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mycasandstarrs · 6 years ago

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SPN 8x06: “Southern Comfort”

THEN: Garth Fitzgerald IV. Sam retired because he met Amelia and they had a normal life. Dean was in Purgatory. Benny’s his new friend, whom Sam immediately distrusts.

Kearney, Missouri.

RIP first victim. Decapitated.

Oh shit, here we go.

“You want to talk about Benny? Fine. Let's talk.”

“Okay. How about he's a vampire?”

Don’t talk to Dean like he’s 5.

“Don't pretend I don't get it. I know you had to do what you had to down there.” No, Sam doesn’t get it. He didn’t just “do what he had to do”. Dean genuinely befriended Benny after going through Purgatory together.

“And what about my friend, Amy? She was what? 'Cause you sure as hell didn't have a problem ganking her.”

Amy had been killing people.

Benny hasn’t killed a single person since coming out of Purgatory.

You spent ONE DAY with Amy. Dean spent a year with Benny.

“He tell you he's not drinking live blood, or something? And you believe him. Wow. Okay.” HE KNOWS, HE’S SEEN BENNY DRINK FROM HIS BAGS.

“Yeah. I got a vampire buddy, and you turn your phone off for a year.”

“Don't turn this on me.”

You’re using Dean’s past year against him, he’s gonna turn around and do the same to you, regardless if it’s fair or not.

“Look, Benny slips up and some other hunter turns his lights out, so be it.”

“But it's not gonna be you, right?”

It is, actually, and it’s gonna be heartbreaking, so screw you very much.

At the crime house.

“Sam, Kevin's in the wind, okay, you're sulking around like a eunuch in a whorehouse, and I can't help but ask myself, when is decapitation not my thing?“ pfft.

Garth!!!

I really don’t get the annoyance they have with Garth??? That’s always been an issue of mine concerning the Winchesters.

Look how happy Garth is to see them again! What an angel!!

“Uh, you guys have no idea how much I missed you.”

“A Texas Ranger, Garth? Seriously? We're in Missouri.” Says the man who’ll say he’s a Texas Ranger in Kansas in S13.

Garth’s multiple phones.

Ringtone #1: “Jump” by Kriss Kross.

“Since when is giving advice your job?”

“Hold up. Are you the new Bobby?”

“You shut your mouth.”

“Yes.”

“You shut your mouth!”

I could honestly punch Sam and Dean for how mean they are to Garth. Garth’s been helping out as best as he could since three of the best hunters in the community either died or went M.I.A.

Scott Lew.

Eww. Green goo.

OHHH WHY DID GARTH HAVE TO TASTE IT????

Ringtone #2: “Wild Wild West” by Kool Moe Dee.

“One of those things rings Hammer, I'm throwing down.” Get ready to throw down then.

“Alcott” was carved into Chester’s chest.

“Do you remember anything at all about what happened? Um... Chester dying?”

“Not really. Bits and pieces, I guess.”

I get the joke too, Garth.

A visible negative reaction to the name “Alcott”.

“Sara had one night with him, whereas I was with Chester for 37 years.” And yet you couldn’t let go of her going to prom with him?

Lunch time.

“I was in Purgatory.”

“Like the Purgatory Purgatory?”

“No, the one in Miami.”

ohoho.

“Man, that’s balls.”

“That's not how you say ‘balls.’"

Why don’t you cool your damn jets, Dean?

“So, how’d you get out?”

I CAN’T STAND that passive aggressive move Sam does there.

Garth went to college and then dental school.

“Where'd you think I got my first case?”

“Let me guess - Tooth Fairy.”

“...Yeah. Man, I felt terrible when I ganked that SOB.”

I love that last line and the genuine sadness when Garth says it. Bless his heart.

Scott’s asthmatic, and he’s got ectoplasm coming out his ear.

HOT COFFEE TO THE FACE, GOOD LORD.

RIP Jeff. Killed by Scott.

“Sussex”

One of Bobby’s hats!

STOP BEING A FREAKING GATEKEEPER DEAN

“That's not how you wear it.” WHAT OTHER WAY IS THERE TO WEAR A HAT

AGAIN I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY THEY TREAT GARTH LIKE AN ANNOYANCE TO DUMP ON EACH OTHER.

Sara Alcott, now Sara Brown.

Domestic Sam flashback.

Sam and Amelia had sex.

“You asked me if I lost someone. I did. My husband. He died in Afghanistan eight months ago.”

“We were together forever. Or at least it seemed that way. Then one day, Don just enlists. Didn't ask me, just said something about wanting to do the right thing. Next thing I know, he's off overseas and I'm all alone. I got a couple letters, some phone calls, and then a knock at the door. Just like that. And everywhere I looked, all I could see was judgment and pity and just this constant reminder of Don everywhere. So I moved here... and became even more of a hot mess than I already was. And you hit a dog.”

This is one of Amelia’s better moments. When she lets go, when she lets her walls down, she’s honest and sweet.

“Easy there, flyweight. Last time you drank a beer, I had to pick you up off the floor.” Fair enough.

“You’re such an idjit.”

“Idjit's supposed to be used angrily. Okay? Not happy. If you're gonna butcher it, don't say it at all.”

KNOCK IT OFF, DEAN.

“Bobby belonged to all of us, Dean – not just you and Sam. Now, I'm just taking what he showed me and trying do something with it. That's all!”

It’s nice to see Garth stand up for himself. It certainly shut Dean up.

Grudges are the connection.

Bobby’s journal holds the answer: spectre.

The Confederate Unknown Soldier.

“See, the idea was, they took a faceless, nameless soldier they couldn't identify, and they buried him here to commemorate all the soldiers who died.”

“Did you learn that in college?”

“Nope – Civil War re-enactments. Once a year, every year. Don't hate.”

I hope Garth’s still doing what he loves.

Love that sass.

Sam finds the string. That’s an important clue.

“Why open it up if you're not gonna take anything?” Oh, but they did.

“Sure. We won.”

LMAAOOOO I LOVE THAT

Scott’s having an asthma attack. Deputy goes to get the inhaler...gets possessed by the spectre.

RIP Sheriff. Killed by Deputy Doug

Did Scott even get his inhaler?

Our next lead: Karl.

Dean’s on Karl, Sam and Garth have research.

“Hey, uh, Sam. If you ever need to talk, I just want to let you know that I'm here. About anything – you know, life, uh, Dean, you.” Garth’s a sweetheart.

Flashback.

“Hey. Uh, just lock up when you leave. I'm late.”

“Wait, what?”

Amelia’s probably got work, don’t worry about it, Sam.

“I know I said a lot of things last night, and I know I can't ask you to forget them. But just... Do.” And then she’s back on her bullshit.

“Because I don't need your pity. I don't need you looking at me the way they all – like that.” Is it me or is she confusing pity with sympathy?

“Hey, ump. You remember me? I stole second!”

“Karl? What the hell are you doing? Why are you doing –”

“Why am I gonna make mustard from your brain stem?! I don't know. Why did you call me out, ump?”

OF ALL THE THINGS TO HOLD A DAMN GRUDGE ABOUT

A theory on who the Confederate Unknown Soldier is.

“Corporal Collins of the Union shot and killed his brother, Vance, who fought for the Confederacy. Local boys.”

“Legend has it that Vance swore vengeance on his brother with his dying breath. Years later – consumed by guilt, no doubt – the corporal dug his brother up where he'd buried him on the battlefield and brought him home.”

