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hickorydickkorydoc · 5 years ago

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You Don’t Know My Name (Tim Drake x Reader)

Requested: nah HAHAHA just writing for my own pleasure :))

Word Count: 1400

Warnings: None

A/N: so I guess I’m doing a song fic?? I know I’m new here n I’m pretty sure I only said I vibe w DC n Broadway lololol- but one thing many people in my life know about me is that I LOVE Alicia Keys. This is one of my favorite songs from her and the whole “Diary of Alicia Keys” album and I just really love the MV so I wanted to turn it into this. Don’t forget to hit up my asks for requests!

KEY: Y/N: Your Name Y/H/C: Your Hair Color indent: Lyrics from the song

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Baby, baby, baby, from the day I saw you, I really, really wanted to catch your eye.

You run into your job with minutes to spare before you were considered late, flattening your uniform from the crinkles that were earned from running into the coffee house.

“You’re lucky, (Y/N), with seconds to spare.”

You hear the comment your boss throws at you, feeling kind of annoyed.

“At least I made it.” You say with a hint of irritation in your voice as you clocked in for your shift.

You threw on your apron and got ready for work. You took the 9-5 shift here as a way to make extra cash over the break before you headed back to college. This job could have been worse, but you were getting paid a decent amount to support yourself and to do what you wanted.

The morning was sluggish, but today the coffee house got a lunch rush. As businessmen and women entered in their expensive suits and leather shoes, you had a bit of hope that you’d get bigger tips than usual. You ran around taking orders and bringing the customers their second coffee of the day, it was normal.

Then, he walked in.

A young man with raven colored hair with gleaming blue eyes walked in. You spotted him from the corner of your eye as you brought a cup of coffee to table 12. You’d seen him before, but not up close. You thought he was charming, and he seemed to be your age as well.

You don’t know what changed in you. You wanted to say hello, you wanted to ask him how he’s doing, you wanted to ask who he was, you wanted him to notice you.

Something special ‘bout you, I must really like you. Cause not a lot of guys are worth my time.

From that day forward, he came on Wednesdays during his lunch break. He’d always order the coffee which was not a surprise to his coworkers as he “was fuelled by coffee” as you’d hear it. You learned his name was Tim Drake through the whispers of the other customers as they watched him enter. You always put real milk instead of water even though your boss would call you out on it. This guy was worth more than the cheap instant coffee with just water, you thought he was kind of sweet.

It was a new feeling, you never really gave much time to guys cause they weren’t worth it, but this guy was.

“She’s quite pretty.”

He thought to himself as he watched you converse with the customers with a smile as you laughed at the corny joke the older woman you were attending to cracked. He wanted to chat with you, but the lunch break was short and Wayne Enterprises needed the CEO present for the meetings of the day.

“Damn. One day.” He muttered to himself as he had to leave. Before he goes, he spots a glass bowl that was labeled “BUSINESS CARDS” on it.

“Eh, why not?”

He dropped his in there for the fun of it. Wayne Enterprises didn’t need anymore fame that it already got, so he dropped his own.

Oh baby, baby, baby, it’s getting kinda crazy. Cause you are taking over my mind.

As you watch him walk out the diner, you feel a little sad watching him go. You loved to serve him the special, the short interaction of saying “Here’s your order, sir.” was blissful and receiving the smile and the faint “Thank you.” was enough to make your heart go pounding and making you smile like an idiot for the rest of the lunch rush.

Every time he left, the rest would follow as their lunch breaks also finished. This let the coffee house go back into its relaxed state with customers coming and going. You watched them eat their burgers and fries whilst you thought about-

“Tim Drake?” You heard your coworker say.

What? now Belinda has mind reading powers and is out here trying to embarrass you?

“Sorry?” You say feeling a bit flustered with slight fear that maybe Belinda really did have mind reading powers and read through your thoughts.

“Tim Drake of Wayne Enterprises dropped his card into the bowl. Huh, interesting.”

Belinda said as she dropped it back into the bowl. As she walks away, curiosity got the best of you as you grabbed the bowl and took the card.

“Oh my God.” You thought to yourself. You knew what you were going to do with that card. You saw the number, you had a working cellphone, it was all the components of a crazy plan you were going to pull off.

“I’m gonna have to just go ahead and call this boy.”

*********

Another day at Wayne Enterprises meant endless meetings, dealing with angry ex lovers of Bruce Wayne at the concierge, and looking at a bunch of new business ventures. Tim was fuelled by coffee and ran on negative hours of sleep.

As the day paced through slowly, it was finally over. Tim headed back to Wayne Manor to do more work. As he entered and changed into lounging clothes, he expected another evening of writing on excel sheets and attending to his duties as a vigilante.

His thoughts as to what the next big investment would be paused as he heard his phone ring. An unknown number was displayed across the screen, he answered it.

“Hello?”

“Hello? Can I please speak to - to Tim?”

“This is him speaking, may I help you?”

“Oh hey, how ya doin’? Uh, I feel kinda silly doing this but uh, this is the waitress from the coffee house across Wayne Enterprises. You know, the one with the (Y/H/C) hair?”

He smiles to himself as he recognized you by just that hint.

“Oh yes, hello! Miss...?”

“(Y/N). So sorry to bother you but, I found your number in the business cards bowl.”

“Of course, my bad I slipped for a bit, I just realized I never really caught your name on your tag.” He chuckles through the phone.

You chuckle along as you would assume someone so young with a top position at a company would be sharper.

“Yeah, well I see you on Wednesdays all the time. You come in every Wednesday on your lunch break I think. You always order the special, with the coffee. And my manager be tripping and stuff saying that we gotta use water. But I always use some milk and cream for you ‘cause I think you’re kinda sweet.” You mention that to him with the confidence that was erupting within.

He blushed slightly at your remark and the gesture that you reserved just for him when he ate there.

“Why thank you, (Y/N). I really appreciate that.”

Conversing with you even on the phone was enough to make this boy fall even harder for the girl he didn’t even know the name of at first. You take a glimpse at the time realizing it was getting dark and you probably shouldn’t bother such a busy guy.

“Look man, I mean I don’t wanna waste your time, but...”

“Oh no worries, I’m free the rest of the day.” He lies just so he can get a few more minutes of hearing your serene voice.

“I know girls don’t usually do this but I was wondering if maybe we could get together outside the restaurant one day? Cause I do look a lot different outside my work clothes.”

His smile became even bigger with this newfound joy that erupted once you asked him. He chuckled at the last portion of you asking him out. He knew you’d look gorgeous in anything, even in Pajamas.

“I’d love to, (Y/N). What about Thursday?”

You smiled like an idiot once he said yes to meeting you. Your blood was rushing and you were filled with excitement.

“Yes, Thursday’s perfect.” You smiled as you answered.

“Great! see you on Thursday, (Y/N). Looking forward to it. Gotta get back to doing some work.” Tim answers back to you.

“Oh yes! See you then!” You hung up the phone and screeched like a giddy child. Unbeknownst to you he was practically doing the same thing. This was gonna be great.

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uzuitslittlemelody · 5 years ago

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Last letter: RengokuxF!s/o

Hello guys! This is my first ever KNY post on Tumblr so i’m a little scared and nervous af.. But i hope you guys will like it! Also please forgive me for the mistakes, english isn’t my first language :( You can read this imagine with a very sad song, i listened to Naruto’s ost Grief and Sorrow and Sadness and Sorrow to help me get in a sad mood 😅😂

Enjoy!

warning : angst, implied character death

The crow had just left after reporting you the sad news and giving you the slightly stained with blood envelope.

You couldn't believe what you heard and was so in complete denial that you almost asked the crow to repeat what he had just said because it was impossible, you misheard, right? You hurriedly and shakily opened the envelope that you held tight in your hands then instantly broke down crying reading the first words :

"Dear y/n, my beautiful princess. If you're reading this, it probably means that i'm dead, right?

I'm writing this while you're sleeping peacefully, the moonlight is slightly lighting the room and the bewitching features of your face that i can't get enough of. Every night when you fall asleep, i make sure to look at you and learn by heart each and every single little thing that compose your face. The mole under the right side of your lower lip, the rain of freckles that covers the bridge of your nose and beneath your eyes to stop where your cheekbones start, your ensorcelling, plump and tender lips, your long eyelashes, the neat shape of your eyebrows, the captivating e/c of your eyes in which i could get lost for hours and hours, even all the expressions you make, every detail is engraved in my head because we sure don't know what tomorrow holds.

I’ll never forget the 3 years we spent together, they were without a doubt the best years of my life. Every moment was special with you. When you combed my hair every night, when we trained together, pushing back our limits, when we kissed and you looked at me so fondly, when we made love and your cheeks got flushed from the pleasure, the way you slept hugging me with your head laying on my chest, when you cooked for me and made my favorite dish, every letter we sent each other, every smile, every laugh, even every argument. The baths we took together, the way you hugged me so tight when you or i would return from a mission, or when we would spend our mornings in bed, when we would drink tea every afternoon and you would invite Sanemi over every time you made ohagis. I had a memorable life thanks to you y/n.

As we made love tonight, you broke down crying and begged me to stay, it was the first time you cried because you didn't want me to go and i almost gave in, i was so close but having accepted the mission already, i couldn't back-out at the last minute. So as a way to say sorry and make the most of our last night together, i worshiped your body, your heavenly hot and irresistible body that i know as well as my own. Your soft skin that glows so beautifully under the sunlight, all your curves that i adore so much, your neck that i love to mark, your intoxicatingly sweet smell, your long, graceful legs wrapped around my waist while i thrusted in you, i wanted to feel every single part of you.

And I'm sorry baby, i'm so very sorry, I really wanted to spend an eternity with you, an eternity and even more, but seems like our fate has decided otherwise. We talked about marriage, having kids, buy a new house far from here and spend our old days together until the very end. That's what our future was supposed to be like, so dreamy and perfect, filled with pure love and bliss and, oh god, i'm sorry it can't be happening.

My heart had never felt so heavy writing one of the numerous goodbye letters that are supposed to be delivered to you in case i die. I wrote one before each mission i was assigned to, just ask Senjuro and he'll give them to you as well as some other things, he knows where i keep them. Also please take care of my little brother, he loves you so much and look up to you a lot. Tell him i love him and that i regret not being able to spend some more time with him. And y/n i'm begging you, don't hold any grudge against my father whatever he might say about me. He suffered a lot and i forgave him long ago for everything he's done. Tell him i said to take care of himself.

We're getting to the last part of this letter soon and my darling please remember this, you have to live, you have to enjoy your life to it's fullest. I want you to forget about me, be happy, find the love of your life, get married, have children (even though it hurts to know it won't be with me), die old and overflowing with joy, I wouldn't be able to rest properly knowing that you refuse to be happy because i'm gone.

There is one last thing i want you to know my love. I wanted this to be one of my last missions so i could focus on you and our future, that's why i had decided to ask you to marry me as soon as i returned..I cannot accomplish this but please, I at least want you to accept this ring as a last memory of me. Oh what i would to stay by your side forever, you the love of my life that i adore. Though we couldn't finish this life together, i hope we'll find each other in another lifetime.

It’s now time for me to say goodbye y/n, there are so many things i wish i could say to you but i can’t bring myself to find the strenght to as it is already so hard for me to write this letter. I’ll always remember you and everything you did for me. I love you with my whole heart and soul my light in the dark, the flame that kept me going.

Set your heart ablaze my love!! I’ll be watching you from above.

- Your dear Kyo."

You let the ring fall out of shock, letting it roll on the floor until it collided with whatever piece of furniture that was in the bedroom, you couldn't even bring yourself to care. Your hands were shaking uncontrollably and tears streamed down your face. Your heart ached so much that you could barely even breath. You felt empty inside aside from overwhelming sadness and pain, nothing animated you at that moment. You stayed seated in the same position for what seemed like hours, as if you had lost consciousness, barely processing what just happened. When reality slowly overtook you, you let out a harrowing cry of despair and cried your heart out.

The other pillars came to your house rushing as soon as they heard the bad news, they tried staying strong in front of you but you knew that they were deeply hurt by the loss of one of their friends. You were inconsolable for days and days, as you had to accept the fact that you had to live the rest of your life without the man who made yours better and loved you like no one else ever did.

Hope you guys liked it! Don’t hesitate to tell me what you think and if you anything that could be improved, please point it out to me :)

I wanna thank @stumpys-bunny a lot for kindly giving me some advice and inspiring me but also giving a try at reading this, thank you so much it means a lot! 😭❤

#rengoku kyoujurou #rengoku kyojuro x reader #angst #kny x reader #kny imagines #kyojurou x reader #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kimetsu no yaiba fanfic #kny writing #kny fanfic

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inknose · 5 years ago

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mdzs read diary part IV, the end

It’s inspiring how much self care wwx is gonna finally get now that his husband will go along with whatever he does, so he’s gotta look out for lwj’s well being if not his own. that is emphatically the STUFF

dragging my hands down I face as I read this, after all these chapters of getting up close and personal with ghouls bleeding from every orifice, slaying ancient beasts, rebelling against the entire cultivation world, the two of them are absolutely paralyzed by middle school crush sleepover math

chicken

he actually drew kissy doodles .... he....

IDK I THINK I JUST DOCUMENTED THIS PART CUZ I WAS STILL SCREAMING you cant expect me to have very useful things to say at this point

this is torture you are both so mushy you are so GONE

This part really stood out to me, it’s an attitude I feel like wwx implies with his inner narration a few times but most clearly says here: he’s not one for allowing himself to exaggerate how bad his circumstances are/could be even a little bit - he’s already lived through some extreme low points and found a way to keep going, so he never makes sweeping statements about what he couldn’t live without (Inner JingYi: you’re supposed to say you’d be lost without him here!!!) Instead he seems to accept as a given that being alive doesn’t guarantee him any pleasantness or joy at all, and as a result his feelings toward being in TRUE LOVE are surprisingly pragmatic, but also colored with such gratitude. There are a lot of things in the novel that struck me, like this, as being just a little to the left of familiar tropes/sentiments, and were more touching for it. Whether it be the influence of culture difference as opposed to what I’m used to reading in most western romance stories, or MXTX’s unique outlook, or a combination of both, it was really refreshing and made me pause over it. Not “I can’t imagine living without you” but “I could be living without you, but instead I get to be with you and I think that’s the best thing that could happen.”

ADJFDKFJ THE UST BEING SO STRONG THAT EVEN THE VILLAIN COMMENTS ON IT IN THE MIDDLE OF EXECUTING HIS EVIL PLANS IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT WILL NEVER FAIL TO MAKE ME LAUGH MY ASS OFF. hes like god damn! here I thought I had problems

it was at this moment that I realized we were doing this Now... I’m still recovering. What a scene. I am so glad I saw the most incredible fanart soon afterwards, bc the fact that someone has already drawn a perfect comic of this part means I don’t have to

I love you so much, you are so annoying, you are perfect... I like how he’s been experiencing openly requited love for all of ten minutes but he’s already figured out how to weaponize it to piss people off

doing!!! his!!! job!!!!!

ahh... it’s a really good story. JGY is a great character. One of the most interesting differences for me between drama watching vs. novel reading experience is that without an actor to bat his vulnerable doe eyes at you and smile faintly with his cute dimples, the book does not go much out of its way to try to lull the reader into a false sense of security around him or *endear* him to you the way the show does. But just by seeing events through wei wuxian’s POV, its still enough to evoke pity or understanding towards him. The overall impression is a bit more detached though, there’s less emphasis on the spectacle of how he could manipulate everyone closest to him and more of a general feeling of resigned tragedy that everyones the worst on this bitch of an earth.

I CANNOT DEAL WITH YOU FOR EVEN ONE MORE SECOND!!!!

I clearly paused to take note of less and less parts at the end & the extras due to: a) too excited to reach the end b) too spicy to photograph and c) too sleepy cuz I kept reading in the middle of the night. but I absolutely took the time for Bro We Are Teens appreciation corner:

I’d absolutely read 40 more extra chapters of their monster-of-the-week field trip antics.

god... poor Jin Ling now basically has to deal with divorced parents that talk shit about each other to him whenever he is saying with one of them. except they are both his uncles. just a disasterhood of all uncles from start to finish. AUUUGH wei wuxian and jiang cheng have fucked me up completely, I dream of them reconciling but I also REFUSE to believe it would ever be easy. let me know if theres a fanfic that absolutely tortures you for decades before they hug

HAHAHA oh no this man ain’t making it to immortality thats for damn sure. HE’S JUST GONNA TRY AS HARD AS HE CAN HIS WHOLE LIFE NOT TO LOOK AT HIM BUT THEYRE *MARRIED* SDLKFJSF ohhhh it’s too funny, like... the mundane domestic family drama IN the fantastical swords and sorcery setting is what really ratchets up these things from amusing to fucking hilarious I think

aaaa the end... final random thoughts? No not final, I would like to please keep discussing at length and exhaustively, all the time please - CQL has gotta be one of the best TV adaptations I’ve seen. ANY adaptation of anything would be lucky to be so good!! reading the novel has just made me appreciate it even more.

