#also just bc we are told that there will be wars and rumors of wars does not mean we should be warmongers

[theragamuffininitiative]

Tfw you get recommended a particular pastor-teacher by a peer and you have gotten just wise enough at this point to go look the person up before just ingesting their teaching, and the top two things they have recently said are "Christian Nationalism is a good thing and a God-ordained pursuit" and "Israel should by no means pause or cease fire" and you're just like. Aha. Ok then. Glad I checked first. 😅

[beautifulphilosopherbird]

Dungeon Meshi rewatch ep 10 notes

so I always play the intro and outro because I love them so much and another thing caught my eye that might be nothing but is there a reason the women and men are reaching up, with Falin and Laios the ones in the center, and then them grasping hands? it feels meaningful anyway

ah it's the frog costumes ep hahahaha

they've reached the stairs they have to take to reach the 5th basement floor, near the orc's settlement (where the orc leader told them the red dragon was seen, hanging out and causing problems)

but the staircase is filled with tentacles so they can't just stroll down lol

Chilchuck is upset bc the tentacles mess with traps making it even harder to disarm them

KENSUKE SHOOK ALERTING THEM AGAIN but Laios didn't react fast enough and poor Kensuke got SNATCHED by froggy bad froggy let Kensuke go!

LOTS of notes for ep 10 so imma cut it off here

aw bye bye Kensuke (and Marcille's staff is called Ambrosia bye bye Ambrosia)

lol Senshi calling Chilchuck a kid again

he saves the day by using frog skin to wrap his hands so that tentacles don't hurt him smart kid hehe (sorry Chilchuck)

Marcille's weakness as a fashion girlie exposed lol

THEY'VE REACHED THE 5TH FLOOR castle town

lol the frog skin is stuck to them hahaha

(Chilchuck and Senshi's faces tho akjfiashioaghoa they look like Russian dolls help)

Namari gets motion sickness from the return spell portal thingie (bitch, same, that would totally be me, I get motion sickness from walking a little faster lol)

ahhh right right grumpy mcpants works for the "lord of the island" (ig the dungeon is on "his land"?)

hmmmmmmmmmm dwarf mines you say 👀 is that how Senshi got into the dungeon before it officially got discovered?

anyways, he's suggesting to the haughty looking dude to deploy troops in order to take care of the orc "problem"

hm lord haughtypants calls dwarfs "abominable" and says they're like moles

OH LORE ok let's see

so the dwarfs and elves were at war (no reason stated) and

not sure what that means exactly but I'm guessing the elves went to the west and the dwarfs to the east?

the dwarfs hid in the lands (where haughtypants is a lord now ig) and waited for the elves, and even after the war they continued to dig tunnels WHICH ALLEGEDLY SWALLOWED THE GOLDEN CITY AND TURNED IT INTO A DUNGEON wait wasn't that the dark evil crazy magician's work (allegedly)? hmmmmm interesting

he also says that the surviving dwarfs are responsible for the dungeon's continued expansion

grumpy mcpants says (his name is Mr Tansu just in case you think I am using the dumb nickname bc I don't remember) that rumor can't be trusted

ok so he copied a magical circle, I'm guessing before they met Senshi & friends bc afterwards they just bailed right? and it's in elvish, the same individual as before

AHA so his theory is that the crazy evil magician is an elf and these magical circles are his work, interesting (he says the work is beyond the abilities of dwarfs and tall-men)

OH EVEN MORE STUFF wow how did I manage to miss all this I'm such a clown

anyway, the western elves are sending letters now being like "the dungeon is ours we want it back" (well, our "heritage" is what they said, which is interesting bc weren't the king and Delgal tall-men?)

oh EVEN MORE INFO so they won the war with the dwarfs? bc they took the land from them and gave it to humans bc they apparently "didn't know what to do with it" (their king granted it himself even)

this evil magician, if it is an elf the only one I can think of is the crazy eyes elf from the living paintings, so I wonder if it has something to do with him

lordy mcislandpants doesn't want to give them back the island bc he wants the treasure that must still be in the depths of the dungeon lol

MAN we're getting so much lore and theories and everything now, the hamster in my brain is being pushed to his limits

grumpy mcpants says that the elves aren't after the treasure but the immortality spelll that's been cast on the dungeon (that does seem more valuable lol)

he tells mr lord to get his hands on the blueprint of the spell before they do and then he'll finally be treated as an equal, or even their superior

he says the lord of the dungeon possesses it (is that the evil magician or does he mean whoever "beats" the dungeon?), and tells him to keep supporting adventurers and not to cut down prices for hunting monsters etc

oh he'll issue a reward for taking down the orcs (that does not sound good)

ah yeahh I remember, Namari goes to the resurrection office and she asks about Falin (no luck of course)

on the 5th floor, outside the golden castle is the castle town (now abandoned and in ruins)

right, so Laios did mention that the red dragon is supposed to hunt once a month and then sleep until the next hunt but this red dragon has been active nonstop, even going as far as getting the orcs to flee their settlement which Marcille finds odd (but it's also no good for Falin bc she's getting digested faster)

aw cute detail look at Shuro all blushy as he's looking at Falin here hahaha

fun fact: the weak spot of a dragon is the underside of his neck

there she goes again saying her protective magic isn't as powerful as Falin's. She was the best in school, right? It's making it seem like something either happened to her or the school didn't have any good students in it hahaha I mean, I don't really have anyone else to compare her to (besides Falin who is apparently better than her in everything magic related) so I can't tell if it's just normal for her not to be able to do this stuff or what.

ALSO not me just realising Falin is a tall-(wo)man and aren't tall-men supposed to be weaker in magic than elves by default? hm

listening to their plan of trapping the dragon now after I know what happens makes me think that they should have known this wouldn't work out. they're all humanfailures

hmmmm I don't think anyone has mentioned this before but where are dragons normally bc apparently not on the 5th floor lol my guess is lower? hm does that mean something chased it up, like the orcs were chased up by the dragon WAIT IS WHAT SENSHI WAS TALKING ABOUT ACTUALLY HAPPENING????? Did something fuck up the ecosystem? 👀

Senshi guarding his special knife hehehe

and oop the red dragon is here

random screengrabs:

them in Mr Tansu's imagination tho LOL

Idk about you but I ship Senshi x bread 100%

same Chilchuck, same

paused and laughed

his timing is impeccable truly I love him

[mohgreal]

Ok here's another point of evidence as to why SOTE was originally going to have mohg be miquellas consort instead of radahn.

How did mohg know how to make another cocoon for miquella?

So the haligtree cocoon was originally made to make miquella into an adult body. Which means that it was a very specific ritual only for miquella--no one else needed a ritual to make themselves go from a child to an adult. However, that ritual was interrupted by mohg who removed miquella from his cocoon... And then brought him to another cocoon? That somehow didn't mess up his Shadow Lands body and also served as a gateway to said Shadow Lands at the same time? This is some heavy complicated magicks, here--Miquella was cursed by an Outer God after all. But Mohg manages to concoct a cocoon that works perfectly for Miquella's plans?

Now, in the original game, the model used inside miquellas cocoon was all fucked up, and we all assumed that's bc mohg interrupted the ritual. But in the land of shadows, miquella has a new body fitting a god. So clearly the ritual did succeed in giving miquella a new body. The second cocoon did not interrupt that.

But how did mohg create a cocoon that completed the ritual--or at the very least, didnt fuck up miquella's body? And not only that but his cocoon also led to the lands of shadow? Unless, perhaps.... There were always supposed to be two cocoons.

See, I always had a pet theory that mohg and miquella were working together, due to how malenia acted (ill expand more on that below). And SOTE just confirmed it more for me: Miquella and Mohg worked together to make two cocoons. One made by miquella to prepare his body for godhood/the land of shadows, and when he was done, mohg was to take him out of the heligtree and move him to moghwyn castle, where the two would join together and go into the land of shadows together.

"ok but in the original game the prologue tells us mohg kidnapped miquella" ok but did it really? I assumed that the prologue/story trailer was actually just rumors that everyone in the lands between thought was true, as otherwise it wouldn't make sense to reveal these things to the player in the prologue of the game. After all, it said that Marika was guided by the greater will and acted like Marika and Radaghan were separate beings, but those are lies. Miquella was the golden orders literal golden child. No one would believe that miquella willingly worked with mohg. So the rumor spread that mohg kidnapped miquella... Spread to the point that even a no name tarnished "knows" it.

And yet, despite the rumor being so prevalent... Malenia remains at the haligtree. Put yourself in her shoes: you love your big brother so much that you fashion yourself into his protector and weapon. You leave your brother safe as a snug bug in a rug (cocoon) and then go out to fight a war. You come back, battered and bruised but alive, and your snug bug rug onii-sama is no longer there. His cocoon has been destroyed and he is not there. And you have people saying that he's at moghgywn castle with the omen lord mohg. Someone has kidnapped her dearest brother--who as far as she could know, is still in the body of a child and/or horrifically weak because he was in a magic coocoon--but Malenia just says "hell come back."

