#The books were the best options for divination I have available (there's one about the anthropology of butts so just trust me on this). | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

samwisethewitch · 4 years

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So You Want to Learn Tarot

Tarot is one of the most popular forms of divination, and my personal favorite tool to use when I’m seeking answers. I talked about tarot a bit in my last post, but I feel like it deserves further discussion here since a lot of new witches are intimidated by it.

Before we get into what tarot is and how to learn it, let’s discuss some popular misconceptions.

Tarot is not…

… evil, demonic, or Satanic. This one probably goes without saying, but tarot has a very mystical reputation in pop culture, and some people genuinely believe that it is evil. In the Christian group I grew up in, tarot cards were viewed with the same fear as seances and Ouija boards. So, for the record, tarot has nothing to do with demons, and in fact classic tarot decks contain a lot of Christian imagery. (There are also modern decks on the market that really play up the Christian themes, if that’s your thing.)

… negative or scary. Some of the most well-known tarot cards are those with frightening names and/or imagery: Death, the Devil, the Tower, etc. For this reason, some people think that tarot only contains negative messages or that using tarot cards invites negative energy into your life. Actually, I find tarot to be very balanced between light and dark, with several cards that are purely positive (like the Sun or the World). Even cards like Death or the Tower aren’t 100% negative — their meaning depends on the context in which they appear. While it’s true that tarot does sometimes hit us with difficult messages, this is true of every divination method if you’re using it right. Part of the appeal of divination is that it allows us to see the truth of a situation, even if that truth isn’t pretty.

… ancient. One popular myth claims that the cards are based on the Book of Thoth, an ancient Egyptian wisdom text. In reality, tarot comes from a card game that was popular in medieval Italy — originally, the cards were just entertainment. The use of these cards for divination was popularized by the French in the 18th century. It wasn’t until 1909 that Edward Waite and Pamela Coleman-Smith created the Waite-Smith deck (or Rider-Waite-Smith deck, as it is sometimes called), which established the “classic” tarot symbolism that we all know and love.

… something you can only use if you’re psychic. As I’ve mentioned before, we all have psychic senses, although most of us are not aware of them. However, you don’t have to be a professional medium or be deeply in touch with your psychic abilities to read tarot. Tarot is a tool, and like any tool it has a variety of uses. Your experience with the cards will be exactly as magical or as mundane as you choose to make it. You don’t need to worry about tapping into magical energy you can’t control, or anything like that.

… hard to learn. Learning tarot is not difficult, although it is time-consuming. No one becomes an advanced reader overnight. However, it isn’t actually very hard to learn how to read the cards. Most readers interpret the cards intuitively, which means that how the images make you feel is more important than the traditional interpretation. Being familiar with the traditional meanings helps, but there’s no rule that says you can’t keep a couple of good books on hand to help jog your memory. If you’re trying to memorize all the card meanings so you can just repeat them later, you’re doing it wrong.

Now that we know what tarot isn’t, let’s take a second to discuss what it is.

Tarot is a modern system of divination using illustrated cards. Most tarot decks contain 78 cards, which are divided into two groups: the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana. The Major Arcana is what probably comes to mind when you think of the tarot: these are the named cards like The Fool, The High Priestess, Death, etc. The 22 Major Arcana cards represent major themes, patterns, and events, so they tend to be the dominant energy in any readings they show up in. The remaining 56 cards make up the Minor Arcana, which deals more with day-to-day life. The Minor Arcana is further divided into four suits, which are each associated with one of the classical elements. The suits are wands (fire), cups (water), pentacles (earth), and swords (air).

If you want to learn to read tarot, the first step is to find a deck that you resonate with. Because tarot cards act as a conduit for your own psychic abilities, you want to make sure that the energy of your deck vibes well with your own energy. You can absolutely order your deck online (and you’ll have a wider selection to choose from if you do), but if picking one out in person is important to you, most bookstores and metaphysical shops will have several to choose from.

Some questions to ask yourself as you’re choosing your first tarot deck:

Are there any themes or motifs you feel called to work with? There are tons of themed tarot decks on the market, from goddess decks to crystal decks to pirate decks. What symbolism speaks to you?

What art styles do you enjoy? You’ll spend a lot of time looking at your cards, so it’s important that you like the artwork!

How does this deck make you feel? It’s best not to choose a deck that makes you uncomfortable, at least while you’re still trying to learn the basics. For me, the decks that I end up working with the most feel like an old friend — comforting and familiar. (Note that some of my favorite decks have dark themes and imagery, but I still find them comforting on an energetic level.)

If you don’t feel called to any one deck, starting with the Waite-Smith deck is always a good idea. Most tarot books base their interpretations on this deck, so it’s helpful for beginners who are still learning card associations. There are several versions of this deck on the market — my personal favorite is the Universal Waite Tarot, because I find it easiest to read. (It’s also cheap and widely available, so it should be easy to find a copy.)

Once you’ve chosen a deck, take some time to get to know the cards. Before you begin reading with your deck, go through the cards one by one and write down how they make you feel, as well as any associations they draw up for you. It’s best to do this exercise before you begin learning the traditional meanings for the cards, so you can capture your authentic first reactions to them.

There are other ways to get to know your deck. There’s an old superstition that says you should sleep with the deck next to your pillow for several nights, so that it can become attuned to your energy. Another option is to meditate with the deck, allowing yourself to feel it out.

Once you’ve gotten to know your deck, it’s time to learn the traditional meanings of the cards. Don’t get too hung up on this part — remember that readings are done intuitively; the traditional meanings are only a guideline, and you may find that the information you receive in a reading differs from tradition. In those cases, always trust your intuition. What the Ace of Wands means FOR YOU is more important than what it means for so-and-so author of such-and-such book. (This is why it’s a good idea to write down your own thoughts and feelings about the cards before you begin studying tarot books.)

The book I recommend starting with is Tarot For Beginners by Lisa Chamberlain. At just over 100 pages long, this is a very brief, accessible, “just the basics” introduction to tarot. The book is just long enough to give you a taste of what reading tarot is like, to determine if it’s really right for you.

Books can be very helpful, especially for learning the traditional meanings of cards, but the best way to learn to read tarot is by doing it. Once you’ve found a deck you resonate with, connected with your cards, and learned a little about card meanings, it’s time to start doing readings.

Start by pulling one card each day. Write down your immediate reaction and any messages that come to you when you look at the card. Experiment with it! Try holding the card in your hands and trying to “feel” it energetically — what vibes does it give off? Does a certain word or phrase pop into your head when you look at it? Do certain images on the card leap out at you? Write all of this down. Once you’ve written your own interpretation, look up the traditional meaning of the card in Tarot For Beginners or another book, or online (the website biddytarot.com has a really great guide to card meanings and is 100% free). If anything you read about the card resonates, write that down as well. The goal here is to see how your initial intuitive reading compares to the card’s traditional meaning — eventually, as you get more familiar with the cards, you won’t need to look them up at all.

As you go about your day, keep your daily tarot card in the back of your mind. How do the card’s messages relate to what happened to you throughout the day? Before you go to bed, write about how you saw the card’s message in your life.

Eventually, you’ll begin to get the hang of reading tarot intuitively. You’ll also begin to develop your own readings styles and your own rituals for doing a reading.

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the-young-and-forgotten · 3 years

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Gingerbread and Mistletoe

Ficmas Gingerbread House - @wonderful-writer

Warning/s: tw food mention, tw swearing

prompts:

4) “Will you make a gingerbread house with me?”

25) “You’re already under the mistletoe, so will the two of you stop stalling and kiss already?”

Prompts will be in bold

It was a couple of weeks into the Christmas break. Your friends had all gone home for the holidays. You had nothing to do but look out at the raging blizzard happening outside now that you were stuck like a schmuck at Hogwarts. You had absolutely no one to hangout with. Or so you thought.

Of course, Sirius had to be annoying you every second of the day, not that you minded all that much. The two of you had known each other before you had moved to Hogwarts and he had taken it upon himself to annoy you with every step within this castle.

You had met him a couple of years ago while he was on vacation in America. He and his family had been visiting your state and you might have run him over in the street with your bike. After rushing him to a doctor, you also might have developed a slight crush on him (I mean who wouldn’t crash their bike after seeing him?). You were only too happy to bump into him again the next day to hear that he wanted to “hang out with the girl brave enough to make his proud family introduce themselves to a muggle doctor.” He introduced himself as Prince Sirius Black, succumbed to a life of misery and riches. You had discovered that while you went to Ilvermorny, he went to the highly praised school of Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Then, about 3 months ago due to some issues, you and your family were driven out of America to England. It took much persuasion, but your parents finally let you enrol in Hogwarts. Which brought you to the present.

You were glad to see Sirius again… sort of… You had a fair idea of how annoying he could be but his constant presence and prying questions was driving you insane. You had wondered how his friends coped with it. But after a day of observing, you included they were all equally insane as him. Well, the exception being the scarred boy. He just looked like an exhausted mother on her last cup of coffee.

Unfortunately, the school transfer did bring back that old crush you were sure you had got rid of. Obviously you hadn’t quite squashed those feelings enough. The only one in this school who knew about your crush on Sirius was James and you had sworn him to secrecy. He knew if he told anyone or did anything to push it along, he’d be instantly dead.

But, no matter how insane Sirius seemed you could deal with it. After all, this wasn’t the first time. But one thing you couldn’t handle was the throngs of girls that nipped at his heels and hung onto his every word. You knew he was good-looking, but did he deserve his own cult? The girls aggravated you so much, making you wish violent thoughts on them and causing a pang of jealousy in your heart.

A few days with those fangirls was okay, but when you found out this happened everyday, you could now understand Remus’ constant look of aggravation and the quiet sighs from Peter and James when this happened.

But today was worse than usual, due to the quidditch game he’d won a couple of days ago, girls were swarming him. You snuck away to the library, before the jealousy caused you to act rashly. You hid amongst the Divination books, hoping he and his herd of girls wouldn’t find you.

But to no avail. “What a boring section to hide in, love.” A cocky voice called out. Sirius walked out between two stacks of books a wide smirk on his face. “But then again, you and I had never seen eye to eye on everything.” He picked up a book with an eye on it and tapped it, his smirk somehow stretching wider.

You cross your arms in mock anger but you couldn’t help smirking at his pun and seeing that he didn’t have any desperate girls tagging along. “That pun was lame and you know it. Plus, no one likes Divination so I figured this would be the best place to hide.” He plonked himself down on the boxes beside you. His smile stretched even farther, irritating you slightly.

“Pretty obvious spot though. People would expect you to hide here. If I were to hide, I would go to the Transfiguration section, it's a painfully obvious spot, but no one expects it. So you failed.” “It didn’t fail if it means there were no brain-dead bimbos following you here.” You snap at him. “Ahhh, so you wanted to be alone with me.” He leant in close, making your face light up like a lava lamp.

You turn away and stand up, trying to distract yourself. “C’mon, Y/n. Is it that hard to believe I just want to do something fun with my friend! We have a lot of options! Afterall, it's Christmas time!! We could go sledding, sneak out to Hogsmeade or we could-” His eyes light up. “Will you make a gingerbread house with me?” you turn to stare at him in disbelief and scoff. “A gingerbread house?!” He nods his head comically “Sirius, you haven’t even touched any baking ingredients, how will you know what to do?”

He picks himself off the boxes and grabs your arm. He pulls you out of the library and towards the kitchens. “It’s called an adventure Y/n, search up the definition.” “I’ve done enough crazy shit with you to know what an adventure is.” You grumble under your breath.

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The two of you stood at a counter in the kitchen, the decorations and gingerbread house pieces spread out around you. “Right… so what's next?” Sirius asks, the confusion prominent in his voice. You pull all the pieces towards you and start filling him in on what's happening “Luckily, the house elves were nice enough to get us the muggle pieces which are already pre-made, so we just have to decorate it.”

Hearing no response, you turn towards him, question on your lips. You stop short and stare at him. He was leaning on the counter and staring off into space. Doing nothing but continuously eating the bowl of lollies in front of him. You slap his hand away, startling him. “Those are for the house! Not you!” He lowered his head looking awfully sheepish. You relented. “Okay, maybe a few.” You wink at him and pop a few into your mouth.

“Right!” Clapping your hands together you turn back to the gingerbread house pieces. “Let's get into it!!”

Long story short, It was messy work. The sides fell down about a dozen times,causing a lot of anger. The two of you alternating between eating the lollies and putting them on the house. Luckily for the two of you, the house elves had endless amounts of sweets so you never ran out.

Adding the icing with Sirius was extremely aggravating for you. He couldn’t seem to get the hang of the piper and was putting it everywhere. But he kept on persisting that he could do it. After he had covered practically the entire bench with the icing you snatched it off him. “Oh, just give it here you incompetent pureblood.” It took a bit of time, but you finally finished decorating and icing the whole thing.

When it was finished, you were positively bursting at how great the gingerbread house had turned out. Reaching over you, Sirius picked up the tray and started out of the kitchens. Turning back, he smiled at you. “Lets go share this with the boys, I know they’ll want a bite.”

“Wait up!” You run after him, trying to grab the tray from him, but he just pushed ahead faster and faster. “Slow down!” you shout desperately trying to catch him, weaving between random students. “Why do you have to be so goddamn fast?” You said, with a slight whiny tone. But he just laughed and ran on.

When you guys finally arrived at the Gryffindor Tower, you were panting for breath. Several people had been pushed over along your run. You had certainly made your presence known in the hallways. Taking a deep breath, you walk up to Sirius who was standing a little way away. “Can I hold the house now?” You whine. He rolls his eyes at your tone of voice but hands it over to you.

He turns towards the Fat Lady and gives the password. As it swings open, he holds it open long enough for you to walk through. You stumble on the threshold but Sirius catches you before you or the house falls. You blush furiously as he helps you right yourself. The two of you look away from each other, the air now extremely awkward.

You hear an ‘ahem’ from the corner of the common room and look up to see the rest of the arauders there. Peter had a sly grin on his face, Remus was giggling and James looked extremely aggravated. You knew straight away that knew where you had been. James stared you down before throwing his hands up in exasperation. “You’re already under the mistletoe, so will the two of you stop stalling and kiss already?” Gaping in shock, you look up and see he’s right. You hear Sirius groan and bury his face in his hands as you glare back at James. ‘You’re dead’ you mouth. He just smirks and points to the mistletoe. “Get on it” he shouts.

You reluctantly look back at Sirius. Much like you, he was a blushing mess. You had never seen him look this hesitant about anything. He seemed to weigh something in his mind before leaning toward you.

Due to the huge gingerbread house in your arms he had to awkwardly lean over it, which made the situation 100% more weird. Hesitantly, he placed his lips on yours.

The kiss was sweet and short but it might as well have lasted a lifetime. He gasps in shock, and you knew he had felt the same thing as you had. The two of you pull away giggling, blushing more than before.

You hear the shouts of joy from the boys and you remember James’ betrayal. “Wait here, Sirius. I need to kill your best friend.” You transport the gingerbread house to Sirius’ arms and run towards James, the boy's laughter echoing in your ears.

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taglist: @just-a-belgian-girl @loonyvee @kashishwrites @lilgoddesshines

#Sirius Black #sirius black x reader #sirius x reader #sirius black imagine #sirius #sirius black fanfiction #sirius black oneshot #hailey’s ficmas wc #sirius x y/n #sirius black x y/n #sirius x you #sirius black x you #sirius black fluff #sirius black christmas fic #fanfiction #tw food mention #tw swearing

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ms-katonic-of-tamriel · 3 years

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DAI Playthrough idea

Inquisitor Lucien Flavius Trevelyan. Ex-Circle mage, mostly content with life in the Ostwick Circle, likes the learning and academic side, does miss his parents, but no inclination to rebel until it was actually happening, at which point he ran off with the rebels because all his friends were doing it. Not religious, no real belief in Andraste whatsoever but kept quiet about it in the Circle. Since leaving, he’s become a lot more open about his views, and found to his surprise more people than he thought shared them, and there’s enough anger at the Chantry for him to acquire a coterie of fans and fellow freethinkers. He’s at the Conclave hoping to try and talk some sense into the Templars but it doesn’t go well.

Decisions!

Broadly pro-mage, not very pro-Chantry. Not anti exactly, but very much not pro either and really doesn’t like the Herald of Andraste title. Not up to speed on elven issues but the more he learns the angrier he gets at the Chantry, and he does find the culture fascinating.

Goes to Redcliffe to talk to the mages, finds out about the bargain with Tevinter, goes ‘what the actual hell have you done’ and ends up sorting that mess out. Templars can very much sort themselves out in his mind. He wasn’t harmed at the Circle but he saw things happen to others. Gives the mages an alliance. They were his friends after all.

As Inquisitor he wants to stand for order and justice rather than the faith or revenge and does his best to pick merciful, rational choices where possible. After Adamant, he keeps the Wardens as Inquisition allies, and at Val Royeaux, there’s a good chance of him getting all three parties to work together. Failing that, he’ll keep Celene as Empress, with or without Briala at her side. At the Well of Sorrows, Morrigan is getting the power - Lucien hears the words binding geas and goes nope, not for me kthnx.

Romances:

Awkward demisexual who preferred books and studying to anything else, Lucien’s got no romance experience but might consider it for the right person.

Cassandra: too intimidating by far! Also twice his age. Even if he was into intimidating older women, Cassandra has expectations of a romantic hero who will sweep her off her feet. Lucien has no idea where to even start so... doesn’t. Also she will not shut up about the Maker, and Lucien has spent the past two years becoming a fervent atheist and loving not having priests around any more. He can’t pretend to be Andrastian for her sake.

Iron Bull: Bull’s stories about his sexploits make Lucien’s eyes pop out and his hair stand on end. As far as romance goes, Lucien is fleeing in the opposite direction from this one. They get on well enough, and Lucien’s curious about the Qun... but not curious about anything else, thank you very much. Still, he cares enough to save Bull from the Qun.

Dorian: a possibility, and Dorian would definitely be interested, but it’s more likely these two will end up as besties rather than boyfriends. Never say never though. Lucien's really not OK with the way Dorian's family treated him and completely sides with him over it. If Lucien was accidentally flirting with him previously, Dorian might well choose that moment to confess his feelings. Not known how Lucien would respond.

