#tumblr just has no mercy for the image quality

[eternal-auditor]

A common thing Beel will do on a deserted island, inspired by @/r0-boat recent poll

I just imagine him disappearing one day and then returning the next morning like this. Says he went to look around, then wanted to catch some fish for you, but ended up wrestling the whole ass shark because he craved its meat all of a sudden

And he ended up losing his only set of briefs in the process

[onp4012]

Pick a Card: What’s your role in this lifetime?

Choose one of the pictures in the image and then scroll down to see what your role is in this lifetime!

Please like and reblog 〽️

©onenormalperson4012

here’s the masterlist

Pile 1

9S, Emperor, Death, KNOP, QOS, 3P, 9C, Lovers

The people who choose this pile probably have been forced to grow up or mature themselves from a very young age. I feel like life has been giving you a hard time ever since the beginning and you have met a lot of change during your upbringing. Life didn’t seem so stable after a while, did it? I see that your role in this lifetime is to be strong and independent and learn from all of your mistakes. In this lifetime you should be faced with many changes and challenges to further develop your soul. I feel like you will also be forced to develop your more earthly senses. If you choose this pile there’s a chance that you may have mainly earth placements or not have earth placements at all, in which case you will need to develop a more grounded sense and perspective. You are meant to become a strong and stable individual. I can also see that you were forced to become a very very logical person and you had to ignore your feelings.

I’m getting girlboss vibes from this pile. I feel like most of you who have chosen this pile would like to work in finances or want to work as some sort of leader. I can see that you have the leadership qualities but I am not sure if all of you will want this type of responsibility. I’m getting a very serious vibe from you. You are meant to accomplish great things in this lifetime and I see that the universe/God has been trying to send you messages that this is what you should pursue. Some of you may fear this type of commitment but just so you know, God doesn’t give you more than you can carry. I see a lot of happiness and stability in your life around the age of 30.

Pile 2

Hermit, 8S, 10C, KOC, 5S, Justice, QOP, 4C

First thing I heard when I shuffled was “First place you”, so perhaps many of you tend to put others’ needs above yours because of insecurities. I get that most of you who has chosen this pile are very emotional people who tend to seek constant validation or always feel like they are a victim because your efforts are almost never reciprocated. I feel like you might’ve grown up to be a people pleaser and got used to the feeling of being worthy and enough for the people around you. It’s like you’ve constantly sought love and tried to please in order to receive that love. You are quite a compassionate person, gotta be honest.

You seem very empathetic and people have used you for your empathy and your mercy so you might feel a little bit lost. I get that your role in the lifetime is to start putting yourself in first place and stop being a people pleaser or if you want to keep being one, assert some limits. You have to acknowledge that you are your own person, and realize that you have your own life and others are responsible for their own lives. You are not their mother, neither their guardian. I also feel like you have been searching for answers, and that you have probably watched countless pick a card readings on YouTube or Tumblr only to find an answer. The reason you’re feeling lost is because you have started to lose your self identity by putting other people first. You can see how I keep on telling you this, but I feel like no matter how much I tell you that you need to change this. I still feel the need to tell you once again. PUT. YOURSELF. FIRST. While I was looking at the picture for this pile I heard the word “Help” so I guess it’s pretty self explanatory.

Pile 3

10S, 4W, 8P, 9C, AOC, Fool, Empress, Hermit

I was looking at the cards just now and I thought about like you know those times when you are feeling very down and you just pray that things are going to be good again and somehow you end up distracting yourself with something very pleasant, so you just forget about that bad thing. This is the vibe that is pile gives me. I feel like those who have chosen this pile need to learn that pain is something you cannot just ignore  but you have to go through and eventually remember that you have things in life which can help you get over that specific pain. I want you to know that you are able to get over pain by yourself and you do not need anything else but yourself. You are a strong person and you can overcome everything. You’re on this lifetime seems to be that you are able to forgive, and you should forgive those who have done you wrong.

I also feel like your role in this lifetime is also to help people heal faster and enjoy their stay on earth as much as you enjoy yours. I feel like most of you are usually very optimistic people and you prefer to see the good and bad and just enjoy and just work through it but the same time also feel like you’re kind of conflicted. It’s like you don’t even trust yourself and it’s just sad because you have a lot to offer and you should realize how much happiness you can bring others how much love you can teach. Your role in this lifetime, could also be that you will have to be some sort of teacher to those who are very down and teach them how to see the world less scary when they are in pain. So yeah, I think this is your role in this lifetime. You need to learn this lesson in order to be able to help others as well, so you can accomplish this one role

Pile 4

Judgement, POS, 9W, Hanged Man, KNOP, Magician, KOP, High Priestess

Those who have chosen this pile, will need to establish a healthy connection with the divine and develop their spiritual side. I have to be honest I pretty much see in this reading that most of you who have chosen this pile tend to have this envious side, which is caused by the feeling of worthlessness.  Alright, I feel like most of you are probably already involved with spirituality or with occult or religion., so I guess we can talk about the fact that you need to start trusting your gut instinct and your intuition. Your role in this lifetime is to keep being spiritual or dive even deeper than you have already have. Manifestation comes very easily to you I see, especially physical manifestation. You will accomplish great things in this life with the help of the divine so keep on manifesting and wishing big, because it’s working.

Because of your good deeds, you will get to feel content and happy. I see that karma goes very hard for you guys, so please don’t curse or do anything negative because it will come back even harder (I don’t feel like many of you are witches who practice black magic, but still). I also see that in this lifetime you are also meant to be materially blessed and happy financially. The king of pentacles kept on trying to get out of the deck and he usually signifies very prosperous people so this could mean that you will need to become this prosperous archetype. You’ve got what it takes to become what you need to become, just trust the universe and you’ll see. Don’t worry too much about it.

Pile 5

Judgement, POS, QOC, World

Goddamn, first two cards were also in the previous pile. You might wanna check Pile 4 before reading this. I feel like those who have chosen this pile will need to focus on their knowledge and become the best possible version of themselves. This pile will need to learn what auto control really is and start accepting their responsibilities and realize that no one will do their work for them. This pile has a lot of potential, but they also need to work hard.. I feel like those will have chosen this pile need to connect to their femininity and masculinity and try to balance those two things out. I see that you are very passionate people, and that you were very gifted intellectually, but you have to realize that you need to step in to your femininity as well.

Feel your emotions. Trust your instincts don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. Be curious to explore things and don’t be afraid of life. You are meant to become a strong individual and be an example for others, so do not be any less of an example. Be happy and enjoy life. This is what you need to be in this lifetime. Learn how to balance energies within yourself out and try being more receptive to your own feelings.

Thank you for being here❤️

[antvnger]

ok, so i first followed you because i found you through doctorstrangeaskblog when sylpha was still active, and i was just tickled by your portrayal of scott.

your writing and the way you approach this blog as scott's blog is nothing short of enchanted, and i was always so impressed with the community you've build here, along with how much people come to you and scott for life advice because they trust you both so much (and you always deliver and honor that trust so well).

i always loved and adored scott in the mcu, and it made me so, so, so happy to get to write with you both, especially for tony. and i was just SO OBSESSED with how quickly we hit it off creatively and the amount of intersection we found for their humor, zones of genius, etc. i was totally new to RP and even tony at that time, but i always felt so supported and valued when writing with you (still do!).

i love the dynamic we've created for our guys and all the work that went into it on part of us as writers and the muses, and i can say that tony is very, very lucky to have scott in his life (i really, really wish i could get him back because i know he misses his little math bro). but whenever i have muse for him, you're always the first person i reach out to! he's only here for you and ziminiysoldat at this point, ngl.

i'll also add that you and scott are mirrors for each other. the way scott offers so much positivity, light, but also just the right amount of ass kicking when warranted and necessary is exactly who you are for the RPC, imo. so, it makes total sense that you chose each other because you reflect the best of each other's qualities.

and i'll finally close with the fact that you're one of my best and most trusted friend in life as a whole. i thank God every day that we met and that you're in my life. i am a changed being because of you, and absolutely for the better. knowing you, witnessing your path, and growing alongside each other is one of the greatest privileges and honors of my life.

i'm already vibrating in my seat in the front row with my noise makers and foam fingers—ready, waiting, and eager for your victory season. it's going to be glorious. i pray daily that goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life. i know no one more deserving of unconditional, eternal love because to me, you are unconditional and eternal love.

i love you, friend. give scott a hug for me! <3

((I really don’t know what to say, my friend. You’ve completely floored me and humbled me in like the best way. I’m deeply touched by your kind words and your - as per usual - impeccable insight. I always appreciate your input.

I still feel rather overwhelmed and flabbergasted when I think about our story, how God weaved our friendship the way He has. I mean, look at us, huh? Look where we started and look at where we are now. It’s amazing to me. It will be forever be one of my favorite stories I can look at to remind me how God is the Master Storyteller. We certainly were made in His image, eh? LOL.

With that being said, I love writing with you very much too! You’re one of my favorite writing partners I’ve found in my and Scott’s little corner of tumblr. You bring such life and detail into your muses, and I can’t tell you how many times I reread our work just because. Scott and I miss Tony very much, but we both understand how it is sometimes. Tony can be equal parts extreme in the spotlight and extreme hideaway. Right now, he has to hideaway, and we get that. When he’s ready, we’ll be here!

You too are one of my best and most trusted friends. The feeling is most certainly mutual. You have helped me in spades, and I appreciate every conversation we’ve had so far. And I want to say I am just so proud of you. You’ve come so far, and you’ve grown so much. God’s got amazing plans for you, and I am so thankful for you. You are in my prayers daily. Thank you for being my friend.))

[maydaymadier]

Have an item I made for my friend's mercy monk, also have a transcript bc tumblr gobbled up the image quality (made with The Homebrewery)

[ID: The Ravening Saint Quarterstaff, melee weapon, rare (requires attunement)

This wrought iron staff appears to have just been ripped out of a cemetery gate, the top is curved like a shepherd's crook, where an ominous lantern glows with a lifeless blue flame.

Damage: 1d6, bludgeoning Properties: Versatile

Thirst: The Saint's lantern is lit with captured souls, when attacking with it, you can choose to smash the lantern to deal an additional 1d4 of necrotic damage on a hit. This damage increases per soul housed inside, up to a maximum of 3. A soul is captured by doing a DC 12 medicine check on a creature you have slain.

Curse, Parasitic Presence: The lantern cannot be empty for long. After unleashing the souls, The Saint's wielder has until the next sunrise to capture a new soul, or else their maximum HP will reduce by 1d4 for every day the lantern remains empty. This effect is reversed upon capturing a soul.]

[milkplusvn]

Soundless AAA & Patreon Survey Results

Tip: You can get posts like this sent directly to your e-mail by subscribing to the Substack!

This’ll be a long one today, so buckle in.

Reimagining CGs Is Fun

First thing’s first: Soundless progress!

I’ve been gradually chipping away at the CGs. I’ve roughly sketched all the ones that appear in the opening. The one I’ve made the most progress on is the one where Auma checks on Mercy after school, and I’m finding it fun to reimagine the CGs and try and upgrade the new CG wherever possible while still maintaining the original intent.

This CG in particular was one of the first ones I ever made for Soundless. According to the properties of one of the variations, it was originally completed in April 2017. The afternoon glow illuminating a heroine in an empty classroom feels so cool, doesn’t it? Even though the technical quality of the original is low, I think it has some of the nicest vibes.

For the new one, I took into account the fact that Mercy is sitting so close to the window and opted to change the angle of the background. This required a little bit of extra thinking on my part; I even made a sketch to guesstimate where Auma might be in relation to where Mercy is looking up from her desk.

Though, in the end, you’ll notice that the angle isn’t the same when you compare it to the sketch. I did it on purpose to make Mercy feel smaller and also have the window be off-center and not engulfing the space behind Auma. I just thought it looked more visually interesting like this.

This week is all CGs. My main goal is to complete all the opening CGs and have a brand new version of the opening ready for everyone by next Sunday at best and next week at the very least.

Art Patch Progress Summary

Sprites

Main Sprites: All complete

Special sprites: Finished

CGs

1/31 completed (4 in progress)

1/5 opening CGs completed (4 in progress, 1 in coloring stage (the one in the post!))

Implementation

All main sprites implemented.

Toggle option implemented

Initial selection screen roughly implemented

You can play Soundless for free with the original art on Itch.io now!

And now…for the survey results

About 15 people total took the survey! That doesn’t seem like a lot, and it’s not surprising since we’re not exactly the biggest studio ever, but just knowing how many people were interested enough to take it was very helpful in the decision-making process.

Let’s break down the infographic by section.

Patron Interaction Perks

Voting power was more popular than Patron Q&A, but both had a fairly high “yes” ratio. I’m not surprised Patron Q&A has a few more “no”s, because hey—what constitutes questions only Patrons can ask, anyways? Our Tumblr even has an ask box. However, it was a feature we’ve seen in other Patreons, and we wanted to see how much interest there was. The fact that 66% of respondents wanted to see it regardless of the lack of details says something: people have questions they’d like to ask if given the chance!