- I don’t think I can do justice to what I find most fascinating about comparing the two versions briefly, to do that I need to get drunk and ramble at my friends for hours but... the condensed version is something like this. Really all the significant differences between the two versions (besides the ones which can be attributed to censorship and therefore aren’t worth discussing) are a side effect of the structure of how the story is told - there’s barely anything changed arbitrarily. Aside from having a cold opening, the drama sticks to a very linear version of the story, and I think for a TV show or film, that’s probably the best way to do it. We see everything, we get shocked and tricked and betrayed and surprised along with the characters, we feel the biggest impact at the climactic scenes having experienced all the build-up. The novel on the other hand is not only much more non-linear in WHEN we learn bits and pieces of information, but that information is also obfuscated under wei wuxian’s multiple layers of Unreliable Narratoritis, which are as follows: 1) difficulty remembering things because of personality/avoiding painful memories/actual memory loss, 2) No Homo Goggles still on, and 3) a wry sense of humor that makes the reader unsure of how much they can trust his attitude toward things, especially near the beginning. The experience of reading is a puzzle the reader has to mentally piece together through all of the above listed camouflage, and the puzzle itself is a three-sided mystery: One - How Bad of a guy was Wei WuXian really, and how exactly did all the bad stuff in his life go down; Two - wangxian epic pride & prejudice gambits; Three - political murder mystery. (I love stories like this btw... though I fully admit I’m glad I watched first this time bc it might have taken me a long time to tackle otherwise.) Because of this, where the drama wants to pull you in and submerge you in all the most potent emotional parts, the novel in direct contrast deliberately side-steps around these things and asks that you hurt yourself by filling in the blanks. In fact the more intense emotions and painful memories involved, whether it be his relationship with jiang yanli, his DEATH, the darkest days of war times etc, the more the novel evasively withholds details. I actually really like both styles of storytelling but each one is obviously way better suited to its medium. ANYWAY.... THATS BASICALLY WHERE MY BRAINS AT WHILE IM READING GAY SWORD WIZARD BOOKS

- The extras are so saturated with domestic married bliss that it’s a good thing I stopped taking pictures because I’d just take a picture of every page. this is too much for me to take... I did jump the gun a few times and read a few fanfics while I was still mid-read of the book (I tried to hold out but alas I am mortal) and at one point after finishing I was like “wow what fic was it in where lwj says something cute and wwx kisses him in public but they’re in the corner of the restaurant so no one really sees... OH NO WAIT that was actually in there.” and ... and that’s the LEAST OF IT... *stares into the distance* theyre married wow

- I ofc couldn’t help but see a few vague blogs beforehand so honestly I was braced for something like, wildly ooc for the sake of porn to happen in the extras... I definitely appreciate how the incense burner porn interludes could be uhhh a lot for many people and not my personal cup of tea in terms of smut however [here follows the words of a poisonous frog who has dwelt her whole life in the rainforests of BL] the concept is also surprisingly SWEET SDFLKJF like wwx sees lan wangji’s darkest mixed-up violent teenage fantasies and he’s just like aww babe you had a crush on me!! just... good for them

- I swear I’m not gonna rehash every cute married thing they do but wei wuxian grading papers in the tub........................rEALLY GOT ME

- I want to Draw - ok thats enough if I keep going I’ll just write “wei wuxian grading papers in the tub” seven more times probably

#mdzs readthru #this obviously has many spoilers

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xtrashmammalstefx · 5 years ago

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My Joy Was Complete (Joe Mazzello x Reader x Gwilym Lee)

WARNINGS: Smut, mild cursing, and a dash of feels

You know when you meet someone so far beyond your expectations that you don’t even stop and think that they would ever look your way? That’s sort of what it felt like when I met Gwilym. I swear if ever there was a man too good to be human it was him. Not only because he was impossibly beautiful but because on the inside where it counts he was absolutely stunning. Sweet, kind, and just everything I’ve always been told to look for in a man.

Problem was that while he was extraordinary in every sense of the word I was not. I was plain from head to toe with [Y/ H/ C] and [Y/E/C]. My skin was [Y/S/C] and held a lot of excesses (or so I believed) in the hip, butt, and breasticles area. I hardly ever wore revealing clothes thanks to mother nature marking up my skin with cellulite and whatnot. When not working as a production assistant, I am at home either reading, eating, scrolling through Tumblr, or watching an endless amount of TV and movies. In other words, I’m what most people would describe as boring.

So I didn’t think Gwil would ever waste his time on someone like me. And yet he did…

I met him on the set of Bohemian Rhapsody where I helped with whatever needed my assistance. I tried to stay out of the actors’ way since they were busy and their roles were anything but small. I was already a fan of Rami, Joe, and Ben (having watched Night at the Museum, Jurassic Park, and X-Men Apocalypse over a million times as well as The Social Network and Mr. Robot). I hadn’t really heard of Gwil though and had planned on googling him later on (purely out of curiosity and not fangirl related reasons). I was helping set up the amps for the Live Aid scene when I heard the most gentle voice.

“Hello there,” I looked over and found Gwilym in full costume smiling at me.

“Oh, uh, don’t mind me. I’m just helping set things up here for you and the, um, others,” I said nervously.

“Relax love none of us bite,” he said.

“Hard,” Ben said walking by on his way to the drums.

“He’s really taking his role to heart isn’t he?” I laughed.

“I’d say so yeah but then again we all are,” Gwil said chuckling with me and my god was his laugh so sweet it wasn’t fair. I actually mentally shouted: I GIVE UP! THIS MAN IS PERFECT! “I’m Gwilym Lee by the way.”

“Y/N,” I said.

“So is this your first movie Y/N?” he asked.

“Mmm no,” I said. “I worked on The Social Network, and uh…”

“Thought I knew you from somewhere,” Joe said passing by to collect his bass. “Nice to see you again Jelly Bean!”

“You too Beer Belly,” I said quickly patting his belly which was actually a little flatter since we last met. He let out an almost Pillsbury DoughBoy type of giggle. “Still ticklish I see.”

“Shuddup,” he muttered.

“Jelly Bean?” Gwil questioned.

“We worked long hours even on that set. Sometimes I would get severe hunger pains so I always kept a bag of jelly beans on hand to replenish myself. Joe kept stealing them of course which is why he gave me the nickname Jelly Bean,” I explained. “And I really need to learn to shut up. Um, I’ll just…”

“No no, it’s fine. I like hearing you talk,” he said. “You have such a lovely voice… and that sounded far more creepy than I thought it would. I am so sorry.”

“No harm no foul,” I said.

He continued to talk to me while I worked and then when filming commenced I watched in awe from the side stage as he and the others gave the most iconic concert a new life. Of course, now that Joe remembered who I was he insisted on having me around at all times which was fine by everyone else, especially Gwil.

After filming wrapped up and we all went our separate ways we swore we’d always be in each other's lives and promised to always keep in contact. Which we did. About a month or so after filming wrapped my apartment was flooded and I wound up moving in with Joe who was in dire need of a friend himself (his father had just passed after a long battle with cancer). That first night I unpacked my stuff in the guestroom and spent the rest of the day and the night holding Joe as he wept.

“It’s okay Joey,” I cooed him. “Just let it out, honey.”

Joe didn’t really talk to anyone for a while and because I was concerned for him neither did I. One night as I passed his room to get a drink of water from the kitchen, I heard him moan and whimper. I peeked my head in and saw him writhing as a nightmare held him captive in his own head. I sighed and walked over to his bed. “Joe,” I shook him. “Joe, wake up it’s only a dream. JOE!”

His eyes flew open and he gasped. He sat up trying to catch his breath. Suddenly his whole body began to shake. “Joey,” I muttered enveloping him in my arms.

He cried into my shoulder. Sobbing until there was nothing left. I held him there for a while until I felt his head start to shift and his lips touch the skin of my neck. “What are you..?”

He didn’t answer just peppered me in kisses in a trail leading up to my lips. I would’ve stopped him… I should have stopped him but… the moment his lips touched mine everything seemed to go away. And I melted into him.

After a while, we were lying on his bed, our clothes everywhere but on our bodies. He kissed my breasts flicking my nipple with his tongue. I moaned feeling as though I could live in that moment forever. A few more intimate kisses later his tip ghosted my entrance.

“I’ve been waiting for you my whole life,” Joe muttered. I didn’t know what to say that. All I knew was that my body ached for him at that moment.

“Me too,” I said brushing his cheek with my hand.

He sighed. “I love you.”

“I-” I started feeling him push his tip in. “I love you too.”

He pushed the rest of his length in stretching me and making me gasp. He cursed under his breath and started to thrust. The feeling of him moving inside me was indescribable. My nails practically dug themselves into his back as he moved and after a while, they began to explore him. My left hand found its way to his ass and gave it a nice firm squeeze making him groan.

I don’t know how long we lasted only that it felt like a lifetime. Eventually, the tension building up in my lower belly became too much. My back arched, my toes curled, and I felt myself tighten around his length. A loud moan escaped my mouth as I came all over his length. I held onto him still, body trembling, as he continued to thrust into me. His movements were now sloppy and suddenly he was twitching inside me. He moaned and cursed as he filled me with his seed. He then collapsed on me, body quivering. He kissed my swollen lips once more before pulling himself out and taking the empty space beside me.

I woke up the next morning sore but in bliss. A part of me wanted to stay in that bed forever but then…

Zzz zzz…

My phone buzzed from where I’d left it on the nightstand (I was going to do some late night creeping on Tumblr while I drank my water last night) and the screen flashed revealing a text… from Gwil.

“How are things, love?”

Shit.

I groaned and quickly texted back. “Just woke up. Give me a few to get my brian working.”

“Your brian?”

“FUCK I MEANT BRAIN! STUPID AUTOCORRECT!”

“Lol.”

I sighed and put my phone back on the nightstand. Just then I felt the bed shift and an arm draped itself over me.

“Morning baby,” Joe muttered.

“Morning,” I muttered. He pecked me on the lips.

“I’d say we have a little morning sex but I am completely raw down there so…”

“And I’m completely sore down there so…” We laughed at our misery.

Joe sighed. “That was one of the best nights of my life.”

“Me too,” I said. “I’m pretty sure you just put all of my ex’s to shame.”

He laughed. “You know what? I’m making you breakfast in bed!”

My eyes grew wide with terror. Rule number one when living with Joe Mazzello: Don’t trust him with the fucking stove!

“JOE NO!” I said running after him quickly shrugging on my shirt and shorts from the night before.

Things were different after that. Joe and I went out on dates, had even more sex in various places around the house, and were just happy to be with one another. Still, there was a nagging feeling deep inside me that wondered if I had done the right thing. After all, I still had feelings for someone else.

Gwil and I continued to chat and admittedly it changed quite a bit when Joe and I announced our relationship to the world. Never has my phone blown up with so many ‘What the fuck?’ texts before. Most of the texts from our friends said the same thing. ‘I thought maybe you and Gwil might get together.’ Which didn’t help the nagging feeling feel any better.

Premiere weekend finally arrived a little over a year later and that’s when things got complicated. Gwil and Ben flew in for the big night and had planned to stay for a few days so we could all hang out as a group for old times sake.

Gwil and I were completely awkward around each other but we did our best to conceal it. After the premiere, we all gathered at the hotel Ben and Gwil were staying at for drinks.

I remember Gwil sat as far away from me as possible the whole time we were there and hardly spoke to me. It hurt but I understood. Again the nagging feeling pounded in my head.

I thought a lot about him throughout his stay, and he continued to pull further and further away from me. It hurt me.

So on the morning of his second to last day in the states, I texted him.

“We need to talk.”

“Ben’s out sightseeing all day with Joe if you wanna come by.” He texted back.

No sooner had Joe gone for his date with Ben that I left our apartment and started for the hotel. At his room, I only had to knock twice before he answered. “I get why you’ve been avoiding me,” I said.

“Um come in,” he stepped aside.

I did and collapsed on the sofa. “I am such a massive bitch. I can’t believe I would actually treat you so horribly.”

“Love, don’t do that to yourself,” he said sitting beside me. “If anyone’s at fault here it’s me.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I should have made my move before it was too late,” he said. “I should have made my move but I didn’t… because honestly, I was scared.”

“YOU were scared? I’m the one that was suddenly getting attention from this inhumanly handsome guy who could do so much better than me,” I said.

“I can’t,” he muttered looking away.

The nagging feeling came back stronger and it was telling me I needed to be closer. So I slid over until I was snuggled up against him. “What are we gonna do?” I whispered.

“I dunno,” he said.

I sighed and breathed in the scent of his cologne. It was every bit as perfect as he was. Before I could even think of stopping myself I was peppering his neck with kisses.

“Love… don’t… I⸺.” But I continued to kiss and suck just below where his beard started. He let out a deep moan. It made me want more. So I placed my hand on his cheek and brought his mouth down to mine.

His hand rested on my hip as he kissed me with a passion I never knew before. I ran my fingers through his hair deepening it until he let out a subtle growl. “You drive me mad, woman.”

He then picked me up and carried me to the bedroom of the suite. We wasted no time in getting rid of our clothes. I noticed differences in his body compared to Joe’s soft form; right down to his length which like the rest of him was thick and long… definitely had two inches or so on Joe. After eyeing him a while I looked up and found he’d been doing the same. He then got on top of me, line himself up, and smiled that damn smile that would weaken even the sanest of people.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said before pushing in.

From then on there was no stopping us. Gwil thrust and kissed me every chance he had. Being the ever generous lad he at one point sat up so I could ride him and just take charge for a moment. As I did he moaned and held me tight kissing my breasts.

“Mmm Gwil,” I moaned. “Gwil I’m⸺ HNNG!”

“Hold on love,” he said before lying us back down. He thrust even harder then hitting me right on my sweet spot.

“FUCK!” I blurted. “I-I think I’m gonna⸺!”

I screamed, my toes curled, and I clung to Gwil as if my life depended on it. I tightened around him, covering him in juices. His thrusts slowed down then and grew sloppy. Then with a groan and a curse he twitched inside me.

Breathless he pulled himself out once there was nothing left but stayed on top of me. “I love you Y/N… so much.”

“I love you too,” I said, feeling the tears come.

After a good cry of frustration, we wound up having another round before I made my way back home with my head hung in shame.

Joe wasn’t home yet so I took a shower and started on dinner. Gwil texted me while I was cooking just as Joe entered the front door.

“I miss you already.” He texted.

“BABE YOU HOME?!” Joe shouted.

“In the kitchen!” I shouted back while texting back a quick ‘Me too’ to Gwil.

“Who are you talking to?” Joe asked as he approached for a kiss.

“Gwil just texted me to remind me that I promised to bring a bowl of my famous guac tomorrow.” I lied.

“Ooh you mean the Seximole?” he said growing very excited. It was named that by moi because everyone who tried it wound up having a loud foodgasm.

“As if there’s any other,” I said.

“Mmm I wanna come just thinking about it,” Joe moaned.

“Ugh!” I gasped. “Are you using me for my guac Joseph?”

“Maybe,” he smirked. “It is basically sex for the mouth.”

“Amazing my lover would rather fuck my guac than me,” I scoffed at him.

“Can you blame me?” he laughed. He then leaned in and kissed my neck. “Don’t worry, I still love you more.”

“Love you too,” I said. “Now go shower. You smell like ass and day-old cologne.”

He did and I got back to dinner and Gwil.

Gwil left a couple days later and we agreed that with time we could figure us out. I hated it and I could see he did too but it was the only plan we had so far.

A couple months later during Oscar weekend, I woke up feeling pretty shit. I threw up my entire dinner and scared the shit out of Joe. I brushed off as being pre-Oscar jitters.

“Babe the jitters don’t make you throw up,” he said worried out of his mind but I assured him with some Pepto I would be fine.

Gwil and Ben had flown in for the big show and Gwil was quick to notice my sickly complexion. “You feeling alright love?” he asked once we were in the shared limo.

“Yeah just, um, having a bad case of the jitters,” I said feeling Joe’s eyes on me silently calling bullshit.

The show wound up going amazingly. We didn’t win the big one but we won plenty and Rami got the recognition he so rightfully earned. I’m pretty sure even Freddie would’ve been proud of how the night went.

Again Gwil and Ben stayed a few days to hang. My sickness never really went away though. Even Lucy was worried now but for a whole different reason…

“Y/N when did you last have your monthly?” she asked once she and I were alone.

“Why?” She looked at me with her ‘really’ face. “Oh…”

She collected her purse and took me by the hand. “We’re going out for a bit don’t wait up,” she told the guys.

We went to the nearest drug store where I got a pregnancy test. Obviously taking it at home was a no go so Lucy and I locked ourselves in the store bathroom. She turned around while I did my thing and did her best to comfort me as we waited.

Sure enough, when I picked up the test a few minutes later staring back at me was a pink plus sign. “Oh, God…” I broke down crying.

“Y/N what’s wrong? Isn’t this a good thing?” she asked. I nodded. “Then why are you crying like it’s the worst thing in the world?”

I then told her everything the best I could. Gwilym, the hotel, and everything. “I don’t know what to do Lucy. It could be either of theirs.”

She sighed.

“Well you should at least tell Joe first,” she said. “Then figure it out from there.”

I shoved my test in my pocket. Wiped away my tears and stood up. Back home I made a beeline for our bedroom needing to be away from everyone for a bit while I figured things out.

After a while, there was a knock on the door. “Babe?”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Can I come in?” Joe asked.

I sighed. “It’s your room too babe.”

He opened the door and walked over to the bed laying down beside me. “You gonna tell me what’s up or are you gonna keep me in suspense? ‘Cause, to be honest, I’m going slightly mad over here.”

“Letting the mystery percolate does sound tempting,” I teased.