And even if I'm wrong and no one knows mohg kidnapped miquella, again, this is the Blade of Miquella here. Is she just gonna twiddle her thumbs and say "he'll be back soon"? No. Even if her legs were rotted off, she would be dragging herself by the fingertips across the lands between to find her brother. Sure, she was weak after her fight with Radahn only... Was she? She has enough left in her to kick the Tarnished's ass. In fact, she is willing to fall completely to the Scarlet Rot, which she hates, to get enough power to kick the Tarnished's ass even more, but she's not willing to use that same power to fly over the country and look for her brother?

No, the only thing that makes sense is if Miquella told malenia that this was part of the plan. Malenia knew Miquella was coming back because he told her he would--come back as a god of a new age, to heal her. She knew he would be gone when she came back, so she's fine waiting for him. It was all part of the plan that Miquella made with Mohg.

LONG BUT SUCH A GOOD READ THANK YOU FOR THE ASK...anyway i agree. Even as someone who never liked the "Mohg helped Miquella" theories, after SOTE it makes sense to be canon. Malenia's actions with Radahn also seem somewhat if not mostly out of character. Even the very dialogue (one line mind you) they gave her in a item desc in sote, doesn't even use her speaking style. Insane. SOTE was clearly rushed, and anyone who says otherwise and never heard of developer crunch. I mean, no cutscenes for some bosses, the performance issues, no lines and etc for main bosses proves my point.

Mohg seemed to reflect his themes in the first half of SOTE as others have pointed out, but then it randomly switches off in the second half and they shoehorn in Radahn for marginal buildup through two very missable quests in classic micheal zaki fashion. I know I always sound biased because I'm a mohgfan, but, can you blame me? Radahn just...screams fan service to me. No buildup in the base game is crazy from fromsoftware of all studios.

IDKguys...

[hangingoffence]

i simply must ask u about ur god oc, they're too cool not to! u've said they're angry and killing their siblings, any reason why? also, which battle/fight they've had is ur favorite so far? and! where does the horse come from? is it a deity/mystical as well?? and how did u come up with their design?

hahaaa you have walked into my trap and NOW you get a short history of my own fantasy world muwhahha

ANYWAY like all my ocs they too are mostly made bc of my own amusement and bc i wanted a character i could pour all my power fantasies to. But they too have been on the back burner of my mind for quite a while. and i have not written down any of this ever so it might be a little messy.

so the character who I have not named because that's too intimidating of a task is a part of a larger scale world that ive been "working" and building up step by step for a while.

None of the things in there don't have any names bc once again it's too taunting of a task, but anyway the world consists of two major continents, the much bigger northern and the smaller southern continents. They both are completely separated and only are accessible by the sea between them. The southern landmass is where 90% of the population live in and is much more habitable especially in the ares near the ocean. The northern continent on the other hand is mostly covered in dense pine forests and deserted tundra. Only one collection of closely knit cities and towns live there right in the edge of the sea line. Although its extremely cold climate and inhospitable areas, it is very rich in it's natural resources of minerals and iron. Which are highly sought off by the people in the south. So there developed a trade route through the ocean between the two continents and inevitably the single settlement of miners in the north developed into a town and then a city with it's own governance.

But besides the natural resources the south had another reason to have keen interest in the desolate place. Because it was told that in the high mountains far far north once lived a nation that prospered well in the cold harsh lands. They were said to be born warriors who could split mountains with their bare hands and they were rumored to protect the southern parts of the land and be the first line of defense against the gods that were popping up from the north. There is still some remains of their culture and architecture hidden within the land.

One of the major cities in the south(i used to just call it the golden city bc of their immense trade wealth) believe themselves to be decedents of these people. Their want to conqueror these areas and see and return to their "own land" and the hard push pack from the north ended up to them committing to a long lasting war. Naval battles dominated due to the advanced shipbuilding and experience the trade routes had brought to both sides. But they did also fight on land, mostly raiding each other's camps and settlements or ambushing and only in occasion fighting head to head in field battle.

ok ok now we get to the actual character. So the character is actually a decedent of a male warrior from the ancient nation from the north and a Goddess. So it makes them a demigod, which grants them abilities like heightened senses and high power and stamina. Also because their mother is a Goddess of nature they have a born familiarity with nature and how to live and survive in it. Their horse was a gift from their mother and it was born from the earth itself. So it too has the natural instincts of a god and the strength and power too. They were both bonded from a young age and can feel each other's presence from miles away.

And their siblings. They all come from the same father but different mothers (all Goddesses). There's total of three siblings including them. They are all highly trained and able. The reason for why they killed both their siblings was bc one of them served under the military of the golden city and they met on the battleground and uknow how that goes. The other sibling is still a bit ambiguous for me lmao but the important thing is that they killed them ;)

Also their anger manifests in a form of discontent. They aren't very social and almost never talk. Having been raised in isolation of the far north taiga by their father. Also being hundreds and hundreds of years old they don't bother with people that much. They fight within the ranks of the northern city only because they don't want anyone disturbing the nature far up the mountains, where their home and ancestry used to be.

And the designs! Well mostly I take random inspo from pinterest and then just smash all the things I like into one. Also with their design specifically I made the armour from copper only bc I thought the colour of the metal was the most interesting looking<333 Also the helmet they wear is somewhat inspired by the barbute helmet with the t-shaped gap for the eyes and the nose. But bc I wanted them to remain faceless the gap where you should see the face is just black, which I think brings a little more mystery and distance to everything. Also the part that protects the cheeks are supposed to be flaps that you can see in many non-visor helmets from Romans to vikings. Also the shape of the ornament on top of the helmet is taken from Roman and Greek helmet plume ornaments but with no feathers. And the rest of the armour is meant to be very decorated I just never draw all of it bc damn no thanks.

whoah anyway thanks for asking em <333 MWUHA MWUAH

[golbrocklovely]

Just saw a video where the boys were with Elton and Corey 7 days ago. They made up which is great and hopefully we get some cool videos etc. But they are claiming it's all rumors online and I could have sworn both parties said that Corey was quitting haunted stuff for music. Plus Elton shading them which he does acknowledge however I don't believe it. It's cool they made up but I think they were all guilty if some stuff. What are your thoughts?

i made a whole post on the video here when it first came out, so you can go check out my full initial thoughts.

as of right now, how do i feel? i still think it's bs that they allowed elton to blame the fans for making him think the way he did and act the way he did. the fans didn't help, especially towards the end; but to blame a fandom on HIS choices that HE made as a GROWN ADULT….. absolutely childish.

it also takes away from his apology if he can't even fully admit that he said some mean shit and bad mouthed them for years on end. idc if everyone in the world was telling him directly 'oh snc said this, that, and the other thing', YOU KNOW THEM PERSONALLY. talk to them, and stop airing out your grievances with fans that are younger than you.

that was always my biggest issue with the whole thing. the bad mouthing was upsetting, for sure, but it was the fact he handled all of this publicly. he publicly made comments about them on videos and in tweets. he publicly made it known he didn't fuck with snc anymore. and corey publicly told fans he wasn't friends with them anymore. all of it was dealt where fans could see it, when it should have just been bts shit. elton should have just contacted them the moment he felt slighted instead of dragging out a war for three years that snc never even fought it bc they're bigger than that, in more ways than one.

and what's annoying now is ppl that didn't know what actually happen only know of the rumors that got started about elton that weren't true. so they think this whole thing was elton did nothing, rumors got out of hand, he got hate, and now they all have made up. when in reality ELTON started a problem bc he thought they stole something of his - which didn't happen, and then for three years made it his mission to shit on them whenever he could while his lap dog corey sat there and chuckled along.

but one three hour conversation makes up for all of that, i guess.

my whole thing is, i'm happy that the hate for elton has died down for the most part. even with all the shit he did, he didn't deserve death threats. and i'm happy there isn't any beef between them now. does that mean i want to see them collab? absolutely fuck no. keep that uncle elton tomfoolery the fuck away from the main channel and out of my line of vision. i hope that video is the last time all of them are together in a room, truthfully. just have mutual respect for one another, but don't collab.

[taiiunknown]

ALL THE RUMORS ARE

TRUE !⚠️🫢

RIRIxSHURI 🥺

Summary: Ever since RiRi and shuri got closer it have been none stop rumors about them.

Warning: none 🤷🏽‍♀️ just a lil inappropriate jokes around the end and a lil racist joke

I kinda thought of that song by Lizzo and cardi b with the title 😭

Disclaimer: I’m not a racist just had to make things a little realistic 💀

RIRI POV: Me and Shuri have been very close ever since the attack, When I went back to MIT I kinda felt guilty , All I can think about was that it was my fault that the war happened and that Queen ramonda death was on me No matter how many times shuri told me it wasn’t . A year pass and I decided to still be iron heart and Of course shuri continues to be the new Black panther, Later on as time passes shuri decided that she wanted to come to MIT with me so she can get the regular college experience even though she is literally the new queen of the most powerful nation. She has been keeping me company lately and even found away to be able to become my new roommate since me and my old one did not get along well, over the time me and shuri became closer it was like when you see her I’m not too far behind and when you see me she not far also.

