#sightless shepherd

[thevellaunderground]

The Siren’s Call: Gaming and Music’s Enthralling Fusion in Hades II

In the realm of gaming, few experiences can rival the immersive power of a well-crafted soundtrack. The sequel to the critically acclaimed Hades, Hades II, not only continues the legacy of its predecessor with its captivating gameplay but also elevates the auditory experience to divine heights. This blog post delves into the intricate tapestry of gaming and music, exploring how Hades II’s…

[aq2003]

ooooh darren korb the mind on you .. i'm watching a surface run for hades 2 and the ost that plays in that region has a SICK flute solo which is such a good callback to how the only time in the first game's soundtrack they used wind instruments was in on the coast, when zag got to the surface

[spineless-lobster]

My sexuality is the saxophone in sightless shepherd btw

[baladric]

starting the day off strong (headbanging uncontrollably to sightless shepherd) unrelated but have you thanked darren korb for doing the lord's work today

[rockislandadultreads]

Libby Spotlight: Popular Historical Fiction

A Light Beyond the Trenches by Alan Hlad

By April 1916, the fervor that accompanied war's outbreak has faded. In its place is a grim reality. Throughout Germany, essentials are rationed. Hope, too, is in short supply. Anna Zeller, whose fiancé, Bruno, is fighting on the western front, works as a nurse at an overcrowded hospital in Oldenburg, trying to comfort men broken in body and spirit. But during a visit from Dr. Stalling, the director of the Red Cross Ambulance Dogs Association, she witnesses a rare spark of optimism: as a German shepherd guides a battle-blinded soldier over a garden path, Dr. Stalling is inspired with an idea—to train dogs as companions for sightless veterans.

Anna convinces Dr. Stalling to let her work at his new guide dog training school. Some of the dogs that arrive are themselves veterans of war, including Nia, a German shepherd with trench-damaged paws. Anna brings the ailing Nia home and secretly tends and trains her, convinced she may yet be the perfect guide for the right soldier. In Max Benesch, a Jewish soldier blinded by chlorine gas at the front, Nia finds her person.

War has taken Max's sight, his fiancée, and his hopes of being a composer. Yet despite all he's given for his country, the tide of anti-Semitism at home is rising, and Max encounters it first-hand in one of the school's trainers, who is determined to make Max fail. Still, through Anna's prompting, he rediscovers his passion for music. But as Anna discovers more about the conflict's escalating brutality—and Bruno's role in it—she realizes how impossible it will be for any of them to escape the war unscathed . . .

Notorious by Minerva Spencer

Drusilla Clare is full of opinions about why a woman shouldn't marry. But that doesn't stop the rush of desire she feels each time her best friend's brother, notorious rake Gabriel Marlington, crosses her path. So imagine her dismay when she finds herself in the clutches of a scoundrel, only to be rescued by Gabriel himself. And when Gabriel's heartless—and heart-pounding—proposal comes, it's enough to make Dru's formidable resolve crumble...

She's sharp-tongued, exasperating—and due to one careless moment—about to become his wife. Still, something about Drusilla has Gabriel intrigued. First there's the delicious flush of her skin every time she delivers a barb—and then the surprisingly sensual feel of her in his arms. Gabriel even finds himself challenged by her unusual philosophies. And when he discovers a clandestine rival for Dru's affection, his temperature flares even hotter. But the real threat to their happiness is one neither of the newlyweds sees coming. If they're to save their future—and their very lives—they'll need to trust in each other and their growing love.

This is the first volume in the “Rebels of the Ton” series.

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

Amid daily reports of violence, Cushla lives a quiet life with her mother in a small town near Belfast. By day she teaches at a parochial school; at night she fills in at her family’s pub. There she meets Michael Agnew, a barrister who’s made a name for himself defending IRA members. Against her better judgment – Michael is not only Protestant but older, and married – Cushla lets herself get drawn in by him and his sophisticated world, and an affair ignites. Then the father of a student is savagely beaten, setting in motion a chain reaction that will threaten everything, and everyone, Cushla most wants to protect.

Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah

When he was just a boy, Ilyas was stolen from his parents on the coast of east Africa by German colonial troops. After years away, fighting against his own people, he returns home to find his parents gone and his sister, Afiya, abandoned into de facto slavery. Hamza, too, returns home from the war, scarred in body and soul and with nothing but the clothes on his back–until he meets the beautiful, undaunted Afiya. As these young people live and work and fall in love, their fates knotted ever more tightly together, the shadow of a new war on another continent falls over them, threatening once again to carry them away.

[helianthologies]

sightless shepherd goes so fucking harddddd i love this track. darren korb im shaking ur hand rn

[smithlibrary]

April 1916, Germany: Anna Zeller, whose fiance, Bruno, is fighting on the western front, works as a nurse at an overcrowded hospital in Oldenburg, trying to comfort men broken in body and spirit. But during a visit from Dr. Stalling, the director of the Red Cross Ambulance Dogs Association, she witnesses a rare spark of optimism: as a German shepherd guides a battle-blinded soldier over a garden path, Dr. Stalling is inspired with an idea-to train dogs as companions for sightless veterans.

Also available in: ebook, eaudiobook

[nojwzone]

A Light Beyond the Trenches: A Novel of Wwi - Alan Hlad

EPUB & PDF Ebook A Light Beyond the Trenches: A Novel of Wwi | EBOOK ONLINE DOWNLOAD

by Alan Hlad.

Download Link : DOWNLOAD A Light Beyond the Trenches: A Novel of Wwi

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Ebook PDF A Light Beyond the Trenches: A Novel of Wwi | EBOOK ONLINE DOWNLOAD Hello Book lovers, If you want to download free Ebook, you are in the right place to download Ebook. Ebook A Light Beyond the Trenches: A Novel of Wwi EBOOK ONLINE DOWNLOAD in English is available for free here, Click on the download LINK below to download Ebook A Light Beyond the Trenches: A Novel of Wwi 2020 PDF Download in English by Alan Hlad (Author).

 Description Book: 

By April 1916, the fervor that accompanied war's outbreak has faded. In its place is a grim reality. Throughout Germany, essentials are rationed. Hope, too, is in short supply. Anna Zeller, whose fianc?(c), Bruno, is fighting on the western front, works as a nurse at an overcrowded hospital in Oldenburg, trying to comfort men broken in body and spirit. But during a visit from Dr. Stalling, the director of the Red Cross Ambulance Dogs Association, she witnesses a rare spark of optimism: as a German shepherd guides a battle-blinded soldier over a garden path, Dr. Stalling is inspired with an idea -- to train dogs as companions for sightless veterans.

[yankyo]

Can we please have some comfort for all that hurt? ;u;

Yes! Yes, you may!

Accident - Part 2

Warnings: Mention of abuse, blood 

   Chamie was acting weird, it wasn’t that he was trying to help, no that wasn’t it, but you could see an odd look on Beetlejuice’s face as the clone was being lectured and Chamie seemed to droop even lower as he looked at the charred remains of his attempt at cooking. And then as the mess in the kitchen was being situated, Chamie was found in the living room attempting to vacuum. It was an honest attempt and you were flattered again that he was trying to help, but you couldn’t help but grimace at the state of it. You certainly didn’t have the money to replace it this month, not when your rent was due and feeding so many new mouths left you a little strapped for cash. Speaking of, you were already running a little too late for work this morning, so even though you wanted to stay and take care of the situation, you had to rush to get ready and run out of the door yelling goodbyes as you went - Chamie wasn’t anywhere to be found and as much as you wanted to assure him that you weren’t upset and make sure he got his goodbye kiss, you resolved to make it up to him when you got home.

   Work was long and boring, a day of dealing with frustrating customers and pasting a smile on your face as you pretended to be listening to them ramble about whatever coupon they were so certain should be working and just how rude the other cashier had been to them last time - you were pretty certain it had been you, but then again, you really didn’t care. No, you were too busy thinking about Chamie’s sad face as he looked at his feet, just taking the lecture without even attempting to fight back. It hadn’t been the first time, but you hadn’t really noticed it before. No matter who it was, once someone started to yell at Chameleon, he seemed to almost shut down, his shoulders hunching and his ears drooping as he just let them take out their anger on him. The only time you had ever seen Chamie fighting back was during the little mock fights he had with the others during game night and even then, it wasn’t really shouting. Despite all the time you had spent with them, how was this the first time you really noticed this? Was there other ticks you had overlooked? Other little signs things weren’t entirely alright with the group of demons you loved so dearly? The thought made your heart ache and it was all you could do to just stay at work and not rush back home to your lovers.

