#the delay on moving forward was that a few other publishers wanted time to consider the book and potentially make a counter-offer

[pangur-and-grim]

we’re moving forward with a publisher 😤 just gotta get all the terms worked out, and then it can be signed & we’ll do the whole announcement thing

[paradise-in-k4]

The Gap in the Evening, Entry 2: “Alarm the Aya”

With our thoughts aligned, we started making our way to the Human Village from the junction before getting jumped by what looked like a flying girl with a camera. It was exceptionally difficult to keep track of her movements since she was moving at mach speeds, something that could only be achieved with jet aircraft. At the same time, she could’ve easily been able to achieve warp speeds and we would still not be able to tell the difference. That’s just how fast she was. She could keep up with the JSDF’s latest fighter jets if she wanted to, which says a lot about how researchers are slowly breaking down barriers between fantasy and reality before reclassifying last millennium’s fantasies as our reality or simply fiction. It wasn’t until she stopped to review the photos she snapped of us that we could get a grasp on who she was… mostly because she introduced herself as Aya Shameimaru the tengu, and then started to press us for an interview like any other pushy journalist trying to comprehend the ongoings of our modern world. She asked me what we were doing as we walked to the Human Village, under the assumption that we had recently arrived in Gensokyo and somehow ended up in Youkai Mountain’s foothills. We didn’t really say much about our investigations, but she somehow eventually figured us out as she walked us to a vacant building in the village where we could stay overnight.

It was there when she promised us that she wouldn’t do anything rash with the information that she’d gather from the impromptu meeting. So we told her everything we knew about what we now considered the Parallel Satellite Incident… until she said that she’d publish it in her public newspaper. At that point, Maribel did the only thing she could do and kept quiet, much to Aya’s surprise. Seems like she’d try every trick in the book to get the rest of the story out of us, but she didn’t want her real name to be associated with this article. None of us had any room to settle this matter financially, and we surely didn’t want to draw more attention to ourselves than we already did as impromptu investigators from another universe. But after a long night of negotiating and a bit of light banter coupled with a promise to meet again at a local lamprey vendor, we did the only thing we could think of to find a middle-ground between our proposals, and asked her to keep this issue as low-profile as possible if she were to publish our findings.

She agreed to the terms with the condition of limiting the amount of newspapers containing this interview with us to her boss, a couple shrine maidens, four wise people that Marisa had called the Sages (of whom we had assumed were authority figures), and a few other people who Aya said had resolved similar incidents in the past. Chuckling about how she had this scoop and someone else named Hatate (probably a rival coworker) didn’t, we shook hands and went on with our interview. It wouldn’t be long until we would emerge onto the radars of many notable people that lived here. Was this a kind of fame we sought out? Perhaps as much as the fame sought out by scientists and detectives unknown when they find a major breakthrough in a case that they’ve been unable to fully understand for years. Perhaps then, we could begin establishing a sort of long-term forward office where we can conduct our research on the Parallel Satellite and other notable sites with the help of the local public without any further delay…

-Renko Usami

——————————

Muse Notes: Aya Shameimaru

Title: Traditional Reporter of Fantasy

Universe of Origin: L1

Size (headcanon): Average, 5’7”

Species: Youkai, Crow Tengu

Pronouns: She/Her

Age: 1,000+, exact age unknown

Personality: Aya is good-willed and often gets along with humans and other youkai, especially when they subscribe to her newspaper, although she has a disinterest in the rigid tengu hierarchy. At times she can become overly opportunistic to get big scoops for her newspaper to make herself known as a reputable news source that reports the truth, even if the words are sometimes twisted to lie through omission (or just outright lie), slander/whistleblow others, publish opinionated/sensationalist articles, or fulfill another of her motives. However, her interests also lie with the wellbeing/protection of the Human Village as part of her role as a tengu, as they are sometimes seen as mountain-dwelling protectors of humans. To this end she fulfills this role by cooperating with others to resolve incidents, and sometimes publishing somewhat-altered news to keep the Human Village from descending into mass panic during crises and incidents.

Occupation: Owner and Writer of the Bunbunmaru Newspaper

Home Region: Youkai Mountain

Abilities: Capable of manipulating wind

Wind: Aya’s innate/inherent ability as a tengu. Both with and without her fan, she can create, control, and disperse high-pressure winds at will. She could even create tornadoes if she wanted to, although that is more of a last resort deal for her. Many consider this power to be among some of the strongest abilities in Gensokyo, although Aya prefers to prevent fights if/when possible. She almost never uses this power to purely show off, much like other tengu.

Speed: Tengu as a species are really just that fast, left unmatched by many humans and youkai alike. Aya alone declares her claim to being “the fastest” in Gensokyo, even being capable of out-speeding a speedy vampire like Remilia Scarlet according to Marisa.

Skills: Aya is a skilled photographer, interviewer, and writer, all necessary skills to facilitate a one-tengu newspaper that could be considered a prominent source of information. At the same time, she is proficient in combat with nothing more than her fan as both a melee weapon and a means to use her wind ability. Just like almost all tengu, Aya’s drinking tolerance can rival that of most oni.

Possessions:

Hauchiwa fan (hand fan made of bird feathers that can generate wind)

White blouse

Black short skirt

Red token (hat that doubles as a divination cup)

Tengu geta (clogs or other footwear with one extra-long tooth on the bottom)

Camera (tengu-grade camera that can take pictures and sometimes erase bullets)

Bunkachou (tengu notebook used by Aya to record information)

Orange reporter’s armband that reads “Shuzaichuu” (“collecting material/the scoop”)

Muse-Specific Headcanons:

She likes to say “Ayayayayayayaya” in many situations as both a catchphrase and a reaction to others

Aya has a number of youkai crows under her supervision, but not a whole lot. Probably about 4 to 6 at most on a normal day, but that doesn’t equal a hard limit she can call upon in certain circumstances (see Crow Sign “Daymare in the Dark Night”)

Aya can fly on her own just fine, but she can also fly by using her crow’s wings that she can summon at will or conceal from sight

The newspapers she sells are typically free, although super-limited editions go for about a hundred yen or more each depending on the contents

Futsubasa no Rei helped Aya get the Bunbunmaru Newspaper off the ground before she departed elsewhere

Blog-Specific Lore Notes:

Previously unaware of the Parallel Satellite Incident, she planned to publish this incident alert in her newspaper after being informed of it by Renko and Maribel. After their vehement refusal to disclose further details after realizing that she would publish it, she made a compromise to instead print a special limited edition that she would only send to a dozen or so “important” people of Gensokyo. Among them included the Tenma, the sages, the two shrine maidens, the usual incident resolvers, and prominent residents of the Human Village

She has attended the 2nd Multiverse Fighting Tournament as a journalist alongside Alice to gather information for a special edition of her newspaper

Aya has joined in the investigation of the West Mountain

Aya is aware that an alternate Marisa has come to her Gensokyo following Rei’s initial investigation of the West Mountain

Aya was the one to spot and report on another Marisa attacking the Scarlet Devil Mansion, easily making a headline for it

Spell Cards:

*Intended purely for close combat

**Can be used for close combat, but also meant for longer range danmaku duels

Wind Sign “Wind God’s Fan”

Gust “Wind God Girl”

Crossroad Sign “Crossroads of Heaven”

Crossroads Sign “Saruta Cross”

Wind God “Wind God’s Leaf-Veiling”

Wind God “Tengu’s Fall Wind”

Wind God “Storm Day”

“Illusionary Dominance” (“Taking Fantasy by Storm”)**

“Peerless Wind God”

Blockade Sign “Mountain God’s Procession”

Blockade Sign “Advent of the Divine Grandson”

Blockade Sign “Terukuni Shining Through Heaven and Earth”

Whirl Sign “Autumn Leaf Fan’s Wind”*

Tornado “Guidepost for the Advent of the Divine Grandson”*

Headwind “Route Forbidden to Man”*

Thrust Sign “Tengu’s Macroburst”*

Wind Sign “Opening Wind of the Tengu Realm”*

Demon Beast “Sickle Weasel Veiling”*

Squall “Sarutahiko’s Guidance”*

Whirl Sign “Fluttering Fey Fan”*

Whirlwind “Torii Whorl-Wind”*

Wind Sign “Tengu Newspaper Deadline Day”*

Crow Sign “Daymare in the Dark Night”*

Reporting “Aya Shameimaru’s Coercive Reporting”

Telescoping “Candid Shot”

Snapshot “Fast Shot”

“Crow’s Darkness” (Spell Card Bomb shared with Reimu in Subterranean Animism)

Last Words and Impossible Spell Cards:

Photography “Quick-Shooting Tengu Scoop” (Impossible Spell Card)

“Instant Shot Journalist” (Impossible Spell Card)

Wind Sign “Tengu Rainstorm Gust”

Shutter Chance Izuna Drop (Last Word from Lost Word)

Giant Shellfish of Azaka (Last Word from Lost Word, A9 Aya)

[star-lemonade]

Private Video (1/2)

A.C.E Donghun x Reader

Cw: smut, asmr

Rating: R

Word count: 3.2k

Not betaed. thanks to @silent5tar for reading it ahead of release <3

“I heard your channel is doing well.”

Sujin smiled over the edge of her mug. She had never really understood the appeal of ASMR, but she still supported your endeavors.

“Yes, it is. Next month I will invite you to dinner.”

“Oh, so you really make some money?”

Sujin raised one eyebrow. A look that fit her face well. Even in situations like this her words never came out accusatory.

“Not really, but I can take my best friend out for dinner anyways.”

She smiled as the waitress came with your cakes. No, the youtube channel did not really make money, if you consider the cost of the microphone and filming equipment but it was a good pass time. The feedback from people in the comments felt good too.

“Ah! I remembered something.”

Sujin leaned forward as if people in the cafe would pay attention to your conversation. Of course no one was looking at you.

“Do you remember Donghun?”

Yes, you did remember him. Donghun was Sujin’s ex-boyfriend’s friend. Well, friend is maybe said too much. They had attended some of the same classes and Donghun had hung out with him, and by extension you, sometimes.

“I do. What’s with him?”

“He asked for your number.”

That was surprising. You had talked a few times but mostly you had been there for Sujin, to spend time with her. Why did he want your number now?

“Okay. Why tho?”

She shrugged. At least she had not just given out your number to anyone who asked. A bit more information would have been though.

“No idea.”

You thought about it. Technically you knew him so it was not like you would give your number to a stranger and if you did not like where the conversation was going you could still block him.

“Okay, give him my number then.”

A few days later Donghun asked you to meet him for coffee. The place was in a particularly hip part of town. Every coffee shop here was the picturesque backdrop for some influencer’s instagram post.

You entered the shop and looked around. Donghun was nowhere to be seen. You got yourself a coffee and sat down. The place was cozy with its assorted armchairs and low tables. It would be perfect to come here and read a book. It was not too loud either at the moment at least. You sank into the soft cushions. The armchair felt like a lot of people had previously sat in it. The seat had sunken in the middle but it was still okay. A shadow appeared in your periphery.

“Hi, how have you been?”

A soft voice asked from the side and you jerked up. Donghun had arrived. His dark brown hair fell into his eyes as he smiled, looking down at you. He took off his jacket and hung it over the armchair opposite you. The jeans and plain black sweater looked stylish on him.

“I’m good thanks for asking.”

“Good to hear. I will just get a coffee too.”

He joined the queue for the counter. The coffee shop was not very full at the moment, most people just got a drink to go and left again. Donghun looked different from the last time you had seen him. His hair was longer and dyed a warm shade of brown. The small piercing in the side of his nose was new too. It gave him an even more soft, pretty feeling. He looked like one of those instagram influencers that you followed for their cozy aesthetics and beautiful faces. You wondered if he had a public instagram account and if yes, how many followers did he have. I would follow him. You made a mental note to look for his account later.

He returned with a mug of coffee and sank into the soft armchair.

“So, why did you want to meet me?”

“Ah, yes it’s been a while.”

He looked down at his mug that he held in his hands. Several delicate metal rings decorated his fingers. You could also see a bracelet peek from under his sleeves.

“I have seen your videos and I love your channel.”

“Oh, so you are a fan.”

Your tone was teasing and Donghun smiled.

“I guess so.”

Not a lot of people you knew had much interest in what you did on your channel. Most had never even seen an ASMR video. Sujin had watched some when you started but it was not something that she needed in her life.

“What are your favorite videos then?”

Let’s see if he really watched them or not. You had not done that many videos over the past year or so, maybe 30 videos, but you had enjoyed making them. He leaned forward a bit as he spoke.

“I really liked the one with the lid sounds. Those containers from lush sound really good.”

You nodded.

“Oh and the long one. I listen to it while working.”

Ah yes. The long one. The 3 hour monstrosity had taken forever to edit together. You had made some mistakes and it delayed the whole schedule you had set for yourself. It felt good to hear that your work was appreciated.

“There is actually something I wanted to ask.”

He leaned forward and met your eyes.

“I would love to try it too. Recording a video I mean. Would that be okay with you? Maybe you can publish it, if it’s good?”

So this was his ulterior motive. It made sense. The equipment was pretty pricey so, if you do not know, whether or not you really like recording, it would be better to try first with someone else’s microphones.There was no harm in letting him play around. You seized him up. Donghun would look good on camera, you were sure of that. Personally you only showed your face very few times. It was enough to have good sound and nice close ups of the objects. One thing about him stood up to you the most.

“I think I have an idea for your video already.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, how is next Saturday for you?”

You set up your filming equipment in the small living room. Well, more like the room had become a set and had ceased to be a living room. You had built a soundproof box out of plywood and sound absorbing foam. While it was technically removable, most days you just let it stand there. It was simply too bothersome to move it elsewhere.

Donghun arrived on time. He rang the bell and you let him in. Just as you had told him, he wore an off white sweater. There were some colors that had to be avoided when filming videos, because they did not look as good on camera. The background in the sound proof box was black so this would make him stand out.

“Hi, can I offer you something to drink?”

“A cup of tea, if you have it.”

While you made tea for both of you, Donghun inspected the set. A chair was surrounded by three walls of sound foam. The camera and the microphone were plugged in to your computer and ready to go.

“Here.”

“Thanks.”

He sat down on the chair as there was no other place for him to sit that was not the floor. He blew on his tea.

“So, what have you planned for me.”

“Have you ever seen a hand sounds video?”

These kinds of ASMR videos featured a person rubbing their hand together in different ways. You enjoyed listening to them a lot and while you would have loved to make one yourself, the thought of having people look at you hands that closely made you uncomfortable. Okay, maybe they were doing that already but it would be even more intense.

“Oh. Yes, I have. You think I will be good at that?”

“You have nice hands, so…”

Now that you had said that out loud it seemed a bit odd. As if this was something inappropriate. It implied that you had looked at him. He held up his hands and inspected them. Pretend like that wasn’t awkward. He nodded.

“So, when do we start?”

You closed the blinds on the windows and began to adjust the lighting. Donghun looked really good. His skin had a healthy tone and the long hair, freshly washed, shone in the lights. He had rolled up his sleeves, but you wondered if taking the sweater off would be better.

You gave him a monitor - some earbuds - so he could hear himself while recording. He started to test the microphone and looked surprised at the sound. You could not hear the sound of the microphone but it was okay. You would watch the recording a bit later. Donghun rubbed his fingers together and experimented with speeds. His hands were graceful and you could not help yourself but stare. Even if it was disguised as monitoring the recording.

“Can you come over I wanna try something”

You walked over to him, wondering what it was. He took your hand and pushed the sleeve of your shirt up. While close to the microphone, he ran his palm over your arm. A shiver ran down your spine. His hands were a bit more on the soft side and the way he rubbed your arm, even if unintended, put you on edge. It had been some time since you had had a partner and this felt almost too intimate.

Thankfully Donghun did not notice the effect he had on you because he was focused on the sound only he could hear. You controlled your breathing as it would be audible on the recording. Please stop being so handsome. The faint smell of shampoo and freshly washed clothes tickled your nose. It made your stomach drop.

Okay, but is it possible that I am developing a crush on Donghun right now? That was totally possible. You had always found him kind of attractive, but you had never spent that much time together.

“Are you okay?”

His voice was soft, only audible because it was so quiet. It brought you back to the present.

“Yes...yes! Sorry I…”

You cut yourself off. Don’t mumble. His fingers pressed lightly against the palm of your hand. Almost like holding hands but not quite. He got up, not letting go.

“Can we take a break?”

“Sure.”

You were very aware how close he was and of his fingers gently holding your hand. His eyes were a warm shade of brown that reminded you of chocolate.

“Let’s go then.”

A trip to the coffee place around the corner gave you a bit of time to sort your thoughts. Maybe you should ask Donghun if he was looking for a girlfriend. If he was, you could ask him out. There was no point in denying you felt something for him. Now, the only question that remained was, how could you ask subtly about his relationship status. You could not bring yourself to just ask. What if you made it awkward? What if he laughed in your face? No, you wanted to do it, indirectly. You would come up with something.

After you drank your coffees, you returned to the apartment. Donghun recorded for about two hours. You would have to cut some parts where a truck drove by or where the neighbors talked too loudly but it had looked good.

“Awesome, you did a good job!”

It was true you really liked the video and sounds you had recorded. You set the earphones down and looked up at Donghun.

“Is it really okay if I upload this?”

From a legal standpoint you could not simply upload someone else’s face to your Youtube channel. So you had to ask.

“Yes!”

He beamed as he put on his jacket. You did not want him to leave but could not think of a reason to make him stay. Donghun must be tired. Sitting in the chair for so long was surprisingly exhausting. You knew that from experience.

“Awesome.”

You saw him to the door. Donghun standing in your door was something you would like to see again. When he came back that was.

“It was fun recording today! Thank you for letting me do this.”

His smile was a ray of warm sunlight.

“No problem. I had fun.”

He stood in your door and buried his hands in the pockets of his pants. I bet the hair feels as soft as it looks. It looked like he wanted to say something, probably goodbye. The time was now.

“Would you like to grab a coffee sometime?”

He looked a bit surprised but a smile appeared on his face.

“Yes, I would like that.”

“Good.”

Your heart had skipped a beat when he had said that. Hopefully it would not be too long before you met again.

“See you around.”

The video with the title “Hand sounds with my friend” was a big success. Comments and likes poured in all day. One of the most upvoted ones read:

“I loved the part you did together. Can we get a part two? 😘”

The thought of Donghun running his hands along your skin was dangerous. It had felt so good. It had been two weeks since you had filmed the video but the memory was still vivid in your mind. The tickling of his fingertips brushing over your arm. The warmth of his hands and the smell of his hair were still there. You wanted to run your hands through the soft hair, wondering how it would feel. His head would tilt up and he would look up at you with those sparkling eyes. Maybe he would kiss your hands. Kiss your arm. Kiss your lips.

Your phone vibrated and you jerked from your daydream.

“Hey, do you wanna get dinner tonight?”

Donghun. As if your thoughts had summoned him…

“Sure, where do you want to go?”

Was this a date? You did not want to ask if this was a date or not. No need to make things awkward.

About 20 minutes before you had to leave for your maybe date, you stood before your wardrobe and weighed your options. The nice dress may signal your interest but could also be perceived as overkill for a casual date with a friend. Wearing a simple jeans and sweater or cardigan combo might seem too much like you were not interested and saw this more as a “friends going out to eat” situation.

You put on the dress. It showed way more cleavage than you remembered. You did not feel comfortable enough to wear it today. Jeans and cardigan it was. As fast as possible you changed.

In order to relieve some nervousness you went to the bathroom and started putting on makeup in record time. Usually you were too lazy to put on makeup but in situations like now it felt like armour. Whatever may happen today at least you looked your best.

The worry you had had about a look overkill dissipated, when you saw Donghun. He wore black suit pants, a white dress shirt and a cream colored blazer. A black silk shawl was tied like a ribbon around his neck instead of a tie. Your dress would have looked down right shabby next this. Donghun looked absolutely stunning.

“Hi!”

“Hello!”

He smiled a small smile. It made your heart jump.

You opened the glass door and entered. The restaurant was not very fancy and Donghun seemed out of place. One of the tables in the back was free and he walked towards it with unwavering steps.

He sat down and you took the chair opposite. You busied yourself with choosing something to eat. The laminated pages of the menu made your fingers even more sweaty. It’s not necessary to be this nervous. Calm down. But look at him! Is he playing a prince in a drama or something. Who shows up to a dinner with a friend looking like that?

