#ocean tide system

[shannonmatalone]

Solar System’s Ocean

The sun and the moon

Align with the planets

And the stars

To follow the tide

And rise with it.

Come oh brethren,

We shall stay with the

Solar system

And meet with

The land below.

Places unknown,

Far and wide,

Come meet the tide

And hold their mind.

[wandering-free-and-queer]

The Mundane Beside the Magical:

You want to learn magic and witchcraft, awesome! Go you! You wanna know what's important though? Learning the mundane at the same time as the magical.

I'm a firm believer in learning as much as you can about the things you're working with. To know a paintbrush, you have to paint. To learn an instrument, you have to play it. Anything you work with is a tool that, in an ideal scenario, will become an extension of yourself. You want to be in tune with your tools, you want to understand them as much as possible. It's learning how the tools respond to your interference. When you know these things inside and out, that, to me, is when you become an expert. Don't just learn the meanings of things, learn the reasons behind the meanings. Look up the etymology of that magic word you saw before you do the spell. Learn the historical uses of that herb and connect that to whatever its correspondence is. Learn why things are the way they are.

You want to learn ocean magic? Learn about the tides while you're at it. Learn how the ocean behaves, understand the sheer power behind the waves, the creatures of the ocean and all of the treasures you can find on the seashore.

Thinking about getting into green craft? Don't just learn about the magical uses of plants, learn about botany, and how to identify plants, understand how plants grow and thrive, and how different plants exist in nature.

Considering animal magic? Learn the Latin name of the species, maybe check out their anatomy while you're at it. Where does this animal find its niche? What does it eat, where does it sleep?

Getting into forest witchcraft? Learn about your local forests and trees. What kinds of forests there are, what preserving a forest can look like. Can you identify any trees of your own? How do different trees propagate?

How about weather magic? Learn meteorology, how to identify storm clouds, what atmospheric pressure does. Start to observe changes in the weather daily, how weather affects the wildlife around you.

Cosmic witchcraft more your vibe? Learn a little about space, study a map of the stars, learn the constellations in your night sky. Branch off into learning astronomy and cosmology, learn about planetary systems other than our own. If you want to keep it basic, learn the time it takes each planet to complete a rotation and revolution.

Crystals seem to be up your alley? Don't stop at the metaphysical properties, learn their scientific properties as well. Where can these crystals be mined? How rare are they? Can you tell the difference between imitations and the real deal? What's their number on the Mohs hardness scale?

Whatever you want to learn, branch out further than the magical. The mundane is just as, if not more important.

~Wander

[elvensorceress]

Starlight

buck/eddie | rated: G | 4K | complete | ao3

Summary: On a rare, starry summer night, Buck and Eddie discuss what ifs and make decisions about their future.

“Do you,” Buck says very quietly, so quiet Eddie probably wouldn’t even be able to hear it were they not inches away from being pressed together. It’s too hot out to be pressed together. Too sweaty, soggy, smelly, and their skin would chafe and stick together and probably hurt.

Eddie’s not sure he would care though.

“Do you ever think about,” Buck continues, his question also sticky and meandering and not meant to come out in anything but the secluded darkness of midsummer. “About you and me?”

Eddie swallows hard and doesn’t move. He breathes but there’s no air, no movement. He knows the question. He knows what Buck is asking. He doesn’t stop searching for the stars and all the shapes and figures drawn in connecting lines between them.

There are no lines for real. It’s all made up by people who have brilliant creative imaginations. People like Chris and Buck and Shannon. They’re the kind of people who see the lines, the animals, the heroes, the stories, and invent constellations.

Eddie just sees starlight. Raw, unconnected, faraway stars that were lost a long time ago. “What about you and me?”

Buck breathes slowly, soft inhale and exhale that sounds so loud, and why is it the only sound Eddie can hear? The city is hardly quiet even at this time of night. It’s not that late. But it’s still only the wafting air in and out of Buck’s lungs. The only sound that reaches him. “Eddie. You and me. Dating. Being together. Seeing if it works, if it fits. Do you ever think about it?”

Does the ocean think of tides? Does the forest think of collecting rain and sun? Does the fire know what it consumes? Do the stars know they’re dying, they’re phantoms, they’re already dead?

Something was left in a graveyard and it wasn’t a body. It wasn’t a person. Maybe it was a life though. A life together.

How could he ever believe things left in a graveyard could still be alive?

Buck didn’t even know. Buck never knew. They never got that far. Death and lightning have a way of shocking the system. But everything grows quiet afterward and locked back up once danger has passed. Eddie never said anything. Eddie cut out his thoughts, his feelings, and forced himself to move on and forget. Even though nothing could ever compare. Nothing else could ever fit.

Eddie can’t move, can’t look at him, but he wets his lips and asks, “Do you?”

(read on AO3)

for @daisyssousa and @tizniz

[astrolovecosmos]

The Planets & Random or Obscure Associations

~Sun~

Creativity, vitality, head of state, the father, games, yellow and orange clothing, articles of value, jewelry, gold, brass, power, diamonds, citrine, topaz, jasper, amber, rhodochrosite, mistletoe, almonds, citrus, succulents, sunflowers, fevers, heart, back, spine, grapes, walnuts, rice, chamomile, frankincense, juniper, saffron, marigold, rosemary, rue, palaces, towers, luxury.

~Moon~

Eternal, cycles, silver, aluminum, pearls, moonstone, opal, selenite, chest, glands, lymphatic system, nervous system, emotions, mother, ancestors, nurture, rebirth, tides, baths, ocean, brew, boat, sap, willow trees, succulents, pale color plants, white flowers, cucumber, cabbage, lettuce, melons, shellfish, pumpkins, lakes, fountains, ports, fishponds, pools, springs, sewers, dairies, toys, reflection, blankets, objects of comfort.

~Mercury~

Communication, journal, pen/pencil, any writing tools, wings, phosphorous, mercury, agate, tiger's eye, brain, nervous system, eyes, respiration, thyroid, speech, hearing, intellect, vehicles, money, bills, paper, books, pictures, parties or social gatherings, scientific instruments, butterflies, messages, mail, hazel, mulberry, myrtle, seeds, aniseed, dill, fennel, lavender, liquorice, marjoram, parsley, valerian, hazelnuts, beans, mushrooms, pomegranates, carrots, celery, libraries, schools, markets, fairs, public spaces, tennis or badminton court, studies, banks, bowling greens, offices, blue, white, or light colored flowers.

~Venus~

Love, relating, lust, high-quality fabrics, copper, bronze, sodium, malachite, tourmaline, emerald, rose quartz, kunzite, sapphire, pastels, throat, kidneys, lumber region, art, music, aesthetics, social life, fashion, jewelry, wine, pleasure, alder tree, fruit trees, paint, ash tree, birch, pomegranates, early flowering, daisy, mint, marshmallow, meadowsweet, mugwort, plantain, tansy, roses, thyme, vervain, yarrow, potatoes, strawberries, wheat, sugar, nectarines, ballrooms, bedrooms, dining room, gardens, fountains, wardrobes, theaters, looking and feeling good.

~Mars~

Lust, conquest, desire, flaming sword, red things, fights, iron, brass, bloodstone, carnelian, cinnabar, pyrite, magnetite, ruby, garnet, hematite, muscles, reproductive organs, blood, kidneys, immunity, heat, action, arms, pepper, sharp instruments, cutlery, attacks, scissors, weapons, physical intimacy, bites, stings, scalds, burns, accidents, hawthorn, pine, thorns, cactus, aloes, anemone, arnica, belladonna, garlic, ginger, hops, mustard seed, nettles, wormwood, chives, onions, leeks, radish, rhubarb, tobacco, labs, furnaces, distilleries, bakehouses, ovens, smiths, butchers, fields, anger, passion, self-focus.

~Jupiter~

Expansion, optimism, religion, religious sites, tin, seduction, turquoise, chrysocolla, topaz, citrine, jasper, liver, pancreas, pituitary gland, sciatic nerve, excess, abundance, prophecy, philosophy, knowledge, universities, foreign travel, luggage, honey, oil, silk, fruit, distinct clothing, merchandise, horses, domestic birds, gambling, indulgence, entertainment, oak, dandelion, sage, endive, chervil, asparagus, figs, churches, temples, palaces, altars, courts, mansions, woods, orchards, winery, cornucopia, connecting with the soul.

~Saturn~

Limits, boundaries, father time, lord of death, shadows, lead, iron, steel, calcium, asbestos, sulphur, diamond, onyx, calcite, skeleton, spleen, skin, teeth, nails, joints, structure, crystallization, old age, blockage, anything dark, wool, heavy materials, agriculture, wheelbarrows, spades, farm houses and buildings, cold, laws, aspen, blackthorn, buckthorn, cypress, elm, toxic plants, hemlock, henbane, belladonna, hellebore, barley, beetroot, safflower, parsnips, spinach, deserts, woods, valleys, caves, church yards, ruins, coalpits, sinks, wells, mud, institutions.

~Uranus~

Eccentrics, mavericks, invention, genius, revolution, change, trends, disruptive science or tech, uranium, magnesium, lapis lazuli, sapphire, aquamarine, azurite, chalcedony, electricity, neon lights, plaid, nervous and circulatory system, pineal gland, chaos, violence, upheaval, astrology, steam engines, coal, machinery, coins, baths, fishponds, dangerous places, computers, magnets, quantum physics, research, welfare, humanity, hypnotherapy, railways, banks, gas, psychiatric hospitals, offices, hospitals, dispensaries, fortified places, chemicals, mingled/mingling, spirit and matter.

~Neptune~

Illusions, veils, diffuse, deception, water, oceans, mysticism, enlightenment, artistic pursuit and understanding, zinc, potassium, amethyst, fluorite, jade, sugilite, coral, aquamarine, pineal gland, lymphatic and nervous system, spine, mental processes, addiction, psychoses, disease, photography, music, substances, gas, religion, poetry, mimicry, chameleon, anesthetic, telepathy, empathy, dancing, psychic gifts, places near water, hospitals, places of healing, jeweler, painters, brewers, musicians, visionary.

~Pluto~

Power, influence, darkness, new life, what's hidden underneath, seeds, volcanoes, deep earth or ocean, bury, explosions, eruptions, abduction, plutonium, smoky quartz, obsidian, jet, pearl, deep reds, reproductive organs, the unconscious, nuclear, transformation, death, birth, rebirth, underworld, riches, earthquakes, big business, murder, detection, detective, invisibility, sneak, enforced change, hidden places, underground, drains, sewers, radioactive places, the occult, black magic, sacrifice, renew.

[eatmangoesnekkid]

Consider that you don’t have the resources to be fooling around with a reckless lover. Reckless with your heart. Reckless with your time. Reckless with your nervous system. Reckless with your pussy. You have too much multidimensional creative potential in your womb to mess with recklessness in this lifetime or a future one. Think about it: Your soul lives in a body that is always in direct communication with the moon, sun, and ocean tides every month. This innate divine energy you possess must begin to mean something sacred to you. —India Ame’ye, Dating and Relating Advice From Auntie India

[the-midnight-blooms]

hear a siren's call | cjh

pairing: siren!choi jongho x fisher!reader AU: fantasy au word count: 4.6k

masterlist

Whatever you do, do not follow a Siren’s call. Its sweet voice may entice you, its looks may blind you. But to follow its heed, is to open your arms to the Angel of Death and say “Let me be your devotee.” To follow its call is to be marked by the Siren, forever.

The hypnotic beam of the ocean called for her in the dead of the night, where the dilapidating of her dwindling soul aided her quest to hunt for the food she was deprived of. It was the allure of the ocean too. Calling her name, its whispers sent a tantalising shiver down her spine, beckoning her. Magnetising her. Each of her limbs bowed to the sea, begging to feel the rush of cacophonous tides slap against her skin. The spray of sea salt-a musk, she could get intoxicated on until the Angel of Death travelled to her from darkened lands.