“Babe,” he groaned.

“Fine fine,” I laughed. “How do you feel about kids?”

“I love them and I can’t wait to have them. Why?”

I took a deep breath and took his hand placing it on my stomach. “Because there’s a little Mazzello in here and I don’t want to do this alone.”

“What?!” Joe jumped up. “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! BABE!”

He tackled me and smothered me in kisses.

“Joe you’re crushing your child,” I laughed.

“Oops sorry!” he said jumping out of the bed. “Come on we gotta tell everybody!”

“Wait everyone’s still here?”

“Duh! You scared the shit out of them you dork!” he said taking off towards the living room. I barely set a toe into the room when he shouted. “GUYS I’M GONNA BE A DADDY!”

Everyone cheered and congratulated us except for Gwil who looked at me with an arched eyebrow. I gave a subtle nod that screamed: Yeah it might be yours.

“I’m getting a coke,” I said. “Anyone want anything?”

Ben requested a beer, Lucy being the best girlfriend ever requested water (so as to not tempt the mama to be), and Rami and Joe said they were fine. I was in the kitchen for only a second before Gwil entered.

“So there’s a baby,” he said. I nodded. “And it might be mine?”

I nodded again. “We won’t know for certain until the birth… I guess.”

“So that’s the plan then? Just wait?”

“What else can I do? I can’t very well do the tests without Joe finding out and lord knows he is going to be at every appointment until the big day.”

“But it could be the start of our family I can’t just do nothing,” he said.

“I know,” I muttered.

Rami walked in then immediately killing the conversation.

In truth, I honestly had no idea what I would do. I stuck with Joe who was more than excited about being a dad. He even asked me to marry him during my eighth month of pregnancy. I said yes but I still had days when I missed Gwil. Finally, after nine long months, my water broke.

Joe and I were in the hospital for hours. The others were busy with other projects so they couldn’t be there. It was probably for the best though. Eventually, the time came for me to push. I heaved and heaved. Suddenly my cries were replaced with that of my baby. “It’s a boy!” The doctor declared.

He placed the baby on top of me so that I could greet him with a hug and a kiss on his little head. I did just that and immediately felt exhaustion take over. “Y/N? Y/N!”

I heard Joe shout before everything went black.

I woke up sometime later but nobody realized it right away. “How long has she been..?”

Gwil asked unable to finish. What in the hell is he doing here? I wondered.

“Just a few hours and two days,” Joe sighed. “She was out before the other baby came.”

“Other baby?”

“Fraternal twins,” Joe said. “Another boy. We were, uh, going to surprise everybody.”

Gwil sat down beside me and I felt him slip his hand in mine.

“I don’t blame you,” Joe said. “For loving her, and… for doing what you did.”

“W-What do you mean?” Gwil asked.

“Ben forgot his wallet that day during your visit for the premier. I heard her voice coming from your room. Didn’t think anything of it until the voice turned into… other noises.”

“Mate I am so sorry,” Gwil cut him off. “I swear neither of us meant to hurt you. Hell, she loves you too much to ever… but…” Gwil sighed.

“But you love her,” Joe finished. “I get it.”

I then heard footsteps go across the room and a shuffling noise.

“Here,” Joe took more steps. “I thought it was only right that you met him.”

“Why?” Gwil asked.

“Because he’s yours,” Joe said. “I asked around while she’s been out and it’s rare but it happens.”

Gwil’s hand left mine and there was more shuffling. He sighed. “He looks like I did in my baby pictures.”

“He’s beautiful,” Joe said.

I then heard as Gwil placed a small kiss on the baby’s head. “So what now?”

“Well, we’d already agreed that Rami would be Joey’s godfather. I figured it would be only appropriate if you be his,” Joe said. “She named him Brian by the way. Brian Gwilym Mazzello.”

“Mate… you are being too kind,” Gwil said.

“Nonsense,” Joe said. “It was the least I could do. Besides I know deep down it’s what she would want.”

“It is,” I muttered.

Joe darted to me, tears streaming down his face. “Hey,” he whispered kissing me. “Oh thank God I thought I lost you.”

I sighed. “That’ll never happen and you know it.”

I then looked over at Gwil holding our baby. “Hey.”

“Hello love,” he said bringing the baby to me. “I believe you have yet to meet him.”

I took the baby into my arms. “Hi Bri,” I whispered. “Where’s Joey?”

“Oh uh,” Joe went and got the other baby. He placed him beside his brother on my lap.

And for the first time in months, everything felt right.

“I love you both so much,” I whispered before looking up. “I love all of you.”

And I always would.

For at that moment my joy was complete.

#joe mazzello #gwilym lee #reader #imagine #oneshot #BoRhap #bohemian rhapsody

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theseventhhex · 6 years ago

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felicita Interview

felicita

Photo by Kacha Kowalczyk

‘hej!’ is the hauntingly hyperreal first album proper by felicita, for PC Music. Arriving 5 years since felicita’s beguiling ‘(>’.’)>#’ and ‘Frenemies’ releases took us by surprise with their lacquered textures and uncannily poignant arrangements, ‘hej!’ claims their place in the same dimensions as Arca, Sophie and 0PN with a highly personalised expression of hyperreal modernity. Polish folk, trance, trap and classical chamber music are melded into the same mutant body of music with deceptively effortless appeal that’s both pop-wise and avant, charming and at times unsettling through its juxtapositions of new and old… We talk to felicita about carefree lyrics, working with Caroline Polachek and finding joy in daily life…

TSH: What sort of emotions did you feel upon applying the finishing touches to your debut album ‘hej!’?

felicita: Relief and uncertainty. I went for a walk.

TSH: Was it an intentional decision for certain reasons for you to make this body of work a slight escape route from the music that you have done before?

felicita: Yes. I wanted to build something entirely from scratch.

TSH: Tell us more about how you often find a creative spark after spending hours in the studio and often getting so exhausted…

felicita: I’m a very stubborn person. Creative sparks can fly whenever; the long hours are more about finding ways to make them work.

TSH: Also, can you give us an insight into the themes and narrative explorations of your Polish heritage on this release?

felicita: hej! is a reflection of a specific diasporic reality, passed down through Poles displaced to cities like London. Gradually a heavy nostalgic aesthetic tone develops, exaggerating and heightening into fantasy things that were once everyday life. I consider myself a magical realist in the classical sense.

TSH: What is it about carefree lyrics that you gravitate towards?

felicita: I’ve always intensely disliked Bob Dylan. Maybe the answer is in there somewhere.

TSH: In what way(s) did your childhood obsession with movement come into play with this record?

felicita: I grew up playing sports, and then dancing in clubs, but for some reason have never felt compelled to make ‘functional’ dance music. Physical movement as it exists outside of prepared choreography and repetitive patterns appeals to me the most. Any series of human or machine actions could become a new dance, or could be transcribed to form the notes to a new melody.

TSH: You had the super-gifted Caroline Polachek on board for the track ‘Marzipan’, what was it like to work with her?

felicita: Caroline is the type of person who throws themselves into everything they do with equal intensity and a burning desire to make it the best it can be. She also has a fascinating musical notation system she developed as a child which involves crunching any melody she’s learning into the scale of C, whilst internalising it in the scale it’s actually in. Written down, it looks like a strange secret code language. I think it developed from learning to play on a toy keyboard that had a simple ‘transpose key’ button.

TSH: What sort of influences and thoughts do you draw on for a track like ‘Coughing up Amber’?

felicita: Tracks like ‘Coughing up Amber’ and ‘Mosaic Genetics’ are like miniature ecosystems, in which all elements are co-dependent on their interactions than determining changes in structure. Making them can be like trying to balance a balloon on a needle. My long-term goal is to make high-functioning pop music in this way, everything absorbed into the system, lovingly designed, gracefully piping.

TSH: Did you identify ‘Mosaic Genetics’ early on as the album closer?

felicita: ‘Mosaic Genetics’ was actually the last track I added to ‘hej!’, though it was the first thing Caroline and I recorded together. I’d up until then regarded it as an interesting experiment, but not something that would ever be released (the previous album closer of hej! had been an extended, minimal piano loop).

TSH: Do you feel restricted with your music making?

felicita: I rarely feel restrictions, but I often have the opposite issue, ‘everythingitis’, where I try and do too much, fill tracks with too much detail. The more I work, the closer I get to the core of the thing I’m trying to express. So in a sense my writing process involves actively moving towards restrictions.

TSH: Are there certain cultures and traditions that you feel seep into your music?

felicita: The Beatles and Japanese Onkyo music. The taste of sherbet after church. That’s about it.

TSH: What’s made you feel most content with the development of your career to date?

felicita: Perceiving it as a miniature glowing orb in the distance, surrounded by padded walls, whilst hearing Yundi Li play Chopin’s Prelude No.4 in E-Minor.

TSH: What brings about most joy and bliss for you in your daily life?

felicita: Family, friends and entertainment.

TSH: Finally, what is the best advice you’ve been given in recent times?

felicita: ‘You are not limited to this room; there are many rooms.....’

felicita - “marzipan (feat. Caroline Polachek)”

Hej!

#Interview #felicita #caroline polachek

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theonewiththefanfics · 7 years ago

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Stronger Than You Know (part 1)

Synopsis: For two years the Elvenking has been able to live in bliss after centuries of sorrow with his now-wife Y/N- a strongwilled human woman who is regarded as one of the most stubborn people anyone has ever met. But when darkness invades her heart to what measures will the people that love her go to, just to see the bright girl brought back to light once more?

Pairing: Thranduil x Reader

Genre: this is so full of fluff you’ll get cavities

Warnings: some sexy time implications

Word count: 4627

Part 2

Part 3- END

Thranduil couldn’t help himself as his slender fingers traced the outline of his wife's soft facial features. The sleek arch of her eyebrow, smoothly gliding over to her still closed eyelids that hid mesmerising Y/E/C pools. Over her nose lingering on the tip of it, right down to her cupid's bow as his thumb softly ghosted over the lips he got lost in every night, morning and throughout the day. He grazed her jawline and cheekbone before his fingers lightly touched her round ear, so different from his pointy elven one. Yes, the Woodland King himself had fallen for a human. A woman bestowed with immortality, but a human nonetheless. When they had first met she was accompanying Bard to a council meeting. Thranduil didn’t even notice her upon their greeting, not until a quarrel had started while discussing some strategy for another upcoming war. “How dare you treat me with such disrespect, firen?” he hissed the words to the girl. But to his surprise, she was not intimidated by the elf at all. “My respect needs to be earned and you haven’t done so. Show some to me and I shall grant some in return.” “Y/N,” Bard had gently grabbed her hand underneath the table, to try and tame the fire that threatened to spew over the lips of the woman. Thranduil’s eyes had widened at the statement. He couldn’t believe she would talk back to him like that. A mere mortal would disgrace him! But in the pit of his stomach and the back of his mind, something that had been slumbering for a long time had awoken and an incredible need to find out more about the fearless girl emerged.