Shuri POV: Ever since I came to MIT me and RiRi have been an unstoppable duo, she was constantly there for me and it was vice versa for her. Over the months I kinda started to have feelings for RiRi but I hid them well bc I didn’t want things to be awkward between us and plus I really don’t want to ruin our friendship.

I was in the cafe getting a muffin when RiRi texted me about this party

RiRi 🤍❤️: I heard one of these rich white kids are having a cool ass mansion party today and I was thinking about going , would you be my plus one there ?

Me: ya, for sure I don’t have anything else to do and plus I need more friends 😂

RiRi🤍❤️: Okay, Cool. You’re the best !

Me: what time should I be dressed ?

RiRi 🤍❤️: around 9:30, I’m tryna get there around 10:30 bc it be lit the most around that time 💀🤷🏽‍♀️

Me: Ok !

*2 HOURS LATER*

“Omg this look like something off euphoria for real 😧” RiRi said walking in the mansion with her mouth wide open “What is euphoria?” I asked confused as ever “God bless you” RiRi said palming her forehead “it’s not my fault I don’t know” I said “just come on let’s get a drink” RiRi said dragging me in .

RIRI POV:

“Jesus y’all don’t get enough each other?” My classmate Becky said walking towards us “Becky what are you talking about?” I said “YALL be giving couple goals, I’m tryna get like yall” Becky said shoving us kinda “Oh NO! We not together Becky” I said laughing a bit then looking at shuri who gave me this look that kinda gave me butterflies “Are you sure? Bc if not I can kinda take shuri off your hand a bit” Becky said biting her lip looking at shuri “no im sorry I don’t like bunnies, we barely even have them in Wakanda” Shuri said “we only have black ones not white one” Shuri continues. I just laughed a bit while walking away with a smirk on my face bc Becky mouth dropped to the ground as she stormed away, “ you are extremely mean yk ?” I said cheesing a little “Omg how dare you? I am the nicest” Shuri said while hold her left hand on her heart “I can’t believe everywhere we turn people think we a couple” I said looking at my cup “Well, I don’t blame them…” Shuri said “ ya you right.” I said now looking at her.

Shuri POV:

I really want to tell RiRi how I feel but I don’t know if this is the right time, Fuck it, ima just start off slow. “RiRi I have something to confess” I said “ what is it? Did you steal some of my pens again? Because I’ve been missing some” RiRi said side eyeing me “ yes and I dearly sorry for that” i said giggling at her surprise face “but that’s not what I wanted to talk about” I said smile slowly starting to turn into a worried face expression “go on..” RiRi said now making full eye contact with me “ I REALLY LIKE YOU, AND IVE BEEN LIKING YOU FOR SOME TIME AND ITS OK IF YOU DONG FEEL THE SAME WAY OR DONT WANT TO B FRIENDS ANYMORE!” I said rambling a bit “Oh ik …” RiRi said smiling hard “ yk ?” I said confused “ ya , Just like you’ve been watching me I have been keeping a eye on you, and trust me I feel the same way but I just wanted to see which one of us would break first” RiRi said with her hand now on top of mines “I’m flabbergasted” I said in a shock like state , RiRi just giggling while playing with my fingers “ so what are we then ?” I asked hesitantly “I don’t know,You tell me ?” RiRi said with a smirk “I want to be your girlfriend” I said boldly “then that’s what we are then” RiRi said “ I guess all the rumors was true then” I said laughing bc the been thinking me and RiRi had feeling for each other since I first got there.

*1 Year later*

*3rd person POV:

“BABE HURRY UP WE HAVE A TEST IN A HOUR AND YOU STILL NOT DRESSED FOR CLASS!” RiRi screamed from the bathroom

Shuri have been looking for a outfit for 20 minutes now .

“IM ALWAYS READY JUST GIVE ME A SEC!” Shuri yelled back “yk shuri , I kinda like you without clothes but sadly we have a test so I guess we are gonna have to wait a little longer to treat you” RiRi said walking out the bathroom putting her arm around shuri neck with a smirk on her face “For the love a bast, don’t think bc we got to be to class in 30 minutes don’t mean I won’t give you what you asking for.” Shuri said gripping RiRi waist “ ohhh okay I like this energy, but I was joking of course” RiRi said pulling away blushing “ohhh so you wanted to tease me, okay my naughty girl just wait till we get back to this dorm” Shuri said now walking out the door with her supplies in her hand “God I love her” RiRi said when shuri closed the room door “I love you more” shuri said peaking her head through the door with a smirk .

To the person who requested this I hope you enjoy it and also hope it reaches the expectations you was going for ❤️

[ryoskuna]

⭑ promised eternity | hades!sukuna x persephone!reader au headcanons (PT 1).

A/N: ... yo... i would like to say whoever threatened to send me toe pics, a-plus, bc you made me release this into the wild. * insert megumi meme face here * but this is just HEADCANONS for a hades!sukuna and persephone!reader-esque universe, and because y’all are as thirsty as I am, it includes some SFW and NSFW headcanons. grab your water bottles, and I apologize for my subconscious now. (cause it’s always on auto-pilot and giving me wild af ideas.) We shall all thirst... over OG form sukuna as well, because ,, well, big daddy, do i need to say more???  also this is some seriously fantasy like au , sort of, it takes place during sukuna’s original time as a curse, when gojo’s ancestor was after him, and hints wildly on that, and also will hit moments where the sorcerers are of course, hunting him. feel free to give me your thoughts and ask questions, because i love you all.  onward to the THIRST! ( also side note, promised eternity is the name of the potential series that may come from this. ) 

this is part one of the headcanons, and they’re all SFW.

being married to the king of curses is not easy. it’s awkward at first, and then later on, comforting at best. to have someone who believes in you, roots you on (even if he’s kind of mean about it at first), is better than having nothing. you’ve been looked at for so long as a “curse” for your untrained cursed energy, that to have someone who sees potential in your “god” given gifts instead of spite (or only useful in preventing a raid) is refreshing. and unsettling at first.

speaking of that, sukuna basically rescued you from your village. for the entirety of your life before him, your cursed energy has gone unchecked, untrained.  so it fluctuates with your emotions. it’s useful when you summon your wrath to defend your village or when your untrained reverse cursed techniques help the crops grow— but any other time, you are known as a curse. your emotions grow sad or you grow angry, and people die accidentally. ( hence your harbinger of death nickname. )  sukuna, during his many trips to your village for taxes and the occasional “recruitment” of healthy women and me, he has noticed you. and he has noticed your vast amount of cursed energy. it’s all but too easy for him to command the head of your village to hand you over — your parent(s) have no say. 

sukuna is generous enough to compensate them, and the head of village. it’s one of few kindnesses he’ll show, besides eventually to you. sukuna will never tell, not till much later on, that he noticed you in every visit he’s ever made. that you deserved better than the mockery and scorn of your people. he offers to burn them all for you, but your mercy says otherwise.

speaking of when he came to get you, he was 10 feet tall, dressed in a black montsuki kimono and hakama. all four of his arms are on display, and all four of his eyes are on you.

you, are in a shiromuku, complete with a wataboshi — you and your mother (or a village woman) made it, but it will not be the last of your “bridal” gowns as you travel through at least five villages before arriving at sukuna’s fortress-like palace. sukuna has prepared you both a uchikake style kimono (adorned with pinks and reds), a hikifurisode style kimono (black, but also adorned with whites and golds and reds)— lastly is the Tomesode, which you arrive to your new home in, adorned in pins and signs of your new status. it’s here you discover you are not meant to be a mistress, you are meant to be a wife. his wife. his first, and his only (or at least he’ll try to keep it that way).

sukuna does not make time for much. rumors of him are notorious of his over-indulgence, guided by only his pleasure and displeasure, which is slightly true.  but he makes time for you. you aren’t like the others he’s taken in his time, whether for his entertainment or to be in his service (you are not his toy as he has a habit of disposing of his playthings once they bore him); you’re his wife, but you are also this powerful being, who if trained, will become even more powerful. if you were a sorcerer, you’d rival him — but you are his equal. 

he tries to make you feel that way by shrinking down to your size. he drops his 10 ft height (even through he can grow larger), to 6′8 or 7ft (pick your preference). it helps him watch the way you fight him, and he’ll change his height to help you train to fight enemies of different sizes.

sukuna’s loyalty to you forms in the midst of gifts. he’s lavish and again, over-indulgent. before your lips ask for it, somehow you already have whatever you desire. however, he also realizes, the more that he’s around you that gifts don’t make you happy (as pleasing as they are). being in his company is what makes you happy. oh, and sukuna’s very careful to touch you. his strength knows no bounds, until you touch him. you have to be the one that touches him first. it’s a brush over the knuckles, your tiny hand wrapping around his big one.