Behind-the-Scenes Perks

First of all, I think it’s just incredible that there was not a single no on the pre-production assets perk. All of the questions save the optional comment section and the merch choice were required, so nobody could’ve skipped it. We’re going to have to see to making a standardized look for concept art so it looks pretty when we share it!

Interestingly enough, early access to devlogs was unpopular at first, but when the survey ended it got many more “yes” votes. It’s definitely going into the perk pile. As for the Patron-only streams, we’re definitely factoring in the high amount of “no”s. I do wonder if people are worried about missing them��Patron-only streams also includes Patron-only VODs!

Other Perks

This one. This one is the one that told me everything on what to do.

Whether NSFW or SFW, monthly images and short stories had a lot of support. We’ll get more into that one when we get to the tier drafts.

The credit name styling depending on tier perk, by the way, got enough “yes” votes that we’re still considering it, but it’s definitely not going to be a selling point here.

Physical Merchandise

The people. Want. Stickers. And mini prints, but not as much as the stickers!

We originally weren’t going to include such a perk, but we looked into Patreon Merch and ultimately decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, we don’t think we’ll focus hard on this as a selling point either due to the…strange way Patreon Merch works (you’ll see), but we’ve actually already prepared some things to be created for the initial round of merchandise.

Tier Affordability

Canva’s graph didn’t come with a key, so here’s how you read the bar colors:

Green means Very Affordable

Yellow means Somewhat Affordable

Red means Somewhat Unaffordable

Black means Unaffordable

We’ll admit we screwed up a bit writing the questions for this section—adding in a “very” adjective was a little unnecessary and probably influenced some answers. We also probably should have included a question on just what someone’s most affordable tier was to go along with the “can you commit for three months?” question.

Even so, this told us a lot about the financial standing of people who may very well be our initial Patrons. It tracks—the global economy isn’t doing too well—and since we suspected not everyone would be able to afford the super crazy awesome tiers because of this, we wanted to make extra sure so we’re not putting perks people want to see in tiers they can’t even pledge to.

So, What’ll You Do?

Using this data, we have drafted up the tiers and adjusted some of the pricing. We increased the initial tier to $2 (so we’re not getting literal pennies after fees) and reduced the highest tier to $20 (still pretty high, but the extra $5 is a lot for some people). Here are those tier drafts:

Tier 1 ($2)

Exclusive supporter Discord channel access, forever.

Pre-production tidbits and in-depth process posts and speedpaints

2 bi-monthly short stories with accompanying artwork: one spicy, one sweet

Early look at devlog posts

Your name in game credits

Unique-to-tier Discord role and color

Tier 2 ($5)

All prior benefits

Vote for the bi-monthly special art and stories

Patron-only livestreams & VODs

Patron-only Q&A sessions (likely on unreleased/unannounced games—still workshopping this!)

Tier 3 ($10)

All prior benefits

Monthly sticker club (starts 2 months after initial pledge)

Vote on the next sticker

Vote on aspects of a game

Tier 4 ($20)

All prior benefits

Monthly mini print club (starts 2 months after initial pledge)

Vote on the next mini print

Larger section in game credits

These tier drafts are naturally subject to change for the final version. We’re also open to any comments and suggestions at this stage to further refine the tiers.

Why bi-monthly stories and art, not monthly like the survey originally asked?

I considered things for a moment and came to a conclusion: I need to protect my wrist and Cherimoya isn’t always available due to work, so at the start, we’ll be delivering these special side stories & accompanying art on a bi-monthly basis. If we get enough support, we’ll likely upgrade it to monthly since we’ll be able to outsource help at that point.

Sweet AND spicy?!

Yes, we’ll be doing one SFW one and one NSFW one! This may come as a surprise to those who’ve only found us recently, but we’ve actually been planning for spicy content in our games happening eventually for a very long time. POLYCHROMANIA was originally billed with this promise and continues to have it. Of course, due to various terms of service including Substack’s, we can’t share such development freely and it’ll all be locked behind Patreon for the most part. (Cohost is also friendly to adult content, so we’ll post things from time to time on there.)

You are absolutely free to just ignore the NSFW posts if you’re not interested.

What sorts of game content will we be able to vote on?

Patrons can influence things such as little bits of bonus content. We actually already have an idea for something Patrons can vote on for 7388 when we get to that point.

Exclusive supporter access to a Discord channel forever?

We’d like to continue our tradition of allowing those who have supported us once in the special development channel, where we post some unreleased stuff and unrefined development thoughts and progress, forever. While the launch of the Patreon means that there will still be development content that’ll be locked to those actively supporting us monthly (for instance preproduction assets, things for unannounced games, and Patron-only streams), this channel will still be around posting ~secret~ things. (But not too secret.)

I’m in the special channel now. Will we still get our names in the credits without being a Patron, too?

At this time, yes. However, this may be subject to change for logistics reasons depending on how much the Patreon grows. We apologize in advance if this does happen.

Why do we have to wait to get the merch? How is it monthly?

The merchandise will be fulfilled by Patreon’s Merch service. The way said service works is that all Patrons in merch tiers will get their physical rewards after three months’ worth of pledging. We plan on asking Patreon for the specifics on when exactly that happens (on the third month, or after the third month?—our current assumption is on) before launch.

Every month, we’ll add a new sticker & print, then phase out the previous month’s. When you start getting your merchandise, you’ll start with the merchandise from the month you initially pledged in, and then every month you continue pledging you’ll get a new sticker (and print, if you’re in the applicable tier).

This is how we’ve come to understand Patreon’s articles regarding how their Merch service functions. You can read about the Patron side of things in their own words here (link to Patreon Merch help article). We would like to make sure that we’re getting this right, so once again we will be contacting Patreon Support prior to launch to ensure we’ll actually be able to do this with the tools we’re given.

Launch Date

At this time, we plan on launching our Patreon at the beginning of July. The exact date will be announced when we’ve completed preparations.

Once again, thank you all for helping us figure this out. To be level with you all, we needed to start earning more money to keep milk+ visual going and ensure the safety of team members. You’ll remember a few months back, for instance, that our editor Faust was in danger of eviction—we don’t want that to happen to anyone in the milk+ visual family ever again.

We’ll use the money first and foremost to support the three of us financially. Cherimoya and Faust are very kind to volunteer because they’re close to me, but I’d rather pay them both for their time and help, as well as make sure I’ll be okay, too. The future and title release speed of milk+ visual is entirely financially dependent at this point. To focus on making our own visual novels entirely without having to worry about money would be a dream.

As mentioned before, you’re free to leave comments and suggestions about the tiers either on the Substack comments, or in our askbox, or pretty much anywhere else you saw this article posted. See you next week!

[nightunderthesilversky]

Cherry wine

I was singing to Cherry Wine as one does and started dissecting and analysing the lyrics in my head, so doing a full-scale of it here. It’s going to be pretty disorganised probably but meh. Should I think of this tumblr like a commonplace diary? But it feels like a performance anyway. My entire life feels like a performance. TW: Domestic, intimate partner violence, romanticisation of domestic violence and imagery. More notes at bottom of post. 

“Her eyes and words are so icy Oh but she burns Like rum on the fire Hot and fast and angry as she can be I walk my days on a wire.”

Her anger is explosive in its sharpness and silence. Walking on a wire or walking on eggshells is used to describe when one fears the other one blowing up over small things; this relationship is governed mostly by one party and is unhealthy. 

Walking on wires cuts deep lines into your soles. 

Why do you keep walking?

“It looks ugly, but it's clean, Oh momma, don't fuss over me.” I find his contrasting use of ugly and clean very interesting because in my head it correlates to how used-to the person is to the abuse. If you walk in a random, non-sensical pattern 100 times, it’ll start making some sense to you. It also makes me wonder about what ‘clean’ actually means, because abusive relationships can often be hot-and-cold (thanks hozier) and just all over the place and not very clear or logical. 

“Oh momma, don’t fuss over me” seems to speak to the isolation in an abusive relationship. Abusers often isolate their victims from their family and friends and support groups and make them feel like they can’t talk to anyone about the relationship because they just wouldn’t get it, and would misunderstand. A gaslight that the abuser is only misunderstood and would be judged and is a poor person and has the victim protecting them.

“The way she tells me I'm hers and she is mine Open hand or closed fist would be fine The blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine.”

There’s a sense of belonging that probably contributes to the romanticisation, despite the boundedness of it, it still feels like solid ground in a way. A fixed cage whose limits you know instead of a moving one. 

“The blood is...sweet as cherry wine” makes me think about the ‘I hurt you only because of how much I love you’ tactic or gaslight. If she’s being passionate, it’s because her love for him inspires passion. “Rare” is also trivialisation of the issue and hurt caused, I think. He’s telling his mother that it’s nothing to be worried about. 

IDK why this songs seems to be sung to a fireplace for me, in winter chill. Loneliness and desolation of a raven kind.

“Calls of guilty thrown at me All while she stains The sheets of some other Thrown at me so powerfully Just like she throws with the arm of her brother.”

Abusers often victimise themselves and accuse their victims of being abusive or unhealthy or ‘bad’ as a tactic. The person feels guilty too. They’re aware it’s not healthy but are romanticising it still perhaps- like being stuck in an alternate world.

They know the abuser isn’t loyal to them. And it isn’t love after all, when they cheat you, but they don’t speak about it much more. I just get the sense that the person is aware of what is happening and distantly, of why it’s wrong but is feeling like they need to suppress it or keep the knowledge far away. Like denial, I guess. 

“But I want it It's a crime That she's not around most of the time.”

Living without something for some time can give you more distance to nitpick only the parts that look lovely or romantic. Time blurs things and can make you miss them even when they don’t deserve it (I miss my childhood best friend more than I loved her at the time). Memory distorts. 

The abuser is a terrorising presence despite her absence. The person is walking their days on a wire even when she’s not around most of the time. 

“The way she shows me I'm hers and she is mine Open hand or closed fist would be fine Blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine.”

“Her fight and fury is fiery Oh but she loves Like sleep to the freezing Sweet and right and merciful I'm all but washed In the tide of her breathing.”

Sleep to the freezing is sweet and right and merciful to the freezing. A loss that makes you detached cuts you off from shivers of pain. Sleep for the freezing is easy to come by, but bad for you. 

“The tide of her breathing” makes up a different picture in my head.  Of flaring nostrils in an angry father and a scared, skittish and anticipating daughter.  This is a frightening image. You can also smell alcohol on people’s breath sometimes, and alcohol abuse and domestic violence are often correlated in media. Cherry wine is bitter red sugar. 

“And it's worth it, it's divine I have this some of the time.”

And what is it like rest of the time? The person seems to be highlighting the passion and romanticising it, and choosing to eclipse and deny the rest. 

I’ve always been confused by people claiming they are ‘God-fearing’ as a good quality. Often, religion makes a sense of reward and punishment based on ‘trust-me’ commandments or laws or guidelines. God and Religion set the rules which no one knows why, but people try to make sense of and figure out.

“Divine” is supposedly superior,and all-knowing, and wonderful to witness. 

Hozier uses a lot of religious imagery in his songs. 

“The way she shows me I'm hers and she is mine Open hand or closed fist would be fine The blood is rare and sweet as cherry wine.”

- Hozier A/N: Please note that I am not trying to romanticise abuse or domestic violence!!! It is harmful, inexcusable and causes a lot of pain. Real love and care do not abuse. If you are in an abusive relationship, I hope you get out soon. It must be so tough for you and I’m proud of you for keeping on trying. It is not your fault and you do not deserve this. I hope you find the help you need.  Adding some links to resources that might help below. Others, there are also a few ways you can get educated and help!! Also, if anyone finds this triggering despite the warnings and insensitive, please DM me, and I’ll try to take it down. I’m doing this as a literary exercise only (and not a very advanced one at that) ___

Women In Distress (Also for male survivors and anyone!)-  CRISIS HOTLINE: 954-761-1133

Please see https://www.thehotline.org/

Indian Helpline for women: 181,  1091/ 1291, (011) 23317004 Indian Helpline for men: 8882-498-498 

UK helpline for LGBTQ+ domestic violence victims/survivors:

Phone 0800 9995428

Email help@galop.org.uk  

And see website. 

LGBT surviors helpline :  617-742-4911 (voice) • 800-832-1901 (Toll-Free) (Don’t need to want to/have to get out of the relationship to seek help)

Collection of helplines: 

https://www.domesticshelters.org/resources/national-global-organizations

https://www.stopitnow.org/ohc-content/crisis-hotlines

___

[thegreymoon]

arthur please for how hot is that character!

