The blackbuck approached the lair. The other deer told him that it was suicide. "The Twin Gods will protect me.", he replied. He stepped inside, his eyes needing to adjust. Already he was hearing their snarls. He could smell them, they were very close.

He stepped into a grand chamber of the lair, and surrounding him were several glowing eyes, all fixed on him. Wolves.

"Isn't this grand?", one of the wolves spoke, "Our lunch just decides to stop in and die for us."

Quad scoffed a little, "I am merely a representative of an Endless Forest. I have come to negotiate the nature of this land."

"Negotiate?", the leader wolf chuckled, "We do not negotiate. We eat!" The wolf pounced on the deer at once, expecting him to be an easy kill. But much to his surprise, Quad harnessed his gift of light. His body illuminated wildly, the darkness of the den becoming engulfed in blinding light. The wolves all winced and hid their eyes, the leader collapsing as he was caught mid-air when he was blinded. "Enough! Enough!", he cried.

The light faded, and all of them, even Quad, needed to adjust their eyes once again. "What in the world was that?", some of the wolves began to question. The deer answered them, "Our kind is more powerful than you realize. You really underestimate my species."

The leader backed away for the moment, "What do you want then?", he asked.

Quad cleared his throat, "I have come to negotiate the nature of this land."

"Negotiate...right...", the wolf agreed.

"I understand that your kind needs to survive, and in doing so you must eat meat. I will assure you that the deer of my Forest have established some rules on predation. First off...", Quad began, but the wolves bickered, "Rules? We follow no rules, especially from a stupid deer!"

The blackbuck coughed, "I'm an antelope, not a deer.

Everything has changed.

I once thought I stood on solid ground, and then something happened and I was knocked off my feet.

I'm in the process of standing myself back up.

It's difficult. I struggle, my muscles grow sore. I could just drop and let things overtake me.

But why do that? Everything has changed, but I can adjust. It will take time to heal.

While I am in this process of getting back up, I may lash out.

It is only my fear. The fear of being knocked down again.

It isn't my wish to hurt anyone. And sometimes I may do.

And for that I am sorry.

And when I'm nearly on my feet, you say something to me.

"Point where it hurts."

And I respond...



"Here is where it hurts."

Breathe in the pain and suffering.

Breathe out relief and happiness.

This is the practice of tonglen.



A book I have been reading lately called The Places That Scare You by Pema Chodron is one of the first Buddhist books I've been reading. It's a great book, it has some great advice on overcoming suffering and ultimately being a better person. The goal of the book is to help you let go of your problems and come to a balanced nature, where you learn to pray for everyone to be free from suffering - your family, your friends, those neutral to you (people you don't really know), your enemies, and yourself. I've learned quite a bit from this book and wanted to share one of the meditative practices with you. This is only a little about the practice, which is explained very well in Pema Chodron's book.


Tonglen literally means "sending and taking" in Tibetan. It is essentially the practice of taking in the suffering and pain experienced in the world and converting it to peace and happiness. When you inhale, you reflect on what is troubling you, and then you release it, and as you exhale, you reflect on the good things in life. The process helps you realize that everyone suffers, and more importantly, it helps us realize the important things in life that make us happy. We realize that we take things for granted and that there are many pleasures that we enjoy. Then try practicing tonglen for someone close to you, someone who might be going through a difficult time. Breathe in their pains, troubles, suffering, and then breathe out peace and joy to them. Send them the positive thoughts.


When I practice tonglen, I often think of Quad.

Gurgelin, this is a gift for you because I was told you didn't get a Secret Santa gift. It's nothing great but anyway Merry Christmas, hehe! Hope you like it

Come and join me for some silly fun.
We can dance and laugh and sing and run.
The day is young and full of warm sun rays.
We have the entire Forest to play today.
Go find a place to hide, let me find you.
I am the best at this game, it's true!
Follow me to the river, let us bound across,
Then we can play a game of pinecone toss!
And when we are tired from running and forest fun,
We can stare at the clouds through the canopy above.
What a beautiful world we live in, don'tcha agree?
There's so many colors and lovely things to see!
I wish that all could enjoy the fun we do,
As the forest shall always be forever Bloo.

Had an idea for this story, it'll be choose your own adventure based on popular vote. Not sure where this'll go but I'll write part of the story and then have options for what'll happen next, and that'll be up for a week before I continue the story. Whatever the option with the most votes is will be what happens next in the story (if there's a tie, I'll choose among them). Sound fun? Here we go:

----------------------------------

It was just after midnight, the snow was just beginning to melt in the Endless Forest. As the stags, does, and fawns slept and dreamed their deer dreams, one soul wandered. He could not sleep, he had no reason to. He was a ghost.

Trunks was feeling pleasant. The chilling breeze was quite comforting to him, his skin had no reason to shiver, and he loved the feeling of the wind passing through his fur. He smiled and closed his eyes, a strong gust rushing past him. Wonderful, so very wonderful.

The spirit then opened his eyes and saw the old Ruins. There, many glowing orbs floated around much like fireflies. Trunks was familiar with the wisps, as he often led the ones who were lost to the old Ruins and helped them achieve their final rest. These wisps who lingered were still attached to the world, and Trunks would eventually convince them to move on to the afterlife. He approached the flying orbs, which seemed to hover above sleeping deer who were unaware of their presence. Many of them could not even see the glowing wisps, it was a special gift some of the deer, or in Trunks' case, those who have passed themselves.

As he walked softly and quietly past the sleeping ones, he noticed one wisp seemed to hover above one of the old pagan idols, the aura of the spirit being that of a fiery red. It was strangely agitated, as if something nearby was disturbing it. Trunks approached the wisp and asked, "What is the matter?" He could hear the response in his mind, and his smile faded a little.

TheForsakenOne, this is a gift for you because I was told you didn't get a Secret Santa gift. It's nothing great but anyway Merry Christmas, hehe! Hope you like it

I stand in the snow on a winter's night
Lingering from my mouth are the words I speak
On clouds of warm mist that flow and spread
Vanishing before my eyes as the frigid air overtakes them
Even then I hope the message reaches their destination
You step outside and listen to the quiet night
Only to hear a slight whisper traveling in the wind
Unsaid words meant only for your ears

This is gonna be really selfish, but I'm so curious about the responses...

Pick a song that you think best describes me! Please link or embed the song via Youtube if it's available.

Feel free to do this meme yourself, and if you do let me know and I'll pick a song for you in return. I'll try to keep up with it but I'll pick one for everyone who picks one for me. (I hope my choices are okay, I love a wide variety of bands)

Sound fun?



And just for a bonus, here's the song I usually associate with myself:

For this community


I was caught by a snare
You set me free
I fell into a deep hole
You pull me out
I got lost in the wilderness
You brought me back to safety
I was attacked by predators
You came to my rescue
I almost drowned
You saved my life
I wandered in the darkness
You led me back to the light
I was almost killed by a hunter
You took the bullet for me
I nearly lost my mind
You helped me regain it











I wanted to thank you for all you have done for me
For helping me in my darkest times
For the friendship you have given me
For inspiring me to write and enjoy life




You said a 'thank you' wasn't necessary



But I wanted to thank you anyway




*nuzzles*

I'm looking for some more folk metal (or metal that is similar) bands! Here's a list of the ones I like already, but if you know any others please feel free to share a link or two of their music. It's becoming my favorite genre, especially Scandinavian metal.



Sonata Arctica


Korpiklaani


Amorphis


Sirenia


Nightwish


Within Temptation


Dragonforce


Thanks for any help, guys! XD