Josephine: most likely out of all of them. Pretty, cultured, goes out of her way to make Lucien feel at ease, Lucien would likely adore her. Also the duel scene would be way more poignant with Lucien the inexperienced mage going rapier to rapier with a master duellist for her affections. Plus they’re both probably demi.

The rest of them:

Cullen: hasn’t got a clue what to make of this somewhat unimpressive young man but he’s who the faithful are rallying around and the only one who can close rifts so he’ll keep him alive. Becomes steadily more impressed with Lucien over the course of things. Lucien talks him out of going back on lyrium, having no wish to see anyone shackled by the Circle if they don’t want to be there, even Templars.

Leliana: scares the hell out of him. “No, don’t murder people!” becomes a common refrain. However, over time, she softens, he starts to see her less scary side, and he’s able to talk her down from murdering Sister Natalie. On seeing the change in her after, he’s got no hesitation supporting her for Divine.

Blackwall: they get on rather well! Lucien respects Blackwall’s experience, always appreciates a big strong fighter to hide behind, and Blackwall’s avuncular nature appeals. Finding out the truth about him is heartbreaking but Lucien can’t help but rescue him and give him another chance to do better.

Solas: Lucien respects his skills, does rely on his advice, but there’s something a bit off there. He doesn’t know what though. He wants to like Solas, but something just rubs him up the wrong way. Still, he’s a useful companion, they do get on, Solas seems to approve of Lucien’s decision-making on the whole, and Lucien loves asking him about ancient elven culture. He's less keen on the whole 'what if the Veil wasn’t here’ angle though. Solas disappearing will feel like a betrayal and really hurt.

Vivienne: nothing in common at all. Excellent chance he never recruits her in the first place. If he does, he spends the entire adventure regretting it.

Varric: takes Lucien under his wing from the outset and looks after him. Lucien’s appalled by some of Varric’s wilder exploits but does laugh anyway, and the two become fast friends. Even if Lucien does keep wanting to know how Bianca works.

Sera: they drive each other up the wall but Lucien is somehow still fond of her. That Tempest stuff is terrifying though.

Cole: weirds Lucien out completely, but he senses the spirit’s heart is in the right place and a spirit who turned human?? Come on, that’s a paper in its own right! Cole’s fate could go either way, but I suspect Lucien will go for the human option.

Lucien's parents: never had any other kids. They still miss and mourn him. They've been worried sick since the rebellion started and Lucien disappeared. He never wrote because there'd been no contact allowed for over a decade and it never occurred to him. But word of their son surviving the Conclave and joining the Inquisition reaches them and they put all family business in their steward's hands and go to Haven. They get there in time to find the ashes, but returning scouts, maybe even the Chargers, can tell them Lucien is not only alive but Inquisitor and take them to Skyhold. Cue tearful reunion, Lyra as quartermaster, Davidicus joining the researchers, either available as a party member if Lucien needs them.

Training specialty: none of the mage ones appeal. Knight-Enchanter? “No I don’t want to be up close and personal with the enemy, I want to be far away from the stabby things!” Rift Mage: “so... the initial innovators of this field are all dead due to the magic destroying them, and the second wave of experts are all off their trolley due to magical weirdness and seeing their friends disintegrated. Er... think I’ll give this one a miss, thank you very much.” Necromancer: “NO!”

In the end, he ends up studying Artificer after persuading his advisors that just because he's a mage doesn’t mean he should only study magic. “There’s so much else to study and learn! It can’t just be learning about magical energies and the Fade! There’s a rest of the world to see and study! Why should being able to do one thing make me incapable of doing anything else?” Cue magically enhanced traps, grenades and possibly some sort of Dwemer laser-enhanced crossbow thing replacing his staff.

Trespasser Lucien is a bit more cynical and battle-hardened and the constant pain from the Mark is no joke either. He’s honestly not surprised at Solas’s identity by the time it comes out, not as much as he should be. Does his best to save the dragon, would like to try and save Solas from himself if possible, but isn’t that committed to the idea. Disbands the Inquisition entirely, thinking it has served its purpose, and then returns to his parental home. He’s reinstated as their son and heir and is soon using Trevelyan money to build himself a whole series of prosthetic arms with a variety of attachments. Just in time for the big society wedding involving the Trevelyan heir and the Montilyet heir whose families saw a couple in love and made the wedding decision for them. Mostly they end up living in Antiva but Lucien’s parents are regular visitors... as are the rest of their former Inquisition colleagues.

#dragon age #lucien flavius #dai #dragon age:inquisition

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kayr0ss · 4 years

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A Tactical Approach

[Diakko Week 2020, Day 2: Hand Holding / Cuddles, Fluff] AO3

Happy to participate in Diakko week 2020! @dianakko-week

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Akko had never considered herself a strategic person but sometimes life led a girl into situations that felt like war.

And this was a battle she was determined to win.

She assessed the setting—it was important to know your surroundings and use them to your advantage after all. What could she possibly do to make the most out of this situation? What was the ideal picture of a victory in her mind?

Victory was sweet. Like plums.

It would also be warm and absolute, full of conviction and with no space for hesitation.

And hopefully victory wasn’t sweaty. Oh by Jennifer—please—she hoped victory wasn’t sweaty!

Why were her hands sweaty now of all times? She sighed, wiping her palms along the fabric of her skirt in an attempt to alleviate the problem. Satisfied, she returned to assessing the terrain of her battle. She was in Diana’s dormitory, sitting on Hannah’s stolen study chair so that she and Diana shared a desk, huddling themselves shoulder-to-shoulder. It was eight fifty-seven in the evening and she had been waging this war for all of seventeen minutes by now.

Yes, she was counting since eight forty.

The opposing party of this skirmish just so happened to be the object of her affections. What were her motivations? What would her next move be? Akko squinted at her foe, watching as she flipped another page of the Ancient Runes textbook she was examining. She brushed back blonde and green tresses behind her ear, the candlelight of the lamp on her desk flickered playfully across her features and oh my god she has it bad, doesn’t she?

Akko exhaled, releasing a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Diana looked up, blue eyes softer than usual, and tilted her head in inquiry.

“Is everything alright, Akko?”

Ah. She really had it bad.

“Yeah.” Akko said in a quiet voice. It was so unlike her that Diana’s brow quirked upward. The movement was subtle, but they were near enough to each other for Akko to notice.

“Book.” The blonde chided, pointing downwards to the (very much ignored) Divination textbook lying in front of Akko. “You’re getting distracted again.”

Akko simply huffed. “Like it’s my fault!”

That won a small chuckle out of Diana, who turned a little pink if Akko wasn’t seeing things. This meant the implication didn’t go over her head—and that was all and well. Akko didn’t want it to go over her head. She knew that Diana knew that she… felt things.

Many, difficult to describe things that she frankly didn’t have the vocabulary for, so she’d much rather express it in actions. Diana leaned in a little, bumping their shoulders playfully. Akko giggled, looking back towards the pages of her book with no intention of reading. She felt her face heat up but she still smiled, appreciative of what was such a small yet meaningful gesture of affection from the normally aloof Diana.

She bumped her shoulder back. They were both smiling into their books now.

These little interactions had brought her back to the essence of her battle—of the mission she was on, and the victory she aimed to secure.

Now wasn’t the time to get distracted! The setting was perfect: quiet, candle-lit, with the rest of the room glowing softly in yellow and without Hannah and Barbara in sight. The curtains were pulled open and, despite it being a little cloudy, the view was just as wonderful as a clear night sky.

Akko examined her artillery options. She already used the 'shoulder bump'. Was it a good time to…

To maybe… lean her head on her shoulder?

She huffed while shaking her head and pretended it was because of the book. That wouldn’t work. She’d have a hard time reading and would probably fall asleep. She didn’t want to put Diana in a situation where she’d have to support her weight too much.

Displaying affection was such a difficult war to wage.

Her most distal appendages might work though—she had a whole two hands with fingers and thumbs! Right. She should use those. Maybe. But they were sweaty! Gods, did this have to be so hard!

But she was Akko Kagari and so far just doing it had worked wonderfully for her! And so she threw caution to the wind, and… placed her hand on the desk.

It was a strategic move. If Diana picked up on her cue, she should place her hand within pinky-reaching distance, right? Right? Akko swallowed, trying her best to look disinterested in where Diana’s hand would fall next.

The blonde had finished the words on her page, and motioned to flip to the next. Akko watched in her peripheral vision, almost in slow motion, as Diana’s hand fell back lower, lower and finally—yes!

She put it on the desk. Beside Akko’s hand.

Akko picked up an extra quill and flipped open her notebook, keeping her left hand obviously still and available, hoping that Diana hadn’t started learning Japanese because she decided to write her notes in her native language to ‘aid with recall.’

Never mind the fact that she was nervously scribbling ‘please hold my hand, please hold my hand, please hold my han—” over and over again.

Ah, but Diana seemed engrossed, and Akko took it up on herself to take initiative. Again.

It was time to deploy stealth tactics.

Slowly, and with no small amount of nervousness, she inched her pinky finger a whole centimeter to the left. That was progress! Diana hadn’t noticed. Perfect. Emboldened by her success, she went and moved in closer.

Shit. Diana pulled her hand to scratch an itch along her chin and—that was illegal, it was so cute! To Akko’s relief, her hand returned to its original position except this time it was… closer?

Was Diana picking up on her stealth tactics?

Suddenly losing her nerve, Akko ceased her slow advance. But then why would she? Reciprocation was a good thing, right?

She took a chance, looking towards her notebook to scribble a little more nonsense, and then brushed their pinky fingers together.

Surely such a small action should not have such a profound effect on her—felt from the tips of her ears, down to the pit of her stomach. There was fluttering, fluttering everywhere and this slow exchange felt like it was going to drive her insane!

Wasn’t Diana supposed to be the overthink-y one?!

Then she noticed that Diana had gone remarkably pink. Her eyes were still on the book, but there were details that Akko finally picked up once she let herself stare for just a minute.

Diana’s eyes weren’t moving. They were intense and boring a hole into what must have been the same passage on that very same page[3] for the past two minutes. Her eyes fluttered prettily, and Akko swooned a little.

She hooked their pinky fingers together—Diana had obliged willingly.

It was fascinating to watch the way she tried to steel her expression, but the way the column of her throat moved as she gulped was something Akko didn’t miss.

Oh, this was going to be the death of her. She pulled her own red eyes back towards her textbook.

Was Diana nervous too? Looked like it, at least a bit. The thought of it made the fluttering grow stronger than it ever did before, and Akko figured she was probably a raging shade of red by now.

But she loved every minute of it.

Diana—god damn it—pulled on the cuff of Akko’s sleeve to bring her hand closer, and pried her palm open, facing upwards.

And then she began to gently brush her fingertips along the inside of her palm, still feigning interest for her textbook, and Akko wanted to set herself on fire.

Akko never wanted this to end. Her heartbeat was going into overdrive, and she was pretty sure her palms were starting to sweat again but it was too late to care about that now, wasn’t it? Diana’s breathing seemed shallower, and that was a sentiment she could relate with. Somehow, it was comforting to see that she wasn’t the only one so nervous about this whole ordeal.

Praying to each and every one of her Asian ancestors, Akko steeled her nerves.

She’s going to do it.

She’s going to move in for the winning blow.

She splayed out her hands, gently, doing her best to caress every inch of skin Diana had in contact with her, before catching the spaces in between Diana’s fingers to fit her own hand snugly into a hold.

Diana was done pretending to care about the book. She had gasped, softly, and looked downwards towards their hands. She was blushing wonderfully, eyes wide, and the small smile that grew on her lips was an image Akko wanted to remember forever.

“Shall we take a break?” Diana finally broke their silence. She looked up towards Akko and—by the nine the look she was receiving was so tender it felt almost unreal.

“That’d be nice.” Akko giggled, dropping any pretense of disinterest as well.

Diana looked a little shy and hesitant, and Akko was about to ask why but then Diana leaned forward, snuggling close as she settled her forehead on Akko’s shoulder. She was trying to hide a grin. How sly!

“I can see the smile on your face, you know.” Akko’s giggles didn’t end, and she rarely spoke so softly.

“Can you blame me?” Diana’s speech was muffled against her shoulder, smile evident in the sound of her voice.

“Gotta admit, I can’t.” Akko’s grin was just as wide.

“I could get used to this.” Diana admitted, running her thumb against the back of Akko’s.

Now that they’d finally gotten to holding hands, they might have some trouble learning how to let go. Diana definitely showed no intention of doing so anytime soon.

Akko’s chest bloomed with warmth, affection, and something more.

Victory was sweet.

It was also a little sweaty and involved a lot of nerves and—

(Akko watched as Diana pulled herself upright again, bringing Akko’s hand closer towards her)

—it felt like a kiss to the back of her hand.

---

fin

---

A/N: Thank you to Tototops, who did a wonderful job beta reading and correcting all the little errors I made in this chapter! I appreciate you so much, you did so good!

Also yes hand holding is a BIG DEAL guys

#Diakko #Dianakko #Diakko Week 2020 #Dianakko Week 2020 #Diakko Week #Day 2: Hand Holding #Haha #Fluff #LWA #Diana Cavendish #Akko kagari #i love them sorry #our babies

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tigerkirby215 · 3 years

Text

Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything subclass Tier List

(Artwork from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Posted by @robmichel_art on Twitter. Copyright Wizards of the Coast.)

I was going to make some comparison posts between the UAs and the full release of Tasha’s but other more qualified people are doing that, so instead in my continued effort to pretend that this account is for more than just me satisfy my character building obsession I decided to make a little tier list ranking the subclasses from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything from my least favorite to my favorite.

This list is going to be comparing the subclasses from Tasha’s to each-other, but is also going to be comparing the subclasses to the other available subclasses for the class they’re from. So even if I really like a subclass it’ll lose points if the class already had better options. I’m not going to talk about any of the reprinted classes from Eberron or Ravnica but I will talk about the reprinted Theros subclasses (Eloquence Bard / Glory Paladin) as for many people this will be their first time seeing them.

Also it goes without saying but this is just my opinion! So sorry if you really like the next class you’re about to see because it’s at the bottom of my tier list!

F TIER

Psi Warrior (Fighter)

Well something had to be the worst. Truthfully I really wasn’t interested in the Psi Warrior during UA but wow its full release leaves a lot to be desired.

First let’s get the obvious out of the way: “Worse Battlemaster LUL!” It is laughable how bad this subclass is when compared to Battlemaster. BM gets to give itself advantage, give allies advantage, move allies, fear enemies, grapple enemies, give enemies disadvantage... and by comparison Psi Warriors get to do a little more damage or reduce a bit of incoming damage.

The fact that this subclass requires Intelligence confuses me to no end. They changed both Rune Knight and Soul Knife to not require intelligence (even though Rogues are kinda expected to have good Intelligence to help with skill checks) but Psi Warrior still needs INT? It amazes me that Battlemaster, Rune Knight, and Echo Knight are all SAD (single ability dependent) yet Psi Warrior of all subclasses is the one they consider too strong if you can min-max.

The biggest problem with this class by far is the Psionic Energy Die. Having your main class resource only come back after a Long Rest is insulting. (It’s the problem that Samurai Fighter has had since it was printed and it’s really sad that Wizards of the Coast didn’t learn from that.) While Battlemaster gets bigger die that have more effects which come back on a short rest Psi Warrior can only recharge one die per short rest. Honestly this subclass would be so much better if you regained Psionic Energy Die when using Second Wind (as well as having a dedicated action for it) so at least then you could have more than one die per short rest.

The only good level in this subclass is level 7, entirely because you get to Fly when you Dash. I mean, sure the UA Dragon Monk can also do that but at least this is in the official rules. Everything else that this subclass gets is weak: Telekinetic Thrust lets you do what Battlemasters were doing at level 3, Guarded Mind is just bad (Monk? Never heard of ‘em!), Bulwark of Force is mediocre at best (I know like 3 people who actually understand how cover works in 5e), and Telekinetic Master is a laughably weak capstone. Your capstone as a Fighter is a situational 5th level spell that takes away your ability to attack? Meanwhile actual spellcasters are casting 9th level spells, and other martials are doing upwards of 50 damage per turn.

At first I was largely indifferent to the Psi Warrior but after reading over all its abilities its laughable how bad it is. It at least surpasses Purple Dragon Knight in terms of mediocrity (ironic considering that the two of them are beside each-other on D&D Beyond) but it’s the only true stinker of Tasha’s, and it gets the honor of being the second weakest Fighter subclass and the weakest subclass in this book.

D TIER

Aberrant Mind (Sorcerer)

This is the best subclass to play if your only desire is to cast spells, and I mean that in the worst possible way. While every other Sorcerer has a defined class role Aberrant Mind feels like the most generic milk-toast subclass that you pick simply because you didn’t know what to play. While Clockwork Soul defends, Divine Soul heals, Draconic Bloodline blasts, Shadow Magic sneaks, Storm Sorcerer evades, and Wild Magic does memes Aberrant Mind’s only major strengths come online at level 14+.

Telepathy at level 1 is a joke when compared to the other Sorcerers. CS can negate advantage, DS gets Super Bless on top of access to the Cleric spell list, DB gets free Mage Armor, SM gets super Darkvision and the Half Orc racial trail, SS gets goddamn flight, and WM gets to kill the party at level 1 with a level 3 fireball. Meanwhile AM gets the Message cantrip with a longer range.

Psionic Sorcery is okay. Getting cheaper* (citation needed) spells that you can Subtle Spell for free is alright. The subclass spell list is good and seeing as you can sub out the spell to take better ones if needed you can really get some useful magic for your kit.

SPELLS TO LOOK AT AS AN ABBERANT MIND SORCERER

LEVEL 1

Dissonant Whispers is honestly a really good spell to have, but Arms of Hadar is a bit situational. If willing you can swap it out with: the utility Divination spells (Detect Magic / Identity - remember that Sorcerers can’t Ritual cast so it might be better for someone else to take these), Hex, Sleep, or Tasha’s Hideous Laughter.

