#here he is1!!!!!!!!

[garsideofthemoon]

aesclepius came home!!!!!!!

#fgo #I though I was going to have to wait until the arctic summer thing #or keep rolling story gacha #but NO #here he is1!!!!!!!!

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

This is probably going to be a little sacrilegious but something that I'm finding is that when I play IS3, I am actually enjoying myself a lot. Honestly, I'm enjoying myself a lot more than I was playing IS2. This isn't to say that IS3 is perfect or anything, or even than IS2 is bad, but I find that I'm enjoying my time in IS3 just a lot more.

Now keep in mind I'm not really a hard mode grinder by any means. I didn't enjoy the difficulty mechanics in IS1 very much, and their return in IS2 really did not inspire me with much desire to tackle IS2 on a harder difficulty. IS3's difficulty is a bit...infamous for being a bit much, and honestly I'm kind of content with just poking my toes into the water in the future if I feel I want to. If you asked me to do A15 Izumik or die, I think i'd take the gun personally.

The point here is that I'm taking both of these themes from their base standpoint, and that means on the surface level that IS3 is just going to be easier. Two of IS3's unique squads (Mind Over Matter and People-Oriented) not only feel stronger than any squad in IS2, but they're dramatically more interesting to play. You also start off with significantly higher buffs in IS3 over IS2. You have stronger statistical buffs, you have more resources, you have the frankly crazy perfect clear about 8 Max HP buff, and the new node types, all of which are good.

I don't really want to come in from the difficulty angle, although it is maybe unavoidable that more runs in IS3 for me feel like they actually finish compared to IS2. This is partly due to difficulty and partly do to factors that extend into the design of stages themselves.

I will summarize my thoughts here and maybe make a point later on to elaborate them in a different post

-IS3 gives you more opportunities to develop runs, mostly through the use of keys -Keys fuck, and honestly I will probably enjoy IS4 even more given it uses keys in a much cooler way. Having more control over a run feels really nice -Map design in IS3 is a LOT better than in IS2. A lot of IS2's map design is based on IS1, which I'm going to be brave and say is by and large total shit, and IS2 relies a LOT on what are basically pranks -Seriously, fuck the Lost Colossus stage in IS2. -This makes it so its a lot easier to get a sense of flow in IS3. You can look at a stage in IS3, and know how to reasonable tackle it. This isn't consistently true in IS2. Shit in IS2 just fucking, moves. -Also the fact that IS2 kept the absolutely awful Bear and Duck stages where you just contend with increasing numbers of bullshit, and decided to make one version with fucking Sandbeasts makes me really ticked off. These stages are so much better in IS3 -Corrosion is a significantly better mechanic than Sanity. I am not a Sanity defender and I think it says something that I consider Scarlet Singers so dangerous you have to always account for them -Granted Sea Skimmers also suck dick, Low-Altitude Hovering my beloathed -Paranoia Illusion is a much fairer boss than Lucian, Blood Diamond. I feel like if IS2 had an A15 people would legit hate this boss. You're generally priced into trying to kill him on the first pass or develop enough life to deal with leaks from the defender side. It's never worth actually developing that side if he breaks the roadblocks. -I also like Ishar'mla more than Troupe Mouthpiece. Mouthpiece's stage has a really baller design, but it is maybe the ending out of the 8 in the first two IS that requires the most specific set of units. -Also unlocking Ishar'mla is generally a bit easier than Mouthpiece and doesn't require you giving up a boss relic and THEN hitting a random event

But like, IS3 isn't perfect. It has its bad stages and frankly really annoying bullshit (Territorial Tendencies and Ubi bona somnia are quite bad as Emergency Operations). The Light mechanic is annoyingly useless and not even really fun to interact with. Izumik is uh

well frankly I kind of stopping wanting to do it that entire thing is beans

and the Resourceful Squad exists to remind me that I am not Fate's Favorite Child, I will roll nat 1s on my D12s

#arknights

[tokai-teio]

saw a post like this and was inspired:

Here are my favorite picks for IS2. Not really a guide, per se, since a lot of my picks are high-rarity Operators that people might not have, but rather just me talking about who I like and why.

Vanguards:

Fang: Costs zero Hope, can block 2, has more attack and defense than the reserve guy, is very cute, has a good EN voice, Horse.

Myrtle: *printer noises*, can heal other Vanguards, excellent EN voice performance, *more printer noises*.

Bagpipe: If you think you were hearing printer noises before, listen closely because now they're coming out faster alongside the trilling sounds of bagpipes. Also, she does a FUCKTON of damage, and is practically a duelist guard.

Beanstalk: Kind of niche, but the ability to keep a practically immortal ground unit on the field (1-block be damned) is nice, and while her DP generation isn't amazing compared to others, the fact that she's ranged can help out a lot.

Reserve Operator: Listen, they may not generate DP or have good stats or have voice lines or have any utility, but a free 2-block is a free 2-block. Plus there was that one video where someone did the entire IS1 with nothing but Thorns and an army of Reserve Operators.

Honorable mentions: Vigna, Texas, Plume, Elysium

Snipers:

Platinum: Is my wife. I don't use her on every map, but her extra range is very helpful, especially when you need to shoot down bombtail drones before they reach your snipers' nest. Also, stack enough attack on her and she's gonna start punching holes in everything. Also, she's my wife.

Exusiai: Effortlessly guns down anything not wearing heavy armor in the blink of an eye in normal gameplay. Add some fun Collectibles and modifiers a la IS2? gg ez

Kroos: Free like Fang is, has a great (and very faithful) EN voice, and does her job very well for a 3-star.

Ambriel: More of a meme pick, but her mega-high attack and stellar range has saved my ass a lot at this point. Helpful at shooting down drones and exploding spiders because of her talent's low-defense targeting priority.

W: Skill 3 M3 = Very useful crowd control and Big Damage Numbers.

Blue Poison: Arts damage is really really nice to have on a Sniper. It pretty much means you can skip picking a Caster if you really wanted to. She scales super well with the attack-boosting-upon-skill-activation Collectibles with S1M3, and if you can get her attack speed high enough, she's pretty much shooting poison like a garden hose.

Honorable mentions: Schwarz, Jessica, Meteor

Guards:

Thorns: Get attack speed collectibles. Get E2. Get Destreza M3. Win the run.

SilverAsh: Besides *schwing schwing* memes and the obvious application of his Truesilver Slash, his talents of seeing through invisibility and the faster redeploys for all operators is really nice.

Lappland: Can be tanky if you want with skill 1, or can be very damaging to enemies with skill 2. Either way, she's a ranged guard with a very helpful Silence talent.

Utage: Enmity guards are nice to have, and Utage has done very well on certain stages of IS2, like soloing that fucker on the unicycle a few times.

Surtr: When tactics fail, apply S3M3 to boss. This doesn't always work, but it's at the very least a good way to potentially alleviate some pressure by eviscerating an entire wave of enemies or chunking down a boss just enough to win.

Midnight: Surprisingly good since he's a cheap ranged guard who gets Arts damage with his skill.

Honorable mentions: Blaze, Melantha, Ch'en

Defenders:

Spot: There have been enough runs where I was getting ZERO medic vouchers and had my ass saved by this guy. He costs zero hope and can heal. 10/10.

Mudrock: Good at tanking, good at damage, good at waveclear. Also good at costing a fuckton of DP, so she's not always gonna be there on time, unfortunately.

Cuora: Very tanky. Doesn't do a lot of damage, but she's not there to do that anyways. She's just gonna sit there and block 4 people.

Liskarm: The extra range is nice, and she's tanky enough. At E2, she gets Resistance which is also nice. However, the main reason I pick her is because of her talent that gives allies around her SP when she gets hit.

Honorable mentions: Blemishine, Nearl, Nian

Casters:

Eyjafjalla: Volcano.

