#mountain parable

[thebandcampdiaries]

Matthew Weaver presents: “A mountain parable.”

Matthew Weaver released a composition titled “"A Mountain Parable"

This is a truly dynamic and lush track, which showcases Matthew’s versatility and broad creative range. This composition features piano and guzheng, a Chinese instrument.

With such a direct blend of classical music, folk, and other styles, Matthew achieved a very interesting and one-of-a-kind fusion of cultures and sounds, which really sets the bar higher in terms of bringing more depth to the composition.

For those who might not be familiar with it, the guzheng is a traditional Chinese stringed instrument. It has a long and exciting history, which spans over 2,500 years. This composition stays true to the heritage of this beautiful and timeless instrument, and at the same time, it also brings in something new, combining timeless sounds with a more contemporary approach. In addition to that, this track is also very personal to the artist, as it deeply relates to his vision as a music creator. The song’s genesis dates back to the roots of the artist's journey.

About ten years ago, Matthew attended a life-changing seminar on writing music led by his mentor. The latter asked the class, “Why do you write music?” The answers echoing in the room varied, ranging from students willing to express themselves to people trying to build a career. However, the mentor’s perspective was on a different level. He reminded Matthew and everyone in the class that artists have a much deeper impulse, stating that “We write music because, if we do not, a part of us will die.”

This is a very deep take on making music. It reminds us that true artistic pursuit is something more than just creating a product or trying to achieve a goal. It is part of who we are. It is something that will give us a sense of fulfillment and higher purpose. It is a compulsion that should not be ignored, and thankfully, Matthew is definitely voicing his soul with this composition. In doing so, he was also able to create something that universally relatable to the audience.

At first, Matthew did not immediately grasp the significance of such a vision, but it continued to become clearer overtime. Many artists might agree with the fact that during difficult periods, being creative can feel like an uphill battle, yet pressing forward is essential. Retreating means losing a part of oneself.

Matthew wrote “A Mountain Parable” because he needed to capture the struggle and the vital need for actually making music. The song is indeed a perfect depiction of the vital need for creative expression. Matthew’s journey toward creating this work was arguably driven by an internal compulsion, a sense that the story had to be told not just for the audience but for his own fulfillment and understanding. The parable symbolizes more than just a narrative. The concept of the mountain could be seen as the embodiment of struggles and challenges through life: those steep peaks we all need to climb, especially artists and people who seek to take their creative endeavors to a whole new level. Musically, the song is incredibly rich and diverse, despite the minimalistic nature of the arrangement. The instruments interact beautifully, complementing each other in expected ways. The guzheng has a brighter, more prominent attack, allowing the notes to resonate very clearly. This makes the phrases and melodies executed on the instrument incredibly poignant and powerful. On the other end, the piano is performed in such a way that it emphasizes the instrument’s softer tonal qualities and vision overall. The two sounds have somewhat opposite qualities and textures, but this is exactly the reason why they fit together so well. The synergy between the black strings and the softly stroked keys makes for a mesmerizing, otherworldly ambiance that brings Matthew’s composition to life in a very characterful way. The artist managed to retain a very understated writing style with this song. The rather minimalistic melodic approach actually enhances the natural qualities of the instruments, thus making the song all the more emotional. The guzheng’s plucked strings produce a delicate, ethereal sound, which soars on top of the cinematic sounds created by the piano and the harmonic complexity it brings to this song. Together, these instruments create a unique blend of textures and tonal colors, harmonizing the elegance and subtlety of the guzheng with the richness and versatility of the piano chords.

In addition to such a poignant and relatable concept, the track is well-written and musically well-executed, making for a well-rounded listening experience. Matthew managed to combine artistic integrity and philosophical concepts with high-level musicianship, crafting something quite deep and awe-inspiring.

Find out more about Matthew Weaver and do not miss out on “A Mountain Parable,” which is now available on the web.

[help-me-this-sucks]

INTRO THING ‼️‼️

Haii Hello :3

(As stated in bio) My name is Amias or you can call me Alex too and my pronouns r he/him/it/its/tech/techs and I'm mostly attracted to masculine people :> (I'm new to using xenopronouns so I'm keeping it to tech/techs)

I strongly suspect I have autism and ADHD, but my health insurance sucks and I don't have time to get assessed :(( (Should hopefully change in ~6 months !!)

emoticon user

victim of hyperfixations

idk how 2 edit n I have writers block so don't expect any edits/fanfics out of me

Multifandom !!!!

some include:

☆ Gravity Falls, duh.

✰ Electric Dreams

✰ The Stanley Parable

✰ I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream

✰ Portal

✰ Brokeback Mountain

✰ Hollow Knight

Some things I'm interested in that don't have fandoms or I choose not to be in them, so these are some of those:

✰ Subnautica

✰ Studio Ghibli films (Specifically Ponyo :DD)

✰ Another Crab's Treasure

✰ Jaws

✰ Can you tell I like the ocean ?

✰ Contemporary art

✰ Vintage stuff (Ex: Glass blocks, old video games/software, old computers, etc...)

✰ Firewatch

✰ Resident Evil (I've only played a few)

✰ Call of Duty (Specifically the new Modern Warfare trilogy campaigns) (I don't like the fandom)

✰ Others I can't think of rn but those r the big ones

I also listen to music !!!

Some of the stuff I listen to is:

✰ Car Seat Headrest (Favorite song is Can't Cool Me Down)

✰ Mitski (Favorite song is A Loving Feeling)

✰ TV Girl (Favorite song is It Almost Worked)

✰ TWRP (Favorite song is HTMLOVE)

✰ Some other stuff (Not enough of any other artist/band to rlly count)

I plan to watch/play/listen to some things in the future :D

Those are:

✰ Donnie Darko

✰ Silksong (if it even releases in my lifetime /j)

✰ More Car Seat Headrest

✰ More Mitski

✰ More TWRP

DNI LIST:

✰ Basic stuff like transphobes, homophobes, racists, sexists, y'know, bigots, fascists, whatever you wanna call them. (they probably don't want to interact with me anyway)

✰ Darkshippers specifically. If you're a comshipper who doesn't ship anything weird or problematic idc

✰ People who make homophobic/transphobic/racist/sexist/r*pe "Jokes". You're not funny and I don't wanna hear it

✰ Anti-objectums

✰ Other than that I don't rlly care unless you're an icky weirdo ^_^

Baiii goodbye >w<

[psychosociality]

First blog ♥

Hello Hello! My name is Elliott. I am a transmasc and gay writter/artist!

I'm in many fandoms, such as; COD , SCP , Ghost , The outsiders , Sallyface , The stanley parable , mandela catalogue , ena , creepypasta.

✩░▒▓▆▅▃▂▁.���▂▃▅▆▓▒░✩

A little bit about myself...

I am on the autism spectrum, i have anxiety, depression, and Tourette syndrome. I'm recovering and taking things slow <3 writing fanfics and drawing really helps with all that so I made this account to entertain people while also helping myself in a way. I enjoy metal music, goth music + goth fashion.

