#i strive for knowledge but also must sleep at some point

[angelapricus]

the autistic urge to google something when you're just about to fall asleep + the ADHD frustration of not being able to remember what it was the next day

#autism #actually autistic #adhd #actually adhd #audhd #autistic #adhder #neurodivergent #i strive for knowledge but also must sleep at some point

[stirlingmoss]

49 and proclaim the praise of thy Lord in the night, and at the declining of the stars.

{Note Number : 5083 It is not necessary to understand this for any particular canonical prayers. It is good to spend a part of the night in prayer and praise: Cf. lxxiii. 6. And the Dawn is a daily recurring miracle, full of spiritual influences and "testimony": Cf. xvii. 78-79.

Note Number : 5084 Idbar-un-nujum: the setting of the stars: the glorious hour of early dawn. In cxiii. 1, we seek Allah's protection as "Lord of the Dawn".}

48 And be thou patient under the judgment of thy Lord; surely thou art before Our eyes. And proclaim the praise of thy Lord when thou arisest,

{Note Number : 5081 The messenger of Allah must strive his utmost to proclaim the Message of Allah: as for results, it is not for him to command them. He must wait patiently, in the knowledge that he is not forgotten by Allah, but is constantly under Allah's eyes,-under His loving care and protection. And he must glorify Allah's name, as he is a standard-bearer of Allah's Truth.

Note Number : 5082 The translators and Commentators nearly all understand taqumu in the sense of rising up from sleep. But the rendering I have given is consistent with Quranic usage. In xxvi. 218, we have the same two words hina taqumu, meaning "standing forth (in prayer)". In lvii. 25, we have "li-yaqum an-nasu bil-qisti", which obviously means "that men may stand forth in justice," i.e., do all their business in justice. In lxxviii. 38, we have yaqumu used for the angels standing forth in ranks. On my rendering the meaning will be: 'celebrate Allah's praises when you stand forth in prayer, or at all times when you go about your business; but also for part of the night and at early dawn when worldly life is at a standstill.'}

47 And there surely awaits the evildoers a chastisement beyond even that, but most of them know it not.

{Note Number : 5080 The final Judgment is for all. But in addition, wrong-doers have to fear a retribution or punishment in this very life, an open punishment through external events, or at least the bitter pangs of conscience within.}

46 the day when their guile shall avail them naught, and they shall not be helped.

45 Then leave them, till they encounter their day wherein they shall be thunderstruck,

{Note Number : 5079 That is, the Day of Judgment. Cf. xxxix. 68, and n. 4343.}

44 Even if they saw lumps falling from heaven, they would say, ´A massed cloud!´

{Note Number : 5078 In xxvi. 187, Shu'aib, the Prophet of Allah, is challenged by the Companions of the Wood "to cause a piece of the sky to fall on us, if thou art truthful." Such a challenge, in some form or other, is addressed to all prophets of Allah. It is mere defiance. It has no meaning. If a piece of the sky were to fall on them, it would not convince them, for they would only say: "These are only clouds gathered in heaps." They do not wish to believe. Otherwise there are ample Signs and Evidences of Allah's Plan in Creation and in man's own heart.}

43 Or have they a god, other than God? Glory be to God, above that which they associate!

{Note Number : 5077 This is the final and decisive question: Is there really any god other than Allah the One True God? Every argument points to the negative. A series of questions has been asked above pointing to the negative of the superstitions of the godless. The gospel of Unity, Revelation, and the Hereafter has thus been preached by a searching examination of the position of the Unbelievers. And the Sura ends with an exhortation to leave alone those who will not believe because they wish not to believe, and to let Time work out the web and pattern of Allah's Plan.}

42 Or desire they to outwit? The unbelievers, they are the outwitted.

{Note Number : 5076 Shallow men who plot against Good are themselves the willing victims of insidious plots laid by Evil.}

41 Or is the Unseen in their keeping, and so they are writing it down?

{Note Number : 5075 The Unseen is a subject of Revelation, though it works through the common everyday life of man. The men who reject Revelation simply because it is outside their own experience ought on the contrary to try to learn about it and seek to understand it.}

40 Or askest thou them for a wage, and so they are weighed down with debt?

{Note Number : 5074 The prophets of Allah ask for no reward to preach the Message of Allah and direct men to the right Path. Why then do men shun them and persecute those who seek to bring blessings to them?}

39 Or has He daughters, and they sons?

{Note Number : 5073 Cf. xvi. 57-59, and n. 2082. To the gospel of Unity it is repugnant to assign begotten sons or daughters to Allah. But the Arab superstition about angels being the daughters of Allah was particularly blasphemous as the Pagan Arabs hated to have daughters themselves and considered it a mark of humiliation!}

38 Or have they a ladder whereon they listen? Then let any of them that has listened bring a clear authority.

{Note Number : 5072 Cf. vi. 35: a reference to the Pagan belief that by means of a material ladder a man might climb up to heaven and learn its secrets!}

37 Or are thy Lord´s treasuries in their keeping? Or are they the registrars?

{Note Number : 5071 Cf. vi. 50, and n. 867. The Treasures of Allah's Knowledge are infinite. But the doubters and unbelievers have no access to them, much less can the doubters and unbelievers manage the wonders of this world. Must they not therefore seek grace and revelation from Allah?}

36 Or did they create the heavens and earth? Nay, but they have not sure faith.

{Note Number : 5070 They obviously did not create the wonders of the starry heavens and the fruitful globe of the earth. But they can assign no definite cause to explain it, as they have no firm belief on the subject themselves.}

35 Or were they created out of nothing? Or are they the creators?

{Note Number : 5069 "Were they created of nothing?" Three possible alternative meanings are suggested by the Commentators, according to the meaning we give to the Arabic preposition min=of, by, with, for. (1) 'Were they created by nothing? Did they come into existence of themselves? Was it a mere chance that they came into being? (2) Were they created as men out of nothing? Was there not a wonderful seed, from which their material growth can be traced, as the handiwork of a wise and wonderful Creator? Must they not then seek His Will? (3) Were they created for nothing, to no purpose? If they were created for a purpose, must they not try to learn that purpose by understanding Allah's Revelation?}

34 Then let them bring a discourse like it, if they speak truly.

33 Or do they say, ´He has invented it?´ Nay, but they do not believe.

{Note Number : 5068 As an alternative to the charges of being a soothsayer or a madman or a disgruntled poet, there is the charge of a forger or fabricator applied to the prophet of Allah when he produces his Message. This implies that there can be no revelation or inspiration from Allah. Such an attitude negatives Faith altogether. But if this is so, can they produce a work of man that can compare with the inspired Word of Allah? They cannot. Cf. n. 37-39, and xvii. 88.}

32 Or do their intellects bid them do this? Or are they an insolent people?

{Note Number : 5066 It may be that the persecutors of Truth are ignorant, and their deficient faculties of understanding mislead them, but it is more often the case that they are perverse rebels against the law of Allah, defending their own selfish interests, and preventing those whom they oppress, from getting justice.

Note Number : 5067 Cf. li. 53.}

31 Say: ´Await! I shall be awaiting with you.´

{Note Number : 5065 Cf. ix. 52. If the wicked wait or look for some calamity to befall the Prophet, the Prophet can with far more justice await the decision of the issue between him and his persecutors. For he stands for right, and Allah will support the right.}

30 Or do they say, ´He is a poet for whom we await Fate´s uncertainty´?

{Note Number : 5064 If a spiteful poet foretells evil calamities for men, men can afford to laugh at him, hoping that time will bring about its revenge, and spite will come to an evil end. For the various meanings of Raib, see n. 1884 to xiv. 9. Some Commentators suggest Death as the Calamity hatched by Time.}

29 Therefore remind! by thy Lord´s blessing thou art not a soothsayer neither possessed.

{Note Number : 5063 The greatest of the Prophets was called a soothsayer, i.e., one who tells fortunes by divination, or a madman possessed of some evil spirit, or a poet singing spiteful satires. Much more may lesser men be called by such names because they proclaim the Truth. They should go on in spite of it all.}

28 we were before ever calling upon Him; surely He is the All-benign, the All-compassionate.´

{Note Number : 5062 'Before this, we called upon Him, in faith that He is good: now we know in our inmost souls that He is indeed good-the Beneficent, the Merciful.' This is the climax of the description of Heaven.}

27 and God was gracious to us, and guarded us against the chastisement of the burning wind;

{Note Number : 5061 "Us" includes the good man or woman and all whom he or she cared for. This would be an ever-expanding circle, until it includes all mankind through Teachers like the Chosen One.}

26 They say, ´We were before among our people, ever going in fear,

{Note Number : 5060 A man may be good, and may with limits have found goodness in his own spiritual life, but may have anxieties about his family or friends whom he loves. All such shadows are removed in heaven by the Grace of Allah, and he is free to dwell on it in his confidential converse with other men similarly circumstanced.}

25 They advance one upon another, asking each other questions.

{Note Number : 5059 The third-and the highest-stage of Bliss, after individual Bliss and social Bliss, is the satisfaction of looking to the Past without its shadows and realising to the full in the Present the goodness of Allah. See n. 5050. This, again, is shared in mutual converse and confidence.}

24 and there go round them youths, their own, as if they were hidden pearls.

{Note Number : 5058 Maknun: well-guarded, kept close, concealed from exposure: the beautiful nacreous lustre of Pearls is disfigured by exposure to gases, vapours, or acids; when not actually in use they are best kept in closed caskets, guarded from deteriorating agencies.}

23 while they pass therein a cup one to another wherein is no idle talk, no cause of sin,

{Note Number : 5057 Drinking or loving cups, in our life on this earth, are apt to be misused in two ways: (1) they may be occasions for mere frivolity or the wasting of time; (2) they may lead to evil thoughts, evil suggestions, evil talk, or evil deeds.}

22 And We shall succour them with fruits and flesh such as they desire

{Note Number : 5056 That is, their eternal Punishment in the Hereafter, as well as any punishment that may come to them in this life.}

21 And those who believed, and their seed followed them in belief, We shall join their seed with them, and We shall not defraud them of aught of their work; every man shall be pledged for what he earned.

{Note Number : 5054 Zurriyat: literally, progeny, offspring, family; applied by extension to mean all near and dear ones. Love is unselfish, and works not merely, or chiefly, for Self, but for others; provided the others have Faith and respond according to their capacities or degrees, they will be joined together. Even though on individual merits their rank might be less.

Note Number : 5055 As already explained in the last note, though the love poured out by Prophets, ancestors, descendants, friends, or good men and women, will secure for their loved ones the enjoyment of their society, it is an indispensable condition that the loved ones should also, according to their lights, have shown their faith and their goodness in deeds. Each individual is responsible for his conduct. In the kingdom of heaven there is no boasting of ancestors or friends. But it is part of the satisfaction of the good ones who poured out their love that those who were in any way worthy to receive their love should also be admitted to their society, and this satisfaction shall in no way be diminished to them.}

20 Reclining upon couches ranged in rows; and We shall espouse them to wide-eyed houris.

{Note Number : 5052 Every one will have a couch of dignity, but it does not follow that the dignity will be the same. Every one's Personality will be purified but it will not be merged into one general sameness.

Note Number : 5053 Cf. xliv. 54, and notes 4728 and 4729, where the meaning of Hur is fully explained. This is the special sharing of individual Bliss one with another. The next verse refers to the general social satisfaction shared with all whom we loved in this earthly life.}

19 ´Eat and drink, with wholesome appetite, for that you were working.

{Note Number : 5050 The bliss of the Righteous is described in three aspects: (1) their individual bliss, verses 17-20: (2) their social bliss, verses 21-24; and (3) their satisfaction in the dissipation of past shadows, and their full understanding of the goodness of Allah, verses 25-28.

Note Number : 5051 Individual satisfaction is expressed in three types or figures of speech. (1) eating and drinking (2) couches of dignity, and (3) the joy of individual companionship. But the eating and drinking will be free of all drawbacks, such as excess, aftereffects and satiety: here there will be pure health, profit, and enjoyment. So about the other two: see the notes following. Cf. with this the description of heaven in xxxvii 40-49: while the general account is the same, special phases are brought out in the two passages to correspond with the context.}

#52:19-49 #The Mountain

[lightsinthedistancee]

Under the Cover of War: FO!Poe Dameron x Resistance!Reader

Pairing: FO!Poe Dameron x Resistance!Reader

Word Count: 2.4k

Summary: “‘Let’s go,’ he murmurs. ‘Let’s run.’ His gaze is fixed on you, begging for this. He needs you—he needs you to be there for him so that he has a place in the galaxy, a place he would never have otherwise. ‘Please.’”

Following the destruction of the Hosnian System, a promise and a dire decision are made by you and Poe.

Warnings: Language

“Why?”

The single word is clipped, volatile, dangerously soft in nature. It’s a question, a plead, an accusation, all at once. It seems to scream in the silence, to imply a million other queries that Poe doesn’t want to answer.

He simply remains quiet as he stares at your back turned to him. You sit on the edge of the bed, breath shaking, refusing to even look at him.

He inhales, blinking rapidly. “Sweetheart—“

“Why?” This time, it’s a scream. The sound is ragged, painful, your voice cracking. It makes him flinch, makes him draw into himself.

The loud cry echoes, disintegrates as the seconds pass.

He wishes he could transport himself back to five minutes ago, before either of your holos had rung. Before the First Order had reported a victory to him, before the Resistance had reported a devastating, unfathomable loss to you.

He wants to return to when he’d laid beside you, running his fingers down your sides, when the memory of pressing you into the sheets was still fresh in his mind.

But somehow he knows that whatever the two of you have will never return in any way.

“How could you?” you whisper, the shock of five of the galaxy’s most populous planets being obliterated in mere minutes still in the process of shattering you to pieces.

Poe wants to shrink into the air, disappear in moments. He knows you’re crying, that you can’t handle it. He’d be lying if he said he himself was handling it at all.

“I…I don’t know what happened.” He stares at the sheets, tears running down his own face. He can’t imagine it. The deaths of tens of trillions. Their screams, the pain they must have felt in the blinding light of imminent death.

Your hands tighten into fists as you shake. Your form is locked in tension, perhaps about to abruptly turn around and strike him, perhaps about to break and collapse into a distraught pile of bone and flesh. “You’re a liar.”

The words are akin to a strike itself. He near hisses, unstable in his new knowledge. “Why the fuck would they tell me? I’m not even a colonel.” His volume rises, swirling in the atmosphere, ready to completely burst free. “I didn’t have a damn thing to do with it—“

“But you certainly have something to do with those who ordered it!” You finally turn to him. You’re livid. Eyes red with tears, lips in a tight line, a glare that threatens to break him.

And your statement is not something he can deny. He deflates, silent. He can feel your eyes on him expectantly, but nothing comes.

When enough time passes, you stand from the bed, grabbing your things from the bedside table. As your fingers delicately wrap around the blaster you regularly carry around, he briefly thinks that perhaps you’re about to turn around and shoot him.

But you don’t, and something new finds home beside your anger: a heartbreaking sense of disappointment.

It’s on instinct when his hand shoots out, grasping your arm. “No, wait…please. Don’t go,” he says quietly.

You’re all he has. There’s nothing more to say other than that. Life in the Order is a cold one, always has been. While he may not agree with the side you’ve chosen, you’re the sole warmth in his life, the sole radiant light.

You jerk in his grip, but he tightens it, eyes unashamedly pleading with you, begging you to not leave him.

Even in the place you always meet him, buried beneath layers of rock, surrounded by passages of clandestine activity necessary in your illicitness, his meetings with you never fail to be the only times he’s truly happy.

“Please…,” he pleads once more, thumb running over your knuckles.

A debate takes place on your features, and he can read you better than he can anyone else. He’s the person you’d let into your heart, the person you’d revealed every personal secret to. He’s the one who’d whispered ‘I love you’ one fateful night, the one to whom you’d whispered it back. He’s the one that had challenged your blind loyalty to any ideology, the one to whom you’d done the same.

He can see all those things viciously, ruthlessly grappling with the horrifying events that had just transpired: bodies being ripped to shreds, building being reduced to dust, life being annihilated in fire.

And in an act of emotional obscurity, the two opponents are shockingly close.

It’s evident which wins out when you limply fall back to the bed, body slumping to lie down, eyes tiredly closed.

“Then tell me why,” you whisper, barely audible.

“Why what?”

“I want to know why you joined the people who did…this.”

And at that simple request, he feels his walls rise. Even if they’d fallen long ago when he was around you, they’d never truly disappeared.

“I thought we don’t talk about stuff like that,” says Poe quietly.

“Well, I changed my fucking mind.”

He gazes around the room, reminded of the sole thing that prevents full, unconditional commitment to the other. The space they are in is a brutal reminder of the fact, for it presents itself in sets of two, an embodiment of duality.

Two blasters on top of the bedside table. One polished and new, the other dull and thoroughly used.

Two sets of boots clumsily scattered by the door. One shiny, lacking a single scuff mark, one that’s appearance suggests it’s been passed through several owners.

Two jackets. One with the hexagonal, sixteen-rayed symbol of the First Order, one with the starbird of the Resistance.

It’s a glaringly horrid representation of the two of you, never destined to be the same.

“Did your tongue also vanish along with the five planets?”

He slowly comes back to the present with your words, forcing away his disconnect.

It’s not something he can afford right now. Maintaining his privacy, hiding the events of his past, concealing the cause of his motives—he can’t afford any of that if he wants you.

And somehow, all he does want is you. You, you, you—to the point that he wonders if it’s unhealthy, if it’s even real and true, but that’s something he refuses to consider in the moment.

Even though you’d seen some of the darkness through him, he is certain that your loyalty to light is stronger, if only marginally, and that means he has to tell. He has to reveal.

