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[ginebikes]

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[moonkissedvisions]

𝖄𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝕿𝖆𝖗𝖔𝖙 𝖇𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖍 𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖘 ☾

UNVEIL THE CORE ESSENCE OF YOUR BEING, PERSONALITY, AND PURPOSE WITH TAROT CARDS

Introduction:

We understand all Tarot cards as symbols. They essentially represent different aspects of our lives that reside in our souls and our subconscious minds. When we read Tarot cards, we are reading our energy, we are intuitively looking at our subconscious. We think of them as a mirror that reflects the multiple dimensions of our spirit to help us understand situations much better, and make our life more conscious and meaningful.

What are Tarot birth cards?

Tarot birth cards are symbols that shape our identity and lives from the moment we are born. They are our essence, an energy imprint, or even a map - like a birth chart but for Tarot cards- that can unlock a new understanding of ourselves, and all the potential of our life purpose.

Each of us has a pair of Major Arcana cards that represent our core self, so today I decided to explain all combinations. I explained the cards separately so you can combine them and see intuitively how they play out in your life.

Also, be noted that I only explain the "light" manifestation of each of them. So for example, if it says "selfless" the shadow aspect/backward expression of them is the opposite, "selfish". Or if it says "truth-seeker" its shadow would be "know-it-all". If you are curious about the shadow aspect of your birth cards or anything about them you can send me a question and I'll be happy to help.

Hey, don't forget to check out the awesome video link at the end of the post! It's worth watching if you want to dive deeper into the topic. Have a great time exploring!

Now let´s calculate yours!

and hope you enjoy it *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

How do I calculate mine?

The easiest way for me is to use the same method that we use to calculate our Life path number in numerology:

We add each digit of our birth date

m+m+d+d+y+y+y+y

Example: 11/22/1989

1+1+2+2+1+9+8+9= 33

2. We reduce it

3+3= 6

6 is The Lovers and The Devil (6 and 15).

As you can see, we got a pair of numbers that corresponds to a pair of Major Arcana cards.

important: IF YOU GET A 19, YOU HAVE TO REDUCE IT TWICE AND YOU´LL GET 3 MAJOR ARCANA: 19 (The Sun) -> 1+9=10 (The Wheel of Fortune) -> 1+0=1 (The Magician).

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

1 and 10: The Magician, The Wheel of Fortune

The Magician: This energy has the ability to manifest anything. Your essence is skilled, cunning, tricky, scheming. You posses autonomy and initiative. You are an independent thinker. You have a great potential, but you also put in the work and have a lot of fun in the process. You are diplomatic and you reject bias. Entrepreneur. Self-motivated. You are honest and direct.

The Wheel of Fortune: You are lucky or at least, you know how to feel lucky to attract blessings. You understand the cycles of life and therefore you have the ability to co-create with the Universe intelligently. You often get surprised by the events in your life. You know how to use opportunities in your favor. Manifesting is something that you probably did consciously since young.

19: The Sun (ALSO READ 1 AND 10)!

Adding to 1 and 10 cards, The Sun supplies your soul of creativity, popularity, happiness, honesty, harmony and serenity. You are a good friend. You are loyal and bring harmony, love and satisfaction to everyone´s lives. You are a leader, a celebrity, and people look up to you.

2 and 11: The High Priestess, Justice

The High Priestess: You are sensitive and wise. You are aware of the subtle, small details. You are able to find the point of unity, the basics of the Universe, and you understand how everything is connected. You are intuitive, compassionate, and loving. You excel at anything related to the occult, the mysteries of the Universe and human psyche, and anything related to relationships, unions, and secrets.

Justice: You are unbiased, rational, harmonious. You know what´s right and what´s wrong and trust in natural order and the balance of things. You value truth more than anyone else. You are good with law, philosophy, and karma.

2 and 20: The High Priestess, Judgment

Same qualities above for the High Priestess, combined with Judgment.

Judgment: The Judgment card adds in to the HP themes of awakening, spirituality, renovation. You may be someone who questions the status quo and the established norms and structures. You have the calling to awaken other people so you can rebuild and improve the system. You could connect to different dimensions and be a medium or have psychic abilities. You are otherworldly. You are also highly empathetic and sensitive.

3 and 12: The Empress, The Hanged Man

The Empress: You enjoy helping other people, creating, and giving birth to something. You embody kindness, intelligence, expressiveness, communication and abundance. You are dynamic and could be good at doing many things, you likely do all at the same time. You are good at communicating your ideas with others and you give others creative insights.

The Hanged Man: You are artistic, original, altruistic and idealistic. You see the world from a different perspective and you always contribute with clever ideas. You are witty and have the potential to become a genius. You are generous.

3 and 21: The Empress, The World

Here the qualities of the Empress are combined with those of The World card, so your creativity results in perfection, success, wholeness, finding your place in the world, feeling and being rewarded, self-realization. You are someone generous who help people with their creations and you make them realize their special place in the world as well. You are greatly admired. You are positive about people and life.

4 and 13 : The Emperor, Death

The Emperor: You are gifted with stability, strength, structure and practicality. You are powerful, hard-working and generous. You have integrity and good morals. You protect what needs protection and give structure and functionality to things. You are methodical and pragmatic.

Death: Death combined with the Emperor can reestructure and make radical changes to the world. You know when things need to die and be rebirthed in new forms. You can transform the world with authority, integrity and diligency.

In case you got 4 and 22, The 22 can be considered The Fool. You can either consider the Fool along with The Emperor and Death, or only read the explanation above and dismiss it. If you choose to consider the Fool, read below:

The Fool: I picture it as if you were the Emperor but with a good sense of humor, carefree, crazy, not making sense at times, chaotic, and extravagant. It makes me think of "dad jokes". You do not take anything too seriously. You restructured things spontaneously and the result may not make a lot of sense. Or it could be that you make more of a freedom-oriented restructure/change. You are an innocent and energetic leader. Maybe you don´t even understand why people may see you as a leader or follow you, because you don´t even take yourself seriously and are very disorganized, lol.

(edit): When I was writing about this combo, the new president of Argentina Javier Milei came to my mind. He talks about re-structuring the country, making economic transformations, solving the problems of the economy and poverty, and changing the country for the better. But he also has a silly personality, he's kinda funny and people make fun of him, they call him crazy, they even speculate about him having mental illnesses, and he doesn't make sense to A LOT of people. At that time I was lazy to search for his number but I just did and you know what? He is a 4 and a 22. 😳

5 and 14: The Hierophant, Temperance

The Hierophant: You are a teacher, someone wise who shares their knowledge and wisdom. You are patient, merciful, and modest. You guide others to goodness. You respect religion, tradition and family structures with open-mindedness and flexibility. You see everything as an experience and adventure and you like exploring different philosophies without getting attached.

Temperance: You can adapt to different people, ideas and environments, and you can bring different people together with peace, harmony and respect. You have the ability to solve conflicts. This combo makes a mentor, a guru, or a coach. You are balanced in logic and emotions and you are seen as mature.

6 and 15 (or 33): The Lovers, The Devil

The Lovers: Opposite forces, love, complements. You know how to love, not only other people but the whole Universe. You are a sensual person. You appreciate beauty, art and can excel at many different things. You are a gentle person who is good at making decisions that brings in the frequency of love to your environment. Everything you do is coded with love and passion.

The Devil: You are passionate, magnetic. You border limits. You are highly influential in whatever you do. You can control and manipulate others, which is not necessarily a bad thing, it´s just that you understand human psychology and can easily get the attention of others. With this combo you can captivate, tempt and induce lust and desire in others, so you may be working in art, music, writing, marketing, design, even animation and programming.

I also like to think of The Lovers as oxytocin and The Devil as adrenaline/dopamine. Dopamine and oxytocin together make love and bring new life into the world.

7 and 16: The Chariot, The Tower

The Chariot: You are someone intelligent, energetic, analytic, and introspective, who fights for radical changes and the evolution of society. You are a truth-seeker. You are fearless. You challenge the status quo and strive for spiritual and material progress. You are curious and love to learn new things that can change the world for the better.

The Tower: You mercilessly and strongly destruct what doesn´t serve the evolution of society and humanity. You break the equilibrum to build a better one. You are a rebel. You know that the truth always comes to light, and you also make it happen. You show the world what they couldn´t see and that's why you could be triggering. But it´s for the good. You challenge wrong convictions, judgments and beliefs, and you completely destruct them.

8 and 17: Strength, The Star

Strength: You are someone resilient. You know the importance of controlling your actions, impulses, thoughts, emotions and everything you do with mental strength and intelligence. You know that if you manage your own forces, you can achieve all of your goals and also help others do the same. You are very determined and optimistic. You like to work hard, not only for yourself but for others. You are an example of the word management and you like being in charge.

The Star: You give others hope and enlightment. You are inspiring. You can provide a lot of healing and regeneration. You are selfless and generous. You are strong in faith, and that way you can give others the reassurance that they need. You see the good in everything and that is what helps you get you good results and be succesful.

