#Miriam who shut the world off to protect herself who is now learning to let her walls down again

[butchratchettruther]

Thinking about my ocs again

[leonajasmin-writeblr]

Find the Word

Thanks for the tag @dotr-rose-love! I was given the words drink, flower, soft and bone. I’m using the first drafts of the four parts of The Mastery that I’ve done so far (which is almost 400K), so there’s quite a few for each word. Therefore, under the cut they go! :)

I’m going to tag some people who’ve appeared on my ‘latest notes’ feed this past month: @lxpinwrites, @ariannastewart, @silentlylostwriter and @what-is-this-blog-about. Have the words mild, grow, house and/or eat appeared in any of your recent/current WIPs?

DRINK (I am prone to over-hydrating so always mention drinks haha):

“Surely you have servants who’ll get you a warm drink and a few biscuits for your pet?”

“Please, I insist you must have something to drink. Personally, I think it is too early for an alcoholic beverage, but I have juice, water and the like.”

He indicated for me to put my drink down before grasping my hands, “That’s why you’re so important.”

“No.” Sebastian went quiet, fully focused on the bubbles in his drink.

Phineas had given me three books, so, after grabbing a drink, I pulled one out of my rucksack.

“Hey, I don’t personally drink,” He said, putting his hands up, “I don’t condone it either."

I didn’t drink last night- even if I liked alcohol, a certain someone’s glare was enough of a deterrent to sit on the other side of the compartment.

Since it was only the two of us, the teacher left for a few minutes to fetch herself a drink.

“No, he wasn’t.” She said, finally sitting down. I’d gotten into my dorm. She'd followed and declined when I offered her something to drink.

Sebastian took a while to take a drink from his cup, but responded, “That’d imply he was logical.”

Miriam had been watching the two bicker as if observing a tennis match. She grabbed her drink at that point, spluttering as she swallowed wrong. The two looked at her in panic before dropping the conversation.

Martha nodded, taking a sip of her drink, “This is why I didn’t want to come now. I can’t think straight.”

“He’ll be in his eighties by now, so even if he is, he wouldn’t have much longer to live.” Uncle August answered, turning the kettle on after realising he hadn’t made himself a drink.

“I know,” Matthias smiled, stirring his drink, “When are we meeting your partner, Alex?”

“Hmm?” Rylan mumbled, “My father said that coffee is unhealthy and addictive. To wake yourself up early in the morning, you should drink hot water. I wanted at least a little flavouring, so I infused some tea leaves in. Try it.”

He laughed once, “But you don’t drink, and otherwise it’ll go to waste.”

“Let me get you a drink. Do you want to come into the dining room?”

August smiled, “If we weren’t teetotal, I’d say let’s drink to that. But we’re going to have to make do with tea.”

“Dad, what is the point of drinking tea when you have so much milk in it that you lose the taste of the actual tea? Just drink warm milk.”

“Ah, my apologies, but he only takes in interns when he requests for them. He hasn’t at the moment. Since you’ve come all this way, would you like a drink?”

There was silence before one relative piped up, “I’ll drink to that.”

“Have a drink while you’re here. I’m a little bit out of the way so save your time and energy.” 

“Thanks, Alex,” He took a long sip of his drink, “I’m so nervous though.”

Miriam snorted, “Don’t make me laugh when I’m about to drink.”

“She’s taking over, as we suspected,” He muttered, pouring himself a strong drink of alcohol, “And she’s basically told Dimitri and I that only one of us can lead the Meeting and she’s picked me.”

FLOWER:

The three of us were in the ‘roundabout room’ of the hospital. In the middle was a hexagonal flower box with some odd-colour foliage and around it were five different hallways. There were seven different floors, and we were on the bottom one.

The town looked quaint from the station, but I couldn’t pronounce its name due to not having a Phinean accent. Compared to Natli and Mindeya, it was homely looking with its flower boxes and sign pointing to a vegetable market.

He dropped me off in front of a large house before taking the horses back to his own place. It seemed more grandiose than the properties surrounding it since there were flower baskets coming out of literally every window, but it was the same size. Even the Donegall house, which was also in the centre of the city, was obviously not the property of any old person.