I'm taking requests for fanfics;

fanfic boundaries!

no smut for minors

no proshipping

no HEAVY gore

Please list the fandom, theme (Fluff/angst/smut/etc), and (OPTIONALLY) a short prompt

[sethian123]

Two Mountains Crumbling in Daylight

(Manichaean poem inspired by the old Chinese parable: "The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains")

Eons ago, near two flowing rivers in old China

Lived an old, white clothed man ninety-nine years of age

Who glared at two mountains he knew from his long-dead childhood

Who glared at the giants he always had dreams of

The first was a mist covered mountain, where all beasts were blind

With whispers of meaningless legends and theories

The second was a fiery mountain singing in passion

With trees and bushes with golden leaves, but no fruit

Both these mountains trapped the souls of the damned under the dirt

Both buried the light in the damp cyclical tomb

The souls were angels who defended their land from the night

Horsemen who guarded against the Prince of Darkness

The inner soul of light within the old man awakened

The youthful hoopoe bird within chirped for freedom

He began his work, to dig into the mountains themselves

He started to craft a path for all to travel

A wiser old man came up and saw the sweat raining down

And chuckled at the absurdity raining down

“Oh friend, you cannot remove one grey hair from the giants

How in heaven’s name can you crumble these mountains”

The foolish grey-haired man, singing and young in his caged heart

Said these words, roaring with his liberated mind

“My children shall tear the mountains by their blood-covered hand

My grandchildren shall destroy them with their chisels

My offspring will fight as unsleeping armies in the night

My offspring will never surrender their grand fight

The birds of the blue sky will peck the mountains piece by piece

The worms of earth will eat the fortress bit by bit”

These words reached the wise man’s inner heart beating with wonder

These words reached the sun and moon’s delicate bright souls

So the ships of light carried the message to the blue sky

The Infinite Father of Greatness and Lightness

The blue sky ripped apart the revolving grey clouds of might

The expanse of azure blue split all into two

Daylight shone in the highest firmament of dark violet

Daylight shone in the lowest crannies of Sheol

These two mountains vanished as if they were nothing at all

These two watchtowers crumbled in the gentle flames

Leaving no fortresses between the two flowing rivers

Leaving only an untouched garden, eons old

[honeysucklethornsandalligtrhorns]

Y'all...

should i start posting tsp art on here? i really need to get better at drawing bodies, poses, inanimate objects, expressions etc and tsp has been my biggest hyperfixation since either my beatles phase or my spongebob phase... or should i make a side blog for it, and leave this one for just my general chatter and convo?

[handinlovablehand]

the most inexicable and self-indulgent of crossovers ft. @/piss_hat_ on insta's narrator design

[assignmentimprobable]

That “Wow!! Cool robot!!!” meme but with Tony Montana and his enduring audience reception

[oldpoet56]

A Few Things For Us To Think About ( #867 )

A Few Things For Us To Think About ( #867 ) ( A few parables for the amusement and the entertainment of family, friends, loved ones and a few of us old folks ) 1.) If you over do it on the wearing of your jewels you could very easily wake up dead and without your jewels. 2.) If our Soul is pure so will be our actions. 3.) We know for sure that we are lost when we cannot find who, what or where…

[bougiebutchbinch]

Wade and Logan fuck in two modes, bone breaking, all night long could kill someone bloody mess, and Logan eating him out for hours until he's a whimpering mess. You understand this .....

oh, 1000%. Often both.

They start like they do most nights - that is to say, with Logan between Wade's thighs.

He nuzzles at his cunt, scraping those plump lips with his stubble, then pulls back to watch the slick drip, the rosy beard-burn fade. Wade whimpers and wriggles. Shoving his hips up, chasing Logan's touch - little brat.

But, fun as it is to torment him, Logan can't handle this for long. He needs to be buried in him; needs his spit-slick to gloss over Wade's ass, gluing the backs of his thighs to the kitchen floor, until his taste and Wolverine's are combined. So, he indulges himself. Licking and sucking. Working Wade over with the indomitable patience of an immortal - eyes ravenous, but mouth soft.

And Wade? Oh, he's loving it. Writhing like a worm on a hook, clenching greedy around Logan's tongue. Chattering all the while: fuck yeah, kitty got the cream... no, wait; this is better than cream. This is Creme De La Creme De La Edgar... Ha! Eat your heart out, Walt Disney! I can make Aristocats references now without getting sued! ....Or, well, eat your pussy out, I suppose? Ooh - Peanut, do you think you could get to my heart if you keep licking like that for the next thousand years - like that parable with the sparrow who wipes its beak on the mountain, and wears it down to dust? Or is this more of a Tootsie Pop situation? A-one, and a -two, and a -

However, as the minutes tick by... Logan's control slips. His grip on Wade's legs turns bruising. The bites deepen, going from playful nips to drawing blood.

The next time Wade squirms, Logan snarls.

His claws snikt out, gouging through the soft of Wade's abdomen. Pinning him in place as Logan chomps down on his femoral artery, spraying them both with a hot gush of blood (and, uh, other fluids, because if that ain't gonna make Wade squirt, I don't know what is...)

#

Then, during a different encounter, an argument turns into wrestling, turns into fighting, turns into all-out murder. Which, obviously, turns into sex.

Wade has Logan pinned, a cheeky corkscrewed judo hold. Somehow (he's not quite sure when) they started scissoring, slamming together so roughly that Wade popped out his hip - but like hell is he backing down. He grinds down as Logan grinds up, laughing as his dislocated hip twangs. Manic and free.

There's blood everywhere. Internal organs stink and steam, strewn across the kitchen laminate. They really should've put down a tarp; Al's gonna bitch if she finds another spleen that got kicked under the cabinets and left to rot...

Logan growls, shattering that thought. Claws punch through Wade's pelvis, giving Logan more leverage, letting him reclaim control of their grind.

"Cheater," Wade bitches, but he supposes he can let Wolvie have this match. Out of the kindness of his heart.

The pressure is fucking volcanic. It builds with each slide of their sweaty bodies, each scrape of their cocks between their puffy labia. Wade can't tell if the slick between them is slick or just blood from where Logan worked his fist inside him earlier, rough and mean and fucking perfect, then extended his claws; or when he bit off Logan's plump, twitching t-dick off in retaliation and spat it out in his grinning face. But either way, their sex is molten-hot and gross and perfect.

Then... then Wolvie grabs the back of his neck.

Wade tenses - is he going for his medulla? Kinky; he knows how much Wade loves it when he kills him, so he'll swim back to life while being worked open on the fattest of Logan's straps. But Logan just snarls. He looks fierce and furious and all kinds of feral - but strangely desperate too.

Wade can't quite work out what for. But when Logan yanks him down, he doesn't resist.

Their mouths collide.

Not in a bite. Wolvie doesn't even take the opportunity to snap Wade's neck. Just... kisses him. Right there, in the puddle of blood and viscera that fell out of Wade after Logan withdrew his fist. Their bodies gridlocked, their tongues entwined.

...Now this is a truly devious tactic.

It's also working.

Wade melts over Logan, the claws sunk knuckle-deep in his pelvis pulling him back and forwards, grinding in counterpoint to the body beneath him. Shuddering, at the drag of Logan's regrowing cock through his dripping folds.

"Cheater," he accuses again, pulling away to gasp - but Logan only grunts a laugh.