Steward: Useful because Arts damage is nice, he scales well with Collectibles, he's cheap, and he targets high defense enemies.

Ifrit: Very coin-flip useful depending on the map. Still does good damage and is a fine wave-clearer.

Honorable mentions: Amiya, Click

Medics:

Hibiscus: Free, cute, does her job.

Ansel: Does the same thing Hibiscus does, but with a little less oomph and a little more utility.

Sussurro: Amazing burst healing. Is cute.

Shining: Just a really good healer, if not more expensive than others.

Ptilopsis: AoE is very nice, especially on the red mist maps, and her SP regeneration talent is hella useful for a lot of operators.

Whisperain: The status resistance she can give is really nice for dealing with the Nervous Impairment stuff that IS2 loves.

Honorable mentions: Gavial, Perfumer

Supporters:

Orchid: Free, acts as a pseudo-caster early for me because Arts damage isn't super bountiful. The slow is useful.

Suzuran: I pretty much only use her skill 2, but getting to deal decent Arts damage while slowing two targets at once is pretty nice.

Skadi the Corrupting Heart: Remember when I said there are a lot of runs without Medics? Yeah. On top of that, she can use her skill 2 to buff someone like Exusiai or Thorns (or both) to help them kill things better.

Roberta: Full disclosure, my own Roberta isn't leveled up but I got her as a temporary recruit a few times and she's pretty useful. She can block 2 and make the rest of your allies tankier.

Honorable mentions: Angelina, Glaucus

Specialists:

Projekt Red: She can get pretty nutty in this gamemode with the right collectibles, turning into a terrifying assassin. Even if she doesn't become that terror in your own run, she'll always have her AoE stun on deployment, which helps against those jousting Sarkaz motherfuckers.

Gravel: Everyone's wife. She does exactly what she's supposed to do normally, which is drop in and catch some huge attack, kiss someone, and then pop out before anyone notices that she doesn't do damage.

Jaye: Same story as Roberta. Holy FUCK is this guy insanely good. Why haven't I leveled mine up.

Honorable mentions: Manticore, Ethan

#adventures of prefix #arknights #integrated strategies #sfw

[misterewrites]

Secret Agent Bard (Welcome to the Underground!)

Hello everyone! E here with a new chapter of the underground! Woo! I hope you are all doing good and staying safe.

So I actually have more to say today! That's a trip. I’ll have an author’s note under the line. 

So that's it for now. Stay safe, take care of you and your loved ones, stay out of trouble, wash your hands, wear your mask, get vaccinated if you can and push to release the vaccine world wide cuz we're all in this together. Have a great week and thanks for reading. I appreciate it and feel free to tell your friends, reblog, drop likes and feedback i love it all. Bye for now and enjoy!

If you want an easier place to read the story cuz tumblr sucks sometimes here’s a link to the chapter https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814297/chapters/79541746

The First Chapter: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27814297/chapters/68094967

and since you made it this far here’s a link to all my stories!

https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrE42/pseuds/MrE42

Byeeeeee!

Author’s note:  Today’s work will be a little different as there will be singing. The chapter with the bard is gonna have singing? Go figure haha So if you see a sentence in Italics, that means someone is singing. Bold and italics represents various people singing as a group. The song in question is called twiddles. There's different versions of it but the one I chose is from the misbehavin maidens. Great group but all their work ranges from innuendos to straight up not safe for work so listen at your peril. I have now completed my responsible adult duties haha. here’s a link to the chosen song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS1-_fKF5ug

Summary: Oliver has quite the task ahead of him as the group splits to achieve their goals. Leading Sel and Flora, the young bard will have to think quick on his feet to ensure this mission is a success. Luckily he's an old hand at this. Ironically the one person who could distract him may make a surprise appearance tonight.

-----

Oliver stood quietly, arms crossed and his mind thoughtful as the group prepared to go their separate ways. While ideally nothing would go wrong, that was a childish belief: Every person and robotic being here knew safety was not guaranteed in their line of work.

Even the old man knew the risks.

Oliver hated doing nothing. He thrived when he was busy, focused on whatever task required his attention whether it be being a better bard or upholding the Choir’s values. Too many ghosts and regrets lingered on the edges of his mind and he found the best solution was to simply keep occupied.

But that was his coping mechanism, not everyone else. He knew better than to rush his team: The party would last at least another few hours and beside the goal of getting Sel to the third floor, there was nothing else to do. No information to gather, nothing to review. Let them have their moment, it was good for morale.

Terri and Flora were sickeningly adorable: Hands clasped tightly with Terri tearfully asking her girlfriend to not poison everyone. Flora gave a halfhearted promise while as they shared a tender kiss. Terri noticed her less than enthused tone but refused to press the matter further.

Tyrell stood awkwardly to the side, his face twisted in a strange mixture of sick and excited. He fidgeted with something in his pocket, seeking comfort from whatever lay within. Given the shape of the bulge and size, Oliver guessed it was a knife.

Sel stood nearby, motionless in the shadows of the alley. They hadn’t moved in some time though he suspected the automaton was simply waiting for the next phase of the plan.

“Alright” Oliver spoke up, his voice firm yet gentle “Times up. You have your assignments?”

Uneven murmuring responded.

“Let’s go.”

Oliver, Sel and Flora went down one end of the alley, Terri and Tyrell disappearing in the opposite direction.

-----

It didn’t take long for the trio to find the main streets of the Merchant Ward and make their way towards the Brambleoak banking office. The crowds weren’t as thick as they had been during the day but Oliver knew everyone out and about did so with a purpose.

“Bard.” Flora asked without warning, breaking the awkward silence “Question.”

“Answer.” Oliver cheekily replied.

Flora glared.

Oliver coughed “Yes?”

“You are a First Chair Soprano correct?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Yet you are so young. How did you manage that? I thought First Chair ranks were only reserved for experienced or particularly skilled members. You don’t seem to be very magically powerful.”

Oliver paused for a moment, trying to best answer the question.

In a way Flora was correct in her assessment: He wasn’t particularly powerful as a spellcasting bard. Unlike Flora who clearly committed herself fully to nature and thus druidic magic, Oliver had only recently thrown himself into the magical arts.

Unless you were a wizard who studied the secrets of the universe with a very intimate and well versed knowledge of magic, most spellcasters drew their power from sources of existence: Clerics from their gods, Druids from nature, Warlocks from something beyond mortal existence yet not quite a deity, sorcerers because a family member fucked around with pure incomprehensible concepts. Magic was the fabric of the universe and the more you threw yourself into a source of power, the more the source threw itself into you, guiding your hand and your spells.

Of course each, wizards exempt, were limited in their spellcasting options. Clerics were powerful holy/unholy practitioners but couldn’t command plant life to save their lives. Druids were in tune with nature and the weather and all the lovely flora and fauna but ask them to superimpose an image onto something and they’d give you a dumbfounded look. Warlocks kinda just do whatever their sugar patrons felt like lending.

Magic bards drew their power from the arts: Drawing, singing, poetry, even witty and funny satire. Bards were in tune with life, with existence. Art could heal, could hurt, could make you feel happy and sad. It could make you feel like a whole new person or perhaps take you to a time and place you’d forgotten. Bards sung the song of life and Oliver was no exception.

However, Oliver still wasn’t sure what he could do exactly. His magical muscle was average on a good day and he could only cast a few spells before needing a good night’s rest. The basic healing spells and comprehension language he cast earlier today had taken a good chunk of his energy but he relied more on his wit than raw magical strength. He discovered creative and useful ways to cast his spells like amplifying dissonance noises to distract and disorient foes or temporarily place another person’s image over himself. Magic was as much about creativity as it was skill, pushing the limits of what you can do with your particular brand of spells.