That night they were holding a feast and of course, he expected who he know had learned was Y/N to attend. What he had not anticipated was the breath catching in his throat as she had descended the stairs. A dress made from the finest silks and fabrics clung to her every curve. Her gait and posture was almost ethereal as if hovering inches above the floor rather than walking upon it. If he hadn’t seen her non-pointed ears or had no inclination that she was a human, the girl could easily pass for an elleth. Her face was split in a smile that stretched from her one human ear to the other as her Y/E/C eyes roamed over the mass of people- elven, dwarf and human alike- and they glinted as her gaze caught where her friends stood around, bellowing laughter coming from the small circle. Her laughter echoed in response, through the ginormous chamber and even though it was filled to the brim with guests, to Thranduil it felt like the first time life had once again sprung in his kingdom. He watched her rush to her friends and throw her body onto Bard’s back. “Of course, she would be courted by him,” the King thought to himself as he made his way through the crowd. That weird feeling once again arose, this time accompanied by something bitter and unpleasant. Y/N bellowed another laugh and the King’s heart clenched with a longing he didn’t know could still overcome his body. It wasn’t jealousy of the happiness between Bard and the feisty girl, though it didn’t help in any shape or form. He had accepted the passing of his late Queen many centuries ago, even though the wound sometimes still bled, especially when he looked upon his son Legolas, the only thing she had left behind for him. No. This was his want to make the girl laugh like that, to grant her happiness with every step she took and make her worries disappear with every breath that went into her lungs. How could a human capture his heart like that in a time that spanned less than a full day? She was holding onto Bard’s shoulder, jumping up and down as they moved towards the large dining table where Thranduil himself had already sat down at the end of it. The crown of branches and berries atop his silver hair, the blue eyes turned into a steely gaze as he roamed over the girl’s body. “Oh, shut it, Bard!” she exclaimed in joy and the man had a matching smile plastered on his face. “You know I’m the best archer there is. Just because you’re technically older doesn’t mean you can do better than I.” “You have seen her shoot, Bard,” a dwarf that Thranduil’s memory recalled was named Kili, piped up. “And there is no one better than her with a sword." A smug grin appeared on the woman’s face. “Thank you, Kili. At least someone can admit the truth.” “All right,” the large man turned towards the girl. “You and me, tomorrow, when the sun dawns. One who hits the most targets wins.” “And what is the prize?” the smugness was still all over her face and Thranduil couldn’t help himself but smile at the overconfident girl. “The title of the best archer, of course.” “Pff!” she rolled her eyes, taking a seat right next to Bard’s left, two seats away from the King. She was so close, Thranduil could smell the scent of lavender and rosemary- no doubt the oils that had been added to her bath. “That I can claim right here right now. I need something tangible.” “Fine. When we get back to Dale I will take over cleaning your weapons for a week.” “Make it a month and we have a deal,” she extended an arm towards the man. “Prepare to lose,” his large palm clasped hers. “Darling, I’ve already won.” The feast had begun moments later, loud chatter quieting down as polite conversation eased throughout the room. The elven King couldn’t keep his eyes off the girl for long. She talked to everyone and anyone, but at the same time, when unpleasant comments about her or any of her companions grazed her ears… If looks could kill Thranduil suspected that the room would be on fire. Not long after, the slow and calm strings of the violins picked up their pace and people made their way onto the dance floor. She, of course, Bard’s hand in grasp went to the centre of the room and danced the night away. The King didn’t take off his gaze as the girl moved across the room, switching partners from humans to dwarves and to elves, a smile of pure content and happiness almost permanently carved onto the beautiful features. But then like a flash of lightning she was gone. Thranduil roamed his eyes over the crowded room, but her figure that had moved like a petal caught in the wind was nowhere to be seen. His heart sunk at the thought that she had retired with Bard, because even the simple presence of the girl elated his mood, but then his ice-blue eyes caught Bard himself dancing with an elleth. A gust of wind from an open balcony caught Thranduil’s attention, the almost see-through white curtains flapping in the gentle breeze and right there, away from the looks of everyone, her emerald green dress shone. “Excuse me,” he murmured to Lord Elrond and his son who had fallen in a conversation. His feet moved without a sound and the only indication that there was someone approaching Y/N was his kaftan’s shuffling over the stone floor. “Beautiful isn’t it,” he came to rest his elbows next to Y/N who was leaning on the intricately designed railing. “Probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” it came out more like a sigh as her Y/E/C orbs soaked in the view that was his kingdom. “I wanted to apologise for my words earlier,” it didn’t come easy for Thranduil to say that. “Is the Thranduil, the mighty elven King, the fearless warrior apologising? To me? A human?” a smirk made its way onto her lips. Oh, how he wanted to wipe it away by pressing his own mouth to hers, but the elf restrained himself. “Do not make me regret this decision,” he warned, but Y/N could hear the playful undertone and saw how he tried to hide a smile. She chuckled and reverted her gaze back towards the night sky and the city below. “Like I said- my respect needs to be earned,” she smiled at the King and the beauty of it took his breath away, “and now you’re getting there.” “Well, I’m pleased to hear I am in your good graces, Lady Y/N.” “Good? Not really. More so acceptable.” He snorted at that. He actually snorted, surprising himself with how at ease he felt around the girl. “And I’m not a Lady. Never have, never will be.” “Surely being Bard’s companion bestows the title upon you. He is the King of Dale, which means the Queen should be regarded no less than that.” The wide-eyed girl looked at Thranduil as if he suddenly had sprouted an elk head before bursting into a fit of laughter. She fell to the floor, clutching her stomach as her body trembled and shook with the force, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Oh- Gods,” she hiccuped trying to form a coherent sentence. “You,” hiccup, “think that I and B-Bard,” hiccup, “are together?” Another fit of laughter overtook her body and she wiped away the tears. “Oh, this is the most amusing," hiccup, "thing I’ve heard in a while. Oh my, will Bard’s mood elate after I tell him this.” Thranduil was utterly confused while looking at the woman. Her face was flushed red from laughing so hard and it looked like she was having trouble heaving herself up, hands clutching to the railing. “We are nothing more than friends. I could call him a best friend, he’s been there for me every step of the way, he’s almost my family, but together, ohhh,” she wiped away a stray tear, and tried to compose herself. “Besides, he has his eyes set on another and she has my approval.” “But,” the King was stammering for words. Never in his life had he been at a loss of them. “You act so familiarly with him, you act as if you two are man and wife.” “We’re friends. Very good ones at that. With us, humans,” she gently nudged the king’s elbow, emphasising the last word, “it’s different. A touch, a hug, a kiss- all of it can have different meanings.” “I know that,” he snapped exasperated, but at the same time a feeling of hope resurfaced. “Do you?” there it was again. That teasing smile that he just wanted to wipe away with the touch of his lips. “Then how come you haven’t noticed he never leaned in for a kiss? Or never whispered sweet nothings in my ear? Or never did anything apart from a friendly hug or teasing glance, unlike our dear friends Arwen and Aragorn have been doing from the moment they sat down?” Truth be told Thranduil had noticed those things, yet his mind immediately went to the conclusion that they must be married. He had seen how Bard looked at the girl, his eyes filled with love and pride, yet now, as he went over every second he’d seen the pair together, he couldn’t find any fragment, no bits or pieces where they would be acting as more than a brother and a sister. “And even if he had feelings that are more than the love you give to a friend or a family member, I wouldn’t be able to reciprocate. I couldn’t fathom loving someone like that and then watching them slowly wither away, grow old, while I myself don’t change.” There was inexplicable sadness in her tone. “What do you mean?” “I mean,” she huffed out, the cheery mood completely gone from her, “I’m immortal. When I was born I was given this gift… or more so a curse upon me. I do not know why. My parents never told me. I don’t know who did it, nor do I have any clue as to how they did it. All I know is that when the time comes, my friends will grow old, their hair will turn grey and they will die... and I’ll have to watch all of it, unable to stop it while I myself remain just as I am now.” Thranduil wanted to pull the girl close to him, to never let go, to whisper in her ear, that he’ll always be by her side if only she’d let him. “That’s why I fight, you know. That’s why the only constant I can rely on in this life is the notion that there will always be a war to participate in. And I guess that sort of soothes me as well.” Thranduil quirked a brow for Y/N to continue. “It makes me feel better about my life. It gives me purpose rather than wallowing in self-pity. I can make the world the children of my friends will live in a better place and I can help them make it safer…” The king reached out to pull Y/N’s palm into his own, to run his thumb over her smooth knuckles, but the moment was interrupted by an intoxicated Bifur yelling for Y/N to join them in the dance. “I’ll be there in a minute, save a dance for me.” Y/N chuckled as she watched her drunken friend waddle away. A small smile, that Thranduil saw was laced with sadness and longing played on her features. His pale fingers reached to brush away a strand of silky Y/H/C hair that was obscuring her face, but Y/N moved completely away from the balcony. “I should get back to the company before they physically drag me back inside.” Thranduil bowed to the girl, not just a simple incline of the head, but a full-on waist-deep bow. “It has been a pleasure to be in your company,” he smirked straightening up, “Lady Y/N.” The girl opened her mouth but pressed it together in an amused smile. “My King,” she said inclining her head as she swivelled around, the emerald green dress billowing like a leaf caught in the wind behind her. After that conversation, Thranduil set his mind to courting the spunky girl. The next morning after the feast she woke up to discover an incredible cerulean blue dress laid upon the end of the bed accompanied by an intricate Carnation wreath. Her appointed handmaiden upon seeing the flower crown had squealed like a madman and then furiously blushed. The elleth helped Y/N pull on the gown and positioned the petals so that her hair perfectly framed her features. When the girl had walked in for breakfast, everyone had stopped talking, all eyes averted on her. “Oh, don’t tell me I look that bad, I didn’t drink much,” she snickered making her way to the same seat she’d occupied at the time of the feast. “No, it is absolutely not that,” it was Bard who spoke up, “you look breathtaking.” A small blush rose to her cheeks as she started to pile food on her plate. “Yes, well all of that is thanks to a mysterious person who left this in my room.” She turned back to eating and slowly conversation once again started to echo through the hall. When Thranduil saw Y/N in the dress he’d made one of the maids lay out upon her bed and that she was, in fact, wearing the flower crown, the King knew right then and there that he’d marry the girl. The sleepless morning he’d spent trying to figure out what to do turned out to not be a bad thing at all. Only when the first light of the Sun glittered through the windows had Thranduil drifted off to dreams, where his late wife, the reason he started to dispel the idea of courting Y/N, had appeared. “My love, why do you do this to yourself, why not allow happiness make its way into your life, but rather succumb to sorrow?” she gently stroked the cheek of the elf. “I do not wish to betray you,” a tear rolled down his cheek and the beautiful elleth wiped it away. “Betray me how? By being happy? By allowing the light she has brought into your life once again shine brightly on the both of you? I wish nothing more than for you and Legolas to be filled with joy, so if you think that I’d be angry with you and your choice to bring happiness back into your life, then you never really knew your wife.” “But I couldn’t save you… how can I ever protect another when I wasn’t even able to come to your rescue?” “That, Meleth nîn, is what love comes with. The fear of not being there when your love needs you the most... But would you rather allow your heart to leap with happiness, or see the future you could have slip through the cracks of your fingers?” She gently caressed his face. “You have a chance most do not receive,” the late Queen pressed a gentle kiss to Thranduil’s forehead, “do not let it pass you by.” “Thank you,” Thranduil shuddered as he woke up, tears slipping down his cheeks. “Thank you, my love.” But as the week progressed it started to seem to him, his feelings were not reciprocated. They had gone on many walks together and spent hours talking not only about the wars, but just about themselves, yet Thranduil couldn’t quite get the grasp of what Y/N felt towards him. And right as the last day of their stay came by, which by then Thranduil had given up on the chance of having the girl by his side, she made her way into his study. “Okay, what is going on?” with arms on her hips, she looked like a tiny angry elk. “Why does everyone when I pass them by either sneer at me and tell me I’d never be good enough or run off giggling. It has been happening for the past week and the looks intensify when I’m with you, so my inkling is that you have some fault in this, Thranduil.” “Whatever do you mean?” he placed down the papers his eyes had been scanning moments before. “I don’t know, you tell me!” exasperation rang through the room. “Oh, and why the hell is everyone bowing and calling me a Lady? They all know I am not royalty, so what the bloody hell is going on?” And then it dawned on him. It wasn’t that Y/N didn’t have the same feelings, or he hoped that it wasn’t, she didn’t know the meaning behind the flower crowns she wore each day, specifically portraying a message of someone who courts another in the elven society. “Do you know what the flowers upon your head symbolise?” “What does the flower crown have to do with it?” “Everything,” the King took a deep breath as he moved closer to the girl, with each step explaining what the different crowns had meant. “The first day I gave you Carnations-“ “It was you?” He simply nodded. “They symbolise the pledge of love and promise of marriage.” Her breath hitched in her throat and Thranduil could only hope it was a good sign. “The next day,” he ebbed closer, “were Azaleas connoting for you to take care yourself for me.” “Then came the third crown with sunlit Daffodils, to show my longing and hope for a new start. Fourth in line came the Gillyflower- to match and show your beauty. A crown of Gardenias adorned your head on the fifth day, to show my affections through them even though I wished nothing but to shout it from the tops of the mountains. Yesterday you put a wreath of white Dittanys that I hoped would whisper in your ear of the love I hold for you…” They were now standing nose to nose. Y/N could feel his breath fanning over her face as she couldn’t stop looking into the eyes of the king. “And what does today mean?” It was barely a whisper. “The Amaranth symbolise immortality of my love for you.” The girl could only gulp as language escaped her mind. “You have captured my heart Y/N,” his trembling fingers grasped hers. They never shook and yet here the mighty elven King was scared to death of hearing the answer to what he thought was expressed to the fullest extent. “And my only hope is that the feelings I hold for you are returned.” She couldn't move, couldn’t speak only stare at the tall man above her. His palm removed a strand of hair that had fallen out from the woven plait that weaved around the crown. “But I do understand if you do n-“ Thranduil didn’t get the chance to finish the sentence as the girl pressed her lips against his. The King’s body went rigid from the initial shock, but it took him no more than a second to grab onto her waist and pull her body flush against his. Only when the pair was in dire need of air did they pull back from one another, their foreheads, however, remained together. “Would that mean, if I asked you to stay here, in the Woodland realm, after today, you would say yes?” “I don’t know,” a smirk crept upon her face, her eyes still closed, body relishing in the feeling of what just happened. “How do you say “maybe” with flowers?” that smirk grew as her Y/E/C met Thranduil’s blue ones. He smiled back at her and this time, he pressed his mouth to the girl’s, wiping the smile away like had wanted to do so many times.

The King smiled at the feeling of the memory, as his eyes once again roaming over the body of the girl who had become his wife not long after the confession. He leaned in closer, pressing a kiss to Y/N’s collarbone where a love bite already sat, marks of the activities they’d taken part last night. “Nooooo,” she groaned and turned her back to Thranduil, “too early. Back… sleep… need… go… to.” He couldn’t help but chuckle at his wife's behaviour. Truth be told, he knew that a day spent in bed was the least she deserved when his eyes caught the sight of the blue and pink camellia crown sitting on the bedside table. The same one he’d placed upon her head when she, Legolas and more guards went into the woods. The darkness had spread and so had the infectious spiders. Thranduil didn’t want Y/N to go, with how dangerous the forests had become, but he also knew, that she was an incredible fighter, rivalling the best of his kin. “I will come back, I promise,” she pressed a passion-filled kiss to his lips, “you can’t get rid of me that easy. It’ll take more than a few eight-legged beasts to do that.” “Stubborn are we?” he smiled down at the armour clad girl. “The most.” And know, after a week of cleaning out the woods, killing as many spiders as possible she was once again in his arms. Well, technically not anymore. Y/N had hogged the blanket moving to the furthest side of the bed, covering herself with the soft material so Thranduil could only see the top of her Y/H/C hair. “Meleth, it’s time to wake up, the Sun is already above the ground.” Her response was a string of incoherent words. “Petal, please,” he moved closer, removing the duvet and kissing another mark he’d left on her shoulder, a twin to the ones that were littered over her back and chest. “Sleep… you… now… me… kill… you… care,” those were the only words he could decipher that weren’t muffled by the pillow she had shoved her face in. “I have a whole day planned for us, Meleth nin. Just us, together.” With a groan Y/N turned to face her husband, one eye open, slightly squinting, trying to adjust to the morning light. “Then why can’t we spend it together… in bed… asleep?” Her warm palm roamed over Thranduil’s broad chest, resting upon where his heart beat a steady beat. “Because I wish to enjoy this beautiful day with my Queen by my side,” he murmured in the crook of her neck, pressing gentle kisses. “Hmm,” her fingers wove through the silvery hair that tickled her skin, “sometimes I curse the cruel fate, that made me marry you.” “Is that so?” his lips moved to glide across her jaw, “then why did you marry me?” “You know. Riches beyond belief, status as a Queen, a comfortable life,” her eyes opened fully to look at her husband, placing a strand of blond hair behind the pointy ear, “and you’re pretty nice to look at.” “So,” he kissed the girl on the lips, “you married me,” he accentuated every word with a press of his lips on hers, “just so you could be rich and have something pretty to wake up to in the morning.” “Yeah,” she let her tongue intertwine with his, “can’t seem to find any other reason as to why I’d marry someone who clearly has no regard for other people and their need for sleep.” “Mhmm,” they continued the lazy movements for some time before both of them needed to get a proper breath of air. “So,” he brushed his nose against hers, “breakfast?” “Uggghhhh,” Y/N groaned once again and buried herself in his chest. “Give me fifteen more minutes and I’ll be ready.’ “I’ll take your word for it,” Thranduil kissed his wife once more before getting up and pulling a simple pair of night-pants on, “or you’ll have to wait until lunch before we can stop and eat.” His own eyes now finally saw the similar markings Y/N had left on his chest, a deep laugh reverberating through his large body. “Yeah, fine,” she snuggled into his pillow. Thranduil removed a piece of hair from her back and pressed his lips to her shoulder blade. “I’ll be waiting for you, Melethen.” A soft snore was the only response he got. With a huff of laughter, he pulled on a robe and ventured down to where they would break fast. But unbeknownst to him, a darkness had found its way into their kingdom and it had nothing but evil intentions. Like a pine seed in the air, swished by the winds, the dark mass moved across the sky, gliding against the buildings and blending into the shadows. Once it came upon the open balcony doors of the royal chambers it seeped into the room and before Y/N could reach for her blade, eyes open with shock, it plunged into her body, making her succumb to the blackness.

A/N: I have fallen into a hole that is Lee Pace and I can’t get out!! help!!! omg I love him so much, like uuuugggghhhhhhhh!!! Desperately need season 3 of Pushing Daisies even though I know it’ll never happen, just need the perfection that he is in my life

This is gonna be a quite short series, I’m thinking 3-4 parts all together, but I needed to get this out of my brain, cause I can’t work on anything else if I don’t.

I know I’m supposed to put the last part to The One That Got Away and I apologise to those who are waiting and I haven’t done so, just my brain wouldn’t cooperate if I didn’t do this first. I promise it’s coming

P.S. if you wanna be tagged or have any requests drop a message

P.S.S. feedback is always appreciated :)

P.S.S.S. please don’t repost without credits

Translations of some words/ phrases/ flower meanings:

Meleth nîn; melethen- my love

Firen- human

Blue and pink camellia- (blue) you are the flame of my heart; (pink) longing for you- I long for your touch

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cucinacarmela-blog · 6 years ago

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Our Favorite Breakfast Cereals | Serious Eats

New Post has been published on https://cucinacarmela.com/our-favorite-breakfast-cereals-serious-eats/

Our Favorite Breakfast Cereals | Serious Eats

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[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Breakfast

Everything you need to make the most important meal of the day delicious.

There’s nothing inherently child-specific about a bowl of cold toasted grains soaked in milk, yet breakfast cereal seems to be inextricably associated with kids in the American imagination. Sure, it helps that most boxed cereals you’ll finding lining your supermarket aisles today come liberally infused with sugar (quite a turnabout for a food category that started with Seventh-Day Adventist health nuts, who would probably be pretty horrified if they could get a glimpse of the industry today), but there are other reasons.

You could begin, for instance, with the unchallenging flavors of corn and wheat combined with milk, making cereal an easy sell for the harried parents, usually moms, raising fussy eaters, who saw themselves reflected in generations of harried parents raising fussy eaters on TV. There’s the minimal preparation required, obviously, which made cereal the first meal many of us learned to fix for ourselves.

Add to that relentless marketing featuring every kind of kid bait you can think of—bright colors; unshakable jingles; talking animals (and cartoon chefs, and a leprechaun, and a captain of some never-seen navy); the promise of strength and coolness and superpowers; the insider-y nod to your membership in a special club that adults can’t infiltrate; and the lure of sugar sugar sugar—and it’s not hard to see how the cereals that accompanied us throughout our youth became a days-long conversation topic among the Serious Eats staff.

We’ve learned that few childhood cereals are cherished only on their own merits: The rituals that we created for eating them, the manic mascots that charmed us, and the cartoons that we ate them by on Saturdays were just as important. And we’ve learned that you can make nearly 50% of the SE staff happy by sitting them down in front of a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Here are the cereals that we still dream of forming our own secret kids’ club around, even as grown-ups.

Alpha-Bits Cereal

After an unfortunate incident wherein three-year-old Stella was left alone with Rainbow Brite cereal long enough to eat an entire box, my parents tried to steer me away from cereals with artificial coloring. That still left me with a number of excellent options—Pops, Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, et cetera—the best of which was Alpha-Bits Cereal. They taste about like Lucky Charms sans the Styrofoam marshmallow bits, which was fine by me, and I’d like to think my love for a frosted alphabet helped steer me toward the baker/writer life I lead now. A-B-C-Delicious! (This bonus commercial is before my time, but everyone deserves to hear MJ singing about Alpha-Bits, especially in a video that includes The Jackson 5 sitting down for cereal around a $14,000 Eero Saarinen dining room set. Yes, I did the math.) —Stella Parks, pastry wizard

Fruit & Fibre

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I knew and loved many a cereal when I was a kid—the candy-sweet nonsense, like Cookie Crisp and Lucky Charms, that my grandmother plied us with when we came for visits, as well as the more quotidian and practical choices of my parents, like Kix and Life. (Thinking back on it, I’m not even sure they bought Life that often, which speaks to its outsize importance in my mind. Life gets soggy faster than almost anything else, and it’s still the best damn cereal on the planet.) I was even #blessed enough to be able to enjoy a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch fairly regularly in front of Muppet Babies.

But my most steadfast breakfast companion, probably starting when I was about eight and continuing into my teenage years, was Fruit & Fibre (now apparently styled “Fruit ‘n Fibre”). Yep, I latched on to a sensible mixture of wheat flakes, nuts, and dried fruit, named after a dietary necessity and marketed at retirees, and I suppose Mom and Dad were only too happy to oblige this particular whimsy.

Fruit & Fibre was known in the ’80s and ’90s for the tagline “Tastes so good, you forget the fiber!”—which, again, doesn’t scream “youthful image”—and a series of commercials that poked self-deprecating fun at the inexplicably British spelling, in which one character would insist that the correct pronunciation was “fruit and fee-bray.” I don’t specifically remember this one, starring Tim Conway, but it’s representative and charmingly laid-back. I have been a very old person on the inside for a very long time. —Miranda Kaplan, senior editor

Frosted Flakes

I grew up in a pretty healthy household, and that meant hell no to the sugary cereals. We had a lot of puffed-millet, cardboard-like stuff that tasted like nothing, though I do suppose it was a bit healthier (except when I put a lot of Splenda on it, which, now that I think about it, is totally gross). The only time we ever got sugary cereal was when my dad went grocery shopping, and his all-time favorite is Frosted Flakes. When that bright-blue Kellogg’s box made it onto our cereal shelf, I went totally crazy with it—it was a classic kid-who-never-has-sugar scenario.

