Not An Embrace

Sandor had never held anyone so close to him as now, nor pressed a woman’s body so tightly against his. The wenches he had rutted with hadn’t needed it. They had always stayed willingly until the end to receive their coin for the services provided – before hurrying away as fast as they could.

And he had never felt a need to hold them.

Embrace, mummers and singers called it, he knew. Lovers clutching each other in their arms, joining their body and soul – what a load of bull!

It is not an embrace when a hired sword restrains his prey to prevent alarm in the quiet night. The Warrior Maid of Tarth had handed him a bag of gold to steal Sansa Stark from the Gates of the Moon, right on the eve of her wedding, and he was going to do it proper.

It had not been an embrace when he had covered her mouth with his huge palm and clasped her arms and hands in a tight hold, murmuring his intent to her in a low tone. I will harm you not.

It was not an embrace when she nodded her understanding and his hand dropped to her throat, her frantic pulse racing under his fingertips. Nor when she pulled her hand from his grasp and reached for his – but instead of pushing it away, squeezed it tightly, gently. Nor when she pressed her back against him and her whole body – taut as a bowstring a mere moment ago – relaxed and moulded against his.

It could not be an embrace when they stood like that for a heartbeat, two heartbeats, ten heartbeats, precious moments ticking away when they should have been packing, sneaking away, riding out of the Vale. Nor when he inhaled her scent, felt her warmth through her shift, sensed her body trembling and saw her downcast eyelashes fluttering and her mouth forming the words. Just a whisper, barely audible. You. It is you.



Not an embrace.

***
© 2016 - 2020 bubug
Illustration of the fragment of "Winter, thy enemy, thy friend" by LadyTP archiveofourown.org/works/1113…, commissioned by lalloo75.

Based on the characters from "A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R. R. Martin.


Sansan ficlet written for us by wonderful LadyTP. Thank you, my friend, it's perfect : )

***

Явор Ганчев

Непрекъснато слушам "институциите това, институциите онова" и не мога да се отърва от чувството, че сме като деца от детската, които обсъждат секса.

Това, което наричаме "институции", е социалната прослойка, която се занимава с управление по занятие. Хората от тази прослойка изповядват следните убеждения:
- че "институциите" имат правото (моралното и юридическото) да ти казват какво да правиш,
- че, следователно, работата им (като представители на "институциите") се състои в това да ти казват какво да правиш, и
- че те са способни да преценяват всичко по отношение на всеки друг, естествено за негово добро, но винаги "в обществен интерес". Тази способност не се подлага на съмнение, защото е общочовешка и е достатъчно само да си част от "институциите", за да я упражняваш на практика.


От другата страна имаме много хора, които приемат поведението на представителите на "институциите" за естествено, защото споделят същите убеждения. Ако ги питаш, ще ти цитират (може и на латински) "лош закон, но закон" - защото са убедени, че дефиницията на "закон" е "думата на този, който упражнява официалната власт". Те се подчиняват (с мрънкане, и привидно, това няма значение) на управляващите и мразят тези, които поставят под въпрос правото на управляващите да им казват какво да правят, защото "това не е свобода, а слободия" и "трябва да се спазват правилата, защото иначе ще настане анархия".

И за двете групи "гражданско общество" е общество, в което "правилата се спазват".

Комбинацията от произволни институционални глупости и безгръбначно гражданско поведение по правило произвежда разруха (морална и материална). Тук изниква нуждата от психологическа преработка - трябва да си обясним и да примирим противоречието между убежденията си (които няма как да са глупави, нали, защото самите ние сме умни) и резултата от прилагането им на практика. По-семплите се задоволяват с мразене на различни групи съграждани без власт (циганите, геювете, антиваксърите, велосипедистите и т.н.), и общо взето всеки, който "не спазва правилата". По-интелектуалните въздишат, че проблемът е, че "няма доверие в институциите", "обществото ни не е узряло" и "за съжаление нашата дисциплина не е като немската".