Her fingers flipped over the dense pages eyes scouring over reams of text and intricate drawings of the enigmatic creatures that harboured the sea, she sat on the floor of her boat, the barge settling upon the large expanse of the desolate sea. The moon hung serenely in the sky, the flickering of candles that penetrated the bleak homes had been blown out as sleep overtook the aching hearts of the townspeople. Over the past few weeks, the village had been struck with a shortage of food. Prices inflated as terrified fisherman refused to sail out into the sea and hunt for fish. It seemed the weather was equally aghast to the earth's aquarian- for a storm was brewing, the sky darkening into a stony grey, wind howling every night parrying against the wooden doors that were tightly locked, the metal hinges gripped onto the architraves for dear life. When she asked why they were so terrified, it was revealed that a daring fisherman had angered the Siren’s; thinking that a man was God and not made by him. Thinking that a Siren's land could easily be as colonised as one human colonised another. In turn their malevolent roars had burst his ear drums, their nails as sharp as knives impaled brutally into his supple flesh. With severed limbs, and gashes embroidered into his corpse, they had pushed back at the boat-rolling onto the port with poisoned fishes. A mockery. A warning, even.

Do not dare to anger a Siren. Its wrath exceeds boundaries that surpasses human imagination.

But the townspeople were wrought with hunger, starvation killing of the younger child with a weakened immune system that was simply pending on a trigger. Starvation had killed off her mother too, along with her father-who had in fact been taken by the sea itself. It was just her and her brother remaining, hungry and struggling to make ends meet with his measly job as a clerk. He promised that when he’d conjured sufficient funds, they’d move to the city to forge a better life for themselves and she would too be able to work. Though that seemed impossible with the way that progression, in his line of work, was almost unattainable. Thus, with her already struggling to stand on her own two feet-she decided to take matters in her own hands. It seemed quite impulsive of her, but she had enough skill to fish for the whole economy- it was just the danger she needed to steer clear off. As long as she didn’t venture into their lands and cause a ruckus, she’d be fine. Right?

“What am I supposed to do? If I don't go out there then we'll both be dead by the end of the month.” She argued. He slumped deeper into the sofa, resting his head in his palms.

“I’m just going to have to travel to the nearest town and see what they have.”

“The nearest town is three hours away. How will you cope?”

“I’ll cope alright. You stay here, its too dangerous. If the Sirens don't take you, the sea will.” He patted her head, gingerly as if to console her. She hated the way she was confined to their small home, feeling helpless as every day her brother came back home with little pennies in his pocket. Despite her best efforts to convince him otherwise, she failed a number of times. It wasn't until he handed her all of the information she needed into the palm of her hand, that he had catalysed her venture out to the coast.

“The fishermen are thinking about going out to sea again.” Her ears perked up at the news, though she kept her gaze fixated to the chopping board as she sliced the vegetables. Flicking her eyes over to the stirring pot, she stirred the soup, her hands circulating the pot- before gripping the knife again. Picking up the map settled beside him, he ambled to her side-leaning against the countertop. “Look. They’ve said that on the safe side, we won’t use the first and second harbour. We’ll have to use the Queen’s Harbour, but steer clear of this part instead.” Fixating her gaze on the map, she gave him a curt nod, reeling in the co-ordinates and committing as much as she could-subtly moving forward as if she could not see the map clearly from where she stood.

“That’s good, but you should plan to make your trip anyway. They’ve been saying that for two weeks straight but nobody's been moving.” She advised. Agreeing with her - he grabbed the tin off the shelf, folding up the map neatly before placing it in. He didn’t notice her memorising his words, lips moving up and down as she poured his soup into the bowl dropping it in front of him. Before the dawn rose, she scuttled out of her bed-reaching for the tin on the shelf to steal the map.

Their fishing boat was not the largest among the array that sat proudly upon the shoal of the iridescent waves. It was ghostly white in colour, but perhaps the most meticulously cared for seeing that when their father had left it to their possession, he entrusted them to care of it. No matter how scarcely they went fishing. Throwing in her tools, she jumped into the boat, unravelling the ropes that tied the boat down to the docks. Hauling at the heavy oars, the barge drifted outwards towards the large expanse of the sea. She didn't travel too far out, considering the fish were mostly dense near the rocky shores. Moving out early was tactful too; grabbing the bait from the box, she pierced it to the end of the hook, slinging the line into the water.

Her luck was poor. The wind had gotten a lot colder picking up its pace, and she forgot her coat back at home in the rush of having to escape to the shore without being seen. With trembling limbs, she tried and tried again-growing tired and hungry yet all the fish seemed to have dispersed. Paddling out a little, she tried a number of areas yet she failed.

"Come on fishies. I gotta eat." She pleaded, turning the reel handle, the fly line drew up and out of the water. The hook was empty. With an exasperated sigh, melancholia flooded through her. Losing all hope, she wrapped away all of her equipment settling it to the side. One last time, she peered into the water, hoping to find a small aquarian shimmering beneath. Instead, she sought the silhouette of a much larger figure- flickers of a broad back with dark hair. A Siren?

“Come throw your heart into the waves

Your soul is lost, and still it saves

Drink me in and come undone”

A melodious voice permeated her ears, its hum serenading her blood, smoothing the flow of her palpitating heart. Its voice so eerily translucent, vibrating through her muscles, shimmering in the breeze as her hair fluttered delicately in the midnight sky. Her body paralysed to the spot, her skin itching to rip the fabric that clung to her like glue. At once, she lunged for the oars ignoring the intense rippling of the cerulean sea as she travelled the surface of the boat. Her arms rowed powerfully, as the waters rocked harshly against her. Panicked breaths escaped her, as she oared through the waters, the port in sight though tiredness gnawed at her aching muscles.

“Bring your body unto me”

Her eyes felt itself droop, her panicked breaths became eroticised by its seductive voice. She hated the bewitchment, she hated the way she wanted to feel its touch upon her cold, paling skin. Yet she persisted against her wild emotions, rowing and rowing. A shriek escaped her lips, as the boat rocked backwards upon a sudden weight. Paralysed to the spot, the saccharine hums edged closer. A shadow loomed above her, creeping down, its slender fingers reaching to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

“My sweet girl, you’re so strong.” A masculine voice whispered, sending a shot of delirium through her. “Let me gift you, my dear.” A pearl necklace clasped itself around her neck. Her hands flung towards it immediately. Daringly, he pressed his lips to the gleam of her neck. Instantly, she snapped her head around and the enigmatic figure was gone, lost to the sea. As soon as she reached the port, she grabbed all the fishing tools and dashed back to her home. With the dawn slowly infiltrating the sky, she placed all of the tools into the shed, and traipsed back into her bedroom.

Catching her eyes in the mirror, the pearl necklace was coated with a silvery blue, glistening in the darkness of her room. Her hands slid to the back of her neck, in a desperate attempt to find the clasp. There was no clasp. Immediately, panic fulfilled her, tears rushing to the brim of her eyes. She’d just have to pull it off. Yet she could not, as she tried to tug at the pearls, the skin around her neck pulled violently. With a painful gasp, a weary sob eructed from her - flopping onto her bed she continued to sob into the pillow.

She was marked by a Siren. There was no other possible explanation. Reaching for the book she'd thrown onto her bed, she frantically flipped through the pages. Looking for something, anything, on markings; their potentially symbolic meanings and how to get rid of them.

Siren's can mark humans in a multiple of ways. There are three key types of markings. A tattoo can simply mean the mark of death. Marking can also be through inhabiting sharp canines, longer nails even a tail which allows a Siren to share your body so it can walk freely across the lands. This is temporary, the markings can be removed safely. The last one is marking by what the Siren's call 'gifting'. This is mainly carried out by male Sirens, they often give their human counterparts gifts such as earrings, bracelets, necklaces.

On instinct her hands flew to her neck, where a string of pearls were embedded into her skin, the bumps sending a jolt of despair through her. It felt like a set of hands gripping around her neck. Her eyes shot back down to the book spread across the laps, patiently waiting for her brother's footsteps to stop loitering outside her door.

This is potentially one of the worst types of marking. This is the mark of 'love' where the Siren's now own the body of their lover. It is up to them to do what they wish, whether it be marriage, mating, slavery, a slow death. This mark can only be removed by the Siren itself.

"Where did you get that necklace?" Her brother pondered, the same evening as he came back from work. They sat opposite each other on the dining table, in the crook of their tiny kitchen.

"Oh, erm Mum's jewellery box." Giving her sheepish smile, he turned back to his food.

"It looks nice, speaking of. One of our regular clients at work was asking about you. He saw that photo of you, me and Mum that we took last year." Humming as if she was paying attention, her spoon ran through the middle of her plate-playing with her food. Her ears had tuned out the sound of his voice as her eyes wandered out into the distance where the sea rested upon the crest of the shore. She had no choice but to go back, she needed to find the Siren who marked and get the wretched necklace of her neck. "Anyways, he's rich so I think you should marry him."

"Marry who?"

"San. We wouldn't have to worry about money again, plus he likes you." Her eyebrows creased in confusion, before huffing. He’d brought up the topic of marriage before, wanting his sister to be married to someone who could protect her better than him. Keep her safe and more comfortable than he ever could. In response, she’d tease him about having a wife- but he’d only shake his head saying he needed a lot more money and job security before settling down to start a family.

"Where did San come from?"

"Where you even listening to me?" He questioned with furrowed brows, wiping his hands with the napkin. Her silence caused him to release a sigh of frustration, throwing the dirty tissue her way.

At night, she moved along the shore again-once again unravelling the ropes, setting out to sail. At first she had to wait for her brother to fall asleep, which seemed futile due to his incessant insomnia, which had him roaming around the home at merciless hours. The waters were eerily quiet, letting go of the oars, she got up, summoning as much courage as she had to peak over the side of the boat.

"Bring your body unto me."

A jostle of horror coursed through her veins, as a pair of hands gripped onto the hull. Aerial hums transgressed the cool air once more, his round face slowly arose from the water, big eyes captivating her-the curve of his cheeks and menacingly charming smile, that had her body swaying towards him. His skin was tinted with a light blue shade, his collarbones painted in a gleaning silver glitter. His bare chest triggered a warm flush to spread over her cheeks. Following the movements of his pink lips, she could not help herself as she leaned over the side of the boat to draw her hands closer to him.

"Let your graveyard be the sea, Come away and drink it in."

His large hands ensnared around her wrist, jerking her body over the side, a potent force sunk her under the tumultuous waves. Her lungs screeched for air, the blood inside sizzling as the Siren tightened his grip swimming towards the bed of the sea. Her mind in a haze, body: his, as she heeded to his command. The bewitching croons dispersed as they moved closer to bed; the roar of the wind, rushing of water, wind rippling the surface ached her ears. Before she knew it, the bed of the sea drowned her in-her body pushed through the small crevices into a distant land.

A harsh cough escaped her, exhaling loudly, her body slumped against a rock, eyes fluttering as her temple felt as if a trident had been lodged through it. The Siren sook in her figure with his wide eyes. Her body trembled as an array of goosebumps rippled over her skin, she caught a glint in her peripheral vision-the outline of a sharp blade within arms reach. Upon seeing the Siren, she retreated backwards in fear.

"Were you the one to put this necklace on me?" He nodded, his wide eyes glossed with a certain type of innocence, the type that made her want to forgive him. "Can you take it off?" Her voice brimmed with desolation. His lips pulled into a frown.

“I can't. You belong to Choi Jongho now. You're mine.” Just as she predicted, he would hold his ground-stating true to her textbook knowledge of his remarks. She understood why they said to never follow a Siren’s call now; the beauty of his man had her unconsciously drifting towards him. The desire to outstretch her hand and address the surface of his smooth skin, to feel his bare skin pressed against hers. Those thoughts felt abhorred, but Siren’s were creatures of seduction; pumping lust into their subjects. One last time, her hands reached to the back of het neck; in an attempt to rid herself of the necklace he draped around her. With no clasp she slid her finger through the pearls-yanking the beads as hard as she could feeling the harrowing stretch of her skin as she tugged; her breath becoming lodged in her throat. “Don’t! You’ll rip out your throat.” Arduously, her arms fell at her sides as her weak endeavours failed pathetically.

"Why-why did you do this to me?" Resting her back against the rock, her chest heaved furiously.

"I like pretty things. If I see something pretty, I keep it." Suddenly, her arm stuck out towards him, as if her fingers were magnets attracted to the opposite pole. Harshly she tried to retract, yet instead her whole body lurched forward- into the water-twirling as if orchestrating an elegant dance. Taking an agitating step back, her limbs heavy as she tried to repel her body against him.

“Stop this!” This time both arms stuck out as if she was reaching out for him. Firmly plastering both feet to the ground, her arms remained fixated in the same humiliating position.