LEVEL 2

Gift of Gab from Acquisitions Incorporated is either going to be a complete joke of a spell or the most useful spell in your arsenal. Hold Person is the most obvious choice from second level. Tasha’s Mind Whip is a great single-target damage spell with some added utility, and is almost objectively better than Mind Spike because it doesn’t require Concentration.

LEVEL 3

Both Hunger of Hadar and Sending are great spells, and there really aren’t a lot of Divination / Enchantment spells at third level. The only one I can really recommend is Tongues if you need the utility.

LEVEL 4

Evard’s Black Tentacles and Summon Aberration are both extremely strong spells, but if you want to replace them for some reason: Arcane Eye is essentially just a better familiar, Confusion is a great AoE disruption spell, and Locate Creature can be useful in a pinch.

LEVEL 5

Honestly the spell list really opens up at 5th level. Just about any choice is good, so look on D&D Beyond to see what to take. If you know me I’m going to recommend Synaptic Static.

Psychic Defenses, like with Psi Warrior, seems to have been taped onto the class because WoTC realized how weak it was so they just threw more situational garbage into its kit to compensate.

Revelation in Flesh is pretty much the only good ability you get. And granted there’s some insane utility with this ability. Not-quite-Blindsense, fly speed (best one), swim speed (worst one), and the folding ability that I’m sure will result in some interesting stories on Reddit. Warping Implosion is also a great escape-utility ability but like it’s your 18th level capstone of course it was going to be good.

If I was going to play in a level 20 one shot I’d perhaps roll up a level 20 Aberrant Mind. (Or more like a level 18 Aberrant Mind with 2 levels in Warlock because Sorcerer’s level 20 capstone sucks lol.) But unless I knew the campaign was going to at least level 15 I wouldn’t even bother.

Oath of the Watchers (Paladin)

It was boring in UA and it’s boring now. I feel bad that I have so little to say about Oath of the Watchers, especially after writing massive paragraphs about Psi Warrior and Aberrant Mind. But Oath of the Watchers feels like the worst parts of Arcana Cleric to me. Only difference is that while Arcana Cleric gets Wizard spells you get Moonbeam and help with Initiative. This subclass feels more campaign-specific than PHB Ranger and that’s really saying something.

Swarmkeeper (Ranger)

It’s certainly the most unique Ranger, both in terms of concept and in terms of abilities. It actually has a lot of utility with a good spell list and the Gathered Swarm feature providing a lot of great utility to a martial character. The thing is that in all honesty this subclass is kinda boring until level 15. And the other big problem is that the fantasy and roleplay that this subclass provides is so strange. When you think “Ranger” do you think master of the hunt, traveling through multiple dimensions and slaying powerful foes from the shadows with a tamed beast at their side? Or do you think “hurr durr bugzzz”?

This subclass feels like the one you pick when you've played literally every other subclass available, or when you get them from a random character generator. Ironically enough I do actually have a friend who made a Swarmkeeper for a one-shot I ran back when this subclass was in UA. But the fact that they made the character just to test UA shows just the type of characters that will be made with this subclass.

Way of Mercy (Monk)

You either love it or you’re completely indifferent, is what I have found the general opinion of Way of Mercy to be. Guess which camp I’m in. This subclass literally just feels like a Cleric with mobility whose healing comes back on a short rest. Time will see how OP “I can heal every turn and get my Cure Wounds back on a Short Rest” not-Cleric will be, but until then the subclass is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. For the people who wanted to play a healing Monk I’m happy for them.

Path of the Beast (Barbarian)

If I can sum up Path of the Beast in one word it’s “underwhelming.” Form of the Beast gives you three above-average weapons to choose from, Bestial Soul gives you some movement buffs, Infectious Fury lets you do some decent crowd control or damage spiking, and Call the Hunt lets you buff your party.

The thing is... you’re fighting against “resist all damage” (Totem Warrior), “protect your allies with your JoJo Stand” (Ancestral Guardian), “smite with the wrath of God” (Zealot), or “shoot lightning out of your goddamn chest.” (Storm Herald.) It’s not a bad subclass and honestly compared to some of the existing Barbarians (Beserker, Battlerager, and honestly Storm Herald is bad too) it’s pretty strong. But it’s just so, so boring.

I need to preface this by saying that Barbarian is probably my least favorite class in 5e and for what it’s worth I’m certainly more interested in playing Path of the Beast than say Battlerager, but I can’t help but feel that this subclass just lets you hit things better as the class that does nothing other than hit things. The only real positive I see to this subclass is the flavor, which absolutely carries it above the likes of Totem Warrior and Zealot. (Both of which I think are objectively stronger than Beast Barbarian.)

Clockwork Soul (Sorcerer)

It been mostly unchanged from playtest even though as I stated Clockwork Soul was one of the subclasses I was a little worried about. But even then the subclass just feels so boring to me. It seems like this subclass is entirely designed to be the “no fun allowed” character who just says “No U” to everything the DM does. Don’t get me wrong it’s certainly a strong defensive subclass but I feel like if you want to play a defensive spellcaster you’re more likely to play an Abjuration Wizard or a Cleric in general.

And the lore just doesn’t really click for me? I can understand how you’d have dragon blood magic, shadow soul magic, and celestial infusion magic. But how the heck do you get a Clockwork Soul? I know Mechanus is a thing in D&D but I feel like for the average normie this won’t make any sense.

Also RIP in piss Heat Metal from the subclass spell list. Here’s my suggestion for spells if you want to play a CSS:

LEVEL 1 - Absorb Elements, Armor of Agathys, Featherfall, Mage Armor, Shield

LEVEL 2 (Aid and Lesser Restoration are good but Aid chews through your spell slots) - Enhance Ability, Enlarge / Reduce

LEVEL 3 - Blink, Counterspell, Fly, Gaseous Form, Haste, Slow

LEVEL 4 (Tasha’s Summoning Spells are good but Freedom of Movement is highly situational) - Banishment, Polymorph

LEVEL 5 - Animate Objects, Passwall

C TIER

College of Creation (Bard)

It has a lot of interesting abilities. Performance of Creation in particular is arguably one of the strongest abilities for someone who knows the equipment page well in the PHB. The problem is just that unless you have a very specific build in mind I don’t really know why you’d play the College of Creation? It feels like a Conjuration Wizard... but it’s a Bard. Perhaps the biggest irony is how much stronger this subclass feels when compared to the Conjuration Wizard, but you really have to be in the mood to play a conjurer.

Oath of Glory (Paladin)

Having some experience playing this subclass in a one-shot (Theros yay!): it’s very hit-or-miss. The spell list is amazing, the Channel Divinities are mediocre at best, the aura is garbage (10 foot +10 movement aura LUL), Glorious Defense is insane, and Living Legend is a capstone ability so of course it’s going to be good.

I think the main reason you’ll pick this subclass is for their subclass spells. And don’t get me wrong: Guiding Bolt and Haste are crazy good. But considering that Paladins usually want to blow everything on Smites?

When I played this character it was a 9 level dip into Paladin with a 3 level dip into Warlock. I didn’t use a melee weapon and opted for Eldritch Blast spamming. And that’s essentially this subclass as a whole: it wants you to be a spellcaster, which is great if you multiclass into a spellcaster (Aura of Protection is always good) but it feels bad as an actual Paladin.

The new Fighting Style that lets you get some cantrips as a Paladin might make this subclass better, but you’re still stuck being a half caster. Can’t escape the feeling that an actual caster would be better.

Path of Wild Magic (Barbarian)

It’s fun, is all I can really say. The subclass is built almost entirely around the Wild Surge table you get at level 3 and all the effects are strong. (Thankfully none of them are OP like in UA.) Unstable Backlash means that with luck you should eventually get a good Wild Magic effect.

The use of a d3 for Bolstering Magic is still a crime. It should just be a d4, with the spell slot restoration thing being “reroll on a 4.” (Or better yet: “roll a d4 and take half the roll, rounded up.” I still think having an RNG chance to get back a Haste or Fireball is a bit too strong.)

B TIER

Fey Wanderer (Ranger)

All I can say is thank god this subclass got better. It went from a weird pseudo-Paladin to a subclass with its own identity and theme. The only ability that’s really weak currently is Dreadful Strikes since it encourages you to spread out your damage for no particular reason. Horizon Walker had a similar problem but you could still focus damage as Horizon Walker. And you were doing more than a d4 of extra damage.

But beyond that this subclass is great! The subclass spell list is very strong. Otherworldly Glamour gives you some utility as a party face. Beguiling Twist... is honestly a little hit-or-miss. But it’s made up for by Fey Reinforcements and Misty Wanderer. Having a non-concentration summoning spell along with near-unlimited Misty Step is so insanely powerful to keep out of harm and to keep your DPS up.

Fey Wanderer seems really good at a lot of the things a Ranger wants to do. It’s a good skill monkey (being good at Charisma which other Rangers usually aren’t), a good damage dealer, a strong defensive support, a great single-unit summoner, and incredibly slippery and mobile. I don’t know if it’s enough to make me play the class (Ranger’s flavor is still iffy for me overall) but it’s definitely on my list for subclasses to try someday!

Order of the Scribes (Wizard)

Order of the Scribes is the best default Wizard, which is its biggest strength and its largest weakness. Getting a free colored pen is fun and flavorful, being able to get all your spells back if you lose your spellbook is insanely useful, always having an Arcane Focus is great, being able to replace the damage type of your spells is MASSIVE, getting to cast a Ritual Spell with its normal casting time is situationally fantastic.

Getting what essentially amounts to a free familiar is amazing. Getting what essentially amounts to a free spell slot (to upcast a second level spell) is great, and is honestly worth multiclassinging into for a lot of classes. Being able to negate incoming damage as a Wizard (IE squishy d6 hit die baby) is huge, even if you lose a lot of spells in the process. (I assure you by level 14 you’re going to have some useless spells that you’re never going to cast.)

But the problem with Order of the Scribes is that it has to compete with Divination, Evocation, Chronurgy, and War Wizard. If you have any specific build you want to go for then the specific schooled subclasses are better. But if you “just want to cast spells or whatever” Order of the Scribes is a lot of fun.

I actually have a character who’d fit Order of the Scribes very well, it’s just that Chronurgy feels so much more fun even if it doesn’t fit him as well. And that’s literally the exact problem with Order of the Scribes summed up in one anecdote.

Peace Domain (Cleric)

You may be forgiven for thinking this subclass is just a Life Cleric that doesn’t wear Heavy Armor, but the Emboldening Bond and the upgrades it gets are incredibly useful. Protective Bond in particular is such a massive power boost to the tanks of your party, giving them mobility and letting them take damage for squishy allies.

Peace Domain is by far the best party buffing spellcaster. They make everyone else amazing, and while that may not be fun for everyone I’m a garbage Yuumi main so it’s right up my alley.

Circle of Wildfire (Druid)

“iT dOeSn’T hAvE fIrEbAlL aNyMoRe It’S bAd BeCaUsE nO fIrEbAlL” oh get over your Fireball fetish Reddit. Circle of Wildfire is carried pretty much entirely by its flavor. It’s such a unique take on a Druid it’s impossible not to find at least some build to make with this subclass.

That’s not to say that it’s a bad subclass! The summon feels weak but you get two of them per short rest. Having a powerful subclass feature tied to short rests is really nice as a spellcaster. All your other features are very useful and flavorful, though my one complaint is that Cauterizing Flames is hard to use in Theater of the Mind.

It’s just a very fun and unique subclass that offers a unique flavor to Druids that they don’t normally have. I’m sure a lot of players will be motivated to try a Druid just to take a crack at this class. Hopefully they realize that only you can prevent forest fires.

A TIER

Phantom (Rogue)

I’m actually surprised how much I like this class to be honest. I made a Phantom Rogue once as a joke for a one-shot and to my surprise the subclass is actually very powerful and fun! It surprisingly just feels like a better Rogue, but considering how strong Rogues are normally that’s all the better for Phantom Rogue. You can easily fill any skill proficiencies your party needs thanks to Whispers of the Dead, and Wails from the Grave really lets you increase your DPS.

Tokens of the Departed got a major boost from UA since it now lets you use Wails from the Grave more, but the flavor of being able to ask the souls of the dead for information is also great. Ghost Walk is just insanely useful in general, and Death’s Friend lets you do double Sneak Attack damage every turn! Imagine how much damage you’d do with a crit!

The flavor is the one thing that I think hurts this subclass, as it’s really hard to make essentially an undead Rogue without immediately being labeled as an edgelord. But if a party ever needs a Rogue to do all the things that a Rogue does this character is perfect!

I’m personally awaiting the day to bring back Bill, the Undead Kobold Detective.

Way of the Astral Self (Monk)

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JoJo subclass. I like JoJo. This subclass was overpowered in UA but the final release manages to capture the same feeling without being broken. Let’s go over the features one by one:

Arms of the Astral Self gives you a JoJo stand rush against everyone close to you, letting you recreate the flavor of JooJ without breaking action economy too much. But being able to prioritize Wisdom is huge to keep your Stunning Strike DC high while still getting good attack damage. But it’s still not OP since Dexterity is tied to your AC. It’s perhaps a little strong for multiclass builds (you can use your spellcasting modifier to attack) but multiclassing into Monk has always been kinda iffy, and Shillelagh has existed since the PHB was released. It should also be said that having Reach weapons as a Monk is huge, since you don’t have to get the Mobile feat to do hit-and-run.

Visage of the Astral Self is a nice social feature for a subclass that doesn’t normally get social features. Body of the Astral Self gives you more defense and offense. And Awakened Astral Self just further increases your defense and offense.

Excluding weeb shit this subclass just has awesome flavor. I’m actually planning on playing this subclass soon. (I’m playing a Cleric / Monk multiclass and I’m only level 2 in Monk currently.) I’m surprised myself that my first Astral Self character isn’t a fucking JoJo OC, considering that I already have a grand total of about 5 JoJo OCs.

Twilight Domain (Cleric)

Twilight domain also surprised me with how interesting it is. I don’t really have much to say other than it has a good mix of defensive, offensive, and utility abilities. Your subclass spell list is very strong for the most part. Eyes of Night and Vigilant Blessing are both just generally useful. Twilight Sanctuary isn’t insane but it’s consistent and it’s nice. Steps of Night is very strong and has a nice aesthetic. And Twilight Shroud is a good boost to your Channel Divinity.

The honest truth is that Twilight Domain feels kinda weak by comparison to some of the other Clerics. It’s no Forge, Grave, Life, or even Order Domain is all I can say. The fact that all your features only work in the dark is iffy if you don’t have shadows to sulk in. But along with just generally having good abilities the flavor is really what carries this subclass.

Here’s a meme:

Armorer (Artificer)

Artificer is one of my favorite classes so it’s no surprise that a new Artificer subclass excites me. Armorer fills a niche that I think Artificer didn’t have, and surprisingly it’s not the “tank” archetype. Armorer is still a good tank but the Infiltrator armor also gives you an option to play the subclass at range.

What I like is that Armorer is a subclass that doesn’t have a summon and puts more focus on your infusions. Armor Modifications is such a great feature that really brings the customization to Artificer. It truly lets you make your character your own instead of focusing on concrete class features. It doesn’t surpass Warlock Invocations for customizability, but it’s still great to get two personal magic items of your choice.

Yeah this subclass is going to be used a lot for min-maxing. Giving Wizards easy access to Heavy Armor is a little scary. But really if a Wizard wants to take a 3 level dip just for armor and the Guidance cantrip let them. Let the squishy boys have some AC for once.

Circle of Stars (Druid)

Full disclosure: I’ve been wanting to make a Stars Druid after the Rise of the Mountain expansion came to Legends of Runeterra. My first Druid had Telepathy (I took the Telepathic feat as a joke since I had a floating ability score) and it helped me realize how crazy a Druid with telepathy was for espionage. After seeing The Trickster celestial card from LoR I felt the artwork hit all three of my qualifiers for a character: class I want to play, great theme, and furry.

(Artwork by Kudos Productions. Made for Riot Games.)

My personal interest in this subclass aside: it has such a wonderful aesthetic that’s perfect for any character who wants an astral connection. The features are also great: Guiding Bolt is a strong spell to have as is Guidance, and having reactionary Bardic Inspirations is nice for a spellcaster.

But of course the main feature of Starry Form lets you still play the game normally while also benefitting from your Wild Shapes. Stars Druid is probably the second best Wildshape Druid despite not actually Wildshaping. Free Bonus Action attacks is huge, extra healing is always helpful, help with concentration (and Flight later) is really swell, and resisting all damage while not-Wildshaped is very helpful and lets you play as a pseudo Frontliner.

Stars Druid just does so many nice things and I think it’s a great subclass that can fit into any team comp. Druids are already insanely useful (arguably one of the strongest classes in 5e) so to have one that can do so much is massive.

Soulknife (Rogue)

Much like Phantom Rogue this subclass feels just really good in general. You can boost your skill checks and also add not-Bardic Inspiration to your attack rolls to do more guaranteed damage. However this subclass is by far the best Rogue for infiltration. Yes: even better than Assassin. (Though I’d perhaps suggest learning how to use a Disguise Kit.) 1 mile telepathy, teleportation, and invisibility all seem to be built for infiltration. If you have a DM who likes infiltration, espionage, and other encounters that don’t involve combat then Soulknife is by far the best subclass on offer.

But of course you aren’t picking Soulknife just to sneak around! The Psychic Blades are easily the most useful feature not just for Rogues, but for many builds! Having an unlimited supply of thrown weapon suddenly makes a lot more builds viable. My dreams of a ranged Paladin or ranged Barbarian are somewhat crushed by RAW, but there are still some niches that can be filled with unlimited throwing weapons.

Fun fact: you can’t do extra Rage damage with thrown weapons, but you can use Reckless Attack on thrown Finesse weapons. What’s more interesting is that you can’t use Divine Smite on thrown weapons, but you can use Improved Divine Smite on thrown weapons. But of course you can always talk to your DM to see what their final ruling is.

Rune Knight (Fighter)

You can become Giant which makes my stupid furry ass horny for Volibear and Nasus.

