#I really need to remember to check if a game is 1st or 3rd person lol

[lliaq]

nvm had to refund it bc it made me motion sick

someone give me the strength to resist the steam winter sale

[al3x1ss]

Cheerleader Captain {HCs}

Includes: Terushima, Oikawa

THIS IS WRITTEN WITH A GENDER NEUTRAL READER!

Authors Note: This is a sort of collab with @lexysclubhouse based on our conversations LMAO, but seriously go check hers out!

If a part 2 is wanted, leave an ask!

Warnings: Cursing

Terushima

aLRIGHT KIDS LETS GET TO IT

also hello go check out Lexy’s part of this (collab? Idfk)

SO

you two probably met while he was in practice, but since you’re the cheer captain, you needed to get the last jacket for one of your competitions coming up

so they’re on a water break and they just see a random person come in like

👀

are you lost baby gorl 😏

ANYWHO

Terushima comes up to you smirk and all

“Hey gorgeous, you lookin for me?”

You just look up at this man

Bored as hell

And you’re just SILENT

sO HES JUST LOSING CONFIDENCE LMAO

“No.”

YOU JUST SHOVE PAST HIM

HOMEBOY LOOKS LIKE A LOST PUPPY

so you go to your coach, and immediately a smile comes of your face

and he’s like oh my god

Angel 🥺

so you talk with your coach, get the jacket and say goodbye to her

jacket w a v i n g in the wind behind you like there’s literally a fan on but there’s not?

you’re just so cool to him

so he has already fallen like

IMMEDIATELY

was trying to find you but he can’t

He’s over here thinking you’re a 3rd year from how mature you were

(You’re a second year hehehehe)

so the next time he sees you, YOURE at practice!

His team wasn’t told that their gym was gonna be used for a little before practice

So his team got their early and saw your team doing a routine to “Livin’ La Vida Loca”

ONCE AGAIN HE HAS FALLEN IN LOVE AND CANT GET OUT

DUDE

YOU WITH YOUR POM POMS?

YOUR HIPS

MF ALMOST GOT A NOSEBLEED SHIT

LIKE IT WASN EVEN EROTIC

YOJ WERE JUST SO STUNNING AND COOL LIKE SHIT

HE FELT LIKE A LITERAL NERD

the words “I don’t deserve their oxygen” full on came out from his mouth

ONE OF HIS TEAMMATES JUST STARTED WHEEZING LIKE

OH MY GOD

THEIR CAPTAIN?

W I M P

Like you’re practicing in sweats but shit I mean I’d simp 😳

About 2 weeks later he hears about you guys winning your competition

At this point you kind of know him? Like after that small interaction the cheer team and volleyball team were introduced to eachother

Especially since you were going to be cheering at prelims in 2 months

So the next day he pulls you aside and confesses

Stuttering and ALL

HE GOT YOU FLOWERS

LIKE HE GOT ROSES CUZ HES A BASIC BITCH

BUT LEAVE HIM ALONE HES TRYING 🥺

Shit I’d KILL to get flowers from someone

especially him

okay lex not the time

HE TAKES YOU ON A DATE TO THIS REALLY CUTE DINER

YOU KISS HIS CHEEK AT THE END OF THE NIGHT EIRHHTHTYN

YOU LUCKY MF I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

literally the first conversation was about his tongue piercing

And he got REALLY self conscious

BUT

YOU HAD ONE TOO?

WHICH WAS SUPER COOL

LIKE OMG TWINSIES

like of course you took it out for comps and stuff but for just hanging out you had it in

You look so hot with it to him

so two weeks pass and it’s pre-lims!

At this point you’re one of Johzenji’s favorite couples

Like why didn’t y’all get together sooner you cute as FUCK

So you guys are doing a small routine while Terushima goes up to serve

ITS THE SAME LIVIN LA VIDA LOCA ROUTINE LMAO

MANS IS JUST HOLDING THE BALL STARING AT YOU

NOT KNOWING THAT THE WHISTLE BLEW ALREADY

AND THEN HE SNAPS OUT IF IT REALIZING HIS 8 SECONDS WERE UP

HE LITERALLY G A V E A POINT TO THE OTHER TEAM BECAUSE YOU WERE SO PRETTY

Now between switching sides after losing the 1st set, you walk up to him

He’s just staring at you smirking

“So, you wanna talk about that serve?”

“OH IM SOOOOORY, my pretty baby was just so beautiful, I couldn’t look away.”

THIS MAN DOESNT WALK AWAY

HE MF S K I P S

YOURE RED AS HELL

PRETTY BABY?

BEAUTIFUL?

UGH

Oikawa

heheh HES WEARINT MY NUMBER I ALWAYS SCREAM AT THIS

OKAY SO I HAD A DRESM AB THIS

AND I LOVED IT

SO ITS HAPPENING

ENJOY

OKAY

SO

here’s what I’m thinking

Terushima HAS a cheerleading partner?

Oikawa HAD a cheerleading partner

Your schedules just never lined up and it was a mutual break up!!

You guys broke up about 3 months ago so the awkwardness is basically gone?

Like y’all are friends ya know

And yeah both of you do both still think about it randomly

mostly oikawa 👀

So they’re at practice and you come in SPRINTING

LIKE BOYS ARE ABOUT TO BLOW THE WHISTLE TO START A GAME AND THEY JUST SEE YOU ZOOM

SO EVERYONES JUST KINDA WATCHING LMAO

you don’t come out of the office for a while so they end up starting the game

you wanna know who’d up to serve

Oikawa :)

boy serves RIGHT when you come out

Like the universe was like “oh? let’s scare the mother loving SHIT out of ‘em!”

literally hits the wall next to you

“OIKAWA TOORU GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!”

MAN FREEZES

like shit

He was already gonna get scolded by iwa

but you?

he comes up to you with his arms behind his back, his eyes obviously terrified

“Do you know what you just did?”

“Yes.” 🥺

“And do you realize what you’re gonna do?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

Homeboy has never eeen this side of you so he’s terrified.

And when you go to walk away he realizes you’re wearing a captains jacket

“Wait, Y/N, you got promoted?”

“Oh, yeah, I tried for it like a month ago.”

“Congratulations.”

he kinda just stares at you walk out like

Me?

oIKawA tOoRU

missing my ex?

n e v e r

okay maybe sometimes

so the next time he sees you they’re at the prelims against date tech

And he seems you come in in your uniform

wOOSH 🥰

So you guys lock eyes and y’all wave at eachother

you can see his face is r e d so you’re smiling

the game starts, you guys doing simple cheers, but as they get to the transition to the second set, you guys start doing a cheer to “Idol” by BTS that you choreographed

And seeing you as a captain?

H I T THIS MAN

HIT IT TIL IT BREAKS TYPE BEAT

he literally paused to stare at you, iwa was like

“GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER AND DROOL AFTER THE GAME”

stan iwa honestly y’all would make fun of him together whenever you guys had time to hang out

So, end of prelims, they lost to Karasuno

And you’ve been to his house maybe a few times when you guys were dating?

so you remember where it is

his mom?

kinda shocked to see you?

especially in a cheerleading uniform since she never realized you did that?

but you were talking about how you just wanted to see him

so you go upstairs and into his room and he’s just in the corner with his alien plushy sobbing

Your heart is breaking at this point for this man

You go and sit beside him, him not really acknowledging you

“Tooru, I’m really really proud of you and what you’ve become. That will not be the last time you’re on a court, and I will make sure it that as long as I live.”.

he turns to you and turns his alien pushy, instead clinging onto you

You can feel your uniform getting soaked, but you run your fingers through his hair anyway, giving him forehead kisses

after a while of crying, he lifts his head to look at you, eyes still very puffy

You look at him back and you give him a small smile

And he puts his hand on your chin

Gotta get that kiss kiss after missing you for so long

SOFT MAKEOUTS WITH OIKAWA OKAY

so here you guys are at about 2am

Talking about how you missed eachother

“Y/N, I really want to get back together with you.”

😳

“Who would I be to say no to an offer like that?”

You guys go to school the next day

Give the rest of Seijoh 4 sQUEEZES

cuz they deserve it I love them dearly

on Saturday you guys actually went on a date!!

you wanna know what song came on the radio

MF IDOL

HE TURNS TO YOU GRINNING AND GOES

“Ya know you looked really cute doing this cheer, might want to see it again~”“OIKAWA TOORU I WILL NOT HESITATE TO CRASH THIS CAR”

End note: “Just a Friend to You” begins in two days and I’m v excited! (Once again thank you for 100 notes!) (self promotion ✨) But in all seriousness, please go check out Lexy’s stuff! She’s a great writer and is so sweet ❤️

~ Lex 🖤🤍

[the-insomniac-emporium]

thoughts on Bela///Donna?

What a lovely can of worms you've placed in my inbox, dear nonnie. I cannot wait to open it and lose followers (regardless of what I actually say).

Since this is, uh, a subject of some debate among RE8 fans, I will be inputting my thoughts on the idea of the ship (and the possible controversy), as opposed to doing HCs or something for it (which I recognize might be what you were asking for, despite the excessive /s).

This is all based on my playthroughs of the game, as well as what I've managed to double check on the fandom/wiki for it. I know that a lot of people who read fanfic for the game haven't actually played it, likely having been lured in by Tall Vampire Milf, and so I hope that some people will be open to a reminder of, like, canon vs fanon? I've mentioned in a previous post that there's a lot of details for RE8 that are not made clear, and I feel the need to reiterate that in this post. Capcom left a lot of stuff up to people's imaginations, or kind of just hinted at in game or in concept art.

But more importantly, regardless of what game we're talking about, regardless of the conclusion I come to (and the one you come to) at the end of this post, I want to say that I absolutely understand the need/desire to have your own perspective/take on the characters from the game, as well as their dynamics. If a ship makes you uncomfortable because you see the characters as being family members, it's totally okay. Block the ship tag, or filter it out when you look through fandom stuff, don't follow people who post for it, etc, etc.

If you think of characters as being family-family (like, not just "we got married and are now a family" but, like, "we're siblings/parent and child") and still ship them? uh. sorry, bruv, maybe think of hitting that unfollow button. No, seriously, hit that unfollow button. This blog is anti-incest, thank you very much.

The last thing I'll say before putting it under a read-more (for both length and major RE8 spoilers) is that I recognize that I might have missed something, either in game or developers talking about things on social media, and so if you read through this and go "god, J, you're such a dumbass for forgetting *critical piece of media*" or even just "okay but have you seen *small but meaningful piece of media*?" please. Just. Please. Tell me. Link me to that shit. I WANT to know if I'm wrong. I've literally avoided talking about this for as long as I could in order to TRY and make sure I have all the context I need.

With that said, let's examine what context we are given for Alcina Dimitrescu, Bela Dimitrescu, Donna Beneviento, and their relations to each other. I will be leaving my personal thoughts on Bela///Donna at the very end of this, as somewhat of a conclusion, somewhat of just a "hey, this is what you technically asked me about".

Firstly, let me begin by explaining what I consider to be the 3 tiers of "canon"

In-Game/Direct: The highest, truest tier, the definitive canon. This is everything that takes place in game, excluding certain hallucination scenes (ex: Mia was not really in House Beneviento, but we can infer some things from what Donna made Ethan hallucinate about). Things either happen, or are directly stated by characters. There's some wiggle room for dialogue, as characters can lie, but overall we, as the audience, assume we are being told the truth. At the very least, games usually eventually make it clear when a character has been dishonest. Examples of Direct Canon include the following: Ethan is infected with the mold, Lady Dimitrescu drinks blood, Heisenberg wears sunglasses, Mother Miranda can shapeshift.

Concept Art/Developer's Notes/Indirect: Mid-tier and debatable, the "we think, but we're not sure" of canon. Resident Evil: Village contains lots of concept art that the players can browse through, all of which include notes from the developers about the game, characters, environments, and story. Sometimes the notes make something "direct", but oftentimes they do not specify whether the listed idea is still canon or if it was removed during development. This tier also includes information that is implied/can be inferred from tier 1 information, but is not directly stated. Examples of Indirect Canon include the following: Donna's mother died by suicide, Moreau was going to have his lover fused to his back, Duke was originally a fifth lord, Heisenberg was going to have a twin. As you can see, not all of the concept art ideas made it into the final version of the game, so it can be hard when some information seems like it might still be true (such as the matter of Donna's parents).

Fanon/"False": Sometimes collective ideas in a fandom become so widespread that people start interpreting them as actual canon. Sometimes it gets hard to remember what's just obscure lore and what's fanon. When we get a piece of fiction as overall vague as a lot of Resident Evil: Village is, there's bound to be some confusion over time. That's one of the main reasons I waited to talk about Bela////Donna until after I had recently replayed relevant sections of the game, as I wanted to remind myself of what we're actually told. Examples of False Canon are difficult to pinpoint, but might include things like: Hufflepuffs are good at finding things? The Avengers got along for awhile and all had their own rooms in the tower? There's a number scale for the danger level of ghosts in Danny Phantom?

For this post, I will be limiting the majority of my notes to the first two levels of canon, and will do my best to mark them as such. Now... let us... begin.

Alcina Dimitrescu:

Born no later than 1914, Alcina Dimitrescu was 44 years old when she was granted the Cadou by Mother Miranda. (1st Tier: Canon. Source: A note in the castle basement from a servant is dated 1958, and mentions both Alcina and her children. Secondly, Miranda's experiment notes state that Alcina was the 181st subject, and was given the Cadou at age 44. By doing math, we can then determine the earliest Alcina could have been born.)

Alcina refers to the other Lords as her family once without any disdain (when Ethan first arrives at the castle and is caught, Alcina says "you've escaped my little brother"). In a private journal (located near where she threw the infamous vanity) she insults the other Lords, and expresses anger that she is "treated like a sister to them". She argues with Heisenberg without any hesitation, and seems honest in her hatred of him (per Maggie Robertson's wunderbar performance). (1st Tier/2nd Tier: Canon with a sprinkle of interpretation for the last line)

Alcina openly refers to Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela as her daughters, and wrote in her experiment journal that she felt instantly connected to them (as mother and daughters). (1st Tier: Canon).

Bela Dimitrescu:

Likely born in the 1930's or 1940's, in order to be an adult by 1958 (the first dated appearance of the Dimitrescu daughters). (2nd Tier: Based on inference)

Dialogue shows that all three of the daughters do love their mother, and reinforces the bond Alcina's journal mentions. (1st Tier: Canon)

We are not given any information about how Bela feels about the other Lords, or even what she knows about them. Once can assume that she shares the ideas of her mother, either because Alcina tells her things directly, or because Bela (who is eager to please her mother) picks up on them over time. (2nd Tier: Based on inference)

Donna Beneviento:

No idea when she was born. If you've read one of my recent posts, then you know that it's almost entirely a matter of 2nd and 3rd tier canon.

Of the four lords, Donna seems to have the most story within the 2nd tier, and has very, very little in the 1st tier. Duke says she's somewhat isolated, and that her "playmates" never leave the house. Miranda's notes state that Donna is mentally ill, and the gardener's diary states/implies (bit of both) that Donna has severe social anxiety. (1st/2nd Tier: Mostly canon)

Supposedly, her parents committed suicide while she was still a child. This is indicated in concept art/the attached developer's notes. However, the only part that's also directly stated in game is that her parents (specifically her father) died while she was young. (1st/2nd Tier: Mostly canon)

While Donna only has one voice line in the game (and it's sad), Angie talks a fair bit. Angie seems to disapprove of the other Lords, or at the very least enjoys mocking them, as well as enjoys watching them fight with each other. As Angie is connected to Donna, and Donna has some level of control over her, one can assume that the two have similar (if not the same) opinions. (1st/2nd Tier: Mostly Canon)

Donna was adopted by Mother Miranda as an adult. It's unclear exactly how old Donna was, or what exactly Miranda did as her "mother", just that Donna was excited about it. (1st Tier: Canon)

Other Relevant Information:

Heisenberg refers to the other Lords as his siblings a minimum of 1 time. Similarly to Alcina, however, he openly insults them and seems to hate them. He just, you know, hates Mother Miranda the most. (1st Tier: Canon)

Mother Miranda does not actually give a shit about the four Lords, intended for them to die before the ceremony, and has been manipulating them for her own gain this entire time. Her notes and dialogue make it clear that she only cares about getting Eva back. Somehow mother of the year and worst mother ever. At the same time. (1st/2nd Tier: Mostly Canon)

It's unclear who treats Alcina "like a sister" to the other Lords. Were there cut lines of dialogue that cemented the idea of them being a "family"? Did Miranda call them a "family" as part of pretending she cared about them? I've done my best to dig around, but there's very little in game that treats them as a family of any sort.

As each Lord ruled their own section of the region, they don't have any mentions of interacting with each other outside of meetings with Mother Miranda. None of the notes for any Lord (and their relevant experiments) mention what the others are doing. In game, their environments are very separate, very well divided, though this is likely as much for gameplay as it is for story.

Conclusion:

I do not not believe there is enough in game evidence to suggest that Alcina and Donna consider themselves to be siblings. There's the possibility for a large age gap, Alcina was a fair bit older than Donna when she met Miranda, Donna is a social recluse whose closest bonds were with dead blood relatives and dolls, Alcina openly dislikes (if not hates) the other Lords, they seemingly lived very separate and distanced lives, and Mother Miranda does not enforce the idea of "family". Furthermore, the sheer contrast between how Alcina interacts with/speaks of the other Lords compared to how she interacts with/speaks of her daughters says a lot about her feelings. Even if Heisenberg takes the brunt of her anger, Alcina never once says anything remotely positive about anyone other than Miranda and her daughters.

