#and then this morning at work I found out that US nationals are being held near where I live | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bangfantanfic · 2 years

Text

Bring The Fire: 1

Warnings: mentions of murder, blood, yandere behaviour. if I missed anything please let me know.

Genres: yandere, romance, Royal!Au, Isekai

Seven men lined up before the emperor, all dressed in materials worth more than the life of most others in the room. They were attractive, standing out like a sore thumb. Despite the sheen of sweat coating their faces and their messy hair, they still were stunning. They had all spent their early morning training, only taking a break after they were all called to meet their father.

The princes tended to avoid their father, they found him to be too cocky, he clearly believed himself to be a God among humans-- even if he hadn’t been born into royalty. Their father, Emperor Munpyo, had been born a poor farmer on the outskirts of their nation, he always believed himself be destined for a better life. It didn't happen quick enough, so he took his fate into his own hands.

“I was just like you all when I was younger,” The emperor hummed fondly. “Running amok, terrorising my neighbours.” A wisp of a smile ghosting his lips at old memories. His fond remembrance didn't last long before his features hardened once more, his gaze running along the line of his sons. “But you are sons of the Emperor, we have the public's eyes on us-- especially on the seven of you!” His voice boomed, making his sons wince.

“I cannot afford to lose all my hard work,” He sneered. “You are all replaceable, remember this.”

The princes scowled, nodding limply as they bowed their heads in apology. Usually the Emperor didn’t care to involve himself in his sons affairs, he let them do as they pleased, just as he would. After his wife's favourite Lady-in-waiting was found dead, and now his favourite butler, he had decided to step in. Honestly, he didn’t care too much about the glorified maid, she irked him anyway. But his butler? That's where he drew the line. He didn't like his things ruined.

His sons had been out of control for sometime now. By the time each of them hit their teen years a sudden wave of sadistic energy took over. Not to say they were angelic children, they had always been awful. They just seemed to be getting worse as the days went on. And sure, maybe the Emperor should have stepped in, tried to set them straight, but he was just far too busy, and besides, that was why he hired the nannies. It wasn’t his job. He blamed those old hags for how his boys turned out.

“I have decided, I will find you all brides. I want you all married by the end of this year,” he informed his sons. “It settled me, I’m sure it’ll do the same for you all.” He finished confidently.

“Father, this is so drastic--”

“My decision is final, Namjoon. A ball will be held at the end of the week for you all to be introduced to possible suitors.”

After the meeting with their father, most of the princes retreated to their rooms. The youngest three had decided to go back to training. Jeongguk was hoping to be involved in any possible wars, maybe even lead his own battalion if he could prove himself. But for now, he settled on practice. Practicing until his limbs were numb and limp. Until he was better than his brothers combined.

“Hyung isn’t happy about the death of that old guy.” Jeongguk warned his older brothers, one eye shut while the other squinted. His arm drawn back, trying to perfect his aim.

Archery wasn’t his personal favourite, but his father insisted on all his sons being well-rounded. He had heard Namjoon’s booming voice that morning, asking where everyone was, so Jeongguk had taken that as his que to leave before being interrogated. His plan had worked then, but then their father had called a meeting. He was sure that Namjoon knew where to find them, he had just hoped he would be too angry to bother. Yet now he could see the middle son storming through the yard, rage etched into his face.

“Idiots, all three of you!” Namjoon hissed, pointing at the three younger men. “It’s your fault!”

“We were just having fun, it’s not our fault he died.” Jimin shrugged, the sound of metal on metal ringing throughout the training yard.

“Besides, he was a thief. Father would have done the exact same thing.” Taehyung added, his eyes narrowing as Jimin’s blade narrowly missed his face.

“Watch out idiot, you almost damaged my beauty!” The taller of the two hissed, swinging the thin sword at Jimin’s face. The shorter man narrowly dodged his brother's swing.

“Oh please, it was damaged the day you were born!” He taunted making the other snarl. “Now focus before I do some real damage.”

Namjoon groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. How his brothers were so unbothered by their fathers decision was beyond him. He personally had no intentions of marrying, as long as he had women around he had no need to settle. Besides, the man they had killed wasn't just a butler, but their fathers trusted messenger.

“That was fathers favourite butler, you couldn’t have, oh I don’t know, amputated another fucking person, someone he wouldn’t have noticed?” He groaned, wanting nothing more than to rip the swords out of their hands and start swinging at the fools.

Jeongguk rolled at the bickering, stomping over to the target. He tugged out the arrows, turning on his heel to watch his older brothers practice their ‘technique’. They were all gifted swordsmen, but the two often fooled around more than they actually trained and now had to be supervised by the youngest of the seven. Which, in Jeongguk’s opinion was ridiculous, he was constantly reminded that he had no authority over anyone-- or well, at least not his brothers. Nobody listened to him.

“I didn’t even do anything.” Jeongguk huffed in defence, arms crossing over his chest. He was sick of being blamed for his brothers mistakes.

Namjoon shot him a glare, making the younger shrink back. If there was one brother Jeongguk was truly afraid of, it was him. Namjoon was too smart for his own good, it seemed like he knew everything about anything, except how to control his moods.

“Don’t be a kiss-ass Gukkie.” Taehyung scoffed, his eyes still glued to Jimin who seemed to be trying to decapitate the him.

Hanging up his equipment Jeongguk adjusted the material around his forehead before announcing he was leaving, but Namjoon too busy yelling at the two to listen to him, and the two were too engrossed in trying to cut each other apart they didn’t hear, or more likely, didn't care. He knew by the time it came to dinner the two would be bloody and bruised.

//present day//

Exhausted was an understatement. You wanted sleep, you needed food, and you needed your home. But home for you was the backseat of your shitty car.

You were almost a month behind on your phone bills, your employer was a dodgy old woman who was happy to take her sweet time to pay you, often guilting you to put off giving you a cheque. You couldn’t even afford a room at a residence, you hadn’t been paid in a month, and your savings had been bled dry. You were completely broke, and alone.

How pathetic.

You had spent your days looking for work, applying for every place you passed by. And as night pulled in and your hunger had reached a new level of painful, you finally felt defeated for the day.

This city had won, it had chewed you up and spat you out.

You had moped back to your car, having scored yourself expired food that a convenience store was about to toss into the trash. They had clearly pitied you, agreeing to give you the packaged food, they didn’t even charge you for it. You had almost skipped to your car before realising the food was far more expired than you had anticipated-- but food was food at this point.

You had driven out of the city, back to the small camping ground you had set up as home. You were thankful that it was empty-- nobody was camping this time of year, winter wasn’t exactly prime camping time, even if you were camping in your car. The emptiness saved you the embarrassment. A jobless, homeless dropout.

What would your mother say if she saw you now?

You inhaled your dinner, ignoring the off taste, chasing it down with water. You had parked yourself close to the public bathrooms saving yourself a hike there and back. Grabbing your change of clothes and towel, keeping your feet covered with your slippers, you weren’t going to risk foot fungus, but at this point luck was clearly not on your side.

After a barely heated shower, you stood in your warmest PJ’s, eyes narrowed in on your reflection as you abused your poor gums. You had an awful habit of brushing your teeth too aggressively, you didn't feel clean otherwise.

Perhaps, for once, your mother had been right. You remember her always being in your ear as a child. Telling you to marry young, find a rich man-- a doctor, or maybe a lawyer! A CEO would be the best choice, she would always mumble. You’d live easy, no worries. He would provide you with every comfort you needed, and you could take care of her too. You had always promised her you would take the best care of her. She would laugh, and with heavy sarcasm agree, “of course you will honey.”

You got older. You wanted to fend for yourself, you didn’t need, nor want, a husband to wait on. You wanted to earn your own money, become a doctor and look after your family by yourself-- not because of some man. You could achieve anything a man could, why was your mother so insistent on you relying on them?

Maybe she knew you were going to fail. You failed your first semester, had a mental breakdown and dropped out. You regretted it, you wished you had kept trying, and now you were stuck looking for jobs you’d hate because you couldn’t be picky, and hating every waking moment of it.

You sighed, spitting into the sink before rinsing. “I hate when that woman is right.”

____

A/N: it’s not as long as I would have liked it to be, but it’s just a quick beginning so we can get into the drama! Tags are open. Feedback is appreciated greatly 💕 thank you for reading

295 notes · View notes

thatonebirdwrites · 3 months

Text

Oh yeah, I updated this the other night and forgot to post the update here! Andrea is being thrown for a loop with Sam determined to believe there's good in her. Yes, this is a parallel with Kara and Lena. EXCERPT:

Sam woke early to make breakfast for Ruby and Andrea, the latter who still lay on the sofa. She must have gotten up in the night to wash up, as she was without makeup, and had chosen a book to read from one of Lena’s many bookcases.

Without her earplugs, Sam found herself distracted the sounds of National City, a discordant series of melodies and harmonies that wasn’t dissimilar to Metropolis. Ruby and Andrea’s heartbeats overruled the sounds of traffic, of bird’s wings, cats mewing and dogs barking, and steady conversations along sidewalks.

She flipped the pancake and hummed along to a neighbor three floors down that had their windows open, blasting Taylor Swift.

So when Andrea spoke behind her, Sam jumped and nearly threw the pancake into the ceiling. She caught it just in time in the pan. Turning she smiled, sheepishly. Andrea wore the clothes Sam had given her last night — sweatpants from National City’s university and a T-shirt with the words: banking on ice cream. So very different from the polished and put-together Andrea that had met her at the restaurant yesterday.

“Sorry.” Andrea held up her hands. “Just thought I’d ask if you needed help.” She shifted uneasily, her tone more apologetic than anything else.

“Nah, I’m almost done. Hungry?” Sam piled the last of the pancakes onto the plate next to the stove. “Made enough for three.” Though she had to admit with her Kryptonian powers returning, Sam found herself far more hungry than normal. But then she’d always needed a higher caloric intake than most people. She supposed even magic couldn’t hide a Kryptonian metabolism. It made her wonder how much of her Kryptonian genes Ruby inherited since the pre-teen had a ridiculously high metabolism for her age.

Andrea shrugged. “Do you do this every morning?”

“On weekends. There’s not a lot of time on weekdays.” Sam handed one of the pancake plates to Andrea, who took it gingerly. She carried the rest, including the syrup to the table. “Got to get Ruby to school or practice and get to L-Corp before the first meeting of the day. Means I often throw together oatmeal or eggs since they’re faster.”

“Nice.” Andrea placed the plate on the table and hovered by one of the chairs. “This place. Is it yours?” A crinkle in her forehead and the uptick in her heartbeat gave away her anxiety at the question.

“Am a roommate here.” Sam figured half-truth was best.

Andrea stared at her. “Lena.”

Sam’s eyebrows rose. “Why do you think this is her place? Could be anyone's.”

“Her books.” Andrea gestured toward the living room that was partially blocked by a wall and door. “I recognized a few that I’d given her. Lesbian novels. I looked in them, and there’s my note to her in them still.” Andrea frowned and clenched the chair tighter. “She… kept them.”

“Hmmm.” Sam sighed. She hadn’t wanted Andrea to guess this was Lena’s place, but nothing for it now. “I see. Well, rest assured you have permission to stay here.”

“Wait, Lena gave permission?” Andrea’s eyes widened. “Why? I betrayed her.”

To have Andrea outright admit it startled Sam. Lena made it sound like Andrea would betray at a moment’s notice. Yet here she was being oddly honest. “She trusts me,” Sam said. She scooped pancakes onto three plates and added the bacon and eggs as a side to each. Holding out the plate, she smiled, gently at Andrea. “I’m not going to put what happened between you and her between us. I’d still like to build a friendship at least with you, if that’s all right.”

Andrea took the plate and stared down at it. “Sam… I’m not to be trusted. I will betray you.”

“Eh, I’ll take the risk.” Sam shrugged. “It’s not like I haven’t been in a bad situation before and barely got out of it alive. Sounds like that’s where you are.”

Read the entire series here.

#writing #sam arias #Andrea Rojas #Ruby Arias #Alex Danvers #Kelly Olsen #supergirl cw #brainy #Sam gets to punch dinosaurs #rojarias #Yes #I'm making Sam and Andrea fall for each other because it's a cute parallel with Kara and Lena and I love doing parallel's #Supercorp #Soon Sam's arc will intersect with Lena's and it will hopefully tie together beautifully

8 notes · View notes

fricking-ur-mom · 2 years

Text

Heizou x male reader

Warnings?: pet names, fluff, ooc heizou probably

Wandering about Inazuma aiding those who were practically begging for aid with the most mundane tasks.. It was tiring after a while. Though some days were more rough then others with complaints about bandits and whatever else was plaguing the area at the time. Today was one of those days everything was just sore.. Calves cramping up from running from one side of the nation to the other, shoulders and arms sore from excessive use of your weapon.. It was a lot for anyone, even more so for someone who rarely got a break.

Today was also one of those days Heizou came back more tired than usual- having been working on a case for several weeks now. You knew it had been frustrating him when you caught glances of his brows furrowing when he thought you weren’t looking. It was worrying- he didn’t like to speak about his current cases much, instead preferring to tell you all about it once everything was said and done.

As you walked in the door of your shared home you froze, you hadn’t even gotten to set your weapon aside and you saw him walking from one end of your place to the other. Normally he wasn’t back at this time.. Even if it was pretty late.. So much so you yourself we’re back a few hours late- helping the Traveller and Paimon finish up their commissions for the day.

“Heizou..?” His head peeled out from around the corner at the sound of your voice. The way he practically bounded over to you- the feeling of his arms wrapped firmly around you.. It was nice, the warmth of his embrace.. You hadn’t seen him in days save for a few glances as he got out of bed in the morning- not even seeing him when he slipped under the covers beside you late at night.

“Hey.. You’re here early..” You mumbled out, almost not trusting that he was actually here. It was so strange.. him being here so early- pacing around and perhaps even waiting for you? He seemed so lost in thought though..

“I got things all sorted out around half way through the day. The last few things with the case. I wanted to surprise you when you got back but.. You’re here kinda late huh? Is everything alright?” As much as you loved his teasing nature, when it got later in the day it evaporated- him pulling you into bed and wanting nothing more than to just sleep most days if you were still up when he got back. For once- you saw the little furrow of his brows- but he wasn’t hiding it. And it was directed at you- it was strange.. Everything tonight was it seemed.

You managed to put on a smile- even if it was a tired one. You got to see him after all- you got to hold him and be held by him all the same.. that’s what mattered. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just spent a bit more time out and about is all. Nothing more. I’m glad your here.” Your face found it’s way to the crook of his neck, enjoying the warmth he gave- the comfort.

A soft chuckle sounded from the man, eyes glinting in the low light of your shared home. “I made dinner.. How about we go eat and take a nap after yeah? I’ve got the next few days off.. So just stay with me.”

How could you say no to that?

It didn’t take long for you to find yourself wrapped up under the blankets, his hands running up and down the length of your arms. “I’ve missed you.. I’ve missed this. Spending time with my boyfriend, my prince..” His gaze was low, watching how you reacted to his touch.

