#( crack . silvius )

[amberthefantasy]

Nitimur in Vetitum

chapter ten: caedes (bloodshed)

"Fabia Maxima, the eldest child of Lucretia Augusta, was born on the 23rd of October, 42 BCE. On the exact day of her birth, miles away in Greece, her father Silvius Fabius Maximus was fighting in the Battle of Philippi"- Fabia Maxima: Daughter of Rome by Yolanda White

"What?" Agrippa breathed.

"I'm pregnant," Lucretia repeated. Gaius and Agrippa stared at her in silence for a moment before Gaius collected himself.

"Well... we knew it was coming eventually," he shrugged.

"She's married!" Agrippa snapped.

"-and I haven't laid with my husband... ever," Lucretia added, panic clutching at her chest.

Gaius shrugged again, "and her husband is a close ally of my close ally and fellow triumvir. Silvius would never risk ruining the tentative peace between Antonius and me by divorcing my sister."

Lucretia blinked, thinking over his words before letting out a sigh. He was right. Her damned husband was too loyal to Antonius to ever risk his alliance with Gaius by divorcing her and exposing her as having an illegitimate child. Agrippa had relaxed too, his shoulder falling as he allowed the wisdom in Gaius' words to flow over him.

"Do you know who the father is?" Gaius asked after a moment of allowing them to process.

"No, it could be either of you," Lucretia said.

Both men looked at each other then back at her. "I might be a father?" Agrippa asked.

"Yeah..." Lucretia smiled at him, feeling happiness spring up inside her at the tentative joy on his face.

Agrippa stepped closer to her, placing a hand on her stomach. "A father..." he whispered.

Gaius came up behind him, pushing Agrippa slightly to the side so he could also place a hand on Lucretia. "If the babe is anything like you sister, I will be happy to be it's... uncle," Gaius smiled.

Lucretia giggled slightly, "yes brother, it's... uncle," she responded, smirking slightly. Gaius' lips twitched as he tried to contain his laughter. Agrippa looked between them for a moment, his eyes sparkling. Before he cracked and began to laugh, his head falling against Lucretia's shoulder. Gaius and Lucretia both joined in the laughter a moment later. Joy filled the air as they all felt it flow through them. Lucretia was pregnant. And Gaius and Agrippa would soon be fathers.

--

Lucretia kept her eyes locked on the door. Silvius would be home soon and Lucretia had to tell him she was pregnant and convince him to lie. 

Silvius entered through the door, his hands filled with scrolls. He froze when he saw Lucretia seated on the sella in the atrium. "What is happening?" he asked, handing the scrolls off to a slave.

"I'm pregnant," Lucretia said simply.

Silvius started. His eyes darted down to where Lucretia had placed her hands over her stomach then back up to her face. "You... we've never-" realisation dawned in his eyes- "you whore." He stalked forward. Lucretia looked up at her husband with a blank face. "Who?"

"Who?" she repeated sweetly.

"Who are you fucking? You-" he stopped himself mid-sentence, he raised his hands in front of him and curled his fingers in fists.

"Agrippa," Lucretia said simply, "but that doesn't matter." She waved him off, Silvius eyes widened in fury at her dismissal. "What matters is that I'm keeping the baby. And you are going to act as if it's yours."

"I will not!" Silvius said, his expression twisting.

"You will." Lucretia stood. "My brother and your... friend have recently come to terms, in order to keep this alliance intact you, someone so close to Antonious, cannot divorce or shame the sister of Gaius." She leant closer to whisper to him, "it would ruin them."

Silvius' jaw clenched. He had no response to that it seemed. He opened his mouth and closed it again a few times, then he spun on his heel and left the room in a huff. Lucretia smirked.

--

5th Day Before the Ides of Iulius (11th July)

Lucretia groaned as she ran her hand over the small bump of her stomach. "The babe is moving," she said.

Gaius turned his eyes to her, a small smile playing at his lips. "As you have been saying for the past three days," he teased.

Lucretia scowled at him, "well, you're not the one with a moving being inside you so-"

"-I wasn't complaining," Gaius soothed. "Just observing."

Lucretia glared at him. A sharp kick to the inside of her stomach distracted her, "gods!"

"Still?" Agrippa's voice joined the conversation. He walked into the room, a scroll in hand. He handed the scroll to Gaius, then sat beside Lucretia and placed a hand on her back. "It gets better." Lucretia glared up at him through her eyelashes. He winced, "sorry."

She grumbled to herself, "you are not doing this to me for another three years after this." Both of her lovers began to laugh.

--

On the Nones of Sextilus (5th August)

"I hate this," Octavia muttered. Lucretia muttered in agreement. The two of them were standing to the side, watching as Gaius and Agrippa prepared to leave. The battle with Brutus and Cassius that had been a long time coming was almost here. 

Lucretia had, after many dies of pestering, managed to convince Silvius to go with Gaius and Antonius, feeding him some lies about Gaius needing a more experienced commander to win the fight (he already had veterans from Gaul but Silvius didn't need to know that). Thankfully it had worked and his brother had decided to go to.

Her lovers walked back over to them after a moment of speaking with their troops. "It's time," Agrippa said when they reached them.

Octavia let out a soft sigh. Gaius' eyes softened when he looked at his sister. He walked closer and took her arms, pulling Octavia into a hug. Lucretia turned away, locking eyes with Agrippa. "Stay safe," she mouthed to him. Agrippa smiled and nodded at her.

Gaius was in front of her then, his eyes shining with tears from whatever Octavia had said. Lucretia let out a soft sob, then pulled him into a hug. "Come back to me," she whispered.

"Always." He replied.

--

10th Day Before the Kalends of October (23rd October)

Lucretia was pacing. The most recent letter from Gaius had said that they were almost at the assassins encampment and it would come to battle soon. Since then she had found it hard to sit still. Octavia and Horatia had both told her that strenuous activity was bad for the babe, and with her so close to birth it probably would be better to rest. But she couldn't do it.

So since Octavia had confined her to the house, she had spent hours pacing her room. "You should sit down domina," Pompona said. Lucretia saw her ringing her hands off to the side, forehead creased with worry.

"I'm fine Pompona," Lucretia waved her off. "I-" she paused. Something wet was running down her leg. Lucretia looked down. Clear fluid was pooling on the floor below her. "Get the midwife," Lucretia ordered, "and my cousin."

Lucretia groaned. She let out a deep groan as she pushed. "Almost there!" The midwife called, "I can see it!"

Lucretia took a breath. "You can do this," Octavia said, "come on."

'Let me live.' She thought, 'gods let me do this.' Lucretia took another deep breath and pushed. She almost yelped at the feeling but managed to stop herself and focus on pushing. After a few seconds the midwife let out a joyous, 'well done!' and Lucretia relaxed into Octavia. "Is it?"

"She lives," the midwife said. "A daughter."

"Give me," Lucretia said, her voice soft and breathless. The midwife raised her arms with the baby in it, there were still clumps of blood and after-birth clinging to its pale skin. Lucretia took her babe without a care for the blood that transferred onto her skin. A small beautiful little bundle that fit perfectly in Lucretia's arms. "She's perfect."

NiV masterlist / full masterlist

#fanfic #domina mgm+ #domina2021 #augustus #ancient rome #oc #agrippa

[tjpda]

As a companion piece to the first "Treasures from the Archive" video recently uploaded to the archive's website, I thought it would be fun to do a slightly deeper dive into the oldest item we have here at the JPDA. This is the Riverside Literature Series copy of William Shakespeare's As You Like It. It is number 93 in the series and was published in 1896, making it the oldest item in the collection by some margin. What is particularly interesting about this piece, other than the age, is that we know who it at one point belonged to! On the front cover near the top is written in pencil "Anna Van Aalet" and her writing can be found throughout the text. On the front page, we see her writing about SIlvius and Phebe, two pastoral characters from the play who fall in love, as well as their purpose in the play to "allow time to pass." While we don't know if she played either of these parts, no lines are underlined, we do know what she thought of the play overall. On page 79 we can see that she has written in the upper margin "I am so bored." As a theatre teacher, this made me crack up. A hundred year into the past and kids still hate Shakespeare. Other notes of interest include the "translations" at the bottom of the page for more modern definitions of Elizabethan English, a feature of many current Shakespeare texts present a hundred years in the past, as well as actual music for the songs! As You Like It has the most songs of any Shakespearean comedy and I don't think I've ever seen a text of the play that features written music before, I'd love to try and play it. Maybe for another post!