It was true, he looked extra good today. The only logical reason seemed to be that he saw this as a date. Maybe it was a good idea to signal your interest.

“I really like your outfit.”

He looked down as if to check what exactly he was wearing.

“Ah, yes. Thanks. I was taking photos with some friends earlier.”

“Oh.”

You did not realize that you had said that out loud until he gave you a questioning look. Pretending to be suddenly very interested in the menu you looked down and hoping your blush was not visible.

The waiter took your orders and left. You still felt awkward and avoided looking at him by looking around the room. Some of the older men at the other table were clearly talking about Donghun. He, however, was not bothered by the way people looked at him. In general it seemed like not a lot could dampen his confidence. One time you had hung out with Sujin, her ex and some more friends, you had played some game. Your recollection of the night was not very good but the result of the game - or was it a dare? - was that Donghun had to put on one of Sujin’s crop tops. He wore it for the rest of the night even when you went to a club. Now that you thought about it, this was actually something you admired about him.

“I don’t think i have asked, but what do you do for a living?”

Donghun had mentioned working but you did not remember what it was that he did. As it turned he worked as a system administrator at a company not too far away. On the side he had an instagram account with a few ten thousand followers. Not a huge following but definitely something. You pulled out your phone and searched for his account.

“I will stalk your account later.”

“But don’t like all the old posts or people will notice.”

Eyes sparkled mischievously and you laughed. The few photos you had seen looked exactly how you had expected. All of them had a hard to describe coziness to them. Like the one of Donghun sitting in bed with a mug.

“How have you been doing?”

The food had arrived and you felt more relaxed around Donghun. He obviously did not think this was a date so there was no pressure on you to look your best. It was a bit disappointing but also a relief. You talked about your work and how you thought about changing jobs.

“Would you quit if your channel was making enough money?”

“hmm.”

You had thought about that before but reality was complicated.

“Right now i’m just doing it for fun but if it was a matter of paying the bills, I don’t think it would be as fun.”

Donghun nodded.

“It’s not very stable.”

“That too.”

If your channel did very well and you quit your shitty, but stable job, you would have to worry more about what videos would do well instead of enjoying what you do.

“Ah, speaking of the channel, I wanted to ask you something.”

Donghun looked up from his plate.

“The video we recorded did really well and people asked for another. Would you like to make another video with me?”

[chris-evans-indian-fanfic]

Delay

One-Shot

Description: You are sent to kill your target, but a delay makes you run into Natasha

Warning: Smut, pure filth, lesbian porn. Like seriously this is 99% porn 👀 AND I AM PROUD OF IT! 😁🏳️‍🌈

This one-shot has been requested by the one and only @cheeseburgersstuff Hope you enjoy this dearie 😘❤️😄

Main Masterlist

I don’t consent to have any of my work published or featured on any third party app, website or translated. If you are seeing this fanfiction anywhere but Tumblr and AO3, it has been reposted without my permission. In that case, please do share the link and let me know.

…

You were at the bar, swirling the lone olive in your martini. S.H.I.E.L.D's downfall hadn't been kind to most of the agents and spies, and you, just like some of your ex-colleagues, worked as an assassin for hire, though you still followed your moral-code and were picky when it came to choosing clients or targets. Your mission was supposed to be over by now, but your target decided to spend another day in the Bahamas, thus delaying his death by 24 hours. Searching for an excuse to pass the time, you looked around the bar, however, nobody was worth a second glance. 

You smelled her perfume first. Always light, sweet, with hints of citrus and floral notes. Within the next 2 seconds, you heard her chuckle.

As you turned back to your glass, you felt the air change.

Her lips soon met the dip between your breasts. She licked the outline of your left breast, her tongue touring the shape of your curve as you struggled to breathe. She then placed open mouth kisses on your bosom, kissing everywhere but the brown bud, now erect and tight with pleasure.

"Looks like we are after the same man," Natasha quipped as she took a seat besides you. 

You turned towards her with a smirk, drinking in her appearance like a glass of stiff gin. Natasha looked… breathtakingly stunning. The dark maroon off-shoulder gave a generous view of her cleavage, tapering off at her waist. Her sleek black pants accentuated her curves, tied with a big, leather belt at the centre. Her midriff showcased the large gold buckle as a crown, twinkling in the muted light of the hotel's bar.

Your eyes finally rested on her face. Her hair was now blonde, a complete 180 from her fiery, red mane that you had grown to relish in your fantasies. Though you had to admit, this look suited her fine.

"It seems that we are," you finally replied, sipping your drink as she considered you. 

"What do you want with Connor?" she inquired, clearly a bit surprised by your presence.

"Ahh you know, the same old. A lovely dinner at the rooftop restaurant, a sensual dance, peaceful walk in the garden, shooting him with 9mm bullets till he bleeds to death. Then maybe head for a midnight swim," you replied nonchalantly.

She cocked an eyebrow, "Not a very romantic way to end the evening."

You raised your hands in defence, "Hey, a girl's gotta eat."

Natasha held your gaze with worry. She knew you were one of few agents who were considered her equal back at S.H.I.E.L.D., and ever since you had started offering your services to the highest bidder? Your skillset had increased by leaps and bounds. Once where you had struggled to use a katana sword, you were now competent in wreaking havoc with just a paperclip. Slightly frowning her head, Natasha started saying, "I am here-"

"-to protect him. I know," you completed her sentence with a wicked grin, "Whatever shall we do now?"

"I was hoping I could reason with you," Natasha urged you, "we need to bring him in for questioning. He has vital information about…," Natasha stopped herself before continuing, "...something and we want that data."

"That data is why he's soon going to be 6 feet under honey," you winked at her and finished your drink. 

Just as you started to get up, she leaned over and brought her lips close to your ear and whispered, "Now if only there were something I could offer to persuade you." She gently kept her hand on your thigh, slowly riding it up under your dress. 

You squeezed your thighs shut, stopping the ascent of Natasha's hand. You met her gaze, your lips almost touching hers, "And what if I am still not convinced?" 

Her luscious lips parted slightly to reveal a smile, "Then at least we would have spent the next 24 hours in bliss."

You smirked and gently bit her lower lip with your teeth, pulling it with you as you moved back a bit. You finally let it go with a pop, as Natasha was now almost on your lap, "Where so you want to persuade me?" 

"How about your room?" she asked as you shook your head. 

"I would have been out of here if it weren't for the delay," you replied and Natasha nodded.

She led you to her hideout, a small studio apartment situated in a quiet building at the outskirts of the city. The apartment barely had enough room to accommodate a kitchen, a double queen-sized bed and a small bathroom. 

You followed her inside as she switched on the dim lights, encasing the room in a warm glow. You hadn't even finished turning around on your heels when she crashed into you, smashing you to the door. Her lips created a storm on yours, her hands almost everywhere on you at once. You kissed her back just as fervently, exploring her mouth with your tongue while you held her hair with one hand, the other squeezing her ass.

The two of you parted after a few moments, desperate for air. "You are supposed to ask me for coffee first," your sarcastic remark was followed by a surprised gasp as Natasha tore the front of your dress, exposing your lacy bra to her.

She licked her lips as her eyes darkened with lust, "It's been too long," she whispered as she dove to kiss your breasts over your bra, "so long."

You fumbled to open her giant belt as she ripped apart your bra, exposing your breasts to the cool air of the room. But before she could take your nipple in her mouth, you held her chin and brought her face at level with yours. You kissed her as you started walking towards the bed, your fingers teasing her cleavage with feather-light touches as you unzipped her pants. 

By the time her legs touched the side of the bed, she was palming your breasts as you rubbed her mound over her pants. You pushed her onto the bed and watched as she almost bounced on the semi-hard mattress.

You returned the favor to her off-shoulder top and made quick work of getting her naked. Admiring her beautiful figure laid before you, you removed your ruined dress and joined her on the bed. 

Your passionate kisses resumed. Natasha quickly turned you over so that your back met the mattress as she worshipped your body. Her lips left a sloppy trail to your throat, sucking the spot where your neck met your shoulder. Her ministrations sent a shiver down your body to your core as you could only hold on to her hair for support. 

Filthy moans escaped your lips as you started squirming under her, already hot and bothered even though you knew she had barely begun. 

"What do you need baby?" she audaciously whispered as she looked at you with a smirk. 

You realised in that moment that Natasha was having fun at your expense. Too much fun.

You locked your legs above her waist and turned the two of you around again. Now on top, you let go of all the niceties as you took her hard perky brown nipple in your mouth, sucking and licking it with your tongue while your other hand traveled downwards on her fair body. 

You traced the V leading to her core, before you started rubbing it with the palm of your hand. Her pornographic mewls filled the quiet space as your thumb glossed over her clit. Her back arched off the mattress while the wetness from her mound coated your palm.

Your thumb kept ghosting over her clit, hardly applying any pressure on it as you started working on her other breast. 

She thrust her hips forward involuntarily, hoping to increase the friction, but you refused to relent. Finally, when she groaned out of sheer frustration, you looked up towards her with a shit-eating grin, "What do you want baby?"

She pouted her pretty lips, regret, lust and longing evident in her features.

"I want you to fuck me," she admitted.

"That's all you had to say," you replied as you entered one finger in her warm, dripping core.

She clutched your arm as you explored her walls. Your second finger joined the first, and the symphony of her moans filled the apartment. The speed of your fingers increased as the bottom of your palm met with her clit. You simultaneously sucked her nipple while squeezing her breast. Within moments, you felt her tense beneath you with pleasure, her cunt clenched around your fingers. She came as her body jerked on the bed, her release squirting out of her as you kept continuing your assault. 

Now covered in sweat, she finally rode her high, her chest heaving as she gasped for breath.

You settled down besides her, licking her juices off your fingers with content. When Natasha slowly got up, you thought she must be heading towards the washroom to clean up. But boy were you wrong.

She swiftly returned with a pair of heavy handcuffs and a strap-on tied to her pelvis. She practically jumped on you on the bed, caging your body beneath hers. She kissed the top of your nose as she worked tying your arms in the handcuffs with ease. 

"Try them," she urged. You tried to get out of the handcuffs, but every time you struggled, the grip got tighter and tighter. 

She chucked quietly at your useless efforts. "Oh my dear wifey," she cooed with love, "Though I did enjoy our little roleplay tonight, you are truly mistaken if you think I will let you off that easy, especially on our anniversary."

As she kissed you with passion again, your body was lit on fire again, the twinkling wedding band on Natasha's finger promising you a night of sheer bliss.

Permanent tag: @donutloverxo @notyourtypicalrose @just-one-ordinary-fangirl

Taglist open! Just comment, send an ask or message!

[demonfox38]

Completed - Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Oh, my language is going to be vulgar on this one.

So, I'm a crusty millennial who likes old garbage. Most of the media I like is old enough to drink and be a member of the US congress, but probably couldn't be due to the country that produced it. Now, I'd like to think that I've got good reasons to like older media, particularly when it comes to video games. It's a bit hard for my NES to bug me for microtransactions/DLC and emanate the screams of children and man-children alike. But, as much as I like my retro junk, there's one thing I'm very, very happy about regarding modern video games. The variety of game types now-a-days is a blessing. It's rare that someone is stellar at all game types, and I sure have my weaknesses.

It took me a long time to realize that I could be good at video games, and I wholly blame the glut of 1980s platforming games on that.

Look, platforming is not a forgiving genre. Particularly, back in the day where you had characters dying in 1-3 hits before factoring in death pits. It existed then for the reason that fourteen million instakill indie horror games exist now. Instantly killing the player is a lot easier to code than, say, having to track a health bar or their new position as an enemy swats them into a different room. Sometimes, a coder's gotta do what they can to keep themselves sane.

But, from a player's perspective, this style sucks!

Getting good at a platforming game requires practicing the same levels over and over again, developing a sense of your character's inertia and limitations. Without a save state or a warp to narrow in on a particularly troublesome location, it's hard to get learning to stick. You could lose a lot of games and time trying to put it all together. And some poor little character is always suffering because of your ineptitude! Such failure feels like a fork in an electrical socket. Succeeding in these circumstances requires a great deal of emotional resilience and a contrary attitude. And you know what? That's just not something I had as a kid. In fact, one could say I had my aggression and competitive drive scolded out of me. I'm just now getting that back.

So, yeah. I had a little trouble with "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link."

"Zelda II" is part of a trifecta of NES games that get routinely shit on by retro reviewers. Like its peers "Super Mario Bros. 2" and "Castlevania II", this game is generally considered an inferior game due to an extreme change of gameplay and appearance from its predecessors. And you know what? That attitude sucks. I'd rather have a variety of different games with a cast I like than have them pigeon-holed into one genre. In "Zelda II"'s case, however? The game mechanic shift was so extreme that I can easily see the ire it raises. Hell, I felt it. I wouldn't go so far to say that it's the worst Zelda game ever, but man, does it have structural defects.

In "Zelda II", Link's goal is to save an ensorcelled Zelda from eternal slumber by picking up a Triforce chunk that was pitched into a fuck-off palace way at the edge of Hyrule. (No, not the Zelda from the first game. Another Zelda. Same Link, though.) To do that, he's got to slap six gemstones into various temples across the countryside. Naturally, that includes picking up his trusty sword, leaping into battle, and then maybe straight into a death pit.

That's right. This Zelda is actually a Mario.

Further complicating the matter is a sharp switch in battle style and item accruement. While the previous Zelda game was about room management and ranged combat (or at least, as much as that was allowed), this game is all about jamming Link's dinky sword into an enemy's face and running off as fast as he can. Now, Link can learn a few tricks to help with the slash and dash, like directional stab mechanics and spells. But, as far as getting new weapons to help you? Sorry, bud. No bombs or boomerangs here. Well, except for the assholes throwing boomerangs at you, anyway. You just can't steal them.

The game encourages polishing the player's skill with Link through a level system. After acquiring XP through good ol' fashioned monster murdering, Link can cash his points out, improving his life, magic, or attack power. As the player levels him up, stats become more costly to improve. If Link gets a total game over before you use your XP, it is wiped out. Alright, fine. Fair, I guess. But, I wouldn't recommend looking at Japanese footage of this game if you don't want to give yourself a migraine. It turns out that as a part of some rebalancing, the level-up system was stacked to try and keep players from dumping all of their points into a single stat early into the game. Particularly, attack. Considering how painful and annoying enemy logic gets in this game, it's such a drag to learn that Japanese players literally could cut their way right out of that struggle. Thanks for dicking with the game design again, American publishers.

I guess we got better looking sprites and sound effects out of the deal? Hooray for wiggly Barba.

Even with leveling mechanics and a handful of heart and magic containers, this Link feels much frailer than the original Zelda's Link. Like, it's hard to believe he's supposed to be the same guy. Even at max health and defense, you could get Link wiped out with 8-32 hits (as opposed to 16-64 hits from the first game.) Exacerbating that is a life system that can yoink those health bars at any pit's whim and Link's range/health restoration being tied to a limited pool of magic. It feels like you're playing with a ceramic replica of the original character. You can make it work in a fight, sure, but you'd rather have a sword than a shard of a broken teapot.

If you don't have a bushido-level acceptance of death, you're not going to make it very far in this game. I'm not being hyperbolic. You have to accept that you are going to kill Link. You're going to watch that little fairy boy fade to black as the world flashes around him, and you're going to see that a lot. You're going to toss his bitch ass into the river to get a game over and restock your lives because fuck if you're going to wipe out inside a dungeon and have to start your bitch ass back at Zelda's temple again. That little counter on the main menu isn't how many times you have wiped out. It's how many times you've clawed your way out of the abyss with a middle finger raised.

Oh. Minor epilepsy warning on boss and Link deaths, by the way.

Having gone full bleak there for a moment, there are a few pieces of knowledge that can help slow down the cycle of life and death:

There are towns with nice ladies in red dresses and orange robes that will heal your ass for free. You should talk with them a lot.

There are classes of enemies that will drop items after they have been killed six times. Most of the time, this is a magic bottle that restores MP. Sometimes, it's a bag of experience. No monster will drop anything to heal your HP.

Also, some enemies are literal rat bastards that steal your XP. Some also give you no XP on killing them. Yeah. I know. Annoying.

The Life spell is in Saria. The downward stab is in Mido. (I realize these are very strange sentences if you're more familiar with "Ocarina of Time.") Getting these can make a night and day difference in surviving the game. So, keep that in mind.

You do get a spell that will turn you into a fairy. You can use it to game pits and sneak past lock doors. Just don't abuse it too much. It's expensive.

The dungeons have this little statue in front of them that you can whack with your sword. In most locations, it'll drop either a magic bottle or an Iron Knuckle. Game entering and exiting a dungeon as much as possible to restore yourself to full vitality.

You can get into random fights on the overworld (represented either by a little black blob or a more threatening human-sized blob.) Staying on gold roads will mean these encounters produce no enemies.

Also, you can use those random battles to override forced platforming sections. Not that I would recommend cheating in such a fashion. 😉

The game will give you a level up after you plug a gemstone into a dungeon. If you're close to leveling up anyway, turn around and grind up to the top, cash in what you've got, and then go pitch that gem.

Link has a crouch, not a duck. You think pressing down on the D-pad will evade projectiles aimed at your face, but it does not. Crouching is only good for blocking floor-level garbage. It's best not to think of the down button as much as possible, really. Only use it to pick up crap off the ground and cheese the final boss. Otherwise, jump.

I know that I said earlier that "Zelda II" is mechanically like a Mario game, but you know what other perspective might help? Try and play Link as a Metroidvania Castlevania character. There's an attack style in games like "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night" and "Aria of Sorrow" where you walk, jump, and attack in such a way that you never stop moving forward. That's what you've got to do. Walk, jump at an enemy, bonk on forehead. (Depending on how fast you press the attack button, you may need to delay swinging your sword just a teeny bit. At least, I had a bad habit of swinging too early.) With any luck, when you hit the ground, you will be able to keep on moving. You do not want to get stuck playing "poke-the-hole" with your enemies, particularly with how turtle-y some of them can get.

So, the game's a brutal bitch, but I don't want to spend the entire time shitting on it. Let's talk about improvements.

Honestly, I like the sprite style of the side-scrolling sections better than the previous game. Everyone/thing has more room to be rendered, so they look clearer. I can't say the monster or dungeon design here is my favorite, but hey. Easy to see. Yippie. Could have used a map though. Maybe some more tile textures in the dungeons?

NO. STOP. BE NICE.

There are more people around that want to help Link out. Like, whole towns filled with helpful healing ladies and dudes that will teach you magic and the occasional sword strike. Most of their conversation makes sense (although, there's a memetastic fault in translation regarding a character being named Error instead of what I'm assuming should have been Errol.) People good. Want to help people. People help me.

Except for towns where some of the people are monsters, and one of the times they overlapped a healing lady to get text box priority, and then they killed me. Boo.

I'M SORRY. I HAD A HARD TIME.

The music variety is pleasant. Only a few tracks have escaped the game to go into use elsewhere, but there's only one that I'm really iffy on. The NA release did a fine job transposing what they could using a different sound chip, and there are striking uses of the sample channel being used in ominous situations.

But…like…I struggle to see where fighting through this game is worth it. And maybe it comes down to the final boss. Like, the penultimate one? Absolutely cool. A bitch to fight, but I can't knock how massive and intricate its sprite is. But, the final boss? I suppose it comes down to personal tastes, but I find mirror matches/rivals to be exceedingly dull. Like, good for you. You know how I fight. I do too. Come back to me when you know the weaknesses of my style and use a fresh set of skills to throw at me.

Like, it's not the worst ending in the Zelda series. (My vote for that would go to "Link's Awakening.") You do get Zelda saved. But, given that the final boss is some kind of dark clone of yourself…it begs a lot of questions. Was there any concrete plan for the forces of darkness in Hyrule, or were various monster tribes just scuffling around, being dicks without any overarching plan? Were some monsters trying to keep you out of the Great Palace for a good reason? Would there have been any threat of Ganon reviving at all if Link just…sat on his ass behind a castle for the next century or managed his anxiety in a different way? Why does the manual bother to separate Zeldas and the game does not? Oh, wait. The Japanese intro correctly distinguishes this and the American one does not. Why am I not surprised? What's the difference if you don't see the Zelda you saved from the first game, anyway?

This game is a lot of work. I had to psych myself up to play it every time, and by the end, I was rattled enough by my nerves that I literally camped in my bathroom for a few minutes just to make sure I didn't get sick on the couch. Very stressful. And I'm not sure that stress was worth it, frankly. Life's hard enough as it is right now. I literally have a stress rash on my neck from the shit I'm going through in real life. No, you did not need to know about that. But maybe you need to know that I've been having a hard time lately, and this game did nothing to alleviate me from the stresses of reality. And what's the point in checking out from reality if a fantasy world is just going to make me miserable, too?