Recently I had brunch at MiMi’s Diner in Prospect Heights, where, as a little amuse-bouche, they give you a blissful mixture of colorful sugary cereals in a little bowl—all those classics, like Cap’n Crunch and Fruit Loops. It is such a treat. I guess I can thank all that cardboard of my youth for helping me appreciate it. —Ariel Kanter, marketing director

Cookie Crisp

I still have cereal for breakfast (and sometimes dinner) every day. These days I’m more of a Cheerios or Grape-Nuts eater, but as a kid, I definitely got hooked on the more sugar-oriented cereals, and Cookie Crisp was among the many options I rotated through. A bowl full of tiny chocolate chip cookies. Did I need more of a reason to like it as an eight-year old? Though perhaps the pair of cartoon crooks (including a dog) that served as the brand’s mascot had something to do with it…that “CooooOOOOOkie Crisp” jingle is pretty solid. —Vicky Wasik, visual director

Grape-Nuts

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The thing I remember most about my childhood trips to the grocery store is setting up camp in front of the wall of multicolored cereal boxes, wheedling and pleading with my parents as they shook their heads and jabbed their fingers at the panel of nutrition facts.

I mostly blame the ensuing tears on the astonishing effectiveness of cereal commercials—especially the kind that featured greedy adults with Peter Pan syndrome, trying to steal cereal from children who, in this gritty, high-stakes universe, went to great lengths to save their most treasured possession: brightly hued, sugar-saturated breakfast candy. Sweetened cereals, they proclaimed, were a child’s birthright, and if you weren’t getting your fill, it was almost certainly because some grown-up—like, say, your mom or dad—was an evil asshole.

Which is why my favorite breakfast cereal was virtually any breakfast cereal I wasn’t eating. For the most part, our pantry was limited to Cheerios or generic “health” flakes, with rare appearances from Raisin Bran and, on a good day, a box of Honey Nut Cheerios. Within the confines of those prison walls, I found myself with a particular affinity for Grape-Nuts, which would sink into a dense heap beneath my milk and form a gritty cement onto which I could project visions of overflowing bowls of Fruit Loops, Golden Grahams, and Cocoa Pebbles. Now that I’m a marginally health-conscious adult, I genuinely enjoy a bowl of Grape-Nuts. But back in ’93, they drew me in with their masochistic appeal: a meal that captured the true extent of my hardship, deprivation, and suffering. —Niki Achitoff-Gray, executive managing editor

Honey Nut Cheerios

I’ll happily eat Honey Nut Cheerios at any time of day or night, for any meal. They make an excellent appetizer, salad, entrée, or dessert; each little O possesses the perfect balance of sweet and savory (but mostly sweet). And, of course, as a kid growing up in a mostly sugar-free household in Berkeley, California, I could never eat them at home, which meant I searched frantically through cupboards and drawers whenever I was at a friend’s house, looking for that big red-and-yellow cardboard box. When I found it, I was in heaven. I still don’t buy them for my own pantry, but if I ever see that signature box tucked behind the grown-up food in a friend’s kitchen, I finish it off. —Elazar Sontag, intern

Corn Pops

Growing up in New Delhi, India, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, we couldn’t buy cereal, and there weren’t any cereal ads on TV. There was no joy in our house, and no pleasure in our home. I did pine after Corn Pops quite a bit, since I got a taste of some at my American friends’ houses, even though the Pops cut up the inside of my mouth. And, apropos of nothing at all, the guy who played Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad was in a Corn Pops commercial. —Sho Spaeth, features editor

Kashi Heart to Heart

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I have a confession to make: I did not eat cereal until I was 15 years old. Not because I was above consuming cleverly marketed sugar bombs for breakfast (because I ate plenty of Eggos), but because I’m lactose-intolerant. This was a time before I could eat my cereal with almond milk, as I do now, so it just wasn’t an option for me. Then, during my sophomore year of high school, I had a very bright idea: dry cereal with raspberries and blackberries. The juiciness of 10 or 12 berries bursting in every two to three bites would surely mimic the milk-and-cookies effect of cereal with milk, right? So I picked out a box of Kashi Heart to Heart cereal in Honey and Oat flavor, and a container each of raspberries and blackberries, and crunched my way through that for the rest of high school. I remember the pieces sometimes being so rough and scratchy that I’d scrape the roof of my mouth on them, but the flavor was good enough, and it allowed me to finally eat my cereal. Now that I’m talking about it, I think I may actually be sparking a craving. But this time, I just might add a splash of almond milk—because I can. —Kristina Bornholtz, social media editor

Golden Grahams and Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Junk foods were rarely an option in my home, and that meant no sugary cereals either. I tasted Lucky Charms only a few times, and that was at a friend’s house after a sleepover. Golden Grahams and Cinnamon Toast Crunch were as sweet as my mom was willing to allow, and those two, to this day, are among my favorites, especially when combined in the same bowl. They go together so well, the nut-and-honey notes of Golden Grahams and the sugar-and-spice in Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and they both create, whether together or alone, some of the most delicious cereal milk in existence. I don’t think I can pick between them, nor should I have to—I was cereal-deprived enough as a kid as it was. (Also, shout-out to Quaker Cracklin’ Oat Bran, which was a decently sweet cereal on regular rotation at my home until health-conscious parents got worried about all the coconut oil in it. My, how times have changed.) —Daniel Gritzer, managing culinary director

…and More Cinnamon Toast Crunch

As a kid I’d spend all week daydreaming about Saturday, when I would wake up at the butt-crack of dawn to get my fill of cartoons and sugar. I was allowed to eat foods repped by colorful characters only on these early weekend mornings—likely because Pop-Tarts and Eggo waffles were the only things that gave my parents a day to sleep in. I wanted to maximize my sugar intake during these precious unsupervised moments, so my breakfast of choice was always Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I mean, it’s so overloaded with cinnamon sugar that the slogan was “The taste you can see.” I still don’t understand how this stuff passes as children’s breakfast food, but I’ll never forget those mornings spent doing lines of cinnamon sugar with Hey, Arnold! in the background. —Sohla El-Waylly, assistant culinary editor

Trix

“Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!” will forever be ingrained in my brain. I loved that this cereal was so colorful. I’m pretty sure none of the flavors actually differed from one another, but I do remember that at one point the original balls were replaced by actual fruit-shaped pieces, to try to convince you that there was real lemon, grape, lime, raspberry, and blueberry flavor in there. —Vicky Wasik, visual director

Rice Krispies Treats Cereal

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A cereal I remember being better in theory than in actuality. I’m assuming this commercial’s UFO references were crafted to piggyback on the paranormal-activity obsession that ran rampant throughout the late ’80s and ’90s, if kids’ television of the era is anything to go by. (See: Goosebumps, The Secret World of Alex Mack, Ghostwriter, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…okay, that one might be a stretch.) The combo of sugary cereal plus thrills definitely hit the right note for me, and seeing a box of Rice Krispies Treats Cereal in the supermarket incited equal parts excitement and chills-creeping, sensation-laden terror, conjuring up late Saturday mornings glued to the tube over a bowl of (essentially) starchy candy that was “part of a complete breakfast.” Whoever said the ’50s and ’60s represented the golden age of advertising was clearly never a wide-eyed, impressionable child cruising the cereal aisle, visions of RKTC commercials dancing in their head. —Marissa Chen, office manager

Frosted Mini-Wheats

There were many long pit stops on my cereal journey growing up. Earlier on, there were the sweeter, more sugary stops, like Cap’n Crunch, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Lucky Charms. At summer camp I would add extra sugar to my Frosted Flakes, purposefully stir the cereal so the extra sugar sank all the way down, and eat the sugary milk goop at the bottom of the bowl with the spoon. Later on I became ever-so-slightly healthier with Honey Nut Cheerios, a very long stint on Honey Bunches of Oats (still a favorite), and a brief and shameful period on Raisin Bran. My final destination—and probably my all-time favorite to this day—was Frosted Mini-Wheats. Every bite has exactly the same ratio of ingredients, which I appreciate: just the right amount of fibrous (healthy!) and sugary. The texture is perfect, assuming you have the know-how to let the cereal soak up just the right amount of milk so it’s not dry and crunchy, then eat it quickly before it gets soggy. A seasoned veteran such as I am may even split the bowl into two or three rounds of cereal addition, thus ensuring that no piece gets too saturated before your spoon reaches it. —Tim Aikens, front-end developer

Wheat Chex

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I ate more than my fair share of cereal when I was a kid, usually while sprawled out on the living room floor watching reruns of Saved by the Bell or DuckTales. I reserved the more sugary cereals (Cookie Crisp, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cap’n Crunch, and probably some that start with other letters of the alphabet) to be eaten as a dry snack and primarily ate “healthier” cereals, like Wheat Chex, with milk. I was never a big fan of cereal milk, so as I emptied the bowl, I would repeatedly add more and more cereal, until most of the milk had been absorbed. —Paul Cline, developer

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glenngaylord · 3 years ago

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A PAUSE FOR SOME PURE POP CULTURE BLISS

ABBA: BON VOYAGE

Sometimes, a bit of pop culture can have an overwhelming effect on me. A memorable shot in a film, such as the beautiful moment when Harley Quinn escapes captivity in The Suicide Squad, exiting in slow motion surrounded by animated flowers and birds, will stay etched in my memory. Same goes for a perfect meal, a well-earned reality competition victory, an astounding architectural feat, such as The Vessel in NYC, and a perfect pop song. I consider “Toxic” by Britney Spears to be at the top in that category.

In fact, my musical tastes have always leaned towards bouncy pop. Give me a beat and a great melody and I’m a fan for life. I’ve been a lifelong fan of ABBA, the Swedish quartet, specifically for their distinctively European chord progressions, twisty melodies, snappy bass, oddly dark lyrics, and those otherworldly, precise harmonies by Agnetha and Anni-Frid. I remember by sister Wendy introducing them to me, blasting “S.O.S” on our family stereo as she’d pace across the room. As she strode back and forth, taking in the music, it felt like a sacred act. You could feel her soaking it up and sense she was thinking about what she was hearing. I’m so grateful I learned to appreciate music from my sister, something I don’t think she knew until now.

A year later, now a diehard fan, I would go to the record store at our nearby mall, anxiously asking the cashier when ABBA’s new record, Arrival, would get released. They never really knew, seeing how the internet didn’t exist, so I’d go once a week for months on end until it finally appeared. I’d repeat the same steps the following year for ABBA: The Album. I opted out of seeing them live when they toured the USA, thinking, I’ll catch them next time. There was no next time, and I regret the chance to see these Pop Masters in person to this day.

Consider my joy, that 39 years after their last recorded music, they’ve not only announced a groundbreaking live tour of sorts, but a new album, Voyage. Two new songs saw their release a few days ago, and I cannot stop crying. Yes, they’ve aged and you can hear it in their voices, and they haven’t tried one bit to modernize their sound, which wisely plays into the beautiful nostalgia of it all. They’ve trapped themselves in time to give us old and new simultaneously, much like the motion-captured, de-aged avatars (rightfully called ABBA-tars) which will appear as holograms performing with a 10-piece band at their live shows.

Claiming nobody wants to see them onstage at their current age, the band has offered up a gust of wistful nostalgia, and have found the perfect moment to do so. With COVID, the Taliban, Texas, the prison colony known as North Korea, systemic racism, the rise of fascism with its war with truth, the plight of Sudanese refugees, on and on, we could all use a little joy and most importantly, harmony.

The two new songs, “I Still Have Faith In You” and “Don’t Shut Me Down” may feel like pastiches of their older hits, but they achieve pop perfection on their own. The first, a ballad in the vein of “Thank You For The Music” and “I Have A Dream” may seem a bit schmaltzy, but repeat listenings have revealed its quiet power. The lyrics, which seem purposefully open to interpretation, achieve a wonderful intimacy when they sing, “Do I have it in me?”, sounding, like Tracy Chapman famously wrote, “like a whisper”. The production builds and builds, including those wonderful “Fernando”-esque drums, reaching an epic crescendo. It’s a perfect little pop gem, corny as it may feel upon first listen.

The second song opens with another ballad feel, which made me droop for a second. I wanted a bop, not another testament to all things dire. After a few bars, however, “Dancing Queen 2.0” began with a bouncy beat, sax, cascading piano, and moments which gave me “Take A Chance On Me” and that “Super Trouper” bass line. I erupted in tears, happy that they were B-A-C-K, thrilled that they sound so good and pure, elated by those interconnected vocals, and so grateful to feel like that kid again, sneaking up on my sister as she walked across the room. I thought of all the years that have passed, yet in an instant I was taken back to those blissful days of soul-stirring music.

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BIG BROTHER HISTORY

Yes, I’m a Big Brother nerd. There, I said it. This guilty pleasure summer reality series has always felt cheap and way less fun than watching paint dry. Still, I love its over-the-top dopiness and it features some of the more complex strategies of any game out there, as long as they don’t fill the cast with influencers and non-gamers. This season, they’ve managed to put a lot of smart people into the house, and more significantly, 50% of them were people of color. Their main series has never had a Black winner, with the complaint being that Black contestants end up feeling like outsiders with few options to set up alliances with people who look like them.

Not so this season as the 6 Black contestants instantly set up “The Cookout” with the purpose of assuring a Black winner. With only a few weeks left in the game, they have done just that. Now down to 8 people, it feels like a foregone conclusion we will see such a historic win. Moreover, with such players as Tiffany and Xavier, we see master gaming occuring. Tiffany, while no possessing the sharpest social skills, has figured out this game in a way that has put her among the ranks of some of the show’s greatest players. Even though many of the alliance members dislike each other, they all have a higher purpose and will hopefully give hope and example to anyone who enjoys seeing the underdogs finally win.

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an-ambivalent · 7 years ago

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A Facade of Love [Yandere! Hakuryuu Ren] [Reader-Insert]

With grey clouds overcasting the premises of the Kou empire, the sky was a blanket of inky black. The dark night was starless, which meant that the only subject visible to the naked eye in the pitch-black sky, was the brilliant and lustrous moon. It was suspended at the peak of the night sky, radiating it’s glorious light on the earth beneath it. The castle of Kou empire stood tall and proud, as it supported countless of rooms, and sheltered the ones who carried the royal blood, those who were associated with the said royal bloods’, and those who would soon become part of the royal family, whether they wanted to or not. On one of the top floors of the castle, in the room where the moonlight would peek through at the perfect angle, resided a soon-to-be princess. It was evident that this room belonged to one of the prince/princesses’ of the empire because the room was integrated to sophistication as it was painted with rich colours and decorated with fine antiques.

In the middle of the room, there was a king sized bed. Silver chains were wrapped around the bedpost, binding [Name] [Surname], the soon-to-be bride of Hakuryuu Ren, to the bed. The moonlight which peeked through the window and shone on [Name]’s rigid form, caused the silver chains, and the jewels she was dressed in, to glisten.

The [h/c] female was half-lying against the bedpost, and she wore a lifeless and grim expression on her face. Her [e/c] eyes which were once filled with bliss, innocent wonder, and beaming buoyancy were voided off any life. It was as if the struggles of existence had become so unbearable that it left behind a shell which held nothing; she was blank.

[Name] was existing and breathing but she was not living.

Despite her dead-self, [Name] was an absolutely stunning sight to behold. Due to customs of the Kou Empire[1], and her long confinement, [Name] had luxurious, long, and soft hair that fell on her just a bit past her knees; and was spread around her chained form on the bed. Half of her hair was done up in a sophisticated style consisting of braids. Gold jewels and various other expensive hair ornaments decorated her hair. [Name] wore a sleeveless, long, and flowy white dress with a small golden belt wrapped around her waist. Two red veils, each attached at the each arm hole of the dress, went over her arms. The neckline of the dress was a deep cut, revealing her cleavage. Lastly, there were long slits on each side of the dress which went up to her thigh, excessively exposing her legs.

Like she usually did, [Name] sat still, staring at nothing in particular. She remained motionless like an inanimate doll, simply blinking occasionally.

It was unknown how much time had passed; but after what felt like an eternity, the door to her isolated abode was finally opened.

The visitor to her bleak world, the only visitor allowed to see her, was the fourth emperor of Kou Empire, Hakuryuu Ren. The sound of the door opening caused [Name] to turn her head towards Hakuryuu. And when dead [e/c] eyes met sea blue eyes, Hakuryuu’s face lit up in joy.

With a loving grin on his face, he almost strode towards her. However, as an emperor with a pride, he held himself back. For how long he was going to be able to do that, was unknown.

“Hello my love,” Hakuryuu greeted, smiling and sitting on the bed. To his greeting, [Name] merely stared at him, empty of any emotions, expressions and words. Her eyes were blank, and the most reaction that Hakuryuu received from her was the movements of her lips pressing in a thin line.

At her lack of response, Hakuryuu sighed. Then, as if the exhaustion from the entire day had kicked in right then and there, with another deep sigh, Hakuryuu fell back on the bed and into [Name]’s lap.

She did not respond.

Hakuryuu turned in her lap so he was lying on his side, and tilted his head upwards so he could stare at [Name]. As he gazed into her barren eyes, Hakuryuu frowned.

“I had a really difficult day today, you know,” He began murmuring, as he started to trace circles on the exposed skin of her thighs with his index finger.