As Alcina/Bela and Donna are not blood-relatives, the definition of what would count as "incest" does vary depending on who you ask. Personally, I do count non-blood relations as potentially incestuous. For example: Alcina "dating" one of her daughters would be incest, regardless of the fact that she's a mutated human and her daughters are weird swarms of flies.

Now, I do understand how popular the idea of the four Lords being a real, chaotic but still close family is. And as I mentioned above, it's totally valid to not like the Bela///Donna ship, whether it's because you think they're family or some other reason. I don't personally see them that way, even in my definitely-not-canon stories.

Do I personally ship Bela///Donna? Nope. Have I liked art for the ship? Admittedly yes, even if I thought some of it was, like, maiden x Bela because Donna didn't have her veil and I'm a DUMBASS who doesn't always remember to read tags. Would I ever write for it? Yeah, probably, assuming I didn't miss anything in game/that I don't eventually change my mind.

[mercurytrinemoon]

Electional astrology: social media charts pt 2

I was asked to do this post so I decided to dive deeper into the topic. Now, I'm not an expert on electional astrology and these are just my intuitive thoughts on what I think might be the best for a social media account (and I think it might apply the best for something like instagram because it’s a very visual and quality-oriented platform). Also keep in mind that this is more advanced astrology so it’s okay to feel a bit overwhelmed, I’ll try to explain everything as well as I can. 

Also, we’re talking astrology for social media accounts, this isn’t anything serious and just something you can test and play with if you want. Lastly, what I that think is worth mentioning when it comes to electional astrology OVERALL: as much as making your decisions based on transits may be very useful, don't get too paranoid on choosing the right date for whatever you want to do. Obviously if you can wait to launch something, then sure, wait, but if it's an emergency situation then please don't postpone it just because Mercury's in retrograde or Mars is making a square or whatever.

Okay so let's get into it. 1. Rising sign: in my last post I mentioned the importance of choosing the right rising sign. You’re basically creating a new entity that is your social media account so I’d definitely pay ettention to that - you need a good first impression and someting that would draw people to whatever you’re presenting. I think you can never go wrong with a Leo rising, you’re going to shine no matter what. Gemini rising seems like a good idea as well, since it's all about communication. Also Libra, if you want to present yourself nicely; or Pisces cause it’s the idealized one. I wouldn’t recomment having ascendant in Aries or Scorpio cause these can be too polarizing and off-putting for some.

2. Moon: I'd honestly recommend going for signs mentioned above. Just anything that's upbeat: air or fire Moons are great. If you can, use the time of waxing Moon (so between New Moon and Full Moon). Make sure Moon is making trines or sextiles (no tense aspects to the Moon!), it should be fairly easy thanks to the fact that it moves fast.

3. Planets in the houses:

in the 1st: Sun, Venus, Mercury or Jupiter would be favourable;

in the 2nd if you want to make a living out of it;

in the 3rd for good communication;

in the 5th for creativity;

in the 6th to build a consistency (because no one wants to be one of those accounts that posts every once in a month lol) - Saturn in the 6th might be good, Uranus or Neptune in not very advisable;

in the 7th to have nice relations with others;

in the 9th for growth and reaching people worldwide;

on the MC/in the 10th for success and "looking good" (Jupiter/Sun/Venus would be amazing on the MC, especially if one of those would be the chart ruler. Saturn could be good for slow and steady success if you’re willing to put much work into it);

in the 11th if you want to be seen and build a community. 11th house is the house of groups and internet so it's a no brainer.

I would advise against having too much emphasis on the houses 4th, 8th, 12th. Avoid having Saturn in the 1st at all costs. Same with Chiron. Or having them in the extroverted houses (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th) cause they can block your communication and make you self-concious (resulting in, for example, constatly deleting your posts and not being satisfied with the account, especially if it’s supposed to be visually pleasing). Also pay attention to the house north node falls in, aka where you’re headed.

4. Aspects: obviously pay attention to this as well. Don't be like me and sign up on instagram when there's a million squares in the sky and nothing else lol. A nice trine between Moon and Venus is always very welcome. Or between Mercury and Moon (*wink wink*). Mercury in flowing aspects. Sun-Jupiter connections would be great. Squares and oppositions aren't bad, they bring the need to release the energy, squares in particular give us a push (we don't want laziness ha), just don’t have too much of them. Any flowing aspects to Jupiter or Saturn would be very much welcome as well.

5. Retrogrades: yeah I would wait these out. Especially from Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. Generational planets are in retrograde for the majority of the time so I wouldn't pay that much attention to them.

6. Quick examples of topics associated with each sign, depending on what your social media is about. You can look at the house meanings to, for example, have Sun or Moon fall into the one that represents your interests (want a blog on astrology? Have Sun in the 9th etc). 

Aries: sports, fitness, games, movies, creativity, leadership type of things, just anything that’s lively.

Taurus: fashion, music, ASMR, food, gardening, arts in general.

Gemini: communication, memes, writing, crafts, really anything cause Geminis can do anything ;)

Cancer: writing, poetry, history, vintage stuff, painting, home decor.

Leo: all forms of arts (music/theater/dance etc), hobbies & creativity, sports.

Virgo: this is the Marie Kondo energy, fitness and nutrition, writing, journalism, crafts, gardening, pets.

Libra: art, fashion, styling, hair & makeup, music, interior design, photography.

Scorpio: the occult, anything witchy, body modifications, criminology, taboo topics, art.

Sagittarius: journalism, writing, books, astrology, spirituality, travel, teaching, comedy, entertainment, sports.

Capricorn: anything authoritative, business-type stuff, politics, law, teaching, socials for managers/PR.

Aquarius: all sorts of creativity, writing, tech stuff, media, social issues, science, sci-fi.

Pisces: all forms of arts, humanitarianism, spirituality, anything water-related (water sports etc).

7. Lastly, there's no set rules really. You just have to look at the chart and kind of get the feel of it. You don’t have to be very particular with your chart either, I’m 100% sure you won’t be able to check all marks from this lil guide. And remember that you’re still you and you won’t suddenly change your own personality, interests and how you interact with people just because your social media chart looks a certain way. 

Have fun with it and good luck!

[tigerkirby215]

5e Ahri, the Nine-Tailed Fox build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Katie “TeaTime” De Sousa and Pan Chengwei. Made for Riot Games.)

Happy new year! For the start of 2021 we’ll be making a build that I spent all of the later half of 2020 thinking up. Yeah of all the characters I couldn’t figure out Ahri was the one who truly stumped me. Regardless we’re finally going to be rounding out the K/DA crew with yet another character that pushes that T for Teen rating.

GOALS

Find me; find yourself - Along with traditional damaging abilities we need to be able to put on a pretty face and lead out prey in. And Evelynn calls you a skank?

They've exhausted their use - Ahri’s lore has changed like 16 times but her abilities have remained constant: drain the life from your foes for some lane sustain.

Spirits follow wherever I go - Of course the most important part of playing Ahri is her Spirit Rush. Three dashes to use in a teamfight... or are they blinks? Gah translating LoL abilities to D&D is hard; can you believe there was a point that I was originally going to make this a Rogue build?

RACE

This is the part where I call a Vastayan a furry! You’re a Shifter because that’s the “half beast” race in 5e. All Shifters get Darkvision and their Shifting ability that lasts a minute and grants some Temporary Hitpoints along with an additional feature based on their subrace. Speaking of subrace we’ll be going for Swiftstride for some foxy agility!

NOTE: Wildhunt works too if you want more utility, and are willing to swap starting ASIs around with Tasha’s rules.

You get a +2 to Dexterity and a +1 to Charisma, and are Graceful to get proficiency in the Acrobatics skill. Finally your Shifting Feature gives you an additional 10 feet of movement when you activate it and the ability to move 10 feet away from an enemy that ends their turn near you as a reaction, just to make sure you don’t get caught by any melee-range stuns.

ABILITY SCORES

15; CHARISMA - Ahri’s main ability is to charm people so much that they fall right into her murderous arms. She was essentially the founder of K/DA as well.

14; DEXTERITY - Ahri’s other main trait is her swiftness which means I can properly justify some DEX for her, especially with the +2 from our race.

13; CONSTITUTION - Sapping the life out of people means that you are pretty sturdy yourself.

12; WISDOM - Call it Vastayan magic or common sense but you need to know your way around both animals and people.

10; INTELLIGENCE - Riot finally decided to just give you amnesia, meaning that you don’t remember your math class.

8; STRENGTH - It’s on your bodyguard to do the heavy lifting, as well as any other buff allies you may meet.

BACKGROUND

Ahri’s lore has been through the wringer so many times I don’t even know what it is anymore, especially since they copped out and wrote “amnesia lol” as her lore. But she’s certainly the odd one out so Far Traveler works well enough. You get proficiency in Insight and Perception along with a Musical Instrument or Gaming Set (Music Instrument makes more sense but you can pick whatever you like.) You also get proficiency in a language of your choice: Sylvan seems natural for a lost girl on the Ionian countryside.

Your background feature All Eyes on You will make sure that everyone watches the fox. Basically: people are interested in the Vastaya, and if you chat with them you might be able to get somewhere special, seeing how special you are~

(Artwork by Alvin Lee, Pan Chengwei, and Bo “chenbowow” Chen. Made for Riot Games.)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - SORCERER 1

Starting off as a Sorcerer because your magic is innate, after all. Also because Constitution saving throws are nice! Regardless you get proficiency in two skills from the Sorcerer list: how about the Charisma classics? Persuasion and Deception to be a master of honied words.

Sorcerers get to choose their subclass at level 1 and hey: wouldn’t it be funny if they made a Sorcerer that’s heavily based on Enchantment magic? Well the Aberrant Mind is exactly that, having Psionic Spells that can be from the Divination or Enchantment schools. Spells like Mind Sliver to get around heavily armored foes, and Dissonant Whispers which is good to freak out your foes. But we’ll be replacing Arms of Hadar with Charm Person because... hey! It’s a Charm!

You’re also capable of Telepathic Speech to coordinate ganks in team chat, or to tell Seraphine that her dress zipper is undone. You can make a telepathic bond as a Bonus Action with a creature within 30 feet of you. You can speak telepathically with the creature up to a number of miles equal to your Charisma modifier, though you must both share a language for this to work. The telepathic connection lasts for a number of minutes equal to your sorcerer level but it ends early if you are incapacitated or die, or if you use this ability on a different creature.

Oh but of course if you’re a Sorcerer that means you have Spellcasting! You can learn 4 cantrips as a first level Sorcerer:

For some harmless Fox-Fire take Dancing Lights to light up the night. For some more potent Fox-Fire Control Flames will let you make the fire grow!

If you need a quick charm and don’t care about the aftermath Friends will get you what you need.

To keep both traveling clothes and dancing clothes looking prim and proper take Mending. Those outfits are expensive you know!

You can also learn two spells of first level: full disclosure pretty much 95% of the reason this build has Sorcerer levels is so we can take Magic Missile to recreate Fox-Fire and Chromatic Orb for Orb of Deception. That’s pretty much three out of four (*five if we include her passive) of Ahri’s abilities at level 1!

LEVEL 2 - SORCERER 2

Second level Sorcerers have a Font of Magic, giving them Sorcery Points that for now don’t serve much purpose other than being able to convert 2 of them into a 1st level spell slot. Basically you have an extra spell slot for now. But you can also convert spell slots into Sorcery points at a 1:1 ration (3rd level slot = 3 Sorcery points, as an example), which will be important later.

You do get another spell though: basically I just wanted Mage Armor because a +3 to AC would be nice.

LEVEL 3 - WARLOCK 1

Hey what if we multiclassed after 2 levels because we got 95% of what we wanted from those 2 levels? Hey guys it’s time for good ol’ Warlock! Warlocks get to choose their subclass at level 1 and Pact of the Fiend Warlocks get Dark One’s Blessing for Temporary Hitpoints equal to your Charisma plus your Warlock level when you knock an enemy to zero.

You also get Pact Magic which is like regular spellcasting except instead of actual spell slots you just get Pact Slots that come back on a Short Rest. You do get two cantrips though so I’m going to recommend Eldritch Blast because it’s Eldritch Blast as well as Prestidigitation for all the special effects you want and MORE.

You can also pick up some first level spells like Command from the Fiend list for some more enchantment, but there isn’t really much else I want from the first level of Warlock. I dunno grab Hex maybe? But we’re going to swap it out come level 3.

(Artwork by Kienan “Knockwurst” Lafferty. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 4 - WARLOCK 2

But firstly it’s time for Eldritch Invocations to keep 닿을 수 없는 level. Agonizing Blast lets you agonize your Eldritch Blast, and Eldritch Mind from good ol’ TCoE is great to keep the magic flowing thanks to advantage on Concentration checks.

Oh and something something can learn another spell but like I said I want to wait for MORE spells from second level.

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks get to choose their Pact Boon and you know: I don’t think we have enough cantrips! Pact of the Tome gives you three sparkly new cantrips to play with, and they can be from any class’ spell list! So you can take cantrips like Guidance for some help with your dances, Sacred Flame for some more Fox-Fire, and Thaumaturgy to be a spooky magic soul-sucking fox.

Honestly there isn’t much I want from Pact of the Tome but it’s the most in-flavor for Ahri. If you want to be a Star Guardian take Pact of the Chain and grab Keiko!

But you can also learn second level spells at this level like Enthrall and Suggestion for more charms, and Misty Step! For good ol’ Flash.

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 4

4th level Warlocks get another Ability Score Improvement and what if we got roleplay abilities before combat abilities? Well the Skilled Expert Feat will give you +1 to any stat (hey look at that our Constitution is uneven!), proficiency in a skill of your choice (which will obviously be Performance), and Expertise in a skill that you already have proficiency in. (Choose between Persuasion or Deception depending on if you want to be the good fox or the bad fox.)

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip! For your cantrip Mage Hand will let you dash something small from the high shelf into your hand, and for your leveled spell Mirror Image will make it all the harder to hit you instead of missing a skill shot where you just were.

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 5

5th level means more Eldritch Invocations! In case of emergency be sure to bring Zhonya's, or rather Tomb of Levistus to negate burst.

And it’s third level spells time! You’re a Fiend Warlock so you know what that means? Cast Fireball and nothing but Fireball! Throw a Spirit Bomb like it’s Teamfight Tactics to level the playing field!

(Artwork by Kienan “Knockwurst” Lafferty. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Fiend Warlocks get 9 tails for 9 lives. Dark One’s Own Luck lets you add a d10 to an ability check or saving throw once per Short or Long Rest, so you can push your spirit for a bit more confidence in your plays.

You can also learn another spell but truthfully there isn’t much else I want from third level. There’s some that I like at second level but I’d recommend waiting for...

LEVEL 9 - WARLOCK 7

More Eldritch Invocations? Don’t mind if I do! Ahri has a lot of skins so Mask of Many Faces is great to play dress up. Are there better invocations? Yeah probably.

But you can also pick up 4th level spells like Charm Monster for a Charm+, or Dimension Door to pop your Teleport summoner spell.

LEVEL 10 - WARLOCK 8

Level 8 means more Ability Score Increases: we haven’t increased Charisma yet so we should probably do that.

You can also learn another spell, and while there are plenty of nice ones at this level if we wait just a little bit we can get...

LEVEL 11 - WARLOCK 9

9th level Warlocks get our last Eldritch Invocation: Ahri is shown floating in a lot of her promotional artwork and stuff so Ascendant Step is good to let you fly up with some fox magic! I mean, you could take Otherworldly Leap instead, I guess?

But you can finally learn 5th level spells, which means we can grab your ultimate! Far Step lets you teleport 60 feet, and spend your Bonus Action on subsequent turns to do it again! Definitely a step up from a regular old dash! But if you want a bit more damage along with some more essence theft then Enervation will let you do necrotic damage and also heal yourself by hurting others.

LEVEL 12 - WARLOCK 10

10th level Fiend Warlocks can get some Magic Resistance thanks to Fiendish Resilience. You can pick a damage type to resist, though this won’t work against magic or silvered weapons which most people probably have by level 12. So you won’t be able to resist swords and clubs but if a fire mage is trying to burn your tails just resist that! You can swap your resistance during a short (or long) rest if you need to deal with a different enemy.

Oh and did you expect to get another spell known? Nah screw you. You do get another cantrip though: I mean I dunno Toll the Dead can be good to kill secure?

(Artwork by Ryan Ribot. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 13 - SORCERER 3

Finally done with Warlock. That’s good: I could use some coffee. Third level Sorcerers get Metamagic to alter their spells with Sorcery points. Quickened Spell lets you turn a spell with an action casting time to a bonus action, so you can have a cup of coffee and still cast Eldritch Blast. Or, you know: cast two Eldritch Blasts in a turn? If you’re sick of enemies dodging your skill shots Heightened Spell will give them disadvantage on their first saving throw, which is good to combo with spells like Enervation.

