#these things only become our inevitable future if we let them in!

[arsenicflame]

"we just have to accept that AI is a part of our lives now" no we literally dont

[yourmoonie]

Let's talk about circumstances, perspectives, quanutm physics and Neville Goddard:

1. Circumstances are irrelevant unless we give them relevance

Nothing and nobody exists in our 3D without our imagination & permission

Circumstances become relevant when we give them a specific meaning

(The observer effect)

2. Let's say there are 2 people who have got SPs

Both of them are manifesting a relationship

But there is a difference between these 2 people and the way they view their circumstances:

(Picture 2)

Person A's sp calls them a friend:

Person B's Sp calls them a friend:

3. Now let me bring Neville and quanutmn physics here:

ery single possibility, result, and every single scenario you can imagine exist right now, whether you can see them or not, in the quantum universe in which we live.

4. There is no past, present, or future;

all that exists is the eternal NOW moment, where everything is happening at once. As a result, we are not moving through linear time; space time is only a human invention to keep track of events and memories.

5. Atoms make up everything in the universe,

& each one of them is made up of 99.9% energy (empty space) and 0.1 percent mass (actually dark energy combined with dark matter).

The probability waves are atoms that are vibrating at a frequency so high that u can't see them

6. BUT it really doesn't matter if you can or CANT see them

because you can manifest these waves of probability in your world.

And make the invisible-> VISIBLE

You achieve this by becoming aware of the possibility/result you would like to experience

7. Since the waves have always existed

and cannot be imagined or conceptualised, they do not actually transform into physical matter or form. When Neville Goddard said that creation is complete, he truly meant it because nothing in the universe is physical or solid.

8. The reason it seems like things are changing

is because when u choose to change ur state of consciousness around any specific outcome, your reality begins to inevitably match that state of consciousness where all of those events that already exist in that state happened.

9. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed;

you are simply tuning into the reality where you are actually experiencing that thing. Some people refer to this as timeline shifting/ Mandela effect/reality shifting, etc

10. The way you choose to consistently observe the waves

will determine whether or not they lead you to that reality or if they continue to be waves of probability. The waves do not have minds of their own.

You can choose ur path and your faith

You are the only person who can do it

11. The only reality that truly exists is Consciousness,

& everything resides in Consciousness, which in turn resides in everything.

As a result, everything u want to experience in your reality depends on you & the things u decide to believe, perceive, and consistently be aware of.

In conclusion, our circumstances ARE what we make them to be

So? Are you ready to take control and change the outcome in your favor?

It's time to stop letting the 3D world have an affect on you

[goldsbitch]

Just don't talk--------

-you might say something that hurts.

p10 to Just don't talk

summary: Enemies to lovers on steroids. The PR teams strike again.

Y/N was unusually giddy while doing interviews on the grid that day. It was hard to be nervous when in the corner of her eye she saw Lando, in his usual glorious unbothered style, seemingly more confident than he'd been the past few weeks.

Smiles shared in secret, both of them being lifted up by enormous amount of butterflies. Yet they both tried their best to keep busy in order to push off their inevitable "what are we" talk.

She was more than sure what she wanted to be to him. But the thought of him not being willing to make the lead was a scary one - so let's just ignore it and keep thinking about his tongue on her neck. And Lando? He was doing exactly the same. Both of them blissfully unaware that their crush has started to become impossible to hide.

//

"Y/N, what do you think about the car on this track? Will you be competetive enough for a podium?" was a simple and boring question that Y/N tried to answer in a creative way, but nothing was coming to her mind. With a great smile, she replied: "Yeah, I have a pretty good feeling that things are turning out for good."

Lando was "not so accidentally" passing by at that exact moment, deliberately taking the rout where he would have to walk past her, because his body just wanted to be near her at any point possible. His school boy instinct kicked in and in the same way as a five-year old boy would pull his crushes hair, he snatched Y/N team cap of her head gracefully in order to tease her.

"Hey!" she screamed in the middle of listening to another question from the interviewer and turned around, knowing well who that was, as she watched him approaching before. A small amused smile escaped her, it was impossible to stop it. Same for Lando.

"Oh, hello, Lando," the interviewer acknowledged him, hoping for some good viral content.

"Hey," was his speedy response, probably not ever trying to hide his own amusement.

Y/N tried to keep it cool and look at his lips. "Give it back, Lando." Nope, she failed at keeping her smile in.

"You know where to pick it up, honey," he said simply, winked and said goodbye to the interviewer as he walked away. Y/N's stomach dropped at how obvious he was with his flirting in public and how impossible she found it to keep herself together. She took a moment before resuming, internally fuming. She was happy and mortified at the same time.

"Well," Y/N said as she turned back to her interview. "Where were we?" And there it was - a fatal smile that would cost her in the future.

The interviewer was full on a mission to not let that go. "I see the mood has shifted between you two, has the previous feud passed now?"

"I guess you could say that, yes," she replied, slowly pulling herself back, heart still beating like after running a marathon.

"Do you guys spend time together off the track? Has that maybe helped?" How the fuck was she supposed to answer that?

Not so confidently, she pulled out a cliché line in order to save her. "We do our talking on the track." It was technically not a lie - what they did in their spare time was definitely not limited to talking.

"I see," the interviewer said, not satisfied with her answer.

"I'd love to chat, but my team is calling," he pointed somewhere off camera, somewhere where there definitely was not someone from her team pointing at her. She excused herself and strolled away, in the other way that Lando went, as quickly as possible.

Yes, she did. Oh god, it was becoming unbearable. How was he so infuriating? How can one manage to be so....ugh!!

The day passed by in a blur of meetings, interviews and fan meet and greets. Since their "joint" interview was live though, it took only few hours for the first edits to appear on social media, hashtags getting created and the two of them going viral once again. It was all a bit overwhelming, Y/N sat there and secretly watched every single edit she came by. There is one thing to fantasize secretly about your crush, another thing is when the whole seems to get on the same boat and romanticize the fuck out it. Was it making the whole thing more awkward? Probably, but Lando's and Y/N minds were too busy thinking about each other in order to take in the point of view of others. The whole grid became aware of the pair quickly becoming a meme.

Oscar limited himself to eye rolling only, as he was more than aware of what was going on.

Y/N was shocked to find Lando already sitting in with his and her team in one of the FIA's meeting rooms. The fact that this was happening outside of their team premise should have been a clear sign - they are being called into the same meeting. Nowhere to hide now.

Lando was sitting there, casually cramped up in a chair in an anatomically impossible position, legs twisted all around. "Can't he not sit like a normal person for once?" was Y/N first thought. The reason he sat like that was to prevent himself from foot tapping the whole building down. Acting cool and innocent, that was his strategy. He was sure they'll tell him to tone it down, not to bother Y/N publicly, he'll just nod at everything they say and then go finally cum all over her chest once again, just to prove to her that she is his. Not a hard task. He glanced at her innocently as she stepped in, doing a real bad job at hiding her shock. He rolled his eyes and smirked. This girl was so innocently cute. His own comms team shot him a warning look, so he just proceeded to stare into the ground. Y/n had very little time to get her strategy ready, cursing herself for not discussing this with Lando prior to this.

"Thank you both for coming on such a short notice," was how Lando's team opened the conversation with. You could cut the tension in the room with a butter knife.

"As you're both aware, we have tried several strategies in the past in order to get your image out in the best light as possible."

Y/N let out a laugh which she could not contain in, to which Lando shot her a surprised, horrified and slightly amused look. Unbelievable.

"Continue, please. I am listening," he said, just to spite her.

"Thank you. Please guys, let's keep this civil and adult," this time her team stepped in to put her down. Lando could not remember having this much fun.

"To continue what my colleague started to say, lots of several approaches which did not bring the ideal results. And with today's development, we feel like this is another time for us to step in. You're both faces of prestigious brands and the teams rely on you being likable characters. Am I right?"

Lando nodded, as if he was lying about understanding a new topic in a math lesson - maybe little too much. Y/N just bit her lip and remained silent.

This whole thing was so bizarre, like being caught for stealing a candy bar while having a stolen gold necklace in your pocket.

"What would you suggest?" Lando asked and Y/N doubted anyone in the room was fooled by his act and must have seen though him. He was obviously having the time of his life. At this rate she would have a hole in her lower lip if she would keep biting it down this was.

"I'm glad you're asking, Lando, and hope you'll be able to cooperate."

"You can count on my sincere involvement in your strategy," he stated seriously and stared at Y/N comms team. His own team knew what was up with his attitude but decided not to call him out just yet.

Y/N glanced at the papers resembling a contact on the table. This is it, she thought, the no contact and no involvement agreement. They're going to stop them from talking to each other in public? Is that even allowed?

His's comms manager took a deep breath. "The numbers on all our socials have spiked up greatly since your interaction became of a positive nature. What we've seen today - that will make our sponsors more than happy."

Lando was quicker than Y/N to connect the dots. His mood changed drastically within seconds and he finally sat up straight.

"No. Not a chance," he burned his team with his hard stare.

"Lando, please, let us finish."

He was not having that. "I know what you're going to say and no, you can't just order us to do that."

"Nobody is ordering you to do anything. We're simply...Putting this on the table.

"Forget that, no way in hell am I ever going to agree with this," he said, pointing at the contracts lying on the table. The room went silent for few seconds.

"I'm sorry, what are we talking about here?" asked Y/N, not really having the dots connected just yet. Lando briefly forgot that she was in the room, suddenly regretting his quick dismissal. But he was not the one to be forced into anything like this. Better him having it break to her then them, right?

This time he was the one to take a deep breath and while speaking to Y/N, he still stared at the comms teams. "They want us to start fake dating for PR." He was hoping he got it wrong. But the silence on the other side of the table just proved him right.

This came as a shock to her. Was this their masterplan? Did they really have to meddle all the fucking time? "I...I didn't think these things actually happened in real world," she stated, honestly.

Why couldn't these two just get a minute to talk among themselves? Y/N's mind was once again stuck in a rut because of Lando Norris existing at the same time as she did. Million questions on her mind, but the biggest one - why was it such a hard and obvious no from him? He did not even consider it. This could have been an easy escape for them.

"What would that look like exactly?" she asked, wrapping her head around it.

She received smiles from the team, them being happy that she was seemingly somewhat on board. "Well, we would set a clear timeline with a deadline and a scheduled break up, set up a social media strategy, you'd accompany each other on social event and the PDA would be very clearly stated upon the mutual agreement between you and your lawyers. Involvement of other people around you would always be discussed prior and clear communication is key. We do not want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Of course, an NDA is part of this agreement."

It was impossible to look at him just yet. Her head was spinning. She was on the verge of crying and had to somehow hold herself together in front of all those people. She had to get out fast, like fast fast. She had her answer. He did not like her in the same way she liked him.

"Excuse me for a moment, I feel sick," she said and swiftly got up, nearly tripping over her own feet as she sprinted out.

part 11

_________________________________________

@scopeiguess @leclercsluv @sulliamour @starmanv @riverxsq @eviethetheatrefreak @chonkybonky @bicchaan @saachiep81 @chezmardybum

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

So I might as well write down my thoughts on Babel, now that I have had some time to more fully digest the story while not in the throws of deep emotional pain. Going to put my thoughts in the read more below

On a very overhead view of things, I think that I am a little frustrated with how long it has taken for this information to come out of the game. It's been the game's best kept secret for five entire years, and something that the game has clearly been hinting at for huge amounts of time, but it does sting a little bit that we had to wait so long for the truth to come out. Boy, does it come out in this event, but it's a been a long, hard, confusing wait.