There are better games to play in this style. Hell, there are better games on the NES in this style. You know what you should go play? "Faxanadu." It's uglier than "Zelda II", sure. An absolute idiot when it comes to basic mathematics. But it's very chill about platforming and death. And maybe I just want to chill the fuck out for a while.

[ihasnotomato]

Kass Update 20th June 2020

Hey guys! So I know it's been a while since Kass has had an update of any kind but that's because I have been working on a few things behind the scenes that I didn't want to go too far into until I was sure about some things. Now I'm gonna say it straight up, most of what is in this post could be considered 'bad news' but I assure you the things I have decided for Kass are for the greater good in the long run.

So anyway I got 3 things to discuss about Kass right now: The animation, the comic and the website, so I'm going to section this post up into 3 parts so you can read whatever part interests you most!

THE ANIMATION

So some of you might be aware that I put the comic on temporary hiatus so that I might work on pursuing my interest in developing my skills in animation, and it has gone really well so far! I had many small animations in mind, the first being a fun little simple vid of Tubba Blubba from Paper Mario which took about 2 weeks to complete and then I immediately started on my next animation which focused on Kass. Initially it was only to be a simple lip sync test to help me learn how to animate talking, however it very quickly became so much more than that. The animation, despite only being a few seconds long has become one of the biggest products I think I have ever made at this point. I have essentially decided to go all out on it, having every frame of Kass herself being an entire drawing, giving it smooth lineart, full colour, shading and lighting and even getting in another voice actress to give Clementine a line. It might not end up looking like much to the untrained eye but from an animation perspective I have gone way above necessary for what it is but gosh dang it I'm enjoying it. Essentially that has been my life for over the last month, where I have worked on it every day, 6 days a week with some days even reaching up to 15 hours on it. I am very proud of how it's coming along and I can't wait to show it to you! But...

This is where the first bit of 'bad news' comes in, while the animation still isn't even done I'm afraid to say I'm probably going to delay the release of it even when it's finished... The most frustrating part of it is I can't go into why I'm delaying it either as it pertains to personal matters. I'm sorry if that's too vague but it's all I can say for now I'm afraid, and believe me it burns me up inside to do so, maybe one day I can explain why but for now you're going to just have to take my word for it However I should mention it's possible I will indeed be able to release it when it's done, or it could be a few weeks from now or even a couple of months (my bet is on that one) what I'm saying is I doubt the wait will be too long, but I can't say for sure right now.

THE COMIC

So as I have been nearing the end of the animation I gotta say I have been positively itching to get back into working on the comic! But the other night I had a bit of a think as to how I am producing the comic right now and I realized that I don't think I like how I've gone about it so far.

Essentially, I currently release Kass one page at a time as it was a response to my other works in both how long it took me to producing anything for my past comic (Edited) and how long it took to produce videos on my YouTube channel. I wanted to just get content out on the regular and actually just jump into something without constantly working behind the scenes with little to show over several months/ years in the case of Edited. But I've come to realize that when it comes to books of any kind, it's gotta be really frustrating to only read one page every week or so. Seriously how can I expect anyone to get invested when they only get the story in the tiniest of chunks at a time. While on paper It sounds like a good way to keep audience engagement but I think in reality it's the opposite. I mean, Imagine if Bryan Lee O'Malley published Scott Pilgrim one page at a time every week, you'd get nothing out of it. Therefore I've decided that going forward, I will not publish each page as it is made but rather hold onto them all and publish them all at once, one chapter at a time (I'm doing a chapter at a time because if it was the whole book, you'd be waiting for years and years probably).

Publishing each page at a time worked wonders for the beginning because it really helped me just get something out there, but now I think we're past all that and it's time to be smarter about this. That being said, what to do with the rest of chapter 2? A part of me wants to finish up this chapter by going page by page but a much stronger part of me says it's far better to start holding onto them now, I don't fully know what to do about it so I'm opening up the question to you:

"How should I finish publishing chapter 2? One page at a time? Or all at once?"

THE WEBSITE

So I'm sure I've talked about the potential of a website for a few posts now, and it's been a bit weird. At first I had little success in finding an appropriate way of making the website that suited my needs but I may have found something that sort of works now. But admittedly when I found the site I was very busy on other things by that point and kind of threw it by the wayside for a while. So what's the deal now? Welllll, while I still don't know all the details on making it I do very much plan on pursuing it and releasing it at a proper point. You see the launch of the site is a big deal to me and I would want to celebrate it by actually giving you guys something to actually be on the site, namely say.... an animation or a new chapter....  you see where I'm going with this?

Essentially I want to hold off on the site until I have something to release it with, and look I know I could still make it at anytime and just have what I already have on there but I just feel it's the right move to wait on that too when I actually have something to show for it.

SUMMARY

So yeah, while I am still working on Kass and many things for Kass, unfortunately everything Is still a little ways off. It's entirely possible that some of these things might appear sooner than expected but I can't make any promises  Sorry if this post was a bit of a bummer but I like to tell you guys like it is and hopefully I'll have something to show you soon, maybe I'll try and pop out some individual art pieces of which I haven't done in quite a while due to these big projects.

Anyway, hope this didn't bum you out and hope you have a good day!

[irisouy]

Why I still believe in bellarke after S5

At the end of season 5 I wrote some meta about The100 that I did not publish. Season 6 arriving in April, I feel I should at least publish some of the content I wrote back then. And yes of course my first meta is about my OTP: Bellarke. So here is my first piece: how much I loved bellarke in season 5.

Disclaimer: this is my perception of season 5. I am a faithful bellarke believer and I do not hate any character, nor any cast member, nor any writer, nor producer. You have the right to disagree with my point of view, and if it’s the case just disregard my meta. No need to be angry, nor rude. Constructive criticism only. Beware, because I mention B.echo a lot in this meta.

Season 5 ended and so did the hopes of many bellarkers in the fandom; many feel betrayed and/or baited, others have just simply lost faith. For the very few who read me (trust me I am not a popular blog), you should know by now that I am not a disappointed bellarker and that I really enjoyed season 5.

Why do I still have faith? Because so far all I have seen about them is consistent and steady, slow… indeed, but very much steady.

Here are the points I am going to be discussing regarding the evolution of Bellarke during S5:

Reestablishing their partnership and connection

B.echo a tool to propel romantic bellarke

Betrayals to ground bellarke into reality 

Let’s dig into the season, shall we?

1.      Reestablishing their partnership and connection

At the end of season 4 when Bellarke was separated and the time jump was introduced I was pissed. I thought the twist was great, but I knew what it meant for my favorite ship: more delay. Indeed, this meant that all the escalating closeness and build-up between those two characters would take a major setback.

So when season 5 started I could not wait to have the bellarke reunion, because I was aware they would need to restore build-up because 6 years is a big deal. I hoped the build-up would be quick, but of course, this is The 100 we’re talking about and we all know that Bellarke is on top of the food chain when speaking about slow-burn love stories. The first step then was to reestablish the connection between two characters that spent 6 years apart and who started the season with two very different mind-frames:

On one hand we have Bellamy thinking he left Clarke behind to her death and having to cope with his guilt and move on with that idea at the same time. On the other hand, we have Clarke who has spent 6 years isolated with a child but has kept her hope that one day, Bellamy and Spacekru would come down.

At this point the problem with Bellarke is obvious: Bellamy has moved on and buried his remaining feelings for Clarke deep down, while Clarke has been waiting for him all along but is stuck with her memories of him. They both kept endearing memories of each other but they are not the same people anymore. And none of them are ready to open-up about the feelings they have for each other (yet).

When Bellamy finds out Clarke is alive and he swoops in to save her from Diyoza and delivers the infamous “She is”, I, just like all bellarkers was in awe. The subsequent hug was also beautiful and so intimate that I was surprised, because 6 years had passed, but it was obvious their connection was still there, it was real. The episodes started flowing one after the other and it was astonishing how they instantly moved back into their partnership: communicating through looks, moving in unison.

And then we got them acknowledge in canon that they were the “Heart and the Head” giving us a throwback of their conversation from the finale of Season 4: this marked the return of their bond.

Of course, us Bellarkers know that their non-romantic partnership is no longer enough… neither for us, nor for them. So how do you propel Bellarke into romantic territory, knowing that all they’ve had until now is a deep loving partnership? They have never been involved romantically with each other, and even though I believe they have been pining for each other for a while now, none of them thinks the other considers them in “that way”. They are both clueless about their real feelings.

So I believe the writers had to do something to stir things up and propel Bellarke towards a clear romantic path (or clearer). That’s where they decided to use a tool that had great advantages for them: B.echo.

2.      B.echo a tool to propel romantic bellarke

I know B.echo has clearly been controversial this season and for good reason: it was yet another obstacle put in the way of Bellarke. But as much as I don’t enjoy B.echo (although I don’t hate E.cho as a character, but again I don’t hate any character), it was not only an obstacle, it also was a “propeller”.

Yeah, you might think I’m crazy, but I am very much convinced of it and here’s why.

B.echo was first a tool to further Bellamy’s character development. Yes, he started a relationship with a former enemy, someone who tried to kill his sister, Clarke and who killed many of Bellamy’s people (Gina was not killed directly by her, it was another IN assassin who did the deed). E.cho was an antagonist in season 3 and 4, so starting season 5 with Bellamy in a full-on relationship with her was a big controversial move. But it was big mostly for Bellamy because it was an indicator of how much he had changed and grown during the 6 years spent in space. B.echo showed that not only Bellamy was able to move forward in his life, but that he learned to forgive himself and mostly others. Way back in season 4 I believed E.cho would play a role in Bellamy’s redemption arc because he needed to start seeing others as people who make choices just like him: not everything is black or white.

But if the existence of B.echo was the sign of Bellamy’s change, it was not the cause: leaving Clarke to die was. Throughout those 6 years Clarke remained a vivid memory and Bellamy lived his life with Clarke’s last words engraved in his head and heart. Bellamy’s change started because he wanted to live to Clarke’s expectations, dedicating his whole life to her. However, Clarke was a memory of a partner, not a romantic one, and with time passing, Bellamy buried deep down his burgeoning romantic feelings for Clarke.

Then it turns out that Clarke is alive. Bellamy is of course beyond thrilled, but it’s been too long and there are too many things going on for him to process what he really feels for Clarke. It seems that he has compartmentalized Echo being his girlfriend, Clarke being his long lost best friend and partner in crime. But then comes the scene where Bellamy poisons his sister in to save Clarke. This was fucking HUGE (excuse my language).

First, we had a direct comparison of B.echo’s relationship (romantic) with Bellarke’s relationship (not romantic yet) with the “traitor who you love” line from Octavia. This was made intentionally for Bellamy to realize that what he feels for Clarke is similar in nature to what he feels for E.cho: it is certainly NOT platonic. But the fact that Bellamy went to the most extreme lengths to save Clarke while he didn’t do it for E.cho speaks volumes about the intensity of his feelings.

So, in this case his relationship with E.cho has put in light the fact that:

His feelings for Clarke are romantic in nature

His feelings for Clarke are way more intense than those he has for E.cho

Not too shabby!

But B.echo has also helped Clarke consider her “pal” Bellamy as maybe more than that?

Obviously, Clarke’s close-ups while B.echo was kissing in two occasions where not an accident. That was intentional to show Clarke’s reaction: she is shocked and dumbfounded. You can clearly see that she doesn’t like it, she is very much bothered. Why would she feel bad that her “pal” Bellamy is making out with another woman? Well maybe because Clarke’s feelings for him are not platonic. Seeing B.echo together made Clarke well aware that she loves Bellamy romantically. She feels jealousy and sadness at the same time, because she is not in Bellamy’s life anymore, he has moved on, she lost her chance (at least that’s what she’s thinking).

And then we had the E.cho-Clarke scene which has caused a lot of controversy in the fandom, especially when E.cho calls out Clarke for “now caring” for Bellamy. You may like or not like the fact that E.cho is the one calling Clarke out on her feelings for Bellamy, but what I see here is Clarke’s response: “I always cared!” she responds right away, indignant. 

Once again, E.cho is used as a tool to show our protagonists’ feelings for each other. E.cho is used to stir things up…. And it works! Not just on the characters, but on the fandom as well, might I say.

The “I always cared” comes as a call back to L.exa’s “you care about him” when Clarke was denying caring about him in particular. But now, look at that, she doesn’t deny it, and doesn’t hesitate for one second.

So, you may not like E.cho, and that is absolutely fine, but when looking back at her character in season 5, she only really was used for one main purpose: stir romantic emotions between Bellarke.

Put it in your head: E.cho is only a tool at the service of Bellarke.

 3.      Betrayals to bring bellarke back to reality (to ground bellarke into reality)

The final obstacle for a romantic bellarke after the 6-year delay in their relationship was grounding their new-found relationship back to the reality of who they are now, and not who they were 6 years ago. Indeed, for 6 years both lived with a representation of who the other was: it was a mental picture of the other that escalated into a sort of persona that no longer existed.

But during those 6 years, both have evolved, both have found people they love and want to protect. Both carry their own trauma and are closed-off. How do you wake them up to the reality?

By showing who they are right now and breaking the illusion of the “perfect” image they had in their minds. That is why both Bellamy and Clarke betray each other during season 5.

Bellamy betrays Clarke by keeping her imprisoned while pushing Madi to accept he flame. He promised Clarke that he would protect Madi and she believed with all her heart that he would keep his promise. But she had in mind that he would do so the same way he used to: the way Bellamy used to protect his sister 6 years ago, not seeing the full picture, not caring about the wellbeing of others while doing so. However Bellamy has spent the 6 years of his life trying to fulfil the promise he made to Clarke: to lead with both his heart and head and he has succeeded in thinking and acting this way. He no longer rushes, he takes a step back and tries to assess the consequences of his actions. Clarke needed to realize that new side of Bellamy and the most effective way was by crushing the image she had of “Heart” Bellamy. But the thing is that Bellamy did keep his promise to protect Madi, just not the way she thought he would. This is the main difference and shocker for Clarke.

The same goes for Bellamy: he needed to realize that Clarke has been living alone with Madi for 6 years and that she has changed as well. She has undergone excruciating pain and loneliness: she is bruised and is no longer the cool-hearted leader she once was. All she has is Madi, she is her only world and family. Bellamy is going to be confronted to a Clarke who doesn’t think things through and who acts impulsively with only one thing in mind: her family, her person. And when she leaves Bellamy to die in the pit, his image of Clarke comes crashing down. He no longer is important to her, maybe he imagined that she once cared about him. The Clarke he has now in front of him has changed and is bruised: she trusts no one.

However why do I think this is positive for Bellarke?

Because to move onto a healthy romantic relationship, one needs to know the other person and see the person for who she/he is, not the representation one has in their heads. And the key element once they have confronted the reality is how they respond to it: do they hate each other and swear to not see each other anymore? Or do they accept this new person and move on from there?

The end of S5 clearly shows that they cannot envisage life without the other and that they are willing to accept the new person they have become. Clarke clearly showed that she regretted abandoning him to die and that she was relieved when she found out he was alive.

Bellamy only changed his mind when Madi revealed that Clarke had been calling him every day for 6 years. This proved that what hurt Bellamy the most was not that Clarke betrayed him, but that he thought she did not care about him anymore. Madi’s revelation proved him wrong, and in a heartbeat, he changed his attitude towards Clarke.

The following scenes between them clearly show that Bellarke is not done at all with each other. And the final shot speaks volumes about their relationship status.

Conclusion:

In S5 bellarke have found each other again, reassessed that they need each other in their lives and have accepted they are different people now.

So I believe that in S6 they have the perfect set up to finally become romantic. What about B.echo you might say? Well as I’ve mentioned, to me B.echo is merely an obstacle to Bellarke.

Keep in mind that Bellarke is a slow burn: every slow burn is given obstacles before they get to a love relationship. So writers “sprinkle” short to mid-term love interests throughout the seasons to:

Delay the central relationship from happening

Add drama

Teach lessons to their characters (character development)

And I am sorry to say it, but Finn and L.xa, from a pure story standpoint were only short-term love interests for Clarke (and Gina for Bellamy). Bellarke is always growing in the background…simmering. B.echo is not different from those relationships; it just delays the inevitable.

I truly believe that it’s JR intent to have romantic Bellarke and that we are not delusional: we clearly see the clues that the writers are throwing at us. For all those reasons I enjoyed Bellarke in season 5. Bellarke is the only relationship that has had a STEADY unwavering progression throughout the seasons… excruciatingly slow, yes, but steady.

Believe in bellarke. However, can they fucking kiss already?

[theonyxpath]

Fresh off the excellent meeting we had with Paradox and White Wolf in Berlin a week or so ago, and a week before we open the tomb of the Mummy: The Curse 2e Kickstarter, I figure it’s a good time to give you a look at some of my thoughts on a bunch of our game lines.

Scarred Lands:

With that lead-in paragraph, I bet you expected WW-IP stuff, but there is just so much happening with Scarred Lands that I wanted to get all that out first. To be honest, the interest in SL has been a real surprise. A great surprise, because there just seems to be a constant stream of folks that remember the setting from years ago and are excited to play and create with our new edition.

Which is wonderfully gratifying. Not only for the love and interest, but because we (I) was slow on the uptake on getting SL back on track after our original Scarred Lands partnership with Stewart Wieck came to an abrupt end with his passing. If I look back, I’m pretty sure I just delayed dealing with it, as jumping in where Stew was originally going to handle things reminded me of my friend too much.

But this year, we made huge strides – in a large part helped by the awesome efforts of all the creators on the Slarecian Vault (SL‘s community content site), our recently finished Creature Collection KS, and next year we’ll be presented monthly releases of Yugman’s Guide to the Scarred Lands, and the Vigil Watch project. There are weekly Twitch actual plays, and the amazing adventures of an awesome ratman (is it not all about him?) by Devil’s Luck Gaming that’s been running for months with all the twists and plot turns you could ever want.

Plus, just today Matt McElroy let us know that we’ll have a “What’s Up with 5e and Onyx Path” panel at Gamehole Con in Madison at the end of the week: https://www.gameholecon.com/events/event/7956 and he is running a “meat grinder” Scarred Lands game after hours at the con. If you’re interested in participating, let him know at our booth.

And then, we also have heard that the Scarred Lands supplement to Expedition, the exciting card and app-based RPG is going on sale the start of November. Here’s a description from Eddy Webb, who has been overseeing the project:

A lightweight, card-based roleplaying game that’s fun for players – and storytellers. Whether you’re playing alone, with a group of friends, your spouse or with your kids – anyone can learn to play in less than 5 minutes! Powered by a free companion app with hundreds of free adventures and new quests every week, there’s always something new to play! For 1-6 players, 20+ minutes, ages 8+

More on this as it’s released! Suffice to say, Scarred Lands has been reborn, and we’re just thrilled with how players have responded to its return!

M20 Book of the Fallen art by Sam Araya

World of Darkness:

We’ll be Kickstarting the traditionally printed and in-stores version of V5 Cults of the Blood Gods soon, and coming out of Berlin, our team has several more V5 projects to get rolling on. While we’ve been finishing the Stretch Goal rewards for several past 20th Anniversary Kickstarters, we also have a few more 20th projects that WW/Paradox is cool with us doing, so keep an eye out for those.

Overall, as WW/Paradox‘s method of handling the licensing of WoD changes as they continue moving to “5th Edition WoD”, we are comfortable with pitching individual projects or whole lines depending on the parameters they use on each line. Right now, if we get an idea we pitch it their way and see if it works with their plans.

Chronicles of Darkness:

Much like with WoD, we pitch interesting CofD projects to Paradox, and they can OK them or not according to their overall plans.

Which works out just fine for us right now, as we’ve got plenty to keep us busy as Dark Eras 2 proofs get finalized and out to backers, which has so many CofD lines in it, and with Geist 2e going to press, and Mummy 2e‘s KS and Hunter 2e‘s not far behind- plus all the attendant KS Stretch Goal projects, plus plus starting a couple of projects not yet on the progress report that WW/Paradox is OK with.

Exalted:

The big books roll along with Lunars and Exigents at different stages and with smaller books/stretch goals also rolling. We’re getting close to wrapping up the two monthly EX3 projects. There’s a very special secret project that we’ve been working on that we’re going to announce at PAX Unplugged in early December, and we’re really looking forward to letting our EX3 audience in on that!