Oh and speaking of spells you can learn second level Sorcerer spells! Psionic Spells gives you Detect Thoughts which is pretty good but I’d suggest taking Tasha’s Mind Whip as your other Psionic Spell for some Hextech in your step.

Additionally Flaming Sphere was added to the Sorcerer list thanks to Tasha, and it’s a good spell to take for a little more control over your Orb of Deception.

LEVEL 14 - SORCERER 4

Level 4 means another Ability Score! Time to finally cap off that Charisma for the best casting we can get.

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip, because we definitely don’t have enough cantrips. Sword Burst will give you some much-needed melee defense to cut through minions if you’re surrounded. As for leveled spells there honestly isn’t much I want from second level. We got most of what we needed from Warlock.

LEVEL 15 - SORCERER 5

Tasha decided that Sorcerers were weak so she gave them a 5th level feature called Magical Guidance. If you fail a skill check you can spend a sorcery point to reroll the d20. You must use the new roll, but along with Dark One’s Own Luck this gives you quite a bit of reliability when it comes to ability checks.

You can also now learn third level spells. Psionic Spells grants you Sending which is nice to communicate in team chat, but I’d replace Hunger of Hadar with  Incite Greed from good ol’ Acquisitions Incorporated to charm a whole group and make them slowly approach you with lovey-eyes like they do in LoL.

You can also learn spells like Melf's Minute Meteors for some less accurate but more deadly Fox-Fire, and Haste for some nine-tailed agility.

LEVEL 16 - SORCERER 6

6th level Psionic Soul Sorcerers get Psychic Defenses for resistance to Psychic damage and advantage against being Charmed or Frightened. You’ve seen it all and they’re not going to stop us! (They’ll try but they won’t.) But more importantly you get Psionic Sorcery: when you cast a spell (that isn’t a cantrip) from your Psionic Spells list, you can cast it with a number of sorcery points equal to the spell’s level. If you cast the spell using sorcery points, it requires no verbal or somatic components, and it requires no material components unless they are consumed by the spell.

How does this interact with Incite Greed which requires a 50 gp gem? My bet is that they just focus on you instead. But yeah this is obviously incredibly useful as you can cast spells like Detect Thoughts, Tasha’s Mind Whip, Dissonant Whispers, and Charm Person without any signal that you’re doing it. And there’s only more to come! To top it off: RAW if you don’t show any signs of casting you can’t be counterspelled!

Speaking of more spells as well as Counterspell I took Counterspell as a Sorcerer spell, because Banshee’s Veil is never not useful.

(Artwork by Jeremy Anninos. Made for Riot Games.)

LEVEL 17 - SORCERER 7

Eyyy 4th level spells! Both the spells you would’ve gotten from Psionic Spells kinda... don’t make sense? So grab Confusion to make a mess in a teamfight and I’m actually going to suggest Arcane Eye as your other Psionic Spell for some wards.

You can also learn 4th level spells like Polymorph to turn into a fox in the spirit realm. Just in time for the Spirit Blossom festival!

LEVEL 18 - SORCERER 8

8th level Sorcerers get another Ability Score Improvement and honestly there are a lot of options now that your Charisma is maxed out: plenty of good feats like Tough, Lucky, Inspiring Leader, Mobile, Metamagic Adept, Warcaster, Spell Sniper, Elemental Adept, or an increase to Dexterity. (Those were listed in no particular order.) Honestly if you’ve reached level 18 you should be more than capable of making your own choices by now. Make your own character and be your own person.

Though I suppose I can still recommend spells: for a more potent and deadly Orb of Deception Storm Sphere will hit your foes with harsh winds and lightning!

LEVEL 19 - SORCERER 9

9th level? That means you can get your 5th level Psionic Spells! Honestly there’s a lot I like from both the Enchantment and Divination schools but both  Rary’s Telepathic Bond and Telekinesis are great in their own right, and I’m fine with keeping them.

That doesn’t mean I’m not going to take Synaptic Static because... well it’s Synaptic Static! I love this spell and you can’t stop me from taking it. It’s got all the power of a Fireball along with a great negative effective that makes it harder for the enemy to kill you.

LEVEL 20 - SORCERER 10

At long last our capstone is... another metamagic option. By this point your spells pack plenty a punch so if you want to make sure not to hit your allies Careful Spell will disable friendly fire... Though alternatively if they’re keeping their distance Empowered Spell will let you make sure you get the maximum kick out of your spirit.

You can also learn one more spell, and one more cantrip to round out the absolute slew of cantrips you have. After a long match you can make a Teleportation Circle to go back to base, and for your cantrip? Wouldn’t it be funny if I suggested True Strike? Okay but memes aside take something else other than True Strike the world is your oyster and True Strike is bad just attack twice.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Indulge me - Ahri is arguably the most flexible caster I’ve made so far. A pure 50 / 50 split between Sorcerer and Warlock means that you’ve got a huge variety of spells, and two big spell slots that come back on a Short Rest which you can melt down into Sorcery points. Not to mention that Psionic Spells gives you an absolutely insane amount of spells known and the ability to cast several of them using Sorcery points instead of Spell Slots. And to top it off you have an absolutely ridiculous amount of cantrips, capping off at a whopping fourteen cantrips!

They're mine now - It also turns out that the coffeelock is really potent in its own right. Sorcery gives you a lot of options to make your spells even stronger, notably Quickened Spell letting you shoot out some Agonizing Eldritch Blasts after casting a regular spell.

Run faster! Ehehe! - You’re also no pushover for survival either. You have good health for a spellcaster, damn good mobility, and plenty of abilities to bolster yourself against danger... as long as you don’t mind a bit of Essence Theft.

CONS

Lingering spirits lose themselves - Even if your health is strong your defensive stats aren’t great. Poor saving throws (minus Charisma and Constitution) and bad AC (Shield is a good spell you should probably get it) means that while you can take a hit and lifesteal it back you’re still pretty easy to hit.

Don't you trust me? - You may be the queen of charms but you’re not that great outside of Charisma. Almost all your proficiencies are in Charisma skills which means you won’t be able to do anything like find hidden treasure or spot incoming danger.

Mortals have two choices; follow me, or don't - Ever heard of the concept of choice paralysis? Well with your absolutely bloated spell list it can be hard to choose what to do with your spell slots, and even harder to choose what spell to Concentrate on. Both your best moves and simplest tricks take your Concentration.

But with all your strengths what girl could want MORE? You’re a swift and dangerous mid lane mage with enough Vastayan magic to do whatever you desire. Dash in and show them what you’re made of! And be sure to be back at the studio in time to show the newbie the ropes. Don’t want that drum going dumb.

(Artwork by Horace Hsu and Esben Lash Rasmussen. Made for Riot Games.)

[moonlit-imagines]

Writing Challenge! (1)

So, I finally decided to start a writing challenge, it’s actually my first time creating one of these so bare with me please! Read ALL of the rules before entering. (These prompts are NOT for requesting my own fics, but may appear on several prompt lists in the future!)

Let’s start with how to enter:

Send me up to 3 characters and up to 3 prompts (DMs or askbox, MUST be off anon)

Put your most desired options first

Tell me if you’d like to use one prompt or two

Your url and the character you choose will be added next to the prompt(s) you chose

If you post early, you’re welcome to enter again!*

*you’ll only be able to have one entry at a time, you have to post your first one before re-entering

Post whenever you’re done! Don’t forget to tag me (@moonlit-imagines) , if I don’t interact within 24 hours, shoot me a message to make sure I’ve seen it!

They’ll be reblogged to @moonlit-ficrecs with my feedback!

Now to the rules:

First come, first serve!

Only write for characters from my fandom list (if you don’t see the one you want listed, you might still be able to use that one. just ask!)

Reader insert only, please!

Any POV (1st, 2nd, 3rd person)

Any type of fic, whether it be a gif imagine, one-shot, headcanon, whatever fits!

3 people per character

3 people per prompt

^None of your prompts can match someone elses with the same character

You can’t use the same character when you re-enter

Fluff, angst, familial/platonic, smut, AUs, etc. are all welcome!

There’s no set word count, do as much as your comfortable with!

Signups start: September 28, 2020

Signups end: October 9, 2020

Fics due: November 1, 2020 (or sooner!)

Prompts below!

(Note that if you feel the need, you can alter the prompt slightly for the correct pronouns, add names/nicknames, change it the past/present/future tense, or fix it so it fits a character’s accent!)

“You thought you could get away with this?” - (@emcon-imagines//Wanda Maximoff)

“I won’t let them hurt you.”

“Call me when you get home.” - (@unnuevosoltransformalarealidad//Tony Stark)

“Are you even trying?” - (@imaginesbymk//Edward Nygma)

“Can we get something to eat?” - (@writerdream22//Joey Tribbiani)

“Give me a kiss, please and thank you. I’m serious.” - (@alwritey-aphrodite//Diego Hargreeves) EXT.

“That’s my s/o. I would die without them.”

“Look at/talk to them that way one more time and I’ll break your nose.” - (@frostedimagines//Peter Parker)

“We’ll make it out of this, I promise.”

“I made you breakfast in bed!”

“Please come pick me up.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Can we go out tonight?”

“I thought you’d never ask.”

“You know where to find me.”

“If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.”

“Oh, my god. That’s sick.”

“I’m begging you not to do this! Please don’t do it!”

“It’s late...we should probably head back.”

“Is that blood on your sweatshirt?”

“Do you love me? I have to know.” - (@locke-writes//Arthur Curry) EXT.

“Say ‘cheese!’”

“Are you done yet?”

“Let’s take a walk. Just you and me.” - (@myriadimagines//Robin Buckley)

“Don’t sit there and apologize like you mean it. We both know you’re full of it.” - (@ofthedewthesunlight//Peter Parker)

“Keep it down, they’re sleeping.”

“We really are the worst, aren’t we?”

“Can we pretend like that didn’t just happen?”

“I like you, alright? Is that such a crime?” - (@isaiahdurag//John Shelby) EXT.

“You make me crazy.”

“I can’t keep running from my problems and neither should you.”

“You seem happy, what’s up?”

“Cry me a goddamn river.” - (@ofthedewthesunlight//Peter Parker)

“Where did they go?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, they’re gone.”

“I could paint/photograph you, if you’d like.”

“Look me in the eye and say it! Say it!”

“We aren’t made for each other, you know that.” - (@thereagles//Betty Cooper)

“Lay with me. Just for a minute.” - (@dannyboy-writes//Thomas Shelby)

“Does that feel good?”

“Dude, if you say that one more time, I’m going to give you a black eye.”

“Remember what I told you: crotch, ribs, nose. In that order.” - (@frostedimagines//Peter Parker)

“What’s that noise?” - (@dannyboy-writes//Octavia Blake)

“Make it stop.”

“You’re the one I’ve heard so much about!”

“Bring it in, you need a hug.”

“Nobody talks to you that way, got it?” - (@unnuevosoltransformalarealidad//Tony Stark)

“I like your poster. Interesting pick.”

“No, I did not get any sleep last night.” - (@dannyboy-writes//Raven Reyes)

“That’s absolutely none of your business.”

“I’m hanging up now, goodbye.”

“You are the most perfect person on this planet, I swear.”

“I wouldn’t change a thing about you.”

“Look at what I just posted.”

“You have got to listen to this song, it reminds me of you.”

“Dear, God! What have you done?”

“We make a pretty good pair, you and me. We should try this more often.”

“I know this isn’t your dream or anything, to end up with someone like me, but I hope you know that I’ll love you more than anybody else could.”

“I’m not one for sweet, sweet romance, so I’ll be getting straight to the point: will you go out with me?”

“I don’t know who you are anymore. You need to leave. Now.”

“You’re what’s getting in the way of my happiness.”

“I don’t believe for a second that we’re not meant to be together.” - (@thereagles//Diego Hargreeves)

“Where did you learn to do that? Can you teach me?”

“I’m sorry that I hurt you, but I’m begging you to forgive me.”

“Don’t you see? It’ll never be that easy.” - (@dannyboy-writes//Qi’ra)

“I’d like to do something spontaneous. Let’s get out of here.”

“They’re out of town, won’t be back for a while...” - (@alwritey-aphrodite//Diego Hargreeves) EXT.

“Do you even hear yourself?”

“Oh, sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“Is that the best you can do?”

“You can’t just fight anyone that upsets you.”

“Is that for me?”

“I got you a present! And it’s expensive!”

“Turn on the lights, I want to see you.”

“You’re all that’s on my mind.”

“I wish we could do this every day.”

“That’s what friends are for.” - (@wolfish-willow//Steve Harrington)

“We’ve got to do this more often.”

“I literally don’t think I could live without you.” - (@vansmaybeonthewall//Cal Kestis) EXT.

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen you. Please don’t ever let me go.”

“Wow. You look nice...”

“Fuck’s sake, you again?”

“Play a song for me.”

“Just checking on you, you sure you’re okay?”

“Wanna go for a ride?”

“Keep going, it’s just a little farther.”

“You can’t get everything you want. Give it up before you get yourself hurt.”

“We make a really good team.”

“You’re not acting like yourself.”

“It’s time to overcome our differences.”

“Put the baseball bat down!”

“They are so badass. I think I may be in love.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? Stop using your powers for that!”

“Look at the big picture here. At least we’re together again.”

“My parents said I have to be home by nine.”

“That is a lot of candles.”

“Someone got dressed up tonight, what’s the occasion?”

“Oh, my god. Did you change your hair again?”

“I found your diary...no, I didn’t read it.”

“I told you not to mess with my knives. I know they’re cool, but hands off.”

“Can I get a round of applause? “

“I will never be like you.”

“I don’t take orders from you.”

“Five minutes, that’s all I ask.”

“You remind me of the stars.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re beautiful.” - (@vansmaybeonthewall//Cal Kestis) EXT.

“What was that noise?”

“Put the mug down! No, not like that!”

“I won’t leave them behind. I will never leave them behind.”

“Who the hell let you in here?”

“You used to play [game]?”

“Let’s get a round for the table.”

“I got you a blanket and a pillow, make yourself comfortable.”

“Nothing will ever be the same.”

“Let’s get out of here. They’re not worth our time.”

“I really like your accent, what is that?”

“You’ve always taken care of me. It’s time to let go.”

“Woah, you made this yourself?”

“I’ll be back before you know it.”

“You keep a picture of me in your wallet?”

“Call me that again. I just wanna hear it one more time.”

“You just never stop flirting, do you?”

“Do I smell cookies? You know me so well.”

“I would never, ever give up on you.”

“I hate seeing you cry. I just want everything to be okay.” - (@emcon-imagines//Wanda Maximoff)

Submission Masterlist

[livingouttheworsttimeline]

Why am I so tired all the time?

4:30 am: youngest child wakes up after wetting the bed. change child, change bedsheets, replace drinks, turn night time music back on, convince youngest child that it is in fact still night time. Climb back into bed a 4:55.

5:00 am: eldest child comes to tell me that youngest child wants to play. I am aware, because I have heard her loudly declaring such since I left their room. Tell oldest child to go back to bed. Pray that, somehow, for the very first time, they will put themselves back to sleep. 

5:05 am: give up on hopeless prayers. Get up and take both children to the living room. Change the youngest into underwear. Log into tablets and override the “do not turn on until 6 am” setting. Wait for coffee to finish brewing.

5:23 am: extract self from underneath 2 children and a dog to pour first cup of coffee. It’s half caff, because spouse has a heart condition. Remind self that I can have several cups with impunity.

5:45 am: Eldest child is unhappy with the pre-made breakfast provided for him the night before. When asked what he would like to eat, he responds, “bacon, chinese food, or pizza.” Explain, again, that we need a variety of foods for our bodies to grow strong. Spend 15 minutes convincing him to eat $5 worth of blackberries as a compromise.

6:12 am: Finish 2nd cup of coffee, realize that eldest child’s night time pull up is overflowing with poop. Usher him to the bathroom for a bath. Feel humbled when I realize that I spent 10 years in grad school, and yet I am still reduced to wiping shit off another person. Calmly remind eldest child that he is capable of using the potty, and that I have confidence in him. 

6:30 am: Spouse awakes, complains that he slept poorly. Roll eyes and go back to drinking 3rd cup of coffee, in between being elbowed in the stomach and explaining that no, I do not know how to work the video game you just downloaded 15 seconds ago. Remind self that I am their physical and mental safe place, which is worth the literal bruises and mental stress. 

6:45 am: extract self from pile of children and dog by physically lifting each dependent off my lap. Verify that spouse is up for supervision duties, collect running clothes, and start treadmill.

6:47 am: stop treadmill because youngest child has entered the room and decided that I will not run today because it’s not fair. Remind self that arguing fairness with a 3 year old is the definition of futility. Gently remind her that I love her, she is a big girl, and she can play independently while I run. 

6:49 am: start treadmill again. Nagging calf pain seems to be back. Scale back workout, remind self that value of the run is not the distance. Do extra core workout to compensate.

7:30 am: shower. Mediate 2 sibling fights from shower. Fortunately, children are camped out in the bathroom with me, so I don’t have to leave a trail of water through the house to interact.

7:35 am: Marvel at the thought that spouse takes a 45 min shower. EVERY DAY. Note gratitude that I am working from home, and no longer have to style hair and makeup. 

7:36 am: Refill kid drink cups for the 3rd time today. Spend 30 minutes convincing, cajoling, and bribing kids to put on clean underwear. We no longer try for clothes. 