“I’m clever.” Oliver answered honestly “The whole magic of the arts is new to me but I’ve been in the Choir for a long time now. I used to be Tenor like Sel here but more fast talking than breaking and entering. I guess they carried over my old position into my new one.”

Flora nodded, satisfied “That answers much. How long have you been a bard?”

“Few years now.” Oliver checked the street sign to ensure they were on the right path “The magic part is going on 3 years.”

“I see.” Flora scratched her chin “I’ve been a druid my whole life so it is a strange concept to be so new to the spellcasting arts yet hold such a high rank.”

Oliver gave a casual shrug “Not sure what you want me to say. We’re here by the way.”

The bank looked as unkempt as Oliver had remembered: Faded, peeling green paint with gaudy gray stone pillars. Two guards in green uniforms stood in front of the massive reddish brown doors that led into the bank.

“Lea’s mercenaries.” Sel pointed out “They are not letting anyone in.”

“Correction.” Oliver brushed off nonexistent dirt from his washed-out outfit “They’re not letting nobodies in. Luckily tonight we’re somebodies. Follow my lead.”

Oliver let out a tense breathe before strolling forward, his mannerism cocky yet unsteady. He reached the top of the steps when two sharp looking blades reached out to stop him.

“Halt” The elvish woman spoke with a hint of irritation “You lost?”

“Not at all!” Oliver beamed with a smile that was too wide to be natural “I’m here for the party. There is a party inside no?”

“No” The human man spat out.

Oliver gave a forgetful grin “Oh? I could’ve sworn Brambleoak was having some sort of charity event tonight. I’d show you my invite but I think I misplaced it.”

The elvish woman sneered “Right. How convenient for you having lost your special one of a kind invite.”

“Pfft.” Oliver scoffed “Special one of a kind invite? Reiner hands them out like candy. Probably find one in a gutter nearby.”

The guards shared an unspoken understanding with one another.

“Well.” The human began “Let’s pretend that is true.”

“It is but go on.”

The human’s eyes narrowed “Why should we let you in? You dress rather poorly for someone claiming to be in Reiner’s usual circles.”

Oliver let out an exaggerated gasp as he puffed out his chest “Do you know who I am?”

“Umm no.”

Oliver growled unhappily, his fist clenched tightly within his pocket “I am rich! I AM POWERFUL! AND I DEMAND ACCESS!”

As quick as lightning, Oliver flung a handful of gold coins towards the pair. The two reeled back in surprised as the money clanked onto the smooth marble floor. A moment hardly passed before the guards were shoving the loose coins into their tunic pockets like hungry dogs. They straightened up, eyes alive with greed.

“Of course sir” The elvish woman bowed her head in apologize “Deeply sorry for that.”

“Please go ahead.”

Oliver gave a self satisfied nod before moving past the pair only to stop as he heard the sounds of swords scraping each other. He turned backwards to see the guards barring access to Flora and Sel.

Flora looked back and forth between the guards, her eyes calculating and cold. Sel stood still but clearly at the ready for any sort of trouble.

“They’re with me.”

The Elvish woman shook her head “We said we’d let you in. These two? Definitely not Reiner’s usual prey.”

“They aren’t” Oliver admitted “But I need them.”

The human turned to him, suspicion in his eyes “Why?”

“She…” Oliver pointed lazily towards Flora “Is my street doctor.”

“Street doctor? As in….?”

Oliver gave a cheery wink “The fun kind.” And for give measure, he added a weak shiver to his act “Ugggggh I feel cold, are you cold? It’s cold.”

Before anyone could say anything, Oliver began shaking. He rubbed his hands for ‘warmth’ while swaying back and forth.

“Uh oh.” Flora spoke dully, pushing past the guards and holding Oliver steady “He’s crashing. I need to give him his umm medicine.”

“Medicine?” Oliver repeated, his voice soft yet manic “Yes medicine. I need it. I NEED IT!”

Folks began to turn their way, the guards shifting uncomfortably under the sudden attention they were receiving.

“And this one?” The Elvish woman gestured to Sel.

Oliver began to rock back and forth, his voice a harsh whisper. “Guard. Guard. Guard guard guard guard.”

The human threw up his hands in defeat “Bah! Get him in there and fixed! Any trouble and I’ll personally come over to beat your asses.”

“Thank you sir.” Flora murmured through gritted teeth. She guided Oliver and Sel through the doors and into the party within.

Flora sighed as Sel cracked the tension out of their fingers. Oliver straightened up, wiping the sweat from his brow.

True to his expectations, the bank had been altered to be suitable for a charity event: Torches lined the walls, casting the building into a bright light. The desks normally found on the floor were gone as to allow a more spacious setting. Oliver counted a handful of guards scattered about, wandering about for any sign of trouble. All except for the lone guard beyond the empty elevated platform who stood in front of the stairway to the upper floors.

“What now?” Flora asked

“Split up. Sel stay close to the door, Flora and I will figure out a distraction.”

“Sounds good.”

And without another word, Oliver was swallowed whole into the crowd.

-----

It had taken an hour for Oliver to figure out what kind of distraction he would need.

The patrols themselves hadn’t been very difficult to plan for: They would move randomly about, keeping an eye on the party and each other. He counted about 6 of them total and each one of them was easily starstruck. At the sign of any disagreement, they would swarm in groups of three and quickly threaten any troublemakers into compliance. However, upon meeting anyone with even the smallest bit of fame, they would subtly motion to each other and make their way as one to the person in question, hoping for a glance or the chance for an autograph.

So the floor guards were no problem but the one standing watch over the door was much more difficult. Evidently Lea was smart enough to give the most important job to the most responsible of his idiots. The stairway guard or Stairy as Oliver labeled him, would not budge at the sign of any trouble. Loud arguments, agitated party goers, a waiter being tripped (sorry it was for science buddy). None of these would pull him from his post. Celebrities wouldn’t either. Any time his buddies motioned to a famous person, he would shrug his shoulders and stay put.

Oliver was beginning to wonder if Flora needed to poison Stairy until he noticed something about half way into his observations: Stairy was a music lover. Specifically a cute girl music lover.

His gaze would wander every time he caught sight of a pretty girl who happened to be too close to him. Oliver wasn’t sure at first so he decided to test his theory. With his pocket change lessened, Oliver noticed how often a girl would catch Stairy’s eye. His attention didn’t shift when they fell in front of him, obviously in distress, or walked slower allowing him to enjoy the view longer but Oliver caught him smiling and tapping his foot when the odd girl would sing. He even staggered away from his door a few steps at a time before catching himself and returning to his post.

So the best distraction would be a girl who could sing and have some level of fame attached to her name.

Oddly specific and Oliver hadn’t the slightest idea how he was going to mange that. He was attempting to solve this puzzle when something caught his ear.

“Get off me you mulched dirt licker!”

That rather unique set of cursing could only mean one thing: Flora.

Oliver turned to where he last spotted her and found the young druid being hassled by a tall man in an elegant uniform.

Oliver noticed the guards were looking about, not yet spotting the commutation but aware something was going on. He needed to act first if he wanted to stop Flora deciding to kill everyone in the room.

The bard quickly slipped into the crowd, darting and weaving between any and everyone he could. He saw Flora slip a small vial into her hand as the man towered over her.

“I jus wanna dance.” the man’s words slurred out of his mouth “A pretty thing like yo shou wanna dance”

Flora’s eyes narrowed angrily “For the last time you dried poop stain, LEAVE ME ALONE!”

Flora pulled back her hand, prepared to throw the mysterious vial at the drunk’s face.

“Whoa!” Oliver cried out, tightly grasping onto Flora’s wrist “What seems to be the problem?”

“Nothing I can’t solve on my own.” Flora coldly glanced towards the drunken man.

“One sec.”