#JPDA #Shakespeare #Treasuresfromthearchive #archives

[theirvoices]

Connor: I'm glad your heart is still beating

Silvius: This is the best moment of my life

Connor: Well that's depressing

@detectiveconnor

#( crack . silvius ) #detectiveconnor

[chill-nightfury-beans]

( here is the start,time to time travel to the past lol)

Silvius was in the temple as he did live with the other demons. He was playing his ocarina that he made himself. It had always put him in a better mood when he's feeling blue. The skeledemon felt horrible for Aries. He wanted him back at the temple. "He didn't deserve to be kicked out." Silvius thought to himself,he did try to beg the others to let him back in. He stopped playing when he heard something scratching at his window.

(Lol we are going to blast into the past dear) Aries grumbled angrily, as he slammed his paws on the ground causing it to rumble and crack due to him being the one and only destruction demon known to the other demons as a threat and not suitable for living in the temple. He was banished off despite proving them he could change with time, not knowing that Silvius was on his side he always hated the creation demon thinking he only did it just because he wanted to keep all the demons close by. As he rested on his lava rock he decided to write a note to Silvius, using his pet falcon to deliver it. Viz the falcon was scratching the window trying to get the creation demon's attention as he squawked and pointed his beak at his claw that held the note.

[the-wanted-man]

Comrades-in-Arms .II

Warnings: Potential 5.x spoilers regarding Garlemald. Part [1] Imperial Garlemald | Levi’s Theme

“The whole damn country’s gone to hell in a hand-basket, boys. Now, I don’t, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, say this to be an alarmist but...just look at the facts. Losing royalty left and right. People disappearing in the dead of night. I mean I love this country as much as any true son but we’re eating ourselves from the inside out, and it doesn’t seem to matter what side you’re on anymore.  I know you can feel it. The noose tightening in around the neck. The cross-hairs on the back. We’re coming up to the point of no return. Loyalist...or otherwise.”

The windstorm comes on much quicker than they’d anticipated and it makes those last few malms a miserable journey for the small unit. Even fully suited the harsh winds cut through the layers of their like phantom swords and moving became a matter of necessity to keep the chill at bay. Even silver-spoon Leviticus found it necessary to walk eventually.

Companionable moods from even minutes before seemed to lessen at the same rate their visibility did. The snowy haze of the blizzard made seeing more than five fulms ahead a near impossible feat after a time and were it not for the pulsing red light of the old guard tower beacon ahead they might’ve surely been lost to the white.

Eventually, they came upon an impenetrable wall of steel that seemed to simply rise up out of the snow. It wasn’t exactly the kind of sight that most would consider welcoming with its clinically grey exterior, and structured lighting that barely seemed to shine through the thick coat of hoarfrost that had built upon its metal surface. What bliss it would be to leave this place behind.

“Now, talk of insurrection is on the winds...and I’m not saying I support it but I DO understand it. You’re kidding yourself too, if you think I’m the only one who sees how this is going to get. Everyone’s thinking it, even if no one’s out right saying it. I mean...civil war...When its neighbor against neighbor....friend against friend...Brother against brother...It’s only a matter of time before you have to -really- start asking yourself -- Well, who can you really trust?”

A kind of tense silence seems to sweep over the convoy by the time the magitek vehicle rolls to a halt in front of the castellum gates. It starts as the usual routine first: the declaration of ranks, unit and business into a blue screen that takes their information. .

Albina quo Silvius. XIth Auxilliary. Supply drop.

The terminal flashes, and then beeps in acceptance of the credentials provided. With an almighty, groaning, screech of moving metal, the barricade begins to lower itself. Sinking into the earth like some kind of retreating monolith.The ice along its frame spider-webs and cracks, before falling away.

They are waved through, just past the barricades where two armed guards walk forward to greet them. Little more than a skeleton crew was necessary to keep the checkpoint appearing operational. Papers were exchanged and one guard points something out to verify it with the other. They nod, and then the first guard lifts his rifle up to Bastille’s chest, and fires twice.

“Times like this, might SEEM like you can’t trust anyone at all. Like you got to keep your guard up to keep the knife from sticking in your back. Like its all you can do to keep it from twisting... You might even feel like you’re alone. Like the whole world is pitted against you. Well, I’m here to tell you that you are NOT alone. There’s people you can trust. ”

It was absolute chaos.

Gunfire erupts from behind them and the team scatters. Albina shoves Quintus just as the second guard opens a volley of fire where he’d previously been sitting. Her weapon is drawn, and she cuts down one of the soldiers before he can fire again.

Tatius tackles one of the castellum guards as two more flank them from the gates. Cicero dives for cover, taking Levi with him as he goes. He screams for Crispus to radio for help while they’re pinned down by fire. Leviticus thanks the man by flossing the space between his ears with a bullet.

His unit starts to fall, one by one. Tatius manged to take on with him before he is pulled into a chokehold and he struggles until he doesn’t. Everything happens so fast, Albina barely has time to process as she pulls her blade from the body of an imperial soldier. It begins to dawn on her though, as she turns to her treacherous fiance.

“What did you do?”

“Matter fact, they’re right here in this very room. Take a look around boys, to the left, and to the right of you. Ahead and behind. Look around and witness them - your family! Us who’ve slept together. Who’ve bled together...Killed together.  -Trust- in them. Your fellow brothers-in-arms. Trust...in me.”

She knows before they’re even at each others throats. She knows the man she’d intended to marry so well she empowers him in moments and backs him blade tip first into the caravan. She knows that somehow this is his fault and doesn’t understand how she could have been so blind.

Leviticus only answers with a shameless smirk, but she catches the flick of his silver eyes and turns in time to be impaled by Crispus. He had always been quiet, and she had thought, dependable. She realized now, just not to her. Albina slumps to the ground. The battle is over and the damage done as quickly and as suddenly as a lightning strike.

The world starts to muffle and fade into black. Albina hears her fiance say “Took your sweet time.” As he brushes off his uniform and looks to the two remaining guards. He steps over her body, pausing long enough to tell her “Consider this an end to our engagement, darling. It’s not that its me, it’s just that it’s you. Quintus -- you can come out from hiding now.”

Harsher blows couldn’t be dealt as the young medic crawls out from the mud and snow, shivering as he stands and looks Albina in the eyes as they close. “R-really, Levi. Sh-she was your fiance.”

“I know! What was I thinking? Marriage never would have suited me.” 

“You see, commitment is important. How long have we been at this -game-, Family? Four years? Five? Because that’s what it comes down to. Our lives, are a -game- to...to these people! Heartless, and arrogant leaders who care more about their image than those who make them -look- good...Who are so quick to kill their own loyal brothers and sisters, if it makes them look good. Greedy, selfish leaders. That’s what they are.”

“Load those supply crates in that freighter there. We’ll need all the money we can get across the border and these weapons will flip for a pretty gil piece there. Especially now.” 

Equipment is quickly  transferred and stored within the cargo hold of a small airship, none of which Levi lifted so much as a finger for. The ship itself was weaponless luxury class and couldn’t pass for militaristic if it tried. Too spacious. Too comfortable. Being royalty had its perks, and no one said escaping couldn’t be done in style.

“Did we really have to...do all this?”  Leviticus looked over to Quintus, who stood anxiously over the body of Bastille. He seemed like he was having second thoughts, and Levi couldn’t have that.

“Having doubts, are we? You know they never would have hesitated for us. Even my loving fiance was too committed to the country for us to ever work. It still hurt me, having to do this to them. Him though...I never liked Bastille. It might be terrible but..It’s true. He always acted like he was...better than all of us. Better than you.”  Bastille croaks and Levi considers it the definition of a corpse turning in its grave.

“I...oh jeez, I think he’s still alive..?”

Leviticus passes the young man a knife. “You said you could kill for a bath, right? Well, how bad did you want it?”