“My mother,” he simply says, gaze unfocused. “She was a rebel pilot. She died.”

The slight stirring of your body freezes. He’d never talked of his family’s loyalties; he’d always given the impression that they’d passively existed in the deluge of light and dark that had overtaken the galaxy.

“She’s why I joined.” He flinches at the memory, grimacing at the pain he’d felt as a boy. “She died because of rebellion recklessness. Because of belief in blind hope.”

The anger—it’s simmering once more, bubbling higher, inching further and further to the edge of his chest.

And he can tell yours is too. Your fingers grip at the sheets as your eyes narrow. “Reckless…blind…hope?” He’s questioning your belief, accusing it of something dangerously irrational, and you yearn to lash back on instinct, to defend the beliefs you’d lived your life by—even as your own doubts of it conceal themselves in the background.

He laughs bitterly, his voice rising again. “Don’t kid yourself. That’s what the New Republic lived off of, and it was a fucking mess.”

You tense up, practically shrieking your next words, wholly, viciously attacking him back. “Who are you to say that—“

“There were people revolting in the streets!” he yells, his voice perhaps even louder than yours had been. “There were people in the Outer Rim starving! It was chaos—“

“And the First Order is what? Orderly?”

“They’re better than you and your—“

And he falls silent all of a sudden. He stops himself.

He knows where this is going. It’d happened and been resolved before, but he has a sneaking suspicion that that won’t be the case if the two of you continue down this road.

“Fuck,” he groans under his breath, his back slumped as he rubs his face with his hands.

“Me and my what?” you ask quietly.

He just shakes his head.

You fall back to your laying down position, head burying in the sheets, trying to block everything out. He’s right. He’s entirely right. The flaw in the Light, the flaw in the Republic, but you can’t bring yourself to denounce the loyalty you’d inherited.

He sniffles, hiding his tears behind his hands, and his figure—he knows it’s one of pure pain. As good as he’d gotten at hiding his emotions, they always seem to show themselves in your presence, no matter how hard he tries to defeat them, and it’s undeniable that you feel them to the fullest.

“You say ‘mama’ in your sleep sometimes,” you whisper all of a sudden.

At the revelation, he goes still. It’s an unsettling thought…that perhaps you’d known of his weakness long before he’d willingly showed you, long before he thought you deserved to know.

That maybe you’d heard the words of him crying out for his mother before you’d even known the slightest deeply-personal thing about him, when you’d only known the feeling of him inside you and the feeling of his lips on yours and the weight of his body as he slept beside yours.

His reluctance to look at you only increases tenfold when the shame floods in. The shame of a lifetime at this point—of weakness regarding his family, of putting blaster bolts in people who didn’t deserve them, of not being able to let go of his past, something he’d been striving for his whole life.

It all externally devolves into a mere fit of subtle trembles.

“Poe?” Your tone is soft now, gentle. You’re on your knees, sitting up, a single hand on the side of his face joining the space between the two of you. A certain mixture of concern and inquisitiveness finds home in your eyes, and for a second, he thinks your expression reflects one of a person staring at a beaten-down, once-aggressive animal.

“I regret it—joining the Order,” he simply says, voice cracking. The gas, plasma, fire, flesh, and bone of the destroyed system fill his imagination. “Is that what you want to hear?”

“Only if you mean it.” There’s still no sympathy to your voice, but there’s a softer edge to it, the kind that’s always existed but disappears in every fight.

“I do.” He leans back into the pillows, forearm over his eyes. It feels as if this has been going on for far too long, for he’s exhausted.

Your hand finds its way into his curls, tracing from his hairline to the base of his neck. It’s hauntingly reminiscent of what he’d felt so passionately and tenderly before the conflict had even begun.

“All darkness dies in the light,” you whisper.

It’s an ambiguous statement to many, but he automatically knows what you’re asking of him—you want his darkness to die in your light.

And while part of him begs and yearns to submit to your wish, something about your words perturbs him—the words unsaid. His darkness…the one he’d held for so long, you don’t want it to disappear, you don’t want it to transform, no, you want it to die. You want him to kill it.

“I can’t,” he says softly, fingers fumbling with the sheets, almost hoping to blindly find you.

“The Light Side’ll—“

“I’m done with the fucking sides,” he interjects, his words lined with a sharp edge. A puff of air leaves his lips as he desperately wishes for calm, one with at least some semblance of permanence. He finally looks at you, eyes now completely devoid of any anger or menace they’d held before, just the sadness of someone who’d made one too many wrong choices. “It’s just pain either way, isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” you admit, a brief expression of hesitance crossing your face. “But you have to choose.” The hesitance turns to anguish, a revelation in its most subtle form. “There’s more pain if you don’t, and perhaps…perhaps that’s why I chose my side.”

He props himself up on his forearms at the mere implication—the implication that your unwavering loyalty to the light is not so unwavering, that you’d gone head in like he had with his loyalty and was now beginning to doubt things.

“Some don’t choose—“

“And they suffer for it,” you interrupt, finishing his statement with your own thoughts. It’s something you’ve seen your whole life: those who don’t choose being made to do so—often in violence.

He laces his fingers with yours, delicately wrapping each of your digits around his palm.“We’ve suffered our entire lives, darling,” he muses. “Born into a galaxy at war, a brief respite, and then yet another one…just suffering, suffering, suffering…within us, around us…what’s a little more?”

The whole room seems to freeze as you peer at him, part curiosity, part doubt, part disbelief. “What are you suggesting?”

“I think you know,” he says softly. The warmth staring back at you is undeniably something you would die for.

“Say it.” Your whisper is said with the deepest conviction, awaiting the words that would cement your decision, perhaps a decision you won’t know until you hear the offer leave his lips.

“Let’s go,” he murmurs. “Let’s run.” His gaze is fixed on you, begging for this. He needs you—he needs you to be there for him so that he has a place in the galaxy, a place he would never have otherwise. “Please.”

Your breath shakes, just barely, contemplating, debating. There’s an inevitable weight to war, the kind that crushes people to pieces, and the temptation to run from such a force—it feels right. It feels right to be free, to live safer, to be with whom you want. “There’ll be sacrifices to make.”

“There’ll be sacrifices either way,” he insists, and you’re certain he’s right. “Darling….” His words fade off, and he surges forward, gently locking his lips with yours. It’s tender and pleading, the ultimate question asked once again through touch.

“Poe….” The way you say his name is filled with something decisive, something deliberate. The seconds pass. He waits. “Let’s go.”

..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::..

Taglist (for everything): @dark-academics-and-florals @theultimateslashgirl @princessxkenobi @djjarins @jitterbugs927 @whovianayesha | Taglist (for Poe): @synical-paradox @paper-n-ashes @spider-starry | This fic: @silkandribbons (i believed you expressed interest once; hope you don’t mind!) @spicemaidenfic (this just seems like your jam tbh)

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Thanks for reading!

#poe dameron #poe dameron x reader #star wars #star wars fanfiction #poe dameron fanfiction #first order poe dameron #my moodboard

[cblgblog]

Sorry I’m advance but one of my other favorite accounts just reblogged a Tony scene and people are talking about Civil War and how it made them Stan Tony, and how when they watch that movie they hate team cap👀 Then someone was all about how he was sleep deprived and how much pressure he was under and couldn’t understand how people didn’t like Tony because. Someone literally said that when someone says they don’t like Tony in Civil War they say “did you watch the same movie as me.” I’m baffled. Oddly enough someone else said, “he just wants to help everyone.” Sorry for the rant but I think people forget about what the accords are and what it would mean for people. Side note, I hope you’re having a great day/night 😀

No sorry needed!

I feel you man, I do. Honestly, I’ve unfollowed people based on similar posts when I was in especially Done moods, so.

Look on the one hand, the movie would’ve been a narrative failure if everyone was in favor of one side or the other, right? The whole point of the damn thing—besides giving the Mouse overlords more money—was to spark discussion, debate. Which, yeah, we’ll call that the tame description for what actually happened. But just, the thing was meant to split the fanbase so in that regard…winning? Thanks, I guess?

Film is also very obviously subjective, different strokes for different folks, so yeah, ten people can watch a movie and none of them are gonna see the exact same film. Let’s try to remember that this is, in theory anyway, a good thing. I just read a professional film review yesterday where I had the same reaction. What film were you watching, dude? Incidentally his reviewing partner said the same thing.

So honestly, no, they weren’t watching the same film as you or I or anyone else, because everyone brings their own biases and experiences and knowledge and interests into a thing, and that’s always going to flavor how it’s viewed. Again, let’s try to remember that this is good. In theory. Heavy on the theory.

That out of the way? Let’s get into Tony specifically so his uber stans can find this and scream at me on anon as though I just shot RDJ with a nuke.

Oh yeah, he was stressed. Oh, he was sleep deprived. Yeah, I’ve heard that. And that it’s Pepper’s fault, if she hadn’t left the poor baby, if she was there to rein him in, he’d be fine dammit, leave the baby alone!

Here’s the thing. You know who gets a pass on their shit behavior when they’re upset or tired? Actual babies. Actual babies and toddlers, and children, up to a point. Because they actually cannot always help themselves. Their bodies and brains are different, they have not learned better.

When you’re a 50-year-old man who’s supposedly the world’s bestest superhero, who wants, wants to be in charge of protecting the whole world? You need a little more self-control than that. The sleep deprived excuse works if you snap at someone before you’ve had your coffee, not for this. Roseanne Barr didn’t get to blame Ambien for her racism, Tony doesn’t get to handwave CW away because oops, I was tired.

Really? You’re a superhero, dude. Most of your teammates are tired too, that’s part of the gig. If you crash and burn this badly without your afternoon nap, fucking hang up the armor and go back to your billionaire playboy lifestyle.

Speaking of that, sure, right. It’s Pepper’s fault because she left him. Put aside the argument on whether that was justified or not (cough, it was and she should’ve stayed away even though they are adorable together). It’s not Pepper’s job to keep Tony sane. It’s not any partner’s job to do that for anyone. If she wants out, she has a right to that, without Tony going off the rails and blaming it on her. Seriously, he says part of the reason he backed the Accords was to “split the difference” with Pepper.

Dude. You were an asshole and you lost your girl. You destroyed all your suits, turned an emotional and mental corner in IM 3…and then relapsed 4 minutes later I guess because Whedon. Either way, Tony admits himself that he does not want to stop. So instead of doing that, or finding another partner who can accept that, you back an unjust international law that pits you against your team, your supposed friends? Go to therapy, have a pint of ice cream, cry into your pillow, send her more of those strawberries you sent her in IM 2 that she’s allergic to. You don’t go trying to change international law in ways that could ultimately affect millions of people because your girl left you.

Honestly—and thank God they didn’t do this but—the only way the Pepper excuse works in excusing his behavior in any way is if she’d died. Or been severely injured like Happy in IM 3. Still wouldn’t be okay, but, like Quill messing up their chance to stop Thanos because Gamora died, it would’ve been more understandable. Understandable, not excusable, and the way the MCU treats their women as manpain fodder, we’re probably legit lucky we didn’t get this.

As for him wanting to help everyone. He does in fact want that, I think. The problem is that his need to feel like he’s doing that is stronger than his rational mind, or his want to actually help in a constructive way.

Tony is too smart. He’s dumb as hell in many instances, mostly involving people and relationships, but he’s also too smart, and he’s been told for too long that he’s smart, and he’s bought into it. Ultron. Suit of armor around the world, protects the world, no more alien threats. It’s a simple concept on paper that fails in execution. So there are people with dangerous powers. Okay, we’ll make a set of laws to keep them from being dangerous, problem solved. But again, it isn’t.

Tony is not used to problems he cannot solve. He’s a genius, right? He can fix anything. He should be able to fix anything. That’s how he feels. But not everything is zeros and ones and circuits, things that can be fixed mechanically like his armors can. The people he wants to protect are not built that way. But he needs to feel like he’s doing something, because he’s terrified of what happens to the world if he doesn’t. So he creates these simple solutions to complex problems. The suit of armor, the Accords. They sound good in theory, but the problems they’re trying to solve are bigger than they are. And Tony, way back in IM 1, he sat back for years, clueless that his weapons were being used for bad things. He says it to Cap in CW. When he found out what his weapons were being used for, he went in and stopped it. Whether or not he should’ve known that already is a separate issue here. The point here is that when he found out, too late or not, he went in and did something about it.

Tony needs to do something about it. Again, go back to Cap in AoU, Tony’s nightmare sequence. Steve asks Tony why he didn’t save them. Tony’s ultimate nightmare is that he sits back and does nothing, and his inaction causes everyone to die. Which is where you get Ultron. Something he came up with because of what he saw in space in Avengers 1, then doubled down on in AoU. It’s where you get the Accords. Oops, he caused someone to die, he killed Charles Spencer. Must do something about that right now so it doesn’t happen again, and he won’t have to feel this guilt. He should be collaborating with others to come up with solutions (no Bruce in AoU doesn’t count because Bruce was dumb there), or at the very least, taking more time to think through the repercussions of the things he puts out there. But he doesn’t, because he’s got his savior complex that tells him that he alone can and must fix this, and because he’s too dumb to realize how not-smart he is in certain areas.

“We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I’m game.”

Isn’t that what he says in CW, or something very close to it? Whatever form that takes. That’s the issue, right there, whatever form that takes. Realistically, yes, there should be laws regarding people with powers, the same way there are special laws pertaining to people who carry guns, or people who are licensed to fly planes. You have a thing/can do a thing that not everyone else does, so there are regulations pertaining to that thing. Laws change with the times, they always have. Some new technology comes up, eventually there will be laws that regulate it. As there should be, honestly. The issue with the Accords, Steve’s issue with the Accords, was not the basic idea. He says as much. He says that it could work, but there would have to be safeguards. Safeguards that are not in the Accords that Tony wants him to sign.

It's not a matter of oh, fuck the law, there should be no law governing these people, they’re above it. The problem is that the law as it’s presented here is unjust. There’s what, a month between Lagos and Ross coming by to tell them about the Accords? A month is not enough time to properly analyze such a big issue, Especially when you’re reacting out of fear, which is what happened with Lagos. People died because of an Enhanced person, an Avenger, in this case. Lawmakers don’t want that to happen again, they especially don’t want the political shit storm that comes with it. Damn, we look like we were asleep at the switch here, not having anything to throw at this problem earlier. Quick, let’s throw together this thing so no one can say we’re not addressing the problem.

Patriot Act of 2001, anyone? 9/11 happened, the public were rightfully terrified, the US said oh man, these are unprecedented circumstances, we’ve never had this before. Don’t worry though, we’re on this, we’re protecting you. The reality being that that bill simply gave the government too much power, most of it being used against people who were not actually threats, and it’s debatable, to say the very least, whether or not that law helped more than it hurt.

No law is perfect. No law ever will be. It’s not possible. We still have to strive for perfection though, have to aim there so that the laws we get are as close to fair as possible. Tony’s a big deal. If not for his “whatever form that takes” attitude, he might’ve been able to use his influence to pressure lawmakers into coming up with a fairer bill. Hey, I’m me, the public loves me, I will endorse this bill publicly and work on getting the rest of the team to sign, but you need to change this and this and this first, or no deal. Instead, he took the easy way out, the quickest, easiest way for him to feel like he’s atoned for his sins without actually doing anything. Whatever form that takes.

Tony’s not wrong because he backs the creation of a law that addresses these things. He’s wrong because he says himself that he does not care what that law does, specifically, so long as it exists. He’s wrong because he violates said law upteen times during the movie, while preaching to team Cap about what assholes they are for not backing it. He’s wrong because he cares more about feeling as though he’s tackled a problem than he does about taking the time to make sure that the thing he’s proposing is actually a good idea. He’s wrong because of what he does with Bucky, though that’s honestly a separate issue, for the purposes of this discussion.

Anyway, that was longer than I ever wanted it to be. Damn. Next time you see a comment about CW being the reason people stan Tony, just remember there are other people out there who stopped stanning Tony because of that movie. Everyone’s entitled to see a piece of media however they see it, and although the Tony stans are often the loudest, there are plenty of like-minded people out there who share your take on events. Block who you need to, unfollow who you need to, blacklist what you need to, and don’t let them get you down.

Hang in there, and have an awesome day :)

#pro steve rogers #pro team cap #anti tony stark #anti tony stans #anti iron man #anti team iron man

[kyloswarstars]

ROOMMATES • Part 2

Divergent • College AU • Eric x Reader

ROOMMATES masterlist 💫 Divergent masterlist

You escaped your current living situation by moving in with your friend Christina – and five other college students. Little did you know that one of them was the guy who was your ultimate pain in the neck since your first semester. Now, you had to find a way to not strangle him in his sleep out of pure frustration. Also, you had to find a way to get rid of those weird butterfly feelings for him that slowly grew in your stomach.

Words • 2k

The enemies to lovers story no one needed.

/////

The donut shop had air conditioning. It was pure heaven. A donut shop was heaven to you 365 days a year anyways. The AC, though… yes.

Christina chewed on her third blue glazed donut and refused to answer your questions. First, she refused. Then, she tried to talk her way out of it. In the end, she mentioned the friendship code, which applied in this case to Eric, and therefore she couldn’t say anything.

The confusion was real. You didn’t understand anything when most of the time you always understood everything. Following things you knew:

A) Eric always entangled you in debates. Sometimes it was a civil exchange, most of the times he got your blood boiling until you were close to lose your temper. This happened in class and other college surroundings, where you talked about a study related topic.

B) Until last week you always thought it was because of his ego and pure strive to demonstrate his intellect why he went for, at some point, the silliest of statements you had ever heard.

C) You also thought he did it just to piss you off.

D) Then last week happened. Then this afternoon happened and left you entirely confused.