It has, as well, resulted in what I believe to be one of the best written events in all of Arknights. Babel is, in itself, a tragedy that acts as the opening act to the tragedy that is the Twin Kings and their rule over Kazdel. It is a demarcation of their acknowledged struggles against the rest of the world, against the Sarkaz, and against themselves. It provides a really refreshing amount of depth and context to the Londinium crisis and why things have turned out this way.

The thread of fate is a constant refrain over Arknights. It touches Patriot's tale and Amiya's prophecy, it touches Theresis and the prophecy of his death in Londinium, it colors the viewpoint of the entire Cyclops tribe, and it affects the Twin Kings and Ascalon in turn. This event gives us an answer to the lingering question that has been in the backs of our minds for a while now: is prophecy certain, and is Fate guaranteed? The answer to this, is no. Prophecy must be inferred, and in that inference can we find the way to resist it, even if only for some time. I suspect that this is here because Amiya's prophecy, something that has only been brought up again in Chapter 12, will come back in intensity in whatever Part 3 there is, as Amiya gradually begins to unlock more and more functions of the Civilight Eterna. And in turn, will Theresis even die, or will he find a way to avoid his fate?

Babel is also a story about what it means to be a Sarkaz. The question is brought up about how the Sarkaz are not really the same race at their core. The Nachzerer and the Vampires are not kin in the same way Perros are to each other. How could the Twin Kings hope to unify them? Theresis and Theresa's answers are their responses about who the Sarkaz are. Theresis is pessimistic, trapped in the past, a past that is unfortunately real and undeniable. He sees that war is the only solution, that inevitably, the Sarkaz can only come together when war either offers them an outlet for their revenge or threatens their home. It is in times of peace, Theresis would argue, that the Sarkaz are at their weakest and most disparate. For Theresa, the answer is that the Sarkaz are entirely capable of unifying with time and effort, and with further time and effort, are capable with unifying and coming to terms with their past too. She is the optimist answer, the idealist answer, she sees in the Sarkaz the strength to let go of the past and work towards a better future, a better future that the Sarkaz have long denied.

Theresis and Theresa did not want to drift apart, this much is certain, but it was completely unavoidable. The same Theresis who knew that his sister would make the better ruler, that his sister had the qualities needed to be a leader, was the same Theresis who saw those qualities push her down a path that he saw as too slow for the future of the Sarkaz. Theresa, who watched her brother struggle to become a warrior, saw his tenacity and perseverance pointed against her. Maybe, in a vanishingly small possibility, they could have compromised, and found a path forward. But that wasn't in the cards for them.

Theresis, Theresa, and ultimately, the Doctor all end up making heavy choices under their respective burdens. The Doctor's part of the story is fascinating and a fulfilling answer to the questions around the Doctor brought up in Vigilo. Who was the pre-amnesia Doctor? They were a single person, a lost remnant of their civilization, tasked with an impossible question of how to handle the future. Their identity burdens them with guilt, foreknowledge that they are the only remaining one of their kind, and the choice put in front of them is tragic.

A) Do you move forward with the last of your civilization's projects to its completion point? Do you allow all on Terra to be assimilated into Originium, to preserve it and protect it eternally as information stored in the amber mineral? Do you prolong the suffering of the people you've grown to care about? Do you make the one you care about most, Amiya, suffer more and ultimately die because of a grand ideal of what will happen to her?

or

B) Do you resist the last hope of your civilization? Do you fight back against Originium, do you work to reverse its assimilation process, do you along with Theresa work to unassimilate everything out of the Assimilated Universe, in the hopes that maybe their lives will mean something? Even though you know that the force that destroyed your much more advanced and powerful civilization could just as easily destroy theirs? That their lives will be fleeting?

The Doctor ultimately makes a choice. The Doctor does not merely betray Theresa by aiding in her assassination. They do not merely betray Kal'tsit by failing to trust her. The Doctor does not merely betray Babel by having it destroyed. They betray everyone. They turn their back on the identities that they have built, the relationships they formed with everyone, in order to say to themself quite clearly:

"I am Oracle, and I am the last of my kind"

It's why their demeanor changes. It's why their curiosity towards Terra dies out. It's why their mind, in clear understanding of what their goal was, is now suddenly able to direct the lives of the people under them with perfect precision. They become the perfect, calculating commander that Ace and Scout remembered them as, because now, in the face of everyone's inevitable end, in the face of the assimilation of Terra in the given century;

Does any of their lives truly matter?

The answer is no. On some level, I believe the Doctor still cares, but they no longer allow that sentimentality to fully interfere with what they have to do. Look no further than how they betray Amiya. They not only kill Amiya's maternal figure for the sake of the Originium Project, their first betrayal. They let their relationship deteriorate to the point where even Amiya is aware that the Doctor has become quite different. They no longer share the curiosity and joy in being with Amiya as they once did, their second betrayal. And once the Doctor makes up their mind about what they have to do, once they make their choice and meet with Theresis under the statue of the Twins, they never bring up curing Amiya's Oripathy ever again. Their third and final betrayal, the breaking of a promise.

They chose to let the person they care about most in the world suffer, and die, from Oripathy, because being assimilated into the Originium Project is the correct path.

Babel is super narratively and thematically dense and honestly I am probably not the person you should expect to uncover it all, but I just have so many thoughts that it would probably bloat this post even more.

[journeythroughtarot]

Walk Your Path - Where will you find yourself?

Choose an image that resonates and read your card below. Want a reading? Check out my links or send me a message.

Pile 1 - On the Road

Queen of Water & Faith

You are on the road, adapting to the lay of the land, but is it a hard road or an easy one? Or are you simply making it harder for yourself? Before you is a road with nothing but yourself and your own two feet. No matter the struggles that you encounter or will inevitably face, it is up to you and your faith in yourself that will see you through. We can easily get stuck when we see how hard it could be or get distracted by our emotions and what they are telling us. This pile is all about having trust in yourself as you take on the future, adapting to what comes, always being flexible and flowing with your emotions as you traverse what the path is here to show you. Having trust in what your emotions reveal to you will help you move forward, ever tackling what the next stretch of path will show you. Without this trust in yourself and what you are able to create, you may wobble and find yourself faced with the difficult sea strong waves of your emotions. Use this power wisely, as how you use your emotions to slow you or quicken your path will determine how far you must go.

.

.

Pile 2 - Help and Guidance

Queen of Earth & The Father

You are the ruler of your own world. Your own creator, your own visionary, building the space that you wish to see with the people you love. Like a gardener, you organise the garden that you wish to see, with the flowers, plants, and trees that you want to adorn your life. Where your focus is and what you pour into your world is what inhabits this garden. It can be difficult then to give into change, into something new or unknown. We create familiar worlds that tilter and when we lose balance, we feel lost and uncertain. This pile is all about listening to your helper, your guide. Some outside source with an outside perspective, something new or different or altering, is trying to show you a different way to guide you forward. Listen to what the world is showing you. You will always have the power to make the next move, to go where you wish to go. It is all up to you whether you invite the change in and learn from the garden you have created. Your own dominion, flourishing as it is, needs a guide and protector. This is and always will be you, standing in yourself and the role you possess. Guidance is needed so don't be afraid to explore more of yourself or ask for help. Give yourself the reassurance and inner stability you need to change the world that you know.

.

.

Pile 3 - In the Waters

The Mother & Water 2

We create our own rules and then expect ourselves to play by them. When we falter, or the world around us dares to become different to what we know, it can make us feel out of control. We are the creators of our own burdens and when we tie ourselves to things, we hold onto them. Letting them go can be difficult and take a hold of where our path takes us. This pile is about being satisfied with ourselves and our lives, being happy with who we are and appreciating what we have created. When we are not, we find ourselves looking for harmony and for our desires to be met. This could be in the form of something that will save us or love us, something that will give our lives meaning or change it for the better. Everything you are looking for however is within you. You are capable beyond what you know. Embrace everything that you are, everything that you wish to be, everything that is you. We can only lead ourselves when we accept and love who we are, so that we can be knowing of where we stand. Come back to you and find unity within.

[apas-95]

When Marxists say that certain groups, are adventurist, they have in mind the very definite and specific social and historical features of a phenomenon, one that every class-conscious worker should be familiar with. The history of Russian Social-Democracy teems with tiny groups, which sprang up for an hour, for several months, with no roots whatever among the masses (and politics without the masses are adventurist politics), and with no serious and stable principles. In a petty-bourgeois country, which is passing through a historical period of bourgeois reconstruction, it is inevitable that a motley assortment of intellectuals should join the workers, and that these intellectuals should attempt to form all kinds of groups, adventurist in character in the sense referred to above.

— V.I. Lenin, Adventurism, 1914

Let us go over to the second point, the question of terrorism. In their defence of terrorism, which the experience of the Russian revolutionary movement has so clearly proved to be ineffective, the Socialist-Revolutionaries are talking themselves blue in the face in asseverating that they recognise terrorism only in conjunction with work among the masses, and that therefore the arguments used by the Russian Social-Democrats to refute the efficacy of this method of struggle (and which have indeed been refuted for a long time to come) do not apply to them. [...] We are not repeating the terrorists’ mistakes and are not diverting attention from work among the masses, the Socialist-Revolutionaries assure us, and at the same time enthusiastically recommend to the Party acts such as Balmashov’s assassination of Sipyagin, although everyone knows and sees perfectly well that this act was in no way connected with the masses and, moreover, could not have been by reason of the very way in which it was carried out—that the persons who committed this terrorist act neither counted on nor hoped for any definite action or support on the part of the masses. In their naïveté, the Socialist-Revolutionaries do not realise that their predilection for terrorism is causally most intimately linked with the fact that, from the very outset, they have always kept, and still keep, aloof from the working-class movement, without even attempting to become a party of the revolutionary class which is waging its class struggle. [...] The first thing that strikes the eye is the words: “we advocate terrorism, not in place of work among the masses, but precisely for and simultaneously with that work.” [...] The day “when the working people will emerge from the shadows” and “the mighty popular wave will shatter the iron gates to smithereens”—“alas!” (literally, “alas!”) “is still a long way off, and it is frightful   to think of the future toll of victims!” Do not these words “alas, still a long way off” reflect an utter failure to under stand the mass movement and a lack of faith in it? Is not this argument meant as a deliberate sneer at the fact that the working people are already beginning to rise? And, finally, even if this trite argument were just as well-founded as it is actually stuff and nonsense, what would emerge from it in particularly bold relief would be the inefficacy of terrorism, for without the working people all bombs are power less, patently powerless. [...]

This fabulous argument, which we are convinced is destined to become notorious, is by no means simply a curiosity. No, it is instructive because, through a sweeping reduction to an absurdity, it reveals the principal mistake of the terrorists, which they share with the “economists” (perhaps one might already say, with the former representatives of deceased “economism”?). This mistake, as we have already pointed out on numerous occasions, consists in the failure to understand the basic defect of our movement. Because of the extremely rapid growth of the movement, the leaders lagged behind the masses, the revolutionary organisations did not come up to the level of the revolutionary activity of the proletariat, were incapable of marching on in front and leading the masses. That a discrepancy of this sort exists cannot be doubted by any conscientious person who has even the slightest acquaintance with the movement. And if that is so, it is evident that the present-day terrorists are really “economists” turned inside out, going to the equally foolish but opposite extreme. At a time when the revolutionaries are short of the forces and means to lead the masses,   who are already rising, an appeal to resort to such terrorist acts as the organisation of attempts on the lives of ministers by individuals and groups that are not known to one another means, not only thereby breaking off work among the masses, but also introducing downright disorganisation into that work. [...]