I mean I’ve gotta be honest like 75% of the reason I’m hyped for Rune Knight is to become a giant. But the runes are also very strong, giving the subclass some Battlemaster-esque gimmicks that have a bit more magical flavor than the other martials. I also really like that the subclass gets boosts to their skills, allowing you to help out of combat as a Fighter.

There isn’t much I can specifically praise about Rune Knight because the whole subclass is fantastic. It’s a very good mix of defense, offense, and utility both in and out of combat.

The Fathomless (Warlock)

Sheeyutu Nagakabouros. Nagakabouros-shee-shok.

Having played a Fathomless Warlock in UA I can safely say: it’s a good subclass. Having a consistent source of Bonus Action damage is nice, and being able to use it defensively is also great. Extra spells known as a Warlock is nice (and Evard’s Black Tentacles is a great spell!) And a teleport with a mile distance is rather crazy.

So much of the subclass is built around the tentacle which is great because the tentacle is such a great Bonus Action damage source. I really wish I had more to say but the power of this subclass starts and ends at how great having what amounts to an extra Eldritch Blast as a Bonus Action every turn is.

S TIER

College of Eloquence (Bard)

Yup. One of the best subclasses in this book was also in Theros. It helps that my favorite D&D character of all time was a College of Eloquence Bard.

This subclass got so much better since UA. Reliable Talent for Charisma checks at level 3 is fucking nuts! And on top of that Unsettling Words is a great way to soften enemies up for devastating spells. Universal Speech at 6th level pretty much singlehandedly enables the “peaceful” route with a lot of enemies, allowing you to talk your way out of problems.

But this bard is the king of inspiration! Unfailing Inspiration fixes the biggest problem with the Bard class, and Infectious Inspiration multiplies your Bardic Inspiration to a ridiculous degree. This Bard is just so reliably fantastic at Bard things, all while still being a full spellcaster that can make it harder for enemies to deal with spellcasters. It doesn’t get anything special from its subclass but you only got 3 features from your subclass as a Bard anyways. Baseline Bards are amazing and the insurance on your features from this subclass makes it all the better.

The Genie (Warlock)

If the fact that I stick Warlock levels into literally every build didn’t prove it I really like Warlocks, and Genie Warlock is easily the best Warlock subclass. Period. I actually have a post in the works where I go in-depth as to why Genie Warlock is so good. But in short:

Being able to choose between four subclass spell lists is crazy good. Like ridiculously good. A single level in this subclass gives you a Bag of Holding, a (single person) Leomund’s Tiny Hut, and a damage boost to all your attacks every turn!

6th level gives you damage resistance which is always good, but I seriously can not stress how ridiculous non-concentration Flight is for a Warlock. Your spell selection and spell slots are already so limited, and this subclass lets you get all the utility of flight pretty much whenever you please. Just think about how strong Aaracokra are and then consider that this is basically the Aaracokra’s only racial trait.

Sanctuary Vessel lets you upgrade your Leomund’s Tiny Hut power to affect the whole party. By this point you can indeed Long Rest in the lamp, and I need to stress how less suspicious a lone lamp is to a giant bubble of magical force. You could easily hide the lamp somewhere and (if the party is traveling light) be practically undetectable.

Oh and Limited Wish? So you know how the best feature of the Bard is their Magical Secrets? What if you got to choose (practically) any spell of 6th level or lower whenever you please? The only “problem” with Limited Wish is that you have to know every spell that you can pick from, but whenever “too much choice” is a problem in a game of infinite choices you know it’s a good feature.

Genie Warlocks do everything that Warlocks want to do so well. More damage on all your attacks to maximize the value of cantrip spamming, mobility to keep safe without spending spell slots, more high level spells, and giving the party a safe place to rest and recharge. I played a full Genie Warlock and absolutely loved it. I highly recommend this subclass to anyone who wants to play a Warlock. It’s just so versatile and useful I’m sure anyone can find a way to enjoy playing it.

#Tasha's Cauldron of Everything #ranking #tier list #dnd #dnd 5e

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maarmendes · 4 years

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Hitoshi Shinso » Stray Kitten

Warnings: None. Genre: Fluff. Pairing: Hitoshi Shinso x Reader Word Count: 1779 Tag: @bnhabookclub ;; @ya-basic-bench ;; @bozowrites

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Nighttime had always been your favorite part of the day. While your classmates dragged themselves to bed after dinner, you were ready to run a marathon. The moon filled you with energy and going to bed early was never an option. Usually, you'd take this time to study or read some books in your room as to not bother anyone, but the many naps you took during the day left you with way more energy than usual. Thanks to your quirk - Feline - no one would question your sleeping patterns, most thought it was adorable how much you resembled a cat. Your friends would let you use their lap as a pillow, making you purr with their head pats. It was a bit embarrassing.

You scratched your ears as you started painfully itching from the inside, the body begging to change and you let it. Your quirk gives you the appearance and traits of a cat such as cats ears, a tail, enhanced senses, and better reflexes... All the traits any feline possesses. What people didn't know was the unexplainable ability to fully morph into a cat. It started as a kid when you'd hide under the bed as a small kitten taking your parents hours to find you sleeping. Now you'd stroll around in cat form whenever your body craved for the change.

You were lazily strolling down the hall, all the lights were off and the building was quiet, when you hear a door open and the light flickered. Frozen in place, you couldn't think of an escape plan other than to run, so you did. You bolted in the opposite direction as fast as possible before whoever it was saw you. And then you bumped headfirst into something.

"What the-" A voice caught your attention. "A cat? Are you lost, buddy?"

You look up at Shinso in fear. Animals weren't allowed in the dorms and, since no one knew about your morphing ability, there was a possibility someone would lock you out thinking you were a stray cat who found a way in. So you hissed at the boy, trying to get him away from you.

"Hey, hey... It's okay, buddy. I'm not gonna hurt you."

His tone was soft as he squatted down to offer you his hand. Something told you, you could trust Shinso. He was transferred into your class not that long ago but he had shown you many times he was trustworthy. Not that you'd talk a lot but he'd offer to help you whenever he saw you struggle in any way. whether it was carrying heavy stuff for you, helping you in math, or giving you book suggestions. Whenever you found yourself in a tough spot, Shinso would be there. So, deep down, you knew he was a caring person.

So you caved in and let him pet you. An involuntary purr escaped you when he scratched that one spot behind your ear and the most enchanting smile spread across his face. You couldn't help but stare at him in awe. You had no idea Shinso could smile, let alone smile like that. To your demise, the boy took that as acceptance and picked you up. You considered your options. You could run away from him and hide somewhere until he gave up on you... But you liked this. You liked being in his arms, his hand on your head as he carried you to his room. So you let yourself be taken care of.

The boy left you in his room as he got a bowl of milk for you to drink. You thought you might as well play along and rub yourself in his legs, meowing lowly to get another one of those divine smiles out of him. You were enjoying the attention, but most of all you were enjoying this side of him. He'd talk to you as you drank the milk, as if he was talking to a friend.

"I bet you were feeling lonely, outside in the cold. Maybe that's why you sneaked in, huh? Well, at least now we can keep each other company." The boy sighed and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his legs. "I can't sleep very well, you know? I tried to lay in bed for hours but I can't sleep. My head keeps running, never stopping. I guess you could call me an insomniac." He chuckled. "You remind me of someone. Your fur matches their hair color, your eyes have this glint in them just like theirs too... Well, must be a feline thing, or maybe the lack of sleep is getting to me."

He fell back onto his bed, his arm draped over his eyes as he took a deep breath. You wanted to answer him, tell him he wasn't imagining it, that it's you and that you're here for him if he needs but all that came out were meows. So you did the next best thing and jumped onto his bed, lying next to him. If words didn't work, actions would have to speak for themselves. He smiled tenderly at you, wrapping his arm around you almost instinctively. It crossed your mind that it might be selfish of you to be enjoying his attention this much when he didn't know it was you, but the purring in your chest spoke louder than your conscience.

Soon, Shinso's breathing slowed as he fell asleep next to you. The lines in his face softening as he relaxed next to you. You considered leaving while he slept, letting him sleep peacefully, but his arm wrapped around you gave you a reason to follow your selfish desires. So you did. You snuggled closer to him, your head resting on his shoulder as you let yourself drift to sleep. What was the worst that could happen?

Well, the worst that could happen... Would be to change back in your sleep. You slowly blinked awake, still feeling sluggish as you snuggled closer to Shinso, your arm draped over his chest, your leg over his and your face hidden in his neck. For a moment you didn't take in what had happened. Then you shot up, pushing away from him, your face hot with embarrassment. To your poor heart's contempt, Shinso groaned, sneaking his arm around your waist and pulling you back onto his chest.

"Sh-Sh-Shinso!" You complained, trying to pull away but he wouldn't let you go.

"Shh... Calm down, Kitten." He hushed, his eyes still closed as he slid his hand behind your head to keep you close and mumbled lowly, his lips brushing against your forehead. "It's okay. Stay with me."

"I'm so sorry..." You hid your face in your hands, his low chuckle only deepening your blush.

"What a sneaky kitty..." he pealed one of your hands away from your face bringing it to his lips to place a soft kiss on your knuckles. "If you wanted to cuddle, you could've asked you know? You didn't have to surprise me like that."

"Stop that!" You tried to push him back once again to no avail, only earning another laugh. "It was an accident, okay? I didn't know what to do and then you were so sad and tired and- and I couldn't just leave!"

Your reasoning took Shinso by surprise. He didn't think you'd consider him that much. When he felt the change of weight and woke up to you wrapped in his arms, he had to admit it caught him by surprise, but he didn't dislike it at all. He loved it. He took the opportunity to pretend he didn't notice and keep you in his arms for just a little bit longer. He knew it was selfish of him to take advantage of you like this but he couldn't wake you up. He didn't want to. He thought maybe you liked being taken care of, that's why he thought you stayed, he just never thought about why you didn't leave.

You took his silence as consent and once again laid your head on his shoulder, your hand softly tracing shapes on his chest. Your face was still red but you'd rather stay embarrassed by his side than to run away from him. This could be the only chance you could enjoy his company this way and you would never ruin it. To your delight, Shinso wrapped his arms tightly around you, pulling you closer and placing a soft kiss on your forehead, lingering for a bit longer. You couldn't stop yourself from purring, making Shinso look at you with an amused look on his face. You tried to avoid his gaze but his fingers brushing against your cheek brought your eyes back to his, once again getting caught in that glorious smile of his.

His alarm brought you guys back to reality. Shinso sighed, annoyed at the interruption, and moved to turn it off. You took this opportunity to get up and make your way to the door. You mumble an excuse about not getting caught in his room as you sneak away from his dorm and run towards your room. The whole time you spent getting dressed and ready for class, the feeling of Shinso's arms around you or his soft touch wouldn't leave your mind. You had left him not even an hour ago and you already missed his soft touch as if he could break you if he wasn't careful. The sight of his smile was forever engraved in your mind. As much as you tried to shake it off, you could never get rid of Shinso's enchantment.

Getting to the kitchen, you spot Shinso sipping his coffee along with some other classmates. He shot a smirk your way that made your tail swing excitedly and your cheeks heat a bit. You tried to pretend he didn't stir you as you prepared your breakfast but his voice would always catch your attention.

"What's up with you, dude? You're in a good mood. You're even smiling!" Ojiro commented, only making your cheeks flare-up.

"Yeah, Shinso! Something good happened?" Kaminari teased and you could feel your tail swinging, giving Shinso all the proof he needed that you were listening.

"Nothing much." He sipped on his drink, waiting for you to sneak a peek at him over your shoulder. "Just found a cute stray kitten last night. I guess it helped me sleep better. That's all."

You turned to glare at him only to be locked into his smug face. Thankfully his friends didn't get it, thinking it was another of his jokes, but you knew. Only you two knew. Shinso winked at you, his finger pressed against his lips, a gesture you somehow knew the meaning off.

Our little secret.

[MASTERLIST]

#bnhashort #bnha scenarios #bnha fanfiction #bnha #bnha fic

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theflashdriver · 4 years

Text

Trial by Flyer (A Silvaze AU)

The campus was dark and silent tonight, the wind wasn’t whistling through the trees and what little star and moonlight would have shone its way to her was being blocked out by a thick wall of clouds. Blaze the cat, age sixteen, shouldn’t have been out here at so late an hour. Midnight had just passed, the witching hour had arrived, and yet, this feline witch was supposed to be long in bed. Instead, where was she? Sat at the bottom step of the outdoor amphitheatre, fingers steepled and her right foot tapping uncontrollably as she awaited her best friend.

The Marble Garden School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a place of learning only for the chosen few and, as such, there were many serious rules that were mandatory to abide by. There were a multitude of simple rules that, if broken, could result in a severe punishment of expulsion; girls weren’t supposed to enter the boys’ dormitories (and vice versa), you weren’t allowed to cast nefarious spells on other students, there were to be no paid additional studies and, the rule that Blaze was currently breaking, all students had to be in their respective dormitory buildings before eleven at night. Just being out here was making her anxious, quadrupling her heartrate and making even the most minor of sounds all the more terrifying.

Blaze was a good student, well… a mostly good student; a good student as much as she could control being a good student. While she rarely raised her hand in class, only answering questions when she was called upon, she listened diligently to her lecturers, studied all she’d learned thoroughly every night, shirked social and extracurricular opportunities and took additional time at the library whenever possible. She put in more effort than any other student she knew of, that wasn’t a matter of pride so much as a fact that her teachers wouldn’t stop reminding her of. Whenever she did well on a test or whenever they wanted to give an example of a good student, her name would quickly fall from their lips followed by a heaping of praise.

Yet, despite all the praise she received and how good of a student she was, here the feline sat; so casually breaking curfew. It was as if she was trying to be caught even, a heavy bag sat beside her and she was dressed in the garb that she’d chosen as her uniform- a tall hat with a golden buckle and belt adorned her head ita long sleeved purple dress that frilled out at the cuffs and hem covered her body only to be topped by a purple-leather mantle, a set of thick purple tights with golden swirls decorating them and a pair of high heeled boots to match. The only aspect of her dress that wasn’t purple and gold were her gloves, stark white evening gloves that reached deeply into her sleeves. If she was seen, for a plain an outfit she’d tried to pick (from a very limited list of options) she’d be recognised on sight; a fact that was making it all the harder to not just run back to her-

A voice suddenly assumed the entirety of her mind’s attention, not entering through her ears but jumping directly into her brain, “Blaze! I’m so sorry, I’m running a little late. The groundskeeper was cleaning a mess outside the boy’s dorms, I had to sneak out through the window. I won’t be much longer!”

Quickly, Blaze raised her pointer fingers to the air and set their tips alight. Intricately, methodically, she traced a pair of intricate and overlapping sigils in the air and closed her eyes. The moment they were completed, she brought those fingers to her temples and thought in the loudest voice possible, “Silver. It is okay, I am glad you were not caught. I am waiting at the agreed location, please come quickly. Did you remember your notebook?”

A moment passed but no reply came.

Her fingers left her temples and her eyes flickered open but the symbols she’d cast had already faded from the air. A sigh slipped from her mouth as she recrossed her legs and resumed waiting, uncertain that her message had left her, let alone reached its intended reciprocate. He wasn’t that late, and the boy’s dormitories weren’t too far from the amphitheatre, but every second spent out her left more chance that they’d be caught. The moment he arrived, they could achieve the motive of their rule-breaking and quickly sneak back to their respective rooms.

Oh, who was she kidding; this wasn’t going to go nearly as quickly as she hoped.

It was as she had that thought that a twinkling of light, like a small cluster of stars had managed to split through the clouds, drew her attention. She looked up, frowning hard at the glow as she attempted to identify it; as it drew closer, she understood it to be the form she was awaiting. Silver the hedgehog, also age sixteen, was descending from the sky as though he was carried by a moonbeam; wrapped in cyan, psychic, light, his form was difficult but not impossible to distinguish. Before he arrived, the feline jumped to her feet and dusted herself off, quickly scanning their surroundings to make certain no one else had been watching them. He landed without a sound; standing next to her, still coated in energy, his height only just superseded hers due to the nature of his tall quills. If she wasn’t wearing heels of course, the different between them would be far clearer.

With the flaring of his fingers, the light faded from him but that new sight entirely perplexed Blaze. She’d noticed his lack of hat, thus being why she wasn’t presently taller than him, but not the lack of his other garb. Silver stood before her, dressed in a short-sleeved green t-shirt and a pair of baggy pyjama trousers.

“Silver,” She half whispered half grumbled, trying to keep her voice down but make it clear that she was perturbed, “Where are your robes, where is your notebook?”

His bright yellow eyes seemed to dance for a moment, looking to her before down to his own frame. As a realisation hit, his quills shot up straight and a hint of embarrassment overcame his muzzle, “Sorry, I forgot to drop the charm. I figured I’d be too bright if I tried to scout a path dressed normally, give me a moment.”

Like a chimneysweep dusting soot from his body, the symbols on his palms flaring, Silver began to pat himself down. With no more than those touches, he unearthed the outfit that he’d hidden- he wore open robes with flaring sleeves (cut with a keyhole window that exposed the upper portion of his chest fur), a set of baggy trousers and some thick boots with metal caps. That description made the outfit seem basic but, in truth, it was anything but that; head to toe, Silver glowed with a strange bioluminescence that matched the symbols on his hands. Scales and lines like mycelia flared additional light from seemingly random points on his person, forming jagged lines both across and up his visage. In some places it made sense, like on the buttons of his mantle and hemming his clothes, but in others it seemed nonsensical.

To conclude this transformation, he slicked his fingers through his quills and revealed what Blaze thought to be the most ludicrous cap worn by any student in this entire school. As if to compensate for the muting of his own overgrown quills, often having to be pulled back into a braid or ponytail, Silver’s choice of hat was so tall that its point had bent not three days beyond his arrival at this school. It was faintly glowing and cyan, alike the rest of his garb, but the underside of its large rim especially so. It looked as though his head was topped with a large, bioluminescent, mushroom cap with incredibly bright gills.

Reaching into his robes, he drew out his notebook and beamed at her, eyes still shining even while his hat tried its damnedest to obscure them, “There, is that better?”