First of all, big sorry to the two anons whose asks were*eaten* because apparently, my drafts can’t handle the hotness of ArthurPendragon 🔥🔥🔥

So, here goes my third attempt at this impossible taskbecause, seriously, how do you even quantify pure sunshine on the hotnessscale? IT IS IMPOSSIBLE!! 😭😭😭 

| Not My Type | Alright | Cute | Adorable | Pretty | Gorgeous | LORD MERCY |

|☀️🔥☀️ HE IS THE SUN☀️🔥☀️|

The funny thing about Arthur Pendragon is that I’ve been aware ofthis show since the beginning, it was always somewhere in the background of myother fandom activity, people were going into meltdowns over him, and Iremember seeing stills and promo pics and going… “Eh.” All I saw was some genericpretty boy with blond hair and blue eyes that didn’t even look that great fromsome angles, so I was not particularly inspired to pick up the show with anygreat haste. 

*Yes, my stupidity was infinite and I will be atoning for it for along time to come, now that I too am finally in the Merlin hell!*

The point is, even though I was vaguely aware of this show foryears before I actually sat down to watch it, nothing, and I mean *nothing*prepared me for Bradley James in character. He had me in the first scene, the manliterally shines, like, he has an actual halo and everything! Plus, hisvoice, and the way he moves and emotes, I was gone for him the minute I first saw himin motion!

I couldn’t find any good images of him from that first scene,everything is such low resolution and they do not do him justice, but here aresome others where his sunshine personified:

But like I said before, he is the most beautiful for me in motion,preferably when riding horses:

Of course, Bradley James is, beyond a doubt a spectacularlybeautiful man, but I think that the appeal of Arthur Pendragon is not so muchhow he looks, but that he’s so damn lovable,even when he’s at his worst, and that takes some serious skill and charisma topull off. He is such a pretty little evil, some of my favourite Arthur scenesare when he is positively glowing with this cheerful malice, like in that firstscene, because his face takes on this almost angelic quality. These are myfavourites, but of course, the show is full of them:

He is, in his own words, the“full package”, probably not in the same way that he meant, but thecharacter of Arthur is so layered and so multifaceted! I mean, this man:

Is the same as this man: 

He’s so ridiculous and regal at the same time! I feel that Bradleydoes not get enough credit for how versatile he is, we all focus on Colin (anddon’t get me wrong, Colin is out-of-this-world-perfect), but this is the sameman, in the very same scene:

There are times he’s so vulnerable, it hurts:

And others where we see him come through as a veritable killing machineand remember why he is remembered as the greatest warrior in Britain (Merlinhelped out a lot, but still):

Then there are scenes where he’s all contemplative and almostwise:

Of course, he is also cute: 

And adorable: 

And pretty: 

And goddamn gorgeous: 

I mean, even in his final hours, he looked like this:

HE HAD NO BUSINESS LOOKING THIS PRETTY MINUTES AWAY FROM DYING, I MEAN BRADLEY, W.T.F 😭😭😭

But let’s not forget LORD MERCY, beause lbr, that is his natural state! Seriously, thank you Bradley and whoever greenlit all thefanservice in this chaste and wholesome ~family show~, because your audience very much appreciated all your slutty, sluttyshirts: 

Thank you, sir, for not shaving your chest and giving us the many shirtless moments, they were truly appreciated for the masterpieces they were: 

Anyway, I’m going to stop my out-of-control fangirling now because it’s just not possible to express this man’s hotness in stills and promo pics! Nothing but putting all his scenes from the entire damn show on some kind of loop could possibly do him justice, and Tumblr already thinks I’m ridiculous and has eaten two whole attempts at making this post. Arthur Pendragon is simply too hot to handle!!

☀️ 🔥 ☀️   ☀️ 🔥 ☀️   ☀️ 🔥 ☀️   ☀️ 🔥 ☀️   ☀️ 🔥 ☀️    

[a-froger-epic]

What are your top 5 favorite angst moments in fics by other people

Thanks for resending the ask! The original one seems to be stuck in Tumblr limbo.

This was so hard. I literally just spent 45min going through my bookmarks and I could point you to some people's entire fic catalogues or entire fics without being able to pic a single scene in particular because they have so much delicious angst. (Yeah, I'm looking at you @aboutnothingness and @freddieofhearts and @i-lay-my-life-before-queen's Omegaverse Froger, or also @immistermercury's Jimercury ballet!Freddie epic and really several oneshots by some of my favourite authors in their entirety.)

But. I had to choose. So here are, in no particular order, some scenes:

---

Princes of the Universe by @tikiniki

Sci-fi AU. John saves Prince Freddie's life. 😰

Then, through the screams and gunfire, John heard Roger’s voice.

“John, Freddie! Watch out!”

And John spun around, just in time to see Roger throw himself towards Kassius, Kassius who had his gun raised and aimed at Freddie’s back.

His breath caught in John’s chest. Roger wouldn’t be fast enough.

He wasn’t.

The release of the bullet from Kassius’s gun disappeared in the rest of the noise. John acted on instinct.

He was barely conscious of moving at all. He barely noticed shoving Freddie to the side as hard as he could. He didn’t hear the surprised outcry leaving Freddie’s mouth.

But he felt it. Felt when the bullet pierced his chest.

The force of the bullet made him stumble back. He tried to draw a breath, tried to make a sound, but all was white-hot pain. The next second the guards were upon them. John was shoved in the chaos, his knees buckling beneath his weight.

Unable to catch himself, he fell over the edge of the pool.

Just before he breached the surface, he heard it.

The sound of voices crying out his name.

He smiled as he hit the water.

---

Aftercare by @bisexualroger

Freddie got mugged. 🥺

There’s an alien quality to the mirror, despite the fact that Freddie uses it every day and has done for months now. Perhaps it’s not the object itself that’s unfamiliar, but rather what it’s reflecting, the offending image subsequently contaminating the rest of the room with its strangeness. Lucky for him though; if the face in front of him registered as his own it might be too much for him to handle. Today’s been difficult enough without having to fully acknowledge the physical consequences of his earlier misfortune.

Freddie leans closer to the glass. The sight makes his lip tremble and his hands shake, but he swallows down his distress and reminds himself to view it objectively. It’s not his face, just a problem that needs to be fixed.

Taking another deep breath he tries again to go in with the cotton wool pad. Slippery with alcohol the cheap fabric desperately wants to slide out of his hand, but he keeps his grip steady as he brings it to his face. Immediately though the burning sting has him wincing. He tries to hold his nerve but the pain only intensifies, making his eyes prickle so he can no longer see what he’s doing. With a stifled cry of frustration he tosses the wool down into the sink and slides to the floor.

Once there his first instinct is to curl in on himself, but the pain in his ribs prevents him from doing so, which only makes matters worse. He’s been at this for fifteen bloody minutes, and much as he wants to shout and rage at the unfairness of it all his anger is infuriatingly manifesting itself through tears rather than determination. For goodness sake all he wants to do is have a hot shower and forget the entirety of this awful day, but he can’t until he’s dealt with this. It’s so agonisingly unjust.

---

The Path of Nevermore by @plainxte

Things are complicated. *sings* Give me one night only, one night only... 😭

"Yeah. I should probably head out," Roger said, looking around him. He was sure there was somewhere that he had promised to be that day.

"Please, Rog," Freddie said. "Don't go. Don't leave me alone. I mean. Don't send me to the path," Freddie said.

Roger turned to him with a smile. It quickly faded when he studied the look on Freddie's face: he was completely serious, and there was no hint of amusement in his eyes. He meant it, Roger realised. When Freddie said nothing more, just continued to look at him, it finally hit him what Freddie was saying. The seriousness of what he was asking.

"Of course I won't leave you," Roger whispered. "You know that. I wouldn't. But you know I can't, I can't – "

Freddie carefully lifted one hand, putting it hesitantly on his cheek, only just touching. His fingertips ghosted over Roger's cheekbone. "I know," he said. "And that's not what I meant. And I can't, either. But just for now. Please don't go. Please."

Roger took a breath. His thoughts were getting no clearer; if anything, his whole head seemed to be in a fog. He wasn't thinking; he couldn't think. He could only nod. Freddie leaned closer, and Roger closed his eyes. After what seemed like an age, he felt soft lips touch his. He reached up his own hand to Freddie's face, skimming over his jaw to come to a rest in his hair.

"And about time, too," he breathed.

---

Sobering Up by... oh whoops, it seems their tumblr was deleted or changed names. Well, nevermind, I still love this fic so much.

Roger and Freddie don't know how to deal. 💔

They lie there afterwards, stewing in a pregnant silence. Normally, sex put Roger right to sleep but this… he was unable to wrap his head around any of it.

He rolled over to lie on his stomach away from Freddie. He took a pillow and clenched it tightly in his arms, pressing his face deeply into it. Some animal instinct was telling him if he squeezed hard enough then the painful sickening swirl of emotions in his chest might ebb away.

Freddie softly cleared his throat. “Rog,”

“Hm?” Roger feigned sleepiness. He didn’t feel like having any kind of pillow talk.

“What…” Freddie faltered. “What do you think the future has in store for us?” Roger felt his heart seize up.

“What’d you mean ‘us’?” His voice was muffled in his pillow, but it didn’t mask the cracking on the last syllable. He heard Freddie make a sharp intake of breath.

“Queen.” He said. “What do you think we’ll be like in the future? D’you think we’ll make it?”

Roger was quiet at first. Freddie wasn’t the type to avoid the elephant in the room like this.

“Dunno,” Roger sighed, still clinging tightly to his pillow. “But I won’t stick around if there are better places to be.”

“Are there better places to be?” Freddie’s feigned curiosity did nothing to hide the anxiety in his voice. And it dawned on Roger that they weren’t going to talk about the sex. They were never going to talk about it. It had happened and that was all. It was too big, much too big, for either of them to face. This was Freddie’s way of asking if Roger was okay with that.

Roger didn’t exactly feel relief at this revelation. Somehow he felt like he had given Freddie a much more intimate part of himself than he had given any other partner. And the seriousness of that weighed heavily on him. Nothing would be the same for him again. But it had to be.

---

On the side of a hill, a sprinkling of leaves by @quirkysubject

Freddie falls in a puddle and can't get up (also this scene is way too long to quote all of it, but like THIS WHOLE SCENE MAN 😭💕)

“Jesus, Fred, are you alright?” Hands are on his back, his shoulders, trying to urge him up. Oh, how Freddie wishes Roger would just leave him alone (liar, the warm and tiny and inextinguishable gleam of hope inside him whispers).

“Fine,” he mumbles as he lies face down in the mud, waiting, praying for the earth to swallow him up.

“Freddie, come on, get up.” The hands tug a little harder. And then, when Freddie just shakes his head, Roger’s hands slide under his armpits, and he is hauled upright with a frustrated, “What the hell’s the matter with you?”

It’s this that does it. All ability to contain himself evaporates.

“I hate this so much!”

The words explode out of him. He can hear how his voice sounds, shrill, pathetic, whiny. Useless. But he can’t stop himself. “I hate everything about this. My ankle hurts and my arm hurts and I want proper tea with milk, and a bath, and my bed, and Tom and Jerry, and a slice of toast that is actually toasted and I… I just want to go home.”

It’s a small mercy that he can blame any wetness on his cheeks on the rain. Not that it will do him much good. He is throwing a tantrum at the worst possible moment, and Roger is going to do what he always does when Freddie is being unreasonable - walk out, have a smoke, come back an hour or two later when the storm has blown over.

Only if he leaves now, Freddie will melt into the ground and never come up again.

---

A special mention goes to a Doctor Who fic which is probably my favourite angsty fic of all time, because even though I'm not active in the Who fandom right now, I'm still Doctor/Master trash. And Locked in Orbit by @nicolauda (I think this is yours? Correct me if wrong) is one of the best goddamn pieces of writing with that ship that exist for me.

[pointedly-foolish]

as usual, click on the image for a higher quality

i’ve been listening to alot of j-pop lately...

i would like to earn the trophy of never being able to draw kaede consistently uwu

just messing around w composition 

oh btw, the lyrics are from hitchcock by yorushika. i’d put the link here but i’ll be shadowbanned by tumblr. just check it out! it’s rlly cool and the song slaps !

date: 26/06/20

like my work? consider ordering a commission // buying me a coffee // checking out my art tag or my masterlist | links can be found on my desc

more thoughts about kaede in my au under the cut

- i feel like - after isolating herself in her room for long enough - and kaede has run out of tears to cry - she’d seek out her grandma and open up to her, allowing herself to ramble and vent while her grandmother comforts her - maybe comforting kaede with words, but just her being physically there and still here, still present, still alive, grounds kaede to a certain extent - idk i feel - an 11 year old child - would have a lot of questions, and confusions, regarding the circumstance around her father’s death, the heavy secrecy around his work as a hero, and how to move forwards - she would voice some of her anxieties, and kept others to herself - questions like:

why didn’t they ever tell kaede about her father’s job?

why wasn’t she told that he was a hero? was she not important enough? did they think she wasn’t mature enough to understand?

did they not trust her enough?

what would’ve happened if he had died some other way, while saving someone or in the line of duty? did she not matter enough to be told?

were they really going to keep her in the dark forever?

was it her fault that her father’s dead?

did she indirectly cause it? if she had reached him sooner, if she hadn’t gotten stuck in the elevator or gotten stopped by the heroes, would her father still be alive?

why did the heroes kill her father? how come they showed no hesitation?

wasn’t her father barnaby’s partner? didn’t they work well together? how come barnaby showed her father 0 mercy?

from all the interviews and shows they did together, it seemed like they both respected and cared for each other. so how come they ended up killing each other?

aren’t heroes supposed to be the good guys? can she and her family trust them, regardless? (she knows the answer is no)

what else will they do? they’ve come after her father, will they come after the rest of their family? will they target her? her grandmother? her uncle? (kaede can’t bear the thought of losing her grandmother or her uncle, the last family she has left. the only people she has left.)

will they keep pursuing them and not leaving anyone alive?

why won’t they give her her father back?

why have they faced 0 repercussions while her family are suffering? 

why is it that bad people prosper?

what should she do from now on?

everywhere she goes, everyone shuns her, so what should she do now?

where does she go?

it’s easier to pretend that everything is ok and to relive memories of happier times, but is it ok to do so? how should she move on and seek closure?

is it selfish to seek revenge?