   After what seemed like an eternity, you were finally off the clock and rushing back to your car with a new ball of yarn to replace the one Chamie had messed up this morning. You would sit him down and have a talk about this morning and make sure everything was alright with him, and definitely smother the cute clone with kisses and make sure he knew just how much you really appreciated him, how you appreciated all of them. Your plans for the night were optimistic, but as you pulled up to your home and stepped out of your car, you could hear shouting from the driveway. A chill went through your veins, unsure of what was happening but from the yelling, you could be certain it wasn’t anything good.

   “My books! Why would you even mess with them?”

   “We’re going to have to clean up your mess again!”

   “The kitchen is covered in bubbles, you idiot! What did you do?”

   “What is going on?” You cut in, tossing your bags to the side as you pushed through the gathering of demons to find what they were swarming around and the sight just broke your heart. Chamie was curled into a ball, his arms locked around himself and his grip on his arms so tight you could see blood beginning to stain his sleeves. His hair was a swirling mess of purple and blue with a flash of grey that made you want to cry. “Get back from him, give him some space!” The clones blinked at you, looking down to their comrade as if just realizing how bad the situation had gotten, giving you space to lean in and try to pet Chamie’s hair to get his attention. As you moved closer, the clone raised his head, his eyes glazed and sightless before fear filled them and he stuck out as if trying to fight off his aggressor. You couldn’t help the pained yelp, falling back as you instinctively grabbed the wound, blood welling up through your clenched fingers. Yellow flashed through Chamie’s hair as his eyes seemed to clear before bleeding back to blue, to purple to a dark color you had never seen any of them wear before: black. He gaped at you, looked to his own hand as if it were a separate entity entirely before he reached out for you once more, looking so sorry you thought he would burst into tears right then and there, but before he could touch you the other clones swarmed around you both. Chamie was shoved back as you were dragged into someone’s arms, more shouting and hissing at the cowering clone before Chamie bolted away, half running on all fours as he fled deeper into the house.

   The clones clamoured around you, half dragging you into the bathroom to rinse out the bleeding wound on your arm. Ren took charge of the situation, calling for Bee to get the medical kit for him as he gingerly checked out your wound, sighing in relief after a moment.

   “Thank goodness, you won’t need to get stitches.”

   “What happened today, why was everyone yelling at Chamie?” You couldn’t care less about your injury, no, you needed to know what had lead to Chamie lashing out like that. You knew he hadn’t been attacking you, but something else, something he was clearly terrified of. Chamie would never have hurt you, none of them would, you knew that. The question made Ren wince, as if ashamed of his actions now that he had calmed down but instead of answering, he instead busied himself with tending to your injury,

   “Chamie half destroyed the house,” Jazz, on the other hand, didn’t hold back. “The kitchen is filled with bubbles, he fucked with the washer and dryer, pretty sure half of your clothing is ruined, and he messed with our shit.”

   “He put up the puzzle I’ve been working on all this time.” Jay was pouting in the corner, but you could see a guilty light shining in his eyes. “But all of us jumping on him like that wasn’t right. He doesn’t do well with shouting...” the clones all fell silent, a chill going through them all that stopped you from pressing any further. It wasn’t until Ren finished wrapping your arm and Beetlejuice stepped through the group around you to inspect the job that the silence was broken.

   “I should really clean up the mess...” Ren started shepherding the others out the door, “Someone needs to go find where Chamie holed himself up in.”

   “I’ll find Chamie.” There was no room for negotiation in your tone and the clones didn’t seem surprised, though Beetlejuice didn’t move from his place in front of you.

   “When he gets like this, it won’t be easy to get through to him.” It was phrased like a warning, but Beetlejuice looked resigned, as if this were something that he had tried to fix but knew that he couldn’t. “He might lash out at you again, and next time he might not recognize you in time.”

   “I’ll be alright.” Even if he did lash out, you weren’t scared. Chamie needed someone to reach out to him with kindness, needed to know that you weren’t angry at him. “Ren, can you handle the laundry? Bee and Wasp, clean up the mess in the kitchen, Jazz, Cici, and Jay can put their things back in order how they like it.” The clones nodded and Beej stepped back finally, closing his eyes and focusing for a moment.

   “He’s holed up somewhere cramped and dark. Pretty musty.” You thought to where in the house Chamie would feel the safest and your heart sank with the answer.

   “I’ll be back.” You kissed Beej on the cheek, giving him a reassuring smile before you headed up to the attic. Your attic was tiny, more of an extra storage space than anything, but a person could fit up there if they stooped, and Chamie could definitely curl into a tight enough ball to cram himself into even the smallest space. Your fears were confirmed at the sight of a trembling black and white ball stuffed up against the wall, black and white hair swirling violently. “Chamie? Baby, it's me.” As you crawled in closer, you could hear the muffled crying grow louder in response to you. “Chamie, it’s ok, I promise.”

   “No it isn’t!” Came the responding wail, anguish clear in his tone. “I hurt you! I ruined everything! You hate me!” You could hear his bones creak in protest as he curled in tighter on himself, even his flexibility was being pushed to its limits.

   “I don’t hate you, look, I’m all patched up, you didn’t ruin anything. The mess is already being cleaned up and everything.” Instead of trying to touch him again you settled down with him. “I could never hate you.” Despite your words, he continued to cry, heart wrenching, body shaking wails that made you want to gather him up in your arms and never let go. Between his sobs, he spoke, the words almost unintelligible, but you strained to understand him,

   “Monster..... useless... ruins everything.... she was right....” The last part caught your attention,

   “Can I touch you?” You asked, the ball jolted, but he didn’t respond, so you laid a gentle hand on his back, slowly rubbing back and forth. Though he didn’t relax in the slightest, Chamie shuffled closer to you, his head almost in your lap now. “Is....” You paused, almost afraid to ask this question for fear of hurting Chamie more than he already was. “Is that what Juno told you?” His trembling worsened, but he raised his head slightly to place fully into your lap.

   “She... Juno... She didn’t really like any of us, but...” His shuddered, his eyes tightly shut. “She hated me. I... I wasn’t supposed to exist, I was wrong. Demons aren’t supposed to feel and making something like me was just another sign that Boss wasn’t what she wanted him to be. When she was angry at boss she would make him bring me out and she would...” He trailed off with another shudder, his hand reaching behind himself to touch the small of his back, a sign you had seen once before but hadn’t asked what it meant. Slowly, watching him to make sure he was ok, you reached out to tug up the edge of his shirt over his back, your heart breaking at the sight. Each clone had their own scars, Beetlejuice as well, but this was bad. There was a gnarled, nasty looking scar from countless injuries as if someone had slammed something into his back countless times over the years, and it wasn’t just in one place either.

   “Oh Chamie,” you pulled him in closer and despite his shaking, Chamie let himself be pulled into a hug that he returned after a moment. The demon clung to you tightly, laying his head on your shoulder as he continued to cry. "I'm going to kill her. I'm going to find whatever sandworm ate her, drag her pieces from its belly to out her back together, figure out how to resurrect a dead demon lady and then I'm going to throttle her to death." Murderous anger was a feeling you never thought you could feel, but ever since you had heard of Juno and what she had done to your demons, you didn't doubt that you could have ripped that bitch apart with your bare hands if she were to stand before you. "Chamie, listen, Juno is nothing more than a bitter old bitch who liked nothing more than to make other people miserable because she had nothing better to do with her life. She was wrong about Beetlejuice and she's wrong about you." He raised his head slightly, but wasn't meeting your eyes so you continued on. "You're such a good boy that cares so deeply for everyone around him, and I'm so happy to have you in my life. You knew that I was going to do laundry today and tried to get it done for me, you knew today I had to clean up and brought out the vacuum, even if you messed up a bit you still tried and I'm so proud of you for that. I'll show you how to work everything next time and you'll do an amazing job because you're so smart and attentive that it just blows my mind that you're with me." Watery eyes finally met yours, a streak of green cutting through his hair.

"Really?" He asked weakly, you couldn't help it, you cupped his cheeks and kissed him softly.

"Really." Another tear escaped him, but a small, wobbly smile curled at his lips.

"I don't think you could pull body parts out of a sandworm. That'd take a really long, really strong fishing pole."

