#but it’s also just the consummation of love as an act of peace and future hope

[likealittleheartbeat]

“QUEERNESS IS NOT yet here. Queerness is an ideality. Put another way, we are not yet queer. We may never touch queerness, but we can feel it as the warm illumination of a horizon imbued with potentiality. We have never been queer, yet queerness exists for us as an ideality that can be distilled from the past and used to imagine a future. The future is queerness’s domain. Queerness is a structuring and educated mode of desiring that allows us to see and feel beyond the quagmire of the present. The here and now is a prison house. We must strive, in the face of the here and now’s totalizing rendering of reality, to think and feel a then and there. Some will say that all we have are the pleasures of this moment, but we must never settle for the minimal transport; we must dream and enact new and better pleasures, other ways of being in the world, and ultimately new worlds. Queerness is a longing that propels us onward, beyond romances of the negative and toiling in the present.“

José Esteban Muñoz, “Feeling Utopia” in Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity

[moononmyfloor]

Dashing Youth Ep 1-10 Commentary

Ep 11-16, Ep 17-21, Ep 22-25, Ep 26-32, Ep 33-35, Ep 36-40

Alrighty let's organise all my thoughts in neat lil piles.

1. Personally the type of Wuxia I enjoy is the more subdued, mature and philosophical vibe like that of Sword Snow Stride and Mysterious Lotus Casebook. I rarely watch youthful, lighthearted, rom-comey wuxia/xianxia/xuanhuan. I didn't enjoy BoY a lot and I still wonder how I managed to finish it, the few characters I loved were Wuxin, Tang Lian, Zhao Yuzhen, Prince Chong and Prince Lingchen, because they had the acting style and character arcs that were closer to my preferences.

I clicked on Dashing Youth just for the curiosity and out of "since I watched BoY anw, I'm kinda obligated for this" feeling, but unexpectedly, within 10 mins I was in love lol. Many of the actors I already know and love, the bromance is instantaneous and strong, the promise of a good tragedy is alluring, and I could enter the worldbuilding faster because I already know what to expect from this universe.

AND I ADORE how the casting directors seem to have chosen actors with BLs/BL-vibe shows under their belt for all the important roles, they all know exactly what to do and like:

I for one am not mad about all the CP pushing promo the showmakers are doing. I mean, even if this was a super straight story we'll end up with gay fanfics anyway, right? So just as well we get to see our fantasies haha 😏

Like, that's an adorable thumbnail!

OK without further ado, getting myself invited into the Daddies' party time!!

By ep 4, Dongjun has so far charmed the asses off of Spear daddy, Lei daddy, and now Liu Xueyi's daddy. At this rate, I'll have to assume that the future kids are gonna be procreated not via their future wives, but through the consummation of the daddies' elaborate spiritual bodies when they flirt-duel lol

(Exactly like that)

Now I really wanna see a 重回我爸的高中时代 (Back to My Dad's High School Days) edit for Dongjun and his harem from the kids' povs Like here .

Ep 6- You did indeed, Wu Xie 2.5!

Hou Minghao collects new boyfriends, old boyfriends and his own other-selves like pokemon😆 Also gotta say that everytime I see Bai Shu now I feel like a proud parent. He's grown so much from the grumpy scrawny bb Wu Xie era huhu

Ep 9- It's amazing how I personally didn't really enjoy BoY, but Wuxin instantly got my love and while I'm 10x more drawn to Dashing Youth, the one who won me over above everyone else is again, Wuxin's dad. Also, Wuxin's dad is a chef! How can I not love this baby!

Everyone showing off martial arts while they are in their own world, serving a buffet lmao

Lei Mengsha looking at this poster: Yep, I can see this polycule is not a good idea. Usually I'm all in but I'll sit this one out and go make my two kids in peace. I'll have my chance with HMH in another universe anw

Despite being the silliest of them all, LMS is the only one who gives the vibe he'll always stand straight on his two feet even if the entire world goes topsy-turvy. I don't even need to look at BoY to be proven correct.

Ep 10- Ever since his intro from ep 1 where he went all, "wow, what a fate!", I love the parts they do these crossover jokes

(In fact, instinctively performing Qimen Dunjia is possibly how LMS figured out the trajectory the other boys were going to be in LMAO)

Now they need to add some tomb robbing jokes when Bai Shu and Neo interact and it'd be perfect!

Also it feels kinda fateful that Lei Wujie would go bond with Xiao Se, Lei Mengsha was best bros with his uncle Langya.

[warbefall]

headcanon 002. nsfw edition!

Looking at the differences between Kratos’ marriage & intimacy with both of his wives, from the ceremony itself to their bedroom activities & married life together after, with inspiration taken from actual history.

The wedding between him & Lysandra was a typical traditional Spartan wedding, due to them both being Spartan, therefore it lacked the celebration of weddings from other regions & the intended wife was simply taken from her home. For the first several months of their marriage, Kratos had never seen his life in the daylight, as visitation would only happen in the dark of night, as per tradition, where Kratos would fuck her & then leave once he was done.

Due to the rules of married couples not being allowed to live together until the husband was aged 30 regardless of it being war time or not, whenever the couple did meet, their time together was both passionate yet rushed. Kratos would fuck his wife hard & fast as their only goal in sex was to have children. He would often opt for doing it from behind because the position was both easy & familiar, as it was the way men also fucked during their time at the barracks.

Despite how little met each other outside of the bedroom, the more Kratos visited Lysandra, the more his love for her grew. She maintained their household & supported him fully in all his battles, & when their daughter was born his love for the two of them only grew. The way he slept with Lysandra also changed over the years, becoming less of a duty & more of an act of love. He began to take his time with her a little more, kiss her in places she’d never been kissed & face her as they fucked with her legs wrapped around his waist.

With his high ranking in the army, they had slaves to tend to their land & chores, so the only duty Lysandra was expected to fulfil was the raising of their child. When given the chance to spend time with his daughter, Kratos would teach her music & play with her. Whenever he’d have to leave again, he’d bid his wife farewell with a kiss as she wished him well in his servitude to Ares.

His wedding to Laufey on the other hand was much, much different. There was no traditional ceremony due in part to neither of them having family & also their seclusion in the forest. Typically their wedding would have been officiated by a priest & would have also been held on a Friday, also known as Frigg day, in honour of the Goddess Freya, but lacking all of these traditions meant their wedding was technically unofficial ( but no one needs to know that ).

The consummation of their wedding was also different in that Kratos didn’t take the lead. Faye was much more of a presence than his first wife was & instead climbed atop Kratos’ lap & placed his hands upon her. Kratos allowed this as he realised that intimate acts feel much more delicate when a man has the power to kill a God in his hands. With no rush for children & no other obligations, they simply had sex whenever they felt the urge & lived a relatively peaceful life. Kratos even learned how to flirt! Unlike his first wife, Faye was very hands on in the upkeep of their home & there was no culture of keeping slaves as ‘help’, she wielded an axe to cut firewood, hunted their meals & used her magic to protect their land.

Whenever they had sex, it was often slow & filled with Faye’s soothing voice giving Kratos praise. It was much more tender rather than passionate & the love Kratos bore for her was deep & mildly terrifying. Kratos learned what it was like to spend the whole night beside his wife & wake with her in the morning, sometimes even falling asleep to the sound of her voice talking about their future together.

When their son was born, he distanced himself a little as he had no experience with babies, despite Faye’s insistence that he hold & bond with their child. He left much of the childcare to Faye & without any outside ‘help’ with their son, their sex life grew more scarce, yet their love for each other was still just as strong.

[wizardouxie]

MBTI Types in Wizards: Tales of Arcadia!

Author’s Note: Keep in mind that this is simply my interpretation and that if the writers were to ever confirm types for each character, I’d be fine with whatever they went with. Also this is going to be a pretty long post, so strap in and enjoy!

Jim - ISFJ or “The Protector”

ISFJs are industrious caretakers, loyal to traditions and organizations. They are practical, compassionate, and caring, and are motivated to provide for others and protect them from the perils of life. 

ISFJs are conventional and grounded, and enjoy contributing to established structures of society. They are steady and committed workers with a deep sense of responsibility to others. They focus on fulfilling their duties, particularly when they are taking care of the needs of other people. They want others to know that they are reliable and can be trusted to do what is expected of them. They are conscientious and methodical, and persist until the job is done.

Strengths: Practical, Hardworking, Supportive, True to their Word

Toby - ESFJ or “The Provider”

ESFJs are conscientious helpers, sensitive to the needs of others and energetically dedicated to their responsibilities. They are highly attuned to their emotional environment and attentive to both the feelings of others and the perception others have of them. 

ESFJs like a sense of harmony and cooperation around them, and are eager to please and provide. ESFJs value loyalty and tradition, and usually make their family and friends their top priority. They are generous with their time, effort, and emotions. They often take on the concerns of others as if they were their own, and will attempt to put their significant organizational talents to use to bring order to other people's lives.

Strengths - Practicality, Warm/Sensitive, Loyal/Dutiful, Always Steps Up

Claire - INFP or “The Healer”

INFPs are imaginative idealists, guided by their own core values and beliefs. To a Healer, possibilities are paramount; the realism of the moment is only of passing concern. They see potential for a better future, and pursue truth and meaning with their own individual flair. 

INFPs are sensitive, caring, and compassionate, and are deeply concerned with the personal growth of themselves and others. Individualistic and nonjudgmental, INFPs believe that each person must find their own path. They enjoy spending time exploring their own ideas and values, and are gently encouraging to others to do the same. 

INFPs are creative and often artistic; they enjoy finding new outlets for self-expression.

Strengths - Idealism, Integrity, Compromise, Dedication

Blinky - ENTP or “The Visionary”

ENTPs are inspired innovators, motivated to find new solutions to intellectually challenging problems. They are curious and clever, and seek to comprehend the people, systems, and principles that surround them. Open-minded and unconventional, Visionaries want to analyze, understand, and influence other people.

ENTPs enjoy playing with ideas and especially like to banter with others. They use their quick wit and command of language to keep the upper hand with other people, often cheerfully poking fun at their habits and eccentricities. 

While the ENTP enjoys challenging others, in the end they are usually happy to live and let live. They are rarely judgmental, but they may have little patience for people who can't keep up.

Strengths - Fearlessness, Innovation, Adaptability, Confidence

Aaarrrgghh - ISFP or “The Composer”

ISFPs are gentle caretakers who live in the present moment and enjoy their surroundings with cheerful, low-key enthusiasm. They are flexible and spontaneous, and like to go with the flow to enjoy what life has to offer. 

ISFPs are quiet and unassuming, and may be hard to get to know. However, to those who know them well, the ISFP is warm and friendly, eager to share in life's many experiences. 

Strengths: Observant, Bold and Spontaneous, Principled, Individualistic

Steve - ESFP or “The Performer”

ESFPs are vivacious entertainers who charm and engage those around them. They are spontaneous, energetic, and fun-loving, and take pleasure in the things around them: food, clothes, nature, animals, and especially people.

ESFPs are typically warm and talkative and have a contagious enthusiasm for life. They like to be in the middle of the action and the center of attention. They have a playful, open sense of humor, and like to draw out other people and help them have a good time.

Strengths: Showmanship, Supportive, Positivity, Bold/Practical

Douxie - ENFJ or “The Teacher”

ENFJs are idealist organizers, driven to implement their vision of what is best for humanity. They often act as catalysts for human growth because of their ability to see potential in other people and their charisma in persuading others to their ideas. They are focused on values and vision, and are passionate about the possibilities for people. 

ENFJs are typically energetic and driven, and often have a lot on their plates. They are tuned into the needs of others and acutely aware of human suffering; however, they also tend to be optimistic and forward-thinking, intuitively seeing opportunity for improvement. The ENFJ is ambitious, but their ambition is not self-serving: rather, they feel personally responsible for making the world a better place.

Strengths: Peacekeeping, Communication, Persuasiveness, Leadership

Archie - INFJ or “The Counselor”

INFJs are creative nurturers with a strong sense of personal integrity and a drive to help others realize their potential. Creative and dedicated, they have a talent for helping others with original solutions to their personal challenges.

The Counselor has a unique ability to intuit others' emotions and motivations, and will often know how someone else is feeling before that person knows it himself. They trust their insights about others and have strong faith in their ability to read people. Although they are sensitive, they are also reserved; the INFJ is a private sort, and is selective about sharing intimate thoughts and feelings.

Strengths: Practical Insight, Compassion, Keeping the Peace, Decisiveness

Merlin - ISTJ or “The Inspector”

ISTJs are responsible organizers, driven to create and enforce order within systems and institutions. They are neat and orderly, inside and out, and tend to have a procedure for everything they do. Reliable and dutiful, ISTJs want to uphold tradition and follow regulations. ISTJs are steady, productive contributors. 

Although they are Introverted, ISTJs are rarely isolated; typical ISTJs know just where they belong in life, and want to understand how they can participate in established organizations and systems. They concern themselves with maintaining the social order and making sure that standards are met.

Strengths: Perseverance, Planning, Detail Orientation, Loyalty

Morgana - INTJ or “The Mastermind”

INTJs are analytical problem-solvers, eager to improve systems and processes with their innovative ideas. They have a talent for seeing possibilities for improvement, whether at work, at home, or in themselves. Often intellectual, INTJs enjoy logical reasoning and complex problem-solving. They approach life by analyzing the theory behind what they see, and are typically focused inward, on their own thoughtful study of the world around them. 

INTJs are drawn to logical systems and are much less comfortable with the unpredictable nature of other people and their emotions. They are typically independent and selective about their relationships, preferring to associate with people who they find intellectually stimulating.

Strengths: Strategy, Innovation, Determination, Willingness to Learn

Arthur - ESTJ or “The Supervisor”

ESTJs are hardworking traditionalists, eager to take charge in organizing projects and people. Orderly, rule-abiding, and conscientious, ESTJs like to get things done, and tend to go about projects in a systematic, methodical way. 

ESTJs are the consummate organizers, and want to bring structure to their surroundings. They value predictability and prefer things to proceed in a logical order. When they see a lack of organization, the ESTJ often takes the initiative to establish processes and guidelines, so that everyone knows what's expected.

Strengths: Organization and efficiency, Dedication and commitment, Integrity, Stewardship

Deya - ISTP or “The Craftsman”

ISTPs are observant artisans with an understanding of mechanics and an interest in troubleshooting. They approach their environments with a flexible logic, looking for practical solutions to the problems at hand. They are independent and adaptable, and typically interact with the world around them in a self-directed, spontaneous manner. 

ISTPs are attentive to details and responsive to the demands of the world around them. Because of their astute sense of their environment, they are good at moving quickly and responding to emergencies. ISTPs are reserved, but not withdrawn: the ISTP enjoys taking action, and approaches the world with a keen appreciation for the physical and sensory experiences it has to offer.

Strengths: Practical and creative, Problem solving, Common sense and world savvy, Flexible

Nari - INTP or “The Architect”

INTPs are philosophical innovators, fascinated by logical analysis, systems, and design. They are preoccupied with theory, and search for the universal law behind everything they see. They want to understand the unifying themes of life, in all their complexity.

INTPs are detached, analytical observers who can seem oblivious to the world around them because they are so deeply absorbed in thought. They spend much of their time focused internally: exploring concepts, making connections, and seeking understanding. To the Architect, life is an ongoing inquiry into the mysteries of the universe.

Strengths: Analytically brilliance, Objective, Imaginative, Enthusiastic

Skrael - ESTP or “The Dynamo”

ESTPs are energetic thrillseekers who are at their best when putting out fires, whether literal or metaphorical. They bring a sense of dynamic energy to their interactions with others and the world around them. They assess situations quickly and move adeptly to respond to immediate problems with practical solutions. 

Active and playful, ESTPs are often the life of the party and have a good sense of humor. They use their keen powers of observation to assess their audience and adapt quickly to keep interactions exciting. Although they typically appear very social, they are rarely sensitive; the ESTP prefers to keep things fast-paced and silly rather than emotional or serious.

Strengths: Can-do attitude, Bold, Direct, Observant/Perceptive

Bellroc - ENTJ or “The Commander”

ENTJs are strategic leaders, motivated to organize change. They are quick to see inefficiency and conceptualize new solutions, and enjoy developing long-range plans to accomplish their vision. They excel at logical reasoning and are usually articulate and quick-witted.

ENTJs are analytical and objective, and like bringing order to the world around them. When there are flaws in a system, the ENTJ sees them, and enjoys the process of discovering and implementing a better way. ENTJs are assertive and enjoy taking charge; they see their role as that of leader and manager, organizing people and processes to achieve their goals.