UH, DID HE HAVE TO SMELL HIM LIKE THAT?

There’s the spectre’s object: a penny.

W E L P

Three Days Ago.

“Fell on Black Days” by Soundgarden. I always wondered what the song was, I always enjoyed it.

I love the montage of how the coin got passed around.

“Well, let's go through some of Sammy's greatest hits.” Let’s not.

“Yeah, I might have lied, but I never once betrayed you.” Uh, Amy.

“I never once left you to die.” Ok, can’t argue with that.

Garth putting his life on the line.

“Come on, Dean. You do not want to kill your brother. You – you've been protecting him your whole life. Don't stop now.”

“He left me to rot in Purgatory!”

“All right. All right. Maybe he did. I don't know. I wasn't there. But I'm sure he had his reasons.”

“Just like you had your reasons for Benny.”

“Who?”

LMAO

“Benny has been more of a brother to me this past year than you've ever been! That's right. Cas let me down. You let me down. The only person that hasn't let me down is Benny.” Oof, that’s gonna stick with Sam.

“Goodbye, Sam.” :(

NICELY DONE, GARTH!

“How come that penny didn't jack you like everyone else? I mean, I can understand why it didn't affect the kid who took it. He's young and innocent. But, uh, everyone at some point in their life feels like they've been screwed.”

“Not me, man. I let all that stuff go with the help of my yogi, my Sega Genesis. And you should, too. You can't change the past, amigo.”

Garth’s a damn saint.

“Now, there's something I want to say to you. Stop being a idjit! With Bobby dead, you and Sam are all each other has. And that's not so bad, man. Now, you know what's coming next, right?”

Garth hug! Garth hug! Garth hug!

Ringtone #3: “U Can’t Touch This” by M.C Hammer.

“Yo, Lamar. What do we got? Wendigo? You got a flare gun? No? What about a flame thrower? Then you'd better get some sneakers, buddy, 'cause you're gonna have to run.”

I love Garth.

Why couldn’t we have ended the episode there?

“I don't pity you. Okay? I don't. You and I – we're a lot of things, but we're not to be pitied.” True.

God, how much was she drinking?

The start of their relationship.

“You and I both know you didn't need that penny to say those things.” True. Dean will reiterate that Benny’s the best friend he ever had in a later episode, completely on his own will.

“Own up to your crap, Dean. I told you from the jump where I was coming from, why I didn't look for you. But you? You had secrets. You had Benny. And you got on your high and mighty, and you've been kicking me ever since you got back. But that's over. So move on, or I will.”

Again, I won’t argue with Sam. Dean should’ve told Sam about Benny from the jump (maybe then Sam wouldn’t hate Benny so much). Dean does deflect from talking about his own past year but bringing up Sam’s. It’s been happening for months and Sam’s sick of it. I get it.

“You know what? Hear this, too. I just might be that hunter that runs into Benny one day and ices him.”

And there^ is where I draw the line. The first half was understandable but that^? I think that’s Sam’s rather pathetic attempt to say something that’s gonna hurt Dean’s feelings the way his own feelings were hurt. Like, Sam...don’t embarrass yourself.

#supernatural #spn summer rewatch #spn liveblog #spn 8x06 #southern comfort

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the-house-of-the-nine · 7 years ago

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The Void Forge: The Beginning Part 4

In a fresh memory we begin. . .

“I remember when I was learning to bend the void around me. I remember the feeling I had inhaling the vapor that collected after a successful explosion; and feeling so invigorated, so mesmerized, so unstoppable. At peace with myself for once, calming my mind, and showing the potential of my abilities. There was something so enticing about being able to control particles. . . matter, space. . .create something from nothing simply by bending your mind.” The words of the Inquisitor were being spoke across the memory of the newest apprentice to order. Someone who had been no only successfully integrated but was being taught by the collective minds of the himself, the Speaker, and Confessor all together.

“I am afraid, were you. . . is this normal?. . .” Rayne said nervously in response to his demonstration.

“We all experience this differently, what is certain is that your fear will consume you, render you useless, cripple you even, unless you control it and adapt. . .it is a good reminder though, it means you realize the potential here, and you’ll have respect toward the dangers you soon will face.” he replied trailing into silence.

Silence that regained the moment before them. . .

Emptiness followed and a calmness struck the Alterac Mountain range after the dust had settled. After the voices of terrified men had ceased, after the act of murder had subsided. Multiple pairs of eyes watched in horror at the sight that befell them, this was not out of the ordinary for Lazarius or the order; but something such as this could not hardly be passed over without acknowledgement.

Verzatea Duskflame, Sennaris Dal’Talah and Rayne Floralis, all stood on the cliff edge peering down on the Inquisitor below them; having just witnessed him wipe out the ambush party of dark iron dwarfs with the magic they’d all contributed. It was this act of cruelty and malice that would have caused so many others to go fleeing. Or perhaps leave out of pure disgust. Others may have seen these actions to be heinous and horrible; aiming to find a way to have this lunatic put in the stockade, tired and hung. Most people would have done this, and probably should have. But it seemed these actions only caused a mild blip on the radar of the council members. All save for one. One who was still quite new at all of this. The gentle girl being only weeks, if only days into her training with them. And already called into duty to serve in a master coup.

“He killed them. . .” Rayne stuttered softly with wide eyes. Her mouth almost gaping open having witnessed the scene first hand. “H-he j-just killed them all. . .without even so much as a warning.”

Verzatea said nothing, the enchanting figure of her lithe frame simply being dusted off with a nonchalant feathering of her gloved fingertips along the edges of her gown. She was not at all phased by this, nor did it seem terribly unfitting for her to quite literally brush it off.

“M-miss Duskflame. . .I knew we were-” Rayne began but would be silenced as the curt tone of the Confessor charged through.

“We were here to do one thing Miss Floralis. The Inquisitor made his plan quite clear to us when we arrived here, and it is not your place; nor be it mine, to question his decisions lest they prove to damage our order.” Verzatea exclaimed as she peered toward the young woman with a pair of burning viridian eyes. “We were charged with providing the means to complete this plan. . .that is why we are here.”

“B-but I . . .” Rayne had started once more, only to feel a soft hand press against her shoulder blade.

“It is our mission to ensure that the will of our masters, our Inquisitor and the order thrive. We are the heart that allows the blood to flow to all extremities, we do as we are asked.” Sennaris had been there to comfort the girl, offering her a gentle smile. “Do not think of these men as they were. Think only of them as they are. . . A threat to our survival and it has been neutralized.”

Verzatea would casually motion toward the Serpents Apprentice with a delicate, yet almost limp wristed point. Her actions more fluid like, as she was quite the soft spoken; and rather graceful type. Her motions then allowed her to saunter toward the edge. Her burning orbs trained on the man below, her Inquisitor. Noting his survival, and apparent success made her rather pleased. A half cracked smile. She had made it perfectly clear that her mind, body and soul were his to command, yet secretly; deep down inside she knew she enjoyed this type of torment as much as he did.

In the valley below, Lazarius remained standing quite still. Long thin strands of black hair would cascade across his broken smile. Small beads of sweat running down his brow causing the tendrils to stick against the flesh like small vines growing on a cliff side. His eyelids were shut, allowing the warmth of the sun above to just gently cause the slightest bit of heat to burn across his pale skin. Yet, it would quickly be cut down by the cold breeze, it was still refreshing. All around him the trace of the ambush and whatever else had come to pass, was all but gone. Even the damage caused by the sphere of gravitational energy would have cleaned up after itself, leaving not a trace they’d been here. Save for the small stain on the ground that would soon be covered over by the snow once it fell later that evening.