the way you manipulate plants to your advantage as a defense will never not amaze him. the way you use vines to wrap around him to capture him is genius, and the sneak attack you give has gotten better. he’ll still tease you ask “is that the best you can do” with your hits to provoke more of your strength, and he’ll give praise at the end, in his own way. (more touches.)

sukuna’s untouched garden becomes yours as one of your wedding gifts. it’s yours, and all the servants know it. everyone on his grounds knows it is yours. 

you haven’t realized it since your arrival, but there are female servants that are your handmaidens, but for the harem that sukuna supposedly keeps — you have no idea where they are. it isn’t till one of your handmaidens inform you that he freed them with compensation. it’s not an uncommon practice for him, you’re told. he does not keep anyone against their will, and he never forced the girls he kept to do anything. for him, war and fighting made his blood rush just as much as sex could.

you and sukuna’s cursed energy manages to mingle to create a rare flower, one that turns from a gold color to red at the tips of the petals. he later tells you that beautiful things can come from destruction, and it makes you think of yourself, and who you’ve become with his guidance as you look into his eyes.

the first time you sleep in his bed with him, he lays still on one side of the bed (which is unusual for him) until you beckon him closer. he meets you halfway in the middle, where you lay your head on his chest and listen to the sound of him breathing. he’ll never admit it at first, but the comfort you give to him is startling, but welcomed. he wraps two arms around you, but it isn’t until you’re sleep that all four hold you gently against him, as if those four arms are shields to keep you safe.

He admires your strength and the various ways it shows itself. He has since your “wedding day”, when you shed no tears at being taken from your family. When you told him “do what you will”, but also in your rage he tapped into when you wrapped thorny vines around him when he provoked you by calling you “a murderous curse of a girl”.  He apologizes for this comment at some point, while you two lay together in the garden.

he presents to you a crown, shaped after the marks on his forehead (preserved through a picture painted on a fan). it is two horns towards the ceiling, made of black metal the color of obsidian. 

sukuna enjoys towering over you. and more importantly, once it no longer startles you, you enjoy the safety that his height reminds you of.

the form of trust sukuna has with you is seen by the servants when assigns advisors to you, as well as teaches you how to deal with trials when they come forth. you are his rose with thorns now, and you know how to use them.

someone speaks ill of sukuna? you are reminding them of their place: “speak ill of your king again with that tongue of yours and i’ll take it”

OKAY BADASS, and sukuna is all for it, just “that’s my s/o”

and lord, the pet names this man has for you: “my dove” “my love” “my moon” and you with: “my sun and stars” (thank u got)... he’s got a lot of pet names.

he likes to hold you on his side for some reason, whenever he can. honestly, he just likes you close.

basically, you’re tough as hell and powerful as hell and you grow into your added strength and he loves it.

can you say POWER COUPLE OF THE AGES

[meidozangetsuha]

If you could rewrite yashahime what would you change as far as the plot and storylines?

OH BOY THE QUESTION THAT LITERALLY EVERYONE IN THIS FANBASE HAS WONDERED SINCE S1

and this is like. actually hard for me. which is odd bc i'm so invested in Towa Higurashi's character in general and like to think a lot of her but i've never done an extensive AU idea of how to rewrite Yashahime, bc until the clustfuck of the Grim Comet Arc at the very end of S2 i was mostly fine with things i just wished they had did it better, but

Towa not bringing back Setsuna right away. i may be biased but i fucking HATE when storylines do this. when a character dies at the end of an episode or story chapter, and we don't get the next one for MONTHS later, and they're immediately brought back. Guild Wars 2 did this shit too and i HAAAATE it. i feel like it should've been active endeavor, something that should've taken 4-6 episodes to complete. there should have been a mini arc that focused on Towa's efforts to make Tenseiga truly her own sword (like Inuyasha did with Tessaiga with slaying Ryukotsusei) to be able to bring back Setsuna and allow Towa to retain ownership of Tenseiga, a sword which suits her nature more than Sesshomaru's, a sword that Sesshomaru no longer needs. Rin, Tenseiga, and Kagura were the instrumental catalysts of Sesshomaru's growth: i think it would've been incredibly fitting for his daughter, who is more oriented on helping people in general compared to her father to have proven she is a worthy holder of the sword and for it to be her's. i REALLY like Zanseiken but i think her relying primarily on Kikujumonji would've been just fine. this one gets me heated and it's not even Yashahime's fault specifically this is just a trope in writing i fucking hate. don't kill off a character at the end of a book then next year when the next book comes out they're healed in chapter 1. if i ever do this as an author i will consider this my ultimate failing

delve more into Towa's mental health. i fucking LOVED when they actually addressed "hey Towa. you're traumatized and your obsession with protecting Setsuna when she really doesn't need it and has told you that to your face is a direct result of your coping with trauma and that's not really good." i always have this little ritowa scene in my head revolving around Towa like "I want to protect everyone. That is my goal... so... why don't we compromise, Riku-kun? I'll protect everyone... and you'll protect me." like, Towa finding a more healthy middle ground for her ambitions, although i DO love that by the end, during the Grim Comet, it's explicitly clear she wants to protect everyone. maybe this was bc of the rumors of s3 getting axed but i sincerely love how we saw Towa's desires to protect evolve from just Setsuna to the whole world.

keep Kirinmaru's personality more aligned with his S1 personality, although i still like the idea of using Zanseiken or something else as a trap to kill Towa to resurrect Rion. i really love Rion and i really love how much of a dark parallel to Sesshomaru that Kirinmaru was and his own willingness to essentially betray his sense of pride and honor for his daughter, but i still think IN GENERAL AS A WHOLE he should've kept his more prideful and honorable personality. i would've loved to see him clearly disgusted with himself for how cowardly his own plan is with Towa while also refusing to stop

do more with Rion i fucking love Rion so much DO MORE WITH RION. NOBODY EVER DRAWS TOWA/RION. I WANT MORE RION CONTENT IDK WHAT IT WOULD'VE BEEN BUT I WANTED MOR RION.

give Osamu Kirin a consistent ideology and ultimate master plan. him being Towa's final boss and ultimate personal ultimate enemy when Sesshomaru deals with Kirinmaru. that fight when she has to take him on in human form was great, i just think Osamu really needed his. own ideology to be consistent (i still don't mind him having gone back on his own goals in favor of making Rion the new King however)

keep Rin's general writing more in-line with her scenes of holding Bakusaiga to her neck and standing up to Kirinmaru for the sake of the kids. idk what exactly but i would've done SOMETHING that gave her an important job that she pulled off, like something that if not done would've fucked everyone over

actually have Meido Zangetsuha be plot relevant and used once Inuyasha gets out of the pearl like Jaken said it would back in S1

Moroha getting Meido Zangetsuha somehow. Meido Zangetsuha is cool. Moroha is cool. Moroha using Meido Zangetsuha would've been really cool. it could've played into the theme of inheritance from your parents, i think!

honestly Rion being a more proper conflict as a final conflict if they delved into her personality more also would've been good, even if Osamu was the true final villain

the Tree of Ages being a villain like what was apparently originally planned. i remember once during S1 i had this entire deal where Sesshomaru had made a pact with the Tree to take both twins to the modern era in safety only for Treekyo to completely fuck him over and only do it with Towa and telling Towa to her face that in her eyes she was just a backup in case things went wrong and she always meant for Setsuna to do this shit alone basically

so yeah- i don't know how much i would absolutely rewrite, i'd just want more focus on things

[death-ward]

So what can you tell me about your group? The Brainless Quintet? 📝👀

ok so i got a lot to say so under a read more it goes! im literally just trying sum up the story thus far LMFAWOEIGHAWOI

SO THE BRAINLESS QUINTET is their joke name bc theyre a bunch of chucklefuck dumbasses LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO the party originally consisted of

-Road [last name] - Hexblood Lore Bard

-Rorik Steelbender - Dwarven Rune Knight Fighter

-Dori Finiva - Tiefling Div Wiz

and these three met in an inn and tavern in one of the big cities of this homebrewed continent of Maka that's called Sentinel.

After meeting they ended up finding themselves in a weird altered state of the tavern and monsters appeared. After a lil combat the group woke up in their beds in the inn. The fight had occurred in a shared dream state and the three of them recognized each other from it. After some chatting the owners of the tavern who also were in the shared dream space had asked them to go check on one of the towns people named Jonah who lived just outside of town.

They did so and found out that she had fallen into a comatose state and couldn't be roused. They later found out that this was happening in other areas as well. The three decided to investigate a bit further and headed to their next destination which is the next big city of Cleys.