“If you want to hug me, you’ll have to come a bit closer.” He teased, he found the spectacle in front of him quite amusing.

“I don’t want a hug. Stop this now!” She didn’t mean for her voice to be crowded with as much apprehension and desperation as it was now, her bottom lip quivering slightly. It was so painful to repel, yet it was damning to surrender.

“I can’t. Our souls are bound now, the attraction you’re feeling? One day you won’t even be able to fight back.” She slumped to the floor, rubbing her hand against her chest as if it would soothe the pain she was feeling. Her lungs were burning, her heart was palpitating, the tension between was growing thick was every waking moment. Shutting her eyes, she curled up into a ball; the tormenting pull on her muscles relaxed, she released a contented sigh for a single second, before she felt a warm weight rest on her waist.

“Get your hand off me.” She snapped, a warm chuckle escaped from his pink lips.

“It feels much better, though. Doesn’t it?”

“No.” His hand retracted immediately at her dismissal, the pain washed slowly into her blood again, like the tides that tugged the sand slipping into unspeakable depths of the ocean- the sharp spike jolting through her so much that she could not even breathe. Irrationally, she jumped into his arms- craving his skin as one craved morphine; wrapping her arms around his own waist to feel the morphine that soothed the burn of a thousand hot knives impaling her supple skin. The pain dispersed as if it was never there to begin with. “Could you at least get the necklace off me?” She begged, peering to look up at him through her lashes. She was just going to have to play his game and win.

“Why?” His lips fell into a frown.

“I don’t like pearls.” She lied. Of course she adored them, she spent the majority of her childhood picking them out from oyster shells-creating small pearl necklaces and earrings.

“What do you like instead? Sapphires? Gold?” Running his hands through the length of her hair, he placed a gentle kiss on the top of her forehead.

“I don’t really like jewellery. Could you just take it off? Please?” His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “My love.” She whispered, his heart swayed with her every breath-drunk on the fumes of her every exhale. Catching sight of the fish hook behind him, she leaned forward, momentarily stopping in front of his face. Was she really going to do this? What choice do I have? Delicately, she pressed her own lips to his, circling her arms around her neck, to pull his head towards her. Her arms outstretched behind her to yeild the blade as close to her as she could. He pushed his body forward, her back hitting daintily against the rock. His body hovered over hers; warm breath leaving a trail of desire littering over her skin. Before she could blink, he began to pepper kisses over her neck. Slowly and softly his head slid down, dangerously lower and lower. It was then she realised how low cut the neck of her dress was. Unconsciously, her hands rinsed through his raven hair-pressing his head down deeper into her collarbone. With a hand around her neck, the heavy weight of the pearls lightened the load on her neck.

“Thank you.” She breathed out. With his head dug into her collarbone, she held back a grunt as she strained to reach for blade, the handle slipping into her palms like glue. Languidly, she drew the knife closer to his abdomen- the honed end waltzed on his skin. Taking a deep breath, the knife dug into the crevice of his skin; pushing the weight of his body off her, she scrambled to her feet, the ends spewing blood like raindrops. His heaving breaths pervaded the air, his siren eyes glaring out.

“I love you and this how repay me?” Letting out a forced laugh, his cackles sent dangerous ripples through the water- before he could do anything else she darted away from rock- the drag of the water halting her. “You clever bitch!” His scream echoed within the caverns yet her feet travelled as far as they could away from him, the water rising from her knees all the way to her chest. She hadn’t thought this was through- how would she get out? Quickly, her eyes scouted her surroundings, until she found a small hole carved within a rock yet large enough for her to fit through. Inhaling a deep breath, she dove into the water arms and legs moving powerfully to resist the harsh waves his anger had conjured. Lurching herself of the sea bed, she swung up her arms, flailing her legs to travel upwards feeling his angered roar tremble through her bones.

“You are no more, you are no less.

For all must die, all must rest.”

His hymns would not work now, she was no longer bound to him with the pearls having been rid from her body. Her head pushed up the surface of the water, oxygen powering into her lungs- inhaling as much as she could. Kicking her feet to stay afloat, she glided towards the boat- with an iron tight fist she flung herself over, rolling onto the floor. Nimbly, she got up towards the oars; smacking them down as hard as she could into the water. The boar tipped backwards with the sudden weight, her head snapping back; she was succumbed to his deadly gaze. If looks could kill.

“You forgot the necklace.” He threw the pearls in her direction, the clatter making her flinch. As fast as she could, she took hold of the oar-slamming the wood against his knees as hard as she could. Letting out a painful grunt, she tackled him to the floor. With a fish hook in sight, she grabbed it- as a beggar grabbed morsel- lifting it above her head, pummelling it into his rubbery skin. Drowning out the sounds of his screams, as she mutilated his skin; gutting it as one gut fish. Repeating the action. Until her arms had given up on her. Chucking the blade into the water, tears rushing to the brim of her eyes, she let out a pained sob. A scream terrorised the waters, purling through the underworld, stunting the water’s fluidity. Her blood stained hands cupped her sides of her cheeks, running through her hair- tears washing away the blood over his body.

In the distance, a figure had pounded into the water- using the little strength she had to push the boat on its head. A Siren’s body floated down towards the sea bed, as the soft waves carried her body to the docks.

Her brother’s trip to the next town proved successful, they were far from hungry-and he bought a little more than he should have; managing to sell a load in the town’s market. After a while, the fisherman formed a congregation and finally went out to sea. At first she was unsure if the Siren’s were still angry as she killed Jongho. Then again, she didn’t know how beloved he was to them. She didn’t want to know either, the image of his dead body engraved in her head. Yet when they came back with mounds of fish, and the economy was booming again, she had come to a quick conclusion that he must have not been anything but a head count. She never went near the sea again, for every step closer to the coast meant a step closer to Jongho despite the fact that his soul had been taken by the Angel of Death. At night, she could not help but let her mind litter to the way his touch kissed her skin; soon after she was reminded of the way she brutally murdered him. Over time, she suffered from insomnia like her brother, staying hidden in her bedroom to avoid suspicion of her sudden sleep apnea.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go fishing with me?” She nodded, unable to tell him that their boat had been lost the waves now- with a few bits of their equipment. Perhaps it was her brother’s insomnia that had impaired his judgement, for he didn’t notice the missing equipment and when he didn’t enquire about the missing boat- confusion struck through her. “What about the boat? It’s still there, why would it be anywhere else?” At first she didn’t believe him, so summoning all the fortitude she had, she made her way down to the docks to see him off to the sea. And there it was. No blood stains, no damage, pearly white as it had always been. Not wanting to entertain a foreign thought (of Jongho not being dead) she assumed maybe the other fisherman had been kind enough to return it to them.

Maybe it was San. She’d finally met him that day by the docks- she could understand her brother’s insistence to marry him. For now, she’d wait and let things settle as they were- and he was a kind soul keen on waiting for her.

Sat on her bed, lazily drifting her eyes through the words on a book- she aimlessly drew her pencil across. A knock, followed by the door creaking open, got her up from her bed- her brother stood in the doorway summoning for her.

“I made a friend whilst fishing.”

“That would be a first.” She joked, placing her book aside to give him attention.

“I thought I’d introduce you to him. He’s a natural at hunting for fish. And he let me use his equipment too.” She followed her brother to the front door. “I invited him to dinner.” She gave him a pointed look, huffing as she’d have to prepare food for one more mouth. Braking violently by the doorway, her mouth hung slightly agape as she took in the figure before her.

He turned around, those same wide eyes greeting her again. His round cheeks, uplifting as he pulled his lips into a charming smile. He was clad in the same fisherman’s dress as her brother, hair smoothed back as if untouched by a drop water. He sent a taunting wave.

“Hi, I’m Jongho.” Her words lodged in her throat, her brother sending her a displeased look.

“I’m sorry Jongho, she’s shy sometimes.” He flicked his hand reassuringly. Digging his hand into his pocket, he pulled a rectangular black velvet box.

“Here, I heard you like pearls.”

All Right Reserved © the-midnight-blooms

DO NOT REPOST, TRANSLATE, REPURPOSE, OR PLAGISRISE ANY OF THE WORK HERE

A/N: may edit later!!!! Bro just wanted to give her some pearls 😭 we need more jongho’s, oc gotta get her shit together honestly 🙄✋🏻 the song is from a book called The Siren by Kiera Cass

let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list for any future fics I post!

[childofthewolvess]

Interpreting Loki as a nature deity

I interpret Loki as a nature deity, and find that a ton of his energy exists within the chaos of the wild, as nature itself is inherently chaotic. Most of the time, I actually find his energy isolated to nature itself, like it’s a core facet of Loki that inspires his chaos.

As a naturalist, I am constantly finding Loki surrounding me in my workplace. He is the essence of the chaos of forest fires, but yet maintains the balance in the ecosystem. He is the wolf, hated and ostracized when he was simply misunderstood. He is the wild itself, full of surprises and unpredictability. Stories begin in nature, laughter and entertainment are so often found in observing wild animals; I’ve seen it so many times on my tours, people laughing at the ridiculous and unpredictable things animals do! Gender is simply ambiguous and fluid within nature, trees and plants often both male and female or everything in between and beyond. He is the wisdom of the forest and its ancient age, he is the fungi underneath the ground facilitating connections in root systems. He is communication amongst all things wild. He is the sudden storm and the unexpected wind and the fresh snow. He is mimicry and camouflage and deceiving patterns on fur and skin, he is the trickster of survival. Trickery is inherent within even our survival, and is found in each and every turn within nature. He is the ocean and its fierce force, all its chaos with the waves and the tides. He is the ecosystem, the full cycle, the facilitator of change and adaptation.

Being a deity of chaos is being a deity of nature! To understand nature you must first understand its chaos and learn to navigate its unpredictability; anyone who works in the outdoors or environmental industry will tell you that!

Loki is the Wild.

[daechwitatamic]

Of Ruin: Chapter 8 || KTH

(banner by @itaeewon)

Of Ruin (Masterpost)

Rating: NSFW - minors dni Genre: vampire!au magic!au royalty!au, s2l, slow burn, eventual smut, angst and fluff

Summary: Taehyung of House Rune, Prince of Infracticus has been cursed. You’re the human world’s leading curse-breaker. It should be simple. But unraveling the curse becomes the least of your problems in the face of a world on the brink of civil war… and the love you start to feel for the prince.

A/N: Thank you endlessly to @sailoryooons for betaing!!! 💕

//

Section Warnings: injury and blood, angst wc: 4.8k

When you’d studied casting - in the framework of counter-curses, never much else - you’d learned like a human. You’d learned the methodology of pulling magic from the air around you, like one might pull water from a cloud. You never knew there was magic inside you, rising up to meet the rest. You never knew that you might possess something of your own, stronger and more readily available than what the world around you could offer.

Now, as you stand in your tiny bedroom in the palace practicing the same deflective spell over and over again, you wonder how you could possibly have been so oblivious. The magic that races through your system nearly makes you high.

You know that you should stop and sleep; you know that you need to rest, to recover. But every time you consider putting the book away, turning off the lamp, and laying in the dark, your heart begins to race again.

And then, instead of doing any of those things, you run the spell again. You imagine the Infracti who’d attacked you, and you push back with all your might.

You run the spell so many times that it becomes muscle memory - your tongue repeating mindless syllables, your hands pushing and pulling magic like you’re conducting the ocean tide. You’re barely thinking about what you’re doing. Your mind goes blank, a low buzzing like static settling at the base of your skull.

Say the words, do the motion. Knock down anything that comes close. Say the words, push the magic. Say the words, push the magic. Get them away, keep them away, get them away away away -

Your wardrobe explodes noisily, wooden splinters flying through the room followed by your shirts and slacks. You scream and drop to the floor, covering your head, just as one of your shoes crosses the room and takes out your lamp, leaving you in the darkness you’d been avoiding. You shake on the floor, still covering your head even though the danger has passed.

You hear Namjoon shout your name before he throws your door open, flooding your room with light from the corridor.

“What happened?” he asks, trying and failing to turn the light on with the switch on the wall. The lamp lies on the ground, shattered. You can see it because you’re still at eye-level with the floor.

Namjoon must spot you, cowering, and makes his way towards you.