“And I was hoping that you would welcome me with open arms and shining eyes, and your brilliant smile that just makes me melt. We could sit under the moonlight like this, brush each other’s hair and drink the new imported jasmine tea from Balbadd. I drank it during a meeting today, and it was delightful. I am certain you would love it,” Hakuryuu said, smiling at her.

[Name]’s finger twitched as she narrowed her eyes at Hakuryuu, who in her eyes, continued to blabber utter nonsense. His soft feathery touches sent shivers through her spine, a feeling of forced pleasure she had learned to ignore. However, his venomous touch that she had come to loathe, and his non-stop jabbing dialogues were rubbing on her the wrong way. After what seemed to be months of being emotionless and killing herself to become unresponsive, [Name] felt a flicker of small flame etched with anger light up within her.

“Well, I’m sorry I can’t cater to your god damn childish needs like a mother or share any non consensual intimacy with you because you had me chained up!” [Name] hissed, as she tried to lift up her knee to shove Hakuryuu off of her. However, as soon as her knee has even twitched, Hakuryuu had sat up, and gripped her knees with his hands to cease any movements. He gripped them tightly, inflicting pain on [Name]. As result, she hissed, and tried to get her legs away from Hakuryuu, but her efforts were fruitless, and her pain only increased.

“While I am enthralled to hear your beautiful voice again,” Hakuryuu began, as he moved on top of her, and then gently grabbed her chin.

“I do not appreciate the tone you speak to me in. I am an Emperor, and out of everyone, as my beloved, you of all people, need to regard me with the respect I deserve,” He stated, gazing in her eyes seriously, as he rubbed his thumb against her cheek.

[Name] scoffed.

“A title does not mean anything if you cannot live up to it. Respect is given to those who earn it. As your beloved, I should be treated the best. Not locked up in one room for the rest of my life, simply because you are so disgustingly insecure that you do not even trust me enough to interact with anyone but you. In order to receive respect from someone, you must return it. And until you can do that, you will not receive any respect from me,” [Name] stated blankly.

[Name] received no response from Hakuryuu. He simply stared at her as if he was contemplating deeply about what she said. However, knowing from experience that realistically, he was always too stubborn and did as he pleased; he was definitely not thinking about [Name]’s words which challenged his ownership over her. After all, his silence was never a good sign. Subsequently, a bubble of regret began to form in the pit of [Name]’s stomach; and she knew, that because she blatantly spoke out turn, whatever ‘punishment’ that was written in her fate, was going to be terribly atrocious.

“You're the feisty one,” [2] Hakuryuu began with a smirk, as he continued to brush his thumb against [Name].

She inwardly cringed at his touch.

“I almost miss your rebellious nature, but not when it is acting up against me,” He continued, as he trailed his other hand down [Name]’s thigh, and began to caress it, sending shivers down her spine.

[Name]’s eyes widened in fear, and instantly, she started to thrash around in her chains in an attempt to get away from Hakuryuu. But like all cliche moments in yandere stories, the author being very unoriginal, and not being able to write a different scenario, [Name]’s efforts were fruitless due to Hakuryuu’s strong grip on her.

“I was really trying to be gentle with you, but you seem to not want it that way. You have left me with no choice but to tame you with force now,” Hakuryuu whispered dangerously, before forcing his lips on [Name].

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#magi #magi the labyrinth of magic #magi the kingdom of magic #kou empire #hakuryuu ren #yandere #yandere x reader #hakuryuu ren x reader #hakuryuu x reader #magi x reader #yandere hakuryuu ren #yandere hakuryuu #magi fanfiction #fanfiction #hakuryuu ren fanfiction #ambivalent writes #a facade of love #oppressed by love

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touching-eternity · 6 years ago

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PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER – A PROPHETIC REPORT (Part 5)

This is part 5 of a series.

Read Part 1 - Years of Shaking: 2008-2028. http://touching-eternity.tumblr.com/post/164436543788/putting-the-pieces-together-a-prophetic-report

Read Part 2 - The Woman Clothed with the Sun. http://touching-eternity.tumblr.com/post/165575961888/putting-the-pieces-together-a-prophetic-report

Read Part 3 - A War in Israel. http://touching-eternity.tumblr.com/post/168502831493/putting-the-pieces-together-a-prophetic-report

Read Part 4 - Flash-Forward: Apocalypse Soon. http://touching-eternity.tumblr.com/post/174734884148/putting-the-pieces-together-a-prophetic-report

FLASH-FORWARD II: A GLIMPSE INTO OUR COSMIC FUTURE

In his book, Surprised by Joy, C. S. Lewis tells of an extraordinary childhood experience. He writes:

“As I stood beside a flowering currant bush on a summer day there suddenly arose in me without warning, and as if from a depth not of years but of centuries, the memory of that earlier morning at the Old House when my brother had brought his toy garden into the nursery. It is difficult to find words strong enough for the sensation which came over me; Milton’s ‘enormous bliss’ of Eden (giving the full, ancient meaning to ‘enormous’) comes somewhere near it. It was a sensation, of course, of desire; but desire for what? not, certainly, for a biscuit-tin filled with moss, nor even (though that came into it) for my own past. And before I knew what I desired, the desire itself was gone, the whole glimpse withdrawn, the world turned commonplace again, or only stirred by a longing for the longing that had just ceased. It had taken only a moment of time; and in a certain sense everything else that had ever happened to me was insignificant in comparison.”

Why does it seem like we all have this longing for something indefinable that often feels like pleasure, and sometimes more like pain, or even grief? It is a fleeting feeling that rises to the surface when we see cute dogs, or babies, or young lovers, or a field of flowers — or when we are in love, or even heart-broken.

The truth is that we are not wired for just a physical existence, but there is something more out there, and that something more is responsible for these longings hidden deep within our hearts.

The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible says that God has put eternity in our hearts. Love, joy, bliss, and paradise dwell in eternity, and eternity exists in God. We are meant to live there, too — in eternity, in God. But we strayed. So instead we, the human race, have had 6,000 years of mostly suffering and pain living on a lonely planet called Earth.

But, no more. Soon, when the last bullet is fired and the last earthquake is stilled, then, at last, the path back — to paradise, to eternity, to God — will get unveiled, and lost humanity will find it.

Well, in fact, humanity need not wait for Armageddon. The path back has already been cleared; we can, here and now, take the first step of the return journey. Paradise, eternity, God — they come in a package called the Kingdom of God, in a box we know as the Gospel, wrapped in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ. All that was what Jesus meant when He said, “I am the Way.”

So the first step in our return journey to that which satisfies our deepest longings is to allow the Kingdom of God into our hearts — literally, to get the Kingdom inside us, to make it a part of our system. The reality is the Kingdom of God is first experienced in its invisible, spiritual form before it gets manifested in the physical realm. To quote the apostle Paul, “The things that are seen are temporal, the things that are unseen are eternal.” And, the book The Little Prince, “what is essential is invisible to the eye”.

The second step back is a period known as the Millennium Reign of Christ on Earth. This is a time when the Kingdom of God begins to be seen in the natural or physical realm.

And then, when the Millennium is over, we graduate into eternity, into a Kingdom with no end, where God wipes away our every tear and there is no more death, pain, and suffering.

Through dreams and visions, God has given Australian prophet Neville Johnson a peek into the Millennium, which he shared in a talk held in Sheffield, England on November 3, 2012. The rest of this article is a transcription of that talk; the ideas have been a bit reorganized, but the entirety is by and large a verbatim quote without quotation marks. And, to complete the picture, bits and pieces from his other online stuff have been plugged in as well.

Between a Dying Age and a Brand New World

In chapter 10 of the Bible’s book of Revelation, there is a big angel who has one foot on the sea and one foot on the land. He declares, “Time is no more!” In a very real sense, we are standing on the edge of time. The whole earth is in labor pains, giving birth to a new age. Every time there is a contraction, a volcano erupts somewhere, or an earthquake goes off elsewhere. We are living between a dying age and a brand new world, between sunset and sunrise. We are about to break out of a six-thousand-year battle into a dazzling new age.

The Biblical prophet Isaiah writes that at a time of great darkness on the earth, God’s people will begin to stand up at last. He says, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” We are in that time now.

Our generation is the most privileged people that have ever been born on the face of the earth. We were sent to this planet for such a time as this to finish the fight. And it will be a fight right to the end. But it is a cause worth fighting for. We have been given the privilege to stand with God, rescue this planet from His enemy the devil, and usher in a new world.

The Wrath of God

The wrath of God is something that many have a hard time wrapping their minds around. A vengeful, angry God simply does not tally with the good, loving God most people think Him to be.

In the Bible, the Greek word translated as “wrath” is also translated as “passion”. So actually God’s passion, His zeal, against injustice and wrongdoing is completely compatible with His loving nature. He avenges the poor and the oppressed and executes judgment on their oppressors.

God’s holiness demands His wrath against evil. His goodness includes His passionate anger against wickedness. Why? Because wickedness and evil not only destroy God’s creation, but also relegate humans to an existence wretchedly below the potential for authority and glory that God has originally seeded into them. God has entrusted the administration of the earth to men, but they lost it to Lucifer by default. And things on the planet have since been on a path to progressive death, decay, and disintegration.

God is reaching a point where He has to put His foot down already. But before the outpouring of His wrath, His judgments will first be falling on the earth. His judgments are meant to help people learn righteousness; perhaps some could still be saved from His wrath. In some of the visions and dreams Neville had, he saw places where great earthquakes were erupting, along with volcanoes. He saw viruses and diseases being unleashed on populations. He says that this is coming in our generation. The world is heading towards this now because the cup of sins on the planet is almost full and God is coming to the part when He says, “Enough!”

But God is merciful and gracious. The books of Ezekiel and Revelation tell us that God will first mark people who sigh at evil and who have a heart towards goodness, towards Him, because He Himself is goodness. He will mark them because He wants to spare them. He will protect those who love Him with all their heart, those who are obedient and surrendered to His holy will, those who are living in “the secret place of the Most High” (described in Psalms 91). In his dreams and visions of incredible earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, Neville saw whole families, Christian families, who are supernaturally transported to another location.

It is later than we think. Everything is now in a state of acceleration. We must not take things lightly, but we must heed the warnings. Noah had only seven days to get into the ark. Lot did not even have time to look back at Sodom and Gomorrah. But his wife turned back. She was lagging behind a long way. Her heart was still in there. That was where her home was. That was where everything was. She got caught in the fallout of the descending volcanic ash and was turned into a pillar of salt. These Biblical warnings are pictures of our time, the end-time — when the old world dies and the new age is born.

The Bible says that God’s people are not appointed to wrath. It is true that they will experience much tribulation, they will see terrible things happen, and they will be around during the rise of the Antichrist. But they will not be there when the wrath of God is poured down on the earth. They will be caught up out of earth to heaven for the spiritual marriage of Christ to His Bride.

When at last the wrath of God is poured out, it says in Revelation that malignant sores will afflict those who received the mark of the Antichrist. Fifty-kilogram hailstones will rain down on the earth. Volcanoes will erupt like we have never seen volcanoes erupt before. There is going to be an earthquake that will hit the entire world and drop all the major cities of the world; these cities (including Manila, says Neville) are not going to exist anymore.

The Bible talks about every island disappearing. Neville has had many dreams and some visions about this. He saw the coast of California, particularly Hollywood, totally disappear under the sea. In some areas, sea came, forty or fifty or a hundred miles inland. Tsunamis so big you would not believe — two, three hundred feet high — were coming in over major cities. He says that there will be vast tracts of land which will just disappear under the waters. But vast new tracts of land will also come up out of the sea. Mountain ranges will rise up out of the ocean, some of them higher than Everest.

The planet is going to end up as one incredible mess. But why would God mess up the planet with all this devastation? It is because everything decadent in this world cannot come over into the Millennium Reign of Christ. Some of the major cities in the world today are totally decadent. They have a history of incredible evil. And God says that they will not come over into His new world. God knows what He is doing and He has a plan — something we need to trust and appreciate.

God is going to get it over all in one hit over a few weeks probably, says Neville. And when it is over, the earth will come into rest. God is going to take the tension out of this earth. And so there will be no more earthquakes, no more volcanoes erupting, none of this thing in the Millennium Reign of Christ.

Besides the unbelievable pestilences and natural calamities, God’s wrath will involve wars that will ravage the earth. Nations will rise against nations. The book of Revelation says God is going to draw the nations (those that have, through the ages, unrelentingly killed and persecuted Jews and Christians) down into Armageddon against Israel. He will destroy those nations and finish everything.

When this is over, Jesus will come as King of kings and Lord of lords. He will come back with many of His saints, riding on horses. It is written in the book of Jude in the Bible that the prophet Enoch saw this way back in the early days. Imagine, the sky opens up after all the devastation, and there are horses coming down to earth. There will still be people alive in the earth. After all the wars and devastation, the population of the earth will be reduced dramatically, but there are some who will remain alive.

The Aftermath

So Jesus and His heavenly armies descend to defeat the enemies of the Kingdom in the war of Armageddon. In Revelation chapter 19, the Antichrist and the False Prophet were thrown alive into the Lake of Fire. In chapter 20, it says that God laid hands on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and bound him for a thousand years, cast him into a bottomless pit, shut him up, and put a seal upon it, so he could not deceive the nations anymore. It is hard to believe what the world will be like with no demons and no demonic temptation. It is hard to believe just what kind of a world that would be. But that is God’s plan.

Those nations and people that survived the outpouring of the wrath of God will give an account to Him. God will set up His throne in the earth and call the nations before Him. The nations will be divided into the goat nations and the sheep nations. (Right now, the goat nations and the sheep nations are already being lined up.) The goat nations will be those that were arrayed against Israel, and the sheep nations will be the nations who supported Israel. In The Bible, in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus says that those who have done good deeds “to the least of My brethren” are sheep nations. Remember that Jesus was Jewish. “My brethren” — that was the dividing line all the way through.

Now there will be two classes of people in the Millennium. There will be the nations who survived, still unsaved but survived. And there will be people with resurrection bodies — those saints who came from heaven riding on horses with Jesus. These will be the two classes of people. The people with resurrection bodies will have the opportunity to rule and rebuild this whole world. The nations who survived will be set to work building a new world.

When a person dies now, if he is a Christian, his spirit leaves his body and goes to heaven. But it is just his spirit, a spirit body, that goes to heaven. In heaven, they do not have resurrection bodies yet. At the return of Jesus, at the resurrection and the rapture, the spirit body is going to be clothed with a resurrection body. That is the fulness of the new creation. It is a completely new species in the universe. Nothing like it has been seen before. This is a whole new creation, a super race of people.

What will it be like in the new Millennium world for the redeemed? Well, the capital of the world will be Jerusalem, for starters. But, in this Kingdom of God, there is neither Jew nor Gentile anymore. It is just one incredible new creation, a species never been seen in all of the universe. People with resurrection bodies will be roughly at the age of thirty years old and they will stay at that age. That is because thirty is the age of maturity in God. Neville joked that when he met his mother in heaven in one of his visions, she looked drop-dead gorgeous. He explained that it was hard to recognize her because she looked so young.

People with resurrection bodies in the Millennium will never get sick again. There will be no pain; they can not be injured. They can travel at the speed of thought anywhere on the planet. They have access to heaven whenever they want. They can go back and forth between earth and heaven.

Heaven will not be emptied out though. God is not going to empty the whole of heaven and put everyone on earth. If we want to be among the saints brought back to earth to rule with Christ in the Millennium, we have to qualify. The Bible says, “He that overcomes will sit with Me on My throne.” But this generation has the opportunity more than any other generation to qualify — to overcome such great tribulations that no previous generation has had to go through.

Rebuilding the World

And so the big clean-up begins. A new world has to be built. We Christians actually have this strange concept — we are coming back and there is a brand new world and we live happily ever after during the Millennium. But the earth is a mess. It has been torn apart by war and devastation from every angle. The map has just changed. The destruction is unbelievable. And there has to be obviously a big clean-up.

The Bible’s book of Ezekiel, chapter 39, details the clean-up that will need to be done. It will take seven years to get rid of the military hardware, the weapons. (At the moment, many weapons are stockpiled on the earth.) Then there are so many dead bodies on the planet, it is a problem. So many of these bodies are contaminated with radioactive problems, you can not touch them for seven months. People will be employed to pass through the land; when they see a man’s bone, they will set up a marker on it. It is not to be touched for another seven months. Then the buriers will come with the right equipment to bury it; they will have to be very careful. And so they will cleanse the land. It will not be a pretty picture, but the Bible is very clear about it.

The Millennium is not a rescue for worn-out Christians. God is not going to wave His hand and it is all done. We are going to have to work to rebuild a new world. And that is the Kingdom — the earth with all evil removed. It will take a while to reconstruct a new world, but it will be wonderful. The maps will have to be redrawn on this entire planet. Paradise will be restored. It will be a totally different world.

Rebuilding in the Millennium will be done by supernatural acts and human endeavor. Many people, Christians, have been prepared in this life for the Millennium. We are going to need architects, and there are going to be landscapers. Some of the cities that will be built are unbelievably hard to describe. The architecture that Neville saw was unbelievable. The buildings blended so perfectly and everything just blended with creation. It was really difficult to describe. It was a perfect world.