Upon arriving in Cleys they take care of some busy work and also find out that the ruling families there which are four houses of Genasi are having some internal conflicts and rumors are spreading that one of the matriarchs had fallen asleep. This is where the gang picks up their grave cleric Patchouli as our other friend had joined our campaign. They needed a healer and she needed money so they basically hired her on via a suggestion of a contact they made there.

They had mingled and became friends with one of the Genasi royals Eris from the Air family. They provided some insight for us as we began our investigation and found out there was a foreign diplomat who had made himself quite at home for the last month and a half in the city who was kind of sus. Lo and behold it was actually Eris' brother Gyael in disguise trying to take down the royal family (war criminal meow meow) due to him being a bastard child and hating how the rich treated his mother (not royal blood). he tried to kill us (hehe meowmeowwwww twirls hair)

He originally was to be condemned to life in prison but thanks to a....very motivational speech from Rorik with the help of guidance from Patcholi, protent from Dori, and bardic inspiration from Road we hit a DC where Eris worked it out to entrust Gyael to us as a travel companion so he didn't have to suffer life in prison he just however, cannot go back to Cleys.

After leaving Cleys the gang now the full quintet!!!! Consisting of

-Road

-Rorik

-Dori

-Patchouli [dnd last name] - Reborn Grave Cleric

-Gyael Phir - Air Genasi Bladesinger Wizard

(HAHA FIVE OF US!! BRAINLESS QUINTET!!!)

they headed to Ardimir which is Roriks home village on a mountain. Upon arriving the gang found out that majority of his village had been wiped out due to attacks from shimmers (home brewed shades) and it had happened ever since this mysterious traveler dropped off a shipment of ores. The survivors have been staying in a cave as these creatures don't like the shade. The gang takes care of the problem and Rorik has to come to terms with the fact that majority of the people he grew up with have passed.

Moving on the gang then goes to the northern icy city of Sitka where they were told this shipment came from. They end up dealing with the mobsters that kind of run things up in that city and have a run in with a mutated dream hag. This dream hag possessed Dori in her dream and almost made her run off a cliff in the middle of the night while sleep walking. Thinking she may be the one putting people to sleep they investigate and find her den and fight her with the help of a contact they made in the city.

Once taken care of they end up picking up another job from one of the mob families to find and deliver a dagger to an associate. This dagger is a necromantic dagger (we found out later) and was in a resident evil esque house within a pocket dimension where the family that lived there practiced necromancy to bring back their beloved and there was a fucked up fusion monster of the two of them that was stalking and attacking us. We made it out w the dagger and continued to move to deliver it to our drop off point.

On the way to this drop off which is on the other side of the map, the gang ends up heading to Doris small tiny home town of Albis which is a desert town real quaint. However when they arrive it's not as she remembers it. Turns out they ended up in a time bubble and ended up 300 years in the past. There was a crazy occultist lady that lived in the town next to Dori named Ayuka who also, was there but much younger. After some chatting and talking about how Dori was searching for her spirit friend that had disappeared she discovers that it was Lilith and Ayuka had been talking to her as well. Lilith explains that in the future a forgotten god known as Chyellenor will be trying to put the world to sleep, and if all gods and mortals go to sleep the world will end. She requests Dori's help with this and she being naïve, agreed. Making her first deal with Lilith the arch devil of the 9th layer of hell and also sealing her fate and making her devil touched and a tiefling. Lilith then shunts them back to current day. Checks in on her family, Ayuka, and finds out a gift had come for her a while back and has been sitting in her room. It's her phylactery.

The gang continues onward finding out there is a plague in another city and they avoid it and heading towards another big city Eden. Which is predominantly a fey and aasimar run city. While there Rorik ends up killing his fey mount in broad daylight...because it took his name and bit his pinky off. He is then jailed and we had a court trial....which he won with the help of a lawyer we hired, Halric Lawbender. He helps those who are down bad.

While in Eden the gang takes up another job from the guild as there were aasimar children going missing. While patrolling one night a gold dragon strikes the aasimar district and burnt majority of it down. Gyael ends up getting kid napped and we end up psuedo adopting a child named Hal who was orphaned during the attack (she also was in a one shot we did so we're all like BABYYYYY)

Thanks to Road reaching out to their Hag aunties we find out where Gyael was taken to which was another fucked up manor in a pocket dimension near a feywild rift. On the journey there Patchouli didn't tell the gang that she literally has a legion of demons after her and one of them snuck up and possessed Dori. She tried to kill the gang and Rorik ended up bashing her head in with his hammer so hard he busted her horn off. (i had 5 hp left and he decided to great weapons master bc he misheard and thought i had 55 left LMFAO) after this they make their way to a small town called Juon and Road has a visit with their mentor who we find out had passed so they visited his grave.

This manor was fucked up and had a bunch of dead kids in it. It appears that there was a lot of experiments done on children in this place and they ended up fighting a faux god named Kanon, the god of suffering. Find out that Gyael was in a mirror realm and was trapped within it the whole time we were searching. We save him and along with like 6 other kids of varying ages. However Gyael is different after that and he no longer can use magic aside from innate Genasi magic.

The gang goes back to Eden and there is some rumors about issues between the summer and winter fey courts. Some even saying that King Titania will pay a visit. There is a lot of research done on Cheyllenor and forgotten gods. Patchouli finds out she's a reborn. Yknow im a lil fuzzy here but at one point Rorik, Hal and Dori get stuck in a state of dreaming where they couldn't get out of it. They were heckled by Chyellenor in it as they know we're on their tail. Rorik also got a glimpse of Yggdrisil the world tree....some how.............LMFAO VERY ON BRAND THING FOR RORIK TBH....Dori makes another deal with Lilith to help them break free of the fear they were feeling that literally was so primal and visceral they couldn't move from the gaze of Chyellenor. The three of them were rushed to the hospital and ended up waking up. We end up going to visit Road's aunties which is a coven of hags and King Titania is there but in a weakened state. Turns out during his travels to the material plane he lost his artifacts and is weakened because of it. We also find out that one of Roads Aunties named Billie is also asleep and cannot be roused, and she had a seat in the fey court. So Road has now become interim member of the court in Billies stead.

Titania has requested that we find his relics to help restore him to full power. One of the relics happens to be near Patchoulis home village and we were headed that way anyway to see if we could resolve her demon problem. Rorik ends up pushing some buttons with Titania and gets himself turned into a little leaf man by Titania who cannot turn him back at this moment in time...and is unsure if he'll be able to. So he's out of commission. The gang leaves Hal with Road's aunties for safe keeping as they kind of pseudo adopted her and head off. On the way to Patchouli's home in the Neer'a mountain range they meet Groop. A kobold who is a lil stupid lookin LOL (Roriks replacement) he takes quite a liking to Patchouli and he's on the quest for a 'shiny' somewhere in the range. He ends up kind of latching onto Patchouli and we agreed to help him locate his shiny.

They make their way to Vyora which is Patchouli's village. Very traditional village. Find out that it's actually a cult that follows what is known as 'The Goddess' and does human sacrifices into a pit known as 'The Chasm' where the sacrifice feeds the goddess and keeps the village safe. Patchouli ends up learning that her father isn't actually her father and is her fathers friend who is a race of elves that are undying. She also finds out that when she was born she was still born and her father begged his friend to bring her back to life, and the ritual was performed to make her an undying but it happened at the same time a sacrifice was going on and due to the two powerful rituals happening at once it caused the demons to latch onto her. We still have no solution for this. During this converstaion the group got separated and attacked. This leads to Road and Dori specifically ending up separated from the gang but together. They have flash backs of their past in this place. Doris being her mothers disdain for her, Road showing their backstussy and how they were chronically ill and ran off with their mentor and him dying.

The two meet again after going through their journeys and are faced by The Goddess in the distance. When they got separated Dori ended up putting on the phylactery in hopes Lilith would be able to help protect them. Liliths voice comes through and Dori asks for help with safe passage back to their bodies as their souls were currently hanging onto their bodies by a thread. Lilith could make no promises for both but could definitely shuttle one back. After some back and forth and Road being....blunt. They agreed that Dori would be the one to go back. Her lack of backbone made her agree but she also had huge hopes that they'd both make it back fine and dandy. As they began their ascent back to their bodies, a demon latched onto Dori's leg and Road let go of her hand, grabbing the demon and going down with it. Their soul being severed from their body and trapped within the Chasm.

Coming back Lilith lent her power to Dori to help destroy the cult leader and another one of the demons that looks like Kanon from The Chasm. We also find out Gyael is now a barbarian. She then has to tell the gang that Road didn't make it back as their body was just there. Gyael grabs her by the neck and blames her rightfully so. Aunties are pissed at her. They find out from Gyael that he also lost his brother and they assumed that he fell asleep.