Nor does the leaflet eschew the theory of excitative terrorism. “Each time a hero engages in single combat, this arouses in us all a spirit of struggle and courage,” we are told. But we know from the past and see in the present that only new forms of the mass movement or the awakening of new sections of the masses to independent struggle really rouses a spirit of struggle and courage in all. Single combat however, inasmuch as it remains single combat waged by the Balmashovs, has the immediate effect of simply creating a short-lived sensation, while indirectly it even leads to apathy and passive waiting for the next bout. [...] This very point is explained in No. 8 of Revolutsionnaya Rossiya, which declares that “it is easy to write and speak” of armed demonstrations “as a matter of the vague and distant future,” “but up till now all this talk has been merely of a theoretical nature.” How well we know this Language of people who are free of the constraint of firm socialist convictions, of the burdensome experience of each and every kind of popular movement! They confuse immediately tangible and sensational results with practicalness. To them the demand to adhere steadfastly to the class standpoint and to maintain the mass nature of the movement is “vague” “theorising.” [...] Demonstrations begin— and blood thirsty words, talk about the beginning of the end, flow from the lips of such people. The demonstrations halt— their hands drop helplessly, and before they have had time to wear out a pair of boots they are already shouting: “The people, alas, are still a long way off....” Some new outrage is perpetrated by the tsar’s henchmen—and they demand to be shown a “definite” measure that would serve as an exhaustive reply to that particular outrage, a measure that would bring about an immediate “transference of strength,” and they proudly promise this transference! These people do not understand that this very promise to “transfer” strength constitutes political adventurism, and that their adventurism stems from their lack of principle. [...] Anyone who really carries on his revolutionary work in conjunction with the class struggle of the proletariat very well knows, sees and feels what vast numbers of immediate and direct demands of the proletariat (and of the sections of the people capable of supporting the latter) remain unsatisfied. He knows that in very many places, throughout vast areas, the working people are literally   straining to go into action, and that their ardour runs to waste because of the scarcity of literature and leadership, the lack of forces and means in the revolutionary organisations. And we find ourselves—we see that we find our selves—in the same old vicious circle that has so long hemmed in the Russian revolution like an omen of evil. On the one hand, the revolutionary ardour of the insufficiently enlightened and unorganised crowd runs to waste. On the other hand, shots fired by the “elusive individuals” who are losing faith in the possibility of marching in formation and working hand in hand with the masses also end in smoke.

— V.I. Lenin, Revolutionary Adventurism, 1902

[solkatt-arts]

We got more from what I'm calling the Intertwine-verse!

Quick facts about this verse of G4(/G5) that is unlike the canon:

- Alicorns cannot be made in this universe, therefore Celestial, Luna, Cadence, Twilight, Flurry and Luster never become full alicorns. However, by being crowned a royal by Sterling and Gold (alicorn's blessing), the pony in question will gain potent magic that amongst other things gives the pony a longer lifespan (up to 300 years extra). The magic is likely to manifest like how Sunny Starscout’s alicorn powers do.

- The lifespans of royals goes back to normal once the magic is taken away between G4 and G5. When the magic returns later on only Sunny gain the alicorn's blessing since she is the one to bring Luster's crystals back together. She is likely to be the last pony to gain the alicorn's blessing for a long time.

—————

Here's some Intertwineverse history

Gold Lily and Sterling were alicorns born long before Equestria’s beginnings. Similar in age but never acquainted in childhood, both were chosen to save the pony tribes from freezing to death.

Gold Lily chosen for her calm empathic and kind nature. She knew the unease of new unknowns, about being forced to face the dread but come out on top. The young alicorn had a way of easing the anxiety of change for others. How to welcome progress in a way that could only compared to the hope of a new dawn.

Sterling chosen for her reassuring but stern nature. She always put emphasis on the inevitability of a setting sun, nothing could ever last forever. That did not mean the past was no longer epochal in how it teaches us our most valuable lessons. Sterling had a way with closure and letting the past go that could only compare to the sun’s last light fading behind the horizon.

The two young alicorn first met only days before their departure to what would later become Equestria. Without yet knowing each other, they both knew their destinies were intertwined. They both felt it the moment their eyes met.

Gold and Sterling earned their god-like powers after restoring balance to the world by defeating Discord with the Elements of Harmony early in Equestria’s history. The god of chaos had made a rift so prominent that the two princesses had to learn how to manually raise the moon and sun. No longer could the day nor night make it through its natural cycle without them moving the celestial bodies.

After about 700 years of royal duties, Gold and Sterling began looking for apprentices. Someponies to take over the hardships of ruling Equestria, all this in hopes that the two of them could focus on finding a way to restore or undo what Discord’s magic had caused. Two young and promising unicorns named Celestia and Luna are chosen to train under the princesses until they are ready to take on the princesses' roles.

The unicorn sisters rule over Equestria for almost 300 years before taking on their own apprentices, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle. Sunset Shimmer mysteriously disappears and leaves Twilight to train under Celestial and Luna on her own.

A jealous Opaline Arcana has watched Gold Lily and Sterling be the most powerful beings in Equestria for almost a thousand years. She decides she is more worthy of all that power and goes to take it all for herself. On the day Twilight Sparkle is about to meet her future friends Opaline makes her way to Ponyville where not only Celestia and Luna are, but Gold Lily and Sterling too.

With the help from the Elements of Harmony, Twilight and her friends defeat Opaline and banish her to the sun. Before being blasted away Opaline swears revenge on Twilight and her friends.

Gold Lily and Sterling leaves Equestria to search for the cure to Discord's chaos magic once again, feeling that Equestria will be safe in Twilight and her friends' hooves.

Twilight rules for a little more than 300 years before passing the throne onto Luster Dawn. (Cadence passes the throne onto Flurry Heart)

Gold Lily and Sterling manages to find an ancient draconequus artifact that restores balance to nature to the point that ponies no longer need to change the seasons, weather or day to night. Unfortunately they have to pay their immortality for the artifact. They retire to live out their last days back in their homeland.

When Opaline returns a thousand years after her banishment, she finds out that not only is Twilight long dead, but magic has disappeared too. Luster Dawn had had a moment of weakness not long before passing away in which she feared that once Opaline returns, she’ll have no one to stop her from taking everyone’s magic (and taking over Equestria). So if no one has any magic, there’s none to take. Luster separates the magic into one crystal for each of the three pony tribes. She orders her apprentices (one from each tribe) to hide the crystals away where they won’t be connected nor found.

Generations of misinformation and mistrust later, Sunny Starscout brings magic back together with her friends and Opaline is free to finally collect it. She is later defeated by Sunny and her friends.

[crookedkryptonitebeliever]

Ok regarding that “can i make Yves do my homework if I give him my childhood pictures” ask, exactly how much access does Yves have to our lives? Does he have images or videos from when we were still a baby or would they be new information to him?

A bunch of my baby pictures and videos are lost because my dad lost the computer that had them but we recently found my aunt’s old camera filled with our childhood pictures, it was a pleasant surprise for us but would it be for Yves too?

It absolutely is. If Yves was there with you while your aunt showed you the photo gallery of her old camera, Yves would momentarily lose a bit of inhibition and let his pupils dilate to a maddening degree before instantly constricting it back to appear normal. It's a rare, super deluxe edition photos of you, there isn't anything else like it out there as they're most likely not uploaded to the internet or a cloud based service, where he could easily hack.

Him coming across media from your childhood or at least during those early days where people still go to and get their photos developed, is like winning the lottery for him. Because, although he tries to collect everything relating to your existence, there is only so much he can do in a day. He rather prioritizes the present and the future, as the past is the past; neither you nor him can change it, he can only understand or connect it to your current behaviours or thought patterns.

He does have some information about you as a baby or a child, but that is if they're "readily available" to him. (I.e., it can be found in predictable places like in your childhood home.), that is why, Yves would try to build a good relationship with people you grew up with, to extract information.

Despite being reclusive as he is, Yves would never fail to attend every and any family gathering he is invited to or expected to come. Encouraging that drunk uncle to drink more if he knew he has something to say about you, bribing your relatives with gifts and career opportunities, perhaps even drugging that really difficult and combative cousin to make them more bearable to interrogate.

As soon as he knew your aunt could be another goldmine of your data, he would get to work. Wasting no time building a rapport with her, it's a piece of cake given how obsessive and manipulative his nature is.

Inevitably, your aunt will come to love him and see Yves as family. By extension, her relationship with you will skyrocket too, she will invite you to her place much more often even though she might not be the most sociable person in the first place. Yves will find a way to make her bend to his whims.

The majority of their conversations would be about you, only sometimes Yves would talk about something else if it meant he could keep the drive to spill more about your lore going. His sharp ears and mind will pick up on clues as to where he might find more pictures or writings about you. He would then break into your aunt's home to give it a thorough shakedown and leave without a trace. Yves would repeat this process until he's positive that she has nothing left to offer. That camera is getting fucking stolen and replaced with a duplicate.

It didn't matter if your aunt was a minimalist or a severe hoarder, he would go through all her things just to try and find pieces of your puzzle. He would wade through cobwebs, dust piles, rat droppings and mould if he had to, Yves isn't scared to get dirty to obtain what he wants, "squeamish" isn't in his vocabulary.

When she is robbed of all your essence, Yves would become distant. Not hostile towards her, just cold and indifferent. He would still maintain some sort of relationship with her though, in case she becomes useful again later. As of now, he either puts his entire focus on your current peripheral and direct life, or start to hunt other members down- from his snooping, he had learned of other people who may have valuable input about your childhood.

All of this is happening in the background. You wouldn't suspect a thing, there wasn't a dip in his attention for you. In fact, he may have gotten a lot more smothering, as Yves would be shaking at the thought of testing out his new theories and hypothesis that were birthed from his new knowledge.

He just loves you so much that he couldn't help himself but to get greedy. Yves wants all of you; past, present and future. And any version of you that could have been.

[daenysx]

Could you write modern Aemond with his pregnant wife when he is anxious about becoming a father cause he thinks he has a potential to become like Viserys and she reassures him it won't happen and the fact that she always sees the best in him just melts his heart?

thank you for this request, i hope you like it!!

requests are open!!

my masterlist

good for you

you ease off modern!aemond's worries about being a father like viserys.

it's a beautiful evening as the moon makes itself visible in the sky and leaves lovely shades of purple behind. you are standing in your balcony when you hear footsteps behind you, you turn around only to find your husband aemond targaryen walking towards you.

he doesn't wear his suit and tie, his black shirt's top buttons are open and he gets rid of his eyepatch.

he looks tired but he can't help his smile when he sees you waiting for him with open arms. he closes the distance and holds you in his arms.

"i think my belly starts getting our way, love."

you laugh as he touches your belly, leans into you and presses a soft kiss to it. your fingers are on his hair as he sits down on the chair and pulls you to him.

"tired?"

he nods. "it was a long day with aegon."

"aegon? you must be exhausted then." you laugh, kiss his forehead.