- it’s easier to be in a state of apathy than to think about what’s really happened, but she knows she can’t stay this way forever - but she just feels so  - tired - and she feels so empty  - she just wants to find a patch of soft grass, lay down under the blue sky and the warm sun, and just sleep for… forever - it just - hurts - so much - it’s not that she’s suicidal, or that she wants to die - it’s just that she thinks it’s really hard to keep going  - in a strange parallel to her father, she is also able to disregard her own safety and her own environment pursue her vision of justice. 

the selflessness that has allowed to relentlessly seek revenge is the same kind of selflessness and lack of concern for the self that has allowed her father to save so many people.

[stillyourprussianblue]

Title: aspen eyes;

under the moon, long shadows are cast Part I of III

Author: feuillemort [AO3] / stillyourprussianblue [tumblr]

Rating: T

Pairing: 2696 (Fran & Chrome)

Event: KHRWeen2020

Prompts: Witches | Cryptids

“We can’t leave until he returns. We have to protect his home.”

“It’s your home too.”

[AO3] [image] [Part I] [Part II] [Part III]

“Why are we still here?” Fran’s voice whined in monotone. He looked up from where he was nestled in the crook of her arm, pressed close to her chest as she squatted in the woodland.

The girl paid no attention to the large bullfrog she cradled other than to shush him softly. Her other arm was extended towards the two humanoid figures that always crept at the edges of her vision. Her eyepatch was slipping slightly, but she didn’t have a free hand to push it up and she couldn’t make any sudden movements lest she startle the creatures.

The basket of puffball mushrooms and herbs she had collected sat at her feet as she pushed the wildberry pastries and meat pies toward the cryptids that lurked at the edge of the clearing. The lizard creature hung back with watchful eyes while the larger, furry beast crept forward, only having eyes for the pastries that she offered.

Nagi knew what Fran was referring to.

It had begun with accusations against the most vulnerable of their town. The orphan girl that lived in the alleys behind the church refused to dress in anything other than slacks and had evaded capture from the authorities for years until she was found stealing a lamb. She was imprisoned on charges of witchcraft on the grounds that she was procuring lamb’s blood for a ritual, but on the eve that she would have been burned, she vanished from her cell. The council proclaimed that her escape was due to black magic, and the villagers whispered that it was the shepherd’s son that had liberated her in the night, but Nagi had seen how young woman had chipped through the bars and manoeuvred through the narrow space of the window, climbing to freedom and disappearing into the night.

Fear continued to spread, and soon it was a young girl that lived on the outskirts of the village that predicted the deaths of many officials on the town council. Nagi thought that the pinpoint accuracy of the girl’s visions was miraculous, but the villagers had cried witchcraft and had the girl imprisoned awaiting trial. A noblewoman passing through town had tried to use her position to leverage mercy for them found herself on the receiving end of their ire as well. It was rumoured that she was to be drowned in the morning.

Then it was the woman who ran the apothecary because she cared for a colony of feral cats and the nature of her product made the judges chary. Her accusations were followed by that of an escort that dared to express her disdain at the witch hunt. Nagi and Fran had only noticed because their master had been rather fond of the red-haired woman’s company and her churlish character. They had left their woodland hut and gone into town that day to check in on her, basket on her arm filled with meat pies and sweet tarts, and Fran hidden inside from the prying eyes of the public. M.M. had looked at her with the same disdain she had regarded the judges with, but she had accepted the creel through the barred basement window only to scream and throw it all back at her when she reached in and touched the frog familiar.

Nagi had scooped up the remains of the ruined pastries as M.M. yelled, cursing up such a storm at the witch’s retreating back that guards came running. They had seen her face as she withdrew, her one eye wide with fear as M.M. shouted that Fran had been such a majestic owl and that Nagi was a horrible witch that had turned him into a disgusting toad. The guards gave chase as she made a beeline for the tree line, but traversed no further into the fae domain.

She ran with Fran in her arms until she was sure they were no longer being pursued but decided to take a detour back to their home on the off chance they were being followed, taking the opportunity to collect puffball mushrooms for dinner, along with ember marjoram along the path for a simple warding spell around their home, and spark rue, thistlecress, and bearberries for a protective charm she wanted to try on Fran.

He didn’t think they could stay undetected in their forest home any longer as they waited for their master to return from his journey, but their conversation had been interrupted when Nagi noticed the cryptids shadowing them, the same ones that often circled their home in the night and that Nagi had been feeding.

“Who would take care of Chikusa and Ken if we left?”

“Gross,” Fran croaked. “You named them.”

“I named you too,” Nagi reminded. She remembered the owl familiar perched on its master’s shoulder with the same mismatched eyes and then tried not to remember her benefactor’s imperious gaze and impish smile because he was no longer with them.

His wit sharp as ever, Fran immediately had a response ready. “I’m a frog; I can’t process human emotions.”

Nagi fixed him with a stare until he let out a resounding ribbet that sent the werewolf and lizard creature scurrying away into the darkness, leaving a trail of crumbs in their wake; at least they had eaten some. Satisfied, she straightened up and brushed off her pleated skirt, readjusting her grip on Fran. “Why a frog though? You’re a shapeshifter and you used to take on the form of an owl.”

“Apprentices don’t get to be choosy,” he replied disinterestedly. “Creepy, evil perverts shouldn’t get to be picky either.”

She felt a shudder run down Fran’s spine and she patted his head right between his bulging eyes. “He put a hex on you to activate whenever you badmouth him, didn’t he?”

“And if I even think about leaving this form. Even beyond the grave, he’s still a creepy, evil, pervert sadist,” the frog whined. “It was for the good of the world that he croaked… ouch.”

“Your master’s just on a journey right now,” Nagi said, “and you’ve been entrusted to me.”

“You know it’s the other way around right? He said that after he offed himself, to make sure he was buried in that specific plot in the cemetery, and not to raise him from hell until he was ready. Oh and he said that I had to look after the little witch girl with no powers.”

Nagi ignored the slight at her weak magical ability. “We can’t leave until he returns. We have to protect his home.”

“It’s your home too.”

He got the last word because she didn’t know what to say.

A mob of crows cawed as they took wing from the bristly pines and peeling birch trees that lined the path. A crisp autumnal breeze caught the cacophony and lifted it to the skies, somber, grey, and cold.

___

It didn’t take long for the village to organize an expedition into the woods. Nagi had been wrong; they were more afraid of a witch than they were of the fae. They showed at dusk as Nagi and Fran were collecting mellow moss and aster tubers by the creek, as all witches knew this was the best time for a quality harvest.

Fran had shifted into a human form to assist her, pantlegs rolled up to his knees as he waded into the creek in search of the slippery plants she needed for her various soups and potions (he couldn’t reliably tell the difference). He kept a cheeky cap on his head with a frog face which he had found that kept him within the parameters of the enchantment his master had placed on him.

He had noticed their approach first, and Nagi soon after when she felt the subtle change in his demeanour from comfortably uncouth to forced nonchalance. Stepping out of the creek, he returned to her side.

“Fran,” she murmured, reaching towards him as he came closer.

“What? Gross,” he said but made no move to avoid the fingers she trailed across his cheek.

“We can run,” she said, placing her hand a little more cogently on his face.

“We could.”

“But I would slow you down?” she surmised, letting her hand fall back to her side.

He looked back impassively, following the downward trail of her hand, their expressions mirrored. “No, but this sadist master of mine has a hut in this forest that this cute witch girl with no powers is determined to protect until he returns from his reincarnation journey.” Fran sighed peevishly as the hex activated. He ignored it and shifted his preferred human form into a perfect copy of Nagi, dark haired and birdlike.  

She looked him up and down, knowing full well what his plan was; but she couldn’t let him do that. Torches flickered in the nearing distance. He saw the same flicker in her eye. “We could fight.”

“You should run,” he said mildly as if he were commenting on the weather. “If you want to live, then bet your life on finding that corpse’s ring. That should have enough juice to enhance even your ability.”

“I’m not going to leave you.”

The familiar looked the witch up and down before turning his back on her. Fog rolled in between them and thickened until the air felt heavy. “Okay then, I’ll go. Goodbye!”

His lacklustre departure and uncharacteristically bright goodbye confused her. Fran had said he didn’t understand human emotions, but if so, why did he use the fog to cover his face?

The little witch girl watched powerlessly as his form was slowly lost to the mist, pursued in her stead by a witch hunt. The torches flared like a warning, a beacon of terror; she waited until they passed and ran in the opposite direction, scooping up the basket filled with the fruits of their labour.

___

She ran until she reached their humble home, circled with a shroud of protective charms. The hazy enchantments parted for her as she ran up the steps and threw the wooden door open without hesitation. Nagi walked with purpose over to the corner of the kitchen, pushing aside a broomstick and an umbrella in her search. A pair of tall rubber boots fell over, and she grabbed the shovel that sat behind them. Hefting the spade over her shoulder, she cowed a little at the sudden weight, but caught herself before she toppled over backwards. Then she was out the door again, leaving behind their darkened home, basket of moss and tubers on the kitchen table, dinner uncooked.

Nagi knew the forest like the back of her hand, her footing sure as she flew through the dark, finding the quickest path through the undergrowth as if it were nothing. She had travelled these secret trails with her benefactor and his familiar many times before. Now she was alone, but determined to save them –to protect Fran and preserve the sanctity of their home— even if that meant disturbing his slumber.

The spot he had asked them to bury his body was in the corner of the cemetery, under a cluster of aspen trees on the unmarked plot, with their low hanging branches that had obscured the location. They had had to chop them away in order to lay him to rest after he began his journey through the different planes of existence. The places where they had marred the pure white bark had healed into dark scars, aspen eyes that now watched her every move. 

Nagi brushed off their gazes and wasted no time in breaking ground. It was harder than she thought, and she felt the reverberation through the handle, wincing slightly. Unable to afford a moment’s rest when Fran was in danger, she put her foot against the shovel and heaved until the earth gave way and turned over for her. She did it again and again until she could no longer stand, her arms and legs shaking.

She threw the shovel to the side, falling to her knees in the shallow hole, trying not to let the desperation overwhelm her. Shadows moved in the edges of her vision, and she jumped backwards not a moment too soon as a creature landed with a solid thud where she had been crouched.

The werewolf snarled and began digging away. “Ken,” she murmured. He grunted back at her as he dug so avidly it sprayed mud and grass all around them. 

A humanoid lizard slid down into the opened earth to join them, giving her what seemed like a nod before it began to tear at the hard ground as well. “Chikusa,” Nagi whispered. She watched them in stunned silence before wiping the sweat from her brow and joining them.

Her only companions beneath the moon were a beastly dog and scaly varanid that dug alongside her. Hands and knees in the dirt, fingers curled into claws, the broke through the earth, exhuming the unmarked grave until her bloody hands met cold fingers rising from the dirt.

Nagi took a deep breath and reached for the ring glinting in the low light. As soon as her fingers touched the cool metal, the world around her ignited, and explosion rocking through the cemetery with thunderous force, throwing her forward into the dirt.

Before she could recover, there was another explosion, and a flash of heat that flared above her head that made her press herself down into the ground before slowly raising her head to check if there was an opening for escape.

A dark figure loomed over the grave, silhouetted by an intense fire that blazed behind him. His dark hair fluttered with the blazing hot air, embers whipping past and illuminating his impassive face. His eyes were steely as he caught a projectile in his hand, regarding the flames it spat before casually tossing it aside. She cried out softly at the blast as it shook the ground again. The world was on fire and she could not understand why he was here, but knew that as long as he was, she was safe. 

She found her footing and got to her feet.

___

[AO3] [Part I] [Part II] [Part III]

[yikes-strikes-again]

rating: gen word count: 2271 tags: angst, hurt/comfort, light on the comfort part, canon compliant, the slaughter, the corruption, season 5 spoilers, episode: e163, spoilers for episode: e163, spooky eye powers             summary: Martin learns exactly what happens if Jon doesn't give his statements. Inspired by a line from episode 177. Takes place between episodes 163 and 164.

read on tumblr:

Buried in the wreckage of the blasted wasteland, a typewriter began clicking rapidly.