Their next suggestion was to head to a village on a mountain top called Kuzre which is also where one of the relics is supposedly located. On the way there up the mountain they run into a man who is passed out on trail from altitude sickness. Hence where we gain Ruth. He was also headed to Kuzre to investigate people falling asleep in his village and seeing if it was a medical thing. They travel up there together and they inform Ruth that this isn't a medical thing but is a god related thing and now he's kinda like aw shit well now I'm stuck. He hangs around them for a bit and some more information comes out about their situation thanks to Patchouli they decide to hire Ruth on for his skills. Which they drew a contract up for, and only knew his skills as being good at directions, having knowledge of boats, and being good with Groop.

They find out that the Kings artifact has been found and is under lock and key at academia within Kuzre but there is a tournament happening where if you win, you can ask for a favor. So the gang is now in their YYH dark tournament arc. LMFAO

We also found out last session after scrying on Eris that he was up and moving around which was great news, thinking that he had woken up. However he was able to detect the scrying and stared seemingly into Patchoulis eyes as she scryed on him. They presented this information to Gyael who got very upset because Eris was apparently murdered which confirmed that something (chyellenor) had body snatched them. Patchouli could gather that he was on the way to Eden and was probably headed towards Titania. Patchouli then sends a message to Roads Aunties to let them know and warn them.

Road comes to Patchouli in a dream and next day Patchouli scrys on one of the Aunties and sees theyre asleep. She then scrys on Hal and sees her running through the woods so the gang teleports back to Eden to try to find her. They end up finding her and find out that Eris came and attacked and the Aunties sent her and leafman Rorik to run and not stop. They take her back to their apartment and get settled in. Patchouli takes a short rest and then attempts to scry on Road. Who we've confirmed has had their body snatched as the same thing happened. Patchouli sends a message telling the invaider to get out but gets no reply.

Dori reaches out to Lilith to see if she can offer any advice as to what to do about this body snatcher and how to not harm the body as she wants to try to get Road back. Lilith informs her that it's going to be a difficult task if the person who is doing it is who she thinks it is. Titania shows up in a more mortal form and decides to watch Hal in the apartment while they go fetch his relics. So now we're currently back in Kuzre getting ready for this tournament and have officially trauma dumped everything onto him to give him context as he requested it :")

SO CURRENTLY THE CREW IS

Dori - Tiefling Divination Wizard

Patchouli - Tiefling Reborn Grave Cleric

Groop - Kobold Path of the Beast Barbarian

Gyael - Air Gensai Tempest Barbarian

Ruth - Variant Human Swashbuckler Rogue

LATE AND/OR MISSING MEMBERS:

Road - rest in peace baby girl

Rorik - Leafman. Titanias personal stress ball.

:"333 if you made it this far congratulations. LMAWEGOIAHWEOIGHA

As far as relationships go for Dori

Patchouli- She is the one shes closest to in this group, Patchy and her are complete opposites, Dori being a ball of anxiety and a rule follower and Patchouli being care free and against authority. The two of them are purple besties.

Road- Upsetting that she never got the chance to know them very well bc they are aloof and slippery. She admired them a lot though. Never found out they were blind. That was a secret that died with them.

Rorik - He backhand compliments her all the time and it's out of the goodness of his heart but hes just...really good at hittin her where it hurts. She tries so hard to be kind to him but his shenanigans and trouble he gets the group into frustrate her at times.

Gyael - She admires his intelligence and would've loved to learn from him. He constantly insults her intelligence and dislikes her for her lack of backbone.

Groop - She finds him endearing and the fact that he loves Patchouli so much cute.

Ruth - Thinks he's been very kind thus far to them despite all of the trauma dumping theyve done to him LMFAO BUT ITS RLY ONLY BEEN LIKE 5 DAYS OF KNOWING HIM.

[lizacstuff]

SCK / Edser Asks - mostly 31

(Asks under the cut, there are some spoilers and speculation in there so tread carefully if you don’t want to read that)

Anonymous said: Based on the photos of epi 31 that were released, I saw a theory online that said maybe Deniz bought Eda a star (picture she's holding a certificate paper). Gosh I hope not. That's an Eda and Serkan thing.

It seems to me that buying a star is so specific to Serkan and Eda it either can't be it, OR if is it then they (Eda and Deniz) are doing it to purposely troll Serkan and push at his jealousy buttons, since even if he doesn't remember it, he knows he bought her a star.  I can't imagine Deniz sincerely buying her a star and surprising her with it, because there is no way that goes over well with her, but who knows. I'm done pretending I know the limits of what this show will do, lmao.

Anonymous said: A lot of fans think that Deniz is proposing to Eda but that's one huge box for a ring! I feel like maybe he's been keeping things that are from their friendship over the years and is gifting her that. But I hope not, because I like to think of Serkan being the sentimental one over things related to Eda. Thoughts?

This scene may have to do with Deniz letting Eda know his real feelings, maybe, but why would he propose so soon, in public when they're already fake engaged, and when he knows Eda is still in love with Serkan?  And you're right, it's way too big for that, perhaps it's something from their childhood? idk. I'm having trouble working up any interest in what Deniz might put in a box, because zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  He's boring.

Anonymous said: Although I have no context for the situation that leads to Serkan asking if Eda is happy in the next episode, I still need her to answer honestly. Now that they both have calmed down, had time to adjust to the current situation and he is clearly interested in getting to know her, she needs to tell him exactly how she feels about everything. Heck, totally okay with a comment that “she would have fought for him and their relationship if he had ever given her a chance.” He remembers their kiss, he is having flashes of her and wants to spend time with her, her expressing interest & opening up has to hit differently this time. And if he still says he is going to be with Selin then I do not even what the point of this storyline was 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Yeah, I'm pretty in line with you on this. I would love it if Eda was completely, emotionally honest with him in a moment like that. But my fear is that Eda's pride, understandably wounded by his engagement to the psycho, will get in the way. Our girl doesn't like to appear vulnerable, we've seen it too many times. And being honest about their feelings is NOT how they fell in love the first time around, is it? Nope they were both too terrified to admit it, until push came to shove. 

As far as the point of the storyline, its to show us that Serkan will fall in love with Eda even when the circumstances are completely stacked against them. To that end they have STACKED everything they could against them. So I think the only thing we can do is have patience. There’s no doubt what the endgame plan is, in show time it’s only been a few days, we need to give Serkan a minute to let the war between his heart and brain play out.  I think this episode is going to show us a Serkan who is drawn to her and SHOOK by her. And Selin seeing all of that.

Anonymous said: yeah, i think the amnesia plotline is especially hard to watch rn because of selin's presence and her and serkan's "relationship" and that's where most of the frustration around current eps stem from. altho, i have seen ppl get mad that he's not remembering from "key moments" in their story and somehow it ruins a part of their story and idk.. i just disagree bc clearly there's a plan there for what triggers his memory and when it happens.. and i feel like something has to be coming soon there

Oh, yes, I completely disagree with anyone who thinks that he needs to be remembering moments to prove his love. What bullshit. HE HAS A BRAIN INJURY. It’s AMNESIA. It’s not a choice. It’s not a diss on their love. I’ve noticee that there are legions of fans out there who don’t get the, “If I lived 100 lives, I’d fall in love with you 100 times,” and keep thinking that him recovering his memories is going to be the silver bullet that fixes thing. I don’t think so. I do think he’ll get them back eventually, but seems to me he’s going to need to fall in love first.  Which hopefully will become more fun to watch, because that’s pretty damn powerful. 

Anonymous said: I was just thinking, it kinda sucks we never got to see what Serkan's other two wishes were. Obviously that's all gone and forgotten and the way the story is going now, Serkan may have to offer Eda 3 wishes for hurting her after the memory loss. It would be interesting to see how that would go (it could be for humor purpose or could actually be meaningful for their relationship). Your thoughts?

Oh, yes, I wish we could have seen what the rest of the wishes were. It was a really fun construct that they didn’t play out. Probably a victim of the change in writers around that time.  Since none of the wishes could violate the contract, I really don’t know what Serkan was going to ask for. I think when all of this is said and done, Serkan’s going to have to grant more than 3 wishes for Eda...

Anonymous said: Think I will take my lead from you and stay positive about SCK. And I am going to believe the next episodes is full of great moments between Eda & Serkan that are actual steps back towards each other. Totally get that it has only been 3 days in the show but the weakest part for me has been how tightly Serkan is holding onto his relationship/engagement to Selin...yikes! It makes me cringe seeing his arm around her. I get that was his defense mechanism but it left Eda heartbroken with nothing to work with. Now he has softened, acknowledged her talent and his interest in her and after realizing he is totally jealous about her being with someone else then he needs to put an end to his engagement with Selin.

Oh yes, CRINGE CITY. I can barely look at her. Ugh. The arm around the waist is the worst! But I think you’re right, it’s his defense mechanism. He’s using it to keep distance with Eda who scares the CRAP out of him. Poor dummy. 

