#past mixed with present

[lured-into-wonderland]

It was a lovely sunset. Different colors were mixing with the puffy clouds, and the breeze was slightly chill, yet it caressed their bodies with tenderness.

Nunnally was talking about something. He had lost track of their conversation a couple minutes ago due to the alcohol washing off his body, but some 'uhm, uh-uh, yeah' was more than enough to pretend he was attentive.

However, eventually, his eyes fell on the woman next to him. He did care about her opinions, but at that moment, he was more focused on how well the last rays of sunshine matched her silhouette and blondeness. Alois wasn't paying attention because he was too busy admiring Nunnally's beauty.

On the rooftop, under the influence, and with her companionship, Alois confirmed the shower thoughts and random feelings he'd been experiencing for a while. "You know..." He didn't have to keep with his fake attention. He wanted Nunnally to know what was keeping him so occupied. "I'm so glad I met you."

"Sometimes, I feel I could spend the rest of my life with you like this." Alois laughed shortly. "Perhaps, less tipsy. But with you, anyway." Alois' words carried a heavyweight, but he couldn't realize it. It was always like that with Nunnally. He could say, do, or invent anything because she would take it lightheartedly and with enthusiasm. She'd carry along with any idea because their bond had become camaraderie.

"Let's never miss each other. Even when we graduate and want to pursue a different dream, let's make sure we get to see our hair turn grey." Alois found her hand and squeezed it. "Mnh, what do you say?" There was such loyalty between them Alois almost felt the question unnecessary. He put it out there because he knew the answer.

When she was trying to recall that evening later, it was never a coherent memory for her. Nunnally remembered fragments of it; through different senses and emotions. She remembered it was a chilly evening somewhere away from the busy university life. She remembered how Alois smelled, when she was walking clinging to his arm. Nunnally remembered she was talking, but she was never able to say what she was talking about. The remembered the colour of the sky, the colour of his shirt. She could tell Alois wasn’t listening to her, but she was also aware it did not bother her back there.

Nunnally remembered how she ruffled his hair, and the goosebumps on her arm when the wind got slightly chiller. She remembered feeling h a p p y. Relaxed. Perfectly in the right place there with him. She remembered looking down from the roof top, and being certain they both had a wonderful future. TOGETHER.

She was feeling she was a queen. HIS QUEEN. And if ever asked, Nunnally would say she was sure Alois was sharing her feelings.

And she remembered how he suddenly stopped and said that he was glad he had met her. She remembered how she laughed and said something foolish (or funny?) how he had actually found her. A lost creature in one of the endless empty halls of the old university buildings… And she was sure her heart fluttered in that very moments and her breath quickened. As if she could sense that was only a prelude to something more important.

Many times later Nunnally tried to remember what exactly Alois said. What were his exact words. In which way he proposed to her. She remembered he was talking about their hair going grey…about always staying together…?

No! He was actually talking about not missing each other. She always needed to correct herself. But wouldn’t that be the same thing? Whenever thinking about that moment, Nunnally could almost feel his touch, his grip on her hand, but she couldn’t remember how she ended pressing her face into his chest. Did she actually wet his shirt? Was her face wet from her tears?

But if so they could only be tears of happiness.

Nunnally remembered she nodded in agreement. But was it after or was it before she found herself safe in his embrace? She remembered she whispered: --

“Yes, Alois. But you know that already, don’t you…?” – but were these her exact words? Or perhaps she said nothing…?

Or perhaps ‘I love you.’ Was that what she said?

She remembered how intoxicated she was with him, with his smell, with the touch of his hands on her skin, under her summer blouse…

With the scent of the late summer evening…

She remembered how her slender digits were touching Alois’s bare skin and how it made her shivered. How their lips met in a long passionate kiss. Perhaps that was the only answer she gave him and no words were needed. No matter what she did (or didn’t), Nunnally knew Alois understood her reply. And accepted it. H e r. As deeply as she did accept him.

Was it then when they were kissing till they lost their breath that they decided they were getting married? Or did they know that before?

That day was a promise. But a promise that wasn’t fulfilled immediately. So much yearning and pain in between.

That day was a promise, though. A promise that happened. And is happening now.