“Careful,” you warn him, finally uncovering your head and trying to sit up. Your arms both sting, and you bet you have chunks of wardrobe in them, like giant splinters. Lovely. You don’t even want to look. “There’s pieces everywhere.” You’re not sure if you mean the wooden splinters or the shattered lamp. You feel delirious.

Namjoon freezes midstep, one foot raised in the air.

Satuel appears behind him and seems to understand what happened. She waves her hand and you watch as the wooden pieces of the wardrobe and the ceramic pieces of the lamp slide along the floor to a common spot, making a nice, neat little pile of debris.

“Come,” she says. “Out here where I can see you.”

Out in the common room, she looks you over, tutting when she looks at your arms. Your heart begins to slam in your chest as she examines you; you’re very aware, suddenly, that you must be bleeding.

Namjoon and Satuel look at each other, having a silent conversation that you are very much not a part of.

“Go back to bed,” she tells Namjoon, who is hovering a few feet away, unsure how to help. “I’ll take care of her.”

He does as he’s told, a bit robotically, and you’re sure he was half-asleep for the whole encounter. He might wake up in the morning and think he dreamed it.

Satuel procures a pair of tweezers - from where, you aren’t sure - and guides you to sit at the small table where you eat. She gingerly takes one of your arms and bends it so she can see better as she starts to work.

“Care to tell me what happened?” she asks evenly, her focused gaze only on what her hands are doing.

“Was practicing a defense spell,” you mutter. Your eyes suddenly feel heavy. “Must have messed up. My wardrobe exploded. It broke the lamp.”

“You should have been sleeping,” she remarks, putting down the arm she was working on and motioning for you to hand her the other.

You don’t answer this. You don’t want to admit that you were too scared. You don’t want to look weak and frightened. You don’t want to offend her by admitting you’re afraid of her kind. You don’t want to give her the satisfaction of knowing her kind can frighten you. These feelings contradict each other, yet somehow both manage to be true.

She seems to know anyway. She finishes working on your second arm and places it on the table, sitting back and looking at you with wet, black eyes. Your stomach turns, and the hairs on your arms raise.

You hide them under the table.

“Prince Taehyung can heal those when he… wakes,” she says. It occurs to you, as she stumbles over this wording, that at this moment Prince Taehyung is simply a monster. If you needed him, now, he would be no help at all. In fact, in his current state - wherever they have him tucked away - he’s the most dangerous one here.

Everyone else would need to use discretion if they fucked with you. Under the curse, Prince Taehyung would have no such qualms.

“Okay,” you say quietly. “Thank you.”

She continues to watch you, then cocks her head slightly. “There is a tea I could bring,” she says. “It would calm your nerves. It would likely help you sleep. I’ll bring some.”

You want to object; you don’t know what it’s made of, what the effect will be. You want to stay clear-headed. You want to stay awake. You never want to close your eyes again.

But this is the first kindness Satuel has shown you. This is the most she has spoken to you at length. You don’t want to reject her, lest she never try again.

“Thank you,” you nod. “I’ll try it.”

Still, when she brings you a steaming mug, you sit on the couch in the main room and hold it between your hands. You inhale the steam deeply, noting what you can recognize: chamomile, definitely. Perhaps lavender. Something else that you can’t name.

You look up at her, nervous. “Will I be able to wake when Prince Taehyung is ready for the ritual?” you ask. “Or will I be -?”

Drugged, is what you want to say. You don’t.

She smiles, and it almost looks warm. “You’ll feel normal,” she assures you. “It won’t make you groggy.”

You nod in thanks and sip at it. When you’ve finished, you set the mug on the low table, and you bring the heaviest blanket from your bed back to the couch. You curl up in a ball, the blanket over your head, and breathe slowly, waiting for sleep.

You leave every light in the room on.

—

It is not Satuel who wakes you, but Namjoon, gently shaking your shoulder and pulling the blanket just enough that your eyes peek out. You squint up at him, the light almost painful in the wake of your dark little blanket cave.

“Sorry,” he says, grimacing. “I wanted to let you sleep more, but the prince has asked for us.”

You groan, closing your eyes again. You feel awful - your body aches, your head is pounding, and your arms throb in the places where Satuel had removed wooden splinters sometime early this morning.

Still, after a moment of wallowing, you push yourself to rise. “Do I have time to shower?” you ask, the blanket over your shoulders like a thick, winter cape.

Namjoon glances at the clock. “Maybe, like… a fast one?”

You do your best to hurry, though the water stings the open cuts you sport, which makes it tricky as you hop in and out of the water, hissing and wincing. When you’re ready, both Dansoo and Satuel lead you and Namjoon through the palace, up the steps to Prince Taehyung’s wing.

You’re greeted in the front room not by the beautiful, dark haired Infracti, but by a breakfast spread.

“Prince Taehyung will be with you in a moment,” one of his staff tells you. “Please help yourselves to breakfast.”

“God, coffee,” you manage, making a beeline for the table. Namjoon follows, and when Prince Taehyung comes through the door he finds the two of you sitting on opposite ends of the couch, each clutching a mug of dark liquid like they tether you to life.

He nods in greeting as he passes Namjoon, but slows his stride to pause by you. You look at him guiltily, already knowing where this is going.

“I heard there was an incident,” he says, voice low.

You shake your head as Namjoon nods. Traitor.

“Hardly,” you say. “I was practicing magic. I made a mistake. There was… uh, a problem.”

“An incident,” he repeats. Then, he sighs like he just doesn’t know what to do with you. “Can I heal you?”

You lower your gaze and hold up your arms.

He sighs again as he surveys the damage. Then, gently, he takes one arm and begins to run his spare hand over the cuts, and you feel the tingling sensation that lets you know the healing is working.

You swallow down how nice it feels to have his hands on you. It’s not productive, you remind yourself. Not only unprofessional, but unrealistic, too. Doubly foolish.

He’s dangerous, too. He’s one of them, too.

Triply foolish.

“I’d like you to stay out of trouble for maybe a day,” he scolds under his breath, barely audible.

“I’m finding that harder here than I ever did in the real - I mean, back home,” you joke.

The real world, you’d almost said. Like this one isn’t real, but truly just a dream you can’t seem to wake from.

It does feel that way.

If Prince Taehyung notices, he has the grace to ignore it.

He hovers as you work uneasily on your coffee, and then asks, “So, are we trying the ritual today?”

“That’s the plan,” you answer, and Namjoon shoots you a look like you aren’t being polite enough. But you feel like you and the prince have gotten, maybe, a little friendly on your visits to the stable, enough to give you the leeway to speak casually.

At any rate, he doesn’t object to your tone, instead leaning his arms on the back of the couch and asking, “Do you need anything for it?”

“Actually, yes,” you say, sitting up straighter. Now that the caffeine’s hit your system, you’re feeling more human - but definitely still sore from top to bottom. “Could you get us a metronome?”

“A metronome?” he parrots, brows furrowing.

“You know,” you say, flapping a hand. “The thing for music that keeps the beat for you? I saw your piano room, I’m sure you have one here somewhere.”

A smile grows on his face. “You saw my piano room?”

You don’t answer this, feeling your face flush; you’d found the piano room on the night you’d gone wandering, when Prince Taehyung had literally saved your life the first time.

Namjoon watches this exchange with raised brows, but says nothing. You try to ignore the look on his face.

Prince Taehyung’s smile grows, and he shakes his head a little. He looks like he wants to say something but thinks better of it. He controls himself, mouth twitching back into something more neutral, and then he says, “Yes, I’ll send for it. Anything else?”

You consider this. “Somewhere quiet to work? We need a bit of space, and your staff can’t come too close or their energy will mix into the reading.”

He nods absently, already moving to ask one of his staff to fetch the metronome. “Don’t worry about that,” he says over his shoulder. “I’ve already thought of the perfect place. Come on, I’ll show you.”

—

Taehyung picked his greenhouse for the ritual. It’s spacious, far from his main quarters, quiet… and soothing, with several water features that bubble quietly. He thinks, though it’s just projecture, that this will be good for rituals or magic.

It’s calm and safe, and Taehyung thinks that’s important.

The other curse-breaker, the man, stays by the door, making sure none of Taehyung’s staff accidentally enter, and keeping a safe distance himself.

You sit cross-legged on the ground, facing each other. Taehyung watches you carefully, listens - from his place opposite you - to your pulse beat through your body, quickened with nerves and excitement. He feels your magical signature like a caress, and it astounds him that you can’t feel it, can’t feel the magic brimming at your fingertips, ready to be directed. 

“This is supposed to be different than before,” you remind him. “I’m only going in with the intention to look.”

He nods. He hears what you’re telling him - it shouldn’t hurt this time, shouldn’t drain him, shouldn’t feel like his insides are being funneled backwards through his body.

Before the curse had tried to kick you out - before the pain had started - having your magic toy around with his… well, it hadn’t been unpleasant at all. It had felt good, if he was being honest. Like something was clicking into place, as it was meant to.

“You’re going to feel me poking around, just like before,” you repeat his earlier words. “You’ll also likely feel things that… belong to me.”

He feels his brow furrow. “What does that mean?”

You twist your mouth and eye the ceiling. Taehyung waits, lets you decide how to explain it. 

“It’s like…” you say slowly, still thinking as you talk, “we both open up and let our magic through. So the same as I can steer my magic to take a look at the curse, you could steer yours to investigate mine. It’s… available.

“If that happens,” you continue explaining, clearly intending to do a better job looping him into the whole process this time, “you might, without meaning to, interact with it. You might feel emotions that belong to me - that’s most likely.”

“You’ve done this before?” Taehyung asks, though he knows the answer. 

“Once,” you nod. “A long time ago, though.”

“What happened that time?” He leans back on flattened palms, putting a little more space between you.

“It went well,” you say, something energized coming over you. Like you perk up when you talk about your work, your successes. “I was breaking the curse for this woman - she was like, so old -”

“Older than me?” Taehyung asks, failing to hold back a teasing smile.

You laugh. Taehyung likes the sound of it. “Old for a human, okay? Anyway, we did the ritual and I was looking around at her curse and I could feel her magic kind of… pressing back? Not in a bad way, though, just… presence. And when we finished and ended it, she told me something…” You break off the story, letting out a laugh that’s maybe a bit bitter - Taehyung can’t tell. “She told me some things about myself, about what I was feeling, things I had gone through recently at that time - like while she was in there she just got a little film of my life, or something.”

“That sounds invasive,” Taehyung murmurs. 

You shrug. “I knew what I was agreeing to. It was sweet, and kind of funny. And I cracked her curse.” The pride in your voice is evident. 

“So,” Taehyung asks, back to playful, “what film am I scheduled to see today?”

You laugh again, and his smile widens. “Books, probably,” you tell him. “Hours and hours and hours of books.”

Taehyung waits patiently as you get ready. He places his hands palm-up on his knees, and you place yours palm-up on top of his, resting lightly. They’re small, he notices for the first time, fitting neatly inside his own. 

You lift one hand and reach to set the metronome at a slow pace. It’s so slow, in fact, that Taehyung thinks for a moment that it must be broken.

“This is to pace our breathing,” you tell him. “Inhale and exhale between the beats. We’re going to do that first - just breathe in time, together.”

“I don’t need to do anything else?” he clarifies. He wants this to go well, he wants this to work. 

He wants it to be done and over so you can look at him and tell him, I know exactly what’s missing, we’ll have the curse ended before midnight tonight. He wants you to tell him, it’s over - the curse is gone.

“I’ll tell you,” you assure him, your voice becoming almost melodic as you step into your role as a magic-wielder. “For now, breathe. We’re inhaling - ready?”

He does as he’s told - inhales until he hears the device’s click, then begins a slow exhale. Click. Inhale - click. Exhale - your own breath mingling with the gurgling body of water behind you is the only other sound in the room. Click. Inhale.

“Good,” you say on the exhale. “You keep that rhythm - that’s your most important job.”

He nods, concentrating on the rhythm, the clicks, his breath in and out. 

“Next job,” you murmur. “Keep your eyes on my eyes. Don’t look away.”

He lifts his gaze to meet yours, and you hold him there, steady, as you breathe together in time. Your eyes dance as they take his in, and he thinks he can feel you already - your magic starting to touch its fingers to his, tentative. He’s not sure he’s ready for when your magic opens for him, when he’ll be able to press against it and feel what you’re feeling, not just see it reflected in your eyes.

“Good,” you say finally, lips barely moving. “Don’t do anything but what you’re doing right now. I’m going to start the incantations.”