9 and 18: The Hermit, The Moon

The Hermit: You are interested in seeing what others can´t see. You look through things. You are deeply intuitive and contemplative. You search for answers in yourself by being in silence, in solitude, and looking inwards at your subconscious mind. You are wise, capable of offering advice and solving problems or mysteries. You are the healer who heals yourself first. You are personally uninterested in worldly matters and detached from the material.

The Moon: You can see through illusions and imagination because you connect to the dream realm. You are a good psychoanalyst. You are good with the occult. You are attracted to the unknown. You are a researcher, a detective, a healer of the most mysterious diseases. You are deeply spiritual and adventurous.

Carl Jung had this combo as his birth cards and I think this quote from him really represents it: Who looks outside dreams (The Moon), who looks inside awakes (The Hermit). The funny thing is, I didn´t know he had them when I read it and thought about the cards, but I was sure he had to be and I searched it, lol. I also have these as my cards so...

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it was helpful! Thank you for your support and please, keep supporting me if you like this one 🌷

video about birth cards

PAC: Messages from the Divine Feminine

PAC: Healing Messages

PAC: Your beauty

PAC: Your natural gifts

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

as someone who's an azul kinnie im curious why you placed azul on the slightly dislike list considering you like scheming characters

[My TWST character tier list is here.]

I think the easiest way to explain it is that I came in with the wrong expectations of him? I thought Azul would be similar to what Jade’s character actually was, so Jade ended up upstaging him in that regard. Essentially, not all scheming characters are equivalent; Azul has other traits which weigh him down for me.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll reiterate it here because I feel it is very relevant for Azul. I… tend to not like “main” guys because of of how much they appear everywhere (including merch and marketing); it makes me feel like I’m being “pushed” to like them specifically rather than being allowed to think for myself about who I like. This is the case for dorm leaders, which includes Azul. Additionally, “main” guys tend to get more of a story focus (also true of the dorm leaders), and that in of itself can be a double edged sword. It means more information + backstory about that character, and while that’s great for lore and fleshing them out, it also means potentially polarizing the fans who were content with their perception of the character prior to the reveal. Once that change happens, it completely shifts how you see the character and then you can’t go back to how you felt before. This was a painful factor in what I call the “stock market crash” of my opinion of Azul Ashengrotto.

I actually quite liked him at first. I took his hand at the start when I first started playing TWST back in 2020 ^^! I even *gasp* simped a little??? (weird AU where Azul was my oshi instead of J word…) He was every bit an intelligent and calculating deal maker as I suspected he would be—well, at least that’s what the few vignettes available at the time and book 2 implied. Back then, only books 1 and 2 were available in full and book 3 was slooowly being updated in chunks. And really, I was liking book 3 a lot (he was still being a silly little scumbag, lol) and took no issue with it… UNTIL THE LAST PART DROPPED 💀 AND WE GOT HIS BACKSTORY…

Now 💦 I’m aware that the OB boys’ backstories usually garner sympathy and enhance the preexisting love we have for those characters but… Azul’s backstory actually had a very strong opposite effect on me. It was the moment I realized, “Hey, maybe I don’t like you as much as I thought I did.” I’d describe the feeling like having a pleasant dream and then you’re suddenly violently awoken by a loud alarm clock, a screeching parrot, and Sebek shouting in your ears at once.

I want to be clear when I say I do not mean to demean or to diminish Azul’s experiences of being bullied. I also do not mean to shame Azul for being (rightfully) upset about his circumstances or for being emotional. When I say that I started disliking Azul because of this backstory, it’s for a very personal reason: I just don’t like stories where a victim of bullying becomes a bully, thus perpetuating the cycle. It’s sad to see someone go down that path, spreading more hate because of the hate they had received before… and I’ll never believe that revenge is a good response for an injustice 😔 Azul’s case is a little different, as he does eventually go on to recognize how far he has strayed from the benevolent ideals of the Sea Witch and is now actively trying to work on himself (which I appreciate and applaud him for). However, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth that I can’t quite scrub away. I think it’s because I found myself relating to kid!Azul in some ways, so that personal connection amplified the disappointment I felt in the decisions he made. It feels like looking into an alternate reality where I, too, went down a dark path—and that thought is unpleasant, to say the very least. Now I view Azul more like a cautionary tale and keep a safe distance from him.

[the12thnightproject]

Chapter :  The Kitty Equivalence - Mitsunari’s strategy for affection confuses Okatsu, while Shohime’s scheme to avoid marrying the daimyo ... could use some work.

Mitsunari x OC; Nobunaga x Mai

Previous Chapter

Logline - In order to protect a political alliance, Katusko and Mitsunari must pretend an engagement. But this “all business” arrangement is threatened by a coup against Nobunaga… and by feelings.

From the Military Notes of Ishida Mitsunari…

Decision-making occurs in a recurring cycle of observe-orient-decide-act. An entity (whether an individual or an organization) that can process this cycle quickly, observing and reacting to unfolding events more rapidly than an opponent, can thereby "get inside" the opponent's decision cycle and gain the advantage.

Personal Comments: When Kitty first appeared in the gardens of Azuchi, she wanted nothing to do with me. I set out food out for her every day, until finally she allowed me close enough to touch her. I discovered that if I brought a temari ball or a bit of string out to the garden, she would enthusiastically jump at the string and chase after the ball (side comment: was unsuccessful in teaching her to return ball).

Eventually Kitty followed me inside and slept in my bed. Conclusion? Food + Play = Affection.

Might not this calculation be similar for a human female?

Food.

Okatsu eats.

Play.

Okatsu likes games.

Feeding and playing with Okatsu, should result in affection.

I slept better than expected after my nightmare and only woke up at the sound of a rattle of dishes. In the light of day, my fears always seemed ridiculous and in my residual embarrassment, I considered pretending to be asleep, but the noise got closer. Cautiously, I peeped through half closed eyes to see Mitsunari setting a tray of food on the floor between the cushions.

“Breakfast in bed?” I asked before I could censor the modern out of my speech.

“Oh? Do you want me to put the tray on your futon?” Mitsunari picked up tray again, and I stopped him to prevent breakfast on bed.

“Thank you, but no. It was just an expression.” I scooted to the edge of the futon and examined the tray… and… Wow… that was a lot of fish. “Thank you for bringing it into the room.”

Since today’s agenda had Mitsunari meeting with Hideyoshi and Nobunaga in the archives room, I’d expected to have to hunt down the kitchens for a tray. It was sweet of Mitsunari to feed me before he left.

Ah, hot… tea? Huh. Nothing was coming out of the pot. I peeked under the lid – it was packed tightly with the tea leaves. Right. Masamune had warned me about Mitsunari’s tea making skills (or, lack of said skills). “It just needs to steep a bit longer.” I’d get rid of it after he left.

Mitsunari hovered anxiously over me.  “Is it to your liking? If you want anything else, like a bowl of milk, I can get it.”

“It’s all good.” A bowl of milk? Though I was getting better at understanding the Mitsunari-isms, that one was a head scratcher. Mentally shrugging, I mixed some of the fish in with the rice and… Mitsunari was … watching me. No… he was studying me. “Will you be eating too?”

“It’s nice of you to ask, but I have already eaten.” He continued to stare at me, and I could almost hear his internal circuits whirring.

Fine then. But it was freaking me out to be the only one eating. “If you want to read, I don’t mind.” Stop looking at me. I took a tiny bite, hyperaware of what I might look like chewing. Finally, I could stand it no longer. “It’s getting late… you don’t want to keep Nobunaga and Hideyoshi waiting.”

Looking startled, he leaped to his feet. “You are correct. I will see you in the archives later.”

Once he was gone, I hurried to finish what I could of the food, then decided to use the early morning time to get in some archery practice, as, according to the maid I flagged down, there were targets set up in a clearing beyond the courtyard.

It wasn’t a great course for distance, as there were too many trees on the far end, but perfect for accuracy, and I was enjoying the peace and quiet and steady whump of my arrows, when Shohime joined me. As always, she looked like she had stepped out of a fashion magazine, had such a thing existed in this era. She was followed by one of Mozumi’s pages, who glared at me, either for daring to sully the presence of the Princess’s perfection, or because my existence was making her unhappy.

Unlike the page, Shohime was perfectly polite. “Is the training course to your liking?”

“Yes, the targets are well set up. Nice variety of sizes. Thank you.” A perfectly polite answer to a perfectly innocuous question. She was probably building up to something else.

“I think so too.” She set up and immediately hit every target with nearly as much accuracy as I had.

Ooh. It is so on.

I had been considering packing up and leaving her to it, but this was not a challenge I could back away from.  I went through a speed round and hit every target dead center. Ha! Take that Princess Perfect!

The page glared at me. Yeah. I ought to have let the princess win, but that’s a dangerous precedent. I wouldn’t want my muscles to get into the habit of missing shots.

Shohime stared at me for a long moment, then also performed a speed round. Her accuracy rivaled my own on the closer targets, but her distance shots weren’t as consistent. She side-eyed me as she waited for her page to bring back our arrows.

Hm. I could take a few steps backward and increase the distance, but I sensed that what Shohime really wanted was to talk to me… and that was confirmed when she turned to the page. “Maru, please leave us.”

He did, but not without a final glare in my direction.