"Was it those officers starving in the cold beside us while they shouted orders from the back lines? Hm? Was it them? Huddling in the trenches, never knowing if  they’d see the light of day? Do you think they care? What about the people. We serve citizens that don’t even care for the sacrifices we make. Who spit on us when we marched in the cities. They don’t know what we had to do, to survive. What we -will- do.”

They staged the scene, positioning the bodies of their fellows more deliberately. Stripped the castellum of its valuable supplies and spilled a trail of ceruleum around the encampment with whatever excess they could find.

A more immediate guess once discovered might lead the assumption of an encounter with savages and he relied on the fact that resources would be stretched too thin to make an in-depth investigation. It wasn’t perfect but it would do.

The four loaded themselves onto the new convoy, an airship no bigger than standard fare civilian transport and luggage but it was enough for them and  their haul. At the hatch, Leviticus turned to look behind him. Struck a match off his chest, and tossed it into the shimmering pool of oil. Blue fire spreads like spilled ink over thin cloth. Leviticus leaves brimstone in his wake, and it makes him feel divine.

If he can do this, he can do anything.

“The hand that claims to feed, has only ever taken away. Everything we did, we did for nothing. But I promise you...if you follow me...if you trust me...trust the man on your left, and on your right...Nothing, is what’s going to stand in our way.

The ship full of defectors takes off from a blazing outpost and veers off into the distant sky.

                                            To be continued...                                                    

#Narratives #Levi Max #Paint it Black

[gxdsfavgal]

So Young, So Damaged

by merlins-beard on WP

August 17th, 1994

Juniper's POV

  I rushed down the stairs and to the front entrance where father was standing by the round table under the chandelier. I didn't put down my bag because I knew father wanted to leave as soon as I got down stairs. Without saying anything he opened and let me walk out to the front gate before him.

"Ready?" My father questioned as he held my free hand. I gave him a quick up and down nod, signaling that I was ready. Soon enough, we were spinning through different places then our feet landed right in front of the Malfoy Manor. So dark, so sad, such a deathly feeling.

Where's the life? Where's the pop of color? I thought to myself.

Father and I then walk past the gates and with each step of getting closer to the door, my hearts beats faster and faster. Why? I haven't seen the Malfoy family all summer especially Draco, why am I scared to see Draco? Is it because i've noticed my matured body? No, you're just excited for the world cup. Get it together Juniper.

I thought to myself until we finally reached the big dark wood double doors. Once father knocked on the door, the door cracked open revealing Narcissa.

"Hello Narcissa" Father spoke sternly. I just waved my hand, not wanting to say anything because of the many thoughts going through my mind.

"Hello Callisto and Juniper, please come in" Narcissa then opened the door wider to let father and I through. She told father that Lucius is waiting in his study for their meeting, father then looked at me and gave me a reassuring smile before he turned around and went to talk to Lucius. "Now dear, Blaise isn't here yet but how about let's go find Draco? Shall we?"

I swear to Merlin, if Blaise doesn't get here soon i'm going to kill Draco.

I was quickly following Narcissa to the kitchen where I assumed that's where the bloke was sitting. As we reached the kitchen there he was eating his oatmeal at the kitchen island, his bright blonde hair, and his silver eyes.

He seems to have matured over summer, same as me. His hair was parted down the side this year, unlike last year when it was parted down the middle.

At least it wasn't like the first two years, slicked back and hard as a rock because of all the fucking gel. His jawline seems more define too.

"You seem to have a staring problem Silvius" The stupid blond bloke interrupted my thoughts.

"And you seem to have an manners problem Malfoy, at least say 'Hi' to me first. Oh hi Lucius, father are you leaving now?" I spoke up and waved as the two older men entered the kitchen.

Father looks shaken up. I noticed his eyes were a bit red and puffy. Was he crying? Lucius impotent to make eye contact with me, always having such a stiff emotionless face.

"Yes, darling. Now come here and give me a hug goodbye" my dad said and embraced me in a warm tight hug. "I'll see you in a few days, take care of her please. See you guys, have fun!" he looked at Draco as he was the only boy my age in the room. Father and Lucius then walked out to the entrance and bid their goodbyes.

"She is right Draco, she is our guest" Narcissa then looks like him insisting that he gives a polite welcome as she leaves us two alone in the kitchen.

"Ugh fine... Hi, I guess. Mum didn't tell me you were coming over this early, just set your bags on the floor for now and once Blaise gets here I'll show you guys your rooms for the night." He spoke, not making eye contact with me once.

His eyes were set on his bowl of oatmeal. I sat in a high swiveled chair, two seats in between us. My right leg wouldn't stop bouncing from my anxiousness.

The silence was loud in my ears. I have to break the silence, I hated it.

"How was your summer?" I questioned as I stared at the side of his head, waiting for eye contact. None.

"It was shitty as always, I heard you and Nott went to the Zabini's this summer again." Malfoy murmured. We continued our small talk, well there was more silence than talking but I obviously was the one asking questions.

Soon enough, about 15 minutes later Blaise arrived with his mother, Riella Zabini. His mother didn't say much since Narcissa was nowhere to be found at the time.

Draco then showed us our rooms, separate rooms of course, and we set our bags down. The three of us then went back downstairs to sit outside and soak in the last of the summer sunlight. Draco for sure needed it, this boy always been brighter than snow.

A few hours of talking and has passed, now us teens were starving like wolves. Narcissa cooked us some amazing food for dinner, she had made this amazing sun dried tomato gnocchi and garlic shrimp, paired with freshly made sourdough bread from the bakery in a nearby town.

Lucius was not in the mood to eat so the lady of the house set some food aside for him. We are in the kitchen, there was no need to use the big dining room table if there wasn't any other guests. We all finished eating and having civil conversations without young Malfoy getting mad at me in a certain way.

Flashback to 1992 : second year

It was dinner time at Hogwarts. I was starving, I barely ate any breakfast this morning. I sat next to Blaise and Theo across from us, with Draco, Pansy, Daphne and our half-blood friend Tracey Davis. As I was drinking my pumpkin juice, Blaise poked the side of my torso which was my ticklish spot. I spat my juice out and it sprayed on little Malfoy's face and a little bit on Pug Face Parkinson.

"YOU MANKY MINGER BLOOD TRAIT—" Draco's voice rang in the big dining hall, everyone became silent and turned to our side of the hall. All eyes on us.

"I'm so sorry Malfoy I didn't mea—" I tried to finish my apology but the stupid bloke interrupted.

"You know what Silvius, my father will hear about this" he slammed his utensils on the table and scurried out of the room with Parkinson trailing behind. I just let out a big sigh, I hated the way he wouldn't let me apologize. But what I hated more was when he didn't use my nickname, Juni.

"Doesn't he know your family is you know... in a higher ranking than his?" Nott jokingly questioned as he tried to relieve the pressure on our group. Theo was always like this, so nice and caring, never wanted there to be a negative attitude in the way of a good time.

Back to real time

  "Juni... hello" a males muffled voice said. A pale hand was waving in front of my face, blocking my vision. I snap out of my memories and look up at the owner of the hand. It was Draco standing on the right side of me.

"Hmm? What happened?" I questioned.

"You were staring off into space I guess, but Cissy said we should get ready for bed now. We have to leave early morning, come on" I turned to around to my left side to meet the face of the voice.

Blaise and Draco both knew I always got lost in my mind at random times, they were used to it. I sat up and followed the two boys to the seconds floor and we went our separate ways and did our routine. I soon fall into a slumber.