---

Nunnally looks at her husband sleeping next to her. His hair still blond, but soon it will be turning grey. Years after that evening on the rooftop. She ruffles his hair gently. She doesn’t want to wake him up. Alois had a difficult day yesterday. But Nunnally cannot stop herself from caressing his cheek. Just before slipping away from bed, and making sure he’s covered. It’s a spring day that is just starting. Chilly, but the sun beams are already getting through the thick curtains in their bedroom…hopefully they’ll not wake up Alois…

She’s standing there naked before she lazily puts on her morning gown. Another day to remember.

“I love you, Alois…” – her lips whisper. They have had so many wonderful days together. And hopefully many more to come. Her gaze wanders to her jewelry box; standing opened on her nightstand (she must have forgotten to close it yesterday). Among many expensive pieces, there’s one that is the dearest to her: her first wedding ring. It looks old and cheap (though so similar to what she is wearing every day now), but it is so dear to her heart. Unique.

Was it the reason they found each other again?

A life without Alois. She doesn't want to even think about it.

She’ll go and prepare him his favorite breakfast…she plans.  Nunnally gives her husband a final loving look before she heads for the door.

@dasmondkuss

[zoe-oneesama]

Since you mentioned Socqueline, does she have a "Ladybug" Angel in your Angelic Layer AU?

I don't know who should come first - Socqueline's ladybug or Marinette's Ladybug. So for now, Socqueline's Angel is just a sketch since I don't have a plan for her and maybe Season 6 will give her an akuma I can use. Maybe.

[akemiiya]

i think clover is equally as tight lipped about their past as flowey is. i think those two would have spent so much time together that they intimately know each other's likes and dislikes, do's and dont's, which buttons can be pushed and which can't. yet when it comes to each other's backstory, all that comes up is a blank

[whatshehassaid]

Two part playlist.

1. Daniel, the Devils Minion

2. Armand, the Minion’s Devil

[aengelren]

“We didn’t want to notice”

[reiverreturns]

a rough draft wip? on wednesday? groundbreaking.

said another way - we're fully on the mota train now girls buckle up

[shadowmaat]

Finders Keepers

Corrie Week, Day 6: Force-Sensitive Clone

-

"We get a lot of requests like this, unfortunately," Trooper Hound explained. "CorSec isn't big on helping the common folks unless there's something in it for them."

Seek nodded agreement, only half-listening. There was a young Nautolan girl missing, likely kidnapped by her estranged father. Hound had been approached by the distraught mother while showing Seek the basics of patrol-work.

Grizzer had her snout to the ground, sniffing the girl's trail, but Seek already knew they were on the right track. He'd always had a good sense for finding lost items. And people. And the occasional secret, like Commander Thire's hidden chocolate stash.

One alley they approached smelled strongly of lemons, as if someone had gotten the urge to try and scrub it clean, except there was no evidence of it. Seek took the turn and was halfway down it before Hound called out to him.

He looked back to see Hound consoling Grizzer, who was pawing at her nose and keening.

"Fucking scent bombs," Hound complained. "Bastard was prepared. I'll see if Grizzer can pick up the trail again, but it isn't looking good."

He sounded mournful. Seek knew they wouldn't give up the chase so easily, but without Grizzer's nose to lead them...

He hesitated. His finding ability was usually seen as either a cool party trick or a sign of dangerous mutation. He'd only been with the Guard for a week and had only met Hound at the start of shift, but he had a good feeling about all of them. More importantly, a little girl was missing and he could feel a clock counting down in his head.

"I think they went this way, sir," Seek said. "I'm really good at this sort of thing. It's how I wound up here."

The less said about that, the better.

"You think so?" Hound didn't sound skeptical so much as hopeful? Maybe?

Seek nodded. "I can't be sure," he lied, "but I think this is the way we need to go. She... she might be in trouble."

"Right. C'mon, Grizz." Hound scooped up the still whining massif and carried her into the alley past the worst of the lemon stench before putting her down again. "Lead the way, Seek."

Seek did, trusting his instincts to guide them. Through the alley, down another road, and then a shortcut through a building full of tents and wary-eyed locals.

As they were exiting through a hole in the side of the building a figure landed in front of them in a swish of blue robes.