Jet black eyes slowly cracked the seal on his closed eyelids like an obsidian sun slowly rising over the horizon. Beaded, snake like orbs taking in the sunlight without needed to be adjusted. His peering gaze settling on the silence and calm around him. It was only broken by the instantaneous cloud of white smoke that appeared from the nearby outcrop in the cliff face. The vapor which soon blanketed the little area he stood would belong to the gilnean steward who was returning with their quarry. Kross still had Brox in an arm bar with a blade to his neck. When they’d come out into the open, he was released and shoved forward.

It was about this time that the tribunal of women had descended from the heights above like angels falling from the heavens. They would gracefully touch down thanks in large part to the levitation spell provided by the gentle serpents apprentice. Despite her dark ways, the clever girl still held quite a fancy toward more conventional and practical magics. Lazarius noted their return with a nod, before the group of five had quickly surrounded the dwarf. Silence was the mantra they took. None were speaking, as if a building tension was about to break.

“Why tha fuck did yah have tah twist mah shoulder so ‘ard Kross, yah sodden cunt. . .” Brox wasted absolutely no time as he cut through the heavy air with his knife of a tongue. “Tha’s mah drinkin’ arm. . .”

The old admiral only scoffed at the comment, sheathing his blade and peering down at the dark iron. “It was no holiday for me that is certain, Mister Sulfin. . . it will take weeks to remove the stench of piss and cheap beer from my suit.”

“An’ sausage. . . ah’ve been eatin’ quite a lot o’ tha. . .” roared the filthy dwarf with a curdling laugh and knee slapping squawk.

“Wait. . . we weren’t trying to kill him, I thought he was double crossing us?” The confused student; Rayne quickly broke the dialog as she pointed to the short man. “We’re here to kill him and his men, why is he alive?”

“O’course yah did lass! Tha’s why they call meh Brox tha amazin’. . .” Brox jabbered with a portly waddle turn in her direction. “Ah’m a natural born therapi. . .no, ah. . .thespi, no. . . lesbia. . .Oh yah know whatevah yah call them stage folk!”

“Nobody calls you that. . .” snapped the serpent with a dry tone, as he continued to elaborate to his newest apostle. “Despite our disgruntled little double agent here being as charming as a stale loaf of bread, he is in fact correct. . .” Lazarius exclaimed as he would begin to clarify. “There were three fronts to this small excursion, first and foremost was to recruit the dim witted and ever deceiving master of kodo bull shit here on our side. . .”

“An’ don’cha be forgettin’ andsome. . . oh an’ fearless. . .an’ cunnin’. . .an’”

“Yes yes, there are plenty of words to describe you, Brox. . .we needed to bring connections back into Stormwind by drawing out a few hooligans who belong to Dargon Blackiron.” continued the Inquisitor.

“Dargon Blackiron, the man from that Blackguard captive’s story you told us about in the library?” Rayne asked, seeming to begin connecting the dots.

“The very same. With him being in hiding and his squad of goons rampaging around the city doing his bidding we needed a way to draw him out.” Verzatea had continued as Lazarius watched on. “By contacting Brox we knew it would easily give him access to his network. And with the help of The Speaker; Lady Shadowweave, we were able to learn of nearly all the details necessary to make this complete.

“So all of this to lure him?” Rayne said softly once more.

“All of this to do two things. Eliminate Brox’s competition in the market for artifacts that we will be shipping through the Explorers Guild. And draw out the man who currently knows exactly where I am going to find the Mogu artifacts that I need.” Lazarius responded rather quickly.

“Speakin’ of. . . fifty percent still sounds like ah reasonable offer if yah ask meh.” said the dwarf as he chuckled.

“I believe the initial offer of thirty five, with the elimination of nearly all of your competition is more than enough compensation for you to continue living off of what was it; beer and sausage?” Exclaimed the very calm Inquisitor, it seemed apparent that his earlier riling was just for show.

The dwarf scoffed as his pudgy arms curled up against his chest while he turned to exit the circle that surrounded him. He was clearly not going to win the battle against the dark inquisitor and rather than try and extort him for more; he’d begin wandering. Fact of the matter was, the deal he’d been given was actually a ten percent increase plus his competitors were all but gone; not too bad.

“Master are you alright?” Sennaris; the prime apprentice of Lazarius would seem to be acting out of the ordinary with such a comment. But this was her nature; she lived to serve. Her life was not only owed to his kindness for the years spent with him, but truly the woman cared to his well being. She had learned to defend herself for starters, and control the void as he did. She was indebted to his teachings. But her concern was genuine; and after such an ordeal warranted to assure he was safe.

The Inquisitor would nod his head to ensure her that he was just fine. Despite the event that had just transpired. His hand slowly reached upward and tucked in against the curve of her jawline. He would give her a caress and complete his gesture with a gentle stroke of his thumb against her cheek bone. The smile; all be it odd to see him in such high spirits, was enough of an answer. He was pleased with the outcome.

“So now what. . . Inquisitor?” Rayne boldly stated, interrupting the silence.

“We wait of course. . .” he replied, moving himself toward a large boulder in the pass that would be used as a seat to allow him to rest for the time being.

“Wait. . . for what, it is not your method to wait for anything Inquisitor.” Verzatea said with some margin of accuracy. Lazarius was terribly impatient.

“Phase three. . . “ he’d respond, letting his back ease against the stone face of the mountain side. “All in due time, remember what you said. . . patience.”

Sennaris gently moved her position from where they were, to a point closer to the dark master who was resting. She was not simply there in order to move closer to him, but in fact to do something remarkable. Her body knelt down with knees pressing down into the tundra of the pass. It was a combined mixture of hard permafrost and rocky soil. It would serve well. Her fingers would straighten as she pressed both middle and index out straight; and began to scribe into the earth with them. Not exactly using her fingers, but the tips to burn a voided magical entry into the ground.

The line she drew would ultimately hover for a brief moment. Her hands reaching out and gripping the ends to begin extending it, pulling it every which way as she forged a scene before the watchful eye of the Inquisitor. Rayne could not help be feel a sense of urgency here to watch, after all; this woman had spent nearly two full years under his tutelage, she was prided as his prime. Sennaris managed a flat blanket of outstretched energies enveloping the cold stones below with a voided shadow. Her hands then swept across the surface, fingers pulling and prodding against the buoyant material. Rayne watched carefully with a burning interest as the woman started forging something interesting. There on the earth was an exact replica of the coastline, a birds eye view of the landscape, the waterways, even the small hamlet of Southshore than was overrun by the Forsaken.

“What is this?” she asked the woman, gazing up with a burning curiosity.

Sennaris replied in a rather soft tone, her own vibrant green hues flashing with a purple mist. “Our eyes. This is how we shall see our path.”

“Are those. . . boats on fire, bodies. . .How are you. . . where is this?” Rayne said with a bit of whimsical interest.

Brox scoffed and let out a snort as he heard the two women prattling on. “Yah know real eyes work just tha’ same.” The dwarf pursed his lips together and made a sharp whistle. Thus indicating to the party behind him that something was a foot, but also perhaps to signify whatever was happening of their presence.