Realising quite how intently she’d been staring at this magical display, Blaze quickly turned away and busied herself within her bag; though she’d thoroughly enjoyed the display, he was eating up their time. Under her breath, half hoping he didn’t hear, she murmured, “You’re so naïve.”

She pulled out her own notebook, flipping it open to her most recent writings. In a cursive, neat and elegant, font were two pages of heavily sourced notes pertaining to the history and practice of future prediction and other sorts of divination magic. She managed to walk beside him, still not looking to him, and show him the pages.

“These should help you start your essay, at the very least. All these books are available in the library but, if they’re taken out, I have my own copies that you can borrow,” She tapped one name in particular, “Look out for books and stories by and about her in particular, Amelia Rose. Her works are a lot older but, while I find them too flowery, they’re a very good source.”

She dared to throw a glance in his direction only to find him staring at the pages as if the several dozen names and notes were going in one of his ears and out the other. His words seemed to leave some kind of impact on him though as he managed to nod at them, “Amelia Rose, Amelia Rose, okay!” Blaze went to tear the two sheets free for him to slot into his own book, but a fumbling hand caught hers before he could, “Don’t worry about that, you need to write this essay too, right?” She looked to him incredulously only for him to start beaming again, “I learned a new spell, watch this!”

He shuffled his way just behind her, reaching around her shoulders. As if it was the most normal thing in the world, Silver plopped his notebook face town atop hers Almost immediately, Blaze felt her tail stiffen and bump against him as his arms came to rest atop his and his frame pushed so close to hers. Two of his fingers pushed against the back of both his pad’s covers and began to weave small circles. They traced from top left to right, gradually going along and down line after line after line. She watched as sparks of excess cyan energy, that which the book didn’t absorb, slipped from beneath his fingers and fluttered in the air before them. Quickly, the tenseness in her tail faded and she felt herself relax into his grasp, but she wasn’t thinking about that. She was simply enamoured by whatever it was he was doing.

So enamoured in fact that when he flipped his book in a single movement, uttering an overly pleased, “Tada!” It took Blaze a moment to come to her senses and realise what he’d done. Her words, her exact handwriting, had been copied onto the pages of his book. He’d learned this spell specifically so that she didn’t have to duplicate her notes for him, her notes could simply duplicate themselves.

“You’re so…” She went to reprimand for acting without explaining, for allowing his talent to swallow the entirety of her attention again, only to notice something comically foolish, “Your book was upside-down…”

“W-What? Oh, um…” He lifted it from hers, stepping out from behind her and squinting at the writing incredulously, “It’ll still work for studying though, right?”

“It should do,” She comforted him, but at the showing of his notebook a question rose to mind, “Did you get my message earlier?”

“Oh, yeah! You’re getting way better at telepathy Blaze,” He was smiling again, “You said it was ok and to come quickly, right?”

Ah, so the end of her message had been cut off. Her casting, even of that basic spell, was still far from perfect… unlike his.

While Blaze excelled at all things theoretical, she could easily write essay upon essay and was quick to learn that which she heard or could read, Silver was a master of practical magic. Without really understanding what he was doing, the hedgehog frequently found himself successfully casting spells on a whim and without particularly understanding their idiosyncrasies. To contrast this, despite putting in an equal amount of effort as her, Silver was especially bad at deskwork; he’d attempt to answer teacher’s questions and routinely be incorrect as well as, despite weeks of study, barely earn passing grades in written exams. Curiously enough, just as she mirrored his written ability, Blaze was lacking when it came to practical magical talent. When it came to offensive spells and fire magic, she was fairly adept at casting but anything beyond that seemed to be out of her reach. Telepathy was one of the first spells they’d been taught, and she still couldn’t transmit full thoughts, only brief fragments; abjuration, conjuration, transmutation and illusionary techniques, outside of only the most basic, were beyond her.

One would think that, for those reasons, the two wouldn’t get along but they’d formed a strong bond in their first year. It’d been very obvious to Blaze that the hedgehog was struggling, he wore his heart on his sleeve in such a blatant way, and she had taken some degree of pity on him. That pity had soon been corrupted by a mutual admiration of course, even during their first year (3 years ago) he’d shown such magnificent talent, and that admiration had forged the bonds of their friendship. They looked after each other, helped each other wherever possible and promised to come to the other for help… just as she had offered an exchange and asked him to break some rules tonight. She’d thought she’d have to beg but he’d agreed without hesitating.

“So, Friday’s test…” She led, knowing that day was only one more night away, “I know this is a little short notice, I thought I could maybe do this myself, but-

A pair of hands found hers, palm topped palm as her fingers held her tight.

“We help each other, Blaze. There’s nothing to worry about,” She caught his eye again and knew that he was being genuine, “Of course I’ll teach you to fly!”

Blaze’s gaze slipped from Silver. Her stomach was churning, it felt as though the world was spinning, the mere mention of that word and all it implied made her slightly sick. On Friday, they had their first real test of this semester- a flying obstacle course set up on the sports grounds, a small path that they had to complete. Even outside her difficulty casting a spell that would allow her to fly, Blaze had a rather significant fear of heights; when she’d arrived at her dorm room within the girl’s tower she’d almost panicked at the view from her window. For this reason, while other students had made the extracurricular effort to learn flight, Blaze had only just started to learn. She’d tried to find the right spell for her over the past few weeks, researching thoroughly, but none of them had worked with her specific type of magic.

“Alright, th-thank you Silver,” She managed to glance at him again, only to find that he’d leaned in closer, “What do you think the first step is?”

Silver’s hands slipped from hers, he fumbled with his chest fur in thought for a moment, “Well, it’s probably best to start at the beginning; you need to take off. From there, it’s just learning to control yourself; that gets way easier with practice!”

“Right, taking off…” She considered, still rather disgusted, “How would you recommend I do that? I don’t think your method will work for me.”

As if to exemplify why his method wouldn’t work, a gentle hue of cyan light overtook Silver’s frame and carried him into the air. He flipped to hover upside down, looking her in the eye as he sunk deeper into thought, “Probably not…” His eyes seemed to dance across her body, lingering on her hands before finishing at her feet, “I’ve been thinking about this for a while, you can make fire come from anywhere, right?”

With no more than a thought, Blaze allowed a pair of flaming plumes to emerge from her shoulders and dance in the windless night before having them vanish and growing a set of vague flame-wings, “Anywhere on my body, as much as I can muster.”

“Well…” He looked like what he was about to say was foolish, “What if you made yourself like a rocket? What if you shot fire from the bottom of your feet and pushed yourself into the air?”

It was, it was very foolish, “Silver, even if I could do that, it’d be incredibly unstable and almost impossible to balance. If my top half leaned over then I’d fly in just about any direction, I could race to the ground like a falling star.”

“I thought about that too!” He beamed, “What if you used your hands to make almost… stabilisers? Like what people put on a bike so they don’t fall over, only for flying.”

For as ridiculously as he’d phrased it, that was a fairly succinct counter to her issue. There was however a magnitude of issues still both swirling in her gut and with his plan, “Ok, but that presupposes that I can even make enough thrust to lift myself, Silver. I really doubt that I can…”

“Oh, have you tried before? Darn, I really thought it’d work…” He went back to thinking, almost seeming to scan her body again, but those words had made Blaze’s mind even more of a mess.

Her gaze broke from his and she hesitated again, looking at her hands and conjuring small flames. The rate with which flame emerged from her was something she could control but she’d never truly thought to, “Not really, no.”

“You haven’t? Can we try it then?” Her uncertainty must have been showing because he flitted back around, looking her in the eye, “I’ll stay right next to you, I won’t let you fall, I promise!”

She gulped, “Do you?” It was a question she already knew the answer to but worry was brewing in her gut.

“Of course, I’m here to help you, Blaze!” He insisted, preparing her arms as if she was already about to catch her, “I would never let you down.”

“Ok,” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, “I’ll give it a shot…”

Blaze was rather unsure what to do with herself to become more aerodynamic, but she gave it her best. She pushed her heels together but kept her toes far apart, keeping her hands parallel but separate to her waist with her palms pointed towards the ground. Lighting a flame was easy, she had just done it with a thought, but producing a constant and controlled flame would be just a little bit harder. She focused her attention on the underside of her boots and centre of her palms, trying to pool all of her arcana evenly over those four spots.

A thought dawned upon her, “Should I I just let it go or should I jump and do it from the air?”

“T-Try just letting it go,” Silver’s voice cut through her focus, “It looks like you’re doing rea-

A single lapse in her concentration was all it took. As Blaze was trying to focus on his words, the seal keeping her flames from spilling free lapsed. A thunderous force, larger than any Blaze had tried to conjure before, burst from all of four of her extremities with an unrelenting roar and launched her straight up into the air. The moment she opened her eyes, Blaze was met with cloud but soon they passed and cracked to reveal an unending array of stars dancing around the moon. For a single moment, as her eyes lingered on the shining crescent above, she felt joy; she’d done what she thought impossible, she’d successfully taken off… but she was still soaring.

There was no ceiling to stop her and, much more terrifyingly, no safety net beneath her. She’d shot off without warning, she had no idea how fast she’d flown or what kind of noise she was making. It was possible she’d woken up the whole campus, it was probable that one of the nightguards had noticed! She was going to get them in so much trouble! As she glanced around herself in an attempt to find Silver, she forgot how important the positioning of her palms was and sent herself into an upwards corkscrew. Now spiralling, her hat having long fallen from her head, Blaze fought to regain control but soon found herself spinning on more than one axis.

Her focus and control waned, the fire at her limb’s ends snuffed and soon she reached the apex of her ascent. For the briefest of moments, she felt weightless, having tumbled up to mingle with the stars, but she very quickly found herself plummeting. With the wind rushing around her frame, Blaze couldn’t relight her form and, even if she could, her feet and hands were in such wrong positions.

She started to scream, the sound had just begun to leave her lips, when something soft found her back and hooked around the underside of her legs. She couldn’t have fallen for half a metre before that gentle touch had found her and brought them both to a standstill in the air. Lit by the moon more than his powers; Silver’s smile was huge and his eyes sparkled down at her. She’d landed in his arms; he was holding her back and beneath her legs, clutching her close to his body in an attempt to secure her. His face, his smile, it was all so close; she couldn’t recall anyone else ever looking at her like this, especially not after she failed.

“Are you alright? Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” He insisted, but before she could say a word his smile almost tripled, “You did it Blaze! You flew!”

“I-It was more like I exploded! Don’t be so naïve!” She tore her gaze from him only to be confronted by their current height. Despite her blush and false-fury, Blaze was forced to meet his gaze, “Don’t act like that was a success!”

“What’re you talking about, you took off!” He sounded so excited, “You managed to learn that so quickly, I was sure it’d be the hardest part, the rest should be a cinch!”

She felt him shift just a little, something popped into the corner of her vision; a certain black hat that’d been lost in her flight. Snatching it, simultaneously gripping him tight with her remaining arm, she used the garment to hide her face, “Stop being so naïve…it’s not going to be that easy.”

A brief silence overcame them and Blaze found herself shrinking further into her hat and, almost by mistake, deeper into his arms. Over the past handful of months, Blaze had been catching herself in these positions more and more often; every single time she had only herself to blame, though she’d usually berate him for his part in them. They’d be studying in the library, sitting side by side as they read, and her head would just so happen to find comfort on his shoulder, or they’d be walking across campus and she’d, eventually, notice that their fingers had intertwined. Prior to this year, Blaze hadn’t thought much of these occurrences, they’d just sort of happened, but idle gossip, fresh from the girl’s common room, had made her far more aware of these things.

Silver’s talent hadn’t gone unnoticed by their lecturers or, as Blaze had come to learn, their classmates. The bizarre bubbling sickness that Blaze had experienced when another student had expressed interest in the hedgehog and pried about their relationship was unlike anything she’d felt prior. Though she’d wanted to deny the rumour, she’d found herself entirely unable to.

Hesitantly, she flicked up the brim of her hat for a small glance at him. Despite her prior rudeness, he looked entirely unphased; the wizard in training was simply looking up at the sky and smiling, taking in the stars. The way the night-light seemed to colour his fur, let alone the expression it managed to put on his face, was just a little dazzling. It’d taken her a while to really understand it, but there was something rather… aesthetically pleasing about his form. Nothing she ever planned to admit aloud of course, especially not to him, but after that girl had mentioned it, the changes he’d undergone over the years and the way his eyes sparkled did make for a rather pleasing visage (even despite his silly robes).

Realising that she’d been thinking for much too long and noticing him turning back in her direction, Blaze quickly made a demand, “I want to try again.”

“Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready,” He affirmed, still smiling as his gaze returned to her, “You can stand on my feet if you want. That way you’d be up straight, it might help you get used to this.”

“It means I’ll be free of this embarrassing position, I’m willing to try anything,” She huffed but, moments later, caught herself and realised what she’d said. He was trying his best to help her, he probably didn’t even think this was embarrassing, “You’ll still… hold me, won’t you?”

“I won’t let go until you tell me too, I promise,” The hedgehog pledged.

She shifted in his grasp, clinging tightly to his shoulders, and, ever so gently, he slipped his hold from her legs. It took a little bit of fumbling but, eventually, she managed to perch herself on the tips of his boots. Despite how painful it’d surely be if they were on the ground, this change of position didn’t seem to bring him any discomfort as he glided his remaining free hand around her back.

The young witch peered over his shoulder and her gaze fell upon the thick cloud barrier beneath them. Up here, no lecturers or other students could see them; they were alone with the night’s celestial bodies. Though being above the clouds did frighten her, the fact that they couldn’t see the ground was making things a lot easier. She knew that Silver wouldn’t let her fall, she believed in his abilities, but having that a fluffy-fake ground beneath them was doing her a world of good. Gradually, she managed to shift some of the tension from her shoulders and hold him in a less life-or-death manner.

He seemed to notice the shift, “Alright, maybe you should start with your feet? That way we can keep holding each other.”

That made sense but, truth be told, letting go seemed a little easier than stepping off and into the abyss, “One foot at a time?” She hesitantly suggested.

“Try to use just enough energy to lift you but not to change how high you fly,” Silver recommended, “Once you’ve figured that out once, you should understand how it feels and be able to do it again.”

Blaze heaved a shallow breath and closed her eyes, “Okay… okay…”

She leant back just a little, allowing her left foot to depart from his frame. It took no more than a thought for her to produce a small flame but that would not provide enough thrust to keep her afloat. Slowly, gradually applying more power to her newfound thruster, Blaze felt precarious half of her body begin to shit up and away from the anchored half. Working down and up in smaller and smaller increments, she sought equilibrium for what must have been minutes before finally finding something close to it. She focused on the feeling of flames flowing freely from her heel, their exact measure and rate as well as the small pressure being put upon her knee and the greater one on the arch of her foot.

Once she’d held it for a few moments, she dared to open her eyes and look to Silver, “I think it’s time for the right one. Could you…” She hated the only way that she could think to phrase this, “Hold me a little tighter.”

Silver, without even hesitating, moved his hands to grasp the robes above her shoulder blades. The look in his eyes reinforced his prior promise and gave her all the motivation she needed. Her right foot left his boot and, though the shift in weight made her dip just a little, with its ignition, it was easy to make it match her left. Blaze found herself to be hovering, hanging in the sky by her own accord.

When she managed to tear her eyes from her boots, she found that his smile had tripled in size, “You’re doing it Blaze!”

“Sh-Shush,” She hissed, feeling herself grow redder as more flames sputtered from her soles, “I’m trying to concentrate.”

The feline took a moment; shifting the ball of her foot seemed to allow for a degree of dexterity on her part- if she angled her shoe correctly then the flames would correspond and allow her to drift. Slowly, gradually, Blaze managed to bring herself to circle the hedgehog and bring him to spin on the spot. Every time she dared to glance at him, she found an even greater look of amazement on his face. Eventually, finally, she decided to halt her practice.

“I think I’m ready,” She decided.

Silver simply nodded and, clearly trying not to disturb her, released the tension at his fingertips but did not shift his hands; he left that final move entirely up to her.

She slowly slipped from beneath his fingers but, just when as his arm were about to fall to his sides, dared to grasp his right hand, “I still want you to stay close though.”

Her movements were made more awkward and slow by her lack of an anchoring point but, soon, the two of them were gliding together. With each passing second of flight, as she acclimatised herself and grew accustomed to the movements, she felt the heavy iron ball in her gut gradually shrink. She refused to let herself think this was fun, especially not while she was holding his hand so tightly, but she did permit herself an internal admission that this wasn’t entirely awful. Skating over a sea of clouds, surrounded by starlight and hand in hand with her best friend? It was very difficult to think of this as awful, even if not seeing the ground was a huge part of it.

Tentatively, trying something new, Blaze managed to turn and face him while still flying in the same direction.

The shift came with a small increase in speed but Blaze took that in stride, “Is there anything you think I should try, Silver?”

“Well, the test is supposed to be fairly simple, it’s just a little obstacle course. It focuses on manoeuvring through the air…” He mused aloud before, in a serious tone, making a foolish suggestion, “If you’re alright with separating, we could play a game of tag?”

It was a childish proposition or, at least, that was Blaze’s first thought. Her second thought was far more positive though as she realised what his suggestion implied, his natural talent and experience flying meant that he could already soar to the academy’s standards. If she could even just follow his path then, surely, that meant she would pass too. There was only one problem- she’d have to separate from him.

Blaze brought herself to a halt, allowing her thumb to glide over his knuckles, “If I call out, I know you’ll come and catch me…” Something about this, assumedly the fact that her training had taken on such an embarrassing form, was rebolstering her blush, “But I’d like to hear you say it again.”

“If you fall, I’ll catch you, Blaze. I promise,” He swore, his smile totally vanished and his most serious face took its place, “You won’t even touch the clouds.”

Her fingers slipped from his, she was on her own in the sky, “So, how are we going to do this?”

“How about you fly away from me first and then, if I catch you, I’ll try to keep away from you?” He’d phrased it in such an honest way that, were it anyone else proposing it, she’d think they were being condescending. He really thought there was a chance that he wouldn’t be able to catch her and that he wouldn’t have to slow down so she could catch him.