In general, while we know folks might look back at the previous two editions’ release schedules and count the numbers, we are looking at how far our “new” Exalted team has come and the overall quality of the projects seems pretty satisfying. While we’re not aiming to return to the frenetic release pace of old, EX3 looks well positioned to deliver a more regular series of releases in the coming year.

Deviant: The Renegades art by Michael Gaydos

Scion:

For a while I’ve been thinking about how there’s really two tracks for Scion: the Mythic track, which contains Scion: Origin, Hero, Demigod, and God, and the projects that talk about The World and our take on how real-world pantheons would work in it like Titanomachy, and then there’s the Expanded track, which looks at ways to add further ideas on what could be considered a pantheon, or a god, or what else could exist alongside or outside the Mythic track. These would include Scion: Dragon, and Masks of the Mythos.

We’re aiming to create projects that provide value to both tracks, even if they are more firmly situated in a single one, and to release those projects so that everyone into Scion will receive a steady stream of excellent material. Having the Storypath Nexus community content site up and being the repository of even more potential Scion goodness is definitely part of the plan.

Trinity Continuum:

Sort of similar to Scion but the key design decision to build everything as a Continuum helps folks understand that we’re not going to stop with just the original eras but expand the potential eras from the past to the far future and eras in-between what we already have. Plus sideways and upways and downways. I’ve taken to considering the TC not as a linear time track alone, but as one with bubbles of eras that run parallel and drift closer or farther together depending on the interests of our players.

To use my favorite example, the hidden ultra-tech city of the intelligent gorillas may exist in a bubble that in your TC:Adventure! game is very close or even touching your TC:Adventure! era, but that same gorilla bubble may be far away and so unreachable in your TC:Aeon game.

So with the Trinity Continuum Core and TC: Aeon books shipping RIGHT NOW to backers, work progressing nicely on the final TC: Aberrant text, and TC:Adventure! on the progress report chart below, we’ve got all sorts of added Stretch Goal projects that are getting ready to come out, plus unannounced projects for both the Core and the TC itself that we’ll let you in on very soon.

They Came From Beneath the Sea!, Dystopia Rising: Evolution, Realms of Pugmire, and Cavaliers of Mars:

These are all verrrry different games, but all share the same publishing philosophy of launching and fulfilling a Kickstarter campaign to get the books into stores, and of working to provide a first wave of releases that support and add to the game line’s core book(s). Mostly via Kickstarter Stretch Goal rewards.

With Cavs and Pugmire, we try and work within the schedules and interests of the creators, Rose and Eddy respectively, so as they come up with ideas we bat those back and forth until a new project forms out of all of it. For They Came From and DR:E, we’re working on getting the core books created, as well as the supplements from their KSs. From there we’ll see if the interest is there for more projects with the line…but it’ll be a few months before those triggers are pulled and we have anything to announce.

Dark Eras 2 art by Luis Sanz

Legendlore:

This is one that I’m really interested in seeing how it hits. If you listen to developer Steffie de Vaan’s deep dive with Matthew and Dixie on last Friday’s Onyx Pathcast, she stresses that this fantasy world that has been around for decades as a comic book series contains a lot of inherent world design that she and her team took and expanded on – always with an eye towards the central premise of the setting: you the player are playing some version of yourself transported to this fantasy world.

This can be a touchy premise for a game, though. A lot of folks who play RPGs are playing to NOT be themselves, but to explore different types of characters. Steffie has that covered too, in much the same way that she has looked at how to make the premise work so that players have options that work for them, for their personal beliefs and ideas as to what sort of character they are comfortable playing.

It’s only one aspect of a rich fantasy world, but it is so intrinsic to the setting (even beyond how important regular character creation is for any game world) that it had to be handled with thought and empathy. If you have the time, take a listen – you’ll also get a chance to hear a lot more about the warring nations, and the skullduggery of appeasing a dangerous aggressive neighboring realm, and that there’s several different types of playable trolls (!), and much, much, more.

There you go – and I’m not even getting into the possible new licenses and other new lines we continue to look into. Truly, we have so:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

The Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition Kickstarter arises next Tuesday, Nov 5th, at 2pm Eastern US time. Be there to witness the majesty and terror of this new version of Mummy: The Curse!

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features the recorded Worldbuilding panel from the Save Against Fear convention – Eddy, Dixie, RichT, surprise guest Neall Raemonn Price, and other game creators answer questions from the moderator and the audience as to what challenges creators face in world building for their games. The answers are often surprisingly personal, and no one held back their opinions, that’s for sure!

What a week we have in store for you on the Onyx Path Twitch channel! Matthew has already hosted the Onyx Path News today in a bumper, hour long edition, and we’ve got games of V5, Scion, Pugmire, Hunter: The Vigil, Aberrant, Changeling: The Lost, Mage: The Awakening, and Scarred Lands all to come! Check us out and give us a follow on twitch.tv/theonyxpath

It really helps us to have subscribers on our Twitch channel, and you can do so for free and catch premieres as they go up if you have an Amazon Prime account. Just type Twitch Amazon Prime into Google and you’ll be shown how to subscribe for free.

Do you follow us on YouTube? Well, if you haven’t subscribed to us on Twitch, do not despair, as a couple of weeks after each episode on Twitch we transfer the videos over to YouTube right here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzN5jRB35OvnC-6gxnRY4gQ We already have episodes of Aberrant and Changeling up, with more to come!

Meanwhile, our fans keep creating excellent content for us, not limited to:

Occultists Anonymous continues with their fantastic Mage: The Awakening game right here:

Episode 54: A Marrow Escape The cabal travels into this strange Atlantean temple and tries to decipher the purpose of the building. The ancient defenses still work though…https://youtu.be/_6asdJMHo00

Episode 55: Judgment Call Shaking the remains of the Temple’s defenses off of themselves, the cabal begins to discover the heart of the Temple and it’s possibly dark purposes…https://youtu.be/S9eSLKTnUR8

Plus, the Story Told Podcast posts another episode of their fantastic Exalted: Dragon-Blooded series right here: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-17-welcome-to-daric

Do not miss Devil’s Luck Gaming with their superb Scarred Lands content: https://www.twitch.tv/DevilsLuckGaming

Watch Geek & Sundry‘s Eric Campbell discuss his love of Geist: The Sin-Eaters right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es7G-P9iou8

Twin Cities by Night continue their fantastic Chronicles of Darkness chronicle right here on Podbean: https://twincitiebynight.podbean.com/

Did you miss the Ragnarok & Roll podcast’s coverage of Scion Second Edition and their actual play spanning first edition’s Hero to Ragnarok? If so, please check them out here: https://ragnarokandroll.podbean.com/

If you want a fresh new take on Chicago by Night, complete with animated opening, please give the fine folks (with superb voice acting) a look at Windy City Kindred right here: www.twitch.tv/wickedstudiosllc

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find most of Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

The big Halloween Sale on DriveThruRPG and Storytellers Vault continues until Halloween.

Most of our Chronicles of Darkness PDFs will be on sale on both sites, plus there will be some Halloween Treats (i.e. free PDFs) hidden around the sites.

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’ll be resplendently releasing our monthly Exalted 3rd PDFs on DTRPG!

Conventions!

GameHoleCon: This week: October 31st – November 3rd in Madison, WI! PAX Unplugged: December 6th – 8th, in Philadelphia, PA. 2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th, in Milwaukee, WI.

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Redlines

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

Second Draft

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Development

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Manuscript Approval

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Post-Editing Development

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Indexing

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle – Sent out contracts.

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars – Contracted.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Trinity RMCs – Finals in.

Cults of the Blood God (KS) – Mark finals rolling in.

Chicago Folio – Finals rolling in.

Mummy 2 (KS) – Ready for KS.

City of the Towered Tombs – Contracted.

Let the Streets Run Red – Figuring out probable page count.

CtL Oak Ash and Thorn – Awaiting artnotes.

Scion Mythical Denizens

Deviant

Trinity Continuum Aeon Jumpstart

In Layout

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Template created… system chapter done.

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

VtR Spilled Blood

Geist 2e Screen – Putting it together.

Pirates of Pugmire

Proofing

M20 Book of the Fallen – At WW for final approval.

Memento Mori

Dark Eras 2 – First dev pass ready to go back to designer.

At Press

Trinity Core Screen – At Studio2 – shipping to backers.

TC Aeon Screen – At Studio2 – shipping to backers.

Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.

Trinity Core – At Studio2 – shipping to backers.

Trinity Aeon – At Studio2 – shipping to backers.

V5: Chicago – Printing.

Aeon Aexpansion – PoD proofs ordered.

W20 Art Book – On sale next week.

W20 Auspice Gift Cards deck – Backer PDF out to backers, PoD proofs ordered.

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition) – Getting print files ready.

DR:E – Getting print files ready.

DRE Screen – Getting print files prepped.

C20 Cup of Dreams – Backer PDF with backers.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties – PDF out to backers.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Eight years ago, I let the ever-optimistic Impish Ian Watson know that Onyx Path had purchased the Trinity IP from White Wolf/CCP. And that we were going to bring it back and he was going to be as involved as he wanted, after all his years of keeping the flame lit. Today, Ian received his KS copies of the Trinity Continuum Core, and Trinity Continuum: Aeon. Took longer than either of us expected, but the dream is now real!

[collectiveyou-blog]

@padfootagain

After a delay for the holidays, I’m excited to share the lovely Carole @padfootagain is this week’s writer of the week! So excited to share her story with you all. Check out her blog and read some of her wonderful writings. Send some love this week as January is @faficowrimo as well!

An admin note as well: wotw will be posted Sundays each week from now on.

Tell us a little about yourself.

Well, hello! Thank you for doing this, this is so much fun!

So, my name is Carole, aka padfootagain. I am 23, I’m French and I am doing a PhD in nanomaterials (basically, chemistry). I have a Master’s degree in Physics and Chemistry, with a specialty in Nanosciences and I am doing a PhD because I want to be a researcher :)  I love cinema in general, books, music and drawing. And obviously, I love writing :) I have fallen a few years ago in the pit of fandoms, and I don’t think I’ll get out of it, not that I want to, to be honest. Which explains why I write fanfictions!

What do you currently write?

Oh dear… I write for quite a lot of fandoms. It started with the Marauders (so HP) and it got completely out of hand and now I also write for Narnia, the MCU, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Stranger Things, Poldark, LOTR and a handful of characters played by Ben Barnes (yes, I’m a fan of this actor). I also write for a few actors. I write original stories that are not fanfics as well. And I write both one-shots and series, long and short. I have a tendency to write more than I intended to at first :) I write with reader-insert and OCs alike.

When did you start writing? Do you remember your first piece of fan fiction? What was it about?

I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing, really. I think that as soon as I was able to use a pen, I started writing. I’ve always loved stories and had a wild imagination, so it was a good way to control my crazy brain (it still is).

The first real piece of fanfiction that I posted is a Jily, Sirius Black x OC fic that I posted on fanfiction.net (I wasn’t on tumblr yet at the time), and it is a very long one… 70 chapters. I liked it very much tbh and I took around a year and a half to write it. It was basically about their 6th and 7th year at Hogwarts.

But if you want the real funny story, then the first piece of fanfiction I wrote was when I was seven. And I had no idea what a fanfiction was, at the time, obviously, but without knowing it I actually wrote one! We had to present a book for school, and I wanted to present Peter Pan, because it was my favourite book. But one of my classmates stole my idea and presented this book first, and I was very upset about it. I tried to negotiate with my teacher, but he didn’t want me to present that book, saying that I couldn’t present the same story as one of my classmates.

Huge mistake from my teacher here. He said I couldn’t talk about the same story, not the same characters! So I wrote a story with Peter Pan and I presented it to the class! It was about a treasure hunt and I did drawings for it and everything. I still have it. It was ridiculous but I reckon the story is funny. And that was my first fanfic!

Why reader insert?

I find reader inserts very interesting. When I started on tumblr, and learnt about that way of writing, I had spent around two years writing for OCs, and I was looking for a challenge, honestly. So I started to write one-shots, when before I had only written very long series. And I also tried reader inserts as another challenge. It requires to change your style of writing quite a lot and to be careful not to reveal details so readers can identify with what you’re writing. And I love doing it! I’ve never liked very much describing my OCs in terms of appearance, so it was quite liberating, as with reader insert I had to avoid that. Also, I write series with that style, because even if you have to try to not describe how this Y/N looks like, I’ve never considered that I shouldn’t develop her/his personality any less than for an OC. So I still have fun creating characters, I just change my style of writing, really. And even if now there’s not really any challenge in that anymore for me, I still use it all the time. Also, on a purely practical way… I don’t like choosing names for my OCs and this is the best solution! Especially for one-shots. I have more than 200 stories on tumblr, I would have never been able to choose so many names!! So… there is also this lazy part of me :)

If someone wanted to get into your writing, what piece would you have them start with and why?

Ooooh… that is a good question… I write quite a lot of fluff. I don’t write any smut at all. I do write some things with angst too (I’m a writer, I like torturing my readers from time to time, like any writer), but I also love writing fluff. I think that lots of people are snobbing the sweet stories nowadays, but I love a good happy ending, and some cute moments, and a love story that is sweet and ends with a ‘and they lived happily ever after’. Call me cheesy, if you’d like, I’m proud to be so!

So… I guess that a good one to start would be a series that I wrote for Caspian (Narnia), called A Recipe For Love. It’s pretty popular, amongst my readers, I think. It’s very cute, and has a bit of angst too. It’s about Caspian falling in love with a cook working in his Castle. I think it’s a good start for my stories.

You are currently working on a winter event filled with delightful seasonal themed prompts. Tell us more about that!

I very often organize events on my blog, because I love talking with my readers and I want to make them happy! So, to celebrate the winter season and the fluff that goes with it, I wrote a list of prompts, and my readers can pick up a few of those prompts, and a character from my masterlist, and I write a little one-shot for them :) They can’t send requests anymore, it was for a limited time, but I’m writing the stories now! I’m going to keep doing this for a few weeks. I just love writing cute stories, really… ;)

What are your goals for your writing moving forward?

…

…

I’d like to finish the series I’ve started… Is that a goal? I don’t have goals when it comes to writing tbh. I just write what inspires me and makes me happy! I don’t pretend to be talented enough to be published, and I only write because I love it. So, I don’t have goals. I just want to enjoy myself, and I hope that the love I pour into my stories transpires enough to make a few people happy too :)

What are you currently reading?

I am reading a very cute book called Let It Snow, which is composed of three love stories taking place during a blizzard. It was written by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. It’s very sweet and very funny, I like it! It goes with the season :)

Do you have any advice for new writers?

Several people asked me for advice before, and I even made a few posts about that, but tbh… the best advice that I could give is to know when you should not care about advice.

When I started to really write a lot and to create long stories (not as fanfictions, but other stories) I was on my own. And I loved writing them, but as I could feel that it was a serious thing to me, I looked for advice on the internet. I thought that it couldn’t hurt, and that having advice from professionals could help me getting better. But actually, I realized that my way of writing was completely different from the advice I read! Especially, I’ve always hated to plan my stories. And everyone will advise you to plan your story. So, I tried to follow this advice, and a few others, thinking that I was doing it all wrong before. But it completely killed the joy I had for writing. I was asking myself tons of questions, and trying to apply rules that clearly didn’t fit me, and I ended up stopping to write for more than a year. Until one day, I started to write something else, deciding not to take into account the advice that I had seen before. And here I am. Not planning my stories, and having no clue of where I’m going, and having too many ideas for my own good, but I’m writing. And I’m enjoying what I write and I love writing these stories.

Now, I’m not saying that all advice are bad. But I think that when you just start writing, you look up to other writers and try to use the same techniques as they do, which is normal. And it’s important at the beginning to try tons of styles and ways to write to find your own way to write. But you shouldn’t forget that you and this writer you admire are different people, and your brains don’t work the same! There’s no shame in writing your story your own way, even if your favourite writer doesn’t write like that at all! On the contrary. I think it’s important to stop torturing yourself trying to get something perfect, and just actually write something you want to write and, more importantly, the way that makes you the happiest. And if you have to write your story without any plan and make a mess to do it, then I think that you should do it. Writing is such a liberating thing, it’s a shame to lose this freedom and joy because you’re trying to fit in categories and techniques. Just write what you like, the way you like, and you’ll be a happier writer :)

@padfootagain

padfootagain Masterlist

[the-gedonelune-times]

New Year, New Chapter Of Our Lives.

Hello, hello everyone! First off, allow me to wish everyone a Happy New Year! 

Second off, I just want to say that there will be some spoilers in this story regarding the recent pick-up series. It’s nothing too big, but just in case!

This was the final writing project of 2018 but the first published story of 2019, I think one thing that I hope for in this year is to improve my writing skills, so I may bring some more stories to this wonderful fandom! Also, I’d like to give a thank you to @leonthecardboardunicorn who gave me the idea for some cute background pairings and some cute little background scenes!

"It's hard to believe...." Alfonse's voice rang out in the room, drawing Caesar's attention towards him. "Hard to believe what?" He asked before closing his book and walking over to his boyfriend, his chin resting on one of his shoulders while he peered at whatever it was Alfonse was looking at. "It's hard to believe that it's officially been a whole year. By midnight we'll be entering a whole new year. It's crazy to think back on everything that's happened up until now." "We've really been through a lot, haven't we?" "Yeah, from the Raging Wizardess to the BBW." "Not to mention the Black Robe Plague, to breaking your curse and even finding out about the Prince who was cursed to be trapped in the underground Labyrinth for all eternity. Not to mention the moment we freed him." "Don't forget about the newfound odd friendship between the once masked man; Hugo.". "That too." Alfonse smiled before closing his eyes and rest his head against Caesar's. They stayed that way for a little while before Alfonse let out a sigh and pulled away. "I wish we could have stayed like that for a while longer, but we have a party to get ready for soon. It's best if we go and see how the preparations are coming along." "Listen, I'm sure they have it under control, I mean what's the worse that can happen?" "Caesar, Zeus is on that committee, as is Hiro, Lucious, and Liz. Now why I understand that Liz can hold her ground, I do feel a bit bad considering she might be the only one doing any of the work." "I see your point. But after we go down and check you owe me some more quality time." "I wouldn't dream of doing anything but that." Alfonse replied with a smile before walking out of the dorms and straight to the auditorium, hand in hand with Caesar. When they arrived they both heaved a sigh at the sight that lied before them. Zeus had apparently eaten the snacks that Liz had brought and both Hiro and Lucious were chasing after him. Hiro then drew out his sword out and Caesar sprang into action. "Hey, hey hey! Don't be swinging a sword around here! Woah-" Barely dodging Hiro's attack, Caesar found himself tumbling on the ground, prompting Alfonse to call out to him. "Caesar, are you alright?!" "I'm fine! Go find Liz, I'll try and handle this!" Alfonse nodded and walked around the auditorium; parts of it were already decorated and boy was a breathtaking sight. The colors chosen for this occasion was pearl and rose gold, both colors were quite a delight to one's eyes. As he navigated through, Alfonse spotted Liz and...Hugo? The two of them were sitting on the stage; Liz had her head resting on Hugo's shoulder and Hugo was gently stroking her hair while giving a kiss or two on her forehead. Next to them sat another pair, one that Alfonse was a bit unfamiliar with but had seen around the Academy from time to time. The long white-haired young man was having his hair braided by a dark-haired young man who wore foreign attire. The white-haired man took notice and called out to the one who was braiding his hair. "Hey Azusa? Was someone supposed to come see you?" "No? Why do you ask, Leon?" "Because there's a man standing here at the stage just looking at us..." "Huh? Oh! Alfonse!" Liz spoke up and greeted him with a smile. "How do you like the setup so far?" "I think it's amazing! I especially like what you're doing with the decor, like  the table topper candles." "Heh, I can't take all the credit, the candles were Hugo's idea." "It's nothing really..." "Azusa and Leon have been helping out a lot too," "Because Zeus and the other are goofing off?" "Well, I know they were working before, their job was to decorate the entrance." "There might be a delay with that." "What, why?!" "Because Hiro and Lucious were chasing after Zeus after he apparently ate the last of whatever snacks you brought." A groan escaped her lips and Liz found herself leaning into Hugo even more. "You've got to be kidding! If they're fighting then they might ruin all the stuff we've set up so far..." "I'll go and handle this, Goddess. You continue to take a rest." "But Hugo!" "No buts." His voice was stern as he removed himself from the stage and walked by Alfonse, off to the direction of where the chaos was going. Just as Hugo walked by, Caesar came walking forward, he seemed to be shaking his head and gave a sigh when he reached where Alfonse stood. "Caesar, are you alright?" "I'm fine, I may have bumped my head in the process of getting those guys to stop, but other than that, I'm fine." "You what?! Caesar come here and take a seat and don't you dare move!" Alfonse's voice was filled with a little worry while he frantically searched through his pockets, pulling out a small object and touching it with the tip of his wand. "Here, put this on your forehead." "Okay? But Al, I'm fine." "I don't care, just in case there's any swelling from the place of impact. I just want to make sure you're alright." A giggle resounded out and when Alfonse turned around, he saw Liz staring at them both. "You both are so cute!" "Liz!" The both of them shouted at her simultaneously and soon found themselves in a fit of laughter. During this time, Hugo had made his way back up to the stage area and took a seat. "Wow, that was fast! Hugo, how did you do it?" "I froze them in time." "Wait...you what?! Hugo!" "I'll unfreeze them in a little bit, right now we don't have to worry about them damaging anything. Not to mention the added bonus of having some noise-free relaxing time by my goddess's side." Saying that, Hugo wrapped his arms around Liz and pulled her into a hug, where he rested his forehead against hers. "Who's the cute ones now?" Alfonse grinned as he teased her and Liz found herself becoming a blushing mess. "I think we should leave the lovebirds alone and head out. You made a promise anyway." Caesar smirked and he watched as Alfonse gave a cute smile; the same cute smile that he'd make when he was happy about something. "You're right. We'll see you guys later at the party, alright?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

With that, they waved off before retreating back to their dorms for the alone time that Alfonse had promised. "Finally." Caesar spoke before plopping down on his bed, causing Alfonse to let out a chuckle. "You really wanted out of there that bad?" "Well, sort of. I mean, we've been working to the brink of exhaustion lately, any chance I get to come and relax or spend time with you is important to me. So while I do love seeing our friends, I also love enjoying the small moments we get to share as a couple. I mean come on! When's the last time we went on a date?" "The last time we went on a date, I kissed you and you turned into a pig, then the chef tried to catch you and roast you on a spit." "Oh...right." A shiver went up his spine as he recalled the memory. " But despite that part, the date itself was enjoyable." "It was. I'm not going to deny it. To be honest, I would like to go on more dates with you.....and so much more..."Alfonse's voice trailed off into a hushed whisper. "Wait, what was that last part?" "It's nothing. Hey, you know what we could do now?" "What?" "Well we still have a few hours until the party, I was thinking now would be as good a time as ever to do this.”