Anonymous said: “the barnacle on the ass of this show” 😂😂😂😂 Thank you, I needed that laugh, and never has Selin been better described. Those spoilers I’m reading better not be right 😤

Okay, I'm loath to get into spoilers, but are you talking about the Selin fake pregnancy rumors? I think those are more speculation than spoilers (however the last two weeks the end of the ep hasn't been in the spoiler drops, but then leaked out as prevalent rumors, so.... maybe happening again?)

Anyway @echoapothecary and I talked this through with the spoilers yesterday and I think this rumor does work with the spoilers and it might not be so bad if it happens the way we speculated. Of course all of this is predicated on these spoilers being correct, and who the eFF knows. Spoilers:

The end of the episode is not in the fragman

The end is a bomb

The final scene is bad but it will come in handy because it will serve to unmask Selin (the start of her downfall)

So with those spoilers... I do think the cliffhanger bomb could be Selin telling Eda she's pregnant. But notice that key point... telling Eda.  

Selin is going to be freaked out after seeing Serkan's interest in Eda grow all episode, and she’s supposedly going to witness something that happens between Edser on the boat. So by the end of the episode she probably feels him slipping away and will be beyond desperate. So I could see her dropping one big bomb, a hail Mary pass, that she thinks might drive Eda away and even out of town.

So if she did that would definitely be a “bomb” and it would also be “bad” from the audience perspective.  Now to it “coming in handy because it will serve to unmask her.” I’m pretty sure she and Serkan have not had sex since the accident. The show went out of their way three times to show us they aren’t sleeping in the same bed. So once Serkan finds out what Selin said, he’s going to instantly realize she told one whopper of a manipulative lie to Eda.  And if that happens it suddenly calls into question every single thing she’s told him since he called her after the accident. Hence, unmasking begins. 

So if that happens, and Selin tries to manipulate Eda into giving up, I could see Eda deciding to leave town. Selin might even tell her Serkan doesn’t know because its too much right now on top of the amnesia, so it’s up to Eda to step back and so Eda won’t mention it to him and expose her lie. Who knows. If it happens I expect it would be resolved in 32 after some angst and some dramatic Serkan and Eda moments (imagine him going after her if she’s trying to leave and he finds out why from someone like Melo or Deniz). 

Anyway, is this what’s going to happen? WTF knows. Speculation is never correct, it could be anything, but it seems right in line with the melodramatics this show has been going for since the plane crash.  Selin is rumored to be leaving soon, so if this is how we get rid of her soon, fine by me. I just want her off this show BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.  

[insomniacowl]

Neon Genesis Evangelion analysis Chapter 16 Seele, Gehrin, Nerv and…

Seele All-Star Special?

The United nation in the world of NGE is merely an assembly of multinational military forces that finds itself struggling to keep itself together amidst the devastation and strife the Second impact has brought onto the world. As we have discussed in previous chapters, the secret organization Seele was behind this catastrophe. ‘Seele’ is a German word meaning ‘Soul’ and we are shown that there are fifteen members at its highest level. While many believe the correct number to be twelve, in just one single scene in the renewal version episode 24 when they are talking to Kaworu, we see fifteen monoliths.

Because they are loosely based off of the twelve apostles of Jesus twelve seems to be the correct number and perhaps showing fifteen monoliths were a mistake that slipped through the cracks of production. But, I argue that this is born out of attempts to legitimize the Christian symbolism more then it was intended and that there is something that could be said regarding the number of monoliths that we see here. This I will cover in greater detail in the chapter (19) covering Kaworu.

Out of Seele's members, we are familiar with five of them, namely Lorenz Keel, and four others that we do see the face of. All other members are shown only via voice coming from the monoliths that are numbered. Considering that another inspiration for this organization was the Freemasons, the numbers likely refer to their hierarchy or order of admittance. 

The face of Lorenz Keel

We are never told where Seele originated from and this secretive origin is canon; not even the residents of the world of NGE know their past. But we still know that they are influential to the point they can mobilize the UN to do their biddings and that work under the guidance of the “Scenario” that is laid out in the Dead seas scroll. The Scrolls also contains the information of the two moons, Lance of Longinus, and the number of angels they are to expect.

Some believe that the scrolls also mention Evangelions, but that is a rumor. There is no evidence to suggest that.

Let us now talk a little about Keel. What kind of person is he? We can tell from the end of Evangelion that half of his body (Maybe more) has been replaced with cybernetic implants. Perhaps the goggle that we always see him wearing might not be a goggle but cybernetic eyes that he uses. 

This points to the possibility that Keel is actually older then he seems to be, this leading some to theorize that Seele might be “A group of immortal robot-human hybrids” but due to other members of Seele not being shown in this sequence, we cannot say anything definitive about this argument

The truth of Keel Lorenz

A little side note on the End of Evangelion where we are shown Keel’s mechanical body. While many interpret it as the producers of the series showing us the long time and great effort Seele’s members have invested into achieving HIP, I believe that we can also see this as (at least) Keel being a complex character who speaks of wanting to ‘transcend’ life and death via HIP while having an obsession with life so great that he has chosen to extend his life by artificial methods

The council of HIP

Coming back to our main topic and move onto the scene where we see five of the Seele members. This special meeting is aptly naming the “Human instrumentality Project council special summon” and are conducted among five of the top members of Seele and happens five times throughout the series. The colors on each of their tables symbolize the countries that each of them comes from.

First White for Germany and Keel. Yellow for France (this character shares the VA with Fuyutsuki), Blue for Russia, Green for the U.S, and Red for the UK. In the series itself, we are only told of the country of origin of the Green in episode 14, the rest is information from the Evangelion collection book. Some would have realized that four out of the five mentioned here are the 'Permanent Members of the United Nations Security Council', the difference being China having been replaced by Germany.

Why this choice of a dark room though?

Out of the five nations represented, Germany plays a significant role in the world of Evangelion. Germany suffered one of the biggest damages of the Second Impact, has the 3rd Nerv operations base where both Kaji and Misato worked in the past. Germany was also the country of origin of Asuka and was where she received her training.

In the bible, seven eyes represent the ‘All-knowing’

This is about all we know, thus able to discuss Seele. In the end, they are sort of Deus Ex Machina that is used to explain away financial, influential, political requirements required by Nerv. Even if the viewers complain that "This is unrealistic!", Seele serves to explain it away.

Moving on from Seele, let us now talk about Seele’s subordinate organization Gehrin, and its successor Nerv.

Akagi Naoko, first-generation member of Gehrin

In German, Gehrin means ‘Brain’ and is the name of the organization that Seele gave their line of support after the Second impact. It was an organization that focused mainly on the construction of the Evangelions and was shown building its headquarters in the third Tokyo city (where current Nerv headquarters is located). It was headed by Gendou with the support of Akagi Naoko working as the head researcher. Since the nature of their activities had to be kept a secret, the public was told that Gehrin was a UN subordinate research facility focused on researching ‘Artificial evolution’.

Ironically, this cover identity falls in line perfectly with what they were actually doing. once the goals of constructing Evangelions were achieved, Gehrin disbanded and was replaced with Special operative organization Nerv run by the same people who were in charge of Gehrin. Simply said, the biggest change was their name. 

Yet the organization's name was not the only difference these two organizations had. While Gehrin focused on creating the capacity required for using Evangelions and were completely secretive of their activities, Nerv was more public (although with half-truths) of their activities and publicized goal of the organization ‘an organization focused on repelling the angels’. Across the seven operation bases around the world, they focused on achieving ‘peace for humankind’ and even had an active PR department. 

Let’s also talk a little about the iconographies of Nerv. Nerv is the root word for Nerve in English and is used in the same way. It refers to the nerve in our body but also to the ‘Nerve to do something’. As an organization that succeeded Gehrin (Brain) and carries out its plans to fight the angels, I believe the name is very apt.

The Nerv logo is a leaf of a fig tree. In the book of Genesis, Eve uses the leaf of the fig tree to cover herself when she felt shame after eating the fruit of knowledge. For Seele and Nerv that operate to undo the original sin, the choice of the fig leaf is also highly fitting.

The passage on the bottom of the logo “God’s in his heaven. All’s right with the world” comes from Robert Browning’s ‘Pippa Passes’ and is a cynical way of saying that even without a god, the world runs well enough on its own.

Commander: Since when did the UN become a toy (Unit – 02) delivery service? 

If they had the money to spend on such toys, they should send some funds our way.

While Nerv is considered the UN’s subordinate organization, it appears that this is only concerning the direction of funds flowing towards Nerv. We can see that the UN is in fact under the control of Nerv. This is shown well in Episode 8 when the commander of the fleet complains of the state of things and how powerless he feels following the orders of Nerv. Furthermore, we can see in episode 21’s newspaper that the UN moved its headquarters to the third Tokyo city for convenience. Of course, we know that Nerve has a strong influence only with Seele supporting them. When Seele stopped their support, we all know what has happened to them. So we can say that Nerv was in its best operative condition when they were fighting off the angels. After all, that was what Nerv was made for.