Strengths: Strong willed, Efficient, Strategic thinking, Charismatic leader

If you have any other characters that you’d like to request for MBTI type, lemme know!

[astrology-india]

Libra Compatibility - The Best and Worst Match

New Post has been published on https://www.astrology-india.com/libra-compatibility/

Libra Compatibility - The Best and Worst Match

Libra natives are peaceful, diplomatic, and sociable.

These individuals are fascinated by symmetry and they are interested in creating a world of justice and equality.

Besides, their urge for balance operates on an aesthetic level.

Libra Suns have an innate sense of style and are inclined to look for refined experiences and objects in their everyday life.

Getting information about Libra compatibility could be useful if you are interested in sustaining a healthy connection.

Whether Libra is your Sun sign or the sign of your crush, this article will help you get facts that will be useful for navigating the challenges of relationships.

Remember, though, that Astrology is not limited to the Sun sign.

You should consult with a professional astrologer to acquire an in-depth report of the compatibility between two people.

Sun signs only offer a general idea about compatibility.

Best Libra Compatibility Matches

The Sun signs that are the best matches for Libra have to share some common traits with the graceful nature of this cardinal airy sign. Read on, to know more about them.

Libra and Gemini

Gemini and Libra are both air signs. This means that they would have an entertaining mental connection and a witty verbal understanding.

Gemini and Libra enjoy sharing their ideas about every-thing and participating in cultural events that will make them learn something new and meet stimulating people.

Libra Suns love to entertain their acquaintances and Gemini Suns are also very social.

This couple is great at hosting parties and inviting friends to their home.

Since they both love talking and being the center of attention, they will make jokes and observations like they were stand-up comedians in their own Netflix special.

The spontaneous nature of the Gemini Suns could be really beneficial for the perfectionist Libra Suns.

On the other hand, Libra Suns can help their Gemini partners to tidy up their scattered thoughts in order to express them more cohesively.

They can complement each other beautifully when they are capable of appreciating their unique mindsets.

This almost-perfect match may hit a snag if they do not show their vulnerable side.

These two Sun signs have a bit of a reputation for being superficial.

They need to learn how to vent their feelings and to accept that life is not always fun, entertaining, and light.

Libra and Aquarius

There is a strong bond between an Aquarius Sun and a Libra Sun.

They share the element of air and appreciate mental stimulation.

Since both signs rely heavily on communication, they will enjoy talking with each other and will find the right words to solve all of their issues.

Libra is a sign who does not want to be alone. Aquarius, on the other hand, likes solitude and needs some space to feed its individuality.

The Libra partner could seem clingy, whereas the Aquarius partner might seem detached.

Luckily, meeting halfway and finding some common ground is possible and it will guarantee that they will be able to overcome their differences.

Marriage is considered very meaningful for Libra Suns. For Aquarius Suns, it may seem to be an obsolete institution.

But they will settle down for the right partner and a Libra Sun may have the specific qualities that an Aquarius Sun needs to feel comfortable and amused at the same time.

It is important for both Libra and Aquarius Suns to move slowly and make the decision to tie the knot when they are certain that the relationship is going to be beneficial in the long run.

Libra and Leo

Leo Sun values pride and beauty. And a Libra Sun enjoys pleasing other people with their attractive and elegant demeanor.

Together, they may learn how to express themselves unapologetically and how to strengthen their talents.

They support each other’s personalities in a communicative and charming way.

The sextile between the Leo Sun and the Libra Sun makes it possible for them to have a respectful partnership and to build stronger personalities that are free of judgment of any kind.

This couple knows how to shine!

The elements of fire and air fit perfectly. Leo puts a passionate touch to every intelligent idea concocted by Libra. Their communication is quick, inspiring, and enthusiastic.

These two signs together represent the consummation of a loving relationship.

When you look at this couple, you will see that their devotion for one another is real, palpable and it has long-term potential.

When a Leo Sun and a Libra Sun are together, they will not engage in a relationship with no future.

Less Libra Compatibility Matches

Having mentioned the best matches for Libra Suns, the moment has arrived for taking a look at the less compatible ones.

Please remember that this Libra compatibility article is based only on the Sun sign.

Two people who possess Sun signs that are not traditionally compatible can still have a healthy relationship. The reason behind this is that compatibility goes beyond Sun signs.

There may be other astrological placements in the natal charts, as well as a desire of getting to know more about a partner, that could make a relationship work and be long-lasting.

Libra and Taurus

Even though both signs are ruled by Venus, Taurus and Libra couldn’t be more different.

Taurus is a fixed and earthy sign that enjoys life when it’s predictable and stable.

Libra, on the other hand, needs to start new projects all the time and to socialize with new people.

These two signs will drive each other crazy in a committed relationship.

While the Taurus Sun may be stubborn and fixated on their old ideas, the Libra Sun may be indecisive and always interested in seeing life from a variety of perspectives.

The Taurus Sun wants to keep things under control and the Libra Sun wants to push the envelope constantly.

Insecurity may be another issue in this couple.

The Libra Sun could criticize their Taurus Sun partner as a way of projecting their own fears of not being good enough.

But the Taurus Sun will not understand this unconscious mechanism and will take the criticism very personally.

Then, the Taurus Suns could experience sudden bursts of anger because they are not able to channel their emotions constructively. And Libra Suns will go away because they can’t stand rudeness.

Libra and Virgo

A relationship between a Virgo Sun and a Libra Sun doesn’t look like a good match.

Virgo is an earth sign and is ruled by Mercury. This means that it relies on tangible results.

Libra is an airy sign ruled by Venus and couldn’t be more distant from Virgo’s pragmatic nature.

Libra craves beauty and art and can be very vacillating when making a decision.

As soon as one of them has to articulate a concern or a deep feeling, the other one seems to freeze and to lose the ability for showing empathy or compassion.

These two signs are not known for having the skill to connect with their emotions and display them honestly.

The mental attraction that they may experience interferes with showing love and with providing comfort at disturbing times.

Virgo wants to optimize processes and improve existing systems. Therefore, people born under this sign will take over the decisions that the Libra Suns need to make.

The Libra Suns will feel inferior and will stop respecting their Virgo Sun partner. While Libra Suns don’t tolerate the absence of kindness, Virgo Suns can’t accept ambivalence.

Libra and Scorpio

The value system of a Scorpio Sun is remarkably divergent from the value system of a Libra Sun.

Scorpio is not afraid of facing the darkest aspects of the human condition. Libra, on the other extreme, is devoted to niceties.

A Libra Sun may perceive that a Scorpio Sun goes the extra mile to be perceived as special and deep.

A Scorpio Sun may perceive that a Libra Sun compromises all the time just to fit in.

The main problem here is that a Libra Sun may be too concerned about other people’s opinions and a Scorpio Sun finds this concern superficial and shallow.

Libra Suns will have trouble understanding the inquisitive side of Scorpio, as much as Scorpio Suns won’t be able to understand the accommodating nature of their Libra partners.

Their differences could be impossible to reconcile. However, they may have an incredibly intense and demanding sexual life.

Obsession and possessiveness are two possible manifestations when they are in the bedroom.

They could create profound ties through their physical contact, but everything else in the relationship could make them feel unsatisfied and unappreciated.

Libra Man

The Libra man is gentle, tactful, and smart. He has great manners and dedicates a lot of time to improve his appearance.

On the downside, he could have high standards in a partnership and this will be reflected in the way he treats his significant other.

The Libra man could not-so-subtly make suggestions to his partner about clothing and modals.

When he is in a committed relationship, he loves taking his significant other to fancy restaurants, art galleries, and big concerts.

He wants to dress up for special occasions and display a spotless image. And he wants his partner to act in the same when they are together in public.

This man enjoys compliments about the way he looks and how smart he is.

He likes being cherished and caressed in public, but he may have a hard time showing affection when surrounded by strangers.

Libra Man Relationship Compatibility

The signs that are most compatible with having a relationship with a Libra man are Leo and Sagittarius.

Having a relationship with one of these fire signs is beneficial for the Libra man because his partner will make him feel appreciated.

If you are dating a Libra man but you are having trouble deciphering his true feelings for you then I recommend you read our article on Libra man in love to help guide you.

Libra Man Sexual Compatibility

If the Libra man wants to experience a satisfying sexual life, he has to choose partners with the Sun in Aries or Capricorn.

These two signs are also cardinal and will definitely know how to ignite the spark.

Libra Woman

The Libra woman is fair, loyal, and delicate. She will be prepared to make a lifetime commitment with a partner of her choosing.

However, she could be too focused on pleasing her significant other all the time and forget who she is as an individual.

Therefore, she can come across as someone who is calculating and fake.

Her need to be in a relationship is extremely strong and dating is never casual for her.

In extreme situations, this woman could be thinking about marriage after the first date!

She could be quite needy and dependent on her partner to make even the simplest decisions. But when she knows her worth, she can be adorable, enchanting, and attentive.

A confident Libra woman doesn’t go unnoticed.

Libra Woman Relationship Compatibility

The signs that are most compatible with a committed relationship with a Libra woman are Gemini and Aquarius.

Gemini and Aquarius are connected with Libra by trine. The relationship with one of these tactful airy signs will be fun and exciting.

Libra Woman Sexual Compatibility

Even if they will not work well together in a long-term relationship, having a sexual partner with the Sun in Taurus or in Scorpio will be a parade of lust for the Libra woman.

These two fixed signs are intense and possessive, two qualities that could be interesting to find in a sexual encounter.

Final Thoughts

Gracious and charismatic, the sons and daughters of Venus will definitely catch your attention. Their persuasive tactics and their classy style make them utterly mesmerizing.

Libra Suns are relationship-oriented and could be people-pleasers. But they also want to have a first-class partner.

They won’t settle for less than they deserve and they will not give up their social life to stay at home with a dull person.

This is why Libra compatibility with the other air signs is a good combination, as well as with fire signs. Air and fire are positive elements that want to have a vibrant and lively existence.

A long-term relationship with an earth or water sign may not be the best option for Libra Suns.

Earth and water are elements that belong to the negative polarity and their natives are much more reserved and quiet than a Libra Sun.

If this article didn’t quite answer your questions about Libra compatibility then I recommend you take a look at our article here to find your perfect love match according to astrology.

[theangriestpea]

Crowned : five

Summary: Two blonde princesses, two dark-haired princes, and one plotting marquess. Lily is in love with a secret admirer. Shanna doesn’t want to ascend to the throne. Jughead wants to spend the day writing poetry. Sweet Pea would rather be out on his horse. And Reggie just wants to be king. <ao3> <masterlist>

Pairing: Sweet Pea x OC, Jughead Jones x OC

Word Count: 4.6k+

Warnings: None really, mild drinking I suppose. 

A/N: Welcome to the grande finale! Part six will be an epilogue! Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed this series! There is also a scene that was omitted from this part that will be made into a one-shot later. Enjoy! Graphics on this chapter at by @princesweetpea​!

Part Five: Wedding Bells

Two fair haired princesses sat in silence at the table drinking a special blend of mint and ginger tea. They had both had unsettled stomachs for a few weeks now, and it was only getting worse. Everyone around them had chalked it up to nerves before their big day. In truth, that was part of it but not the reason why they had been so ill. 

“We have to tell them.” Lily said after a sip of tea. She held the teacup gently in her hands. The fragile porcelain was shaking slightly in her grip. “It’s the right thing to do.” 

Shanna was quiet for the longest time, and Lily wondered if she even heard her. They sat in a stuffy silence for another ten minutes before she finally spoke. “You’re right. They deserve to know.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “Did the tea help you at all?” 

Lily shrugged, “a little. I feel slightly less like puking and more like laying catatonic on my bed until it all goes away.” 

“We’ve got a long time before that happens.” Shanna said with an unladylike groan. “Well, I know where Sweet Pea is. Always in his fucking war room. Any idea where Jughead is?” 

She bit her lip as she thought, “I’m not sure. Probably with daddy. It will look weird if I go get him. He will get suspicious…” 

“Divide and conquer then?” Shanna asked, “I’ll get my fiance, you get yours?” 

Lily nodded reluctantly. “Meet back here in ten minutes?” 

“Deal.” 

Roughly ten minutes later, the two princes had joined their future wives with a curious look in their eyes. They had noticed their strange behavior lately but they assumed it was just stress. 

The girls stared at one another, unsure if they should proceed. “Well?” Sweet Pea asked, annoyed that he had been interrupted. “I was in the middle of something important.” Shanna snorted back in response, knowing it couldn’t have been all that important since he was willing to come their little rendezvous. 

“On the count of three?” Lily asked her sister who simply nodded in response. She took a deep breath and counted slowly. 

Once of three they said in almost perfect unison, “I’m pregnant.” Before looking down at the ground, ashamed of their confession. It had been so  stupid  , so  reckless  of them to let this happen. Their wedding was in one week. Maybe, just maybe, they could get away with this without anyone finding out. After all, they were only about four or five weeks along.

The princes stared at them, Sweet Pea baffled with how this could have happened while Jughead had a broad smile slowly spread over his features. “This is great!” He exclaimed happily, clapping his hands together for emphasis. 

The other three royals stared at him with wide eyes and mouths agape. Great? How in the hell was this great? “Do tell me, brother,” Sweet Pea drawled with a grave tone, “how exactly is this  great ? We have to raise each other’s kids!” He threw his arms up in exasperation before pacing vigorously. 

Lav frowned, shuffling her feet and shifting her weight uncomfortably. She had known he’d be upset but she still wasn’t prepared for it. “You have to get rid of it.” He quickly added, looking directly at his lover with piercing brown eyes. They only softened when he saw the tears spill from her eyelids and down her cheeks. 

“Is that what you want?” She asked in a voice that shook like a leaf in a tornado. Pain made it crack with hurt. “You want me to just kill it and pretend none of this ever happened?” 

“You cannot be queen and give birth to my child!” He said, voice raised due to the intense anxiety he was feeling. “What about that don’t you understand?” 

Her eyes set ablaze as she stormed up to him and slapped him hard across the face, leaving the faint red impression of a hand print. “I understand that you’re a heartless, prick. Thank the heavens I’m not marrying  you  instead!” 

This time his eyes portrayed his own pain at her words. Something he normally steeled himself to. For a brief moment they both felt guilt. However, their anger made it quickly wash away. “No one will ever love you.” He bit back, spitting out the same phrase he told her after their first race. “Not my brother, not me, not your bastard child, no one.” 

Lily was about to jump on him herself, but Shanna stopped her. She swallowed the sob that threatened to erupt from her as she stared at him with narrow eyes, tears still streaming down her flushed cheeks. Before anything else could be said, the dark prince stormed from the room, the door slamming shut in his wake. 

Jughead was in a state of shock at how cruel his brother had just been to his fiance. To the woman he had consensually impregnated with his own seed. As soon as the door slammed closed, the older girl broke down. Before she could fall to her knees, both him and Lily caught her in their arms. They looked at one another with sorrowful eyes, knowing this was a pain they could not mend. 

“Don’t listen to that asshole.” Lily said, running her hands through her sister’s golden hair. “I love you. Our babies will love you. And I’m sure Jug-” 

“I’ll love you.” Jughead said with a soft smile, “maybe not in the way that I’m supposed to, but I will still care for you always.” The words stung Lily but not as much as she thought they would. This was their cold reality. There was no going back. 

Once he was back in his precious war room, Sweet Pea broke down himself. He remained silent as hot tears flooded his eyes and he went down to his knees in front of his war table. Everything was so messed up. Him marrying Lily. Shanna carrying his child. And worst of all the immense guilt he felt from the horrible things he had said to her out of anger. His father had tried time and time again to teach him control, but it always failed him in the end. This was just too much, he couldn’t bear it. 

And worst of all he knew that she’d hate him now and would possibly never let him see the baby she refused to get rid of. A prince or princess that will forever be their dirty little secret. A boy or girl that will one day ascend the throne even though they will have no Jones blood in them. But if anyone knew the truth, the alliance could break. Shatter their peaceful lives into tiny unmendable fragments. War would rage with the kingdom of Greendale. Their happiness was a lost cause. 

But still, he had broken his own heart with the way he had acted and unfortunately, this time, he had no idea on how he’d make it better. His own bride to be was likely to loathe him as well. Essentially he had just made his home life hell for who knows how long. Their joint weddings would be next week, not even a full seven days away. They’d honeymoon and I suppose consummate but it was far more possible that the only way he would get laid from now on would be through the string of mistresses he had planned to keep. Because ultimately no one would feel like Shanna did when she was in his arms or how comforting her presence was while they were in bed together. No, he’d probably just sleep alone. 