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#draco malfoy #draco smut #draco fanfiction #harry potter #draco lucius malfoy #fanfic #hogwarts #slytherin #gryffindor #hufflepuff #ravenclaw #blaise zabini #theodore nott #pansy parkinson #tracey davis #daphne greengrass #ron weasley #hermione granger #fred weasley #george weasley #ginny weasley #bellatrix lestrange #voldemort #tom riddle

[konmarkimageswords]

Irina & Silviu Szekely have crafted an entire reality of their own, a world that integrates the whimsicalities of the sublime while paying homage to the grotesque. With sleight of hand, the artists create fantastical collages where magic has slipped through the crack of dawn and bewitched the day, casting a surreal haze of distortions and exaggerations over reality.

http://www.bleaq.com/2014/irina-and-silviu-szekely

http://lodownmagazine.com/pulse/irina-silviu-székely

http://www.emptykingdom.com/featured/ek-interview-irina-and-silviu/

https://www.kidsofdada.com/blogs/magazine/18392293-the-alchemy-of-collage-artists-irina-silviu-szekely

[ardenromano]

The pressure was getting to be too much. With Faith back in town and the assertion from Silvius that he wouldn’t get his promotion without a claim, Arden knew he had to act. Georgie was right - Carlisle needed to know what he was facing. Needed to know that they were coming to a fork in the road.

He was his face betrayed his worry as she opened the door to her place, but Arden forced himself to crack a smile for her and brushed his lips to hers. “Hey,” he greeted softly, letting his forehead linger next to hers for a moment. This could be the beginning of the end, after all. If Carlisle decided she couldn’t go through with a claim, he’d be forced to submit to an arranged claim or lose his life’s work. “Hope it’s still alright that I dropped by so sudden...”

@carlislecapulet

#Carlisle

[bloominghead-art]

Some OC fun facts to make this blog look a little less dead

- Marcel cuts Dominiks hair sometimes

- Negan used to do drugs

- Florence regresses her age to cope with trauma

- Crescere and Alcyone give each other book recommendations and talk about them at dinner

- Javon has a pair of pink glasses he likes to wear

- Dominik eats human flesh sometimes. Scarlett refuses to do that even though she gets these urges too sometimes

- Eric is a closeted bisexual. He’s afraid of what people might think if he’d come out so just doesn’t

- Javon once thought he might be trans but nowadays he’s comfortable with being a very feminine guy

- Alcyone and Scarlett write each other poems. Elona calls them out on being very gay and cheesy

- Doron is schizophrenic

- Nevio brushes Cresceres hair sometimes

- Silvius still feels phantom wings

- Elona has a pet snake. He’s a Gopher snake and his name is Rasmus

- Amelia has asthma

- Feit used to do things to himself to get into a hospital. For some reason hospitals comforted him

- Nevio and Marcel like to crack their necks

- Dominik once had a sex dream of Marcel and couldn’t look him in the eyes for two days

- Javon watches an awful lot of tv and netflix

- Alcyone and Scarlett sing a lot together and every time it makes Elona fall in love with them even more

- Teneris doesn’t seem like the affectionate type but he is very affectionate, romantic and touchy and always spoils, cuddles and kisses Lilith when they’re alone

- Pharrahs special interest is Alice In Wonderland

- Timo always wears beanies. Always. He likes the feeling of pressure

#oc-text #oc fun facts #fun facts

[pearlloading198]

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch Download For Mac

Valve Corporation, the developer for popular science fiction first-person shooter computer game, is teaming up with NVIDIA to give away 4 popular computer games to NVIDIA GeForce GPU video adapter via Steam delivery platform. The games giveaways is part of the after sales promotion offer to further support and popularize PC gaming configuration based on NVIDIA GeForce graphics card, fighting with ATi free games offer. The games available for free download and free unlimited play on Steam as listed on Portal: First Slice is free for all NVIDIA Gamers site includes:

Half Life 2 Deathmatch Wiki

Half Life Deathmatch Online

Half Life 2 Deathmatch Maps

Portal: First Slice – First Slice is a shortened demo version of the Portal game, with only 11 of the 19 Test chambers. Half-Life 2: Deathmatch – A multi-player game using all the weapons from Half-Life 2 with support for user created maps. Half-Life 2: Lost Coast – An expansion pack to Half-Life 2 which showcases High Dynamic Range Lighting (a lighting technology that emulates the way human eyes see light). Peggle Extreme – 10 level version of Peggle Deluxe with Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal themed puzzle. (Peggle World of Warcraft Edition is also available)

In your Half-Life 2 Deathmatch Config folder. This file contains two commands: stop record autorecord-pov-TIMESTAMP The timestamp changes every 5 seconds In your generic config bind a key you like and exec this config. Like this: unbind PGUP bind 'PGUP' 'exec autorecordautogenerated.cfg'. Minimum: Linux Ubuntu 12.04, Dual-core from Intel or AMD at 2.8 GHz, 1GB Memory, nVidia GeForce 8600/9600GT, ATI/AMD Radeaon HD2600/3600 (Graphic Drivers: nVidia 310, AMD 12.11), OpenGL 2.1, 4GB Hard Drive Space, OpenAL Compatible Sound Card.

Free half life 2 deathmatch baixar download software at UpdateStar - Half-Life 2: Deathmatch is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation. The game features new levels, optimized for multiplayer arena play, and a few new weapons. Half-Life 2 is a story driven first person shooter sequel created by Valve Software. The original Half-Life, Valve 's debut title, won more than 50 game-of-the-year awards and sold more than eight million retail units sold worldwide. Quite simply it 's one of the most popular and most enjoyable PC games of all time.

The only requirement to receive the free games is to download and install Steam games content delivery program (other than the PC must powered with a NVIDIA display adapter chip). Steam setup installer can be downloaded via steampowered.com. After installing Steam application, and then registering and logging in to the Steam account, visit steam://hardwarepromo/609 link to register for promotional offer (You won’t find the zero cent price on the store), and install the games.

With the free HL2 source SDK base, users will be able to install Half-Life 2 mods which make the game much more interesting. All these free games have been included in value packs from Valve, such as The Orange Box. Beside, detection of the presence of NVIDIA hardware is automatically done by Steam software, and it will make Portal: First Slice available immediately, free of charge if supported device is detected. All NVIDIA driver also has the link to redeem the Steam offer.

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Half Life 2 Deathmatch Wiki

Half-Life 2: DeathmatchDeveloper(s)ValvePublisher(s)ValveSeriesHalf-LifeEngineSourcePlatform(s)Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, LinuxRelease

Windows

WW: November 30, 2004

Mac OS X

Linux

WW: March 16, 2013

Genre(s)First-person shooterMode(s)Multiplayer

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch is a multiplayerfirst-person shooter video game developed by Valve. Released on Steam on November 30, 2004, it uses many of the assets from Half-Life 2 and its Source engine. It features new levels, optimized for multiplayer arena play, and a few new weapons. Also included are portions of the game's source code, which were the basis for many early Source-based multiplayer modifications. The game is the successor to the popular multiplayer component of the original Half-Life, but is offered as a separate product from Half-Life 2. Deathmatch, like Half-Life's multiplayer, does not develop any part of the plot or story of the Half-Life series.

Gameplay(edit)

Deathmatch(edit)

Gravity gun in Half Life 2: Deathmatch.

Deathmatch includes some notable features such as instant respawn; weapons that have specific spawn points; and special abilities (sprint, flashlight, etc.). The aim of the deathmatch is simple: the player must kill other players to score points. If the player accidentally self-kills, they lose points. If a player is killed, they will respawn with 100 health points and the default spawn weapons, but will lose all the weapons and ammunition acquired before being killed.

The game is server based and each server contains different rules for each round therefore there is no default time limit or kill limit for each round.

Syndrome catatonique. Crack Baby Syndrome With the arrival of the relatively inexpensive and smokable crack form of cocaine, the rate of newborns exposed to cocaine in utero rose dramatically in the early 1990s. In the mid-1990s it was estimated that 1.1% of pregnant women used crack cocaine.

Team Deathmatch(edit)

In the team deathmatch mode, players are organized in two teams, Resistance and Combine, both of them with different characters that appear exactly as they do in Half-Life 2. In the gaming aspect, team deathmatch has almost the same rules as deathmatch mode, except for:

Instead of only one player winning the round, the team with the higher score wins.

If friendly fire is enabled, one point is deducted each time a teammate is killed.

If the player selected a Resistance model for his character, and they are taken to the Combine team, they will get a random model from the list of Combine models. Nevertheless, if the player dislikes that character, they are able to choose another one from the list.

If the teams are unbalanced, the team with fewer players won't get players from the other team, (unless the server owner had 'Auto-Balance' enabled) instead, they will get new players connected to the server.