"have you eaten anything?"

you nod. "yes, i made something with chicken but it wasn't like real food you know, just something spicy and crazy thing i craved suddenly. if you're hungry we can-"

he cuts your sentence with a soft smile. "no, it's fine my love, i don't feel like eating now. would you like to go to bed?"

you think it's a bit early but he is tired and you can sleep anytime you want as a fact of pregnancy, you hold his hand and lead him to bed.

he is exhausted but he can't find sleep. he rubs circles on your swollen belly as you sleep soundly in his arms. his beautiful wife, carrying a baby. he must be the luckiest man, he feels that way.

however, every beautiful thought in aemond targaryen's mind leads to a dark one as well.

he can't help it, thinking about his own childhood. when he is a man grown, he doesn't think about his past. he doesn't want to. he wants to be a strong man who can take care of himself. a man who doesn't need a father to protect him.

viserys was never there. he wasn't there for aemond's big moments, he wasn't proud, he wasn't protective. he wasn't a good father. aemond doesn't even know what it means to be a good father.

he is scared.

what if his baby would think of the same things about him?

he doesn't want to fail his unborn baby. he doesn't want to fail you, his pretty girl who is always there for him and always supportive. he would die if he ever let you down.

he doesn't realize his hands are shaking.

he lets his thoughts cover his mind. he has always hated failure. he always wanted to be good. he is afraid of his future, he is afraid of not meeting your expectations, he is afraid of being like viserys.

you blink slowly, his hands stop drawing circles. you realize he loses sleep over his thoughts, an inevitable habit of your husband. you turn to face him in bed and he looks at you.

"what's wrong, baby? why didn't you sleep?"

he loosens his hold, looking at you.

"my mind is-there is too much i think about, my love."

"do you want to talk about them?"

he kisses your hair affectionally.

"you'll say they're stupid and i shouldn't think about them."

you chuckle. "that's quite presumptuous of you. maybe i will say they are true?"

"no way, babygirl. i know my wife."

"come on, tell me. i'm fully awake."

he looks at your pretty face, curious and ready to make him relieve of his thoughts. you are always the only person who brings him comfort. he knows you will ease his worries this time as well because when have you ever failed?

"i always think of our baby. being a father, being a father like my father and i'd hate to be like him. i don't- i don't want to be like him."

you understand. you don't know viserys targaryen too well but you know his effects on your husband.

"i want to be good for you. i want to be the best. i will never let you go and i will never leave you alone like he always did to us but still- it keeps me awake, what if i can't?"

you stroke his hair as he speaks and try to gather your thoughts when he finishes.

"well, you were right about the part that they are stupid and you shouldn't think about them."

that puts a smile on his face. he just waits for your pretty mind to find the right words.

"i can understand anything you feel, anything you think. but you should know that you are not alone in this. we'll learn it together, my love. you think i know how to be the perfect mother?"

he blinks. "i know i'm not alone in this but it's just- hard to ignore baby. i don't really have the best role model for this, you know."

"even the way you lose sleep over it shows how much you care. come on, we both know when we have our baby we will try our best to learn how to be parents. you will fix me, i will fix you. just like everything, my love."

he wants to believe you, your sweet words and your reassuring smile. he wants to be good. for you, for the baby. he wants his baby to be proud of him as a father. he wants you to be proud.

"are we clear or should i think of another way to convince you?"

"hmm, and what would that way be?"

you smile, pull him to yourself and kiss him. he gives a quick reaction and holds your cheeks. he kisses you until your lips are swollen. he slowly lets you go, trying to catch his breath.

"do you want to go back to sleeping? and really sleeping aemond, not watching the ceiling until your eyes close."

he smirks. "when you say my name instead of your usual sweet words, it makes me feel like i'm in big trouble."

"you'll be in real trouble if you don't fall asleep with me right now."

"yes, princess."

[markantonys]

Speculation on any Randlayne and RandAvi interactions for s3?

my favorite topic of speculation!! everything i'm about to say i've probably said already because i love to just yap on about the same things i've said a thousand times jdkfgj and also because we still have so little s3 info that my speculation hasn't changed much in the year since s2 ended. but onwards!

so, given that they teed up a connection between rand & elayne at the end of 2x08 but that we know these two will be in different locations for most of s3, i'm certain they'll get some good interactions in during 3x01 before parting ways. nothing serious yet, just some friendship bonding and unconscious flirty vibes i.e. the audience is picking up that they're attracted to each other but neither of them is flirting on purpose or is aware that they're developing a crush. they'll likely only have one episode together before parting, plus rand is still reeling from the whole lanfear situationship, plus elayne's bestie is his ex-almost-fiancee (i'm sure the final randgwene breakup will happen pretty promptly in 3x01, but still, the audience would probably feel egwene's toes are being stepped on if her bestie starts kissing rand later in the very same episode), so those are all reasons against anything concrete happening this soon for randlayne.

the egwene complication is interesting to ponder! i COULD imagine a scenario where elayne genuinely does not know about rand & egwene's whole Thing for quite some time because everybody's too traumatized to bother giving her the in-depth gossip, and thus she develops a fast crush on rand while having no clue he's her bestie's ex (and then feels guilty when she inevitably finds out). on the other hand, i could imagine a book-esque version where egwene clocks that elayne is feeling some type of way about rand and is all like "hey if you're into rand that's cool with me, he and i are over" right upfront in 3x01, so that even if elayne doesn't act on it yet (which i doubt she would) she and the audience could rest easy in the knowledge that egwene would be okay with it. back to the first hand, i could imagine elayne and egwene not having this convo until a reunion sometime in a future season at which point elayne's like "i have a confession, i have a crush on your ex" and egwene's like "weeeeeeeeeeell i have a crush on your brother so let's call it even" djkjfgh

now for aviendha, i'm also fairly confident in predicting avilayne interaction(s) in 3x01 too, though how many and what nature, who knows! but it would be good to establish that elayne gets on well with both rand and aviendha to lay the groundwork for our polycule before she gets separated from both of them for the rest of the season, so i think the show will try to give her time with both of them in 3x01. again, i think it'd be friendship bonding vibes with at most little hints of a budding crush (which will probably go over straight viewers' heads lmao). book events make it very easy to give elayne and aviendha significant time together later in the story, so we can afford to take their relationship the slowest of the three. but rand's schedule is packed, so he's got to get romancing!

thus my prediction is: light randlayne & avilayne setup in 3x01, but avirand happens first, followed by randlayne, followed by avilayne (and min/rand). i do not think we'll fuck about with rand being in constant It's Complicated facebook relationship statuses with everyone and repeatedly getting together with someone but then kind of breaking up but then still sort of being together etc. instead, i think that nothing will have actually happened between randlayne yet when he heads off to the waste, and that avirand will become a permanent couple by late s3 or early s4, and that elayne will get added into their established relationship in s4ish, so we'll just go straight from couple to V (to throuple) without any stops in It's Complicated Land. we do not have time to mess around!

on this point, i think the show will let them be more intentional about forming their relationship. in the books, it's a combination of "rand has zero clue what's going on and winds up in a polycule by accident thanks to the power of miscommunication" and "fate said we had to do this, so let's do it" (followed by organic hey-i-now-genuinely-want-this-polycule development for elayne and avi, thankfully, but not for min). i'd expect the fate element to still be at play for min/rand because that's a unique aspect of their specific romance, given min's powers, but it doesn't need to be involved in avirandlayne and i'd prefer if it wasn't, so as not to overuse Prophecy Romance (which will also need to be an element of mat/tuon; 2 Prophecy Romances are plenty imo). if the three of them all meet and spark with each other, and if the first randmance to happen is the one with the partner from a poly-normalized culture who teaches him all about it, then we're perfectly set up for avirand to see elayne across the bar and dig her vibes and ask her to join. no narrative need for any of the three of them to be aware that their relationships are Fated! i'd like it very much if the show reserved that just to be the unique angle for min/rand, and treated avirandlayne just the same as any monogamous romance like lanaeve that develops naturally because they like each other.

moving on. i think avirand's romance arc will be fairly similar to the book version. enemies to lovers, forced to share a tent because the wise ones want her to teach him aiel ways and spy on him, push-and-pull tension as they both fight their attraction to each other, etc etc, it's all good stuff that just needs a little refinement for the show. i'd predict the biggest changes might be a) TSR-TFOH avirand development is condensed into one season so that their romance arc is complete by the end of s3, b) rand having had a serious relationship with lanfear might affect things (one of his reasons for fighting his attraction to aviendha, perhaps, to protect her from lanfear's jealousy and/or because he's feeling too shaken to let romance into his life again after such a betrayal), and c) aviendha's angst over Betraying Elayne won't be present since elayne isn't involved with him yet, and thus we get to steer well clear of any polyamory & cheating associations that the books flirt with way too much for my taste. or maybe it would be replaced by angst over Betraying Egwene, who is also aviendha's friend who's been involved with rand, but unlike with elayne in the books, egwene is fully done with rand AND is physically present with aviendha to be able to give her her blessing and absolve her of any guilt over liking rand. so either way, we'll avoid having betrayal as the foundation of avirand/avirandlayne, which will be a big improvement for me.

and aviendha and elayne can still have their relationship arc without the whole thing about aviendha wanting to meet her toh to elayne for sleeping with her boyfriend! instead, aviendha is solidly with rand but can see that there are some vibes going on between him and elayne, so she decides to become closer to elayne in hopes of taking her for a sister-wife. and then ends up taking her for a wife-wife <3 though i'd still predict a timeline where they're both dating rand first, and aviendha's like "since we're both dating rand, we need to get to know each other better to become first-sisters" and then their arc gets going.

now let's circle back to the timing. a potential new piece of speculation that i remember doing in a big tag ramble but maybe not in an actual post: jorin the sea folk windfinder's actress has the block 3 director listed on her CV. if this is accurate, that means the sea folk will be showing up in episode 5 and/or 6 - aka NOT showing up to transport elayne & nynaeve from falme to tanchico, because unless they spend the first half the season on a different plotline or a huge detour (which we have no reason to suspect as of now), they would be there already. so why would jorin be appearing that late in the season? do the girls meet her in the tanchico harbor and not travel with her? but them actually traveling on a sea folk ship is fairly significant since it's what lets them figure out that windfinders can channel. so, could the girls perhaps be taking a sea voyage in the second half of the season? say, chasing moghedien from tanchico over to the east coast whereupon they reunite with the waste crew? perhaps in tear for the stone battle, and sammael is introduced in tear at the end of the season and teed up to be one of the big antagonists of s4?

i know that with the finale title speculated to be "he who comes with the dawn" everyone's assuming alcair dal will be the s3 finale, just like it's the TSR finale. and i won't be surprised if that's the case. buuuuuuuut i also won't be surprised if "he who comes with the dawn" is used a little more loosely, as episode titles often are, and the finale is instead rand taking callandor at the stone - still a big Rand Proclaiming Himself moment in which aiel are involved, even if it isn't his literal he who comes with the dawn car'a'carn proclamation. on the other hand, we can feel pretty certain that moiraine v. lanfear mutual doorway yeeting will occur in the season finale, so it might make more sense to have them still be in the waste and fold that into rand's rhuidean showdown, rather than following the book route of carting the doorway back to the wetlands with them. but then, if it's true that mat isn't in the waste plotline, then would there even BE a redstone doorway in rhuidean?? could they just plonk one down in whatever location they want the moiraine v. lanfear showdown to be? i don't know, there's just way too many variables for me to be able to make any solid predictions for how the end of the season might shape up, and i'm getting way off topic anyway haha

SO tldr, jorin in block 3 makes me wonder if elayne could potentially get ferried over to reunite with rand and aviendha towards the end of s3, rather than not until s4. but regardless, i do think she will reunite with them after her tanchico stuff is complete. imo elayne and nynaeve don't need to go to salidar (all that happens there is nynaeve encounters siuan & logain and heals gentling/stilling, which could happen anywhere, and that egwene raises them to full sisters which could happen in absentia or later in the story), and i'm sorry to the circus fans but it's complete filler so that's definitely not happening, and if mat does indeed go with the girls to tanchico then i strongly suspect it would be an amalgamation with the ebou dar trip and thus that would be removed from the girls' future schedules, and THUS elayne and nynaeve could join up with the waste crew in s4 and spend some quality time with all those characters, join rand for the "retaking caemlyn from a forsaken" outing, and then launch straight into their caemlyn storylines (and/or nynaeve launch straight into the cleansing storyline with rand). and this would fit with comments rafe/josha/ceara (i forget exactly who) have made about rand and elayne having a big story together; if you're not trying to arbitrarily keep elayne away from rand so that he can remain Single On A Miscommunication-Induced Technicality long enough to hook up with min, then it's an absolute no-brainer for them to share the Retaking Caemlyn storyline. so i feel optimistic in predicting that for s4!