And that night, he was alone in his room. His eyes rimmed red and inflamed from the many tears he had shed. He stared up at the blank white ceiling, wondering how things were ever going to be okay again. No one had spoken to him, no one had bothered him for the rest of the day. Even so, he got no more work done. He was far too upset to concentrate. 

Instead he had found a bottle of top shelf whiskey in the kitchen and had taken it to his bedroom to nurse solemnly. It was half gone, his mind fuzzy and somehow horny for the one he had cast away. Perfect, he needed her and he had made it so she’d never satisfy him again. Why did he always screw things up? 

There was a banging on his door and he slurred a sloppy  come in . The door opened and his brother stood, looking tired and angry and determined. Shit. Sweet Pea knew that face well. That was the face Jughead made when he was on a mission to fix something that is broken. That something was no doubt the current state of his relationship with the woman that would bare his child. 

“Are you drunk?” He asked, staring at the dark prince that appeared to be extremely disheveled. Sweet Pea hiccuped a confirmation, having no need to use actual words to affirm the state in was currently in. 

Jughead wanted to punch him. Sweet Pea had a habit of drinking copious amounts when he was upset. It was a terrible coping mechanism that he and their father shared even though they weren’t blood relatives. 

He moved closer to the bed as Sweet Pea sat up. He grabbed the bottle from his nightstand and took another chug. Jughead snatched it from him before he could finish. “Is this about what you said to Shanna earlier?” 

Sweet Pea would rather fuck a cactus then talk about this with the crown prince. He thought it was glaringly obvious as to why he was drinking. Today had been a pretty shitty day. He found out he was going to be a dad and then ruined his relationship with the child’s mother. It was beyond terrible. 

“I didn’t mean it…” He mumbled, mostly to himself. He didn’t mean it, but that didn’t stop him from saying it. The moment replayed in his head like a broken record set to haunt him for the rest of his life. There was no way he could make this up to her. 

Jughead let out an aggravated sigh. “I don’t understand why you blew up like that. It’s not that bad. Actually, I think it’s pretty great. I love kids.” 

Sweet Pea rolled his eyes, “You want to raise someone else’s kid?” He spat back at him, “you won’t even see yours most of the time.” 

He shrugged, “I’d rather you be a father to them than a stranger.” He answered honestly. “We both need heirs anyway. This just speeds things up.” 

Pea stared at him in an attempt to see if he was being serious or not. Did he really not see how dangerous this was? “And what if someone does a DNA test on the child? What then?” 

“I’ll be king. It won’t matter because what I say will be absolute.” Jughead replied sharply with an air of authority. “We only have to keep this a secret for six more days. Then, it won’t matter. The deal will be sealed. No harm can come to our kingdoms. So if you ever want to see your kid in the future, I suggest you go to Shanna and apologize for what you said to her.” 

“She’s not going to forgive me.” Sweet Pea said miserably. “She probably won’t even answer the door.” 

“Go try!” Jughead said, his frustration showing more and more. “Because she’s having your child whether you want her to or not! You could at least be a halfway decent person for once in  your life and mend things with her before our weddings.” 

His brother’s words hurt. They struck him deep in the chest. Maybe Jughead was right, maybe he wasn’t a decent person. Always sleeping around. Breaking hearts. Getting into fights….the bad in him seemed to outweigh the good and he suddenly wondered what she saw in him at all. 

“Fine.” Sweet Pea said in a defeated tone. He managed to stand up and wobble towards Jughead who stepped out of his way. “But if she hits me again, I’m blaming you.” 

Jughead rolled his eyes, “you deserve anything she throws at you. Now go.” He shooed his brother out and watched him stumble down the hallway towards his fiance’s room. 

Once there, he leaned against the door with all his weight, breathing heavily in an attempt to control his nerves. Doing this while intoxicated was much harder than he had thought. He offhandedly thought about going back to his bed and crying himself to sleep. That would be easier than this. 

The door suddenly opened and he toppled forward, landing face first onto the carpet. He heard a shuffle of feet and an annoyed huff. “Did you shower in whiskey or something?” Shanna asked, the smell making her want to throw up for the fifth time that day. She was exhausted from the amount of emotion she had felt that day. Too tired to put up a fight as to why Sweet Pea was drunk outside her door. 

He mumbled something into the thick carpet that she couldn’t comprehend. “I can’t hear you when your mouth is full of shag.” She said, the bitterness in her tone made him flinch. 

Sweet Pea turned his head to the side and took a deep breath, “I came to apologize…” 

Shanna resisted the urge to kick him angrily in the side. “Please, just leave.” She said in a soft, defeated voice. “I don’t want to talk to you while you’re drunk.” 

He sat up, albeit with a bit of difficulty. “Shanna, listen, I didn’t mean what I said...I was just upset, I don’t want you to get rid of the baby…” 

She huffed angrily at him, “You’re so full of shit, Sweet Pea. You’re only here because Jughead ordered you too. I’m not an idiot. Just, go sleep it off or whatever. I don’t want to see you after what you said to me. Not meaning it does not make it okay. I’m not some verbal punching bag for you to take your anger out any time you get upset.” 

He looked down at the floor and against his will, more salty tears filled his eyes. She hadn’t seen how awful he looked when she opened the door. She could barely see it now. Snot flooded his nose, causing him to sniffle to keep it from dripping out. The sound made her freeze in her tracks. 

“Are you crying…?” She asked, her voice even quieter than before, almost as if she didn’t believe it. 

Sweet Pea looked up at her once more, fresh streaks of wetness down his face. “I’m sorry...I’m so sorry, I always fuck everything up. I’m not really a Jones, you know? I’m not royal. It’s not right for the queen to have a baby that’s not royalty. I’m just an abandoned mutt and you deserve better than what I could ever give you.” 

Shanna got down on her knees in front of him, reaching out with both hands to cradle her face. “I don’t care about your lineage. I never have. That doesn’t matter to me. Royalty or not. I don’t understand why you think so low of me. How did I possibly make you believe that I wouldn’t want you just because you’re not King Jones’ biological son? You are his son, Sweet Pea. Blood doesn’t always matter.” 

She wiped his tears away with her thumbs, her heart heavy from his words. “I love you.” She said for the first time out loud. While Lily and Jughead had no issue saying the three words until their lips turned blue, Shanna and Sweet Pea had not dared to utter them. “I love you and I will always love you. Even if you don’t love me back.” 

His heart twisted in its cage. “That’s not...that’s not true.” He said, meaning her last statement. “I do…” He hesitated, the words feeling so foreign in his mind. As if thinking it and saying it would cause the world to crash down around him. “I love you too.” He finally said in a low voice. He silently hoped she didn’t hear him. 

The princess leaned in and gently kissed him on the lips. It was tender and chaste, and after a second she pulled away. “Come in and close the door before someone sees you. And please, take a shower before you make me throw up.” She laughed lightly as she stood up. She outstretched her hand and he grabbed it, needing all the help he could get to stand. “Maybe it’ll sober you up a little.” 

“Oh, ha ha.” Sweet Pea said flatly before making his way into her bathroom. “Join me?” 

Shanna smiled and nodded, following up behind him and walking inside. 

  |\/\/|

 Six days past and the big day had come. The first item on the itinerary was the wedding of Shanna and Forsythe. It would take place promptly at 10 am, following a brief intermission there will be the wedding of Lilian and Nathaniel. Then the reception would follow. It was going to be a very long day. 

Prince Forsythe was at the altar in his traditional military uniform. He looked striking, as did Sweet Pea who was wearing a similar outfit next to him. The only difference was he had several more medals pinned to his breast. Adorned on both of their heads were crowns, although Jughead’s was much more elaborate compared to Sweet Pea’s modest one. 

One side was filled with the Northside Kingdom’s royal court and what little bit of royal family there was still left. The other housed the Southside Kingdom’s court and family. King and Queen Jones as well as Princess Jellybean. Even the royal hound lovingly named Hotdog was there sitting patiently. 

On the third row of the Northiside side, the Mantles sat waiting in quiet. Reggie had his evidence stockpiled against the princesses. He planned on using them to his full advantage. The pictures, the physical evidence he had gathered, it was all for this. All to usurp the Jones family. Hopefully the King would listen to him, although the duke had assured him that King Owens would have no choice but to concede. 

The music began and the wedding party slowly walked down the decorated aisle. There was but one bridesmaid and groomsman. The siblings of the bride and groom. They walked down the aisle together, Lily forcing a smile while Sweet Pea had a blank if not annoyed expression on his face.

The guests rose as the music changed to the traditional wedding march. The King appeared at the end, his eldest daughter on his arm as they walked slowly down the aisle. Small gasps at how beautiful the princess looked sounded, happy tears were already starting to be shed. 

Sweet Pea could not look away from him. His gut twisted painfully at the thought of the only woman he had ever actually loved marrying his brother. His eyes darted to her still flat stomach before going back up to her face. This wasn’t right but there was nothing he could do about it. His son or daughter would be in Jughead’s care. This seemed like a fresh kind of hell for him. Life had never been terribly easy but now it seemed a million times harder. 

Reggie’s hands twitched nervously as he fumbled with the plastic wand in his pocket. It was almost time. Almost… He did not notice Jughead’s gaze landing on him. 

The prince held his hand out for his future queen as the royal priest spoke, “who gives this woman away today on the day of her wedding?” 

“I do.” The King said with a kind smile, his eyes twinkling. Shanna gently grabbed Jughead’s hand and stepped forward to take her place at his side in front of the altar, facing him. 

The priest looked across the crowd. “Should anyone here present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.” He stated for tradition sake. Obviously no one in their right mind would object. 

All four royal teens tensed at the old line. Lily and Sweet Pea’s eyes were on the marquess as Jughead and Shanna remained staring at one another in an attempt to pretend to be having a good time. Everyone was on edge. 

And then, as if on cue, Marquess Mantle stood. “I do, father.” He stated in a booming,  arrogant voice. “I have evidence of infidelity. Trickery. And something even more sinister that has happened under the noses of the royal court.” 

King Owen’s head shot around to stare at Reggie, his eyes aflame with rage at the interruption. Certainly nothing he had was true. Certainly this was all a trick to stop the wedding. “Marquess.” He said in an authoritative tone, “show me this evidence or you were be excused from this court...permanently.” 

“Your highness, some of it may be unsuitable for the eyes of the public. There are young children here.” He added calmly. “However, I will show it to you in private if you do not take my word.” He looked to the bride and drank in the horrified expression on her face. “King Owens. Are you aware of what your daughters have been doing on the days leading up to this ceremony?” 

“They’ve been busy planning.” The King said distrustfully. “And spending time with their fiances.” 

“That is only half true.” Reggie corrected. “They have been planning, yes. However They have not been spending quality time with their betrothed. Rather, Princess Shanna has been making a bed with Prince Sweet Pea while Princess Lily was having her own affair with Prince Forsythe.” 

Shanna thought she was going to faint. Sensing this, Jughead kept a firm grip on her in case she did lose consciousness. Lily’s knees were wobbling so hard that she was visibly shaking. No. No, no, no, this was all wrong!

“And your proof?” The King asked, his face red with fury. There was no way this was true. This was impossible. A fabrication to smear the names of his daughters. 

“I have video and photographic evidence.” Reggie replied, his tone cool and smooth. He took out two objects from his pocket and showed them to the king. “As well as these. Taken from the princesses’ personal bathrooms.” In his hand were two positive pregnancy tests. 

“Not only are the princesses not virgins but they are pregnant with the other prince’s child. I’m sure a simple medical exam will find this to be true. A DNA test will confirm it once the children are born.” Reggie said, a satisfied smile on his face at his success. 

The king’s murderous gaze turned to his two girls, “Tell me. Tell me this is all some cruel joke being played on your old man.” He said, his voice rising, “tell me you did not break your vow to me!” 

Before he could continue, King Forsythe Jones the Second stood. “King Owens.” He said, an amused look on his face for what his sons had gotten themselves into. “If I may propose a solution to this predicament?” 

The Northside King looked as though he did not want to negotiate any longer. His daughters had betrayed him in the worst way possible. Their kingdom was depending on them and they just threw it all away. He wanted to scream until his lungs gave out, but he held his composure. He took a breath to try and still his raging heart. “What do you have in mind?” He asked finally. 

“Since both my sons are of royal blood, and likewise both of your daughters are of royal blood, then what does it matter who marries who? I only ask that my son is king of our united kingdoms.” FP was smiling warmly at his sons and their fiancees. “I am not so set in my ways that I can’t compromise, are you?” 

King Owens sent a heated look to his daughters, mainly Lavender who was boldly looking back at him. “Daddy, I never wanted to be queen. Please, let Lily take the throne. She will be a brilliant queen. I will stay on the Southside with Prince Nathaniel to help him with the rural provinces. This is what we both want. Will the kingdom not be happier with two rulers who truly love one another?” 

Her gaze turned to Reggie. “The Marquess would have me marry him, daddy, but the truth is. He is the one that took my virginity on my eighteenth birthday to try and steal the crown from you. The only one here deserving of punishment is him. Sneaking into our bathrooms, spying on us, all of this is unacceptable for someone of the royal court.”

Reggie opened his mouth, about to protest when she held her hand up to silence him. In that moment she looked more like a queen than she had in her entire life. “But, do not blame him, daddy. It was his father that put him up to all of this. His father that has thirsted for power although he is already corrupt with greed. If anyone should be harmed on the day of your daughters’ weddings then it should be the Duke.” 

Duke Mantle shot up from his seat, “your highness, this is absolutely ridiculous slander against-” 

King Jones started to laugh at once and all in attendance stared at him. “What’s wrong, Marty? Are you that eaten up about your bastard son being a prince? Does him potentially becoming king instead of your royal heir that you will do anything to dethrone him? You are such a vile, sad man and I agree with my future daughter-in-law. If anyone here is guilty of wrongdoing, then it is you. King Owens, for his heinous actions against both of our courts, I suggest you strip Duke Mantle of all of his titles and honors. Do with his claimed heir as you will.” 

King Owens, flabbergasted with the turn of events stared in shock at King Jones. Was he truly okay with all of this? Was the decision truly his? Shanna’s words rang in his ears painfully. “It is settled.” He said finally, looking back at the bride and groom. “Lillian, you will marry Prince Forsythe who will ascend the throne after me. Shanna, despite your show today of how great of a leader you could be, I will allow you to step down and marry Prince Nathaniel. If this is what the both of you truly want, then so be it.” 

His dark and stormy eyes met that of the Duke who had suddenly gone pale. “As for you, I hereby renounce your title as Duke of the Northside. Reginald, you may take your father’s title if you wish but he is to be banished from the kingdom. I will not allow his scheming to continue on my soil.” 

Reggie sat down slowly, in utter shock at the King’s decree. He would be duke? Then his father...He’d finally be rid of his father? A grin broke onto his face. “Thank you, your highness for your mercy.” 

King Owens nodded curtly. “Shanna, switch places with Lily. Let the wedding commence.” 

Happy tears were streaming down Lily’s face. Her waterproof makeup set in place as she joined Jughead at the altar. Without any more objections the two were wed. And then, in place of an entire second wedding, Shanna and Sweet Pea were wed on the spot next after switching places. 

No one in the kingdom had seen the dark prince smile as he had that day. It was the dawn of a new era and their happiness would reign.

Tag List: @the-gargoyle-queen​, @wayward-river​, @redhairdontcare732​, @southside-vixen​, @iamaunicorn4704​, @jezzabelleserpent​

[peppy-pilot]

//OKAY, SO AS PROMISED, here is my long-ass headcanon regarding Peppy's hilaaariously complicated feelings with James, and why I'm a lowkey Jimpeppy shipper despite my Peppy being headcanoned as completely het.... but biromantic. TOOT TOOT, ALL ABOARD THE GARBAGE TRAIN, LET'S GO.

Yes, I do headcanon as Peppy being in mad love with James. Just... without the sexual elements in that love. It's all completely romantic.