8:06 am: turn on work computer. Respond to a weekend full of emails. Handle 5 pressing tasks for side hustle, reasoning that if I get them out of the way, I can push the rest of that to do list to after working hours.

8:45 am: Answer persistent pounding on locked office door. refill drinks and provide snack. Reassure youngest child that mommy is still here, but she needs to work. 

9:03 am: debate whether going to the bathroom is worth leaving the office and the begging that ensues. Make wrong choice either way. 

9:15 am: morning meetings get shuffled later, because childless coworkers “are running late this morning.” Marvel at the concept of 9:15 am being early.

9:30 am: solid wall of meetings until noon. Update team on status at end of last week, despite not remembering what you just ate for breakfast. Realize that you haven’t eaten breakfast. Run training and introduction for new team member. You are the only woman on the team,  so you get do the training because “you’re so good at explaining things.” 

12:00 pm: Call youngest child’s preschool, make sure you can bring by her supplies and still adhere to Covid protocols. Preschool is also side hustle, so cram a parent and employee meeting into a single hour. Explain that new registration system will, in fact, be more efficient than old paper system. Remind preschool staff that we committed to going paperless. Make small talk with preschool teachers until the hour is up. Hop in the car and speed home.

1:00 pm: children adhere to my side the second I walk in the door. Spouse is in the shower. Children have eaten approximately 3 bites of their pb&j sandwiches, and demand different lunch. Remember that you have not eaten lunch yet. Refill drinks for 4th time, provide reasonable lunch alternatives. 

1:25 pm: Remember that you scheduled a meeting for 1:30, and. you need to be present. Calculate that extraction from children is not possible in 5 minutes, and take meeting with youngest child on lap. Despite having weaned 1.5 years ago, youngest child decides that you’re still nursing, and pulls down top on video call. Spend most of call switching on and off mute. Catch every 3rd word. 

1:45 pm: apologize to team, promise to reschedule a follow up with more focus. Hang up, extract youngest child’s arm from shirt. Refill drinks for the 5th time. Bribe children to get in bed for a nap with the promise of a visit to nana and pop this afternoon. 

1:48 pm: children’s beds have been stripped, due to accidents last night, but spouse “doesn’t know where the clean sheets are”, and so hasn’t remade beds. Children petition to nap on the floor. Explain floor is not comfortable. Find clean sheets, make 2 beds, take everyone to the potty, tuck both children in. 

2:20 pm: Realize that you have 40 minutes of actual work time left today, outside of meetings. Try to prioritize, with the knowledge that whatever you get done will not be enough. Deny request for drink refill.

3:00 pm: kick off afternoon meeting block. Try frantically to make the 40 minutes that you did get to work sound like a whole lot more. Wake children up during bathroom break so that they’ll be able to sleep tonight. Refill drinks for 5th time. 

3:45 pm: Curse the fact that youngest child has inherited your distaste for waking up. Gently coax her awake in between meetings.

4:00 pm: Wrap up last task from meetings, make list of all new tasks. Realize that today you have checked off one task, and received 7 new ones. Promise self that you’ll get your work laptop back out after the kids are in bed. Ignore the sense of despair that threatens to overtake you.

4:20 pm: Bribe children into putting on clothes with promise of fruit snacks at grandparent’s house. Feel mildly guilty as you put on your second round of workout gear. Load children in double jogging stroller, jog to grandparent’s house. 

5:00 pm: collect children to head home for dinner. 

5:10 pm: threaten no more fruit snacks if children don’t put on their shoes. Grandparents go get them more fruit snacks. 

5:23 pm: explain that the sun is going down in 24 minutes, and that we have to leave now to get home before it gets dark. Remember that time is immaterial. Wish for that blissful sense of ignorance.

5:37 pm: push 100 lbs of toddler and stroller up giant, hilly driveway. Spouse greets us with “what’s for dinner?” Politely remind him that he promised to plan and make dinner while we were gone. Grit teeth at his “I didn’t know what to make” response. Quickly run through available, easy, acceptable options and make dinner.

6:15 pm: serve dinner. Eat own dinner in 2.5 minutes, then spend rest of meal refilling drinks and plates, heating up or cooling down, and cajoling children to eat anything at all.

6:45 pm: Announce that tonight we don’t need to take a bath. Youngest child immediately melts down, because she wanted to take a bath. Eldest child melts down because, even thought he didn’t want to take a bath, he wanted to taunt his sister while she was in the bath. 

6:53 pm: Loose temper for 1st time today, scream that children need to brush their teeth. Step away to calm down. Spouse gets upset because “You can’t handle the children without yelling.” Bite tongue all the way through to avoid snarky reply.

7:10 pm: read 2 story books. Read one more. Explain again, that mommy cannot read anymore, and daddy will come read for a little while. Extract self from pile of children, and tuck both in. Hugs, kisses, and fist bumps. Twice. Then once more, after you’ve left the room.

7:15 pm: contemplate second shower. Decide that you didn’t really get that sweaty on the walk, and it’s not like you’re going out. Collapse on sofa with phone and mindless tv.

7:25 pm: spouse comes into the living room after harrowing duty of reading for 10 minutes. Hand over the remote, pull out side hustle lap top and finalize tasks for the day.

8:30 pm: remember that you promised to do main job work. Bring out that laptop to run some code while you continue side hustle work.

9:15 pm: Finish side hustle work, give up on main job work for the evening. Mentally apologize to team for not making more progress, promise to self that you’ll be more focused tomorrow.

9:30 pm: tell spouse that you need to go to bed. Endure his eye roll and disappointed face. Apologize for needing to go to sleep so early, and reassure him that you’re doing the best you can.

10:15 pm: eldest child has night terror. Comfort eldest child until he’s calm. Comfort youngest child, who is upset at brother’s screams. Realize that spouse is still watching tv in the living room while you comfort children. 

11:00 pm: listen to youngest child cry for 10 minutes until spouse begrudgingly tends to her. Remind self that it is not solely my job to comfort our children. Try to go back to sleep. 

3 am: eldest child wakes up with question about mushrooms that is vitally important. Answer to best of middle-of-the-night ability, acknowledge that you appreciate his curiosity, but that there are times when questions are not appropriate. Get him back to sleep.

4:30 am: youngest child wakes up.

[bitterepiphany]

downtime

Archive Of Our Own

a short and sweet mikasa request for TerraXAqua <3

Warnings: none

Summary: mikasa takes some time for herself, for once.

Mikasa gazed up at the ranking sheet that Commandant Shadis had just pinned up on the notice board. The rest of the group huddled together around her, shuffling around as they peered up at the paper, exclamations of happiness and disappointment echoing in her ears.

They had just finished their second-year assessments, and there was an air of anticipation surrounding them all; they were finally heading into their third and final year of training.

Overall Second Year Rankings

1st - Mikasa Ackerman

2nd - Reiner Braun

3rd -  Bertholdt Hoover

…

Mikasa wasn’t too surprised to see herself at the top of the rankings. She had been there since they had begun training, after all. Not that she flaunted it to anyone, in fact, she couldn’t care less whether she was in the top ten or not, she just wanted to stick with Eren. 

Speaking of Eren, she could hear him taunting some of the other boys with his 8th place ranking. Eren had worked ridiculously hard over the two years of training that had been through so far to secure a good spot. Personally, Mikasa thought it was kind of silly of him to try and get into the top ten, he wasn’t even aiming for the Military Police; he had made it pretty clear that it was the Survey Corps or nothing for him. 

Of course, Mikasa would follow him wherever he decided to go. But some small part of her deep down was glad he wasn’t going to pick the MP’s. They would be leaving Armin behind if that was the case, and Mikasa couldn’t help but feel protective over her other friend, as timid and small as he was, and she knew Eren would be devastated if he died - she would be too, in fact. 

Mikasa turned and bagan to make her way back to the barracks, nodding her head at the various forms of ‘Congrats’ and ‘Good job!’ she received from people who saw her top rank. She spotted a familiar head of blonde hair sitting on the steps of the boys barracks, Mikasa made her way over to Armin, seeing him hunched over, engrossed in a book. He didn’t notice her at first when she sat next to him on the steps, but startled slightly when she tapped his leg to get his attention.

“Oh, Mikasa,” he chirped brightly, smiling at her, “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come over!”

Mikasa felt her eyes soften at his innocent charm. He often got so engrossed in his books and thoughts that he would forget about his surroundings. She gestured to the cluster of trainees by the notice board. “Aren’t you gonna go check your ranking?”

His face fell slightly at that, head turning to glance in the direction of the others. “Ah, yeah,” he mumbled, hand drifting to rub his neck. “I’ll probably go later, when it’s less busy. I don’t expect anything great anyway, so…”

Mikasa felt for him, fully aware of his own feelings of self-doubt about his abilities. True, he wasn’t very physically adept like the top ranking cadets in their group, but he was ridiculously smart; something that Mikasa considered a better asset than brute strength in most cases. She smiled at him gently, hand coming to rest on his shoulder. 

“Hey, I know that you at least passed, and that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?”

Armin met her eyes in slight surprise; she usually wasn’t very open with her more comforting side, but she had a soft spot for Armin, that motherly instinct in her overriding everything when it came to her friend. His face eased of a little worry at her words though, and he smiled at her gratefully.

“Yeah, I suppose so… thanks, Mikasa,” he replied. They sat in a comfortable silence for a little while, until a yell from across the training grounds made Armin jump and Mikasa glance up.

“Armin! Mikasa!” It was Eren, waving at them as he walked away from the notice board. “Do you guys wanna get something to eat?”

Pleased to see him looking happy, Mikasa stood, arm outstretched to help Armin up. They made their way over to their friend, exchanging an amused glance as he started running after Jean, yelling, who had attempted to trip him over as he passed.

****

It was the end of the year, and since they had already been assessed, they had a few days of precious free time, where they were free to travel to the Trost markets, swim in the lakes and explore the landscape in close proximity to the training grounds, or even just spend the days lazing around the site, doing nothing. To the amusement of some of the other girls, they discovered that Annie planned to do the latter, making it very clear with her death glare that if anyone tried to get her out of bed, they would suffer her wrath; a brutal ass kicking that would leave anyone (except maybe Mikasa) twisted in awkward angles on the ground. 

Mikasa had spent the time with Eren and Armin, going to the markets and just hanging out together with some of the others in their group. But on the final day of their break, a group of girls from her bunk - Krista with a reluctant-looking Ymir, Sasha, Mina, and Hannah (who wasn’t attached to Franz, for once) - approached her. 

“Hey Mikasa!” Krista greeted kindly, “Some of us girls were gonna go down to the lake and cool off, since it’s such a nice day. Did you wanna join us?”

The invitation surprised Mikasa slightly, as most of the girls had realised she rarely did anything without Eren, following many rejected invitations to do similar things over the past two years. But Mikasa admired that determined look on Krista’s face; not many people acknowledged the sheer force of tenacity the small girl possessed. 

But instead of dismissing the girls like she usually would, Mikasa considered the offer for a moment. She, Eren and Armin didn’t have any distinct plans for the day, - Eren mentioned maybe heading to the market again, but Armin claimed he was just going to relax and read all day - so maybe a trip to the lake would be nice. The water would soothe her slightly aching muscles at least; despite their break, Mikasa refused to go a day without training her body. 

“Okay,” she replied, much to the surprise of the girls, and partly, herself. But they recovered quickly, tittering in delight, Sasha linking her arm with Mikasa’s and dragging her away.

****

Mikasa trailed behind the other girls as they made their way back to camp. She had enjoyed herself down at the lake, finding the silly game Sasha insisted upon playing - she would balance on Mikasa’s shoulders and try to push other people over (Sasha had great balance, so paired with Mikasa’s steadiness, they weren't pushed over once) - surprisingly fun. 

Now, as they crossed a field of soft spring grass, she slowed to a stop and closed her eyes, letting the breeze push her hair off her face. Seeing her pause, the other girls stopped moving as well and all sat down in the grass, chatting. Mikasa closed her eyes again. Slowly, methodically, she pulled her shoes and socks off, stretching her toes in the grass. It was nice, smooth and gentle on her feet. 

Mikasa began walking slowly around, savouring the feeling of the grass sliding between her toes. She sat down, fingers gliding over the soft surface. She lay down, gently resting her head on a particularly plush patch of grass. Mikasa allowed herself to relax, letting her hard-earned walls come down, letting herself enjoy the moment for once. Her thoughts petered out, her ever present worries about Eren, training, and titans slipping away. 

Mikasa’s mind wandered to places she usually blocked off. She thought about her life with her parents, growing up in a secluded forest cabin, learning how to embroider, sew, garden, and cook. Things had been so much simpler, no need for constant vigilance, no need to be worrying about Eren all the time, no need to think about whether they’d live to see the next month. 

Days had been slow, and to the younger Mikasa, that was all that she had known, only having felt the warm glow of love from her parents, never with a need in the world. If anything, she was a bit spoilt. She barely remembered days where her unnatural strength didn’t run through her veins, days where she used to get a cold and stay in bed for a few days, days where the application of the tattoo hidden on her wrist was the most painful thing she had experienced in her life so far. 

Mikasa usually tried to ignore these memories. On bad days, they would result in her curling in on herself, where Armin would run to find Eren, and Eren would see the look in her eyes and not question it, would just wrap her up in her scarf and his arms, and she would allow herself to cry.

But today, as she basked in the sun, soft grass between her fingers and toes, Mikasa felt the joy of her old life, thinking, hoping, that if things were good back then, maybe they could be good again.

[astroismypassion]

Hi I'm the June 17th birthday. I couldn't respond to your message on Kofi but I am totally fine with you putting my reading on your blog. Thank you for doing your best to work around the messages issue!

Hi!

Thank you for buying me this delicious hot beverage. I drank irish cream black coffee with rice milk while writing your interpretation. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did writing! I listened to some old George Ezra while writing. ;)

Your dominant planets are: 1. Sun, 2. Jupiter and 3. Pluto. Your dominant signs are: 1. Scorpio, 2. Gemini and 3. Leo. Your main mode is Fixed. You are Water dominant.

FAMILY, SIBLINGS, EARLY LIFE

You have Aquarius IC. You had an unconventional, unique upbringing. Your 4th house is in Aquarius and Pisces. You like to play on your own. Or you created an imaginary world for yourself. Or you could have escaped through music, arts, TV series or film. You were sheltered from what was really going on around you. You might have a hard time establishing healthy boundaries with your family members. They seem to completely merge with you and rely on you emotionally or be completely cold and detached. There were many traditions and superstitions in your family that might have been passed down through generations. If you have any siblings, they are Capricorn, Aquarius or Pisces. In your elementary and high school years you might have been drawing a lot during classes you didn’t find stimulating. Or you daydream often. You were a mature and responsible student. You seemed a lot older than your peers. You might have viewed your schoolmates as weird sometimes, but they viewed you the same back. You might have often asked yourself if you’re the “weird one” or they are. You have Uranus in the 4th house. You may have changed residence or moved around often, even change schools. There were a lot of unpredictable, sudden changes and events in your early life that were hard to control (and to grasp). You have Sun square Moon. Your mother and father have different personalities and traits. They did not agree on the parenting style, how to raise you. They might have had different views. You have Sun conjunct Mercury. Your father emphasized the importance of communication or that you keep good relations with your siblings. This is also a writer’s placements! You can flatter or cut deep with words. You know how to appeal through words and find exactly the right words. You can sometimes think you “feel” words, because some words would be funny to you or have a “weird” sound to it. You might visualize a lot in your mind. Words, think in imagery and pictures and you have a strong, vivid imagination. You have Sun conjunct Mars. He probably met your open emotional expression with resistance.

PARTNERSHIPS AND FRIENDSHIPS Your friends are Pisces, Aries, Cancer, Sagittarius, Libra and Virgo. In your romantic relationships you attract Taurus, Gemini, Leo, Virgo and Aries. You have Taurus Venus in the 7th house. You desire, respect and value (also attract) stable, loyal, stubborn, highly opinionated people. Those who like to debate with you. People that have “go to” phrases and are polite, kind, have good manners. You might easily sense fragile egos, self esteem and weak points of other people. You have Gemini Mars in the 8th house. This is how you take action. How you approach your crush. You like to play mind games a bit, use a bit of world play and double entendre. You like to know everything about them and how their mind works. You wonder how they are thinking, what their thought process is. You like to have shared learning experiences with potential partners or dates where you go to an escape room or take a cooking class together and learn a new skill. You like to constantly evolve, expand and regenerate. You need a mental connection and great mental rapport to introduce physical intimacy into a relationship. You have Aries Moon in the 5th house. You have the potential of a serial dater. You need some passion, excitement and playful energy to get the connection started. But even in the early stages of your love affairs, you need a great deal of emotional comfort. You have to feel safe and secure around the person, like they are your family already. You know what you like and you might cut off people instantly when you notice red flags or just something that you don’t like. You know you can’t save people, so you understand the person needs to help themselves first. Otherwise, they would become another one of your problems. You have Venus sextile Jupiter. You might be very generous when you’re in love. You like to spoil your partner and take them out for dinner often. You might be over generous or over loving. With you money, time, affection, attention, praise and compliments. You have Venus square Uranus. You might like some odd, quirky, hard to figure of people. You are fascinated by those. You might have a long distance relationship at some point. Or you could date your friends or online date. You might even have a platonic connection with someone before it being romantic. You have Venus trine Neptune. You might idealize your partner or they do that to you. You might view them through rose tinted glasses. You are attracted to musicians, artists, singers, creators and people who play instruments.