[haveyoureadthispoll]

[filmnoirsbian]

Things read in May

Essays & Articles:

Ursula K. Le Guin on Being A Man

Investigating parents of transgender youth has agency on ‘brink of collapse,’ staff warns

Five Indigenous Speculative Fiction Authors You Should Be Reading

DECOLONIZING SCIENCE FICTION AND IMAGINING FUTURES: AN INDIGENOUS FUTURISMS ROUNDTABLE

Using Dogs As A Tool of Racial Oppression

Rings of Power: The new hobbits are filthy, hungry simpletons with stage-Irish accents. That’s $1bn well spent

First case of HIV cure in a woman after stem cell transplantation reported at CROI-2022

The Trees That Miss The Mammoths

NOPE’S SCIENCE CONSULTANT REVEALS THE NAME AND INSPIRATION FOR THE MOVIE’S ALIEN

Reflections on the Poetry of Eavan Boland

The dire state of trans healthcare in Ireland

How Letterkenny Got Indigenous Representation So Right

Einstein's Parable of Quantum Insanity

Surgical amputation of a limb 31,000 years ago in Borneo

Most Transgender Children Stick With Gender Identity 5 Years Later: Study

Were you a ‘parentified child’? What happens when children have to behave like adults

Fear of a Black Hobbit

It’s a ‘Full-Contact’ Haunted House. What Could Go Wrong?

The Craft: How a Teenage Weirdo Based on a Real Person Became an Icon

Remember When Multiplayer Gaming Needed Envelopes and Stamps?

‘We’ll Never Make That Kind of Movie Again’ An oral history of The Emperor’s New Groove, a raucous Disney animated film that almost never happened.

5 Incredible Sagas of Fandom Scams and Deception

I Used to Love British Period Dramas. Now I See Them as Colonial Propaganda

Why gender essentialism is a white supremacist ideology

Liberating Our Homes From the Real Estate–Industrial Complex

You Don’t Have To Be Pretty – On YA Fiction And Beauty As A Priority

Ten Years Later, There’s Still Nothing Like Tarsem Singh’s The Fall

Tolerance is not a moral precept

Scottish Poet and Publisher Derick Thomson 'Transformed' Gaelic Poetry

Poetry:

The Universe, as in One Last Song for the Lonely Hearts by Michelle Hulan

An Ordinary Evening in New Haven by Wallace Stevens

Heaven by George Herbert

Return from Death by Derick Thomson

Coffins by Derick Thomson

Chemin De Fer by Elizabeth Bishop

Yes, It Was The Mountain Echo by William Wordsworth

The Man and the Echo by William Butler Yeats

The Most of It by Robert Frost

Eros Turannos by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Books:

The Dark Yule by R. M. Callahan

The Invasion by K. A. Applegate

The Whisper by Aaron Starmer

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Miss Iceland by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir

[bonefall]

Better Bones AU: History Lesson

(A new, updated version of an old history lesson, with some new names and the hopes of being a better summary. Refer to this one over the old one!)

[ID: Ferncloud from Warrior Cats is lecturing Lionkit, Jaykit, and Hollykit.]

Teaching history in the Clans became an important feature after the defeat of Ripplestar near the beginning of the Chivalric Period. While elders are seen as the chroniclers of history, a dedicated Educator takes on the role of making sure each litter learns everything they need to know.

During the Settlement Era, ThunderClan's educator Ferncloud teaches the kits of ThunderClan about glyphs, the basic tenets of the Warrior Code, and an overview of history.

As of the newest arc, there have been 5 Periods so far, with each period being broken down into 3 Eras and side stories. Those are;

ANCIENT PERIOD Dawn Era, Code Era, Skyfall Era

CHIVALRIC PERIOD Ripple Era, Crusade Era, Campaign Era.

THISTLE PERIOD Broken Era, Tiger Era, Fire Era

HOMING PERIOD Journey Era, Settlement Era, Eclipse Era

MODERN PERIOD Reunion Era, Reckoning Era, Current Day

In addition, there is also a Prehistoric Period, which is only remembered by Clan cats through the tales of LionClan, LeopardClan, and TigerClan. The truth is even stranger than the mythological animals they tell stories about.

See: Hollyleaf's Century.

Ancient Period (1920s - 1970s)

Dawn Era

Thunderstar's Justice

Moth Flight's Vow

In the Dawn Era, the five ancient founders settled the Forest. From the North came the Clans, lead down from the mountains by Gray Wing the Wise. From the south came Warriors, following a king, Arc of the Park.

Gray Wing died in a fateful accident while saving his right-hand man, Shaded Flower. Clear Sky managed to keep the group together through his sheer strength, settling them into the forest. This all changed when a horrible accident caused the leg of Clear Sky's brother, Jagged Peak, to be permanently twisted.

His own brother and the leader of the Clan at the time, Clear Sky, cast him out. His pregnant mate, Bright Storm, protested this cruelty and tried to care for Jagged Peak all winter long. Her efforts were in vain as he starved to death, and the spirit of Gray Wing responded to this by sending her a hero and a sign;

Bright Storm's litter had one survivor, a ginger tabby named Thunder Storm, missing its leg in the same place where its uncle had lost his. They brought the child back to the group.

Refusing to learn his lesson, Clear Sky rejected the child just like he'd done to Jagged Peak. This time, many families did not abide the cruelty, headed by Tall Shadow. This caused the split between Sky's Clan and Shadow's Clan. Shadow's Clan came into constant conflict with the Wind Coalition, Thunder Storm broke off Thunder's Clan many years later after a great injustice, Tall Shadow's exile of Bumble, and he eventually struck up an alliance with the River Kingdom.

Rising political tension culminated in Sky's Clan taking the prince of the River Kingdom, River's Ripple, as a hostage. The First Battle broke out between all five groups at Fivetrees, a bloodbath with so much carnage that the bodies could not be buried in one day.

StarClan broke the battle with a flash of lightning, coming down from the heavens to offer each leader a revelation, and a reward. The reward being that each leader would get 9 lives to lead their Clans, and better understand the cats within them, as long as they gave a proper burial to each cat killed in the pointless fight.

The first two Commandments of the Warrior Code were made on this day-- the Law of the Land establishing borders, and the Law of Honor, which states that a true warrior does not need to kill in order to win their battles.

And thus ended the Dawn Era, and started the Code Era.

Code Era

Riverstar's Heir

Because this was before the Clans taught history, most of the Code Era is remembered in parables associated with the creation of Commandments 3 thru 8. It's also MUCH longer than most other Eras, with many of these parables being several generations apart.

The first addition to the warrior code happened with the death of the incredibly long-lived founder, King Riverstar. His openness and free approach towards love resulted in there being several contenders to the throne, inadvertently leading to the collapse of the River Kingdom.

With the addition of Code 3, the Law of the Deputy, the five groups became Clans in the sense they're known today.

The cats in these code parables are so old and so storied that they are seen as deities in StarClan, prayed to and invoked by the living. Examples being Daisytail, Patron of Protection and Parenthood, and Redscar, Patron of Arbitration and Decision-Making.

Later, the fourth commandment, the Law of Loyalty, was made in response to the open love of Ryewhisker and Cloudberry. It banned interclan mateships and closed off the groups in a way unseen since the Dawn Era, and ignited the ancient tradition of Kitten Stealing.