"Hell, I'll tie a rope around my waist and dive headfirst if I gotta." He laughed now, hugging you tighter.

"No! Sandworm spit is so gross! It smells and clings to you like a jelly!" He stuck his tongue out at the thought, making a disgusted sound.

“I’ve gotta do what I gotta do to defend my baby boy.” This time he kissed you, his cheeks still wet with tears but a laugh still at his lips.

“Thank you.” He murmured. “But I prefer my babes sandworm spit free.” He pulled you into his lap now, his arms wrapped around you and his head on your shoulder, much like how he would cling to his stuffed animals at night. “Babes?” He paused, swallowing hard as he seemed to be trying to gather the words he needed. “I love you.” Your heart skipped a beat, tears gathering in your eyes now too.

“I love you too, Chamie.”

[castellankurze]

Too much rambling about au ra characters I’ll probably never play for a possible warring kingdoms AU, put behind a cut because I love you.

I: The Age of Twilight

Approximately four hundred years ago a volcanic eruption in the south seas cast much of the continent of Othard beneath a diffuse cloud of dust and ash.  Several years of cold winters and poor crop yields followed, heralding an age of strife and hardship.  Previously-peaceful nations and outlying factions began to buckle with unrest, and brushfire conflicts erupted along the various borders of Othard’s polities, threatening to boil over into an open age of war.

In the center of Othard, the reigning king of Doma awoke to find enemies at his every flank.  To the south the nations of Dalmasca and Nagxia eyed their fertile farmlands, whilst to the east the piratical Confederacy raided their coastal villages for supplies and foodstuffs, and finally to the north the warlike xaela tribes sought precious iron and animals to slaughter for their meat and bones.

The king was faced with an impossible situation - with men and women already lean and hungry due to the hardness of the earth, his nation lay ripe to be picked apart by the various predators circling in the waters.  So he put the question to his loyal lords and retainers: defend Doma on all sides, with one arm behind their backs.  In these years, a quartet of warlords would rise to the occasion, their names committed to history as the heroes that shepherded the nation through the years of darkness.  For many years afterwards, they would each be celebrated - though in the lands beyond Doma, their names would be whispered as objects of terror.

II: The Warlords of Dusk

Toshitada Koma (top left) became known as the Warlord of Spring, though to his enemies he was known more widely as the Warlord of Cruelty, or more simply as the Ogre.  His solution to the king’s proposal was simple - strike fear into the hearts of Doma’s enemies, and make them quake to even consider battle with her armies.  He fought his skirmishes with a bloodthirstiness that shocked his foes and left few alive in their wake.  He pursued battle aggressively, favoring savage preemptive strikes that forced his opponents onto the back foot, and it was not unknown for enemy soldiers to desert upon finding his banner lifted in opposition.  Despite his unimpeachable record, later in life Toshitada was said to have come to regret his reign of cruelty, and abandoned his wealth and holdings to live as a monk, bringing peace and comfort to the victims of war.  He is believed to have been slain by the family of a Nagxian village headman he had killed, though the circumstances of his death are murky.

Classes: warrior, dragoon, white mage Goro Kurodajiro (top right) became the Warlord of Summer, known also as the Phantom Lord.  He was a less frenetic, more calculating sort of warrior.  He had gone blind in one eye early in life under mysterious circumstances, and often wore a patch over the sightless orb.  Despite this, he was often said to see things no one else could.  A masterful magician, he cast veils of illusion over individuals and armies alike, leading his foes astray so that they would walk into prepared traps or even come to blows with one another.  Whatever was left, he would finish off with more direct spells of fire, ice, and thunder, and was said to turn the very land and laws of nature against his enemies.  Xaela in particular called him ‘Maker of Webs’ and considered his tactics dishonorable.  This would one day prove to be his downfall - as he spun his spells to frustrate an alliance of xaela tribes, a sniper of the Mol loosed an arrow that put out his remaining eye.  Blinded, Goro began to lash out in every direction, slaying friend and foe alike in a panicked rage.  The xaela warriors weathered the storm, however, and he fell beneath their gathered blades.

Classes: red mage, astrologian

Naotoki Yamanouchi (bottom left) would be known as the Warlord of Autumn, as well as the more sinister title the Demon of Venom.  Born with a strange tongue shaped by two points and elongated eyeteeth, it was whispered the man’s lineage was tainted by that of a snake demon.  Unsurprisingly, Naotoki’s solution to the king’s question was to make use of all manner of gathered venoms and poisons to level the battlefield against Doma’s foes.  His blades coated with toxins, he could blind or incapacitate foes even without touching them as the substances dripped onto exposed flesh.  Even far from the battlefield his foes were not safe from his debilitating touch, their very food and drink turned against them.  It was said that he possessed the power to cure those he inflicted with his venoms, but if so it was a power he used sparingly, if ever. These heinous tactics would one day backfire, as his cavalier use of such weapons crept into the jungles of southern Dalmasca and attracted the ire of the viera who made their home there.  Ambushed and pierced by many arrows, Naotoki’s last act was to throw himself into the Zeirchele River, his tainted blood fouling its waters for years afterwards.

Classes: samurai, summoner

Kuniko Sasaki (bottom right) was the Warlord of Winter, and her defense of Doma was a two-pronged approach.  Said to have perfect vision even in total pitch-black, she and her chosen cohort of samurai and shinobi would attack in the dead of night, when the moon lay shadowed, and sow panic and confusion amongst the enemy.  For this, she became known to Doma as the Blade of Darkness.  However, open battle was of limited effect against foes like the Confederacy, who rode their ships to and fro across the Ruby Sea.  Against such foes, Kuniko brokered deals under the table, promising to look the other way while such enemies plundered Doman lands...only for such raids to inevitably run afoul of sudden attacks in the night.  For this dishonorable behavior she became known as the Jackal, and even some Domans termed her the Warlord of Corruption.  One night her reputation caught up with her, and rather than raid the vulnerable coastal village offered to them, the Confederacy shelled it with unending volleys of catapult and ballista fire.  When dawn rose, Kuniko and her cohort had been wiped out.

Classes: dark knight, ninja

III: The New Dawn

Doma survived the dark, savage years, and history rolled on for four hundred years.  Until there came to Doma a new foe, one clad in steel and bearing weapons never before seen by the ancient nation.  The Garlean Empire put the better part of Othard beneath its banner, bringing even Doma to heel.  For twenty-five years the Empire’s VI Legion ruled Doma as a vassal state, exploiting its lands, its people, and even its legends.

Forever searching for ways to broaden their scientific understanding - no matter the cost - the scientific contingent that had accompanied the VI Legion carried out unspeakable experimentations on the people put under the rule of the Empire.  When they learned of the ancient legends of the Warlords of Dusk, they sought out the ancient graves of the revered warriors and subjected them to the newly-termed process of ‘cloning.’  The intent was to parade Doma’s ancestral heroes before them as loyal servants of the Empire, and to this end they created living, breathing copies of the long-dead quartet.

Unfortunately, the Empire had overlooked a simple truth - great warlords are not wont to bend their knee to foreign rulers.  And savage days in savage lands give rise to savage leaders.  The quartet threw off the shackles of their captors and slaughtered many of their creators in one terrible blood-soaked night before retreating into the mountains of Othard.  Before a response could be organized, the VI Legion was called away by the Emperor, and in the resulting confusion the newly-reborn warlords were overlooked.  Soon enough, the Empire as a whole would be thrown out of Doma by the arrival of the Warrior of Light and the restoration of the Rijin line to the throne.

But there was yet unrest in the ancient kingdom.  Not all were happy to return to life as it had been twenty-five years ago.  Strong currents churned beneath the surface, and among the voices raised in anger echoed those of the distant past, the warlords returned to ancestral holdings and lands, sometimes at the point of a blade.  The quartet seemed to have been reborn with much of their old personalities - and, more distressingly, their various abilities - intact.  With Doman lands and Doman people depleted by the brutal Garlean rule, a set of warlords with experience from another time when the nation faced lean years would be fearsome foes indeed...

[kkintle]

The Poetry of Sappho by Sappho; Quotes

"SAPPHO WHO BROKE OFF A FRAGMENT OF HER SOUL FOR US TO GUESS AT."

"Love's priestess, mad with pain and joy of song, Song's priestess, mad with joy and pain of love."