Hound swore, blaster out and leveled while Grizzer growled a warning. Seek's hand drifted towards his blaster, but he wasn't sure it was needed.

The figure straightened, revealing a dark-skinned humanoid in a mix of blue and cream embroidered robes. Where their eyes should have been there was just skin, and an elaborately painted pair of eyes that seemed hawklike, given the feather patterns around the edges.

"Hands out and step back!" Hound ordered.

"Sorry," the figure said, complying. "I could have planned that a little better. I thought you might be someone else. Anyway! I'm Knight Naremi Twiss! I'm here to help!"

The raised arms revealed a tooled leather belt. And a lightsaber.

"Fuck! I mean, sorry, sir," Hound said, reholstering his blaster. "You surprised me."

"I do seem to have that effect on people, for some reason," Knight Twiss mused. "Anyway, no worries! Although I'm more of a she/her if that matters."

"Yes, ma'am." Hound introduced himself, Seek, and Grizzer, who was already happily accepting scritches from the Knight.

"Well met!" Twiss stood again. "I take it you're hunting the Blood Drinkers, too?"

Horror washed through Seek. "The... what?"

"Blood Drinkers?!" Hound's voice went up an octave.

"Well, that's what I call them." Twiss waved a dismissive hand. "Maybe you call them something else? They go around grabbing people and draining their blood to sell on the black market. Sometimes a little bit, sometimes all of it."

Seek shuddered.

"I think I might have heard some chatter about that back at the base," Hound said slowly. "But I didn't think it was that widespread. Or this high up the levels."

"We think they're increasing their operations." Twiss motioned for them to follow her. "And they have been sticking to the lower levels. That's why I'm not sure if this is them or something else."

"We're just trying to locate a kidnapped girl," Hound said. "But this sounds... bad. Should I call it in?"

Seek was relieved to see the Jedi was taking the same route he would have, although how she could see without eyes was beyond him. The Force, maybe. He also had the uneasy feeling that their case and the Jedi's might be linked. Somehow.

"There!"

He and Twiss stopped at the same time, pointing at an abandoned diner with blacked out windows.

"Jinx!" Twiss nudged her shoulder against Seek's. "C'mon, let's check it out!"

"I think we should wait," Hound said. "I called for backup. If this is more than just one missing kid or a couple of criminals trying to start a new medical scam, then it's going to take more than four of us to do this."

Grizzer huffed, as if agreeing.

Twiss nodded. "Okay, sure! That's probably a good idea. But let's go wait over there." She pointed toward the side of the building. There was a narrow passage and a propped-open door almost hidden in the dark.

"Can we, sir? Please?" Seek looked at Hound, fidgeting. The clock in his head was getting closer to running out.

"No going in!" Hound warned. "Not til backup arrives!"

"Yessir!"

"I mean, if you want to be logical about it, that's fine," Twiss agreed.

As they approached the side of the building, voices could be heard.

"-part of the deal! She's my daughter! You said I could keep her!"

The first voice had a swirly accent that reminded Seek of the missing girl's mother's voice.

"You didn't tell us she had a rare blood type."

The second voice sounded modulated, and much deeper than the first.

"Screw you, Nusk! I'm taking Tem and-"

Blaster fire erupted.

"DADDYYYY!"

Seek was already in motion without consciously choosing it. He and Twiss burst through the already-open door with Hound and Grizzer hot on their heels.

The inside of the derelict diner was surprisingly clean. There were a lot of medical-looking equipment around, including exam tables and IV stands with empty bags and tubing.

A scrawny, dark blue nautolan was on the floor, smoke rising from a blaster wound in his chest. A much younger, purple Nautolan was being dragged back by a long, furry brute while a Nemoidian ordered another one to "drain the dead one."

Everything seemed to speed up after that. Twiss launched herself at the one holding Tem. Seek fired a stun round at the Nemoidian, who dodged it. Hound was barking orders for the criminals to stand down and Grizzer was just barking.

One of the furry brutes fired a shot at Seek, only for Twiss to deflect it. Using some Force move, she launched one of the IV stands at them. They went down, tangled in the tubing.

The one holding Tem hauled her up into their arms, only to yell and drop her as she bit him. She scrambled back toward her father as two more figures burst through the doors of what would have been the kitchen area.