“Do wh-”

Cutting Caesar midsentence, Alfonse’s lips made contact with his, initiating a sweet but passionate kiss. He then wrapped one arm around him and pulled Caesar closer to his body. When he broke the kiss, Alfonse looked at him directly in his eyes before whispering I love you over and over again gently before holding him in his arms.

------------------------------

They weren’t sure for how long they had been asleep, but they knew that if they didn’t get themselves ready soon, they’d be late for the nightly festivities.

“Wait, have you seen my bowtie?”

“This one?”Alfonse asked.

“Yes, thank you.” Taking the bowtie, Caesar quickly gave a peck on Alfonse’s lips before putting it on. “Now… how do I look?”

“Breathtaking.”

Clearing his throat, Caesar attempted to hide his embarrassment and turned away from Alfonse’s view. “We should probably get going, or we really will be late.”

“You’re right, but hey before we go I need to get something, you can go on ahead, I won’t take but maybe a minute.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay…”

Once Alfonse was alone in the room, he made his way over to his nightstand and took out a key from one of the pockets on his prefect uniform. Taking the key, he unlocked a secret compartment and once opened, revealed a small object in the corner. Gently taking the object in his hands, he tucked it away and locked the secret compartment back up and placed the key back where it belonged before heading out the room.

Meanwhile, down at the end of the hallway stood Caesar who seemed to be patiently waiting for someone. He had been pacing back and forth in the empty hallway for a little while but stopped when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. There, heading right in his direction was Alfonse. The moonlight that was pouring in from the windows accented his features and before he knew it, Caesar found himself blushing at the sight of his boyfriend.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we get going?”

“Yes..”

--------------------------------------------------

The two of them walked hand in hand, to the auditorium, on their way there, they ran into a large cluster of people, which slowed their arrival time down by quite a bit. Regardless though, they managed to get into the area; which was lively beyond words. Music was blaring from the magic speaker invention that Randy had created for the occasion. The table-topper candles were captured in magic bubbles and now floated in the air in the room, dimly illuminating the room in a soft orangish hue.

“I thought this place looked good in the daytime but seeing it now is just…” As he spoke, Caesar looked around and felt a squeeze on his hand.

“I know…”

“Hey you two!”

A familiar voice called out to the couple and when they turned in the direction from where the voice came from, they saw Liz walking towards them with Hugo in tow.

“Good to see a couple of familiar faces.” Alfonse spoke up.

“Leon and Azusa are here too, they’re the ones who were on the stage with Hugo and I earlier.”

“Oh? They came together?”

“Yep, they even came in matching Hinomoto formal attire. It’s so cute!”

“You and Hugo seem to be matching too.”

“O-oh, so you noticed?” Scratching her cheek gently, Liz began to blush. “It was kind of accidental.”

“Really, how so?”

“We went shopping and well… the lady running the store at the time told us about these matching New Year couple outfits.” Liz explained.

“The way the goddess looked at the outfits...I decided we would get them.” Hugo added.

“So it was Hugo who chose them?”

“She looked happy…”

“To me, you both look rather happy.” Caesar interjected and flashed a grin at the both of them.

--------------------------------------------------------------

The two couples engaged in some more small talk, they shared a few laughs, they all danced and even went to a table and had a few bites to eat before waving one another off and headed their separate ways to other parts of the auditorium. Caesar and Alfonse had found themselves making their way outside, where an outside seating area had been set up. Floating lanterns lit up the area, as did the stars and moon in the crisp clear night.

The scene was perfect, everything was perfect. Looking over, Alfonse could see Caesar looking up at the stars, a smile on his face *this is it, do it now while he’s distracted!*. Alfonse took a deep breath and reached in and grabbed out the small object that he had grabbed earlier and cleared his throat, grabbing Caesar’s attention.

“Al?!” Caesar took a step back, taking in the view that was right in front of him.

Alfonse was on one knee and was looking up at Caesar with almost teary eyes, in one hand he held a small velvet box and opened it, revealing a sparkling ring.

“Caesar, I know this seems so sudden, I know that it was only this year that I confessed my love to you. We don’t have to get married right away but… I know that I want to be more than just your boyfriend. I want to be by your side Caesar, that’s where I belong. After being alone for so long….I never believed that I could love someone truly… that was… until you showed up in my life. So what do you say, Caesar? Will you allow me to be by your side?”

“Al…” Caesar began speaking through tears “We’ve known each other for quite a while, even before we confessed our feelings, I always wanted to be by your side. Regardless of what I was, whether it be a friend, colleague or lover. I too know where I belong… and it’s with you Al.”

Without wasting another moment, Alfonse got up off of the ground an ran over to Caesar, giving him a tight squeeze. They stayed in one another’s embrace and inside, voices began to ring out.

“7….6….5….4….3...2...1! Happy New Year!”

At the signal, everyone inside gave a sweet kiss to the ones they loved. Hugo had wrapped his arms around Liz and pulled her close, giving her a sweet soft kiss upon her lips. Meanwhile, Azusa brushed away a few loose strands of hair from Leon’s face before giving him a kiss as well.

Outside, Caesar lifted Alfonse’s chin upwards and gave him a loving kiss.

“I love you, Alfonse.”

“I love you as well, Caesar.”

“I can’t believe the year has ended….”

“But a new one has arrived and opened the door to so many possibilities.”

“And to a new chapter of our lives.”

The two embraced once more, knowing that their love would only continue to grow more and more with the years to come.

[mimiplaysgames]

Strength to Protect the Things That Matter (Ch. 19)

Pairing: Terra/Aqua (eventually) Rating: T Other characters: Noctis, Garnet, Hope, Riku, Rydia Word Count: 4,742

AO3         FF.net

A/N: An obligatory world-building chapter. Since I’m creating something a bit more original here, I have to define who all the key characters are going to be. It’s been such an arduous, long, and tedious process, but it’s so rewarding to get into at the same time. The draft that has become the Traverse Town subplot is nothing like the original. It’s the one area in my entire outline that has changed the most. For example, Riku was never meant to show up - Terra was originally supposed to do it all by himself. But these intense changes have all been for the better. If I was writing a publishable novel, I would care more about the pacing, but we gotta go, Terra. We gotta move. I did cut this chapter in unequal parts. I am trying to manage my word counts, but I really couldn’t stand to name either of these parts a different title. This entire chapter is really supposed to carry the title of “Hope.” I will try hard to release the plus-one and the next chapters next week so that I keep up with my weekly schedule and not do delays.

Hope, pt. 1

“I’ll show you to your room.” Noctis opens the window that hovers just above the fire escape and ducks into it. He helps Garnet do the same, who has to hoist herself up, and they start down the top floor.

Terra is the last to go through. “I guess taking the stairs isn’t your M.O.?”

“Unless I want to be interrupted every ten seconds by someone who needs my attention,” Noctis says nonchalantly as he waves his arm in a dismissive way. “A guy needs a break every now and then.”

Garnet daintily brings a hand to her chin. “Break,” she mumbles. If Terra doesn’t know any better, he supposes that she is trying to understand what the word means. Noctis looks down at her, smiling and shaking his head.

He stops at a door and opens it, allowing Terra to walk through first. The walls are painted a deep, dark blue. The duvet on the bed depicts a pattern of waves, varying in teal shades, with white sheets. There are dark green lamps that are placed on the bedside table, the dresser, and the vanity. On the wall opposite the bed is a painting of dolphins. just under the surface of the ocean under a bright sky. The room is large enough to have its own lounge space, where the  loveseats bear the same colors as the duvet, with a smaller round table and chairs. Along with a sizeable closet, there is a mini-fridge all to himself.

It’s larger than his room back in the academy. Some may consider the castle luxurious, but it’s home. This place though...

“We hope you find it hospitable,” he hears Garnet say to him as he ventures towards the window, donned in white curtains. It overlooks the second district, where people are hurriedly going in and out of stores. He can clearly see the clock tower from where he stands.

He turns to her, letting out a nervous chuckle. “You’re spoiling me.”

“This floor is reserved only for Keyblade wielders.” Noctis shrugs his concerns aside. “Better get used to it. You’re free to do whatever you want, although we want you ready by nine tonight.”

Terra takes one more glance at the clock tower. It’s past six. “Well, I guess I’ll just kill time and investigate. I wanted to start with the clock tower.”

“The clock tower?” While Noctis usually maintains a casual manner of speaking, he gets more assertive - although he sounds a bit unnatural doing so. “It’s off limits. We’ve sealed all the entrances to it.”

Terra attempts to maintain his breathing, and makes sure his voice isn’t shaky. “Can I ask why?”

“We can’t have anyone messing with it. Kefka is... punctual.” Noctis crosses his arms, and there is an obvious contempt in the tone of his voice when addressing Kefka. “We need it to run properly. Besides, there are always a bunch of Heartless in there. Their numbers never stop.”

Garnet drapes her arm across her stomach, holding her side as though she is also trying to keep it together. 

Terra’s heart takes a jump. Noctis continues on about how it’s safer for everyone if no one enters the clock tower, but his mind wanders into all the possibilities of what he will find if he searches it. If there are hordes of Heartless swarming in there, then surely that must mean his dream is correct.

“You’re the boss,” Terra says, keeping up appearances of respectful obedience. “Forget I asked. Cloud did say the two of you were trustworthy.”

Noctis lets out a transparent, sarcastic scoff. “Mr. Soldier actually said that about me? I never would have guessed. I’m going to give him a hard time the next time I see him around.” He rubs his eyes with two of his fingers, and Garnet gently holds her hand to her mouth and laughs.

“Anyway,” he continues, “break’s over. I’ve got people waiting on me.” He pats Terra on the bicep. “Make yourself at home.” He then leaves the hotel room, although Garnet doesn’t initially follow him.

“Cloud was distant at first, but he has been an irreplaceable ally to us,” she says. “It does surprise me that he holds Noctis with such high esteem... considering how often they’ve disagreed with each other.” She folds her hands into a prayer stance. She’s so much shorter than Terra that she has to crane her neck in order to look up at him. “Leon and Lightning have always supported every need we’ve asked of them, and we’re so grateful you’ve come.”

“You ever met them?” Terra asks.

She shakes her head. “Not yet, anyway. Please, allow yourself to be comfortable.” She gently squeezes his forearm and then exits the hotel room.

The only sounds he hears are the chatter of the shoppers down at the street below. He goes back to the window and stares at the tower. He can always break in by himself, but it’s not worth destroying their trust right away. And it’s just an idea, nothing to get desperate over.

But what is the point of doing nothing right now? Terra decides he is hungry, instead of calling it boredom, and leaves his room, venturing downstairs. He arrives at the second floor which features several ballrooms and conference rooms. They look to be about the appropriate size to host events such as weddings and small lounge concerts, although now they all serve the purposes of storing supplies and weapons. Some are sectioned off as wards for patients with injuries and illnesses. People speed down the hallway and bump into him, and they scurry off with barely an apology.

He stops himself, standing in the middle of a hallway. I don’t actually know if the dream means anything. I don’t know that I can find her here, or if the clock tower holds any special purpose.

He continues through a large lounge room that houses several tables, all of which are topped with boxes. He stops again, closes his eyes, and holds his hand to his chin. But I can’t ignore what I’m feeling. I’m actually excited. It feels like I’m getting close to discovering something huge... I’ll ask Riku about it when he gets here.

He steps forward and hits something. There is a loud clang and he grips his thigh because the pain is sharp and massive. When he comes to, he notices that he walked into a proud, standing piano. “These things are the bane of my existence.” He doesn’t know why he said that out loud. It’s not like he has any desire to talk to Xehanort.

The pain on his leg fades away slowly, but what doesn’t leave is a desire to play. He gently touches the keys. It’s not that he doesn’t like music - he considers the guitar really interesting. And yet, he admits the piano creates a beautiful sound. To think that a conniving monster like Xehanort can create beauty that others would enjoy almost makes him ill.

On top of the piano are a few notebooks that include sheet music. Terra cannot hear the music in his head when he reads them, but he knows which musical notes the written bars refer to. He picks a random song that doesn’t seem too difficult to follow. I wonder if this is something I can take from him. I can summon his Keyblade after all... maybe I can access other information as well.

He sits on the bench, and prepares his hands on the keyboard. Aqua really loves music. Maybe playing for her would make her happy. 

He hits a random set of keys towards the middle of the piano slowly, to get a feel for them. Making sure his fingers are strumming the right ones according to the sheet music is the hardest part. He glances back and forth between the paper and the keys. Accessing the same information Xehanort has doesn’t come with any of the perks of imitating his skill immediately, and it’s a wonder how the monster has learned to play so well.

Terra compares the keys on the piano and the sheet music enough to start to memorize which ones should be played in which order. He plays the higher notes  - slowly at first, until he can follow the melody faster and faster. Then the left hand strikes the bass notes on the furthest left, and it’s like starting all over.

It’s surprising just how much coordination is necessary to do it, and it sounds so bad that no one will want to hear the catastrophe he is making. Except for a a fluffy, white cat, who stands on her hind legs and meows at him. She jumps onto one of his thighs and purrs as she makes herself comfortable. Three kittens also attempt to jump onto the bench, and Terra can’t help but to pick up the little white one (so damn cute), which has a pink bow tied into her fur. She’s smaller than the size of his hand, her meow a tiny squeak.

“Are you learning to play the piano?” Terra looks up to see a young boy with stark white hair and green, wide eyes. He wears an orange frock and a blue scarf, and has a gas mask strapped on top of his head. The boy is holding one of the books on potion-making that Tifa was reading - one of the things that Terra delivered. “You’re Terra, right?” he asks with a tone that tells Terra it’s full of awe. “I’m Hope, it’s nice to meet you.”

Hope leans over to read the sheet music with a bit of eagerness, and notices the cats. “I see that Duchess has taken a liking to you,” he says, pointing to the mother who is sprawled out on Terra’s lap. “They make the best companions when you’re practicing.”

He grips the book tighter, as if he’s lowly in the presence of a Keyblade wielder, and Terra makes some space so that he can sit. Hope takes a moment before saying anything, and points at the sheet music with his finger. “This is a good song to practice with,” he says. “It’s a very simple melody without any serious chords.” His voice shakes with nervousness.

“I’ll appreciate any lesson you can give me.” Something about the thought of taking lessons feels exhilarating. He tells himself that he’s feeling his own emotions, and that it’s a decision that is his and his alone. But what demands his attention more is the gas mask, since it’s ill-fitting for a boy. “How old are you?”

“I’m thirteen.” Hope’s voice is polite. A bit uncertain of himself, perhaps, but that’s understandable. He’s younger than Ventus.

At this point, the black kitten is climbing on one of Terra’s legs. Hope groans a Toulouse... why? as the orange one climbs up his back. He grabs the kitten, places him on top of the piano, and plays some of the same keys that Terra was practicing with ease. Hope talks about the song as he teaches Terra how to play it. It is apparently written by a woman who dreamed of releasing all the horses in her ranch and running off with them. The white stallion who leads the group apparently jumps off a cliff and flies away into some vision of paradise, leaving the other horses and the woman behind to fend for themselves. The song has such a dreamlike quality, and it focuses so much on the higher notes that it sounds like it can teach an animal to float.

“I guess we all want to have a better life,” Hope says in reflection as Terra plays the lower notes with more confidence. Toulouse walks around the keyboard, sometimes smacking a key with his paw, adding a shrill annoyance that sometimes stops Terra’s ability to play.

The statement strikes Terra a little odd, and he wonders why Hope is in the hotel in the first place. “What do you do around here, Hope?”

The clock tower strikes seven, and he can feel the tension in every muscle in Hope’s body. He sees the boy take a swallow as they wait out the chimes.

When it’s over, Hope swallows again before saying, “I make potions and fix random trinkets, actually. Were you given a tour of this place?”

He grabs his book of potion-making from the top of the piano and walks down the same direction that Terra originally headed. All of the cats follow.

“The room by Cid’s computer on the first floor,” Hope begins, “usually serves as a place for Keyblade wielders and the upper staffmen to hold meetings. Noct likes to sleep there a lot.”

It’s normal to see every room in the hotel brightly lit, but they pass by one ballroom that is dim, illuminated only by candles. “What about this room?” Terra asks.

Hope stops, and cradles the book. He stands with particular distance away from the entrance to that room, and doesn’t bother to peek inside it or show Terra the way. “You can call that,” he says slowly, “something like our own room of remembrance.” 

Terra gives a half-smile, on some level in an attempt to make it less awkward. “What does that mean?”

Hope points with two fingers ahead of him, in Terra’s direction. “On that far wall is our memorial.” The word has a weight to it. Hope then points with his thumb in the direction behind him. “This wall is where we put up prayers for return.” He chuckles a bit. “I don’t think Sora was supposed to say anything, but apparently anyone who has turned into a Heartless has a chance to come back. So we pass on our wishes to them.”

Terra gestures to the room as a way to ask permission to enter, and Hope lets him know that he will wait for him outside. It’s a smaller ballroom, and the opposite walls are absolutely littered in photos, with long desks in front of them donning flowers, letters, and lit candles. Terra at first stands in front of the wall that features people who have turned into Heartless. Some of them are portraits, others are group photos. It’s hard to count them all, and Terra stops at sixty.

One of them features Noctis with three other men - all of them dressed completely in black as though they are part of a club. They have smiles in the photo, and are standing in front of a field like they have been camping. He wonders if they went to sleep all at once, or if Kefka picked them off one by one.

There is a photo of Garnet with a man slightly taller than her, dressed in a full suit of armor. Being taller than her doesn’t mean much, and he is severe in the photo, contrasting with her warm smile.

It’s not a wonder why these people are called missing - it’s easier to accept the reality that way, considering that perhaps some of them have attacked their loved ones later on.

On the opposite wall is the memorial. The amount of photos here is twice as numerous. Terra has noticed that Heartless in particular aren’t deadly, but if Kefka is growing to be something of a legendary darkness, then yes - it will get fatal.