Right. I waited patiently for her to state her case. Was she going to warn me away from her man? Break into a chorus of Jolene? Go mafia princess and make me an offer I couldn’t refuse? Would I wake up tomorrow with Moonlight’s head next to me on my futon?

She threw herself into my arms. “Lady Okatsu! You’ve got to help me!”

Ok. I hadn’t expected something this… wet. Where was Mai when I needed her? She might be better suited to dealing with an overemotional teenager. “Um, Shohime… shhhh… here… use my handkerchief.” I awkwardly patted her on her back. “What’s wrong?”

Her sobs grew louder.

What… what if something is really wrong? Just because she was still half a kid at seventeen didn’t mean there weren’t real world problems she was dealing with. “Are you in danger? Or… in trouble?” Was… she pregnant? Pregnancy would explain why her father was so desperate to have her engagement to the Tsuruga daimyo confirmed.

“Noooo.” She pulled back finally and looked at me with glistening eyes – Mai was right, Shohime is a pretty crier. “You’ll think I’m being a child, but you’re so smart and strong and brave.”

“You think so?” We’d just met. Sure, I like to think I’m smart and strong and brave but is it that evident to a stranger? Maybe it was.

“You must be. You’re old, Lady Okatsu, and you managed to avoid getting married until now, and now you’re engaged to someone as nice and beautiful as Mitsunari.” That last bit ended up as a wail.

Old?

Old?

I forced myself past that, because… “Shohime, is your fiancé abusive to you?”

Blink. Teardrop. Blink. Blink. There were tumbleweeds where her brain cells ought to be.

Sigh. “Is he mean to you?”

She sniffled. “He’s nice. He isn’t an ogre. Lady Yone thinks he’s terribly handsome and that I ought to be grateful that he has hair and teeth. But he’s older – like you. And he’s not Mitsunari.” The wail was back, as she said Mitsunari’s name at a decibel and pitch that likely broke glass somewhere in the castle.

I patted her on the back while she continued to sniffle. “I feel so guilty because he is so nice… he smiles at me all the time, but I don’t want him. I want Mitsunari.” Wail. Dogs were probably barking across the country. To be honest, I bet she could give Fume a run for her money.

Sniffle. Wail. Hiccup. Wail.

Well. Now she was just being dramatic.

It sounded like her fiancé was acceptable, albeit slightly out of her preferred age range… and possibly unexciting. But given who Mozumi could have chosen, she ought to count herself lucky. And… my job was to keep her away from Mitsunari, so I wasn’t going to help her with him. On the other hand, if I didn’t at least agree to find a solution, I was likely to be stuck patting her back all day. If she didn’t stop crying, I might even drown. “I’ll try to think of a way to help.”

She looked so immediately relieved and happy that I felt guilty, given that the odds of me being able to help her were pretty low. After all, what sort of future was there for her except for the one she had been raised and trained for? Accuracy in archery aside, I couldn’t see her crossing the country as a courier the way I did. True, I hadn’t been that much older than Shohime was now when I started working for Aki… but I’d had gymnastics and freerunning training already… and … well, Toshiie and I had pretty much raised ourselves. I had never been a pampered princess.

“Thank you, Lady Okatsu. I am certain that if you say you agree to the plan that Hideyoshi and Nobunaga will be happy for me to marry Mitsunari, too.” She gave me the puppy eyes, but they had no effect on me because my brain had needle scratched on “too.”

I must have looked appalled because she added quickly, “Don’t worry. I would be happy to be the second wife and leave you in charge of household duties. In fact, it’s an ideal solution as I imagine you’re too old to bear Mitsunari’s children.” She hugged me again and ran off.

What… just… happened?

Old?

I shook my head to clear it of the image of me as a house crone, bustling around to make things easy for Mitsunari and Shohime, their three adorable babies and forty kittens.

Old?

My archery zen spoiled, I packed up my things and head back to the castle. As I passed through the main entry, I caught a movement on the staircase. Looking up, I saw Lady Yone watching me. She inclined her head, and I got an ice cream headache from the look on her face. Brrr. I bowed briefly in return and hurried to the archives.

I timed my entry well, as Nobunaga and Hideyoshi had just finished prioritizing which books they most wanted Mitsunari to read. I stood in the doorway watching, wondering if I was indeed closer to Hideyoshi and Nobunaga’s ages than I was to Mitsunari’s. Maybe? Or maybe he just looked younger and more innocent next to them.

Nobunaga noticed me first and held up a book. “Okatsu, Mitsunari tells me that you’re practicing your Portuguese. Instead of reading poetry, would you do me the favor of translating this book?”

He opened it up and handed it to me. It took me a moment of squinting at the text to conclude I would not be able to translate it. I flipped to the cover to confirm my suspicion. “This is in Italian, not Portuguese. The languages are similar, but not close enough that I’d even begin to be able to translate it beyond a word or two here or there.”

“Ah. A pity. I shall have to wait until it is available in Japanese. Or until I can acquire an Italian.” (I think he was joking. Maybe.) He put the book back on the shelf, and I was very glad it was not available to him. Nobunaga and Machiavelli would have been a dangerous combination.

He bowed and left us alone…

… with Hideyoshi.

Mitsunari settled happily down with what seemed like a thousand pieces of paper, while Hideyoshi loomed over me. “Where were you this morning?” He sounded just like a school administrator scolding a truant… I ought to know. I’d been a truant often enough.

“Keeping Shohime occupied on the archery field.” I settled down with the poem in my lap like an obedient little princess. “She is still… fixed on the idea of Mitsunari.”

The man in question didn’t even twitch at the sound of his name. He was already deep into his work.

“I don’t understand why.” Hideyoshi sounded like he was talking to himself.

Really? Way to diss your own vassal, Hideyoshi. “He’s smart, kind, young and attractive. Why wouldn’t she?” I shot another look at Mitsunari, who was smiling happily, beautifully over his book, oblivious to everything from the topic of conversation to the stultifying heat of the room. I picked up the poem and fanned myself with it.

Hideyoshi’s hands tightened on the scroll he was holding. He set it down. “I’m aware of that. However, Shohime’s fiancé is said to be all of that as well.” He reached over and plucked the poem out of my hands. “This is a book. Not your fan – which you appear to have left in your room.”

Oops. I had. Well. Too late for that now. I pushed the conversation away from Hideyoshi’s favorite ‘let’s criticize Katsuko’ topic. “You mentioned that she’s had a crush on Mitsunari since last summer. Maybe she’s not ready to give that up. Sometimes people can’t help wanting what they cannot have.”

“I know that.” Hideyoshi’s mood altered in a flash. He handed the book back to me, then straightened his spine and marched out of the room. Crap. I had forgotten his feelings for Mai.

Glancing at Mitsunari, I wondered how much, if any, of that he had heard. His mild gaze was already fastened on me. So… a change of subject was needed. I gestured to the stack of books in front of him. “They want you to read all of these books while we are here?”

“Yes. It’s wonderful.” Mitsunari smiled like Nobunaga had just given him a box of kittens. His enthusiasm for the task made me laugh. “Why are you laughing?”

“No reason. You seemed so happy it made me want to smile too.”  I’d had a mental image of Mitsunari sitting in a box with kittens climbing all over him – my brain filed that as cute overload. But I would keep that to myself.

“Interesting.” He didn’t elaborate. Instead, he picked up a book and began his “homework.”

I made myself as comfortable as I could on a cushion a couple meters away and forced myself into that Portuguese poem. While I was glad Mitsunari had a task he enjoyed, this poem was not nearly that exciting. Face it, Katsuko, you’re not much of a reader.

Still, I managed to focus and once I got into the rhythm of the language, I found it less of a slog. It was no “Song of Ice and Fire” but there were Gods and battles and sea voyages (I think) so there was that.

All was quiet, and peaceful, until--

Crunch

A wadded up ball of paper landed in my lap. I looked at Mitsunari, but he was intent on making notes for Nobunaga. Had he meant to toss it away? Or was it a note?

I uncrumpled it – was blank. Flipped it over. Still blank. When I looked back at Mitsunari, his head was down, eyes focused on his task.

It was a mystery.

In case he wanted it back, I crumpled it up again and tossed it to him. My aim was perfect – it landed by his elbow. He didn’t acknowledge the paper, but the corner of his mouth lifted in a half-smile.

Shaking my head, I returned to the poem.

Crunch

Twenty minutes or so later, the paper had returned to my lap.

Again, Mitsunari seemed oblivious to flying paper.

With a shrug, I tossed it back.

If it happened again, I would be ready for it. I pretended to be reading but kept my peripheral vision on Mitsunari. When the paper ball came at me a third time, I reached up and batted it out of the air. “Why are you throwing paper wads at me?”

“Do you not like it, Okatsu?” He frowned, and I felt guilty for asking.

“I neither dislike, nor like. I was simply wondering why.” Maybe he had overloaded that brain of his. “Do you need a break? It might be good for you to get outside for a little while.”

The afternoon was as lovely as the morning. Hopefully the fresh breeze would blow away whatever fog that infected Mitsunari’s brain and contributed to the paper-tossing incident.

It looked like Hikosane had escaped his minders too. He was running around the courtyard with a temari ball, kicking it up into the air with his feet and knees, and laughing with kid-glee. Mitsunari nudged my shoulder with his. “We should join him – that looks to be fun play.”