“It’s hard..” He’d continue on, slowly letting his gaze trail up to your face. “Being away from you all the time.. Not being able to take you on all the dates you love so much.. To properly court my beloved..”

He looked so.. defeated, even lost. Carefully, your hands raised to cup his cheeks, a soft smile on your lips as you looked back at him. “We’ll make time.. It’ll be okay. I’ll sort out my schedule and I’ll be able to see you more.. Talk to the Traveller some on order to get things settled..”

Heizou had that look.. the one he wore when he was considering something- trying to find a piece to a puzzle. You didn’t hesitate to press kisses along his cheeks, not wanting him to get too deep into his own mind.

After thoroughly distracting him you found yourself trapped under him, arms wrapped firmly around you as he used you as though you were his bed- just laying on top of you. “Would my boyfriend want me to take more days off..?” The question was practically purred out- sounding way too happy with himself for having you trapped under him.

“..Maybe he would..” was all you said in return, nuzzling your face against him as you both drifted off into a peaceful slumber, content with being in each other’s arms.

#genshin heizou #shikanoin heizou #heizou x reader #heizou x male reader #male reader #x Male reader

149 notes · View notes

lolz88 · 4 months

Text

Life advice

Hi, you don’t know me and we’ll probably never meet, but if you’d be so kind as to listen to some words of wisdom please continue reading,

if not have a good day

Trigger warning

Mentions of SA, child abuse, suicidal ideation,

In life, you won’t always be alright, things will be shit, something will go wrong, something will hurt you or you’ll hurt someone and regret it day in and day out

But that being said, life won’t always be bad, things will work out for you, something will go right, you will one day heal, and those you accidentally hurt will heal

And you may not believe that, a couple of years ago I would not have, I would have screamed and swore that nothing good could happen, that I didn’t deserve it and that it was all lies

“But what’s the difference now”? You may ask

“How did you change”?

Allow me to paint that picture

I was born to a First Nations mother and a second generation immigrant father, in a small rundown town, in which my family broke leaving my mother alone with an infant, my life was never meant to be glamorous

Growing up was paycheque to paycheque in a rundown little town, my mom was newly divorced, with my little half brother and a scummy ex who wanted her to suffer, it was rough, then came a little spark of hope, a kind stepfather, 3 new older siblings in a large house in the countryside, it was like something out of a dream, life turned out amazing…

But then it didn’t, at age 5 when I was supposed to be running and playing, I was walking on eggshells, hiding from my adult stepbrother, who had a taste for little kids and used them to take out his anger, I even remember drawing away my stepbrother’s attention from my little brother, doing so without even really knowing why. And the worst part is we thought it was normal, we considered it a daily norm to the point we didn’t even consider telling an adult. I was only 13 when I realized a grown man should have never even considered what my step brother

And we only got away because a teacher who didn’t like my mother called cps, we never even knew why, but when they showed up I was asked to sit down and talk with them, to tell them everything that happened in a day in great detail, I told them every detail with a smile not knowing anything was wrong, and in doing so, my parents found out, or should I say parent, as it came out my stepfather was aware

It was at most a day when we left, moving in with my grandparents, and later moving back to our old home, our home from before. And the worst part is I could go on, that wasn’t my backstory but just the prologue, that’s not counting the 16 years of bullying, the harassment, the 8 suicide attempts, the addiction and so on

So how can I be ok?, how can I wake up and get out of bed?, how am I still here?

It wasn’t therapy, wasn’t medication and sure as hell wasn’t religion, the reasons I’m still here are dozens and yet only 3 are really important, I’m here because I couldn’t miss my mother’s birthday, I couldn’t leave because my dog was sick and needed me, I had to stay because my brother was about to graduate elementary school and he wanted me there, I took all those little moments and the hundreds of others and I held them close, and slowly they began to fill that little void in me

Nowadays I can say I’m ok and mean it, but that’s the thing, I��m ok yes, but sometimes I’m not, sometimes I cry myself sick because I’m convinced I’ll never fall in love with someone, that because of how I look or the way I talk somehow makes me unloveable, sometimes I feel numb, that same feeling I got when I lost hope, sometimes I am reminded of how I struggled and I stumble.

But then, in time, slowly I start to feel lighter, I start singing to my cows in the morning, I’m baking and I can picture a home where someone loves me and I them

And I realize, once again, that I’m ok, and that I will be ok if I fall again

Now one thing to note, I may not have had help, but if you feel anything like I did, you should seek help, I’ve told those story in the hopes that you take away one single concept

That even during those dark painful moments, in the hopeless times, sometimes all you need is one little thing, one insignificant thing that will snowball out till you reach the day you can look back and smile at how far you’ve come

Remember always, no matter what you are loved, valued and important

6 notes · View notes

mythriteshah · 7 months

Text

A Fashion Tycoon's Missive

A clear sky welcomes the arrival of dawn as the sun rises upon the greater region of Garlemald. The blustery arctic winds of northern Ilsabard are reduced to a mere zephyr, and its surviving denizens prepare to face what challenges may await them.

Within the fringes of Camp Broken Glass, three individuals stood vigil: each garbed in attire suited for the cold, but all bearing the symbol of a mythril blue shield flanked by angelic wings. This was the insignia of the Diamond Sultan's personal retinue of combat-ready maidservants - Lord Thiji's Angels.

Himmeya Twelvefist, Kaori Hanabira, and Swoztu Wuotwyrstwyn stood guard as they laid eyes upon a black-robed figure approaching from the Eblan Rime. The sound of beating wings soon followed, and they would turn their gazes upward to behold a curvaceous Duskwight female, gowned in the likeness of the Creator, trailed by a host of tiny magitek bits. Once within several yalms, the woman touched down upon the frosted earth, striding stately towards the Angels.

"Good Morning, Angels," she began.

"Good Morning, Princess Telphie," the Angels answered. The Magitek Maestra chuckled and waved her hand dismissively.

"Be at ease. I bring grand tidings, which I will explain later. For now, it is time we were off home."

"So soon, Princess?" Himmeya interjected with an arched brow. "Is our tour here finally over, then?" The cloaked figure gave a bow to Telphie before turning toward the three.

"My Ladies, if I may - Mamai's Vigil will be arriving shortly to receive you, during which it will send you all to Radz-at-Han. Our Lord Sultan has deemed our duties here fulfilled," the hooded Au Ra stated.

"With the situation in Garlemald well taken care of, and the newly-established trade agreement with Radz-at-Han, it is safe to say that this nation is well on its way to obtaining autonomy once more," Telphie followed, "and with the Ilsabard Contingent close by, our involvement grows less founded. Though I had served this nation for a time, I am satisfied in the work we have done to help these people build back better. And lest we forget, Miss Youmei and House Kyria has lent us their support as well, granting us a formidable ally in the Near East. She will be joining us in Radz-at-Han as well, further strengthening our bond!"

Swoztu and Kaori heaved sighs of relief as Himmeya gave a triumphant yell, eager to return to her fellow Angels - or perhaps eager to try out the spicy Thavnairian fare.

"I won't miss the cold, but it's small wonder Lord Thiji enjoys it so much," Swoztu commented as they accompanied Telphie back towards camp.

"And what of our hooded friend?" Kaori asked. "Will she not be joining us?"

"I am humbled by your offer, Lady Kaori," the mysterious Au Ra said, her head lowered, "but I must return to my own matters. Unfortunately, that is all I can say for now, but know that you've allies in the shadows..."

Not wont to pry further, Kaori simply gave a shrug and waved farewell to the mysterious individual, and soon they would part with Garlemald at long last...

The following evening, the streets of Radz-at-Han were abuzz, from Alzadaal's Peace to the High Crucible. A joyous occasion had befallen the city, and a grand feast was being held at Mehryde's Meyhane. The place was filled to capacity as the citizenry and visitors alike reveled. At one of the corner tables, a team of Radiants were either splayed across the floor or struggling to remain upright as a trio of Lalafellin women laughed haughtily. This trio was none other than Sesena and her sisters, Sosona and Susuna.

"Goodness, dear sister, what's that put us on now?" spoke Sesena.

"Five! And we're barely getting started! Another round, if you please!" Susuna proudly declared. "And, er, some water for our Radiants!"

At the Guildship Hunt Board posted toward the entrance, Sarielle Emeraude - the Regalia's Chirurgeon - was inspecting the daily and weekly marks in preparation for a hunt. Meriri Meri approached and offered her a drink.

"Lassie Sarielle!" the Plainsfolk chimed. "Ye can worry about the huntin' later! It's a time for celebratin', after all!"

"I know, I know, Miss Meriri," the smaragdine Elezen replied. "I was only passing the time so as to assist where needed - and it appears Miss Sesena and them have already drunk the third team of Radiants under the table. If you'll excuse me."

"Och! They're a bunch o' lightweights anyway!" Meriri retorted, heading back towards her table.

Upon the stage where the traditional Thavnairian dance would be performed were Veeveena and Veeveera, performing their own rendition of the Kriegstanz, but with the power of wind infused in their chakrams. They gave quite the show, captivating the audience with their frenetic movements mixed with wild gesticulations which culminated in a small cyclone that filled the stage. And - just like something one would see out of a magic show - a silhouette emerged from the gust: a slender Viera sporting garb never-before-seen on Etheirys. Accented with a large golden Usekh, this off-the-shoulder dress was form-fitting, with lavender-violet hues, and trailing along the skirt's end were numerous tendril-like appendages which glowed a scintillating blue, and billowed lightly even in the calm winds which blew from the balcony. Her white-blue tresses and face were obscured by a veil of similar color, with numerous tendrils that each ended with a gilded gradient.

She took one, two, three, four paces forward before flipping the veil with just enough force so as to reveal herself: the Regalia's Prime Model, Isja "Coldgaze" Kaltablik. Striding from behind her was another familiar face: the Diamond Sultan in his signature garb. Everyone gasped in awe as those who were privy to the Higuri Regalia's practices knew full well what this entailed.

"Th-That robe...! Mistress Isja...!" spoke a bystander.

"The Diamond Sultan, too...! Could this be...?!" gasped an Arkasodara.

As everyone deliberated in hushed whispers and gathered around the posing Veena, the "V" Twins (Veeveena & Veeveera) escorted their lord and master backstage, though they would be met with some light resistance as eager fashion fans clamored to speak with the merchant-lord himself.

"Just a moment, everyone. Our Lord Sultan will be with you shortly," Veera assured. Once they were out of sight, the two Dunesfolk maidens would greet him with a bow, to which he would give one in return.

"We are grateful that you went out of your way to do this... Prince Horu," Veeveena whispered. The Lalafell garbed in the shimmering icy sherwani was, in fact, not the Diamond Sultan, but his twin brother - whom bore striking similarities to Thiji, but the main distinction being the position of their multicolored orbs.

"It's the least I could do to help keep up appearances, Miss Veeveera," Horu replied with a smile. "This is a monumental occasion for all of Thavnair. The Satrap's sister is returned to us, and no doubt my brother has a lot of thoughts to put to paper as we are now poised to proceed with the next phase."

"If I may be so bold, Prince Horu," Veera interjected, "you truly did not have to do this. We Angels could've definitely held our own in your stead - especially with Princess Telphie among us."

"I understand, Miss Veeveera," Horu began, "but a venerable storm of events has befallen the Near East in recent moons, and needless to say that it has given House Higuri - among others - quite a stir. After seeing everyone being called to action, I was compelled to do so as well. I could not stand idle any longer whilst my brother dearest and our allies were hard at work to maintain stability at home and abroad. And now, on this night of nights, the people of Radz-at-Han will know that Thiji Higuri himself graced the celebratory feast, and gave the fashion faithful the long-awaited premonition of our coming clothing line."

"Spoken like a true leader, My Prince," Veeveera said with a grin. "Then let us not keep them waiting."

They would soon return to the festivities, and the revelry would move on well into the late bells of the night. Meanwhile, within the confines of his chambers was the actual Diamond Sultan, focused on fulfilling his new tradition of pre-release portents.

And, within the waking hours of the following morn, his newest letter would at last be disseminated to the public...

“Honorable friends, associates, and allies of the Regalia,

I pray that this message finds you all well. As for myself, it is with great pride that I voice my own tidings of good health. The continual stability of the realm and its regions is once again a testament to the strength and resolve of the countless protectors of Etheirys.

But, as always, this only affirms my statement that the realm continues to maintain its status quo of perennial incursions, supernatural uprisings, and all-around buffoonery. The Power in Beauty Catalogue continues maintaining its absolute hold of the fashion scene with the release of the Hyogan Gallery, but it is in no small part due to you all who have made this a reality - from our chosen models, to our collaborators, to the spreading of the good fashion word. It is absolutely astounding that we of the Regalia have provided a means of form and function for citizenry and adventurers alike. And while I may shower you all with praise for bells on end, the true reason for this missive’s creation is of even greater magnitude than the previous.

Firstly, I have taken an apprentice under my wing. Some of you may know her, and others who do not will surely come to know of her in due time. She is Izayoi T. Keer, a seasoned courier whose eye and passion for haute couture have surpassed her peers. Seeking to better herself in the field of aesthetics, she - with the Sisters' blessing - took it upon herself to serve under me as my Mythrite (or Diamond) Apprentice. With this knowledge, you may all be pleased to know that the time will one day come where the Higuri Regalia will open its own guild or school to train other aspiring fashion designers. With the Sisters' blessing, they may acquire the skills and talent necessary to create their own label. Izayoi may be the first to study under me, but knowing how fate operates in this realm, she will definitely not be the last in search of aesthetic tutelage.

Secondly, it is with a heart once heavied by concern - now relieved of this burden - that I inform you all that - against all odds - our beloved Satrap - Lord Vrtra of the First Brood - has returned home with his sister, Lady Azdaja.

Though many are worthy of gratitude: to Ser Dione Averre (@lizardywizard) and all of White Wings - it has been a most grueling journey, and I know it was taxing for you and yours. I have long hung up my adventuring ways, but that does not stop me from fighting for the home my family and I have moiled to create. But I know that you all were at the forefront of the operation to liberate Lady Azdaja with the other brave souls who dared to brave the darkness of the Void. This mission was successful twofold: first, with the vanquishment of the Archfiends and the malign force which threatened to breach the sanctity of the Source, our peace has been assured as the Voidsent will now encroach in lesser frequency. Second, with Lady Azdaja's ensured survival, this means that half of the First Brood is alive and well alongside Lord Hraesvelgr and Lady Tiamat - though it cost Lord Vrtra one of his eyes to grant his sister a corporeal form.

This means a great deal to not only the Regalia and House Higuri, but to all children of Thavnair. I feel I speak for us all when I say that we owe much to Midgardsormr's progeny for founding and fostering such a unique culture that can now be fully shared with the rest of the realm. Without them, Radz-at-Han would more than likely never have existed. And when I heard the First Brood's cries ringing across the heavens... I shed a most genuine tear of joy knowing that another great wyrm perseveres (though "great" may be a subjective term for some). Not since the establishment of the Regalia's empire have I felt such joy, and now we can show Midgardsormr's daughter the beauty of the land her brother helped create. So, from the bottom of my heart, you have earned a Sultan's gratitude. To you, and the other champions who answered the call: the Higuri Regalia thanks you.