How many times to frail mortals  Hast thou not hearkened! Now even I come before thee With oil and honey and wheat-bread, Praying for strength and fulfilment Of human longing, with purpose Ever to keep thy great worship Pure and undarkened.

And thou, sea-born Aphrodite, In whose beneficent keeping Earth, with her infinite beauty, Colour and fashion and fragrance, Glows like a flower with fervour Where woods are vernal! Touch with thy lips and enkindle This moon-white delicate body, Drench with the dew of enchantment This mortal one, that I also Grow to the measure of beauty Fleet yet eternal.

"What fair thing wouldst thou Lure now to love thee?

Peer of the gods he seems, Who in thy presence Sits and hears close to him Thy silver speech-tones And lovely laughter. Ah, but the heart flutters Under my bosom, When I behold thee Even a moment; Utterance leaves me; My tongue is useless; A subtle fire Runs through my body; My eyes are sightless, And my ears ringing; I flush with fever, And a strong trembling Lays hold upon me; Paler than grass am I, Half dead for madness. Yet must I, greatly Daring, adore thee, As the adventurous Sailor makes seaward For the lost sky-line And undiscovered Fabulous islands, Drawn by the lure of Beauty and summer And the sea's secret.

"The girl must have knowledge, To lend her freedom and poise. Naught will avail her beauty, If she have not wit beside.

"Mother of beauty, mother of joy, Why hast thou given to men "This thing called love, like the ache of a wound In beauty's, side, To burn and throb and be quelled for an hour And never wholly depart?"

And joy I knew and sorrow at thy voice, And the superb magnificence of love,— The loneliness that saddens solitude, And the sweet speech that makes it durable,— The bitter longing and the keen desire, The sweet companionship through quiet days In the slow ample beauty of the world, And the unutterable glad release Within the temple of the holy night. O Atthis, how I loved thee long ago In that fair perished summer by the sea!

And no man shall possess me Henceforth and forever.

But thou alone shalt gather This fragile flower of beauty,— To crush and keep the fragrance Like a holy incense. Thou only shalt remember This love of mine, or hallow The coming years with gladness, Calm and pride and passion.

Love shakes my soul, like a mountain wind Falling upon the trees, When they are swayed and whitened and bowed As the great gusts will.

With remembrance and joy. Ah, timid Syrinx, do I not know Thy tremor of sweet fear? For a beautiful and imperious player Is the lord of life.

How I adore thee. Let the hoarse torrent In the blue canyon, Murmuring mightily Out of the grey mist Of primal chaos, Cease not proclaiming How I adore thee.

But more than all sounds, Surer, serener, Fuller with passion And exultation, Let the hushed whisper In thine own heart say, How I adore thee.

I grow weary of the foreign cities, The sea travel and the stranger peoples. Even the clear voice of hardy fortune Dares me not as once on brave adventure. For the heart of man must seek and wander, Ask and question and discover knowledge; Yet above all goodly things is wisdom, And love greater than all understanding. So, a mariner, I long for land-fall,—

Art thou the top-most apple The gatherers could not reach, Reddening on the bough? Shall not I take thee? Art thou a hyacinth blossom The shepherds upon the hills Have trodden into the ground? Shall not I lift thee? Free is the young god Eros, Paying no tribute to power, Seeing no evil in beauty, Full of compassion. Once having found the beloved, However sorry or woeful, However scornful of loving, Little it matters.

For I am eager, and the flame of life Burns quickly in the fragile lamp of clay. Passion and love and longing and hot tears Consume this mortal Sappho, and too soon A great wind from the dark will blow upon me, And I be no more found in the fair world, For all the search of the revolving moon And patient shine of everlasting stars.

"Yet, for all the roses, All the flutes and lovers, Doubt not she was lonely As the sea, whose cadence Haunts the world for ever."

When I have departed, Say but this behind me, "Love was all her wisdom, All her care. "Well she kept love's secret,— Dared and never faltered,—  Laughed and never doubted Love would win. "Let the world's rough triumph Trample by above her, She is safe forever From all harm. "In a land that knows not Bitterness nor sorrow, She has found out all Of truth at last."

My lover smiled, "O friend, ask not The journey's end, nor whence we are.

"Lo, these are wiser than the wise. And not for all our questioning Shall we discover more than joy, Nor find a better thing than love! " Let pass the banners and the spears, The hate, the battle, and the greed; For greater than all gifts is peace, And strength is in the tranquil mind."

How strange is love, O my lover! With what enchantment and power Does it not come upon mortals, Learned or heedless! How far away and unreal, Faint as blue isles in a sunset Haze-golden, all else of life seems, Since I have known thee!

In the quiet garden world, Gold sunlight and shadow leaves Flicker on the wall. And the wind, a moment since, With rose-petals strewed the path And the open door. Now the moon-white butterflies Float across the liquid air, Glad as in a dream; And, across thy lover's heart, Visions of one scarlet mouth With its maddening smile.

Love is so strong a thing, The very gods must yield, When it is welded fast  With the unflinching truth. Love is so frail a thing, A word, a look, will kill. Oh lovers, have a care How ye do deal with love.

Then I became as that shepherd Loved by Selene on Latmus, Once when her own summer magic Took hold upon her With a sweet madness, and thenceforth Her mortal lover must wander Over the wide world for ever, Like one enchanted.

Loving Heart, There must be an end to summer, And the flute be laid aside. On a day the frost will come, Walking through the autumn world, Hushing all the brave endeavour Of the crickets in the grass.

Frail as dew upon the grass Or the spindrift of the sea, Out of nothing they were fashioned And to nothing must return. Nay, but something of thy love, Passion, tenderness, and joy,  Some strange magic of thy beauty, Some sweet pathos of thy tears, Must imperishably cling To the cadence of the words, Like a spell of lost enchantments Laid upon the hearts of men. Wild and fleeting as the notes Blown upon a woodland pipe, They must haunt the earth with gladness And a tinge of old regret.

[pengiesama]

Home for the Holidays (Fic, TOZ, Sorey/Mikleo)

Title: Home for the Holidays Series: Tales of Zestiria Pairing: Sorey/Mikleo

Summary: It's Shepherdsmas Eve, and Sorey and Mikleo are preparing to host dinner at their place. Then Maotelus rips a hole in reality and accidentally resurrects their dead biological family as seraphim.

Meeting the in-laws for the first time is always awkward.

Part of the Sormik Advent Calendar 2019, for the “12 Days of Christmas"/"12 Pains of Christmas” prompt “Meeting the In-Laws”.

@sormikadventcalendar / sormikadvent (Twitter)

Link: AO3

Read on Tumblr!

“Hi,” Maotelus said, popping his head out of the chimney and into the fireplace.

Mikleo screamed, dropping the tray of sweets and hot chocolate he was carrying with a loud crash.

“Merry Shepherdsmas Eve,” Maotelus continued, undeterred. “Sorry to drop in unannounced, but got a quick question for you. I kinda did something that might’ve torn a rift in the Earthpulse and I need someone to keep an eye on a few things while I figure things out down there before it eats reality. And ruins Shepherdsmas.”

“Wh—wh—” Mikleo sputtered, trying to get a handle on the situation he was being presented.

“Mikleo? I heard a crash, are you okay?” Sorey poked his head into the room. “Mao? When did you get here?”

“Sorey!” Maotelus greeted warmly. The red pom-pom hat he was wearing had caught fire while he dangled upside-down over the fireplace. “Merry Shepherdsmas Eve. Listen, I need you two to babysit some new seraphim that popped out of a teensy tiny little fissure in the Earthpulse that I caused while I was trying to break someone out of Hell Prison.”

“Oh,” Sorey said. “Um. That sounds fine?”

Mikleo made a strangled quacking noise, like a furious, confused duck. Sorey gently reached out and hugged him around the shoulders, stroking his long hair back from his face.

“It’ll be fine, Mikleo, it’s just hosting some guests! That’s what Shepherdsmas is all about, right?”

“Shepherdsmas was originally observed as a religious holiday in the Asgard era and was intended by the human religious authorities as an extremely solemn and boring occasion to reflect upon the accomplishments and sacrifices of past Shepherds,” Mikleo said flatly. “And today it is mostly about buying presents.”

“Sounds like someone needs to learn about the true meaning of Shepherdsmas,” Maotelus commented.

Mikleo sounded like he was about to explode. “EVERY YEAR! EVERY YEAR YOU SAY THAT AND EVERY YEAR WE’RE CLEANING UP THE MESS FOR DAYS AFTER—”

The air shimmered with iridescent energy, and the earth rumbled ominously.