Strange suggestion coming from Mitsunari, but it did look like fun, so I didn’t offer much protest. After all, healthy body, healthy mind, right?

Hikosane had invented a game with the temari that was somewhat like hot potato – whoever had the temari was ‘in danger’ as long as they were holding it. The object was to throw the ball to another player as soon as possible before you were caught by the others. It didn’t completely make sense – but the game had been created by a ten-year-old, so some allowance was needed. “I ought to have refined the rules more,” he said in that miniature adult way of his. “But none of my sisters will play with me.”

“None? There are more of them?” More Shohimes? That was… a frightening process.

“Yes. Shohime’s mother is my father’s first wife. She lives in Kyoto as part of the Emperor’s court. My mother was my father’s second wife, but she died when I was born, and I do not remember her. My four younger sisters are Lady Yone’s, who is my father’s third wife. Now second, I suppose.” He tossed the ball up in the air and caught it again.

As I said, the rules of the game didn’t make complete sense and although I couldn’t run as well in Okatsu’s kimono as I could in Katsu’s clothing, the modifications that Mai had designed at least let me move about relatively freely.

It came as no surprise to me that Mitsunari’s ability to aim was somewhat south of negative forty-two. His tosses got nowhere near the person he threw to, but that just added to the silliness of it. It went on this way for a good half hour or so, until I had the temari and Mitsunari ran straight toward me. I tossed it to Hikosane, but Mitsunari, distracted by the sudden appearance of Hideyoshi in the yard, was unable to stop his forward motion.

… and that’s how Mitsunari and I ended up in the ornamental fish pond.

Though to hear Hideyoshi tell it… it was my fault for encouraging the game to begin with.

Awesome commissioned artwork by @fighting-and-drawing

@katriniac @lorei-writes @bestbryn @lyds323 @briars7

[friendlyneighborhoodsynthezoid]

More Pirate Batch! Wrecker

One more right away, just to prove I've got the rest on the way.

Wrecker was content with his life as a dock worker. Or so he told himself, daily, while he spent long hours hauling heavy crates to and fro in the relentless wind and heat. Wrecker knew he was a strong guy, but even he was going to bed exhausted and dreading the morning that would begin the cycle of endless work once again. Until one day, he spied a strange looking visitor to the docks. A young man, maybe Wreckers age, stepped off a peculiar-looking ship, docked clumsily and with evident difficulty in a secluded corner in the pier. Wrecker would never claim himself to be the brightest sort, but to his eyes, this guy looked green. Both literally, and meta… figur… and that he looked inexperienced. The hat and coat he wore were impressive but didn’t quite fit him right. The ship was sleek and looked well armed, but it appeared damaged and shoddily repaired. And this kid stepped off the ship alone, with no visible escort or companions, and walked right past where Wrecker was gawking without even seeming to see him.

The whole of his workday, Wrecker’s thoughts kept straying to the half-hidden ship and the strange fellow who captained it. That evening, Wrecker went to it and undid the rope which held it. It was a sorry job that Wrecker couldn’t stand not correcting. With a mighty tug, the ship straightened out and drifted closer to the pier, where he fastened it more securely. Wrecker sat on the edge of the pier, legs dangling over the side and daydreaming about weaponry when raised voices caught his attention.

“Hey, you! With the silly hat!” Wrecker turned his head slightly towards the shout, not moving just yet. It didn’t pay to get involved and escalate things when it wasn’t necessary.

“Well lookie here,” a different voice added, “we’ve caught ourselves a Fett!”

That make Wrecker whip his head around, subtly be damned. Wrecker would never presume to be knowledgeable about, well, anything, but even he recognized that name. He scanned the docks until his eyes alighted on the same young man he’d noticed that morning. His carefully constructed air of confidence was cracking slightly as he took small steps back from two hulking figures lurching towards him.

“Hey, fellas, I was just leaving-” he tired, hands up placatingly.

“Yeah, right,” snorted one of the thugs- he was big and ugly, sure, but wrecker decided he could be dealt with, “you’re leaving, Fett? No way yer Jango. Not parading about with no backup and a coat that don’t even fit. You one of his brats?” he punctuated the sentence with a sharp jab of his huge finger. Wrecker’s feet were carrying him closer without any input from his brain.

The young man rolled his eyes, “I dunno about any Fett, but-” his gaze caught Wrecker’s and flashed from searching, to scheming, and finally, smug confidence, “-what was that you said about backup?” he ducked, turned and ran as the two thugs turned to find Wrecker behind them.

Wrecker gave them a chance. “You guys wanna back off and let this one go?” he asked. He meant it, too, but it seemed to Wrecker that people only ever wanted to solve problems by punching them. This suited him just fine. Predictably, the thugs bared teeth and fists, and wrecker mourned the state of peace he’d enjoyed minutes before. Oh well. It would be a short fight.

_______

 A short time later, Wrecker was sitting idly by the water, watching the sunlight play across the rippling surface of the bay. A smoky voice sounded from behind him. “Hey pal, you looking for a career change?”

“What?” Wrecker yelped and turned around to find the young captain standing over him with a calculating sort of smile. “What’re you- but who- i’m just a dock hand!” 

The guy rolled his eyes. “Right. A dock hand who just saved my stupid skin, and – I notice- pulled my ship into port with your bare hands. You, my friend, are something special.” he sat down next to him, kicking his booted feet a little. “The names Hunter Fett, and I’m looking for a crew. I could use a big guy like you. You can probably guess why-" Wrecker tried not to glance at the man's short stature- "I can promise one hell of an adventure if you join up. And a significant amount of firepower.” Wrecker’s eyes lit up, for his nickname was well chosen. Firearms and cannons were his great obsession and his best talent. Hunter smirked. “I may be short on men, but I’ve got guns galore.”

And so Wrecker's new life began.

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Yan parent Apocalypse??? Woah

Maybe the reader has a reincarnation sort of power and turns out to be his child during the Egyptian era?

(the X-Men evolution version, but now that I think about it he doesn't get much character depth to him)

Oh heavens, I almost forgot he was a possible option- But, to be honest, yes, I can do that. Let's do this for you, Apocalypse Anon:

You had always had a... unique... power.

One that earned you quite the reputation.

You were a mutant who could reincarnate.

That meant you could live forever, basically, as when one life died, you'd pass to another, and the cycle repeated, unbreaking, unending, since as far back as you can remember. That being said...

You were afraid of your past.

Namely, your father, once a Pharoah, who wanted to remake the world in his image... En Sabah Nur, or what he would later be called, Apocalypse.

You did everything in your power in each life to ensure he never broke out of his eternal imprisonment. If he were to break free all H*ll would break loose. He was nearly all-powerful, a fighter, someone who waged wars and won then, not backing down and never giving in.

You were possibly the one sentient being he cared about. You were his child, after all.

His one heir, named a god in their own right...

And now all your hard work to ensure he never escaped had been destroyed. Crushed. Obliterated. All because some shape-shifting, mind-controller, and some poor teen with... a LOT of powers? broke in and broke the last seal on your father's tomb.

The moment he's released, you can see him drawing the powers from the poor girl, and the statue of the shapeshifter, nothing but a stone husk of her former glory.

"That's enough, En Sabah Nur! Release her!" you scream, charging into the fray. Yet you don't don't make it far enough to land a blow as Apocalypse uses his new abilities to toss you aside.

"That is enough, pest," he intones, then turns, starting to leave the rocky chamber. You can hear others approaching, a smaller mutant running past as he goes to check on the fallen teenager. To stop any further damage, you play your last card:

"Father! It's me! Your Lotus of the Nile, your Heir! Remember? You once saw one floating into the royal pools, upon which a bee landed, taking from it its nectar. You dubbed me your lotus, your nectar of the flower, the honey of the gods," you cry out carefully, voice echoing in the chamber. You watch warily as the mutant freezes, turning to face you. His eyes are hard to read, cold and calculating... After a small eternity, he finally speaks...

"Child... It has been too long... It seems I'm not alone," he says, then waves his hand. In a flash your pulled forward, forced along as he ascends into the upper chambers. "We have much to do, my dear lotus... Now, it is time to remake the world as it should have been."

You glance back, sighing quietly with relief. At least the other two were spared for now. You mouth to them a message:

"I'll help you. Eyes on the inside."

And then you and your father are brought into a battle, facing off against the mutants who've come to stop him, and all you can do is pray they believe you, trust you enough to supply them help from the inside of Apocalypse's schemes. If you survive his 'love' long enough...

[whoficky]

Until Morning

Rating: T

Pairing: 10th Doctor X Rose Tyler

Notes: I'm a sucker for reunion fics and I've been playing around with this idea for years now. After much procrastination, I figured the best way to get me to finish writing the thing was to jump in and start posting. Hope you like it!

 

Work Summary: As a weary Doctor, Martha Jones and Jack Harkness prepare to take on the Master, they find their hideout isn't as secure as they thought.

In a burst of blue light, a dimension hopping Rose Tyler finally finds the Doctor, but time is still not on their side.

What if you only had one night to spend with the love of your life?