He spots Hope in one of the photos, with two adults. His parents maybe. So he’s alone.

He finds Hope standing in the same spot in the hallway. The boy forces a smile and leads him to a small storeroom, like a walk-in closet. There are shelves which are mostly empty except for a number of potions. Open books are sprawled out on a desk opposite the shelves, along with elaborate chemistry sets. It makes sense, since Hope sounds like he is book smart.

By the desk is a large container filled with mechanical toys and other objects. Terra eyes a tiny box that is decorated in vine-like mesh and dons navy blue gems. A music box.

“Welcome to my workroom. I spend all of my time in here,” Hope says with a tense chuckle. He sits at his desk, and Terra notices the two rare potions that Xehanort made along with his notes.

“Are you attempting to re-create those?” Terra points to the potions with his free hand, the other holding the music box.

Hope takes another hard swallow. “We kind of need them to keep people calm during the...” He fumbles through the notes. “I can read these pretty well. If there is something I don’t understand, I can learn it.” He holds up the new book amidst all the others.

It’s the idea that Hope is teaching himself how to work like Xehanort that impresses Terra the most. He’s nothing like Ven at all. 

Cid walks by the room directing a cart on wheels, asking the kiddo specifically if there is anything to take to Lulu’s. Hope points to the container, and Terra places the music box back as Cid picks it up and wanders off.

“Anyway,” Hope says, “I really should be getting back to work. We’ve been very low on potions and you saved us.” He pulls the gas mask in front of his face and places his focus right into one of the chemistry sets. The mask muffles his voice enough that it hides how shaky it sounds. ”But no harm in making some more.”

Hope then faces Terra quickly, and without removing the gas mask, extends his hand. “It’s been such an honor meeting you, Terra. I think Keyblade wielders are amazing.”

It doesn’t feel so amazing since there doesn’t seem to be enough of them to help everyone in need. He grips Hope’s hand firmly, hoping that the shake gives the boy a sincere message which says how appreciated his admiration is. Hope then suggests that Terra should get a sandwich from the cart outside if he’s hungry. It seems wrong to leave the boy alone, but Hope assures him the cats are always there for him. So Terra, albeit reluctantly, exits the hotel.

The sun is setting further, and slowly people are leaving the streets. Lights, both on the streets and from homes, are being turned on, and this is where Traverse Town begins to look spectacular. There is a vibrancy to the town that simply doesn’t exist in the sunlight otherwise.

He hears Riku’s name being spoken, and he sees Garnet reaching her hands out - he has just arrived, and Garnet welcomes him in such a way that speaks volumes about how much she values life and reunions in general. She acts as though he’s been gone for such a long while, despite that he was there two nights ago. He can hear them talk about Sora, and she eyes Terra from afar. Maybe she is being told that Terra is the replacement for tonight.

“You’ve been briefed about what’s going on?” Riku asks Terra as they meet.

“A bit. I know Kefka is very ritualistic.” He pauses for a moment, and continues with a question to ask the both of them. “What exactly does it want? Who does it target?”

“It is attracted to magic,” Garnet says with a gentle nod. She says it with a seriousness, but she keeps a pleasantness to her demeanor. “Of course, strictly speaking, it wants mages. We believe it targets Noctis the most often.”

“Why him?”

“From my understanding, his magic is passed down to him from his lineage. It’s incredibly old and powerful, and it’s quite unique. I’m sure you’ll notice that Kefka will follow him.” Garnet begins to walk down the pathway in front of the hotel, leading them to a certain destination.

“But how do you know it targets him?” Terra asks from behind her.

“It always appears where he is. Thus, he’s never alone as a result. He and I arrived together on the same ferry, actually.” Her voice gets a little quiet for a while, but she retains her regency. “Our worlds fell on the same day, and we were collected by Balthier and Fran, who travel to falling worlds to save people. He had friends with him, who were all very lovely people. They’ve comforted me in ways that my own guardian failed to do.”

It’s where she talks about the worlds falling that her voice maintains a sense of sadness that he hasn’t heard from her before. What would it have felt like, to witness the destruction of her world, knowing exactly how it will all end?

“When we arrived here,” she continues, “there was one Heartless that started to transform. It used to be what you called a Darkball - something very simple and easy to vanquish.” She turns to Riku as she says this, as if to confirm her knowledge. “It turned into a clown’s head that day.”

Riku scoffs. “I’ll never forget that. It evaded so well that was impossible to hit.”

“Now it’s impossible not to miss it. I suppose that old adage of ‘be careful what you wish for‘ applies to our situation,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“It’s insanely aggressive, and very reactionary,” Riku says with an eye roll. He wears his contempt for it as obviously as Noctis does. “It’s almost like it gets annoyed when it’s hit and seeks revenge for it.”

Riku doesn’t continue with whatever he is going to say next because they arrive at Garnet’s destination. A small food cart, manned by a young woman with bright green hair. She wears a ceremonial headdress on her head, and her green mini-dress has long empire sleeves that grace the ground. By all senses of the word, she looks like an enchantress. A radio is on the cart, playing joyful music that is performed by an accordion.

“Terra, this is Rydia,” Garnet holds her hand up as if to present the woman before her. “She’s our most powerful magic caster.”

Rydia waves meekly at Terra, as if embarrassed by such an introduction. “Not so powerful that I can create munny for myself. What is truly magical,” she says as she shows off the radio, “is how I can use this little... thing, and hear music.”

Terra lets himself go in laughter to be polite. She must be from a world that doesn’t have any technology.

“If the three of you are here,” Rydia continues as she points to everyone, “that must mean at least one of you is hungry. What will it be?”

Garnet asks for a few steak sandwiches, and pays.

Terra hasn’t eaten ham for a while, but Rydia refuses to give it to him when he shows her munny.

“Keyblade wielders don’t pay,” she says, and only reaches out with the food when he puts his munny away.

The clock strikes eight. She pulls the sandwich back close to her, as if shocked by the sound. She struggles to maintain a smile as it continues to ring, everyone else silent as they wait it out. The more it rings, the slower it seems.

When it’s over, she finally hands Terra the food. “I guess that means you’re my last customers tonight,” she says quietly.

She then smiles widely at Riku. “I saved you your favorite.” She holds one of her sleeves away from the cart as she takes a meatball sandwich and hands it to him. “Last one.” Her voice is kind and subtly flirtatious, but it doesn’t seem like Riku notices.

Garnet has her four sandwiches stacked in between her hands, and calls Terra’s name softly. “I ask that you do not speak to Noctis of Kefka,” she says. “It’s not easy on him.“

Rydia closes down her cart, and flashes a concerned look in her face. “I know how easy it is to feel so alone when no one from your world is with you anymore.” Her voice is incredibly sensitive and gentle. “But he still has us. We need each other.” It almost sounds as though she feels rejected, as though she isn’t a good enough friend.

“I can’t believe Noctis sees us as strangers,” Garnet says reassuringly.

“None of us see him that way, so he better not,” Rydia mutters as she drags the cart behind her.

“I beg of you, Rydia,” Garnet says in a way that speaks amusement, “give Noctis a break.” She pronounces every letter in the last word, like it’s an anomaly that she’s completely unfamiliar with. Riku gives a short scoff, mumbling about how ridiculous she sounds.

Rydia leaves with Garnet, the both of them involved in their own conversation - but not without the enchantress waving a good-bye for now. The two Keyblade wielders are on their own with their sandwiches, of which Riku is plowing through.

”She seems pretty cool,” Terra says, expecting his friend to get annoyed by any sort of implications he’s trying to pass along.

Riku waits until he swallows his food before speaking. “She’s incredibly powerful, it’s true. She saved me and Sora multiple times.”

“So she’s pretty invaluable.” Terra tries to suppress a devious grin.

“I think I’d be in pretty big trouble without her, yeah.”

Terra fails to suppress a laugh, which the other Keyblade bearer doesn’t appreciate.

“I know what you’re getting at,” Riku says. “I’m really no good at that kind of stuff. I mean, she’s great and all-”

Terra chuckles just a little more, and Riku rolls his eyes.

“Nevermind,” the teenager says. “You know Garnet is also powerful. She can actually cast protection spells on other people.”

This is interesting information, considering that things like protection and reflection are incredibly difficult to pull off on oneself. But Terra can’t let this slide by, it’s too much fun making Riku squirm. “Are you trying to prove some sort of point?”

“I can compliment someone’s extraordinary fighting ability without it meaning anything.” Riku waves his arm once, and only once. “Be grateful I don’t pick on you over Aqua.”

“Speaking of,” Terra says as his heart jumps, “I think I can reach her from this world.”

Riku stops eating his sandwich, and gives Terra a severe look. “Why would you think that? A vision?”

“No, actually.” Terra chuckles a bit too enthusiastically. “I had a dream of this clock tower. I heard its bells. It sounds a bit crazy, but I know I can find her here.”

“So this world is going to fall,” Riku says with a low voice, and Terra’s stomach sinks. It’s not like he forgot what it meant to reach Aqua. But still, what is wrong with me?

Riku brushes through his hair, shaking his head. “Sora’s going to hate hearing this.” He groans, still unable to touch his sandwich. “You know, this world is a refuge. Almost everyone here is from somewhere else. When a world falls, those who are touched by light or who are close to it will be sent here. But it’s rare. There is a ship that travels around and brings people so more can survive.” He groans louder with disgust. “These people have been through enough.”

Terra doesn’t answer right away. It’s a handful of feelings. On the one hand, shame with himself over his blatant, and rather foreign, disregard for others. On the other, guilt over the thought that he will have to make Aqua wait again. I can’t accept any of this.

“Well, I wanted to search the clock tower. Maybe there is something there that can help these people,” Terra says. It almost sounds unnatural, that dealing with the Realm of Darkness would help anybody.

Riku takes a glance into Terra’s eyes before looking away. His face is unreadable. “There is one entrance that hasn’t been sealed, actually. At the top of the tower. If we find evidence that this world is falling, we need to correct it.”

The teenager finishes his sandwich and walks away, saying that he needs to find a bolt cutter. Yes, they need to correct it. Yes, they need to save these people.

But this is an apology he can’t give Aqua. This is something that Xehanort would mock him over. He has a calling to help others, duties that he must follow if he is ever going to continue a dream of being a Keyblade Master. He has someone he’s dying to save waiting for him, and suffering every moment that he doesn’t take to get to her.

Does the answer have to be so black and white? He bites into his own sandwich, sending off a silent prayer of his own. I don’t think I have the time to pass this up. I’ll find you anyway.

This chapter makes references to The Aristocats (1970). The melody played on the piano I imagined to be similar to Tori Amos’ “Horses.” The song on the radio I imagined to sound like DeVotchka’s “Charlotte Mittnacht (The Fabulous Destiny Of...)”

[phroyd]

By

Sean Sullivan, Seung Min Kim and John Wagner    September 22 at 12:33 AM

President Trump cast doubt Friday on the credibility of the woman who has accused Brett M. Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers, escalating tensions over the Supreme Court nomination, as Senate negotiations over whether she will tell her story at a public hearing slipped into the weekend.

By attacking California professor Christine Blasey Ford, Trump abandoned the self-restraint he had showed for days and pushed Kavanaugh’s nomination deeper into turmoil. Democrats, key Republican senators and advocates for victims of sexual assault swiftly rebuked the president.

Meanwhile, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) gave Ford one more day to respond to his offer for her and Kavanaugh to testify before his panel on Wednesday, capping an extraordinary late-night back-and-forth.

“Judge Kavanaugh I just granted another extension to Dr Ford to decide if she wants to proceed w the statement she made last week to testify to the senate,” Grassley tweeted. An aide confirmed that he was granting her request for more time.

Before that tweet, Debra Katz, an attorney for Ford, said committee Republicans’ arbitrary deadlines and ultimatums had created stress and anxiety for her client, who met with the FBI on Friday about the death threats she had received.

“Your cavalier treatment of a sexual assault survivor who has been doing her best to cooperate with the Committee is completely inappropriate,” Katz wrote in an email to Grassley aides.

Earlier in the day, Grassley had warned that he would move ahead with plans for his committee to vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination on Monday if his offer of a Wednesday hearing was rejected or ignored.

The developments added new turbulence to a nomination that Republicans have sought to steady in their public comments. “In the very near future, Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told conservative activists Friday.

Plenty of uncertainty loomed over the nominee, who could shift the court further right for a generation — and whether Trump’s broadside would influence on-the-fence Republican senators with the power to torpedo Kavanaugh’s nomination.

“I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents,” Trump said in a Friday tweet, his first to mention Kavanaugh’s accuser by name.

Ford said in an interview with The Washington Post published Sunday that she told no one of the incident in any detail until 2012, when she was in couples therapy with her husband. By Friday afternoon, the hashtag #WhyI­DidntReport was trending on Twitter, with thousands of people coming forward to explain their hesi­ta­tion to contact authorities.

Are Republicans judging Kavanaugh’s accuser before she’s spoken?

Also on Friday, Trump tweeted: “Let her testify, or not, and TAKE THE VOTE!”

“He was born for the U.S Supreme Court. He was born for it. And it’s going to happen. It’s going to happen,” Trump said at a rally in Missouri on Friday night.

In a departure from his usual instincts to go on the attack, Trump had remained relatively restrained in his public remarks about Ford’s accusation. Until Friday, the president mostly defended Kavanaugh’s character while stressing that Ford should be allowed to be heard.

His latest comments triggered a widespread backlash from Democratic lawmakers and a few moderate Republican senators who have not declared whether they will support Kavanaugh. Republicans hold a slim 51-to-49 advantage in the Senate.

“I was appalled by the president’s tweet,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). “First of all, we know that allegations of sexual assault — I’m not saying that’s what happened in this case — but we know allegations of sexual assault are one of the most unreported crimes that exist. So I thought that the president’s tweet was completely inappropriate and wrong.” Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) sounded a similar note, saying, “I thought that was incredibly insensitive.”

Democrats were even more critical. Sen. Maggie Hassan (N.H.)tweeted: “The President’s comments are one of the reasons why it is so hard for survivors of sexual assault [to] come forward.”

Ford met with the FBI on Friday afternoon as part of its investigation of death threats she has received since agreeing to go public with her allegations, according to Katz. Accordingly, Katz told Grassley’s aides in her email, “we would need until tomorrow to confer with her and to be able to provide you with a well-considered response.”

Amid the firestorm over Trump’s tweet, McConnell predicted Kavanaugh would soon be confirmed, calling him a “stunningly successful individual.”

“You’ve watched the fight. You’ve watched the tactics,” McConnell said during remarks at the Values Voter Summit, an annual gathering of social conservatives, in Washington. “Here’s what I want to tell you: In the very near future, Judge Kavanaugh will be on the United States Supreme Court.”

Negotiations between Senate Republicans and Ford’s lawyers dragged into Friday evening and centered on whether Ford would testify and under what conditions.

In a note from Grassley’s staff to Ford’s lawyers, the Republicans said they were willing to accommodate several of the professor’s requests for testifying before the committee. Those included ensuring that she had proper security and breaks during her testimony, that all senators get equal time to speak, that press access be limited, and that just one camera be allowed in the room. She also asked that Kavanaugh not be present as she speaks.

But Republicans made clear they would not agree to some of her other requests. Among those were that Kavanaugh testify first and that the committee subpoena Mark Judge — a Kavanaugh friend who Ford says was present during the alleged incident — and call other potential witnesses to the hearing. The Republicans also offered a Wednesday hearing, rather than Thursday as Ford had asked for, and they wanted to reserve the option of having female staff attorneys on the committee do the questioning.

The Senate Judiciary Committee sent its counterproposal to Ford’s attorneys Friday afternoon.

“We want to hear Dr. Ford’s testimony and are prepared to accommodate many of your demands, including further delaying a hearing that is currently scheduled for Monday,” Grassley said. “We are unwilling to accommodate your unreasonable demands. Outside counsel may not dictate the terms under which committee business will be conducted.”

Democrats protested the deadlines imposed by Grassley, saying they were tantamount to bullying. And Katz said she emailed his aides about Ford’s FBI meeting at 4:01 p.m. and heard back at 5:47 p.m., “insisting that we accept your ‘invitation’ for a Wednesday hearing by 10:00 p.m. tonight.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that she was “shocked and appalled by the Republicans’ refusal to wait 24 hours for a hearing and instead rush forward with a vote.”

Some Republican senators also feel strongly that an outside counsel should handle the questioning, one GOP official said — although Ford does not want outside lawyers brought in because it would make her less comfortable, according to her attorneys.

Over the span of three hours Friday, Trump tweeted several times about Ford and Kavanaugh from Las Vegas, where he held a political rally Thursday night and did a couple of events Friday.

In one tweet, he contended that Kavanaugh is under assault by “radical left wing politicians” who are not interested in the truth about the allegation but instead “just want to destroy and delay.”

The president also took aim at “radical left lawyers” who he said are seeking to get the FBI to investigate Ford’s allegations, saying: “Why didn’t someone call the FBI 36 years ago?”

Katz and Democratic senators have called for the FBI to reopen its background-check investigation of Kavanaugh. The FBI has said it has no plans to do so unless the White House asks for such an investigation. A Justice Department spokesman said earlier this week that Ford’s allegation “does not involve any potential federal crime.”

Ford told The Post in the interview published Sunday that Kavanaugh drunkenly pinned her to a bed, groped her and put his hand over her mouth to stifle her screams at a house party in the early 1980s. The alleged incident occurred while both were students at separate schools in Maryland. Kavanaugh has firmly denied the accusation.

Ford said she told no one at the time what had happened to her. She was terrified, she said, that she would be in trouble if her parents realized she had been at a party where teenagers were drinking, and she worried they might figure it out even if she did not tell them.

A 2015 Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation survey of current and recent college students found that 88 percent of women who experienced unwanted sexual contact did not tell police or university authorities about the incidents. The result was the same among women who reported sexual assault by force or threat, as well as those who were incapacitated and unable to give consent.

About six dozen women appeared at a news conference in Washington on Friday morning to show support for Kavanaugh. Standing under a banner with the hashtag #IStandWithBrett in pink lettering, several of them spoke about their interactions with him over the years and vouched for his character.

One of the women, Meghan McCaleb, said she was a close friend of Kavanaugh in high school and also knew Ford, but “not well. She was friends of friends.” McCaleb said that she never recalled being at a party with Ford and that she “hung with a different crew than we hung with.”

Ford also received some backup. Samantha Guerry, her friend and former classmate, expressed exasperation at Trump’s question about why she didn’t report the alleged incident to the FBI years ago, which he also posed a day earlier in an interview with Fox News.

“The idea that someone would have told the FBI 36 years ago is ludicrous,” she said in an interview with CNN, noting that many women who are assaulted “are extremely unlikely to tell anyone.”

Emma Brown, Scott Clement, Carol Leonnig and David Weigel and contributed to this report.

Phroyd

[thezodiaczone]

July Forecast for Scorpio

The pace is picking up again, Scorpio! If you’ve felt stuck in a bit of a holding pattern for the last couple of months, you’ll be happy to hear that’s about to change. Get ready to say “out with the old, in with the new” in a big way. Shake off any frustration or pessimism and focus on what’s ahead: an unscripted and exciting adventure. You’ll feel it palpably for the first three weeks of the month as the Sun roars through Cancer and your expansive ninth house, heating up travel, study and entrepreneurial plans, along with your insatiable curiosity.

This optimistic and can-do solar cycle has you percolating with grand ideas, all the more because one of this summer’s three scene-stealing eclipses lands in Cancer on July 12, rocketing you into unchartered territory. (More on that in a minute.) If you’ve been keeping a low profile or wondering whether to take a leap of faith, you might be ready to jump by mid-month.

Another huge boost for this arrives on July 10, when Jupiter, the planet of growth, adventure and long-distance connections, ends a four-month retrograde in YOUR sign. Prepare for liftoff! Scorpios who’ve felt restless energy, chaos or stalled plans since March 8 will love the restored momentum. And trust us, you do NOT want to squander it. Jupiter only comes to your sign every 12 years, and it’s in Scorpio from October 10, 2017, until November 8, 2018. The next four months are full speed ahead on your reinvention tour.

Since last fall, Jupiter’s been kicking off a fresh decade-plus chapter of your life. If things have felt new yet disorienting, that’s normal. You’re in totally unfamiliar territory here and might be a little out of control—NOT a Scorpio’s favorite sensation. The retrograde slowdown gave you a chance to process all this novelty, which may have shocked your delicate system.