Moving on to less touching matters, the third and perhaps equally important of tidings: the announcement of the Regalia's upcoming line. To those whom recall: one of our previous editions was known as the Blessed Wardrobe, which was made in homage to the Light-infused beings of the First: the Lightwardens. As an antithesis to this - and as a sort of way of remembering all that has transpired - this next clothing line will be dedicated to those Dark-wreathed beings of the Thirteenth shard - the Void. But not just any rank-and-file Voidsent - we will be focusing primarily on the nobility within their hierarchy as established by Eorzean scholars, thus shortening the scope (because let's be real: creating outfits for every conceivable type of Voidsent would see me well past my prime). As a means of providing backstory and inspiration behind this, those who are unaware of Radz-at-Han's nascency should know that the city-state was actually founded atop a void fissure - the selfsame fissure which is now destroyed thanks to a certain Archfiend of Fire. And it is because of this knowledge I will be blending our designs through a unique fusion of Voidal and Near Eastern aesthetic - I believe a better term coined by adventurers is "Gothic". At the time of this letter's dissemination, my latest project is at forty percent completion, and I aim to bring it to light (pun not intended) by the commencement of the EBL's next season.

Lastly, and this may come off as a surprise to some as my business prides itself on generosity: in light of these auspicious events, I have taken the liberty of providing you all with a teaser of what to expect when this clothing line is brought to fruition. Enclosed within is a "sample" photo of one of the many outfits that will be showcased in this upcoming edition to the PiB Catalogue. As previously stated, expect its grand unveiling by the coming of spring - for all, and Etheirys at large, will be reminded why my empire’s credo is ‘Where There is Power in Beauty.’”

Sincerely,

Thiji Sor Higuri, Diamond Sultan of the Higuri Regalia

5 notes · View notes

riversofmars · 2 years

Text

Prompt: Starlight

Rating: G

Summary: Helen Sinclair doesn’t think much of her life, such as it is, as she looks out of her window in her small London flat. She wishes for more. When a woman appears on the road below seemingly lost, she gets a glimpse of what the future might have in store for her. It’s more than she had ever dared to imagine.

The Time Traveler's Wife

When I was younger, I used to marvel at starlight. I found it a curious, awe-inspiring concept; to think that there were suns - much like our own and just as bright - so far away that their intense light dimmed to a silver shine, barely visible against the night time sky. In London, of course, few stars were visible through the lights of the city but we used to go on holiday in the Lake District and the celestial display there was magnificent. I would marvel at all those stars dotted across the Milky Way, each, like our sun, with the potential to have planets orbiting around them, some maybe even capable of sustaining life.

My father would call me gullible - stupid even - for believing that there might be more to the universe than we knew. I learned to ignore my father’s opinions, particularly when I grew older. I’m not saying there has to be anything out there but I thought it stupid - to put it in his words - to assume there wasn’t. In a universe so vast that the bright light of suns dimmed to the faint slither of starlight by the time it reached us, surely a great many things could exist.

It was a clear night by London standards in the middle of winter and I stood by the window of my one room flat in Tooting. It was getting late but I wasn’t eager to go to bed yet. The sooner I went to bed, the sooner it would be morning and I would have to make my way to the National Museum for work. My start there had been dreadful. I had come with all the best intentions and great dreams and expectations straight from university and they managed to crush them all within five minutes of me being there. Old men in grey suits with similar opinions as my father… I was beginning to see a pattern emerging in the things that held me back in life.

“Nevermind…” I told myself and took a sip of my tea that was warming and comforting in my hands as I leaned against the window frame. Something would come up, I decided. There would be other opportunities. Good things would happen eventually but only if I made them. So I would return full of enthusiasm tomorrow and try again. And again. And again. At some point, surely, someone would see I was worth more than they took me for. I sent my wishes up to the stars, shimmering softly in the distance and I wondered if there were other people, looking up at them at the same time as me, making wishes of their own…

Suddenly, there was a flash. It blinded me for a moment and I blinked, wiping the discomfort from my eyes but not the confusion. It was as if there had been lightning in the street below rather than the skies which remained completely clear. I squinted as only the moonlight illuminated the alley but as my eyes adjusted to their task, I could make out a figure. They were hunched over on all fours in the middle of the road.

My mind started racing. What if there had been a car crash? What if the flash had been from car lights and someone was down there injured? I pulled on my coat and slipped into the first pair of shoes I could find. If someone was injured, I had a duty to help. I couldn’t be sure of course, I realised I might find completely different circumstances once I got there, but I couldn’t take the chance. My conscience wouldn’t allow it. So I took two steps at a time as I hurried down the stairs and burst onto the street below.

It was bitter cold and I immediately regretted not having grabbed a hat and scarf but I realised I was still better equipped then the woman I’d seen from my window. The person was a woman, that was obvious at first glance. She had shoulder length brunette hair, a slim frame and was certainly not dressed for the weather - she didn’t even have a coat! And she certainly didn’t dress like any women I’d seen around here - or anywhere, for that matter. She was wearing a light shirt over dark trousers, almost like a man would, though tailored to fit her female shape more neatly. It was rather becoming.

“Damn it, that’s not- Why is it so bloody–” the woman huffed, clearly displeased as she struggled to her feet. She cast a glance at the wide leather bracelet she wore. I will admit, I had no idea what it was. It looked too clunky to be jewellery but I couldn’t discern another use. “Useless bloody–” she cursed under her breath and brushed her unruly hair from her face, revealing high cheekbones and bright eyes under a heavy frown; bright eyes that suddenly snapped up to me. “Oh fu–” she startled as she saw me and out of instinct, I did much the same, taking an insecure step back.

We stared at each other for a moment, as if I had caught her in the act of doing something but it didn’t seem like I had. She was simply standing in the street, dressed oddly, and shivering in the cold. I gathered my courage at last and said:

“I’m sorry, I- I didn’t mean to startle you. Are you lost?” It was really quite obvious that she wasn’t from around here.

I wasn’t sure what to make of her. The look in her eyes was odd, surprising, to say the least. I don’t know how to best describe it other than: knowing. She looked at me knowingly and with a softness I didn’t expect. It was, somehow, reassuring. I wasn’t scared of her as I expected I could have been finding a stranger on the street.

“No. I mean, sort of, I- I need to go, I need to find–” she started with a stutter and I’m not sure whether she was confused or trying to come up with a lie. She spoke with an accent but it was something I couldn’t place and it gave me pause. As a language scholar, I should have been able to make an educated guess but the soft lilt around her words, barely noticeable in otherwise perfect English, was something I had never heard before. It was intriguing. All the while she kept on talking to herself rather than me. “Oh that’s what it did, but River–” Her words made very little sense to me but seemed to explain a lot to her.

“Do you do this often? Talk to yourself?” I know that wasn’t a polite response but she seemed entirely in her own thoughts so it felt like a valid question.

“Yes, I mean, no- I–” Her eyes snapped up to me once more and her expression softened visibly. “Damn, this shouldn’t be- what if I mess something up–” she groaned to herself and brushed her hands through her hair anxiously.

“Are you okay? You seem rather upset…” I asked slowly. “Do you need to see a doctor?”

“He would be a great help, actually–” she mumbled but then answered my question more seriously: “No, not the medical kind.”

“Are you sure?” I was rather doubtful at that point and noticed the way she was beginning to shiver. There was no doubt she would catch her death in this cold but it left me to wonder where she had come from, why she was only getting cold now… She couldn’t possibly have been walking the streets like this.

“Quite sure, I’m a doctor, actually,” she gave back and I raised my eyebrows.

“Are you?” I didn’t mean to sound as sarcastic as I did but it seemed a fanciful notion. She was nothing like any medical doctor I had ever seen.

“No need to sound so surprised,” she shot back, almost affronted though seemingly only playfully so. The edges of her mouth lifted with what could have been amusement.

“Oh no, I mean, it’s just… there’s not a lot of female doctors,” I backtracked quickly and felt a little guilty. Of all people, I should be pleased and supportive of any woman making strides into the domain of men but with how things stood in terms of my own career, I had become somewhat disillusioned.

“Just as there’s not a lot of female language scholars either,” the woman quipped and my heart dropped. Of all the responses I had expected, that had not been one of them.

“How do you-” I stuttered, and panic shot across her face as she seemed to realise what she had said.

“Damn…” she mumbled. “I’ve messed up haven’t I…”

“I don’t know, have you? Depends on what you’re intending to achieve,” I retorted slowly. I had no idea what to make of her, even more so now than before entering conversation with her. With every passing moment, she was becoming more and more of a mystery. Who was she? Where had she come from? How did she know what I did for a living?

“I’m looking for someone very important to me. The eh- directions I had- should have taken me right to her but- it seems like I got the timing wrong,” she tried for what could have been an explanation but somehow felt far from it. She glanced at the leather bracelet again which upon closer observation seemed to have some sort of clockwork machinery sitting on top of it. I had no idea what it was but I felt if I did, I might get closer to a truthful answer.

“Right…” I nodded slowly. “Is that bracelet a compass or why did you look at it when you said ‘directions’ in the evasive way you did - which was probably a lie.” It was a bold statement and after a moment of stunned silence, a smile spread across the woman’s face.

“You spotted that, did you?” She hummed, sounding amused and I felt smug, if only for a moment.

“You can’t be one of the few women in academia without a certain level of intelligence. Which makes me wonder why a female doctor - who would certainly possess an impressive level of intelligence herself - would be caught in such an obvious lie,” I continued, deciding to push my luck. I had been doing fine so far.

“You threw me,” she stated simply, and I raised my eyebrows.

“I did?” I questioned. “How so?”

“I get flustered easily when a beautiful woman interrogates me.” Her smile turned to a grin and I blinked, stunned, as I wondered if I had heard her right. Her words, spoken with such confidence, insinuated things I wouldn’t dare speak in the privacy of my flat, let alone out on a street! And yet, she had said them with such ease and there was an appreciative quality in the way she looked at me, her eyes twinkling in the darkness, almost like the stars above.

“What–” was all I could respond, speechless as I was, and I quickly looked around to make sure no-one had heard us.

“Sorry, that- I forgot where we are–” Her playful expression darkened with concern and heaviness. “When we are…”

“When we are?” I repeated disbelievingly. It sounded as if she was confused. Mixing up time and place was never a good sign. Perhaps there had been an accident after all. I couldn’t see any blood but what if she had knocked her head? What if she was deeply confused and didn’t know what she was saying? It certainly would explain some of her strange statements. “I think you do need a doctor, actually, I’m gonna–” I turned back towards the house, intent on calling an ambulance but before I could take as much as a step, she grabbed my wrist, holding me back.

“No, Helen, wait, I’m sorry!” She said hurriedly and I turned back to her, quickly pulling my hand from her grasp.

“How do you know my name?” I demanded, shocked. How could she possibly know my name? We had never met! I would have remembered.

“I’ve made a right mess of this, haven’t I?” She huffed, clearly frustrated with herself. She ran her hands through her hair once more and in the gesture, I spotted her ring. It reflected in the moonlight, silver with an onyx band in the centre. She was married. Somehow it reassured me, made her seem less threatening and I made a split second decision.

“Okay listen, I don’t know who you are or how you know me or why you think it would be appropriate - or even safe! - so utter something as thoughtless as your observation about me but–” I took a deep breath. “You’re clearly confused. You’re freezing. And I think you need help.” And for some strange, utterly confusing reason, I felt like I could trust her. Perhaps it was because for a moment, I thought her an ally. Her statement in regards to women was damning, had the wrong person heard it. So either she truly was confused and didn’t know what she was saying, or she managed to spot something in me that I wasn’t quite ready to admit to myself yet and she trusted me not to get her into trouble. “Why don’t you come inside and explain yourself. If someone else heard you, you could get yourself into trouble,” I concluded calmly.

She seemed to be considering my offer for a moment, took her time by looking up and down the street, then nodded.

“I suppose you’re right,” she conceded and I nodded too, and gestured for her to follow.

“Tea?” I offered once I closed the door behind us. I felt more at ease in my own space, away from prying eyes, even with a mystery woman having a curious look around my space. Oddly, it didn’t feel as intrusive as I had expected.

“There’s really no need–” She wanted to brush me off but I insisted and was already halfway to the kettle.

“Come on, my mother always said that the best start–”

“-to any conversation is a cup of tea, I know,” she finished my sentence softly and my breath caught as I looked back to her. That was the last straw and irrefutable proof that she knew me. I didn’t know how it was possible but she did.

“Indulge me?” I requested as I hadn’t formulated my questions yet.

“Of course,” she nodded and turned away as I continued with the task of boiling water. Silence fell in the small space of my flat but it wasn’t unpleasant. Every now and then I’d cast a glance at her, feeling like I should after having invited a stranger into my house, but she wasn’t getting up to anything. She was simply perusing my bookshelves.

“Would you mind if I borrowed this?”

I turned around, surprised at the odd request. I found her holding up a book, my well worn copy of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ by Jane Austen.

“When would you return it?” I didn’t really know what else to say. I’d read the book many times, hence its state and it wasn’t a particularly special edition either but given how long I’d had it, it held some sentimental value. I didn’t want to part with it but there was a kindness in her eyes and a sense of excitement that made it hard to refuse outright.

“I promise, I will. You have my word,” she answered and I could tell she meant it. I believed her. If she said she would return it, she would, and I realised it would give her a reason to return. I found myself nodding, even as I felt a stab of guilt in my gut as I caught sight of her wedding ring once more.

“See that you do return it,” I found myself saying and she grinned.

“As quickly as I can, I promise,” she nodded and tightly cradled the book to her chest as she carried on her survey of my rooms and I carried on with the tea. I filled two mugs with steaming water when I stole another glance.

“You have a nice place…” she said as if she had felt my eyes lingering on her.

“It’s terribly cramped,” I gave a little chuckle as I wished I’d tidied a little at least. It was a bit of a mess in all honesty: books, used mugs, some clothes and pages and pages of writing from work and university… but she didn’t seem to mind. “But since it’s just me, I don’t need much space.” I offered the tea to her as I met her halfway to the window.

“It’s got a nice view,” she observed as she smiled gratefully and walked up to the window I had stood in when I’d spotted her.

“On a clear night, I can see the stars from my bed,” I explained what was my favourite feature of the otherwise cramped flat. It was nothing compared to the view of the heavens in the Lake District but it was something, a reminder of the unknown and its potential.

“It’s a clear night tonight and you can hardly make them out,” she hummed as if she had read my thoughts and looked up to the sky while taking a sip of her tea. I hadn’t even asked her how she took her drink, I’d simply made it the same as mine but she seemed content.

“I suppose, the lights of London…” I replied and she smiled a wistful sort of smile.