Seek was lining up another stun shot when the Nemoidian pulled something from his pocket and threw it.

Thick smoke filled the room, obscuring everything. Despite that, the blaster fire continued. Seek paused, lined up a shot, and fired.

There was a yell as someone hits the ground. Twiss's pale blue blade cut through the smoke, followed by the scream of whomever she'd hit.

A snarl and a yelp indicated that Grizzer's caught someone, and Seek can hear the clink of binders as Hound reads them their rights.

"Bright Guy! Catch!"

Seek holstered his blaster and turned, knowing where and when to hold out his arms. He caught the wailing, coughing Nautolan girl and headed for the exit.

"I've got the girl," he told Hound over internal comms. "Taking her out of the smoke."

"Copy."

As he rounded the front of the diner he saw a squad of fellow Guardsmen approaching.

"Trooper! Report!"

Twiss staggered out of the smoke, coughing, followed by Hound and Grizzer, who was wheezing, but looking satisfied with herself.

Hound and Twiss are the the ones to fill in Thorn and his squad. That left Seek free to remove his helmet and try to comfort Tem, who wanted absolutely nothing to do with Clicker's attempts to check her for injuries.

Eight underlings were captured or dead, including Tem's father. The Nemoidian in charge, unfortunately, managed to escape.

"I'll be able to find him again," Seek said. "I know it."

"That's why I like you, Bright Guy." Twiss appeared at his side. "And it's also why I'm taking you home with me."

Seek stared at her, bewildered.

"Look, General," Thorn started. "We're grateful for-"

"Not a General," Twiss corrected. "They don't trust me with troops. Except this one." She grinned at Seek.

"Uh..." Seek said.

Her eye makeup had smeared a bit during the fight, almost making it seem like she was winking.

"We're grateful for your help," Thorn continued. "But you can't simply take a trooper home with you to celebrate."

Seek's whole face burned, and he could feel it spreading down his chest.

Twiss laughed. "If that's what I was doing, you'd be absolutely right," she said. "But in this case I need him for Secret Jedi Reasons related to Secret Jedi Things."

Seek could almost hear Thorn grinding his teeth.

"It's okay, sir," he said. "I'll go."

Thorn tipped his helmet. Taking the hint, Seek put his own helmet back on. Tem's mother had arrived on scene shortly after the Guard, so she was in safe hands.

"If anything happens, Fox will have both our heads," Thorn warned.

Seek swallowed before answering. "I know, sir. But she's a Jedi. And I think... I think this might help."

Torn's helmet glared at Twiss.

"His shift ends in three hours. If he isn't back by then..."

"I promise I'll do my very best, Commander," Twiss said. "Now, if you'll excuse us, soonest gone is soonest returned."

As they headed for the nearest speeder dock, Twiss smiled at him.

"So, Trooper Seek, what do you know about Force sensitivity?"

[longagoitwastuesday]

ngl it sort of pisses me off the way adults regard Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen at times. Which could be a very interesting and poignant point in a good way if well written, but as it is it becomes mainly just frustrating and sad in a negative way.

Nanami saying Gojo never cared about anything or anyone other than himself crashes interestingly with Kusakabe saying the whole situation was just all his fault because he refused to kill Itadori. The students are very aware of those aspects of Gojo's personality, but overall they seem to regard him with way more kindness and fondness even when at their rudest, not truly coinciding with either Nanami's or Kusakabe's views.

[birdyverdie]

I haven't reread Pain and Penitence in a while and hey wait a second I really like how I wrote chapter 1

[anambermusicbox]

Excerpt from 2024 人物 interview, found here:

Zhou Shen was born in Shaoyang, Hunan in the early 1990s. At that time, his home was the "stereotypical rural home": a mountain, a flat piece of land halfway up the mountain, and a wooden house. Push open the door and everything in the house was in front of you: a wooden bed and a pot of rice. Zhou Shen recalls that there were no cupboards in the house because there was nothing worth putting in them; there was no TV, so if he wanted to watch television, he had to go to the neighbour's place. The nights in his childhood memories were always pitch black. After watching TV, Zhou Shen would come out of the neighbor's house and walk home alone. There were no lights in the village. In front of him the road was dark, and further up the mountain was pitch black and huge. Looking up, he saw the black starry sky, but the stars were densely packed. In that moment, Zhou Shen's entire body seized up with fear. Many years later, he would hear others say that the starry sky is so beautiful. His first reaction wasn’t that of agreement, but surprise. Thinking back to the dark nights of his childhood, he had no memories of 'beauty', only that ‘it was terrifying.’ At that time, his parents were out working year in and year out. His dad hardly ever came back, and his mom came back once a year---this was the one time every year they would buy meat, and they would cure it so it would last a long time. One summer, his mom came home and worked with Zhou Shen to make cement and build a toilet. This is how their home was gradually improved. Later, the tap water was repaired with the neighbour's help. Before that, Zhou Shen had to fetch water every week. With his parents away and his grandparents gone, he only had himself to rely on his entire life. On the day of the interview, Zhou Shen sat on the sofa and leaned over, cracking his knuckles. Like a coin-operated children's ride playing a song, he began to run through the titles: "Is waipo the same as nainai? No, mom's mom is called waipo, and dad's dad is called yeye, right?" He laughed. "It's funny, but I really can't keep them straight. I never used them before, because growing up I never had grandparents to take care of me." Nowadays, looking back his life seemed very hard, but the Zhou Shen of that time did not have any concept of it. "That little Zhou Shen, he wasn't sensitive. He was very clumsy, or rather, very blunt. [*laughs*] He didn't feel those things---he thought his childhood was the same as everyone else's," now grown up Zhou Shen says.

[stardustedknuckles]

I didn't have a big enough receptacle to put in all the ingredients the LoZ recipe called for, so it's a less colorful/veggie-laden curry I've made here, but it's the most involved thing I've made and I'm really proud of myself. I cut everything myself and I've never used so much spice.

[freshthoughts2020]

[roseofhybrids]

greetings unsuspecting followers and mutuals

it is time for me to info dump about the Latin language because if I had to learn how Latin declensions work

so must everyone else

@electronix-arts knowledge upon thee

Latin is what's called a highly inflected language, meaning that the endings of words will change a lot depending on its grammar

English does not do this nearly as much as language like Latin and German

for example, if you say: "the dog bit the cat" that sentence means that the dog was the one doing the biting, and the cat was the one receiving

but if you change it to: "the cat bit the dog" now the cat is the one doing the biting, and the dog is the one receiving the bite

in Latin you could translate that first sentence as: "canis felem momordi" whereas the second sentence would instead be: "canem feles momordi"

the word order is the same, but who is doing the biting has been flipped feles canem momordi canem momordi feles they all mean the same thing

there is a preferred word order, but it doesn't matter as much as in English for example, in my experience, a lot of sentences will end with "est" despite that being the word for "is" "the dog is white" "canis ablus est"

I'll use Ursus (bear) for this next example for a noun like "ursus" the ending changes depending on if it's nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, or vocative Latin is a gender language too, so it also changes depending on whether it's masculine or feminine is also changes depending on if it's singular or plural

there's also a neuter case, which in theory one could attempt to use if they don't know the gender to want to be vague on purpose

But it wasn't really used in this manner, typically a word would just be in 1 of 5 declensions each with its own endings, unless it's in first or third (masculine, feminine) in which case you could use either depending on the subject If it's a word that's in first or third and an unknown gender or a group of mixed gender, then you just default to first the word for friend is amicus/amica a group of all guy friends would be amici a group of all girl friends would be amicae a group of guy and girl friends would be amici

that's 24 possible endings for 1 noun

do not get me started on the fuckin verb declension I mean, just look at this:

[arabian-batboy]

People don't talk enough about how good Starfire looked in Teen Titans (2003).

[formal-frog-shoes]

Twiststuck stuff i just wanna get out

Im a huge Cater multi-shipper

Normally this wouldn't be a problem

BUT I CAN'T HAVE ALMOST EVERYONE IN THIS AU HAVE A FLUSH OR PALE CRUSH ON HIM THAT'S ABSURD!!!

[inkopolis-news-official]

the grand festival venue is SO SO COOL!!! i wandered around forever trying to find the lobby before giving up and just enjoying the stages