I guess I can say it's complicated not only because most people think romantic friendships don't/can't exist, or that they are actually gay relationships in denial, but that's not how I see it. And it's definitely not how Peppy would see it. If he's presented an opportunity for a sexual experience with a male--even if it's James--he'd decline it. He'd be extremely uncomfortable. Part of it is, admittedly, due to being raised in a rather homophobic background, and part of it is being from a generation that didn't understand any type of sexual orientation or gender identity behind cis straights. But upon coming to Corneria, he was exposed to all sorts of people across the gender and sexual spectrum, and thankfully, he was able to overcome his initial bigotry while he was still fairly young. Classic scenario and all that. Hell, I'll admit, I headcanon Lucy as bi, and Peppy would be supportive of a sapphic relationship between his daughter and another woman. That's not the issue. Even if it's with James, or some other guy he'd fall for, the moment they go naked and start exploring each other's bodies, Peppy's anxiety would become too overwhelming. Painful, even. Like nothing is right, no matter what. He'd ultimately feel guilty, and maybe keep making it work. But in the end, it won't make him happy, it won't fulfill him. It'd be like forcing a gay man into straight sex over and over again. THAT kind of unhappiness.

But does that mean he won't be happy with just a romantic relationship? Absolutely not, especially with James. In fact, James is more than just a friend. More than just a brother. More than alover, even. Peppy worships James, even wanting to be just like him. A brave hero who managed to make the best he could out of living in miserable Papetoon. An ace pilot who defied all expectations within the dog-dominant Cornerian Flight Academy. Peppy had Jimmy on a pedestal when they first met, but as they became friends, then wingmates, and even when both obtained their own wives and sired their own children with them... Peppy can't think more than wanting to spend the rest of his life with his Jimmy. Wanting to see the kids grow up, hang out together with Pigma or the girls, go on more adventures, having each other's backs, getting old together... Just. Wanting to be a part of James' life, and him as a part of his. Consummating that desire with sex would, though, feel.... wrong for Peppy. Like he's ruining what special thing they have to an act he feels he otherwise uniquely shares with Vivian. But if they did more non-sexual acts of intimacy like holding hands, hugging, maybe even kissing... then maybe. Maybe. He can't imagine it, though. As far as Peppy knows, James leaves that all to Vixy, and with Peppy to Vivian. And he couldn't have it any other way. That's just how it is, and Peppy would feel wrong if he wished it was any different. What mattered is that James was happy.

"What about when both became widowed, Immy? Do you think they could be together as a couple then?" Well, that is taking into the account of the timeline. I headcanon Vivian dying AFTER the mission to Venom, which became the final straw to Peppy's ability to hold it together after James' death and Pigma's betrayal. If the two would be together, then Vivian would have died before the fateful mission, and you know, I'm cool with RPing/writing with that scenario--after all, Nintendo never really defined WHEN Vivian died, only that she did before the events of Command (for all we know, she could have been alive throughout the Lylat Wars). But if I am to RP Jimpeppy, I'd go with the timeline wherein Vivian died perhaps not long after Vixy did, leaving James and Peppy both as single fathers. Maybe they'd explore the possible of actually hooking up. But in the end, Peppy couldn't bring to himself actually banging James--it'd feel uncomfortable and overwhelming. But he'd be absolutely okay with nonsexual fluff.

Sort of unrelated, but I also picture Peppy having similar feelings with Pigma growing up--wanting to have a friend more than just a friend in a nonsexual manner. The thing is, their relationship was often tested even growing up--Pigma feels as though Peppy pities him more than values him as a true friend sometimes, and Peppy wonders if he's pushing himself onto Pigma where he's not welcome. And you know what, perhaps there is some truth to that. Which is why, upon meeting James, Peppy inadvertively drifted from Pigma, replacing him as that friend whom he wants to give all his love and devotion to... not to mention the fact that Peppy finally had a hero to look up to, instead of forcing himself to be the hero Pigma didn't need. As much as Peppy's love for Pigma was genuine, it was doomed from the start. Peppy's anguish from Pigma's betrayal was not only due to the fact that the one friend he had become so close to ever since they were kids did the unspeakable, but especially because he felt that it was a sign that he--Peppy himself--failed as Pigma's friend.

One of the reasons why Peppy is so fond of Fox and he frequently comments about how he sees James in Fox? In a way, Fox is also his son... as though he was the romantic/marriage partner to James. But he doesn't--and won't--force himself to replace James in Fox's life. Because he knows full well he can't replace James in his. But that knowledge alone won't help relieve him from the pain that Peppy feels he failed as a friend and lover. And he'll carry that guilt to this very day. All he can pray is that, upon Andross' defeat, and aiding Fox into accomplishing this, is that the resolution it'd bring would finally bring peace not only to James' death, but to Peppy's anguish over what happened on that fateful day. By the Saurian mission, it... sooooorta resolved, he'd move on some by then. He was nowhere as happy as he was when James and Pigma flew together with him, but he's come to accept that by now and has resigned himself to aid in Fox, Falco, and Slippy's futures. Which is why he was more than willing to sacrifice himself during the Aparoid Wars--it's not just to save his friends and complete the mission. It's to say goodbye to that present life... and see James and Vivian again.

...Then Assault asspulls him out, and, you know, fine. Peppy perhaps realized... no, his life is not over, he still has more to live for. So he used his final resolve to get an escape pad working despite the likelihood it won't, and somehow, it did. Against all odds. Peppy is a fighter. And after all.... perhaps he though Jimmy won't take kindly onto Peppy just giving up that quickly.

So yeah. TL;DR: Peppy absolutely loves James, seeing him as someone to dump all his love and devotion to past the boundaries of what typically defines friendship, but without any sexual element to it because he doesn't feel it's right. Whether or not James reciprocates that love and devotion is entirely up to the person RPing James and if they are a Jimpeppy shipper. But I'm cool with Peppy's love being unreciprocated.

[class-wom]

Legion and the Moral Devolution of Time Travel through the Ages

(NOTE:  Due to limited initial posting time, as with just about anything else, it may be subject to later edits and may lengthen as time and/or future thoughts  and ideas may dictate.  Apologies in advance!  Also, since this is more speculation than anything, especially where trailers and previews are concerned, I could admittedly be wrong, but I’m not really sure that a spoiler warning is necessary.)

It has been noted that the subject of time travel in science fiction has taken a dark turn within the past three or four decades.  The literal happy accidents of Back to the Future, in which protagonist Marty McFly, in a frantic effort to flee terrorists, accidentally finds himself having traveled back in time thirty years and not only saves the life of Doc Brown in the process but unwittingly improves the living situation of his family (after very nearly jeopardizing the possibility of their very existence, I might add! kind of reminds me of the Chapter 20 audiobook line about turning a negative into a positive), appear to be -- dare I say? -- a thing of the past.  These days, the warning in comics and television -- and, while I haven’t seen this movie myself, such cinematic fare as The Butterfly Effect -- seems to be that going back in time to save friends and loved ones is an unwittingly selfish act that could bring about more long-term disasters and potentially end civilization as we know it.

As previews for upcoming eps of Legion would appear to indicate, David plans to go back in time to not only have a greater understanding of himself and his origins (which I totally get!) but hopefully fix all of his screw-ups and, intentionally or otherwise, will not only make things potentially worse but -- gasp! -- possibly bring about that dreaded end of the world, partially because of David’s powers and partially because of this whole time-eating demon thing.  Okay, I get all of that.

Here’s the part I don’t get:  Didn’t Cary and Syd make the same mistake by sending the orb back in time to abduct David shortly after Farouk was removed from his mind and urge him to help Farouk find his body to help them prevent the end of the world?  I mean, David wasn’t returned for nearly a year; what contributions could he have made to the Summerland/D3 Alliance that were thus prevented, intentionally or otherwise, by Cary and Syd?  What would he have done and/or accomplished in FutureSyd’s time...and tbf, was she preventing something goofy he would have done within that year?  (Man, talk about a plot hole!)  Would that have been better or worse in the long run?  Would the impending fiasco of S3 have been prevented, and would they have been able to observe David’s behavior, realize something was still off, and help him in healthier and less confrontational ways?  Would they all have been able to help Melanie cope with Oliver’s absence and come to terms with it as a group rather than being in a consummate Us vs. Them-state of affairs?

Or is that the whole point, that instead of avoiding the impending disaster, they only caused its inevitability? or perhaps they had resolved themselves to the fact that it was inevitable no matter what?

More to the point, how the heck did the orb manage to avoid the time-eating demon-thing? was that the point of constructing the orb? would Cary have known about the Time Eaters by that point in the future?  Heck, I dunno, maybe he would have, if David had presumably gone back in time to confront, learn about, and/or change his past.  Maybe Cary could have helped David learn more about Xavier and Gabrielle in a way that he would understand himself in a peaceful fashion without putting anyone else in jeopardy, and once David understood how much of himself was a mess because of Farouk and how much was just plain old genetics, then perhaps they could have dealt with Farouk’s body situation accordingly. 

That being said, had David not already corresponded with a future version of Syd, would he even have had the idea of going back in time himself in the first place?  In other words, has FutureSyd done more harm than good in the long run, as David may potentially botch all sorts of things up at his own attempts at time travel?  Remember, in FS’s timeline, David has successfully killed Farouk, and we don’t know if David messed with Syd’s mind or had sex with her afterward, as he did when Farouk’s life was saved; thus, Syd could have protected herself from David by not encouraging him to cooperate with Farouk.  In addition to glossing over Amy’s attack and wasting a chance to warn David so he could have prevented it, thereby saving the world in that fashion, did she inadvertently lead to the chain of events that severed their relationship?  After all, David had trusted the Summerland Folks with the safety of Ben and Amy, Syd included, and this is an enormous part of the trust that has been violated by Chapter 20, leading him to resort to invasive mind-reading.

Somehow I feel these questions should be asked, regardless of whether they will ever be answered.  If the male omega mutant can potentially destroy the world by attempting to change history with the best intentions, why can’t the same be said for the female mutant with the best intentions?  And will that ultimately prove to be part of the point in the long run?

[mybukz]

Fiction: The Wedding by Peter Soh

Photo by Jeremy Wong Weddings on Unsplash

“Marriage is a union of two beautiful souls,” said the pastor in his sermon. The newly weds then proclaimed their wedding vows and exchanged rings. After the bridegroom unveiled and kissed the bride, the matrimony was deemed complete, sacred, and Holy.

“So, when are you going to get married?” The groom Alex turned to K0k Leong. They were queueing for the buffet under the church porch.

“Come on, marriage is just a paper. Who doesn’t eat the ‘forbidden fruits’ nowadays?” Kok Leong whispered. “Sex is hush-hush in Asia though it’s a basic human need and not taken lightly as a faux pas. I am so not going to waste my money just to receive unpleasant remarks from those kepoh relatives: adui that bride is so fat! The food is horrible! They will continue their endless questions even after your wedding. Bila lu mo beranak lah? Kenapa bukan anak lelaki lah? Bla bla bla. For God’s sake, I enjoy my peaceful life now.”

Kok Leong was a typical urban Chinese growing up in Kuala Lumpur. Despite his notion of keeping one’s chastity before marriage, he lived with his girlfriend for 10 years. He showed no signs of wanting to get married. A wedding in the heart of Malaysia easily costs more than an arm and a leg, and the cheapest and yet, dignified wedding, excluding the Goods and Services Tax, requires RM30,000. He worked as a chef in Hilton Kuala Lumpur, and owned an apartment in the Klang Valley. After deducting the monthly instalments for a house, he had just enough for him and his girlfriend to live a slightly comfortable life. He needed to factor in the financial aspect to determine whether a wedding was feasible even though he thought marriage was no different from cohabitation. But to some, the struggle could be more than just settling the costs needed for a wedding.

On the other hand, Alex held a Doctor of Business Administration. He epitomised the yuppie—young, urban, professional—and in fact, he did better than most. Not only did he manage to buy himself a bungalow, he also bought various apartments for homestay purpose. His fair knowledge in marketing and finance had enabled him to attain financial freedom at a relatively young age, and when everything fell into place, his relationship with his girlfriend had naturally come under scrutiny.

Alex remembered his mother urging him whenever he came home to visit.

“Eh. Bila lu mo kahwin? Cepat kahwin, nanti mak boleh tutup mata rapat-rapat! Mak sudah tua ohhhh.”

“Nya, banyak mahal lah kahwin sekarang, banyak benda nak pikir lagi,” Alex answered, every time.

“Lu mo pikir apa? Bukan kata tak ada duit, bukan kata tak ada orang nak kahwin. Lu boleh tunggu tapi bini lu tak boleh tunggu lama tau! Lu pun dah 35, Michelle sudah 30, bila lah gua boleh dapat cucu?”

Alex’s mother, concerned, wanted Alex to get married as soon as possible as he was the only son in the family. As a prominent Peranakan in Malacca, Alex’s mother needed to make sure Alex had a descendant so that the family business of running the bank would be continued only by her immediate family.

Alex knew his mother’s concern ever since he succeeded his late father’s role as the Director of United Malaysian Bank. However, having someone to continue the legacy of the family business was a formal excuse; Alex knew that his marriage would be the best move to completely break his mother’s disbelief that Alex was, in fact, not a straight man.

While he acted macho, there were times when he had expressed his confusion about his sexuality to his mother after he came back from school.

“Mum, what if one day I fall in love with a boy?”

“It’s impossible. It’s just a temporary thing. Puberty. Your daddy experienced it too. It’s just camaraderie with your buddies.”

Alex’s mother’s face had registered shock though she tried hard to act calm. Things did not stop there after his mother explained all this away to Alex. Alex’s father convinced him that his experience was just an illusion and he was not gay and Alex would get married. Though no one talked about this after the incident, Alex’s parents would regularly check on Alex’s relationship status—though it was all subtly done but with some pressure. Things got slightly better when Alex courted Michelle, but Alex’s mother wanted them to get married so that the myth of Alex as gay was not immediately going to be fulfilled at all—the consummation between Alex and Michelle would serve as the ultimate act to break the illusion and also to maintain the family business once a baby was born.

*

“Are you going to get married?” Daryl was lying on Alex’s arm, caressing his cheek.

“I’m not sure. I love her but she has no idea I won’t be able to do that thing to her,” Alex gazed at the ceiling, blankly.

“I’m jealous. Do you love me?” Daryl looked hard at Alex.

“Aren’t you having my body now?” Alex smiled at Daryl. For the moment, he had left behind his frustration as a man expected to live a heteronormative life. Yet, he could not fully live it as required and expected by society. He found solace from Daryl’s body and not Michelle’s—for man understands man and it came naturally to him to know what was expected in a man-man relationship, even the best kiss for a man. It was awkward to even think of undressing a lady. There was a time when Alex could not accept some graceful lady he dated once, when she went wild in bed. Alex could not imagine this from Michelle, who always appeared logical, elegant and charming.

It had been 10 years since Alex and Michelle knew each other at University of Melbourne. Just like other couples, they dated during the weekends, enjoyed travelling and went through thick and thin. They were the perfect pair; Michelle’s logical mind had always complemented Alex, who was more people-oriented. Without Michelle, Alex’s bank would have probably shut down due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Michelle had always been ready for Alex. The two were envied by people. But throughout their long years of courtship, Alex had never touched Michelle other than the usual goodbye peck on her cheek. Even when they slept in a room while travelling, Alex would always be the ‘nice guy’. Nothing crossed the line, and Michelle deduced that Alex was living a life of a genuine Christian, and Michelle was more than happy about that. Michelle wanted their future children to live a honourable life, like their father.

If society has indoctrinated that sex is just a tool for reproduction and not about one’s liberating moment, then is there a difference between me and my ex-girlfriend? Why am I sleeping with Daryl? Is it love or sexual desire? Then how about Michelle? Do I love her? Or I am just admiring her? Alex tried to search for an answer in a sea of questions but all this thinking made him fall asleep with Daryl.

It was 7 p.m. Alex showered to get rid of Daryl’s perfume, and combed his hair the same style as this morning’s. On the way to pick up Michelle for dinner, he listened to the radio say, “Then maybe it’s true that I can’t live without you. Maybe two is better than one. But there’s so much time to figure out the rest of my life. And you’ve already got me coming undone. And I’m thinking two is better than one.”

If there was no love, how could it possibly for me and Michelle to stay together for 10 years? Alex thought.

*

“I now pronounce you man and wife,” said the pastor.

The guests shouted and clapped. The ladies envied Michelle for marrying a rich and handsome guy while the men joked among themselves that Alex was going to have a good night tonight.

Alex and Michelle walked down the aisle with confetti thrown at them, and amid the crowds, Alex spotted Daryl sitting with his friends.

He thought, I am sorry Daryl. You can never be acknowledged in my public life.