Sure enough, only moments later two figures came marching up the pathway. One was mysterious, with leathery skin; clear due to his lack of armor, with two protruding bull horns that would force their way up from his browline and arch backward, this and other features that would no doubt mark him as a creature once belonging to the Illidari. Yet it was interesting that now he was using his glaives for a different purpose. The man was trailing behind another person though, one that stood out a bit more than the other.

It was Pyravari, she was carrying her sword in one hand as it rested over the top of her shoulder, dripping trails of red along the path only to be cleaned up by the cold chill that followed behind her. The ice would seem to be all she needed, her tracks, her trails of blood. . . clearly in command of it as they vanished. It was this ebony haired nightmare that caused the black boiling blood of the Inquisitor to awaken from his slumber. She was holding a large clear flask shaped bottle in the other hand, and as she walked; blood splattered, and clearly either invigorated or exhausted, she threw back mouthfuls of the brown liquor.

The dark lord leaning forward to meet her as she grew closer. His ebony eyes narrowed from the heavy sunlight overcasting a hue around them from all the nearby snow. She was a mess. Blood across her armor and face, blade marks that were fresh, a bullet wound, and whatever the hell that was; maybe someones spleen? She and her blind associate would trudge through the snow marching right up to the Inquisitor and holding moments later.

“Well?” he said, looking up at them while resting his elbows against his knees. His open hand then swept across the scene to display the image Sennaris had created for them. The scene which she would notice. Boats burning, bodies laying across the shore.

“Dear brother. . .surely you do not doubt the Harbinger?” exclaimed the echoing frozen voice of his twin. The airways would be blasted by the sound of a cawing raven, as it swept overheard and landed on a nearby cliff edge just over the steward and dwarf below.

Lazarius turned and nodded at Sennaris, who in turn would begin destroying the vision she’d created. Instructing Rayne in a silent explanation of how and why, to help aid the girl understand what she was doing.

“I would never doubt your ability to cause havoc, sweet sister.” Lazarius said with a cunning narrowed glance. “Though a bit excessive. . .weren’t you?”

“Never, those who were eviscerated gave me dirty looks, they were first.” She exclaimed. “The ones that were beheaded were for good measure. The rest soon fell into line as I cut a swath through them.”

“I was talking about the pikes and disembowelment.” replied the dark lord as he grew very silent with a narrowed gaze.

“Eh. . . that was me. . .” answered the lizard scaled male in a scratchy voice, his glaives returned to their clips on his back while his palms pressed firmly against his hips.

Pyravari responded by outing the man, pointing directly at him with an outstretched finger.

“Get this fuckin’ bird away from me eyes!” Brox yelled cutting the tension.

“Peck them out, maybe then he’ll stop trying to undress me in his mind.” hissed Verzatea who was still nearby.

“Ya thin’ tha’s gonna stop meh!” cried the dwarf as Guntram continued to squawk overhead, the fat stubby arms would never reach the fluttering bird.

The trio continued to yell at one another, the Confessor, the blighter and the bird, while Kross remained silent nearby.

Lazarius had been silent for the moment, just watching the demon shift his weight. Clearly he was not ashamed of his actions, proud if anything, and he waited there in his cocky stance behind the Harbinger.

“Well done. . .” he finally answered, giving the man a nod.

“Fuck. . . “ said the demon, giving a sigh of relief. “Wait what, Really? . . here I thought you might be pissed. You look pissed, actually it may just be how you look. . .”

Though not amused; Lazarius gave a small snort as he hissed another response. “It was a good touch, dwarven ships and traders. . . impaled and beheaded near the town of Southshore on Horde pikes. . . it looks like a battle to reclaim the hamlet. . . very well thought out, keeps our trail clean.”

“Oh yah well, that was all Vari here, boss. . .” chimed the blind assailent with a laugh, giving her a sharp slap on the back from behind her. “All her idea, totally her idea from the get go. . .we landed on the shore and she said exactly that. . .nearly word for word. . .”

“No she didn’t. . . “ Lazarius responded in a dead pan, straight faced, and almost comedic fashion as he stood and stretched his back. “It was a good touch regardless.”

The demon mouthed a simple. “I tried. . .” to the lich fire woman, smirking and rolling his shoulder.

“That will be all. . . Koltun. . .” she said, trying to at least present herself as a “professional”, it was hard with him around. But once the demon would move to perch on a boulder, she would be free to speak to her brother in private. “Did you have any problems here?”

Lazarius shook his head with a confident stance. He would peer between his associates and smile, making a motion toward his twin. “Nothing prohibited us. . . Brox is free to continue moving our shipments without hassle, the competition is dead, we’ve successfully annihilated any and all involvement of Blackiron, and his fleet for transporting his mercenaries is burning into the ocean as we speak. . . “

“A success then on all fronts.” Pyravari exclaimed with a puffing of her chest and straightening of her spine.

“Indeed, everything is falling into place for the final push. Asphodel will have information on what Dargon will be doing in Stormwind when the announcement of his fleet and men being wiped out reaches him, this will prompt our next stage. . . Kross will intercept and return him to the Manor for interrogation. . . and when all of our pieces have been set before us. . .we will push into Grim Batol and locate the hidden Mogu artifacts. . .” Lazarius concluded as he nodded to his sister.

“And then?” she poised, giving him a look for guidance.

He would not respond though, it was a returned glance of confidence. A stern look toward her, as if saying not to worry, he would guide them.

And so, the Nine stood in that mountain pass. Enjoying the success of their ventures and the time they’d been given; for now, to enjoy their company. Clearly they were building toward something. Soon the trials of the mountain would test them. Soon the next phase of their plan would begin. Soon. . .

To be continued. . .

@lyvraynefloralis, @profound-amateur, @pyravari, @corrupted-priestess

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tkmedia · 3 years ago

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Raw recap & reactions: The Hurt Business, New Day go to war