Development(edit)

Overcooked! 2 - season pass download for mac. Upon the release and subsequent critical reception of Half-Life 2, reviewers expressed disappointment with the game's lack of multiplayer.(1) Two weeks after the initial release of Half-Life 2, Valve revealed and released Half-Life 2: Deathmatch on Steam.(2)(3)Deathmatch was released simultaneously with the Source SDK as a means of promoting game modifications built upon the platform.(4)(5)

Post-release, the game was supported with new maps from Valve as well as updates to the game and its engine.(6)(7)(8) Valve's The Orange Box does not include Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, however, the game was upgraded to use the Orange Box version of the Source engine in September 2010. Valve announced a free promotional offer on January 10, 2008, which allowed NVIDIA graphics card users to download and play Half-Life 2: Deathmatch along with Portal: First Slice, Half-Life 2: Lost Coast, and Peggle Extreme.(9)

In September 2010, the game was released via Steam for OS X.(10) A Linux version came more than two years later, in March 2013.(11)Streets of rage 3 download for pc.

Reception(edit)

Half Life 2: Deathmatch was well-received upon its release, with reviewers praising its inclusion of the gravity gun.(12)(13)GameSpot lauded the game for the Source engine's 'impressive use of physics' and the available selection of maps.(13)IGN paid similar compliments to the title, also speaking highly of the 'fast play style that (Half-Life 2: Deathmatch) produces.'(12)

Half Life Deathmatch Online

Multiple reviews stated that the game suffered from large amount of lag upon release, but GameSpy noted that this was remedied soon after as more servers came online.(14)

References(edit)

^Adams, David (November 30, 2004). 'Half-Life 2 Deathmatch Official?'. IGN. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

^'Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and SDK Update'. Steam. Valve. November 30, 2004. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

^Thorsen, Tor (November 30, 2004). 'Valve unleashes Half-Life 2: Deathmatch'. GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

^Adams, David (December 1, 2004). 'Half-Life 2 Deathmatch Released'. IGN. Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved March 23, 2014.

^Bramwell, Tom (December 1, 2004). 'Valve surprises all with Half-Life 2 Deathmatch'. Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

^McNamara, Tom (February 11, 2005). 'Another HL2DM Map in the Pipe'. IGN. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

^Surette, Tim (February 7, 2005). 'Valve releases details on future Steam downloads'. GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

^Bramwell, Tom (February 18, 2005). 'Valve updates HL2 Deathmatch with new weapons, map'. Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

^Purchese, Robert (January 10, 2008). 'Portal: First Slice for NVIDIA users'. Eurogamer. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

^Callaham, John (September 30, 2010). 'Half-Life 2 Deathmatch gets engine and Mac update'. Big Download. Joystiq. Archived from the original on August 23, 2011. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

^Stahie, Silviu (March 16, 2013). 'Half-Life 2: Deathmatch Officially Launched on Steam for Linux'. Softpedia. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

^ abAdams, Dan (December 1, 2004). 'Half-Life 2: Deathmatch Review'. IGN. Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2014.

^ abKasavin, Greg (November 30, 2004). 'Half-Life 2 Deathmatch First Impressions'. GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2014.

^Accardo, Sal (December 1, 2004). 'Half-Life 2: Deathmatch'. GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 1, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2014.

Half Life 2 Deathmatch Maps

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Half-Life_2:_Deathmatch&oldid=961653905'

[ridingtheblackmountain]

DAY FIVE – TO THE COAST

SUN:  The sun was out all day despite the forecast being thundery showers, with a 70% chance of rain til 16.00. During the day, we slowly divested ourselves of wet weather gear, never quite believing that the downpour would come.

WATER: We spent much of the day beside water rather than being pelted by it. We followed a tributary out of town and then the River Moraca – that we had met two days ago on the ‘Chinese day’. The river broadened out into wide marshland covered with water lillies and some quite sophisticated fishing operations – is this where the trout we have been eating comes from?

We cross the river over a long stone bridge complete with ruins of a castle. Much further, and the river feeds into Lake Skadar, the largest lake on the Balkan Peninsular. We are right on the south-eastern corner of Montegro, the Albanian border passes through the lake.

A long bridge takes us across the lake and into the town of Virpazar, for a coffee break. We spend the next couple of hours cycling around the lake, which is quite stunning. Completely calm, the sky reflected on its surface, deep blue, with small islands and inlets along the shore.

ROAD: At Virpazar, Silviu gives his briefing. There will be three big’ish climbs. Two before lunch, one after. The climbers are unleashed. The road meanders around the lake for a while, takes a turn seemingly inland and the climb starts. It’s hot, something we aren’t used to. Mark is taking it easy, so is Ali. But Andy is pushing hard and John is cruising effortlessly. It’s a marvelous climb, bringing us out high above the lake and onto a slow descent. We all stop to take photos. Jaw-dropping.

The second climb takes us back up, Ali is in the lead. At the top, there is an empty terrace with benches and tables for our picnic.

The road takes us inland for a while, long fast descents on bumpy roads dappled with sunlight filtered through fresh leaved trees.

We stop in a small town, where Mark inexplicably buys himself a hairy werewolf mask that he wears for the rest of the day – remarkably no-one seems to bat an eye lid – at restaurants or in the towns and villages we pass through. Maybe it’s because we are so close to Albania?

While everyone is distracted and with the true climbers exhausted by their efforts, Piers pushes forward to the third climb (every holiday he makes tactical play for one hill). Torren has noticed and perhaps sensing his own opportunity gives chase. Martin, in the van, goads the two – “this could be your chance!). Piers is pushed all the way, but cracks Torren on the final climb to emerge victorious onto the ridge at the top. (The 6th fastest time up the hill ever recorded on Strava no less!)

There’s a huge panorama. Looking down the ridge we can see a Mountain that rejoices in the name of Maja Golishit.

We say goodbye finally to Lake Skadar, still visible in the distance,and head south west towards the coast some twenty miles away. The first six miles are downhill as we shed 500m of height.

The final five or so miles were beautiful tarmac with shallow gradients up and downhill, but into a headwind. The faster riders start to push on in a peleton. Then Hamish starts it. He shoots past the group at high speed, making a break for it. Piers bridges the gap. Then others join in and a race is on. Hamish seems keen to lead, so we tuck in behind letting him take the wind. Until half-way up a hill Piers pushes past him, and hears a satisfying whimper. Silviu and Piers try to push ahead. And successfully establish a gap. But then, as always, John appears from nowhere and cruises past. It’s difficult to describe how enjoyable it is riding fast like this on legs that now are strong from several days in the saddle.

BREAKS: Top breaks today. Best coffee yet in Virpazar on a balcony looking at an ancient bridge. The best location for picnic in the sun overlooking the lake. And a top break for ice cream at the Restaurant Panorama just down from Maja Golishit, looking out for miles over Albania.

ANIMALS: Mark has been attacked by dogs all holiday, but  today we cycled past cows in the road, a snake, several tortoises, a huge variety of birdlife around the lake and some donkeys that Mark successfully whispered.

YOGA: Andy’s session was smaller and required bribery with alcohol - he’s now called Yogi Beer.

Our best day yet, by far. And we’ve arrived at the coast.

63 miles. 1,450 meters of vertical ascent. Max speed 37mph.

[the-girl-who-reads-too-much-blog]

The Thing

thing

rules - answer the questions in a new post and tag  20 blogs you would like to know better!

I was tagged by  @readingeveryday123.