Oliver eyed the man carefully, absorbing every little detail he could.

He could see the muscles strain against the fabric of his light green tunic so this man worked in something physically laborious. The sheathed sword on his belt weight seemed to throw him off balance with every step. His gaze was unsteady and Oliver could see his pupils dilating wildly.

So this man was physically fit, armed with a sword in a charity event for the rich people and wearing light green tunic while currently drunk.

“You should leave her alone” Oliver said, sarcasm dipping from each word “You are so not her type.”

“So?” The man hiccupped “What’s the big deal?”

“So she’s got a girlfriend you idiot.” Oliver gestured with his hand “Besides you should go before your boss Lea gets here. I’m betting he won’t be happy one of his undercover mercs is currently drunk on the job. Of course I could always tell your captain what’s going on. That’s him over there right?”

Oliver gestured to the closest guard making his way towards the trio. He didn’t look any different than any guards but Oliver noticed his green was a shade darker than the rest. Lea probably used different hues to signify rank in his mercenaries.

The drunk’s face paled as he fidgeted nervously. He rose his hands in surrender, eyes darting between the two “Sorry.”

“Any trouble?” The captain approached, his hand tightly held around the hilt of his blade.

Oliver beaned cheerfully, trying his best to pull attention away from the fuming Flora “Not at all my good sir. This man simply mistook us for someone else, correct?”

The drunk nodded slowly “My bad. Forgive my intrusion.”

The captain gave a cold smirk “Apologizes. Mikey?”

The drunk flinched “Yes sir?”

“A word in private. Now.”

Oliver let out a sigh of relief as the captain dragged Mikey away..

“You should’ve let me poison them.” Flora muttered darkly.

Oliver scratched the back of his neck tiredly “Night’s still young. Still might get your chance if I can’t figure a way past Stairy.”

Flora tilted her head quizzically “Stairy?”

“The asshole at the base of the stairs.” Oliver answered absentmindedly as he spotted a familiar streak of platinum blonde hair among the crowd of strangers “And I just figured it out. Can I trust you not to poison everyone here?”

“You have an hour. I get bored easily” Flora swirled the sickly purple liquid in the vial threateningly.

“You and me both.” Oliver patted her shoulder before chasing down his perfect distraction.

-----

Oliver’s heart began to thunder loudly in his ears, a nervous and uncontrollable energy overtaking his resolve. The mission was important but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t happy to see Maria today.

Maria Thoreau was the daughter of a powerful, influential family. The Thoreau’s were more concerned with their standing in high society than any virtuous endeavors and thus each one of their children was trained from birth to excel in their chosen field. Maria’s older brothers were an aspiring politician and merchant respectively.

Maria’s path was to be a well famous singer and patron of the arts. She wanted nothing more than to sing for the people. Unfortunately, her father only saw a chance to further the family’s good name and tied his desire for power with her passion and dream. It was bittersweet really but nothing much could be done about it.

Yet.

Maria knew Oliver as a musical rival who thwarted her group’s attempts at winning local competitions which in turned derailed her father’s plans. So needless to say she was less than thrilled when she caught him making his way over.

“Ollie” she forced a smile while her hazel eyes narrowed, peeved “I’m surprised to see they let you into this exclusive event.”

Oliver gave a cocky shrug “Well your beauty caught my attention and I couldn’t resist trying to figure out a way in.”

Maria’s cheeks burned a pinkish hue.

Maria was the same age as Oliver with short, tastefully cut dark brown hair. A single streak of platinum blonde hair hung off the side of her face, giving her such a cute look. Her clothes were practical tonight since she wasn’t performing: A simple white blouse with a long flowing dark blue skirt that went all the way down to her feet. Her shoes were sensible dark blue flats designed for comfort over style.

Maria coughed into her hand, willing her blush away.

“So.” She cleared her throat “Is this your sad attempt to throw me off my game? You won’t win the next competition. We’ll be dealing with professional judges this time.”

Oliver’s eyes widen in false surprise “There’s a competition here? Fancy that. I hadn’t been made aware of that but since we’re both in town, why not have a round two?”

“Oliver….”

“I mean” Oliver went on, pretending not have heard “You are a much better singer solo than with those harpies you’re forced to keep around.”

Maria glanced to the side timidly “Don’t be absurd, the Melodic Maidens are a perfect, well oiled machine.”

Oliver scoffed dismissively “I suppose they’re nearby, listening in. Hardly leave you alone, don’t they?”

Maria opened her mouth to respond when a shrilly voice cut in.

“What do you know you two bit hack? How much did you bribe the judges last time?!”

Oliver gave a strained smile as the rest of the ladies forced their way into view.

“Lilly, Filly, Sally. You suck.”

The triplets snarled in unison, openly glaring at the bard.

Lilly, Filly and Sally were Maria’s chains: They were as much there to further her career as they were to report back to daddy to ensure the errant daughter stayed on course.

As triplets, they all shared the same features: Three pairs of dull green eyes and long messy black hair. Even their clothing were the same with each wearing a strapless dress that showed way too much skin and skirts that were way too short. The only reason Oliver could tell them apart was due to their preferred colors: Lilly in a shade of pink that was bright for her skin tone, Filly with a pale ugly yellow and Sally in seas of dark red.

The trio surrounded Maria, their arms embracing her in an uncomfortable hug. Maria bit her lip, trying to hide her uneasy.

“Still wearing that tacky outfit huh Ollie?” Lilly eyed his faded clothing distastefully.

Sally let out an unfriendly laugh “Ollie always looks like trash. Not even prize money could buy an ounce of class.”

“Actually” Oliver brushed his shoulder dismissively “Class is cheap. No amount of money could buy an ounce of character. You can blow hot air at me all you want but nothing in this world could ever change the fact that the three of you are bitches.”

The trio clicked their tongues disappointingly, their normally plain faces twisted into unflattering visages of rage while they screamed as one.

“HOW DARE YOU INSULT US?!”

“YOU ARE SUCH A POOR TACTLESS MAN!”

“YOU FUCKER!”

Oliver casually waved his hand “All bark and no bite. I’m supposed believe you’ve gotten any better in two months? Last time I checked I won the last competition.”

“OH YEAH?!” The triplets yelled, furious.

Maria threw a suspicious glance Oliver’s way “Girls, I don’t think…”

“Come on Maria, we don’t want to have to tell daddy you backed down from a challenge.”

A shiver ran down her spine, the fight draining out of her face. Oliver felt a tinge of guilt but said nothing as the girls took their positions.

Maria paused for a moment, her breathing slow and calm. The murmur of the crowds grew louder and louder upon the recognition that the ladies nearby were the Melodic Maidens.

Maria pivoted on her heels, a bright warm smile gracing her lips. Oliver could feel his heart skip a beat at the sound of her soft, airy voice beginning to sing

“Oh you hear a lot of stories about the sailors and their sport” Maria gave a playful wink his way. His cheeks burned brightly at her playful banter.

“About how every sailor has a girl in every port”

Maria twirled, her steps mischievous and alluring as her dark blue dress chased after her. She gracefully held two fingers aloft for everything to see, her smirk cocky and assured.

“but if you added two and two you’d figure out right quick”

Maria backed up as the triplets step forward to join her, the group made whole and ready for the chorus.

“It’s just because the girls all have a lad on every ship”

Maria turned to throw a sultry look towards her rival bard but instead of finding a dumbstruck Oliver, she found a smiling one. His gaze was gentle and loving as if he was seeing utterly beautiful. A small smile was tugging at his cheeks. Maria could feel her heart thunder in her ears as, without warning, Oliver gave a thumbs up and mouthed an appreciative “Thanks” before ducking into the growing crowd.

“And it’s twiddley idle idle idle, twiddley idle aye.”