E) Christina must know another reason why Eric constantly sought for an academic dispute. His statement from a couple hours ago, that there was ‚no reason‘, was highly suspicious. But Chris also didn’t tell you the reason.

F) That only led you to one, logical guess on what that unsaid reason could be.

„Is this about him having a long planned strategy to become the number one student of our year?“ Him seeing you as a serious competition to that title was the only reason you could think of. It wasn’t too odd of an assumption since after all those debates, silly statements or not, he was one of the smartest guys you had met so far.

Chris swallowed a bit of her new donut. Donut number four. „He isn’t in our year.“

You had sipped on your milkshake and instantly looked up. „What do you mean?“ Having to ask that question again frustrated you.

„That he’s way past us. He just finished his third year of medical school.“

„Excuse me?“ You got up from your seat and started wandering around the empty donut shop. „I’m surprised my body hasn’t taken the form of a question mark yet,“ you slowly talked yourself into a frenzy. „Christina, you’re telling me that Eric, who keeps pissing me off in two of my classes, for the last two years, isn’t even in my year? That he’s studying to become a doctor?“ Please behold me from chopping off a finger or something and him helping me.

She looked a little guilty for not giving you more information. Also a little amused.

„I am studying to become a damn mathematician. Why on earth would a medical student attend those classes?“

Christina had the audacity to laugh out loud. „I’m sorry, Y/N.“ Karma came around instantly and made her choke on a piece of donut for a few seconds. You hurried over to harshly pat her back until she coughed it out. „All I know is,“ she was still gasping for air, „he sometimes takes random classes for fun. Or for one of his big assignments.“

That was all. You wouldn’t get any further information. She crossed her arms and ignored all of your remaining questions. At least she left the donut shop with a stomachache and you knowing that Eric wasn’t even a math student.

/////

Once a week all roommates had at least one dinner together. ‚To strengthen the community‘ Uriah mumbled to you while you helped him turn the groceries, he and Chris had bought today, into a prober dish. Rice with a lot of veggies was the meal for tonight.

You were the last one to sit down and were surprised, and a little nervous, to find Eric sitting in the spot across from yours. He must’ve come home while you were still concentrating on not letting the veggies burn to death.

Christina hardly ate anything after her five donuts. Being a reasonable adult, you only had one donut at the shop.

„Who chose to put mushrooms in there?“ Eric didn’t look too glad when his fork discovered a tiny mushroom.

„Me,“ you stated, not afraid to have another silly debate. This time probably about how mushrooms shouldn’t be harvested because it takes away a food supply for deers.

„Next time just roast it short. Don’t turn it into these rubber–“

„Shut up, Eric.“ Four intervened. „Be glad someone made dinner.“

Exactly. You smiled at Four for his backup and continued eating. Even though you highly concentrated on the bowl in front of you, your eyes occasionally moved to Eric, to see if he had found another thing he disliked about the meal. And every single time his eyes met with yours.

This dinner wasn’t like all the previous ones you had here since moving in. It was unusually quiet. Everyone headed pretty fast into their rooms after finishing up and collectively cleaning the dishes.

Eric lingered around and was actually the last one to help you with putting back the plates and cutlery to where they belonged. You leaned to the countertop and tried not to stare too obviously when he stretched to place some glasses on the top shelf. He wore a t-shirt where he must’ve cut off the sleeves and the way his arm muscles moved, with every glass he put on that shelf, should be forbidden.

What? Oh man. That you caught yourself thinking that way, even though Eric didn’t notice it because he was still occupied with the dishes, made you feel uncomfortable in your own skin. You hid your hands in your pockets to act casual. That’s when you noticed one of the many papers that were spread in nearly every clothing pocket and backpack of yours.

One of the many habits – coping mechanisms, actually – you had, was to write down unsolved problems in mathematics and brood over them whenever your brain was close to panic itself into a breakdown. To sit down and concentrate on a problem and search for a possibility to solve it, was what got you to study the most hated subject in the first place.

You pulled the paper out and checked what it referred to. The Riemann zeta function.

You tried to recall if any of the many debates with Eric ever had been about mathematics. They had never been about math at all you realised. The classes he had gone to were the social orientated ones. Those, where you discussed scenarios and ways on how to solve problems with a mathematical solution. Or at least help out along the way. And the debates were mostly about the logical or philosophic aspects. The reason why it had always been so easy for Eric to pull you into those discussions was because you didn’t study mathematics just for the sake of it. You didn’t want to become only a professor to teach others about it. You wanted to help people with all the abilities math provided. For example the study you worked on right now: a mathematical model to predict the success of immunotherapy for patients with cancer.

This is perfect.

There was no way Eric could enter a serious debate about the zeta function and not show that he studied something completely different. With a grin on your lips you cleared your throat to get his attention. Eric crossed his arms as he turned to you.

The game is on.

„Since you know everything better than me, and us living under the same roof now, I was wondering if you would take a look at some equations. I’m kinda stuck.“

Something in his face changed but he still said: „Sure.“

That’s a mistake, my friend. You handed him the paper, which he had to unfold his arms for again to take it. Those arms were bigger than the pile of books next to your mattress. Why did you never notice his muscles before? And why did you never notice that sharp jawline?

The concentration on his face didn’t give away that he had absolutely no clue what was on that paper. Time did. A minute or two went by without him looking up or saying a word. „That seems like a serious problem. I’m passing.“

„What are you studying again?“ Your voice as innocent as you could manage it to be.

„Why would you ask?“ He played it off. The crooked smile on his lips let you know he had a feeling for where this conversation would go, though.

„Because someone studying mathematics, like I do, would recognise the famous zeta function whose solution would earn you a reward of one million dollars.“

„I never said I study mathematics, Y/N.“ Eric grinned like you were the fool here. Like you had overseen something big. Like your little trap hadn’t worked.

„But you attend four full semesters of classes that aren’t necessary? Are you having such a big problem with me that you just can’t stay away?“ His stupid grin made it worse. That rage came rushing in because those ludicrous disputes sometimes had you thinking you were a complete idiot. „I mean no normal person would take those two extra classes for four solid semesters on top of damn medical classes. What’s wrong with you?“

„I like the extra knowledge.“ He simply stated, snapped a bottle of water from the countertop and slowly made his way down the hallway to his room. „And debating with you.“

/////

For your own wellbeing, and not to flip every time you thought about Eric being the biggest prick on this earth, you decided he was just a little sadist. Who had probably his only fun by infuriating you. You were glad to know about that hobby of his now and could focus on the more important things in life until next semester.

He just didn’t make it easy at all. Living under the same roof had diverted the debates from class to the dining table. Plus it had added a lot of other intentional disturbance on his part.

For a while you tried to just ignore it because he was a sadist, as you declared. On the other hand he exactly got what he had aimed at. Your anger.

„Eric,“ you shouted at the wall, knowing very well that he could hear you because you heard perfectly fine what kind of little movie he was watching. It paused for a few seconds and you breathed out in relief. Then it started again. So you raised your voice another time. „Use damn headphones!“

The only thing that happened was Uriah peeking his head in your room, with some incredibly high raised eyebrows. „Are you okay?“

„I am not.“ You buried your face in your hands. „Eric is watching porn and I can’t concentrate,“ you stated in despair.

„I’ll handle it,“ he smiled and was fast to knock at Eric’s door and enter his room after a ‚come in‘. They discussed for a while and Uriah gave you a thumbs up as he passed your room on his way back to the kitchen. Problem solved? Sounded like it. No noise from the other side of the room anymore.

The newest data had come in for the study this morning and you didn’t get anywhere yet. You just hadn’t been able to because of… picturing Eric watching porn. Ban it from your consciousness. With another deep breath, you started working in the newest data and focus only on your task. And it worked for a couple of minutes. Until Eric decided not to use headphones anymore and his porn noises echoed through the wall again.

I will strangle him in his sleep one night.

/////

A/N • I'm enjoying this way too much so there will soon be another update. probably next weekend. ok bye

Taglist • @longlostinanotherworld

Wanna get tagged too for future updates? Lemme know 🖤

#divergent #insurgent #eric #eric coulter #divergent eric #divergent eric coulter #divergent eric fanfiction #divergent eric imagine #eric x reader #eric coulter x reader #eric coulter fanfiction #eric coulter imagine #divergent eric x reader #divergent fanfiction #divergent imagine #fanfiction #fanfic #imagine #college au #kyloswarstars

[butwhatifidothis]

I have thought it would have been a hella better game if Sothis had been the protagonist too! Here’s how I imagine it would be like:

Byleth is the actual reincarnation of Sothis and the child-Sothis we see at the start of the game is actually her subconsciousness. Sothis/Byleth is still the emotionless mercenary with no social skills when the game starts, but she does become more and more emotional and expressive as she begins interacting with specifically Rhea, Flayn and Seteth, her old family. They do form a bond with the lords and the students though (I think the dynamic in AM as a close friend is nice) and most of Byleth’s thoughts are shown through child-Sothis’ commentary.

They can still have the “protagonist being ignorant about Fodlan” thing going on, but with a little twist that it is actually because Sothis keeps confusing the old Fodlan of her era with modern Fodlan and gets blinding headache all the time but actually that is her getting flashbacks. Because of this Jeralt took them away to Morfis (which didn’t exist in her time yet) and they only returned recently after being hired by Rodrigue who had them take care of some bandits in the Kingdom (that is why she has heard of the Tragedy but doesn’t know the details of it).

For example, when she leads the class to the Red Canyon, she mistakenly thinks it is a big, prosperous city that is supposed to be the capital of Fodlan and the lords and Rhea have to explain to her the legend of Zanado. Then she faints and gets a flashback of a beautiful city called Zanado with many humans and dragons living together in peace and unimaginably sophisticated technology located in the exact same valley. She confuses a lot of places with old Fodlan too. To her, Arianrhod is still a small fishing village, Fhirdiad is a food paradise and tourist’s attraction, Goneril is the capital of Agartha, a neighbouring belligerent nation, Enbarr is an ordinary small town where she landed when she first crashed into Fodlan, the Valley of Torment is a fertile valley with a large population focused on agriculture, the Church of Seiros is supposed to be called the Church of Sothis instead and she doesn’t know what the knights are because such concepts did not exist in her time nor Morfis, etc.

Of course, because she often gets so confused by the current Fodlan, the lords and Rhea still have a lot of explaining to do every time they have to travel somewhere like they do in the game. Claude becomes very suspicious of her too.

When she gets attacked by Solon, child-Sothis merges with Sothis, now reincarnated as Byleth, and regains her memories and power as the goddess and from now on her emotions and stuff are back. Then a cutscene showing Sothis’ memory of how and why she came to Fodlan as an alien, how she created the Nabateans and passed her knowledge to the humans in Fodlan, how Fodlan thrived as a nation of Nabateans and humans living together, how Agartha rose as a highly technologically advanced belligerent neighbouring country in the east and how Fodlan and Agartha fought in a war that devastated the entire world so much that she spent centuries healing it until it finally began prospering again and she went to sleep. In her memory we are also shown that the Nabateans all had symbols like the current crests of the 12 Elites and we are misled into thinking those with the crests are the descendants of the Nabateans. The cutscene then ends abruptly when Sothis is jolted from her sleep and the last thing she sees is a wicked man (Nemesis) raising an axe on her and a young girl’s screams that she knows it’s her daughter Seiros.

She is very confused right now because apparently the world she knew is just completely forgotten by the people, and apparently five of her children founded an empire called Adrestia with a human an entire thousand years ago. She knows they can live longer than 1000years and realises they must still be alive now and wants to find them. She also doesn’t know how she died too and is rather panicked that she will be killed again if word gets out she is Sothis. Ah, and she is very curious of the true identities of the 12 Elites as their first names were not recorded and shared the same crests with some of her children. Sothis worries if they were her children who adopted a different surname because that would mean her children fought amongst each other and may be they destroyed each other to the point that Fodlan was in such a ruin that no one remembers the old Fodlan now.

After this cutscene showing the old Fodlan under Sothis’ guidance ends, Byleth who has now remembered her life as Sothis and regained her full power, wakes to Rhea singing a lullaby very popular in old Fodlan so Sothis thinks Rhea may know something about the old Fodlan, but she is paranoid because she thinks there are parts of her memory missing and does not know for sure if Rhea is trustworthy. As a result, she doesn’t immediately tell Rhea she is Sothis and Rhea is not aware that her mother has already come back.

Rhea suggests having Sothis sit on the Holy Throne to jolt her memory and she accepts, hoping to remember what happened to her after the man with the axe showed up. However, before she can sit on the actual throne, Edelgard comes in with her soldiers and battle begins. Then the Imperial army attacks the Monastery before Sothis gets a chance to investigate and talk to Rhea/Seteth/Flayn. Sothis is completely stunned when Rhea turns into a dragon to protect the people because she finally realises Rhea is Seiros all along. She goes back immediately to protect Seiros when she is in danger but gets hit by Thales’ magic energy balls and falls down the cliff. She manages to tell Seiros she is Sothis before falling down the cliff though.

From this point, the route differs into the three non-CF routes.

SS will be a more personal story about Sothis trying to recover her memory and finding out what happened to her family. Sothis will also slowly realise Seteth and Flayn are her family and Macuil and Indech will also join them on this route to help rescue their little sister. Unfortunately, none of them can tell Sothis what exactly happened on the day of the Red Canyon Tragedy because Seiros was the only survivor and the four of them weren’t present in Zanado at the time. They can only tell Sothis that the five of them banded together with Wilhelm, a human and later Seiros’ husband and fought with Nemesis and his 12 Elites who tried to conquer the southern half of the continent and subjugate them to his tyranny. They can confirm the 12 elites were not their siblings and just magically got the crests of their family via unknown means. In the end Sothis rescues her daughter and storms Shambhala. The family are happily reunited and strive to rebuild Fodlan together after Rhea explains what she did to Sothis in her infant state.

VW will be a story about Sothis and Claude learning about what happened to old Fodlan and Agartha. Claude notices that Sothis has been reading up on the founding of the empire/church and the legends about the 12 Elites/saints too. He suggests they team up because he is also doing the same thing. Sothis tells him about the truth of her identity, her missing memory and the old Fodlan she remembers. This clarifies things up for Claude so Claude actually opens up to Sothis and begins trusting her as a friend and the rest follows canon. Rhea will explain what happened in the Tragedy and the fates of their family. Sothis and Claude take down Nemesis to avenge herself and her family. They also learn that Agartha is why Almyra and Fodlan fight all the time.

AM will still focus on Dimitri and the Kingdom but this is how I would frame the story: Sothis thinks the Kingdom nobles descended from the 12 Elites are the descendants of the Nabateans and may know something about her children and what happened to them. Sothis asks Dimitri if he has heard of the Nabateans. Dimitri doesn’t know anything but promises he will help Sothis investigate into this. Everything follows canon until Cornelia’s death, who not only taunts Dimitri about his stepmother but also mocks Byleth that she is assisting the descendants of the 12 elites who slaughtered her entire family 1000 years ago in a war against the descendants of her own children. Sothis in the end comes to term with the possibility that Dimitri’s ancestors might have killed her and her family and continues to support Dimitri as she believes he will make a good king while Edelgard is currently a terrible ruler who has caused the suffering of thousands of people.

CF, on the other hand, will be a much darker story. After Sothis wakes up to Rhea singing to her, she gets to choose between “ask Rhea” and “ask Edelgard” about the saints and the elites. If “ask Edelgard” is chosen, Edelgard will ask why and you can choose “tell Edelgard the truth”. She will lie and convince Sothis into helping her by telling her that Seiros and the four faints did a major cover-up and they were the ones who killed sothis and turned their blades against the rest of their siblings for power. The man Sothis saw in her memory was a bandit hired by the five saints to kill sothis and the other children, known as the 12 elites now, banded together to resist Seiros around a heroic mortal that is Nemesis. When they lost, Seiros hunted down the 12 elites, crafted weapons from their bones and gave their blood to her own allies. The church then lied to the people again that the 12 elites were helping her because one of the five saints didn’t want people to remember their siblings as villains forever. Her own ancestor wilhelm helped Seiros in her unjust war for power and she intends to make things right now and asks if Sothis wants to be a part of that. If Sothis refuses her offer and expresses her scepticism of Edelgard’s claims, the game will immediately end because Edelgard will kill her.

If chooses “yes” then you enter the CF route. Edelgard tells Sothis she intends to declare war on the church to take down Rhea and take back the lands occupied by the evil descendants of the people who slaughtered Sothis’ children, aka Faerghus and Leicester. Edelgard, however, tells Sothis she intends to capture Rhea so Sothis will be able to ask Rhea the same questions to prove her claim. They do not return to the Monastery for the Holy Throne ritual and the coronation scene and war declaration scene play instead. When Sothis returns to the Monastery, she is with the Imperial army intended to conquer the Monastery. Sothis confronts an infuriated Rhea, who is extremely mad about her betrayal, and asks why Rhea/Seiros sent the assassin on her and killed her siblings. Seiros quickly realises Byleth/Sothis is in fact the reincarnation of her mother, but Edelgard notices that and has Thales attack Sothis from behind to prevent Seiros from telling Sothis the truth and swaying her to their side. Sothis falls off the cliff and Seiros tries to kill Edelgard for turning her mother against her and killing her again before she retreats to the Kingdom.

Five years later, Sothis wakes up and rejoins Edelgard’s army only to find out the Empire is on the brink of collapse against the combined might of the Kingdom-Church-Alliance with only Garreg Mach, Gronder, Fort Merceus and Enbarr left in their control. Not all of the Black Eagle students are fighting on their side either - Ferdinand, Dorothea, Petra and Caspar have abandoned the Empire and are fighting for the Kingdom-Church-Alliance army while Linhardt and Bernadetta simply refused to join the war. Instead, Ladislava, Fleche, Randolph, Count Bergliez, Arundel and Jeritza have become your new units.