Unknown to the living, in protest of such an evil law, Ryewhisker and Cloudberry willingly joined the Dark Forest. They are two of the oldest spirits there.

An accurate chronicle truly begins with the Skyfall Era.

Skyfall Era

Cars, brand new highways, and suburban expansion started to cut into the Forest as the humans entered a new era... not that the Clans knew why it was happening. Kittypets, associated with these humans, started to be seen more negatively than ever before.

This Era is named for, and defined by, the loss of SkyClan.

Commandment 9, the Law of the Wild, was made in response to SkyClan cats defecting to live as housecats; "A true warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet."

As their territory evaporated below their paws, SkyClan was blamed for everything out of their control. To this day, this era is framed as a cautionary tale to kittens, "What happens to a Clan when they stop living by the Code." In a famous final plea, SkyClan was turned away and exiled.

Their ancestors, 1/5th of StarClan, went with them... except for Skystar who remained in Silverpelt, revered as a Patron of Battle.

The Clerics of the four remaining clans protested the exile ferociously, banding together to go on strike until SkyClan was returned. To break it and bring their medics back under control, the Medicine Cat's Vow was codified into law.

Previously, it had been a personal vow between Clerics, one with no enforcement behind it. Not taking a mate or having kittens was to always keep medicine above Clan loyalty; but the code was enshrined to make a Cleric put Clan loyalty above all else. A corrupted vow. Dalestar of WindClan smeared his Cleric, Larkstripe, as a hypocrite and sent her kitten away.

See: Larkstripe

And thus ended the strike, and the Ancient Period, as the following Chivalric Period began.

Chivalric Period (1970s - Late 1990s)

Ripple Era

Ripplestar's Rot

Larkstripe's kitten was raised at Birdsong's belly in ShadowClan, the adopted brother of Gorseclaw and Spottedpelt. Ripplemoon understood it was a great injustice that SkyClan had been exiled, and vowed to make room for his siblings' father and Clan to return home.

Meanwhile, the 5th Oak at Fivetrees was beginning to rot. The Ripple Era was named for this time of tumult, ending with a crash as Ripplestar's war came to a bloody halt.

After the death of the 5th Oak, Fivetrees becomes Fourtrees, widely considered a sign that a Clan that cannot keep its borders does not deserve to have them. THREE new laws were added to the Warrior Code, all of them related to making cats more loyal.

The Full Moon Truce, ruling that cats were not to fight or argue at gatherings

The First Tasks, a set of pre-existing traditions now codified, that all apprentices had to complete upon becoming warriors

The Leader's Rights... to not be disobeyed.

The Clan Pride Tide that followed ignited war and chaos, considered to be the 'chivalric ideal' of Clan society. The battles were glorious, and never before were cats so honorable and ferocious. Punishments were harsh and severe... such as the one for a certain mother who took a halfclan mate, and was given 3 ill-fated kittens by StarClan.

And this punishment truly ended the Ripple Era, and lead to the Crusade Era.

Crusade Era

Darkstar's Commandment

Pinestar's Crusade

When a false sign from StarClan was misinterpreted by the Cleric of ThunderClan (unknown to all: Birchface was a rogue StarClan warrior who sent it), Oakstar ferociously exiled Mapleshade and her three kittens in the midst of a storm. With nowhere to go, she tried to bring her children across the river to their father's Clan. They did not survive.

Darkstar refused to even allow her to bury the kittens in RiverClan. Mapleshade exacted her revenge, taking out 3 cats before being taken out herself. Furious at the injustice and murder, StarClan damned every cat involved, and gave Darkstar and Oakstar a command; to NEVER let this happen ever again.

Darkstar created Darkstar's Commandment, that all kittens were to be protected regardless of origin, and no one would be compelled to reveal the other parent of their kittens. This is known as the Queen's Rights.

See: Queen's Rights

Oakstar opposed this change at first, until he was beaten by Darkstar and forced to accept this new law. Fearing that StarClan would be furious with him, he attempted to please them by starting crusades against the cats of Chelford.

These Crusades lead to the creation of BloodClan, to defend Chelford cats against Clan invasion. From this point it evolved into a system of governance unique to itself.

See: Brief BloodClan Guide

WindClan and ShadowClan joined in on these raids for several years, with only RiverClan abstaining. Between the cats of the forest there was an era of odd 'peace' as they had new targets to battle for honor... until Heatherstar took power.

The Campaign Era reignited inter-Clan hostility.

Campaign Era

Tallstar's Collapse

Brokenstar's Cataclysm

Stormpaw's Demon

Bluestar's Flowers

Heatherstar of WindClan flexed her ambition by launching a campaign to take the Mothermouth Moorland from ShadowClan, setting off a cascade of renewed inter-Clan hostility. It caused ShadowClan to hold territory from ThunderClan, ThunderClan to re-take Sunningrocks, and RiverClan to assert control over the Gorge, causing periodic four-way fights between them in ways unseen since the Ripple Era.

WindClan lost the tradition of tunneling in this Era; as it isn't useful for the total war that Heatherstar needed to take such a huge chunk of territory.

In the later half of this Era, a group of young cross-Clan friends started to meet in secret. Bluemoon of ThunderClan, Hoprunner and Ashfoot of WindClan, Lizardstripe of ShadowClan, Oakheart of RiverClan, and Barley Senior of BloodClan.

They called themselves the Forget-Me-Nots, and it was the beginning of the ideology known as Fire Alone. Bluemoon's love of her friends, and the loss of her family in pointless battles, made her realize that something needed to change.

And yet, this era gave birth to something much more rotten. As the Clans hardened and started to see the more brutal parts of the code as fundamentally opposed to its softer laws, the tenets that would found Thistle Law began to form.

See: Thistle Law

Named for a painful lesson that Thistleclaw taught his apprentice, Bluestar's rise to power stalled its implementation for a few more safe years. It was the ironic negotiation of a Peace Deal to end the Mothermouth Moorland war which ended the Chivalric Period, and birthed the Thistle Period.

Thistle Period (Late 1990's - 2008)

Broken Era

Spottedleaf's Plague

After generations of fighting, Raggedstar of ShadowClan was old, tired, and wanted only to see peace for his last years of life. He went to end the war and stop fighting for the Mothermouth Moorland which had been contested for so long.

His son and deputy, Brokentail, killed him before he had the chance.

The rise of Brokenstar was the first true implementation of Thistle Law. His followers believed that the only way to truly win a war was to destroy the opposition-- completely. As Heatherstar had done before by sacrificing tunneling, Brokenstar, too, was prepared to make sacrifices.

In just a few short years using brutal tactics like poison claws, traps, and apprentice-targeting, ShadowClan had shredded WindClan's numbers. The final bloody event in this eradication was the WindClan Massacre, a full assault on their camp, and ShadowClan had even broken the code by bringing inexperienced warriors to battle. Casting out a full Clan was considered evil and barbaric.

Rebels formed in this time, but without help, they would have stood no chance against the popular Brokenstar.

It was Bluestar of ThunderClan and her young champion, an ex-kittypet called Firepaw, who agreed to lend their aid. Guided by the words of a prophecy, "Fire Alone Will Save The Clans," Bluestar instilled in her apprentice a new way of seeing the world.