Pack a spare parachute anyway, because five planets will be retrograde throughout the month. In addition to Jupiter, energizer Mars is retrograde in Aquarius and your domestic zone, causing family friction or stress around your living situation. Saturn and Pluto are reversing through Capricorn and your communication house, which could ramp up tension or weird power dynamics, as people may be talking out of both sides of their mouth. And foggy Neptune is retrograde in Pisces and your passionate fifth house, amping up the drama in your love life and bringing a need for more clarity. Since these retrogrades are strongly impacting your interpersonal relations, take the time to REALLY think about what you want—or even to set a single intention—before launching into discussions. Otherwise, you’ll end up in circular conversations, especially at the end of the month, when interactive Mercury joins the retrograde brigade.

Two days after Jupiter turns direct (forward), the aforementioned Cancer partial solar (new moon) eclipse activates your ninth house of expansion and broader perspectives. Eclipses sweep in four to six times a year, removing anything that’s past its expiration date and flinging open the doors for a fresh start. Solar eclipses mark bold beginnings and can set us on a whole new (and unexpected) path. This one is the first in a series on the Cancer/Capricorn axis that will continue through July 2020, bringing exciting developments to your communication sectors. Writing, teaching, learning, traveling and publishing could become priority items. You may get involved in your community, move to a new neighborhood or connect to another part of the world through work, personal interest or even a relocation.

This is the only eclipse from this group in 2018, and it’s just a sneak preview of changes that will really take flight in 2019. Still, it will be an intense start! On July 12, the Sun and new moon are exactly opposite your celestial co-ruler, power monger Pluto, which is in Capricorn and your third house of communication and community. Keep some of those exciting plans under wraps, even if you want to crow it from the rooftops. A sibling, colleague or friend could be surprisingly unsupportive, perhaps because they feel jealous or threatened by your success. If you’re planning to spring a big change on anyone, do it gently—or wait until everything is fully confirmed. The unexpected shade could take the wind out of your sails, making you second-guess an awesome idea before you give it a fighting chance. Don’t let any seeds of doubt take root, Scorpio!

At this outspoken eclipse, you may serve up some long-overdue truth serum by having an honest but necessary conversation. Choose your words carefully and try not to take anyone’s intense reactions to heart. And remember, if you’re gonna dish it out, you have to be prepared to take it. Pluto rules the unconscious, so before you go reading someone the riot act, make sure you’re not projecting your own stuff onto them.

Whew! There’s so much energy swirling around and so many ideas percolating that you can barely sit still. You can begin to put some of those blue-sky visions into a structure on July 22, when the Sun commences its month-long visit to Leo and your tenth house of ambition, goals and professional success. The energy will become more focused now, helping you plan and refine—to sort the best of your creative “crops” and select the keepers. Work could get busy and demanding, and the stars align for some power moves. While everyone else is checked out in summer-vacation mode, sidle up to the decision makers and score some brownie points.

But do it fast, because from July 26 to August 19, Mercury, the planet of communication, technology and travel, will be retrograde in Leo, which can scramble signals and cause technological mayhem, especially at work. Clients and bosses may be royal pains, changing their minds or delaying decisions with bureaucracy. If you’re thinking of investing in a new laptop, phone, printer or email or website host, wait until after the retrograde. If you can’t, spend the few extra bucks for the insurance and full warranty. Back up all your files and always review before hitting “send” or “publish.”

Retrogrades ARE favorable for connecting with your past, so if you’re job-hunting, talk to an old boss or client who could have valuable leads, if not an actual position to offer. Since the tenth house rules your public image, this is a great time to work on a branding refresh—just unveil it in September or October, when retrograde high season has passed.

The next day brings even more intensity because on July 27, a total lunar (full moon) eclipse in Aquarius will shake up your fourth house of home, family and emotional foundations. Just as you’re trying to hit some curveballs at work, this topsy-turvy eclipse brings some changes to your domestic life. Lunar eclipses can demand more adjustment than solar ones since full moons mark transitions and turning points. This one could bring a change to your living situation, a move or real estate move, or an important resolution involving a female relative (possibly your mom).

With family in the focus of this eclipse, you might get news of a pregnancy or need to deal with a parenting issue. Since the eclipse is traveling in close proximity to aggravator Mars, there can be no more sweeping some part of your personal life under the rug. No decision will ever be “perfect,” Scorpio, so get off the fence and make a move—or prepare to have the eclipse decide it for you. For example, if you’ve been looking at home after home, you could miss the boat, and a place you really like gets scooped up by someone else. A roommate might make a sudden exit, or you could decide it’s time to implement some new house rules—and to carve out some sacred space for yourself.

This is the final Aquarius eclipse in a series that’s been touching down on the Leo/Aquarius axis since February 2017, resetting your work-life balance and bringing big changes to both your personal and professional lives. Look back to the prior two Aquarius eclipses on August 7, 2017, and February 15, 2018, for clues of what might fully come together now. There will be one last Leo eclipse on January 21, 2019, which could bring a major professional change or upgrade. Between now and then, continue implementing bold changes that align with Scorpio 2.0. Cue the Diana Ross: You’re coming out!

Love & Romance

Your co-ruler, feisty Mars, is retrograde in Aquarius and your most personal sector all month, churning up strong feelings and making you more sensitive than usual. Family stress could have a direct effect on your relationship, which doesn’t help when you’re already feeling thin-skinned. Stay vigilant, so that you don’t project old baggage on each other. And if you DO slip, catch yourself before something regrettable is said or done. With tension-inducing Mars gone awry, you may feel “cramped” by your partner—emotionally or physically—regardless of whether you live together or not. Scorpios who’ve been considering getting pregnant or moving (especially into a cohabitation sitch) could have second thoughts about it now. These are things you DON’T want to rush or be pressured into!

On the flip side of your chart, Venus is in Leo and your goal-driven tenth house until July 9, helping you focus on the big picture and long-range plans. When you’re not busy at evening work events and cocktail mixers, this is a stellar time to dress up and do anything that will get you out of the house. Single Scorpios might meet a very eligible prospect at a work-related party or conference. Just another reason to dress to impress!

On July 9, Venus swings into Virgo and your festive eleventh house, fueling your desire to go out more and hang with friends who know how to have fun and keep things light. A great way to escape emotional drama and intensity is by surrounding yourself with upbeat, interesting people. Since the eleventh house also rules social activism and community service, you’ll gain a deep sense of satisfaction donating time to helping people in need. Bonus points for attached Scorpios if you do it as a couple. Single? This is another awesome way to meet someone you could not only be attracted to but whose values you share and whose ethics you admire.

Throughout the month, Venus will form flowing trines to innovative Uranus (July 11), structured Saturn (July 14) and transformational Pluto (July 27) in your “people” houses. Sparks could fly while out mingling, or you might actually have luck meeting a “keeper” online. You may have to make the first move, but hey, why not?

Key Dates

July 24: Venus-Neptune Opposition You might think you’re playing it cool by holding back in a relationship, but in reality, all you’re doing is increasing someone’s insecurities. If you want the drama to die down, stop playing games and reveal your genuine feelings.

Money & Career

Go big, Scorpio! The energy for the first three weeks of July is #nolimits, and your dreams get major star-powered support. Lucky Jupiter zooms full speed ahead through Scorpio starting July 10, taking your solo projects from dial-up to broadband speed until November 8. The Sun will be swirling through Cancer and your visionary ninth house until July 22, but this lucky and enterprising zone really gets a lift at the July 12 Cancer solar eclipse. It could bring a grand opportunity to teach, travel, share your ideas through major media or spearhead a bold project that unites different groups of people. Start thinking outside the box in a bottomless way, Scorpio, because this is a sneak preview of a new eclipse series on the Cancer/Capricorn continuum that can make you a major influencer between now and July 2020. Do some vocal warm-up exercises; yours could be the voice that everyone listens to!

Your annual professional high season arrives on July 22, when the Sun enters Leo and your tenth house of career until August 23. Unfortunately, you’ll have to bob and weave your way through Mercury’s retrograde in Leo from July 26 to August 19, which could feel like two steps forward, one step back. Continue forging ahead, even if you face delays or red tape. Take special care to save any important documents to the cloud (plus a couple additional backup devices). Since retrogrades are great times for tweaking and revising, you might spend this cycle polishing your resume with a recruiter, working with a business coach or putting the finishing touches on a major proposal.

Key Dates

July 9: Mercury-Jupiter Square You’ve crafted some big plans, and now you want to scrap them all! Your master strategy, brilliant as it is, feels confining. Loosen up so you don’t crush your spirit. With expansive Jupiter in your sign, you need space to grow and experiment. Make sure there’s enough wiggle room for that.

Love Days: 30, 8 Money Days: 14, 23 Luck Days: 12, 19 Off Days: 6, 10, 18

[twistedrunes]

Birthday Girl

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16864534

This is a purely gratuitous piece for my friend and fellow secret sinner @blinder-secrets  Hope you have a wonderful day girl! Anyway here’s some Tommy naughtiness.

Warnings: Language, a definite BDSM vibe and lots of implied naughty times. Probably technically safe for work but I’m not sure you want to read it there.

“Tickets. Ticket’s please.” The conductor calls walking down the corridor of the train. The train was unusually empty. The weather was horrendous. No sign of spring ever arriving, even two weeks out from Easter. The sleet sticking to the ground, gathering in little drifts which were quickly turned to dirty slush by anyone foolish enough to step outside.  

You had been foolish enough. Today you had interviewed Ms Agatha Christie. An honour you held so dearly God himself could not have prevented you from going. The train had been delayed by the weather on your way to the interview and was delayed again multiple times on the way home. But even the cold and late hour could not keep the smile from your face after meeting your hero.

You worked for the Manchester Guardian Weekly as a journalist. The editor had taken you on at the owner’s insistence. You were the only woman working on the paper.  So your editor had thought it appropriate that the lady journalist writes the article about the lady writer. You strongly suspected that he only let you do it because he thought that no-one would want to read about the lady writer and so it didn’t matter if the journalist was a lady too. Meaning he could keep all of his ‘real’ journalists in Manchester to cover ‘real’ news. But you didn’t care one jot, this was the opportunity of a lifetime; you had met one of your heroes.

The interview had been amazing. Ms Christie was as sharp, quick and funny as you had dreamed. Your notebook was literally full, you had filled it by the half-way point of the interview, despite being new at the beginning. Ms Christie had noticed you desperately trying to fit your shorthand into the margins and blank spaces of the used pages and had given you one of her own. You knew without a doubt you would treasure it forever. Ms Christie had also been kind enough to sign your copy of The Mysterious Affair at Styles another item you knew you would treasure forever. The interview had been scheduled for an hour but somehow had taken nearly two. So you had been forced to run to make the train.

As the train wound its way through the peak district your mind began to wander towards thoughts of tomorrow. Your birthday. Not that anything too exciting would be happening. To be honest your meeting with Ms Christie and her signing your book felt like enough wishes granted. But part of you was hoping that the day would include a visit from Mister Thomas Shelby OBE. With a whole different set of wishes hoping to be answered in his presence. The pair of you had been, well you didn’t really know what it was you were, definitely not dating, but far from casual acquaintances. Fucking. That was what you had been, fucking. As often as possible. The last time you had seen each other he had mentioned in passing that he might be in Manchester on the eighth through to the tenth of March. You had simply nodded and hoped, not wanting to reveal it was your birthday. Not sure if that was something you could or even should think was important to Tommy. 

You had met when you had been sent to do background research for a story the Birmingham Times were running about The Grace Shelby Institute. When he had met you himself you had been flustered, not expecting anyone to meet with you at all. Let alone Mr Shelby himself. You had explained quickly that you were just doing the background and that someone else would meet with him later to do a proper interview. Mr Shelby had told you the story was important to him and so he would give you the tour and answer any questions you had. He had been a kind and generous host, showing you around the building, introducing you to the children, talking about why it was important to him that children stayed where they belonged. Briefly relating the story of how his Aunt’s children had been taken and one sent to Australia and the family’s subsequent sadness when they learnt she had died. You had stayed for three hours.

When you returned to the office the editor had been nearly apocalyptic. Furious because Mr Shelby had called and said it wouldn’t be necessary for the ‘other’ reporter to come out as you had done an excellent job and that he looked forward to approving your piece before it was published in the paper in the coming week. Mr Shelby had called you the next morning, offering to go over any follow-up questions you might have. He had sent a car to collect you. The car had taken you to his house. You had met with him in his office and run over the piece and asked your questions. Mr Shelby, or Tommy as he had asked you to call him had answered them all. When you finally packed your notebook away he suggested that you stay for dinner with him as it was getting late. You had accepted. After dinner and a number of whiskeys, he had suggested you stay the night. You had accepted that offer too.

Again the editor had been furious when Tommy had returned your draft piece a few days later with only one change. He had crossed out the name of the journalist the editor had assigned to the piece and replaced with your own. That was how you had your first piece published. Well, the first piece you wrote that was attributed to you. That was the piece which had drawn the attention of the new owner of the Manchester Guardian Weekly. A young woman, who had inherited it from her father, with a good education and particular political views which meant she was eager to see more women in the workplace.

So you had moved away from Birmingham to Manchester for an actual journalistic position rather than the tea lady come, ghostwriter, you were in Birmingham.  Tommy had congratulated you on the job and suggested the two of you might catch up if either of you ever had a reason to be in the others city. You hadn’t objected to that suggestion. In the time since you’d left, you’d both found yourselves with cause to visit the others city. Visits organised to require an overnight stay. The visits had been amazing; there was something about hotel sex that made both of you more willing to reveal the more sinful sides of yourselves. As if the supposed anonymity gave you the freedom to expose yourselves.

It had started innocently enough, you had been in bed, after your first round of fucking when you congratulated Tommy on his OBE. Rolling on your stomach you had linked your fingers under your chin batting your eyelashes as you joked that soon you would have to call him Sir. He had paused, cigarette hovering at his lips as his tongue skimmed between them. His eyes turning towards you as his tongue drew his bottom lip between his teeth.  The pressure of his teeth staining his lip white as he released it.

“Hm, Sir,” He said calmly as if considering it, crushing his cigarette in the ashtray. “No, I think you have far too much spirit for that.” He said smiling benignly as he rolled on his side, propped up on his elbow, head resting in his palm, his hair hanging through his fingers as his other hand caressed your ass. “Don’t you?” He said, slapping your ass with just enough force for it to sting. You had let out a noise somewhere between a moan and a gasp, immediately feeling the dynamic between the two of you shift.

Tommy’s hand remained on your ass, soothing it. His eyes held yours, challenging you silently. Your heart pounding, you found yourself wanting to resist to see what Tommy would do next.  “Well you can’t always get your own way,” You paused, licking your lips; devils in your head at war, debating whether to call him Tommy or Sir, wondering which would rile him most. “Tommy.” You decide.

A smirk had teased the corners of Tommy’s mouth as he trailed his fingers up your back, along your shoulder to your neck, before burying them forcefully in your hair fisting them as he pulled you towards him. “Oh, but I do.” He said, lips brushing your ear. His tone casual but his tenor deeper than you’ve ever heard it, the words reverberating through your body. He tugged on your hair, opening your neck to him. Sliding his tongue over the crook of your neck before sucking on it, hard, his teeth pressing into the flesh. Each thud of your heart causing the blood pooling there to throb.

“Yes, Sir.” The words fell from your lips before they entered your mind. Followed by a groan you were ashamed to hear come from your own body.

“Mm,” Tommy hummed thoughtfully against your neck before letting go of you and rolling onto his back, his hands resting on his chest as he looked up at the ceiling.

Your body immediately craved Tommy’s touch again. You shuffled closer bringing yourself to your hands and knees so you could kiss his stomach. Your hair fell around your face in a curtain, Tommy’s fingers lazily running through it. Feeling bold you had nipped at the flesh on his flank. His response was immediate, yanking your hair to pull you away from him. Your hand had flown to your head in surprise rather than actual pain. “No.” He had said sternly. You had nodded once before he released you. Unable to help yourself you immediately fell against him, sucking hard, on the exact same spot.

Tommy had sat up immediately, spinning so his feet were on the floor and grabbing your upper arms. He dragged you across him, so you were positioned for a spanking before you even knew what had happened. “What are you doing?” You had asked, breathless with excitement and your awareness of his rock hard dick pressing into your side.

“Disciplining you.” He had said his hand already roaming your ass.

You had snorted. “What do you know about discipline Tommy? You’ve never met a law you didn’t want to break.” You had challenged.

With that Tommy seemed to have changed his mind, bundling you up as he stood before tossing you back on the mattress. His body immediately above yours, pinning you in place. However, his physical presence over you was redundant as you couldn’t have moved if you tried. Eyes both fire and ice, pinned you like a startled fawn.  

“Discipline and the law have nothing to do with each other, pet.” He had brushed your hair away from your face. “The law is rules imposed by others, discipline is the rules we impose on ourselves.” He held your gaze, looking for an indication you understood. You nodded. “It’s why you’re here. You love that I don’t follow the rules. That I do what I want. Yes?” He asked rhetorically as he nodded in agreement with himself. “And it thrills you that I have the discipline to stay in control. That I could take you in hand. You want them both. The gangster and the disciplinarian. Don’t you?”

You had never felt so exposed in your life. He was saying things you would have never admitted to yourself. Your heart pounding in your chest, you had nodded, your hand rising to his chest.

He had kissed your cheek softly before taking your hand in his, collecting your other wrist he pinned both above your head. “See you’ve always been a law-abiding girl, a nice girl.” He mocked pressing butterfly kisses against your neck with each word, his dick grinding against your hip. “But what you want, what you need is discipline.” He sucked hard on your collarbone, again you felt a bruise forming immediately.

“Yes.” You had moaned unable to stop the roll of your hips or the sigh from your mouth.

Tommy had grinned devilishly above you “Good. Once you agree to the rules breaking them will have immediate consequences. I will be judge, jury and executioner, there will be no trials, no defence.” He instructed.

You had nodded desperately, a shameful groan coming from you as you agreed.

“These rules will only be between us. You will learn that I will never punish you unfairly. But, only I can discipline you.” Tommy had insisted his hand had cupped your cheek as he spoke. When you had nodded he had kissed you gently.

 “Miss?” An unfamiliar voice drags you from your memory.

“Pardon?” You gasped trying desperately trying to gain some composure, feeling exposed, your cheeks flushed and your pussy throbbing.

“You need to get off the train, Miss.” The conductor said patiently.

“Pardon?” You repeated idiotically.

“End of the line Miss. We’re in Manchester. Did you not hear the announcement?”

“Oh, sorry.” You say gathering your things rapidly.

“Nearly got locked up in here for the night.” The man jokes as you double check you have everything.

The conductor helps you down to the platform and glancing up and down the deserted platform, you realise you are obviously the last to depart. You glance at your watch 11:30pm you sigh a little knowing that if Tommy has called you have missed him and he won’t call again tonight. You head out through the station house to the road, hoping there is still a cab available at this hour. You walk quickly, as much to warm up as anything else. It’s freezing.

On the street, you realise there isn’t a single cab. No-one daft enough to still be out unnecessarily on a night like this. You sigh, pulling your coat around yourself tightly and turn towards home. As you pass under the first street lamp a car pulls up beside you. You step back from the road cautiously. The driver leans across the car and opens the door. “Come on, get in.” You immediately recognise the voice as Tommy’s.

“What are you doing here?” You ask, climbing into the car gratefully.

Tommy reaches behind him and pulls a travel rug from the backseat, spreading it over your lap. “I told you I’d be here on the eighth.” He says brushing his gloved fingers along your jaw.

“I wasn’t sure.” You say quietly. “How did you know I’d be here?”

“You didn’t answer your phone. So I went to the paper and they told me you were on a story in Sheffield. When you still weren’t home at eight I came looking for you.”

“Were you waiting?” You ask nervously. You swallow hard. Waiting was against the rules.

You catch the soft smile on Tommy’s face in the flash of his lighter as he brings it to the tip of his cigarette. “Yes.”

You slide across the seat, head bowed not meeting his eyes. “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, Sir.”

Tommy’s fingers lift your chin. “There’s no need to apologise. You don’t control the weather, and I should have called to confirm.” He says calmly, pressing his lips to yours. “I had hoped to surprise you for your birthday.” He continues. You can’t help the smile that creeps onto your face. “Did you think I’d forget, little one?” He teases his hand gripping the back of your neck.

You shake your head, not meeting his eye. “No.” You whisper.

Tommy’s fingers tighten in your hair “Don’t lie, you know I can tell.” He says tipping your head to look at him.