“Ah, but that is the beauty of flowers. She can make her room look pretty with them even though she hates the recipient. And flowers have a lot of meaning. One flower may both mean ‘I love you’ and ‘fuck you’.”

“You work in a flower shop but don’t know your flowers, silly boy. Is Miriam tall and pretty?”

“At the flower shows they have in Natli, her family decide on the winners. She picks second place now she’s the Secondary Master. She doesn’t like the idea of picking just on which she thinks are the nicest so researches quite a bit to make sure she’s actually making the best decision.”

SOFT:

“He’d have stepped up by now if that was the case. It’s been over a decade and a half since I was born.” If looks could kill, I’d be dead by now. Her voice, however, was low and soft.

Father stuck his hand out, and I was surprised about how smooth the skin was. He was only thirty-nine but his face was aged, looking way older than Dimitri’s forty-two-year-old one. But the back of his hand was soft and looked well moisturised.

"Roman says he's a Tibetan Mastiff, they're soft and protective despite their deceptive build. But cute doggies aren't a priority right now. Have you got Miriam and Caspian's scents?"

I laughed, then consciously realised he hadn't moved his hands. I hadn't put on my jacket yet so I could feel how warm and soft they were.

"Well, I'm not moving until someone from the shop floor drags me off," I said, lavishing in the beds comfiness. My one at Natli was hard although the pillows were ridiculously soft, I had to stick blankets underneath for some comfort.

Her hair was near enough white and she also had the same piercing grey eyes which her son didn't possess. She had a soft face although that was shrouded by her current expression.

I couldn't think of any way to describe the voice other than silk. While tinged with age, it was soft and smooth.

She appeared as a mixed woman, with tied back brown locks and a soft but unvirtuous expression. Roman stared as she did so.

Cyrus was interested in all types of vehicles but always had a soft spot for motorbikes. I never paid enough attention to learn anything about the specifics.

Roman nodded, beginning to catch his breath, “Luka wants my Grand Master gone at least. From what she has said, he seems to have a soft spot for Miriam, but I think it is to do with-”

This was one of the rare times he’d smile genuinely. He hid the fact he had these guys most of the time so he didn’t look like a soft-hearted man due to being a pet lover. Deep down, any furry animal was his weakness.

“You have really soft knees, Kadir.” (A/N: The character who says this is drunk, I don’t have a weird knee fetish)

“What? No!” Uncle August had a soft voice but it broke then, “He’s been doing as well as he can be, making the treacherous journey he currently is.”

I’d held Matthias and Octavia plenty of times when they were younger, so I knew how to hold her. Juliana noted it, “You’re so soft-handed, but what’s the frown for, buddy?”

“Well, why are you surprised?” His voice was uncomfortably soft, “The more experience you get, the harder the challenge is. It’s how the world works Meline, not just me.”

Rylan’s voice was surprisingly soft and soothing, and there was a brief smile on his face when I looked at him. There was actual warmth in his expression compared to the other two people in the room.

“Carlos clearly has a soft spot for you too,” Phineas said, “But then again, he seems to have one for everybody bar backstabbers.”

Seb and Uncle Jonathon were almost identical apart from age and build. Their confident but laid-back demeanour was also scarily similar. But his eyes were the same soft deep brown as August’s.

“Did he give Andrei something soft and warm to lie in? I don’t think that’s fucking likely.”

Khristoph and I swapped positions and it became clear they had almost identical faces. Soft brown eyes, long thin eyebrows and a childish look of wonder around them.

Since I was still on the floor, he went onto his knees and kissed me. It was slow, soft and exactly what I needed at that moment.

Uncle Jonathon let his curls go wild but they didn’t reach further than the top of his neck. Grandfather’s, however, were in line with his elbows, the same length as mine. They were maintained well though, and looser than any of ours. His eyes were a soft but deep brown, although they were almost shut due to his frowning.

“Considering you’re the mother of the victim, are you really in the best position to do this?” The judge asked. His voice was soft rather than Winona’s jabbing.

“Vanska,” He responded, voice soft, “Where are we?”

He looked to the door which Roman left through before turning to me, “I was in here when you were watching him. There’s still a soft spot for him in your heart, isn’t there?”