CAREER, PROFESSIONAL LIFE, PUBLIC IMAGE

You have Pluto in the 2nd house. You fear poverty, homelessness and being hungry. You are very private when it comes to your financial matters. You don’t discuss it openly or ever. It’s a weird topic for you. Sometimes you fear it, it’s like you’re scared of what it can do. You are very passionate about gaining financial stability. Sometimes your dreams scare you or you might think “too big” or see just the bigger picture and forget to focus on the now as well. You have Sagittarius and Capricorn over your 2nd house. You might be over indulgent and flashy when you have money to spend. But with Capricorn there you also work hard for it. You have Leo MC. You might gain recognition for your accomplishments. You could also be attracted to film, theatre, drama, modelling. Or politics, governmental jobs, administration. Even publishing, media, public relations and public affairs. You could be a representative for a company. You might like to post on your social media. But you perfect your image, caption and you check for grammar errors. You like to be seen as creative, funny, healthy, bright and hard working. You have Virgo North Node in the 10th house. This indicates your life purpose. In this lifetime you are called to organise, to establish healthy boundaries with others, routine, daily habits. To take care of your daily duties, responsibilities, your health and even your pets if you have any. If you don’t. You’d benefit from owning a pet greatly, so that it calms down your Virgo mental restlessness. You could work in accounting, counselling, therapy, even health fields, such as nutrition, dietetics, nursing etc. You could be interested in physical and mental wellbeing. You could be into fitness and wellness. You might like communication, publishing, bookkeeping or even library work. You could use your keen eye for details. You have Leo and Virgo over your 10th house. You will shine and be in the spotlight, yet you’ll have to learn humility as well. Sometimes you might feel underappreciated or undervalued by authority figures, such as your parents, mentors, teachers, bosses. You might feel like you are putting much more effort in your responsibilities and work than you get credit for it. You have Aries and Taurus over the 6th house. This means you like a stable job, because it means stable income (Taurus in the 6th, Capricorn in the 2nd). But at some point in your life, you might desire to be your own boss, be self employed or become a businessperson, since it gives you the freedom of expression, expansion you value (Aries in the 6th house, Sagittarius in the 2nd house). You might even do something athletic or sporty daily or even as a part of your job! You have Cancer Mercury in the 8th house. You need to communicate a lot with your intimate partners. You like to think about your family, siblings, your home, your comforts and safety. You like talking about deep, occult and taboo topics. You might entertain the idea of conspiracy theories as well. You have an excellent memory. You can remember scents, colours, how people made you feel like no other. You have a long term memory. You have Mercury square Jupiter. Sometimes you might be a bit judgemental or be prone to overthinking and overanalyzing. You might also read between the lines. You have Mercury sextile Saturn. You have great power and focus to concentrate for long periods of time when you have a tunnel vision.

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS

You have Pluto, Jupiter and Saturn currently transiting your 3rd house. You might spend more time alone and less with your friends, siblings and family members. You might have to work hard daily or commute to another city for work or just travel daily to a different part of the city. You might reevaluate and reconsider, rethink and transform your attitude to the local community, neighbourhood, city, to your siblings, peers, schoolmates. You might meet some new people, some new friends too, when Jupiter enters the scene since it’s a one and a half to two years long transit. You have Scorpio Chiron in the 1st house. You might not like your own name, or there is a visible spot, mark on your face, body that you don’t like. Or you could have been picked on by others for that. You might not like your physical appearance and you’re self conscious about it. You often nit pick it. At some point in life you might have had an identity crisis or just really doubted your personality, ego, self worth, character and traits. You might have been bullied or the power was taken away from you. You often felt powerless. Or scared of your own potential and power. You have Taurus Ceres in the 7th house. This represents how you wish to be nurtured and how you nurture others. You like to cook for them, buy them food, share meals with them and buy them little gifts. You like to listen to them. You might be a therapist for many. I’m sure you received compliments as “you’d be an excellent therapist”. You might empathize with them and really try to understand the other’s perspective and where they are coming from. You like to put yourself in others' shoes. You have Virgo Juno in the 11th house. This indicted your “ideal soulmate”, ideal partner, be it platonic or romantic. You like someone friendly, intelligent, who isn’t afraid to discuss social issues, society and question it all. You like someone who is clean, smells nice and grooms themselves. You like platonic, friendly connections at first. You need a lot of mental simulation. You have Libra Lilith in the 12th house. You might have been accused that you lack ambition. But you just don’t like competition that much or participation in the rat race. You value the inner core and being. You have rich inner workings. You have Leo Part of Fortune in the 9th house. This is where you experience good luck and charm. You might be praised for your views, beliefs, opinions on life. How you choose to constantly expand your horizons. You are at your happiest when you travel, even when you get lost in a good book, TV series or a foreign film. You like to constantly learn something new and you’ll be a life long student.

CHART RULER

Your chart ruler is Pluto. The chart ruler of the 1st house is in the 2nd house. Your ego is directly tied to your self worth, financial status, your talents. You might develop your personality, character, ego, self esteem through 2nd house topics, such as working on your talents and pursuing new skills, earning money and becoming financially independent, self care and developing your own set of values.

HOUSE RULERS

The house ruler of the 1st house is in the 2nd house. The way you look depends on your self-esteem. Life is oriented to discovering personal values and creating self-esteem. Appearance is a source of security issues. The house ruler of the 2nd house is in the 5th house. You use your money for artistic projects. You are possessive of creative projects. Financial security depends upon your personal creativity. The house ruler of the 3rd house is in the 6th house. Daily conversation revolves around work and health. Your mind is oriented to daily life. Thoughts are oriented to daily routine and work. You are curious about diet and nutrition. You have an efficient mind. You take information and organize it. You have an actively curious mind. The house ruler of the 4th house is in the 4th house. You want a home of your own. Private time is spent with family. Home and family bring up strong core feelings, for better or worse. You want a family for the sake of having a family. The house ruler of the 5th house is in the 3rd house. Creative talents and gifts are hidden. Hobbies revolve around the taboo or occult. The house ruler of the 6th house is in the 8th house. The daily work environment must serve your need to form deep relationships. You use your knowledge of diet, nutrition and exercise to help other people transform. You want an intense work environment. The house ruler of the 7th house is in the 7th house. The partner needs to be willing negotiate and cooperate with you. Marriage partners are business partners, business partners are marriage partners. You want to be with someone who is cooperative. You want a partner who is a good negotiator. The house ruler of the 8th house is in the 8th house. You enter sexual relationships for sex. You get emotionally entangled with other people to form deep connections. Your attitude to life and death affects your ability to deeply connect with other people. The house ruler of the 9th house is in the 5th house. You are philosophical about the way you raise children. You find meaning through the creative arts. You like to take romantic getaways. You enjoy the artistic expression of other cultures. Traveling is for leisure and pleasure. The house ruler of the 10th house is in the 8th house. You bring a professional approach to depth psychology. You find your true vocation by exploring occult subjects. Your career revolves around the need for intensity of experience. Your career involves working with other people’s emotional baggage. Your true vocation involves depth interactions with other people. You achieve recognition as a researcher. You receive awards for your work with people on the fringe of society. The house ruler of the 11th house is in the 8th house. You associate with people who are involved in the occult. Your friends have emotional baggage. You keep your group involvements hidden. You don’t talk about your long term hopes and wishes. The house ruler of the 12th house is in the 7th house. Your partner desires to escape from reality as much as you do. You lose your boundaries when it comes to significant relationships. Your grief and sorrow affect your relationships. The desire to escape reality affects your ability to maintain a serious relationship.

[god-hunter]

My Major Turnaround

Hey folks,

Things have really turned around for me in the past 2 weeks - a month.  Honestly I could have and should have written earlier, because there was a lot of build up and toss up between 3 jobs that I could’ve taken at one point.  It would’ve been interesting to analyze how I felt in that moment before I made a decision, and relive that in future readings.  I also have to tell you about my recent luck in the Dating Scene!

On the job front, things finally worked out for me.  It was a lot of back-and-forth with a Recruiter, then a phone interview, followed by an in-person interview 2 weeks later, where it was basically a done deal already.   Only, it really wasn’t that simple at all.  I was applying left and right daily and 2 other things hit too.  I had this interview at a bottle/can sleeving company that was so different and interesting and very high pay.  It was honestly a why not apply, but they actually bit and were interested in me!!  [It’s clear that these guys were my first choice, but it didn’t work out.]. Still, that interview was SUPER positive and I wouldn't have some sort of answer until 3 weeks.  [The fuck!?] That was not unlike the job I ended up with.  Long waiting period.

Then, there were 2 other places that bit too, but they were an easy 3rd and 4th place.  I won’t give names, but both were Warehouse jobs.  The 1st one was just so disorganized and the place looked dirty.. and when it came time to talk about pay, it was kind of up in the air, but I’d either get $14 as a Warehouse Associate or $16 as a Lead.  Get the fuck outta here.  I was upfront and let her know that I needed time to get back to her because I was waiting to hear back from other places.

The other Warehouse opportunity was way more promising, but the bottom dollar was $15.72 at start.  As I’ve never worked in a Warehouse before, there wasn’t much room for negotiation, but I really tried very hard.  This was a Hiring Event that I was at, so things moved quick.  Before I knew it, I was filling out an app on one of their laptops and then received an offer e-mail.  But when I saw that low number, there was no way I could sign the dotted line.  After any of that negotiating at the first interview!?  What the Hell, man?

The only thing that would've made me consider taking that risk was the Game this guy talked.  He was promising me that this was a lasting career.  People moved up there.  Great benefits.  There’s nothing wrong with starting at the bottom.  In 6 months, things open up, you apply within and see what happens.  etc. etc.  He told me that people on his team moved up to Corporate or other high paying departments, and he trained everyone on everything if he saw that they were willing to go that extra mile.  All this good stuff.

But I crunched those numbers, and they just didn’t make sense at all.  I’d barely be making grocery money, let alone bills.

So...  in my mind I had my 1st Place spot - the canning/sleeving company, this 2nd place spot from the Recruiter, the 3rd place spot, which was the $15.72 Warehouse job and 4th place, which was a last resort $14 or possible $16.

My in-person interview at the 2nd place area was the next day, and I didn’t know what I was gonna get.  He could’ve trapped me with more in-depth questions about things I didn’t know.  He could’ve completely caught me off guard.  But instead, just like the phone interview, he was very impressed.  He told me he needed a week, before he had his answer. That night the Recruiter called me, asked how it went and then told me, I got the offer.

!!!  I was shocked.  It was 2nd place, but it’d been so long since that 1st Place job saw me, that I had to consider putting it out of my mind.  4th place, also wasn’t an option.  So really, it was down to this place, which gave me an offer, which met me at my number, or a Warehouse job that was offering $15.72 an hour.

It should be a no brainer, but again - gotta think long term.  The Warehouse would've hired me directly, and despite starting at bottom, I’d be one of them, and climb the ranks within.. Maybe.

Meanwhile this job offered my number, they wanted me, but its Temp-Perm for 6 months.  No promises at continuity.

I had to weigh this option and I decided that it was a risk worth taking.  As I said to my family the night of the first phone interview.  It’s low risk.  On their end, if this doesn’t work out, they could just let me go.  And on my end, even if this doesn’t last past half a year, I’m going to learn more skills and really hike up my resume in experience.  Also the work is very comparable to what I’ve done for the past 2 years.  It’s Customer Service for an Aerospace company.  It just makes sense.

But again, at this interview, I really impressed it upon him that I was interested in working full-time in the long-term.  I asked how often it was that they’d hire a Temp, but things were going well and smooth, so they ended up hiring them full-time after the contract was up.

His answer was pretty positive.  He projects that the company is only going to keep needing people, and kind of let me know that this is how they do it.  [They just want to save a buck.]

But I’m not just gonna sit back and think I’ve got this in the bag.  I’m going to work hard and prove myself and earn my keep.

And all of that starts Tomorrow! I honestly can’t wait to get back to work and feel a sense of normalcy again.

But wait, there’s more.

In the Dating Realm things are heating up again!!

Last time I mentioned that Teacher person on Tinder.  She’s out. I don’t remember the time table, but there was another girl on Tinder that matched me, and for a literal 2 days that was exciting, until she peetered out as well.  Let’s call her TinderCat for lack of a better name. There’s no reason to really get into it about her, but our first conversation was a lot to do with cats, but then we just found that we didn’t have a lot in common.  It certainly wasn’t personal.  But when I gauged the whole Social Distancing and eventually meeting, she ghosted completely.  So.. ::farts::

Then came this week when a pretty hot girl swiped on me.  She was blonde and  looked a little tougher, but I said, “Cool!” and matched.  Conversation was fine, but not really groundbreaking.  Then, when I showed her off to my Dad, he thought she looked like a Whore, because she didn’t smile in any of her pictures...  I was so pissed at him, but that nickname has certainly stuck.  The Whore and I talked a little more the next day, and we put out a tentative plan to hang out at a bar near me that Friday or Saturday.

That night, while in a band meeting conference call, this other girl swiped on me out of nowhere, and I was blown away!  She’s a brunette, has a beautiful smile, she kind of looks like Allyson Hannigan and already, she just seemed so sweet!  I don’t have a name for her yet, but we’ve been talking, getting along and are starting to bond a little, so we actually have a date already!!  It’s tonight, so I’ve been referring to her as Sunday Girl, lol.  She’s really sweet and I can't wait to meet her.  That’s practically what we’ve been saying all week.  ::fingers crossed::  We’ve both been keeping it cool.

But that’s not all.  I hit a touch of deja vu when that Old Flame with a kid wanted to go on another trail date.  I know better now though.  She’s seeing someone and it’s getting very serious.  This was just a friend thing.  But I’m bringing it up, because on that day she posted some pics of us walking on the trail, and suddenly the Whore unmatched and unfriended me on FB.  I didn’t notice until that night.

Honestly, I’m head over heels for Sunday girl, but I didn’t forget about the Whore.  I let a healthy 2 days of space go by, but that was too much for her.  We already set a plan for later that week.  I was gonna check back on Thursday or something to talk about hanging on Friday or Saturday.  We never clarified the day.  But now that she fucking deaded me, I had a choice to make.

Let her Ghost and just let her win, thinking I wasn’t interested at all, or be a dick about it and show her that she fucked up.  I chose to be a dick.. I was careful, because I honestly didn’t want this date anymore.  I didn’t want to fuck up any potential for Sunday, however I needed to know if it was those Trail Pics.  It turns out it wasn’t.  It turns out that after 2 days of space, she thought I ghosted her.  She said it wouldn’t work out because she needed attention.

What the fuck ever.  I was busy.  I actually have hobbies.  And it’s really funny, because I’m Never the ghoster.  But apparently this time it was.  So there was real role reversal here.

I’m still a nice guy though and told her that if she ever changed her mind, I’d still be down to hang out.  But no.  This is done.

Then came a new contender!  This one matched me on Tinder and calls herself the Real-Life Daria, so we’ve got that nickname covered.  We spoke just a little bit on Friday and everything was positive, but then she just disappeared.  And I’m absolutely fine with that.

This is why they tell people to multi-task and gear up in the dating scene.  Everyone is different, but most people have the attention span of a gnat.  So they’ll either gravitate toward you, or they’ll completely focus on themselves and forget to respond altogether.

It’s a dangerous balancing act though, because things are still going well with Gal Pal.  Needy Girl is also still in the picture.  I haven’t mentioned them at all yet, because by shitty coincidence both of them had Covid scares and quarantined just in case.  In Gal Pal’s situation, she’s also been recovering from having her tonsils removed.

I honestly don’t remember the last time I physically saw her.  We made up since that weird date, and things have absolutely normalized again.  We don’t text every day, and since getting all excited about Sunday Girl, I’ve been pretty quiet.  But Gal Pal has been making the extra effort and she’s been feeling better.  She’s well enough to talk on the phone and wants to start hanging again, which is nice.

We had 2 really good conversations this week, and she continues to surprise me.  We really do get along and have more in common than I think.  So things are really getting interesting now.

But we’re gonna see what happens.

In general, to sum up the crazy dating life, the newest developments were:

* getting ghosted by TinderCat * getting deaded by the Whore  * setting up a date with SundayGirl * randomly talking to RL Daria * Needy Girl quarantining for my safety * Gal Pal recovering/quarantining herself, but texting/calling again.

You might have noticed that I haven’t said too much about my Date tonight. Honestly, it’s because I don’t want to jinx anything.  I don’t want to gush too much, just to tear it all down if things don’t work out tonight.  

But again, what attracted me was certainly her Allyson Hannigan look, she’s into metal, hiking, good beer...  2 of those are kind of common, but the Metal aspect is a specialty.  She’s definitely my kind of person in that regard. But then it turns out she has a cat and we bonded pretty hard about certain things in pet ownership.

She just seems fun and sweet and really likes my attention.  She’s also a hard workin’ woman, which is good, because I’m about to be quite busy myself.

So we’re gonna see!  I’m really excited to meet her.  We’ve been saying that to each other literally all week.  So here’s to tonight.

And the Future, as I start a new job!!