“Not, forget,” you begin “just that you had no reason to.” You explain, reaching out and running your hand over his chest.

Tommy places his free hand over yours. “Do you think I don’t care about you?” His gaze softens as he waits for your answer, you remain mute unable to give voice to your desperate hope that he did or to risk that hope being dashed for good. “You think because I discipline you I don’t care?” He asks again. Again you’re silent. “Hm.” He says turning away from you and starting the car. Tommy’s hands never leaving the wheel, yours never leaving your lap. Both your gazes fixed on the road. You drive in silence to your house.

As the car comes to a stop in front of your house you can barely breathe, a feeling of impending doom that he finds you too needy and will leave. “We’re not going to a hotel?” You ask, trying to keep your voice even.

“No,” Tommy says definitively. “Maybe tomorrow.” He adds as an afterthought.

Your heart drops and you begin to slide across the car to the door. “Goodnight. Thank you for the lift home.” You say climbing out of the car.

Tommy follows you to your front door, as it opens he catches your arm “I do care.” He says evenly, pulling you back towards him gently. “They are just games, a way of expressing ourselves, to feel good.” He takes your face in his hands, his thumbs caress your cheeks. “Does it make you feel good?” He asks holding you so you can’t look away.

“Yes.” You acknowledge.

“Good.” He kisses you, lips soft against yours, none of the usual urgency or dominance. “Because I do care. It’s important to me that you feel good.” You can hear the church clock chiming midnight. Your birthday. His arms wrap around your waist, hands gently holding your ass as he carries you through the doorway knocking the door with his heel to close it. “Let me show you.”

Enjoy this? Have an idea, headcanon or request? Send me an ask

Interested in my other work? Go to my MASTERLIST OR AO3 - twistedrunes

[positivlyfocused]

Conspicuous Consumption Is A Spiritual Practice

There is no distinction between a spiritual practice and wantonly consuming material goods. Both produce the same result. Guaranteed.

So go ahead and consume all you want. Or live your life as an ascetic.

It doesn't matter too much really.

And don't worry about the planet. It is easily handling the demand. Though it seems like it's not.

We know, science isn't on our side.

That is, if we had a side, science wouldn't be there. Not yet anyway.

Whether you're determined to master meditation, go vegan, drive an electric car and recycle everything or generate enough wealth to buy an Airstream, a yacht, five houses and a G-5, you're eventually going to come to the same realizations.

Everyone arrives at the same realizations after death.

Some, again, on both paths, get there before that.

That's rare.

Those who do are venerated. Bill Gates–Deepak Chopra. Leonardo DiCaprio–Eckhart Tolle....there are endless examples of the venerable on either path.

· · ·

Some say you can not be spiritual let alone experience higher consciousness while pursuing material satisfaction. These people sometimes see consumerism itself as possibly the worst invention of modern civilization, and the most conspicuous consumers, a scourge.

^^Many people out there rail against material success.

But when you consider where all this material stuff comes from, how it is produced and why, you discover something interesting: the pursuit of material satisfaction is just as powerful a path to "enlightenment" as any spiritual one.

That's because, all things material, including the pursuit itself, is a spiritual process.

To explain:

^^This stuff we see has to come from somewhere! Photo: ohmky

Where do things come from?

Every invention starts with inspiration. Whether it's Facebook, Medium, A Tesla, or BlackKKlansman, creation starts with an idea. Where do ideas come from?

Science will tell you they come from associative processes in the brain which constantly fire in the background of conscious awareness. But there are many steps prior to that process that happen that science doesn't know about.

These steps take place nowhere "near" the brain. Let alone in the brain.

For example, we recently were designated a Medium Top Writer in the Racism tag. We had no idea there was even such a thing as a "Top Writer”.

One day three weeks ago, we got the impulse (a strong urge) to share our work on Medium. We had been sporadically doing so, but two weeks ago, that strong desire turned into a process where we gradually attained a three-story-a-day publishing regimen.

There was no problem in our mind needing a creative solution. We didn't even think about how to attain Top Writer status, let along in the Racism tag. We simply started including Medium as a publishing outlet of our work, enjoying the artistic process along the way.

We know the coordination of events in the physical world which had this result show up in our life experience occurred in a "place" we call The Moment Of Becoming. That place doesn't exist anywhere in physical reality, and is certainly outside the brain. Rather it is a conduit through which material reality emerges.

This is why we practice being more immediately responsive to our intuitions. We have seen so much evidence that intuition is not a random, unreliable source of knowledge, but a highly accurate, intelligent and reliable guide to getting everything we want.

Even things we don't realize we're wanting. Until we have them. Such as this Top Writer thing.

The inspiration to increase our publishing on Medium came from somewhere.

Where did it come from? From that no place we call The Moment Of Becoming.

It is the same place a desire for a car, or a bigger house or a better job comes from: an innate process all humans have and use as expressions of aware-ized life experience.

Aware-ized life experience, which is what you are, desires more of everything. As those desires are satisfied, satisfaction births new desires propelling aware-ized life experience "forward"....along the lines of specific desire focuses, or "channels" or, as Seth calls them: Value Fulfillment.

Inspiration is individual guidance from the larger part of who we all are. It indicates paths through which Value Fulfillment can ultimately be experienced, in a given moment of the collocation of time, space, events and participating expressions of aware-ized life experience.

· · ·

A person is born with a natural desire to create. She seemingly fumbles around for a bit in life until she gets her footing and tunes into her intuition –– her innate impulses "sounding" from "non physical" and received in The Moment Of Becoming.

All during the fumbling she is creating, but indeliberately. Indeliberate creation is valuable too. So it's not wasted energy. No more than the millions of seeds a tree produces, only a very few of which actually become trees.

Intuitive inspiration doesn't just come out of nowhere, it results from a long series of deliberate and focused attention resulting in a momentum of accretionaround a value fulfilment unique and inherent to the individual intuition receiver.

At some point our intrepid human follows that inspiration. It doesn't matter when, because, like all of us, she is eternal. As she gives more and more attention to the inspired idea, resources in the form of people, money, opportunities and events accrete around her.

This process is sometimes delayed by a person who is not naturally attuned to what is going on. A person might try to use the world of "doing" or "action", manipulating matter, people and events, in order to fulfill intention. Those naturally attuned to this process we're describing, use far less action, are much more effective and enjoy the journey far more than those who aren't.

Some time later our individual has a product or service or some kind of value or usefulness to offer. The gestation is perfectly culminated to coincide with the desire for said product or service. Or....due to one or many factors, there is a delay prior to the co-incidence of events wherein eager consumers are ready to consume said value.

This delay humans like to call "failure".

Which is a misnomer, because there really is no such thing. Just like seeds that don't grow into trees aren't "failures".

In the former instance, where everything comes together easily, consumers consume said invention and life moves on. In the latter, an infinite number of alternative events can result, depending on how the maker reacts to the gap between desire expression (wanting to create value for others) and actual desire realization (having someone consume said offer).

Both parties – consumers and producers – are collaborators in this process.  Inventors invent based on input from those who want the invention. That communication happens in non-physical, then is "seeded" to many potential "inventors" simultaneously, which explains why multiple inventors will have the same idea at the same time.

It also explains why patent law is a joke.

But that's another story.

Collaboration includes aware-ized life experience expressed in the physical world as the material resources used to make the product or service. All matter is representative and contains within it aware-ized energy. Everything is alive, in other words.

The satisfaction gained by all parties in the consumption of the thing –– from the smallest particle to the largest instantiation...a planet perhaps ––  and the value produced is the "more" that was only "potential" when the seed of inspiration got planted.

Thus, with the blooming of invention leading to the delight of consumption, the universe, All That Is and all participating parties become more.

^^Even graffiti taken to “more” becomes beautiful in itself. It is the same with life. Photo credit: anders nord

In an ideal world, humanity would work its wonders to create more and more efficient and useful (i.e. valuable) ideas which increase the capacity and efficiency of its productive capability as well as the productive enjoyment of humanity's physical environment, with no resource exhaustion.

Expanding desire would cause resource expansion and both would keep pace with each other in an ongoing expansion of everything.

We see this happening despite obvious signs to the contrary.

But the timing of "desire" and "fulfillment" is wonky because humans pay too much attention to What Is Happening, lose connection with their invincibility, experience fear and insecurity and act from those places.

This connection loss opens a can of worms too complex to go into here. Suffice it to say, we see the world today, where "waste", seeming resource depletion and environmental destruction are the order of the day instead of what we're describing.

And yet, underneath all this is what we're describing: everything working wonderfully in an elegant and consistent orientation towards more and better for everyone and everything.

The problems humanity faces are due to many factors, one of which being the belief that goes something like this:

"Everything has a cost and if you can't tell me how to pay for it, I'm not going to support it. And if I have to pay for it and I don't agree it should be done, forget about it, particularly if it benefits others, or makes them lazy. People should work for what they get."

Desire causes opportunity for desire satisfaction, leading to desire fulfillment, then more desire and thus more "more".  Beliefs like the above just slow things down greatly delaying the process and leaving those who could enjoy satisfaction not enjoying it.

Until after the death moment.

Aware-ized life experience has an insatiable desire for more. It will always desire to experience more of itself. This positive feedback loop –– the desire to have more experiences is partially responsible for you (being an instance of aware-ized life experience) being eternal: it's just not possible for you to come to an end because you are constantly creating more life experience through experiencing your life experience.

How Consumption Equals Enlightenment.

As we said above, some achieve great prosperity allowing a level of material freedom that affords freedom of time and resource abundance. Sometimes in this state, a person begins to look inward or outward, or both. They want to do good. And they want to be able point to the good and say "see, that's because of me".

Of course everything aware-ized life experience does leaves an indelible, positive mark on physical reality. Most people don't understand that.

So they "try" to become more than they perceive themselves to be.

That is the same outcome some "spiritual" people can also arrive at. For every single spiritual guru we can think of has turned to do exactly what some very wealthy people do. They just do it in ways consistent with the path they are on.

Some spiritual "finders" tend to also become wealthy. Particularly those in the west. In those cases we see them trod both paths: spiritual and material, blessing the world and people as they go along.

But no matter the path, those who make it while still in a body is small. In fact, there are a lot more who don't make it than those who do.

The following is going to get heady....

What Is Happening and How The What Is Happening Is Happening

People get stuck in another feedback loop, where they don't understand the “How The What Is Happening” part of What Is Happening. Thus they get lost in the happening, instead of understanding the How The What Is Happening Is Happening.

Lost there, they see the world as random, uncaring dangerous and risky. Their only recourse is to try to take charge of the What Is Happening part. They are oblivious to the How The What Is Happening Is Happening part, even though the "How...." part is the funnest, most enjoyable part of the whole process making up the "What...".

Thus the challenges in the world.

Racism, sexism, Trump and his supporters, the alt right and the alt-left, Russia and the US, wars, poverty, disease, etc. All sides of any "issue” are oblivious to How What Is Happening Is Happening. Instead they are dazzled by What Is Happening.

So they take sides.

In their dazzlement, they stumble through life fighting against What Is Happening, where they have no power instead of focusing on the "How..." part, where all their power is.

Thus, they suffer.

With the right guidance a person can easily navigate their awareness from the What Is Happening, back to the How What Is Happening Is Happening, regain their power (and their invincibility) and therefore be a Conscious Creator Of Reality.

That understanding, and the deliberate creations which results from that, is enlightenment.

Few are doing that right now, but oh, boy how times are a changing!

· · ·

There is no difference between living "spiritually" and living immersed in a consumer lifestyle. Both create experiences which canbut usuallydo notproduce lasting fulfillment and unshakable happiness. Not until after death.

Which is why, when it doeshappen, we venerate such people for their rarity.

The ultimate path of humanity is to become a vast collection of super human individuals in a vast civilization of super humans. We're speaking both materially and spiritually since they're one in the same.

We're a long way from that. But we're happy with a civilization of ordinary humans, punctuated every now and then by individuals who are super human.

The venerable position of “invincible super human” is available to everyone. Both paths can lead there.

Everyone gets there eventually.

So don't sweat it. Consumer or Ascetic. You're on the right path. And eventually, you'll arrive.

[grigsby-writes]

Silver Lining: Chapter 3

"So..." Lance broke the silence over the radios, curling into Kaltenecker's warm body.

"Go to sleep, Lance." Pidge groaned from her own lion. Matt was asleep in the corner of the cockpit, while she slumped in her chair.

Lance quieted down for the fifth time that night. The other paladins tried to close their eyes and sleep, hoping to at least get something out of their delay. Unfortunately, it was futile. Shiro could only stare at the dark ceiling of his former lion, trying to sort his thoughts. Krolia had retreated to one of the storage areas in the lion to sleep, while Keith sat upright, completely awake, in his pilot's seat. The other lions had a similar situation. The world was was quiet except for the soft breathing of sleeping people.

"Are you guys also having trouble sleeping?"

"Lance!" The paladins whisper-screamed in unison.

A few more seconds of silence before another voice breaks it.

"Yeah... I can't sleep either." Hunk says quietly, trying to be more considerate than Lance.

"You guys wanna do something?" Lance asks in response.

"What exactly do you propose? We're in completely different ships." Pidge points out as she spread her legs out onto the armrest of her seat.

"Okay, now you've got me up. What's happening?" Allura yawns.

Shiro listens in on their sleepy exchange, Keith doesn't do much more than lazily gaze into the dark screen of his lion.

Lance sits up straight, pounding his fist into his palm in thought, "20 questions!"

"Oh, god, no," Keith groans, "That's going to take forever to finish."

"Well, hello, Leader Keith," Lance teases the black paladin. "Will you be joining us?"

"Make it five questions and I'll play along."

"Deal."

"Who's even awake?" Pidge asks, yawning. "Say your name or something, I'm too tired to figure out voices."

"Allura."

"Hunk."

"The most gorgeous and bes-"

"Keith," He paused and looked back at Shiro, "You playing Shiro?"

"Yeah, sure." He answered, a bit loud considering there were sleeping people around him.

"First question! Everyone answers, least favorite thing about space?" Lance starts off, cheerfully perking up and waiting for answers.

"The food goo,"Hunk answer quickly, if not a bit sheepishly.

"Unreliable internet."

"But Pidge, the lions and castle both have internet connection and web access."

"Yeah, but not every quadrant or planet has a steady connection..."

Allura rolled her eyes, "I don't like how only Coran, and now Romelle, are the only alteans."

There was a shocked silence.

"You okay, Allura?" Lance asked tentatively.

"I'm fine."

"Moving on... I don't like that it all looks the same."

Pidge was quick to respond to Lance's answer. "But every star system is different. New constellations, planets, gas and rock formations. Color burst and asteroid fields, Lance space is constatly changing. It does not all look the same."

"Fine, be all scientific about it," He crossed his arms, "Just saying..."

"I hate that there's a war going on." Keith stated bluntly. The paladins were silent for another moment , realizing the point in awe.

"Yeah... I have to go with Keith on this one." Shiro said, finally contributing.

The paladins nodded along in silent agreement.

Hunk gave the next question, "Favorite alien we've met?"

"If you guys don't say me..." Allura growled.

"Aside from Allura and Coran and Romelle, who are obviously our favorites." Hunk was quick to right his mistake. "Mine's Shay."

"My mom, Krolia."

"That was a no-brainer," Pidge pondered their own choice, "Rover."

"Rover's not an alien, Pidge." Lance argued, "And he's not even worki-"

"Lance..." Shiro warned, like the true dad he was, "Lay off."

"Fine. I liked the mermaids, they were fun."

"Fun?" Pidge inquired.

"Fuck off, Pidge."

"I quite like all of you, and to me you guys count as aliens." Allura said, voice quiet, as if to remind Pidge and Lance that their loud voices were going to wake up their companions.

"Aww, thanks Allura," Lance's voice was a suave, flirting tone, though it was good natured.

Allura groaned, "I already regret saying that."

"What about you, Shiro?"

"There's too many to choose."

"That's not an answer!" Lance exclaimed, "You have to pick."

"The majority of aliens I've met have been trying to kill me, and the remaining were either chosen by you guys already, or were annoying." Shiro paused, "So there."

"Whatever." He grumbled. "Favorite out of all of the ones awake, like who do like best?" Lance continued, his voice peaking with arrogance, obviously fishing for a compliment.

No one raced to answer.

"That's like asking a parent to choose their favorite kid." Shiro stated simply, "You can't ask that and get an answer."

"Spoken like a true father." Pidge said in exaggerated wisdom.

"Do you really think of us as your kids?" Hunk awwed, "We're like a big space family."

"I wouldn't say that... I'm not a father..."

"C'mon, you're like that most father figure-y person we know." Hunk continued, his voice a joking tone. "We've said this before."

Keith turned around in his chair to look at Shiro, "You kind of are."

Shiro gave a wholehearted dad laugh, "I'm not that much older than you guys."

"Denial is the first stage." Allura joined in, "Soon you'll be joining Coran in the elderly person club."

"What about Krolia?" He asked, "Doesn't she count for anything?"

"Psh," Pidge scoffed, "Have you seen Krolia? She's too hot to be a mom, she could be like seventeen and I wouldn't be surprised- no offense Keith."

A faint blush of embarrassment crosses Keith's face, barely visible in the darkness. "Do a different question, please."

"Hunk's my favorite," Pidge ignores Keith, "He make us food, that bumpps him ahead of all ofthe rest of you."

"What are you humans excited, or nervous about going back to Earth?" Allura answered Keith wishes and asked a new question. It was met with a stony silence.

The paladins thought.

Shiro's mind buzzed with surfacing emotions and memories that had been knotting his stomach for this entire journey. he hadn't been on Earth for nearly two years, not including the day he had returned for. It scared him to think of what could've changed, and what change was yet to come. When he returned- when all of them returned -no longer would they be students at the Garrison. No longer would they be normal people. The paladins had traveled deeper in space than any other human. The paladins brought news of war and pain that Earth would otherwise be oblivious to. But what about Adam?

Shiro sucked in a s harp breath at the idea of seeing him again. Anxiety and excitement.  Their fighting before he had left was petty, not something they normally did. And just the prospect of being able to see him again made Shiro's heart swell. But fear tugged at him. Because what if Adam had moved on and really not waited for him? What if when Adam saw him again, Shiro would be a different person, one that Adam decided he no longer loved? What if they were too late and the Galra had already come and destroy Ear-

Lance spoke, interrupting Shiro's panicked thoughts. "I want to see my family again. My mom, and dad, and siblings, cousins, and- and all of them." Shiro noticed how Lance's voice broke slightly, dragged down by homesickness.

"My mom," Pidge said quickly, "She lost all of us, and I just want to give her a hug."

Another silence, one where the radio simply buzzed with static. It allowed Shiro to try and collect his thoughts.

"I can't wait to eat my parents' cooking again. And to feel the sun, even if it's the flaming desert sun." Hunk's tone was warm and forced , like he was keeping himself thinking about all of it in a good light. Like it was the future instead of the past.

And they waited. Shiro looked at Keith, who faced him now, though Keith only stared at the floor. Shiro could tell that Keith was thinking about his dad. He knew the boy well enough to recognize the pained glint in his eyes. Mournful and reflecting. As if Keith could only think of how horrible it was that his dad was gone. As if that was the only thing he could think about. Shiro could also see that Keith could only think about his dad when he thought about Earth. That Keith thought that he had nothing else to look forward to besides seeing his dad's grave again.

Shiro answered before Keith, hoping to give him a chance to think about something besides the negative. "My fiance, and the garrison."

A pause before Lance yelled, "You have a fiance, and you never told us!!"

"I mean, it's not like it was a secret..." Pidge pointed out. "Keith and I knew, plus Hunk sort of caught on."

"Sorry, what's a fiance exactly?" Allura asked.

"Like a stage between being married, you know what human marriage is right, and just being romantic partners. It's kind of unnecessary to call it something different."

"Why am I the only one to never pick up on these things?" Lance complained, a bit too loudly.

"Lance, it's not that big a deal..." Shiro said awkwardly.

"I didn't notice that Pidge was a girl, I didn't notice that Keith  had tried to be not a jerk, I didn't notice when Hunk's cookies were burning, and now this. How oblivious am I?"

"Pretty oblivious," Hunk answered the rhetorical question lightly.

"What about you Keith?" Allura moved the conversation along.

"Oh, uh..." He looked surprised, not quite expecting to be noticed. "I want to see my knife collection again."

"Why am I even surprised?" Lance groaned.

{First}

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