“They’re much more impressive up close, the stars…”

“I’m sure they are,” I replied, though not quite sure how she would know if she was, in fact, a medical doctor as she claimed. I couldn’t imagine the view from a hospital would be much better.

“You’ll see,” she winked and took another sip.

“You are a rather… curious person, aren’t you?” I observed, bemused. There was no other word for it. She spoke of the strangest, most nonsensical things.

“Well, that’s one way of putting it,” she chuckled.

We stood in silence for a moment, side by side looking out of the window at the faint stars up above. To me, it was a familiar view, so my eyes drifted eventually back to her, and I noticed the wistfulness in her eyes, a sense of longing and wonder. Her eyes were a magnificent combination of blue and green, like a deep ocean and yet, there was brightness there too, almost as if the stars were reflected in the waves of her sea. A thought struck, ridiculous as it was, as I tried to figure out where she had come from, how she had simply turned up at my doorstep: Perhaps she had fallen from the sky, from the stars, like an angel or–

“So… who are you? Why are you here?” I asked to stop myself from falling into more ridiculous musings. It didn’t do to indulge fantasies, no matter how fitting they appeared, I needed answers.

“Those are dangerous questions that I shouldn’t answer,” she answered after a moment of consideration.

“And yet you came in here to talk to me, so indulge me with trying?” I pushed on. “Something convinced you to come in, what was it?”

“I messed up by talking to you in the first place, so I thought I’d better come in and try to put it right…” she explained slowly and looked over to me once more.

“Can you do that?” I question as I still wasn’t sure what she meant by it. If she had said something she shouldn’t, I couldn’t tell what it was.

“I think so… I’ll have to try…” she hummed thoughtfully.

“And why was talking to me such a grave mistake? You seem to be enjoying it,” I felt that if I wanted to get answers I had to be more forthright with my questions.

“You are a delightful person to talk to,” she offered with a smile.

“And you know my name…” I carried on with a frown, hoping to clear up the question I needed an answer to most. “But I don’t know you. I would remember you.”

“I’d hope so,” her smile widened to a grin and yet again, I found myself with more questions than answers. As unexpected, as illicit and illegal the very idea was, I felt as though she was making advances towards me, in little gestures and insinuations, subtle but present and unwillingly, I felt my heart beat a little faster. I wondered if I was reading something into nothing, the wedding ring was ever present in my mind as my eyes kept returning to it. I wondered if it was wishful thinking or my imagination, but the effect was very real.

Frustration came with my racing heart and I demanded questions more urgently:

“Why do you know me? And why did you make a mistake by talking to me? You’re not from the MI5 and following me or something, are you?” It was a ludicrous notion as I surely wasn’t interesting enough to warrant investigation by the secret service, but it was the only explanation I could think of at that point.

“Oh no, do I look like a spy?” Her face fell.

“You said you were a doctor and you don’t really look like one of those either,” I pointed out and she laughed lightly.

“Fair enough,” she nodded. “What do I look like?”

“I really don’t know,” I answered as I looked her up and down while the opportunity was there. “I can’t… figure you out.”

“Part of my charm,” she grinned and I had to admit, charming she certainly was. But I wouldn’t allow her charm to distract me from what I really wanted to know:

“Why was talking to me a mistake?”

She gave a sigh and I felt like I was getting somewhere at last. She appeared ready to give in and finished her tea in a gulp.

“Because foreknowledge is a dangerous thing,” she said finally and placed the mug on the windowsill, giving herself something to do, as she was avoiding my eyes. “Because you’re not meant to know who I am. You can’t remember me or I will be endangering my own future, our future.”

“Our future?” Of all the things she’d said, the confusing, nonsensical ramblings that I struggled to believe, it was the one sentence fragment, the afterthought to it all, that grasped my attention firmly and wouldn’t let me go.

My heart skipped a beat and I felt dizzy, caught between disbelief and elation. She looked at me again with a softness, a kindness, an understanding and her words were calm, reassuring and honest.

“I was looking for you, Helen. Just not this version of you. You’re too young. You haven’t met me yet. The Vortex Manipulator was meant to take me to you but it got you at the wrong time in your life, do you understand?”

Understanding wasn’t the issue. I’m bright and her words were clear. She should have asked if I believed her. And against all reason, I did.

“So… Time travel?” I concluded after a long silence in which I processed her words and drew the only possible conclusion. Sometimes, the most obvious solution, regardless of how unbelievable it might be, was the right one.

“You’re taking that better than I thought you would…” she observed and raised her eyebrows as if she was waiting for the inevitable ‘but’ or the demand for proof or further questions. As I chose to accept her explanation, the truth of which I felt in my very heart, I couldn’t think of a single thing to ask, I was just delighted in the knowledge of being right.

“Well, in an infinite universe, anything is possible, surely,” I said softly and smiled at the wonderful thought.

“Yes. Yes indeed.” She hugged my book tighter to her chest as she regarded me with a warm smile in return. It occurred to me that maybe, she really would be returning my book to me, just not any time soon. It was a lot to wrap my head around but the more accustomed I grew to the idea, the more curious I got.

“So you’re from my future… I didn’t expect them to invent time travel in my lifetime,” I mused as I considered the implications of her words.

“They don’t,” she answered kindly. “I’m from much further in the future. And it’s not humans that discover time travel then either, it’s–” She stopped herself with a soft laugh. “You know, it doesn’t matter. You will find all of that out, soon enough.”

“How soon?” For a moment, I grew embarrassed at the eagerness of my words but I couldn’t help it. To be offered such extraordinary things warranted my excitement.

“Not long at all… you look just the way I remember from our first meeting,” she smiled and her expression was nothing short of adoring. No-one had ever looked at me like that before. My heart jumped into my throat as my mind took leaps, connecting the dots in a way that painted a wonderful picture that I didn’t dare hope for, didn’t dare imagine, didn’t dare put into words for fear of finding out it wasn’t so. And yet, I had to know.

“Who are you to me?”

“I…” she stalled then, insecurity crossing her features.

“Surely you can tell me? As you said, you told me way too much already,” I pleaded and gathered my courage as I noticed the way she was brushing her thumb against her ring. “You’re fiddling with your ring…” I observed and my voice was barely more than a whisper but in the quiet of the room, I might as well have shouted.

“You really are awfully observant, aren’t you?” She gave a sigh and cast her eyes down, hand tightening around my book. I dropped my glance as well as I sought to steady my breathing and the shaking of my hands as I considered the unspoken and yet confirmed thing between us.

“And you are a terrible liar,” I smiled weakly.

“To you, yes. I can’t keep secrets from you,” she chuckled and cleared her throat that seemed thick with emotion, if only for a moment.

“Which is proving quite the problem,” I mumbled. I was well read. Jules Verne, H.G. Wells… I knew my way around science fiction and I could imagine all the ways in which foreknowledge of one’s future could have dreadful consequences. My heart sank at the thought that my insistent questions had the potential to undo this wonderful future I had only just discovered possible.

“It is,” she admitted with a nod. “But I will put it right, I have to.”

“For our future together?” I asked and she smiled.

“For our future together,” she confirmed and reached for my hand.

Her touch was electric and my eyes shot up to hers, so full of love and promise as she spoke:

“Don’t be scared of it. I know it’s a lot to take in but–” She brushed her thumb over the back of my hand in a tender gesture and for a moment, I thought I finally understood those sensations, feelings, desires I’d been reading about in books. Romance had always eluded me. I didn’t think it possible to have the sort of relationship I knew that I wanted, deep down. I had chosen to forgo it altogether to spare myself the disappointment. Now, I finally understood what I had been missing out on.

My throat closed up with emotion and I took a deep, shaky breath as I grasped her hand firmly in return. I looked up from our hands to meet her incredibly expressive eyes and I answered softly:

“I’m not scared. I’m looking forward to it.”

And then, my tears started falling and her loving expression turned to sorrow.

“Helen-” she started but I gestured for her to stop, not to try and comfort me as comfort wasn’t something I required. They were tears of joy, tears of relief, tears of hope. I held on to her fingers tightly with one hand and covered my eyes with the other, embarrassed by my emotional outburst.

“It’s okay, I- I just never thought I-” I stuttered through tears.

“I promise, you will have the life you deserve,” she tried to sooth me. “You will have adventures beyond your wildest dreams–”

“Time travelling? With you?” I interrupted her as I wiped my tears away in an effort to regain composure over myself.

“Time and space travel, yes. And not just with me, you will meet incredible people, have wonderful friends,” she explained gently. “You will see places you can’t even imagine and you will do great things, please don’t- I know things are not exactly easy for you right now but please, know, understand, that you are worth so much more than anyone or even you believe. And you are loved, so so loved.” There were tears in her eyes as well then, proving the depth of her care for me, and it was overwhelming. I couldn’t look at her, I returned my eyes to our intertwined hands.

“That explains it I guess…” I spoke weakly and the frown that scrunched up her face was audible in her voice.

“What?”

“Why you have starlight in your eyes,” I answered, well aware of how silly it must have sounded to her, but my head was spinning, struggling to grasp what I had learned and drowning in emotions I had never felt before. “You have seen so much of the universe, it shines out of you.” I looked into her eyes and felt reaffirmed as I found the brightness that seemed to inhabit her eyes.

“No, Helen, that’s not the universe, that’s not my experiences… If my eyes reflected the things I’ve seen, well…” She gave a heavy sigh and her expression darkened for a moment. I felt I had touched on something I shouldn’t have but she didn’t give me the opportunity to find out more. “It doesn’t matter…”

“What is it then?” I asked and she laughed, and it was both a joyful and a sad sound. She regarded me for a moment, her expression caught between compassion and wonder. It seemed as though she was feeling sorry for me in a way that I hadn’t figured it out yet and I frowned, confused.

“It’s love, Helen,” she stated simply. “That brightness, that boundless optimism, that warmth, that’s what it looks like when someone loves you. And I’m sorry this is your first experience of it.”

“What’s your name?” I asked softly as the hurricane of emotions fell silent in the eye of the storm. All I could hear was the thundering of my heartbeat as I looked at the woman who would one day become my wife. And I had yet to learn her name.

“You only think to ask now?” She countered with mild amusement and I reasoned:

“Would you have told me before?”

“Liv. I’m Liv,” she answered at last. “Liv Chenka.”

I smiled. It was a beautiful name. And I didn’t think I’d be able to forget it, regardless of how our untimely meeting affected our future.

“Chenka… are you going to make me take your name?” I questioned with a smile and she grinned:

“You’ll ask for it.”

“Will I?” I chuckled, intrigued by her response and she smirked:

“Among other things.”

“Are you flirting with me?” I had to ask as the last of the secrets, the last of her inhibitions seemed to have fallen away.

“Can’t help it,” she laughed and she seemed lighter now, free of the burden of keeping things from me and I liked knowing that keeping secrets from me would be a struggle for her. Everything about Liv Chenka, every new thing I learned about her, filled in a future I never dared dream of. I wanted to believe it was a sort of cosmic justice, making up for the struggles I’d had, as a woman who’s always felt just a little bit too far ahead of her time. To marry a time traveller seemed a poetic stroke of fate and the thought that I might end up losing it all struck all the harder.

“What are you going to do now?” I asked, insecure and worried.

“Find your future self. My vortex manipulator has recharged enough. Should be alright the second time around,” she explained and cast a glance at the leather bracelet, which I now understood to be her means of time travel. It was odd to think that such a small, unassuming thing should bear such power.

“So you telling me all this… what will it do? To us, I mean…” I dreaded the answer but I wanted to be prepared, I tightened my grip on her hand. I didn’t want to lose her, not after only just having found her.

“Nothing. Because you won’t remember it…” She gave a sorrowful smile and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I was relieved to know she had thought about it and would take precautions to protect our future, but the thought of losing all my new-found knowledge, the hope I’d gained through it, was painful regardless.

“I was worried you would say that…” I hummed thoughtfully, then corrected myself as I sorted through my emotions: “No, not worried, because I don’t want to endanger our future but… I guess, a little disappointed… Knowing all these things it’s… lovely.”

“I’m sorry,” she apologised and I knew she meant it. Reluctantly she let go of my hand and I let her, dreading what would follow but still curious about the process. “But if it makes you feel better, our friend that gave us this–” She held up her wrist for a moment as she explained, “- River, that’s her name by the way - gave me something else, just for this sort of thing… and it makes making people forget a whole lot more pleasant than you’d expect. If it’s the right person, that is,” she reached into the pocket of her trousers and retrieved something small. “That’s the main reason why I came in here…”

“How so?” I frowned and watched curiously as she pulled open what I realised was lipstick. Liv didn’t exactly seem the type for it but I watched her apply it without ceremony.

“Can’t do this in the street during this time…” she answered with a smile and pressed her lips to mine without a second thought. It was an overwhelming sensation. I had never been kissed like that, not properly, not with such devotion, such care, such love. I pulled her close, my hands on her cheeks as she smiled into the kiss, parted her lips and allowed me the fullness of the sensation. I kissed her eagerly, committing every detail to memory even as I realised they would be taken from me. I didn’t care. I grasped the moment and thanked my lucky stars for the future that lay in store for me. I couldn’t wait to see those stars up close.

“Do you think I could forget that?” I whispered as I rested my forehead against her, out of breath and dizzy, but my body was warm and my heart full. The wait would be worth it, I decided, as would be forgetting. Anything would be worth her.

“You will. But only for a time,” she gave back softly and brushed a few stray tears off my cheeks. “And I will be happy to remind you of what it was like plenty in the future…” she promised.

“I’m looking forward to it…” I retorted and I did. I couldn’t wait for the future. “Did I miss my book a lot?” I asked as my eyesight grew woozy but I caught sight of the book in her hand.

“Apparently one night it just disappeared from your room and you couldn’t find it anymore… I think you’ll like it returned,” she answered with a chuckle and I found myself being guided towards the bed as I started feeling unsteady.

“You did promise you would return it,” I mumbled and I could tell I was beginning to slur my speech. I dropped onto the bed.

“Yes I did. And I always keep my promises. And my vows,” she hummed and I smiled:

“You better.”

I caught one more glimpse of the starlight in her eyes and even as I drifted off into the unconsciousness of sleep I reminded myself of her words: It’s not starlight, it’s love.