Sothis continues to help Edelgard in the war and they quickly reclaim the territories lost to the allied powers. As they continue to push forward, Sothis encounters Seteth and the other three saints too (Indech and Macuil joined Rhea after learning of what Edelgard did to Sothis) on the battlefield. They will try to tell Sothis the truth and you have an option between “question Edelgard’s claims and spare them” and “believe in Edelgard’s words and kill them”. If the former is chosen, the game will end immediately as Edelgard will backstab Sothis instantly if she knows Sothis has turned against her. The rest follows canon, but Seiros will try to tell Sothis the truth again on Tailtean. Sothis will be killed if she believes Seiros instead of Edelgard here too. Heartbroken and traumatised by the fact that her mother has killed all of her only remaining family members and has already tried to kill her twice and is about to come and kill her again, Seiros transforms into a dragon in Fhirdiad and sets the city to fire once the citizens have been evacuated, hoping to bring down all of her enemies including her mother with the fire in order to avenge her friends and family.

In the end, Sothis kills Seiros as canon but loses her power and immortality as a goddess because it was Seiros’ magic that kept the creststone alive, and without the protection magic on the stone it would just be an ordinary stone and couldn’t function as a heart. Sothis almost dies without a working heart but the Agarthans save her by a heart replacement surgery on her using Seiros’ heart on the condition that she will give them the Crest of Flames creststone and the sword and share her blood with them regularly. Everything else continues as canon and the route can end with a realistic dark ending (everything crashes and burns) or a fake happy ending (the one in the game).

YOOOO dude this is great! Byleth as a character is so uninteresting, at least to me, because the only actually interesting thing about them is something that was done to them, not something they did. Byleth was born without a heart and was given the heart of a long-dead Goddess to let them live - neat! Intriguing! But nothing else catches your eye like that about them. They live on as a mercenary who apparently only wanted to ever ask questions about anything ever at all once they get to the monastery. The biggest thing they’ve done is make a name for themselves for how well they fight in battle. 

Now, we pivot the idea of Sothis being the protagonist, that’s where things start getting interesting. She fell from the stars and created new life? She helped humans prosper in knowledge only to have that knowledge be used for evil? She healed all of Fodlan from the devastation caused by the war humans enacted and fell into a sleep because of it? Those are all things she does that are worth getting to know more about. Her being murdered during her rest by another greedy human and was reduced to nothing but a dormant consciousness for a thousand years being coupled with the “being given the heart of a long-dead Goddess” being what was done to her isn’t the only interesting thing about them anymore. That’s all stuff that offers so much to the player to want to delve into, especially with a character who is gradually more and more vocal about their want to learn about themselves, with thoughts and feelings about what happened to them, what happened to their family, what they did in the past they can’t remember. 

I especially like all the ways you can just get a game over in CF - in a way that reminds me of that one mission in Sacred Stones where if you beat the boss you get an insta-game over since he was your only way to progress the story lmao, except this is turnt up to 11, and instead of punishing you for being a dingus and fucking up the plot, in a way it’s trying to save you from becoming a kin-killing pawn to a tyrant.

About the only thing I might have a bit of a ehhh with is Agartha being why Almyra and Fodlan feud, just because I find them feuding due to themselves and not a third party to be more interesting to me (personally! That’s just for me lol, it’s not an inherently bad notion!), but thanks you so much for sending this!! 

#ask #anon #anti edelgard #Anti-edelgard #just to be safe #like omega safe lmao #this is so cool!!

[erinxneil]

3. Please hold my hand.

I didn’t forget about prompt #2! I just had an idea for #3 and I’m doing these prompts in whichever order I feel like. If you have any requests for the next prompt, as you want to see it sooner than later, simply message me! The prompt list is here and I am more than willing to write it! :)

this is going to be a long one, so I hope you enjoy, I spent a long time on it <3

masterlist

Pairing: Spencer Reid X Reader

TW: Graphic depictions of crime

Summary: Spencer gives up hope for himself way too easily.

>>>These will all probably be Spencer Reid X Reader unless someone requests something different :) Also, this one I will leave up for interpretation- if you want to view it as romantic, it can be, or if you want to view this as platonic, it can be!

“So, we know that our unsub tends to kill quickly. He uses a long dagger, and slits the victims throats from just below the jaw and drags it all around. The victims die almost instantly.” Hotch spoke.

“Well, then I guess we can rule out sexual sadist. There’s no sexual component to the crimes, and the kill is quick.” I replied, examining the photos on the board in front of us.

“Yes, but also the autopsy report from the past three victims shows that they were missing for eight hours before they were killed, so we don’t know what he’s doing to them during that time.” Spencer rebuked my claim. Of course, the genius has something to say.

“While that may be true, there are no obvious wounds on the victim other than the slit throat. While one of the three victims also had a stab wound in her side, this was likely just to slow down the victim, as there was skin beneath her fingernails. She probably tried to escape. But none of the other victims have any other wounds, so while he held them for 8 hours, he didn’t touch them.”

Spencer chuckled. “Yes, Y/N, but I think we can both agree you don’t need to physically touch someone in order to torture them.” I nodded. That’s very true.

Morgan coughed. “Well, now that we’ve discussed the possibility that our suspect is a sexual sadist and have been unable to agree on a concise point..” He trailed off. “What’s next? Why does he target females in their forties?”

Emily glanced up. “He probably had some sort of rejection from a female in his life, who fit the description that his victims have in common. Tall, white, brunette. Maybe a girl he liked, or his girlfriend, or even his mother. Either way, some sort of traumatic life event caused him to strike out like this.”

Hotch intervened. “We can discuss this more on the jet. Grab your go-bags, wheels up in 30. We’ve been asked to come to California, where these crimes are occurring.” He left the room without another word.

“Well, this should be an interesting case.”

-*-*-*-*-*-

I took my usual seat on the jet between Prentiss and Reid. Morgan sat across from me with Hotch and Rossi on either side of him, and JJ generally sat to the side alone, since she liked to catch up on her sleep the moment we were able to.

After debriefing for a while, the team had come to the conclusion that the killer was likely a male between the ages 20 to 30 who had felt rejected by his mother at a young age. She likely kicked him out of the house, where he found solace in some hobby that would hopefully be identifiable at the scene. Due to the precision of the cuts, the unsub likely has knowledge in the medical field, and may even work in a hospital. This would be the first place we would check when we landed.

“Good work, team. Try to get some rest in before we land.” Hotch stood and moved to the front of the jet, where he probably wouldn’t take his own advice.

I squirmed in my seat, trying to get into a comfortable position. Everyone around me had already fallen asleep. Or so I thought.

“Having trouble, Y/L/N?” I sheepishly glanced up at the voice, coming from none other than Spencer Reid.

I sighed. “I can’t get comfortable. I’m exhausted and got no sleep last night, yet I can’t seem to fall asleep.” Spencer offered me a small smile and patted on his shoulder, nodding down at it.

I blinked. “Are you sure? I really don’t want to be a both-” “I really don’t mind, Y/N.” I smiled in thanks and rested my head on his shoulder. “Thanks, Reid.” I murmured, already sleepy. He was so warm.. and smelled like strong cologne.

I fell asleep quicker than I’d like to admit.

-*-*-*-*-*-

“This is gold.”

I woke to the sound of giggling and photo shutters. Still dreary, I groaned quietly and attempted to burrow myself deeper into my pillow.

However the pillow felt a lot more solid than usual.

I slowly opened one eye to see Emily, JJ, and Morgan peering over me. Morgan held his phone, taking countless photos, while Emily chuckled quietly and JJ rolled her eyes in amusement.

“What’s going on? Did we land?” I rubbed my eyes tiredly before looking beside me and realizing I was practically straddling Reid. I jumped in surprise, scrambling off of him, which caused him to wake and the others to laugh. 

“Morning sleepyhead, sleep well?” Morgan teased.

“Actually, I did. Did we land?” His groggy voice took me by surprise. I felt my cheeks tinge, knowing the rest of the team had caught me basically cuddling into him as we slept. Screw Reid’s chest for being so comfortable! I usually sleep with a body-sized pillow, and in my sleep, I must have mistaken Spencer for it.

“Yes, lovebirds, we landed.” Emily laughed at us, walking off the jet, JJ following shortly behind.

Reid shot me a look of confusion. “Lovebirds?” He looked to the side, trying to recall his memory, before his eyebrows likely shot up in realization. “Right, uh, well... I’m just going to go meet the others.”

Spencer walked away, scratching behind his neck in embarrassment. Morgan sent me an amused look. “Got anything you wanna admit, Y/N?” He shoved his phone in my face, showing me the photo of me sprawled across Spencer. I had one leg stretched across him, my head on his shoulder, and a hand on his chest. Meanwhile, Reid was resting his own head on mine, while his free hand was wrapped around my waist. If I had seen this photo of anyone else, I would have immediately assumed that they were a couple. Even looking at the photo, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t adorable. But this was Spencer and I. That would never happen.

I rolled my eyes. “So childish. There’s nothing going on between us.” I shoved him playfully before joining the rest of the team outside the plane.

Hotch stared down Morgan and I as we left the jet. “Alright, is everyone all set? No more groping before we leave?” His face was deadpan however there was a hint of humor to his eyes. My jaw dropped, trying to hide a smile. JJ, Emily, and Morgan burst out laughing, while Reid covered his face with his hands to cover his red face. We walked toward the car that was waiting for us, Morgan highfiving Hotch as he passed him.

“Not cool, Hotch..” Reid grumbled.

-*-*-*-*-*-

When we arrived at the crime scene, all traces of humor were lost. The jokes had been forgotten, as we strode up to the police tape and began analyzing the scene.

Hotch turned toward us. “Alright. Y/N, Emily, Reid, and I will analyze the scene, while Morgan, Rossi, and JJ will go to speak with hospitals around the area. Anything you can find will help.” We all nodded and set off to begin our tasks.

Emily looked at the photos as she examined the scene, to ensure that nothing had been moved. Emily, Reid, and I headed toward the bedroom, where the crime had been committed. I fell behind slightly, pulling Spencer back with me to talk as we walked.

“Hey, about earlier, I’m sorry. I guess I get kinda handsy when I sleep.” I chuckled. Spencer grinned. “It’s fine, Y/N, in case you hadn’t noticed, you weren’t exactly alone.” We laughed and nodded. There were no hard feelings, and we both were content. It was time to focus entirely on the case.

“Hey, I found something!”

Reid and I quickly moved into the room. Emily was on the floor, below the victim’s desk.

“...Um, Em? What are you doing?” I stepped closer to her, raising an eyebrow in confusion. Emily took a photo with her phone, before crawling out and showing us the picture. Beneath the desk, there were strips of paper, seemingly cut out of a book, glued to the underside. We read the quotes, trying to decipher them.

The first quote read. “Your worm is your only emperor for diet. We fat all creatures else to feed us, and we fat ourselves for maggots.“ “This is from Hamlet.” Emily and I gazed at Reid expectantly. “This quote is known to reference the morbid obsession with death that Hamlet holds. These quotes weren’t chosen randomly. I’d assume that not only has our unsub read Hamlet several times, he’s also analyzed every line in order to fully comprehend what each segment means. He’s basically saying that death is inevitable, as we all will succumb to it eventually. Our unsub is confident, and is flaunting the control he has in causing the deaths of his victims.”

“That explains the single slice to kill them.” Emily comments. I nodded. “True. The unsub seems to have some sort of obsession with control, as if he prides himself in it.”

We moved on to the next quote, that read, “You can’t ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving.” Emily and I looked over at Spencer. He paused for a moment before nodding. “When Breath Becomes Air. Dr. Paul Kalanithi wrote this. It’s the autobiography of a neurosurgeon.”

I furrowed my eyebrows. “He reads books related to medicine, as well? He must be very dedicated to his job.” Spencer skimmed through the rest of the quotes. “Or self-taught...” He trailed off. “The rest of these quotes are also from medical books. Either we were scarily on point with out assumption of his job, due to how much he studies them in his spare time.. or the profile is wrong. He may not even be a doctor at all.”

We all looked at each other.

“The only other quote that doesn’t belong to some sort of book about medicine is the quote “It was extraordinary, now, how clear her mind became all of a sudden.” Lamb to the Slaughter. “All of these quotes are somehow related to him and to murder. He wanted us to find these.”  Spencer announced.

Emily sighed. “Isn’t this a bit too much effort for a serial killer focused on revenge?” “Not if he was psychotic already. Perhaps that’s the reasoning behind his mother kicking him out when he was younger? He might have shown some sort of signs of psychopathy and due to the differing times, there was more of a stigma around mental issues. She likely made him feel as if he was alone.”

I paused, looking at Emily’s phone when something caught my eye. They both glanced at me. “Y/N?”

Grabbing a tissue, I crawled on the ground and looked around, spotting what I had seen in the photo. I picked it up with the tissue, and showing it to Reid and Prentiss. Peeking slightly from beneath the desk, as if it had slipped from the unsubs grasp, was a small slip of paper, tallied with 18 marks. The pen color changed throughout the paper.

They furrowed their brows and looked up at me. I sighed.

“There’s more victims than we are aware of.”

-*-*-*-*-*-

After informing Hotch what information we gathered from the victims bedroom, he called JJ, expecting that they wouldn’t have found anymore information.

However, surprisingly, they had.

Within the past 8 months, there had been atleast ten victims who came in with similar wounds as our victims, however the cuts weren’t as clean. There were mistakes, such as jagged marks, or the slice wasn’t deep enough, or there were several slices around the body rather than one slit in the throat. They had never tied the murders to our current investigation because of the differences in attacks.

“He was practicing...” Reid realized. “Y/N was right. There’s more victims than we initially realized.”

Hotch dialed Garcia.

 “Your brilliant and beautiful is speaking, how may I be of assistance?” “Garcia, I need you to look for any cases of stabbings in the past 12 months in our area, primarily attacks that are focused near the throat.”

“Your wish is my command, my gorgeous friend.” The sound of typing ensued. “Alright, in the past 12 months, the furthest attack was 9 months ago, and there are 26 documented attacks, 22 of which are focused around the neck.” Hotch spoke, “Alright, now can you narrow that list down to brunette females between the ages of 35 and 45, above the height of 5′6″.” “13 results.” The team shared a look and nodded. 

“That sounds about right, as we can’t assume that all of his attacks went reported. Before he became serial, he probably began covering his tracks.”

I thought for a moment. “If our unsub is attacking victims that resemble his mother, wouldn’t it be likely if his mother was one of his victims?”

Reid glanced at me and nodded in agreement. “It’s common that serial killers who kill for revenge often kill people who resemble their actual target, however over time the high dies down as they know they aren’t killing who they actually wanted to kill. Our killer probably killed a few victims before killing his mother herself. After killing so many people, he’d gotten a taste for it and became unable to stop.”

Hotch spoke again to Garcia. “Garcia, can you look for how many of those victims have children in their 20s or 30s?” “Of course I can... There are 4.”

-*-*-*-*-*-

Hotch gathered the information from Garcia regarding where their families lived, and we decided that we would split up and speak with them in the morning. In the meantime, we would spend the night in a hotel. We all got separate rooms, and we were told to rest well, as tommorow would take a lot of strength.

I got to my room and took a shower, taking my time and enjoying the feeling of the burning water on my back. Today had been a long day, but the trip over was the best I slept in ages, so I couldn’t really complain.

After showering and getting into pajamas, I slid under my covers, although unsurprisingly, I was unable to sleep. I settled for scrolling on my phone in bed, hoping that sleep would eventually take over me. While looking at Rossi’s Instagram photos from a party he went to last weekend, I heard faint shouting from down the hall. I checked the time to see it was nearly 1 in the morning.

Confused and worried, I grabbed my robe, and my gun, and walked over to the door. I opened it, to find none other than Spencer Reid, fist hovering over the door as if about to knock.

He jumped back in surprise at my appearance at the door. “Uh!- Y/N! You’re awake!” I raised an eyebrow at him and took in his appearance. He wore a friendly smile, however the creases in his brow and the bags under his eyes were impossible to not notice.

“Spencer? What are you doing here?” He looked down at the ground. “I uh.. I couldn’t sleep.” I tilted my head to the side in confusion and he continued. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come over, it’s just that I know you’re always up late and you have trouble sleeping yourself sometimes and I-” I cut him off. “Spencer, did you want to come in?” He smiled softly and walked in as I stepped aside.

“Thanks. Sorry again.” “There’s no need to apologize, Spencer. Are you okay?” He grinned tightly. “Of course. I’m just exhausted, yet can’t sleep and I didn’t really want to be alone. I can just crash on the couch.” 

I scoffed. “Spencer, don’t be ridiculous. You can take the bed.” He shook his head. “No, Y/N, it’s yours, I can’t ask you to sleep on the couch in your own room.” I thought for a moment. “Would you be okay if we slept in the bed together? Obviously nothing would happen, but we both can’t sleep and I think we’ve realized that we sleep better near eachother.” 

Spencer’s cheeks tinged at the mention of this morning. “Y-Yeah, that’s okay with me.” I smiled and sat beside him in the bed.

He looked over at me, tilting his head in surprise. “Y/N, do you sleep with your makeup on?”

I laughed softly. “What are you talking about, Reid?” He ran a hand through his hair, unsure how to proceed. A smile spread across my face as I realized what he was implying. “Spencer, I’m not wearing makeup.”

Reid’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Oh!- Uh, sorry then. I just... thought you were.” I grinned before sliding down, staring at the ceiling above us.

“Spencer, how long have you had night terrors?”

He froze for a moment, before shifting uncomfortably. “What happened to not profiling our coworkers?” I turned to face him. “If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine. I’m just worried about you.” He sighed before turning to face me as well. 