There will be a hierarchy of sorts; there will be rulers over nations and there will be positions of authority. Jesus said He would give one person authority over five cities, some over one city, some over ten cities in the earth. These are places and positions that Christians who have overcome will have in the Millennium. Neville said he was intrigued that there was a minister of music that was in charge of music — and all kinds of things, just like there is in the planet today. In the Millennium, earth will be governed in righteousness, truth, and justice.

Now earth has a problem because there are unsaved people. The nations that survived, the sheep nations are in there. But they are not Christians yet, they are still in their old fallen nature. And these people are still going to have kids. Children are going to be born, and the lifespan will go for a hundred years, so the population will increase. But God has said He will rule with a rod of iron. He is not going to let sin arise at all.

Life, Music, Art, and Science in the Millennium

In the Millennium God will restore the animal creation. The Biblical prophet Isaiah said, “The wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.”

God will also restore the communication between the animal kingdom and the humans like in the beginning. In the garden of Eden, when the serpent spoke to Eve, she was not freaked out. That was just normal. She did not say, “Uhhh, Adam, the serpent spoke to me!” Eve was used to having conversations with the creation.

After the fall, slowly over a long time, discord between man and the rest of creation grew. But Noah had maintained enough level of harmony with God and creation that he had no problems getting the animals in the ark and organizing that whole thing. The creatures worshiped Noah, too.

Every morning, Neville and his wife sit on their verandah to spend some time praying and worshiping God. Without fail, everyday, the birds come in and sit on the verandah near them until they have finished. This was the condition in the garden of Eden before the fall. In the Millennium the humans and the animal kingdom will become friends again. And so it goes on.

Human relationships will also be taken to a new amazing level. Neville saw a married couple who were saintly Christians that lived before the Millennium came. They were brought back to earth to live in the Millennium world. Sometimes, when they were tasked to perform a certain ministry, they merged and became one person in the most beautiful way. Other times they worked separately. Neville says it was one of the most beautiful things he had seen in his dreams and visions of the Millennium.

In the Millennium the mental capacity of people will grow many times than we have now. It is said that even geniuses only use ten percent of the brain, and most of us are not geniuses. Everything will be restored. Not everything will be spiritual — there will be people who have resurrection bodies, but there will also be people who do not have resurrection bodies, those who survived the wrath of God.

In one of Neville’s spiritual experiences, he was in the Millennium and he was brought to this university in Jerusalem where the Lord taught (see Micah 4:1). He looked in some of the curriculum, and it is not like we think — one of the subjects was astrophysics. Seriously, he thought, wow, why would we need astrophysics? But there really were books in that library on astrophysics and much other stuff. But the angel who was with him would not let him see them. He said that he tried every trick in the book, and the angel just would not let him see them. (In another experience though, he was able to look inside the books in an incredible library in heaven. There was all kinds of books in this library and the things in them leaped out of the page like a hologram and told their story.)

Besides the university in Jerusalem, Neville saw that there were amphitheaters for musical concerts in many places all over the earth. They were incredible, huge, beautiful amphitheaters. The music and the arts in the Millennium were simply unbelievable. But what got him was the architecture. The cities looked surreal; they were absolutely beautiful.

Neville saw technology that no one would believe — technology went far beyond what we understand today. Energy was taken off the sun. There were what looked like cars, but they were a lot more streamlined than our cars today. There was something embedded in the roads that was taking energy from the sun and which powered the vehicles that were riding above it. The vehicles were not touching the ground. Neville saw all that and he exclaimed, “Wow, that is neat!”

The Bible says that, in the Millennium, the nations will have to go up at least once a year to Jerusalem. Not all have resurrection bodies, so how are these people going to get to Jerusalem? The logistics of the feasts of the Lord that we will celebrate in the city of Jerusalem just boggles the mind. But Neville saw aircraft that were up to a mile long, totally silent, whipping through the atmosphere, taking people to Jerusalem. The aircraft did not need a runway; it just lifted off the ground and then lowered itself when it was time to land.

We Christians tend to think that everything is spiritual in the Millennium. We have this funny idea that we will all sit around on earth playing harps. Neville thinks that that is actually boring. He says we will build a brand new world. It will take a while to reconstruct a new world, but it will be truly wonderful when it is done.

Climate Change

When Adam fell and Lucifer took over earth, there was a shift in the earth’s axis, a 23.5-degree tilt. Scientists believe that this greatly affected the weather patterns. Also, in the garden of Eden, it never rained, not even once. A mist came up and watered the garden.

But when the flood came in Noah’s time, the Bible says that the heavens broke and the water came both ways — it came from above and it came from beneath. That was the only way you could flood the whole earth. Something in the heavens broke. A covering of water that served as a filter over the earth in the days before the flood eventually broke. And it is interesting that, when it broke, the life span of man dropped dramatically.

In the Millennium the curse will be removed from the earth and the climate will change wonderfully. The tilt of the planet will be brought back into the right position. There will be a perfect climate. There will be no hurricanes and no destructive winds. The plants will grow faster and their fruit will develop more quickly. Neville saw something in the Millennium that he did not understand though — it seemed like people did not need the same amount of food as we do now.

Millennium’s End

Neville says that, in his dreams and visions, he saw only a tiny glimpse of about the first five hundred years of the Millennium, somewhere around that point. And already, the earth was absolutely the most beautiful place you could ever imagine. It was paradise. After all, God has said He will restore what Adam and Eve had and more.

Now, after a thousand years, there is a whole generation of people born in there, thousands and thousands of people. Satan has been bound, so these are people who have had no demonic temptation. They have lived in a perfect environment, but ruled with a rod of iron. They have not gone through any hard situation. Now Satan is released. For crying out loud, not again. What is this about?

Satan is let loose, indeed, but only for a brief time. That means he has no hope of lasting long. The only purpose for that is so those people in the Millennium can be tempted and choose. They will have to choose who they will serve, just like you and I had. Actually, it tells us in the Bible that Satan does raise an army, a human army, to come against the city of Jerusalem again. We would think that he had learned his lesson. But, Neville says, that is the nature of deception — Satan always thinks he could win.

So what next? A thousand years is up. What happens next? Neville says that, at the end of the Millennium, the earth will again undergo a metamorphosis. It will become part spiritual and part physical. The Bible tells us, “And I saw the new heaven and the new earth; for the first earth and the first heaven were now passed away, and there was no more sea.” It is a different world, there was no more sea.

And then, Revelation chapter 21 describes the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven onto this earth. It says, “And I John saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” This is really hard to kind of comprehend.

We have this city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from heaven, from on high. The New Jerusalem is a structure, a city, and a people. The city reflects all the attributes of the Bride of Christ (that remnant company of Christians who heeded the call to spiritual closeness with Him). Now we have this multi-storied city, fifteen hundred miles long this way, fifteen hundred miles that way, and fifteen hundred miles up. Can anyone imagine the city?

In one of his spiritual experiences, Neville saw the New Jerusalem. And he said to Jesus, “Lord, please let me see inside the city, please!” He prayed for three years, “Lord, let me see inside the city, let me see inside the city.” One day, He let him get a little glimpse. That city was layered. It was in the shape of a pyramid, but it was layered. On each layer, there were dwelling places and there were parks. It was beautiful at the lowest level, but the the next layer up was more beautiful, and the next layer up was even more beautiful. The city was so big it is difficult to imagine the number of people it could hold.

The New Jerusalem, this city on this again renovated earth, became the capital city of the universe. The planet became the capital of the universe. As Neville looked into the New Jerusalem, he realized that the bottom layers of the city were like an outer court. And right at the top was the throne of God. On all levels there were trees and rivers, but in ascending glory. This is what the Bible’s book of Ephesians is talking about — that Christ has seated us with Him in the heavenly places so that, in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in His kindness toward us.

So it is not the end. The prophet Isaiah said that, the increase of God’s government and peace will have no end. That word there “increase” in Hebrew contains the thought of continuing enlargement of His kingdom. Luke, in the New Testament, said that Jesus’ kingdom shall have no end. Indeed, why do we have a universe? God does not do anything without purpose. And so, the earth becomes the capital of the universe where God will establish His kingdom on out through millions of galaxies.

We have had this wishy-washy gospel message which does not wash anymore — go to heaven and you will be saved and you will be happy. We were not made just for that, to sit around and play harps. This is our message now, the Gospel of the Kingdom, the coming kingdom that has no end; and we are His ambassadors. During the Millennium, other worlds will start to be opened up and terraforming will begin on many places and planets. It is not boring anymore, it is an adventure!

A Six-Thousand-Year Glitch

So Neville says that he has given us some of the things he knows, just a little overview. Some of these things are not written in the Bible. They are extra-Biblical, but they are not un-Biblical. There is a difference, he says. Not everything is written in the Bible, anyway, but just enough of what we need for this present time. The angel said to Daniel in the Bible, “Close up the books until the end times, and we will open them again, and there will be more understanding.”

But this is the big picture. Jesus said to pray this way, “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” God gave Adam responsibility for this planet and said, “Bring heaven to earth. Extend My kingdom into this planet earth.” Now we have had a 6,000-year glitch on that, but we are coming back. The Millennium world is where Adam should have gone, but it did not happen. God is going to establish that again. And the plan and purposes of God will continue on.

This whole idea of getting to heaven, living happily ever after in nice houses, that is part of it. But that would be boring as anything. We got to have purpose. The human race is born to have purpose, direction, adventure. That is who we are.

Apostle Paul writes that eye has not seen nor ear heard what God has prepared for us. But God is revealing it now by His Spirit. And it is worth this last-day fight. It is worth the battle to bring this in.

In the book of Daniel, it says that the saints, the holy people of God, finally possess the Kingdom. Sure the Antichrist will come to power and try and take over this planet completely and establish his court and his kingdom here. He will try to do that, but he is not going to make it, because “the saints possess the kingdom.” We really have a great heritage ahead of us.

Hopelessness prevails like nothing before on this planet. This generation of young people is living in a world of hopelessness. The loss of hope in Europe is unbelievable. And when a nation loses hope, it is in a bad situation. Europe is in a mess, America is in a mess, the United Kingdom is in a mess, the world is in a mess. Even the political systems are in a mess, the economic systems are in a mess, and weather is in a mess. The Bible says it will get worse. But it also says to arise and shine.

Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times and it was the worst of times.” But ours now is a tale of two kingdoms. And we have got to focus. There will be times later when we can relax and have good times. But this time, we must fight. We must never retreat again. Christians must never, ever retreat again. If we retreat, we will lose. But if we do not retreat, we cannot lose. It is as simple as that — we cannot lose.

We got to get this planet back from the enemy’s hand. We have to take it back and bring in a new reign and rule. And this generation has been assigned that task. The whole of heaven is looking on. It says the prophets dreamed about this day; they wanted to see this day. And we are it — a great, big, motley crew.

We are going to take back the planet and at the forefront is going to be young people — the Shadrachs, the Meshachs, the Abed-negos (in the book of Daniel). The great thing about this generation of young people (there are some bad things, of course), the great thing is they are unchurched so they have nothing to unlearn. They will believe. We have got a clean canvas and they will be keen to go.

Christians, we stay, we fight. We learn how to be righteous. We learn to have a character that equals all of the fruit of the Spirit of God. We learn how to handle the weapons of warfare, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God in our mouth. We learn how to run with the horses. We learn, we stand, we do not retreat. We change the laws in the land, we bring in righteous government. Revival is one thing, reformation changes the whole structure of a community. Are we ready for this?

We have got to make our calling and election sure. We need to get trained to rule — training for reigning. Neville read a story about the British royal family (Prince Charles, Prince Edward, and so on) and the training they have. They would have to sit on a stool for over an hour without moving, and look interested, disciplined. They had to stay attentive for hours while they were deprived of sleep. They were not allowed to sleep. And they had to sit and pay attention there for hours without falling asleep. They had to practice because they were going to have to sit through boring speeches in some foreign country and not fall asleep. They trained to ride horses. They were taught how to groom themselves. And they went to military college. Some of them messed up, but… Training, training, training.

The Christian church has missed out on a lot in the past, but this is our time. Those who have gone ahead of us, mentioned in the book of Hebrews as the cloud of witnesses — they are looking on, saying, “Yea, we died for this, come on, you guys!” We have come into the Kingdom for such a time as this. This is our time.

Indeed, this is our time! -#

18 July 2018

WATCH OUT FOR PART 6.

Photo credit: Photo discovered by Gloria Peters and pinned on Pinterest

Photo link: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/46/6f/d3/466fd3065a6b8cc676a9d591dc735e05.jpg

#millennium #Jesus #God #Kingdom of God #Millennium Reign of Christ #Armageddon

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weekendsinmaine · 5 years ago

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After taking a year off from blogging, I returned to the A to Z Blogging Challenge with my creative spark renewed. I spent March prepping all of my posts so that I could focus the majority of my time during April on visiting and engaging with other bloggers which is one of my favorite things about this blogging challenge.

It was both strange and exhilarating to be blogging again after a period of inactivity. It was also serendipitous. As news headlines grew more dire and states began to issue shelter in place orders, having blogs to read and comment on throughout the month was an enjoyable distraction.

Click on any picture to jump to a slide show with hyperlinks to my A to Z Challenge Post associated with that image.

A is for antiquing and finding joy in the hunt.

B is for Blogging and getting personal for my grand return.

C is for Craft Beer and five sours that bring a smile to my puckered lips.

D is for Dogs from the first hello to the last goodbye.

E is for Evening and the Creativity it Brings.

F is for Food Trucks and a Super Meta A to Z List for Maine

G is for Greens and planning ahead for our summer CSA.

H is for Hiking with goats another tail tale from the trail.

I is for Islands and a perfect summer day on Monhegan.

J is for Juggling thoughts and calming my monkey mind.

K is for Kindness and other random acts with GISH.

L is for Lobster and a delicious attempt at a how to video tutorial.

M is for Making a pegboard jewelry organizer.

N is for New Experiences and moving my bucket list virtual.

O is for the Ocean and the pull of a lifetime of memories.

P is for Puffins and an extra does of cuteness.

Q is for Quince Sorbet and getting our Sugar Rush on at Gross Confection Bar.

R is for Respectful disagreement and how a podcast gives me hope.

S is for State Theatre and other places to enjoy live music in Maine.

T is for Taking Risks and Saying Goodbye to My Comfort Zone.

U is for Uncluttering, organizing and moving my To Do List to the cloud.

V is for Vacation and obsessively planning our Scottish adventure.

W is for Warmth and why I can’t give up my chair.

X is for Xylitol and other sugars that are off the table.

Y is for Yuletide and always having room for one more tree.

Z is for Zeitgeist and crafty protest during tumultuous times.

One of my goals each year with the challenge is to connect with other bloggers. In a year where “social distancing” has become our mantra, I never felt isolated or alone. I was able to connect, albeit digitally, to my fellow humans in creative, fun and inspiring ways.

I virtually left my home in Maine each day and got to spend it learning about other cultures, discovering family histories and being exposed to unique perspectives. I read engaging works of fiction and came across new books, movies and music. I saw beautiful art from photographers and textile artists.

I read about what was making others nervous or afraid. And, I learned what people were doing to stay happy and hopeful. I got great tips on blogging and ideas to jump start my own creativity. I learned about new foods and essential oils.

Finally, even in these anxiety filled times, I got to laugh out loud as I read the many humorous stories and anecdotes shared by my fellow bloggers. I really love to laugh.

My own A to Z theme this year was Bliss. With that in mind, I am going to be sure that I take a moment to savor completing the challenge again this year. Savoring is one way to bring more happiness into our lives. It allows us to stay in the moment and fully appreciate the experience.

May you all savor your A to Z experience this year.

Thank you to all my fellow bloggers for the support and encouragement you provided during the A to Z Blogging Challenge this past month. It really makes a difference when others engage with your posts.

It connects you to something bigger. And connection is a good thing right now. Stay safe everyone!

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Link to my final post for the April #AtoZChallenge | Reflections on my fourth time. It's all about the connections. #savor #bliss After taking a year off from blogging, I returned to the A to Z Blogging Challenge with my creative spark renewed.

#a to z 2020 #a to z blogging challenge #blogging #reflections

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proudtoehaver · 7 years ago

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The Fading of Light

After Denic, Kaya Gimm and the children are safely off planet, Chirrut and Baze return to their home seemingly in bliss. But happy endings rarely remain happy, or endings.

Written as part of @dailyspiritassassin‘s Spiritassasssin Fic Exchange for @seaofolives

Prompt: If familiar with the book, the night immediately after the ending of gotw. (Ooooh boy am I familiar.) May not have been exactly what you were looking for, but I hope it satisfies anyway.

Can also be read on AO3.

Chirrut's hands are curled around a mug of cooling tea as he sits in their tiny home, listening to the sounds of the city. It is hushed tonight, a tense quiet as it waits for the blow to fall, the Empire's retaliation for a stolen shuttle, for the fact that the people of Jedha had dared stand up to them, dared to escape in so openly a fashion.

At least Denic, Kaya Gimm and the children were safe. As safe as anyone could be in the galaxy these days.

"You're meant to drink that," Baze grumbles from the stove. "Not stare at it."

Chirrut takes a sip, more to placate his husband than because he wants to and grimaces at the lukewarm liquid. Only belatedly does he realize that Baze set him up to make a joke, but doesn't pursue it. He is in no mood to joke.