Big Poppa I love an overarching thread with multiple twists, turns, and a logical conclusion. Monday Night Raw set it off this week with a match pitting WWE Champion Big E vs Bobby Lashley. Lashley truly believes E can’t beat him, which explains all the rationalization he’s done since the All Mighty added “former WWE Champion” to his resume. Their opening match, which was ill in all the right ways, showcased a dominant Lashley and the reinstatement of the Hurt Business. Yes, ladies and gents, the Hurt Business is apparently back in business. Once Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander made their presence known, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kington stepped in. A brawl ensued, a DQ was handed out, and it was the best kind of chaos. Adam Pearce, clearly not a fan of anything he saw, said the match would continue later tonight in a steel cage. No Hurt Business, no New Day. Just Lashley x E trapped in twisted steel. These two cats didn’t disappoint. Besides the brutality of the match, it was the clear desperation both men showed. Bobby Lashley needed to beat E to prove his point. Before the bell rang, got all of the upper hands on the champ. Lashley didn’t want to leave anything to chance and wanted every advantage he could muster. If that meant tossing E around the floor before the match officially started, then so be it. If that meant calling the Hurt Business down to do business, that’s cool too. E needed to beat the All Mighty to shut him and anyone else up who believes he’s not a legitimate champion. Despite the pre-match ass whooping, E lit Lashley up like a pinball machine once the bell rang. He used the cage to his advantage every now and then, but he wanted to overpower the man. It wasn’t just about proving he was the better man; E needed to prove he was the stronger man. In every good or great wrestling match, a character flaw is shown and exploited. Early in the match, we got ours from Lashley. Rather than continue to go for pin attempts, Lashley tried climbing out. Corey Graves, a man who should make it his business to be Flava Flav to Lashley’s Chuck D, said Bobby wants to win the title in dramatic fashion. Bobby’s ego didn’t allow him to just take the W when it was right there; he had to showboat and continue his pattern of habitual line stepping. E stopped him from getting out and tried to do a Big Ending from the top rope, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Not yet anyway. We even got a tease of a Hurt Business x New Day feud I’m dying to see. When Shelton and Cedric interfered to stop the champ from climbing out, Woods and Kofi represented as they should. Woods, in particular, looked like a man who needs a belt around his waist when he slammed the cage door on Bobby Lashley’s head, and superkicked Cedric back to Main Event. No diss to the man or Main Event, but yeah, you get the point. Once the four men were finally in the locker room, E and Lashley continued their war. That desperation I mentioned showed up again as both men had chances to walk out of the gate. When Lashley tried to walk out, E grabbed his arm as many times as possible. When E looked ready to saunter out, Lashley grabbed his ankle. They were literally holding on for dear life because the title, and beating each other, means that much to them. Neither man wanted to stay down and neither could stay down. E survived a spear and a spine buster, while Lashley survived multiple suplexes and a Big Ending. But when the challenger had the champion in a precarious position, his fatal flaw reared its ugly head again. Rather than walk out the gate or go for a pinfall, he once again decided to climb out of the ring, apparently learning nothing from earlier. E caught him again and this time, he nailed the Big Ending from the top rope. 1-2-3. While basking in the moment, a familiar tune blasted out of the arena speakers and Drew McIntyre, sword in hand, made his intentions known to the champ. We didn’t get a fight—and still no swordplay—but it’s clear Drew Mac wants a fight and E is ready to give it to him. I hope this isn’t the last tango the Hurt Business and New Day do, but this was a fantastic story and match. In just a few weeks, E and Bobby told a succinct story with a logical conclusion. Well done, boys. Priest x Sheamus Get Extreme I didn’t think they’d get me. After seeing Sheamus and Damian Priest go blow for blow over the United States Championship for several weeks, I got it. Priest is better than Sheamus right now. How many times can they tell the same story? Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t put money on that because the extreme rules stipulation was the proper escalation of a feud built on physicality. As usual with most matches like this in WWE these days, they start out wrestling until one guy realizes they can use kendo sticks, chairs, and whatever plunder they can find. Chekov’s table made an early appearance thanks to the champ, and he suffered a White Noise for his troubles. In fact, with Sheamus’ history as a brawler, one might think this was the perfect match for him to finally best the Infamous one and snatch back the gold. Right? Yeah, about that. We’ve seen Priest outsmart Sheamus in their previous matches. Even last night, he was just quicker to the draw than the Celtic Warrior. This week, Priest showed he’s the better man physically as well. He survived Sheamus’ best shots, and, in my favorite spot of the night, threw a chair at the man’s face to counter a Brogue Kick. Ultimately, Sheamus met his...reckoning...after going through a table in the corner of the ring, and then taking a Reckoning. This should be the last gasp in this feud. The draft is Friday, and these two have fought each other enough. Damian needs more challengers, and Sheamus might benefit from a change of scenery. Good ending to a story that went a long way in making Damian a legit tough cat and not someone you want to mess with. Extracurriculars Words from Goldberg’s Garage Goldberg doesn’t know what kind of a papa Bobby Lashley is. Clearly, Lashley isn’t the type to have a painting of his arm and his baby clinging to said arm on his wall. But that aside, Goldberg wants to fulfill a promise he made to his wife and his son to always protect the latter, at all costs. If he’s lucky, he’ll get to kill Lashley. This is a good story because its relatable and understandable. Lashley hurt Goldberg’s son, Goldberg wants his pound of flesh. And you know what? I hope he gets it. Goldberg’s never been the best promo but that worked because it felt real and I’m riding with the old man. Finally Phenomenal AJ Styles can pretty much do anything he wants in a wrestling ring with anyone he chooses to do it with. Styles and Riddle put on a dope television match that, at times, looked like someone was legitimately hurt. From a story standpoint, he needed this W. AJ’s racked up several Ls over several weeks, and looked anything but phenomenal. That changed this week and it was beautiful to watch. Charlotte Has no Time for This Either Charlotte Flair wasted an open challenge on Doudrop because, duh, Eva Marie isn’t finished with her former “friend” yet. Anyone who knows wrestling saw this coming from 25 miles away, so it’s not shocking. However, it is disappointing because there’s no end in sight to this thing between Doudrop and Eva plus it ruins her first title match. No one was served well here, so consider it a swing and a miss. And yet.. Raw moves fast. Remember when I said it looks like we’re still doing this thing with Eva and Doudrop? Like I just said it? Scratch that. Eva got on the mic and said she should be Raw’s champion of women. What’s more, she believes she can beat any woman in locker room. This brought out an angry Shayna Baszler, who did to Eva the same thing she did to Nia Jax last week. I guess WWE thought Shayna would get booed for this? Handsome Finish Angel Garza x Erik danced for a bit as a breather after the hot opening segment. It was a glorified squash as Garza got the W. Reggie Lives to Fight Another Day Silly me for thinking Richochet was getting a real chance to get some gold around his waist. Instead of a match filled with cats getting higher than a giraffe, we only got a taste of that until R-Truth, Drake Maverick, and friends interfered. Wherever this ride is going, I want off. That’s no Bear, That’s a BearCAT Tozawa, fresh off another 24-7 embarrassment, demanded a match with anyone. Out came the newly minted Keith “Bearcat” Lee. This is obviously a reboot for the former limitless one. And he looks good. He looks like someone I need to take seriously. But Bearcat? Really? I guess if you’re going to debut that nickname, Cincinnati is the right place. If only Lee wasn’t from Texas. Matching Capes Nikki A.S.H. wants matching capes for Super Brutality. Rhea Ripley isn’t convinced. Six Man Chaos Jeff Hardy, Mansoor, & Mustafa Ali vs. Jinder Mahal, Shanky, & Veer battled in the ongoing saga of Jeff Hardy wandering from position to position on Monday nights. This was a quick hitter that didn’t last long enough to get good or bad. Jinder and the boys got the W as the holding pattern before the draft continues. He’s the Commanding Officer Now Another squash/holding pattern match between Karrion Kross and Jaxson Ryker. They’re building Kross as a dominant super shredder, one who even poked fun at Ryker’s military service. It was a nice touch and added personality to a guy who needs as much as he can to overcome that look. Raw was good this week. The show moved at a good clip, was bookended by two dope matches that told one long story, and was mostly entertaining in the middle. While a lot of it was a holding pattern because things change Friday and next Monday, it was a good sendoff for Raw as we know it. Grade: A- That’s my grade and I’m sticking to it. Your turn. Read the full article

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discord-of-laughter · 7 years ago

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The OC challenge! - Phase 1

The sideblog isn’t ready, I [melody-of-scream] am not ready and the challange isn’t finished, but I just can’t hold back any longer, so I’ll just start by posting phase 1 only until I got phase 2 finished. Which takes forever with that many OCs.

The wonderful @cantankerousintrovertedpumpkin 💋 made this challenge up and tagge me. And how could I have resisted! 💛

Phase 1 – Introduction

How many are there?