“I’ve always had them, they just got a lot worse once joining the BAU. And it seems like the more cases we do, the worse they get.” I nodded. “Have you ever seen someone about it?” “Once, but I had to stop because I criticized their techniques since I knew more about what they were doing than they did.” 

Laughter bubbled in my throat. “Only you, Spence.” We laughed together for a bit before a comfortable silence settled between us. 

“Y/N?” “Yeah?” “Thank you.”

I smiled. “Of course, Spencer.” He hugged me, and we remained in the position, and I fell asleep to the scent of pine and cinnamon.

-*-*-*-*-*-

“Alright, the groups will be as follows- Emily and Y/N, Morgan and Reid, JJ and Rossi, and I will go alone. We will split up to interview these families. Keep in mind that they’ve just lost a loved one. If anyone happens to find anything, inform us and we will meet up. Do not engage with the unsub if you happen to find any information. Your reasoning will fall upon deaf ears. Understood?”

We nodded, and set off. I sipped my coffee, reminding me of the events of this morning. When I woke up, Spencer was gone. I assumed that he left so that things weren’t awkward again in the morning, until he returned. He had brought all of us coffee, and thanked me again for last night. I grinned at the coffee he gave me, as he remembered that I take it black. Beside the fact that he has an eidetic memory which helps him remember these things, it was still a sweet gesture.

After about an hour or so of speaking with the family, we realized there was no way that this was our unsub’s family. Their dynamic was too loving and there was no resentment that could be seen between any of the children. All of the children were also present, and none of them gave any noticeable reaction or indication that they were guilty when we discussed the murders.

As Emily and I headed back to the car, we received a call from Morgan. “Hey, girls. I think we’ve found our guy. The dude had one sibling who explained that his brother always had a tense relationship with his mother. His name is Chase Matthews. Garcia’s currently trying to locate him right now. His brother said he would be at work at this time, but he isn’t sure where he works because he isn’t necessarily involved in his life. Chase was also kicked out of their house when he was younger because his anger tended to scare their mother. If we can find where he works, then we can find him. “

I thought for a moment before a realization crossed my mind. “A butcher-shop.”

Emily looked at me. “What makes you say that?” “He’s done extensive research on the quickest way to kill someone, and has been using test subjects until he perfected his technique. If he isn’t a doctor himself, a butcher is the perfect job for practicing slaughter. He even tried to tell us with the quote from Lamb to the Slaughter.”

Morgan responded, “Good work, gorgeous. I’ll tell Garcia to look for butcher-shops in the area and I’ll text you and the others the address.”

When he hung up, I received a text moments later.

Only butcher shop in the town. Gotta be here.

We left to the address and arrived only moments after Reid and Morgan, as we were closest to the location. We met up with them, to see Morgan on the phone. 

“Are you serious? Ugh. Thanks Garcia.” He hung up before turning to us. “Garcia says that for this shop, Matthews’ shift ends in five minutes. We can’t risk him coming outside and seeing the cop cars when they arrive along with all of the agents standing outside of the building. We can’t wait for the others. We have to move now or we’ll lose him.”

Spencer interrupted, “But didn’t Hotch say-” “I know what Hotch said. But this is our only shot.” 

We nodded before heading inside. Emily showed her badge to the worker at the front. “We’re with the FBI. We’re looking for a Chase Matthews.”

Immediately, clashing sounded from the back, and a door slammed. We all rushed toward the noise and followed him out the door. 

“Chase Matthews!” Morgan screamed. “Stop right there!”

And stop he did. Behind the butcher-shop was a town park. Chase grabbed hold of a woman walking the path and held her against him, butcher-knife against her throat.

“Another step forward and she’s dead.”

We all stopped in our tracks, guns aimed toward him.

“Everyone get out of here!” Emily yelled out to the others in the park. They quickly abided, leaving the park in a panic.

“Don’t come any closer. I can kill her quicker than you can shoot me.” We froze because we knew he was right. He could kill her in just a matter of moments. Regardless, Spencer stepped foward.

“Reid what are you-” “I’ve got this.”

We watched in anticipation, worry across our features.

“Look, Chase, I know how you’re feeling.” The unsub scoffed. “No, I’m being serious. I know how it feels to feel betrayed. I understand how it feels to be rejected. Unwanted.” My heart sunk at his words.

He continued, slowly walking foward.”It doesn’t have to be like this. I know that you felt that killing your mother and anyone who reminded you of her was your only choice. But look at this girl. She looks nothing like your mother. This isn’t neccesary, and you know that. I don’t think that you want to hurt her.” Chase glanced down at the terrified woman and seemed to be considering his words.

“Just let the girl go, and we can talk about this.” Cautiously, the unsub let the girl go. Emily quickly pulled her away from the man and comforted her.

“Thank you. Now please, there’s no need for weapons. Discard your knife.”

Chase glared at Reid. “I’m not an idiot. All of you have guns.”

Spencer paused for a moment before placing his gun on the ground before him, and gesturing for us to do the same.

Morgan scoffed. “Reid, don’t be stupid.”

Spencer glanced at us. “Please. I know what I’m doing.”

“This is a bad idea, Spencer.” I scolded.

“Just trust me.” I frowned and placed my gun on the ground beside me, Emily following suit and Morgan, several glares later, also did.

“Thank you. Now please, give me the knife.

The unsub seemed hesitant but nodded, and held out his hand. Spencer slowly took steps forward. As I watched what was about to happen, the faint hint of a smile on Chase’s face mixed with the knife’s placement on his hand lead me to understand what was about to happen.

“Spencer, wait!-” But it was too late.

We watched in horror as the unsub gripped the knife in his hand before stabbing Reid just below the ribcage. He fell to the ground, blood pooling out from him, as the unsub sprinted in the opposite direction.

“Reid!” I screamed and rushed toward him. Morgan and Emily grabbed their guns and ran to him aswell. “Go, chase after him, I’ll stay with Spencer. What he needs from you right now is to catch him.” Morgan was terrified, but his anger took over and he sprinted after the man faster than I’d ever seen him run before. Emily followed shortly after.

I quickly dialed 911, and then took off my shirt and placed it over his wound, applying pressure in an attempt to stop the blood-flow. “Reid, you’re an idiot, but you’re going to be okay. Hold my hand.” I reached out the hand that wasn’t pressed against his abdomen for him to hold. 

He closed his eyes. “Don’t waste your time, Y/L/N. The man knows his anatomy. He’s probably pierced some sort of vital organ. If the bleeding out doesn’t kill me, that will.”

I shook my head, tears glistening in my eyes. “Shut up, Spencer, for once you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re going to be just fine. Just hold my hand.”

When Spencer mentioned that someone can be tortured without anyone physically touching them, this is exactly what that feels like.

Reid coughed. “Lets just face the reality, Y/N. It’s not going to happen.”

I shushed him, voice becoming higher with fear. “Reid, stop talking. Save your energy. You are going to be fine. Just, please, for the love of god, please hold my hand.”

Whether it be out of his own fear or pity for me, knowing it would make me feel better, Spencer finally let his hand fall in mine. I kept strong pressure, tears falling down my cheeks, until the paramedics arrived.

-*-*-*-*-*-

“You’re an idiot. If you weren’t in a hospital bed I’d be slapping you right now.”

Reid laughed weakly. “Jeez, it’s great to see you too, Y/N.”

Morgan rushed into the room at the sound of Spencer’s voice. “I can’t believe you! Do you understand how worried you made me? I didn’t think you were going to wake up!” The anger in Derek’s words were clear and Spencer cringed, knowing he had messed up. His expression softened. Morgan sighed. “I’m just glad you’re okay, kid. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

The team all rushed in and comforted Reid until the doctors came in and told us we all needed to clear out the room. Spencer played dead for a moment, which the doctor found humorous and allowed for one visitor in the room. After much deliberation, I was allowed to stay.

The team left and I was alone with Spencer and the doctors. I grabbed his hand and squeezed softly.

Reid chuckled, recalling the moments after he was stabbed. “You really just wanna hold my hand, huh, Y/L/N?”

I gasped and feigned offense, laughing with him. “I mean, come on, was it really that hard to just hold my frickin’ hand?”

The laughter died down and I sighed, taking in his appearance. “I feel like this is my fault.”

“Y/N, please. It’s nobody’s fault but myself. I’m the one who made you guys drop your weapons. I didn’t listen to Hotch saying we wouldn’t be able to reason with the unsub, and I paid for it.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, that was pretty stupid.”

Spencer turned his head to face me. “The doctors tell me you saved my life. The knife had just missed a vital organ, so I was wrong again, it really would have been the blood loss that killed me.”

“Wow, it must be my lucky day, proving Dr. Spencer Reid wrong twice in one day.” I laughed to which he smiled softly. “I’m serious, Y/N. Thank you.”

I smiled back at him. “Anything for you, Spence.”

-*-*-*-*-*-

God this took me so long to write. I hope you all enjoyed and as always if there’s a prompt you’d like me to do next let me know!

P.S. Out of curiosity I put this into a machine to count the words and there’s almost 5000 words in this. Just putting that out there ;p

#cm #criminal #minds #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fanfiction #spencer #reid #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #reader x spencer reid #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x reader fanfiction #derek morgan #jennifer jereau #aaron hotchner #agent rossi #doctor spencer reid #emily prentiss #jeid #moreid #spencer reid prompt

[malikismindful]

Growing up I used to hear that it’s not what you say, but how you say it! Well, there’s no denying that! But I’ve also heard is that truth is a hard pill to swallow! And that too is true, depending on your mental gag reflex!

It is a hard truth to accept that many of my people are happy being a servant in our oppressor’s system, but a truth I must accept! Often, it seems like my people could care less about the knowledge being born to them. In some cases, those you’re striving to wake up are actually upset that you are doing your best to wake them up!

Some even HATE YOU! Hate doesn’t have to manifest in rudeness though most times it is. It can come across in contentious commentary...or sassy sarcasm. The most sophisticated haters come at you real smooth to prove their point! Smmfh! Good, bad, or indifferent...there are TOO MANY Black people/African people (whatever you go by) that think just like the European does and DON’T EVEN KNOW IT!

To convince them that they have some of their oppressors ways just makes it worse! I do this for certain people. There’s a small percentage of people who truly want to be awakened and can handle certain information...while the masses sleep walk thru their existence—consciously.

PLEASE GET ON CODE. STAY ON CODE. 🩸💣🔫✊🏾 BLACK POWER! #blackpower #blacklove #blackman #blackwoman #blackempowerment #blackrevolution #blackrevolutionary #revolution #truth #knowledge #blackconsciousness #blackkingsandqueens #blackpower #blackqueen #blackunity #blacksunite #blacksunited #blacknationalism #african #panafrican #blackpeople #blackowned #malikismindful

#panafrican #blackconsciousness #blackempowerment #blackkings #blackkingsandqueens #blacklove #blackfatherhood #blackman #africa #blackmagic #african

[lives-by-moonlight]

Maverick: would you ever want to fully train someone to be your sex slave? If so what would you do?

((oh definitely a fantasy that he has, and in a more dark au verse he definitely fulfills regularly and not often consentually if anyone is ever interested in that but this is regular Maverick's plan below and yes it's detailed because he knows what he wants - which is training but also with some caring)) "I would only if the partner was interested in it. I've had relationships where there was a definite sex slave roleplay and master-slave relationship, but I'd definitely do it for someone willing to. I've always been more of the way of training as a mix of what I want and a 'breaking' the subject more into submission through their own overpleasure and psychological effects. I know it's not really breaking if they are willing to do it, but it gets them more into a long-term, submissive mind and one that is also very easily mailable for training.

"Most of it at the start wouldn't last forever, it's just to train them into the mindset longterm. I'd first start with the rules of the slave is naked at all times unless I give them clothes to wear for an outing or for around the house for certain things, like sweaters if they are too cold. There is a strong power dynamic of you being dressed and the submissive being bare. The immediate next thing is to collar them - to me this doesn't make a difference what the collar is to me whether leather, more design, or metal because I like using what affects the submissive the most because when it makes them more submissive, I find it even more sexy. Next would be gagging them and this might differ between either a ball gag or a muzzle harness based on what I think the first training would need for the slave. A ball gag is more humiliation and making the slave realize their loss of control by the constant drooling, while the muzzle gives the slave the quick knowledge that their mouth is basically non-existent. Either way, the idea is that you have no more words, just sounds. Once I thought that the training was complete, or at least it was no longer needed, then the slave wouldn't be gagged anymore but for the training they would stay mostly gagged. As well once the training was further along, to further their mouth training I would begin to use a pecker gag as well.

((note some of this would change in the dark au to be well...darker but this is based on regular Maverick)) "They would also spend the first few days in constant pleasure with minimal breaks. They would always be collared, gagged, bound, and blindfolded with no way to escape what is being used upon them. They would be tied down to something like a sybian machine or a vibrator out in the living room or in my bedroom and would be left there for hours for continuous orgasms while they would hear me doing regular household things as though you weren't there. At first they wouldn't need to ask for permission to cum. I want them fully into their own body and mind for the first little bit as a way to break them. I would stop after a few hours and either let them break or rest, time depending on how worn out I thought they were. I would pet their hair, stroke their cheek, give them affection and praise about how well they were doing after hours of no physical and human contact. Then I would have them go at it again for a long period. Again, gags for this would change based on levels of training and what I wanted the slave to understand about the control. They would also be plugged (sometimes for men depending on the training I give them), all of this as a way to show I control their bodies. If I knew the slave would like it I might also add things like clamps.

"The next stages after this would be to start the specifics training. So no longer being vibed all day but now learning to be vibed in certain positions, such as making their back curved while on their hands and knees so they know the position and get used to it. Another would be keeping them on their knees but beginning oral training. However, all of that kind of training is with dildos so far. I never have sex or use my partner with my body yet. I want this to be a build up, for them to realize they want to strive for it because while the dildos and mechanics are hot and they like it for more submissive plays, they will realize they want me and I use it as a type of reward. Is this sounding narcissistic, yes, however after days of only being pleasured by metal or dildos, the slave is much more willing for something real and human and once they realize it they and I both know the training is heavily succeeding. "By the time this next stage of training starts, the slave will still be collared, bound, and gagged, and likely plugged, but by now the blind fold will likely come off. It will also be this time I often have them in the main room, sometimes not even pleasured, just bound and gagged and tied to one spot while they watch me go about their day as though they weren't even there. No matter how much they tried to make noise, I'm not giving them the satisfaction. This is something I would probably regularly do once training is over too just because I find slaves often like it and it gets them more horny for when sex does come. "Right near the end I would also do long-term pleasure bondage but now they have to ask if they can cum even through the gag. And I would phrase this as "if you want my cock, you're going to have to prove to me that you can follow orders." I tell them that I'll let them cum a certain amount of times, however if they cum before I give them permission then they have to start from 0 again until they get up to the number I gave. Usually this doesn't take long before the slave is able to control themselves to get to the number each time without having to start over, but that's when I know the training for that command is done. "After when I thought they would have enough training, I would then ask them this simple question and I would know when they are done if I can see it in their eyes. I just kneel down and go to their eye level and ask "do you want your Master's cock". And I'd know just by their eyes and how they beg. "That's when the training with sex begins. The first two or three times I'll still have the slave completely tied down and gagged as a way to show dominance, but after a while I will lessen the bonds, I might even take the gag away. I may use things like bullet vibrators for extra stimulation but from now on it's about us connecting on a sexual master slave level. I would also start to train them on positions in bed, or get them used to having sex in different places around the house.

"After this, training really loosens and it's more also getting into the regular and casual slave and master dynamic. I still might have times where they are just bound in the center of the room, or training them by stimulating them like a sybian while using a ring or plug gag for them to also learn how to pleasure me whenever I please while they are on it. But this is the time when the sexual breaking weens out and it's more letting the slave now walk instead of crawl around the apartment, they are no longer gagged, and I might start giving them routines they need to follow like general easy housework, cooking, sometimes just letting them lounge around like a pet while I watch tv or do work.

((again, in a dark au this would be different)) "It should also be pointed out that during this time I would give the slave regular meals and water breaks to make sure they are safe and won't get hurt. I would ungag them for this, for a rest from training I might have them either eat on the devices or let them crawl to a more comfortable spot and eat there. If that means we eat together on the couch or the rug I'm there too. Our bedtime routine is brushing teeth, hair, showering or baths, and we would sleep together. Since the slave has been blindfolded in the early days, if that is what he or she wishes during this time I also ablige because after long pleasure stimulation, outside stimulation and lights can make the slave feel more panicky, so the dark is their safe space to help them get used to stimuli again. If this is the case, I also make sure to work off non-blindfolded training so the slave still feels safe. I gage their responses to the trainign on how far it goes so it is still safe for them. "Once the training is complete it's mostly now just giving out rules and helping to establish connection in the new dynamic. Mine are mostly basic, such as no clothes and no leaving the apartment without my permission. I'd give them some chores they are assigned to do regularly, like unloading and reloading dishwasher, making sure the kitchen and general apartment is clean by dusting and putting things away, and making the bed. I may also give them assignments for cooking meals, though I would slowly ease into this as I often find cooking to be a great connecting activity, but also to teach them how to do it if I wanted say supper done and on the table by the time I get home. "At this time I also begin setting them up so they know what is expected from them when I leave during the day (or even if I'm there sometimes). Since I am gone most evenings for work, that may mean I am out late and therefore the slave may either be told to wait for me or go to bed - but be warned I may still want something in the middle of the night. That said, I never give the slave a time to wake up if I leave early. He or she is always allowed to sleep in if we do not wake up together. But when I am gone I will give them the routine that they should expect me to tell them what to do, or that I will do it for them. These will come in these main four ways: "1: I give them a list of chores that must be completed before I come back. I may also put in what I want for meals. 2: I give them sexual tasks they must complete. Such as, I might have a dildo set up in a room by the mirror and tell them they must practice until they can get the entire dildo in without gagging and then send me a video of it. It could also be having them fuck themselves on the dildo until they cum every hour and again send me videos or photos so I know they are following through. Or I will tell them they have to do chores with a vibrator on or with gear on. Those two ways are likely to be the most used besides number 4, which I will get to. 3: I tie them down and they have to be bound for the day, or pleasured all day while I control it remotely like being bound on a vibrator all day but I control it from my office. They are not allowed freedom until I get back. 4 is my last one, and often common to at least once a week, but it's where they have the day free for themselves. This can mean watching a tv show or movie ,such as if they are done chores or while cooking from choice 1, just lounging around the house or having extra naps or a long bath or some reading, something that is their day to enjoy. ((I know this is long we are almost done I swear!))