You do, quietly, your voice calm and even. The chanting is musical, almost like you’re singing to him. Taehyung can feel everything as it happens - so strongly that it almost startles him out of his breathing, almost makes him lose focus and tear his gaze away from your eyes. 

As if you can sense him faltering, you press the backs of your hands more firmly into his palms, silently reminding him of his only tasks. 

He focuses, but he can still feel it - your magic rising up, strengthening, beginning to expand. He can feel it when it touches his, cautiously, like letting a dog sniff your hand before you stroke its head. It’s somewhere between a tingle and a warmth, your magic, and it slips seamlessly into his, filling up every empty space. Like water, like air, like every element he needs to keep existing. 

It feels good - just as it had last time your magics had mingled, and this on its own is distracting. 

Focus. Inhale. Click. Exhale. Click. 

Your magic begins to explore - he can feel that, too. He can feel it as it lifts and examines, feel it as it prods and dives within him. He could lose himself in this - in the way the controlled breathing lulls him into calm, into the warm and pleasant sensation of having his magic matched and complemented, into the cool press of your hands into his. 

He could - but he doesn’t want to. You’d said that he could - “without meaning to” - explore your side. You were forgetting: he may not have done this ritual before, but he is Taehyung of Rune. No one has better magical control than his family. It’s in his blood, just like yours, and he can steer his magic just as well.

He presses in, watching your face for any indication that you recognize the feeling. There’s none; your eyes are unfocused, muscles slack except for your mouth, which repeats the incantation hollowly, over and over. Emboldened, he presses further. 

The memories come without context in quick-moving bursts; they’re hard to follow. Some are still images, some play like a video clip on fast-forward, others are just dark but sound rings through Taehyung’s head, foreign and jolting. Each comes with a feeling - or more than one - that Taehyung feels so deeply they must be his own.

The faces of humans who might be your family, and the feelings of both love and disappointment. 

Books, as promised, and feelings of comfort, of pride.

Cities, waterways, more faces, more books, an old man, books again, another city, another pile of books -

Loneliness. Loneliness stitched into all of them. 

Images begin to ping in Taehyung’s mind as familiar -

Namjoon’s sharp eyes, and the feeling of gratitude. 

The throne room of the palace, his parents, the image of Infracti eyes - fear, fear so engulfing that Taehyung’s fingers flex against yours instinctively, and he fights to keep exhaling until he hears the click somewhere in the back of his mind. 

His own face, his own form approaching from the end of a hallway. Taehyung is swept with surprise to feel excitement attached to his image, something tinged with affection, and danger, and thrill, and something that Taehyung can’t - or won’t - put a name to.

Guilty, he pulls back, letting his magic simply simmer along with yours instead of steering it into your consciousness.  

He listens to the clicks, focuses on his breathing. Feels a stupid little smile sneak across his face, feels relief that your eyes are too unfocused to clock it. Feels a swell of affection for you, the human - no, witch - sent here to fix him. Feels a twin swell of protectiveness as his mind replays your fear. 

He’ll do better, he promises himself. He’ll do better at staying with you, at keeping everyone else away. 

He becomes aware that he no longer hears you chanting and watches your eyes carefully for the moment you come out of the trance.

You come back to yourself with a gasp, and Taehyung is startled to find you gaping at him, wide-eyed, struggling to get a word out.

“What?” he asks, stomach sinking. “What?”

You look around frantically like you’re trying to place yourself. “Maiesti,” you finally whisper, horrified, wild eyes coming back to find his. “I think someone tried to kill you.”

—

Prince Taehyung leads you - at a fast clip - to a small room that reminds you of a meeting room that an office building might have.

As you walk, you fill in Namjoon, talking almost faster than you can think.

“One of the threads,” you say breathlessly, “was definitely, absolutely intended for ending life.”

Namjoon stops walking; Prince Taehyung does not, carrying forward, causing you and Namjoon to scurry to catch him.

“You’re sure?” Namjoon asks.

You look at him evenly. “Entirely.”

“So, I was right,” he says quietly. “Remember? When I said I thought death magic might be involved?”

“I remember.”

He shakes his head. “I think my grandfather knew, or at least suspected.”

You look at him quizzically. “What do you mean?”

“That’s why he called me. I’ve been wondering. He had to suspect there would be an element of death magic - that’s my area of study. He knew you’d need me for that.”

You huff. “If he thought this was a murder attempt, that would have been nice to know ahead of time.”

Prince Taehyung acts like he hears none of this, simply leads you into the meeting room and asks a guard to fetch his parents.

The three of you wait in tense silence. You don’t know about the men, but your mind is racing with possibilities - the who, the why.

The Queen looks alarmed when she enters, and while the King doesn’t look as frantic, there’s definitely an air of concern.

“Thank you for coming,” you say, greeting them respectfully. “We wanted to speak to you right away. The Prince and I completed a ritual this morning -”

“You what?” The Queen asks sharply, but she seems to be directing this at her son, who ignores her with the polish of someone who has ignored their mother for over five hundred years. He motions for you to continue. 

You continue again, a little shakily. “We completed a ritual whose purpose was to feel out more of the curse, identify some threads of intention that we missed before.”

“Was it successful?” the King asks.

“It was,” you say carefully, “but I felt you should know about a major thread that I uncovered.”

Everyone looks at you, waiting - those who already know what you found, and those who are about to hear for the first time.

You take a breath and lay your palms flat on the table. “I found a thread whose intention was death.”

“How sure are you?” the Queen demands, standing up straighter, her brows furrowed.

“There’s no doubt,” you say calmly. “That’s what it was. Whoever cast this curse… they included the intention to kill Prince Taehyung.”

The King shouts someone’s name and an Infracti hurries into the room, leaning down to listen to the King’s request. He leaves again, and the King addresses the table.

“My cabinet members are being summoned,” he says. “We’ll address this at once.”

“Why would they bother with all the other threads,” the Queen asks, her eyes on you, “if they just wanted to kill him?”

“I’m not sure,” you admit. “It doesn’t make sense to me, either - but the intention was there.”

“I can speak to that,” Namjoon says calmly. The Queen snaps her attention to him. “Death magic is my specialty. A curse like that - just to end a life - it can’t be done. Magic… as I’m sure you know, magic is life. Magic wants life. It will not end a life unless it is twisted just right. It’s likely that whoever cast this curse had to… add padding to sneak this piece in. Perhaps they hoped that if they failed - which clearly, they did - then at least the prince would suffer.”

“Which he is,” you add, unhelpfully. 

“The Scores must be behind this,” the Queen says.

“There’s nothing that particularly indicates them,” the King points out.

“Except seven thousand years of war,” she shoots back. “Who else? Who else would benefit from killing our son?”

The King rubs at his temples. “I want to know where their little venefici was the night the curse began,” he muses. At that word, you feel blood rush to your face. You expect Namjoon to pat your arm, but it’s the prince who meets your gaze across the table, his face open and apologetic.

“Father,” he murmurs reproachfully, the first time he’s spoken since you all gathered.

You wonder what he thinks about all this.

You wonder if he’s frightened.

The King follows his gaze and frowns. “No disrespect intended,” he says, though his tone indicates that he’s displeased at being corrected. “We appreciate your skill here. But I need to find who cast on my son, and bring them to justice.”

“And cure him,” you say. This time, Namjoon does knock into your arm, trying to shut you up.

The King narrows his eyes at you but doesn’t address your insolence.

“And what about you?” The Queen asks, directing her attention at you and Namjoon. You try not to squirm. “What does this discovery mean for the counter-curse?”

You exchange a look with Namjoon, and you give him a nod. Death magic is his forte, not yours. 

“I’m afraid it’s a bit of a good-news-bad-news situation,” he says, inclining his head respectfully. “The good news is we identified that element of the curse so we are able to begin finding how to counter it. The bad news… well… the thread of intention called for loss of life. In countering that… only life can pay for life.”

Prince Taehyung’s head snaps up. “Will someone have to die?” he asks, horrified, eye wide. 

“Not necessarily,” you hurry to soothe him. “It may take Namjoon and I some time, but I’m confident we can find a way that isn’t so… drastic.”

“You’re dismissed, then,” the Queen says, her voice still even and cold. “I don’t want you wasting a single minute until you have something worth trying.”

You nod in understanding and move to leave. Satuel and Dansoo are waiting in the corridor, ready to walk you and Namjoon back to your quarters. You glance over your shoulder as you go, trying to get one last look at Prince Taehyung.

To your surprise, you find him standing still, watching you walk away. From this distance, he looks more like you expected him to look the first time you’d met him - somehow both haunting and haunted.

<;- Prev || Next ->

thank you for reading! chapter 9 coming next friday!

[orcinus-veterinarius]

Since many facilities already successfully keep bottlenose dolphins in sea pens, would it be that much harder to build one for killer whales? Just curious.

In theory no… it would just need to be quite a bit larger! In practice, though, it would be more difficult. Bottlenose are right at home in warm coastal tropical and subtropical waters, like Florida, Hawaii, and the Caribbean. These places also draw tourists year round, which means constant income. Cetaceans are expensive to house, and sea pens require constant upkeep to prevent them from succumbing to the inevitable wear and tear of tides and salt.

A sea pen for orcas would need to be in much colder waters (which is why Sea Shepherd’s proposal to build a pen in the Mediterranean was ridiculous), which don’t tend to draw as crowds quite as big as tropical destinations. So you have much larger animals that need much more space, much more food, therefore much more money… but much less income. And that’s not even getting into the issues of staffing.

Since I’m assuming you’re referring to the idea of a sea pen for the orcas currently in captivity, I’ll touch on that briefly. Cetaceans that have spent their whole lives in highly filtered environments tend to have weaker immune systems than those in natural ocean water—one of the valid complaints about artificial tank habitats in my opinion. They just aren’t getting much antigenic stimulation. Some still do okay transitioning to sea pens, but others don’t, and it’s hard to predict how they’ll respond. And for some of the older individuals, like Katina and Corky, the stress alone of such a massive change might be too much.

So yeah, in theory, nothing wrong with a sea pen! In practice though, might be more difficult than many make it out to be.

[cheerioskid]

more exploration of joel and lizzie (plus some bigb and scott) in the moonrise au by @germworms and i!! go check out their comic that also explains some of the lore surrounding them :)

more explanation below!!

joel and lizzie were the ancient sun and moon gods that existed wayy before grian and pearl but when joel supernova'd (is that a word?) and became a black hole he consumed everything in their system, including lizzie

lizzie was obviously the love of his life and was also well loved by others. she would get gifted pearls and other ocean treasures from bigb (god of water) they were good friends since lizzie's moon's gravity would influence bigb's tides (her closeness with water also came through in how she presented herself, decorated with seashells and pearls and dressed in iridescent blues)

lizzie would then take bigb's gifts and turn them into necklaces and bracelets etc for joel to wear (he liked to wear jewelry to feel important, big ego small man)

after the supernova, joel is obviously devastated and never truly gets over his grief, holding on the the last trace of lizzie he has left (pearl necklace)

that's all from me, go check out Sea's post for more context!!

[reimeichan]

So like, breaking down dissociative barriers. Increasing communication. All good things, right? But how do you even do that?

Turns our "breaking down barriers" is completely the wrong way to go about that. I've been trying to take a metaphorical hammer to these fucking walls and instead of them coming down they just keep reinforcing themselves.

But, surprise! It's not a fucking wall and that's why hammering away has done jack fucking shit all. No, it's an ocean wave, and I'm supposed to just sit still and let the tide wash over me and engulf me from head to toe.

God, we really need to rethink how we talk about our experiences and stuff with each other. No wonder some people struggle so hard with understanding how to actually work together with the other alters in their system, or integrating aspects of themselves with each other. Most people tend to use the same few phrases that get passed around the community, which helps ease communication when we all know the basics of what we're talking about, but god does it really stifle the discussions we can have sharing what those experiences are actually like on an individual level.

Anyways I'm gonna stop thinking of working on internal communication and integration as "breaking down dissociative barriers" and instead think of it more as "letting a wave of internal experiences engulf me".

[reasonsforhope]

Is it true some parts will be under water in 2025? I'm kinda of worried cause someone told me about it bc it was on the news

Eh, not really. Like, technically, but that's a very dramatic way to put it.