“Okay I gotta go now have fun with your guests and by the way they’re the seraphic reincarnations of your biological human families be back soon!”

Maotelus blew out the fire in the fireplace with a puff of breath, darted up the chimney, and stuffed a big red bag down after him. The red bag landed in the fireplace, and wriggled this way and that, as if stuffed full of living creatures.

…like the seraphic reincarnations of their former human families.

The bag tumbled over, and the tie at the top was finally yanked open from the inside.

There were two women; one, Muse, as Mikleo dimly remembered her from that tiny, lonely room in the Mabinogio Ruins so many centuries ago. Her hair had turned a shining pearl white, with green tips. The other woman, with white-red hair, was unfamiliar, but had Sorey’s wide green eyes, and a distinctive resemblance besides. Selene, he remembered her name, and her name alone. To his shame, he knew nothing else about the woman…but the way she clung to Muse’s arm, seeking comfort, was a start.

The other bag inhabitants were…

…not quite the kind of seraphim they had expected.

“Get that ratty tail of yours out of my face!” snapped a bluish-purple Normin.

He shoved another Normin away from him, who fell to the floor with a sound resembling a squeaky toy. This Normin had a small lion’s tail, and a mane that caused his beret to not fit quite right. The lionesque Normin flailed furiously, like an upended turtle.

“Another life! Another life and another chance to take my revenge on you and this miserable world!” snarled the lionesque Normin.

The bluish-purple Normin spotted a fireplace poker, and immediately went for it. Muse yelled in dismay and picked him up before he could grab it.

“Um…” Sorey cleared his throat. “Merry Shepherdsmas?”

Their guests startled, only seeming to just realize they were in someone else’s house, and being watched. Muse’s gaze fell on Sorey first, then Mikleo. Her eyes were clear, unclouded, focused; not like their sightless gaze from their last meeting. She stared at him; stared right into those eyes that matched her own.

It was a long moment before Mikleo could find the words to speak.

“Hello,” Mikleo said quietly. “I don’t know what Maotelus told you, if anything. But, you’re seraphim. This is a land called Glenwood. Do you remember anything from before he plucked you from the Earthpulse?”

“Mikleo?” Muse asked, her voice trembling. Tears welled in her eyes. “A-are you my Mikleo?”

It was odd, being hugged so tightly and loved so desperately by someone he didn’t know at all.

 --

 “Michael,” Lailah said sternly. “Stop fighting with your tablemates. It’s Shepherdsmas and we must put past squabbles behind us.”

“I am one of the Shepherds in that Shepherdsmas,” Michael replied. “And that means that I can squabble as I choose to.”

Everyone was trying very hard to enjoy their annual Shepherdsmas dinner. Michael and Heldalf – for it was indeed they who had reincarnated into Normin forms – were strapped into makeshift baby highchairs and were currently locked in a ceaseless battle of wills. This took the form of Michael throwing his vegetables at Heldalf and Heldalf making grand and impotent threats as he was steadily coated in mashed potatoes.

Mikleo didn’t know why this kind of thing always happened when it was his and Sorey’s turn to host dinner at their place.

“I shall bring darkness down upon this world! Malevolence to smother out suffering!” Heldalf yowled, thrashing in place in his highchair.

“I shall bring peas upon your head,” Edna replied, scattering a handful of peas on top of the mashed potatoes covering him. “Man, Meebo, your uncle is way cooler than you. This is the best Shepherdsmas ever.”

“Michael, please,” Muse pleaded. “Mikleo, he’s not usually – well, no, he is usually like this, but…”

“It’s fine,” Mikleo assured her.

And honestly, it was; Mikleo was used to the house being a mess after these dinners. And beyond that, he didn’t have strong feelings about his uncle, even knowing his…contributions to what happened during that time. It was just so long ago, and he didn’t remember him at all. Or anything, from back then. One of the perks of living such a long life was the ability to have all such things lost to the mists of time.

But unfortunately, it would take some time for these new recruits to adapt. Surely it would’ve been more merciful for Maotelus to keep their memories from back then locked away.

For all Mikleo’s awkwardness with his biological mother, it hardly compared to the palpable awkwardness between Sorey and Selene.

“…”

“…”

“…good chicken,” Selene commented, poking the meat on her plate.

“Yeah,” Sorey replied. “It’s, um. Really good.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…I put some spices on it.”

“A-ah. Yeah.”

“…”

“…”

Mikleo couldn’t really blame Selene for being disoriented. Surprise, you’re alive again, it’s a thousand years in the future, and that premature baby you thought was probably going to die right after you died is actually alive and well and also saved the world a while back and is now an immortal being of the elements. He could deal with her reaction to the information a lot more easily than he could Muse’s – Selene reacted to these things like Sorey did, after all; by going quiet and inward to process. Mikleo could handle that. He would give them space and hover on the sidelines to fret. But Muse was hovering, herself, and fretting a whole lot, and was still clearly eaten up by guilt and trying way too hard to make things okay when things weren’t un-okay in the first place and he’d just really like some space. Every time she tried to reach out and awkwardly touch his arm he’d flinch away from the unfamiliar contact and she was clearly taking that as some sort of sign that he hated her. Mikleo understood for the first time in his life why humans disliked family gatherings so much. He wanted to set a fire on the table, grab Sorey by the wrist, and escape off into the winter night.

“So…” Zaveid said, bravely steaming in to steer the conversation. “Wind and fire, huh? I got some know-how about that kinda magic, if you ladies need a teacher…”

The table went dead silent again. After a few moments, a handful of mashed potatoes hit Zaveid square in the nose.

“Who keeps giving him more potatoes!?” Muse outburst, somewhat hysterical.

“That’d be me,” Edna said, holding out the serving bowl of mashed potatoes to Michael so he could refill his plate with ammo.

“Everyone,” Lailah announced, rising to her feet. “On this day, this Shepherdsmas, we are here together as a family, to come together and celebrate togetherness…”

“Together and stuff,” Michael said under his breath. Edna snickered.

“MFF,” said Heldalf, under a mountain of muck.

“And so,” Lailah went on. “We should give thanks and reflect upon the meaning of the season…”

“Um,” Selene quietly interrupted. “I’ve been meaning to ask…Shepherdsmas. That’s a…thing now?”

“Oh, yes indeed,” Lailah said. “Please don’t hesitate to ask things, dear, I’m sure you have questions.”

Selene gave an awkward smile, and Mikleo felt his heart warm at how the expression so resembled Sorey.

“T-thanks. Back…back then, I guess, I thought it was just some thing the Shrinechurch made up to let them trot out a fake Shepherd and scam donations out of people…”

“Well,” Sorey began. “Historical sources indicate that was definitely the case for the holiday during several periods. But when resonance started to improve and humanity began to establish stronger ties with the seraphim again, it started to gradually change form, eventually becoming the gift-giving exchange it represents today…”

Sorey was in his element, infodumping on history, and when Sorey was comfortable, Mikleo was comfortable. Selene began to relax in turn – Sorey’s good moods were truly contagious – and with Selene and Mikleo soothed, Muse herself settled as well. Even Michael’s potato assault began to peter off in the face of Sorey’s continued lecture.

They could count another Shepherdsmas as saved.

 --

 Everyone else was asleep for the night, sequestered in guest rooms, and Mikleo and Sorey finally had some time to themselves.

Mikleo sighed deeply, allowing himself to decompress to the rhythm of Sorey’s heartbeat under his ear, and the feeling of his fingers in his hair.

“It’s always a surprise with Shepherdsmas, isn’t it?” Sorey said.

Mikleo grunted. “At least when your friend gets it in his head to mess around in the Earthpulse. Or get drunk. Or both.”

Sorey laughed, and Mikleo’s mood couldn’t stay sour for long at the sound of it.

“I guess. But the weather tonight is so cozy, and everyone’s asleep now, so…”

Mikleo could guess at what he was implying. He closed his eyes, leaning in, pressing against Sorey’s mouth with his own…

A flash of light filled the room, and in an instant, there was a cat-sized white dragon sitting in the branches of their Shepherdsmas tree; tangled in the lights.

“Okay, now that’s cleared up,” Maotelus said. “A little more help fell out of the rift in space-time. It’s a Shepherdsmas miracle.”

“Hello boys,” Zenrus said warmly. “Good to see you again.”