2020 is going to feel very different from here on in.  What’s left of it.

[wildcardwriting]

How Social Media Infected the Glory Pro Circle #2

(or Conversations Most of the Glory Pro Community Would Like to Forget Existed)

[King’s Avatar /全职高手 - 蝴蝶蓝 | Quánzhí Gāoshǒu - Húdié Lán ]

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Summary: Or Ye Xiu is forced to deal with his fans. No one saw what was coming next.Because the alliance wants more exposure (i.e. fame) for the pro gamers, all pros are mandated to respond to questions from the fans.Naturally, this leads to some…strange conversations and some stranger answers. Likely will lead into AU TKA UniversePart Story, and TKA fun. Will include some social media.

XXxxxxxXX

Chapter #2: When Excellent Era Reads

XXxxxxxXX

The next day was filled with even more chaos. Slumped over the computer, Ye Xiu was awakened to the sound of loud chatter. Even though the training room had been renovated it was still located by the manager's office so even though the walls he could still make out bits of conversation.

As well as his name.

Rubbing his eyes, Ye Xiu stretched in his chair, and reach for a packet of dry food that was sitting at the next computer station over. It wasn't the same as breakfast, but it would do for now. For once it looks like he's up before it was time for training, so he might as well finish what he was doing.

Moving the mouse he woke the computer from sleep and clicked back into the Reddit email. He was expecting to see a little under two hundred questions, but instead of only having a few questions, the inbox count was over five thousand and growing by the second. Already just in the time, he was looking at the email count, the number rose by another hundred.

Resisting the urge to give up Ye Xiu set a timer. He agreed to do this, so he was going to do this to the best of his abilities... at least until training started.

XXxxxxXX

Glory Forums → Fourth Server → General -> Ye Qiu AMA?!?!

                              1st Floor— Forest of Rain

              Hey all, did you hear about Ye Qiu's thread?

                               2nd Floor— Snow Dancer

          I haven't just heard, have you read it? (Also: Sofa!) [1]

                               3rd Floor— Light of Life

                 Only some of it, but it's gold. Pure gold.

                               4th Floor— Endless Refrain

                          I know. He's just so cool!

                             5th Floor— Frost Burn

    I heard he's going to be posting weekly. Are you going to submit anything?

                           6th Floor—Barren Defeat

       Obviously. I've already submitted multiple questions. You should take this chance too.

                           7th Floor— Kicker Win

               Any chance to speak to the Great God is a precious treasure.

                             8th Floor— No No Novak

                                              +1

XXxxxxXX

Excellent Era Chatroom

[User; Ye Qiu has been removed from the chat temporary.]

[Users; Qi Breaker, Absent Sun, Merciless Magic, Bleak Sky, and Woven Shadows are logged in.]

Qi Breaker: Before we start, let's go over the issues. Did anyone else read the questions on YQ's thread? Woven Shadows: Nope was at dodging practice. Merciless Magic:   No time. I was being punished... too much training...              Absent Sun: No. Why? Bleak Sky: I did. Some of the questions were misleading. Why? Did something else come up?                       Qi Breaker: YQ came and asked me what AllYe and HanYe meant. Bleak Sky: What did you say?     Merciless Magic: Did you tell him? Absent Sun:+1 Woven Shadows: Tell him what. I'm confused. What do those words even mean? Absent Sun: what Merciless Magic:what Bleak Sky:what Merciless Magic: You don't know?! I can't believe Nurse is out of the loop. Quick, Xia Ming explain it to him. Bleak Sky: Fine. Be right back. Merciless Magic: So you gonna tell us what you told YQ? Qi Breaker: Not until Xia Ming returns. Bleak Sky: Back. Please carry on. Qi Breaker: Well, it went like this...

XXxxxxXX

When Wu Xuefeng walked into the Excellent Era practice room, a little after eight, he had expected several things. He expected to see food at Qin Tianran's desk, or extra pillows at Yin Xiong's desk, or perhaps Ye Qiu sleeping on the room couch again but what he did not expect was to see Ye Qiu typing furiously at a computer.

After their first championship, Ye Qiu hadn't needed to put in the same amount of work as he had before, and now with sponsors and a guild to back them up Ye Qiu's responsibilities had been shortened to only focusing on the team.  So to find him still at a computer early in the morning instead of in his room, especially this early in the morning was completely out of character for the rather mature teenager.

Making his way over to his captain's side, Wu Xuefeng took a look at what his captain was looking at. He blinked at the words he was reading. While one half of the screen contained the Reddit email the second was something completely different. A plain word document, containing incredibly sexual and in some cases, vulgar words were listed. Every question was tied to a username or usernames and there was even a tally next to them. Taking off his glasses and cleaning them to ensure he was seeing what he thought he was, still did not make the words vanish.

The list was still there, and it was growing.

Feeling his age, Wu Xuefeng decided to just ask.

"Ye Qiu, what is this?" He asked as he motioned to some of the words on the word document.

Ye Xiu frowned at him. "I don't know. Some of the Reddit questions were odd, so I compiled a list so I could ask just in case."

Wu Xuefeng steeled himself hoping Ye Qiu's next words weren't what he thought they were.

"What does AllYe and the rest of these mean?"

XXxxxxXX

Excellent Era Chatroom

Bleak Sky: And how did you reply? Qi Breaker: I just told him I'd tell him later. Merciless Magic: I don't blame you. Absent Sun: Wait, why not tell him? Merciless Magic: Remember who our captain is. Absent Sun: Oh right. Bleak Sky: Telling him would be boring anyway. But what are you going to do about the rest of the questions? Surely there are some that are worse. Qi Breaker: I told him that I would monitor the questions. Merciless Magic: Nice Qi Breaker: Don't be too happy, I told captain everyone would be chipping in. Absent Sun: Why do you hate us? Merciless Magic: +1 Bleak Sky:+2 Woven Shadows:+3 Qi Breaker: Either way, its time for practice. We'll talk later.

[Users; Qi Breaker, Absent Sun, Merciless Magic, Bleak Sky, and Woven Shadows have logged out.]

XXxxxxXX

       Breaking News: Ye Qiu's Shunning First Appearance on Social Media!

In a stunning first appearance, the mysterious and elusive Battle God himself made his first appearance to the fans in nearly three years.

In a Reddit thread climbing up charts (and currently number three as of this printing), Ye Qiu, or as he's known as on Reddit, OneLeafofTwo answered a large number of questions sent by fans. Everything from his favorite foods, to regrets, was answered in a Reddit MMA that is still taking questions.

Suffice to say fans are shocked, and overwhelmingly pleased to have this link to their battle God, which as all fans knew is notorious for never showing up at fan events.

Excellent Era themselves has teased some more appearances of the Battle God, but how and what shape will they take has yet to be announced.

But we at glory Pro are excited about the future.

This is Nang Shi signing off.

XXxxxxXX

Ye Xiu watched as his team scanned through his questions and sorted them into different groups. Instead of Ye Xiu dealing with all of them in a disjointed fashion, his team was splitting them up. Wu Xuefeng was sorting through his thread and setting it up into sections, while Xia Ming was adding accents and personalization to the site. Qin Tianran was adding sub-threads and other links onto the website while Xue Mingkai and Yin Xiong were checking the questions for quality.

All of Excellent Era was working through the questions so fast Ye Xiu was impressed. He didn’t think his team would even really bother with the social media accounts the alliance had set up for them but they had really taken to it. Watching them now, helping him made him feel proud and a little suspicious.

Neither Wu Xuefeng and Xia Ming were able to look him directly in the eyes, and Xue Mingkai and Yin Xiong were blushing.

Ye Xiu frowned.

He hoped they hadn't broken anything important.

XXxxxxXX

                                               AMA: Ye Qiu Edition

Congratulations all! Due to the extreme popularity and demand for this thread, this thread will be separated into several sub-threads. Click on the links below to navigate to any of the topics, or submit a question!

*Note: As a reminder, all submitters must abide by the rules. Any inappropriate questions will be removed, and the users will be punished. Personal questions may or may not be answered depending on the topic, please keep this in mind. In addition, questions pertaining to face reveals will be deleted.

Recent Questions [click to see all questions and answers]

MusingthruDreams:  Did you see yourself playing video games professionally when you were younger? And if not what was your dream profession before gaming kicked in?

OneLeafofTwo (Ye Qiu): Gaming professionally was only an option for certain games when I was younger, and I wasn't even sure it was the right choice for me at the time but I end up giving it a try. My dream profession before I became a pro was anything that didn't deal with business.

SlippingLight: Do you wish you'd gone with a different gamertag? / How did you come up with the name for One Autumn Leaf?

OneLeafofTwo (Ye Qiu): While I did come with the general name for One Autumn Leaf, I let the sister of my friend type in the name but she ended up using the wrong character for 'zhi' and instead of Herald of Autumn it became One Autumn Leaf. I just went with it in the end.

YellowFellow:  What was the worst thing you ever did in Glory?

OneLeafofTwo (Ye Qiu): I completely destroyed my friend's arena record but it was mostly by accident. He refused to stop challenging me until he won and he lost often.

UrbanKnight:  Who is the weakest player in Excellent Era?

OneLeafofTwo (Ye Qiu):Boss Tao.

RevengeFry: You've hold a number of titles in Glory, such as Master Tactician, Battle God and Glory Textbook. Which one do you like the most and why?

OneLeafofTwo (Ye Qiu): Glory Textbook. Glory is about more than fighting. Glory is a whole world of characters, and classes and meeting people. There are twenty four official classes but every person plays those classes differently and that what makes Glory.

SanonShe: How did you meet the rest of Excellent Era?

OneLeafofTwo (Ye Qiu):Most of Excellent Era was part of the guild before the team went pro, but I only met Wu Xuefeng a few months before Glory Pro was annonuced.

WaterBottleQ: What is your motto for teamwork?

OneLeafofTwo (Ye Qiu): A team can only work when all members trust each other. If an enemy needs to be defeated I can only do so with Excellent Era. Glory is not a single player game.

XXxxxxXX

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[upstartpoodle]

Evens for the WIP meme ask? Thank you! ❤️

Hi, thanks for the ask! Since the number of WIPs I have are well into double figures, I’ll probably just choose a bunch of random ones for these out of the ones I’ve got on my computer.

2. Post a line from your WIP without context.

Once they had returned home, he had wanted nothing more than to head up to his room and hide, but his uncle’s iron grip on his upper arm pulling him into the drawing room had thwarted that wish. He hadn’t dared fight against the man. Uncle Cary had made it quite clear upon his arrival back from school that he expected to be obeyed in all matters, and George knew his future was far too uncertain to risk provoking his only remaining family member with displays of defiance. 

4. Describe the setting of your WIP.

Hmm, I think I’ll go for my JS&MN AU for this one, an extract of which I have posted here. So this is basically an AU set in the universe of the novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell--for anyone who might be unfamiliar with it, it’s a book (and a pretty decent TV adaptation) set in a regency England where magic was once frequently practised but has declined after the Raven King, a medieval magician who conquered the north of England with a fairy army, left his kingdom behind to return to Faerie. The fic is set in Poldark’s s1 timeline, so about fifteen/twenty years before the events of JS&MN canon, featuring Dwight, Ross and Francis as magicians, George as a fairy nobleman from a neighbouring Faerie kingdom, and Elizabeth as a magician’s wife whom George ends up taking an interest in.

6. Search for the word “dream” in your WIP. If you find it, paste the line and explain the context.

I haven’t been able to find it in any of the extracts I have on my computer, but I’m sure it’s probably there somewhere in one of my notebooks. Unfortunately the majority of those are in a box over three hundred miles away so I can’t really check through them ha.

8. What is your biggest challenge?

Actually getting anything finished. Honestly, it depends on the individual fic but for a long time it’s been writer’s block. My undergrad dissertation took a lot out of me and I wasn’t really in the mood for writing for a long time afterwards. S5 airing gave me a bit of a kick up the arse writing-wise though, so I’d say my biggest challenge at the moment is trying to figure out where everything goes in my super long post s5 AU where George gets shot by Hanson. At the moment I’ve just got loads and loads of random bits with only a vague idea of what order they go in and how they join up to each other, and it’s getting to be so long I just keep putting off planning it out properly. Also finishing that last chapter of The Cornish Way damn I can’t even remember when I last updated that I feel so guilty about it ha.

10. How would you describe your WIP’s narrative style?

Well, as I’ve already mentioned I have a whooole bunch of WIPs, but I always write in 3rd person (1st person grates on me, both reading and writing, for some reason--I don’t know why). I’ve got several multi-chap fics in the works, some short, some long. Most of my shorter multi-chap fics tend to alternate between Elizabeth’s POV and George’s, but my long post s5 AU will feature the majority of the characters’ POVs at some point, depending on when they’re needed, though since the fic is George-centric, his perspective is the main one. When it comes to my one-shots, they’re usually either from George or Elizabeth’s perspectives, sometimes both if it’s a particularly long one. I tend to lean towards using Elizabeth’s POV for one-shots for some reason, but there’s a fair few from George’s as well, and a couple of angsty ones told entirely from Valentine’s perspective.

12. Which character do you have the least in common with?

Since my post s5 AU includes Merceron, Hanson and Dr Penrose, I’m glad to say that I haven’t the slightest thing in common with any of those three. But if we’re talking about a main character, I’d say probably Ross. The only thing I have in common with him is a tendency to get fed up at parties ha.

14. Have you chosen birthdays for any of your characters? If so, when are they?

Not really--tbh, I’m not sure how many of them, if any, were given birthdays by WG. I tend to headcanon George’s birthday as being in October, but that’s about it.

16. What would your characters be for Hallowe’en?

Well, I’ve got a couple of WIPs set in the modern era which this could work for, but since one of them is a modern witchcraft AU (in which Elizabeth, Caroline, Demelza, Morwenna and Verity live together in Truro as a secret coven of witches, Francis is a melancholy ghost who haunts the building and they’ve never been able to exorcise, and George, their landlord’s nephew, is their baffled neighbour who only puts up with their weird shenanigans because he has a soft spot for Elizabeth), I guess that’s appropriately Hallowe’en-y ha. For that AU, I reckon Elizabeth would probably dress up as something kind of classy, like as an Ancient Greek lady or a medieval queen, something like that. Caroline would dress up as a witch, I reckon, for the sake of irony (Horace, of course, would have a complementary costume :P). Verity, I think, would make a cute angel, and one of those wood nymph/woodland fairy costumes would probably suit Demelza. Morwenna might dress up as a Hogwarts student or something like that, and Francis insists that since he is an actual, literal ghost, there’s no need for him to dress up. George, on the other hand, absolutely does not do Hallowe’en, but they still manage to drag him down from the flat upstairs, put a pair of little Devil horns on him and make him watch scary films with them. Which he hates every minute of. Absolutely. Totally.

18. What’s easier, dialogue or description?

It depends, but I generally find description easier than dialogue. When I have dialogue-heavy scenes to write, I generally write them out in my notebooks basically in script form so I can figure out where the scene is going and once that’s out of the way, I find it much easier to add all the description in around it rather than having to constantly stop to figure out what the characters are meant to be saying to each other.

20. Post a brief excerpt.

So there’s a whole load to choose from, but I’ve decided to go with this one, which is from a ghost Elizabeth AU I’ve been working on ever since the end of s4 and have been really struggling to get on with because there’s so much bloody angst in it ha :--

The days leading up to Christmas dragged slowly on, and with each long hour that passed, George found himself regretting his decision to allow their initial plans for the festivities to go ahead with ever increasing certainty. The Blameys were neither unkind nor insensitive—quite the opposite in fact; their presence seemed to restore some faint but much needed cheer to Geoffrey Charles, and the company of another boy near his own age had restored Valentine to a fraction of his usual liveliness—but he, who had never been a friend to Verity, and was not well acquainted with her husband or stepchildren, felt the constant pressure of their scrutiny, alongside the horrible awareness of his own inadequacy as their host, whenever he found himself in their company. Verity, in particular, had taken to sending him at frequent intervals, whenever she saw him decline a meal, or else stumbled across him staring up at Elizabeth’s portrait hanging above the mantelpiece in the drawing room, what he had come to refer to in his mind as Looks. Verity had always been a kind and well-meaning soul, but there was a distinct pitying quality to those Looks which he had come to both resent and despise. He could have far more easily borne it if she had scorned his conduct. Her pity, however, wounded what little care he could summon for his pride in the wake of Elizabeth’s loss—he had no need to be reminded of the wretched creature he was fast becoming every time he met her gaze.

Finally, after what seemed like an age, the morning of Christmas Eve came. It had snowed once again during the night, and upon seeing the unblemished blanket of white through the window upon waking, Valentine and young master Andrew had rushed outside, accompanied by the Blameys Senior and Junior and Geoffrey Charles, in order to enjoy it. As the young Esther, whom it had not taken George long to discover was somewhat reticent in nature, had elected to break her fast in her room, that, unfortunately, left he and Verity alone together at the dining table, save for little Ursula, who was playing quietly and contentedly with her own feet in her cradle beside his chair. At barely a few weeks old, however, she was not quite an accomplished enough conversationalist to distract Verity from engaging with him. With a barely audible sigh, George reached for a slice of toast despite his lack of appetite in a vague hope of fending off another Look which he was sure was on the verge of rearing its unwelcome head above the horizon.