#Doctor Who #fanfiction #liv chenka #helen sinclair #femslash #liv x helen #fluff #hurt/comfort #soft #first meetings #out of chronology

16 notes · View notes

wordonthestreettalktv · 2 months

Video

youtube

📜 Discover The #apocrypha Secrets: Uncovering Hidden with #MinMlKimbleSr 👀

Endtime Prophecy as according to the scripture #endtimeprophecy #thelastdays #revelation #thedayofyahuah @moneyprosperitych 📜 Discover The #apocrypha Secrets: Uncovering Hidden with #MinMlKimbleSr #apocrypha Discover The #apocrypha Secrets

Dive deep into the discovery of forgotten prophecies with Minister M.L. Kimble this morning. Join us as we unravel mysteries beyond the 66 books! Scriptures #apocrypha somehow REMOVED from the 66! WHAT A SCAM! #apocrypha #Prophecies #MinisterKimble #UnveilingMysteries 📖✨ Discover The #apocrypha Secrets Hidden with #MinMlKimbleSr

REMOVED FROM YOUR 66 BOOKS WAKE UP PEOPLE:

2 Esdras 9:1-25

"He answered, “Consider all these things very carefully. When you see that some of the signs I have told you about have appeared, you will know that the time has come when Yahuah The Most High will bring judgment on the world he has created. There will be earthquakes, national rebellions, international intrigues, unstable leaders, and confused rulers. When you see these things happening, you will know that they are what Yahuah The Most High has spoken about since the beginning of creation. The beginning and the end of everything that happens in this world are clear. The same is true in the world above: wonders and miracles show the beginning of events, and mighty signs show when they end. “Some people will escape destruction and be saved by their good works or by their faith. All of them will survive the dangers I have described and will enjoy the salvation provided in the land that I have set apart from eternity as my own. Then those who have ignored my ways and held them in contempt will be surprised when they find themselves in continual torment. This will include all those who ignored me while they were alive, even though they accepted the blessings I gave them. It will include all those who scorned my Law during the time they were free to do so and all those who refused to repent when they still had the chance. The torment they will have to suffer after death will force them to recognize the truth. Therefore, Ezra, you should stop asking questions about how the wicked will be punished. Instead, be concerned about how and when the righteous will be saved. The world was created for them and belongs to them.” I said, “I must repeat what I said before. The lost far outnumber those who are saved— it is like a wave compared with a drop of water.” He answered, “The seed to be planted depends on the soil; the color of the flower depends on the kind of flower; the quality of a product depends on the skill of the worker; and the size of the harvest depends on how hard the farmer has worked. Before I created this world or the people who would live in it, no one opposed me, because no one existed. When I had created the world, I supplied it with an abundance of food and a Law of profound wisdom, but the people I created lived corrupt lives. I looked at my world and saw that it was ruined. I saw that my earth was in danger of being destroyed by the wicked plans of the people who had come into it. When I saw this, I found it very difficult to spare them, but I saved a few for myself, one grape out of a bunch and one tree out of a great forest. So let them perish—all those people who were born only to be lost. But let my chosen people be kept safe—those for whom I worked so hard to bring to perfection. “And now, Ezra, you must wait seven more days, but do not fast this time. Go to a field of wild flowers where no one has ever lived and eat nothing but the flowers—do not eat any meat or drink any wine. Pray the whole time to Yahuah The Most High. Then I will come and talk with you again.” #apocrypha The #apocrypha Secrets: Uncovering Hidden

Why aren't these so-called "prophets' of today prophesying the real prophecy? Here is THE REAL #prophecy and doesn't cost you a penny!

Join our Patreon:

{patreon.com/wordonthestminmlkimble}

Support us: $donateknsmin

Subscribe @wordonthestreettalktv

00:00 Please Subscribe! 06:10 Don't you see the SCAM? 10:57 There is more to the story Preacher! 13:39 Join us!

Chapters

https://www.youtube.com/live/2YQImYL7vec?si=kPSHMf2k8U0RnzNf

#apocrypha #MinMlKimbleSr

0 notes

jdgo51 · 9 months

Text

My Love and My Loss

by Kathie Lee Gifford, TV Personality

Today's inspiration comes from:

I Choose Peace

by Doug Bender

"'Wouldn’t it be a wonderful feeling,” asks Kathie Lee Gifford, former cohost of NBC’s fourth hour of the Today show, “to wake up in the morning and understand that no matter what goes on today, God can make something good out of it?”

Kathie Lee says she was born to entertain. If you were to meet her, you would be tempted at first to think you were encountering someone doing a slapstick version of herself. But it’s just Kathie Lee being Kathie Lee. She didn’t get in front of a camera and discover her television personality; instead, the performer came first and the camera followed.

Kathie Lee’s father told her many times while she was growing up to “find something you love to do and then figure out a way to get paid for it.” Kathie Lee did exactly that. She always knew God made her to perform, and she knew the entertainment industry was where she would fulfill her destiny. In fact, she earned her first paycheck as an entertainer when she was just ten years old.

“It was thrilling getting my first paying job singing,” she says. “I knew exactly what I wanted to do from the time I was a baby. But to be a young woman in that business is brutal because of the rejection. It’s nonstop.”

After a dozen years working as a singer and actress, Kathie Lee rose to national fame cohosting a live morning television show with Regis Philbin in 1985. Beginning locally in New York, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee sprang to national syndication three years after she joined the program and became an American mainstay. Until the summer of 2000, she cohosted the show, which aired on millions of television sets every weekday morning.

She was in her element, doing what she had been born to do, what her parents had always encouraged her to do. But Kathie Lee’s mom and dad had never pushed her to perform.

“I’ve never understood the kind of parent that says to their children, ‘You’ve got to be this or that,’” Kathie Lee says. “I was privileged to have parents like I had. They were extraordinary, loving people. They loved me for who I was and encouraged my dreams.”

Growing up, she always had a song to sing and a show to perform. She found fulfillment in bringing joy and a smile to others. Her always-on-stage approach to life followed her throughout the years.

“I learned the reason that performing was so joyful to me is because God is our creator,” she says. “I am created by God, and I’m made in His image. That means I am also a creator. I feel most divine when I am creating something beautiful. It’s every human being’s purpose.” Kathie Lee’s joy is not a result of a lucky career or perfect family, as is clear when she speaks of the darker points in her journey. She may have earned eleven Daytime Emmy nominations, written books, released albums, and even contributed to several Broadway productions. But the brighter the limelight shines, the more caustic public reactions to a stumble can turn.

In 1996, reports surfaced that Kathie Lee’s clothing line was produced out of a Honduran sweatshop with abysmally poor working conditions. The reports held her personally responsible. She insisted she had nothing to do with the day-to-day operating of the clothing factories and was only a celebrity sponsor of the apparel. She even worked to bring about legislation to prevent similarly inhumane working conditions elsewhere. But still the public reaction came fierce and hard.

“It was a very dark, dark period for me,” she says. “But God put me to work. There is slavery in the world, more than ever. There are labor conditions that are horrible.”

“It’s unjust what you’ve been accused of,” she heard God say through all this, “but why don’t you get your eyes off of you for a minute and look at the unjust conditions that people are working under. You didn’t cause it, but you need to care about it.”

She became a leading proponent of fair labor laws and used her on-air power to push for legislative changes.

Shalom doesn’t mean just peace. It means all of the aspects of God. It means justice, righteousness, faithfulness, unfailing love, and, yes, peace. It’s a peace that passes all understanding.

In the following year, Kathie Lee’s personal life also hit a new low. Kathie Lee had married Frank Gifford in 1986, and after more than a decade of marriage and two children, Frank was caught in a humiliating and public affair. Tabloids seized upon the story and printed pictures that brought agony to Kathie Lee.

“It was devastating to me,” she says. “But I was able to stay in my marriage and have God heal it. I’ve heard from hundreds of thousands of people since then who got courage from [my experience], courage to stay in their broken marriages and forgive their husbands and wives. They got courage to keep their families together. Not everybody does. I didn’t do it on my own. God gives us everything we need every day.”

Kathie Lee’s journey with God began as a child when Jesus called her name in a dream.

“It’s vivid to me to this day,” she recalls. “In the dream I’m outside in the front yard helping my daddy rake the leaves. We used to play in them. I looked up. There was Jesus sitting on a cloud. He smiled at me and He said my name.”

A few years later, as a twelve-year-old, she walked into a movie theater featuring The Restless Ones, a production of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. The movie has been widely panned for its stiff dialogue and overt religiosity, but for many the truth at its core outshone any artistic inadequacies. It told of a young girl on the cusp of womanhood making the choice between going down the road that led to death or one that led to life.

“I could hear the voice of the Lord in the movie,” Kathie Lee says.

“Kathie,” she heard Him say, “will you trust Me to make something beautiful out of your life and go down my road? It’s harder. It’s going to be lonely at times. It’s going to be tougher than the big wide road over there. Ultimately it’s going to be a much more beautiful life, but you’ve got to trust Me.”

After the movie, as with all Billy Graham events, someone rose in the front and asked if anyone wanted to come forward and follow Jesus. The movie, cheesy as it was, served a function for the more than 120,000 people who’d said yes to that question during the time it ran. Kathie Lee was in that number.

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life since then,” she says. “I will make a lot of them before this day is done. But that is one decision I made that I have always been deeply, deeply grateful for. I listened to the voice of Jesus. I heard Him tell me He had a purpose for my life, that He loved me. He wanted to make something beautiful with my life.”

Kathie Lee has Jewish ancestry, and as a Christian she has discovered great significance in a Hebrew word that is found in Jewish greetings, teachings, and scriptures: shalom. The word touches upon the idea of perfection and wholeness.

“Shalom doesn’t mean just peace,” she says, “like it’s come to mean in our world. It means all of the aspects of God. It means justice, righteousness, faithfulness, unfailing love, and, yes, peace. It’s a peace that passes all understanding. That’s what we’re here for. Look around. Do you see the chaos? You’re supposed to be part of the shalom, the peace. That’s what every human heart longs for — to partner in that and know you matter.”

The Bible calls Jesus the Prince of Peace. He’s the one who brings peace and wholeness to the world. But He didn’t sit on that peace and hoard it for Himself. He stepped out of Heaven and got dirty with His people. He lived with them, ate with them, hugged them, and talked with them. He taught His followers to join Him in this work of getting out and bringing peace to the world.

Kathie Lee finds inspiration in Jesus’ example. Jesus got out into the world and confronted the cultural norms of His day. He insisted on spending time with the poor, the sick, the sinner, and the outcast.

For fifteen years on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, Kathie Lee lived her life publicly, discussing family, marriage, and raising children on a morning talk show for the world to see. People saw her cry, laugh, and ask the deeper questions. After leaving Live, she took some time away from television, then rejoined America’s morning routine in 2008 as cohost with Hoda Kotb of NBC’s fourth hour of Today. For the next decade Kathie Lee continued to follow Jesus’ example of getting out into the world.

“We are supposed to get out and be the sweet fragrance of Jesus to this world,” she says. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself is what Jesus taught. Don’t live in a selfie world. Live in a selfless world. Don’t walk over homeless people on your way to get someplace. We’re supposed to get down and dirty like Jesus did. We’re supposed to wash AIDS patients’ feet. We’re supposed to adopt children who have no home.

“God is perfecting us. Not a physical perfection or personal perfection, but God’s perfect love. He is perfecting love in us. That love leads to perfection in a world yet to come. It’s something to look forward to.”'

Excerpted with permission from I Choose Peace by Doug Bender, copyright e3 Partners Ministry.

0 notes

god-whispers · 11 months

Text

jun 7

water into wine

"and he said to him, “every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. you have kept the good wine until now!" john 2:10

i was in prayer this morning and it started out as one of those seemingly "fry times." i didn't particularly feel the Lord's presence, but i persisted, knowing that He is always here, always cares and is always listening. there are just times we have to believe, stand firm and press through.

it's not that God doesn't know the amount of faith we have or whether we will endure or not - it's that we aren't always sure. "that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 pet 1:7

i am in no way insinuating that a simple "dry time" in prayer is anything comparable to the persecutions and sufferings that multitudes are going through for their faith, but perhaps a training for endurance that will be needed later. we must all persist in our endeavors to put God first before any of our needs or comforts. "but he who endures to the end will be saved." matt 10:22 and again: "for you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise." heb 10:36

all this was said just to kind of set the stage. by the grace of God my persistence was rewarded. the dry time was soon deluged with a flood of water. the tears were once again flowing as i drew nearer to His presence. that always happens to me. He is just so wonderful and precious to me. He wants to be our treasure. He wants to be our all.

He whispered so many beautiful things to me. things that have now escaped my remembrance but i know are buried in my spirit. anyway, at some time during "our time," i recall hearing "it's time to turn the water into wine." that was the beginning of our Lord's ministry.

i don't necessarily feel the Lord was speaking about me exclusively, more like it was a work He was preparing to do in many lives. there may be many who have "dabbled" in ministry of sorts that He is about to open up something new and different or expand whatever into something more. it may not just be a ministry, but something you have been believing for. faith becomes substance.

i just want everybody to be looking for that; expecting it. be ready to step out boldly into the "something new." grab that promise you have held in your heart. the unlikely will become likely. the impossible will now be possible. "look among the nations and watch — be utterly astounded! for I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you." hab 1:5 i'm telling you now. believe it!

"then the Lord said to me, “you have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word. God's word is true. His promises are to us and all who would dare to believe. "behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."isa 43:19

there may be battles to fight and struggles to endure, but to those who persist, the promise lay within their reach. we may feel alone at times, but we are never really alone. He is the author and finisher of everything. "that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." 1 cor 2:5

0 notes

whatisonthemoon · 1 year

Text

The Graying of Richard Viguerie (1989)

By Lloyd Grove The Washington Post June 29, 1989

There is absolutely no shortage of money for your organization. There is only a shortage of creative ideas to raise that money. -- a framed epigram hanging on a wall at the Viguerie Co.

All is calm in the blue-carpeted anteroom of the Viguerie Co. in Falls Church. A few wan fish, the color of old newspapers, hang suspended in the greenish fluid of a decorative aquarium. A receptionist quietly shuffles papers under the gaze of a larger-than-life oil rendering of the figure once celebrated as "the Wizard of Direct-Mail Fund-Raising" for the movement once called "the New Right."

When he finally appears in the flesh, however, blinking through wire-rims and grinning a fragile grin, the Wizard bears a closer resemblance to the man behind the curtain.

"If the truth were known, I'm getting tired," says Richard Art Viguerie, 55, running his hand over a balding pate ringed with gray. "If I had to do it another 25 years, I'd do it. But it's not my druthers."

The afternoon turns to dusk as Viguerie holds forth in his new headquarters, where the phones are finally working after being out of order for half the previous week. His suite is a floor below the old one and half the size -- "a more efficient use of space," he says -- in what was once the Viguerie-owned office building on Leesburg Pike, where once he employed 300 people, compared with about 50 today. One side of his private office is cluttered with unpacked boxes, the big move having been completed a few days before. He refuses to pose with the boxes for a picture. "People wouldn't understand," he says, keeping his distance.

Desperately in debt in October 1987, he sold the building for a reported $10 million to the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church -- a transaction he describes as a fire sale. "The area was depressed," he complains. "If we could have held on to it a few more years, we could have done a lot better." The Moon-supported American Freedom Coalition, which touts itself as a "bipartisan" lobby, is among Viguerie's principal clients these days.

Viguerie's alliance with the mysterious South Korean "messiah" who aspires to "the natural subjugation of the American government and population," as quoted recently in U.S. News & World Report, is a source of concern to some of his former comrades in arms. "If Richard's come to peace with it, then it's fine for him," says Executive Director Edwin J. Feulner of the Heritage Foundation, a self-described "movement conservative" who worries that Moon might have an unsavory hidden agenda. "It's not our way of doing business."