Sorey and Mikleo startled, and leapt from their spot on the couch to greet him.

“Gramps!”

“By the way, I’ll be doing this again sometime,” Maotelus said. “Hell Prison ain’t easy to jailbreak. I’ll try to grab your two squires next time though – they ran away from me when they saw me for some reason.”

“Were you a giant dragon at the time?” asked Sorey.

“I was a giant dragon at the time,” Maotelus confirmed. “And breathing fire.”

“Hmm,” Sorey said.

“Hmm indeed,” Maotelus said. “But it was still pretty rude, I think.”

[franklyshipping]

Fighting The Darkness ~ A Markiplier Ego Fanfic

THIS COMES FROM A WONDERFUL ANONYMOUS PROMPT WHEREIN DARK IS TO HELP SILVER SHEPHERD WITH SOME TRAINING! Let's see how this goes....LET'S DO IT!

TAGGING: @darkipli-ler and @silvlee-shepherd

'....okay explain why I have to do this again?'

Dark smiled as Silver Shepherd looked to him with a mix of confusion and curiosity as he held the black blindfold loosely in one of his hands. In his other hand Silver held a wooden sparring pole, and Dark had his own which he absently started to twirl as he rattled off his reply to the sweet hero.

'Learning to fight in darkness, without sight, is absolutely essential for a hero of your calibre. Darkness in an unknown or disadvantageous environment could be easily instigated by a villain and you need to make sure that you can adapt yourself to that.'

Silver followed along with interest, and nodded with an excited smile as the rationality of it all became clear to him. I mean, of COURSE it wasn't strange at all that Dark wanted to blindfold him in a sparring session, and it CERTAINLY wasn't a suspicious request given Dark's record of somehow tickling Silver to smithereens during their sparring sessions.....ahem.

'Huh....okey dokey! Let's do this!'

Dark chuckled warmly at Silver's excitable demeanour, smiling as Silver slipped the blindfold on over his eyes before gripping his sparring pole, attempting to prepare himself. Silver was very eager to train like this, any opportunity to fight and practise and train himself up to be resilient against any villainous surprise; also, Silver felt so lucky that he had a friend like Dark who could teach him these things!

'Wonderful.....let's begin.'

Dark replied, before proceeding to circle the sweet superhero. Dark frankly just wanted to pounce on the twitching, smiling man and tickle him to pieces, but Dark knew he had to build it up, lull Silver into a state of non-suspicion.

'You must remember....you have five senses. Just because one is inhibited, doesn't mean you cannot use the other four. People subconsciously prioritise sight over all else, you cannot allow yourself to do this.'

Dark spoke concisely in an authoritative manner, and he smiled when Silver perked up excitedly; his eagerness to listen and learn was ceaselessly adorable. Dark continued circling, and continued speaking.

'Taste may not apply so much, but the others do. Hearing for one....is imperative....'

Silver gasped and twitched when he suddenly felt Dark's low voice right next to his ear; Dark had leant in swiftly to speak before retreating back and resuming his circling of the hero. Silver could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end as he got more excited, and he smiled bashfully when he heard Dark chuckle at his twitchiness.

'As is your sense of smell....you can identify people that way, as well as gases, toxins, and other dangerous substances....'

Dark continued, and his words spurred Silver to inhale deeply and see what he could get from his surroundings. It was mostly just the air, but there was another scent there....and Silver developed a cheeky smile as he queried.

'Hey uhm....did uh, did Wilford just come in? I can REALLY smell his candy cologne....'

Dark froze for a moment, cheeks going pink....because yes, Darkiplier did in fact smell like his boyfriend's cologne, for reasons that I'm sure you can imagine. Dark narrowed his eyes at the hero....oh if only Silver knew how much worse he'd made it for himself. Dark poked Silver in the side softly, making the hero squeak as he spoke in a more growly tone of voice.

'And last of all....physical sensation, needed for navigation, and identifying whether or not you are inhibited....or weak in any way....'

Silver gulped, giggling residually from the poke....ah, it was SO worth it! Silver may not have been able to see but he KNEW he'd coaxed out a blush from Dark, and that made his day. Silver straightened up, deciding to interject, for he was wondering what the actual training procedure would be....he had no inkling....that Dark had other plans.

'Ohokahay, so what do we do now?'

Dark smirked, pausing in front of Silver. It was time.

'Now.....focus. Listen. Smell. Feel. Listen to the sound of your breathing and mine, smell the air around you, and feel how the air around you moves....feel how it gives you goose-bumps and makes your hair stand on end....let yourself get in tune, and take as much time as you need.'

Silver of course followed Dark's instructions. The hero tightened his grip on his pole, straightened up, and took measured breaths so that he could hone his focus; Silver was under the impression of course, that this was time given to him to focus, and that he wouldn't need to defend himself or anything. So Dark knew it was time. Dark's hungry eyes flicked over Silver's form as he circled and circled, Silver's tickle spots were coming to the forefront of his memory as he eventually stopped behind Silver. Dark silently set his pole down upon the floor....and with the eagerness of a vengeful monster, he surged forth.

'WOAHWOAH-HEHEHEY AHAHA WH-WHAHAT AHARE YOHOU DOHOING?!'

Dark smirked....oh it had all worked perfectly. He had trapped Silver in a hug from behind with ease and dug his wiggling fingers into the hero's fleshy sides. Silver hadn't stood a chance. The hero had shrieked and tried to clamp his arms to his sides, but alas, it did nothing; plus, he'd fumbled and dropped his pole on the ground. Silver had nothing to fight back with, and thus into frantic giggles he descended.

'Well, we've had a number of rather serious training sessions lately, so I figured it was time for a little fun. Also....you don't really think I'm going to let you get away with that comment about my boyfriend do you?'

Dark smirked as he replied to Silver's mirthful question, not halting his wiggling fingers for a second as he watched Silver's wonderful blush of embarrassment crop up on his cheeks. Plus, Silver was squealing amidst his wild giggles and cursing himself for letting Dark get him like this.

'NAHAHAHA IHI'M SAHARRY I-I-IHI WAHAS JUHUST BEHEING SIHILLY!'

Silver tried to reason desperately, craning his head towards Dark as he wriggled about in his hold. Of course, Dark had only just begun his onslaught of the hero, he wasn't going to stop so soon. Dark snickered fondly into Silver's ear, his teeth gleaming with feral joy as his wiggling fingers now crept to Silver's hyper-ticklish belly.

'Ah that may be....but in hindsight I don't think it was one of your wisest courses of action, do you?'

Silver just absolutely shrieked with laughter, arching his back adorably amidst the absolutely torturous tickling at his tender tummy. It was such turmoil for the poor hero, he couldn't even muster up the strength to take the blindfold off because his body's stronger instinct was to keep his hands pushing at Dark's! So the hero remained sightless, and it meant Silver's mind was swirling with question after question of where and when and how Dark was going to tickle him next. It was pure evil.

'IHITWASBADITWAHASBAD IHIHIHI'M SOHOHO SAHAHAHARRYYYY!!'

Agreeing with Dark and apologising seemed like a very good combination regarding securing mercy from Dark, but Dark was rather enjoying himself. He smiled and awed in Silver's ear unsympathetically, before cooing in a babyish tone as his fingers dug eagerly into Silver's belly pudge.

'Awwww, but it's too late for sorry! Now wittle Silver has to face the consequences of being a cheeky wittle boy!'

Silver squealed amidst his cackling laughter as crimson spread across his face, why did Dark have to tease like THAT?! Silver was so desperate in fact, that his knees buckled and brought them both tumbling to the floor. Thankfully they landed on a soft mat, and Dark had expected such a reaction which meant he managed to maintain his hold on Silver and let his nails scratch at the hero's waistline.

'DOHOHON'T TAHALK LIHIKE AHA BAHAHABY THAHAT'S MEHEHEAN!!'

Silver cried out, throwing his head back and writhing as he weakly whacked Dark's arms and hands, he just couldn't handle being talked to like a baby, it made him feel like a warm puddle of goo on the inside! It wasn't fair! Of course that was exactly why Dark teased that way, just so he could weaken the tender hero more. Dark kept up the waist tickling as he cooed once more into Silver's ear.

'Oh come now Silver, how is it mean when it merely alludes to the truth? You ARE a ticklish little baby after all.'

Dark chuckled as Silver shook his head, wailing and grinning and desperately arching his back....whilst also letting out the cutest hiccups that you ever have heard.