What was once a spattering of folks formed into a massive gathering. Most of the party goers and guards had come over to catch the free show the girls inadvertently given and thus all focus shifted onto them. What was an attempt to show up Oliver ended up being a very unnecessary showcase.

“It’s often times a man will leave you broken with dismay”

Boy was Maria feeling that dismay right now.

-----

Oliver’s plan worked: Stairy hadn’t been to resist the siren call of a beautiful woman and her singing. Luckily the harpies hadn’t ruined it with their imperfect pitches. Stairy hadn’t taken more than a few steps when Sel slipped in behind and began working at the door. It took a moment but one blink later and the automaton vanished out of sight.

Oliver let out a sigh when a hand gripped his shoulder tightly.

“Hello sir.” A guff, low voice in a less than friendly voice “Might I have a word? You’ve been acting rather strange all party long.”

Well fuck.

#Welcome to the Underground #My Story #Original Work #original story

[crossdressingdeath]

And not only JC considers that the only repayment for WWX "debt" is WWX spending the rest of his life being a servant, he thinks that WWX should do so even if it makes him act in ways that violates his morality (and frankly, general morality). There is a great parallel between WZL and WWX because both had "debts" to a sect, but both made very different choices regarding if a debt was enough to make you act unethically. JC would be happy to destroy the core of what makes WWX the person he is1/4

as long as JC doesn't end alone because unlike LWJ, he never appreciated WWX as a person but he loved the role WWX could play in his life, the moral support who always puts JC emotions first, the sidekick who you don't have to treat right but who puts up with it and sees your hidden good sides, the subordinate who will fight and win battles Yunmeng but for who Yunmeng will never fight battles for (except JYL). It's a selfish kind of love unlike LWJ's. It's also why I find nearly all2/4

reconciliation fics laughable because there is no misunderstanding left between them after the temple, and their drift apart is very deep and started way in the past shortly after WWX gets to know LWJ, LWJ who always believes in the goodness of WWX heart, demonic cultivation or not, but is also properly horrified that WWX hurts himself so and proactively tries to find various ways to help him, LWJ who regrets to not have been able to stand by his side when he was hated and who in WWX words 3/4

berated me when everyone praised me, but stood by my side when everyone turned their back on me," LWJ who wants to give to WWX instead of only take, LWJ who has seen his own soul reflected in WWX's and who doesn't see WWX acting following his own heart as treason even if it sometimes hurts LWJ; all things that JC doesn't care at all about. There was no question that LWJ was WWX choice thrice over JC, and that drift only got larger when WWX meets the 13y after JC and realizes that he still 4/4

has the emotional maturity level of JL,a child who at the story end has grown up enough to give emotional management advice to his 30+ uncle. But JC won't change, he will cling to ways of being and feeling that made YZY and everyone around her miserable, and he will continue to perpetrate them in his own life, making himself and people around him sad and mad because he makes protecting himself from emotional pain his priority compared to finding happiness, friendship or being a decent person 5/4

The thing with LWJ is, when he berated WWX for using demonic cultivation it was because it was dangerous. WWX was pushing himself too far with a form of cultivation that he only invented a short time earlier and putting himself in serious danger in the process, both because it was still a work in process and he might not recognize warning signs for things like qi deviation and because if he became too powerful the sects would... well, do exactly as we see them do. LWJ berated WWX because he was scared for him, and WWX sees that in hindsight. JC disapproves of demonic cultivation... but only post-Sunshot, and only when it starts making JC himself look bad. LWJ only tries to change WWX even slightly when not changing puts WWX in danger. JC wants WWX to change everything from his cultivation to his moral compass to his personality because the person he is doesn’t suit JC’s tastes.

WWX and WZL do parallel each other quite nicely. WWX’s disgust at how WZL uses his debt to WRH to justify the horrible things he does really does foreshadow how WWX himself will react when JC tries to use his debt to the Jiangs to force him to do horrible things. WWX loves JC, and truly believes he owes him... but that’s not enough to make him throw away his morals, and JC hates that. He hates that he can’t force WWX to go against everything he believes, that he won’t follow obediently along because he owes JC, even though JC was also disgusted at WZL’s blind obedience because of a debt. Apparently that’s only a bad thing when it’s working against JC, surprise surprise.

Never forget how when WWX sees JC after thirteen years and looks at his brother, now in his mid-thirties, he describes him as overconfident and arrogant. That’s the description we get, and since WWX’s our viewpoint character that’s what he thinks when he sees JC. Is it really a surprise that they aren’t close at the end, when that’s what WWX sees when he looks at JC? And that’s while he’s still in full “JC was a great brother and it’s all my fault he wanted me dead” mode! JL is also overconfident and arrogant (wonder who he got that from), but guess what? He grows as a character over the course of the novel! He’s still a bit overconfident and arrogant at the end, but... well, he’s thirteen years old, we have to cut him some slack here. He’s beginning to realize that acting the way he has will only turn people against him, and if he wants people to like him he has to try to treat them with kindness and respect. Lessons that JC should have learned, after his pride and arrogance left him the only remaining member of the Jiang clan. But he didn’t. And he continued to not learn them, even after thirteen years filled with uncomfortable meetings and the grumblings of everyone who ever had to speak with him or rely on him or even exist in the same space as him as they complained about how rude and infuriating and just plain awful he was to have to deal with. And he didn’t learn a damn thing from that in thirteen years. But JL did. JC’s emotional maturity has been outstripped by a thirteen-year-old raised by JGY of all people. I guess... good for him?

And of course WWX doesn’t want to go back, is willing to let the relationship die rather than go back to the way things were. With LWJ, he finally knows what it’s like to have someone who puts him first, takes what he wants and feels and needs into account, who’ll fight to the death to defend him without a second thought because he matters that much. Why on earth would he want to go back to being the obedient, subservient punching bag of a cruel man with a whip who hates him more now than he ever did before?

#grapehate #mdzs #asks #anon

[teaveetamer]

Maybe omega*is1 is experiencing gay panic? Only smol emperor can make him straight again.

You know what, I'm going to pretend that's the real reason: Repressed gay feelings.

...or his real name is Dimitri.

Sidenote: I'm not sure if it's better for his Edewaifu to be fictional or real. On (1) hand, real people can talk back. But on the other, I wouldn't want some poor girl to experience that.

I’m just gonna throw out there that I don’t really use “gay panic” because, uh, historically not a great term... but sure I could buy him having a crisis of sexuality here, if only for my own sanity because it’s better than him being white supremacist adjacent lmao.

That dude seems like he has a lot of weird damage tho ngl. Apparently he also hates Takumi for some reason, which I find absolutely hilarious because my flair on Reddit was Takumi for awhile there and that probably drove him absolutely nuts.

But anyways we should probably stop talking about the guy. Just gonna feed his victim complex after awhile.

#Anonymous

[churkey]

How to Be a Normal Person by TJ Klune

This is, easily, my most favourite romance book ever. Like… ever. I tend to call it the ‘asexual hipster romance’ when referring to it. In my opinion, this is really TJ Klune at his finest. It combines the two things that he can do really, really well: comedy and an uncanny ability to hit you right in the feels.

Quick Synopsis: We have Gustavo Tiberius likely autistic guy who is grieving his father. His routine is shaken up when the coffee shop gets a new ‘barrista’, Casey. Who is totally stoned on his first day of work and is utterly charmed by Gus and his ferret. Romance and laughter ensues.

And okay. So Gus. The book is written from his point of view. And, for me at least, it’s pretty clear that he’s autistic. This is never outright stated, although it is hinted at but Gus never gets a diagnosis because his dad thinks he’s perfect just the way he is1. But like if you’re autistic (like me) it is pretty easy to see the signs. So this is a big plus when reading the book for me. Particularly since the characterisation here feels more… genuine to me (better than portrayals like Carry the Ocean by Heidi Cullinan).