Chapter 1

The rumbling in Jack’s stomach interrupted his attempt at hacking into the Master’s digital database.  He glanced up to see if Martha had heard, and sure enough, she was looking at him with raised eyebrows. 

“Bit hungry?” she asked from where she was perched on one of the chairs they’d scavenged. 

“More than a little,” Jack acknowledged as he leaned back for a stretch.  “God, I’d kill for something hot and fried right now.”

“Mmm, yeah,” Martha sighed, “I’m so hungry I think I’d even eat Mum’s cooking.  And she’s never met a vegetable she hasn’t boiled into mush.”  Jack chuckled along with her, but neither of them really had their hearts in it.  

It had been a long, rough day for both of them.  

Was it really only this morning that Jack had finally caught up with the Doctor again?  He tried to calculate the hours, but it was as much of a hopeless task as it had always been when time travel was involved.  He hadn’t slept or eaten more than half a protein pack since he’d hitched a ride to the end of the universe, and being immortal unfortunately didn’t prevent him from hunger pangs or the affects of sleep deprivation.  If he listened to his body, he figured it had been about a day, Earth time.  Two at the most.     

The fact that he was already loosing track of his usual twenty-four-hour cycle wasn’t surprising.  That was typical when adventuring with the Doctor.  That man sucked you right into a different sort of reality.  Running for their lives and helping the last sentient life in the universe seek Utopia was par for the course.  Despite a complicated history the Doctor and Jack had needed to work out, he’d been having a hell of a good time.  At first.

Read More

But then the bumbling professor Yana had opened up an old pocket watch and everything had gone to hell.   In some ways it was a miracle - another survivor of the Time War.  But out of all the billions of refugees who could have survived, it’d had to be the Master - an utterly insane Time Lord who’d stollen the TARDIS, taken over the government, and captured Martha’s family.  The poor woman was beside herself waiting to learn what had become of them.  Jack knew it had killed her to run away when her parents were being hauled into that van.  He could relate.  His own sort of family, his Torchwood team, were MIA and his guts clenched when he thought of what the Master had done to them.   Even the Doctor could barely hide how all this was pushing him towards that edge he always danced around.  Jack had seen him go over it only once before, when they’d thought the Anne Droid had vaporized Rose Tyler.  He never wanted to see his old friend go there again.  The problem for all of them was that the Master had shown himself to be very good at hitting them where it hurt.  

So, here they were - holed up in this abandoned warehouse.  Hunted, anxious, and left with limited time and resources.  The Master had had eighteen months to put together a government takeover and whatever other schemes the madman had planned.  Jack doubted the three of them even had days to come up with a way to stop him.  It was very likely that humanity was on the brink of peril.     

Jack was so distracted by his thoughts that he almost flinched when Martha spoke again.

“Have you found anything?” she asked, getting up to look over his shoulder at the computer screen.        

“Almost there, I think,” he reported as he pushed his unease aside to resume working on Martha’s laptop.  “Tosh is usually the one to do this kind of thing, but I’m not too shabby at it.”   

“Tosh?” Martha asked confused.

“Oh, she’s part of my team at Torchwood.  Great with computers.  Gets along better with tech than people most of the time…And, hang on…BINGO!  I’m in!” Jack leant closer to the screen as he searched for various key words in the database.  “Oh yeah!” he said with relief, “Torchwood Four was sent off to the Himalayas.  Well that explains why they wouldn’t pick up the phone.  But hey, I’ll take it!  Better sent on some wild goose chase then mixed up in all this at ground zero.”  The knots in his stomach loosened a fraction as he plowed into a new search.

  “Aaaaand…” he said to stall as he clicked through a few folders, “Here we are, Martha!  Looks like Mom, Dad, and Sister have all been taken into custody for ‘questioning.’  They aren’t hurt though.  Just in custody.  See there’s some video footage.  And…” he scrolled down to make sure, “No mention of Leo,” he winked at her.

Martha seemed to take heart from that, “Guess he’s not as daft as I thought!” she laughed.  “My god, I’m talking about my brother on the run.  How did this happen?  And where is the Doctor?  He said he’d be right back.”

“Still setting up a security perimeter, I guess.  Though he’s certainly taking his time about it.”  Jack had the suspicion the “security perimeter” was really more an excuse for the Doctor to get some air and collect his thoughts.  God forbid the Time Lord showed an emotion in front of the humans, Jack thought with a smirk.        

“Maybe he can get some takeout while he’s at it.  I’m starving,” Martha plopped down on top of a large crate next to the fire they’d started in an old barrel.  

“So we’re back to food again?” Jack asked, shooting Martha a playful look to try and ease the lines of tension on her face.     

“Oh, I don’t know,” Martha chuckled, “I’m caught between fantasizing about it and trying to think of anything else.  Same goes for sleep.”

“Yeah I -” 

A flash of blue light illuminated the warehouse and the sharp sound of static filled the air.  Jack’s body reacted without thought, his training taking over as he leapt to his feet and moved into position to protect Martha.    

“Stay back!” he hissed at her as he stepped forward and pulled the gun from the holster at his hip.  The Doctor had disarmed it hours ago, but the intruder emerging from the crackling light wouldn’t know that.  It could still be a handy negotiating tool.  

“Hands up!” Jack barked as the light faded to reveal a humanoid who was still facing away from them.  His brain, now cleared from the fog of exhaustion, took a mere fraction of a second to catalogue the threat.  The figure was small, dressed in contemporary clothes and had shoulder length bleach blonde hair. He though he saw a flash of metal, maybe a small weapon strapped to her belt, but her hands were empty.  The figure had stumbled when she first appeared, but now was standing completely straight with her hands in the air.  There was something familiar about her posture though…

Then she spoke. “Jack?” 

He nearly dropped the gun when he heard that voice.  

But…it couldn’t be.  It was just traveling with Doctor again - she’d been on his mind was all.  He was tired and hungry and his mind was playing tricks on him.

“Who’s asking!” it was more a command for identification than a question.

“Oh my god!  Jack!” the figure turned around and this time Jack did drop the gun in favor of the blue and yellow blur that ran into his arms.

“Rosie?” he said amazed as his arms automatically folded around her.  His brain that had worked so quickly moments earlier slowed down as he tried to process this.  It was Rose.  Rose Tyler.  Rose Tyler had appeared out of nowhere in a supposedly secure building and was now in his arms hugging him hard enough that he’d be worrying about breathing if he was still mortal.  This wasn’t supposed to be possible.  The Doctor had said…ah, but then this wouldn’t be the first time the Time Lord had underestimated her.

“Oh god Jack, I’ve missed you!  But how are you here?  I thought you had di-,” seeming to catch herself, Rose stepped back out of his embrace, folded her arms, and looked him over.

“When is it for you?” she asked cautiously.  Looks like she’d kept her time traveling skills sharp, he thought grinning.

“Long after the Game Station,” he replied.  Just from a quick once over, Jack could tell that this Rose was a little older and a lot harder then when he’d seen her last, so it must have already happened for her too.  Still, a little caution wouldn’t hurt.  “And you?”

Rose stared at him in astonishment shaking her head slightly, “But Jack,” she said, “How are you here?  On Earth, right?  That’s where we are?  Oh Jack, you died!  The Daleks…”

“Yeah well, didn’t stick,” he shrugged, “Takes more than a fleet of pepper pots to kill me.  Although, I mostly have you to thank for that, sweetheart,” he winked.  “And as for why I’m here, well that’s a long story.  But the short of it is, I used my vortex manipulator to go back in time and then the damn thing burned out. Been looking for you and the Doc ever since.”

Rose’s face fell, “So we left you?  On that ship, all alone?  Jack, I’m so sorry!”

“Hey,” he said resting a hand on her shoulder, “You didn’t know.” And it was true. She hadn’t known.  Jack wondered what story the Doctor had told her to make her think he’d died.  He wondered how much she knew about her part in it all.   “And hey,” he assured her, “I’ve done alright for myself, don’t worry.”    

 She nodded and offered him a small smile, “Good Jack, that’s good.” 

She took a deep breath as if steeling herself for something.  “The Doctor…we got separated,” she admitted, eyes drifting away from his.  “I have no idea where he is, Jack.  I’ve been looking for him too.  For so long…” she looked so tired and Jack wondered what she’d been through in that parallel universe.  

“Yeah, well I may be able to help you with that.”  Her eyes snapped back to his as he continued, “Me and the lovely Miss Martha Jones here,” he gestured to Martha who was still standing a few steps behind him, “are hiding out in this stinking old warehouse because we are currently number two and three of Britain’s most wanted.”

“Two and three…” Rose said slowly, working it out, “and…Number One?”

“He’ll be back any minute,” Jack said smiling, overjoyed to be the person who got to give her the news that her search was over.  It looked like it had been a rough one for her.      

“Jack,” she said half laughing and shaking her head in astonishment before leaping back into his arms. He swung her around a few times until he faced Martha who had remained very still and quiet the last couple of minutes.  

“While we’re waiting on his Time Lordiness…Rose Tyler, meet Martha Jones.  Martha Jones, Rose Tyler.” 