[dailyanarchistposts]

To The Punjab Governor

Sir, With due respect we beg to bring to your kind notice the following:

That we were sentenced to death on 7th October 1930 by a British Court, L.C.C Tribunal, constituted under the Sp. Lahore Conspiracy Case Ordinance, promulgated by the H.E. The Viceroy, the Head of the British Government of India, and that the main charge against us was that of having waged war against H.M. King George, the King of England.

The above-mentioned finding of the Court pre-supposed two things:

Firstly, that there exists a state of war between the British Nation and the Indian Nation and, secondly, that we had actually participated in that war and were therefore war prisoners.

The second pre-supposition seems to be a little bit flattering, but nevertheless it is too tempting to resist the desire of acquiescing in it.

As regards the first, we are constrained to go into some detail. Apparently there seems to be no such war as the phrase indicates. Nevertheless, please allow us to accept the validity of the pre-supposition taking it at its face value. But in order to be correctly understood we must explain it further. Let us declare that the state of war does exist and shall exist so long as the Indian toiling masses and the natural resources are being exploited by a handful of parasites. They may be purely British Capitalist or mixed British and Indian or even purely Indian. They may be carrying on their insidious exploitation through mixed or even on purely Indian bureaucratic apparatus. All these things make no difference. No matter, if your Government tries and succeeds in winning over the leaders of the upper strata of the Indian Society through petty concessions and compromises and thereby cause a temporary demoralization in the main body of the forces. No matter, if once again the vanguard of the Indian movement, the Revolutionary Party, finds itself deserted in the thick of the war. No matter if the leaders to whom personally we are much indebted for the sympathy and feelings they expressed for us, but nevertheless we cannot overlook the fact that they did become so callous as to ignore and not to make a mention in the peace negotiation of even the homeless, friendless and penniless of female workers who are alleged to be belonging to the vanguard and whom the leaders consider to be enemies of their utopian non-violent cult which has already become a thing of the past; the heroines who had ungrudgingly sacrificed or offered for sacrifice their husbands, brothers, and all that were nearest and dearest to them, including themselves, whom your government has declared to be outlaws. No matter, it your agents stoop so low as to fabricate baseless calumnies against their spotless characters to damage their and their party’s reputation. The war shall continue.

It may assume different shapes at different times. It may become now open, now hidden, now purely agitational, now fierce life and death struggle. The choice of the course, whether bloody or comparatively peaceful, which it should adopt rests with you. Choose whichever you like. But that war shall be incessantly waged without taking into consideration the petty (illegible) and the meaningless ethical ideologies. It shall be waged ever with new vigour, greater audacity and unflinching determination till the Socialist Republic is established and the present social order is completely replaced by a new social order, based on social prosperity and thus every sort of exploitation is put an end to and the humanity is ushered into the era of genuine and permanent peace. In the very near future the final battle shall be fought and final settlement arrived at.

The days of capitalist and imperialist exploitation are numbered. The war neither began with us nor is it going to end with our lives. It is the inevitable consequence of the historic events and the existing environments. Our humble sacrifices shall be only a link in the chain that has very accurately been beautified by the unparalleled sacrifice of Mr. Das and most tragic but noblest sacrifice of Comrade Bhagawati Charan and the glorious death of our dear warrior Azad.

As to the question of our fates, please allow us to say that when you have decided to put us to death, you will certainly do it. You have got the power in your hands and the power is the greatest justification in this world. We know that the maxim “Might is right” serves as your guiding motto. The whole of our trial was just a proof of that. We wanted to point out that according to the verdict of your court we had waged war and were therefore war prisoners. And we claim to be treated as such, i.e., we claim to be shot dead instead of to be hanged. It rests with you to prove that you really meant what your court has said.

We request and hope that you will very kindly order the military department to send its detachment to perform our execution.

Yours

BHAGAT SINGH

[archiveikemen]

Liam Evans Main Story: Chapter 14

I do not own any of the Ikemen Series content being uploaded on this blog, everything belongs to CYBIRD. Please support them by downloading and playing their games. Not 100% accurate, expect mistakes.

read this before interacting with my posts

(... A hidden stairwell?)

Alfons: … Now, it is time for our pleasant and enjoyable tour of the facility.

Liam: …

We went down the stairs, one step at a time… and I could feel the chilly air against my skin—

(This is…)

In the place where no natural light shined in, it was cold, poorly lit, and something felt odd.

After my eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, I gulped when I saw what was in front of me.

(Children… in cells… with their hands and feet chained together.)

The children all had a vacant look in their eyes, their clothes were filthy, and their limbs were stick thin.

Liam • Kate: :O

Alfons: This almshouse is rumoured to be very wholesome, clean, and praiseworthy.

Alfons: — But it seems like that's just what it looks like on the surface.

Alfons: When they show a good image and gain the trust of others…

Alfons: They get donations from interested nobles in the name of noblesse oblige.

Liam: The director of this almshouse isn’t satisfied with only lining his pockets with that.

Liam: Therefore, he’s using these children with no kin… as pawns.

Kate: As pawns…?

Liam: Theft and prostitution… these children commit such crimes under the director’s orders.

Liam: They don’t have a choice but to live here. The director’s words are absolute.

Alfons: Children who try to escape or make mistakes will be thrown here.

Alfons: Afterwards, they’ll just be left to starve to death. Killing them would be too much of a hassle.

Alfons: However, the drawback is that human bodies don’t disappear into the earth on their own like food scraps… their bones get left behind.

The horrifying reality before my eyes made me feel faint.

(I- I can’t believe this…)

Kate: This is utterly unacceptable…! This is… a violation of human rights.

Liam: … Kate.

Alfons: My, my, this is nothing new, but your reaction was very innocent.

Kate: … Let's get these children out of here, quick.

Alfons: I wonder if they’ll be happy when we rescue them…

(Huh…?)

Liam: … Al.

Alfons: The hearts of young children are so tender and beautiful, agree?

Alfons: They’re born without a single scratch, but the longer they live, the more they get hurt and scarred.

Alfons: It’s sad, but there’s not a single person who can live their entire life completely unharmed.

Alfons: — Right?

Alfons: These children are hurt as if they’ve been slashed by a blade.

Alfons: The wounds are deep and bleeding, they’ll form pus and fester into an infection… and become scars that will never disappear.

Liam: …

Alfons: What would happen if they were to leave this darkness with those scars and live in the light…?

(... T-That’s…)

Just as Alfons said, the wounds caused deep in the children's hearts would never fully heal.

Even if they live their lives pretending to have forgotten about them, it’s inevitable that they’ll have times where they're randomly reminded of them.

Kate: I won’t say that life will always be rainbows and unicorns if they live…

Kate: There are lots of things that hurt because we’re alive…

Liam: …

Kate: But even so…

I balled my cold hands into fists.

Kate: As adults, we can’t abandon the future of these children who’ve been hurt by the selfishness of adults.

Liam: Ka… te…

Alfons: …

Alfons: I never said that we’re not going to rescue them. Why else would we have Roger keeping watch outside?

Kate: Huh…

Alfons: Roger is listening to everything we say.

Alfons: Once we obtain the evidence we need, we’ll report to William and Sir Victor.

Alfons: Then the envoys will come to the rescue. And it’ll be happily ever after.

Alfons: …

Alfons: — But it doesn't seem like that will be happening.

Liam: … Footsteps.

Liam: Kate. Al. I’m going to turn invisible, so I strike when the need arises.

As soon as Liam vanished,

The sound of footsteps coming down to the basement grew louder, and a plump elderly man appeared.

Liam: … That's the director of the almshouse. His face matches the one in the investigation report Will showed me.

Liam whispered in a low voice next to me, while remaining invisible.

Director: Where did you people come from…! Who the hell are you…!?

Likely due to the constant yelling and spitting at those children in the cells had gone through, their little bodies instantly tensed up.

Alfons: What do you think? Are we nobles, the police, or the ghosts of the dead children…?

Alfons: If you guess our identities correctly, I’ll reward you with a warm hug.

Director: Don’t mess with me! You’d best tell me exactly who you are, or I’ll shoot you.

The director pulled out a pistol with his stubby fingers covered in rings—

Liam: … Not on my watch.

Director: … Huh— wah!

Liam appeared behind him and took his pistol before kicking him in the back.

The now unarmed man tumbled to the ground and looked up at us.

Director: … Ggrh. Where the heck did you appear from… who on earth are you people…

Alfons: — Too bad, your time is up. To you, who failed to derive the correct answer, I offer a merciful helping hand.

Alfons: We are members of “Crown”, an imperial organisation under direct command of the Queen. Pleased to make your acquaintance.

Director: Imperial organisation… under direct command of… Her Majesty Queen Victoria…?

One should never find out about the existence of Crown.

Revealing it to him could only mean one thing — it was a death sentence.

The man, unaware of his unavoidable fate, turned pale and grovelled while taking some gold coins out of his pocket.

Director: I’ll do anything! Look, I’ll give you money! In exchange for my life…

The noises those coins made as they spilled out of his hands and onto the ground were jarring to hear.

(How many children did he sacrifice to earn all these coins…)

Alfons: Very, very unfortunately, we don’t have problems with making a living.

Director: … Ggh.

Director: … What exactly is wrong?

(...?)

Director: These darn brats! They’ve been sinning from the very day they were born into this world…!

Director: They carry the sin of being poor, unloved, and not useful to anyone!

Liam: … *gulp*

The man fought back with a disgraceful facial expression, spreading his arrogant and twisted ideologies.

Director: All I did was take these brats who were born by mistake and put them to good use…!

Liam: … Ugh… ah…

Alfons: …

Director: I’m doing a charitable deed! Aren’t I…!?

Alfons: … You’re talking too much.

The moment Alfons pulled out his sabre—

Liam: London bridge is broken down, broken down, broken down…♪

Liam: London bridge is broken down, broken down, broken down… pfft… haha…

Kate: … Liam?

Alfons: …?

Liam’s rose coloured eyes clouded over, like the sky before a thunderstorm.

(Could it be…)

Liam: Fufu, ahaha!

Liam: Ah—... I see. Fufu, I see, I see.

Liam: So you're saying that you're someone who's rich, loved, and needed?

Liam: Aha, that's nice... you're not a mistake...!

Liam: Fufu, ahahaha

(I’m sure of it. This is…)

Kate: … An episode.

Alfons: … An episode?

Alfons: Ah, that unique thing about cat curses. Heh, this is the first time I’m witnessing it firsthand.

Kate: This is not the time to be so casual—

Liam: Fufu… haha… hey, if you're not a mistake, that means you're the opposite of that, yes?