Alex looked, sadly, at Daryl, faking his smile, thinking if he could use impotence as the reason not to consummate with her—if they would ever spend the rest of their life together.

Mum, what if one day I fall in love with a boy, too?

Peter Soh is an ambitious Malaysian writer who does not possess any certificates on journalism or literature but he has proven that his love of words and passion to unearth local stories have brought him this far. Peter Soh first performed this short story at The Readings, in Seksan Gallery, Bangsar, Malaysia, in October 27, 2017. It is taken from one of the Peranakan-themed short stories from his forthcoming book.

[vvvveta]

American Wars Mean American Lies

Americans may already be lying themselves out of what little remains of their democracy.

The big lie uniting and motivating today’s Republicans is, of course, that Donald Trump, not Joe Biden, won the 2020 presidential election. Other big lies in our recent past include the notion that climate change is nothing but a Chinese hoax, that Russia was responsible for Hillary Clinton’s electoral defeat in 2016, and that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was necessary because that country’s leader, Saddam Hussein, had something to do with the 9/11 attacks (he didn’t!) and possessed weapons of mass destruction that could be used against the United States, a “slam dunk” truth, according to then–CIA Director George Tenet (it wasn’t!).

Those and other lies, large and small, along with systemic corruption in Washington are precisely why so many Americans have been driven to despair. Small wonder that, in 2016, those “deplorables” reached out in desperation to a figure who wasn’t a product of Washington’s mendacious Beltway culture. Desperate times engender desperate acts, including anointing a failed casino owner and consummate con man as America’s MAGA-cap-wearing savior. As the 45th president, Donald Trump set a record for lies that will likely remain unmatchable in its “greatness”—or so we must hope anyway.

Sadly, Americans have become remarkably tolerant of comfortable lies, generally preferring them to uncomfortable truths. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the military realm that I’ve inhabited most of my life. The first casualty of war, so it’s said, is truth, and since this country has remained perennially at war, we continue to eternally torture the truth as well.

When it comes to war, here are just a few of our all-American falsehoods: that this country is slow to anger because we prefer peace, even if wars are often necessary, which is also why peace-loving America must have the world’s “finest” and by far the most expensive military on the planet; that just such a military is also a unique force for freedom on Planet Earth; that it fights selflessly “to liberate the oppressed” (a Special Forces motto) but never to advance imperial or otherwise selfish ambitions.

For a superpower that loves to flex its military muscles, such lies are essentially par for the course. Think of them, in fact, as government-issue (GI) lies. As a historian looking to the future, what worries me more are two truly insidious lies that, in the early 1930s, led to the collapse of a fledgling democracy in Weimar Germany, lies that in their own way helped to facilitate the Holocaust and that, under the right (that is, wrong) circumstances, could become ours as well. What were those two lies?

GERMANY’S TRAGIC LIES AFTER WORLD WAR I

During World War I, the German military attempted to defeat the combined forces of Britain, France, Russia, and later the United States, among other powers, while simultaneously being “shackled to a corpse,” as one German general described his country’s main ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. By the middle of 1916, the German Second Reich, led by Kaiser Wilhelm II had, in essence, become a military dictatorship devoted to total victory at any cost.

Two years later, that same military had been driven to exhaustion by its commanders. When it was on the verge of collapse, its generals washed their hands of responsibility and allowed the politicians to sue for peace. But even before the guns fell silent on November 11, 1918, certain reactionary elements within the country were already rehearsing two big and related lies that would facilitate the rise of a demagogue and the onset of an even more disastrous world war.

The first big lie was that the German military, then considered the world’s finest (sound familiar?), emerged from World War I undefeated in the field, its troops a band of heroes covered in glory. That lie was tenable because Germany itself had not been invaded in World War I; the worst fighting took place in France, Belgium, and Russia. It was also tenable because its military leaders had lied to the people about the progress being made toward “victory.” (This should again sound familiar to contemporary American ears.) So, when those senior leaders finally threw in the towel in late 1918, it came as a shock to most Germans, who’d been fed a steady diet of “progress,” while news of serious setbacks on the Western Front was suppressed.

The second big lie followed from the first. For if one accepted the “undefeated in the field” myth, as so many Germans did, then who was responsible for the defeat of the world’s finest military? Not Germany’s generals, of course. Indeed, in 1919, led by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, those same generals would maliciously claim that disloyal elements on the home front—an enemy within—had conspired to betray the country’s heroic troops. Thus was born the “stab-in-the-back” myth that placed the blame on traitors from within, while ever so conveniently displacing it from the kaiser and his generals.

Who, then, were Germany’s backstabbers? The usual suspects were rounded up: mainly socialists, Marxists, anti-militarists, pacifists, and war profiteers of a certain sort (but not weapons makers like the Krupp Family). Soon enough, Germany’s Jews would be fingered as well by gutter-inhabitants like Adolf Hitler, since they had allegedly shirked their duty to serve in the ranks. This was yet another easy-to-disprove lie, but all too many Germans, desperate for scapegoats and undoubtedly bigoted as well, proved eager to believe such lies.

Those two big and insidious falsehoods led to an almost total lack of accountability in Weimar Germany for militarists like Hindenburg and Gen. Erich Ludendorff who were significantly responsible for the country’s defeat. Such lies fed the anger and fattened the grievances of the German people, creating fertile ground for yet more grievous lies. In a climate of fear driven by the massive economic dislocation brought on by the Great Depression of 1929, a previously fringe figure found his voice and his audience. Those two big lies served to empower Hitler and, not surprisingly, he began promoting both a military revival and calls for revenge against the backstabbing “November criminals” who had allegedly betrayed Germany. Hitler’s lies were readily embraced in part because they fell on well-prepared ears.

Of course, a mature democracy like America could never produce a leader remotely like a Hitler or a militaristic empire bent on world domination. Right?

America may indeed never produce its own Hitler, a demagogue who might indeed be described as a very unstable genius, and by “genius” I mean his uncanny ability to tap into and exploit the darker passions of his people and his age. Yet the United States in 2021 certainly does have power-hungry, less-than-stable “geniuses” of its own—as all countries do in all times. Men without principles or limits, willing to repeat big lie after big lie until they gain absolute power. Someone like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or Senator Tom Cotton perhaps? Or perhaps an updated version of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s fleeting national security adviser, who only recently expressed support for a military coup to overthrow the government. Or perhaps, in 2024, Trump himself.

AMERICA’S OWN BIG LIES

Of course, Germany in the aftermath of World War I is hardly a perfect analog for the United States in the aftermath of two decades of its disastrous but distant War on Terror. And history is, at best, suggestive rather than duplicative. Yet we study it in part because the past provides insight into potential futures. Personalities and events change, but human nature remains much the same, which is why military officers still read the work of Athenian general and historian Thucydides with profit, despite the fact that his wars ended more than two millennia ago.

So let’s return to the two big lies that, in retrospect, were fatal to Weimar Germany’s democracy. How might they apply to the United States today? Since 9/11, our military has prosecuted two big wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as numerous smaller conflicts in places like Libya, Syria, and Somalia. That same military has lost both of those big wars, while creating or exacerbating ongoing humanitarian crises and disasters in the “smaller” ones across the Greater Middle East and Africa.

Yet, in the American “homeland” (as it came to be known after the 9/11 attacks), it’s remarkable how seldom anyone notes how badly that same military has bungled all those wars. Indeed, it’s generally celebrated in most of the country and certainly in Washington as the finest military force in the world, perhaps even in world history. Its budget continues to rise as if in response to victories everywhere and therefore deserving of the lion’s share of taxpayer dollars. Its retired generals and admirals are celebrated and rewarded with healthy pensions and even healthier pay and benefits if they so choose (and many do) to speed through the revolving door that links them to highly profitable war corporations like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon.

In essence, Americans have been sold on the idea that “their” military has been undefeated in the field, or, if “defeated” in the sense of suffering setbacks, not responsible for them. But if America’s troops are the best of us and their losing commanders generally good enough to be eternally rewarded, who is to blame for America’s loss in Iraq? In Afghanistan? Not them, obviously, not if you believe polling results which show that Americans have more “confidence” in the military than most other US institutions (though those figures, still high, have been dropping recently).

[dfroza]

Today’s reading from the ancient book of Proverbs and book of Psalms

for july 6 of 2021 with Proverbs 6 and Psalm 6, accompanied by Psalm 17 for the 17th day of Summer and Psalm 37 for day 187 of the year (now with the consummate book of 150 Psalms in its 2nd revolution this year)

[Proverbs 6]

My son, if you will risk your family’s future to put up collateral for the debts of an acquaintance,

if you seal a commitment with a handshake to someone without first knowing the value of his word,

Then your words may well be the trap that snares you,

and your promise may seal your fate.

You can’t be sure to whom you hitched your future.

So, my son—save yourself! Here’s what you need to do:

go to that person who became your master with a handshake,

humble yourself, and plead your case.

Do not sleep;

don’t even rest your eyes until you deal with this.

Get out as quickly as possible,

as a gazelle runs from the hand of the hunter,

as a bird takes off from the grip of the fowler.

Take a lesson from the ant, you who love leisure and ease.

Observe how it works, and dare to be just as wise.

It has no boss,

no one laying down the law or telling it what to do,

Yet it gathers its food through summer

and takes what it needs from the harvest.

How long do you plan to lounge your life away, you lazy fool?

Will you ever get out of bed?

You say, “A little sleep, a little rest,

a few more minutes, a nice little nap.”

But soon poverty will be on top of you like a robber;

need will assault you like a well-armed warrior.

Someone who struts around taking advantage of unsuspecting souls

and deceiving others is to be avoided.

With a wink of his eye, a quick shuffle of his feet,

and a slight gesture with his hand, he signals his roguish treachery.

With a warped mind and twisted heart, he constantly looks for his own gain at others’ expense,

causing friction everywhere he goes.

But you watch: his actions will bring sudden disaster!

In an instant, his life will be shattered,

and there will be nothing to save him.

Take note, there are six things the Eternal hates;

no, make it seven He abhors:

Eyes that look down on others, a tongue that can’t be trusted,

hands that shed innocent blood,

A heart that conceives evil plans,

feet that sprint toward evil,

A false witness who breathes out lies,

and anyone who stirs up trouble among the faithful.

So, my son, follow your father’s direction,

and don’t forget what your mother taught you—

Keep their teachings close to your heart;

engrave them on a pendant, and hang it around your neck.

Their instruction will guide you along your journey,

guard you when you sleep,

and address you when you wake in the morning.

For their direction is a lamp; their instruction will light your path,

and their discipline will correct your missteps,

sending you down the right path of life.

They will keep you far from the corrupted woman,

away from the smooth talk of a seductive woman.

Do not lose yourself in desire for her beauty

or let her win you over with her painted eyes,

For you can buy a harlot with a loaf of bread,

but sex with another man’s wife will cost you your life.

Can you carry fire right next to your body

and keep your clothes from burning?

Can you walk over fiery coals

and keep your feet from blistering?

Take another man’s wife, and you will find out—

whoever touches her will be found guilty.

People don’t despise a thief

who only steals to fill his hunger;

Still if they catch him, he must repay seven times over—

he could end up losing everything he owns!

By contrast only a fool would commit adultery

since by his action he loses not only his possessions but also his own life.

He will suffer injury and be disgraced;

dishonor will leave a permanent mark on his life.

For jealousy sparks a husband’s rage—

when he gets his revenge, he’ll show no mercy.

He will not be paid off or appeased;

no bribe or gift will set things right.

The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 6 (The Voice)

[Psalm 6]

For the worship leader. A song of David accompanied by the lyre.

O Eternal One, don’t punish me in Your anger

or harshly correct me.

Show me grace, Eternal God. I am completely undone.

Bring me back together, Eternal One. Mend my shattered bones.

My soul is drowning in darkness.

How long can You, the Eternal, let things go on like this?

Come back, Eternal One, and lead me to Your saving light.

Rescue me because I know You are truly compassionate.

I’m alive for a reason—I can’t worship You if I’m dead.

If I’m six feet under, how can I thank You?

I’m exhausted. I cannot even speak, my voice fading as sighs.

Every day ends in the same place—lying in bed, covered in tears,

my pillow wet with sorrow.

My eyes burn, devoured with grief;

they grow weak as I constantly watch for my enemies.

All who are evil, stay away from me

because the Eternal hears my voice, listens as I cry.

The Eternal God hears my simple prayers;

He receives my request.

All who seek to destroy me will be humiliated;

they will turn away and suddenly crumble in shame.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 6 (The Voice)

[Psalm 17]

A prayer of David.

Listen, O Eternal One, to my cry for justice.

These words of mine are true—turn Your ear toward me.

Announce that I am free of all the charges against me—only You can see into my heart to know that to be true.

Treat me with fairness; look at me with justice.

You have searched me—my heart and soul—awakened me from dreaming and tested me.

You’ve found nothing against me.

I have resolved not to sin in what I say.

The path violent men have followed,

I will not travel. Violence is not my way.

Your ways and Your voice now guide my journey.

I will press on—moving steadfastly forward along Your path.

I will not look back. I will not stumble.

I am crying aloud to You, O True God, for I long to know Your answer.

Hear me, O God. Hear my plea. Hear my prayer for help.

Put Your marvelous love on display for all to see.

Liberator of those who long for shelter beside You,

set them safely away from their enemies, ever welcomed by grace.

Keep close watch over me as the apple of Your eye;

shelter me in the shadow of Your wings.

Protect me from the wicked who are poised to attack,

from the enemies swarming around me and closing in quickly.

Like clay baking in the sun, their hearts have hardened;

arrogance spills from their mouths.

They’ve tracked me down like quarry.

They’re surrounding me

and are poised to throw me down into the dirt.

Like a lion—crouching in the brush—they are ready to tear me apart.

Like young lions in their hiding places, they are poised to strike.

Rise up and confront them, O Eternal One! Make them pay.

By Your sword, set me free from my wicked enemies!

May Your rescue find me here.

By Your hand, save me from my enemies, Eternal One.

Save me from men whose hopes are rooted in this world.

But as for those You cherish,

may they feast on all You have set aside for them;

may their children never be in need;

may they have enough so their children will inherit their wealth.

But as for me, my hope is to see Your face.

When I am vindicated, I will look upon the holy face of God,

and when I awake, the longing of my soul will be satisfied in the glow of Your presence.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 17 (The Voice)

[Psalm 37]

A song of David.

Don’t be worried with evil workers

or envy the gains of people with all-wrong-upside-down ways.

Soon enough they will wither like grass,

like green herbs fading in summer’s heat.

Believe in the Eternal, and do what is good—

live in the land He provides; roam, and rest in God’s faithfulness.

Take great joy in the Eternal!

His gifts are coming, and they are all your heart desires!

Commit your path to the Eternal; let Him direct you.

Put your confidence in Him, and He will follow through with you.

He will spread out righteousness for you

as a sunrise spreads radiance over the land;

He will deliver justice for you into the light of the high sun.

Be still. Be patient. Expect the Eternal to arrive and set things right.

Don’t get upset when you see the worldly ones rising up the ladder.

Don’t be bothered by those who are anchored in wicked ways.

So turn from anger. Don’t rage,

and don’t worry—these ways frame the doorway to evil.

Besides, those who act from evil motives will be cut off from the land;

but those who wait, hoping in the Eternal, will enjoy its riches.

You’ll see . . . the wicked won’t know what hit them;

you’ll blink, and they’ll be gone;

you’ll go out looking for them, but you won’t find them.

But the humble-hearted will inherit the land;

they will take pleasure in its peace and enjoy its abundance.

How that wicked man devises evil against God’s righteous ones!

He grits his teeth, consumed by hate for the upright.

But oh, how the Lord laughs at him!

He knows the wicked man will get his; the day is coming.

The wicked unsheathe their swords, pull taut their bows;

the poor and needy are their victims,

and evil is on the prowl to kill those with integrity, God’s beloved.

But their swords will bend back to pierce their own hearts—

yes, their bows will snap in two.

The righteous are better off with the little God blessed them with

than living under the curse of the wealth of the wicked.

Their time is short, their arms will be broken,

but the Eternal will hold His righteous children high.

All their days are measured and known by the Eternal;

their inheritance is kept safe forever.

When calamity comes, they will escape with their dignity.

When famine invades the nations, they will be fed to their fill.

But immoral ones will find their lives cut short;

they’ll vanish as quickly as wildflowers in the fields.

Yes, enemies of the Eternal will vanish

like smoke into the cool night air.

Evil people borrow and never repay their debts,

while the good give generously from their hearts.