Сега... когато (ако)
1) достатъчно много хора от двете групи прочетат и разберат Основния закон (в който пише, че работата на институциите е да защитават правата (свободата) на всеки един, и евентуално се образоват що е "право", нали)
2) "институциите" се съгласят (или бъдат принудени") да го спазват
3) останалите откажат да се подчиняват на произволни глупости, изходени от случаен преял с власт посредствен глупак...

Тогава може да си говорим за "институции", без да изглеждаме нелепо.

***

https://www.facebook.com/Yavor.Ganchev.dm/posts/2809698932482582

"С всеки ден и по всякакъв начин, животът ми става все по-добър и по-прекрасен."




***
Повтаряйте го всеки ден по няколко пъти

just-for-ship:

geeko-sapiens:

teawitch:

writing-prompt-s:

While putting your favorite condiment on a sandwich, you accidentally make a magical occult symbol and summon a demon.

You silently take two more slices of bread out of the package and make another sandwich. You put it on a plate with a handful of potato chips and hand it to the demon. He takes the sandwich, smiles and vanishes in a puff of demonic smoke. The next day you get that job promotion you were after. There was no contract. No words spoken. You owe nothing. But every now and then, another demon pops in for lunch. Demons don’t often get homemade sandwiches. 

Can I keep this going? I’m going to keep this going.

It would be a little annoying, if they weren’t so nice about it. You don’t know what you expected demons to be like, but you certainly didn’t expect them to be nice about it. There’s no demands, no voices like wailing babies, no blood on the walls (well, there was that one time, but Balthazak was very apologetic about the whole thing and cleaned it up right quick). Just the occasional demon stopping by for lunch. In fact, you could almost forget that they weren’t just ordinary people, the way they act. Nice people, too. 

You start talking with them, as time goes on. In the beginning you carefully pick your words so they couldn’t be spun to even imply a contract or reference a soul, but when they seem politely eager to have a normal chat, your words become a bit looser. You even begin gossiping with them - turns out, demons have breakroom gossip just like anyone else. You listened to Rek’ththththtyr’s account of Drokyarix’s torrid affair with Irkilliz, and Ferkiyan didn’t even know what Drory was doing behind his back, poor dear, and you kept quiet and let Ferkiyan cry on your shoulder after Drokyarix finally broke up with him (the shirt was a bit of a loss, demon tears are ruinous to cloth, but Ferkiyan’s a good sort and you couldn’t just turn him away). You even managed to talk him down from going and starting a fight with Irkiliz, who didn’t even know that Drokyarix was in a relationship, and who was almost as horrified as Rek’ththththtyr. 

After that event in particular, you start to get a sort of a reputation as a place where a demon can come to relax, talk, and - of course - get a sandwich. Your sandwich-making skills have really improved since this whole thing began. Your luck seems to have improved too - you’re not sure if you can attribute the whole thing to the sandwiches and the reputation, but you don’t really want to know anyway. 

One day, there’s a bright flash of light from your living room. Nothing unusual in itself - most of the younger demons haven’t quite got the style of their elders, and usually just go for a materialization in a flash of hellfire over your fireplace - except that it’s white instead of the usual red. You look up, and who do you see but an angel looking at you with a spear in his hand. Shrugging, you tell him to sit down and you’ll have a sandwich for him shortly, and meanwhile he can just tell you all about what’s on his mind. This clearly is not at all what he was expecting, but after a moment’s thought, he decides to take you up on your offer and starts talking. Apparently, he’d been dispatched to take care of some demon summoner in the neighborhood, and while he’d evidently got the wrong house the right one shouldn’t be hard to find - have you seen anyone practicing satanic rituals nearby? You laugh, a little, and tell him that you don’t really summon them, they just come on their own. They do like their sandwiches, and they’re quite nice folk. 

The angel’s jaw drops, and you remind him to chew with his mouth closed. 

And I’m going to take this even further. Here we go.