With Brokenstar deposed, Bluestar sent her champion again to fetch WindClan. They gave ShadowClan space to recover, defended the weakened WindClan against River and Shadow, and even accepted a blinded Brokenstar out of mercy. At all turns, Bluestar embodied justice and chivalry...

Or so the ThunderClan history lessons say. Others like to put more emphasis on the growing darkness behind Tigerclaw.

Tiger Era

Tigerstar's Paws

It officially began when Tigerstar took power in ShadowClan. TigerClan lasted for only six horrible moons and defines the shortest era in the history lessons, but its story is told with horror and hushed tones.

Dozens of cats died, in raids and in executions. Prey was stolen from other territories and slaughtered en-mass to build a ridiculous, reeking monument of bones. There wasn't even enough to build a solid hill, so Tigerstar demanded they create a pointless facade over mud just for his ego.

But all of this was still not enough for him, and he contacted BloodClan to negotiate the Impossible Deal. They would have half of the Forest, if they helped him kill his enemies. Scourge did not trust Clan cats, but against his better judgement, as if the heavens were whispering in his ear... he agreed.

The Era came to a crashing halt when Tigerstar attacked his ally and Scourge famously opened him up in two hits. A very special song was made about this moment; Tiger's In A Heap.

Fire Era

Cinderpelt's Solution

Firestar's Quietus

The Tiger in RiverClan

Tigerstar had made a deal, and Scourge intended for it to be upheld. Half of the forest was rightfully his, and he would evict any Clan cats who he found living on it, tired of their dishonorable ways. He gave them three days to clear out.

Firestar was able to convince the four Clans to unite as one to defend against this threat, but he had a revelation. Scourge wasn't wrong. Clan cats had acted dishonorably with him, making promises they didn't intend to keep, attacking him when he didn't obey like a minion. In spite of being Bluestar's champion and successor, Firestar himself had been treated as if he was lesser, just for his birth.

To Scourge, and to Rusty, the Clans HAD been dishonorable. The Code ended at the border and treated outsiders as less-than-cats.

When the battle with BloodClan began, Firestar and Scourge faced off. The battle was legendary. In a fateful move, Firestar slammed the leader of BloodClan to the ground, and ripped his collar clean off. "A true warrior does not need to kill to win their battles."

Calling for a retreat with his life, Scourge left his collar behind on the battlefield. Firestar returned it, and opened up new negotiations with the humbled leader. "We have won our right to the forest, but speak to me; how much of Tigerstar's impossible deal can we honor for you?"

The answer was so simple as to be ridiculous. They wanted materials like wood, nice-smelling flowers, and new kinds of food. Things that they couldn't find in the dumpsters and gray pavement of twolegplace, and BloodClan could offer materials of their own to trade.

The Fire Era allowed the Thistle Period to have a brief, but sweet time of peace. This time of cooperation ended in a horrible ball of chaos, as the forest was destroyed by man and the cats had to go on a long journey.

Homing Period (2007 - 2018)

Journey Era

As the forest was destroyed, the Clans sought guidance from StarClan. The Clerics went to the Mothermouth, as was expected in those days. Cinderpelt, Littlecloud and Cinderpelt's apprentice Leafstripe were slightly late, as usual, taking their time getting there to have their bi-weekly chat.

When they arrived, they found Mothwing frantically digging at a collapsed rockfall. If they hadn't been late, they too would have died. Mudfur and Barkface were dead. The remaining Clerics dug until their claws were bloody, then fell asleep where they stood.

Leafstripe of ThunderClan received a prophecy. Four chosen cats must follow the Brightest Star, and find them a new home. These four cats were sent by each Clan; Brambleclaw, Tawnypelt, Feathertail, and Crowfoot. Squirrelpaw and Stormfur joined them, without permission.

As they went on a quest that would come to be known as the Sundrown Patrol, the four Clans suffered through many hardships. ThunderClan was forced out of its camp, WindClan was poisoned and ensnared, RiverClan pushed for Sunningrocks as the river dried up, and ShadowClan's marshland was filled in.

After the patrol returned to free several cats who had been trapped by humans, the Clans left hastily to begin the Great Journey.

Something changed on that trip together. For the first time ever, the four Clans had to rely on each other, and see things the way they could be. The apprentices and kits in particular walked away with a unique mindset about cooperation, summed up with a special dish they created together known as Paw Soup.

But of course, it did not last. On reaching the lake and discovering the Moonpool, Leafstripe received three new prophecies.

"Blood will spill blood and the lake will run red."

"Fire and tiger will clash and burn together into ash"

"The first of the lake will guide WindClan."

Her name was changed to Leafpool, an honor title to reflect her powerful seeing abilities.

After the death of Tallstar and the hasty rise of Onewhisker to power, Mudclaw decided that this prophecy must mean that the first cat to see the lake after the Great Journey would lead WindClan. Since he lead the first patrol here, he was especially convinced that it meant him.

(Unknown to him, it was referring to his child, Kestrelflight, who would be the first kitten born at the lake. Shortly followed by his brothers Harestar and Owlclaw, Hare and Kestrel were given to Mudclaw's brother Torear shortly after their birth while Whitewater kept Owl.)

Mudclaw's Rebellion spiraled into a conflict involving cats of all Clans, lead in by Hawkfrost. After a failed assassination attempt on Onewhisker's life, StarClan was so furious at Mudclaw's insolence that they smote him with a falling tree.

When this failed, Hawkfrost became desperate, getting three Tribe cats temporarily cast out of RiverClan, and attempting to kill Firestar to put Brambleclaw into leadership. When Brambleclaw hesitated, Mothwing sprang out of a bush to rescue the leader, and Brambleclaw fought his brother. But, he was unable to land the fatal blow, and Hawkfrost lunged for his sister... only to impale himself on the stake she was holding.

As the lake ran red with tiger blood, Brambleclaw stepped down from his deputyship, and Brackenfur took power. Mothwing returned with the body of her brother, but her troubles were not yet over. The cats of RiverClan who had participated in WindClan's rebellion didn't believe it was an accident, and Leopardstar did nothing about these accusations.

Mistyfoot realized that something had to be done. Hawkfrost was a victim as much as he was a perpetrator, and these ideas had to be pulled up at the root.

Every Clan has a different moment for where the Journey Era ended. ShadowClan believes it's when they arrived in their new home. WindClan thinks the death of Mudclaw feels right. ThunderClan sees it as the appointment of Brackenfur as deputy. RiverClan marks it at the sudden death of Leopardstar to a rogue, bludgeoned to death on a rock.

Homing Era

An unprecedented time of peace, never seen before, nor since. These days have come to be seen as halcyon, divided up into 'episodes' of conflict and interesting tales.

Some of these episodes are,

The Shinewater Plague

When a twoleg truck veered off a thunderpath and spilled gallons of shining poison into RiverClan territory, Mistystar had to decide what kind of leader she wanted to be. In this instance, she accepted help in spite of what some of the harsher cats of her Clan demanded.

ShadowClan's Lichen Rebog Project

Arriving at the lake was hard for ShadowClan, as the rivers in their territory were deep and their land was largely useless pines. Blackstar commanded an ambitious terraforming project, blocking up the rivers and controlling the flooding to turn their land into a marsh. ThunderClan offered their help, as usual.