Rose turned to face Martha.  Jack held his breath, wondering how this would play out.  There was a tense moment as both women sized each other up before Martha stepped forward, offering her hand, “Good to meet you,” she said perhaps a touch too formally, “The Doctor talks about you all the time.”

“He…he does?” Rose took Martha’s hand, but glanced back at Jack as if for confirmation, “He mentioned me?”

“Er…yeah,” Martha said stiffly, “Won’t shut up about you sometimes.”

“I…I didn’t think he’d…,” Rose began before breaking out in a wide grin as she gripped Martha’s hand in a firm shake, “Good to meet you too, Martha Jones!  I bet you’ve had a time of it, keeping those two blokes in line.  How long have you all been traveling together?”

“Er…” Jack’s heart really did go out to Martha as she struggled to keep her composure.  “Well, first it was just me and the Doctor - that was for, oh I don’t know, bout a year?”

“It’s hard to keep track,” Rose sympathized.

“Yeah, it is,” Martha agreed, “And, well, I just met Jack actually…”  

Before she could finish, a rain-slicked Doctor bounded through the doors already jabbering, “Alright, that should do it.  This is now a surveillance free zone!  We’ll be able to keep here safely until…”

Jack could tell the exact moment the Doctor noticed Rose.  If he lived to be five-billion years old, he was sure he’d never forget the utterly gobsmacked look on the Time Lord’s face.  

[coupleofdays]

I often think about the time dilation that is apparently going on in the TRON films, meaning that time in the digital world is moving "slower" than in the real world. In the original film, it meant that Kevin Flynn had a grand adventure that seemed to go on for days (or just hours?), but returned to the real world just a few minutes after he disappeared from it. TRON Legacy hints that a very long time has passed for Kevin on the Grid before Sam shows up ("Long time." "You have no idea."), but it never outright states how much. Apparently some source material establishes that Kevin has lived about 1000 years from his perspective, though other calculations by fans seems to suggest even larger numbers. The upcoming TRON Identity apparently is also working under the premise that while only a few years have passed in the real world since the events of Legacy, in the digital world those events have passed into myth and legend.

In any case, this makes me really wonder about Quorra. As I recall, in the film she's a feisty, adventurous and somewhat naive young freedom fighter. But really, she too must be really old, and by the time Sam arrives, she must have Seen Some Shit, far more than any of us could comprehend. Having lived under Clu's dictatorship for a thousand years, the odds would be great that she would be bitter, cynical and just generally grim, but instead she's still laughing and being enthusiastic about going on fun adventures.

I read one theory that after a certain time, time on the Grid simply starts looping back and repeating, so Clu's fighting against the same uprisings over and over again for hundreds of years, and things only start to change when Sam arrives and moves the plot forward, so to speak. It's fascinating to think that Tron might have recruited a hundred different Renegades throughout the years, becoming more and more despairing as nothing seems to change, unaware that the system is resetting itself again and again.

This also made me imagine Quorra as a sort of Peter Pan figure: Eternally young and cheerful, always happy to go on new adventures, with Clu as her Captain Hook, always coming up with new evil schemes (or maybe just the same schemes over and over) for her to thwart. And most importantly, she would have a very short memory, slowly forgetting all her past struggles and staying eternally optimistic that the final victory is just ahead. If Sam (the Wendy to her Peter) had disappeared from the Grid without taking her with him, she would probably just have forgotten about him after a few cycles.

[frostise]

Medicine cabinet; five most recent in contact list. 

𝐀 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓’𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑…   ┇   accepting ♡

frost's medicine cabinet

notes: i'll be highlighting her must-haves only. louise rarely catches the flu because of her metahuman condition to absorb heat. however, she's not immune to mental scars and needs to maintain her other bodily functions.

fluoxetine. she regularly takes these every morning. louise does suffer from long-term PTSD and depression. taking fluoxetine makes it a little easier to endure the pain

temazepam. this helps deal with her insomnia. she regularly takes these once per night to help relieve stress and maintain her sleep cycle. louise was prescribed with this medication after crystal's death

first aid-kit. louise has the ability to treat small cuts and bruises but nothing too complicated like stitching gaping wounds. the first aid-kit contains hydrogen peroxide, tweezers, scissors, bandages, band-aids, antibacterial ointment, gauze ect ect.

ibuprofen. for headaches only. mostly takes this during the day before approaching her work

nicotine patch, lozenge and varenicline. these are widely known as quit-smoking medicines and at some point, she did manage to drop her terrible smoking habits

tampons. self explanatory...

five most recent in frost's contact list

notes: louise gives nicknames for almost everyone. some can be downright insulting, endearing or simply shorting their name to save some time depending on her relationship with these characters. i'll be adding their contact list like this: contact name / alias / relationship status.

old man / multiplex / mentor and father figure. louise would never in a million years say this but she does consider danton to be the father she wanted to enable her terrible actions. the term 'old man' can be mistaken for a insult but she uses it as a indirect way of calling him a 'father' but only in text messages. he's the one who keeps her updated on T.A.B's activities if she's not present

trixie / trickster / younger brother figure. louise always called axel 'trixie' because it annoyed him and he always complained it was a girl's name. they have the typical sibling dynamic of bullying each other just for fun, but if someone else joined in? louise and axel would've joined forces and told the other person off. he would always call her up to crash at her place whenever he gets kicked out of the rogues or invite frost over to their heist missions

betty / plastique / close friend. they became metahumans on the same day, shared a common enemy and the same jail cell. louise had already considered bette her friend because they've caused riots and broken out of prison. betty is her number one ride-or-die partner for duo missions. they call each other up scheme and have brunch on the same exact day

floyd / deadshot / close friend. out of respect, louise always called deadshot by his real name. to my knowledge—she never pinned a proper nickname for him. they're partners in crime in the old days and stayed in contact whenever they can and when they do get the chance to hang out, they're always sighted in villain bars and parties. sometimes they end up getting partnered together for classified missions

cal / the calculator / professional. if louise has enough money to pay for forbidden information? then the calculator is her go-to-guy. she once paid him to track down an obscure villain for her and saved her the time and resources in no time flat. the only downside to this is that he's super pricey with his services and only calls calculator up for emergencies

[darkhighness]

Good Omentober Day 1 - Pre-Fall

Prompts by @disaster-dog

Crowley's name pre-falling is Caphriel and uses she/her pronouns. I was really unsure of what to make her name for this one-shot but I feel like this works well enough. I've seen a few sources that believe that Caphriel could mean something akin to honesty or truth but I know there are multiple meanings.

Somewhere amongst the stars was a young angel holding a scroll out in front of her.  Illustrated were the most fantastic nebulae and individual stars. The paper was alight with various calculations and diagrams and Caphriel couldn’t help but stare in pure wonder.

It was a design she had been working on for a long time and while it was a small aspect in the grand scheme of things, she took a moment to marvel at its beauty. She eventually moved the scroll to the side and sat absently twirling the ends of her warm-toned hair. It was her usual thinking position and she’d often been accused of day dreaming too much. She would reason that her ‘day-dreaming’ is what allowed her to work so well. No other angel could see things the way she did.

She was entirely interrupted though until another angel zipped past, running into her and rather abruptly snapping her out of her daze.

“Oh goodness I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean-” The angel stammered.

Caphriel was stunned by their glow. The angel in a fluster in front of them was positively radiant and she couldn’t take her eyes off of them. Their hair was simply the most perfect shade of white, even if it did look rather dishellved and spiky at this moment and Caphriel was entranced by the gorgeous wings that had now folded up behind them. She almost forgot to speak.

“Oh-oh! It’s okay. I was a bit out of sorts myself.” She chuckled slightly before making sure the other angel was okay. “You seem to be in a rush. Is everything okay?”

The angel nodded quickly before offering a timid smile. “Sorry, just want to impress God. I simply must be in the good books when she selects the guardians of earth.” 

Caphriel hummed slightly. Earth wasn’t something that usually excited her. As far as she was concerned, it was just God’s little pet project and everyone had to run around to help out. She’d done well enough at avoiding any real responsibility so far, happy to keep her head in the stars.

“I’m sure a little break wouldn’t go astray.” Caphriel smiled warmly, reaching out to straighten the collar of the other angel’s robe. “Can hardly be your best if you’re always rushing everywhere. Plus, what’s the good of being on earth if you never see what everyone’s doing up here?”

The white-haired angel was positively stunned by this statement. It was unheard of to not be enamoured by the home of God’s proudest creation, her humans. Caphriel sighed softly as she watched the face of the other angel fall. There was a reason she never talked about her opinions on Earth. All the angels loved it. She should have loved it too.

In all honestly, she wanted to have the same excitement but she had taken it rather personally. Before all this, she would talk to God regularly to show off her work. She was almost confused with the archangels she would talk to the Almighty that much but she simply found someone who loved the stars as much as she did. It hurt, to not have that connection anymore. It hurt to not feel the love of the Almighty. The only thing God loved anymore were her humans.

“Anyway,” Caphriel continued, “Would you like to see what I’m working on?”

There was a tiny glimmer behind the young angels eyes. This is what made her whole. Talking about her stars filled her whole body with joy and she was almost bursting. She summoned her journal that was brimming with ideas and had many loose pages strapped into it’s form. The journal had seen a lot of love and it had every idea, every sketch and every calculation Caphriel had ever produced. 