It took a bit of explaining with the first angel to arrive. Telling him about the first accidental summoning and then how the demons just started stopping by around lunch time on your days off. But once he understood what’s been going on (and finished his sandwich) he nodded solemnly and said he would get this all straightened out “upstairs.”

You eventually start getting more angels coming around for lunch. Sometimes they bring a small dessert for you to share after the sandwiches, and the dishes are always magically clean and back in the cupboard when they leave.

You lean that angels don’t have much of their own drama, but they do know all the truths about human tabloid drama and they’re more than willing to dish on what the Kardashians have been up to.

The first time an angel and a demon show up for lunch on the same day is a little tense. You tell them that ALL are welcome for lunch in your house and that you would prefer it to be a no-conflict zone. It takes a while for them to settle, but eventually they grow comfortable enough to start chatting. Which is when you learn that because demons are technically fallen angels, you’ve been having two sides of an estranged family over for lunch regularly.

Soon, you have an angel and a demon at every lunch. Old friends and estranged siblings meeting up to reconnect over a sandwich at your dinning room table. You help the ones who had a falling out reach an understanding, and you get to hear wild stories of what the “old realm” was like.

One day, as you’re pulling out the bread and cheese, a messenger demon appears. You greet him and tell him a sandwich will be ready soon, but he declines. He is here on behalf of Lucifer to ask if it’s alright by you for him to “enter your dwelling so as to meet with his brother Michael over sandwiches.”

A little stunned, you agree. The demon disappears and you prepare three sandwiches, setting them at the table.

When Lucifer (the actual devil!) appears in small puff of smoke, you welcome him and ask what he’d like to drink. As you’re fetching the apple juice, a blinding flash of light comes from the dinning room indicating Michael’s arrival. You grab a second cup and walk back in to find a tense stand off between the brothers. You set down the cups and juice while calmly reminding them that this is a conflict-free zone, and if they are going to fight, please take it to an alternate plane of existence.

They don’t fight. They sit and enjoy the sandwiches and talk about what happened. You learn a lot about why creation started, what the purpose of humanity was and what it’s grown to be. You only have to diffuse two arguments. And at the end when it’s time for them to leave, they hug each other, agreeing to meet up again somewhere else.

In the following weeks you have the usual assortment of demons and angels stopping by. The regulars ask how you’re mom is doing and if your friend is settling in to their new apartment nicely. At some point during each visit though, they ask if it’s true. Did Lucifer and Michael really come for lunch? You tell them yes, but won’t say what was talked about. They’re disappointed, everyone likes the gossip, but they understand. Before they leave, you ask each angel and demon about this idea you have for the summer, what if you had a barbecue on the back patio for everyone who wanted to come? They think it sounds like a fun idea.

“What are we doing?”

“Falling in love.”

Earth

While Air and Fire ascend and Water descends, the Earth is fixed at the bottom.

Earth is the element most depending on the other elements for Earth alone is dead and lifeless, rigid and cold, mere material without the trace of anything alive in it. 

It needs Water to be fertilized, Air to be animated, and Fire to be inspired.

***

То това тука не е просто съвет - тука си е чист призив.

"Освободи се от оковите, за да ти се сбъдне желанието! 

Махни всякакви стари разбирания, за да ми направиш истинско място в себе си. Можем да бъдем едно цяло, защото аз те познавам по-добре от всеки и знам кое е най-добре за теб. 

Мога да ти бъда сътрудник и чрез теб да изпълня мисията си на духовен наставник. Разбирам,че пазиш своите граници и лично пространство. 

Търпелив съм и ще те очаквам,когато си готова. Но не забравяй - времето на Земята тече. Отвори душата си, разпери криле и се впусни! Ще разбереш за какво ти говоря."

***

Ｌｏｖｅ, Ｓｅｘ, Ｉｎｔｅｌｌｉｇｅｎｃｅ

This is the truth as hard as it may be.

The silver lining is that "The One" is still waiting for you. Let go of what wasn't for you and lean into your future filled with happiness and love. ❤️ ~ Gia ~

***

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