The '80s, which began with such bright promise -- indeed, with the election of Ronald Wilson Reagan -- have not been kind to Viguerie or his cause. Somewhere, somehow, something went wrong. The Reagan Revolution, which was supposed to have empowered the conservative dream, gave way to the era of George Herbert Walker Bush, the embodiment of non-ideological, establishment Republicanism. During the 1988 presidential campaign Bush dismissed Viguerie as "fringe," and once said pointedly, "I'm a conservative but I'm not a nut about it." (Notwithstanding this hostility, Viguerie found himself supporting Bush -- something he could not have foreseen in his wildest nightmares.)

Meanwhile, back at the fringe, such onetime powerhouses as the National Conservative Political Action Committee went belly up. Elements of the Christian right were beset by scandal and plunging donations. The Moral Majority more recently closed its doors, and Viguerie became entangled in lawsuits with former associates while suffering a series of financial, political, and personal reverses--such as the breakup of his marriage--from which he is still trying to recover. He seems at sea, like the movement he helped create.

"I don't want to talk about it, quite frankly," Viguerie says testily. "I literally have been up since 4 this morning and 5-something yesterday. ... It's been a long day, and I've got a thousand things on my mind."

Yet because Viguerie in person is the soul of geniality, just as his rhetoric is harsh and unforgiving, he ultimately relents. Soon he is giggling his trademark giggle, which is somewhere between a cackle and a squeal, as he talks about his plans to withdraw from active control of the Viguerie Co. and move into direct mail for credit cards, life insurance, "whatever it might be" -- conjuring up the image of a burned-out ideological warrior hawking magazines for Publishers' Clearing House and cash prizes to the visitors of far-flung time-share developments.

"Need name for new company," he has scrawled on a pad. He also hopes to build his fledgling political action committee, United Conservatives of America, start a small foundation to contemplate public policy and another one to lobby politicians and pundits, and, most important, discover some creative idea, any idea, that can "resurrect the conservative movement."

"I was telling a friend of mine recently, 'Yes, we're out of the woods and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,'" Viguerie says with a giggle. "And like a wise guy, he said, 'Look out. It may be a train.'"

"The simple truth is that there is a new majority in America -- and it's being led by the New Right," Viguerie wrote in his gloating manifesto, "The New Right: We're Ready to Lead."

At the time, just after the 1980 election, there appeared to be much to gloat about. Reagan -- "the country's foremost conservative politician since 1966," Viguerie wrote -- was in the White House, having humiliated Jimmy Carter in a landslide. The Senate was suddenly in Republican hands for the first time in 26 years. All was right with the world.

"It has been obvious for a long time that conservatism is rising and liberalism is declining," Viguerie wrote, confidently predicting a revolution. "Despite all the talk in the media about 'trends,' 'cliffhangers,' and 'last-minute shifts,' the plain truth is that more and more Americans are sick of liberalism -- and aren't afraid to say so."

Yet somewhere in this glorious triumph for Viguerie and the New Right were the seeds of ... deep doo-doo. Howard Phillips of the Conservative Caucus, today one of Viguerie's 20-odd direct-mail clients, recalls that Reagan's victory served not to energize but to "lobotomize" the faithful.

They had helped him into office on a tide of resentment and opposition -- to abortion rights, gun control, the Evil Empire, taxes, the Panama Canal treaties, the Washington establishment, Iran -- and passionate support for such sacred principles as supply-side economics and prayer in school. But they hardly noticed when the Gipper inevitably sinned, raising payroll taxes, selling missiles to Iran and embracing the Soviet Union.

"The lobotomy occurs when you look at an apple and say it's an elephant," Phillips says. "When you're so much in love that policies that would have angered you if implemented by a Jimmy Carter simply delight you when implemented by a Ronald Reagan."

Worse still, the money was drying up -- or rather, the cash that would have gone to New Right causes, according to Phillips, "was being transferred into the coffers of various Republican Party organizations."

Viguerie, who had grown rich on the spoils of fundraising for groups well outside the Republican mainstream (at one point George Wallace was among his clients), quickly felt the pinch. His relations with the Grand Old Party had long been strained - he'd tried and failed in 1976 to become the American Independent Party's vice-presidential nominee - and now he was once again on the outs.

"He was irrelevant eight months into Reagan's first term," claims a Bush administration political operative. When Viguerie, Phillips, and others began pointing out Reagan's apostasies - a campaign that reached its climax in December 1987 when Phillips branded Reagan a "useful idiot" for negotiating sweeping arms reductions with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev - few conservatives seemed to be listening.

"Viguerie's in the discontent business," says William F. Buckley Jr., the conservatives' paterfamilias. "He found it very hard to say favorable things about Reagan. But there was a sense in which when Reagan was president - and for so long as he was president - a lot of conservatives figured that nothing could go seriously wrong. When someone like that becomes president, a whole audience tunes out."

Some of Viguerie's problems, admittedly, have been of his own making, such as his quixotic and financially draining race for lieutenant governor of Virginia in 1984. The following year he was forced to part with Conservative Digest, a glossy magazine he founded in the mid-1970s that lost $4 million. Then there were the hazards of the direct-mail fundraising industry that Viguerie virtually invented - only to see several former employees go into direct competition with him for ever-smaller pieces of the ideological pie.

"I don't run a business," Viguerie has said, "I run a university." Republican political consultant David Keene notes that Viguerie, who pioneered the use of direct-mail computer systems that were as expensive when he bought them as they are obsolete today, is at a distinct disadvantage in the marketplace against his microchip-savvy protégés. "It's a little bit like a Japanese shipyard trying to compete against a Korean shipyard," Keene says.

Viguerie is loath to discuss the acrimonious divorce proceedings between him and his wife of 27 years, Elaine, and then only off the record. He hardly speaks to fellow activist Paul Weyrich, with whom he has been engaged in a legal skirmish over contested bills, one of several Viguerie has fought against former associates in recent years.

Journalist Alan Crawford, who did much for Viguerie's reputation as a wizard in his 1980 book "Thunder on the Right," was recently moved, in the Nation magazine, to write his political obituary. "And the movement shows every indication that it can sputter along without him," Crawford wrote.

"What you're seeing is somebody who has had tough experiences and he's learned from them," Viguerie says. "It's up to others to evaluate, but I'd like to think it hasn't been for naught. You never know how a person's going to react until they've had problems. ... It's not how you drop, it's how you bounce."

He has sold his estate in McLean, where he used to throw glittering dinner parties under heated tents in his expansive backyard, and decamped to a farm in Rappahannock County, Va., an hour down the highway from Falls Church. "I try to be a gentleman about the whole thing and just sit back and watch the grass grow," he says. "These days there's a lot of it, with all the rain. ... I'm spending a fair amount of time conceptualizing what I want to do with the rest of my life." He has given up his annual Fourth of July festivities that featured horse-drawn carriages to transport his guests.

And he has abandoned the New Right, at least as a nom de guerre. "That's passé," he says. "Now we call ourselves the Movement, in shorthand terms. When we talk we say, 'We've got to get the Movement back on track.'"

As the Bush administration goes its merry way, with the president enjoying high popularity ratings, Viguerie has been busying himself sending out press releases. They are datelined "Washington, D.C.," cast in wire service style, and mailed and faxed from Northern Virginia to about 40 news outlets under the banner of United Conservatives of America. They've gone largely ignored in what he calls "the establishment media," but they offer compelling documentation of his quest for the Grail -- a single powerful theme that will rejuvenate the cause.

"Populist conservatives expect that {the proposed 51 percent congressional pay raise} will be the No. 1 issue in the 1990 congressional elections," Viguerie wrote on Feb. 1, a week before the House of Representatives voted it down and removed it from public discussion. "Conservatives plan to make the 'Imperial Congress' THE issue of the 1990 congressional election," Viguerie wrote on March 22. More than a few subsequent releases demanded that House Speaker Jim Wright resign, an issue that evaporated when Wright did just that. "Oliver North deserves a medal, not a prison sentence, Richard A. Viguerie said today," begins a release dated May 4.

"This conviction will be remembered as one of the great travesties of justice in human history," he said.

"Once again, the Panama Canal is an issue that could change the course of American politics," Viguerie wrote, perhaps sentimentally, on May 17. (It was opposition to Carter's Panama Canal treaties that put the New Right on the map and paved the way for Reagan's election.) Viguerie's release of May 24 attempts to create a stirring synergy: "'The injustice that has been done to Ollie North is but one glaring example of the tyranny of the liberal-controlled Congress,' Viguerie said." By the next day, he has found yet another horse to ride. "President Bush has 'the historic opportunity to become the leader of freedom-loving people throughout the world,' Richard A. Viguerie said today. 'But he is blowing it.'" This, when Bush was being widely celebrated for his "triumph" at NATO. "World events are rapidly spinning out of control," Viguerie added.

Through it all, Viguerie makes promises of "immediate" and "massive" direct-mail, telephone, radio, and television campaigns -- which so far have failed to materialize. He launched United Conservatives of America last summer and in March hired an organizer of Pat Robertson's presidential campaign, Guy Rodgers, as the group's executive director and sole paid employee. Rodgers estimates that the PAC has sent out more than 300,000 pieces of mail, including 150,000 bumper stickers reading "Jim's not Wright for America" and contributed a total of $6,000 to about 30 candidates. "It's a very low-key operation," Viguerie says.

Conservative analyst Kevin Phillips, no relation to Howard, calls it "a paper organization." He adds: "What Viguerie would like, of course, is to have a liberal Democratic president." "Oh no," Viguerie responds, shaking his head. But then he muses, "If you could have the benefit of knowing what would happen, and if you could make that choice, yes. It helped immensely to advance the conservative cause to have Jimmy Carter in the White House."

It's a far cry from the good old days. "This is literally a true story," Viguerie says, replaying one of the set pieces from his public reminiscences. "When I was 10 and 12 years old, and the neighborhood kids were running around playing cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, I was shooting -- in my head -- communists. Where that came from, I don't know." Viguerie grew up, the son of a union man turned petrochemical executive, in Pasadena, Tex. He assumed the mantle of conservatism early on, and in 1952 was even a Taft Republican. By the late 1950s, he was an activist in Young Americans for Freedom, the conservative juggernaut launched from the Buckley family's Connecticut compound.

For Viguerie, the good old days began in earnest with Watergate. As Richard Nixon self-destructed, Viguerie, Weyrich, Howard Phillips, and others plotted their revolution over breakfast, lunch, and dinner. "Figuratively speaking, we all got together and we walked to the front of the plane," Viguerie says. "We didn't like the way the plane was being flown. We wanted to give some recommendations as to how to fly the plane. So we opened the cockpit door and, lo and behold, what do we find? Nobody's home! Nobody's flying the plane."

If this was a hijacking attempt, it was followed by a tailspin. "What happened with Watergate," Viguerie says, "is that it purged a lot of the Republican leaders. A lot of good men and women went down to defeat. The Republican Party was bereft of leadership, and that which was left was disillusioned and discouraged."

In other words, the perfect environment for the ascension of the New Right. "It gave us an opportunity to come in and help fly the plane," Viguerie says.

There was some turbulence along the way. Viguerie worked for the defeat of Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford, an establishment-Republican purveyor of compromise and conciliation. He thrived under Jimmy Carter, his direct-mail empire growing by leaps and bounds. Eventually Ronald Reagan got hold of the joystick.

"He wasn't all we wanted, and he wasn't everything the left was afraid he would be," Viguerie says with a sigh. "The Republican Party -- where is it? What an opportunity to decimate the Democrats! To do for the Republicans what FDR did for the Democrats -- to set up the machinery of the political process so that those who share your views would govern for 40, 50 years. But Reagan didn't think like that."

Today, Viguerie finds reason to stand up and cheer for House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich of Georgia, Republican National Committee Chairman Lee Atwater "and the crew." But he gives the raspberry to such establishmentarians as House Minority Leader Bob Michel of Illinois and Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, who have expressed discomfort with Atwater's divisive tactics.

"Establishment Republicans," Viguerie spits out. "They have never met an issue yet that they weren't terrified of. What they remind me of is the old segregationists. The old segregationists said, 'Don't get me wrong. Some of my best friends are black. I like blacks. It's these new young radicals that make me nervous -- i.e., those that are going to change the system. Uncle Tom I like. He's safe.' "

Likewise, according to Viguerie, the establishment Republicans say, "Don't get me wrong. I like conservatives. Some of them are my best friends. It's these new young radicals that make me nervous." Following this novel analogy to its logical conclusion, Viguerie is the moral equivalent of Martin Luther King -- while Atwater might be a stand-in for Stokely Carmichael.

"Every time America is polarized ideologically, we do not automatically win," Viguerie says. "But the only time we win is when there is a sharp ideological difference." His goal, he says, is to harness the themes that will "divide the country ideologically."

On the walls of his suite are pictures of Viguerie embracing James Watt, and Viguerie sharing smiles with Jesse Helms and David Stockman. "There was almost a revolution around here about putting that Stockman picture back up," Viguerie says, rolling his eyes at the conservatives' Benedict Arnold.

But Viguerie fiercely defends his association with the American Freedom Coalition and Moon's minions. "Their religion is not my religion," says Viguerie, a Catholic, "but I have found them to be good, decent people who are strongly anticommunist. I don't see any reason why not to work with them. These people are putting major, monumental dollars into trying to alert the world to the dangers of communism. I think that we are in serious danger of losing our freedoms to communism. I don't know of anybody else that spends that type of money to get the conservative message out there. We're a movement that's in bad shape."

Meanwhile, he says, "the left works with truly radical, revolutionary, bad people. You know, Playboy magazine, all kinds of pornographic publications, doing things that are highly destructive and immoral. They will be funded by organizations that get their funds from trading with the Soviet Union, people who are heavily into promoting the drug culture, the whole Hollywood scene." But, he says, concluding his tirade, "the establishment protects the left."

It's a half-hearted tirade at best. Soon Viguerie is on to other subjects. "I guess what I'm saying is that we have some growth plans and I am looking to find someone else to run the company," he says. "There's not a search committee on right now, but I am moving in that direction. What I don't mind saying is that I'm moving toward playing less and less of a role in the company, and more and more of a role in public policy."

"As he should well know, that's a pretty crowded field," says the Heritage Foundation's Feulner. "Just as Ed Feulner would not find it easy to become a master of direct mail, I think it would be hard for Richard to get out of direct mail and move into think tanks. I would hate to lose Richard's considerable ability in the direct-mail area. But if he has been so burned out that he wants to turn over that part of the business to other people, then that's his decision."

Outside Viguerie's office window, thunderclouds are forming. The Wizard seems uncharacteristically muted. "Maybe I can take comfort in the fact that few people have accomplished much who haven't had to overcome this adversity or that adversity," he says. "And it's not the fact that you've had problems. It's hard to think of anybody who really accomplished much who didn't. It's how you dealt with those problems, and how you came back."

If the Movement is wandering, is Richard Viguerie mellowing? "Why would you say that? You didn't choose a bad word," he says. "I burn with the same passion I always have, I work as hard as I ever have, but there's a certain mellowing, perhaps, that comes with age."