With soles caked in mud, they crunched through what must have been leagues of the trenches - though, obviously, there was no way to tell. No way to tell how far they had traveled or how far they had yet to go. The Panopticon-Institute remained on the horizon, ever-distant and always looming.

The sounds of war were not far away. Once in a while, artillery fire would tear the silence apart, ripping through the walls of bunkers and causing a throbbing, painful ringing in the ears. Jon and Martin would hold onto each other for support, though often they would still fall into the wet and sloshing ground, caking their clothing in another layer of grime. But here, the danger was less immediate than it was miles ago. Slower, in wounds rather than weapons.

Countless soldiers nursed the bandaged stumps of lost limbs, ones either amputated or blown off. In the case of the former, the procedure rarely prevented infection from spreading through the victim’s veins with each beat of their heart, or cleanly excised the deepest strains of necrotized tissue. They knew this, of course. They knew that they would only get sicker, and the knowledge terrorized them even more than the certain death that lay not a meter above.

Clouds of flies thicker than pudding swarmed around the dead. Well, one hoped they were dead. It was hard to tell when everyone seemed to be on the verge of permanent collapse, either from mortal injury, illness, or an overdose of grief. It didn’t matter why - when someone laid down in this place, they never got up again.

It was calmer on this side of the trenches. Quieter. But in the quelling of the chaos, it gave Martin a chance to process how awful it all was, and that was worse.

He looked at Jon. If he had to guess, he’d say that Jon was faring worse than Martin was. There was a hard set to his shoulders, and he spoke little save to warn Martin of danger or obstacles. When he did speak, his voice was terse and irritable. Martin rarely got a glimpse of his eyes, but when he did, he saw that Jon’s pupils were erratic and searching.

Both of them had been quiet for days, weeks perhaps, ever since Jon had ranted like a madman in that bunker, surrounded by all those catatonic people. Martin didn’t understand  why  he had to do that, why he was compelled to speak of all the awful things that were already upon them, only that something bad would happen if he didn’t. He had made it clear that Jon would find no audience for his ramblings in Martin, and Jon had accommodated that thus far.

Martin stopped at the turn of the trench, finding a more gentle slope of the wall to rest his shoulder upon, though the soil was damp and rancid-smelling. He didn't feel fatigue, but his shoes were not meant for hiking, and they were uncomfortable. He was soaked to the bone, filthy, and freezing cold, and he really wanted to know when he could stop being that way.

Jon stopped so suddenly that his boots skidded on the mud and he had to sway to keep his balance.

“What is it now, Martin?”

There was no resignation to his voice, no apathy or even frustration, unlike before. Just pure, stifled anger, and the cryptic storm brewing from behind his eyes.

Martin looked at him pleadingly. “Can’t you tell me anything about how long we’ve still got to walk? At least until we get out of… this place.”

Jon sighed the sigh of a parent who had been asked “Are we there yet?” by their impatient child one too many times. “Like I said the first two thousand times, time and space  do not exist in the way they once did. When the world was whole and there existed minds who knew not of terror.” He cringed almost imperceptibly, and scrubbed at his temples with his palms. “As much as I hate to hear the phrase myself, we will get there when we  get  there.”

It felt silly to complain about someone’s bad attitude when they were in a literal hellscape, but Martin didn’t like the way he’d started speaking through gritted teeth. He wanted respite from this particular nightmare, yes, but he also wanted to know why Jon was so angry.

Martin didn’t get the sense that it would do any good to ask him, though.

He sighed. “It’s been so long.  What if we never get there? Just wandering in circles in a never-ending trench.”

“Well, Martin, we  will never get there if we keep stopping to burrow a nightmare and ceaseless frenzy.”

He paused to consider that. He figured he’d heard wrong - his hearing was still a bit muted from the gunfire. “What?”

“I said, we’ll never get there if gangrene blisters or sanguine bagpipes.”

“What?  What the hell does that mean?”

Jon made an irritated noise, then spoke slowly as if talking to someone who was very stupid. “Agony bore a bloody sickle for crushing the sleepless.”

Martin stared at him, and narrowed his eyes, gripped by a dawning horror that had nothing to do with the disease and death that surrounded him. “Jon, you’re not making any sense.”

Some of the anger faded from Jon’s expression. Then, suddenly, he clutched at his head with both hands as if in pain. His eyes widened, focusing briefly on Martin before returning to the million things that only he could see.

“Sever,” he said pointedly. And, as if spurred on by something, he continued, both voice and body shaking with intensity. “Limbs metallic see bloated warhead and vicious gas spitting cauterize through. Spleen pale cannon warhead bile where tetanus sinews. And gore and ring and soldier visceral from bodies brother teeth for rancid crimson darkness.” He spoke with such terrible certainty, as if he fully expected Martin to comprehend the meaning of every word.

The corners of Martin’s mouth became taut, but since smiling requires the pretense of happiness, he did not smile. “Listen, Jon, I know we’re both under a lot of stress, but this is a really bad way to try and lighten the mood, okay? It’s not funny. You’re scaring me.” He drew a sharp and shaking breath and released it in a hollow imitation of laughter. “What’s the matter with you, anyway? Are you just taking something out on m—”

“Chaotic laughter and screeching god.” Jon’s eyes were on him, but they weren’t looking at him. They were wild, desperate. Something awful was happening to him, something that caused him to forget how to stand, that ceaselessly filled his mind with secondhand terrors, that stole his voice and gave it to the neverending flood of words that rose like bile from his throat. “Iron hands, jettison liver, with heroic terror bullets and mottled rage buzzing, burning and lungs gone. Necrotized gurney which hell hath nuclear rot aching, whose shivering eye orders and despairs, immobile river filth screaming for prison and tear—”

“Jon, stop!” Martin pushed off the wall and stumbled over to where Jon had slipped onto the filthy earth. He shook him. “Snap out of it!”

“— off running, smoke and cloth the bacteria acrid, with hungry singing comrade forever hidden. Writhing from crater, sobbing but the fever moans flaking to clinging, melting daggers. Helpless pathway churning through exploding infinity—”

Martin was nearing his wits’ end. He dragged Jon, who went limp, into a nearby dugout, so tiny that sunlight still shone across most of its floor. He tried to block out the onslaught of babbled nonsense that somehow evoked a thousand nightmarish images as clear as day, but Jon’s voice had taken on that quality that made it impossible not to listen. He continued to shake him with repetitive, mechanical regularity, but as the words bore into his brain Martin’s movements grew weak and yielding.

Jon lay on Martin’s lap, staring far beyond the dirt ceiling. “Gorging jaws of metal death surround your blood-borne reach towards distant jargon, but surreal enemy adrenaline has harrowed pathological exaltations. Barbed manslaughter. Feeding warfare. Stinging trigger…”

His eyes fell to him for a split second. “Martin,” he said, and Martin remembered to breathe. But the moment was gone as quick as it had come, and Jon was launched into another disjointed tirade.

If the hands of his watch spun as reliably as they once had, Martin might have found that he sat crouched in that dugout for exactly six hours and thirty-four minutes, keeping Jon’s back out of the mud. But, for what it was worth, it felt like years. Jon continued his nonsensical ranting, scarcely stopping to breathe, and from the way he desperately spat the words one got the feeling that he wished he didn’t have to. His voice rose and fell at random, reaching sudden and unpredictable climaxes of raving and shouting before settling back into a listless murmur. Trying to ignore him was an exercise in futility. Every few words a new, terrible image would implant itself into Martin’s mind, and then another, and another, together weaving a tapestry of terror from the thread of Jon’s omnipotent train of thought. He couldn’t stop listening, and Jon couldn’t stop talking, so whenever Martin’s thoughts weren’t drowned out by the bile of the Beholding they were filled with despair.

Would this never end? Were they doomed to rot in this place, their minds slowly unraveled by the power of the Eye filtered only by Jon’s droning voice? Would they never move again, like all the rest in this awful place, locked in a stony embrace like some warped parody of The  Pietà?

Martin couldn’t know. But in between terrors, it was all he could imagine as tears ran down his face.

It was a small mercy that this particular fear of Martin’s wasn't due to come about just yet. The first clue was that the flood of words had slowed to a trickle. The second was that when Jon paused for breath, it was deeper and less hurried than before. His voice had lost its former vigor, and it was all Martin could hope that he had finally started to exhaust himself.

“... never respite from wretched hope… singe a coagulated daylight swarm… justice not for careening wails… farewell… slaughter,” he paused, panting. “Finished” was too hopeful a word, and his voice carried no note of finality.

But there was a blessed silence. Martin expected it to end at any moment, but it stretched on as the seconds passed. There were distant cries of war, and the sound of Jon trying to make up for the breath he’d lost, but it all faded into nothing in the presence of the euphoric silence.

Several minutes passed this way, and it was only then that Martin dared to speak with the expectation that he’d get a response.

“Jon,” he began, finally daring to make eye contact - his otherworldly gaze had been far too intense to meet, before - and found that Jon was seeing him again. “What… happened?”

He blinked at Martin. There was another silence, shorter and more deliberate than the last, but less comfortable. “I—” He cleared his throat. “I think… I just…” He grabbed his temples with both hands and winced, and Martin pulled them both out of the light.

A moment’s migraine, and Jon collected himself. “There’s just… so much. Fear. Everywhere we go, from everyone in the world. I see it all. I  feel  it all.” Martin listened passively, despair replaced by a deep frustration. He knew this, and Jon knew how he felt about being his… receptacle for it all. But he didn’t interrupt.

“We have been through a domain of The Slaughter, and are now passing into one of The Corruption. I’ve been… accumulating more and more of The Slaughter’s fear all this time, and now that we’re leaving it… I suppose it wanted me to let it out. Now or never.” He paused. “And... I  have  to let it out, willingly, or else…”

“This happens.”

Jon sighed. “Apparently.”

Martin considered this, wondering if Jon could see the tear tracks that had left clean paths down his otherwise dirty face.

“Why didn’t you just give a statement? You know…  before  it was forced out of you?”

Jon looked at his hands for a long time. Then, in a small, guilty voice, he said, “I was trying to keep it inside.”

“Keep it inside?  Why?  ”

“I thought…” He covered his mouth in the gesture of one whose face burned with shame. “I thought I could control it, if I just willed it hard enough. These trenches… too long. Too narrow. There was nowhere for you to go. I didn’t want to stop, and I didn’t want to leave you.”

Martin stopped, and he softened. “Jon.” He sighed through his nose, and placed his hand on the back of Jon’s head. Then he brought him up into an embrace. “This was worse.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” he murmured into Martin’s neck.

“... I’m just glad you’re okay.”

They stayed like that for an undefinable amount of time, relishing the only avenue of comfort available to them anymore. Then, with Jon clinging to Martin for support, they climbed to their feet, and set out under the sky again, which had at some point shifted from violent red to a sickly yellow. A new understanding dawned on them both, mostly Martin, who resolved to allow Jon his space when he needed to… vent.

He only wished the knowledge hadn’t had to come from personal experience.

Something lurking in the ruins ripped the page off the typewriter, and its keys never made a noise again.

[segersgia]

Looking back: Part 2 - Death Guard - Infantry

8th edition needed a big baddie for the new Primaris Marines to combat, and Mortarion was very eager to oblige in this front. The Death Guard are by far my favourite Heretic Astartes faction just by aesthetic alone. Nurgle is my #1 Chaos God. I like his focus on pestilence and decay and the fact he is technically a rather benign god. 

I love the Death Guard because of their doctrines and their design. They make use of chemical warfare and just slowly advance like a poisonous cloud towards their foes.

So it was very exciting to see a full army being made out of them.

This army is very difficult to rate and review, because unlike the Space Marine line, every little model in their range is unique in some way. Every little miniature you get for this army has different weapons, helmets, and different armour patterns. This means that one unit will both have ace looking models and models that look like hot filthy garbage (in a bad way).

Let’s begin...

Plague Marines:

The main boys of the Death Guard army are definitely the much-loved Plague Marines. These are your mainline infantry boys and make up the majority of the Death Guard Army. They are a result of what happens when a Chaos Space Marine starts worshiping Nurgle a little too much. They begin transforming into these bloated and disease ridden humps of rotten flesh and rusted armour. The Plague Marines themselves love this. They feel no pain and see every little malady as another gift from their god. 

The first Plague Marines came into existence during the Horus Heresy. When the Death Guard attempted to join the Siege of Terra, their fleet got lost in the Warp and the legion became infected with Nurgle’s Rot and the Destroyer Plague. Their Primarch Mortarion, in an attempt to save his legion from the torture and suffering, sold his soul and his legion to Nurgle. 

Plague Marines slowly advance on their enemies, bolters firing without mercy. Some carry rusted weapons that are infused with Nurgle’s Rot. One small cut and your infected.  When injured, they won’t even flinch, since they absolutely feel no pain whatsoever.  