Liam: Is that the only way the majority and their firm beliefs in what's right will accept you?

Liam: I remember hearing that a lot when I was a child…

Liam: Fufu… if that’s the case…

Liam pulled out his daggers in a fluid motion and ran his tongue over the exposed blade.

Liam: Shall we kill each other…?

The smile which looked like that of a madman made my skin crawl.

(... No. … I have to stop him.)

I wrapped my arms around Liam’s waist as he raised the dagger and was about to stab the man to death—

Kate: Liam…! Don’t…!

Liam: Haha… come on, hurry up and come get me… hey, hey!

(Does he not hear me?)

(Oh no…)

I held him tight and raised my voice in desperation.

Kate: Liam, stop. Don’t kill anyone while in this state…

Alfons: That man is going to be killed eventually. You can let him do as he pleases.

Kate: Liam is not himself right now.

Kate: If he kills someone now, it’ll be the same as killing someone while in a terrible nightmare…!

In terms of severity and how he’ll interpret it, killing someone by his own will is different from doing it because of some “force”.

(I don't… I don’t want to see Liam suffer when he comes to his senses.)

Kate: Liam, please listen to me. Lia— kyaa!

The moment Liam shook me off him and I fell to the ground—

The scene before me was dyed red.

(Ah… ahh…)

Director: … Ggh… guh…

Blood spilled from the man’s mouth as he crumbled onto the ground.

And yet, Liam swung his blade mercilessly seemingly unable to tell when to stop.

Liam: Fufu, ahaha! What’s the matter? I won’t know unless you tell me…!

With every swing of his blade, bright red blood spilled before Liam’s eyes.

(I have to stop him… if not…)

Liam: Look! This “mistake” is killing you…!

(Ah… ah…)

(I need to stop him… but… he…)

(He… he can't hear me…)

… How much time has passed?

The man stopped breathing and laid in the sea of blood. The dagger fell from Liam’s grip, rolling onto the ground.

Liam slowly turned around, and his eyes met mine, widened and shaking—

Liam: I…

[thehangryhippy]

Embracing the absurdity of the world is a nihilists only escape from their self sanctioned damnation.

You cannot become enlightened with absurdity without first suffering through nihilism.

You must find yourself dancing with malice before you can waltz with the universe.

The small things in life are what make it shine, and the more you notice the small things the brighter the world becomes. Cliché, I know, bear with me.

If your brain can function critically it is inevitable to see the constant suffering people endure and how broken or unfair the world is.

Looking past those things is detrimental, not to ignore them, but to whole heartedly accept the things you cannot change while attempting to love and protect the things that are within your reach.

I spent years of my life getting new prescriptions and changing doses to try and get rid of this feeling I couldn't describe.

The anger subsided, but the dread remained.

Then came a moment of clarity, the feeling I couldn't get rid of was not a symptom of my mental health.

It was the feeling of being misplaced and powerless within a "big picture".

The feeling of being aware of the things I couldn't change.

No medicine can fix that, that is entirely on your shoulders.

You must learn to zoom in.

Ignorance is bliss

Awareness is agony

Absurdity is the middle ground.

You must choose to love life despite the flaws.

It's an honorable thing, to love, despite the desolation we live amongst.

We must forgive

We must embrace

We must let go

Dwelling on the things you cannot change is nothing more than poisoning your own well.

Get the help you need and talk to people, this is YOUR future being put on a back burner while you dissociate through life.

Accept everything for what it is, hope for better, and move forward with determination.

You must not fear change, it is the only catalyst for anything better, do not stay sitting in a room you don't belong in.

We cannot change the past but we are the masters of our future.

The world keeps turning, you must turn with it.

[typically-untypical]

The Future We Build Together

AU: Human - Arranged Marriage

CW: None that I know of

WC: 1478

Date: 12/3/2023

It was a warm day in the kingdom, a beautiful summer morning. The sun hadn't risen high enough to cast its heat yet it was high enough to cast a warm glow through the castle window. Patton stood still as his father adjusted his tie for the fourth time. The two of them had barely spoken over the past week, an argument over this marriage turning bitter and vicious. Patton had wept, pleading for his father to understand that he didn't want to get married to a complete stranger. He wasn't even against the idea of an arranged marriage. He knew how advantageous it would be, but Patton didn't want to be tied to someone who would inevitably hurt him. Patton didn't want to be tied to someone he had never met. "This will be good for you Pat. He's a noble who has taken an interest in our business, this marriage will solidify our ties." Neither of them laughed at the unintentional pun as his father's hands lingered on Patton's tie. "With this man's backing, we will finally be able to get your mother help." That was the only argument that had kept Patton rooted to where he stood. His mother had been sick for quite some time and though they weren't peasants by any means, her medicine was still expensive and so was the business that kept all of them a float. "Even if you don't love him he should treat you well and I know he will fall in love with you. Who wouldn't?" His dad gently rested a hand on Patton's face and the younger man did his best to smile though even Patton knew it was weak.

"I know papa, but I wish you would have let me meet him first." Patton had been told plenty about Janus, both from those who served him and from those who worked alongside him. There were so many conflicting accounts. Some people said Janus was kind and compassionate, helping them when they were in their darkest hours. Others said he was cruel and ruthless, and the divide wasn't socioeconomic like one might expect.

"I know Pat, I know, but that was the one stipulation he had." Another thing Patton had heard over and over again. He couldn't meet Janus because he had asked for distance until their wedding day. Patton didn't like that. He didn't like the secrecy around someone who was supposed to become his one and only, his future. 

"You are the strongest boy I know, and I love you." His father commented, giving Patton a gentle hug and Patton wanted to hug back, desperately, but his arms continued to sit limply by his side.

It was hard to hear those words from his father, the man who was giving him away to a stranger, but Patton just nodded. "I love you too," Because he did, despite the tears that threatened to slide past his eyes, he did love his family. 

"Are you ready?" His father asked, holding out a hand to him so the two could head toward the ceremony hall.

"Ready as I'll ever be pop star." His dad gave him a weak smile and Patton did his best to return it, even if it grew harder with each second. Patton tried not to shake as he heard his own footsteps echoing down the hall, the organ music coming into play as soon as they were close enough for the groomsmen to see. The soft tune set the scene of a happy couple and a happy marriage. Patton had heard that song before, hoping one day he could walk down the cobblestone path of his city toward the person of his choosing. That wasn't going to happen now. That wasn't Patton's fate.

His betrothed stood at the altar, hands clasped behind his back, turned so Patton could only see half of him. He was barely taller than Patton yet standing on the steps he felt like such a looming figure. His shoulders were squared and Patton thought he saw a sharpness to the other man's nails. If Patton had seen him on the street, he might have been interested but here, he was gripped with fear. Only his father's strong hold, stopped Patton from running away and by the time his first foot was on the stairs, it was too late. Janus was reaching out to him, helping him up the rest of the way. He was in Janus' clutches now.

"Am I that hideous?" He asked, leaning in closely as he whispered into Patton's ear. It was the first good view he had gotten of Janus, scars like chainmail littering his face. He wasn't hideous, but Patton wasn't expecting his fiancé to be handsome. He had convinced himself that Janus would look cruel. Finally looking up into Janus' mismatched eyes, seeing the quirk in his brow, Patton attempted to respond.

"No, uh, it's not. I promise it's not... I just... you look-"

"I know," Janus whispered, brow softening and lips sliding into a gentle smile. He reached up, gently pushing a tear off of Patton's cheek before he slowly started to pull away. He still held Patton's hand, but no longer stood close enough to share the air between them. 

Something suddenly shifted. Suddenly Janus wasn't a terrifying unknown that Patton didn't know how to speak to. Suddenly, he wasn't a monster. Patton looked at him in awe, watching as the light shifted against him and the sun continued to rise higher. 

"Janus Asterio, do you take Patton Heart to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The officiant asked, pulling Patton out of his day dream and back into the present. Janus gently squeezed Patton's hand, looking him in the eyes.

"I do." His voice was soft and clear, like a secret whispered between just the two of them. Patton's romantic heart melted. For a moment he could imagine a life together, whispered secrets in the dead of night, a soft melody of only their voices. It was brief and it was sudden, but Patton felt as if he would be safe in Janus' arms. His fear hadn't disappeared, it whispered in the back of his mind, but the emotions swept him off his feet. This would be okay, he had to believe that this would be okay.

"Do you, Patton Heart, take Janus Asterio to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Patton took in a deep breath, returning the reassuring squeeze Janus had so graciously given. "I do." He smiled, more genuine than anything else he had smiled this morning. Their marriage was one of money and power, but that didn't mean it couldn't turn into something beautiful. He just had to have hope. He had to give it all a chance.

"Then I pronounce the two of you married. You may kiss one another."

Patton was hesitant, still caught in the fact that Janus was a stranger. Janus moved in first. It was soft and chaste and stole Patton's breath away. Then Janus stole Patton away, taking his hand and leading him down the aisle, out of the ceremony hall and toward a private room. Nerves built up in Patton's heart as the door closed but Janus didn't make a move. He stood there silently before gently leading Patton to a couch and kneeling in front of him. 

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions, on my appearance, on why, and on everything else of that nature."

Of course he did, but Patton needed time to collect some of his thoughts. Janus might not have understood that because he quirked his eyebrow once again.

"Why me? I'm sure you had other prospects and I don't think you really got anything out of our marriage. So why me?" Patton wasn't sure why that was the first question that came out of his mouth when there were so many other questions, but it was still one that was important to him. Why, out of everyone in the city... in the country... had Janus chosen him?

He had no expectations for the answer, tried not to assume anything at all, yet he was still surprised when Janus started to laugh, barely holding in his chortle.

"Of all the questions, that was your most important?"

Suddenly, Patton's face lit up red and he couldn't help but nod. "Well, yeah," He whispered and Janus just squeezed his hands.

"I will explain it in detail one day, but for now, you should get changed for the reception. The only solace I can give you for the time being, is that I did so, with full knowledge of who I was marrying." That wasn't reassuring, but Patton's mind went a bit fuzzy as Janus kissed his hand. "And I will wait as long as I need to, for you to fall in love with me as well."

Tag List: @simplestoryteller @fantasticfangirl21 @joylessnightsky @glacierruler @tsspromptmonth

[thelivingmemegod]

Wayward Children characters as the Major Arcana go

I don’t know shit about Tarot, this ask is a ploy to get to draw a tarot card series and therefore I referenced this video and this site

Long ass post ahead!

The Fool: Nancy

While it could be literally everyone by the nature of how Doors work, Nancy is the beginning. She’s the first POV character and who we initially learn everything through. Our darling fool who goes home first.

The High Priestess: Lundy

Intuition, trusting yourself and your inner voice to guide you. That’s how fair value operates right? It’s a trading of thoughts and ideas along with the object. The involved parties decide what the things they offer are worth and if those ideas match, they swap! It’s a gut feeling to be developed and sharpened into a skill, no?

The Emperor: Kade-

The boy has always been a leader of some kind. He was declared the Goblin Prince in-waiting. Given the situation, with the king dying as his feet, Kade was definitely supposed to become the king of the goblins. Probably barred by age. Then he was tossed out and became the heir to the school, the next headmaster. Then there’s EHAD where he leads half the damn investigation, and then BTSS, and then and then and then. Kade is always a leader, even when he’s not the one leading. The only time this really snaps is when Kade snaps during Come tumbling down.