Their small room is filled with the smell of cooking food, the scent of the simmering chava roots and laichi mixing with that of the boiling oora grains. On any other night Chirrut would find the smell delicious, but tonight he has no appetite. Like the city he feels like he is poised, waiting, unable to relax and find comfort in small things, knowing and yet not knowing what will come, unable to prevent it.

With a silent reprimand, he tries to push the whirling thoughts aside, worrying about that which has not yet happened will gain him nothing except restlessness and a lack of focus. He downs the rest of the tea and focuses of the sounds of Baze at the stove, the creaks of the floor as he shifts his weight, the soft clinks as he stirs the pots.

But Baze too is far too silent. Usually when he cooks he will mutter and hum under his breath, telling Chirrut much about his state of mind from what he sings. But tonight, there is nothing. Chirrut wonders if the lack of sounds from his husband subconsciously is contributing to his own unease.

As perhaps does his lack of sense of him. He used to be able to sense his husband, always, ever, but late it has become harder, as if Baze's presence flickers in the Force. Or as he is fading away, retreating.

Rising, Chirrut goes and rinses his mug, placing it in the sink. Baze moves aside without a word and without touching him, no brush of their bodies against each other as they customarily do when they pass close to each other.

Chirrut feels as if he's been sucker punched, the lack of physical contact as painful as a blow.

"I really thought this was how I'd finally get rid of you."

Baze's words from that afternoon springs into his mind. At the time he had considered them a joke, his husband's usual form of humor, but now? Had Baze meant them?

Chirrut shakes his head, trying to dismiss the thought. He's not an adolescent, he's far too old for such ridiculous insecurities and he knows Baze too well.

Or does he? Truly?

Baze had been as unwilling as he to sacrifice the children's chance for safety for a direct strike against the Empire. And he had been the one to break off the relationship with Gerrera, but he only did so after it was clear that Chirrut was staying on Jedha.

What would Baze have decided, had Chirrut chosen to go with the children?

"Will you be standing there all evening? I need the tap." Baze's voice – flat and unemotional – jars Chirrut out of his disturbing thoughts. He is standing right next to him, close enough that they almost touch but conspicuously not doing so.

Chirrut steps aside, deliberately brushing his hand over Baze's arm as he does. Baze pulls away with a jerk, but not before Chirrut feels anger spill through the touch. No, not anger, fury.

Baze's anger has been there for years, since the Empire came to Jedha, since the temple fell, even before that, but the white blaze he senses in the touch is new, if not in nature, then in intensity. But even that was hardly new.

"Here your anger only grows. You must leave Jedha before it consumes you."

He has sensed Baze's anger grow over the last months, before they ever even heard of Gerrera, but the General had fed it. Passion answers to passion.

"If you are simply going to stand there loitering you might as well go back and sit at the table, food is almost done."

"Baze," Chirrut starts but he can hear Baze turn away from him and back to the stove.

Helplessness wash over him. He doesn't know how to fight this. How do you argue against silence? How do you move that which walks away from you? Not knowing what else to do he does as Baze tells him and sits down at the table.

How much they both have changed and not for the better. He would blame the General, but that would be misplaced. Gerrera's appearance did not change them, it just brought to light the changes already there, brought on by the Empire's occupation, by the loss of the temple, by trying to stay alive in a city whose 'authorities' were now hostile too all those of faith, hostile to the very populace they ruled.

A bowl is put in front of him, interrupting his thoughts.

"Eat."

Chirrut takes his chop sticks, picks up a piece of chava root and puts it in his mouth. It tastes like ashes to him. With a sigh, he puts the chop sticks down again. He can feel the brief glare Baze sends him, but still his husband says nothing.

This has to be dealt with and the only way he can think of is head on, no matter how much that may hurt.

"Would you prefer me to leave?" Chirrut asks quietly.

Yesterday he would never have asked this, yesterday it would never have occurred to him that Baze might feel this way. But now, tonight, being poised in this state of uncertainty and waiting and seeing clearly, perhaps for the first time, all the changes that has happened in Baze and in himself it will not leave him.

"What are you talking about?" Baze asks in return.

"This afternoon, I remember what you said."

He finds himself hoping that Baze will tell him that it was just a joke, that there is some other reason for his reticence and distance, but it withes when his words are met with more silence.

"You wouldn't understand," Baze replies at long last.

"Then make me!"

The depth of his own passion surprises him, but it feels like everything is slipping through his fingers like the desert sand and perhaps he should not try to stop it, perhaps this is how it is meant to be, but the thought of losing Baze fills him with dread. Their equilibrium has been upended and he feels like he's falling with no way of reestablishing it.

There is a shift in Baze's presence, a further fading, as if he's drawing away again. Not gone, not vanished, not yet, but slipping away.

"Since you're so eager to bring up this afternoon tell me this, do you really think so little of my self-control?"

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently you think I can't control my anger."

Chirrut sits stunned.

"That... was not what I meant."

There is nothing but even more silence from Baze.

Chirrut reaches out, seeking Baze's hand. Normally he knows precisely where his husband is within a millimeter's accuracy, but now he's groping blind his words stuck in his throat.

His fingertips brushes calloused skin and cracked nails, and he folds his fingers fold around Baze's hand. After a few seconds Baze's hand turn and his fingers bend to envelop Chirrut's.

"You have a soft heart," Chirrut whispers when he finds his voice again. "I do not want to see you lose it. Your anger burns so hot and have burned for so long, sometimes I fear it will destroy that softness, turn it to nothing but ash. With the children, you were happy."

Chirrut squeezes Baze's hand.

"It is not your self-control I doubt, but we have both changed so much. Much rather than see you lose your gentleness I would have you far away, in a place and with people where you can keep it."

Baze's free hand comes up to cup Chirrut's cheek, coarse skinned fingers tenderly brushing across the cheek bone and down his jaw.

"Do you remember the day we learned the Clone Wars had started?" Baze asks.

"A bit of news that is hard to forget, wouldn't you say?" Chirrut says with dry humor after a moment's silent confusion at the non- sequitur.

Baze huffs, a hint of amusement in the sound.

"I didn't mean the news, I meant the day itself. Before we heard."

He remembers that he had been truly happy that day, before they heard. His sight had been all but gone, only his ability to discern light and shadow remaining and even that would fade completely before the year was out. But he had made his peace with it, relearned his life and skills and on that day, he had felt he truly had his feet under him again. Only to later learn that the galaxy was coming apart at the seams. The irony of it both saddened and amused him.

"Yes, I recall it," he replies.

"You managed to best me in combat that day, for the first time since you lost your sight. You glowed."

"You mean I was young and prideful enough to get arrogant about my victory," Chirrut says, drily amused.

Baze chuckles.

"You had good right to be proud of yourself in that, but even before you won you were radiant." Baze sighs. "I wanted to protect that, but I couldn't."

"Baze-" Chirrut starts, but Baze continues without stopping.

"You were radiant again today. I haven't seen you like that since that day."

"And you wanted to protect that," Chirrut concludes.

He smiles with a mixture of wistfulness and joy. Standing he moves to Baze's side, wraps his arms around his shoulders and leans down to kiss his hair.

"Old fool," he whispers fondly, the words meant as much for himself as for Baze.

Baze clasp Chirrut's arm tightly.

The anger is still there, as powerful as ever, but Baze no longer feels as he's fading away to Chirrut. Baze sits still in his embrace, but Chirrut can feel the slight pressure against his midriff as Baze's weight shifts in against him. A second later a hand settles around Chirrut's wrist.

It is Baze who breaks the silence.

"You should finish your food. Who knows when we'll next have the time to sit down and eat."

Chirrut resumes eating. The food no longer turns to ash on his tongue, instead he notices the subtle flavoring that Baze has added to the meal.

"It is odd that the Empire has not already retaliated," he says after a few mouthsful.

"Perhaps they don't want to admit that someone could steal a shuttle right from under their noses?"

"They haven't been late to respond at any other time, no matter how ignominious it made them look to admit they had lost something."

"Levels. Losing supplies is common theft, losing weapons implies the possibility of serious resistance. Losing a shuttle... that's more than an implication. I'm not sure they're going to retaliate, not when they didn't do so right away."

Chirrut chews slowly on a chava root before swallowing.

"So people might be safe?"

"For now," Baze rumbles.

For now, it will always only be 'for now' as long as the Empire remains on Jedha. And there was no indication that they would leave, nor was there any fighting them that would not make the people of Jedha pay a steep price.

Sighing Chirrut continues eating.

Like Killi had said, it was a never ending and constantly escalating cycle that could only end in one way as far as Chirrut could see, with Jedha's destruction. But how many would lose their lives before then? And not live long enough to see the possibility, however faint, that the Empire would one day leave? Without having the chance of leaving themselves?

The thought makes him sit up abruptly, his mind suddenly awhirl.

"What?" Baze asks.

"Every person on Jedha makes for a target for the Empire," Chirrut says slowly, trying to sort out his thoughts as he speaks.

"Not like most people doesn't have the ability to leave," Baze comments.

"Not on their own."

The chair creaks as Baze shifts on it.

"What do you mean?"

"Between us, we know a lot of people here on Jedha."

"Yes."

"People who can pilot, people who knows the underworld, people who knows how to get off world."

"You're talking about smugglers, thieves and killers. You think they would help out of the kindness of their hearts?"

"No, but few of them have any love of the Empire. And a few still have faith."

Chirrut doesn't need to see to know Baze is shaking his head, but it is true all the same.

"So you would have these people of ill-repute do what exactly?"

"Help people off Jedha? I thought that was obvious."

"Did the wind turn your head?"

"No. I'm serious. Remember what Killi said? That the circle of us striking against the Empire only to have them strike back against us, has to be broken? But it cannot, until the Empire leaves, or people do."

One of Baze's hands grips Chirrut's wrist tightly, in an almost desperate grip.

"Chirrut, you can't save the entire city."

Chirrut lets out a slow breath.

"I know. We might not even be able to save that many. But every person who leaves is one less person who can be a target for the Empire."

"You're crazy."

"Perhaps, but I'm also right. And what else would you have us do? Go back to Gerrera?"

"No," Baze answers in a flat tone.

They continue to eat in silence, Chirrut knowing that Baze will need time to mull over the idea.

"Hmm, Rena Brenko knows their way about ships and they've been off planet more than once lately," Baze says slowly once they're done. Chirrut can hear from his tone that he's warming to the idea. "Let's clean up this and we'll go see them."

"Now?" Chirrut says surprised.

"Yes, now. There is no reason for waiting and have you ever known Rena to care about curfew?"

"No."

"Have you ever known us to care about curfew?"

Chirrut grins and Baze makes a small 'well?' sound.

The dishes are quickly cleaned and the table cleared, and they head off into the Jedhan night together.

There is coming a battle, Chirrut can feel it in the hush that is still lying over the city, in the stillness of the Force. When it comes he knows that the people of his home will pay a high price indeed and there is nothing he or Baze can do to change that, but by doing this at least some will be safe.

#spiritassassinexchange #spiritassassin #chirrut imwe #baze malbus #rogue one #man i hope you like this #mara's stuff

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cuckoomagazine · 5 years ago

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Interview with the founder of Sana Naturals, Kasia O’Reilly.

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Kasia, I’m Polish and a Cavan man stole my heart over 10 years ago. We live in the Cavan countryside, with our little boy, where we moved nearly 4 years ago to lead a greener life closer to Nature and my husband’s family. We have a beautiful Nadreegeel Lough at our doorstep and we feel very lucky to call this stunning lake land our home.

How did you get started in skincare business?

My love for Nature has been passed down in my family for generations. Growing up I’d spend days in my granny's luscious garden picking wild plants and digging clay from the rich Polish soil. Since I was little I’ve been making herbal potions and forcing anyone I could to drink them.

I’ve done several courses in natural therapies and this passion has developed into making my own natural skincare products, especially important for me as I struggle with challenging skin. It's dry and oily in places, sensitive, easily irritated and prone to breakouts and broken capillaries. I’ve discovered throughout the years that when it comes to our skin, less is often more.

I’m a big believer in simplicity and back to basics. I find the current skincare routines complicated, confusing and time consuming. Personally, I don’t see the need for, and don’t feel like applying, so many layers of products onto my skin twice daily. In my opinion all we need is only a few skincare essentials that are truly natural and effective, and my skin has never been happier for it.

Sana Naturals simple yet luxurious collection of skincare essentials is created with problematic skin in mind, offering superfood nutrition to skins of all types and ages.

Do you work from home? Tell us about your working space, where do you create your products?

Yes, my studio is based at my home. For me, this beautiful part of the countryside is a perfect place to live and work. I spend a lot of time in my studio hand making the products and doing the office work.

Every single jar and bottle of the skincare bliss is handmade and individually poured here. With some of the products, the production continues over a few days, after which the products reach maturity and are then hand labelled with attention to the smallest detail.

Describe your brand in 3 words.

Natural, eco- friendly, pure.

What is success to you?

Getting positive feedback from customers who tell me that my products helped them feel good in their skin again makes me incredibly happy. It's the inspiration and the motivation for what I do. I'd love to sell more products nationwide and start exporting abroad with the main goal to share the beautifying magic of plants and minerals to help heal and nurture the skin, bring joy and a peaceful mind and inspire to reconnect with the healing powers of Nature.

Working for yourself can be tricky in terms of planning your days / weeks. What helps to stay motivated and organised in order to achieve a productive work day?

Running your own business and a household means juggling millions of tasks at the same time. I work irregular hours and often work until late evenings when my boy is in bed and weekends. It isn’t easy to have a perfect work and personal life balance this way. Planning ahead and making lists is the key but I always have a feeling that the day is too short.

I read an interesting article recently on how to get more productive. A very top tip I learnt is very simple - schedule regular breaks throughout your day. You are more productive when you are recharged.

I knew that before but naively I thought that a 15 min tea break while scheduling social media posts counts as a break. But a real break should be just for YOU to help you replenish your energy in one of the three areas: physical, emotional, spiritual. So now during a work break, to replenish my physical energy I go for a walk in Nature or do a few minutes of yoga. For emotional energy I ring my friend for a chat or listen to my favourite song and really tune in. For spiritual energy I keep a gratitude journal. It has made an enormous difference to my work productivity and life in general.

What do you enjoy most about your job and what do you find challenging?

I find great delight in working with the beautiful natural ingredients, such as nourishing oils, healing clays, smooth waxes etc. I love their vibrant colours, different textures and scents, mixing them up and playing until a formula resonates with me is so blissful. I also love engaging with customers, either directly at the events where I sell my products or via social media. I also enjoy packing orders for individual customers. If you have ever been at the receiving end of one of these packages you’d know how much love, care and attention goes to them.

As cliché as it sounds, my work is my passion, except for doing the accounts. That to me feels like paying for all my sins!

You have recently promoted your products on Ireland AM and you did a great job! How did you come across this opportunity and has it helped you in your business?

I contacted Virgin Media months ago about an opportunity to be featured on Boost My Business program. Luckily my brand fitted the sustainability topic that was scheduled to be featured at the time and I was invited to the studio.

I was expecting just a couple of inquiries after the program but I was very surprised with a great viewers’ response. The volume of inquiries, possibilities of collaboration with different brands, new social media followers and the engagement was incredible. I’m very grateful for this opportunity as it helps small businesses like mine grow.

What is your most popular product at the moment?

The most loved product by the customers at the moment is the Serum. This unique blend of botanical oils and a powerful antioxidant vitamin C serves as a moisturiser, serum and an under eye serum all in one. This multitasking superhero is especially designed to tackle multiple skin issues at once, depending where the skin resides each day, helping to restore its natural balance. It’s especially formulated with problematic skin in mind but it offers indulgence and soothing comfort to skins of all ages and types. I’m often told that it’s a skin saviour.

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Your dedication to sustainability is so refreshing! The eco-friendly recyclable packaging is what sets you apart from many skincare brands. Is it challenging to avoid plastic in terms of the cost?

Production of all skincare products to some extent impacts the environment, however all the choices and steps are taken with the wellness of our planet on top of my mind. And although not perfect, I’m constantly learning how to improve things and I’m thriving to lead this small business as sustainably as possible.

Plastic packaging is certainly cheaper, lighter and safer to post and transport in terms of the risk of breakage but as sustainability is one of the brand’s core values, using glass containers is non-negotiable.

I also opted for no outer cardboard box to reduce waste and instead, the products come with a reusable cotton eco pouch. I’m committed to using as little plastic as possible. Any inside filling in the postage boxes, e.g. paper insert, bubble wrap or the filling chips are reused from the ingredients and containers packaging. I’m delighted that many of my suppliers choose green alternatives too, such as compostable filling chips made of potato starch, even though these ‘greener’ options are more expensive.

What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of starting a beauty business?

To be honest I'm not yet an expert by any means as I'm still learning. But I would say start with your local enterprise office that usually offers a wide range of trainings and is very helpful to new start-ups, as well as existing businesses. Joining your local networking group may also be useful. I’m blessed with a continuous support from very talented women from my local Cavan Business Women Club.

Follow your dream, move one step at the time while enjoying the journey and hope for the best.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m often asked by customers for a face toner and to fulfil the requests I’m currently working on a new toner formula. The oil Serum needs water or a water based product to penetrate the skin and seal in the moisture and I feel that a face toner would complement the existing collection very well. It will take much more time though to test and it will be sometime next year by the time it’s launched so stay tuned.

https://www.sananaturals.ie/

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#interview #business #beauty #skincare #product #cuckoomagazine #ireland #online #blog #magazine

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