What that person told you about was probably this prediction, which says that some roads on some of the Florida Keys might be underwater by 2025.

Does that suck? Yes. But it's also pretty limited in scope.

(And by the way, that's probably not "underwater all the time." There will probably be a number of years of "the roads will be underwater at high tide specifically." I can't currently find a source on this, but that's how tides work, and the Florida Keys article does specifically mention them as a main problem.)

The areas in danger first are pretty universally small, very low islands. Actually, a dozen or so small islands have already gone underwater in the Pacific Ocean, but very importantly, none of those islands were inhabited.

They were mostly small reef islands (that is, the entire island is exposed coral reef detritus) and other uninhabited shoals. Mostly, they were so small scientists had to check old satellite images to even figure out that they disappeared. Literally, we're talking about chunks of land that are just 100 square meters/300 square feet. Again, not great, but still very limited in scope.

As this Live Science article thankfully explains, it's pretty unlikely that any countries at all will disappear before 2100.

Also, just because land is below sea level doesn't mean it will be underwater, and there are very real steps we can take to defend a lot of endangered cities/islands.

For example:

Much of the Netherlands is already below sea level, but the country isn't disappearing, because the Dutch have put a lot of work into building and maintaining coastal defenses.

Multiple surveys (including the one that found the missing islands in Micronesia) also found that not all low-lying islands are vulnerable to erosion and flooding. This is because many islands are protected by mangrove forests, lagoons, or both

Mangrove reforestation in particular is genuinely a super effective anti-flooding strategy that is being deployed pretty widely, and is expected to increase a lot in the coming years. Mangroves are effective at not only preventing short-term flooding, but also mitigating sea-level increases (in part by preventing erosion)

Some islands, esp Pacific Islands, have actually grown during the past couple decades, not shrunk. It really depends on what the island is made up of. Not all land is automatically doomed

You can read more about how sinking countries are fighting back here, and the lessons we can learn from them:

-via Time, June 13, 2019

And finally, and this is good news for reasons I'll explain in a second:

Some of the largest and wealthiest cities in the world are at the top of the danger list. (Note: the predictions at that link are based on some fairly severe warming predictions. They do NOT necessarily reflect what's going to happen or when.)

The cities that are going to be in danger the soonest (still away btw) include New York, London, San Francisco, Tokyo, and Dubai. Lots of very rich people in those cities! Who would really like to not have to move (any of their ten different homes lol)

So, flooding aside, we're going to (by necessity) get a lot better at figuring out the quickest, cheapest, most scalable, and most effective types of coastal defenses real fast.

Are rich countries going to be way more able to get strong coastal defense systems up quickly? Yes. Does that suck? Sure fucking does!! But these solutions don't all require a lot of money or tech to implement, even at a large scale, especially when it's local communities driving the effort.

And, importantly, when rich countries pour a ton of money into figuring this out, that will hugely expand our understanding of what techniques work best, why, and how best to deploy them in different situations. Unlike physical structures, that's valuable knowledge that can be shared very, very widely.

And any technology that comes out of this is going to work like solar panels and other green energy: as more people use it, it will get cheaper and cheaper. Probably really quickly.

So, all told, no one's going to be swallowed up in the next few years. We have time to work on this and a lot of people are already doing so.

Mostly, experts predict that the first wave of large-scale issues will be happening around 2050.

Three decades doesn't sound like enough time, in the face of something like this. But you know what? Responses to climate change are speeding up exponentially, and different types of responses are multiplying and magnifying each other.

We went from inventing flight to landing on the moon in just 66 years.

I wouldn't count us out of the climate change fight yet.

(...I wouldn't count on retiring to Florida either, though)

[saudariel]

the playlist! my contribution to the adar prayer circle lmao 🕯️🕯️🕯️

heavy, aggressive alt/metal. lots of saudar vibes because i feel like their dynamic is so central to adar's arc. or what we've seen of it at least! some of the songs are purely vibes based, some are more based on lyrics. honestly i made this for gifmaking and for background noise when i'm at work but can't escape the Brainrot, so it's not a fully fleshed out character playlist, but i'll add more to it (if our man lives 💀)

enjoy! lyrics under the cut 👀

listen on Spotify here

moth // HELLYEAH

I've been cast out, sequestered Pushed the fuck around Blindsided, beaten Locked up and bound Always thought I was human But maybe I was wrong I've been treated like an animal Since the day I was born The wounds that I wear like the crown upon a king So heavy they lie with all the pain that they bring My life is full of longing, but for what I'll never know I've been drawn into the fire as I reap what I sow

blood // bad omens

There's no rest for the wicked There's not a home underneath the mud And we're all dead, so what's the difference Between a god and a loaded gun? I am the sun, rain, the ocean I am the flood, flames, the chosen It's in our blood, it's on our breath It's in the taste between life and death

soft spine // spiritbox

Soft spine, ascending up to meet my Eyes wide, I am a witness to your regicide The dissolution of your soft spine You all deserve each other You steal the echo from their ghosts You pick your teeth with sacred bones I hate the ones that love you And those who profit from you It's time to reap the tide you sow

god's image // mike's dead

If I was made in God's fucking image Is he as fucked up as I am? Is he sick like me? Is he sick like me? Is he sick like me? If I was made inside the holy system Where the fuck are all my friends? Only space to leave, only space to leave, only space to leave

DEAD THRONE // arankai

Look what you've done, all your skeletons have come to life On a dead throne, tell me how you sleep at night All your sins will be paid in blood a hundred times This isn't retribution, this is fucking regicide

alpha & omega // king 810

Welcome to the truth God made me in His image, who the fuck made you? You want my voice from me? You can have it just know I sound like this, because the Devil has my throat I make your insides shift, that is my gift The sea parts, and then comes the flood And men have died to make this, you can't imitate shit The talent I have, I paid for in blood

house of cards // deadlands

You may think that you have leverage But I'll lay this shit down Think that you're a high-roller Just a joker and a clown Under the gun You'll confess to all the wrongs you've done And when push comes to shove There's nowhere you can run

welcome to hell // mike's dead

I bet you thought that i was finished but I'm back at the gates I am back with the demons and embers and flames And I am not alone I brought a couple million souls So you can see for yourself I'm the king, I'm the goat As above, so below where the light is removed And your death is in bloom on the path seldom took I am here, I am now in the shadows of doom You can call this hell, but I call this home

counting bodies like sheep // a perfect circle

I'll be the one to protect you from Your enemies and all your demons I'll be the one to protect you from A will to survive and a voice of reason I'll be the one to protect you from Your enemies and your choices, son They're one in the same, I must isolate you Isolate and save you from yourself

necessary evil // motionless in white

Strip off the weight of mortality and check it at the door I'll show you the worst in me Blow out the candles, I need not a wish for I am everything Now crawl to my boots and lick (kneel before me) Imma have my cake and fucking eat you too It's my party and I'll die when I want to Die when I want to, die when I want to The monster you've made is wearing the crown I'll be the king and you'll be the clown I'll take the blame, parade it around You've made me the villain you can't live without

before i forget // slipknot

Stapled shut, inside an outside world and I'm Sealed in tight, bizarre but right at home Claustrophobic, closing in and I'm Catastrophic, not again I'm smeared across the page and doused in gasoline I wear you like a stain, yet I'm the one who's obscene Catch me up on all your sordid little insurrections I've got no time to lose, I'm just caught up in all the cattle I am a world before I am a man I was a creature before I could stand I will remember before I forget

black sheep // crown the empire

You kick me in the teeth, then pin me to the ground You take the sickest part of me and spit it out your goddamn mouth All my life I've been running with the black sheep Cast me out, watch me come back as king

exit wounds // bad omens

Raised by wolves in sheep's clothes that abandoned me But taught me to get up when I fall to my knees Man makes monster, monster kills man Taking your crown's always been part of the plan

villain arc // bury tomorrow

These walls can't hold us No prisoners Godless, no control I'll say it, "Fuck your halo" This world can't take us No prisoners, Godless evermore Fuck your halo Destined to go through hell For this fire inside of me I am labelled an enemy And I like the way it burns It's like they'll never learn

WAR // mike's dead

All of my life I’ve been yearning for violence I’d sell my soul just to burn in the riots All of my life I’ve been clinging to pain I need someone to blame For these thoughts in my brain Feel the blood on my chin I’ve been off of my shit don’t tempt me Feel the parasites in my skin Didn’t know I could feel this empty Who’s at fault, for my lack of resolve?

red // woe, is me

Now I'm free, you goddamned leech Fuck your pulpit, and fuck what you preach You may have the world at your feet But nothing in this life is concrete You’re self-indulgent at my expense So let me give you my two cents

power // king yosef

This being was made a long time ago I've peeled the wound and I let it show Change for better or worse Perpetuate pain 'til the flesh meets the Earth I've always been like this, it sits in my skin Reinvent myself, won't let you in You do all you can, I do all I want The things that make a man The things that make a God

crushed // deadlands

I'm done being seen as a motherfucking pawn You use and abuse me to get what you want I'm done being burned and a game that you play I'm so fucking sick I'll do it my way We'll do it my way The predator is now the prey Enough is enough Now you're the one who's fucking crushed

remember me // dal av, andy cizek

Amidst a violent night, there is a dying star Mired in lies and spite, it's fading from afar I used to chase the sun, now I'm afraid of it But if I'm honest, I never thought I would get this far I was a loaded gun, now I'm in front of one A catatonic cycle, over and over Am I alive? Am I a phantom? What was on fire is now but a fading ember Will I survive? Is there an answer? And if I die now, will anyone remember?

higher than death // 3TEETH

How should we die? Our beautiful freedom Can't keep it alive when you can't find the meaning Look at us now, beaten and bleeding I'm higher than death It's theft, everything they took from us And left lies, lies, lies What's left? Motherfucking selfish greed As they let us die

the hell i overcame // bad omens

Oh, did you really think the pain Would send me to an early grave? Did you think I couldn't break these chains After all the hell I overcame? God, please, forgive those who doubt me Forgot about me Then throw them down into the flames

burned at both ends // motionless in white

Nothing is like it was before I know not who I am anymore Chasing something that's behind me When will I be set free? Broken promises left to mend Burning the candle at both ends No light to find my way back home But I don't know where home is anymore The sinking ship has washed ashore

burned at both ends II // motionless in white

Leaving you behind left me aimless Staring in the mirror and I feel like I'm faceless The only thing I know is that I'd rather die Than live in a world where you still control my life The curse you left, it ends tonight Even if I have to tear out my insides Never again will this heart be your home I'll be happy as someone else Today, I found my open door I set my sights on something more I'm done reliving the pain you dealt me I'm sick of trying to take back time Today, I live for something more

[moontheoretist]

*spoilers alert*

I started playing Honkai Impact 3rd Part 2 and DAMN it's so fucking interesting! LIKE SUPER NEAT. Imagine that 1 billion years ago there was a civilisation on Mars that got anihillated by something (*cough cough* Finality *cough cough*) but then several bubble universes are created around it with people in them and because the Sea of Quanta distorts time they didn't live this billion of years that the rest of the planets in Solar System did, no, they lived barely a 100 years since the catastrophe so from THEIR point of view Earth is still just a "blue planet with no civilisation" which means that our planet already has oceans but probably only filled with amoebas and not any other type of life, just bacterias as life on Earth appeared 3.7 billion years ago, but it takes a LONG TIME for life to actually evolve so even 1 billion years ago Earth doesn't really have anything to show off. While from the point of view of Earth - Mars (Luoxing) is DEAD for so long that we didn't even entertain the possibility that civilisation was EVER there to begin with (even if it was probable considering that Venus also had civilisation before it got destroyed too as Honkai Impact 3rd follows the multiverse logic of "1 planet = 1 universe"). Which all and of itself is SO COOL. Because it both is scientifically accurate, but also super Sci-Fi with bubble universes floating in the Sea of Quanta, anchored to Mars and protected not to sink into the Sea completely, with Honkai Energy just existing and PEOPLE LIVING IN HARMONY WITH SHADOW THINGIES GIVING OFF HONKAI ENERGY.

Edit: Honkai's multiverse theory is more like: "it’s solar systems separated by Imaginary tides". Thank you phoenix-is-the-hottest-thing for correcting that. It's a very unique view of the multiverse.

[heartfulofsighs]

Reassurance

Hello All!