We were looking at each other again when a voice arose. It wasn’t Lawrence’s high, shrill voice, nor Roman’s soft and warm tone or Vesna’s staccato tone. This one was animalistic and growling.

Myles and Jonathon headed over to the blanket, the former looking at Miriam and the latter at Andrei. He had a soft, paternal look to him before a shadow appeared over him.

“Ludwig is surprisingly quite soft as a paternal figure. For some reason I preferred him to Martha.”

“Oh, Miriam.” She gave me her soft hazel-eyed look, “We’ll be able to make something out of this. You won’t have to live like your mother and uncle did.”

Dad was soft, but that was one thing he rarely said, “I love you too.”

Dimitri was a man with rough edges but he had soft spots for dogs and children. After all, he owned more pets than some shelters and had taken Miriam in. 

I rolled over, making a soft grunting noise.

Despite his rough appearance and supposed bluntness, Gino had a soft, tinkly laugh.

“Well, my Dad is Grand Master Schwarz. He’s a bit soft from first glance but uses his brain, not brawns. My uncle is Grand Master Ivanov. He’s the opposite.”

Her daughter had a soft and cute face in comparison to her mother’s harsher one, “Oh, alright, what’s the change?”

“Oh, okay. I know this was yours and Miriam’s discussion, but I’ll step in. Why don’t you talk with Nina and let her take charge while you work on understanding the lingo and working on your soft skills? I know a guy who lived in Anthonia who could help you.” 

BONE:

“If I had a bone in my body that was sensitive, I’d have a problem.” She said.

He'd put his hands on my shoulders so I bit down onto his forearm as hard as I could. It went deep, his bone almost visible and it was bleeding heavily. He yelped in response.

[jatamansi-arc]

@illusivexemissary brought this up in her vocaroo about Salome’s and Gabe’s relationship with each other. So, let’s talk about that really quick.

I lied, it’s going to be a multiple part escapade. So here, let’s get the first part done.

Salome’s History, Pt. I: Familial Relations

As I’ve talked about before, and what can be found in her biography, Salome was born as Shelomit Rut Bernadette Cohn on November 4th, 1985. Her parents are named Tzvi and Rachel. 

Here’s the important stuff you need to know about her parents: 

Tzvi: Her father was born in 1956, to two Holocaust survivors named Avraham (31) and Rut (29). He’s the youngest of three, with a brother a sister. He grew up, went to school, graduated, and otherwise lived in Syracuse his entire life. Was raised in a Conservative Jewish environment, but became BT” (baal teshuva) in his early college career, c. 1976-77, and went to rabbinical school. From there, he formed his own haredi congregation with himself as rabbi in Syracuse.

Her father was charismatic, but he also was incredibly mean-spirited, manipulative, and an otherwise questionable human being. I’ve said before that power went to his head. With luxury cars and amazing showmanship, Rebbe Cohn, like many in positions like him, pretty much ignored or buried any allegation of abuse in his community, including the ones that directly impacted his daughters. And it’s a precedence he teaches to his followers. Aloft and mysterious, even to family, it’s not a surprise that Salome finds herself unable to describe him to strangers, let alone under bad terms. 

Because, to everyone under his influence, even his children, a rabbi can’t do any wrong. Even if all of his children are the victims of his wrongdoing and predilection for manipulation and intimidation. Salome, not around for the final years of his life, eventually concludes that karma catches up with him in the form liver cancer that kills him slowly, over the course of two years.

She doesn’t attend his funeral, nor does her brother. It’s an invitationafforded only to his eldest daughter.

Rachel: Younger than her husband, born in the spring of 1962 in a Moroccan hospital to now French expats, Rahelita has lived a much more colorful life than her husband. One half of identical twins, to which she’s a few minutes earlier than her sister Estimada, they both earn instant citizenship to the country of their parents’ origin before the family returns to Northern Paris after a few weeks time. There, she goes to secular day school and an Orthodox school in the afternoon. 