21 – 5 male & 16 female – that are currently in use or in any way still present in my mind and used in my thoughts. There are more… trust me… Some are kind of @steverogershield’s fault because she keeps encouraging me instead of stopping me… fine Jason and Lou are just two but that’s 9.5% that could have been avoided! Just kidding dude ~

What are their names? [+ in my case which fandom are they from]

Allete “Alouette” Toupine [Man from U.N.C.L.E.], Belial “Bel” [Lucifer], Cardia Rose [Disney Descendants], Johanna “Jo” Jayne aka “Counter” [X-Men], Damian ? [Marvel’s Defenders], Deicida [Young Justice], Gabriele Hoffmann aka “Blueprint” [X-Men], Guinevere aka “Jennifer Elisabeth Kross” [Kingsman], Ophelia [...] Shilazar aka “Gust” [DCEU/Legends of Tomorrow], Aquila Pace [The Librarians], Kayleigh Fortuna Porter aka “Lady Luck” [Dr. Strange], Loreley [American Gods], Lucius “Lou” Kadin Perez Bowman aka “Voiceover” [DCEU/Flash], Phionee Esteria Usmin [Guardians of the Galaxy], Rachel Woods aka “Roads” & Daniel Weston aka “Danton” [Supernatural], Skandra Thorn aka “Skadi” [Thor/Avengers], Mariana Josefa Moraes Cardoso aka “Somnia” [X-Men], Jason Tiberius Green [Suicide Squad], Vanessa Lind [Harry Potter] and last but not least Cain Goldfin [Shadowhunters].

What’s one word you’d use to describe them?

Allete: determined

Bel: demonic

Cardia: burdened

Jo: restless

Damian: lying

Deicida: emotional

Gabriele: torn

Jennifer: loyal

Ophelia: fiercely

Aquila: sly

Kayleigh: cordial

Loreley: wary

Lou: controlled/sweet

Phionee: lost [formerly reasonable]

Rachel: unyielding

Daniel: bossy [formerly protective]

Skadi: sore/persistent

Mariana: disappointed

Jason: stubborn

Vanessa: kind

Cain: angry/proud

What do they look like?

Allete: A lot like Eva Green, light skin colour, dark hair, blue-green eyes, tall, slender, full lips, from France.

Bel: A lot like Mariette Valsan, middle dark brown/Indian skin tone, brown eyes, under the right circumstances insanely beautiful… but her appearance changes based on the attitude of people towards her or humanity in general, she’s missing the little finger of her left hand though. Originally from heaven, then hell.

Cardia: Pale, red and black dyed hair, very dark eyes, short, stocky, curvy (on her belly too!), small hands, scars on her arms. From the Isle of the Lost.

Jo: Slightly tanned, light brown eyes that seem to glow slightly, very long brown hair, small nose, chubby cheeks, short, with a bad posture, from the US.

Damian: Slightly ashen skin tone with a hint of olive hidden beneath it and a hint of yellow over it since he smokes quite a bit, black, short hair, blue eyes, not exactly tall for a guy, rather thin due to a certain lack of physical activity, leads a pretty unhealthy lifestyle in general, dark rings under the eyes, thin lips… despite everything he’s still kind of attractive though, from the US of unknown heritage.

Deicida: Grey skin… like really silvery-grey skin, looking like metal, dark grey lips, white hair and golden eyes, much heavier than she looks. Middle tall for a teenage girl, slender… the back of her legs is pointed like a blade and as sharp – yes blade legs and grey skin, she is weapon forged by Hephaestus and given a soul and can turn back into her original sword from if needed. From… well Hephaestus’s forge.

Gabriele: A lot like Sonja Gerhard. Short, blond, slightly curly hair, grey-blue eyes, like a perfect little white skinned angel. From East Germany (DDR) when the country was still divided into DDR and BRD.

Jennifer: Naturally red, curly hair, deep green eyes, rather tall for a woman, comparably skinny, small chest, prominent cheekbones, slightly bigger nose, in her late forties, early fifties, still considerably pretty. Of Irish descent.

Ophelia: Dark, Arabic skin tone. Long dark brown hair, with three green dyed strands of hair, eyes so green they seemed to glow and strange green marks running down from the middle of her lower lid to half of her cheek. Naturally rather red lips, but even brighter lipstick, hourglass figure, slender fingers, unfortunately creepy laughter but sweet smile, freckles on her chest, 6’7, in her end twenties. Of Iranian descent.

Aquila: Think of Kat Dennings dressed fancy. Brown wavy hair, blue eyes, large chest, 5’3… the whole package. Usually dressed unassuming but tidy. Wears glasses to read. From… that would be too much of a spoiler, so let’s say the UK. Also her names a made-up fake as well.

Kayleigh: Assumed the form of black girl, rather dark skin tone, attentive eyes so dark brown they appear black, long, really long bright orange hair – says it’s natural, no one believes her, sly smirk, surprisingly pinkish lips, not very tall with little curves but not petit. Looks nothing like either of her sisters. From a place that is too much of a spoiler.

Loreley: Like Diane Kruger, straight, thin light blond hair, light blue eyes, pale lips, would be considered petit if she wasn’t a bit too tall for it. So pale and thin it’s close to making people worry. Often either dark rings under her eyes or red, slightly swollen eyes. She has lost quite some of the beauty (and weight) songs sing about. From Germany but that was a long, long time ago.

Lou: Very mixed heritage reflected in his skin colour – Latin-Arabic and a bit of white. Black hair but buzz cut, grey eyes, unassuming, sweetest and brightest, toothy smile and perfectly straight teeth, slightly crooked toes, moderate height and weight. Tries to stay fit… but music and Aunt Isabella’s food are not helping. Long, slender fingers. Born in the US.

Phionee: White skin, not like a human white skin tone but white-white. Humanoid Alien. Dark pink, sharp eyes, slightly pointy ears and a long, slender tail that ends in a sharp point [kind of similar to Nightcrawler’s], feet that are a bit more claw like, white, straight hair usually worn in a pinned updo. Eyebrows that give her a snarky expression, light pink lipstick and pink eyeshadow, very cold skin and since she’s from an ice planet it’s usually to warm everywhere for her, so she wears short shorts and cropped tank tops when others are about to freeze off some parts. Still manages to make a point by wearing Ravenger red. Thin but athletic build. From the Usmin planet Sikon.

Rachel: A lot like Natalina Maggio. Caucasian but likely with a southern European heritage. Green eyes with golden speckles. Thin, straight, dark brown hair. Unassuming figure but well-trained and a bit muscular for a woman. Thin face, thin lips, piercing gaze. Always seems to show a slight frown. Huge ban tattoo on her left side since she was a baby. Not very tall. Often dark fingertips from old ink and such. Found on the doorstep of a hunter family – Westons – when she was still a baby.

Daniel: Light skinned but with a bit of a tan, short, curly, brown hair. Light blue eyes. Full lips, stubbles all the time. Tall, obviously well-toned and thoroughly fit body but a bunch of scares hidden beneath his clothes. Always seems to have an amused expression and sparkling eyes. Rachel sometimes calls him “Disney Prince” because he’s the pretty of the two of them. Youthful looks even though he is in his late thirties. From an hunter family which has been doing their job in the US for generations.