*The internet version of this article had no paragraphs and a number of formatting errors. The formatting, including the paragraphing, used here is not the original formatting. The picture included here was not in the original article.

#Richard Viguerie #new right #politics #right-wing politics #moonies #unification church #unification church in the united states of america #unification church in the united states #unification church in usa #american church #American Freedom Coalition #republican party #u.s. politics

0 notes

captainconvey · 1 year

Text

Looks more like a cover up than an investigation.

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Ohio Congressman Mike Turner, he is expected to head up the House Intelligence Committee. Good morning to you.

REP. MIKE TURNER: Good morning Margaret, thank you for having me.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So we have this development in regard to the further materials that were found at President Biden’s Delaware home. What is your reaction? And what does it signify to you that no one realized that this classified material was missing, some of it dating back to his Senate years?

REP. TURNER: This is really incredible. And as you know, congratulations to you, we would not know anything about this if it hadn’t been that CBS had broken this story. The White House nor the Department of Justice had shared any of the information with the public. And this really is one matter, we wouldn’t have this issue if it hadn’t been for Biden’s Attorney General did- making the decision to raid former President Trump’s house looking for- for classified documents that were being held there. What’s amazing about all this is it takes us to the question of why were these documents here? Well, now that we learned that some of these go back to his Senate time, you know, clearly he’s- he’s become a serial classified document hoarder. Why did he have these? Who did he show them to? I mean, the only reason you can think of as to why anyone would take classified documents out of a classified space at home is to- is to show them to somebody. Who did he show them to? This is going to be crucial, I think, to the special counsel’s investigation, is why did the president have these documents? Who did he show them to him? And is it connected to the Biden family businesses?

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, you know, the differences of course, too. I want to talk about the Biden situation. But just to clarify, when you reference President Trump, there were 300 classified documents, there was a warrant, there was refusal to comply in terms of handing things over and the White House and the president’s lawyer are pointing out that in the case of Biden, he granted permission, and this was consensual for the DOJ to come in and search. Does the fact that the Justice Department conducted the search signify anything more to you and do you have any insight into the sensitivity of the documents?

REP. TURNER: Sure, absolutely. I think this looks more like a cover up than an investigation.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you have any facts to back up your- your allegations that he was hoarding things in terms of intention to take classified material versus it’s been characterized that it was somehow accidental? Do you have any insight into what these materials were?

REP. TURNER: Well, they didn’t fly to his home without him. They went on a train with him from the- his Senate offices and then in boxes that he was in charge of. The chain of custody here is going to be important, because we know that these were in Joe Biden’s hands and Joe Biden’s control, then ended up behind his Corvette in his garage and in his office, that he did not control and also throughout his house, so the special counsel is gonna have to deal with the issue of what was the chain of custody? Who had these? Why did he take them to begin with? When did he get them? When was he handed these documents? And what did he do with them? And this is a real critical question to all this, why did he have these documents to begin with? And that is why the special counsel’s work is going to be really important, because I can think of no reason why the president should have taken home, as a senator or as vice president, any classified documents that clearly have no protection. They’re available and open to anybody.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You have also before this development asked for a briefing from the Director of National Intelligence. You set a deadline of Thursday, do you have any further reason to believe they will meet that deadline, that you will get any insight into these materials?

REP. TURNER: Well we’ll have to see, but what’s critical here–

MARGARET BRENNAN: They haven’t responded?

REP. TURNER: –And this is very important, this is what’s very important to all of this, Margaret, and that is the FBI and the national archivists were working completely independent of the intelligence community, or the Department of Defense. They claim this was all an issue of national security, but they did not speak to anyone who’s involved in national security.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So no response yet from the intelligence community?

REP. TURNER: I have not received a response, no.

Captain Convey Note

Joe Biden kept secret documents and took them from the senate while he was a senator for years.

"I can think of no reason why the president should have taken home, as a senator or as vice president, any classified documents that clearly have no protection. They’re available and open to anybody."

Joe biden didn't STEAL just a few secret documents as first reported.

Joe Biden has been stealing and taking secret documents for years starting when he was a US Senator.

These secret documents had NO Protection.

Joe Biden is a TRAITOR to the Uninted States and should be tried for treason.

What Joe Biden is and was is not being reported.

Joe Biden is a spy for foreign governments along with his son and family members!

CaptainConvey.com

CaptainConvey.tumblr.com

AnyCalculator.com

theconservativetreehouse.com (A must read daily website that refutes the government lies and propaganda.)

Gaetz.House.Gov

vaccines.news

0 notes

sakuranoumi · 3 years

Text

Fandom: Shaman King

Characters: Yoh, Hao

Word Count: 775

Prompt: Sport (AU)

I was really super nervous about posting this one because its super self indulgent but then Hao himself blessed it so who am I to deny Hao his figure skating career.

The rink is cold, but not so cold he can see his breath. It doesn't matter because he feels like he's slowly freezing to death anyway. He hates this. He hates what's going to happen even if it's for the best. He hates that for the first time in their life their going to be worlds away.

Yoh stands at the boards. Hao hasn't noticed yet that he's there, and that's fine with Yoh. It's better this way. To watch Hao practice with everything he has as if he's dancing on his own on the ice. He watches Hao face forward preparing his entry in the triple axel. He listens to the dull scraping as the blade pushes off the ice followed by the crisp and clear crack as Hao lands. He could listen to the sounds of jumps all day without any music in the background. In fact he has recorded one of Hao's jump practices as he was breaking in new boots one day and his twin had only looked at him bemused. Secretly, he listens to it on loop when he's stressed out.

Next he watches as Hao prepares a quad toeloop. He lands it perfectly and Yoh is relieved. It had been giving him some trouble during the practice skates at Nationals. He'd landed it in competition fine, but it still had Yoh worrying.

Yoh must have let out a cheer or a sigh of relief or something when Hao landed the jump because the next thing he knows is his brother is skating up to the boards.

“Don't let me interrupt you,” Yoh says.

“I'll have all the time to practice later,” Hao replies.

There's a sadness that hangs in the air. Unspoken.

“Switzerland, huh,” Yoh says because the silence is awkward and he has to say something.

“Only until after Worlds,” Hao answers.

“Only for the off season,” Yoh corrects.

Hao doesn't answer because there isn't really an answer. The coaching change is good. It's what Hao needs, but that doesn't make it suck any less.

“I'm sorry,” Yoh states, “I'm being selfish. I'm happy for you, really.”

Hao looks at him not believing him because Yoh has never been able to hid his hurt or sadness from him.

“Hey, if I put your free skate music on while you perform it for me?” Yoh asks already walking towards the sound board. Hao glides effortlessly next to him and smirks.

“Should I do it with the triple axel quad toe combination?”

“You're going to fall,” Yoh splutters.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Hao shrugs. “I've landed it in practice just not in competition.”

“You're crazy,” Yoh answers.

“The base value and points make sense. Besides I know it takes your breath away.”

Hao's right. The base value is monstrous that even with a fall it's pretty negligible in terms of the overall score. Plus it really is a pretty combination. Insanely hard, but breath taking at the same time.

“Fine,” Yoh relents.

“Besides,” Hao says skating out towards center ice, “I know I'll land it. You're watching.

“I watch all your competitions and you still fall,” Yoh teases.

“Semantics,” Hao laughs coming to a stop as he drops his head in his opening pose as Yoh hits play.

The music starts and Hao sets up the opening jump. Yoh can tell he's going for the triple axel quad toe and not the quad salchow he usually opens with. He watches with bated breath as Hao launches himself into the triple axel. He lands it and is immediately back in the air with the quad toe which he lands too.

Yoh jumps arms in the air. He can't believe it.

Hao takes a moment to smirk at him as he continues with the choreography.

Yoh is drawn in instantly because no matter how many times he watches his brother skate it's breath taking. He lands the next six jumping passes just as perfectly as the first before ending in his signature spin element.

Yoh's clapping and Hao's smiling at him before skating over. He meets Hao at the side of the rink handing him his red skate guards as Hao exits the ice.

“It won't be forever,” Hao says pulling his brother close to him.

Yoh wraps his arms around Hao's middle as he hugs his brother like he'll never see him again. With the extra height of the skates, Hao is taller than him and it makes it easier so Yoh can hid his face. So he can hid his tears and his selfishness.

#shaman king #yoh asakura #hao asakura #I wrote this sunday because I'd been toying around with would Hao realistically figure skate #and then this morning at work I found out that US nationals are being held near where I live #and if that wasn't a blessing from our crazy cat god Hao then I don't know what is #also I'm 100% Yoh #give me that good ice ASMR on the jumps #I don't care if its suppossed to be silent or whatever #that's dumb #Yoh is also me when I watch Shoma Uno specifically #everytime he jumps I just never know if he's gonna land it #true suffering #also featuring the 3A+4T and my suffering #you just never know when Shoma's gonna yolo and through that in and fall #but damn if his gifs of him landing it in practice aren't the most amazing thing I've ever seen #okay I'll shut up now

15 notes · View notes

tartglias · 3 years

Text

Xiao, Zhongli and Venti with an immortal s/o

“Sooo 👀 can i request so some fluff hc for venti, xiao and zhongli with an immortal s/o?”

thank you so much for requesting!! this is my first time writing for more than one character at a time so it was a challenge lol thank you sm!!

Xiao

Xiao never understood the importance of time. Days, months, even years feel like nothing when you’re immortal. What a funny thing that is, immortality. He knows normal humans would do anything for it, and he despises them for that. Nothing so great came free, he knew that well. He was freed from tortures, only to get tormented by karma. He could still hear the voices and screams calling for help from tortured souls, these still haunt him daily. But the worst moments come when he sees that figure, that person who he once considered close. So close he could use the human word “soulmate”, if he believed in those, to describe who that person meant to him.

Many centuries back he met you, such a gentle person who got to break down his hard walls. A smile, a touch, a kiss. That’s all it took. So many meaningless years, and he never once encountered a person as kind yet strong like you. Someone who made the daily nightmares cease, with a simple smile and brush of fingers.

He remembers your last words like it was the day before. You were on top of one of the tall stones in Huaguang Stone Forest, Xiao laying his head on your lap and you placing small qingxin flowers on his hair. He wouldn’t allow anyone do that to him ever, but in the end, you were you. And you were different.

“Xiao” you called, once you were done placing the flowers. He opened his eyes and muttered a “hm?” in response. “I have to leave soon. Mondstadt calls me”

He sat up.

“What do you mean?”

“By tomorrow morning, I’ll be on my way back to Mondstadt” you said, quietly standing up.

He stood up too.

“When will I see you again?” he asked, now not being able to look at you.

“I don’t know” you said, reaching out for his hand and taking it. You placed a soft kiss on his knuckles, and he felt himself calm down at the gesture for a moment.

“I meant it when I said I’ll love you forever, Xiao” you said, finally locking eyes with him. You had teary eyes, he dreaded to see you like that. If it were up to him, he would swallow every bit of pain in your body and soul, just to see you smile.

And with that, you disappeared. As quickly as you broke down his walls, you disappeared just as quick the next day. Days, months and years became even more meaningless, but somehow he felt them longer. He missed you every day, he whispered to the moon every night, wishing that some archon would hear and bring you back to him. He knew you were like him, but he never heard from you again. Were you able to finally cross to the other side? He tried to erase those thoughts from his mind.

He later found himself in that very same stone, the one in which he last saw you. New Qingxin flowers blossomed, and they reminded him of you. He sat down, staring at the horizon. But then, he felt a strange swift of wind, and a presence behind him. He quickly stood up, ready to put his mask on and kill whoever dared to interrupt his solitude. But he didn’t. The mask in his hand dropped to the floor, next to the flowers.

“I’m back” you said, with a shy smile.

“You’re back” he said, more to himself than to you. Were you really there?

His question was soon answered, once you stepped closer and pulled him in a hug. He found himself wrapping his arms around you, holding you as close as he could, while trying to hold back his tears.

“I’m sorry I took so long, my beloved” you said as you locked your eyes with his. You grabbed his hand and held it, but you never once let go of the hug.

“I’m here to stay now” you whispered.

Zhongli

“You need to stop playing with people’s hearts” Zhongli said, as he sipped on his tea and looked at you questioningly. You rolled your eyes in response and put your focus back on your potion. A few petals from the most exotic flower in Teyvat, a little bit of juice made from vines and a teaspoon of slime condensate.

“Sometimes mortals need a little push in the right direction” You said, finishing up the mix and transferring it to a small bottle made of glass. “Plus, we’ve been here for centuries, I’m bored and I need a hobby”

“I don’t think that messing with human’s love lives can be considered a hobby. I don’t think it’s morally correct” he said.

“You’re very dramatic. I can feel the true desires of every being that touches the soil in Teyvat, and if I sense that the desire is mutual, I simply work my magic” You said, sitting back on your chair next to the tall man.

“Can’t you let them figure it out by themselves?” He asked.

“That’s no fun Zhongli” You said, finishing up the sweet perfume-potion you were creating.

You and Zhongli have been friends for centuries. You met when you moved to Liyue as the representative of the Dendro Archon, someone you really looked up to. Zhongli was kind enough to make you feel at home, and soon became friends with the Geo Archon. Though you must admit, you always wished it was something more.

Maybe that’s why you picked up this “hobby” of yours. Unrequited love is something painful and mortals only live a short life, you believe they should live it fully, if possible.

“Are you alright?” Zhongli asked, interrupting your thoughts with a concerned look on his face. You didn’t realize you had a sad look on yours.

“Oh? Yeah of course” You said, quickly brushing it off and proceeding decorating the small glass bottle.

“Y/n-“ he started, placing a hand on top of yours in order to get your attention. “I’ve known you for a long time. I know when something is wrong”

It was funny. He knew you like the back of his hand, he knew how to read you since the first time he laid his eyes on you. Yet he never found out how you truly felt about him, how your heart made like a million flips whenever he did something as simple as hold your hand, or brush a hair away from your face. All these little things and gestures, have been making you swoon over your closest friend for years, centuries even.

“Time and love are strange concepts, aren’t they?” You asked, looking straight at him. Here goes nothing, you thought.

“I believe those are rather simple concepts”

“You can spend a lifetime with someone, know every habit and expression but you don’t know how they truly feel about you” You said staring at him, searching for any hint that indicated he knew what you were talking about. But you saw nothing. Who were you kidding? He’s just your friend, has been for a long time.

You let out a defeated laugh, standing up and letting go of his hand. “Forgive me, I don’t really know what i’m saying” you said, grabbing the potion and starting to leave. But you felt his hand on your wrist, stopping your movements.

“You said you felt the desires of every being that stepped foot on Teyvat’s soil, am I right?” he asked, looking at you. You nodded. “Does it work on me?”

“You wanted to get close to me, as a friend”

“My apologies my dearest y/n, but I think your blessing is wrong” he said, standing up and holding your hand once again. “I did want to get closer to you as a friend at first, but not any longer. I’ve been observing mortals for a while as well, on my daily walks through Liyue Harbor, and I think I finally understood my feelings”

You were sure that if Zhongli listened close enough, he would hear the fast beating of your heart.