Thank you so much.

a - age: Turning 17 this November.

b - birthplace: Asia

c - current time: 03:10 PM

d - drink you last  had: Lemonade 

e - easiest person to talk to: My Mum, and my soul sister Kani, and BFF/Bro  Silvius.

f - favorite song: Changes every few weeks, but currently has been  “Talk Love”-K.Will, for a while.

g - grossest memory: Ummmm…. Maybe that  time when one of my neighbours just, how do I put it ? Puked water all  over my arm, cause I made a joke that made her crack up while she was  drinking water. In front of a bunch of other kids on top of that.

h - horror yes or horror no: Movies :no ; Books :Yes!

i - in love?: With books, fictional boys, chocolates. 

j - jealous of  people?: I am not jealous of people, I’m jealous about them. You know possessive ?

k - killed someone?:  A couple of mean kids from school, but only  in my head.

l - love at first  sight or should I walk by again: Gotta walk by again, unless you were walking while reading one  of my favorite books.

m - middle name: Awkward

n - number of  siblings:  one younger sister

o - one wish: to make my parents proud. 

p - person you  called last: My grandmother.

q - question you’re  always asked: Why are you always  so quiet ?

r - reason to smile: Certain dorks living at 35 Portland Row,  and Song Joong Ki

s - song you sang  last:  Go -  SALTNPAPER

u - underwear color: Why? Well white.

v - vacation:  Latin America, like all of it. And the UK.

w - weirdest thing  you’ve ever done: I do something weirder every next minute. But maybe, hiding a  chocolate bar, as a gift in my crush’s school bag on his birthday, probably is  the weirdest.

x - x-rays: Had to undergo a couple of times when I was  down with pneumonia. 

y - your favorite  food: Pasta, Blueberry Cheesecakes.

z- zodiac sign: Scorpio 

I’m gonna tag @superbananahottub,,  @lucewoodship, @ironsilversaltandtea, @cryingteacups,  @lockwoodtrash, @35portlandrow,  @mugglebornshadowhunter  @lockwoodsghost  @other-mush  @ofhauntings

#this was fun

[alienpimp]

PRESS

New York Times - “Going to Bucharest”, 2006: “The Bucharest music scene starts with the great 20th-century composer George Enescu, but it quickly branches out to D.J.’s like Alien Pimp and rollicking Gypsy bands like Taraf de Haiduks.”

Black Mirror Recordings, 2021 “Alien Pimp  is usually seen as a Romania-born international artist and media specialist. The man who figured bass music doesn’t need genre segregation, and who promoted that idea until it became a recognized genre. He is also seen as one of the first electronica artists to emerge internationally from Romania. But he doesn’t identify himself as human. He is a free universal consciousness, with an appetite for creation, beauty and harmony. He likes to pimp good vibes and energies, it’s an alien way of pimping that has nothing to do with human exploitation.“

BEATSCAPE REVIEWS: Alien Pimp - Human farming: “If a country played a major role in the rejuvenation of techno, well it’s Romania, the birthplace of Cosmin TRG (who lives in Berlin now), and of Silviu Costinescu, aka Alien Pimp”

Knowledge Mag Mix + Interview: “He’s a versatile producer of electronic music as his exclusive mix for us demonstrates. He runs a record label called DubKraft and he’s about to unveil his first album after 13 years and dozens of releases. The album features excursions in many genres, from techno to classical but always retains a deep "dubsteppish” backbone.“  Boing-Bum Chack: ”I’ve always been impressed by the quality of his production and the energy levels flowing out of his music; recently I’ve had the opportunity to know him from a different perspective, which revealed a very patient and demanding guy when it comes to the quality of material he puts his hands on as a professional. (Him being the master engineer of >my debut album, and I can tell he did magic with the tracks.)“

Generation Bass: << Dubkraft Records is one of my favorite “Uncategorizable Bass Music” labels. I’ve always enjoyed the deep, abstractly textured, bio-tech intelligence of their sound. They have consistently released flavorful Dubstep/Post Dubstep & Future Bass music for the entirety of their influence upon the history & future of the Bass Music scene. At the forefront is Alien Pimp, interchangeably the Dubkraft label boss as well as a crafty Artist/DJ & Intellect, himself. >>

Relevant Barcelona interview: "The tools are irrelevant, the fire inside makes the music.”

Laif Mag (Poland): Interview + Cover Mixed CD Link to the complete version of the printed interview (English translation)!

Alien Pimp profile on dubstep.ro: “Alien Pimp has been for more than 10 years one of the most emblematic figures of the Romanian electronic music scene” Mark Gurney - ATM Magazine/ 2nd Drop Records: “As the dubstep scene become even harder to break into with the dominance of the big league DJ¹s only pushing their own material, here East European dub slinger Alien Pimp and his Dubkraft imprint release two dark and eerie gems ready to challenge the like of Tempa, Tectonic and Planet Mu. Seek out the new breed and purchase.” Mark Gurney - ATM Magazine/ 2nd Drop Records

Beatfactor.ro Interview:“We’re not afraid to call him a veteran” Jason Gross (Perfect Sound Forever): Dubstep- straight outta Romania: “I’ve really tried to enjoy dubstep[…] Sad to say, the collections I’ve heard so far (Box of Dub, Techtonic Plates, as well as the Burial album) have left me cold. Just when I was about to give up on it, I came across a Romanian label called Dubkraft and damn if they’re not doing it right, which is interesting since most (all?) of the dubstep music I’ve heard comes from the UK.” Electronic Explorations 046 review on dubstep.ro: “Alien Pimp is the fine drink in this menu”

KMag: “DubKraft Relaunches As Multi-genre Label”: “The experimental side of drum & bass has grown of late, but versatile producer and label owner Silviu Costinescu, aka Alien Pimp, is taking his experiment to the next level. His label, Dubkraft Records has been relaunched, and is set to release drum & bass, dubstep, and some fascinating various tempo bass music.”

Mixmag review of my first release on DubKraft: “We can forgive the slightly embarrassing cracked English title, as Romania’s first dubstep release contains some impressively tidy productions. (…) Alien Pimp’s ‘Robots & Cellos’ has a gnarlier, junglist-sounding bassline and cellos playing a distinctly Eastern European-sounding melody line. It’s crunchy, high-tech stuff, and a reminder that Romania isn’t all headscarves and horse-carts.” @xe libre (France): “Bucharest : la reconversion électronique”: “He was chosen as jury by Radio France Internationale for one of their contests aiming to discover new talents in Eastern Europe.”

Music of Romania on Wikipedia

Mixmag review of my third release on DubKraft: “The Bucharest, Romania-based DubKraft is a tribute to how international dubstep is getting. The artists here are British, but Alien Pimp aka label boss Silviu adds a chunky, dark dancefloor punch to ‘Dungeon Master’. The real gem, though is ‘Whoppa’ with what sounds like some electric monkeys chattering and a superbly rolling and skipping old-school 2-step vibe.” Joe Muggs

4Elemente.ro interview

BunZer0 - SubFM: “Dungeon Master is the perfect crossover of trip hop blunted vibez and heavy weight bass. Ideal for bass meditation!”

Deapoh –Bare Dubs Records: “Dungeon Master (Alien Pimp Remix) is quite a minimal, eerie and scary tune that you could easily find in a horror film. The sub carries you sliding to a very low frequency. This track reminds me of watching the x-files. A nice simple drum structure which sounds like it’s been recorded live.”

Earz Magazine: “If you didn’t already know…Romania is producing some hot sounds at the moment. You only need to look to Bucharest based label, DubKraft Records, and their “Worldwide Babylon” series for proof.”

itstooloud.com: The Aliens have landed: “This alien must be moving at the speed of sound because his reputation is growing fast across the world, and that’s no surprise when you get a taste of this guys tracks, producing a large array of sounds, from dubstep to weird drum & bass, pushing the boundaries with every new track, a warning sign should be hung from this mans record bag.” Eastern Sound Architects, Volume 1 review on 4elemente.ro: “This is the first indigenous label that can brag about releasing an 100% drum'n'bass compilation!”

#alien pimp #press #media #reviews

[championdemonhunter]

Champion: Demon Hunter, Chapter Three

You Are…

By next morning, Kasmira, Vasilisa, Nessarose, and Michael arrived back at the manor of Black Moon, the group laughing hysterically as jokes and old stories were passed around. Mihaita stood on the front porch, a cup of coffee in hand and a faint smile on his lips. Michael threw his head back in laughter, only to double over as Kasmira told a blatantly dirty joke, causing the other two women to break into hysterics along with him. Kasmira shook her head, a dazzling grin on her features, until she met Mihaita’ gaze.

All smiles fell, the group silenced when they noticed the bruised abdomen, the busted lip, his swollen cheek and black eye. Kasmira tilted her head, crossing her arms. Mihaita shrugged and cracked a smile ever so slightly. “Care to explain, my lovely father, why you look like you’ve been through hell and back in the timespan of three days?”