Skadi: A Jotun goddess and born frost giant. Very tall with a swirling intricate pattern on her skin. Pure white eyes and hair and whitish lips. Strong and sturdy but athletic build. Full lips… and with a human form magic and living among the gods of Asgard allowed her to take on. Still kind of tall, very pale with a bluish touch with slightly bluish lips, pale blue eyes and a lot of long, full-bodied, wavy hair that she dyes black to not stand out so much. There is something rough and wild about here that tends to draw people in and push them away at the same time. From Thrymheimr and/or Asgard.

Mariana: A lot like a slightly younger Morena Baccarin with half-short hair. Black hair, warm brown eyes, rather light skin tone but still noticeably a Latina. Thin lips, a bit bigger ears, 32 years old, with surprisingly long legs. Has a nice smile but a tendency to frown due to bad decision-making. From Brazil currently living in the US with a work visa.

Jason: Like Seth Green – just google him, like that. 5’3 short, green eyes, ginger hair and beard, mole under his left eye, the best and worst smirk, more buff than Seth Green though. Small/Short power package. From the US and of Scottish and Polish heritage.

Vanessa: Kind of shortish, with a pale skin with a golden undertone, slightly prominent nose and chin, small ears, bilious green eyes and ash brown hair. Kind eyes. Hints of being a bit stout but working against it constantly. Very small feet and rather small hands. An unsuitable mean smirk. Inside and outside of the school day she can usually been found barefooted. From Wales.

Cain: Soft facial features – a bit of a baby face – broad nose, narrow eyes the lightest blue imaginable. Round face, slightly tanned skin, short dark hair, full lips. Well-built but not very tall… in the form he got from one half of his parents. The other one granted him golden and black scales and rough golden and black skin, gills on the side of his cheeks, the same broad nose and narrow eyes of the lightest blue imaginable, but his features seem less soft like this. Oh and of course a golden fish tail. Lavish and to show off, he’s considered too flashy to be pretty by his mother’s people where he grew up.

Any illnesses/disorders/disabilities…?

Cain has BPD. Vanessa has a well-hidden but not specified anxiety disorder. Mariana is rather emotionally instable without an explanation so far… don’t know if that counts. Damian has a heart condition. Skadi is dyslexic but you can bet the goddess won’t tell anyone. Rachel has ADD and so has Lou. Bel is missing the little finger of her left hand. Cardia has gotten past self-harming tendencies and Mariana was thought to have narcolepsy for the longest time… until they found out it has to do with her mutation and an inability to control her power. And do Deicida’s blade legs count and the fact that human emotions confuse her? Not like on the autistic spectrum though just because she hasn’t had to do much with them before and is still learning.

Who’s your favourite?

That’s not fair *whines*, they are all my kids!! Skadi and Ophelia are always high on the list but always rivalled by the OC or one of the OCs from the fandom I’m just in the most.

Who is most like you?

??? There is a bit of me in every OC I make… but I try it to never be too much. However… Vanessa maybe? She’s probably the oldest of them and the most like I’m when it comes to looks. But personality vice… I’d like to think Jo maybe or Cardia.

Do you ship any of the characters you’re talking about here?

Yes. Some but very few with canon characters mostly it’s just a thought though nothing I would insist or necessarily talk about. And I ship Rachel and Daniel with each other ~ it’s difficult though.

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naturecpw · 4 years ago

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How to Quiet Your Mind Chatter

To break the tape loop in your head, talk to yourself as another person.

By Liz Greene March 10, 2021

We’ve all been there. Stuck in our own heads, fixated on a two-minute conversation from three days ago. We replay it over and over. I shouldn’t have snapped at Dad. He was always so patient when I was growing up. We get stuck. The voice in our heads goes from an ally to a vicious nag, just looping uselessly over the same things, again and again and again.

Ethan Kross, an experimental psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Michigan, wants to teach us how to control the voices in our heads. Not the voices of mental illness, mind you, just the little voice we all have, cheerily (or naggingly) narrating our lives as we go about our days.

The goal is not to stop talking to ourselves. That would be a bad thing.

According to Kross, our inner voices can be one of our greatest strengths—when we can control them. Those inner voices can take us to whole other worlds, allow us to imagine different pasts or exciting futures, but they can also trap us in a hell of our own making.

In his new book, Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It, Kross walks readers through a number of different strategies to control mental chatter. A key strategy is “distanced self-talk,” using language to create mental distance from yourself. The best medicine for being stuck on a problem is to gain perspective on it. And a way to gain that perspective is to talk to yourself as if you were another person. You can never be certain what he was thinking, Liz. He might have appreciated your retort.

I spoke to Kross via Zoom about how we can define mental chatter, what goes on in our brains during a chatter spiral, and, of course, how to control that nagging, looping voice in our heads.

quiet minds: Ethan Kross, author of Chatter, wanted to “really get out what we know about what chatter is, why we experience it, and how to deal with it,” he says. “I’ve always been passionate about translating what we know for others so it’s not just scientists talking about it.”

What is chatter?

When we experience problems, we often turn our attention inward to make sense of them. But we often get stuck. We ruminate, we worry, we catastrophize. Chatter refers to those negative thought loops that characterize that experience of being stuck. It can involve perseverating about the past, which we call rumination, perseverating about the future, we call that worry. That’s what chatter is.

How can you recognize the difference between your normal stream of consciousness and when you are starting to go into a chatter spiral?

Typically it’s when you find yourself rehearsing the same things over and over again. Rather than coming up with a more clear, objective solution to a problem. And you find that those negative thoughts are really beginning to prevent you from doing other things in ways that can be counter-productive. I think most of the time when people are experiencing chatter, they know it.

The human mind didn’t evolve to always be in the moment.

What are the effects of chatter?

It can make it really hard for us to think and perform well. And one principal reason for that is you only have so much ability to focus at any given moment in time. And so if all your focus is devoted toward your chatter, good luck getting anything done.

It can also have social consequences. When we experience chatter it can often lead to enhanced friction in our relationships. And it could do so in a variety of ways. We go to other people and talk about our problems and we keep talking about them and keep talking, and that pushes other people away. Or, when we’re experiencing heightened negative emotions, we often can lash out at other people. We displace our emotions on them.

What chatter does is take a stressful experience and prolong it. Stress in and of itself isn’t bad. What makes stress bad is when it’s prolonged over time, and that’s what chatter really does.

How do we quiet chatter?

Different strategies work for different people in different situations. And it’s really about combinations of strategies. When I experience chatter, I do several things. I’ll do distanced self-talk. I’ll do temporal distancing. I have some chatter advisors that help give me some perspective. Those aren’t the people who I’m necessarily closest to, but they’re people who are adept at helping me when I’m struggling with something. And I’ll also take walks in nature and tidy up the office around me.

In Chatter you talk about how you halted a particularly bad spiral by calling yourself by name. That’s fascinating to me, the idea that what we call ourselves in the privacy of our own head has real discernible effects.

We know that it’s a lot easier for people to give advice to others than it is to take that advice ourselves. And what we’ve learned is that language provides us with a tool for coaching ourselves through our problems like we were talking to another person. It involves using your name and other non-first person pronouns, like “you” or “he” or “she.” That’s distanced self-talk. It’s a tool that many people stumble on without really understanding how it works. The lab work shows this tool gives you some mental space, some psychological distance from our problems, which helps you give yourself more constructive advice for how to deal with a situation.

Why do you think that is?