Flash forward to her early adulthood, Rahelita adopts the more traditional name of Rachel and goes to America to study medicine on a scholarship. Here, looking to an Orthodox matchmaker, she meets Tzvi. They are married within four months, and soon after, she earns the title of Rebbetzin. And if being a rabbi went to Salome’s father’s head, being the wife of the rabbi certainly went to Rachel’s twofold. Nagging, overbearing, and almost every other stereotype of a Jewish mother wrapped into a 5′1″ package, Rachel is nearly unbearable to all of her children, and Salome rarely escapes from her gaze, even now. 

That said, she struggled through motherhood physically and nearly died having Salome, so she had to give up on her big family of kids. It’s a grudge I don’t think she’s ever forgiven Salome for, even if it’s not the kid’s fault. And when Salome was four, Rachel also developed a very severe form of breast cancer that resulted in her having to undergo a double mastectomy and reconstruction.

This was when Rachel learned Salome had a talent for drawing, as her daughter brought her get well cards in the hospital with sprawling landscapes and other details that were impressive for a near toddler. Rachel took them, crumpled them after her daughter left, and would eventually tell her daughter that her hands were blessed only by the devil’s, and art was the work of idolatry. Starting what would become a cavernous pit of a relationship between the two by the time Salome reached adulthood.

When it comes to her siblings, Salome is the youngest -- and therefore the baby and black sheep -- of them. Preceding her are an elder sister, named Tova, who is five years her senior, and then a brother, this time three years greater, named Moses (but almost exclusively going by Moishe.) 

Tova

Works as an emergency room nurse somewhere around Monsey, NY. Married at 17, Tova is now a divorced mother of three boys who is trying to date and work and balance single motherhood with both. Cute, kind and incredibly naive about the non-Orthodox world, Tova is everything Salome isn’t. She’s also consistently, and patently, adorable.

Salome and her sister are close, but somewhat also strained. Tova caves under the pressure of their mother easily and it oftentimes has the worse impact of the baby sister. Tova tries to protect her, but there’s only so much she can do.

Basically: Salome knows her sister is sensitive and under an incredible amount of stress, but sometimes it gets frustratingly old. 

Other important details? Her husband was abusive as fuck, which is why she took her boys and left in the middle of the night, and never looked back. She also also worked progressively, since then, to try to make inroads on the Orthodox community when it comes to sweeping abuses under the rug.

Moishe

The middle sibling, Moses seemed to be like everything her parents ever wanted. Gifted, with the same talent for language as his baby sister, he excelled in his studies and their father wanted him to take over the family “business” at some point. Moishe, instead of seeking out rabbinical school, veers towards medical school after his four years as an undergrad. Oh, and then he blows, just like his baby sister did.

Now he lives in New Canaan, CT (which I laugh, because omg so close to the X Mansion oops), and is a cardiac surgeon. He specializes in transplants, but he generally also works the Emergency department, which means only the idiot baby sister escaped emergency medicine. He’s not Orthodox, nor does he even really practice, and is pretty much an atheist. If it’s not science or medicine, he doesn’t really have time for it.

Other things I know about Moishe: he has an autism spectrum disorder, along with a mild form of OCD. He likes dogs, and owns five. He’s more like Salome than Tova is, in actuality, and if they would bloody talk to each other, I think they’d actually get on. But Salome is bitter mcprissy pants because her brother got spoiled and treated better, so she doesn’t much talk to him unless she has to.

Salome doesn’t talk to her immediate family in adulthood, or at least not willingly. The only exception to this is Tova. There’s also a few cousins of hers, namely Miriam and Darcy ( @zzapzzaptasers ), but Miriam lives in France and Darcy is off on space adventures, usually. 

Salome was also close to her paternal grandparents, perhaps even moreso than her parents. Which brings us to another cut off to talk about them.

Avraham

Born in Warsaw in 1925, Avraham was the oldest of two children by a year (the other is Basia, a sister), and grew up under tons of turmoil throughout his entire childhood. A year to the day of his birth saw the start of the May Coup and a more authoritative government, for example, but by the time he was fourteen, Warsaw was already under threat from the air by Nazi Germany. By the end of that year, 40,000 or more people had been injured or killed while the city was shut down, and the President deported to Dachau. 

The prospects of going to college basically were destroyed soon after, though Avi, being the son of a Rabbi who was also a sofer, contributed to family means by also scribing for the Jewish community. Usually in the form of mezuzah parchments or marriage certificates, though this would become increasingly unstable once the Warsaw Ghetto was established. In the winter of 1941, Avi’s mother perishes from starvation, with the toll of a roughly <175 calorie intake a day finally taking its final toll on her already weakened body. 