“Oh, you know, just another day of enemies popping up like daisies.” Mihaita shrugged, taking a sip of coffee. He shifted his gaze to Michael, raising a brow in curiosity. “You are?”

The man cleared his throat, reaching out his hand. “Michael, sir. Michael Winslow.”

Mihaita shook his hand, a mischievous smile on his features. “Do you win things slow?”

“Funny, sir.” Michael grunted, humored but never irritated. “You must be the legendary Teyrn Mihaita de Russo.”

Vasilisa smacked her forehead. “Old man, you are about as funny as a piece of lettuce sometimes.”

“I’ve heard lamer jokes,” Nessarose cut in, flatly. “That one was bearable.”

Mihaita gave Vasilisa a pointed look, then shook his head. “At least I’m something tasty.”

Kasmira’s eyes widen, giving her father a petrified glare. “You are an idiot. You just gave her permission without even saying the words.”

Vasilisa grinned deviously, sliding the smile and a lustful stare to Mihaita. “Either way, I think you’d be delicious.”

“What?” Michael grunted, slowly becoming more and more confused. He then looked to Nessarose. “Is it always like this?”

Casually, she shrugged, “More often than not. But, on the other hand, it makes for a good time.”

Kasmira shook her head, shoving her hands into her pockets. “Anyways, father, would you like to explain, now?”

Mihaita smiled tightly. “It was right after we signed the peace treaty…”

Three Days Prior

Mihaita found himself on the railing of Kasmira’s balcony, Silviu beside him. The advisor glared at him as the shouts of enemies bellowed behind them. “We couldn’t, oh I don’t know, used a secret passageway or perhaps a door? But, no. You want to jump. From the third story.”

“Yeah.” Mihaita exclaimed carelessly. “Any objections?”

“Yeah! A huge one! Sorry not sorry, Teyrn,” Silviu snapped incredulously. “You are insane!”

“What’s the point in life if there’s no adventure?” He shot back. “Especially the ones where you’re fighting to live?”

The door to Kasmira’s room started to crack from the enemy warriors repetitive attempts to break it down, the wood finally giving way and breaking in half. Mihaita and Silviu looked back as they poured into the room and raised their weapons. Mihaita pushed Silviu unexpectedly, the advisor flailing. “Jump!”

Mihaita followed a second after as bullets sprayed above him. He hit the ground, rolling and tumbling onto a knee. Bullets flew by him, embedding into the ground. He made a mad dash for the front of the manor, catching up to Silviu with ease. They rounded the corner, only for Mihaita to pull the advisor back and push him against the wall beside him as they were shot at again. Silviu glared at him passively, shaking his head.

“I take my previous statement back.” He grumbled. “You are about as sane as a mental patient.”

Mihaita simply shrugged and tackled the warrior to the ground, slugging him with a punch straight to the nose and disarming him.

Present Time

The group looked at Mihaita with expressions ranging from utter disbelief to complete normalcy. Kasmira shrugged, stepping onto the porch and taking her fathers coffee. “You know who sent them?”

“If I told you,” He sighed, taking his coffee back after she took a sip. “You wouldn’t like the answer.”

“You know,” Nessarose commented. “We’re not five. I think we can handle it.”

“Sir, if there’s a target on your back, then maybe it’s best to know so we could better protect you.” Michael chimed, crossing his arms over his chest. Vasilisa kept her silence, but the scowl on her profile reflected all the death threats ringing in her mind.

“Fine, fine.” Mihaita breathed out, leaning against the column. “They were warriors from Astarot’s pack.”

Kasmira tilted her head, a blank expression crossing her features. “Huh, well. I guess he finally snapped, aye?”

“We all know he’s ruthless. We shouldn’t undermine his warriors if it took as long as it did for our clan to fight them.” Vasilisa said grimly, meeting Mihaita’ stern gaze. “I think it’s time you let me train them.”

Mihaita nodded once, letting the silence wash over the group. Michael cleared his throat, catching their full attention. “Teyrn Mihaita, if you don’t mind, I’d like to stay and help fight along with all of you and help where I can.”

An accepting nod only given, Mihaita cracked a humored grin. “No need for formalities, kid. It’s the weekend. It doesn’t really count.”

Vasilisa snorted. “Says the one that says we must always conduct ourselves with dignity and pride at all times.”

“And then throws a glitter filled molotov near a bonfire and screams-” Nessarose continued, Kasmira and Vasilisa smiled deviously.

“Eat my pixie dust, you mouth breathing cow herders!” They chimed in perfect harmony, causing Mihaita to groan and turn his gaze away. Michael gaped at them with disbelief in his eyes.

“Then ran away, stripping as he did.” Kasmira finished, taking another sip of her father’s drink.

“No, no. I don’t believe that.” Michael muttered hesitantly. His eyes darted between the four beings, finally looking to Vasilisa for confirmation. Before she could respond eagerly, Mihaita snapped his attention to her.

“In all fairness,” He growled, glaring heatedly at her. “Someone, made me a mixed drink that was more alcohol than anything else and then said,” He turned his affronted gaze to Michael. “And I quote, ‘Go wild, hot stuff.’”

Vasilisa simply shrugged and grinned impishly. “He did as I commanded and that made my night even more perfect.”

Kasmira slowly shook her head. “I didn’t, however, need to see my father butt-ass naked.”

She made a face of disgust, shuddering slightly. Nessarose and Vasilisa sighed dreamily, their eyes scanning over Mihaita’ form.

“I could totally see that again.” Vasilisa breathed out softly. Mihaita and Kasmira glanced to her, startled.

“Please, no.” They muttered in unison.

“Anyways,” Mihaita clapped his hands together once for emphasis, turning to Vasilisa. “Give Michael a quick tour of the manor before you fill out mission reports.”

“I can do that.” She laughed lowly, grabbing Michael’s hand and causing him to shake off his confused daze. Mihaita turned to Nessarose, who bowed respectfully and marched off.

“Ten steps ahead of you. Reports and take a nap.”

Finally, Mihaita turned to Kasmira. She glanced at him, then leaned against the other column. “They were possessed. Three of the guards and Teyrn Kannn himself. After I found Michael, telling him to run back to his clan, I headed straight for Kannn.” She gingerly touched the side of her face, her tongue running across her busted bottom lip. “When I did, it was odd.”

“What do you mean ‘odd’?”

Kasmira tilted her head, pulling out her pack of cigarettes. “As odd as normal, dad.” She lit her cigarette after handing Mihaita one, passing the lighter. She drew in the sweet vanilla and raspberry smoke, looking to the Teyrn with concern. “He acted like he knew something I didn’t. I don’t know if it was the demon that took over him or him.”

“Like what?”

Kasmira gazed down to her feet, taking a drag of her cigarette. She fidgeted with her baggy blue and white flannel shirt, that was buttoned halfway and revealed a white sports brazier and paired with black leggings and combat boots. Mihaita turned fully to her, concern etched into his features. He waited patiently, sitting down on the top step of the porch. Kasmira sighed, finally, sitting down and meeting his concerned gaze. “Our first night in Daeprada, I had this dream.”

Mihaita nodded, taking a drag of his cigarette. “Go on.”

Kasmira breathed out slowly. “I know what happened was real. I know that it happened a very long time ago. I just want to know who it was.”

“Explain what happened and I’ll give you the answers you need.” He said solemnly, flicking the butt of his cigarette into the ashtray.

“In the dream, I was in the bathtub. There was someone else with me. A woman. And-” Kasmira looked down, contemplating on how to play the words. “She had her hand on my chest, pushing me down. I dare say she almost succeeded, if it wasn’t for someone barging through the door and removing her from the bathroom, removing me from the tub.”

When she finished speaking, she pulled her knees closer to her, resting her chin upon them. Mihaita sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair, a perplexed expression on his profile. “When you were four, I had remarried. Your mom passed away when you were an infant, shortly after you were born. Heart complications. After a couple years, I met someone. I was still actively part of your life, obviously. I couldn’t not be in your life, your my baby girl. You were being looked after by a nursemaid and my advisor at the time pushed me to go out and find someone. Simply put, I worked a lot and gave no time for anything else except for you.”