For God’s blessed children will inherit the land,

but those cursed by Him stand to gain nothing.

If you are right with God, He strengthens you for the journey;

the Eternal will be pleased with your life.

And even though you trip up, you will not fall on your face

because He holds you by the hand.

Through my whole life (young and old),

I have never witnessed God forsaking those who do right,

nor have I seen their children begging for crumbs,

Because they are always giving and sharing;

truly, their children are a joyful blessing.

Walk away from evil. Do good

so you, too, will enjoy never-ending life

Because the Eternal cherishes justice

and will not abandon those loyal to Him.

He will guard and care for them forever,

but any child born of evil will be rooted out, cut down, and destroyed.

Those leading God-pleasing lives will inherit His land

and settle there forever.

Wisdom fills the mouth of the right-living;

justice and truth roll from their tongues.

The True God’s law is imprinted upon their hearts,

and they do not stumble.

The wicked stalk God’s good ones,

looking to kill them,

But the Eternal will never leave them to the dogs of evil,

nor will they be found guilty when the verdict is read.

Wait for the Eternal. Keep to His path. Mind His will.

He will come for you, exalt you; you will inherit the land.

Before your very eyes you will see the end of the wicked.

I passed by a wicked man with a cold-blooded nature;

I looked, and he seemed as large as a cedar of Lebanon.

But then again, I passed that same way and there was nothing left of him.

I went out looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

Keep your eye on the innocent. Model your life after the blameless.

Everyone who loves peace has a future.

But sinners will be doomed.

The forecast for the wicked: utter destruction.

There will be none left, not one child of darkness.

The Eternal saves His faithful;

He lends His strength in hard times;

The Eternal comes and frees them—

frees them from evildoers and saves them for eternity—

simply because they seek shelter in Him.

The Book of Psalms, Poem 37 (The Voice)

[aion-rsa]

A Discovery of Witches Season 2 Episode 6 Review

https://ift.tt/3twWEYs

This A Discovery of Witches review contains spoilers.

What a turnaround. They live long lives, vampires, but that doesn’t mean they take things slow. Philippe de Clermont went from antagonist to sweetheart in a single episode that covered a continent of emotional ground. What began in conflict ended in declarations of acceptance and forgiveness. If only we could all time travel our way to such closure with the people we’ve lost.

Most families, admittedly, don’t have the de Clermonts’ baggage. ‘My Son Rescued Me From Nazi Torture, Euthanized Me, And Married Our Mortal Enemy’ would be too lurid a headline even for Jerry Springer. Philippe and Matthew though, didn’t need a bouffanted chat show host to resolve their issues; they had Diana. 

Like a beautiful ship’s figurehead, Diana did not bend in Sept-Tours’ raging waters. Her steadfast composure faced down everything thrown at her: the sword-fight, the blood rage, poor Matthew’s guilt… all of it was greeted with the same resolute determination. She loved Matthew. She was worthy of Matthew. And Matthew loved her. That was all there was to be said about it.

Philippe eventually listened, recognising Diana as the witch prophesied to change life as they know it. (Tip: If you possibly can during a confrontation, it helps to spontaneously glow a bit around the edges to hint towards the fact that you wield enormous and untapped magical power. Gives one an edge) A divine offering, a quickie wedding and a blood anointment later, and Diana was one of the family. 

Philippe was acting on Ysabeau’s message, in the form of the ring she’d sent Diana. If his witch-hunting mate could accept this newcomer in the future, then so could he. Faced with Diana’s power, and given Philippe’s determination to protect his family, was there also a sense that he’d rather have this witch inside the de Clermont family tent pissing out, than outside pissing in?

Read more

TV

A Discovery of Witches: Explaining the De Clermont Family Tree

By Louisa Mellor

TV

A Discovery of Witches Season 2: How History Changes Everything

By Dave Vitagliano

Whatever prompted his change of heart, Philippe jumped in with both feet, transforming from the huffing patriarch we met last week into a real softie. His offering to Artemis and presentation of the purse (“the women in this family manage their own finances”), were the perfect gifts for his modern step-daughter. 

Philippe’s transformation wasn’t all about Diana, but also the need to accept his own mortality. The millennia-old vampire had to stop fighting the fact that his long life would, one day, end. Confronted by the certainty that he’ll be outlived by Ysabeau and his sons, Philippe was able to accept his lot, and to forgive Matthew whatever schism befell them in the future. It was closure for Matthew, and for Ysabeau, who received a missive through the centuries to let her know that her mate was at peace with whatever fate would bring.

Thanks to another fully committed, moving performance from Matthew Goode, we now know the extent to which Philippe’s death has haunted his son, and why Matthew’s journey to 16th century Sept-Tours was so gloom-ridden. Matthew didn’t just rescue his father from torture in a Nazi death camp, he was also forced to end his suffering, a final, painful task for the de Clermont family assassin. If season one was all about Diana coming into her powers, then season two has been all about Matthew emotionally coming to terms with his past. 

It was an emotional episode all round, filled with intimate confessions and – once the ferocious and stunt-filled sword fight was over with – romance. After a blood-soaked start to the hour, things went dreamy at the halfway point and just got dreamier from there. Fans of Diana and Matthew’s relationship were well served with not only a wedding (full points for that magnificent collar) and dancing, but also a wedding night.

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With Matthew’s blood rage secret out in the open, the couple were able to consummate things with some tastefully shot soft-focus nudity. As promised in their vows, they gave their bodies to each other – finally, a tick in that to-do box.

The post A Discovery of Witches Season 2 Episode 6 Review appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3rLP8qQ

[imagine-loki]

A Warrior’s Life

TITLE: A Warrior’s Life

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter Fifty-Five AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Viking Loki coming to your village, raiding, and pillaging, before deciding there is something about you that intrigues him and deciding to take you back to Asgard with him. There, you are forced to learn a new life and language, and though you hate what has happened to you, you learn that Loki is not as bad as you think.

RATING: Mature

A convoy of Svartal ships came to Asgard soon after, the occupants of who cheered on seeing Ásvaldr and his family and well. They were well received and welcomed by the Aesir, though only after Loki, Thor and their families had declared them their allies.

With all that had occurred in Svartálfheim, Ásvaldr’s loyal advisors wished for the king’s prompt return, and so it was decided, supplies that had been pre-agreed with the peace treaty were prepared for the journey also, and the boats readied for their return the next day.

“It will be disappointing to no long have your companionship, and indeed your counsel Prince Loki, I will miss it greatly,” Ásvaldr stated as they ate their final meal together on the day of their departure.

“Indeed, you have been the greatest of company, but Svartálfheim needs you now.” Loki concurred. “Though should you ever take leave of your senses and wish for either my companionship or council, boats do sail both ways between our lands, and I think I speak for both my brother and myself when I say you are welcome anytime on Asgard.”

Ásvaldr laughed at the joke. “I can say the same to you my friend, you and your family. I understand it is somewhat difficult for a full royal convoy to go, but you and your family may find yourselves more able.”

“I fear it will be difficult to convince Maebh to take you up on such an offer.”

The foreign king’s brow furrowed. “She does not trust us still?”

Loki shook his head. "Nothing of such a manner. I fear my wife has a severe dislike of the mode of transport required for such a visit.”

“She fears the water?”

“No, she just dislikes boats, she was carrying Vali when she was last on one, and as such, she was ill the entire journey, it has left a mark on her. I have yet to figure out what, if anything, my wife fears.” Loki looked over to Maebh, who had just entered the room, with Vali having just been cleaned and fed after his nap.

“I think her greatest fear would lie in feeling she is not able to defend her children or you. For a first time mother, her instincts are beyond comparison.” Ásvaldr commented as he also looked over at her.

Sensing the men’s glances, Maebh turned only to see both immediately turn again. “Subtle.” She stated, loud enough for both to hear, as she rolled her eyes. Wrapping Vali in a pelt, she tied him to her. “I am going to speak with Frigga with regards something.” She informed her husband. “I shall bring Nafi with me to see the boats off.” She smiled politely to Ásvaldr.

“Anna has been dreading our departure because of leaving your son. He is the only one to ever have broken through her reserved demeanour; he is a credit to you both.” Ásvaldr commended.

“That is all any parent could hope to hear, and though Anna is quiet, she is clearly an intelligent child, with continued encouragement, she will be a great successor to you when the time comes.”

“From one such as you Princess Maebh, that is a very high commendation.” Ásvaldr beamed. With a final smile at her husband who gently caressed his son’s small hand, which was outside of the pelt as they passed, Maebh left. “I cannot fathom a better wife for you, my friend. She is your equal in most every manner.”

“And in those that she does not equal me, she surpasses me,” Loki added.

“Well, I did not wish to say anything to insult you.” Ásvaldr chucked.

“It is only an insult if you were to deny the truth in it, I am no fool, I know the strength my wife possesses.”

“As does all others that have met her.” Thor clapped Loki’s shoulder as he walked up to them. “Kind Ásvaldr, your boats have been ladened down with goods as well as enough food and water for the journey.”

“I cannot thank you enough, either of you. It says a great deal of you both when after everything that has happened between our lands; I could turn to you, my old adversaries when I could not turn to my own people. You knew I was truly at your mercy, and you did not use that to your advantage, even in the negotiations.”

“There was more to gain from peace than could ever have been gained from continued war,” Loki explained; Thor nodded in agreement. “You could have let us be killed as soon as we landed in Svartálfheim under the pretence of peace talks, but you remained true to your word, we merely returned the favour.”

“Now let us head to the boats,” Thor stated, walking to the door, the other men following.

X x X x X x X

“You look tired Maebh,” Frigga noted as the younger woman walked into the building.

“Well, that’s one way to tell a person that they have the appearance of one that has been dragged through the wild tied to Sleipnir.” Sif laughed as she walked into the room before placing Modi on the floor.

“I see he is crawling.” Maebh beamed, seeing the child make his way to the women on his hands and knees.

“Aye, and my heart is broken because of it. He is out to kill himself and me with him, dragging everything he can to himself, including chairs and table contents.” Sif sighed as she collapsed into a chair, showing clear signs of her own exhaustion.

“I fear that is not too far off in someone else’s future also,” Frigga commented looking at her youngest grandson causing Maebh to also look at Vali, who was watching his cousin with great interest, trying to get to him.

“I think you right, that will be interesting.” Maebh placed Vali at her feet, the infant sitting straight with the aid of his mother’s legs behind him.

“He is getting to be very sturdy, and he is so bright,” Frigga stated adoringly. “Both of them are.” She added, laughing as Modi pulled at her dress, trying to get to his feet, as though adamant to remind his grandmother that he too was present.

“Norns we are going to have our hands full with them,” Sif smiled.

“You sound like one that has had their fill of childbearing Sif.” Frigga studied her older daughter-in-law as she spoke while holding Modi, who was trying to get his little hands on the deer necklace that Frigga still wore.

“If I have my way, then yes. Maebh, no pressure, but I hand the reins solely to you for the future of the Odinson’s line.” Sif beamed, laughing at the bemused look on the younger woman’s face.

“Thank you, you are too kind.” Maebh gave her an unimpressed look. “I do not wish to concern myself with such at the present moment. Vali is enough to try and tend to.” On hearing his name, the baby looked up at his mother. “Yes, I am speaking of you.” She smiled, taking him in her arms. “Who knows what the future will bring?”

Sif and Frigga looked at one another for a moment. “I give it a year and you will be with child again.” Frigga declared.

“So soon?” Sif asked, neither woman acting as though Maebh was even present.

Frigga eyed her for another moment. “Perhaps even less.”

“I am no broodmare,” Maebh declare indignantly.

“No, but you are young, healthy and your husband is completely in love with you.” Sif pointed out. “Also, Thor mentioned that you conceived Vali with too great an ease to not be of note.”

“Why was that a topic of discussion between your husband and yourself to begin with, and why in all of Asgard are we discussing it now?” Maebh felt herself redden at the subject, her mother-in-law being there made it all the more awkward.

Frigga simply laughed. “Considering I had to witness the consummation of your marriage, this discussion is far more preferable.”

“And with that, I shall take my leave.” Maebh picked Vali up, but the infant fussed, realising she was taking him away.

“Leave him a little longer,” Sif ordered. “So long as he is fed, he will be more than fine.”

Maebh eyed her son for a moment. “Thank you, I will get Nafi and see off the boats, then return.”

“Could you tell Thodin to come here when he is done if you see him.” Sif requested.

“Is he not with Vali?” Maebh frowned.

“Not today, they are getting one-on-one training.”

“How did I not know that?” Maebh was highly interested in Vali’s training and always made an effort to know what his days entailed, so not knowing that alarmed her somewhat.

“He told you yesterday.” Frigga looked at Maebh in concern. “You spoke to him for a few minutes with regards it. Are you alright Sweetheart?”

Maebh could not recall the conversation at all. “I need a good night’s rest.” She admitted, shaking her head.

Frigga rose to her feet and walked to her, before placing her hand on Maebh ‘s forehead, before allowing it to slide to the side, the still angry looking scar on her head as a result of her fall. “You seem somewhat warm, perhaps a good night’s rest is something you need.” She smiled, trying to mask her concern.

“Yes.” Maebh nodded in agreement, heading for the door.

“Can I ask why you came?” Maebh turned to face her mother-in-law again. “Today you seemed to have a reason for your visit, but you did not state one, is everything alright?”

Maebh worried her lip for a moment. “I cannot recall, it was nothing too important.” She dismissed. “I will pass on the message, and return soon.” She promised, leaving the other two women, not seeing the very concerned look they shared after her.

Maebh felt as though she was at risk of losing her breakfast, as though she was forced onto a ship again, and on a very rough sea. Even the thought of that analysis made her more nauseous. She barely made it to a bush before she heaved, not stopping until she had emptied the entire contents of her stomach. Wiping her chin with the back of her hand, she groaned. The nausea had subsided, but that was little consolation to her.

“Mother!” Nafi was pleasantly surprised to see his mother at the grounds.

“Princess.” Hogun bowed, being the tutor Nafi had been assigned for the afternoon.

“Am I interrupting?” she smiled.

“Not at all princess, Nafi is so proficient, we have not been training so much as sparring,” Hogun informed her. “I find myself wondering how became so good.”

Maebh laughed at Hogun’s dry sense of humour. “I cannot say.” She ruffled what little hair was on Nafi’s head. The youth grousing at her scuffing his braid, causing her to shake her head and smile. “Thank you Hogun.”

The man bowed. “A pleasure princess.” They bid farewell to the warrior and walked back towards the village.

“Have you seen Thodin?” Maebh felt another, though less powerful wave of nausea wash over her.

“He and a few of the others have been brought to train in bows.” Nafi looked at her. “Are you alright?”

“Fine, it is just something I ate I think.”

“It probably is the eggs you had yesterday, you were the only one to eat any.” Nafi reminded her.

Maebh had to commend her son for his memory. “I was wondering what it was.” She ruffled his hair again.

“Stop, I can’t tie that again.” He grumbled, jumping away from her.

“You are getting too old to play around with your parents.” Maebh faux wept.

“No, just I don’t want to ruin my hair.”

“I see.” Maebh laughed. “But you don’t want parents making you seem childish either do you?”

“I am nearly eight.”

“Exactly.” She smiled knowingly.

“Barwin thinks you and father don’t treat me like a young man.”

Maebh had to bite the inside of her cheeks. “I see, so you want us to cease treating you as we do?” Nafi nodded. “Very well, but beware what you wish for.” She warned him.

“His father used not show him affection like you and father do, he treated him like a man,” Nafi argued.

Maebh bit her tongue so hard, she tasted blood. She knew very little of Tyr, but everything she knew had caused her to she hate him to the depths of the deepest ocean. “Barwin was only a small child when his father died.”

“He was murdered.” Nafi corrected. Maebh stopped and stared at Nafi with an open mouth, the boy ceased walking also and looked back at her. “What? He was. One of those filthy Midgardian’s murdered him.”

Maebh breath caught in her chest and another wave of nausea filled her. She leant over and wretched dryly, having already emptied her stomach. “We need to go.” Maebh gasped between fast breaths when she stood straight again.

“When are Anna and her family leaving?” Maebh did not answer. “Mother?” Again she remained silent; unsure of what was wrong, Nafi just followed her.