"I'd also set up a Low Outing and a High Outing. So this would be for just going out whether on a date, shopping, to a friend's house, etc. A Low Outing means that our dynamic is a bit more casual while High Outing means more strict. For example, when asking to go to the bathroom a Low Outing can be them saying "I have to go to the bathroom" as a directive to me while seeming to be normal while I go "okay". A High Outing is "Master please let me go to the washroom". Another difference would be that a Low Outing they can talk freely and interact as they want and are comfortable with while High Outing means that they are either quiet unless given directives or are given the clear by me to answer even just a question from another person. Either way, for any outing the slave will also wear either a necklace, often for a girl, or a bracelet, often for a boy, that acts as a collar in a more subtle way. Again, all of this as a dynamic of Master and Slave even while out.

"Punishments will often come as need to be taught. If the slave is a brat slave, then it comes out more often or even during the first phases of training, while for more subserviant slaves it's more as a teaching tool while still punishing them. Punishments may also change from doing more cleaning, being gagged and partially bound for a certain time, orgasm denial, or things like spankings. Again, all relative to the slave and what I want them to learn or reassert I'm in control. "If the slave is also into a big praise kink I also definitely always verbally give praise but I also might set up a points system or like a pebbles in a jar system. Where after they do something good they will get points or pebbles in a jar and once they fill the jar or get to a certain amount of points then they get a reward. This could be things like going on a date, reading in bed, doing something they want in bed, ordering in take-out, going shopping, getting some new clothes to wear when we go out, etc. "Other than that, the rest of it is just relationship things. Like cooking together, watching movies together, going out on dates or events, cuddling, sometimes even just regular soft sex, just now we also have that undertone to it. Hope this helped!"

#omfg this is so long XD #if I lose this trying to post this it may just be my 13th reason #this literally took hours god Maverick why are you so planned out #get to know maverick

[wisdomrays]

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: Jihad With Different Aspects

Jihad literally means striving or doing one's best to achieve something, and its practitioners (mujahidin) are those who devote themselves fully to obtaining God's good pleasure by opposing those forces that seek to defeat His religion and the upholding of His word. It is far more complex and abstract than actual war, known in Arabic as qital.

A major principle of jihad is enjoining good and forbidding evil (amr bi al-ma'ruf wa nahiy 'an al-munkar), which involves promoting virtues and trying to block the spread of vices. The Islamic community, introduced by the Qur'an, is envisioned as a model community that makes every effort to exemplify what the Prophet brought to its members: Thus We have made you a community justly balanced, that you might be witnesses for all people, and the Messenger may be a witness for you (2:143).

Aspects of jihad

The first Revelation contained the command Read!, although there was little to read among the Arabs and most of them were illiterate. Thus, many scholars have deduced that this command means that believers should use their intellectual and spiritual faculties to discern God's acts in the universe and His laws in the universe's creation and operation, and thereby purify their minds of superstition through acquiring true knowledge based on observation and contemplation.

By satisfying their minds through studying the Divine signs in the universe and cleansing their hearts of sins, people secure a balanced life. Constantly aware of His supervision and of their need to seek forgiveness at all times, people will break their carnal selves' forbidden desires and, through prayer, be able to do good deeds.

Thus Read! signifies an action. For God's Messenger, pure and without superstition, it meant he would have to start his mission of informing his people of God's revelations and how to read the signs in the universe in order to purify their minds of superstition and their hearts of sin. He would enlighten them, intellectually and spiritually, by instructing them in both the Qur'an and the universe: We have sent among you, of yourselves, a Messenger who recites to you Our signs, purifies you, and instructs you in the Book and in the Wisdom, and also instructs you in what you know not (2:151).

People are like raw minerals waiting to be purified and refined by Prophets, who remove the seal from their hearts and ears and lift the veils from their eyes. Thus enlightened, people can understand the meaning of the Divine laws of nature, which are signs of His Existence and Unity, and penetrate into the subtle reality of things and events. Only those who are guided by Prophets can attain the high status that God expects them to attain. Prophets also instruct people in the Book (the Qur'an) and in Wisdom (the Sunna [1]).

The Prophet teaches us what we do not know, and we will continue to learn from him about how to purify ourselves from sin until the Day of Judgment. Such great saints as 'Ali ibn Abu Talib, 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, Imam Ghazzali, Imam Rabbani, Fudayl ibn 'Iyad, Ibrahim ibn Adham, Bishr al-Khafi, and others who might have been Prophets if God had not ended that function with Prophet Muhammad, have followed this way.

Jihad, which enables believers to keep their belief vigorous and active, has two aspects. The first is the greater jihad, which involves fighting superstition, wrong convictions, carnal desires, and evil inclinations in the pursuit of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment. The second is the lesser jihad, which involves encouraging others to follow this path. While usually understood in a military sense, it is far more than that it consists of every action done by a believer or a believing community to advance the cause of Islam for His sake by ways of which He has approved. These two aspects cannot be separated, for success in one helps the believer achieve success in the other.

The Prophet perfectly combined these two aspects. Testimonials to his unequalled courage when facing his enemies are found in numerous history books, as are accounts of his spiritual battles during the nights and while fasting. Even though God had forgiven all of his sins, he once asked 'A'isha, when she thought his persistence in prayer to be excessive: "Shall I not be a slave grateful to God?" He also would pray: "O God, I seek refuge in your pleasure from

Your wrath, in Your forgiveness from Your punishment, and with You from You. I cannot praise You as You praise Yourself."

His Companions followed his example as best they could. They were as sincere and humble as dervishes in worshipping God at night. Sincere in their deeds, they did everything only for His sake. If our jihad is to be successful, this is the path that we must follow. We must defeat our pride, self-regard, and insincerity, and strive to acquire self-control, spread the truth to others, overcome our carnal desires and animal impulses, and encourage others to do likewise in order to obtain God's good pleasure. The Prophet said about these two aspects: "The eyes of two people will never witness the fire of Hell: The eyes of the soldier who guards the frontiers and on battlefields, and the eyes of one who cries for fear of God."

In Surat al-Nasr, the Qur'an describes both types of jihad: When the help of God comes, and victory, and you see people entering God's religion in throngs, then glorify the praise of your Lord, and seek His forgiveness, for He is Relenting, Merciful (110:1-3).

Stages of jihad

After he received the first Revelation, the command Read!, God's Messenger returned home in excitement. He was sleeping wrapped in a cloak "enwrapped" by the suffering of people and the heaviness of his responsibility, when God commanded him: O enwrapped one! Keep the vigil the night long, save a little (a half of it or diminish a little or add a little), and recite the Qur'an in measure. For We shall charge you with a word of weight (73:1-5).

The short period between the first revelation and the public preaching was meant to prepare the Prophet for what lay ahead. He was to keep night vigils and recite the Qur'an in measure, because during the night impressions are keener and recitation is more penetrating. Shortly thereafter, it was revealed: O enshrouded one, arise and warn. Magnify Your Lord, purify your robes, and flee defilement. Show no favor, seeking worldly gain. And, for your Lord's sake, be patient (74:1-7).

Thus was the Prophet ordered to begin his mission. He began with his relatives and nearest kin, and then reached out to his tribe after receiving the revelation: Warn your tribe of nearest kindred (26:214). This was followed by public preaching and various reactions: derision, threats, torture of followers, offers of the most alluring kind, and boycott.

In Makkah, God's Messenger never resorted to or allowed retaliation, for Islam came only to bring people out of the darkness of unbelief and into the light of belief, to free them from serving that which is not God to serving the One God, and to elevate them from the pit of "earth" to the height of "heaven." Islam also came to establish inner peace, which leads to people being at peace with themselves, with God and nature, and then engenders peace on a global scale. As peace and order are fundamental in Islam, it always seeks to spread peacefully and only uses force as the last resort to maintain its existence against those who seek to maintain the corrupted order they built on injustice, oppression, self-interest, exploitation, the usurpation of others' rights, and the blocking of freedom of belief.

Some rules related to jihad

Believers cannot exceed the limits established by God. In the case of jihad, some of these rules are as follows:

- As believers have sold themselves to God in exchange for Paradise (9:111), they cannot strive for any causes based upon fame, material gain, and racial or other similar ideological beliefs. They can strive only to attain God's good pleasure.

- They cannot fight those who do not oppose them, cannot engage in indiscriminate killing and pillage, and must remain honorable while fighting (no deliberate killing of women, children, or the elderly, mutilation of corpses, and destruction of land and crops). Force is to be used only when there is no other choice (2:190).

Conclusion

We must consider jihad in its entirety. Those who say one thing and then do another cause nothing but trouble in the ranks of Muslims. Since they cannot discipline themselves and overcome self-regard, ostentation, and the desire to dominate, they bring only disharmony to the cause of Islam. On the other hand, those who live in almost total seclusion and try to attain some high spiritual station without working to promote the truth reduce Islam to mere mysticism, like certain aspects of yoga. Such people argue that a Muslim's foremost duty is to acquire spiritual maturity so as to be saved from Hell. What they fail to realize is that those who regard themselves as safe from Hell are deceived, for God decrees that we should continue to serve Him as long as we live (15:99).

Thus we can say that jihad is a balance of internal and external strife. Reaching spiritual perfection and helping others do so are points of consideration. Attaining internal perfection is the greater jihad; helping others attain it is the lesser jihad. When you separate one from the other, jihad is no longer jihad. Indolence is born from one and anarchy from the other. However, we expect one Muhammadan spirit to be born. As is always the case, this is possible only by following and conforming to God's Messenger. How happy are those who search for a way to salvation for others as much as they do for themselves. And how happy are those who remember to save themselves while saving others.

#allah #god #prophet #Muhammad #quran #ayah #sunnah #hadith #islam #muslim #muslimah #hijab #help #revert #convert #reminder #religion #dua #salah #pray #prayer #welcome to islam #how to convert to islam #new revert #new convert #new muslim #revert help #convert help #islam help #muslim help

[blogdemocratesjr]

Laocoön and his sons, also known as the Laocoön Group. Marble, copy after an Hellenistic original from ca. 200 BC. Found in the Baths of Trajan, 1506.

an artist once gave wonderful expression to something which generally receives only theoretical attention. The work he produced portrays human nature at the moment when the human Ego, the centre which holds the organism together as a unity, is lost, and the limbs, each going its own way, strain apart in different directions. The work I mean seizes precisely this moment, when a man loses the foundation of his character, of his being as a whole. But this work, a great and famous one, has been very often misunderstood. Do not suppose that I am about to level cheap criticism at men for whose work I have the highest respect. But the fact that even great minds can make mistakes in face of certain phenomena, just when they are most earnestly striving for truth, shows how difficult the path to truth really is.

One of the greatest German authorities on art, Winckelmann, [ 33 ] was impelled by his whole disposition to err in interpreting the work of art known as the Laocoon. [ 34 ] His interpretation has been widely admired. In many circles it has been thought that nothing better could be said about this portrayal of Laocoon, the Trojan priest who, with his two sons, was crushed to death by serpents. Winckelmann, filled with enthusiasm for this example of the sculptor's art, said that here we are shown how the priest, Laocoon, whose every limb bespeaks his nobility and greatness, is torn with anguish, above all the anguish of a father. He is placed between his two sons, with the serpents coiled round their bodies. Conscious of the pain inflicted on his sons, he himself, as a father, is so agonised by it that the lower part of his body is contracted, as though pressing out the full degree of pain. He forgets himself, consumed with immeasurable pity for his sons.

This is a beautiful explanation of a father's ordeal, but if — just because we honour Winckelmann as a great personality — we look repeatedly and conscientiously at the Laocoon, we are obliged finally to say that Winckelmann must be mistaken, for it is not possible for pity to be the dominating motif in the scene portrayed. The father's head is aligned at such an angle that he cannot see his sons. Winckelmann's view of the group is quite wrong. The immediate impression we get from looking at the figures is that here we are witnessing the quite definite moment when the encircling pressure of the snakes has driven the human Ego out of Laocoon's body, and the separate instincts, deprived of the Ego, make their way into the physical body. Thus we see the head, the lower body and the limbs each taking its own course, not brought into natural harmony with the figure as a whole because the Ego is absent. The Laocoon group shows us, in external bodily terms, how a man loses his unified character when bereft of the Ego, the strong central point which holds together the members of his bodily organism. And if we allow this spectacle to work on our souls, we can come to experience the unifying element which naturally expresses itself in the harmonising of the limbs, and imprints on a man what we call his character.

But now we must ask: If it is true that a man's character is to some extent inborn — if the characteristics given by birth cannot by any effort be altered beyond a certain limit, as every glance at human life will tell us — is it then possible for a man to change his character in a certain way?

Yes, in so far as character belongs to the life of the soul and is not subject to the bodily limitations we encounter every morning on waking from sleep, and so can help to harmonise and strengthen the Sentient Soul, Intellectual Soul and Consciousness Soul. To this extent there can be a development of character during a person's life between birth and death.

Some knowledge of all this is of special importance in education.

—Rudolf Steiner, Metamorphoses of the Soul: Paths of Experience Vol. 1: Lecture V: Human Character

There is no man when he looks back in the manner described at his physical body, as it lies embedded in his etheric body, who would not be filled through and through with an immeasurable sadness.

—Rudolf Steiner, The Effect of Occult Development Upon the Self and the Sheaths of Man

#laocoön #sculpture #Anthroposophy #spiritual science

[tawakkull]

ISLAM 101: Spirituality in Islam: Part 66

‘Ashq (Passion or Intense, Ecstatic Love)

‘Ashq means intense love of and fondness for perfection, beauty, or physical charm. Sufis usually call this sort of love figurative or metaphorical love, such as love for the opposite sex. Real love, the love of the Eternal Monarch, is felt for His Grace and Beauty manifested within His Majesty, and for His Majesty manifested within His Grace and Beauty. The real, intense love felt for God is a wing of light granted to us by Him so that people can use it to reach Him. Feeling such love can be described as the spirit being like a moth drawn toward the Light, the essence of existence. This intense love is the most basic and mysterious cause of the universe’s creation. God has created the universe in order to be known and loved, and so that those souls awakened to truth would feel and manifest a deep interest in His Essence, Attributes, and Names.

‘Ashq, which the spirit feels without the intervention of free will, cannot be controlled by the person so affected, for its real source is God, Who loves Himself in a way special to His Sacred Essence and is essentially independent of the created. In addition, it is essentially different from the love felt by the created for the created or the Creator. This sacred, essential love of God for Himself, including His Attributes and Names, is the reason why He created the universe and why He caused humanity to appear in the world. It is also this love that manifests itself in human beings as love of God, as the most essential center of humanity’s relationship with God.

‘Ashq is the final step leading to God, and a lover who has reached it has no further steps to take. God manifested Himself first as this sacred, essential love required by His being God. This love must not be confused with the love a person feels for either the created or the Creator Himself. As there is no other word more appropriate to express it, I feel obliged to use “love.”

Some tend to describe Knowledge as this first manifestation of God, which is regarded as God’s condescension to be known. This condescension is called “Knowledge,” being God’s manifestation of His Knowledge; “Sacred Love,” being God’s loving to observe and to be “observed;” “the Tablet,” comprehending or containing all of existence; and “the Pen,” handling all things in existence in all their details. Jabarut (the highest, immaterial empyrean) and the Truth of Ahmad (the Prophet’s Name mentioned in the original copy of the Gospels and in the heavens) are other titles of this condescension or God’s first manifestation.

Sacred Love is a mystery special to the Divine Essence. Other Attributes of His are appended to or dependent on this love. It is for this reason that those who fly with the wings of ‘ashq reach directly to the Divine Essence and attain to amazement, whereas others have to pass through the intermediate realms of the worlds of things and Names.

* * *

The ways leading to God are almost beyond number. Sufism, the science of truth, contains the food, light, and other necessities travelers need for the journey, and the (spiritual) orders (tariqas) are the ports from which they set out, or the schools in which the principles of the journey are taught.

The ways to the Truth can be divided into two main groups. The first is the way in which the wayfarer is offered or taught such principles as eating less, drinking less, sleeping less, increasing contemplation, and refraining from unnecessary social intercourse. Almost all Sufi orders are based on these practices. The main invocations recited by followers of this way are the Seven Names: There is no god but God, God, He, the Truth, the All-Living, the Self-Subsistent, the All-Overwhelming. By reciting these Names, one seeks to pass through the carnal soul’s seven steps: the Evil-Commanding Soul, the Self-Condemning Soul, the Soul Having Inspiration, the Soul at Rest, the Soul Well-Pleased (with however God treats it), the Soul Pleasing (to God), and the Purified or Innocent Soul. To these seven Names, some add such Names of Majesty as the All-Powerful, the All-Strong, the All-Compelling, the Master, and the All-Loving; others add such Names of Grace as the Unique, the One, the Peerlessly All-Single, and the Eternally Besought-of-All.