Plague Marines are a truly decisive bunch of miniatures. You have four different kits to choose from (three, since Dark Imperium has been discontinued) and each of them has some very good models and some very bad ones. 

I do think that they are very busy and in some parts overdesigned. Some models have like three different Plaguebearers fused to their armour for example. I do like their armour though and the ones wearing the Mark 2 helmet are by far the best looking of the bunch. 

I would say that the best box out of the four would be the basic Multi-kit, since they are the most consistent in quality. However, all of my favourites strangely come from the discontinued Dark Imperium Box Set. 

7/10

Poxwalkers:

The Walking Pox is a very infectious disease that is just awful to have. Your organs start failing one by one and you eventually turn into a zombie, fully conscious of your actions yet without any control over your body.

Poxwalkers shamble like undead in search of flesh to consume. They have these long horns sprouting out of their heads and all of them constantly smile like they’ve been injected with Joker laughing gas. The worst part about them is that their groans and roars can infect those who hear it with the Walking Pox disease. 

The walking Pox spreads auditory. It can spread through the vibrations of sound. 

I love these models. There is nothing really bad to say about them. They completely succeed at what they are supposed to convey and resemble. Some of them hint at their former professions, like the one dressed as a doctor. Some of them also wear clothing similar to that the Genestealer Hybrids, so they stay very consistent. They look creepy and disgusting and I love it.

10/10

Blightlord Terminators:

These fellas are even more diseased than their normal Plague Marine counterparts. Their steps corrode and rust the ground beneath them and even being touched by them could spell your very painful death.

Blightlord Terminators excel at ship-to-ship-combat and boarding actions against enemy spaceships. Since they are Terminators, they can teleport aboard enemy vessels, and they use this tactic to cause mayhem and to spread the gift of Nurgle. 

The Blightlords are surprisingly less busy than I would’ve expected and it makes them a better looking unit for it. These models found a way better balance between clean and diseased. I think that some of their weapons do look a bit oversized. Overall though, the designers aced this unit.

My favourite one out of the bunch is the Insectoid Blightlord with the extra limbs. That is just clever design and a fun way to visualize Nurgle’s corruption.

8/10

Deathshroud:

In the olden days of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, the Deathshroud were the personal bodyguards of Mortarion. They were his version of an Honour Guard and were chosen out of the sole survivors from destroyed Space Marine squads. They completely forsook their identity, never taking of their masks and conducting a vow of silence. They are considered at that point killed in action. 

They still largely form Mortarion’s personal guard even after his ascension to Daemon Prince. However, Mortarion also sends them to check up on those he favours. They fight alongside Chaos Lords and the like and act like judges. If a Chaos Lord does well, the Deathshroud leave in peace, but if the Chaos Lord failed in the eyes of Mortarion, then he gets executed by these bodyguards. 

Deathshroud carry Power-scythes called Manreapers, which are rumoured to be dipped in the filth of Nurgle’s Throne itself. They also come equipped with custom Hand Flamers that shoot chemical ammunition. 

The Deathshroud have a very good design that is very similar to the Blightlords. There is however some waste in potential. These are Mortarion’s most trusted warriors and they just look like a hooded version of the Blightlords. I kind of wished the designers took some inspiration from this artwork and made them have more ornate features.

It would certainly distinguish them more from their brethren better. 

I also take some offence that in the images, one of them has no helmet on, which kind of ruins the point of a voiceless and faceless warrior. You do have the option of giving the squad leader a helmeted head, so this is kind of a none-issue. 

7/10

Plague Marine Icon Bearer

The Icon bearers of Nurgle carry an Icon of Despair. This banner creates an aura of hopelessness around the area, and the thoughts of surrounding foes become filled with the idea of inevitable death. It basically turns enemies into nihilists who’ve become depressed.

What makes me sad about this unit is that there is no mention of these guys anywhere on the different wiki’s, which is kind of a bummer since he looks like a solid Plague Marine. Yes, it is just a Plague Marine with a Chaos Icon, but he should at least be mentioned somewhere. Don’t be mean to him. He is a good looking Plague Marine. 

I do wish that the Icon he carried didn’t have the weird helmet pressed in it. The fly motive is nice though.

8/10 

———————–

So all in all, outside of some outliers, the Death Guard infantry is a very solid line of miniatures that is very varied in appearance. You could apply the “Goldilocks Effect” to it; some are too busy, some are not busy enough, and some are just just right.

Next up, I’m going to tackle the Craftworld Aeldari Faction, which will be a short one and will probably come a little sooner than normal. After that, I’ll be looking at the Vanguard Primaris infantry units. I want to spread them out somewhat so that everything stays interesting, but I also want to get the Primaris overviewed as quickly as possible. 

Thank you for reading my stuff so far. It is fun to overview the design and lore of these different factions. It also is a learning experience for me. For example; Tumblr has a Max-10 image cap per post and this means that this series will probably list a lot longer than I’d imagine. Still, it will be a fun ride for me.

‘Till next time.

previous posts: Primaris Mainline Infantry

[kpoptimeout]

Top 10 Most Underrated K-pop Songs of 2020 (Idol Edition)

2020 was shit. But oh boy, at least the music was good.

And it took us a good while to decide on these lists.

Continuing with the K-Pop Timeout Tradition (see 2019 Ver) of listing the Top 10 Most Underrated K-Pop Songs because all the other sites are just bothered with the Top 10 that pretty much everyone will have heard of/have fan wars over, below are our top 10 picks of songs that did not rank high but deserves your attention!

Like last year we have a separate post for Top 10 underrated non-idol tracks in 2020 and a list for the Top 10 K-Dramas in 2020 in our opinion, which will drop in the coming days.

Some of the artists have escaped the list in recent years to stardom (like N.FLYING, SF9 and OH MY GIRL), so hopefully, it happens again!

This is in alphabetic order NOT in the order of awesomeness because all of them are awesome. Also, all MVs are linked in the song titles because Tumblr won’t let me share that many videos in one post.

APRIL “LALALILALA”

APRIL is a very well-rounded girl group but their talents have been squandered by DSP’s mismanagement in recent years. With DSP seeming to try again and with member Naeun’s meteoric rise thanks to acting in webdrama hit “A-TEEN” and the internationally loved K-Drama “Extraordinary You”, “LALALILALA” seemed like the song to finally give APRIL the awards they deserve. Except it did not, which is an absolute shame because “LALALILALA” is easily one of the strongest girl group tracks this year. The futuristic synths and snappy drum instrumental made for a delightful pop track and reminded us of DSP’s heydays of churning out similarly pristine and impactful tracks for KARA and Rainbow. If you were a fan of past DSP girl group bops like KARA’s “Pandora” and "STEP”, this is the song for you!

Cherry Bullet “Hands Up”

Whoever thought of putting “Beethoven” and “girl crush concept” together should get a raise at FNC Entertainment because it worked. Sampling Beethoven’s famous piece “Für Elise” in different parts of the instrumental using different instruments ranging from synths to different keyboards, the producer was able to provide rookie girl group Cherry Bullet with a hip-hop heavy girl crush banger that is catchy and fun. Also, it is clear the girls of Cherry Bullet really enjoy this song, exuding confidence and charm in the choreography and overall performance. After a few listens, you would be nodding to this addictive song and body rolling to the chorus. If you are a fan of girl crush songs, you have to listen to “Hands Up!”

Cignature “ASSA”

Honestly, we are annoyed with C9 Entertainment scrapping the highly talented girl group Good Day after merely one song and their relatively strong run on KBS’ “The UNIT” and re-debuting only some of the girls in Cignature under their sub-label J9. However, we cannot deny that “ASSA” is a powerful track. It is many things at the same time - it covered the quirky girl group demographic with the cute and somewhat bratty sounding introduction where the girls seem to be talking and singing at the same time, then a somewhat mature buildup came out of nowhere with a more raspy and charismatic delivery on the vocals front before an aggressively girl crush drop begins the chorus carried by the members feeling themselves (specifically their hair) with attitude. If you love the quirky sound of fromis_9 and Oh My Girl but also want some OG girl crush energy like 4MINUTE, “ASSA” is your song!

CSVC “No Mercy”

Okay, CSVC is not really an “idol” group in the traditional sense. A project group made up of 4 indie artists (CHEEZE's Dalchong, Stella Jang, Lovey and Park Moonchi), CSVC tries to recreate the 90s girl group sound of legends like S.E.S, Fink.L and Baby VOX and we are here for it. Not only do all four members have the pipes to carry the early K-Pop sound that has heavy RnB influences, they went all out in the song production with the retro reverbs littered throughout the track and new jack-swing inspired intro. The MV was also a love letter to 90s K-Pop girl groups with the intense use of flares, extreme use of lighting, the “futuristic” sets seemingly made of tin-foil and the members all donning all black or all white outfits. If you are a huge fan of 90s K-Pop, CSVC’s “No Mercy” is the song for you!

ELRIS “JACKPOT”

Honestly, we have no idea what the hell HUNUS Entertainment is doing with ELRIS but even with the mismanagement, they continuously give ELRIS great songs and “JACKPOT” is easily one of the best girl group songs of the year. It builds up from silky vocals to strong rap, which is followed by wonderful harmonisation before we dive into a two-part chorus which made use of the members’ strong vocals as well as gave us catchy moments to sing along to. The music video is also a delight, with the girls dancing on a stage built to look like a roulette. The addition of the 2 members also made ELRIS’ already powerful stages even more impactful. We have been hearing rumours of disbandment but we hope it is not true. If you want to listen to the definition of a well-rounded and fun K-pop girl group track, ELRIS’ “JACKPOT” is THAT SONG!

IMFACT “Lie”

IMFACT is truly a strong boy band with great vocals and strong song production skills of their own yet they CONTINUE to be SLEPT on. I mean being managed by Star Empire Entertainment does not help but it is ridiculous how little domestic and international support they have. They have a distinct sound which they continue in “Lie” - electropop infused with K-Pop song structures and a generous use of unique drums patterns. If you love electropop and K-Pop, it is time to stan IMFACT and check out this amazing song!

NATURE “Girls”

Maybe n.CH Entertainment go a boost in Mnet money after taking on the job to manage TOO after Mnet’s “To Be World Klass” show because their budget really went up and it shows in NATURE’s “Girls”. This song is truly a masterpiece. The chorus is like what you would expect of a club banger EDM track but the verses are made up of clean vocals exhibiting anguish and longing over a relatively simple beat and the bridge was orchestral instrumentals mixed with the drumming of a marching band and the loud chants of the girls. The music video is also simple yet haunting. If you like the darker tracks of 9MUSES and RAINBOW like “Sleepless Night” and “Black Swan” but also the electronic sound of Berry Good in “Don’t Believe” days, this is the song for you for you!

ONEWE “End of Spring”

We need more bands making it in mainstream K-Pop and ONEWE’s “End of Spring” gives us another reason why we think so. “End of Spring” is a breath of fresh air in this year of mainly 80s retro dance tracks and hip-hop heavy pop songs in the K-Pop world, as it instead went for a pop rock sound more reminiscent of American pop rock acts like Train in “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” and One Republic in “Counting Stars” but with a dose of the energy in a teen summer party. If you enjoy a fun pop rock song, ONEWE’s “End of Spring” is the song for you!

OnlyOneOf “dOra maar”

OnlyOneOf is a rookie group with a lot of potential given their heavily alternative RnB and overall escape room-esque sound. They had many great songs in 2020 with wonderful music videos but our favourite here at K-Pop Timeout has to be the MV-less “dOra maar”. This laid back and smooth song showcases each member’s unique vocals and sounds more like a top Korean RnB artist experimental collaboration than a K-Pop boy band song. Also, it is always fun to see K-Pop artists take inspiration from art and culture of different countries (the titular Dora Maar is a French photographer and the lover of Pablo Picasso). If you are mostly a Korean RnB fan, OnlyOneOf’s “dORa maar” might be your gateway drug into the idol scene!

Weki Meki “COOL”

Fantagio seems to be a bit unsure about which sound to give Weki Meki, as the group swings between aggressive and catchy girl crush songs to more generic cute summer songs like a pendulum. They should really consider keeping Weki Meki with the sound they found in “COOL” because the girls really carried this supermodel runway power walk song with poise and confidence. While we have seen boy bands dabble in the runway model sound such as IN2IT in “Snapshot”, SF9 in “Now or Never” and KNK in “Sunset”, we have actually rarely seen girl groups going for this expensive sound. Additionally, the music video for this song is powerful, with the scene of the girls facing each other and vogueing in a long dark room being highly memorable. If you love power girl crushes or any of these boy band songs we have mentioned above, you would really like this song!

Special Mentions of Underrated Debuts:

There were many strong debuts this year and I would like to mention 2 underrated rookie groups to look out for in 2021!