Gus is still grieving over the loss of his father. And it is the scenes with his dad where Klune hits you in the feels. Klune, overall, tends to have a lot of characters with ‘daddy issues’ (Wolfsong and Into This River I Drown spring immediately to mind). So far, this is the only variation of this theme that made me a little misty-eyed. The title of the book comes from Gus’ attempts to be normal so that he won’t alienate Casey. This is also the central conflict of the book.

Casey is the asexual hipster. Now I enjoyed this portrayal of asexuality in romance because it wasn’t a big dramatic reveal (like in Ace by Jack Byrne). Instead, Casey tells Gus basically at the beginning of their romance. I also enjoyed it because it isn’t a source of conflict between Gus and Casey (any conflict created by it comes from external sources). We also have Gus easily accepting Casey’s boundaries (like… he just accepts them? Without it being a whole ~thing~?). It also serves to create a book wherein the hugging scenes are about a million times more satisfying than 99% of the sex scenes I’ve read/heard. This might be because I’m also ace and the romantic intimacy this couple has is basically the same as my own relationship (although, I enjoy sex more than Casey). The point being: the lack of sex in this book in no way detracts from the emotional and physical intimacy between the main characters.

Outside of one or two jokes about cross-dressing (and/or trans people) there aren’t many flaws to this book. Particularly not considering that it is a romantic comedy. And anyone who’s read Klune’s other romantic comedy’s knows that he’s one of those rare authors who actually does comedy that can make you laugh out loud. Shit, when listening to part of this in public, you can see me laughing out loud and making silly faces because its just plain fun. And this remains true despite the fact that I’ve listened to the book many, many times.

The audiobook is narrated by Derrick McClain who is a favourite of mine. He has a great voice and I absolutely love its rhythm/cadence. He also has really great comedic timing so his narrations enhances the comedic scenes2. Normally Klune’s comedic audiobooks are narrated by Michael Lesley who, admittedly, does a great job with them. But I don’t like him as much as McClain. Actually, I think it might’ve been this book that put McClain on my ‘I’ll listen to pretty much any book he narrates’ list. So yeah.

Recommendation? Yes. I enthusiastically endorse this book. If this were a goodreads review, it would be one of my rare five star books.

Which is an admirable sentiment, but discounts how… useful it might’ve been – particularly considering the central conflict of the story – for Gus to have a word/explanation for why he is the way he is. But also having his autism overtly stated would’ve lessened the emotional impact of Gus’s self-acceptance later in the book. ↩

Comedy performed by less capable people can suck the humour out of a work – like that time I saw the Importance of Being Earnest and the rather bad actors killed the humour. And I mean, it’s Oscar fucking Wilde. His entire reputation is built on the fact that he made some of the finest comedic plays in the English language. ↩

https://churkey.xyz/posts/2019-06-25-how-to-be-a-normal-person-by-tj-klune.html

#reviews by churkey

[albion-est]

Cursed Commentary (E1)

the time has come to share my experience of this show!

already off to a good start with some on screen text don't you just love reading things when you go to watch something?

wow those bubbles in the water look so fake

aaaaaand we also have a voiceover at the beginning who woulda thought? me? certainly not

those flashbacks didn't need to be there. would have been much more interesting to see the scene play out and then do a flashback later

add fire to the list of bad cgi in this show

there's an eclipse...guess it's time to attack the fire nation

Nimue's mother's voice for some reason bothers me and I don't know why

so far they've said cursed/curse about 5 times

woah what is with that transition? although if we are comparing it to the book, it's actually fitting bc in the book the transitions are just as abrupt and nonsensical so

idk what it is about the slow zoom that the camera does with wide shots but it gives me a headache

lol the red paladin robes look like snuggies, which is ridiculous since their supposed to be mass murderers and everything

I mean can you imagine being murdered by a man in a snuggie? Cuz I can't. Guess we'll just wait and see it happen on screen

also, if for any reason, you ever wanted to cosplay as a red paladin, all you would need is a red snuggie and belt around your waist

like even the part around the collar is exactly the same asjgfksjsh (snuggie on the left, paladin on the right)

and yes I paused the show just to compile those images together

ok so like there's a scene of the paladins riding on horseback and it's so trippy because they have the same footage spliced together??? man I wish I knew how to make gifs to show you. you can see at 14:36

this is a bad photo but you can see that those are the same people with the exact same movements (guy who looks like he's trying too hard to ride the horse and the guy with the flag) also, not pictured but keep an eye on the guy on the white horse

had to turn off subtitles to get that last picture and then a guy starts whispering. couldn’t hear what he was saying so i turned subtitles back on to find this as the subtitle: [whispering]

tv!uther is gay just calling it like I see it folks

this is my obsession with bbc merlin here but they way uther says "merlin" at 17:57 is reminiscent of how arthur says it in bbc merlin with the stress on "mer" and it really took me back

I actually really like merlin's robe

add that town (Hawksbridge???) to the list of bad cgi

Pym: what if they find out you're a girl? Nimue: they won't *proceeds to not even try to hide her figure or her long hair*

pym's expression when nimue sees arthur is so funny

man the show did not do a good job with this scene bc nimue was drawn to arthur like how she is drawn to the hidden and there is no indication of that here...not that the book really delivered on that anyway but just saying

that juggler could have lice and now nimue has it too

man I was really excited to see arthur juggle in the show like he did in the book but alas I was deprived of this

In the book, nimue is the one who wants to stay, not pym and the way that the show portrays pym as encouraging nimue to talk to arthur and then do a complete 180 and urge nimue to go home makes no sense. either have pym encourage her or nimue go against her

how no one saw the fingers of airimid on nimue's face when she rolls the dice has the same energy as bbc merlin when merlin's eyes go gold as he plays dice against arthur and arthur doesn't notice despite looking right at him

I was hoping not to see the creepy three faced baby onscreen but there it is1

this scene where nimue is waving a sword around with arthur was bad in the book and I'm not surprised that it's worse in the show

the sounds of the horse's hooves is so out of sync lmao

why did they choose to have a horse on fire ride by when they could have easily seen the smoke from the fire from where they are

nimue charging directly into the path of the paladins in search for her mother is the stupidest thing. they didn't notice her yet and she could have snuck around undetected

also she just dragged pym with her despite her protests and then pym got taken smh

why did they paladin that took pym not just hit her with the axe he was holding? why take the effort to carry her?

The photo is kinda too dark to see but this paladin on the horse just ran over a paladin on the ground lmao

nimue was in the paladin's direct path to be butchered and then he turned away. so convenient for nimue

so what you're trying to tell me is that nimue can easily call to the hidden to play dice but can't use her powers at all when her village is being burned down and her people being murdered?

ok I guess they want to burn people alive on the cross so that's why they took pym alive? but how do they determine who to burn and who to just kill? is it random?

squirrel would be faster without both the sword and his little cape but whatever

how exactly does burning someone reveal their true form? they burn just the same as other people and they've been burning the fey for a while now so what evidence do they have of this???

where have the archers been this entire time?

that blood is too red. it's like paint

ah yes the bad guy dragging his sword on the ground to announce his arrival honestly this just dulls the blade and makes it more difficult to killed people but you do you

add the storm to the list of bad cgi

that knight is just asking to be struck by lightning

how it is that the rain was normal at first and then only after the reveal in the hall does the rain become blood? logistically, the rain had to have been blood before this because someone collected it in the bucket and they should have been drenched in blood trying to collect it. unless the rain just magically turned into blood after the fact which would make sense but there's nothing to indicate that

nimue: I have to find mother and pym *finds her mother and forgets about her best friend*

convenient giant rock is convenient

add wolves to the list of bad cgi

look I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure the wolves should be faster than nimue by like a lot. it looks like they're running at the same speed as her here which is ridiculous

she literally just punched that wolf in the face and won?