“I am glad to see that the boys have regained a little of their usual cheer,” she spoke up suddenly, causing George to pause halfway towards taking a bite out of his unwanted toast; a glance her way confirmed that, despite his best efforts, he was being treated to what could only be described as a Look. “It is a terrible thing to lose one’s parent, no matter one’s age, and certainly not a burden one should face so early in life.”

WIP Ask Game

[theeagerone]

Timing

I used to be pretty upset that I wasn't born earlier. I wanted to live the 70s and 80s SO bad. I now feel immensely grateful  for being born when I was. I feel lucky to be a bridge between the old & new world. I feel both prepared & overwhelmed to keep accepting further tools of technology; it's invasive & terrifying for some levels, and a healthy & privileged place to find myself in for others. I am actually very behind in current media trends as I haven't regularly watched TV since I was 18, don't follow any podcasts, and don't receive updates from or check a particular news source regularly.

I remember:

- Getting introduced to the 1st popular PCs in kindergarten

- My mom getting a cellphone larger than a brick screwed in to the floor of her car

- When all u could do in computer lab was typing classes & play academic games & Oregon Trail.

- Learning the catalogue system at the library - books and journals were all we had to do our 1st research papers. 

- Watching the old MTV with my baybsitters & cousins, before reality TV existed

- Getting off the school bus every day since 3rd or 4th grade to bounce bw MTV & VH1 to see the latest music videos, classic 'Pop-Up Videos'

- Eating Lunchables & Fruit Roll Ups & Dunkaroos & all kinds of weird food when the child's food market & advertising really took off

- When the 1st Emac came out in middle school and they were incredible to behold w their rainbow bright cases

- When dial-up took 5 minutes & learning what e-mail was & browsing AOL chat rooms & staying up late sending hundreds of IMs with my middle school boyfriends on AIM (my s/n: iwannaROCKwithu3).

- When I spent hours each night researching, downloading, & evaluating music on Kazaa - When I spent hours making playlist CDs for my friends  and it was the greatest, most precious gift to receive one.

- When I got my own personal phone line in middle school with a leopard faux fur cord phone. I talked for hours & hours with my love interest of the moment and learned deeply about my friend's lives & struggles.

- When Google & AskJeeves.com came out and I thought that was insane & brilliant, that you could ask anything and there would be some kind of answer.

- Slowly abandoning AIM for Myspace at 15.

- Getting my 1st phone (a RAZR) at 15 & being amazed I could take pictures of everything. I didn't have text msging all of high school bc it cost extra (thank God).

- Cruising down the road in 2005 in my GMC Jimmy, so happy to blast classic rock radio & ATL college stations bc that's all I had besides a tape deck. I sometimes connected my walkman to the tape deck to play CDs

- After school driving a car full of friends to play for hours at the river, only using our phones when we were ready to leave or needed to check in w someone

- The night my phone automatically dialed "Home" as I was running from a party to get in my car and my mom received a 5 minute long recording of me screaming at my friends to "jump in the Fing car"and all of us cussing and cutting up as I drove back to our sleepover. I got in huge trouble for driving ppl within the 1st 6 mos of having my license, got my car taken away, and realized that maybe this new exciting concept of 'speed dial' was not a good idea

- When I was 16 & heard about Youtube - the only videos I knew to exist were SHOES, muffins, & GEORGE WASHINGTON. We all laughed about them for weeks.

- When I abandoned Myspace for Facebook at 17

- When you didn't share every detail of your damn life. When you uploaded pictures you were proud of & maybe wrote on your friend's wall to say hi or whatever

- When a band measured their worth w Myspace. The whole reason I felt confident becoming a singer was bc my 1st band Bro & the Brahs w Daniel had something like 1,500 views within a couple weeks of posting our 1st single & I met ppl on campus who had heard our song before they knew who I was.

- When I got to college and we were wild & free for the 1st time in our lives & could have fun together without checking our phones, explore, learn where to go by word of mouth (SO MANY epic gatherings & house parties, cool shows (Slaughterhouse!!) and we could listen & share music forever without anything to distract us. Some of my best memories of college are laying around with friends for hours uninterrupted, crying to records. Spending days in a daze and knowing that was the last time I could do that without a better excuse.

WE KNEW IT WAS THE END OF LIFE AS WE HAD EXPERIENCED IT. WE HAD A LOT OF FUN. WE WERE ABLE TO BE OUR YOUNG SELVES IN A FREE WORLD TO A CERTAIN DEGREE THAT WOULD NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN. WE ARE INTUITIVE WITH TECHNOLOGY THOUGH WE WATCHED THINGS CHANGE AND IT SIMULTANEOUSLY TERRIFIED AND THRILLED US.

Many of us had breakdowns as we became aware of the realer history & overloaded with information as world news became widespread on Twitter, Facebook, etc. by the time I turned 20. I don't understand why boomers or anyone else wants to continue attacking millennials - y'all created us and this. Take a look in the mirror. We are doing the best we can with the constant onslaught of information, adaptation, devastation, disintegration, deforestation, false expectations, infiltration, mutilation, militarization, mechanization, lack of preservation, growing polarization, toxic capitalization, nations built by unimaginable violations. 

I am sincerely hopeful & passionate about what happens next. What we are paying attention to, giving to, creating for, maintaining, and fighting for matters. I wish to take an active role in the movement of self-love, actualization, and self-awareness. Where mindfulness with our technology exists, we all deeply know who we are without  social media personas and apps to help us "live better lives" as we  ________ or ________. Where instead of posting about a major issue affecting our communities we hold ourselves accountable to make the necessary phone calls, attend and gather the necessary people who wish to change something, and make tangible goals and missions that resist debate and politicization. A context which encourages experimentation, where "just doing it" matters & doesn't need to be recorded. When we can remind ourselves to halt the dopamine rush fed by perfectly packaged things and targeted information for our soul's desires. Where we can press pause on the incessant need to debate the current and loosen the grips of anxiety about the future. Where we focus on what's directly in front of us and tap into what it has meant for 200,000 years to be HUMAN.

[tigerkirby215]

5e Teemo, the Swift Scout build (League of Legends)

(Artwork by Riot Games)

So funny story: Teemo was originally going to be a Death Cleric and I had this massive joke about how “Illaoi was a Cleric with no Cleric levels and Lux should’ve been a Cleric but wasn’t and then the Devil himself ends up being a Cleric” but midway through writing this build I realized that another class made a lot more sense and I had to scrap like half my work.

Even on Tumblr Teemo annoys me.

GOALS

Swiftly - Teemo is literally called “the Swift Scout.” You’ll never guess what subclass we’re going to pick.

That's gotta sting - We’re going to need to fight dirty with poisons and blinds to overpower our foes.

Got a little surprise for 'em - Your enemies should never feel safe walking into your territory, knowing that a trap could be there just waiting for them.

RACE

One may think that to be a small Swift Scout one would want to be a halfling, but there are plenty of small races in 5e to choose from. This may come as a surprise but I’m actually going to suggest playing a Deep Gnome. Your Intelligence increases by 2 and you have Gnome Cunning for advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.

As a Deep Gnome your Dexterity increases by 1. You have Superior Darkvision of 120 feet, and advantage on Stealth checks to hide in rocky terrain thanks to Stone Camouflage. I mean, it’s not a bush but you could probably stealth in the jungle.

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You don’t get the title of “The Swift Scout” by being slow on your feet. (Excluding the fact that you have 25 movement speed.)

14; INTELLIGENCE - Knowledge of guerilla warfare would be more intelligence-based.

13; WISDOM - Teemo is a survivalist, having to spend months in the jungle with nothing but mushrooms to keep him company.

12; CONSTITUTION - Even if Teemo is squishy in-game it’s still nice to have a bit of extra bulk.

10; STRENGTH - Teemo needs to be able to carry all his equipment, which is where Strength comes in.

8; CHARISMA - FUCKING TEEMOOOOOOOOOOOO. (Memes aside feel free to make your Strength lower I’m mostly just dumping Charisma for the meme.)

BACKGROUND

As a Survivalist the Outlander background is pretty good to take. You get proficiency in Athletics, but I’m actually going to suggest swapping your Survival proficiency with Medicine for reasons that are going to be clear later. Why Medicine? I think Teemo would remember to bring some health pots. Regardless you also get proficiency in a musical instrument of your choice (Spirit Blossom Teemo has a Flute so take that) and a language of your choice. (Which of course has to be Infernal kekw. But really pick whatever you think will be useful.)

As an Outlander your Wanderer feature will help you remember the layout of the map you’ve been on for 10 years, and you can find food and water for yourself and 5 other people due to your adept survival skills. Captain Teemo on duty!

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - ROGUE 1

Starting off as a Rogue for the extra proficiencies. Take Acrobatics to swiftly run away, Stealth to... well, stealth, Deception to trick foes into walking onto your mushrooms, and Perception to gain vision with your traps. You also get Expertise in two skills: Acrobatics and Stealth will make you the master of hit-and-run.

Speaking of hit-and-run Rogues get Sneak Attack, allowing them to do an extra d6 of damage if they attack with Advantage, or if an ally is within 5 feet of the target they’re attacking. The attack has to be with a ranged weapon which is a good segway to talk about Teemo’s weapon. Blowguns do exist in 5e but they’re trash, so unless your DM is willing to give you a seriously strong blowgun I’d personally suggest just using a Light Crossbow... for now.

But if you meet any other Bandle Scouts out in the wild you can communicate with them using Thieves’ Cant, a secret code only taught to scouts and other Rogues.

LEVEL 2 - ROGUE 2

Hey it’s everyone’s favorite ability: Cunning Action! As a Bonus Action you can now Move Quick to Dash or Disengage, or use your passive to Hide. Of course Hiding with Expertise in Stealth and then popping out to shoot a poisoned “dart” (crossbow bolt) at an enemy is a good way to get a sneak attack off.

LEVEL 3 - ROGUE 3

Third level Rogues can choose their Roguish Archetype, and hey isn’t it funny that Rogues have a subclass called “Scout?” Scout Rogues are Skirmishers, allowing them to move up to half their movement speed away from an enemy if they end their turn within 5 feet of you as a reaction.

And remember how I told you to drop Survival proficiency? Scout Rogues gain free Expertise in both Survival and Nature thanks to the Survivalist skill! Now would be a good time to point out that D&D Beyond will let you change the proficiency in your background if you get it past level 1. Also your Sneak Attack increases to 2d6.

LEVEL 4 - ROGUE 4

4th level is our first Ability Score Improvement: for some Guerrilla Warfare take the Skulker feat to hide more easily in bushes, not reveal yourself when you attack, and see better while hiding in the brush.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 5 - WIZARD 1

Hey look everyone it’s my favorite class, because Teemo perpetually frustrates me! If you can’t tell this was going to be Cleric levels and I’m writing this immediately after scrapping like half my build so... a little annoyed. Yay.

Anyways Wizards at level one get Spellcasting: you get a Spellbook where you can write down 3 cantrips and four 1st level spells. Your cantrips are always ready but you can prepare a number of spells equal to your Wizard level plus your Intelligence modifier. Seeing as your INT mod is 3 that means you can prepare all the spells I list! (At least for level 1)

CANTRIPS

For a ranged source of poison damage take Infestation to both poison and confuse your foes to make it harder for them to approach you.

For a melee source of poison damage take Poison Spray for a lot of damage! What do you mean Poison damage is commonly resisted? I don’t know what you’re talking about.

To strategize with your team Message will let you keep quiet while preparing to ambush!

SPELLS

Snare is a trap spell that will let set up a trap. Not a mushroom trap, but a snare trap.

If you want to use your traps for information however Alarm will let you ward an area so you know if someone passes through it. Or you can make the alarm loud so everyone knows!

For some poisoned darts Ray of Sickness lets you do... exactly that. Shoot posioned darts to poison your foes.

Finally to Move Quick take Longstrider, which increases your movement speed by 10.

You also get access to Arcane Recovery, allowing you to recover Spell Slots on a Short Rest equal to half your Wizard level rounded up (with some finer details please read the description of the ability that I’m too lazy to describe.) Teemo has a lot of supplies to survive in the wilderness, so it’s not surprising he packed more darts.

LEVEL 6 - WIZARD 2

Second level Wizards can choose their Arcane Tradition and I’m actually going to suggest a bit of a wild card here: go for the Bladesinging subclass. Yes it’s meant for Elves only but I have never met a single DM who enforced that rule.

Regardless as a Bladesinger you have Training in War and Song for Performance proficiency, Light Armor proficiency (which you already have), and proficiency in one type of one-handed melee weapon. (Scimitars are the only Finesse weapon you don’t have proficiency in as a Rogue so that’s basically your only option.)

But the main feature of the Bladesinger is of course their Bladesong. You can activate your Bladesong as a bonus action for 1 minute. During Bladesong your AC increases equal to your Intelligence modifier, your walking speed increases by 10 feet, you have advantage on Acrobatics checks, and you get a bonus to Concentration checks equal to your Intelligence modifier.

“But Teemo doesn’t use a sword!” I hear you say. Well Bladesong ends if you use two hands to make an attack but you know what doesn’t take two hands to shoot? Well for one Blowguns, but since Blowguns in 5e suck: Hand crossbows! Get a Hand Crossbow to supplement a blowgun, and boom you’re still a ranged character! Yeah much to my surprise Bladesinger doesn’t have any restriction on using ranged weapons: you just can’t use two hands to make an attack. Regardless you have two uses of Bladesong per short or long rest.

You can also add two more first level spells to your spellbook like Detect Magic and Identify to help you know what you find in the wild.

LEVEL 7 - WIZARD 3

Third level Wizards can learn second level spells like Blindness / Deafness for a blinding dart, and Invisibility for more Guerrilla Warfare.

LEVEL 8 - WIZARD 4

4th level Wizards get another Ability Score Improvement but you know what we don’t have enough of? Feats! Take the Crossbow Expert feat to ignore the loading property on crossbows, ignore melee range disadvantage with crossbows, and attack with a hand crossbow with your bonus action after making the attack action. Stinger attack speed’s gotta sting!

Additionally you can learn another two spells at this level along with a new cantrip! For your leveled spells grab Misty Step for Flash and Enlarge / Reduce, because size doesn’t mean everything. For your cantrip Mending will help you keep your scout equipment in check.

LEVEL 9 - WIZARD 5

At level 5 you can learn 3rd level spells. You know what we haven’t gotten yet? Mushrooms. For a very expensive trap Glyph of Warding will let you put down a near-invisible glyph in an area for a mere 200 gold and 1 hour of set-up time. You decide what triggers the glyph, be it something complicated or something simple like an enemy walking near it.

When the spell activates you can choose one of two effects: the simple solution is just to make it explode for 5d8 acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage. Alternatively you could store a spell of third level or lower into it, and have it target whoever activates the glyph or the area around them. I’d highly suggest reading Glyph of Warding over in full before using the spell. It’s a powerful spell but it’s costly and requires a lot of set up time.

But you know what’s a simple spell? Fireball. Weaponize your shrooms for a big explosion of damage.

LEVEL 10 - WIZARD 6

6th level Bladesingers get an Extra Attack! Yup: that’s it! Because you’re a fake Fighter. But yeah this is primarily why we took Crossbow Expert, so you can still attack twice with a crossbow.

Well, you can also add another two spells to your spellbook. To move incredibly Swiftly take Haste. Other than that you can truly grab whatever spell you want as there isn’t much else that’s truly “in character” for such a simple character as Teemo. My out-of-character suggestion is to take Mirror Image from second level for a great boost to survivability. The only thing more annoying than one Teemo is three Teemos.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 11 - ROGUE 5

Back to our swift scouting ways 5th level Rogues get Uncanny Dodge, letting them use their reaction to reduce the damage of an attack by half. Your Sneak Attack damage also increases to 3d6.

LEVEL 12 - ROGUE 6

6th level Rogues get Expertise in two more skills: Perception will let you make good use of your wards, and Deception will let you make good use of your mushrooms.

LEVEL 13 - ROGUE 7

Isn’t Teemo really annoying and hard to kill? Well with Evasion he’ll be even harder to kill since he’ll take no damage on a successful Dexterity saving throw and only half damage if he fails. And your Sneak Attack increases to 4d6 too?!

LEVEL 14 - ROGUE 8

8th level Rogues get another Ability Score Improvement and you know: I don’t think we have enough Feats. Fade Away is a Gnome-specific feat that will let you get use out of your passive by turning invisible when you get hit as a reaction. You remain invisible until the end of your next turn or until you attack, deal damage, or force someone to make a saving throw. You can use this reaction once per short or long rest and it uses the same reaction as Uncanny Dodge, so use it wisely!

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 15 - ROGUE 9

At 9th level your Scout training gives you Superior Mobility for 10 extra feet of movement speed. "Hut, two, three, four!" Your Sneak Attack damage also increases to 5d6.

LEVEL 16 - ROGUE 10

10th level Rogues get another Ability Score Improvement to help compensate for all the feats. Increase your Dexterity and Wisdom by 1 for even Ability Scores.

LEVEL 17 - ROGUE 11

11th level Rogues get Reliable Talent so any roll with a skill you’re proficient in can’t be below a 10. If you roll a 9 or lower it counts as a 10. Whenever I get this ability I like to do a tally of all the skills you have and what the lowest potential roll is, so...