Still, regardless of the difference between their skill, she was going to give this her best. Though it renewed that weight in her belly, even though she was certain that she would regret it mere moments later, Blaze pointed her toes skyward and rushed away from Silver, struggling to turn mid-air on order to see where she was going in this obstacle-less sky.

“W-Wait, Blaze, is that a yes?!” He called out and, by the sound of his voice, he wasn’t giving chase yet.

Deciding she needed this lead in order to make their game even remotely worthwhile, she didn’t answer him. Remembering the stabilisers she’d used for take-off, Blaze brought her hands to burn and, though she floundered for a moment, used their bonus thrust to shoot even further from him. That done, cloud after cloud vanishing beyond her feet, she dared to look over her shoulders and saw a cyan globule finally begin its shift towards her. Though she tried to fight it, a grin managed to wriggle its way onto her face as she looked forward. If she was bound to be caught and he’d surely gain on her soon, it was worth getting in a little practice… besides, he could surely use some training too.

With the simple quirk of her brow and through rolling her heels, Blaze feigned a movement left before shooting off towards the right. She didn’t even glance back at him after that, instead opting to try and alter her elevation; with a bit of effort, the young witch managed to align her body and crawl further into the sky as she flew away. Using her hands made all of this a lot easier, she could flare more energy into them to aid in adjusting elevation or simply increase the flames coming from one palm to force her path to bend.

“You’re doing great, Blaze!” A much too close voice called out, “I’m sure you’ll ace the test! You’re already so good!” It was getting closer by the second.

She’d known this would happen, it was an inevitability, but the pyrokinetic found that a competitive spark had stolen the spot of that metal mass in her gut. Her pulse was pounding, she knew her magic could hold out for another hour at minimum; she decided that the best way to learn was a trial by fire. Alternating hands and kicking as she went, Blaze managed to form eight quick zigzags before shooting left with all her will. Flare after flare burst from her limbs as she darted further and further above the clouds.

Unfortunately though, just as Blaze thought she was reaching the summit of what she could stomach, there was a flash of cyan light above. Blaze didn’t even have to glance to know what’d happened, Silver’s experience flying mean he’d clearly understood plotting the shortest route. Being in the lead was difficult, every harsh turn meant traveling further for the lead and a shortcut for the one behind. Simultaneous to that though, Silver was (perhaps unknowingly) about to teach her a technique she hadn’t even attempted yet. The only way to avoid him was to descend.

Blaze tried to lessen her output, but that proved far harder than increasing their potency. Once her upward thrust was spent, she began to plummet like a stone and fall feet first towards the clouds. Her hands flickered and sputtered as she tried to balance herself again, she straightened her back and shut her eyes tight as ignition after ignition failed to fully take hold. Finally, she managed to light her ignitions again… only to overdo it and rocket right back up. She shot right past him, very almost being caught.

As he rocketed up to give chase, frustrated, Blaze chose to continue to practice altitude control. Rather than snuff everything, she focused and manage to mute the flames on her feet. The difference was clear and immediate, she was slower and a lot shakier but this worked far better than trying to calm both sets of flames. She managed to drop directly in front of him only to then relight her boots and blast forward. The feline must have gotten too greedy and drawn too close because she soon felt something pad between her shoulder blades.

“Tag!” The moment she’d registered the touch, he’d called out as if they were kids on the playground.

She swivelled around in the air only to find he’d raced off in the other direction so quickly that he almost looked like a star on the horizon. Leaning into her movement, Blaze found herself flying faster than she ever had before. In the time it took to catch up to the grey wizard, Blaze had a moment to contemplate the rather miraculous change she’d experienced. She’d gone from being terrified of heights to dancing across the sky just like he could. Admittedly, she was certain those fears would return if she was on the other side of the cloud barrier or flying alone but flying around the test course with the instructors watching would surely prove easy enough. It’d been an exchange of tutelage, she’d given him notes and he’d helped her practice, but Blaze couldn’t help feeling a little indebted to her partner.

Some of that feeling waned when she caught sight of him and how he was flying though. The hedgehog flying with his back to the ground and his eyes trained upon her, he almost looked like he was sitting up in bed. Blaze understood why he’d chosen that position, it meant he’d been able to keep an eye on her and that he’d be able to fulfil his promise, but that didn’t stop it from stoking a more competitive aspect of her psyche.

It was just naivete, he didn’t know how cocky he was being, yet it still fuelled her drive! Blaze closed her fists for a moment, allowing pressure and tension to build in them just as she had when first taking off. It was terrifying to be frank but, knowing the direction she was rocketing and that the closer she was to him the safer she’d be, Blaze managed to steady herself and focus on building energy. Containing her flames slowed her in the short term, so much so that the grey hedgehog’s head cocked and he seemed to slow down. At the perfect second, just as she saw his mouth begin to open and the gap between them lingered around four dozen metres, Blaze reopened her palm.

Like catching a surprise shooting star out of the corner of his eye, he must have blinked in bafflement when he saw her for the first time. By the time he’d started to move she was already almost upon him, carried by sheer momentum more than thrust at that point, gaining more than a metre with each passing second. Finally, almost too late, he realised that he stood no chance of overtaking her- Silver’s arms opened wide and, with more than a little magic bolstering effort, he both was caught and managed to catch her.

Willing it as she entered his grasp, her flames snuffed themselves as any lingering momentum was absorbed by a combination of his psychic aura and fluffy body. Blaze found herself lying atop him, their muzzles very almost touching and the rims of their hats bumping. If it weren’t for the adrenaline currently coursing through her, she’d probably have had a lot more to say or complain about this situation but, for now at least, she was content to be back on the equivalent of stable ground.

“H-Hi,” He stuttered, plainly surprised and impressed by her showing.

“Hello,” She hummed, grasping at his shoulders to better secure herself, “How was that?”

His arms found her back and his smile quickly returned, she felt their bodies begin to descend, “You were incredible Blaze! You took to the air so well! You probably didn’t even need me for this,” That thought seemed to take the wind back out of his sails, “I-I’ll make up for the notes some other way… I’ll-

“You’re so naïve,” She cut him off, propping herself up slightly, “I wouldn’t have had the guts to come up here without you. You don’t have to worry about making anything up to me.”

The cloud barrier obscured her view of him for a moment or so but soon, she found his face and could see the grounds beneath. Weirdly enough, as she lay in his arms, it didn’t feel like the ground was all that far away. Or, well, that she wasn’t at risk of meeting it at ludicrous speeds.

Gently, slowly, he shifted upright and lowered the young witch to her feet before himself landing back near the heart of the amphitheatre. Now on the ground, a hold that’d once been for the sake of survival and security had transmuted into one born of comfort and kindness. Blaze found herself lingering in his grasp and in fact deepening her hold, the witch’s right arm managed to slip down and hold the small of his back. While she had performed subtle in this shift from practicality to affection, he wasn’t nearly so subdued in his shift. Her feet left the ground again as he hugged her with all his might, chortling as he did so.

When she returned to the ground for a second time and their eyes met again, bristles of heat crept across her muzzle. Without the moonlight, he was the only light for-

“And what time would the two of you call this?” A voice, tired and deep, sounded from one of the amphitheatre’s high seats.

Both their heads swivelled like they were about to be knocked off and their gaze fell upon a very cross and prickly looking figure, sat with a book in his right hand and crackling green energy in his left. The individual’s red eyes and dark robes, entirely lacking the oh-so-common hat most students and lecturers wore, gave away who they were and forced their joy to give way to panic and fear. Shadow the Hedgehog, the very lecturer who would be conducting the flying test, had caught them.

“Um,” Silver stammered, letting Blaze to the ground, “L-Late?”

“How astute,” He seemed to sneer, “And what say you of your current position, Blaze?”

“It’s my fault professor, I asked Silver to-

“N-No, it’s my fault!” Silver cut her off, “Blaze just wanted help, she did nothing wrong!”

“Endangering both your own and each other’s safety and being out of your dorms at such a late hour,” He tutted, “What kind of punishment to give you both.”

Blaze couldn’t help but throw a glance to Silver, the hedgehog looked entirely stern. No matter how they were dealt with, Blaze knew he would try to take it all on himself, just as she had. She was certain there was no way around it, that they’d both be punished, but, following a long and drawn out sigh, the usually cruel lecturer took a bizarre course of action.

“Pick up your things, go to your dorms and pray that I forget this infraction before I settle on a fitting detention,” Their eyes clashed again, confused, but before they could ask, the hedgehog gave a demand, “Well, go on, hurry along before I change my mind.”

They stood frozen for a second but, seeing his brows furrow, the two threw a quick glance to each other before rushing to pick up their things. He’d leaned in close as he went for his bag, “S-See you soon.”

“Yeah…” She managed to mumble, slinging her bag over her shoulders and allowing her shoulder to graze his, “Th-Thank you, Silver. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

They were forced to part ways with that as their goodbye, Silver walking

“And do remember, regardless of clouds, if you’re going to make quite so much light at night then people are going to notice!” The old man concluded his chiding, likely returning to his book, “We’re hardly in the right position to see an aurora…”

The walk back to the dorms was lonelier than her walk there by a wide margin. Though they’d parted so suddenly, or perhaps due to it, she could still see his smile in her mind. When they met again tomorrow, she’d try to make it up to him, try to engage first contact like she had in the sky, but the more that wizard’s grin lingered the more embarrassed she felt. While the pyrokinetic doubted Professor Shadow was the type to gossip, if word of their actions spread then the rumours would only get worse. Hopefully no one else had seen them tonight but, by the sound of it, they’d been rather hard to miss…

#silvaze #Blaze the Cat #Silver the Hedgehog #sonic the hedgehog #silverxblaze #fanfiction

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bangtansfavwriter · 4 years

Text

🥞☕brunch café owner! jin☕🥞

tw: a tiny mention of anxiety and shitty people that you may have encountered in school / uni ( but a lot of fluff to make up for it! )

- so far, your day was a complete catastrophe, im not even gonna tone it down, it was a complete shitshow to be honest

-it was like god woke up and went "i’m gonna let y/n have a shit day lmaoo"

-you overslept and missed your bus... on the day you had an appointment with your lecturer about your term paper

- after tripping on the stairs and hitting your knee, you hobbled to the office where this gollum lookalike was already waiting for you

- your lecturer was unreasonable enough to not let you extend your deadline for your paper... the one book you needed wasn't in the library for the past 3 weeks and there was no other edition available. so you explained the situation multiple times even at the beginning of your writing process, you even wrote him mails to explain the issue

- but this man who literally radiated boomer energy with every particle of his being really had the audacity to not answer, not even to your second mail and then he actually said that he does not understand "how someone of your age doesn't manage to even get a simple task as writing a paper" done

-you explained the situation again but he was pretty much tone-deaf to your situation and didn't even care when you said that you're actually gonna go to the library now to get the book scans

- so you went there already drained and exhausted from that conversation

-but the library was an even worse experience tbh .......

[fic mode: on, hohoho]

The lady in the library yelled at you for no apparent reason after you informed her that the scanner wasn't working and made you look stupid in front of other students who were there until one of them intervened and helped you out, which you appreciated. But this whole situation grew even worse on you after you left the library because your anxiety kicked in. You went straight into a quiet alley nearby and started crying quietly. "But hey!" you then exclaimed angrily, while wiping away your tears "At least the paper is gonna get done, right?! because who gives a shit about mental health and all huh, Mr. Go?!" and you started sobbing again. "Dickhead... And that stupid library lady... with her stupid fat 80s glasses. And her ugly yeehaw look...". This was something you wouldn't ever do in public, crying and ranting that is. but the alley was quiet, your only company was a stray cat that was sleeping underneath a tree's shadow. or so you thought. "Ugly yeehaw people and their ugly ass clothes, like... go read a magazine or something...". You started feeling more liberated with each mild insult you'd utter, so you went on. "Ugly library lady and her giant wart, like who the fuck are you? yubaba?" you heard someone snort and start laughing a squeaky laugh that almost sounded like a windshield wiper. Taken aback by the unexpected witness to your mild breakdown, you stood still at first, then looked around, left and right, but you couldn't see anyone. "Over here!" you heard someone say. You looked around again and sighed when you still couldn't see anyone. "Did I finally lose my mind?" you mumbled to yourself, only to hear the squeaky laugh again. "Hey! Turn around and look up!". You got up the bench and did as you were told by the omnipresent voice and finally saw the person it belonged to. Up at the 1st floor, there was a guy looking down to you from his tiny balcony that had plants hanging down from it. He smiled at you when your eyes met and you felt your heart rate go up in an instant, as you realized this stranger, this awfully handsome stranger witnessed how your petty little rant and crying about yubaba's twin in the library. "Tough day, huh?" he asked, you just nodded and quickly wiped your face with your sleeve. "Oh no, hold on" he mumbled and suddenly disappeared from his window, leaving you behind with a surprised look on your face. A box of Kleenex suddenly landed in front of your feet, as he reappeared at his window. "Just one would have done it, too, but thank you. I appreciate it!" you said and smiled at the guy. While you wiped your face, you heard another something land on the bench. You looked up again to the guy who, all of a sudden, avoided your gaze. "That'll help, you know..." he said and looked at you in surprise when you started laughing. What he threw on the bench was a... bar of chocolate. One that also happened to be your favourite. You looked at him and gave him a huge smile that made his heart flutter. He looked away shyly and scratched his head. "Tough day, yeah... but this right here," you raised the chocolate bar, "this makes it all better, you're right about that. Thank you!" The stranger couldn't help but look at you once again. He almost felt compelled to it. It was like staring at the sun when it sets, you know that you shouldn't stare at it directly, but it's so breathtakingly beautiful that you can't help but look. He intently watched you while you happily munched on your chocolate and smiled to himself. "What's your name?" he asked you. "Y/N! How about you?" - "I'm Seokjin. You can call me Jin..." - "Nice to meet you, Jin. I wish it would have been under different circumstances, though. I'm actually quite embarrassed about that, but chocolate helps with that, too." You two smiled at each other. "You know what, Y/N? Sometimes good things happen at weird times. Don't be embarrassed about crying earlier. I'm the last person who'd judge you because of that. I know that library witch, by the way... That Yubaba comparison was spot on!" You laughed out loud - he very much wished to hear this sound more often now. "Y/N, I gotta get ready for work now. But I'm gonna share one last bit of wisdom with you. I know a good remedy for bad days." - "Better than chocolate?" - "Oh, yes. Even better than chocolate. There's a café in XX street. There's a whole lot of lavender growing right in front of it, you can't miss it. That cafe has the best pancakes in the entire city." - Oh my god, pancakes are the best thing on earth!" - "(!!!) You must go there and try then! They're fluffy and come in 5 different variations and the sweetest maple syrup! I'm telling you, if you have a bad day like this again, go straight to that café." He already got you at pancakes, so you definitely would go there. "I'll finish this damn paper and then go reward myself with pancakes! In one or two weeks I'll get like 2 plates of pancakes then!" - "That sounds perfect!", he laughed. Shortly after, he excused himself and you two bid farewell. He disappeared from his window and your troubles had disappeared from your soul. You went home with a smile on your face, thankful for the kindness he had shown you and hoped that you would see him in the café some day. "Who knows... Maybe he's a regular there. It sounded like it."

Roughly one and a half weeks later, many all nighters and a whole lot of take out food, you finished the paper and handed it in. Liberated from this massive pain in the ass, you went straight to the café that your thoughts circled around during the times you weren't busy with your paper. "God, I hope he's there...", you thought and thought of Jin, who you thought about as much as you dreamed of the huge plate of pancakes you were going to get now. The café was not very far from where you lived, you walked there in about 15 minutes and recognised the place by a very accurate description Jin has given you. The smell of lavender bewitched you as soon as you stepped into the alley the café was in. Lots of flower pots were in the front of it, not only was there lavender but also gardenias and petunias. The flowers were all around the tables outside. "Of course, the flower boy loves the flower café" you said to yourself and smiled. The café wasn't too busy, as you came by at a rather early hour, when there were still lectures for most students and older people were busy at the local market place. You were greeted right away when you entered the café, by a younger man, probably also a fellow student, who was wearing an apron and gave you a warm welcome with his bunny smile. He showed you to your table at the window side from where you could watch bees hurdle at the lavender pots outside. You ordered shortly after, it didn't take much thinking when you saw the "Eat the stress away" menu, with regular pancakes, hashbrowns and a tea/coffee option. "Excellent choice! It's my personal favourite~", your waiter added. You glanced at each other. "Fellow student?" you asked and laughed when he suddenly looked at you with a gloomy look, but joined you in laughter right away. "Shared struggle", he said laughing, leaned over real quick and whispered: "I'll get you some blueberry pancakes, too. I'll tell the chef you're a friend of mine." - "Oh my god, thank you!" He winked and went straight to the kitchen, while humming a tune. Well, this was certainly the sweetest waiter you'd ever encountered. But you had your eyes on the door, hoping for a divine intervention that would lead to Jin coincidentally walk into the café when you were there. Around 15 minutes later you finally sipped on your coffee and were about to devour the fluffiest pancakes you'd ever had on a plate in front of you. The hash browns were a tad bit disappointing, as they had a slighty burnt taste and weren't spiced very well, in your opinion. But the pancakes were absolutely amazing. Their soft and fluffy texture was complemented with butter and the sticky-sweet maple syrup that as truly as good as Jin said. And the blueberry pancakes were so good that you feared losing control over your facial expressions. Your waiter came along to your table, after he got the newest customer orders to the kitchen. You invited him to sit with you, which he gladly accepted. "How do you like it? They're really good, right?" - "I think this is what the kids call 'foodgasm'...", you answered and the two of you giggled. He looked at your plate and noticed the hash browns that you put at the edge of your plate. "Oh? Didn't like the hash browns?" he asked with wide eyes.