there's no way that she knew where to kick so that she'd hit that wolf. apparently swinging your legs around is an effective method of warding off wolves

the fact that a wolf clung onto her arm and another bit her leg twice and neither of them drew blood is also ridiculous

the wolves literally stop trying to get on the rock to give her time to take out the sword when that one wolf that had the advantage of being on another rock could have easily jumped up there and killed her

she wasn't even facing that wolf and managed to spin around completely and kill it

when the sword is stuck in the stone (lol) why did the wolf just wait? ot could have just pounced on her, knocking her to the ground, and then they all could have attacked her

like that wolf on the left jumped away from her even though she wasn't even pointing the sword at it like this wolf pack sucks

it's 2 against 1 and nimue doesn't even know how to use a sword and somehow she still manages to kill them all

what is with that blood splatter???

and that's apparently the end of the first ep...? doesn't leave much to be desired

it took me 2 hours to watch this 50 min ep because of my comments lol

overall, the show seems to follow the book pretty closely. some scenes are shortened to fit the episode but other than that it’s pretty much the same thus far

considering that the book reads like a screenplay, this is not surprising

stay tuned for episode 2 folks

#cursed #Cursed Netflix #netflix #cursed commentary #episode 1 #nimue #arthur #arthurian legend #bbc merlin #merlin

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

I know this isn't necessarily Sterek, but are there any cute stories about Cora and Derek just being cute siblings?

What a good idea. I love anything to do with the Hale siblings! I couldn’t find much that only focused on them so here’s lists where they are still cute but not the focus. - Anastasia

Daddy's Little Archer by dementorsatemysoup

(1/1 I 2,458 I General I Sterek)

One of Allison's phases is more than Derek bargained for...

no need to say goodbye by scepticallyopenminded

(1/1 I 2,496 I Not Rated I No Pairing)

He clenches his fist as he thinks this, as his eyes flash. He’s annoyed, has never had this much trouble with controlling anything, not even his mouth or his anxiety, and it sucks, makes him feel a bit like he’s backed up a few years, no control of his own body again. He hates this feeling of no control, it reminds him too much of being possessed by something. 

lift you to your higher ground by verity

(1/1 I 4,842 I Explicit I Sterek)

Derek takes a deep breath before he looks up. "I was going to Jungle to pick up a guy."

"Huh." Stiles taps his fingers against his bottom lip. They come away red; there's already lipstick on his teeth. "You know, there's an app for that. Grindr. You're—I bet you could just get guys to come over, like pizza delivery."

"I don't like pizza," Derek says.

I'm gonna write another traveling song by MemeKon

(1/1 I 5,731 I Teen I Sterek)

They are in Santa Rosa when he gets the first text.

'im sorry'

Derek stares at it for what feels like a minute but is probably twenty seconds.

Still excessive.

The phone beeps again.

'for the Kate thing i mean. i'm sorry for bringing it up and rubbing your face in it'

who's gonna run this town tonight by callunavulgari

(1/1 I 6,880 I Mature I Sterek)

“So,” Derek says, after they break free of the preserve. They’re maybe ten minutes away from the station. “Who is it? The John Doe?”

“Should you really be asking me that, Deputy Hale?” Stiles mutters into his knees, voice strangely weak for someone who spent the last thirty minutes mouthing off to the people arresting him. “I’m not afraid of you,” Derek says before he can stop himself, glancing quickly at the road before returning the majority of his attention to the rear-view.

“Maybe you should be,” Stiles whispers, and Derek jolts like he’s been hit. He returns his attention to the road, ignoring Stiles slumping back into his seat, so he almost misses the quiet voice from behind him. “Scott McCall. Someone killed my brother and I mean to find out who the fuck did it. Nobody’s going to stop me, not even you.”

Inertia by apocryphal

(1/1 I 21,608 I Mature I Sterek)

The last thing Derek and Cora are expecting to find outside their motel room is a gaunt Stiles Stilinski, lacrosse bag on one shoulder and the weight of the world on the other.

You Can Floor Me Now by MissLouisa

(34/34 I 59,114 I Explicit I Cora/Lydia)

Cora is1 going to win Gold at the summer Olympics for diving this year. Maybe even twice.

If she doesn't get too distracted by a certain redhead on her brother's gymnastics team.

She's pretty convinced they're all going to medal, though.

Spellbound by WitticasterCole

(12/12 I 61,923 I Mature I Sterek)

This is the story of how Cora Hale came home, and why it took her seven years to do so, featuring werewolves, ghosts, minotaurs, wandering magicians, talking birds, gryphons, wolpertingers, assassins, and one particularly stubborn federal investigator.

It's also a story about magic, and how it works, and--more importantly--why.

A Life for a Life, Makes the Whole World Bound by augopher

(26/26 I 90,697 I Mature I Sterek)

Stiles was lonely; there was no other way of putting it. The Nogitsune had left the pack a wary of him, not that they thought it had been his fault. No, they worried it would happen again. Once bitten, twice shy.The morning after his 18th birthday, his torso was covered in mysterious green tattoos. He hadn’t been that drunk. He'd definitely remember that. Great. Something else to make him feel like a freak. Insomnia led him to his mother’s diary and a tale of how she helped an odd man once who gave her the warning, “Be careful of your wishes three." Everything clicked into place.So...he was a djinni. He subtly changed things about himself. More muscle? Done. Better hair? Done and done. End his crippling insecurity? Done, done, done. He hid his new gift until he found himself bound to Derek.With Deaton’s help, they translated meanings in his tattoos, but they were incomplete. A passage of his 'Rules and Regulations' was missing. Everything was fine dandy until Stiles’ new powers and penchant for mischief and karmic retribution threatened to destroy him, fracture his mind, and turn him into something which couldn’t be contained.Could the pack save him in time, and at what price?

#teen wolf #sterek #stiles stilinski #derek hale #cora hale #cora and derek #anon #Anonymous

[zenaprincebuffie]

Never fall in love with a jail bird

I met a man on February 14,2013. He was sweet and my heart fell in love with him. On December 4 th of the same yearned turned his self in. Now here it is1/30/17 and I'm called a bitch by him the one person by sides his family that's been by his side. The one he wanted to start a family with and marry you call me out my name. I'll be that Bitch that you well always hate.

[hviral]

HOMOEOPATHY – Introduction

Homoeopathy is a system of medicine introduced by a german physician Dr Samuel Hahnemann.He was basically an allopathic doctor who has left the practise because of side effects and temporary relief of symptoms of allopathy.For his bread and butter he started translating the medical books to different languages.While he was translating cullen’s materia medica he came across a herbal medicine called cinchona.It was written that cinchona can cure malaria and it can also produce symptoms similar to malaria on healthy individuals.This point clicked hahnemann’s brain and he prepared an extract of cinchona bark and taken himself.To his surprise he developed some symptoms of malaria like chills and achings.He started doing the same experiment on different individuals and the result was the same.

By this experiment hahnemann came to know that any drug which can produce a set of symptoms on a healthy humanbeing can be used to cure the similar symptoms in a diseased person.He gave cinchona to various malaria patients and the result was wonderful and a system called homoeopathy originated.The word homoeo means similar,pathy means suffering.The basic principle of homoeopathy is ‘similia similibus curantur’ means like cures cure.Hahnemann prepared some other drugs using alcohol as a vehicle and started experimenting on different age groups and noted down the symptoms produced in them.He proved nearly 30 drugs and the symptoms produced were noted down systematically.The symptoms collected by drug proving were categorised in the order in a book form named materia medica pura.