I know I haven't posted in eons but after watching the Acolyte I was so inspired. So yeah, here's a steamy story about Osha and Qimir.

Warnings: Outdoor sex, fingering, it's actually pretty vanilla but definitely 18 +

“Oshaa,”

She kept her eyes closed and her breathing even. The ocean pounded the shore and she let the sound ease some of the tension she held in her shoulders. He had called her name and if she ignored him -

“Osha.”

She rolled her shoulders and neck and tried to direct her mind to stillness. The tide pools were relatively still. She wanted to feel the same way, just for a bit the emotions she let ebb in flow, she needed just a tiny reprieve. Warmth spread throughout her body, her eyes peeled open and she sighed.

“Why are you ignoring me?”

She turned and he was standing off to the side of her in the sand. Strands of his dark hair hung in his face and his eyes tracked across her features. She could feel the tendrils of his power caressing her while he stared. The warmth in her body spread and for the millionth time since she began this path her body…responded when her mind deemed the reaction not wise. Not wise because how could she trust his interest?

“I’m not ignoring you.” She answered. Her voice carried over the waves crashing. He cocked his head and the edge of his mouth quirked up in a smirk she knew well. She had to bear though his smirks multiple times a day and acted unaffected. 

“Osha, don’t lie to me.” He pressed. She gave him a smirk of her own and shook her head.

“Lying to you would be a waste of time. We both know that. I heard you, I acknowledged you, now…what is it that you needed to tell me?”

Qirmir had been gone for the last few days. Though they both could sense disturbances through the force, good ole reconnaissance at nearby outposts produced information that was just as useful. He had checked in with a few of his sources to learn the movements of the Jedi in their immediate system. He was suppose to be sharing said information but instead here he was, playing another of his games. Toying with her so that she would have no choice but to give him all of her attention. 

Truthfully as soon as his ship had touched down he already had it. She hated when he left her but until she became better at hiding her presence in the Force it made no sense for her to go.The idea of a helmet of her own had crossed her mind but then she felt silly for wanting it so badly. When she was alone it was easier to allow herself to hope…

All she could allow herself was daydreams and they were beginning to feel empty. It was good that he was back. She had missed him  but she refused to tell him how missed he was, it would add to the pull that she steadfastly resisted. 

He sighed and looked away to the waves, “nothing new to report. We stay hidden from our enemies thankfully.”

She released a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“That’s good news.”

“It is,” he crouched and considered the water in the tide pools. “We won’t be able to stay hidden forever. Mae will make sure of that, she knows where this place is.”

This was true but time had gone on so long without a hint or whisper of her sister. Sometimes she thought she felt her, lurking in the in between when she felt for the Force. But the feeling would pass whenever she tried to concentrate.

“Can you feel her?” He asked. His dark eyes focused on her. The first time she had those eyes locked with hers she had felt such an onslaught of emotions. Fear had been one but it had receded quickly to be replaced by curiosity, respect, and more lust then she had ever felt in all of her life. It had taken everything to keep herself firmly set on the mission. She had been sent for a confession and nearly melted when he leaned in close to tell her how much she looked like Mae. The memory always brought the feeling of his breath brushing her face to mind.

The warmth she usually felt around him crawled up her neck.

“No.” She pronounced.

“Pity.” He whispered. Was it? She didn’t want to face her sister. She had a list of people she never wanted to see again, Mae rested near the top of that. Along with…Sol. She winced at the thought of her old Master and Qimir like always caught her discomfort. His eyes narrowed. He edged closer then crouched down besides her. His jaw clenched, “who are you thinking of Osha?” His voice was always a velvet wrapped blade when he had any hint of her thinking of Sol. Something about it made her heart beat harder, not in fear, but in anticipation. The need to defy his possessive annoyance thrummed through her. 

“No one.” She whispered. The man you hate.

“I don’t like,” he reached his hand towards her, “when your mind strays to people it shouldn’t.” 

She sat still and faced his barely contained annoyance. His fingers grazed her cheek and she felt the touch like all of his touches. A zing of electricity through her veins. It made her want to lean into his hand. But again she fought him with every bit of her concentration.

“I am the master of my own thoughts.” She held his eyes. “Not. You.”

She swallowed as his eyes narrowed further. She turned back to the ocean, to the waves and the tide pools. His hand lingered and she wondered if today would be the day that one of them broke. He was always more inclined to touch her when he had been gone. Almost as if he had to make sure that she was still with him. Maybe he got out amongst the stars and feared she had lied, that she really wasn’t going to stay with him in place of Mae. Osha liked the idea of her disappearance worrying him. She liked that he missed her, liked that he seemed to need her in his sights once he was back and maybe if she was less wary everything would be easy but her memory was too long. One man she loved had betrayed her in the worse possible way. How could she let another have a chance at it?

“Maybe,” she licked her bottom lip and his eyes tracked the action, “you are thinking of people you shouldn’t.”

For a moment neither of them moved. His eyes were like two sparking flints. He pulled his hand back slowly. Do you want me the way I want you? 

The thought had her steeling her mind against him. She rolled her shoulders back and sighed.

“Think about it while you eat.” She pushed, “I made stew.”

Then she closed her eyes again, determined to balance her roiling emotions. She could not give into this pull between them. He often told her it was a waste of time. 

“You have to let yourself feel Osha.”  He liked to say, especially when he bested her over and over again. He was patient in his explanations, no matter how many times he needed to repeat it to her. There was no way to unlock her power without truly feeling everything the Jedi taught her to suppress.

But the idea terrified her. When she allowed herself, she felt so much.  She felt out of control when she gave in and she couldn’t trust her feelings for Qimir. Partly because she could already sense how powerful their attachment could be and she refused to be weak to another man. He would have all the power if she gave in and became tied to him. There was no guarantee he would give anything in return.

She would need to find some other way to grow stronger in the Force. Her power was her own, even though Qirmir had helped her tap into it. 

His help did not mean he didn’t have an ulterior motive. She had been fooled by Sol, made to think that she was the one who failed, when it had been he who failed her. The thought made her pinch her eyebrows together. The crashing waves, she clenched her teeth together and focused on the sound. She concentrated until the warmth from his power left her entirely to her meditation. A strange sense of unease trailed after him. 

Osha preferred to keep her days more or less regimented. She woke up before the sun, ate a meal, meditated inside the cave, then drills with Qirmir (if he was on the island), then stretching after their drills. Once those tasks were done she checked her snares and fish traps for food then went about making sure their supplies were in good order. She had set herself on these tasks as Qirmir seemed content to only focus on their training and gathering information. She wondered how Mae had faired especially since she imagined her sister wouldn’t have the patience for something like supply inventory. 

It was something to think about as she stretched. Their sparing a few mornings after his return felt odd to her but not odd enough that she wanted to dwell. He sat a small distance away from her, again she could feel him probing, trying his best to gain a little insight on where her mind was focused. At the beginning she wondered what he searched for, then she told herself the easy answer was weakness. Mae had betrayed him, of course he searched for another betrayal.  

She bent forward touching her toes, she exhaled slowly, with the action. She stood straight then twisted her waiste one way then the other. Then she settled into a long lunge leaning her body forward on her bent knee, her eyes found Qimir's. He was smirking, head cocked, his hair falling a little into his eyes. He had forgone a shirt of this training session and she couldn't stop herself from admiring his chest. The usual heat crept from her face lazily down until it settled low in her belly. The heat from a sun they barely saw was making her think things she shouldn’t. Like what would it be like to sit in his lap and trace her fingers over his… She swallowed and tracked a bead of sweat that skimped down his stomach. He cleared his throat and her eyes snapped back up to his. The familiar pull started as he watched her.   

"Does doing all that really help?" He asked. She shrugged and switched her legs for another lunge. He titled his head the other way and his eyes tracked from her feet up to her face deliberately. How can he make her feel this way just with his eyes? She swore she could feel his gaze like a touch. It was always like this, the attraction almost felt like a dare, a test. If she gave in, what would she get? Part of her knew that he wouldn't hurt her. His touches never felt like a threat, more like a promise.  

"You're telling me," she leaned back sighing as her spine popped, "that you've never ever stretched after training? You never feel stiff?" 

He shrugged and for a moment it looked like he was enjoying a good private joke. It took her a moment to realize her word choice before she felt a blush burning her cheeks. 

“I do, but I use different…methods to deal with it.” He bit his bottom lip and she knew she was blushing harder then before. 

He leaned back against the tree trunk, his eyes tracking her movements in what felt like satisfaction. Usually he left her during her stretching but today he waited. Tracked every bend and stretch she put herself into while she tried her best to ignore him. 

"There's a freshwater pond not far from here." He stated, "the water would do wonders for your muscles I bet.” 

 She smirked and tried to calm the slight pounding of her heart.

"You've been hiding a pond from me?" She asked as she bent over to touch her toes. Her locs swung with the action and she mused that it might be time for a slight trim. When she stood straight again he was up. He shrugged and turned towards a denser part of the forest. 

"Hiding?" He looked at her from over his shoulder, "it's not my fault you never thought to look." 

She rolled her eyes but gathered herself to follow as he set off into the trees. 

“You know, when I use to wonder the beaches you got all bent out of shape about it.” She reminded him as they trudged forward. He sighed and stopped, “you were wandering where the tide is treacherous, the beach is nothing but rocks and you weren’t agile enough to navigate it in the dark.” 

“No faith in your student?” She asked. It was meant to be a tease but she wondered if he regretted taking her. He cocked his head in his favorite way and smirked at her. 

“I’ll never regret taking you and I hope you never regret agreeing to stay.” 

Then he was turning and starting to walk again, “that’s not something that should occupy your mind. Of all the emotions you need to fuel your power…regret is the one to avoid.” 

Even when she tried her best to guard her thoughts Qimir had an unfailing ability to figure out what she was musing. It was her face, she needed to be better about leaving it relaxed and aloof. 

“Osha?” He began. 

“Hmm?” 

“You waste so much time hiding from me. How can I train you in the Force my way if you won’t show me those emotions you stamp down?” He asked. Her first reaction was to deny. It would be the easiest thing to do. But it was easier to admit the truth without his dark eyes piercing her. 

“It feels like, if I give in, if I admit a truth or two to myself, that I’ll be in the same position as I was with the Jedi.” She didn’t say Sol’s name but he was all she could picture. Sol looking at her in disappointment, shaking his head when she couldn’t find stillness in her thoughts. 

“How do I know that if I fail in your teachings I won’t be thrown away again?” He stopped walking and she nearly walked right into him. 

“I’m not able to let you go.” He said simply. She stared at his back almost as if she could find answers in his scars. She hated the idea of him hurting the way this wound must have. The Jedi had done it, she somehow knew it for a fact. They threw them both away. But now he was telling her he wouldn’t Not able to let her go?     

She swallowed and tried her best not to let hope fill her chest. He meant he couldn't let her power or potential go. That's all she was to men in the galaxy. An anomaly, a swirling mystery in the Force that drew people in but it would always be a draw with the desire to possess her. There wasn't anything interesting about Osha the girl, Osha who failed to be a Jedi and became a Mektek. Qimir was like everyone else, to expect differently would only bring pain. She tried to breath in more resolve but there of course was a treacherous part of her heart that whispered he wanted her in every way he could have her. And not Osha the power but Osha the woman. 

"Your mind is so busy." His voice was low. Barely high enough to hear over their steps though the forest. 

"I'm-"  

"Don't lie, please keep telling me the truth Osha." He warned. They broke through the trees together and suddenly were on the shore of a very calm looking pond. It was bigger then she thought it was going to be. Closer to a lake then a little swimming hole. The water was still, fed by a small rocky waterfall across from them. The sun shone down on the water in a rare clearing of the clouds and for a moment the scene was too tranquil for her to disturb it with words. She felt pulled towards the water and before she could think too hard about the action she began to remove her clothing. He had seen glimpses of her body, and she had seen more then a few glimpses of his, a body was a body she told herself. She still blushed when she finished folding her things and felt his eyes on her back. 

"Osha?" 

She ignored him and took two steps into the water. It wasn't as cold as she thought it would be, her arms raised reflexively over her breasts as goosebumps raised on her skin. A few more steps in and the ground dropped off, her legs kicked in automatically to keep her head above the water line. It didn't take him long to follow. She heard the splash of his body entering. Soon they were treading water side by side. He had dipped his head, his wet hair plastered back away from his face. 