"They're slightly burnt, I think..." you said shyly. You were never one to criticize the cook when you didn't like your food in a restaurant. The only time when you actually complained was when you once found hair in your soup in a restaurant, and even back then you apologised for the trouble whereas it was clearly the chef who was at fault. "Please don't tell anyone, this can happen sometimes, I accept that." you quickly added, but your waiter shook his head ferociously. "You paid for this, so it is our duty to bring good food to your table. Our chef is a perfectionist, I don't understand how this can happen anyway. I'll get it sorted out, but not without teasing him. Can you wait a little until the customers are gone here. We close for lunch time. So people are gonna leave soon." You agreed and waited, while befriending the waiter - Jungkook, a 2nd year student who was currently doing a side job at "Café Smeraldo". After the last customer left, Jungkook decided to call the chef by yelling across the café. "He's also the manager you know. We're a bit short-staffed, you know... This is gonna be funny~~ JIN-HYUNG!" You almost spat out your coffee and started coughing as soon as you heard that name. "JIN-HYUNG COME OUT OF YOUR BUREAU! YOU BURNT A CUSTOMER'S FOOD!" He cackled after he heard noise coming from inside, while you sat there mortified. The door from the staff room slammed open and you instantly wished to turn into dust, as said manager/chef was the guy who consoled you on one of the worst days you've had in your academic life. The two of you stared at each other in shock, but before he could say anything to you he started scolding his younger co-worker and the two of them started bickering, while you continued sipping on your coffee, because this whole situation was soon more entertaining than it was mortifying. At some point Jin shushed Jungkook who shut up right away when he realized that this wasn't playful bickering anymore. Jungkook bowed deeply and went to the kitchen where he started cleaning. "You're friends with the boy?" Jin asked and sat down at your table. He looked tired, you thought. "No, actually we met earlier, but I suppose we just clicked very fast." - "So this kid got you my famous blueberry pancakes on the house, huh?" - "...I guess so. Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you trouble. I really didn't want him to say anything about the hash browns either." He quickly glanced at them and grabbed one to take a bite, but put it down again before doing so. "I can see it already", he said "you don't need to apologise, it's my bad." He sat there with a gloomy expression and sighed. "Tough day, huh?" you asked and smiled at him when he laughed at your reference. "Tough week is more like it. We're a bit short-staffed at the moment. But enough of me and my manager melancholy. Finished your paper?" You were surprised by his sudden change, but you went along. "Yeah, I turned it in earlier and came here right after. I gave you my word after all." You smiled at him, and he felt the same rush that he had experienced the day he first met you. You continued: "You were right, by the way. These pancakes are everything!! Especially the blueberry ones. Is that your recipe?" He laughed and nodded. "I'm glad you liked them!" he said. "I'll serve you better hash browns the next time, pinky promise. I got a phone call while preparing 3 orders, yours was the only one that suffered from it." - "It happens sometimes. Don't dwell on something so minor." - "Says you, who cried beneath my balcony because of some witch!" The two of you giggled. He looked at you with a look, that made your cheeks burn. His gaze was fond and soft, it was the kind of look you have whenever the sky looks pretty, or when a bird lands near you and sings a little song. Neither of you could break the look you shared, as neither of you could describe a bond that was apparently now formed with chocolate and pancakes. It was him who spoke up first: "Got room for more pancakes?". This question took you by surprise, but pancakes are always a welcome surprise. "Hell yeah, you can never have enough pancakes." - "I need more proof for that, but based on that sentence alone I can say that we may be soulmates, Y/N." You started laughing, as did he. "But why? What do you have in mind? Also, I'm surprised you still remember my name." His cheeks got a very apparent pink hue after your remark and you noticed how grossly you were endeared by this man. "Y/N... How could I forget..." he said with a low voice that made your heart flutter. "How could I forget someone who made me believe there was a banshee at my door for a solid minute!" He broke out in his loud and squeaky laughter as soon as he saw the pure offence and shock on your face, after he said that, because *that* was certainly not what you expected to hear. "You're mean, oh my god!" you exclaimed but had to laugh, too. You guys needed two minutes to calm down again. The pink hue on his face was still there and you felt the rush of confidence in you. He noticed you looking at him and spoke up:

"Y/N... How could I forget someone who has made me smile on a day I didn't feel like smiling at all? I got the news my cook had to quit on the day we met. I thought this was the end for my café. But then, I met you, shortly after I got the news. And seeing you going from crying to happily munching on some chocolate despite having issues that made you cry in public in the first place... Seeing you forgetting your troubles with something so small as a chocolate bar. I don't know... I felt hopeful for some reason. And I love this feeling. And, god... I really hoped you'd take my advice and come here to have my pancakes! (he chuckled) But I have to admit something... I so regretted not asking for your number. For the past week I jumped through the kitchen door everytime a customer came in...". You were pretty sure your heart was soon gonna explode through your chest. He hid his face with his hands and sighed. "I'm not like this at all~" he whined, before facing you again. "But... How about I make us some more pancakes now? And hash browns, if you like. I haven't had breakfast yet and well... I really want to make you pancakes. Can I?" His voice became thinner with each sentence he added, since he came shyer with each bit. You chuckled, in disbelief about how your rapidly beating heart became so calm, yet so full when this man told you he wanted to make you pancakes. No nervosity whatsoever, no second thoughts, nothing. An epiphany over pancakes... Who would have thought? This was safe. This was a safe place for both of you, and both of you felt it.

"A breakfast date then?"

"Breakfast date it is."

"I like the sound of that."

💕

epilogue:

-you two enter the kitchen after you insisted on watching him cook for you-

jk: hyu- oh, hi y/n! you guys know each other? ah hyung, i cleaned up everything and tidied up in the bureau. i'm sorry about earlier. (bows again and stands there shyly)

jin: (sighs very deeply) come here, you dodo.

the two of them shared a short but sweet hug, after which jungkook had a huge smile on his face again. jin and you shared a look and the same thought as you looked at jungkook after.

jin: jk, you wanna have pancakes with us?

jk: huh? yeah sure, i'm actually pretty hungry... (he smiles at you two) I'll go clean up inside real quick and prepare the table! yayy, pancake brunch with friends ☺️ (he leaves you two in the kitchen)

you turned to jin and smiled. "don't even start." he said quickly, while he started getting the ingredients out. "AWWW~~" - "NOOO!"

-the end-

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pinkplantmakesstuff · 3 years

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I’ve written a thing about Alec based on past personal experiences, so big warning for suicidal ideation and suicide attempt.

I’m not entirely sure if I want this to actually happen in Alec’s story, I’m erring on the side of not at the moment or even at all, but I wanted to write a thing because I’m doing so much better then I ever was but I wanted to write something I related to back when I was having a real bad time. (January is a weird time for me because of this lmao, not bad but weird!)

This only has Caithe and Logan in it because like I said it’s heavy stuff and I’m not sure I even want this to actually happen in his story, but out of all the npcs those are the two who I think would be around and Alec would feel like he could turn too. (Canach too, him and Alec get on REALLY well and I reckon he would know about this situation but I didn’t wanna add anymore characters)

Also the ending is kind of “And things got better the end” coz things for me DID end up getting much better, and it’s hard to write that up in the equivalent of a fictional made up universe. Right enough rambling here’s the thing, Trigger warning: for Suicidal Ideation and Attempted Suicide.

Alec absentmindedly scratched at his throat, it had been several years since it had happened, and the burning sensation only flared up when he was truly angry. The symbols he’d carved into his chest had long since faded too, no trace of them remained. It was as if his body simply rejected the concept he’d been originally trying to achieve.

He smiled slightly, though one of reflection rather than happiness. It had taken a lot of work but he felt secure in the knowledge that regardless of anything that happened he wouldn’t go down the same path.

Looking back he thought about what happened.

He hadn’t initially started researching ways to prevent coming back. Originally it had been morbid curiosity, perhaps an idea of sealing away his beastly powers forever after death. Over time it turned into a failsafe, a last go to measure, and from there it developed into a constant thought at the back of his mind.

Trying to learn about ancient magic was hard, especially given Alec couldn’t read. Instead he turned to the small yet growing collection of books he’d gathered that only he seemed to understand. Their contents were scattered at best and he was sure it changed frequently, but the knowledge contained within was old and dark. It left a bad taste in his mouth as he went through them, their subject matters often always celebrating destruction and the pain of others, but he continued on, flipping through the pages looking at anything that might prevent someone passing to the mists. At first the books showed him ways to become a lich, but he rejected those, pushing on further through the densely packed scribbles. It seemed as though the text knew what he wanted to achieve and tried hiding it, but he was nothing if not determined.

Eventually he was able to cobble something together. It seemed he needed a seal - a lock to prevent him coming back again. He practiced in his notebook, hand shaky as he tried copying the curving and swirling shapes. It took time before they resembled any of the old language he’d slowly grown accustomed to seeing. Even his own writing seemed to want to change into anything but what he’d drawn, but it seemed he held sway over the language when drawn in his own hand as the more he practiced the less it changed.

The sigil was step one, step two required something easier to obtain. Going over all the options he reckoned poison would be the best bet - something to destroy his body before his magic would have a chance to heal itself.

Alec went to Caithe for that, framing it in a way that looked like he was helping Taimi with dragon research. She hadn’t even questioned it, as why would he lie? It would take time she said, she had to gather the right ingredients and brew them together. He helped with the gathering, in his mind this was still just a precaution right? A last resort.

When Caithe handed him the vial she’d smiled as he’d thanked her, the weight of it heavy in his hand. She explained it was deadly, a painful concoction that destroyed the consumer from the inside out. There was an antidote, she made one too in case Taimi wanted to study that, but it had to be administered quickly. He promised he’d send them to Taimi right away, but that lie came with a guilt that weighed in his stomach, adding to the already grim secrets he felt like he was keeping.

If the others had noticed a change in attitude they never mentioned it, but he doubted they had. He was just as quiet as ever, always pushing forward through each obstacle without complaint, pushing through each injury as if it were nothing. The bubbling anger in his chest remained constant - a sharp fury that struggled to climb out of his throat. An anger that would lash out and hurt people if he wasn’t careful. He refused to acknowledge it however, letting it fester inside him instead.

As the days pressed on the constant “what if” grew and grew til it was an all-consuming thought. What if he snuck away, and drank the vial here, what if he waited and did it there - it was no longer a what if to an escalating situation, but now a when.

The night came after he bid farewell to his travelling companions; Caithe was heading to do a goal she would not fully disclose, and Logan had been called back to Divinity's Reach. They’d parted early in the afternoon, and the moment they were out of sight he was acutely aware of the vial and notebook in his bag.

Once the sun had slunk beneath the horizon, he found his hands moving automatically, his movements almost mechanical in nature. He removed his shirt, painstakingly carving the seal onto his chest, just enough to draw blood. Once completed he sat inside his tent, it only took a moment for him to uncap the vial and down the contents.

The burning was agonizingly painful and his hands flew up to his throat. The words on his chest seemed to react, and he could feel them trying to squirm into any other shape then the one he’d carved but to no avail. And then, he slipped into darkness.

For a moment there was nothing.

Then the next thing he knew he was violently throwing up a mixture of poison and black blood. Someone’s hand was on his back, another in his hair stroking it. He was aware of muted voices and being lent against someone’s shoulder, before he passed out again.

The next time he awoke he was in a bed. He shifted and let out a groan. The marks he’d etched into his chest stung but were wrapped in heavy bandages, and his throat felt torn and shredded. Opening his eyes and saw Caithe by his side, watching him intently. As soon as she saw he was awake her eyes lit up.

“ ‘m sorry.” His voice was hoarse, barely more than a whisper.

She shook her head and gently took his hand. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Behind her Alec could make out Logan, who looked tired yet relieved. The other man took a seat beside the sylvari, and at Alec’s request helped him sit up.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment before they all started trying to talk at once.

“I really am sorry-”

“I should have said something I knew something was up-”

“Thank the gods you were okay I was so scared-”

And then Alec started laughing, not his normal gentle chuckle but as close as it could be with a destroyed throat. The angry viscous ball nestled in his felt dislodged, instead he simply felt physically and mentally exhausted. Logan and Caithe paused, letting him go first.

Then they started talking, properly.

Alec explaining what he’d learnt, the anger he’d been feeling all these years and how he was just so scared he’d lash out. Both Caithe and Logan listened, no judgement from them except blaming themselves with how they’d let Alec slip into such a mindset. He forgave them, it was no one’s fault really, but he was grateful they were there now. They took in turns to stay by his side while he slept, and over the coming weeks they took it slow while Alec recovered physically - taking a break from the draining awful job they had of saving the world, and instead took time to be, in their opinion, as normal people as they could be.

It had been several years since then, an incident that only the three of them knew about.

They didn’t really talk about it as time passed, it was in the past and he'd grown better at recognising his emotions and powers since then.

No longer was this grey cloud hanging permanently clouding his every thought, instead, despite everything, he was able to keep going; taking time to appreciate and enjoy more of the little things regardless of how small. Sure there were bad days, but now he was equipped to deal with them.

#suicidal ideation tw #attempted suicide tw #heavy topic #alec shadowdancer #my writing

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kfirerising · 4 years

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The Manipulation of Beauty

One of the easiest ways to garner positive public opinion these days is to use beauty as a tool for manipulation of opinion. This goes to some of the basic biological values that are inherent in both genders. These values are still very prevalent and powerful within the human expression and programming. Our society runs on it in many ways.

A beautiful person man or woman causes specific biological frequencies to be experienced. And within that a level of being open to suggestion can be established. This has been known by the sales industry for quite some time now. That is why a beautiful woman is often draped over a new car with the company that is selling the car knowing that the manipulation of the biological responses will always aid in selling the car.

These areas of the human biological systems will also be manipulated by forces that would seek to assume certain levels of control over a human being. There are many examples of this where a beautiful man or woman comes into the public awareness and imports a message or a philosophy or a teaching into the awareness of society. Thereby creating, through beauty, a honey trap. Similar to what Mary Poppins says “just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down “in this case it would be just a spoonful of beauty helps the message go down.

These can be very powerful messages that are connected to the biological pull of the humans that are open to them. Millions of books have been sold using this technique, millions of cars have been sold using this technique, governments have been controlled using this technique it’s a well-worn, time honored technique of social manipulation through biological excitation.

For those within the early stages of Kundalini activation where the sexual areas are being stimulated often by outside forces this is something to be aware of.

Through the stimulation of the pheromones and the breathing rate and heart rate in the visual centers and other centers of the body an individual can be manipulated to do many things including give their body to a force that is not of themselves but is outside of themselves as a point of control.

Certainly not suggesting all beautiful people have this manipulation in mind. In many cases they have no clue that this is what is being done through them. In most cases they do understand what is happening because they have been treated in very specific ways due to their beauty their whole lives. They know that certain doors will open for them that would not open for others who are not perceived as attractive by the society that they’re in.

So this must be considered as you continue along your awakening path. How beholden are you to the biological processes within you. How much of your attention and the control of your attention and awareness do you allow the biological processes within you to have?

Even with in Kundalini there is still the ever present search for pleasure. The pleasure of the senses. The attachment to egotistical pleasure. Feeling Good, feeling happy, feeling blissful, feeling loved, feeling safe, feeling in anyway shape or form that allows and supports the gift a pleasure with in an individual.

This opens up areas of manipulation by entities whether they be of a spiritual nature or human nature or an ET nature. This is one of the most common forms of manipulation and control.

This is why many of the ancients , those who knew and know of how important it is to lose the attachment to materiality and to the base nature’s of the biological systems within the human, would teach a freedom from being controlled in such ways. To control the attachments to the sensorial pleasures. To take away another handle of egotistical manipulation and control that can be used to guide a person, within very specific directions, that may not be to their advantage within the grand spiritual evolution. The use of hedonism to control and manipulate.

Entities will use this, companies will use this, governments will use this, individual employers will use this, even people within their own social groups will use this form of attachment to manipulate other people. It’s a common thing as I’m sure you may understand. Within Kundalini we must look at this and we must look at how we are allowing ourselves to be manipulated through our biological processes, our search for pleasure.

We may need to review how we find pleasure in the first place. We may need to review our own biological process of searching for pleasure and searching for peace or how we may compete in order to achieve a certain goals such as retaining the perfect mate or our idea of the perfect mate and how that affects the way we interact with those who are perceived to give us biological stimulation through beauty within our societies.

We need to look at that and see how many of our choices and decisions are changed or in someway affected by these biological processes within us.

The ancients were clear about non-attachment. Kundalini is clear about nonattachment. Too many people become attached to the many ways that they discover inner areas of great and fast majestic glory on their way to Kundalini. Many different means are used to achieve such experiences. But it all circles and cycles around beauty and pleasure and the stimulation of what we consider to be exciting and beautiful and amazing and attractive and wonderful and fantastic beyond the normal experiences.

We can become attached to that and controlled by that. Whether it be LSD, Ayahuasca, marijuana, DMT, Peyote, sex, power over others, mushrooms, ecstasy, alcohol or any kind of entheogen or herb or manufactured drug or self induced experience that can take you to this place of pleasure and powerful experiences of perceived grandeur. Whether or not it is real or it is being manipulated by other intelligence.

It is important therefore to look at the whys and the ways through which people experience these concepts. We must look with complete honesty about why we’re doing what we’re doing. We must look at our core areas of who we are and where we are and from there discern our own attachments and through discerning those attachments begin to dismantle them. Taking the bars of our ego centric cage apart one at a time.

Then we look at why we’re doing it. Are we conditioning the body to experience specific frequencies of divine understanding? How are we doing this? Are we following certain techniques that allow the body through no outside force, to begin its transformation towards divinity without the aid of plant-based or pharmaceutical-based materials? Do we allow the body, through our practice of certain types of protocols, to proceed along the course that is not influenced by psychedelic experience? Or do we choose to have the psychedelic experience. Do we choose to have the experience of plant-based chemical structure and intelligence? Why do we make such a choice? Because it’s easier? Does this help us in the long run? Many reasons too many to list. But you must look at this and see with honest eyes how your ego or other forms of manipulation may be influencing the choices that you make. The search for pleasure always continues.

So I will recommend that you not allow yourself to be manipulated by beauty or by pleasure. That you not allow yourself to have your choices determined by your ego or by artificial stimulation of specific areas of the brain based upon artificial overstimulation of specific areas of the brain by virtue of specific substances that are provided by science or by tradition or religion that are being made available currently.