The second way is based on strict adherence to the Qur’an and the Sunna, and the encouragement of certain recitations. Those who follow this way strive to comply with the Sunna in whatever they do. Rather than reciting certain Names, they follow the methods used by God’s Messenger to worship, invoke, and pray; meditate on His acts and creatures; and mention Him with all of His Names. Joining these activities with a meticulous following of the commandments of Shari’a, they are firmly attached to their guides or teachers and abandon themselves to the tides of ‘ashq and (spiritual) attraction toward God.

Once they have attained ‘ashq and attraction, existence with its outer dimension vanishes from their sight. They annihilate their selves and begin to feel and observe the absolute Divine Unity. At this point, they immediately come to their senses without being confused and going to extremes in the relationship between the Creator and the created. In such a manner do they complete their journey.

The basic principles of this second way are regular worship, love, spiritual attraction toward God, regular recitation, and the companionship of one’s guide or teacher. In this context recitation, in addition to mentioning God with all of His Names, involves study or attending classes in whatever leads one to God. This is what the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, meant when he described those with whom God is pleased: They study together.

At times, a lover finds himself or herself in the stream of joyful zeal and yearning, which can be regarded as another dimension of ‘ashq.

#allahﷻ #god #islam #muslim #quran #revert #convert #convert islam #revert islam #reverthelp #revert help #revert help teM #help #islamhelp #converthelp #prayer #salah #muslimah #reminder #pray #dua #hijab #religion #mohammad #new muslim #new revert #new convert #how to convert to islam #convert to islam #welcome to islam

[mitsunari-sama]

Ikemen Ouji - Yves Kloss Route Translation

A/N: So I have decided to post Yves’ route that I have translated so far here. I tried to translate to the best of my abilities. Please understand that Japanese is not my language and I am still learning it so if there are any mistranslation in the chapters, please ignore or kindly let me know. Also I am not translating the route word to word, I am just writing the basic gist of the events so the words I have chosen may be different from the other Yves route translation. I will work hard to translate better from now on and post as frequently as possible. However, This was a lot of fun and Cybird has outdone itself again with Ikemen Ouji.

ps: this post includes chapter 1 & 2. 

-

Ikemen Ouji - Yves Kloss

Chapter 1

Yves encountered mc after the meeting and told her that because she is a commoner he does not think she is fit for the role of belle. And that she won't make a right decision. He said she's a commoner so how is she going to make such a huge decision that involves an entire country? So he will overlook her decision making processes.

He expected mc to be offended but instead she said she was glad to get his help. 

(I don't catch what happens here for about a sec.) Then mc notices nokto coming down the stairs of the hall and places his elbow on yves' shoulder "saying that mc is pretty girl and he's very interested" to which yves gets angry and tells him not to do that and that nokto is a vulgar man. 

Nokto then flirts with the mc and she is slightly uncomfortable. He has his hand around mc and asks her if she busy now. Yves gets angry and pulls mc away from him and tells nokto to behave himself. Nokto says to Yves that this is the time to have fun with mc because otherwise he won't get the chance after she chooses the king and that is in the clause. Yves gets offended that he would ever stoop so low to have interest in common birth woman and this part of the clause does not affect him. This entire time mc has no idea what they are talking about and says she does not understand what they both are implying.

Yves and nokto are shocked that she doesn't know what they are talking about. Then mc takes the to the thorn room where she signed the contract for being a belle. Yves is applaud that mc signed the clause without even reading it. Mc said she was tired and the contract was so long to read that it would have taken her the whole night to finish it. Yves tells her that she's in problem because once you sign the clause if she does anything that is against the contract it will end in severe punishment. Mc is a bit stressed now and she admits she should have read the clause. 

She notices that the last clauses #99 that says "once belle chooses the King she is against to ever seeing him ever again" is a new addition to the contract and asks why. Nokto said that it's easy to explain it was added after the previous belle fell in love with the king and it cause a lot of confusion in the bureau and that belle too was of a common birth. 

Mc feels sad that such a clause had to be made and the previous belle was the one before her for the king that just died implying. Nokto says bitterly that they are all half brothers so this doesn't effect them because the king never loved any of the prince's mothers. This implies that maybe the king was also in love with the previous belle. Yves says that even if the king now is dead he still shouldn't talk like that about him. 

Yves laughs and adds that none of this will matter because he will never fall in love with mc. To which mc adds that that's right and all she has to do is not fall in love and that is easy. Although she feels sad inside because the reason she chose to be belle is because she wanted something in life where she can move forward but this clause forces her to go back to her mundane life. Nokto laughs and says he will see this development. 

Yves says to mc that he will escort her to her room now but  before leaving he turns to her and jokes to not fall in love with him. Mc huffs and says that no such thing will happen and to rest assure. Nokto is very amused by their exchange.

Chapter 2

Mc's bedroom  

The next morning mc hears someone knock on her door. She was asleep at the time and got up when she heard the knocks. When she stands up from her bed, Yves barges in the room and asks what she has been up to and that he came to see her as promised he made to her yesterday. Mc did not understand and yves tells her why does she looks like that and why she hasn't gotten ready. Mc tells him honestly that she just woke up from sleep when yves knocked on her door and yves goes "I. Cannot. Believe. This!" Yves tells her how is she going to pick a king if she's going to spend half a day sleeping!?

Yves tells her that being late as belle is punishable according to the clause and mc panics. Just then her stomach growls and Yves sighs. Mc is blushing out of embarrassment. He tells her that she can't get any work done and he should silence the monster in her stomach. He tells her to get ready and come down to the dining hall for breakfast and not to be late this time and immediately leaves!

In dining hall mc arrives to a fest that was ready for her and she is shocked. As she eats her breakfast, yves is having his salad. Mc thinks to herself how yves is so graceful. He has long lashes with porcelain doll like face. She also notices how gracefully he eats his salad and mc is awestruck thinking how yves looks like he came out from a painting. 

Yves comments that if mc stares any longer she will make a hole in his face. Mc looks away embarrassed and tries to change the subject by saying that she noticed how it's only the two of them and she is wondering where the others are. Yves adds that they all had breakfast together a long time ago but mc missed it due to her carelessness and tardiness. Mc replies that it was mean of yves to say that. 

Yves ignores her and says that Leon's fraction always has breakfast here together every morning. However, Chevalier's fraction only sometimes comes here to eat and not all of them together. Mc remembers what Sariel has told her yesterday about Leon and Chevalier's fractions and that they make the decisions now that the king is dead. Yves asks if she knows what he's talking about. Mc tells him that Leon's fraction that handles all the domestic affairs made up of Leon, Yves, Jin and Licht while Chevalier's fraction that handles the foreign affairs is makes up of chevalier, clavis, Nokto and Luke. That's 8 brothers divided into two fractions. 

Yves says he's impressed by her knowledge and memory so far and says that he will reward her. He struts over to her and pulls out a notepad from his pocket and gives it to her. He tells her that it's important to understand all the princes before coming down to the task as belle. Mc really appreciates this and thanks Yves wholeheartedly for being so considerate towards her. Yves says he's only trying to do his job as a prince. Mc thinks that even though Yves looks like a proud and arrogant person from the outside he's actually a very kind person. Yves says she can use the notebook to write down her understanding of the princes about their habits, personalities and humanity (?) And says that he will introduce her to all the princes himself so she can understand them better. Mc is touched by his kindness and thanks him again to which Yves insists that he is only doing his job as a prince. 

Sariel enters the hall and says how the both of them have gotten close in such a short amount of time. Yves dismisses his comment. Mc says to Sariel that she will be going to meet all the princes and Sariel says that she has other duties as belle and when mc asks what they are Sariel snaps his fingers and servants come in with books after books and keep in front of mc. Sariel says that mc has to read these books to understand the foreign affairs and about their neighboring country. Mc asks if she has to read allll these books and Sariel says she must. Yves is also surprised so mc says that her talent is reading books to rest assure. Yves huffs and says he will introduce her to Leon's fraction first and leaves the hall. Mc stumbles after him. 

Sariel watches them and says to himself that mc will choose the right king won't she? He will be waiting. Rio enters the hall and says that his mc will do a good job

Yves guides her to the training grounds first and mc notices knights training. Yves says this is the place where they train hard to become strong and points off at the grounds saying mc to look. Mc sees Leon training his knights, Jin training his and Licht training his. Yves says that they take responsibility for their own knight and train them and strive to become strong. 

Yves says he will start to talk about the cute one, Licht first and mc follows his line of sight. Licht was training his knight and points out at one of them who was slow saying if they are like this they will pass out on the battlefield in 3 seconds. The knight apologizes to Licht and Licht says not to apologizes to him and if he doesn't want to move he shouldn't move at all (? I didn't get this part) mc thinks to herself how hard all this looks. Yves sighs and says that licht is being cold again. Yves mentions that Licht is the 6th prince and is a year younger than Yves and as mc can see Licht has problems opening up to people. He adds that Licht will never abandon the people who are important to him and as a brother Yves is worried about him. 

Yves notices that mc is staring and snaps at her saying she should write as he explains! He then says he will introduce their oldest brother Jin. Jin says to his knights to take a break in this place for a while and says how they are so serious even if its practice and they should play sometimes. Jin says that he will give them some interesting information and that soon there is a tavern in town with their attractive girls and that's like heaven! His knights cheer saying that even more reason to practice. Yves says how ridiculous it is for Jin to disturb his practice with his lewd stories. Mc looks up to see red faced Yves stepping over the ledge.

ps: I really wanted to add the cg but Cybird does not appreciate leaking cgs of any new game 

#ikemen prince #cybird #ikepri #ikemen ouji #ikemen series #leon dompteur #chevalier michel #yves kloss #clavis lelouch #licht klein #nokto klein #jin grandet #luke randolph #sariel noir #ikepri yves #ikepri chevalier #ikepri leon #ikepri clavis

[airesgay]

Feelings 101

Chapter 2: the one with all the accidents

Relationship: jennifer jareau/emily prentiss

Summary: the friends au where they all work at NYU, and Emily and JJ find themselves reconnecting after 17 years. There are also mixtapes.

Chapter Summary: Emily’s first day at a new job is not going according to plan

Chapter word count: 2,147

read it on a03

17 years later

September 2005

The ground was awash in the most vibrant colour of orange, like a tapestry, the collective crunching as students ran over it emitting like a chorus. The air itself was crisp, enough to wake anyone up - and making their gourmet coffees clutched in gloved hands even more superfluous. 

Emily herself knew this, though she still clutched to her own, savoring its warmth. She’d opted not to wear gloves this morning, underestimating the cold. Red fingers and bitten down nails were on full display, not thanking her for the decision. She kept her head down as she maneuvered through the campus towards her destination. 

Students were running left and right like headless chickens, most on foot, but the odd individual zooming past on a skateboard – only to go flying into a pile of leafs. They laughed it off, relishing in the zeal of life. Others looked lost, desperately trying to decipher a vulgar sized map with writing that required a magnifying glass. Emily tried to drown it all out, letting the melancholy melodies of Joy Division wash over her. 

Just as she turned the volume up on her iPod something collided into the side of her head. Fuck. She just managed to catch her footing so as not to degrade herself to the same level as a stoned skateboarder. She lifted a hand to her head as she felt it throb. Was this a sign or something? Great start to her first day. 

Before she could fully adjust herself a hulk of a man came bounding up to her, hands outstretched in apology. He looked too old to be a student, unless he was a very mature one. Could he be a lecturer? He was wearing a baseball cap - backwards- which didn’t bode well. 

“Aw man I’m so sorry! These kids need to up their receiving game! You okay?” 

No shit, Emily thought but managed to grumble out a “Yeah, just watch out next time.” 

The man gave her a salute and flashed a dazzling smile. She considered throwing the ball in the other direction before tossing it back to him.

“Nice meeting you!” he called, as he ran back to join what looked like a group of students, the correct age. She narrowed her eyes. 

With her earphones dislodged, the music from a distant speaker became apparent: electric guitar and a very upbeat voice, something about a ‘dirty secret.’ It was nothing she’d heard of.  

She promptly shoved her earphones back in place.She’d already made herself familiar with the campus, been given the tour and shown her office. Nonetheless, there was no doubt that there was a different atmosphere now the place was crawling with students; the whole campus felt alive. 

She swiftly made her way towards the languages building, eager to avoid another projectile to the head. She smiled politely at fellow members of staff as she passed, taking the elevator up to her top floor office. It was exactly how she’d left it the day before: pristine and prepared for use. She shucked off her long black woolen coat and hung it on the rack by the door. She then heaved her hefty briefcase up onto her desk and started to unpack. 

Nearly all of her work had gone home with her. She liked to have something to occupy her mind at all hours of the evening, specifically at night in fact. She’d spent the previous night checking her lecture notes at 4am. She hoped her makeup had sufficiently covered up the rings under her eyes. She didn’t have time to perfect it when she’d haphazardly rolled out of bed this morning. Maybe she should just sleep at her office. She’d see how things progressed. 

She’d selected a red turtleneck this morning – a splash of colour for her first day. In all honestly it had been between red, blue and dark green. The rest of her wardrobe was awash with black and grey. She’d stood in front of the mirror switching out the three colours for the five minutes that she did not have. She had just happened to be holding the red when she noticed the time and threw it on before tackling her bedhead hair. Tossing and turning all night had given the impression that she’d had far more fun last night than she really had.

Emily was someone who liked to be organised. Someone who considered being on time late. The fact that she was an insomniac was somewhat counterintuitive to this ethos. Unfortunately, it just meant that she skipped breakfast most days and - with the exception of today - spent little time picking out an outfit. It helped that most of her clothes were very similar. 

She spent the little time she had in the morning to make herself presentable and professional: light makeup, brushed down hair, brushed teeth. No time for luxuries like food or reading the paper. Although she’d usually already skimmed through it at 3am. And of course, she was strictly a night shower person, sometimes a bath if she was feeling in the mood. Saturday night, soaking in the tub with lit candles around the edges, maybe a good book - that was the most luxurious she ever felt. 

She might even have the melodies of a particular Walkman playing; in all honesty it was the only thing guaranteed to calm her down. Some nights, when it was clear nothing else would lull her to sleep, she just lay there all night, listening. After 17 years she knew all the songs by heart. 

Emily snapped herself out of her thoughts, as another person walked past her door and offered a hello and a ‘welcome to the family!’ She forced out a smile, just glad they hadn’t thrown a football at her head (Although she was better equipped to deal with that. At least a scowl had been the appropriate response there).

Emily didn’t know what to expect from this job. She was hoping for some peace. Saying that, anything after her past line of work should be incredibly mundane in comparison. That was what she was striving for. She didn’t need any drama. If she could get through this day with as little small talk as possible and no more footballs to the head she’d call it a success. 

She finished off her coffee and glanced out the window, appreciating the view her office granted. It looked across the expanse of Washington Square Park, which was still teeming with students making their way in for morning classes. Well, some were heading inside, eager to flood their brains with knowledge. Others were stood chatting underneath the colossal roman arch, seemingly with no intention to move. On the other side of the spectrum, a handful of students were playing in the fountain, splashing each other like 6 year olds and not the 17/18 years olds they actually were. 

She spotted the man who’d very nearly concussed her, stuck in what looked like a headlock by what had to be a student. She could see from here that he was smiling and a second later he escaped the hold easily and tripped the boy up before running away laughing. He turned around, lifting his hands up in what looked like an apology, and pointing to his watch. Prompted, Emily checked her own. Sure enough, it was time to get to class. 

Wondering if the man-child would be one of her students (praying he wasn’t) she collected her things and made her way out. She ensured to lock her office door, not that there was much reason to. It was a habit. 

Thankfully her first class was only in the building next door so she didn’t have far to walk. In all honestly, she’d already timed the walk to all her lecture halls, so as not to be late. Being an insomniac with a record of sleeping in, she’d learned to know exactly how much time things took. 

The elevator doors were just opening, and Emily thought how perfect the timing was as she picked up the pace to reach them before they closed. However, in her haste she tripped over the heels she wasn’t used to wearing. In that split second a very gangly looking mad scientist man rushed past her, and dove into the elevator before her. It looked like there had only been room for one person – who would have been Emily. Unfortunately the space was now packed and Emily grumbled, resigning herself to waiting for the next one. Which seemed to take longer than the usual time. Someone must have been stopping at every floor.

Five minutes later she was stepping back outside and the cold wind slapped her in the face. Despite the short walk to the next building, she almost wished she’d taken her jacket. Eager to reclaim some warmth, and trying not to trip again, she hurried into the building without looking where she was going - and promptly collided with the person walking out of it.

A splash of heat seeped through to her chest. She had wanted warmth. 

She threw her head up, an apology on her lips. The word caught in her throat as she met the glittering blue eyes of the woman opposite her. Wavy blonde hair reaching down to her hips, soft tan skin, and a surprised yet warm smile - she was stunning, there was no other word for it. She also looked familiar. Like she’d met her before. Almost like…. God Emily, get a grip. She isn’t your Soulmate or something. And if she was, you did NOT just spill coffee all over her.

“Whoa that’s a wake up call!” The woman was laughing, which Emily was thankful for, but she remained unable to join. 

While the woman’s eyes had mesmerised her, her attention had been drawn to her shirt, which was covered in her drink and now very much see through. She was wearing a blue sports bra, but it might as well have been lingerie. Coming back to herself, Emily shook her head and met the woman’s gaze again, pretending she hadn’t just been blatantly staring. 

“I am so sorry,” she apologised profusely - for the spillage or the staring she wasn’t sure. 

The woman waved her off. “I always expect a disaster on the first day back. This just means the rest of my day should be plain sailing.”

Still trying very hard to keep her eyes level with the woman, Emily continued to scramble. “God no, you’ve got to let me buy you another…”

“Tea,” the woman supplied, seemingly amused by Emily’s flustered nature. The staring really hadn’t gone unnoticed.