"Osha?" 

She sighed and tried to think of what to say. He wanted more truths and she couldn’t keep avoiding him forever. Eventually her training would hit a wall, logically she knew not giving into her feelings would be much like the anchor that stopped her from completing her Jedi training. Qimir's eyes were pleading as he used his arms to swim closer to her. 

"Can I show you something?" He asked. Her brows scrunched in confusion, she looked around in an effort to see what he could possibly show her. His signature smirk appeared again, one side of his mouth tipping in amusement. 

 He swam right up to her, close enough that she felt his movements in the water, legs kicking close to her own, arms doing the same movements. 

"Depends on what the something is?" She hedged. She still felt the need to speak softly, the incredible quiet of the clearing felt like it needed preserving. They shared glances, his eyes brushing all across her face before landing on her lips.   

"I want to provide some reassurance." He explained He licked his own lips before his eyes flicked back to hers "humor me." He pushed. A trick? A trap? Some kind of test? She took a breath and let herself trust him if only for a moment. He felt her acceptance, his smirk growing into a full blown smile. 

"Close your eyes and float on your back." 

Insead of being embarrassed about her exposed body, she did as he said. She closed her eyes and let her body float in the water belly button pointed to the sky like she was taught. Her awareness of their presence in the force sharpened, her breath came slower, and she sank into the quiet further. He held a hand on each of her temples, the Force crackled through his fingers and suddenly she was seeing. 

A shop. 

A hand turning a flower bulb left then right before her eyes tracked to the doorway of whatever building she was in. No, not Osha. This was a memory, Qimir's memory. The shop from their first meeting, any minute she would walk through the door and they would have the exchange that changed everything. Anticipation filled her whole body, this is what I felt…

His voice drifted through the memory, distinct over the sounds from the street.  

What he felt? His heartbeat picked up and then there she was. A cloak over her locs and a very pained attempt at nonchalance on her face. 

Breathtaking, perfect…

She saw herself through his eyes and felt all the emotions he had to keep quiet. They were like the waves on the beach, pounding through his body in lulls and crests. 

Devotion, longing, burning curiosity, awe…

“Qimir,” she whispered his name and slowly felt herself returning to her body. She opened her eyes and found him staring down at her. 

“That was just me seeing you Osha.” His eyes were so open, she must have been looking into his soul. The dark place he kept his most precious vulnerabilities. 

“You could have been completely Force blind and I would have still wanted you.” 

He rubbed his fingers into her scalp in circular motions. 

“The fact that you are a literal shinning star in the Force is just a bonus Osha, it just means our connection will be all the stronger.” 

She swallowed and tried to will the tears away, they streaked down the sides of her cheeks and into the water. 

“You’re mine Osha.” He enunciated each word, she felt them throughout her body bringing peace to her spiraling thoughts. All the worries that he only would want her for power settled. 

“Can you accept me? Can I be yours?” 

Again the eyes like a window to his soul, she fell into them and felt like she was drowning. Waves of feeling rolling through and over her, she took them and understood there was no turning back now. She swallowed and began to nod, “you’re mine.” She said in a choked whisper. 

“I will not throw you away and I will not let you fail Osha.” He pronounced. 

“How can you promise I won’t fail?” She asked. He leaned down, shifting her locs to the side and pressed his lips to her forehead. 

“Because there is no one way to manipulate the Force, stop holding onto the Jedi’s lies.”    

They were moving, he was guiding their bodies closer to shore so he could stand. He gathered her in his arms, wet skin against wet skin and sat with her in his lap. She faced him and let her surrender fill her heart. It didn’t feel like she was losing, didn’t feel like her will was being ignored. She felt…relief. 

“If one way doesn’t work we’ll just find another way, Osha, it’s simple.” His hands traced down her arms, the movement deliberate and sure, “the first step is you allowing yourself to feel it all. Emotions are your source,” he leaned forward. They held each other’s eyes, her breath hitched as his lips pressed into her sternum right between her breasts. The touch set a slow burning fire through her blood. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her hands settled into his hair. She tugged gently and a shudder racked him, his eyes were half lidded. 

“Thank you.” She pressed her forehead to his, “for being so patient with me. I just- “

“You don’t have to thank me. After what we’ve been through…I would have waited for as long as it took.” 

His hands traveled up then down her back. It was Osha who tipped her chin and touched her lips to his. The simmering warmth her body had been steeping in, exploded, shot through all of her limbs in such an alarming blast she could only hold on. He kissed her back as if he was born to do it. His hands moved from her back to framing her face. He nipped at her bottom lip then groaned when she tasted him with her tongue.

“Do you know how long I’ve imagined this?” He pulled an inch away and spoke while he pecked her lips with little kisses. She smiled, “no, how long?” 

“From the moment you said that you wanted to see me.” He chuckled at the memory of  her forced delivery, “I wanted to kiss the nervousness right out of you.” 

He dove in again tasting her while he rubbed his thumbs on her cheeks. He tipped her head up then kissed and licked at her neck. She gripped his head and pulled him closer into her skin. Her hips rocked and she felt his hardness tucked right against her stomach. 

“I need…I need…” She whimpered when his mouth finally enclosed one of her nipples. He sucked and she writhed hard in his lip. 

“I know what you need,” he nipped then moved to her other breast. She had flings before on didn’t ships. But a quickie on a cot in a space freighter this was not. He pulled slightly away despite her trying to hold him to her body. His hands moved to her waist and he leaned further back so he could look at her perched on his lap. 

“Can I -”

“Yes,” she answered frantically, “yes, just please, I need you.”  She rocked again on his lap, her wet center slicking down his length teasing them both. He hissed his fingers finding the bundle of nerves right above where she needed him most. He rubbed in frantic circles, her back arched and she cried up at the sky. She couldn’t stop herself from shuddering but she needed more. Her body ached for him empty where she needed him to fill her. 

The fingers circling her clit dipped gently into the wetness at her entrance. 

"Mmmm, so wet for me." He said softly. Her hips canted into his touch and she sobbed when she felt two of his fingers finally filling her channel. She had never felt so out of control, the clearing, the water it all felt like another world. Her world had shrunk to his fingers moving back and forth inside of her. She was only panting breaths and a thrumming energy that climbed higher and higher. Distantly she supposed she was speaking, calling to him, whimpering, pleading. She moved with him urging him faster, soon soon soon she would tip all the way over the edge. She clenched around him and he murmured a curse into her skin. He leaned forward and captured one of her nipples again. 

"Oh god." She cried. 

Let. Go. 

His voice echoed in her mind and then he bit her nipple twisted and hooked his fingers inside of her and she saw stars. 

Osha shook and whimpered in his arms while her vision hazed around the edges and her cries became hoarse.

"Your mine." He kissed all along her chest. His own breaths were sawing out of him, she wondered if it would always feel like this? Would he always be able to make her body sing?

"Yours." She agreed, she was coming down from her high, reason returning by inches. She looked down into his eyes and saw the same awe he had showed her in his memory. He looked at her like she was a goddess, his goddess. He removed his fingers and she held his eyes as he set them into his mouth to taste her. 

“You taste good.” He observed and a blush crawled up her chest. She looked away and tried not to let his statement cause her too much satisfaction. His hand wrapped around her throat gently, his head tilted and he smiled up at her. 

“Really not the time to act shy.” He chuckled, “especially since we’re nowhere near done.” He gave her throat a gentle squeeze. 

“Oh yeah?” She sounded breathless but her voice didn’t waver even as her heart pumped in anticipation. 

“Yeah Osha.” He pulled her closer for another kiss, his other arm was busy. He wrapped his arm around her, “up.” He whispered as he pulled her up to her knees. She felt like she was floating anticipation jamming through her veins like a drug. He was a man possessed, his eyes burned into hers. He’s mine. The thought played on repeat until he began pulling her down. All her thoughts fizzled out when he began to breach her. The lower she sank the more gone Qimir looked, she finally sat all the way onto his lap and his eyes rolled back. 

“Fuck..” 

She was full of him and it felt like heaven. There were no more spiraling thoughts no worries, just two souls joined together in the sand. 

[nocturnowlette]

Hypnotic Visuals #1: Ocean Waves

If you'd like, this post is accompanied with a backing track of waves to help better understand and feel the points being made. It is not necessary, though.

...

When it comes to the choice of hypnotic visuals, some consideration should be made towards each one's specifics.

Hypnosis can be a tricky thing in many aspects, but one large reason is just how context-dependent it is. Each person's mind is its own individual landscape of biases and perceptions and strengths and weaknesses, and each one might have a different effect on how one receives trance. However, this variation is also extended outwards, towards the choice of visuals themselves.

Each visual, of which there are essentially infinite, comes with their own common aesthetic associations, so I'd like to make a series talking about various hypnotic visuals and how you can tailor your sessions around them most effectively. Let's start with one of the simplest, and a classic: the ocean and its waves.

The first thing about the ocean is a very important lesson about pre-talk. If you do not get to know your subject and use this visual, there is a chance they have thalassaphobia or some trauma regarding the sea, and have a violent abreaction. Talking with your subject is important for hundreds of reasons, but one is avoiding exactly this. Even a mention of the word "ocean" in an extra vulnerable state like trance could be a complete shock to the system that disrupts trances with you and your subject in the future. Even if unintentional, it's a betrayal of trust and the mind can be slow to mend that.

As for those who do not fear the ocean, they likely find it the opposite, quite relaxing. Relaxation, while not strictly necessary for trance, is almost always a part of it because relaxation frees up perceptive "room", so to speak. You only have so much focus and the mind normally spreads it out to everything around you. Relaxation takes the focus away from everything else, and allows that focus to be pinpointed on me and my words. Some visuals deal with a more active focus, this takes the opposite path.

As such, you want to also pepper in suggestions to focus in on your voice, either through another visual, or just direct "Focus" commands or suggestions.

If you don't take advantage of the relaxation, there's wasted potency just washing away in the waves.

The ocean is something interlinked with the most steady functions of our entire planet. As steadily as the sun rising in the sky, so too does the moon, and with every moment it exists, our tides continue in a steady motion.

Rhythm is very natural to both us and the tides. If one spends long enough near the ocean, they might find their mind get accustomed to that steady rhythm.

The tides going,

Back, and Forth,

Back, and Forth,

This rhythm is useful for trance. When you define one quality of the visual you're using, something natural to that visual, you've essentially defined a plot device. This is the thing you attach suggestions to.

Going back, and forth,

and back, and forth,

This rhythm of the tides has multiple routes one could take. My personal favorite is the kinetic angle. That's to say, the motion of it.

Rocking back,

and forth,

and back,

and forth,

We have a tendency to make unconscious movements when thinking about things. It's so natural to us that it's one of the easiest things to be suggested to someone. It's a way to assert some subtle control immediately. Rocking is also an especially calming motion, in combination with the ocean visual itself.

Back,

and forth,

and back,

and forth,

can even start to serve the form of a mantra.

Mantras serve multiple purposes, but the most useful practically is to fill up the empty space in the subject's mind when you're not actively suggesting them. Relaxation can easily be paired with suggestions of dulling thoughts, and this is a way to start heading in that direction.

Water in itself is a visual, and can also be applied here. Whether it's the water consuming you, submerging you, or filling you, that unmistakable sound of being submerged in water has a very visceral sensory effect on people. You can point out the specifics, of that slight pressure on the skin, of requiring so much more effort to move, of everything being duller and even needing to close your eyes.

When combining dulling visuals with suggestions of your voice being the only thing perfectly clear, you can amplify the strength of your words on both ends.

When you have multiple plot devices, say, the swaying of the tides and being submerged in water, you can intertwine the two and amplify both, as well. When you're submerged in water, you're at the mercy of the tides, being pulled in looong, drawn out motions, tapping into a lack of control. I can tell you that my voice is an anchor, the only thing keeping you steady, that you need to hold on.

Every little detail is another plot point in the narrative, and each one is much more effective than plainly stating what thing you want the person to feel. Stories draw us in, immerse us, and this is not something that should be ignored. These were only a few examples of what you can do, as with the amount of visuals, the amount of qualities and routes to take with each are also wide and varied.

If you want to really give your subjects an unforgettable experience, you need to learn how to weave a story. Visuals are the key.

If anyone has any specific visual they want given extra detail and options for, feel free to ask.

That all being said, I hope you enjoyed reading, and happy hypnotizing.