Ripwater's Devastation

A giant, monstrous fish lurked in the depths of the lake, sucking down a RiverClan apprentice into the abyss and making fishing dangerous for any cat going for a swim. Ripwater needed to be dealt with, but RiverClan had never killed something as large as a boar, let alone larger.

Salt Patrol

This was the first time that the Clans had regular access to gathering their own salt, an important medicine for treating infection and parasites. There were times that apprentices of all Clans would converge, by coincidence, for a beach episode.

The Tribe's Rogues

Taken aback by the fact the Tribe cats ask for help even when they have a choice, Clan cats grapple with what this says about their own upbringings.

See: The expanded notes on how the Tribe visit has been completely reduxed to fix its problematic elements.

The Three, who would come to be known in story and legend, grew up in this period, exploring themselves, their friends, and the culture around them.

This time of kindness came to a tragic end in the Battle of the False Eclipse, and the Cruel Season that followed it.

Angered by ThunderClan's meddling in their affairs, WindClan and RiverClan attacked them and pulled all the Clans into a lake-wide brawl that was only ended by a flash of darkness. Sol showed them a taste of what was to come just a few years later, when the planes of reality would collide.

The Dark Forest had been making its moves and sewing seeds of discord within disgruntled cats of the Clans, involving them in a plan to snatch godhood from the stars. Their first major move was the 'accidental' killing of Brackenfur in the Battle of the False Eclipse, and the fire in ThunderClan that came later, as cover for killing Firestar.

And so, Bramblestar ascended to power with Squilf as his first deputy, Thornclaw as the second after Hollyleaf spilled a secret, and the young prodigy vanished into the tunnels for many years. A third cat of great prophecy was born to her brother.

See: Hollyleaf, just, this whole post

Eclipse Era

Uniting a group of cats with almost nothing in common, Tigerstar planned to usurp StarClan and become the new deities of the four Clans. He relied heavily on his son, Hawkfrost, to be his diplomat and keep the unstable alliance together just long enough to accomplish his goals.

Lionblaze and Jayfeather learned there was a plot, but didn't know how to infiltrate it. Lionblaze sent his daughter, Ivypool, in to spy on the demons and their schemes. Hawkfrost became her Dark Forest mentor.

The Dark Forest plan: replace every cat in power with a trainee before the night of the True Eclipse, to make their takeover easier. Simple enough. Harder was coordinating a bunch of trainees with completely different motivations.

See: Motivations of Dark Forest trainees

Firestar and Brackenfur were first. Sedgecreek and Mistystar, Ashfoot and Onestar, Russetfur and Blackstar were next.

The Dark Forest succeeded in pitting ThunderClan and ShadowClan against each other, thanks to deputy Thornclaw's influence. After the death of Russetfur, Blackstar was absolutely devastated and prone to Sol's influence. This was ShadowClan's first collapse, but unfortunately, not its last.

Redwillow, Ratscar, and Applefur took power of the Clan in his absence, and leas to bloody infighting as they tried to hold onto it. It was Rowanclaw rallying Blackstar's family to remind him of how loved he was that brought him back around, calling forth enough manpower to overthrow the trainees and take ShadowClan back.

Just before the Eclipse was about to commence, Hollyleaf returned just in time to fight for her family.

Thanks to the information of cats like Ivypool, the Clans were able to prepare for the Night of the True Eclipse. Unfortunately, the days of the Homing Era were gone, and they had a hard time uniting as a front. While ShadowClan and ThunderClan were able to rally and limit their losses, WindClan and RiverClan remained individual targets.

Dovewing lead a coalition of cats to counter the Dark Forest wherever they attacked, her father Lionblaze trailing just behind. Jayfeather used his powers to summon cats from StarClan itself, using a stick stolen from Rock to resurrect a tree and pull down as many angels as could fit on its branches.

Though outnumbered and losing, Tigerstar had vowed to go out in a blaze of glory. Scourge under his left claws and Blackstar bleeding out a life to the right, Firestar himself came in to settle the score with his old foe.

Modern Period (2018 - Today)

Reunion Era

ThunderClan's Tempest

Heartstar's Rise

Following the terrible carnage of the Great Battle, a grand storm blew through the lake and brought flooding unlike anything ever seen before. In the aftermath, many of ShadowClan's carefully managed projects took a beating.

The other Clans were reluctant to lend their aid, in contrast to the peace and cooperation of the Homing Era. Frustrated by ShadowClan's first collapse and the lack of help they were receiving now, the youngest generation was desperate for radical change. Many of the dejected cats around the lake agreed, Dark Forest trainees, halfclan cats and lovers, codebreakers, and so on.

They were co-opted by a terrible actor. Darktail had infiltrated SkyClan, many miles away, and exploited their internal divisions. Sharpclaw, Rockshade, and cats like them joined his cause, and SkyClan had fled in the chaos. He offered his help to the struggling ShadowClan, and any Clan cats seeking a safe haven. Breezepelt and his fellow ex-trainees were some of them.

"Nevermind your borders and your battles and your bloodlines," Darktail announced, "We will all be the Kin." Slowly, each of these things he spoke against became central to his movement.

WindClan, lead by Onestar, reacted severely. He put a complete embargo on any Clan lending aid, even denying them medicine during a terrible outbreak of Yellowcough. When ShadowClan fell apart, the Kin absorbed it completely and became an unstoppable force.

Heathertail couldn't handle the horrible cruelty of her father, and joined them hoping to get her half-brother's side of the story.

This was when The Kin started expanding, targeting their neighbors for territory. It was only through the return of SkyClan that the cult was able to be defeated, and because of their role in the final confrontation, it was agreed they had a claim to the Lake.

In memory of the conflict, and with respect to the destroyed ShadowClan, a new commandment was added to the code. The Law of the Lake demands that in times of stress, no Clan may allow another to falter and disband.

Rowanstar intended to live the last of his days in shame, having watched Dawnpelt die, his Clan disband, and Tigerheart vanish. Tigerheart returned only to die in a horrible accident, and Rowan refused to watch his last child be taken from him.

Drowning away his lives in the Moonpool so Heartstar could rise, the Era ends with the resurrection of ShadowClan.

Reckoning Era

Squirrelflight's Horror

Tawnypelt's Mountain

Ferncloud's Parting

SkyClan joining the lake and ShadowClan reforming caused struggles for territory. It was already a tight squeeze for ShadowClan before they joined, and accommodating an extra Clan would require careful diplomacy.

Unfortunately, Bramblestar had other plans. It got into his head that his deputy, Squirrelflight, was undermining him and he played a pointless game with his power. Joining Heartstar in an ill-fated invasion on a nomadic group, ThunderClan lost the respected senior Cleric and discoverer of the Moonpool, Leafpool.

But in those days, there was nothing that could be done about a bad leader besides violent revolution. Any telling of this era of history starts with these events, to establish why ThunderClan did not quickly realize their leader had been replaced by an Impostor only a few moons later, and why they didn't immediately do anything about it.

This impostor's first action was to announce his plans at a peaceful gathering. While losing a life, StarClan had told him they were disappointed and furious at the lack of a reckoning for the cats who had been disloyal in the previous two eras. HalfClan cats, insurgents, and other Codebreakers must be punished and brought in line, to return the Clans to a better time.