Hahnemann noticed that by diluting the crude drug substences in spirit a dynamic power is developed and is responsible for producing the symptoms on healthy people.Hahnemann started giving treatement to somany diseased persons with the medicines prepared by him on applying the principle similia similibus curantur and got wonderful cures and homoeopathy started spreading all over the world.

He gave medicines to some patients and noticed that symptoms are coming back again.So he understood that the cause for the disease should be treated .After doing experiments and observations he came to know that diseases are actually caused by some dynamic forces and he named them as miasms.[psora ,syphilis,sycosis] He noticed that to cure a person completely these miasms should be eradicated using a similar dynamic force.This idea lead to antimiasmatic drugs which are drugs having disease producing power similar to miasms.He developed anti miasmatic drugs and experimented on diseased persons and got wonderful cures.

Developement of homoeopathy

The principles of homoeopathy was written in book form and he named it organon of medicine.Lateron he started publishing these works and six editions of organon were published.Right from the beginning of homoeopathy somany doctors of other system started working against homoeopathy.But those who were against homoeopathy lateron came to know the truth behind homoeopathy and started practising the same.Physicians like Dr J T Kent,Dr Hering,Dr Boenonghausen ect followed Dr hahnemann’s mission and developed the system.They all started preparing somany other drugs on the basis of guidlines given by Hahnemann.Physicians came to know that by diluting the drug substance in spirit in a systematic way the medicinal power is increasing eventhough the quantity of drug decreases.Since diseases are due to dynamic causes the medicine also should be dynamic.By a process called potentisation same drug in different levels of potencies were made.They found that by increasing the potency the penetrating power of medicine is increased so that it act on a higher level than the usual material form of drugs used in other systems.This unique nature of homoeopathic medicine is the reason for the wonderful cures of even the mental diseases.

General principles

Homoeopathy treats the diseased individual as a whole rather than treating diseased parts or organs.The physical,mental,emotional,social spheres of a person is considered for a permanent cure.This system believes that the diseases are caused due to the derangement of vital force which is an invisible power in every individual.In a healthy state the vital force maintains the equilibrium of mind body and soul .During this man will have normal sensations and functions.When the vital force gets affected there will be external manifestations in the form of signs and symptoms.The imbalance in the body functions makes a shelter for forign organisms(bacteria,viruses,fungi,protozoa ect) and allow them to proliferate &produce so called diseases.Homoeopathy believes thet the real desease comes before the bacteria & viruses,hence the root cause of the disease has to be treated for a permenent cure.The antibacterial and antiviral agents only remove the secondary causes mentioned above.

Diseases are produced by noxious morbific agents called Miasms which are dynamic influences which affect the vital force.There are mainly three miasms PSORA ,SYPHILIS&SYCOSIS. These three causes are accepted by other schools of medicine but called by different names. Psora causes functional disturbances, syphilis causes structural changes in the form of destructions and sycosis causes changes in the form of overgrowth.These three miasms can act individually or in combined form to produce different disease conditions.

Preperation of medicine in homoeopathy

In homoeopathy medicines are prepared from different sources like minerals, plants, animals, toxins, diseased parts ect. Medicines are prepared from these substances by a special process called potentisation.Here the soluble substances are potentised by diluting(mixing with spirit with a downward stroke) with spirit and insoluble substances by grinding(trituration) with sugar of milk.The crude drug substance is first mixed with a calculated quantity of spirit and water and kept for few days .From this mixture extract is taken and is called mother tincture(denoted as Q).From this mother tincture dilutions are prepared by potentisation.Potentisation is a mathematical process by which the quantity of original drug substance reduces but medicinal power increases. Depending upon the ratio of quantity of drug substance and vehicle(spirit or sugar of milk)there are different scales for this process.Each scale has got different potencies which indicate power of medicine.Example in decimal scale the drug substance vehicle ratio is1/10 and the availables potencies are 3x,6x.12x ect.In centismal scale the ratio is 1/100 and the available potencies are 30c,200c ect,in LM potency the ratio is 1/50000 and the available potencies are 0/1,0/2,0/3 ect.Potency is written after the name of every medicine

Same medicine is available in different potencies. Suitable potency is selected according to so many facters like severity,depth of disease,condition of the patient ,nature of disease ,type of symptoms,age of patient and ect.

Subjects studied in homoeopathy:-

History of medicine

History & developement of homoeopathy

Pioneers of homoeopathy

Organon of medicine

Homoeopathic philosophy

Materia medica

Homoeopathic pharmacy & pharmacognosy

Homoeopathic repertory

Homoeopathic case taking

Homoeopathic therapeutics

General medical subjects:

( Anatomy,physiology,pathology,microbiology,parasitology,toxicology,forensic medicine,social & preventive medicine,surgery ,ENT ,gynaecology & obstetrics, opthalmology, dentistry, orthopedics, surgery,general medicine,pediatrics,dermatology ,psychiatry and ect)

Homoeopathic case taking and prescription.

Cure by a homoeopathic medicine is rapid ,gentle and permenent if correct remedy in suitable dose is given. . Just giving one drug for one disease (specific drugs)may not give good result.To come to a correct remedial diagnosis we should have the symptomatology of the person .It is the total symptoms of a person which includes mental generals,physical generals,particular symptoms ect.

All signs and symptoms (mental&physical)of the person is taken in detail.Knowledge about past illness,family history of diseases,food & bowel habits,notable causes,relation to climatic changes and constitution ect are noted down in a systematic order.

Mental symptoms:

Example: fear,anxiety,depression,anger,jealousy and ect….

Physical symptoms:

Example: Body makeup, appetite, thirst, desires, aversions, bowels, urination, sleep, taste, nature of smell, discharges any abnormal sensations like pain, burning, climatic changes, thermal relations, and etc…

Peculiar uncommon symptoms:

This is the speciality of homoeopathic system of medicine.For the selection of a suitable remedy these symptoms are very important.common symptoms which are seen almost in all patients are least important. This is the reason for giving different medicines to different individuals suffering from same disease.Example: Five people suffering from typhoid may get five different remedies because of changes of individual symptoms.

Particular/local signs&symptoms:

This include signs &symptoms related to body parts &organs.

Example: Part affected,any swelling,discolouration ect.

Systemic examination:-

Different systems are examined in a systematic order.(Respiratory system ,digestive system,nervous system,cardio vascular system and ect….) Vital signs

Pulse,blood pressure,temperature,respiratory rate ect are checked here.

General physical examination:

Here body parts are examined from head to foot to findout any changes.

provisional disease diagnosis; Here probable diseases are diagnosed. In homoeopathy disease diagnosis is not that much important for the selection of a remedy,but needed for general management and to know the prognosis.

Investigations : This includes lab investigations and other methods to find out any other major illnesses.

Final disease diagnosis:

After doing all investigations the disease is diagnosed.

Remedial diagnosis:

This is the most importnant part as far as homoeopathy is concerned. For this the selected symptoms are arranged in a systematic order on the basis of importance. Symptoms are analysed to find out the importance of each symptom for the selection of a remedy.Remedies are selected on the basis of similarity.

Suitable remedies are diagnosed by a process called repertorisation. Here books called repertories are used. Repertory is the index of symptoms of materia medica(books which contain the symptoms of drugs).Nowadays computer softwares are used for repertorisalion.By this process we will get the remedies covering maximum important symptom of the patient.

Amoung this group of remedies the most suitable remedy is selected by referring various books and considering the life space investigation of the patient..The selected medicine is given in suitable potency & dose.

ANTI MIASMATIC TREATMENT:

The root cause of disease is miasms which should be eradicated using suitable anti miasmatic drugs.Every drug can eradicate the miasm if there is symptom similarity.There are anti psoric drugs,anti syphilitic drugs and anti sycotic drugs.After diagnosing the miasm suitable anti miasmatic drug has to be given to complete the cure.

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