The idea is that when you use a name to refer to yourself, it’s almost like an automatic perspective switch. It’s switching your perspective because you’re so used to using these parts of speech when you address others.

Does it matter what you call yourself? First name, last name, nickname?

We haven’t systematically explored whether it’s, you know, “All right, Ethan, you could do this” or “All right, E-man,” or things like that. We think the reason why names and pronouns are so useful is that these are parts of speech that we almost exclusively use when we think about and refer to other people. We know that with kids you can get benefits by having them imagine they’re a superhero. This is called the Batman effect, where if a kid’s struggling with a problem, you say something like, “Okay. Matt, what would Batman do in this situation? Imagine you’re Batman, and guide yourself through the problem.”

When you get rejected by another person, you don’t know what to do. We find it helps to talk about your personal experience not in the first person but using the generic version of you. What we find is that this is a linguistic device that helps people make meaning out of their negative experiences. It pushes the experience away from you. It’s not just me who’s experiencing it, it’s the world. Anyone who experiences something like this would respond this way. That gives you some distance and also helps you normalize your experience.

The human mind didn’t evolve to always be in the moment.

In Chatter you say that nature, even virtual nature, can have a really positive effect on our inner voice.

Yes. The idea behind why nature can be so useful is it gives our attention the ability to recharge. And the way it does so is by subtly drawing our attention to things that are interesting to us, but don’t necessarily take a whole lot of bandwidth for us to make sense of. Virtual nature can still have a positive effect, but there does appear to be a dose response relationship. So the more intense and immersive an actual experience is, the larger the gain. Another mechanism that explains how nature can be useful is by promoting feelings of awe. The sense that you’re in the presence of something vast that you can’t explain. That gives you a sense of perspective, makes your concerns feel smaller.

Why do our brains chatter?

When we experience negative emotions and try to analyze our feelings, we often zoom in narrowly on the experience to the exclusion of other ways of thinking about the event that could lead us to feel better. This leads us to get stuck in a negative cycle of thinking and feeling where we rehash what we felt and are feeling in ways that lead us to feel stuck. This psychological experience corresponds to increased levels of activity in brain networks that support self-referential and emotional processing in the brain. With respect to why this happens, it’s a case of an otherwise adaptive response—engaging in self-reflection to solve a problem—that runs off track in a particular circumstance.

What does a chatter spiral look like in the brain?

We see heightened levels of activation in a network of brain regions that are active when we think about ourselves as compared to other people. So this self-referential processing network, which tends to be more active among people who are clinically anxious and depressed, is also active when you look at people experiencing chatter.

And what is the self-referential network?

It’s a group of regions along the cortical midline: the dorsal singulate, the posterior singulate—it’s the same network that lights up when you put a person in a brain scanner and let them think about whatever they want to think about. Their thoughts naturally drift to self-related experiences. So it’s thinking about the self. That’s what’s more active when people are in these chatter states.

What kind of testing have you done to back these ideas up?

We’ve done some work in the brain with distanced self-talk, in the self-referential processing and emotional processing areas. What was interesting about the brain-imaging work is we see less activation in self-referential and emotional-processing networks, but we see no additional increase in activations in cognitive control networks, which are often invoked when we’re trying to regulate ourselves. The idea behind that is it feels difficult to rein in our emotions. But these linguistic shifts seem to be a bit easier for people to use. The shifts they provide to people’s perspectives are a bit more effortless. And we think part of the reason why that is, is because of just how tightly linked names are with thinking about other people.

There’s a trend at the moment in popular culture toward mindfulness. How do you feel about that?

I think mindfulness is great. And I think there’s a lot of great data behind it. The only caveat I would have about mindfulness is that it’s one tool amidst many. I think the challenge is to figure out how the different tools work together. The message behind mindfulness is sometimes taken too far in the sense of “you should always be in the moment.” The human mind didn’t evolve to always be in the moment, and we can derive enormous benefit from traveling in time, thinking about the past and future. So I think the challenge is to figure out how we can help people travel in time in their minds more effectively without getting stuck, rather than saying shut down the time travel machine altogether when you’re upset.

Can chatter be productive?

The inner voice is often amazing. It’s a super power. It helps us do a lot of different things. I equate chatter with an unproductive state of the inner voice. So I think once you’re in chatter, thought loops, we’re not talking productivity anymore. We’re talking about the opposite. But that is not to say that the goal should be to silence our inner voice or stop talking to ourselves. I think that would be a bad thing. The challenge is to figure out how to talk to yourself and use language to weigh in on your problems without getting stuck in chatter.

https://nautil.us/issue/98/mind/how-to-quiet-your-mind-chatter?utm_source=pocket-newtab

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How to quiet the mind chatter? Try cannabis. It doesn't always work, but it may provide a workable way to deal with the mind chatter if you're willing to listen.

Doesn't everyone have an ongoing internal conversation with themselves? A You/I dialogue? How else does anyone thrash out decisions, conflicts, emotions? Calm or console or castigate oneself? But why would anyone use their name? "Honey" or "Moron" perhaps, depending on the emotion, but your name? Like the voice of a scolding boss or parent? Instant resistance! Do people even identify with their names inwardly? Nature, mindless physical work, a book, a movie, a distraction that facilitates the inner conversation by freeing the mind often produces breakthrough, resolution, even fresh creative ideas. Zen? Also writing it all down to organize chaotic thoughts and emotions helps.

So long as one avoids abusive chatter toward the self. This is a result of early exposure to abusive modelers, and a source of suffering, when early learned.Culture itself is what we learn as behavioral norm, and when our own behaviors and choices are stunted through having learned abusive response, we transmit it, signal it, to others who may consequently avoid us or themselves label or mislabel us in stereotypical ways (to understand the Fundamental Attribution Error, a common mistake in evaluating others' behavior, especially that of novel individuals, we have to abandon such stereotyping of ourselves and our own behavior).SO, if noting that your inner discourse is abusive, the negatively emotional repetition is the important self-signal of need of kinder response - the most important change you can experience, as we treat others as we treat ourselves.Depression and inappropriate response to sensory input, others and other organisms, situations etc. tripping excessive emotional response, rage or overattachment, are dysfunctional in the extreme, even though they might seem to create comfortable hierarchy in which to survive.

The area is Cingulate, and is involved with arousal of memory to deal with novel present responses.This is a general statement, as brains asses sensory input with interoceptive associations. The cingulate areas mentioned are important central connections to what's called Default Mode Network, and likely highly involved in the intelligent response to contingencies that constitute dreaming information..Low activity there is related only to reduced introspection, which cognitive scientists and psychologists do not regard as functional or "good."as stereotyped response is the root of some of our worst social/antisocial problems.So, searching for appropriate, novel responses to both positively and negatively valenced experience is an important part of consciousness, whether in humans or other mammals with large cingulate gyri - often wide-ranging with consequently increased exposure to novel events and meetings.Of course, emotional, mental, physical agility requires that all the brain is available, and activity areas do cycle. The interviewee is primarily speaking of dysfunctional dissociation from the present. But it cannot be stressed enough that those whose cingulate areas are diminished in activity may be those whose chosen responses to novel experience is excessively conservative or detached from present reality. Every individual remains unique, and the valences of their experience differ. We attempt to resolve painful experiences, and sometimes teach ourselves to withdraw from repeat of any that we overgeneralize as intrusive or painful.

Mind Chatter

#Mind Chatter #Chatter #Mind

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