Mihaita glanced to her, then cast his gaze out to the yard and the setting sun. Kasmira watched him as the memories played in his eyes. “I met a woman and she was unique. Exquisite.”

“A mistake and that is apparent.” Kasmira commented quietly, picking up his coffee cup and downing the rest of it. “What happened?”

Mihaita scoffed. “Things got serious. We knew everything about each other. Two years later, we were engaged and she had moved in. Then, I don’t know. I started noticing some things about her that were just- off.” He shook his head, resting his elbows on his thighs as he leaned forward. “It turns out she was medically certified insane. One day, after dinner, you made a mess and I was about to go run a bath for you and she offered. I was hesitant, but she was my fiancee. I had learned to trust and I was supposed to trust her.” He trailed off, dropping his head to his head. “Then we heard your struggles and the water hitting the floor. So, we rushed up the stairs as fast as we could. One of the guards at the time busted down the door, the three of them rushing her and dragging her out of the bathroom. Finally, I got to you. You were barely conscious. I had done respiratory procedures and rushed you off to the doctors. That’s when I learned she had drugged you also.”

“What was her name?” Kasmira spoke softly, causing her father to cast a tender gaze onto her. He smiled tightly, standing and holding out his hand for her.

“Asa.” He replied gruffly. “Her name was Asa.”

Astarot, a rugged man with messily mused burgundy crimson hair, a sharp sloping jaw, ice blue eyes that rested upon soft cheekbones. His muscular build traveled down to lean hips and powerful sturdy legs. He had locked himself in his study for the past few days, going through reports and, just every once in a while, letting his thoughts consume him.

For years, Astarot has held a grudge against Mihaita. After their fight over Lana, his brother’s and his mother, he had left without a word. Part of him believed the fight should never had happened. On the other hand, things happen for a reason. You are who you are when all starts to fail. You do the best you can to drag the ones you loathe to the depths of hell with you.

His advisor, Chester, knocked cautiously at the grand oak door before opening and stepping through the doorway. “Sire?”

“Aye, Chester?” Astarot muttered lowly, never glancing up from the reports on his desk. THe reports themselves were several days old, yet, yet he hasn’t done anything about them. Sighing, he lifted his gaze to look his adviser in the eyes. “What is it?”

“I was just bringing in new reports.” Chester cleared his throat, making his way across the study. “One of the warriors you sent out a few days ago, returned yesterday. Seems Mihaita took pity on him and got answers out of him. I also received word that Kasmira has returned from her mission. A bad Teyrn righteously removed from the playing field.”

Astarot dropped to his chair, raising his brows curiously. “Then our warrior did what was needed and Mihaita did what I had expected. Readable old fool.” Astarot chuckled, shaking his head. “What’d the poor bastard do?” He laughed gruffly, turning his seat just slightly and propping his feet on his desk. He clasped his hands together and rested them on his lap. Chester sighed heavily and took a seat opposite of Astaroth.

“From word of mouth,” He pursed his lips together and then shifted his gaze from his Teyrn to the bay window behind him. “Teyrn Kann, Sire, supposedly sold his soul and damned his clan. From our spy over there, demons accompanied him everywhere he went and, well, he was abusing his people.”

He let his stern gaze rest on Astarot, who had raised his brows in wary surprise now. “Hm. Well. I’ll give her that. It’s an oath to be a Teyrn within this realm. It’s a duty to care for your people and strive with them. I may be their enemy in the dark, but I pity the fool who decides to go against the realms laws. Then, you’d have to face the real big bad wolf that lurks in the dark.”

Chester tilted his head to the side, furrowing his brows. “Kasmira? You’re afraid of her?”

Astarot paused and slid an irritated smile to the adviser, humor flashing in his eyes. “Afraid of her? No. Respect her? Of course. I’ve seen what she can do up close. I’ve seen the training she went through when we were growing up. I wouldn’t even dare cross her. For I don’t harbor a grudge against her.”

“Training?” Chester mused softly. He went silent for a moment, as if considering a great deal in that moment. “But you harbor one for Mihaita. Correct?”

“Aye.” Astarot turned his icy blue gaze to the window, raising a hand to scratch his scuff covered jaw. “Just one day. It’s all it will take.”

“And here I thought your demons were almost defeated, my Teyrn.” He muttered matter-of-factually, rolling his eyes. Astarot chuckled robustly, shaking his head.

“They might be tucked away deep down in my structure, laying dormant in some rapture, but they have yet to be conquered.”

[hexxborne-a]

A pleased sound leaves them as he hears Silvius start the count. There is a beat before their hand cracks down on the same spot as last time, " Hmm, a little louder." They command smacking their other cheek with their other hand, " After your punishment what do you want baby boy?"

   He couldn’t quite hold back a gasp. “A-ah- two...” He whines- louder, as requested- squirming slightly. Not enough to be troublesome- at least he hoped. “Th-three-” Breathing out a soft sigh, he squeezes his eyes shut.

      “U-um- I w-want- your cock, daddy..” It was the most he could offer while holding in his already pained whimpers. 

#nsfw;; #daddy kink/ #Strange Friends;; #Messages;;

[inpeaks]

In the U.S. many people experience persistent chronic back pain. Stem cell treatment might offer a lasting solution to them. Currently, the opioid epidemic is killing thousands of back pain patients. Nevertheless, if stem cell works, it will help in managing the epidemic. Since 1999, incidences if people exceeding their prescribed opioid dose have increased dramatically. In 2015, opioid overdoses killed 33,000 people.

Opioid Addiction

Most opioid-related deaths are due to people getting addicted to various opioids. Normally, they usually get hydrocodone, methadone and oxycodone prescriptions to manage back pain. It affects more than 27 million Americans. A single stem cell dose comprises six million precursor cells. The doctor injects it into damaged discs in your spine’s vertebrae.

Silviu Itescu, an Australian doctor administered the treatment to 100 patients. They had significant improvement in function and a pain relief of more than two years. MRI scans from the patients showed that the stem cells can heal damaged discs. Currently, Silviu and his team are conducting another trial to eliminate the use of opioid prescriptions.

Chronic Back Pain Treatment

Stem cell treatment is a viable option in treating chronic back pain. Most people experience excruciating pain in the lower back region. Naturally, stem cells are your body’s cells. They help you heal fast after getting minor injuries. The cells reduce inflammation and produce certain factors which aid in rebuilding damaged tissue.

Scientists are performing numerous tests on stem cells to determine their efficiency in curbing degenerative disc disorders. They constitute 22% of back pain cases. Usually, the discs in your vertebrae are shock absorbers. However, they dry little by little due to aging or friction. Consequentially, the discs shrink and lose their cushioning ability. It damages your nerves. Also, disc injury can cause inflammation.

Some back-pain patients who have received the stem cell treatment have healed fully. Most of them can comfortably carry out their day-to-day activities. Silviu’s company presented the results in the US Spine Intervention Society in August. They will provide more details in the Piper Jaffray Conference in November.

Silviu obtains stem cells for donors’ bone marrow and grows them in a laboratory. It’s challenging to identify the precursor cells using a patient’s immune system helps to eliminate the need for them to take an immunosuppressant. After injecting them into your body, precursor cells rebuild cracked and dried vertebral discs. They trigger the discs to trap water.

Alternative Back Pain Treatment Options

Opioid addiction is not restricted to America only. It’s a major health concern in Australia and the UK. For instance, since 2000, there has been a drastic increase in the number of opioid-related deaths in Australia. Extensive research is being conducted to seek safe back pain treatment options. The Johns Hopkins Centre recommends using physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medication. It doesn’t cause serious side effects.

However, such treatments may not offer a long-term solution to chronic back pain. Some doctors claim that current back pain treatments fail after a short duration. They emphasize the need to seek better treatment options to replace opioid prescriptions.

About Author,

Myles Bradley is a graduate of Cornell Medical College and enjoys hiking and jogging in his free time. While in Cornell he was engaged in world-class clinical care and cutting-edge research that connects patients to the latest treatment innovations and prevention strategies.

Featured images license: Image author owned

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