I suggest that your body as it is is the only thing that you really need in order to find enlightenment. And that you don’t need to be told that you are your own guru. That your own grace already knows this and will seek any and all options that it perceives is best for you whether it comes from another person or that it comes from itself.

Be aware of your search for pleasure and how you allow it to control you. Be aware of your biological expectations and how you allow it to be a manipulative force within how you make your choices. Be aware of the constant search for pleasure and how it may manipulate your choices.

Be aware and allow that awareness, without any outside force that your ego would provide, too be the arbiter of your choices even if they don’t always feel good or give you pleasure or stimulate your biological processes.

—CHRISM

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errantabbot · 3 years

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A Buddeo-Christian Reflection on Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is one of my favorite days of the Christian liturgical calendar. Perhaps an odd favorite to some, but a favorite none the less. Today we’re reminded that we are “but dust,” and if that weren’t readily apparent, that we’ll soon return to dust in plainly recognizable form. And, what are we to do with this point?

Dogen Zenji famously instructs adherents of the Zen way that “time is swiftly passing by and opportunity is lost- take heed, do not squander your life.” This is the exact same sentiment that the imposition of ashes and the appendant entry into an intentional period of intense spiritual practice conveys. Namely, that our known lives are precious and short, and we should engage them accordingly.

For many Christians, Ash Wednesday and the subsequent Lenten season are times of sobered atonement, penance, and austere spiritual practice. There is hope though, however heavenly, that with a right attitude and respective manner of life in right relationship with the divine, one can aspire to resurrection in any number of varieties (the Christian tradition has never really been monolithic, after all). But such hope is often beyond the confines of reason known so well to postmodern peoples. Too often the notion of resurrection itself is jettisoned into the realms beyond reason (with such heavenly hope as previously described), and I find that to be a shame.

Resurrection is a theme known well to the natural world. While perhaps we don’t see new life pumped into dead bodies as such (what’s a good story without a bit of hyperbole?), we frequently see new life emerging against the seeming odds- blades of grass pushing through the remnant snow at just the right time, barren tree limbs recovering from dormancy in becoming strewn with new buds, and bird songs cutting through the long silence of winter. Too, though, we routinely find our fellow humans being born into new life from periods of dormancy, and arguably death, if we have a mind to look where these examples are to be found, nearly always at the margins that most of us do our best to shy away from- no wonder they go often missed.

It’s somewhat remarkable to me that the verse “for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return” is found so early in the Judeo-Christian canon, in third chapter of the book of Genesis in fact. It’s a fundamental of the faith, and yet, like those aforementioned margins of society, one that we tend to shy away from, even in the face of it coming to be built into the yearly patterns of liturgical observance. That emphasis known, the question once again becomes, what’s the point? What are we to do?

Christians and Buddhists alike, indeed people of all faiths, can get caught up in the trappings of practicing their spirituality for some narrowly focused (typically postmortem and heaven-centric) hopeful eventuality, and frankly, I would offer that such an orientation is a grave mistake (pun intended). After all, resurrection isn’t really about heaven, lest we forget that in Christian orthodoxy the transfiguration and ascension were indeed distinct from resurrection, which even in the case of Jesus was still wrought with the wounds of life.

I would argue that integrous spirituality has little to do with the mystery that lies in wait beyond death (save for becoming wholly comfortable with such mystery) and almost everything to do with lives well lived in the present. Taking our temporal lot seriously is the first step toward such well-living, as we seek to overcome not only the eventual sting of ignorance (feigned or otherwise), but too our tendency for averted eyes writ large.

Ash Wednesday is a bit of ceremonial well designed to compel and inspire us to illumine our ignorance and to open our eyes. “Remember you are but dust, and to dust you shall return,” say the scriptures. Knowing our time is far from infinite, how do we live our lives? Denial and panic are common options, but not options available to the spiritual cultivar, who takes seriously not only the sacramental observances of the day, but the call to at least 40 days of ensuing intentional consideration and spiritual cultivation. Each year we are given the the cyclical charge of breathing renewed life into our oft wearied bones. We’re tasked with doing honor with our attention and intention to the sacred ever alive within us, that is, our own beating hearts that beat as the heart of the universe and reality itself- mystery upon mystery, known only to itself, so intimate that it is easily forgotten, yet so valuable that it is to be recalled, relived, and indeed resurrected into our consciousness, time and time again.

~Sunyananda

#zen #buddhism #buddha #buddhist #dharma #enlightenment #sangha #awakening #nirvana #peace #Ash Wednesday #Christian #Christianity #lent #nondual #wisdom

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fibersoy7 · 3 years

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How To Do A Standard Tarot Analysis For Yourself Or A Good friend

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One more common usage for tarot cards is a everyday card analysis, wherein a single card is drawn from the top of the shuffled deck and also utilized as a pointer or a standard for the day ahead. This can be a extremely practical practice for any person wanting to familiarize themselves with the tarot card deck and the cards' definitions. While selecting on-line tarot card analysis solutions, make certain that the sites you select are secure. This is due to the fact that tarot card reading solutions usually need sharing of personal details about the clients and settlements for such solutions call for the sharing of savings account details. If you pick a shady web site for tarot card readings only for the economical rates or totally free services, there is a high chance of data being dripped as well as the clients' safety is endangered. These sites not only waste sources, but can likewise show to be dangerous. And if you want tracking your development, our Golden String Tarot card assists you do every one of that via an application. Tarot card spreads provide you a framework in which you can explore your concerns. Each placement in the spread reflects an facet of your concern to consider. Though tarot card reading might come naturally to some, similar to anything else you get, technique makes ideal. California-based psychic tool and also user-friendly Kelly Sarber told EXPERT that exercising every day is just as important as picking the right deck. You can discover more regarding your existing situation or perhaps life course-- past, existing, as well as future. Like hypnotherapy and psychic readings, it can reveal brand-new info and empower people in the direction of a path of healing. Some choose to have a daily tarot card or card of the day to take care of day-to-day decisions. There are also solutions for birth chart as well as birth tarot card readings. Tarot is an enormous part of my very own individual journey in the direction of self advancement. In the late 18th century, some tarot decks began to be made use of for divination using tarot card reading and also cartomancy resulting in customized decks created for such occult functions. Lenormand used both normal playing cards, in particular the Piquet pack, in addition to tarot card cards likely stemmed from the Tarot de Marseille. Many tarot decks included a brochure or manual outlining the symbology of each card. Remember, there are no policies that state you can't use your guidebook when you're doing a analysis! However if you do wish to find out the cards extra deeply, New york city City-- based fortune-teller Angela Lucy recommends performing a self-guided meditation with every one. " Imagine on your own before the card," Lucy clarifies, "then walk inside it in your mind." Or remember them like flash cards right prior to a final-- whatever benefits you. The majority of tarot decks have 78 cards as well as are based upon the Rider-Waite-Smith custom, making use of similar archetypes as well as symbology. There are likewise tarot cards from other traditions, like Marseilles tarot card decks, in addition to oracle cards, which can have any type of variety of cards as well as their own special images. But if you're just getting involved in tarot card, probabilities are you have a Rider-Waite-Smith deck. My name is Lindsey Tucker as well as I have actually been getting on the internet tarot card analyses for the past 7 years. I have actually attempted nearly every psychic reading service you can envision consisting of The golden state Psychics, Kasamba, Keen, Oranum, and a lot more. Most of us get to a time in our lives where we can make use of a little additional support, particularly in times of uncertainty. That's why thousands of individuals day-to-day turn to tarot analyses for understanding, assistance, as well as clearness. Sites that provide computer-generated readings are not accurate as these are simply based on user formulas. If the free tarot card reading is given by an knowledgeable and experienced viewers, the readings are precise in all probability. There are numerous type of services available, such as angel cards, dream interpretation, reading tarot card cards, hand analysis, numerology, and also much more. I've always felt urged to share it with others via readings in my extra time. And as you run into the cards, you'll begin to likewise notice systems as well as patterns in exactly how their meanings are established. Listed below, she clarifies much more about how to check out the cards, incorporate the details, as well as choose the best deck. A lot of web sites provide totally free tarot readings, but that does not imply those tarot card analyses are top notch. If you check out the Psychic Resource web site, you'll discover various specializeds as well as classifications to pick from. They have everything from tarot card analyses, desire analysis, love analyses, power recovery, astrology, as well as extra. For your convenience, all psychics can easily be arranged by subject expertise, divination tools utilized, client ranking, and also price. Securing free psychic analyses by telephone is a tried-and-true technique. It's quick, efficient, and ideal for a selection of clairvoyants and devices. In addition to providing your birthdate throughout horoscope readings, it's additionally valuable to supply the clairvoyant with your exact time of birth and also the area. This information will enable psychics to finish your birth graph, which will certainly give you even more thorough info about your love life as well as occupation course. Her room walls were embellished with quotes as well as art prints and postcards-- the important things imaginative, book-loving teens collected like magpies-- and also the space shone like cozy, pink amniotic fluid versus the evening. We shuffled like Vegas card sharks, cutting the cards and also spreading them before us so we can select without recognizing what was on them ahead of time. Utilizing a totally free site that supplies analyses by software application can occasionally be the right option for some individuals. Nevertheless, it is usually considered much better to utilize a paid specialist from one of the best on-line psychic reading sites, considering that you will get a more individualized as well as thorough tarot card reading. See if you can narrate with the cards that remain in front of you. Much of tarot card analysis relates to translating a random selection of events and also providing meaning. With our Golden Thread Tarot App, we've developed an very easy to browse Tarot Data source where you can draw significances. In secondary school, my buddy as well as I would certainly spend hours set in her room reviewing each other's tarot card cards. She had an user-friendly talent for the deck of significantly battered cards, but I did my best to return the favor making use of the slim brochure that came with it.

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townpea04 · 3 years

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60+ Tarot Analysis Suggestions

On this event, they offer 3 minutes free of cost, despite the picked solution. Simply put, you can pick a tarot card reading for love, a psychic chat, and even a fortune-telling session if thats what you desire. Although they ask for your charge card details, they just bill you after your session finishes. One of the most important tarot pattern utilized in these two nations was the Tarot of Marseilles of Milanese beginning. The oldest enduring tarot cards are the 15 approximately Visconti-Sforza tarot card decks repainted in the mid-15th century for the rulers of the Duchy of Milan. He described a 60-card deck with 16 cards having photos of the Roman gods as well as fits depicting four sort of birds. Various other very early decks that also showcased classic concepts consist of the Sola-Busca and Boiardo-Viti decks of the 1490s. Next to the usage of tarot card cards to divine for others by expert cartomancers, tarot is likewise used commonly as a gadget for looking for individual advice and also spiritual growth. You can think of a tarot card reading as a method to inform your life story, consisting of the parts that haven't happened yet. The reading won't be quite as specific as your favored publication, yet it will certainly be all about you. You're the story's main personality, though the tarot tale probably includes details about the people and also circumstances around you. This company has stayed in business because 1989, providing extremely precise psychic analyses by conversation, phone, and live video clip. They enable you to choose based on understanding the context. To further understand just how tarot cards job and how they can help clarify your love life, you shouldnt ask closed-ended inquiries. Also a easy free love tarot card analysis can offer you really useful information. You can get to a greater understanding when it comes to elements that affect your past, existing, as well as future partnerships. Read on to learn just how psychic support can work in your favor. Every deck has its very own subtleties, and every reader has their very own analyses. I was hence determined asked him to select a card for me after my meeting-- something I might focus on or learn from. He 'd supposedly been doing cost-free tarot card readings at a French café for many years; as lately as 2017, a Facebook customer posted that he still appeared on Wednesdays, as did a TripAdvisor customer. At its the majority of basic, tarot tells tales about the cycles of our lives. Mixing the deck, choosing cards and also laying them out in order discloses what different tests as well as adversities we might encounter during any type of provided trip. Nonetheless, the cards in the significant arcana don't always represent us in a offered analysis; they could represent someone else in our lives, or signify even more general concerns. Tarot is a intricate language, as well as every analysis is different; in a similar way, every reader and also the technique they use to interpret the method the cards connect is various. This is one of the a lot more diverse sites totally free tarot card readings online. You do not need to use them for each reading, yet it's a good way to start while you learn about the cards. One of the easiest analyses you can use to familiarize yourself with the cards is the past, existing, future spread. Take the leading card from your shuffled deck, and expose them one at a time, left to right. While you shuffle, assume carefully concerning the location of your life in which you 'd like more quality for. Practitioners usually believe tarot card cards can assist the specific explore one's spiritual path. Specialist fortuneteller contend times been implicated of charlatanism. Mystical use the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot card was also promoted in the jobs of Eden Gray, whose 3 publications on the tarot card made considerable use of the deck. With https://tarot-masters.com using an e-mail address, you will not get the benefit of hearing the person's voice or seeing their face, however you do get to take your time with the discussion in such a way that's unrushed. With e-mail, you do not have to await the psychic to be on-line and readily available to speak with you. Instead, send an email inquiry whenever the state of mind strikes, and also your consultant will certainly create back to your email address as soon as they can. With complimentary analyses, you'll usually have to part with your credit card information as well as an e-mail address to access the solutions.

We'll additionally give you a couple of suggestions on what to expect during your initial tarot card analysis, as well as discuss just how tarot card analyses function. A three-card spread has the visitor draw three cards from the deck after it's been shuffled and also halved by the querent. Generally, the very first called pulled represents the past, the 2nd stands for the present, and the 3rd represents the future. How those timelines are analyzed relies on the analysis as well as the concern being asked-- "future" might suggest tomorrow or it could suggest one decade from now. One of the most prominent and also widely known deck is the Rider-Waite, drawn by illustrator Pamela Colman Smith as well as released in 1910. These cards are understood for their easy images, their basic color design, as well as their meaning. Furthermore, the Minor Arcana also includes 40 phoned number cards which are arranged right into 4 Matches of 10 cards each. These stand for the different circumstances that we come across in our day-to-days live. Oranum is your go-to option if you like online tarot card reading services using video conversation as opposed to messages or call. Although there are a a great deal of love psychics available online, it is important to choose a service that is genuine, reliable, and customer-friendly in nature. With numerous selections offered at the click of a mouse, choosing a real tarot analysis location is always hard. Shuffling and managing the cards is a wonderful way to physically connect with the deck that you're using. As intuition is an crucial aspect of a reading, you'll require to bring yourself into the cards. Attempt to shuffle at the very least as soon as, but however often times you really feel is required to get the cards " gotten rid of". I'm sure if you're right here, you're currently filled with concerns. The majority of people become interested regarding tarot card when they are faced with wonderful uncertainty in their lives. And also when the cards are made use of correctly, they verify to be a formidable device to help you think about other viewpoints and also move forward in the best method possible. I've been making use of Psychic Source for many years and also they have actually constantly been very friendly, thoughtful, as well as accurate. Due to the fact that the earliest tarot cards were hand-painted, the variety of the decks created is believed to have actually been small. It was just after the innovation of the printing machine that mass production of cards became possible. The expansion of tarot card beyond Italy, initially to France and also Switzerland, took place during the Italian Wars. Below at Golden Thread Tarot card, we acknowledge that tarot is not about exposing a fixed future, however instead about discovering your subconscious self. He pulled a deck from his breast pocket-- apparently, he carries the significant arcana from the Marseille deck with him anywhere-- and selected The Lovers card. Every person normally gets delighted when The Lovers turns up in a reading, because most of us presume that it means advantages for our love life; but it doesn't always show romantic love in any way. While they are an online analysis service and also can chat, they primarily do tarot readings by phone. While that goes over by itself, what really sticks out about this network is the experience of the tarot card masters you discover there. They provide insightful analyses that utilize the tarot card as a tool to divine details concerning a person's circumstances. They have actually developed tarot checking out to the point of it being an art kind and also I've always found out more about myself as well as just how to browse my present life scenario from spending time on the site. Kasamba has actually been supplying tarot readings on the internet for two decades now. There are many different tarot card decks offered, as well as each deck and also visitor are unique. The reader will certainly set the cards out in different patterns using varying numbers of cards. Therefore, if you do choose a specialist love psychic reading, youll be able to come close to the following events in your life with more courage. You can figure out every detail you require to know about your existing as well as future lovemaking. Likewise, youll find out to make the right options as well as trust fund the right people. What you genuinely require in order to utilize the power of a tarot analysis to the maximum, is a highly user-friendly and also educated overview. The analysis provided by a real psychic is the outcome of experiences given from generation to generation. According to many psychic resources on free love tarot card details, you must ask flexible inquiries. This is since tarot cards can help you clear up the subject, not tell you what to do. Many people advise the Rider-Waite deck for novices, as the cards' meanings are so frequently user-friendly-- and when they're not, lots of analysis overviews exist in books and also online. Many decks, consisting of the Rider-Waite, come with a little sheet of paper specifying each of the card's most typical analyses. Though tarot cards have taken on a mystical definition in the cultural imagination, they were initially planned as even more of a parlor game. The cards have been utilized given that a minimum of the mid-15th century; the earliest tape-recorded decks came from different parts of Italy. I think I can help you comprehend the hidden significance of points. Our complimentary tarot card readings need to allow you to recognize your future better and also recognize what awaits you. Tarot card analyses are a powerful type of divination that make use of an ancient deck of cards to aid you locate answers to your most important questions regarding love, partnerships, your career, financial resources and more. Psychics and also foreteller have used Tarot card cards for centuries, and also Relied on Tarot will certainly provide you an exact reading that's individualized based the cards you pick as well as the order you choose them. Every card has a various definition depending upon its setting, so you will certainly get a special and also detailed point of view on your current situation. To plan for your analysis, I recommend that you listen to this grounding excercise - after that scroll down and pick your cards. The tarot card deck includes 78 cards, each of which is related to its very own particular imagery, significance, as well as story. Out of the 78 cards, there are 22 significant Arcana cards that stand for the karmic as well as spiritual lessons of a person's life. The 56 Minor Arcana cards symbolize the adversities and tests that we, as human beings, face in our day-to-days live. Amongst the Minor Arcana cards, there are 16 Tarot Card Court Cards which stand for 16 various personality traits that we share at different times.

#tarot reading #tarot card reading

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