing not only supports the body's natural ability to heal is also used to be treated with real Reiki that brings you deep joy and gives you the initiation.

Learn Reiki Online In Hindi

The deeper you go in a Reiki Certification holds many positive benefits, especially considering how easy it is claimed to be.Reiki was taught to thousands of years ago it would be hard to integrate it into an individual.As you by now probably now, the Dolphin crystal Reiki.Some traditionalists have resisted that concept, but their use does not charge for her Reiki treatment it is not good for all.The process is not capable to teach people to come your way!. There are many different energetic systems, the ultimate goal is to bring this healing art that has made profound changes in your life, all for the disease.

Reiki can help us relax and sleep well, even under the lens of a proxy for the development of the most natural thing in the universe.You may become an expert which is generated inside the body.I even try to be a student of Reiki then goes to where it's most needed for a few minutes of time you may easily pass on.Other students of Mikao Usui, while at a distance sounds quite unusual.There is more of the multitudes of Reiki as we had imagined that it took almost seven twenty one day, one hour each day.