“Maebh?” When they got to their destination, Loki walked over to his wife, realising she was zoned out within moments of looking at her, he also noticed she looked somewhat ill. Even after calling her name, she did not seem to register his presence. Loki looked to his older son for an explanation, but the boy simply shrugged. “Maebh, darling?” he placed his hands on her arms, hoping to get her to focus on him. Finally, she seemed to notice him, immediately he realised there was something in her eyes he had not seen since the day he met her, anger and heartache, merged as one. “Darling, what is wrong?” He asked, frightened something had hurt her.

Maebh took a moment to answer. “Um…Apparently Nafi wants to be treated like a man now.”

Loki frowned at her, not sure why such a thing would upset her so greatly. “Right?”

“According to Barwin, that is how his father felt sons should be reared.” There could never be one to deny her anger and hatred in her voice. Loki stiffened and Nafi realised something was very wrong. Loki looked at Nafi with a saddened face. “I see.”

Nafi was shocked at his parent's confusing reaction. “I just…”

“We will speak of it more, later.” Loki interrupted. “Go say goodbye to Anna.”

Nafi was somewhat shocked by Maebh’s silence, but Loki’s coldness only confused him more. Not wanting to argue, he did as he was told.

“Maebh?” Loki looked to his wife. “What else is there?” She looked up at him. “That alone would not cause such a reaction from you.”

“He corrected me when I said that Tyr had died by saying he had been murdered by a ‘filthy Midgardian’.” She shook from her anger and anguish.

“He does not know the truth.” Loki tried to console her.

“Was it your family you saw butchered? Was it your sister he raped?” she snarled. Loki did not answer. “I have to try and forget what he did, try and force those images from my head every time I think of my family, but to hear someone try to defend him…”

Loki swallowed hard but knew they would be surrounded by others soon. “I know my love, and I know you need to let out the anger but…”

“Not here, not now.” Maebh finished, nodding slightly.

“Yes, I know you are angry that Nafi said those things but…”

“He does not know.”

“Exactly.” Loki kissed her forehead. “Did you speak with mother regarding that matter that seemed to be bothering you?”

“No, I was sidetracked.” Maebh’s eyes went wide. “I forgot to find Thodin.”

“There is no need to panic, he is with Thor,” Loki informed her, leading Maebh to give out a sigh of relief. “You seem a little ill, this is all stressing you too greatly.”

“I ate something off.” Maebh dismissed. “Nafi reminded me I was the only one to eat eggs yesterday, so that must be it.”

“My poor wife.” Loki kissed her forehead again. “When we get home you should rest.”

“I have children to care for.” She reminded him.

“Well I was going to ask, pray tell, where is our younger son?”

“Your mother thieved him.”

“Of course, she did, he looks like me, and is as good as I was.”

“Better looking than you actually.” Maebh gave a small smile.

“Of course, he has some of his mother in him too, the lucky boy,” Loki grinned back.

“Lucky?” Maebh raised a brow.

“Very much so,” Loki added. “She is a beautiful thing.”

“Sounds too good to be true.” Maebh joked.

“But she is.” Loki held her close to him. “You should meet her sometime.”

“Perhaps I should.” Maebh laughed, walking toward the docks to say farewell to their guests.

Nafi eyed his parents cautiously when they approached. “Mother I…”

“You wish to be treated like a man Nafi, you need to realise just what that entails, you will not speak to your mother without getting consent from her to continue after getting her attention, she is, after all, of higher station than you.” Loki corrected him. Nafi looked between then wide-eyed. “Or do you wish to return to our usual life?” It took barely a moment before Nafi nodded; causing his parents to smile and for his mother to pull him close to her.

“I warned you.” She stated, kissing his head. “I know you want to be a man, but you have long enough to be that, just allow yourself some comforts in life for as long as you can.”

“Sorry mother.” He put his hands around her waist.

“You know we love you, we want you to experience that. Barwin never did, not from Tyr.” Loki informed his son.

“Okay father.”

“Now let us bid Ásvaldr farewell.” Loki ushered them forward.

Nafi followed behind his father, with Maebh taking up the rear as they went to see off the Svartal royal party. As she walked, Maebh felt eyes on her family, though Loki and Nafi had not seemed to notice. Scanning her surrounds, she found the source of the sensation. A woman stood nearby, staring at them. For a moment, Maebh could not place her, but when her children came into Maebh’s view, her blood ran cold. The woman’s line of sight was directly on Nafi, the living image of her deceased husband.

[ohmypreciousgirl]

Damen/Laurent Rec List

Because @playingfetchwithdinosaurs was finally seduced into reading this amazing series and then she came to me because she needed more. Also, coincidentally, @notagoodplace4gods finished yesterday CP, but told me only today that she was freaking out over their love and she needed more so here I am giving more to them ;)

💖: my absolutely favorite stories about those Kings

Canon AU

In the Gardens by JustDrinkTea 2,101

“I doubt your disappearance would go unnoticed,” Laurent countered, head tilting slightly. He was teasing. Damen couldn't get enough of it.

“Is that an excuse to not go?”

“It’s a challenge.”

💖 Sent Away by Josselin [Part 1 of Sent Away] 2,504

A series of vignettes of young Laurent's life when he is sent to be fostered in the Akielon court.

Courtship by songofthe52hertzwhale 5,425

Damen just wants to court Laurent. Nobody in Vere makes it easy for him, least of all the man he hopes to marry.

💖 Dear Aledosia, by wendlaa 12,368

"Oh,” Laurent finds himself saying. Damianos has excused himself from his conversation, and has begun to make his way through the crowd. Here stand the Princes of Vere, after all. The ethereal Veretian Prince brothers. Laurent lifts his eyes towards the ceiling, arching his brows. “Heavens,” he says, voice tight.

Auguste chuckles. “You have a minute head start.”

Laurent ducks away.

💖 No Rush by blacktofade 13,625

Laurent is eleven when he’s introduced by his brother to Prince Damianos.

Lines on Palms by Fahye 13,639 [Part 1 of Lines on Palms]

"Ah," says Damianos. "The game is not to be seen."

Laurent of Vere attends a wedding, plays several games at once, and finds himself in a place that he did not expect.

💖 Something Good by wendlaa 14,353

The three Princes stand. Damianos drops his gaze from Auguste to Laurent. His eyes are honey brown, his expression taut. There’s blood on his face, dirt in his wounds. Gaze still locked to Laurent’s, he sheaths his sword.

And Auguste lives.

💖 An Arranged Marriage by Josselin 17,785

Afterwards his father only remarked, “His features are very fine.”

“I am not marrying him for his features,” said Damen.

“No, you are marrying him for his dowry,” said Theomedes.

💖 Bright as Lightning by blacktofade 33,284

Laurent, Prince of Vere, has always been promised to Damianos, Prince of Akielos.

💖 building empires by dawnstruck 40,102

“Marriage,” Prince Auguste bursts out and everyone stares. “A marriage between our royal families,” he clarifies, visibly clearing his throat and his head before he continues, “To symbolize the pact between our kingdoms, for generations to come. Not foes, not friends, but family.”

Canon

more than a kingdom by shuu_chan 537

Laurent could feel his heart quicken. And just like that, he felt he was already relaxed.He felt blissful and content. Trust Damen to make him feel this way, even when he was sleeping.

💖 Legacy by TurtleTotem 1,149

Damen still has a little family left, after all. And he does need an heir. But Laurent is not easily convinced.

Sequel: Lullaby

Wander In The Shade by karuvapatta 1,845

In which Laurent is tired of the summer heat and Damen is tired of not having enough time for Laurent.

on friendship by baekhyun (baruna) 1,194 

Nikandros remembers seeing Laurent, and thinking quite clearly, Oh no.

Expensive Tastes by Josselin 1,313

Laurent rolled toward Damen across the bed and said, “Do you remember the brothel in Nesson Eloy?”

Damen gave a sleepy acknowledgement. “With the two women? And the maitresse who recognized you?”

“I was thinking,” said Laurent. “About what might have happened if we hadn’t been interrupted.”

Mornings by Josselin 1,447

When Damen did arise before Laurent, he appreciated it. He often awoke aroused, and rather than ignoring it or taking himself in hand, he curled closer to Laurent on the bed and took advantage of the opportunity to woo Laurent into lovemaking.

Lullaby by TheRomanticSadist 1,618

That was not a grin without motive – perhaps Damen had been spending too much time around Veretians. “I want to hear you sing."

“You’re acting like a child, Damianos.”

Starlight Skin by WhimperSoldier 1,654

“Things have changed since I first married you,” Damen sat him down, wrapping his thick arms around Laurent’s trim waist to stop him from shifting away from his frowning reflection. “Sure, your hair has lightened to a shining starlight, and perhaps your skin has thinned to a beautiful cream, so what causes you such thoughts?”

“Damen, I am aging into an old man, whether you notice it or not,” Laurent huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at Damen through the mirror. “Everything that you loved about me when we were young has faded, of that you can't deny.”

Till China and Africa meet, and the river jumps over the mountain by Signe  2,316

Piece by piece, it all fell into place.

Horizons We Wrest by xyai 2,270

What they’d had was uncertain given the circumstances, fragile and fumbling in its newness—he’d known that when he left. But he hadn’t thought he’d return to find Laurent like this.

Their wars are won and their secrets out, but the future remains unclear.

The Portrait by Josselin 2,276

Damen’s father had probably dreamed that someday his son would sleep in the chamber for visiting royalty at the giant Veretian fortress at Marlas. But Theomedes had doubtless envisioned it differently than it was actually turning out to be.

Epilogue by Josselin 2,806

In which Damen recovers from his injury and Laurent decides to work on his alcohol tolerance.

The Word by sleeplittlechild 2,814

Damen begins using a new word around Laurent - that Laurent doesn't know.

💖 Seven Daughters by Josselin 2,943

"Your daughters," said Laurent. "They have come from Vask to stay with you to learn your fighting and hunting techniques."

Murmur of the Land by blacktofade 3,569

An alternate take on the tiny tent scene from Prince's Gambit.

Decisive Victory by shoulderpadutopia 3,767

"For a slave, a first night means everything."

Also, Damen gets a massage.

💖 The Consummation by Josselin 4,091

“The king’s marriage has not been consummated,” said Herode.

“It has!” Damen said.

“So the king would be within his rights to put aside his spouse from the first marriage and to take a second.” Herode spoke calmly, as though his words weren’t directed at the spouse from the first marriage.

Damen stood, and leaned forward, resting his fists upon the council table. He opened his mouth.

Said Herode, “To be recognized by the council, and to bestow legitimacy to its issue, the king’s marriage must be consummated in front of witnesses.”

“Damianos,” Laurent said, quietly, a third time.

Damen still did not listen. “Then I will consummate it, and you will witness, and there will be no further discussion,” he said.

There Is Neither East Nor West by petrichoral 5,351

"I left you an army at Ravanel. I was expecting at least a thank-you note."

"Writing letters isn’t my strong point," Damen said. "I brought you a hundred Akielons instead."

"I brought you a hundred Akielons," Laurent repeated. "I believe I now know how a cat owner feels when their pet presents them with three dead starlings on their doorstep."

💖 From Gold by exyking 5,680

There were so many different versions of how their story could have gone. Damen thought, none of them would have led him here. None of them would have given him this.

After the Bells by hazmesentir 6,068

Damen and Laurent talk, and do a little more than talking, and finally, a score is settled.

Say It by matanee 8,606

Seven months after the war, King Laurent rides to Ios to meet King Damianos and seal the peace between the two nations -- and two lovers.

Hakesh by shoulderpadutopia 10,242

“Even after all those sleepless nights discussing military tactics, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you look anything less than immaculate,” Damen remarked.

Two Princes by Signe (oxoniensis) 16,507

Their rendezvous was at noon.

💖 you're always waking in the night by ThankYouMerlin 17,502

“I missed you,” Damen admitted, overwhelmed by the feeling. He pressed his lips to Laurent’s hip, the jut of it sharp and strong beneath his lips. Again, in Veretian, “I missed you.”

“Your accent is stronger,” Laurent said, tilting his head to the side as he studied Damen. “Your time in Ios was successful, I trust?”

“We can talk of Ios in the morning,” Damen told him as he kissed his way slowly up Laurent’s chest and up to his neck, lower lip dragging gently along the edge of his jaw until they were breathing the same air.

💖 Kings Ruling by NoBaggage 22,931

Damen worries about a specific threat to the unification of their kingdoms; the problem of an heir.

💖 Kings Reign by idratherhaveyou 191,070

Damen is on bed rest and Laurent is taking care of him. What follows is their story and the story of two kingdoms becoming one.

AU

Kissing Booth by JustDrinkTea 581

It's all for charity, of course.

In Case of Emergency by JustDrinkTea 983

Laurent frowned. “Someone pulled the alarm,” he replied curtly.

“Again?”

“Again.” Laurent drew the word out.

hold me close by dragonmage27 1,040 [Part 1 of a series of domestic fluff]

Damen slid his hands lower so they cupped Laurent’s bottom, and lifted him up with ease. Instinctively, Laurent parted his legs, his thighs bracing himself against Damen’s hips, and Laurent’s arms moved to rest on Damen’s shoulders. Those ridiculous slippers pressed against Damen’s legs.

Laurent’s gaze met Damen’s, and they stared into each other’s eyes. Laurent’s blue eyes were the glistening ocean and Damen was a voyager in those seas, forever searching, seeking, and drowning happily.

“You utter brute,” Laurent breathed out fondly.

“Your brute,” Damen corrected.

The Pitfalls of being Overprotective by americancupsofbritishtea 2,297 [Part 2 of Modern Royalty AU]

Auguste makes a discovery, and then wishes he hadn't.

💖 five times auguste shut down damen (and one time auguste supported damen in his pursuit of laurent) by baekhyun (baruna) 2,409 [Part 1 of friendly maneuvers]

Auguste turned around and said, too calmly: “Please repeat what you just said about my brother.”

“He’s very— he’s, um. Very.” Damen paused, tentatively searching for the right words. Auguste was beginning to look more and more murderous.

“He’s very what, Damen. Say it.” There was a burgeoning, insistent, crazed edge to his voice.

astronomy in reverse by casscaixn 4,143 [Part 1 of Kindergarten Teacher Laurent]

“Ah,” he begins delicately. Laurent narrows his eyes and straightens himself, ignoring Hamlet’s distressed whimpers at the loss of Laurent’s fingers in his fur. Damen knows the feeling, a little too well. “What are you—wearing?”

“It was pajama day,” Laurent says, and at his tone one might be tempted to think he was reciting Shakespeare, or something else of wild importance. He glowers at Damen’s repressed laugh, and hangs his bag on the hook on the wall, next to Damen’s own, half-empty briefcase. “And Vannes thought it would be a good idea to do arts and crafts, because no one would be wearing expensive clothing.”

💖 Fear not the thorns by relenafanel 4,982

Laurent is kind of a prick.

Push It Real Good by Enochianess 5,946 [Part 1 of Personal Trainer AU]

Laurent hates working out. He always has and he always will. But Akielos Gym… it has its selling points. Well, one to be exact. A tall, dark, and handsome one.

Shower Singer by dawnstruck 6,204

Damen is a shower singer. His neighbor is unimpressed.

💖 A Point to Happiness by idratherhaveyou WIP

Damen texts the wrong number. They end up talking. Then they flirt. Then they fall in love.

Collections

Captive Prince tumblr ficlets by Fahye

A collection of short ficlets posted on tumblr in response to prompts. Mostly Damen/Laurent, but highly varied in content!

Tumblr

💖 The first gift was an orchid, pressed between the pages of a book on Akielos written in Veretian. by @kinkofvere

Soleil by @thecaptiveroyals

[gothymothy420]

@Edhialos

January 19, 1999

13:30

Rome

★─☆｡oﾟ｡★─☆｡oﾟ｡★─☆｡oﾟ｡★─☆｡oﾟ｡★─☆｡oﾟ｡★─☆｡oﾟ｡★ ★─☆｡oﾟ｡★

The table shows the position of the planets in your chart, by sign and degree. On the right, you will find the sign of your Ascendant and the signs on the cusp of each house in your natal chart. The Roman Numerals refer to the houses, where the Ascendant is also the first house and the Midheaven is also the tenth house.