“This one, this was when I worked out how to get the stars to stay super close without them interrupting each other’s cycles. Did you know that if you put stars that close together, it almost looks like-”

“-they’re one star.” The other angel finished softly.

Caphriel nodded enthusiastically before closing the book. “It’s amazing. It’s like drawing but with lights. That’s what the Almighty used to say, at least.” 

The white-haired angel was enamoured with the book, surprised at how much work went into one aspect of the Almighty’s plan. “This is amazing. Wow, I never thought that someone could even come up with all this. I can’t wait to see it once you’re finished.” 

“Hopefully not too long now!” Caphriel chirped.

“And I’m sure her humans will love them.” The other angel added, smiling up at Caphriel who gave a curt nod in response. 

Without another word, the angel zipped off and Caphriel looked as they disappeared once again into the expanse. Caphriel, finally breaking from their angel-induced trance pulled her hair away from the curl she’d been fiddling with. Surely she couldn’t have been messing with her hair that whole time. 

That comment about the humans was bothering her though. They didn’t even exist yet and she was already living in their shadow. Her creations weren’t just something for these…things to look at. They were complicated and each nebula, each individual star had a story. She could hardly expect God’s little pets to understand. 

It was something beautiful and something much bigger than her. She pulled out an old unfinished sketch. She’d made stars that were close before but this, this was something fantastic. The type of stars that the angels would gush over. So close they looked like one. Inseparable. Like she used to be with the Almighty.

That was one thing the humans couldn’t possibly compete with, Caphriel reasoned. They could never come up with something like this. As he imagination ran wild, the page filled with colour. All she had to do now is make it work. If she could make sense of all the numbers it would be her perfect creations.

“Alpha Centauri.” She stammered, breathless, “Maybe then she’ll love me again.”

[versatileginger]

SYNERGY | INTRO

Oberyn Martell x OC (Elara)

Warnings: AU, violence, weapons, mature themes, murder, everything you'd find in in Game of Thrones. 

Summary: In the embrace of existence, the brilliance of light finds its depth in the shadows, and conversely, the obscurity of darkness discovers its essence in the radiant dance of symbiotic contrast.

A/N: And thus it begins..

In the frigid embrace of dawn's shadows, Elara's alarm, a shrill harbinger of monotony, tears through the cocoon of night. With the weariness of a thousand routines clinging to her, she reluctantly extracts herself from the dwindling warmth of her bed, limbs protesting against the relentless pull of another day. The bathroom, a witness to her perpetual metamorphosis, becomes the stage for her despondent ballet.

Her movements, mechanical and detached, guide her through the motions. Dark red strands cascade like forgotten aspirations as she prepares to face a world painted in grayscale. In the muted glow, a delicate layer of makeup becomes a futile attempt to conceal the exhaustion etched beneath her eyes. The closet, a repository of uninspired choices, relinquishes dark jeans, a nondescript grey t-shirt, and the obligatory leather jacket—a uniform of resignation. A baseball cap crowns her ensemble, a feeble shield against the relentless onslaught of the outside world.

This ritual, once a dance with promise, has devolved into a monotonous symphony played out too many times. Breakfast is reduced to the perfunctory gulp of a Red Bull, a liquid lifeline in a world devoid of vibrancy. Beyond the walls of her apartment, a dismal scene unfolds—the rain, a relentless torrent of forgotten dreams, drenching the world in melancholy.

The allure of a real job and the excitement of office life, once promising, have given way to a withered existence. In the field of sales, her days are a mechanical march through time, compliments falling on deaf ears, and a forced smile unable to breach the depths of her weary eyes. The conclusion of each day is a scripted routine—home, eat, bed—a haunting cycle that repeats like a tired echo.

Turning a desolate corner, she steps into an alley, undeniably shady but undoubtedly quicker. Her gaze scans forward, revealing a figure stationed at the alley's end. Confidence radiates from his stance, sharp features implying strength concealed in shadow. A fleeting glance is all he spares before disappearing, intentionally evading further observation. Just a few steps more, and a cloudiness descends upon her mind—an all-too-familiar precursor to the moment one realizes they're slipping into sleep.

In the heart of the alley, where shadows intertwine with the echoes of her wearied footsteps, she surrenders. Her body succumbs to the inexorable embrace of unconsciousness.

At the desolate terminus of the alley, Oberyn stood, a sinister silhouette against the muted backdrop of shadows. The time had come for Elara, chosen by the scouts days ago, to be collected. As the right hand of the cell's leader in this city, Oberyn held a position of authority, a harbinger of ominous forces operating in the clandestine corners of the urban labyrinth.

Beside him, Lucian, a newcomer shrouded in uncertainty but wanting to prove himself, was present for a purpose—to ensure the subject's procurement unfolded according to plan. The alley, chosen strategically for its familiarity to Elara, became the stage for their sinister operation. Oberyn, making sure Lucian did what he was told, stood ready for damage control, a necessity when handling delicate matters like these.

Elara's form materialized at the entrance of the alley, an unwitting player in a meticulously orchestrated scheme. Oberyn recognized the calculated precision—they had anticipated her routine, exploiting the predictable path she took to work. Now, it was imperative to distance himself, and let Lucian do his thing and execute the extraction. In the realm of clandestine operations, every moment spent not in control was a risk, and Oberyn aimed to minimize those risks.

As the shadows tightened their grip, Elara moved further into the alley, unknowingly stepping into the carefully woven web of their plans. It was a successful day, a dark triumph for the cell that operated with ominous precision in the unseen recesses of the city's underbelly. The whispers of the alley, the echoes of their intentions, heralded the completion of another clandestine chapter, leaving behind only a sense of foreboding in the air.

MAIN MASTERLIST SYNERGY MASTERLIST CHAPTER 1

[ginebikes]

Bike2Work Scheme | Electric Bikes and Accessories

As the UK's leading independent provider of the Government Cycle to Work scheme, Bike2Work enables employees to save on bikes and accessories, up to £1,000. The scheme covers the cost of your GIN X e-bike alone, with accessories not included.

[bizcontrol9]

Automate Your Salary Workflow with Biz Control’s Seamless Payroll System"

Blog Title: Automate Your Salary Workflow with Biz Control’s Seamless Payroll System

Blog URL: https://www.bizcontrol.in/blog/seamless-payroll-system

Home Page URL: https://www.bizcontrol.in

Automate Your Salary Workflow with Biz Control’s Seamless Payroll System

Managing payroll is a crucial function in every organization, yet it’s often one of the most challenging and time-consuming tasks for HR departments. From calculating salaries to ensuring timely payments, the process requires accuracy and attention to detail. With Biz Control’s seamless payroll system, businesses can now automate the entire salary workflow, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and efficiency with minimal effort.

Why Automate Payroll?

Manual payroll management can lead to errors, delays, and inconsistencies, which may harm employee trust and lead to compliance issues. Automating your payroll system not only simplifies these processes but also eliminates human errors, making it a game-changer for businesses. Biz Control’s payroll solution is designed to make salary management effortless and hassle-free, ensuring that employees are paid correctly and on time, every time.

Key Benefits of Biz Control’s Automated Payroll System

1. Streamlined Salary Calculation

Biz Control’s payroll system automatically calculates salaries based on accurate attendance data, allowing businesses to process payments seamlessly. Whether it’s calculating bonuses, overtime, or leave deductions, the system ensures everything is done according to predefined rules—saving time and reducing errors.

Forget about manually calculating salaries for each employee every month. With automation, payroll is generated quickly and accurately, ensuring no discrepancies or delays.

2. Real-Time Attendance Sync

One of the key features of Biz Control is its integration with attendance systems. The moment an employee clocks in or out, their attendance data is instantly synced with the payroll system.

This real-time synchronization means there’s no need for manual updates or cross-checking attendance records, reducing the chance of errors in payroll calculations.

3. Automatic Tax and Deduction Calculations

Taxation and statutory deductions are a critical aspect of payroll management. Biz Control ensures your business stays compliant by automatically calculating deductions like Provident Fund (PF), Employee State Insurance (ESI), Professional Tax (PT), and income tax withholdings, based on the latest government regulations.

The system updates itself to adhere to the latest tax laws, so your business never misses a compliance update and employees are always paid accurately.

4. Customizable Payslips & Reports

Biz Control allows businesses to generate customizable payslips, offering transparency to employees regarding their earnings, deductions, and bonuses. These payslips are automatically generated and sent out to employees each pay cycle.

In addition, HR can generate detailed payroll reports to analyze payroll trends, track employee compensation, and make data-driven decisions for business planning.

5. Compliance and Security

Compliance with labor laws is crucial to avoid penalties and legal issues. Biz Control ensures that your payroll system follows the latest tax regulations, labor laws, and benefit schemes, helping you stay compliant with minimal effort.

The platform also uses high-level security protocols to protect sensitive employee data, ensuring confidentiality and data integrity.

6. Reduced Administrative Work

By automating payroll, you eliminate much of the administrative work typically involved in salary processing. No more tedious manual calculations, cross-checking data, or resolving discrepancies. The system does all the heavy lifting, so your HR team can focus on more strategic tasks.