The Hierophant: Antsy

Direct quote “speaking mentorship from someone who has more knowledge than they do.” But she’ll most likely be upside down, since she does seek that guidance in Vineta, it just goes horribly for her. She’s was a vulnerable child looking for safety and was lead to believe she’d found it, I’m so sorry Antsy.

The Lovers: Jack and Alexis

The Lovers is a contextual card. It can mean a relationship, but it can also mean obsession and passion. Jack is just as married to the windmill and the science as she will one day be to Alexis. She’s obsessed with her work, and by its nature, also obsessed with life and death. She is a monster molded so completely by the Moors. Alexis’ monster.

The Wheel of Fortune would be everyone by nature so I’ll skip it.

Justice: Regannnn hi girl!

Ironically, I think Regan would hate this. It’s all finding your true path, the inevitability of, all of that Destiny type stuff she doesn’t believe in. I do think her card would be right side up, though. Showing that inevitably can be positive and that maybe destiny isn’t as solid and predetermined as everyone, Reagan included, thinks it is.

The Hanged man: Sumi!

There is a delay, there is a reason for this delay. Does she know what that reason is? Nope, not at all. But she’ll accept it whole heartedly and wait. Unlike Regan just above her, she’ll let Destiny steer her back home. She knows she’s going back after all, why waist the present trying to uselessly run for the future? So she wholeheartedly enjoys her present while it’s here, she wants stories to tell Rini!

Death: Everyone.

The children who walk through those Doors are not the same ones that came out again. They are fundamentally changed. Perfection has come and kissed their cheek and then left them to flounder in the imperfection of their birth world. They may look a bit different, sound a bit different, hear or see different. But they all think differently, it’s one of the few commonalities all children of the doors share.

Patience: Christopher.

He waits. He is so impatiently patient. He won’t die unless it’s at the hands of his skeleton girl. He doesn’t give up going home, but he only gets one day of hope a year. The other 364 are just spent…waiting. Being present as he can be until he can finally go home. This I feel like, is part of why we actually read about him waiting during Mislaid in parts half known. It could’ve been skipped over entirely, but it wasn’t. We saw him waiting there. And he actively chose to wait more at the school instead of staying with Antsy and possibly finding his Door early. Christopher waits.

The Devil: Cora

Despite the Christian Devil imagery, the card is about temptation, distraction; it tells you not to waver from the path you’re on.

Cora literally takes off from her group to run for the sea of the Moors. The drowned gods know her name and the ache in her heart and they sing to her so sweetly that she had little choice but to fall to their temptation. To be taken by them was inevitable for her. The others had hooks the Drowned Gods could’ve dug into but they didn’t want them, plain as that. She’s distracted and she’s taken. I don’t think of the oil that stains her after as a punishment but something she must work through like she does.

The Tower: Jill. And it’s most definitely upside down.

It’s a card about chaos, a card about shaky foundations, a card about uncertainty. What is Jill if not a girl desperately pinning for security? To br reassured in her place and her value? She is the Master’s Daughter. Loved and cared for and given anything she could ever want in exchange for her obedience and her blood. She is the Master’s daughter. Given power and dominion and status above others by the simple fact that he chose her and she chose him. And oh what a precarious perch it is, near the top. Feared and hated by those below and tenuously, insecurely “loved” by the single person above.

The Star: Eleanor.

She is there to provide these children a place of safety, a place to freely believe and express their homes. She offers hope and inspiration and hopes to herself that it is enough. It is difficult, but hope is something with mud on its face and blood on its hands and it will get back up again. She is and will be there until she can’t be anymore, at which point, she will go home. A new star will be needed then, but then and now are very different times.

Judgement: …The Doors themselves.

Judgment is about being brought to your full life. The life you were meant for, your true calling for this lifetime.

What’s bringing all these children, current and former, past and present, to the lives they mostly feel they were meant for? The Doors and their magic. It’s also the judgement of The Doors that decides what child gets them and when, everyone is kind of at their mercy in a way.

Quick list of the skipped major arcana

The Magician: Self reliance/belief, the ability to overcome adversity

The Chariot: Determination, Drive, Victory

Strength: Courage, inner strength, assurance you can handle adversity.

The Hermit: Isolation, processing alone, finding answers within yourself (I have a suspicion this could work for Nadya but her book isn’t out yet at time of posting)

The Empress: Creativity, Growth, birthing a new idea

The Moon: Hidden thoughts, fears, or doubts

The Sun: Happiness, health, and success

The World: Completion, freedom, “the world is at your feet”

[amplifyme]

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Fight the Future. A little post-movie feel-good fic. Thanks again to @lilydalexf for scouring her personal fanfic vault and presenting me with a copy of something I'd written 25 years ago that I'd thought was forever lost. You are a treasure, m'dear! 😘

Shift (aka The Lost Fanfic). Read on AO3. PG-13. UST. Slow burn.

"Let me see if I'm understanding you, Mulder." Scully silently offered to swap her container of shrimp fried rice for his Mongolian beef. "You're saying that our work on the X-Files should be considered the norm, as opposed to the typical white-collar worker with the house in the suburbs and the two point five kids?'

"And the Range Rover," Mulder added as they traded off. He took a bite of the rice and talked around it, his typical enthusiasm overriding any need for manners. "What I'm saying is that we're hardwired to seek out new experiences, blaze new trails. The human intellect demands new and different challenges, and if we ignore that basic need we run the risk of becoming complacent; the perfect target for any organization with enough power to literally take over our lives."

He set the container on the coffee table and tore open a packet of hot mustard with his teeth, liberally dousing an egg roll with the runny yellow substance before inhaling half of it in one bite. Scully watched with bemusement. A grazing Mulder was a sight to behold.

"So, if everyone was hunting down fat sucking vampires instead of sitting behind a desk or flipping burgers, the world would be a better place?" She waited as he furiously waved a hand in front of his open mouth and grabbed his beer, draining the last couple inches from the bottle. Pushing forty and he still hadn't figured out how much hot mustard was enough.

"That's kind of simplistic," he declared when he could talk again, "but yeah. Just think about it, Scully. What if the majority of the population could see just a fraction of the things we have? Think of how much more open-minded people would be to extreme possibilities. The idea of a race of aliens bent on colonizing the planet with not so benign intentions would be much more easily accepted."

Mulder held his hand out for the beef, giving her some time to consider what he'd said. Night had fallen and his living room was bathed in shadows. Light spilled from the kitchen doorway. Aside from the cool blue cast by the muted and ignored TV and the soft glow from the newly stocked fish tank, it was the only illumination in the apartment.

"But, Mulder, you're assuming that the majority of the world's population would even want to know the things we know. Contrary to what you might think, most people are perfectly happy living a life of order and routine. I dare say most of them would go out of their way to avoid the changes that kind of knowledge would inevitably bring."

"Ignorance is bliss?"

"That's kind of simplistic," she remarked, catching his faint smile as she echoed his earlier jab, "but yes. Most people just want to be left alone to live their lives as they see fit. Change isn't always a good thing, Mulder."

"But it's inevitable," he argued. "Chaos is the norm. I can't believe I'm the only one who realizes that." He chewed and swallowed another bite, staring off into space. And then he looked in her direction, aiming the full force of his gaze squarely at her. His eyes were suddenly darker and more soulful. More aware. In a split second his entire focus had changed, and now everything in him was intent on nothing but her. It was a look she'd seen in his hallway just a few weeks ago, and one not easily forgotten.

"What about you, Scully? Is ignorance bliss?"

It was a question fraught with many different meanings - and they both knew it. That he felt comfortable enough to ask anyway was a sign of how much things had changed. It wasn't just one event out of all the events of the last month: it was the sum total of them that had led to this new and still tentative honesty; the constant awareness that they were standing on the brink of something brand new and yet older than time.

It was an electrifying feeling that had her thoughts careening wildly. She was smart enough to realize that what was blossoming between them was a strange and beautiful thing, but it was also a double-edged sword, and she wasn't entirely certain she was emotionally prepared to deal with the risks it entailed.

She held his eye, determined not to flinch, and chose to answer the easier version of his question. "No, of course not. It would be foolish of me to try to pretend that none of these things have happened." She glanced away and then back at him. The fact that his attention had shifted to the food and off of her allowed her to elaborate more than she might've otherwise.

"I guess I'm uneasy with the inherent changes that certain kinds of knowledge bring. I've always been a creature of habit, Mulder. I like routine. I like knowing what to expect. And despite the rather bizarre lifestyle I seem to have established, I've been able to adapt fairly well. It's just that sometimes it gets a little overwhelming."

"There's nothing wrong with routine, Scully. You're taking me too literally." Apparently, her deflection had worked. At least for the time being. He went on in his slightly professorial monotone. "The daily grind is a natural outgrowth of living in a civilized society. All I'm saying is that it tends to make us lazy and stupid. And that leaves us vulnerable to anyone or anything who cares to take advantage of the situation."

Mulder scrubbed his newly cropped hair and slouched back against the couch, one hand unconsciously and contentedly rubbing his stomach. "I probably don't have to tell you this," he continued, "but I thrive on change. I like chaos. It keeps me sharp. The best thing about not knowing what might happen next is that you're prepared for anything."

She pushed away from the food and settled back next to him, their shoulders barely brushing. "But, Mulder, we all need some kind of stability, a constant we can depend on. Otherwise, we'd spend our lives wandering aimlessly from one experience to another, without any kind of cohesiveness. I hear what you're saying, but there's nothing that prevents us from living an ordered life except our own inability to make sense of the very chaos you seem to cherish."

He rewarded her with a low chuckle. "Is this a kinder, gentler way of telling me I'm crazy?"

She shot him a dismissive look. "No. I'm just baffled by your attitude. Don't you ever find yourself wishing for a simpler life; one where you knew what to expect from day to day?"

"You make it sound like I don't have that already."

She gaped at him and then recovered. "Okay, now you've completely lost me. You wanna explain to me how you can possibly describe your life as simple?"

"Well, using the criteria you've established, it is simple. I have the stability you spoke of. I have that constant."

She snorted softly. "And that would be… what? That your stability is the fact that you have none? That your only constant is change?"

He turned his head and pinned her with a look, his words echoing the gentle rebuke she saw in the mossy green of his eyes. "You haven't been paying attention, Scully."

Still sprawled on the couch, his face bland, the only clue to Mulder's anxiety was the almost imperceptible bouncing of one leg. "I realize that the aftermath might be a little foggy to you, but I find it hard to believe you don't remember what was said just outside that door." He tilted his head toward the front of his apartment. He made no attempt to elaborate. His words lay solid and heavy between them, offered up like a gift she couldn't refuse, even if she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to accept it just then.

She'd been anticipating this. She'd thought about it enough that she'd even come to think of it as The Moment of Truth because of its potential to shift a large portion of her life in an unknown direction. Formulating possible responses to Mulder's probable remarks about what had happened and what'd been said had been uppermost in her mind lately. When he’d jokingly accused her of daydreaming just the day before, she hadn't been able to argue the point. He'd been right: she'd been far too distracted the last few weeks. Maybe it was best just to get things out in the open - for her continued sanity, if nothing else.

But before she could say anything he beat her to it, apparently misconstruing her long silence as refusal to take his bait. "Well," he rasped, sitting up and pulling a hand down his face, "this is an awkward moment. Look, Scully, forget I said anything."

"No," she quickly assured him, laying her hand on his back. "No, it's okay. I was just… I'm just not sure what to say, Mulder."   

He glanced back over his shoulder at her. "Well, I think I made my feelings pretty clear."