26 in Acrobatics (with Advantage if in Bladesong)

26 in Stealth (with Advantage to hide in rocky areas)

25 in Nature

24 in Perception or Survival

22 in Deception

18 in Medicine

16 in Athletics

15 in Performance

And to top it off your Sneak Attack damage increases to 6d6.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 18 - ROGUE 12

12th level Rogues get another Ability Score Improvement and as much as I want to take more Feats (believe me I do) let’s finally cap off that Dexterity score for the deadliest darts.

If you aren’t playing with Standard Array and want some more Feats here’s a few I could suggest:

Poisoner (Yeah duh)

Svirfneblin Magic (More blinds, among other things)

Alert (To always be ready for a fight)

Observant (A half feat to spot any incoming danger)

Tough (Just because you aren’t a tank doesn’t mean that Grasp of the Undying is a bad rune)

LEVEL 19 - ROGUE 13

With 13 levels in Scout you are an Ambush Master. You have advantage on initiative checks, and in addition the first creature you hit during the first round of a combat becomes easier to hit. Attack rolls against that target have advantage until the start of your next turn, because it’s pretty hard to defend yourself when blinded. "Smell that? That's fear." Your Sneak Attack also increases to 7d6.

LEVEL 20 - ROGUE 14

Your final level is the 14th level of Rogue for a 10 foot Blindsense, allowing you to sense any hidden or invisible creature near you. Clearly they only have camouflage.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Turns out I got a proficiency in killing - Up to three attacks per turn with a +11 to hit means it’s more than likely you’ll hit your 7d6 Sneak Attack. Not to mention the strength of Wizard spells, notably Fireball.

Wars are won with men, not machines - Rogues are skill monkies and it turns out you’re quite the asset outside of combat. Expertise in 6 skills, notably the ones to keep alive in the wilderness. And of course the ability to cast Ritual spells like Detect Magic and Identitfy.

Never underestimate the power of the Scout's code - So Teemo’s pretty annoying right? Well I didn’t realize he’d be so damn elusive! +11 to Dexterity saves with Evasion, 35 feet of movement, Advantage on all mental saves, insanely good stealth skills, reactions to get away from danger... And this isn’t even mentioning the benefits from being a Wizard! Bladesong lets you increase your AC by 3 (up to 20 if you’re wearing Studded Leather!) and increase your movement speed to 45... Oh and you can just turn invisible! As well as blind the enemy and speed yourself up.

CONS

Size is a liability - A few feats too many means not enough ability scores, yet somehow we don’t have enough feats for things like Poisoner. Perhaps reserve this build for when you can use Point Buy. Or at least ditch Skulker because you really don’t need it when you can, ya know... turn invisible?

You'd be surprised how quick fur ignites - Of course the lack of Ability Scores means that your Wizard DC isn’t fantastic. Granted most of your spells are utility but a lot of them require saves, and a lot more of them are rather weak. Poison damage is one of the worst damage types in the game and both your cantrips are poison, not to mention Ray of Sickness. Feel free to grab other spells as you see fit.

Lots to do before I punch out - Teemo is squishy in League and Wizard levels don’t help in D&D. Even with the +1 to CON you’ll likely have a little over 100 health by level 20, which easily puts you in Power Word Kill range. You’re elusive yes but a bit of bad luck and you’ll be six feet under.

But you’re not meant to be the strongest: you’re meant to be annoying. Hit-and-run, hide in the shadows, and whittle the enemy down before you win the war of attrition. You’re in it for the long-con, and not just the end game. You’re engaging in psychological warfare: tearing at your opponent’s mental state until nothing remains. You are a master of anger and temptation. You are a demon; a devil... Or you might just be a hamster with a blow gun.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

[ravenavalanche]

Raven’s Solo Two

                       Raven’s Solo Two: Introduction to a new storyline

( It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to introduce this storyline for Raven and then I decided that it would probably be the best if I did it in several diary entries. So you guys could get an insight into her mind and her mental health. Also whilst reading this please bare in mind that this is the first time I tackled this kind of issue in writing so i’m really sorry if it’s not exactly accurate. I didn’t mean to offend anyone or trigger anyone by this piece. Also it took me three hours + to write this so I’m really sorry if it will be filled with a lot of spelling mistakes but I was too tired to go over it and besides my own writing makes me cringe so.) 

Trigger warnings: Mentions of death, stalking, eating disorder, stress, planned murder, mental health issues, mentions of guns, suicide attempt.                       

                                   𝘓𝘠𝘚𝘚𝘖𝘗𝘏𝘖𝘉𝘐𝘈 [ lis-uh-foh-bee-uh ]

Fear of going insane or mad.

                                                                                  Date: 1st December 2019 Dear Diary, Today something strange happened, I was driving home from the nearby town when I saw a car driving behind me and at first I didn’t think anything of it after all it was normal but then it seemed to me like they were following me, every turn I took they also took. It wasn’t until I looked into my mirrors that I saw a mask on their face, and it wasn’t just any mask it was one of those that you would see in a horror movie. Thanks to that I lost control of my car and drove it into a bush, thank god nothing major happened apart from one thing. The moment I collided my car with the bush the car that was behind me seemed to disappear into thin air. I even got out of the car to double check that they were gone and they were. I couldn’t see a single sign of them. I spoke to my therapist about it and he thinks that it’s my mind playing tricks on me, due to the fact that lately I have been barely eating and sleeping because of the stress that I’m going through right now when it comes to my work. I simply nodded my head and agreed with his statement but I knew he was wrong, I saw them. I couldn’t have imagined that. I saw that car following me from the moment I pulled out of the small town’s parking lot.                                                                            Date: 3rd December 2019 Dear Diary, Hi, it’s me again. So... today as I was walking through the garden I looked over at the gate and you won’t believe who I saw. I saw the masked people, there were two of them. I even blinked a couple of times and rubbed my eyes to make sure that they won’t just evaporate into thin air. I looked over at them and saw them pull out gun and point it towards their own head, they pulled the trigger but nothing happened. It caused my breath to get caught in my chest and I ran back inside as fast as I could, I ran straight towards my dorm and locked the door shut behind me. Trying to catch my breath I walked over to my window that had the view of the Garden and the gate, as I peaked through it I looked in the direction of where I saw them last and there they were. Clear as day, looking directly at me and despite the fact that they were wearing a mask I could feel their eyes burning through me. Quickly I turned around and sat on the floor, bringing my knees to my chest and oh diary you have no idea how badly I wanted to cry, but I didn’t, I couldn’t. My eyes were so dried out due to the lack of sleep that I couldn’t even form a single tear. Now this was real, I know it was and if that was real that could only mean one thing and that is that the thing that happened the other day was also real.                                                                                Date : 4th December 2019 Dear Diary, I just found out that my mother isn’t gonna get punished for what happened to my dad, they said that there wasn’t enough evidence against her and that her signature on that paper was supposedly forged. What if she’s the one that’s after me, what if she wants to get rid of me for good this time. Even writing that here makes me sound insane, after all she’s my mother. She loves me right? She wouldn’t want to hurt me? i’m her daughter, her only daughter. She wouldn’t do that to me, I know she wouldn’t. I really wanted to tell someone about my suspicion but who would believe me, even I don’t believe my own words anymore so why would anyone else. Maybe there was one person that would believe me, but that one person I would hate it if they saw me like this or maybe what I fear even more is the fact that they wouldn’t believe and would also think I’m losing my mind.                                                                             Date : 6th December 2019 Dear Diary, Today I saw my therapist again, I told him about the people at the gate but once again he tried to convince me that it’s the lack of sleep and food combined with the stress that is causing my brain to play some silly jokes on me. He even suggested that he can find me a room in the hospital ward if that will make me feel safer but I knew what he meant by that. They’re worried I’m gonna do something to myself, something that is gonna drag their reputation down the drain cause that would be a disaster. When I got back from my therapist session my room was open and I could have sworn I locked it, but it was open in fact the door wasn’t even fully closed. My heart felt like it was gonna jump out of my chest when I walked inside, after quickly making sure there was no one there I locked it again. But then dear diary, I found a note - I found a note on my desk a note that simply read ‘I see you.’ and not long after I found it. There was a tiny camera hidden in between my books of course I destroyed it into pieces and threw it out of the window. I’m exhausted I haven’t slept for what feels like forever and everytime I try the smallest sounds wake me up and then I’m back to twisting and turning in my bed. I even started to sleep with a knife under my pillow just in case.                                                                         Date: 10th December 2019 Dear Diary, It’s been a while since I last wrote here, It’s been exactly four days. Right now I’m running on approximately 4 hours of sleep all together and close to no food. A lot of my clothes have became a bit too loose on me now. I haven’t left my room in four days, I had people come and knock on it every now and then but I dimissed them quite quickly. In fact, I think I became a pro at telling people to leave me alone now. Truth is I’m terrified, every knock on the door makes me jump and grab the knife from under my pillow its like at this point I’m waiting, I’m waiting for them to burst into my room and end this thing. End this stupid little game. Being alive right now seems like the worst thing in the world at the moment, living is heavy. Whats the point of me being alive if I don’t feel like it. I have became numb to the feeling of exhaustion and hunger, I didn’t feel it. In fact sometimes when I sit on my bed I wonder if my heart is still beating, but I’m breathing so it must be - unless this is all some type of a dream now and I’m actually in a hospital room drifting off into a deep slumber. Maybe this is it. Maybe after I write this entry I won’t have to be scared anymore, I’ll be safe. Away from this mess. If not then maybe this is what I need to do, maybe it shouldn’t be them that ends this stupid little game maybe it should be me. If I end it they lose right? __________________________________________________________________ Raven closed her diary shut and slipped it into the little draw that was attached to her desk, she locked the draw with a little key and made her way into the bathroom. Opening a little cabinet the brunette took out a box of pills that were prescribed by her therapist. ‘take no more than one every two days’ the box said in bold black writing. Looking in the mirror she saw the bags that have formed under her eyes, her collarbone was more visible. “I’m taking control.” She muttered to herself and that’s when she could swear a figure appeared behind her. It wasn’t like the figures she saw, it looked like a boy. She knew he wasn’t real but his brown eyes looked at her through the mirror. “They call me Peter Pan, if you join me in neverland Raven I promise you’ll never have to worry about a single little thing. You’ll never be lonely, there are plenty of others like you. Just pop a few of them and then we can fly away from this mess.” His voice was soft, almost melodic. I turned my head to face him but he wasn’t there, he was a part of my imagination and I knew that but the moment I looked back into the mirror he was there again. A warm smile decorating his what seemed like a porcelain face. Raven’s lips curved slightly into a warm sort of smile as she could see his hand falling upon her shoulder. She could see it there in the mirror but she couldn’t feel it. “Raven!” A sudden voice caused the creature in the mirror to evaporate. She turned her head in the direction of where the voice came from causing her to drop the little box of pills onto the floor of the bathroom.

Raven’s vision slowly started fading, she blinked a few times trying her best to keep herself awake but it wasn’t helping. Her hand grasped the sink as she tried to keep herself standing but then she lost all control that she had over her own body, her hand slipped from the sink and her vision got blurrier. She could feel herself falling but she couldn’t remember hitting the ground, it was almost like whoever the person was that managed to break through her locked door caught her mid fall. She blinked a few more times, her brown eyes trying their best to figure out who it was that helped her, the person looked familiar but due to her current condition she couldn’t quite remember who it was. As Raven’s eyes slowly shut she could hear the voice shouting to someone to get help and then it happened. Her vision faded completely and so did the sounds that surrounded her.

[shibashouse]

Self-study of English (2) ーHow the Internet Has Changed Learning Styles

* writing in red: learning tools or styles which emerged in the Internet era

Before the Internet prevailed, self-study of foreign languages was monotonous sometimes and often took discipline. I still remember I was given lots of penmanship assignments, such as writing every new word 10 times each in my notebook, which I thought time-wasting sometimes.

When my eldest daughter entered junior high school, there was at least one computer at average families in Japan. My husband and I used an e-learning app for TOEIC Test on our (old Windows XP) PC from 2003 to 2006. Preparing for the TOEIC test with a computer was extreme fun compared with my Eiken preparation in the 20th century:  the computer app responded to me right after I answered the questions, which was as if I were playing a computer game. 

Faster Internet Has Made the World Smaller

In 2007, I upgraded my laptop to Windows Vista and gave my old one to my eldest daughter. I kept on learning English using a computer; I started reading out my blog entries in English, recording my reading and attached the audio clips when posting them. At that time, there were just a few online English schools for practicing conversation, and I failed to activate Skype in my Windows Vista laptop. Learning English for me then was solving vocab drills on the Internet, zapping International radio shows ( actually, I subscribed to BBC radio, which cost 1450 yen per month ), and occasionally writing blog entries in English. Until 2008, I was an introverted housewife being devoted to learning English in front of my PC. I preferred learning English alone with my PC to hanging out with PTA staff members at my children’s elementary school; it was all because of saving money.

Since 2009, I went to work again. At first, I worked for a company cafeteria, which is about 10 minutes from home by bike. Unfortunately, I left there just for 5 months; I was too poor at cooking. Next year, I started teaching English at a franchised cram school. About half of the students there were 9th graders (the 3rd year in junior high school ), so teachers needed to handle them really carefully, especially one month before their first high school entrance exams. Personally, the times teaching English and preparing lessons at the cram school were my treasure, because I could study English deeply and check how precisely I understand grammar and word usage at the same time. 

In the days I worked as a cram school teacher, my son studied at a cram school to prepare for his high school entrance exams. I attended parents' day meetings there and listened to the school owner’s lectures a couple of times. Luckily I hadn’t preached by the school owner about my son’s studying attitude, but he didn’t agree with my English-learning style making the most of the Internet; he wanted me to study traditionally, using printed materials.

In my 2nd year as a cram school teacher, I got my first smartphone, which was Android 2.1. I have bought less printed drill books since I got a smartphone; I prefer digital ones, especially English vocab books. Digital drill books (actually apps) have audio clips recorded by professional narrators, which are really effective for practicing pronunciation. Moreover, they told me whether my answers were right or wrong by the sound, took my study log and sometimes praised me with cute gimmicks.

I had to leave the cram school in March 2012 because of the management tactics change, in other words, the board preferred younger teachers. (I learned that later by the cram school’s website) Moreover, my mother wanted me not to work as a cram school teacher anymore, so I needed to look for a daytime job to relieve her. I promised to work during the day, but I had to wait for more than a year to teach English again. I went to a few factories as a temporary worker on weekdays and proctored the TOEIC test several times a year on Sunday then.

Eligible Skills for English Teachers in the Internet Era

In June 2013, I found my teaching license would expire in March 2014 unless I attended the intensive training to renew it. Signing up for the teaching license renewal training doesn’t take much time for teachers as long as they’re at work, but I needed one more step to apply for the training. I wrote the registration form for a temporary or part-time teacher bank and submitted it to the education ministry, and waited for the grant. I joined the 5-day intensive training in Hitachi City in August 2013, and two weeks after the training, I got an offer as a substitute teacher for 7 months at the longest. My workplace then was a public high school in the countryside, and just a few students liked English. Colleagues in the English department advised me to entertain students during lessons rather than teach the language, which was really helpful during my lessons and gave me a new perspective.

“Enjoy reading high school English textbooks as materials for myself, and entertain students with trivia about English words, phrases, or topics presented in the textbooks”

I memorized the word “hibernate” in a textbook for 11th graders (2nd year in high school), and the most difficult word for me in the textbooks I had taught with was “ventriloquism”, which I still need to google.

I taught English totally for 1 year and 7 months there and truly enjoyed giving lessons and learning English for myself at the same time, but I had been worrying about one thing:  my TOEIC test score has not so much improved. I often heard a rumor that those who teach English should hold the 1st grade on the Eiken test or AT LEAST 900 on the TOEIC test (holding both is preferable), and I had neither of them. Ironically, company workers who hold both Eiken 1st grade and the full mark ( 990) on TOEIC test without the national teaching license are more welcomed as (private) English teachers or coaches than (licensed) schoolteachers without Eiken 1st grade or higher TOEIC test scores, because Japanese has been taught English as an entrance exam subject, which means English skills are gauged by test scores. Since I failed Eiken 1st grade twice so far and have never reached 900 on the TOEIC written test, I thought I was not eligible for teaching English in early 2015. Actually, I got only 815 in January 2015 and had come to want to see another world.

I think it’s natural that higher test score holders are respected more than schoolteachers who haven’t taken the Eiken test and TOEIC test since test scores are objective to everyone. Nowadays is not only the Internet era but also the AI era, young English learners can practice English 100 times more efficiently than in the pre-Internet era thanks to the Internet and digital gadgets. That means some highly advanced students can be over their English teachers in test scores, in other words, English teachers at schools with average test scores might be discounted easily even though they are nationally licensed.

I Stopped Teaching English to Enjoy Using It

In March 2015, I accepted a transfer to teach computing instead of English. Being a computer teacher, I don’t have to worry about rumors or criticisms of my English test scores anymore. I simply enjoy learning English, that means at the same time I’ve become a lazy learner compared to the past :) Zapping articles about the newest smartphones or computer software is really fun, although the words there are not listed in vocab books.  Reading breaking news in English is also useful for me to enhance critical thinking since news articles reported in Japanese often seem biased or partly exaggerated to conceal the truth.