Why Choose Biz Control for Payroll Automation?

Biz Control stands out because of its user-friendly interface and highly customizable features. It is built to serve businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. The platform is designed to grow with your business, offering scalability, flexibility, and seamless integration with your existing tools.

Moreover, Biz Control's commitment to automation, accuracy, and efficiency ensures that payroll management is always one less thing for you to worry about. With our system, you can ensure your employees are paid on time, in full, and with no errors—while maintaining full compliance with all applicable regulations.

Get Started with Biz Control Today

Ready to experience effortless salary management? Automate your payroll workflow with Biz Control and discover how simple, efficient, and error-free payroll processing can be.

Visit our Home Page to learn more or Sign Up to get started with our seamless payroll system.

Conclusion

Whether you’re a growing business or an established enterprise, automating payroll with Biz Control ensures that your salary processing is accurate, compliant, and efficient. Say goodbye to manual errors and delays, and take control of your payroll today with Biz Control’s comprehensive solution.

[novumtimes]

4 myths about workplace salary sacrifice schemes busted by an expert

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Agreeing with your employer to “give up” a chunk of your salary may not sound like a fantastic financial deal – but workers can potentially make their money go further by using salary sacrifice schemes. Yet just over a fifth (22%) have either never heard of them or are confused about how they could help, according to Scottish Widows. Such schemes mean that workers voluntarily reduce their entitlement to cash pay, in return for a non-cash benefit. Employers may offer salary sacrifice as part of their pension scheme, to help workers boost their pots. They may also be available in the workplace to help employees with cycle-to-work schemes, gym memberships or insurance costs. Susan Hope, a retirement expert at Scottish Widows says salary sacrifice is “a great way to save for the future but is often misunderstood, with a fifth of workers confused about what salary exchange is and how it works. “This could cause workers to miss out on essentially ‘free money’ – which they could benefit from in their take-home pay or in the future from increased pension savings.” To help shed further light on how they work, Hope has shared a few tips to dispel some of the myths and misconceptions about salary sacrifice schemes: 1. It means a smaller pay packet Hope says: “In fact, the main advantage of salary exchange is that it often results in higher take-home pay, as you’ll be paying lower national insurance contributions (NICs). “You can always ask your employer to calculate how salary exchange would affect your take-home pay before joining.” 2. It’s only for higher earners Hope says those who are eligible include earners who have a personal allowance of at least £12,570 (the amount of income you can have before paying tax) and earn above the NICs thresholds. Hope adds: “There’s lots of free online tools, calculators and guides to help you confirm if you’re eligible or not before signing up.” 3. It’s not a way to boost retirement saving Scottish Widows found three-quarters (76%) of people don’t realise salary exchange can be used to increase pension contributions. “While it might sound complicated, it’s just a slightly different way to make pension contributions,” says Hope. 4. It will definitely affect future benefits Hope says that if an employee chooses to opt into a workplace salary exchange scheme, then the employer can maintain a “reference salary”. This ensures payments for benefits such as death in service, holiday pay and any overtime are honoured and calculated using the reference salary for accuracy. It is worth checking this with the employer. Something else to bear in mind is that a lower salary could affect borrowing applications, such as mortgages, although, again, check whether any reference salary agreed with the employer can be considered as part of the process. Source link via The Novum Times

[zfundsofficial]

Daily sip vs monthly sip

A systematic investment plan invests in mutual funds where a fixed amount is invested periodically. It is a disciplined way of investing that leads to better saving and investment habits.

What is daily SIP

A daily Systematic investment plan is where a fixed amount is invested in mutual funds every business day. The daily SIP helps in taking advantage of market movement and fluctuations and it also builds the habit of daily savings. However, in Daily SIP, record keeping can be tiresome as every investment will be accounted for separately for taxation purposes. Another issue with daily sip is most of the Mutual funds do not allow daily investments so that leaves the inventor with fewer options.

What is the monthly SIP?

As the name suggests, a monthly systematic investment plan involves investing a fixed amount of money, monthly, in a mutual fund saving scheme. It is also a regular and disciplined way of investing and aligns with the income cycle of most salaried people. It is considered the most popular way of investing and mostly all mutual funds schemes give monthly investment options.  However, it could not take advantage of daily market volatility but it is considered less complex in terms of taxation and record keeping.

Difference between Daily sip vs monthly sip

Criteria

Daily SIP

Monthly SIP

Meaning

Investing a fixed amount on every working day

Investing a fixed amount every month

Investment period or frequency of investment

1 Day

1 month

Record keeping

Daily record and a higher number of transactions increases the complexity

Monthly, fewer transactions, easy to record 

Convenience

Daily SIP is a daily commitment and can be a little inconvenient. 

Monthly SIP is favorable as it syncs with the income cycle of most salaried individuals. 

Small-cap, mid-cap, and large-cap stocks 

As invested daily, it is more likely to be influenced by the market volatility of small and mid-cap stocks. However large-cap stocks do not affect much as they tend to be less volatile. 

Due to monthly investment, daily market fluctuations do not influence the investment value much and it averages out every month.

Fund type choices

As most schemes do not deal on a daily or weekly basis, it might limit scheme choices for investors.

A monthly basis is a common investment method and it is adopted by most of the mutual fund houses. So it provides a wider choice for investors.

Flexibility

Daily funds provide more flexibility 

Monthly SIP funds are less flexible as compared to daily and weekly SIPS

Return expectations

Due to compounding computation methods, investors can expect better returns in daily SIP. You can calculate your daily sip through a daily sip calculator.

Due to compounding computation methods, expected returns in monthly sips could be slightly less in monthly sips.

Taxation

As every installment is considered as an individual investment, computing the taxation is a complex process in daily sip.

Compared to a daily basis, monthly sips are easier.

*Both daily and monthly sip have their advantages and disadvantages, it depends on income cycle investment planning, risk appetite, and return expectation of the investor to choose the more viable options.

[harrytheexplorer]

Timeless Echoes by Afifa Aleiby

Time is a complicated and profound concept that has fascinated psychologists and philosophers alike. The concept of time is also present in many mystical and spiritual tradition throughout history.

The track "Echoes" by Pink Floyd is considered one of their greatest songs due to its musical complexity and profound lyrics. This article will discuss the concepts of time and eternity with this song. Simultaneity The fundamental insight of relativity is that simultaneity is a subjective notion and is not a reality that can be measured objectively. Therefore, it is impossible to prove the absolute existence of simultaneity within the special relativity framework. For example, imagine two observers on the same planet that are in different relative motions in relation to one another. If they make the correct calculations regarding their speed and time it takes for a light signal to be transmitted from one observer the other, they will discover that their clocks are not aligned. Einstein's violation of simultaneity is demonstrated in this illustration. He demonstrated that the manner the observer determines two events as simultaneous is based on their state of motion in a spacetime called Minkowski space. It is the same phenomenon that causes time dilation. Multidimensional Time Territories Timeless Echoes celebrates all moments that have passed and are still happening. In a beautiful black and white color scheme, this painting creates a feeling of enduring beauty that will blow your mind away. If we add a time dimension to our universe, it extends 4-D space to include the possibility of observation of different parallel timelines simultaneously. Beings who reside in this higher level also have capabilities that relate to space in 5-D, which allow them to affect the Universe and celestial bodies. The concept of multidimensional time allows us to reframe the way we understand our Universe and its relationships with other dimensions. This concept goes against the traditional concept of time as a linear progression, however it can help us to better comprehend all that is around us. This theory could provide the answer to understanding quantum mechanics and its superpositions and undefined properties. It is crucial to test and investigate this theory. The Eternal Present Each wisdom tradition strives to grasp and understand the eternal present, which lies far beyond biological time-cycles and linear psychological time. The eternal present is a resounding "Now" that transcends all previous as well as future experiences. It is experienced as a non-dualistic awareness as it is non-dualistic, universal and inclusive. This argument has several flaws. The B-theory isn't able to fit with our perception of time as a sequential sequence since it assumes that events are organized according to B-relations between precedence as well as simultaneity. Furthermore, in order for an extension's concept to be conceptually divisible, it should contain a variety of definite and ordered points. Finally, Stump and Kretzmann's conflation of timelessness with eternity makes it difficult to imagine of an eternal duration which is simultaneously point-like and indivisible. In order for an extension to be considered point-like, it has to be able to accommodate a multiplicity of definite and ordered point instants, and this is not possible for an eternal duration. The speed of time is fluid Afifa's paintings convey the sense of the ever-flowing present, echoing the traditional notion of cyclical time. However, her work also speaks to deeper understanding of the changing nature of time as outlined by scientists and philosophers alike. The theory of relativity as an example, says that the relative movement between two events decides if they happen simultaneously. This means that an astronaut moving close to the speed of light would experience a different perception of time than someone who is on Earth. The notion of time flexibility allows people to adapt to the ever-changing demands of life. Time fluidity lets graphic designers to alter their schedule to be able to attend a family meeting or have lunch breaks without feeling overwhelmed. The ebb-and-flow of time is more important than ever in a world characterized by technological omnipresence, unparalleled productivity and the omnipresent digital world. Go to YouTube