Most leaders agreed with this sentiment, and loosely implemented tests of loyalty. It wasn't enough for the Imposter, who was particularly insulted by Bristlefrost codebreaking within his own Clan to see Rootspring of SkyClan.

So at the next gathering, he called together the five Clans, implored them one more time to truly punish their Codebreakers or else StarClan would never come back, and finished his speech by ripping open Bristlefrost's neck.

Over the screams of the crowd, the full, uncovered moon shined bright. He pointed up with his bloodied paw, citing its light as StarClan's approval.

It wasn't the first time an unblemished moon meant cruelty, and SkyClan refused to be part of this evil game. Conflict escalated into a full-blown civil war, leading to scores of dead cats, and the eventual cornering of the Impostor.

When he escaped into the Dark Forest with the ghosts of the fallen kept hostage, Squirrelflight organized a final push to free those who were trapped. These cats came to be known as Lights in the Mist:

Harelight (then called Harefur) and Mistystar of RiverClan

Ivypool and Ferncloud of ThunderClan

Rootspring and MacGyver of SkyClan

Shadowsight and Flowerscar of ShadowClan

Breezepelt and Leaftail of WindClan... after Breezepelt conked Crowfeather over the noggin to forcefully take his spot.

(Exact cats liable to change, particularly MacGyver, Flowerscar, and Leaftail)

In the final confrontation, Ashfur revealed his special powers, having killed and absorbed the ancient spirit Clear Sky as well as several other demons and angels. He was too powerful to defeat, in spite of the combined efforts of the Dark Forest, StarClan, and the Lights in the Mist. In a final, grand effort, Shadowsight used a lightning bolt coursing through his veins to hold the monster down, and Bristlefrost sacrificed her life and eternity knocking Ashfur out of the sky like a falling star.

They crashed to Earth as a pair of asteroids, leaving a crater that became a small pool on SkyClan's border.

This fight destroyed a region of StarClan, an in-between area known as the Meadow of Young Stars. Now a shattered plain unable to separate the Place of No Stars from Silverpelt, A guard defends the single unstable bridge between the lands.

See: StarClan 101

~Current Day~

Ferncloud died tragically after confronting her brother on that fateful mission, and ThunderClan mourns its educator. In respect and heartbreak, its elders have hesitated in choosing a new cat for this role.

With two Eras behind them, the Clans have been loosely speculating what the new name for this Period will become, what its theme will be. There's no way to know until it happens... and it's not as if all the Clans agree on where exactly the times begin and end.

In the meanwhile, a new commandment has been added to the code. It's called Bristlefrost's Law, and for the first time, there is now an official system for changing Clans to be with a mate or a partner. Not all like this change-- some call these cats 'Turnclaws,' and didn't think there was a problem with the way things were.

Bramblestar has been tired since his ordeal, and ThunderClan is hoping he will step down soon. Mistystar has also been slow and aching, but her son Reedwhisker is a fine deputy, and he will make a fine leader as well.

The Clans have gone through a hard time, but there seems to finally be a light at the end of the- oh hey what's Splashtail up to

[lixel-5]

something about Stanley (from the parable) being human but also non-human is so haunting to me

he looks explicitly human, he’s meant to be seen as a human, he enacts a human’s inputs. he’s a person.

but he also isn’t. he’s a dumb looking model in a game, his entire story is fabricated, he’s only meant to enact the inputs of actual people.

how detached from humanity can you be and still be considered a person? what is a person? and would you consider Stanley a person? if he is sentient, does that mean he’s just as much of a person as you and me?

does he consider himself a person? i think he would desperately want to be one, all he really wants is to be normal and lead a nuclear life, but there’s things about him that are explicitly inhuman.

his status as a fictional character is the main one. he was created from words and numbers rather than from flesh and bones. his existence is dictated by code and algorithms instead of DNA and physics. he’s meant to copy a human, not necessarily be one.

Stanley is meant to mimic people. is he “people”?

if i paint Starry Night by Van Gogh, is it still art? a few things look off, maybe the stars are too big and the mountain has too much pink, but would my piece be considered art in the same way as the original?

like all things in The Stanley Parable, there is no answer.

i think if Stanley were to bring it up, the Narrator would scoff and say something like “Obvious not, Stanley. But why does it matter? Neither am I, and I’m perfectly happy that way.”

he’s not perfectly happy about that but let him be in denial. put that man in a room alone and watch him unravel at the seams lol

Stanley being a fictional character really touches my dissociated, autistic heart. mwah

[a-game-of-beginnings]

Into The Vortex

Matching Soundtrack: [Fools Garden - Highest Mountain] I have yet to share (or, ah, produce) the conclusion to the Pre-Parable story arc... but here's a spoiler. Ultimately, of course, you know how that's going to go - Employee 432, according to the daily reports of Office Co., eventually goes insane and vanishes.

Neither of these claims can be denied. But what if he surrendered to the mysterious depths voluntarily? What if he had his reasons?

[revelisms]

I keep nosing through my half-written Arcane things and feeling the itch to write it again, so I finally dusted off this little ficlet. Short and sweet domestic oneshot about Jinx, Silco's oddball crime family, and card games 🃏

stratagems

WC: 1.6k | Rating: G | Jinx-centric | Domestic fluff, found family, gambling, character study Also on AO3

Tuesdays are slow nights at the Last Drop—the kind that smoulder on for hours, the neon dimmed to only a fractal prism across velvet booths and varnish-glossed tables: nights for myths and recollections spun to liquor-sweet grandeur, and books read aloud in grinning theatrics, and cards shlack-clack-clacked together between Sevika's weathered fingers, slicked across the table like darts to waiting hands.

When she was meek and younger and still reeling from it all, these nights felt magical. In some ways, they held a candle to those small, rare moments, carefully treasured, of when things in that dingy little storeroom, cramped between three others and Vander's bellowing laugher, felt okay. 

It's different, now. 

The storeroom's locked up; her brothers and sister-mother-Vi are all gone, gone, gone; Vander's dead, betrayed, rotting, deserved; she's older and restless and lonely and bored. 

But there are three others, still. 

Sat at a table across from Sevika's rippling hands—glinting augmentation and golden rings, shuffling cards with a magician's ease—is a mountain of a man, his sickly-pale skin littered with a patchwork of black tattoos. 

Lock. Hemlock, when she'd told him Lock was a weird name—and then he'd glared down at her with his beady eyes, incense smoke-blue: gruffed, Don't you call me it.

He had a puggishness about him, not a hair on his body save the coarse clumps that lined his burly arms and flared out from the low cut of his tattered tank like a spit of soot. His voice was cavernous and dry: not like Silco's: like he'd swallowed rocks and kept the dust, rumbling and rough with a gravel that flowed like music on a foggy day; Lock's was deep and scratchy and altogether unpleasant, but warm. He wheezed more than laughed. His smile split his face to a crescent of yellowing pikes. He called her Little Devil.

He swipes up six cards between his bulky fingers, tongues his cheek, and skips two over to Ran—who Silco said once went by Rania; who kept their hair sharp as black fins. Jinx could count on one hand the number of times they'd said more than five words in passing to her. Their eyes were like dim violets, and they soothed her, in the strangest way: found the ache in her heart like a quiet beacon, and held it. They liked to tousle their metal fingers through her hair, muss her fringe to a squealing mess. They called her Blue.