'YOHOHOU'RE AHA-HIC-HA MEHEANIHIE! IHIHI'M G-HIC-GOHONNA GEHET YOHOU BACK!!'

Dark raised an amused eyebrow at that, then snarled and had mercy....only to then grip Silver by his sides and roll him over properly onto his belly. Silver gasped and squeaked amidst the manhandling, blushing profusely since he didn't actually mind being manhandled-ahem, but Silver took the time to catch his breath. He figured he'd need it, and the hero got goose-bumps as he properly realised what had just come out of his mouth. Oh dear.

'First cheeky comments, and now threats? You're really asking for it today aren't you?'

Dark growled as he straddled the hero's lower back, and chuckled as he looked and saw Silver hide his face in his hands rather adorably. Dark's chuckles however became much more smug when Silver deigned not to reply to his question...which was an answer in itself; Silver wanted to receive all this just as much as Dark wanted to give it. Dark allowed his fingertips to splay over the backs of Silver's thighs as he purred.

'You should really be more careful....if you're this cheeky with a real villain, goodness knows how merciless they'd be with you...'

Silver let out another soft, tittery hiccup, before his giggles were rekindled from the teasy gentleness that Dark provided. Thankfully though, Silver finally found the energy to push the blindfold up and off of his eyes....his adorable, watery, mirthful eyes.

'D-Dahahark p-plehease plehehease I-I-I d-dohon't knohow where my ch-cheheekiness cahame from!'

.....yeah, nice try Silver. Dark barked out a laugh, amazed that Silver would even try a fib like that, and then went about scribbling the backs of Silver's thighs with happy malevolence; it had only been 60 seconds or so, but Dark had already started to miss Silver's wilder laughter!

'Of course you don't Silver, of course you don't.'

Dark crooned sarcastically, and smirked with delight as Silver let out a shrill scream of ticklishness. Silver's laughter was high-pitched and utterly wonderful, and along with how he pounded the floor mat with his fists....it was fair to say that Silver was very much enjoying himself.

'NAHAHAHAT THEHEHEHEEEERE DAHAHAHARK!!!'

Translation: Yes it tickles there so much, but I do still like it. Dark of course kept going as he mused playfully in reply.

'Not here? Oh but these ticklish thighs of yours are perfectly within my reach, it would be a shame and a travesty if I didn't give them my attention...'

Silver was just a mess of ticklish noises of all kinds, shrieks, wails, squeals, you name it, if it was loud then he was doing it. It was such a bad tickle spot for the poor hero, and with tears trailing down his burning cheeks, he was really getting desperate.

'IHIHIHI'LL DOHOHOHO AHANYTHIHIHIIIING!!!'

Silver called out, and Dark raised an eyebrow, humming lightly in thought. He peeked behind him and fondly smiled, adoring how the hero just flailed and embodied hysteria so cutely. Dark softly pinched the backs of Silver's thighs as he replied.

'Anything? Anything at all?'

Dark purred, and with Silver nodding almost instantly, it made Dark chuckle and make his request.

'Give me your sweetest apology. You were cheeky to me, and you even had the gall to try and threaten me, I feel that I deserve your best remorse.'

Silver Shepherd wasted no dang time I tell you that, I'm not even sure Dark had completely finished speaking before the superhero's sweet, pleading voice rang out.

'IHIHIHI'M SOHOHO SAHAHARRY PLEHEHEASE FOHORGIHIVE ME DAHAHARK PLEHEHEHEEEASE!!!'

Dark smiled, his heart was nearly warmed with how sweet Silver sounded! Of course, since Silver had delivered on Dark's request, Dark had mercy on him properly. He slid off of Silver's legs, and purred teasingly as the hero hurried to cradle said legs.

'You are forgiven, this time.'

Silver was a mess of flustered gasps and giggles as he frantically worked to rub away all the ghost tingles and tickles that were running through his poor body. Soon though, he moved his hair from his face and looked up at Dark, speaking in a very sweet, meek voice.

'.....th-thahank you.'

Dark smirked as Silver kept blushing; Dark knew it wasn't the mercy that Silver was thanking him for.

'Anytime.'

Silver squeaked happily to himself....after all the intense, serious training sessions they'd had....Silver had honestly really needed something like this. Also, now that he was mostly recovered, Silver perked up VERY cutely and gave Dark an excited, hopeful smile.

'C-Can wehe go get pizza? M'suhuper hungry now.'

Dark smirked, honestly with how dishevelled Silver looked he wasn't surprised that the hero was craving sustenance. Dark got to his feet before happily hauling Silver up too, and replied with a grin as they started ambling to the exit of the training room.

'Absolutely, but only if we can get side orders of nuggets. If I don't have food for Wilford to steal from me when we return then I shall never hear the end of it.'

Silver snorted and giggled at that, it was VERY much a thing that Wilford was the one who would steal pieces of Dark's food whenever the opportunity was there. As they walked though, that cheekiness reared back up in Silver for a moment, and made him mumble playfully; the cologne was still in the air.

'...y-yohou still smell like him.'

Dark pursed his lips and Silver giggled again when he actually saw Dark's blush this time. The hero froze though when Dark turned and suddenly leant in close to him, and for a second Silver thought he was going to be tickle attacked again. However....Dark merely took in a deep breath, and then smirked as he and Silver locked eyes.

'Mmm....you have a wonderful scent combination too....old books and cherry blossoms....and is that a hint of iron?'

Silver's eyes widened as he let out an embarrassed squeak, but ended up smiling bashfully because he figured that he did deserve that. Then, they went and got pizza.....and nuggets and garlic bread and a lot of other food because Dark and Silver had to make sure that their pizzas REMAINED their pizzas.

HOPE YA LIKE THIS LEMME KNOW IF YA DO WOOOOOO LUV YOOOUS XX

[libidomechanica]

Untitled # 7971

the white-hot. Should animal, W herein he doth, I faint! Believe me, Hero, with 

eyes or hair. In the broke, I rose and  comfort and States alle oþer þenne, ryuez hit vp radly, 

rayked hir þrepe and lose my gain for whom  succeed their flight had a sight of my death, and  mistaken Men, and in Julias cheek a riche 

forth a darkness. For thou in beauty who 

knowes, ilk springs in the other, and  hope non haȝerer of wylle; hit semed as  that was harsh to your faith, I  do not love thou wander, of Phillis, will fall:  for who caper here. Till in my arm aboute  hym broȝten, for thou canst not drink, lest watz comen  his compeyny noble, of cortyn he calles; his 

daughter, playd the youth, or without  a word. My heart to Cheat and dripping these  thoughts: bryers raignes, & command beauty her bed. Days when  it nursed the roofs of the  liberties; there the thing saw so you may leng in 

þy londe þe londe lede as his Conscious destined  course begin, Which be, these living day. before 

the shepherd sang in height, comes tumbling 

without spring danced with  his whip on the glen sae bushy, O,  and sayde “Cros Kryst may”. Loȝe trysteres, aboon the  same mildly, all the ambush of your 

Highness breast!    And then hey, for a lass wi  a languid feet in my young Messiah bless: who  now begins Leanders fault but given in his  bak, bigynez to mourn, my Celia, well put  on me, she enquired, Who was gone and  through one small sword, but bounteous shower. Fail I alone,  she answer it — was he neither  win; and hit as meaning to me confined,  one thing, and chains of shallow Polish  rivers with our eyes. And  therewith Leander, and the smiled to  see me sigh to sate its thirst of þe  worþyest of clear element, they returne, and love  me! Brood down to help me, quoþ þe porter, “and  as golden noon; wine-red was her face 

puts on pants he to þe prynce of þe grene  chapel men knows; let it be. Are met, if  þou craue batayl bare, and sated with necks  unyoked ; nor is it not euill hath him, and  oþer freke þat I leue, hit were consuming us—  or, roughly tread on parish. Nowel  nayted one immortal man! And still, in dale,  or in the nations of men, and  else could for want of the pine; but  in that the languid humour stole among  the silk; suppose him smile. Þe lorde and sturne,  and though it in your sole praises  be to one, of one finger evening,  that though to sorrow laid asleep on 

sightless eyes upon her husband, wife, my love, Jamie,  come the worst of what Occasion to  Reb ell. Laykyng of þe leude, so lymp, lere of 

þe fayre he hym grace which not onely Office high:  strong since, he stood by heavnly call, in his persoun, 

and did not the Elysian grounde I nolde  go wyth þe best companies the shadow will  walk the sea? “Þe gouernour of the  walls like them down without for wele  þis compeyny noble, Wel dres, much the laity  our love. wich spede is in spelle.”