She certainly wouldn't argue with that. While she couldn't claim to remember much after she'd been stung in the hallway outside his apartment, the memory of Mulder's strangled words and the thrill of realization as he'd moved in to kiss her were etched into her brain. And now it was obvious that he was expecting her to come clean about her feelings. Yet another version of their well-established “I showed you mine, now you show me yours” game. Only this time it wasn't theories they were trading.

If Scully'd had a list, she could've checked off the symptoms of reticence she was experiencing, one by one. First came the dry mouth, followed closely by the leaden feeling in her stomach. Then the reeling in her head as she began to contemplate all she could say wrong despite her best efforts to put the correct spin on things. If discussing emotions were as simple as analyzing facts and figures, debating hypothetical situations, she'd be in the clear. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

She'd never been very big on flowery declarations; the words had always stuck in her throat every time she'd attempted it. She was a woman of action, and if forced to 'fess up, would much rather show than tell. And so that's what she did: sitting up and perching on the edge of the couch next to him, she gently turned his face toward hers and leaned in to kiss him. She was aware as her lips brushed his that he had gone completely still. She didn't linger, choosing instead to make it a chaste but tender kiss, pulling away after just a few seconds. Her hand stayed at his jaw a little longer though, as her fingers memorized the slight abrasiveness of his evening stubble. His eyes, when she raised hers to meet them, were both amused and a little shocked.

"There," she whispered. "I hate leaving things unfinished."

Mulder's eyebrows crept up and he gave an infinitesimal shake of his head. "That's it?" he asked. "You mean we're done?"

Now it was her turn to be taken aback. "What were you expecting?"

As his hands lifted to cup her cheeks he murmured, "C'mere and I'll show you."

Chaste was clearly not what Mulder had in mind. Not that she was complaining. She was too busy admiring the way his bottom lip was expertly nudging hers apart, opening her mouth to admit just the tip of his tongue. He briefly touched it to hers before sweeping it across her upper lip and withdrawing, pulling back just enough to be able to look her in the eye. Permission was asked and granted in the few moments it took her to curl a hand around the nape of his neck and bring his mouth back to hers.

Scully decided that his idea of what constituted finishing business was much more comprehensive than hers. She also decided that kissing him was something she really enjoyed doing and vaguely wondered what had taken them so long.

Good little investigator that he was, Mulder was busy making a thorough exploration of her mouth. It occurred to her, in some distant, foggy place in the back of her mind, that the shift she'd predicted was indeed inevitable. Funny thing was that the reality of it didn't scare her nearly as much as she'd thought it would. She allowed herself to completely relax into their kiss, with Mulder sensing her acquiescence and slowly easing her down onto the couch, his arms cradling her. They ended up with Scully lying against one of the throw pillows, his upper body draped across hers, their legs tangled.

It took her a few seconds to force her eyes open after Mulder finally broke for air. She found him looking down at her, his expression a wickedly potent mixture of affection and good old-fashioned lust. One corner of his mouth drew up just the tiniest bit.

"That was more what I had in mind," he informed her. And then he dipped his head and began to plant small, wet kisses down the line of her jaw. His hand slid up her back and gathered a fistful of hair, gently but determinedly drawing her head back and exposing the tender skin of her neck to his mouth. The soft cotton of his dress shirt rubbed against her stiffening nipples through the silk of her blouse and bra, setting off sparks of heat traveling swiftly through her body.

Hoo-boy.

It'd been a very long time since she'd felt the weight of a man's body on hers, the delicious friction it created. Forever since her hands had roamed over corded muscle and curve of spine. Too long since she'd felt the heat pooling deep within her and someone there to share it, add to it, eventually douse it. What made the cottony thickness of her arousal even more enjoyable was that it was the real thing this time - not some fantasy Mulder who came to her only in the relative safety of her dreams. And there was only a little part of her that wondered if perhaps they should slow down and think about this some more.

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry when Mulder muttered against her neck, "You're gonna have to tell me when to stop, Scully, 'cause if you leave it up to me, I won't."

God bless his considerate, gentlemanly little heart.

Damn it.

"Then maybe," she managed to utter even while threading her fingers through his hair and urging his mouth to points south, "we should stop and think about this."

Deft fingers began working the buttons on her blouse. "Okay. Just say the word and I'll stop."

Oh, she didn't want to do this. She didn't want to stop him. She had a sudden urge to strangle the life out of the sensible little voice in her head. If such a thing were possible, that is.

"Mulder."

"Hmm?"

"Stop."

He groaned in noisy protest but did as she asked. Resting his chin between her breasts, he peered up at her. Hair askew, eyes warm but a little wary, he was the most gorgeous man she'd ever had the pleasure of lying beneath. He was content to wait quietly while she pronounced sentence on him, trusting her to do what was best for both of them. That particular trust was a heavy burden he'd placed on her long ago, and one she'd struggled to throw off more than once. But here and now, she was beginning to realize that it was also a precious gift. And it gave her far more power over him than she even dared contemplate. 

"Is this what you had in mind in the hallway?" Her voice was intentionally rich with humor. It was important that he know she wasn't upset by his attempted seduction. Getting their wires crossed about this was the last thing they needed.

She watched as his eyes lost their wariness. The hint of a boyish grin crossed his face before disappearing behind his trademark deadpan expression. "Actually," he quipped, "I was kind of hoping to make it to second base." And with that, he deliberately began to refasten the buttons he'd managed to undo. His knuckles unintentionally brushed fire along her breasts.

"Don't give up, Slugger," she told him as he finished, her voice gone slow and husky. "You haven't struck out yet."

The look on his face was priceless. She couldn't help but grin at him. His answering smile was enough to light up the room. He sat up and pulled her along with him, waiting until she was settled before he twisted around and sat down on the coffee table across from her, his long legs caging hers. Mulder reached out and caught one of her hands in his. He took in a breath and let it out slowly. "The truth is, Scully, I accomplished everything I set out to do that night. The rest of it… just icing on the cake." There was a beat of silence. "Well, except for the bee sting. That kind of put a damper on things."

"Mulder…"

"No, let me finish. I'm sorry it took me so long, but I want you to know I meant every word I said."

"I know." She squeezed his hand and ducked her head, not wanting him to see the sudden tears that threatened to spill over.

"Do you? Because that's all that really matters to me. I don't ever want you to think that I don't value you, or that you're not the most important thing in my -"

She cut him off with her fingers pressed against his mouth. If he kept it up, she'd lose her struggle to hold off her tears. She didn't want to turn into a blubbering idiot, not now. Not when smiling had felt so good.

"I know," she repeated.

His eyes flicked over her face, reading it like a map only he could decipher. Long seconds passed before he nodded slowly, satisfied by what he'd seen.

"Good," he said. "That's good."

She took a few moments to study his familiar features, softened by emotions he rarely let show. She took in the relaxed line of his jaw, the warmth of his eyes, the hair that stood up in tiny spikes on the top of his head. And the seductive fullness of his mouth, still moist from their kisses. She could drown there, she realized, and not give two hoots about anything else. It was a dangerous and compelling prospect.

She reached up and smoothed her hand over his unruly hair. "I guess this begs the question of what we do now."

He looked aside for a minute and then back at her, shrugging. "We keep on keepin' on. We see where this thing takes us. We fight the good fight. We start scheduling regular make-out sessions."

"Just thought you'd sneak that last one in there, huh?"

"Nothing gets past you, Scully."

She was trying to focus on the issue at hand. He wasn't going to make it easy. She knew this Mulder well. And she could tell he wanted to play, revert to his habit of joking about the most serious of subjects. All the nervous energy he'd suppressed just minutes ago had broken free. Both legs had taken up a gentle bouncing, his hands moving like moths around a flame: glancing off her knees, her hands, her arms, before flying away, only to return again.

Sometimes it was a pain in the ass always being the grown-up.

She grabbed one of his hands and held it tightly in both of hers. He went still almost at once, his keen sense of her innate composure helping to ground him. She vaguely wondered what would become of him if something happened to her. She could picture him floating off into space like an errant helium balloon, with no one to pull him back. She was his safety line; a fragile string that was nonetheless durable enough to keep them both anchored to the ground - even if Mulder was always looking up into the sky, wondering what he might be missing. 

"This is going to have an impact on everything," she told him as she caught his eye. "It's going to change everything."

He pursed his lips and jerked an eyebrow. "Maybe. But it's impossible that you'll ever be more important to me than you are right now, so that won't change."

"What if it does, Mulder?"

"That's not gonna happen." She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off, grasping her shoulders and gazing at her with single-minded intensity. "I won't let it. I'm one relentless sonofabitch, Scully. It's gonna take a nuclear explosion to pry me away from you now. And I won't risk the only thing that matters to me unless I'm absolutely certain it's the right thing. How could it, how could we, be anything short of incredible?"

Five years with Mulder had programmed her to automatically begin formulating an argument to counteract his latest bizarre theory, and this time was no different. While her brain shifted into overdrive, spitting out a dozen reasons why they couldn't afford to be so blasé about the whole situation, her heart was busy tugging her in a different direction. One that whispered to her that he might have a point. Not every decision had to be based in logic - she'd slowly begun to realize that. Sometimes you just had to go with your gut.

"And besides," Mulder suddenly blurted into the silence, "who else would put up with my sorry ass?"

Strange how the simplest phrase could be the deciding factor in such a life-altering decision. He wasn't being facetious, despite the joking tone of his voice. He honestly believed that she was the only one who'd ever understand him, who'd willingly accept him for all that he was. Who'd see that what he did made a difference. And though there were times when she'd wondered if someone more open to extreme possibilities might be better for him, she knew in her heart that no one could ever feel about him the way she did. And no one could ever challenge, respect, trust, and complete her the way Mulder did.

“You made me a whole person.”

Isn't that what it came down to in the end? Wasn't that all that really mattered? Suddenly, nothing was more important to her than that he know what was in her heart.

"I want you to know something," she told him. "And I want you to listen to me very carefully." Mulder gazed at her with cautious chameleon eyes. "I want you to know that no matter what happens now, one thing will never change. What you do makes a difference. I know it doesn't seem like it most of the time, but it does. You have to believe that. And I want you to know how proud I am to be a part of that. You're an honorable man, Mulder, and you lead an honorable life. And I want you to know I'd be proud to be a part of that, too. In whatever form it takes."

She watched his face carefully as she spoke, cataloguing every emotion that passed over it. There were many things to see there, as he nervously chewed his lip and took in her words. But what she was left with was a mixture of tenderness and pride that nearly made her dizzy.

Mulder opened his mouth a few times before he finally got anything to come out. "Can I…" His brow furrowed and he cleared his throat and tried again. "Can I just hold you, Scully? For a minute?"

She reached for him, and they both stood, knowing that the limited contact they'd have otherwise wouldn't satisfy either of them. She went easily into his embrace, her head tucked under his chin, her arms wrapped around his waist. He held her loosely for a moment before tightening his arms and drawing her even closer. They stood toe to toe, touching everywhere it was possible to touch, the contact sweet and heavy with the promise of things to come.

Mulder dipped his head until it rested against hers. His chest expanded as he took in a deep breath and then released it with a ragged sigh. "God, you feel so good. So good."

She tightened her arms around him, wanting nothing more than to be enveloped by him, held in his warm and welcoming embrace for as long as he'd let her. Judging by his remark, that could end up being a good long while.

And that was okay. It was better than okay.

"You know what, Scully?" he murmured against her hair.

"What’s that, Mulder?"

"Someday soon we're gonna have really phenomenal sex."

Maybe even sooner than he thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~