Your Sun Sign: Capricorn

Capricorn, the tenth sign of the zodiac, is all about hard work. Those born under this sign are more than happy to put in a full day at the office, realizing that it will likely take a lot of those days to get to the top. The Capricorn-born are extremely dedicated to their goals, almost to the point of stubbornness. Capricorns are industrious, efficient, organized and won't make a lot of waves. They are scrupulous with details and adopt a rather conventional posture in business and in life. These folks feel best playing it safe, since this is a fail-safe way to get to the top -- eventually. Capricorns are known to be patient, which is good when you’re working your way to the top. The great strengths of the Capricorn-born are their willingness to work hard and their determination to succeed. Their ambition is boundless, yet they are cautious, responsible and always play fair. That's why their successes are all the more sweet. They may be perceived as stuffy or rigid and so they need to learn to bend when life doesn't go the way they want. Sometimes their seriousness can make them appear unhappy and they can be difficult to approach because they look so formal and aloof. In reality, they are just cautious. In love, they feel happy and high on emotion. They tend to be jealous, but they remain faithful. Capricorn Sun Signs like to be married. Once they find that special someone, they tend not to let go and so, many will only marry once. They feel that they won't get too many chances at love. They adore taking care of their partner and family, although they must feel needed and appreciated. This Sign understands the ups and downs in a relationship better than most, and they are not easily disheartened when things are not going smoothly.

Your Moon Sign: Aquarius

Your moon sign describes your emotional and instinctual energies.

Because the emotional qualities governed by the Moon are influenced by an Air sign, you may be at times detached or inclined toward objectivity in your emotional responses. This sign is perhaps the least “emotional” of the Zodiac, and consequently, you are likely to be more comfortable with words and ideas, than you are with the more sentimental, or passionate, dimensions of life. You are likely to feel more at ease with fact and concept, and may struggle at times to understand others who are more driven by passion or instinct. This does not mean that you are not emotional. Far from it. It just implies you will naturally seek objectivity and reason when it comes to any emotional terrain.

The Aquarian tendency to be humanitarian shows up powerfully in Moon in Aquarius. However, their kindness and concern for others is generally more a broad philosophy of life. With people close to them, Moon in Aquarius natives can seemingly lack compassion, as they often fully expect others to be as independent and detached as they are! In close, personal relationships, however, Lunar Aquarians generally give others a lot of personal freedom, and they will tolerate and enjoy all kinds of idiosyncrasies in people around them.

Your Mercury Sign: Capricorn

Mercury tells us how we think, process information, and communicate. Mercury does not dictate what we think about a subject but rather how we arrive at our opinion on the subject.

These people often speak and write in a slow and methodical manner. They appreciate structure and order. Although they are resourceful people, Mercury in Capricorn natives easily get frustrated when too much information is thrown at them at once. They break down ideas into manageable parts before arriving at a decision.

Usually quite mentally active, these natives are generally productive people who prefer taking on projects that will yield tangible and practical results.

Capricorn Mercury people spend a great amount of time reflecting on their inner strength and weaknesses. It is important in their lives. They hate to make mistakes, but have a great urge to remain organized while climbing up to touch the light of excellence.

Your Venus Sign: Aquarius

A Love Sign is the Zodiac Sign that Venus was in at the time of your birth. Venus represents the qualities of love, romance, sensuality, culture, beauty, affection and social appeal.

Venus in Aquarius people try to impress you with their open-minded, future-thinking spirit. They want you to see them as unique, rebellious, and a little provocative. They are attractive when they are acting a little aloof. They want you to acknowledge and appreciate that they don’t follow the beaten track in matters of the heart.

Pleasing Venus in Aquarius involves letting them know just how interesting they are. Put up with their occasional need to act superior on an intellectual level — they are very proud of their unique ideas and visions.

Your Mars Sign: Libra

Vitality and sexuality is what your Mars sign represents.

Mars in Libra Lovers approach sex with their special partners as if it were a fantasy and they seek to create a zone of perfect beauty, balance and grace around the objects of their affection. Often they will inundate that person with physical manifestations of their ideal conception of love: gifts, flowers, and gestures of respect and idealized affection. Anything that seems tawdry or harsh to them is banished from the scene. It may seem that they are putting the person they love on a pedestal, that they are making sex into a highly mannered ritual in which consummation matters very little; but always remember that it is the ideal of the relationship and the “other” that this Lover is really worshipping, not the person who happens to be standing on the pedestal.

There is probably no more privileged position imaginable than to be the object of a Mars in Libra Lover’s sexual adoration. These Lovers make the person they love feel as if the universe is centered on their relationship but, despite all this devotion, the Mars in Libra zone of perfect love can be a rather cold and unforgiving place. The perfectionism that makes these Lovers so anxious to please their partners also makes them extremely judgmental of people who fall short or who are unable to maintain the high standards of their ideal. In such instances adoration can quickly turn into contempt.

Your Jupiter Sign: Pisces

Your Jupiter shows the way to prosperity, expansion and all things epic.

As a Water sign Jupiter, you have a strong belief in a higher power. You are most able to attract luck and rich life experiences to you through your intuition, imagination, and compassion. Helping those in need boosts your own morale.

For Jupiter in Pisces, their moral code includes helping those less fortunate and caring for their close social circle. Whether it’s a shoulder to cry on, being a good listener, or a sensitive soul, Jupiter in Pisces is there to provide whatever is needed. It’s this kind of effort that brings in great reward, and even if it’s not financial in nature Pisces feels fulfilled just the same.

Your Saturn Sign: Aries

Saturn brings structure and meaning to our world. Saturn knows the limits of time and matter. Saturn reminds us of our boundaries, our responsibilities, and our commitments. It brings definition to our lives. Saturn makes us aware of the need for self-control and of boundaries and our limits.

The best quality of Saturn is system and the best quality of Aries is leadership. Therefore, if you have Saturn in Aries, you can be a very capable leader, one who knows what to do and is not afraid of going out and doing it no matter what it takes or how long it takes. Combat and competitiveness spur you on to greater achievements. Self-reliance is high within you and you probably feel that you are more capable than those around you, hence you may end up doing all the work, which may antagonize you if you feel that others are not holding up their end of things. Saturn's worst quality is selfishness and Aries worst quality is interference with the plans of others. Therefore, you are also capable of meddling and trying to run the affairs of others. You may run roughshod over them in trying to get them to do your will rather than their own.

Your Uranus Sign: Aquarius

Uranus Signs also represent enlightenment, novelty and ingenuity. Uranus is intuitive and sometimes ahead of its time when you are in tune with its energies. This intuition may cause you to research or investigate a new angle.

Uranus in Aquarius has great intuitive skills and original ideas. They tend to work towards bettering humanity. They are devoted friends and truly want to help those in need. This unselfish behavior helps them to gain what they want in life. They may also be gifted with mechanical skills.

Aquarius Uranus may also be erratic. They may have difficulties with their choice of friends, who may take advantage of them.

Uranus in Aquarius likes to turn the world upside down. The revolution may be loud or peaceful, but they are part of the action either way. Naturally obliging with a pleasant personality, Aquarius Uranus is popular wherever they go. Some of their core beliefs may be a bit on the eccentric side. They may be very successful in electronics, logistic computers, space technology or anything of a scientific nature.

Your Neptune Sign: Aquarius

Neptune is considered a planet of inspiration, dreams, psychic receptivity, illusion, and confusion.

The Aquarius Neptune sign people only spend their time and energy on things they feel are worthy of their efforts. Mundane details of life doesn’t interest them. Their responsibility toward knowledge and improvement is much greater than trivial day-to-day activities. Rules and regulations mean nothing to them, except as things to break. Logic and reason are the backbone of their creativity, so they don’t register any kind of emotion when inspiration hits. The only way to tell when they are excited about something is if they keep talking about the same idea with different people.

Your Pluto Sign: Sagittarius

Pluto represents subconscious forces, ruling all that is “below the surface”. On the up side, Pluto is associated with renewal and rebirth.

Those born with Pluto in Sagittarius have a need for exploration. They feel that by gaining as many different experiences as possible, they have the power to recognize and use any opportunities that arise to their benefit. They have the self-confidence to challenge existing moral codes. They use their beliefs as an extension of themselves. Sagittarius Pluto is friendly as long as their freedom is not hampered. They are enthusiastic about reaching their goals in life. They may have difficulty with people who have different beliefs than their own.

Sagittarius Pluto individuals are so good-natured, they often get over things very quickly and move on to their next task with ease. They don’t care about maintaining power or control, as long as they have the freedom to do what they want, when they want. And their ability to go with the flow helps them gain the most from each of their experiences.

Unfortunately, they can be a bit scatterbrained at times because they hate dealing with the mundane details of everyday living. They’re too busy to stop and deal with boring errands and responsibilities. But luckily they have such a large social network they often have help in those areas.

Your Ascendant Sign: Gemini

Your ascendant sign—also known as your rising sign—represents the way others see you, your general impression on people, and your spontaneous reactions. It reflects the Zodiacal sign that was ascending on the eastern horizon the moment you were born.

Those with Gemini rising often approach life with a genuine sense of inquisitiveness; for there is often a strong curiosity, and desire, to understand how people and things work. This Ascendant makes a person primarily concerned with connection- with the social mores, means and modes of communication that make society connect. Thus, you are likely to be versatile and adaptable, with many interests and well able to fit in with most life circumstances.

2nd House: Cancer

The area of material security and values. It rules money and personal finances, sense of self-worth and basic values, personal possessions.

Cancer is a fruitful sign to have on a money house. They can rely on sound instincts to acquire and save money. Very good money sense, although financial fluctuations may be frequent in their life. They can use their keen ability to hone in on what the public wants and needs, and benefit financially. They may be a hoarder, but certainly assigns much sentimental meaning to personal possessions.

3rd House: Cancer

The area of social and intellectual learning.

Any travel that they do will only be to visit family or friends . Family and dear ones are very important to them, family can always count on them in times of difficulty or trouble. Nostalgia is strong. Cautious in communications. They usually think before speaking.

4th House: Leo

The area of home, family, roots, and deep emotions/sense of self-worth.

Conducts family life like a business, rigorously and authoritatively. Great sense of organization, looks after what they possess well.

5th House: Virgo

The area of creative self-expression, romance, entertainment, children, and gambling.

They do not lack for practical sense to run their business and home: They is ingenious and good with their hands. They modest and prudish.

6th House: Libra

The area of learning by material transaction.

Above all else, likes good work conditions, a good atmosphere. Weak point: the kidneys.

7th House: Sagittarius

The area of one-to-one relationships such as marriage and partnership, and of social and intellectual action.

Either marriage with a foreigner, or a marriage abroad, or marriage with a foreigner abroad.

8th House: Capricorn

The area of emotional security and of security of the soul.

Natural death in very old age. Inheritances.

9th House: Capricorn:

The area of learning that shapes the identity.

Respects the religion in which they were brought up as a child, still holds this belief. Likes justice and loyalty.

Your Midheaven Sign: Aquarius

The Midheaven is the entrance to the tenth house and relates to your career, reputation and social standing.

Aquarius Midheaven loves learning. They have a fear of appearing stupid in front of others, so they will study anything and everything to prove to themselves that they know what they think they know. All of this studying helps them come up with creative choices when the chips are down. On the other hand, they may come across as arrogant or spend too much time on trivial things. Information that is incompatible to what they know may be overlooked or even denied.

An interesting thing about people with an Aquarius Midheaven is that they may have two sets of contradictory views simultaneously; they could be very conservative and still have views that have very little to do with the real world. They can be challenging and conforming at the same time.

The area of material action. The Mid-heaven represents the work one will do in his life, the place one will take in the world of society. It becomes more important as one grows older

11th House: Pisces

The area of search for social and intellectual security.

Has only a few friends, but with these the friendship is sincere and frank.

12th House: Aries

The area of education and of emotion.

Can take initiatives without consulting anyone, even their partner.

@edhialos

[stevedonnellyfaith-blog]

Why I Am Thankful (post 65) 11-26-14

                        I like Thanksgiving and always have, but he flavor of the feast has changed for me in the last several years.  Today, I see the holiday more as a way-point that occurs half a year’s orbit back towards Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday and Pentecost. The direction we are traveling will arc through Advent towards Christmas and curve sharply at Ash Wednesday onto the backstretch of my Christian year.  Thanksgiving is no longer a destination in itself. For me, the liturgical seasons have become an orderly, varied and beautiful continuum.  

Before Thanksgiving was just a rest-stop within a year’s journey through faceless days of work drudgery. For me the holiday represented a double weekend where Monday seemed farther off but not so remote that I ever forgot that it was coming.  It was a day for sleeping in, then dragging my carcass to the couch for a repast of sports television while Pam cooked the family an excellent meal.  Excepting a two minute prayer, the day was totally absent of Christian thought, more of a libation of sloth and gluttony sacrificed before the god of entertainment.  I watched all the football I could handle until I slipped off into tryptophan induced slumber in the warm glow of a magic cathode ray tube.  I enjoyed Thanksgiving in a way that would crown me as the consummate secular chump in a country populated by a bevy of domestic Neros clicking through channels in our customary holiday white tee-shirts and pajama bottoms.

And don’t give me too much credit for my two minutes of prayer.  I certainly didn’t prepare anything ahead for my once a year extemporaneous opus of acknowledgement to what God had done to bless our country and the Donnelly family in particular.  I would hurdle the prayer as the last barrier blocking the path to all the good food and good cheer, on which I could gorge myself.  The idea of giving thanks was really a parsley garnish, lost among the bowls of squash, gravy and mash potatoes.  

In the last several years, though, God has provided me with an attitude adjustment.  I still enjoy the tasty food and good cheer, but I take loving companionship and other wonderful blessings much less for granted. I am now truly thankful for the fellowship of those with whom I eat.   I drink deeply of their peaceful friendship, not just for their agility and punctuality in passing the rolls and gravy. I now have an understanding that each of us will attend a limited number of these earthly feasts, and I am thankful for family and friends both present, distant and those who have moved beyond.

For the West Coast Donnellys, this year’s Thanksgiving plans have been pretty fluid.  We are still waiting on the schedule for Nick’s lung surgery, which should remove the small pockets of strange cells created by the Bleomycin chemotherapy.  Stephen and I had hoped to be in Ohio visiting Natalie at my folk’s house, but that trip is on hold.  I am determined not to make a second emergency flight back from the Midwest.  

We will eat somewhere.  We have been invited several places by wonderful people that are very concerned for us.   We look forward to the opportunity to thank God for the grace that he has bestowed on our family at whichever table we end up.  Surely we will be in the company of good friends – probably someone that Natalie knows so that it will be easier for her to imagine us from her own table across the country.

It has been a year of blessings for us:  

Nick is still alive and in good health.  His weight and hair are restored, but the beard is still a bit patchy.  He is missing some few parts, has a trusty Power-Port embedded in his chest and is due to lose additional various chunks of flesh, which will be trimmed by the equivalent of robotic toenail scissors. Largely he is the same easygoing guy who, the other night, treated the Men of St Joseph to a viewing of before and after chemo x-rays of his lungs and abdomen.  (I don’t know why doctors always delight in showing me pictures and 3D diagrams of stuff that I just want to sink forever into my subconscious.)

Stephen has spent the year with no significant incidents.  While not eliminating the voices that distract him, his medication has largely allowed him to live without the crippling paranoia that drove him into the hospital repeatedly in the months that followed Pam’s death.  He takes walks, eats hot dogs or sushi and largely enjoys his days emancipated from the need to protect the family from assailants that never existed.  He gripes in pro-forma fashion about the transgressions of the two little dogs that love him and keep him company.

Abby is enjoying the life of an independent young woman with a bright but as yet undetermined future.

Natalie is spending an idyllically quiet year in suburban Ohio exploring the wonders of snow, slush, thunderstorms, and being a cousin to three little girls just her own age.  For the most part she is living a year buffered from ambulance rides, ER visits, missed school days and afternoons among daycare hooligans.  She does have to ride the school bus, though.  Every kid should have to be a bus rider at least once.  Hopefully her bus heater will work effectively in the cold Cleveland months of December, January and February.  Thankfully, this year Natalie will not have to endure Valentine’s Day and the run-up to the anniversary of Pam’s passing in the same house where it all occurred.  It should be a more regular winter in a house joyfully bedecked in Christmas ornaments, not a home holiday-garbed as an act of obligation.

I, myself, this year have lived a more peaceful life, still with my share of daily aggravations, but also full of helpful reminders that Jesus and my family love me.  I am thankful for blessings that others consider horrible curses.  If the result of pain is a closer relationship with Jesus, are calamities not sometimes heaven sent?

Thanks to all of prayerful IHM parishioners from the Donnellys.  We wish each of you a peaceful holiday with lots of love and without the slightest hint of Thanksgiving dinner drama.  Attending the 10:00 service on Thursday is an excellent way to start a day dedicated to gratitude for all our blessings.  One parish, one service, arrive early.