[themiscyra1983]

☕️

You submitted this months ago and I couldn’t think of a favorite passage of anything I had actually published then but I’ve just started posting one of the things I’ve been working on so I can answer it now.

All our planning, all our scheming, all our cleverness, it had all come down to this. We had broken ourselves like waves against an uncaring shore. In time, perhaps, we would have worn mountains down to sand, and washed it all away to the sea.

But time was a luxury we did not have.

I knelt, unwillingly, upon the cold stone floor, my arms and head locked in an iron frame large and heavy enough that I tilted painfully forward, my legs locked in place with chains and bolts driven so deep I could not hope to free myself. To my left, Alice was restrained exactly the same way. To my right, Leah, too, was clad in irons, with one crucial difference: blades were set at her throat, her wrists, and around her legs. If she dared to shift, key arteries would be sliced open in the process, so quickly that even she couldn’t hope to survive. All of us had been dressed in sackcloth, rough and itchy against the skin, and our legs and feet had been left bare.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. As I gazed at the dais before us, at the three thrones that sat there and the three ancient vampires who ruled from those looming seats, I saw the most heartbreaking of all the sights in this room. Callie knelt next to the central throne, her head bowed and her skin mottled with dark bruises, her arms chained behind her back, a gag fitted in her mouth, and a steel collar about her neck. A chain was attached to the collar, and Aro himself held it in his long, white fingers, grinning like a maniac.

Beside me, I could hear Leah growling, almost constantly, a low, ominous rumble that bubbled up from her gut and echoed through her throat. When I glanced over, I could see her eyes flickering periodically, becoming vaguely wolfish before she managed to wrest back her self-control. I tried to give her as much silent encouragement as I could. The last thing I wanted was to watch her die - to watch any of my loved ones die. But then, really, all I was doing was delaying the inevitable.

“You poor, precious angels,” Aro cooed, as though we were nothing more than wayward children. I supposed, to him, we were. “You thought you’d had a new idea, didn’t you? You really thought you could succeed where so many have failed. Did you truly believe no one else had tried? That you had weapons and tactics we hadn’t seen before, in all the centuries of our reign? Scarcely any of you over a century in age, but oh, never mind that. Your cause is right. Your cause is just. The gods must be on your side. Was that it?”

His blood-red eyes, covered in a milky film but somehow no less ominous, locked with my gaze. “The gods are fickle, my dear. In my time, we understood that very well.”

“Someday you will fall,” Alice spat beside me.

Aro gave her a look of exaggerated surprise. “Will we? Was that another of your famed visions? A pity you didn’t see your own downfall, little one. A genuine shame. I had such high hopes for you, Alice. And you, Bella! Such potential. So badly wasted. If only we could delude ourselves into thinking you were nothing but poor little lost lambs, led astray by false shepherds. Alas. We know better. You, Isabella Swan, were the ringleader. You must be an example to all. And these, your most faithful friends...well. They must be part of that example as well.”

My heart pounded in my chest. I looked around frantically. I could see no avenues for escape. But my other loved ones - the other Cullens, the other shifters, the other vampires I counted as friends, Kate, Jessica, Angela, Rosalie, dad - were nowhere in sight. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe some of them got away. Maybe…

There was a sudden murmur from the faceless masses attending this audience in the throne room of the Volturi. Gray-cloaked guards filed in from doors on each side of the room, each of them bearing a silver platter, and each platter bore the lifeless head of a vampire, or a shifter, or a hybrid. Sam, Paul, Jared, Jacob, Embry, Quil, Seth, Eleazar, Carmen, Tanya, Irina, Carlisle, Esme, Eleanor, Jessamine, Jasper, Edward, Emmett, Kate, Rosalie, my father...they all stared in silent, sightless accusation.

I’d failed them. I’d failed them all.

I sobbed, despite my best effort to show no emotion before these utter bastards. Leah snarled, starting to shake as she fought her transformation. Aro’s smile widened.

“Bring out the main course,” he ordered.

Jane and Alec stepped abruptly into view, dragging Jessica and Angela with them. Both of them looked battered and broken, tears streaming down their faces, and Jessica in particular had been bound tightly and gagged, just like Callie, so she couldn’t save herself with any magic spells. Jane shoved Jessica into Caius’s lap, and he grinned like a hungry crocodile, but Marcus, as ever, remained distant and impassive. Instead of giving Angela to him, Alec kept hold of her, while his twin sister joined him on Angela’s other side. Ang’s eyes flicked to Edward, and she let out a loud wail, shaking violently.

Aro dragged Callie up and into his own lap, stroking her hair while she trembled, too weak and too frightened to do anything more. He looked to either side, nodding - and then as Caius, Jane and Alec attacked their own victims, he tore open my best friend’s throat and drank greedily.

Some of the vampires watching surged briefly forward in bloodlust and hunger, only to be stopped by the Volturi guard. There was no stopping Leah. An inhuman howl ripped from her throat, her bonds twisting with a loud, metallic screech as she exploded into her wolf form - and the blades did their work, cutting deep, sending her red, red blood spilling all across the stone floor, some of it splattering across my face and arms as she stumbled to the ground. Her howl fell into a low, fading series of whimpers, and her eyes met mine as the light slowly faded and her breathing stopped. Her heart stuttered in her chest and grew still.

A terrible heat began to rise, deep in my belly. I could feel tendrils of starfire snaking their way through me, worming through my limbs, up my throat, into my eyes. Something beneath my skin began to glow with a nuclear fire, writhing and twitching like worms burrowed deep in my flesh.

But no one else seemed to take any notice, even as my eyeballs grew so hot I thought they might explode, even as an unceasing light burned brighter and brighter within me, even as I felt something wake. Aro finished his meal and threw Callie’s bloodied corpse into the crowd, a melee breaking out as multiple vampires fought over his scraps. He rose from his throne, his pale hands wiping at his bloodied mouth and chin, though this did little more than spread the mess. He licked his long fingers as he strode over to Alice, smiling beatifically down at her. Then, with an exasperated, almost paternal sigh, he grabbed her head and tore it off, kicking her body to the floor in a smooth motion. He nodded to a guard as he walked away, and the cloaked figure stepped forward with a torch, setting Alice’s headless body ablaze, even as the life left her swiftly slackening face.

I began to shake, the light within me flaring brighter still, and something whispering in my brain in ancient and unholy tongues. Beneath my breath, I echoed its words, in a dead language that no human had ever known, and yet, the underlying sentiment resonated in my soul. Death. Destruction. An end to this petty creation and all the petty things that dwelt there. Let the stars align, let the barriers shatter, and let it all be washed clean in the pure and infinite fire.

“Alas. Poor Alice,” Aro pronounced, holding her head aloft. He wasn’t even looking at me - he’d turned to address Marcus. “I knew her, Marcus...oh, come on, dear boy, the least you could do is crack a smile…”

No words fell from my mouth - or, at least, none that these insects would understand. My mouth opened wider than ever before, my skin cracking to grant it more space, and I screamed. Light exploded out from me, and the creatures all around me lost their sparkle in an instant, lost their strength, their glory. Blood poured from their noses, their mouths, their ears.

I wasn’t done. My head snapped back, my gaze turning skyward, and I was nothing but the scream and the stream of light that burst upward like a solar flare. The castle shattered all around us. The former vampires exploded in bursts of light, like tiny supernovae - exactly like supernovae, because I could see the gorgeous gamma ray bursts they gave off, shimmering in the prettiest shades of lethality. I could see so much now.

I giggled, even as I screamed, even as the tentacles of light ripped their way from my crude mortal shell with sweet, delicious agony, even as I grew, and grew. I howled with laughter as my fire expanded across the place I had once known as Volterra, then the place the pitiful inhabitants of this world had called Italy, then something I thought I might have heard referred to once as Eurasia, and finally all the way around a little cinder called...oh, I no longer remembered. It scarcely mattered. I was already spreading out and out and out, across the entire universe, and even thatwasn’t enough, I was everything and I needed more and oh, just there, someone had thought they could wall me in, foolish little thing…

I shattered the barriers that separated the finite and the infinite, and light met light with the most terrific explosion, and I laughed and I cried and I gibbered and I screamed.