“I’ve been waiting for you to use your love potion on me, my dear y/n. I’m sure it wouldn’t have worked anyways since I believe it would take a lot of effort to make an effective potion that could work on me. But it would have given me the excuse to tell you how I really feel” he said.

“How do you feel then?” you asked him, looking up at the tall man.

“I think I’m very lucky to have you by my side, and it makes me want to travel to the Dendro nation and personally thank the Archon for assigning you to Liyue. I also want you to still be by my side for the centuries to come, if you’re okay with that” he said, lowering his voice by the end.

You acted before you could process your thoughts. You stood on your tippy toes and kissed his cheek gently, never letting go of his hand. He liked you, he felt the same way about you. It was real.

“I’m okay with that” you replied.

Venti

It was almost noon, almost an hour after the original time you accorded with Venti to meet. You planned a picnic date by the big tree near the statue of the Seven, your favorite spot. The same spot which later, became Venti’s favorite spot as well.

He wasn’t a person who would jump straight to conclusions. You were late. Maybe you fell asleep, maybe you couldn’t find the guitar you promised to bring so you could play a duet. Being late doesn’t mean something bad happened, right?”

He decided to wait a few more moments, but once the sun set, he had enough. He went out to try and find you. He went to your house, but noticed the door was locked and no one was inside. “They left” he thought.

He slowly but surely started to get desperate. Where were you? Were you hurt? Did you get lost somehow? He went to Angel’s Share, and not even Master Diluc had seen you. If Venti wasn’t in such a panicked state, he would have noticed the rare concerned and worried look Diluc had on his face.

If any traveler walked by literally any road in Mondstadt, they would soon encounter a big rush of wind. Venti went from here to there as fast as he could, trying to find you.

He soon enough found you in Stormbearer Mountains, fighting hilichurls and two pyro mages. You looked tired, sweat covering your body and your clothes were dirty. It was obvious that this has been going on for a while. You gripped your sword as hard as you could, and kept fighting. Why didn’t you call for him? With no exception, Venti tells you daily to call for him if you ever encounter a problem. It’s not that he doesn’t think you’re strong, oh no, he believed you were the strongest mortal in Teyvat. But in the end, to him you were still a mortal. Fragile and over-sensitive. He often told you to call his name, that the wind will carry it and he will appear there to help you out. So why didn’t you?

“y/n!” he screamed, once he laid his eyes on you. You turned around and saw a rush on wind, and felt his presence. What you didn’t feel though, was the pyro attack coming from one of the mages. The mage summoned three pyro artifacts that surrounded you, and burnt you. You felt your energy slip away, your head dizzy and your body burning. Then, you felt the cold wind, Venti quickly finishing off the mages and the remaining hilichurls.

Venti thought it was over. You were kneeled down, burnt skin, gasping for air. It was over, you were going to die. He felt his eyes water and fear running through his veins. He wrapped his arms around you, making you lean on his chest.

“Don’t leave me” he begged. “please”

“My dear, I don’t think I can” you said, letting out a short laugh.

“Please stay strong, I think I can carry you to the cathedral but you need to hold very still so-“ he started saying, now fully crying but you interrupted him by putting a hand on his cheek and wiping his tears with your thumb.

“I’m serious, I don’t think I can leave anyways. Venti, I literally can’t die.” you said, with a laugh and slowly standing up.

“You... you’re immortal?” he asked, looking up at you, not being able to leave the floor.

You nodded. “I thought you knew”

“I hate you” he said, standing up and wiping away his tears. “I do”

“No you don’t. But you’re cute though!” you said, grabbing his face and kissing the tip of his nose. “I’m very sorry I’m late though, my commission took longer than I thought but let me compensate you with dinner and a bottle of wine”

“But you’re still burnt?” he asked you, concern still in his face.

“Oh don’t worry about that, it will rip out when I start walking. I have healthy skin underneath” you said, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“Why do I feel like this is not your first time getting so hurt?” he asked letting out a soft chuckle, suddenly feeling lighter now that he knows you’re okay and will probably be okay for a long long while.

“Eh, been there done that a few times” you simply said, taking his hand and walking back to the city of Mondstadt.

#xiao x reader #venti x reader #zhongli x reader #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact scenarios #genshin impact headcanons #xiao imagines #xiao scenarios #venti imagines #venti scenarios #xiao headcanons #venti headcanons #zhongli scenarios #zhongli headcanons #zhongli imagines

2K notes · View notes

chocoenvy · 2 years

Note

For the event I’d like a popsicle with bittersweet flavor to the Tsaritsa from Regular reader

An order for the 900+ Follower event

Coming right up!

You want a popsicle (drabble) with bittersweet envy flavoring (Fatui au). You want to send the Tsaritsa the same thing from a regular reader.

*~Synopsis: The Tsaritsa showing lots of affection to a reader that isn't used to so much love and attention.

*~Notes: Tsaritsa <333 I love her sm I just wanted a bunch of fluff with her. Low-key questioning my sexuality because of all the hot women in Genshin smh/hj

*~Warnings: Fluff!!! Romantic Tsaritsa x reader, Fatui au (sub-au to the villain au)

*~*~*~*~*

The Tsaritsa is cold as ice. The Goddess of Love turned frozen from being wronged too many times. A single look could freeze you from inside and out, killing you in a moment.

All very true statements, but she never seemed to be that way with you.

She was soft and loving, her hands as cold as ice cupped your face lovingly. Her lips, as cold as the snow, caressed your forehead and hands with more care than you'd ever been shown in this world. Her heart, broken and colder than all of Snezhnaya, touched yours. Cold and hard as ice, she was tender and gentle for you.

That was more than enough for you.

However, her affection was... way too much for you. Far too much for you to handle, actually. It's not like you didn't appreciate it, but all of the loving compliments, touches, gifts, and more... you weren't used to it.

Every morning she'd wake you up with soft kisses and touches. She'd cup your face gently and teasingly blow cold air onto your ears. In the privacy of your room, this was mostly fine. Though, your face heated up very quickly and you couldn't meet her steady and confident cold eyes. Opting to instead cover your face with your hands.

Later, she'd always drag you along to do paperwork. Well, you tried to help her sometimes, but it was all... pretty confusing. Not to mention some of the more... morbid pieces of paperwork. The Tsaritsa successfully kept most of it from your eyes, but the pieces you did see weren't... pleasant. Though even with all of the work it takes to run a nation, she always seemed to find time to wrap her arms around your waist and pull you onto her lap. To press her lips against any part of your body and hold your hands. To bury her nose in your neck and hold you tightly like a life-sized teddy bear.

The "worst" part was when she'd do all of this - and more - in front of her harbingers and other attendants in the palace. They'd always stare at their cold and heartless Tsaritsa giving you her throne, insisting you sit at the head of the table during meals (if you refused these, she'd offer you merely sit in her lap). She even went so far as to feed you your food which made your limbs turn into jelly. You could barely speak from the embarrassment.

Nobody was used to the Tsaritsa being a sweet lover, especially you. But when you asked Childe why she seemed so affectionate with you he merely grinned and responded,

"Because it's you, your grace! Of course she'd be 100% in her love to you."

You frowned at his response, unsatisfied. But you merely sighed and nodded, "I see..."

The other harbingers had similar responses. Her change in demeanor was odd, but since it was you it was understandable!

The answer made you huff in frustration. You seemed to be the only one in Snezhnaya that found the Tsaritsa's behavior unexplainable.

She called out to you, using one of the many endearing Snezhnayan nicknames she reserves for only you. You looked up from your brooding thinking to meet face-to-face with your lover. She offered you one of her rare smiles (rare for others, never for you) and a gentle kiss on your forehead. She held your hands with her cold ones, her long fingers wrapped around yours and sat next to you, tucking your head under her chin.

"My harbingers have told me about your questions to them." Her voice was smooth and cold, never prying towards you, but always felt as though she could see right through you. And her little giggle was a snowflake falling on your ears, "Are you doubting my love for you?"

You hummed, a frown tugging down on your lips, "Not really... it's just... I don't get why you show me so much affection."

You could feel the Tsaritsa hum, "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"I mean... kind of? In front of people it does." You muttered, "It's not like I hate it, it's just weird being so affectionate in front of people. Especially you being so affectionate."

She hummed and tugged you onto her lap, resting her chin on your shoulder, "I merely want to make sure you're the happiest being alive. I want to make sure you feel loved after the injustice that was served to you. Therefor, if my constant affections are making you unhappy, merely say so and I will correct my behavior."

Your heart skipped a beat and as always, heat rushed to your face, "No, no it's fine. I just..." A smile broke out onto your face and you clutched her cool hands still wrapped around your waist, "Thank you." You leaned your face against hers, content.

#Choco event orders #sagau #cult genshin au #genshin cult au #genshin self aware #Tsaritsa #Tsaritsa x reader #not me thinking I misspelt Tsaritsa as Tsurumi #ALSO LET'S GO IT'S AN ACTUAL DRABBLE THIS TIME #AND NOT 1K WORD BLURB

350 notes · View notes

iv-aur-y · 3 years

Note

hellooo, could i request the genshin boys having done something for you but not having the nerve to give it to you, like knitting a scarf or something. albedo and kaeya specifically, thank you!

characters ;; albedo, childe, kaeya, thoma, razor, xiao and zhongli

foreword ;; goodness this request is so cute, my apologies for taking so long to get to it, math class leaves me with 100 less braincells every morning >:( but somehow i managed to push this out after rubbing my last two braincells. enjoy!

'𝒶𝓁𝒷𝑒𝒹𝑜;-

Although Albedo was usually more organized, had things labeled and placed them in orderly fashion, his lab told a different story. Where many experiments were conducted, and many choices of materials and equipment laid scattered around the room, things were bound to get buried under other stuff.

It wasn't until two months after you came home from studying in a different nation, that you found handwritten letters from Albedo dating back to when you were studying abroad at Sumeru Academy. One for every day, and yet he'd never sent them, you wondered why.

That day, you sat in silence reading through all of them, when Albedo caught you in the act, you held the letters close to your heart, "Wait! Don't take them away yet, I'm not done reading!"

'𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹𝑒;-

Finding an archived note about his feelings for you, it was about a year old or so, back when you were only friends.

"Hey, where's the grocery list you made?" you turned facing your ginger boyfriend, he mindlessly tossed you his phone. "Somewhere in my notes."

You hummed clicking his phone open, a picture of you smiling while Childe placed a kiss on your cheek burned brightly into your eyes. Having known how keen the male was about your smile, it hadn't surprised you the least bit. However, the last thing you'd thought to see on his phone appeared right before your eyes.

A note reading his feelings about you, and as you scrolled even further you could see even more confessions pop up, each dated and around a paragraph long.

Childe looked up to you, tapping his foot impatiently against the floor of your shared apartment. "What's wrong, forget my password?" he voiced, coming up from behind you, a hand snagging your waist. And as his gaze fell upon the note you were reading, he quickly snatched his phone, cheeks burning a small blush.

"Have anything to tell me, love?"

'𝓀𝒶𝑒𝓎𝒶;-

Thank the Archons for making Kaeya a stupidly messy person. Digging through his office to find a certain document for him, you stumbled upon a familiar sight.

Your favorite flower, Cecilia, pressed into a book he had borrowed from you. It was something you had been looking for years, and beside it, there was a small note describing his feelings for you.

Inwardly smiling, you turned to flaunt the book in front of him, to which he only chuckled, shrugging, "Caught me red-handed."

'𝓇𝒶𝓏𝑜𝓇;-

A messy card with three words scrawled out on it. And a drawing of someone placed beside a small series of hearts.

"Hey, hey, Razor. What's this?" you hummed, holding up the scrap paper. His eyebrow gave a upward quirk as he examined it. Hands trailing over the messy drawing of your face. "Card?" he spoke, unsure of the word used to describe his creation.

"What about those words? And who's that person?" he pursed his lips before briefly pointing at you. "I love you."

'𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓂𝒶;-

Thoma as the housekeeper of the Kamisato clan had many talents. (One of which was being the best malewife there is.) And anything related to kitchen work was nothing beyond his reach.

He had a few notebooks where he jotted down his best recipes, so when he asked you to pass him one of them, you went scavenging through all of them, searching for the one he wanted.

To which you found one with recipes of foods he had made that you loved. And cute little notes about how your expression was when eating them. Some pages even had a photo he'd secretly snagged of you, as you ate the aforementioned dish.

"This one?" you held up and his cheeks burned a furious blush. You fought the urge to smile, tackle him onto the couch because of how cute he looked currently.

'𝓍𝒾𝒶𝑜;-

Xiao's school yearbook had everyone's signature, but one place was empty.

"Oh, Xiao, look! I found our high school yearbook." you beamed with visually excitement practically shining from your features. The tortoise-haired male hummed, settling onto the couch beside you, head resting against you shoulder. Amber eyes watching over you as you went on a small tangent about the people from your school while flipping through the book.

But you stopped mid-way, fingers tracing over a page. And Xiao turned his attention from your face to the page. Beside every picture there were signatures beside each of them, but one spot was empty. It wasn't where Xiao was personally, no, it was where a younger picture of yourself smiled back at you two.

In high school, the infamous [Name] was known for refusing all confessions, as people tried to guess whom you did it for. And of all people from the school, the real reason behind your denial was Xiao.

"Did I not give you my signature?" you asked in disbelief. Back then, you were practically head-over-heels for him, despite his rather aloof behaviour. "I don't remember." Xiao ignored the question. And you squinted at the place beside your photo, a small heart. Oh, maybe you were in the middle of signing it and got dragged off or something, as you remember putting hearts beside your signature as a teen.

Skipping through the book, there were no signatures of yours beside any of your pictures, just small hearts. And then it dawned on you, you drew your hearts as <3, not proper ones. "Xiao, were you too shy to ask me?"

'𝓏𝒽𝑜𝓃𝑔𝓁𝒾;-

Handpicked, self-dried tea leaves wrapped up in a velvet sash with a name tag that read [Name] in calligraphy.

Normally, on days that Zhongli came home extra tired, you would make him a nice cup of tea, as you sat beside him, just talking your heart out, or listening to his stories. Snuggling up together by the fireplace as either of you fell asleep. And today was no different.

"What about this one today?" you asked from behind the counter, dangling the little sachet in front of you, before catching onto your name. A smile creeping your lips as he turned to see which tea you were referring to. "Eh, why is my name here?" the brunette caught onto the cheekiness of your tone, sighing.

"It's just that the scent of those leaves remind me of you, lavender and maple honey." he hummed, and you slipped onto the empty seat beside him. His face held on a expression that read, no tea?

Lips quirking into a smile, his cue to place a light, feathery kiss against your skin.

#genshin imagines #genshin impact x reader #fluff #genshin impact #thoma #genshin fluff #genshin childe #zhongli #xiao #kaeya alberich #albedo #razor

256 notes · View notes