At the bar, bent over a dissembled revolver carved with gold, sat dusty little Dustin, head in the clouds, painted nails flecked with gun oil and a rag in his ink-blitzed hands. Talking to him was like dissecting a parable. He spoke in tongues, seemingly flipping through his days on a catalogue of obscure references: a code one had to crack over a lifetime to understand. Jinx, though, had taken the feat to heart. She'd spent hours peering through his craftings and margin-scrawled notes, like one may study an abstract to glean its meaning. She would squirm next to him when the nights grew too quiet, painting in the chips of varnish on his nails and humming his strange tunes. He had eyes like black buttons, and freckles on his nose. His smile was the kindest. He called her Jay.

She didn't know which name she liked best—which one of them she liked best. But she liked the lot of them all more than Sevika.

At least they didn't glare at her, or call her brat or runt, or wait for her to screw things up, like always. 

Then again. She was, first and foremost to them, some kid in their boss's care—she'd heard Lock grumble that more than once, like a warning—their boss, who had been nose-deep in a monstrosity of trade edicts and contracts and whatever else; who hadn't given her a glance when she peeked her head around the door to his office, huffing, Not now, Jinx. 

That had been hours ago. He still hadn't come down.

She kicks the toe of her boot against her chair, sat in a knot with its back to her chest, and sighs. 

The cards dance between Sevika's hands like a flurry of white-capped wings. Jinx watches from three tables away as she flicks out another round, a cigarillo embering between her teeth.

"Two for two."

"'Course you gives us that," Lock snarls. "Deck's loaded."

"All skills of the trade." A puff of smoke, the roll twisting between ambered fingers. "Dish 'em out, you brute."

The cards glimmer spell-like across the table. Jinx presses her chin into her arm, trying and failing and trying again to follow the strategy of the game. They moved in turns of three: trading in singles, drawing pairs, discarding all at once. It was too quick for her to follow. 

Footsteps creak down the stairs. She whips over her shoulder, staring through her fringe. Thieram—Chuck, as she'd insisted on calling him, just to make his ears color—meets her eyes with a skittish blink, and beelines for the bar. She scowls, hunching back in her seat.

Ran wins the round, with a coy grin and a smack of their cards on the table. Lock pounds the varnish hard enough to knock the deck over.

Jinx aches to put on a gramophone record, to get up and dance, bang on that dusty old piano by the back tables, anything. More creaking down the stairs, glass rattling, Dustin humming his old songs, boots th-thump th-thumping slow over the panelling. 

She smells the spice-sweet of his cigars before she feels him find his way beside her. 

His presence is less a quiet comfort as it is a blistered, bleeding reconnection: the wash of his cold energy startling, and sharp, and soothing, all at once.

"At it again, are they?" Silco drawls.

Jinx pitters her fingers over her elbow. "Yeah."

He hums. He's wearing green today: a dark, blueish sort. "Give them an ounce of time to themselves, and they gamble it away," he grouses. His fingers tick. He sighs. "I've kept you." The words carry the start of an apology. "This week's dealings were—"

"Unexpected?" Jinx quips.

"One could say."

"Annoying?"

"Dreadfully."

"Mister Finn being a big stupid-head, again?"

"A horrendous one." A small smirk slides over his mouth, crooked at one corner: the one he reserves only for her. "But no matter." 

It's a roundabout dismissal. It means, I'm sorry; means, My time is yours, now; means he will wait until she proffers an explanation for her gawping through the smoke-hazed green of his office, anything beyond I just wanted to sit with you, but anything beyond that would be a lie.

She presses her thumb into the chair's spine. After a moment, his eyes flit down to her. "They've not showed you how to play?" he mutters.

She shakes her head.

"It's simple enough." He folds his hands behind his back, tilting his head, and watches the whirlwind of motion that continues on before them. "You know the suits, don't you?" A shrug of her shoulders. "Well, then. Four kings; four aces. Hold either set of those, and you win. Anything in the middle is fair game to keep, or toss, or trade."

She frowns. "That's it?" It had seemed far more complicated than that, from all she'd gleaned.

"That's it." His eyes fall on her, mismatched. His fingers turn at his back. "Come," he murmurs, "I'll show you. One can hardly learn, without practice." 

As seemed to be his philosophy for everything, for better or worse. Trial by fire, mastery through mistake, and all that.

(Who's to say whether one can sink or swim, without first giving themselves to the deep?) 

He'd carried that philosophy like a mantle when he had sent her on her first missions, shadowing her movements with watchful eyes; or when he had tasked her with duties under Sevika's wing, or Lock's, or Ran's, or Dustin's. In things as small and simple as organizing his paperwork for him (client contracts on the bottom, client files above that, then industry reports, and industry-related headlines, and financial records); in things as precise as his daily injections of shimmer to his rotted eye, that she had learned and denied was killing him by inches, her finger shaking on the trigger that first and only time (nothing different from a bullet, child) and nimble as a fine-tuned machine, ever since.

He steps away from the shadows, into the gold, an unspoken invitation—and she watches, quietly intrigued, at the actions that follow: chairs squeaked, smokes raised, Sir's and Hey, Boss's bounced around the table. Sevika drags up an extra seat. He gives a nod to her reshuffled cards and Thieram's expectant glance, in turns.

A tray of carved glasses and a fifth of whisky is carried over, each gift deposited to the table in heavy thunks. Silco takes the first pour. The ambered sheen of the liquor fractures over the table like shattered glass. "Have a seat, child."

She's on her feet, sheepishly, in an instant: clumsy steps skittering over the floor: a birdish thing at a table of wolves, trying fruitlessly to don their fangs. 

A chair is cleared for her between Lock's black-mapped shoulder and Ran's tick-ticking fingers. She slumps into it, quickly. Sevika's eyes burn into her.

Silco deals out thirty cards—six for each of them—with a lazying flourish of his fingers, and ends the litter on Jinx.

"A game of luck," he tells her, without care for the looming prowl of their company. The gravel of his voice has the strangest way of twisting the world on its head, as though it is only the two of them. It always does. "Welcome to Crowns."

He gives a touch of a smile, there and gone in an instant. She smiles sheepishly back.

Then, the five of them descend upon their drawings—and, quick as lightning, they play.

[vivianne-betty]

I was reading the Word today on Psalms 37, and first part of verse 7 says, be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.

Exodus 14:13 says, ‭the Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.

And also Psalms 46:10 says again, be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

But me, I do anything but be still. I fret. And I worry.

When the mountains and hills in front of me don't fall away, when the valley begins to look a little bit too deep, or when the raging storms seem to have an eternity to them, I worry.

Like the parable of the sower, I let the thorns of worry choke up my faith.

I want to see things moving. To see ME in control.

I forget the greatest thing I can do is have faith. Being still before the Lord and taking delight in Him.

Because, can any one of us by worrying add a single hour to our lives?

So, if you're sometimes like me, remind your heart to be still.

Remind yourself that whatever you lack that makes you worry, God already knows it.

The birds of the air do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Hold on to your faith, that is more precious than gold, and know that He is God.

He is Jireh. He is El-Roi.