Male - E’LAST “Tears of Chaos”

While more and more male groups are debuting with either badass or cute images, E’LAST decided to enter the K-Pop world with a highly orchestral sound. And the boys have the talent and visuals to carry such a dramatic and theatrical concept. Their label E Entertainment, also seems to have every intent to do the most for these boys, as seen in the production quality of their MVs. With these boys already dropping new material right now, you all should keep an eye on them! 

FEMALE - woo!ah! “Bad Girl”

With many strong female group debuts this year, you may have missed woo!ah!, from the small label of NV Entertainment. This small company in fact is led by SM China’s former CEO and this person certainly has an eye for talent because woo!ah! is a very balanced 5 member girl group that has a lot of potential to make it big. In fact, the group is beginning to develop an international following, with “Bad Girl” reaching #1 in the Vietnam's biggest music platform, edging out both aespa’s “Black Mamba” and BLACKPINK’s “Lovesick Girls”. They have already followed up with B-Side track promotions so check out these underrated rookies!

[ask-de-writer]

FRIEND AND THE IMPERIAL EGGS : Part 1 of 7 : MLP Fan Fiction

Return to the Master Story Index Return to MLP Fan Fiction

FRIEND AND THE IMPERIAL EGGS

A Daring Do tale

Part 1 of 7

by De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

8927 words

© 2020 by Glen Ten-Eyck Writing begun 05/13/16

All rights reserved.  This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

This is a Fan Fiction based on My Little Pony.  Canterlot, Princess Luna and the name Daring Do are owned by Hasboro Inc.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions, provided that such things are done without charge.  I will allow those who do commission art works to charge for their images.  

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fictions is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

Grata, Left Wing of the Imperial Throne, watched, crest raised, fluttering in silent Gryphon laughter, as Daring Do, Antiquarian extraordinaire, lay in her Hospital nest, chortling as she dangled small strips of meat for the Eagle chicks that swarmed on top of her coverlet.

Friend, the small changeling egg tender, perhaps the only one anywhere that was not inside a hive, was watching Doctor Do, her Matunen, as she played with and cared for the chicks.  There was a delicate, near invisible glow of palest green emanating from her, to enclose Daring Do, and the chicks.  She was making a soft humming, purring, croon.

There were big, full grown Eagles perched everywhere about the room.  They were watching with total approval. Several flew in through an open flight port, set to the size of the Eagles, so that they could come and go freely.  They were all wild birds, not tamed in any way.

After taking in the amusing scene for a respectful length of time, Grata spoke softly.  “I hope that I am not interfering with your healing of Doctor Do, Friend.  I have come to both speak of how her healing is going, and to ask a favor of you.”

Friend looked up with interest, which caused her filmy sheer blue mane to spread, somewhat like a ruff around her head, making another little ruff at the base of her shortish horn.

“You need not be afraid of me/us, Grata.  What may I/we do for you?”

Firmly, Grata responded, “I am not afraid of you, Friend.  I do respect you and what you are doing.  First, before the business of Empire, tell me about our mutual friend, your Matunen, Doctor Do.  The Empire is strong.  It can wait.”

That got Daring Do’s attention away from the chicks.  With a giggle, she replied, “That is SO O O different from the attitude of any other government on the world of Equestria.  They all go, ‘We are the Government! We are strong!  We come first!’ and the Gryphon Empire says, 'We are strong, we can wait!’  I love it!”

Friend smiled over to Daring Do, love showing in her eyes and every line of her chitinous body.  “Matunen is healing well.  I/we loved her healing properly and all is going as it should.  Now her healing needs only guidance.  It will take some time, yet.  She will regain strength and endurance better if she does so slowly, now.”

Grata shook her regal head, crest lifted in wonder, “Our best doctors are still amazed that you could find any way to bring Daring Do through that assassination attempt.  No other being that we know of has EVER survived being poisoned by Hellbore mushroom.”

Shaking her head, crest reverting to sorrow, she went on, “All of that, trying to destroy our true history, was so that they could rule with lies.  Even starting a civil war, casting aside all honor, was just a grab for political power, under the guise of religion.

“We would have sentenced the conspirators to death by the Long Drop.  Instead, you claimed them.  You were right, though.  Before you were done using them as prey to save Doctor Do, they were begging for the mercy of the Long Drop.”

Friend got up to herd a wayward chick back to the others.  With a smile, she said softly, “They were failed nymphs.  Their bodies lived but they had no love.  Their lives served a good purpose.  Matunen is whole.  She loves and returns love as Matunen should.”

Grata nodded, crest going briskly up.  “Now to the business of Empire.  We of the Throne are too busy to take the time to tend a clutch of eggs properly.  

“The recent assassination attempt, intended not only to kill Doctor Do, but the entire Throne of Empire as well, has underlined the need to ensure the succession of rule.  Normally, one of us, either the Right Wing or the Left would take the time to tend the Imperial Clutch.  We cannot do that for some time to come.  Trying to pacify and tie back together the wounds of a civil war have us all far too busy.

“On behalf of the Empire, Friend, would you please tend our Imperial Clutch and be mother to our hatchlings?”

//////////////////

“Drat it!  Moreegg, I'v got a good mind to drop you!  What is the point of lowering a pony the size of you on a rope, if you can’t even find an egg as big as an eagle’s?”

Calling up, from the end of the rope, the pony Moreegg replied, “You might as well save your breath for pulling me up!  There isn’t egg one in any of these nests!  I can see into three others from here.  Lots of signs that the nests were being used recently, the season is right but not an egg to be found!”

Grumbling, Baron Yoksonu began to haul Moreegg back up to safe footing at the upper lip of the sheer cliff that made up the northern scarp of Eagle’s Vale.  As he was helping Moreegg get clear of the dangerous edge, the Baron noticed what had been bothering him since they began the search for an egg of the fabled Eagle’s Vale eagles.  There was not a single eagle to be seen anywhere.

In all the books, these eagles were always capitalized.  There was reputedly a multitude of huge and majestic birds here.  Finding an egg should have been an easy, if dangerous task.

Scooting on his belly across the grass and stone to the cliff edge, the Baron scanned the whole expanse of the Eagle’s Vale.  Taking out binoculars, the expensive optics only verified what his eyes had already told him.  There were no eagles in Eagle’s Vale.

Impatiently, the Baron waited while Moreegg packed their collecting equipment and shouldered the pack.

An arduous trek brought them back to the town of Eagle’s Perch.  The harvest was nearly all in.  Everywhere that the Baron or Moreegg looked there were ponies using wagons and carts of excellent quality, with wheels that all looked new, pulling in the last of the harvest.  

The town’s grain elevator was busy and the mill beside it was loading out another cart full of bags filled with flour.  The wheelwright’s shop was busy, refurbishing another wagon.

Sort of hidden, there were many small signs of long neglect that were being remedied when no other task took precedence.  Even Moreegg noticed it.  “Look, Sir.  There are three houses and two business along this one road that are all getting new thatching sewed on.  There has been no storm that could be responsible.  I see some other old roofs that are in good repair.”

The Baron nodded.  “Very observant Moreegg.  Remind me, when we get home, to give you a raise and the task of searching out what needs repair while the problems are still small.  A Barony in good order is the foundation of real wealth.”

They reached nearly to the end of the town before seeing the solid stone and timber structure of the Gryphon’s Perch Inn.  The inkeep, a Gryphon, came out , laid his crest nearly flat, and said, “I am Kraach.  The Gryphon’s Perch is my inn.  If you choose to stay the night, there is no better place in Eagle’s Perch.” He turned his back on them and, tail held low, stalked back inside.

Inside, they were met by a magenta mare who booked their rooms and saw to stowing their things.  While she was fluffing the sleeping stall blankets, Moreegg asked, “Why was Kraach so, I don’t know, um, unwelcoming?”

The mare looked up in surprise.  “You can’t figure that out?  He is a Gryphon.  They hatch from eggs.  Your Baron’s 'innocent hobby’ is about the same to him as someone collecting foals and stuffing them for display would be to us.

“As far as any Gryphon is concerned, you are ghouls.”

//////////////////

NEXT==>

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[borisbubbles]

01. LITHUANIA

Ieva Zasimauskaite - “When we’re old” 12th place

After six, long arduous months, this ranking somehow outlived the entire Almaia relationship, and that alone should be reason enough to finish the ranking immediately, but the the upcoming ban of all nfsw stuff (/porn) from this website will also cause a homosexual exodus (homosexodus? 🤔), sooooo, definitely time to finish this ranking before I lose 85% of my current audience. 

Look, listen OKAY, just like how I naturally gravitate towards Lea Sirk’s sass and Elina’s pristineness and DoReDoS’s hilarious whateverthatwas, I was simply never *not* going to like a Lithuanian frumpy space princess and annointed HINDU with a voice more brittle than Theresa May’s position in the House of Commons, whose meditation rites include drinking a cup of boiling water (without the tea! just water) on a daily basis to *purify* her mind and soul. Okay the last MAY be an exaggeration on the behalf of the Flemish commentator (Peter Van de Veire is a known jokester), but then again, I can totally see Ieva telling this to random bystanders in her hotel lobby? Such oblivious, but well-meaning wackiness is just so Ieva SassyMouseKyte. 

Naturally, one MASSIVE part of my Ieva stanning is JUST her personality, which is both intensely kooky and disarmingly innocent, see above. Another example: Ieva serenly sliding off the stage during the semifinal, only to find the nearest camera and exclaim  ”I FELT THE PRESENCE OF *GODS* ON THE STAGE WHILE I WAS SINGING ^__^ I FEEL *ENLIGHTENED* 🤗🤗” llke she was Siddharta Gautama under the Bodhi tree <3 I am no a religious man but if Ieva said the stage was brightened with a non-descript Eastern Deity’s presence during the performance, who am I to refute it? 😁 

Gods or no gods, I will say that it took a *serious* amount of dharma to give us *the most unexpected gift* we’ve ever could’ve been granted, which is a COMPETENT EUROVISION ENTRY FOR LITHUANIA. In terms of Eurovision, Lithuania are amongst of the objective *worst* on a  terrifyingly consistent basis and here you have a fairly pleasant Ellie Goulding-inspired, frumpolicious Hindu cleric bringing a ballad about the inevitability of high medieval alliance pacts. Let’s Sing The Song That She Wrote:

Actually that’s selling the act a bit short, because for a brief moment, Ieva managed to transform her moment during the sheer INSANITY that was this year’s finale (well the sheer insanity streaked with horrifying, terrible, machinal dullness, not naming any names but *cough*austriaandaustralia*cough), into an oasis of *pure show-stopping sentiment* and that’s a powerful feat to accomplish for a Eurovision entry. Normally, you think such an entry would Blackbird itself into oblivion but as Ieva had prophetically declared, GOD WAS ON HER SIDE, AMEN, so nope, think again Christerifer Morningstar 😈

Speaking of, praise Hallellujah, Oh Glory and Mazzel-Motherfucking-Tov that Ieva qualified under the hilarity that is the current combined voting system (to those who still hate it, AISEL would’ve qualified under the old system despite being 12th in both jury and televote 🙃 Granted this would be funny if this had happened to Sennek or Ari or Eye Cue or basically anyone other than Aisel, but it didn’t so The Old System remains CANCELLED, s/n/s) because not only is Ieva an Elyon Goddess Moste High, and has the unique quality of being a Good Entry from Lithuania, “When We’re Old” is also... fucking awesome in itself?

 “When we’re old” is *not* your typical BorisBubbles fave on the surface (lol as if I can expect you to know what a typical Boris fave is after only two full rankings  on tumblr 😬), but it totally is? Ieva hits that personal sweet spot for me that I require from my faves: Quirky, but not overbearingly weird. Well-liked, but not liked *enough* to top every post-show list. Sentimental, but because her emotions are *real*, not because of some forced commercialized acting gig. (such as, um, fucking Rona Nishliu and her fake-as-fuck dry sobbing ugh die bitch! (k not literally, just musically, 5ever)). Also, this song makes me want to sing along like the soft ass fag that I am. “When Weeeeeeeeee’re OWLED Hooooooooooooooo!!!” All of this cements Ieva as a dark horse, an underdog and an eternal outsider and these are  the *specific*  type of entries that I started this blog for.   

I guess I should write a bit more, with more *sass and pizzazz*, but that’s basically my Ieva love in a nutshell! I think she’s an utter gem, both as a human and a Eurovision participant, “When We’re Old” *still* remains the only entry this year to give me *emotional attachment* in the form of shivers and near-tears and bad impromptu karaoke.  If you don’t think she’s all that, well that’s your loss, not sorry! She made the final through the good graces of Hare Krishna and did better than Jessi*can’t* and *No*lexander ! If I get a relationship, I want it be precisely like Ieva and her Hubbo’s. GET A LIFE!!

ALL HAIL THE QUEEN OF EUROVISION 2018

Thank you for reading this ranking, it’s been a blast! See you on the 1st of April 2019 for the #TelAviv2019 preshow ranking. God bless you and shalom! 