Emily nodded curtly. “Tea, yes, absolutely. I’ll get you one right now.”

Emily made to locate the nearest drinks stand, eager to turn her back on the woman and her soaked attire. 

A hand reached out to stop her. “Don’t be silly, it was an accident, and it seems like you have somewhere to be.”

Fuck. She’d nearly forgotten. Luckily she’d left in enough time she shouldn’t be late. But her jumper, while not quite provocative, was still heavily stained. Great first impression that would be.

She ran a hand through her thick hair, feeling a headache coming on. God, what was this morning? First the football to the head, then the elevator, now this. What a series of accidents. It was like the universe was out to get her.

“I’ll have to go grab my coat.”

The woman raised her eyebrows. “First lecture?”

“Yeah,” Emily grimaced. 

“Well good luck.” Despite the situation, it didn’t seem like a malicious offering. Like she really hoped, or even believed, that Emily’s first lecture could still be something other than a disaster. 

And despite the situation, Emily smiled. “Thanks. What about you?” 

She tried to gesture to her shirt without looking. 

The woman shrugged. “I have a friend who’s always prepared for these situations. Besides, I’m not teaching.”

“Em, okay? That’s good.”

A hand reached out to rest upon Emily’s arm, and she almost flinched. Why was this woman getting closer to her after she’d just all but ruined both of their mornings? If anything, she should be running in the opposite direction as fast as she can.

“Honestly don’t worry about it,” the woman assured with a squeeze to Emily’s arm. “You get to your lecture. You can pay me back another time. Although -” 

She paused, regarding Emily with a look that made her feel like she was the one exposed. “I think this makes us even.” 

A smile and a wink and she was gone, brushing past Emily and disappearing into the crowd like a mirage. 

It was with those last words that Emily was hit with a memory, like a sucker punch. 

She had recognised that face. Those eyes. No way.

Songs:

Love will tear us apart - joy division

dirty little secret - all american rejects

#jemily #criminal minds #emily prentiss #Jennifer Jareau #fanfiction #mine #feelings 101

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: Muslim Culture and Character: Morals And Manners: Studying and Learning (Part 2)

TEACHER–STUDENT RELATIONS

Ali ibn Abu Talib said, “I would be the slave of anyone who teaches me one letter.” This saying expresses the great respect that is due to teachers. Throughout Islamic history, educational institutions have always remained free of association with governmental or political institutions, avoiding partiality in political debates, and thereby pro- tecting the dignity of knowledge, even when scholars were threat- ened with the worst kind of persecution. Teachers did not discrimi- nate between students according to race, class, or socioeconomic background, and tried their best to help all develop into good citi- zens. The Ottoman rulers did not deviate from this tradition and maintained respect for teachers. There is a famous story about Sultan Selim I, the ninth Ottoman sultan, and his teacher Ibn Kemal. When they were returning from victory at the Battle of Mercidabik in 1516 the teacher was traveling in front of the Sultan, and his horse splashed mud on the Sultan’s robes. The Sultan smiled and, saying that the mud was an ornament to his robes, ordered that they be saved—unwashed—and used to cover his coffin.

PROPER ATTITUDE TOWARDS SCHOLARS

Traditionally, out of respect, we avoid calling our parents by their first names; this kind of respect is also due to scholars as well.

Adab demands such respect to scholars, because it is they who are the heirs to the Prophets. Children should learn from our example to honor and esteem scholars, never to act in an improper or un- seemly manner in their presence, and to speak softly when they are in the room. At all times, scholars should be treated with courtesy and politeness.

Yahya ibn Muadh spoke of the value of scholars thus: “Scholars are more merciful to the family of believers than mothers and fa- thers are to their children.” When he was asked why he said this, he answered, “Mothers and fathers save their children from the physi- cal fire in this world, but scholars save them from the eternal fire in the Hereafter.”17 This is one of the reasons why scholars deserve re- spect from us.

A Prophetic saying, related by Ubada ibn al-Samit, states, “One who does not respect their elders, one who does not show sympa- thy and compassion for children, and one who does not know the value of scholars is not of us.”18 In another hadith the Prophet said, “A person who acquires knowledge merely so that they will be praised in front of scholars, or to argue with the ignorant, or to win the admiration of people is bound for Hell.”19

As for the proper behavior for children toward scholars, Ibn Abbas related an experience he had as a child with one of the Companions: “When God’s Messenger passed away, I asked a man from the Ansar, ‘Come, I want to go and learn from the Companions of the Prophet because there are many here now.’ The man replied, ‘I am surprised at you, Ibn Abbas! Do you imagine that anyone will be in need of you (i.e. your knowledge) while the Companions of God’s Messenger are still among us?’ Then he left. I went to the Companions alone and asked them some questions. When I learned that a particular hadith had been related by someone, I would go to that person’s house. If he were sleeping, I would use my cloak as a pillow and lie down in front of his door to wait; the wind would blow dust over me (while waiting there in patience). The man would come out and he would see me, usually addressing me, ‘O cousin of the Prophet! What is wrong, why are you lying here? If you had sent word to me, I would have come to you!’ (And in return) I would answer, ‘No, it is more appropriate that I come to you.’ I would then ask this Companion about the hadith. Later, one day when I was sur- rounded by people (and teaching them what I had learned), that same man from the Ansar came and saw that I was being asked questions. He said, ‘This youth is more intelligent than I.’”20

The following example is another good example of the prop- er behavior of the children of the Companions towards the schol- ars: Said ibn al-Musayyab used to pray two rakats of prayer and then sit down. The children of the Companions would gather around him, but no one would say anything or ask any questions until after he had recited a hadith for them. Then they would ask him questions.21

Hasan al-Basri likewise warned his son to practice adab with scholars, reminding him, “My child! When you sit with scholars, listen more than you speak. Just as you have learned to speak well, now learn to listen well. Until the scholar stops speaking—no mat- ter how long he may speak—do not interrupt him!”

TEACHER ETIQUETTE

Just as the adab of teaching and learning applies to students of all kinds of knowledge, not only religious knowledge, all teachers, no matter what their subject, should practice adab in their duties. The following are some guidelines for teachers:

A teacher should be up to date on the latest information and developments in their field and always come to class well prepared.

A teacher should explain the topic at a level the students will understand, thus not destroying their motivation by making them feel it is too difficult.

A teacher should live an exemplary life which inspires re- spect in terms of their behavior, words, lifestyle, and mor- als. “Respect cannot be forced, it can only be given.” Teachers who constantly scold their students, demand re- spect from them, and try to force it instead of inspiring it are not only the least beloved teachers, they are also the least effective.

A teacher should always strive to love teaching and to com- municate their knowledge in the best way possible.

A teacher should approach students with the same compas- sion as a parent, not indulging hard workers, or belittling or putting down lazy students.

Students’ faults should not be pointed out and listed in front of their friends in order to humiliate them; teaching requires tolerance and a forgiving nature.

When necessary, a teacher should listen to students to share their problems, give them support, and assist them. At the same time, they should be careful not to become so famil- iar and casual with the students that they lower the digni- ty of the pursuit of knowledge.

Grades should not be held over students’ heads as a threat and a teacher must be impartial in assigning grades.

Teachers must avoid accepting expensive gifts, lavish dinner parties, or other such offers made by the families of stu- dents to safeguard the honor and integrity of their office.

STUDENT ETIQUETTE

Clear, concise rules are required for a child’s moral education, character and values to develop properly and to ensure academic success. If this foundation is laid both at home and in the student– teacher relationship, the classroom environment becomes more en- joyable and positive. For this reason the most essential rules will be listed here:

Honesty: This is one of the most basic and critical corner- stones of communal life at any level. Lying, cheating, copying the work of others, stealing, or using things with- out permission must not be tolerated at school; indeed, they are unacceptable in every segment of society.

Courtesy: This is the outer expression of basic respect for oneself and others. Therefore, students must be held re- sponsible for their choice of words or the tone of their voice. The same polite behavior and courtesy that they owe to their elders they also owe to their peers; that is, students need to be courteous to one another.

Social relationships: Students need to be taught to avoid insulting or using vulgar terms of address or styles of com- munication with one another. They must not forget that it is bad behavior to belittle, ridicule, or taunt other stu- dents, or to form cliques. Students should be admonished and warned about such behavior on a regular basis so they will take it seriously, thus learning to be careful about how they joke or tease others.

Personal care: This is an important mark of a person with excellent character. Children must learn to pay attention to personal cleanliness and bathe daily. As they grow, physical cleanliness becomes more and more important, and they should be aware of this. Hygiene is the most ef- fective way to stay healthy and avoid contagious illnesses (which are often rife in school environments). So students should remember to wash their hands with soap before and after meals and before and after using the restroom.

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[astrologiaxo]

The Sixth House: The House of Health

Ruled by Virgo and the planet Mercury we can already assume what this house might entail. The sixth house represents the importance of how we tackle daily struggles in order to upkeep with our diet, fitness, and hygiene. We learn of our strength and how it is detrimental to our health in more ways than one. We ask ourselves how will my efforts be beneficial to not only myself, but those around me? Constantly asking ourselves how is my health, do I need a trim, should I go for a run, or has the cat been fed? It’s the cycle of life that keeps us going if we manage to stay strong and not let it deter us. In times of trouble, however, our lack of health and service to ourselves/others can adversely have negative side affects since not taking care of ourselves or our loved ones is bad. It tests us in times of a personal crisis but can make us stronger if we are able to cope with such a crisis. Those who are stronger, in a sense, are able to follow a more routine lifestyle and are more organized like the Virgo. It’s the areas of life that we try to control in order to have the most prospective life since we care about our sleeping patterns, eating habits, schedules, cleanliness, and overall ability to tackle our daily life. We can even refer to the workplace where we are employees or the employer since we need both in order to run a business. At work there is always a system to follow, a training to be done, and we have to help each other to continue work flow. Overall, this is the house of modesty and represents the accomplishments that are reached for our wellbeing. 

Aries in the Sixth House: The Aries in any placement is always a busy and active one. Here we see how Aries manages their time in order to keep up with daily habits. You may find yourself occupied and constantly moving, trying to complete a task. Since we are trying to be of service to others in this house, Aries tends to put others first, believe it or not. The reason for this is that you run out of things to be of service to yourself so you’d rather focus on other people. Learn to delegate so that you are not stuck doing everything by yourself, yes, you do get the job done well all on your own, but know that you can rely on others every now and then. You’re a leader so it is rare that you take time to heal, relax, and reflect on your accomplishments but remember that this is important for your well being. Don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers!

Taurus in the Sixth House: Slowly but surely, you do accomplish goals that you’ve set for yourself on a day to day basis. Like any earth sign, you are determined and work very hard for the materials that you have. In this house, however, we are bringing light to how we give to others and what our service provides. Taurus usually expects a pat on the back but in this placement we must learn to do without expecting anything in return. Feelings of trying to dictate and be in power need to be undermined. We are here to give, not take. You may do well in learning to create some self discipline, especially in matters of diet. No shade but we are speaking about Taurus after all. A new diet might just be a great new start to a healthier lifestyle that you may have been limiting yourself. 

Gemini in the Sixth House: The great multitasking skills that the Gemini has is applied to in this placement by having an organized mess with doing more than two things at once. Gemini sees both sides and uses this to their advantage when dealing with daily tasks. You use your personable skills in the workplace by being chatty and charming. Gossiping makes it fun to have a conversation with you, since you always have a good cup of tea to share. However, the Gemini has a very sharp tongue that manages to get what they want and this goes insofar as acquiring wealth. The way you serve people is by showing them that you are on a quest to seek knowledge and remind us that we can solve our own problems if given the right resources.  

Cancer in the Sixth House: Cautious and nurturing is how this Cancer goes about their daily tasks. You may stick to the same habits that you had as a child since it is comforting and all knowing. Whoever played the figure of a female role model in your life has great influence on how you treat your health. You would make a good nurse for your compassion and ability to understand people with illnesses. The Moon is known as the mother so there is something about you that likes to take care of people and be emotionally available, but when it comes to the workplace sometimes you need to learn to be more objective. The only reason for this is so that you’re not caught up trying to mother everyone, that can get too overwhelming and affect your personal health. It is natural for you to be of service to others, but don’t forget about yourself. 

Leo in the Sixth House: Problems of ego with any Leo will rise. Here, specifically, the ego is bruised in the work place. You are constantly trying to outshine everyone, even yourself. At first it is very entertaining to watch what makes you stand out, but unfortunately, you being the standout character is often overseen since it’s just who you are. You are happy when your efforts are being acknowledged and insecure when they’re not. For those who are lucky, you are always appreciated. At the same time, these qualities obviously make you a leader. You are very good at bringing people together in order to make something better. Be weary of dominating and letting the power get to you, that is when the ugly side comes out. No one likes an overbearing leader. Use your qualities for good and not just your ego. 

Virgo in the Sixth House: Another natural placement, Virgo is home in this placement. If you remember, Aries Rising is lucky in life because all of its house placements are in according to their sign and ruling planet. Here, Virgo is naturally in the house of Health & Service because it is ruled by Mercury, which also rules Virgo and Gemini. However, we all know that Virgo is more tied to the idea of health and service compared to Gemini. For all these reasons, Virgo makes a great teacher, a great service provider, and ultimately shows us how to cope with life. If it wasn’t for Virgo we’d all be lost, roaming aimlessly. Virgo shows us our purpose and how we must continue to do our jobs in life. Working and striving towards something is so natural to you that your workplace is pretty much your everyday life. There is not a day without work with Virgo in the Sixth House. 

Libra in the Sixth House: This placement may be a weak point for some because you depend on the need of a partnership in order to be well in life. You struggle to do things on your own and want your partner to work for you, like being a housewife, or in some cases, you’d like your partner to be your coworker. Being of service to the public with someone by your side is your ultimate goal. Depending on your sun sign or other placements, you may not be that dependent of others as this suggests, but if you find yourself wanting a partner in certain aspects of your life, this may be why. Because of this, you are also the reason there is harmony because you need a balance of things in order to be well. Seeking justice, playing fair, and getting along with everyone is important to you. You would do well in careers of beauty, law, or the arts. 

Scorpio in the Sixth House: The habits of Scorpio in this placement are actually the opposite of what good health should be. Your behavior towards your everyday wants and needs can be a little more obsessive than others, like having OCD for example. You get too caught up in the small details that no one really cares to analyze. You believe everything has a deeper meaning or order. This usually turns people off because people don’t want to be nagged at all the time, just let people be. If you don’t learn to calm this erratic behavior, it will only leave you unhappy. Although, you come from a good place, it’s not that you don’t care about how people feel, you’d just rather snap them out of it and show them that there is a way to heal or fix something. You can be more cold, but it’s only because you trust your intuition and feel like you know the truth. Fortunately, your intuition is usually right to the point of having psychic abilities so you are one to be trusted. 

Sagittarius in the Sixth House: The ever restless Sagitarrius is no different in this aspect. In fact, it can be most noted because this house brings about the behavior in a person’s everyday life. Naturally in your life, you are constantly seeking answers or moving about from one location to another just to feel like you have a sense of direction, or are being a service to others. Your goal in life is to find the truth, constantly philosophizing, in order to cope with life. You don’t like things unanswered. Once you figure out the truth in some form, you feel the need to teach it to others with your wisdom and experience, so they too can feel at peace with themselves. Your lust for life leads you to seek work that is both pleasurable and play because you think enjoying each and every day is what is important. This makes you a great coworker to have because you have a positive attitude and do things 100%. You’re usually lucky with health, so you won’t have to deal with any major health issues, but even if you do, you won’t let it damper your spirit. 

Capricorn in the Sixth House: Ah, the workaholic. Every day you set out to get things done and you usually do. If you have a to do list, nothing and no one can get in your way of accomplishing it. This tends to make you stubborn because you won’t budge to anyone else’s wants or needs. You know what’s best for yourself and you only. Power and influence are important to you and you want to be at the top. You work tirelessly and endlessly to get the recognition you think you deserve, and often times feel insecure when you don’t receive it. If you learn to be satisfied with the work you do without wanting recognition from others, you will feel that you are less stressed out and less nervous. The health of the Capricorn is not too good because you hold in a lot of tension. Your sleeping habits can also be unhealthy and in turn you pick up bad habits to mask the problem. Try to learn to release that frustration in better ways, like SLEEPING MORE. 

Aquarius in the Sixth House: Here we have the humanitarian of the zodiac in the service of others so it is just as you might imagine. Group dynamics and figuring out better ways for all is essential to the Aquarian. You want efficiency and for everyone to come together to give a better result and will stop at nothing until that is achieved. Essentially, you are the ultimate team player and have admirable leadership skills because you are quite the expert at convincing others that you’re right. You’re so good at being a part of a team that you forget to tune into yourself and see how you are doing. For service, this is great, but for yourself and your health you might have issues taking care of yourself. Sometimes you’re so involved with work and other people that it becomes your personal life as well. Try to mentally clock out every now and then and focus on just you. The people will understand. Ultimately your strong mindedness, and ability to not care of what others think will take you far in life. 

Pisces in the Sixth House: The struggle for a productive, healthy life is real. For you it can be very hard to stick to a plan and keep your feet on the ground. You’re more of a spiritual person and don’t believe in planning out every day of your life, you just let things unfold as they should. While this may be an easier to deal with life, it can also get you into trouble because you never learn how to find a way to actually work and achieve things. It takes a lot for you to be inspired, but once you are, you get lost in it and in turn create/manifest beautiful things. Your health is extremely vulnerable, perhaps you get easily sick from other people, so try to take extra care of yourself. However, for the Pisces, taking care of others is a form of healing in itself for you. Your power comes from treating others and might find it more beneficial for you in the long run to find a career this way. Your body + mind connection is stronger than others, use it to your advantage. 

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