In late 1942, their father refuses to be deported to Treblinka, knowing it is a death sentence, and is subsequently shot. Basia, infuriated by this and long having been involved in the illegal ZOB, encourages her brother to become involved in the Resistance movement and they begin to smuggle weapons into the ghetto. This is, perhaps humorously, where Avi meets his later wife, Rut.

During the Uprising, two major points happen for Avraham:

His sister, Basia, working as a sniper in one of the ghetto’s buildings, is killed when the Nazi forces begin to torch buildings to destroy the opposition. She dies from a combination of smoke inhalation and burns at the age of 17.

Terrified by this, and now without any family, Avi convinces Rut to escape with him and they manage to get out but are captured. Avi is sent to Auschwitz, and Rut would eventually end up at Mauthausen.

Some of this is more relevant than others, as for example, in her canon with @metallsinne, Avraham meets Erik’s parents there eventually and tries to protect Edie from being gassed immediately upon arrival (though we all know how well that worked.) But after the war, he becomes what will eventually be known as a Sh'erit ha-Pletah and helps form a cohesive government before emigrating from Poland to the United States. Why?

He finds out Rut is alive and living in New York from one of his peers. And in one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever written, after he manages to get to New York, a bloody year later, he arrives on her doorstep with his mother’s wedding ring in a shitty cardboard box and a bouquet of flowers. 

And she accepts. They lived, very happily married, for the rest of their lives. Avi eventually taking up work as a clockmaker and repairman. And they are become a beacon to the outside world to Salome and her siblings, to remind them that normal people exist. So close to her grandfather was Salome in particular, that when he dies in the year 1998, she is devastated. 

Rut

Rut is also born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1926, but unlike her husband, she is the only daughter of a young couple just trying to find their way in [ the already explained shithole that was ] Poland before WWII. Rut grows up wanting to be a normal kid but generally gets involved in the ZOB pretty early into the Ghetto’s existence. Doing what, you may ask?

Generally helping to facilitate food being smuggled in, which she also helps deliver to those who are in most need along with her parents’ help. It’s at a meeting shortly before the uprising, in 1942, where she meets Avraham and quickly falls in love with him. Her parents bless this potential union, provided everyone survives the hell that is the Holocaust, and it is one of the last things they do. Like Avi’s parents, they too, succumb to a combination of forces like starvation and illness that end up taking thousands in the few years they are trapped there with so many others.

After trying to escape after Basia’s demise in the Uprising, both are deported to Auschwitz, though Rut is later moved to Mauthausen where she works as a “nurse” in the Krankenlager. Here, she sees many of her people breathing their last, though Rut can’t reconcile is this is for the better or not, considering the alternatives.

Once the camp is liberated, Rut manages to secure a place emigrating to America and settles in Syracuse in a tiny mother-in-law apartment at the home of relatives who already lived in the area. She makes money to pay for her expenses by tailoring clothing and sewing dresses for others, which is something she will continue until her death in 1994.

Before way then, however, Avi shows up on her doorstep, like I said. And they eventually get married a few months later, with very little to show for it. Rut sews her own dress, to save money, and it’s very simple. They don’t start a family for several years after that, out of this survival’s instinct that it’s not safe to, but eventually they have three kids they adore. Mostly adore. Tzvi’s always been kind of questionable.

They take their grandkids on alternating weekends, though Salome usually stays every weekend, unlike her siblings. Her parents find her attitude better, along with her mood, so they encourage it to help ease their own stresses. Salome’s name is also chosen by her grandmother in the end, because she hopes that she’ll grow exhibiting the traits of a warrior queen. Something she thought was fitting in the post-Holocaust state.

Oh, and she also worked at a drug store in her senior years. She enjoyed it, and collected a bunch of stupid stuff. Rut was kind of a giant nerd like that. Avi was just... pretty fucking lost without his wife, to be honest. I’m surprised he made it another four years without her, because they did everything together.

AND THERE’S THE FAMILY PORTION. YOU GET MORE SOON.