EUROVISION 2018 - POST SHOW

01. Lithuania (Ieva Zasimauskaite - “When we’re old”) 02. Moldova (DoReDoS - “My Lucky Day”)

03. Estonia (Elina Nechayeva - “La Forza”)

04. Slovenia (Lea Sirk - “Hvala, ne!”)

05. Switzerland (ZiBBZ - “Stones”)

06. Germany (Michael Schulte - “You let me walk alone”)

07. Albania (Eugent Bushpepa - “Mall”)

08. France (Madame Monsieur - “Mercy”)

09. Hungary (AWS - “Viszlát nyár”)

10. Finland (Saara Aalto - “Monsters”)

11. Bulgaria (EQUINOX - “Bones”)

12. Denmark (Rasmussen - “Higher ground”)

13. Malta (Christabelle - “Taboo”)

14. Cyprus (Eleni Foureira - “Fuego”)

15. United Kingdom (SuRie - “Storm”)

16. Serbia (Balkanika - “Nova Deca”)

17. Portugal (Cláudia Pascoal - “O jardim”)

18. The Netherlands (Waylon - “Outlaw in ‘em”)

19. Ukraine (MÉLOVIN - “Under the ladder”)

20. Macedonia (Eye Cue - “Lost and Found”)

21. San Marino (Jessika ft. Jenifer Brening - “Who We Are”)

22. Sweden (Benjamin Ingrosso - “Dance You Off”)

23. Austria (Cesár Sampson - “Nobody but you”)

24. Latvia (Laura Rizzotto - “Funny girl”)

25. Azerbaijan (AISEL - “X my heart”)

26. Israel (Netta - “Toy”)

27. Norway (Alexander Rybak  - “That’s how you write a song”)

28. Montenegro (Vanja Radovanovic - “Inje”)

29. Armenia (Sevak Khanagyan - “Qami”)

30. Poland (Gromee ft. Lukas Meijer - “Light me up”)

31. Greece (Yianna Terzi - “Oniro mou”)

32. Georgia (Iriao - “For you”)

33. Belgium (Sennek - “A matter of time”)

34. Italy (Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro - “Non mi avete fatto niente”)

35. Romania (The Humans - “Goodbye”)

36. Ireland (Ryan O'Shaughnessy - “Together”)

37. Croatia (Franka - “Crazy”)

38. Belarus (ALEKSEEV - “Forever”)

39. Russia (Julia Samoylova - “I Won’t Break”)

40. Spain (Amaia & Alfred - “Tu canción”)

41. Iceland (Ari Ólafsson - “Our choice”)

42. Australia (Jessica Mauboy - “We got love”)

43. Czech Republic (Mikolas Jozef - “Lie to me”)

HALL OF BORIS BUBBLES EUROVISION FAVES (1972-2018) 1972: the Netherlands (Sandra & Andres - “Als het om de liefde gaat”) 1973: United Kingdom (Cliff Richard - “Power to all our friends”) 1974: Sweden (ABBA - “Waterloo”) (ed: totally by default btw. Shit year.) 1975: Germany (Joy Fleming - “Ein Lied kann Eine Brücke Sein” )  1976: Luxembourg (Jürgen Marcus - “Chansons pour ceux qui s’aiment”) (😂) 1977: Belgium (Dream Express - “A million in 1-2-3″) (ed.: top five ESC year) 1978: Israel (Izhar Cohen & Alfabeta - “A Ba Ni Bi”) 1979: Germany (Dschinghis Khan - “Dschinghis Khan”) 1980: Luxembourg (Sofie & Magaly - “Papa Pingouïn”) 1981: Belgium - (Emly Starr - “Samson”) 1982: Germany - (Nicole - “Ein Bißchen Frieden”) 1983: Israel (Ofra Haza - “Hi”) 1984: Ireland (Linda Martin - “Terminal 3″) 1985: Turkey (MFÖ - “Didai, Didai, Dai”) 1986: Belgium (Sandra Kim - ”J’aime la vie”) (même si c’est une folie!) 1987: Belgium (Liliane St. Pierre - “Soldiers of Love”) (ed.: top Five esc entry) 1988: Switzerland (Céline Dion - “Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi”) 1989: Denmark ( Birthe Kjær -  "Vi maler byen rød") 1990: Yugoslavia/Croatia (Tajci - “Hajde, da ludujemo) 1991: Sweden (Carola -  “ Fångad av en stormvind”) (ed.: top five ESC entry) 1992: Denmark (Lotte Nilsson & Kenny Lübcke - “Allting som ingen ser”) 1993: the Netherlands (Ruth Jacott - “Vrede”) 1994: Germany (MeKaDo  - “Wir geben ‘ne Party”) 1995: Cyprus (Alexandros Panayi - “Sti fotia”) 1996:  Croatia (Maja Blagdan - “Sveta ljubav”) 1997: Poland (Anne-Marie Jopek - “Ale jestem”) (ed.: Top five ESC year) 1998: the Netherlands (Edsilia Rombley - “Hemel en aarde”) (I think???? lol 😬) 1999: Croatia (Doris Dragovic - “MARIJA MAGDALENAAAAAAA”) 2000: Latvia (Brainstorm - “My Star”) (ed.: top five ESC entry) 2001: France (Natasha St. Pier - “Je n’ai que mon âme”) (but also, nobody) 2002: Spain (Rosa - “Yooropz leebin a selebrayshun”) (ed.: this trashfest <3) 2003: Germany (Lou - “Let’s get happy”) (and let’s be GAY!) 2004: Albania (Anjeza Shahini - “Image of you”) 2005: Romania (Luminita Anghel and Sistem - “Let me try”) (Ed.: top five year) 2006: Iceland (Silvia Night - “Congratulations”) (ed.: 2006 SF > 2006 GF 😬)   2007: Georgia (Sopho - “Visionary Dream”) (ed.: i have about 9 absofaves from this year though lol) 2008: Iceland (Euroband - “This is my life) 2009: Iceland (Yohanna - “Is it true?”) (ed.: top five ESC entry) 2010: Albania (Juliana Pasha - “It’s all about you”) 2011: Germany (Lena - “Taken by a stranger) (ed.: top 5 entry, bottom 5 year >_<) 2012: Sweden (Loreen - “Euphoria”) (ed.: as with ABBA Loreen wins my ranking by default because this year is mostly rubbish.) 2013: Greece (Koza Mostra - “Alcohol is free”) (ed.: personal fave ESC year :)) 2014: Slovenia (Tinkara Kovac ft. Lea Sirk - “Round and round) (ed.: top five ESC year) 2015: Latvia (Aminata - “Love Injected”)  2016: Armenia (Iveta Mukuchyan - “LoveWave) 2017: Belgium (Blanche - “City Lights”) 2018: Lithuania (Ieva Zasimauskaite - “When we’re old”) (ooooohhhhhhhh)

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

16th March >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 5:43-48 for Saturday, First Week of Lent: ‘You must be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect’.

Saturday, First Week of Lent  

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Matthew 5:43-48

Pray for those who persecute you

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say this to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.’

Gospel (USA)

Matthew 5:43-48

Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Reflections (5)

(i) Saturday, First Week of Lent

Occasionally we come across people who have taken Jesus’ teaching in today’s gospel reading to heart and have lived it out. They have suffered at the hands of their enemies, those who hate them and reject all they stand for. Yet, they appear to hold no bitterness towards those who have persecuted them. They have no desire to inflict on their enemy what their enemy has inflicted on them. They wish their enemy well and pray to God for their enemy’s present and ultimate well-being. Whenever we come across such people, we feel a profound respect and admiration for them. We know that there is something remarkable about their attitude. We sense that it demonstrates what is best in human nature. We feel ennobled and empowered by such people. The teaching of Jesus in the gospel reading to love our enemy and pray for them can seem very unrealistic, but, when we see the Lord’s teaching take flesh in a human life, we recognize its value, we sense its attractiveness. It has been said that if we can learn to love our enemy, then no one is beyond our love. Jesus identifies the love that he calls for as a divine love. If you love like this, Jesus says, you will be like your Father in heaven. Saint Paul says that God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The cross reveals God’s love even for his enemies. If something of this divine love can be in our lives, through the power of the Spirit, then we will indeed show ourselves to be sons and daughters of God.

And/Or

(ii)  Saturday, First Week of Lent

This morning’s extract from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is very challenging and very stark. We never become completely comfortable with Jesus’ command to love your enemies. It seems to go against every human instinct. We can be tempted to dismiss it as unreasonable and impractical. Jesus was envisaging a situation where his own followers would be persecuted and would have many enemies. He was teaching them in advance how they are to relate to their enemies, those who would inflict suffering on them because of who they were. Saint Paul echoes this teaching of Jesus in his letter to the Romans, when he calls on the members of the church in the capital of the Empire, ‘Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought of what is noble in the sight of all... Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good’. That last exhortation of Paul captures the essence of Jesus’ teaching in our gospel reading. If your enemy does evil to you, do not add to the store of evil in the world by responding in kind. Rather, love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you. Overcome evil with good. Jesus wants this to be the way of his followers, because it is his way and it is God’s way. ‘Be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect’. God is constantly at work to overcome evil with good. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection were God’s supreme effort to overcome evil with good. In calling on us to be God-like, some might say that Jesus is asking too much of us. Yet, it could also be said that Jesus is taking us seriously as people made in the image of God. He knows the good of which we are capable with God’s help, even against all the odds and in the face of great provocation.

And/Or

(iii) Saturday, First week of Lent

The call of the gospel can be very challenging. This morning’s gospel reading is probably one of the most challenging passages in all of the gospels. Jesus calls on his disciples not only to love our neighbour, which is a call or command to be found in the Old Testament. He also calls on them, on us, to love our enemy, which goes beyond anything to be found in the Old Testament. Many of us might be hard pushed to think of someone who could be described as our enemy. We might struggle to identify an enemy. Yet, we may be able to think of people who have hurt us or who damaged us in some way. We are not likely to have warm feelings towards such people. When Jesus calls on his disciples to love their enemy, he is not talking about warm feelings or feelings of any kind. Jesus is talking about the will rather than feelings. At the very least, Jesus is calling on his disciples to wish their enemies well, all that is good. In the gospel reading, Jesus identifies one expression of such love as prayer, praying for our enemy, praying for those who have hurt us and who have given us good reason to dislike them. ‘Love your enemy and pray...’ Jesus suggests that to pray for those who persecute us is to do something that has a divine quality to it. It is to give expression to the love of God which goes out to all, even to those who least deserve it.

And/Or

(iv) Saturday, First Week of Lent

If we hear that such and such a person is a perfectionist, it can conjure up in our minds someone who is very demanding and rather fussy about getting everything right down to the last detail. When Jesus says at the end of today’s gospel reading, ‘Be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect’, that is not what he means. The corresponding passage in Luke’s gospel is almost word for word the same as the passage from Matthew, which we have just heard. Yet, it is striking that in Luke the gospel passage ends with Jesus saying, ‘Be compassionate as your heavenly Father is compassionate’. Luke has captured there what Jesus meant by ‘Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect’. In this morning’s gospel reading, being perfect is identified with being loving to an extraordinary degree, loving our enemy, praying for those who persecute us, who make life difficult for us. Being perfect consists in loving in the way that God loves, which is with a love that doesn’t discriminate on the basis of how people relate to us. This is the pinnacle of Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. The fact that Jesus calls on us to love as God loves shows that he does not consider this call unrealistic. We may not be able to love in this divine way on our own, but we can do so with God’s help. As Jesus will say to his disciples later on in Matthew’s gospel, ‘for God, all things are possible’.

And/Or

(v) Saturday, First Week of Lent

We tend to use the terms ‘perfect’, ‘perfection’ and ‘perfectionist’ in a very particular way. When we say of someone that he or she is a ‘perfectionist’ we mean that they want everything to be right in every respect. There must be no room for mistake or error of any kind. We tend to think that perfectionists can be difficult to live with or work with because they are so demanding of themselves and of others. When Jesus uses the term ‘perfect’ in today’s gospel reading, he uses it in a rather different sense. When Jesus says to his disciples ‘be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect’ he is using the term ‘perfect’ in a different way to how we tend to use it. Sometimes there is more than one version of a saying of Jesus in the gospels. Today’s gospel reading is from Matthew, but Luke’s version of that saying of Jesus goes as follows, ‘be merciful, just as your Father is merciful’. God’s perfection consists in his merciful love. To be perfect as God is perfect is to be merciful in the way that God is merciful. A merciful person has a different connotation for us to a perfectionist. The merciful love that Jesus calls for is a love without limits. It is an inclusive love to the point of including those who are our enemies, those who wish us ill, who seek to damage us. Jesus declares that this is nothing less than a divine love. We might ask, ‘How could Jesus ask humans to love in a divine way?’ We need a divine resource to love in a divine way and that divine resource is the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul refers to the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God’s love. It is only the Spirit who can empower us to love as God loves, to be merciful as God is merciful.

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: sjtbclontarf@eircom.net or  frmartinhogan@gmail.com

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie  Please join us via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf.

Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.