Calendar of important dates in Evangelion

4 Billion BC

Adam arrives on earth

Lilith arrives on earth

First Impact

 1947

Dead Seas scroll discovered

 9th April 1956

Birth of Fuyutsuki

 19th April 1967

Birth of Rokubunki Gendou

 30th March 1977

Birth of Ikari Yui

 1985

17th June Birth of Kaji Ryoji

21st November Birth of Akagi Ritsuko

 8th December 1986

Birth of Katsuragi Misato

 11th July 1991

Birth of Ibuki Maya

 1999

Fuyutsuki meets Yui

Fuyutsuki meets Gendou

Yui and Gendou begin courtship

 2000

12th September Gendou returns to Japan from Antarctica

13th September Second impact

Professor Katsuragi Dies

Birth of Kaworu

15th September India enters into war with Pakistan

20th September Old Tokyo destroyed by a nuclear bomb

 2001

14th February Valentine peace treaty signed

6th June Birth of Ikari Shinji

12th September Birth of Aida Kensuke

4th December Birth of Asuka

26th December Birth of Suzuhara Touji

 2002

Gendou and Fuyutsuki joins arctic exploration team under UN investigations council

18th February Birth of Horaki Hikari

 2003

Construction of Evan begins

Blueprint of Magi drafted

Fuyutsuki joins Gehrin

China – Vietnam war begins

Japanese self-defense force created

 2004

Death of Ikari Yui

Ikari Shinji put under the care of ‘Teacher’

Gendou proposes Human instrumentality project

Birth of First Rei

 2005

Death of Kyoko Zeppelin

Asuka begins pilot training

Misato meets Ritsuko

Misato begin cohabitation with Kaji

Construction of third Tokyo city begins

 2007

UN headquarters moved to Second Tokyo

Misato break up with Kaji

 2008

Construction of Magi begins

Ritsuko graduates Second Tokyo university and joins Gehrin

 2010

Misato and Kaji joins Gehrin

Magi completes. On the same day, Naoko and First Rei die. By suicide and straggling respectively.

Gehrin becomes Nerv

 2012

Ikari Shinji meets his father for the first time in eight-year at Yui’s grave

 2014

Ayanami Rei joins the Third Tokyo middle school

Asuka graduates university

Entry plug constructed

 2015

Angel advances

TBC Chapter 17 Angel advances

[uncloseted]

my mom keeps badgering me about the capital event bc i really hated it but i support the blm protests and she says it’s hypocritical of me bc the protests were just as “violent” as the capital and “caused lots of deaths”. i never really have anything to say back to justify what went down, do you have any info i could use to explain myself? i know they were for completely different causes and one actually matters, but i don’t know how to justify the “violence” (i personally don’t think a majority of them were violent, all the ones where i lived were routinely peaceful and i think the extreme ones were sensationalized for the news). anyway sorry if it’s dumb i’m 14 and just trying to get into politics and stuff so i’m not super well informed and just trying to learn.

I’m sorry this has taken me a few days to get to.  What happened at the Capitol is complicated, and I want to make sure I give you as full of an answer as possible.  I also want to just quickly say that it’s awesome you’re getting involved in politics at such a young age and trying to help your parents understand these issues.  I would love to answer any questions you have about politics or social issues (or just kind of anything in general, I’m not picky).  Last thing and then I’ll get into the meat of this post- I’m a huge supporter of the BLM and police abolition movements and was a protestor over the summer, so I’m maybe a little bit biased.  This situation makes me really angry on a personal level, but I’ll try to stick to just the facts as much as possible in this post and let you know when I’m showing my own opinions.

So the first thing I want to talk about is language.  The Black Lives Matter protests were protests- a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards a political idea or action, usually with the intention of influencing government policy.  In the US, protesting is a constitutional right protected by the First Amendment.  The storming of the Capitol was not a protest, and it wasn’t intended to be.  It was planned several weeks in advance with the explicit intention of disrupting the counting of Electoral College ballots.  Their stated goal was to overturn Donald Trump’s defeat in the presidential election, an election that is widely considered to be the freest, fairest, and safest election in US history (ironically, in part due to Trump’s insistence that there was voter fraud in the 2016 election).  Storming a public building is not a form of protest protected by the US Constitution.  Further, an attempt to overturn a democratic election is an attempt to carry out a coup.  The Capitol rioters will likely be charged with sedition (conduct that incites rebellion against the established order) and/or insurrection (a violent uprising against an authority or government).  The Black Lives Matter protestors were not attempting to carry out a coup against the US government, and none have been charged with offenses as big as those.

Next, I want to touch on motivation.  The Black Lives Matter protesters were protesting against police brutality towards minorities, particularly Black people.  There has long been a documented history of police misconduct and fatal use of force by law enforcement officers against Black people in the US.  Many protests in the past have been a response to police violence, including the 1965 Watts riots, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and the 2014 and 2015 Black Lives Matter protests in response to the murders of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Freddie Gray.  By contrast, the Capitol rioters were not motivated by fact.  They were called to action by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.  They were told that the election had been “stolen” from Trump, and were encouraged to march over to the Capitol to “take back our country”.  The idea that the election was stolen from the president is demonstrably false.  They weren’t motivated by a social issue, a concern for their own lives, facts, or even really principle.  “Our president wants us here...we wait to take orders from our president,” was what motivated them. The affiliations of those rioters are varied, but many of them are affiliated with either the far-right, anti-government Boogaloo Boys, the explicitly neofascist Proud Boys, the self-proclaimed militia The Oath Keepers, or the far-right militia group Three Percenters.  Many are also on the record as being QAnon followers (followers of a disproven far-right conspiracy that started off as a 4chan troll, which states that an anonymous government official, “Q”, is providing information about a cabal of Satan-worshiping, cannibalistic pedophiles in the Democratic party who are running a child sex trafficking ring and plotting against Trump.  Yes, really).

The intentions of BLM were largely peaceful.  BLM protest documents encouraged protesters to be peaceful even in the face of police violence, because the BLM protesters knew what the price of being violent would be.  We were encouraged not to bring weapons or anything that could be misconstrued as a weapon.  Even non-violent protests were met with tear gas, rubber bullets, and riot gear.  A reported 96.3% of 7,305 BLM protests were entirely peaceful (no injuries, no property damage).  The 292 “violent incidents” in question were mainly the toppling of statues of “colonial figures, slave owners, and Confederate leaders”.  There were also several instances of right wing, paramilitary style militia movements discharging firearms into crowds of protesters, and 136 confirmed incidences of right-wing participation at the protests (including members of the aforementioned Boogaloo Boys, Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, and Proud Boys).  It was also rumored that off-duty police were inciting violence (although to my knowledge, that is unconfirmed).  There is no evidence that “antifa” (a decentralized, left-wing, anti-racist and anti-fascist group) played a role in instigating the protests or violence, or even that they had a significant role in the protests at all.  People who were involved in crimes were not ideologically organized, and were largely opportunists taking advantage of the chaos for personal gain.  

By contrast, the “Storm the Capitol” documents were largely violent; messages like, “pack a crowbar,” and “does anyone know if the windows on the second floor are reinforced” were common on far-right social media platforms.  One message on 8kun (formerly 8chan, a website linked to white supremacy, neo-Nazism, the alt-right, etc) stated, "you can go to Washington on Jan 6 and help storm the Capitol....As many Patriots as can be. We will storm the government buildings, kill cops, kill security guards, kill federal employees and agents, and demand a recount."  The speakers at the Trump rally encouraged attendees to see themselves as foot soldiers fighting to save the country, and to be ready to “bleed for freedom”.  The Capitol rioters were mostly armed; rioters were reportedly seen firing pepper spray at police officers, and pipe bombs, molotov cocktails, and guns (including illegal assault rifles) were found on the protesters. One protester was filmed saying, “believe me, we are well armed if we need to be.”  Some protesters arrived in paramilitary regalia, including camo and Kevlar vests.

I quickly want to touch on scale.  The George Floyd BLM protests are thought to be the largest protests in US history, with between 15 and 26 million (largely young, sometimes children, minority) people attending a protest in over 2000 cities in 60 countries.  There were around 14,000 arrests, most being low-level offenses such as violating curfews or blocking roadways. 19 deaths have been reported, largely at the hands of police.  Only one death is known to have been a law enforcement officer.  The number of people who stormed the Capitol is still somewhat unclear, but it seems to be between 2,000 and 8,000 (largely older white, cis, straight, Christian men) people.  80+ people have been arrested for federal crimes, including 25+ who are being charged with domestic terrorism (something nobody associated with BLM is being accused of).  There have been five deaths reported.  One was a police officer, and the other four were rioters.  Of those deaths, one was a police related shooting (a female Air Force veteran).  The other three died of unrelated medical emergencies.  One reportedly had a history of high blood pressure and suffered a heart attack from the excitement.  

Now I want to look at government response.  During the BLM protests, there was a huge response from law enforcement.  200 cities imposed curfews, 30 states and Washington DC activated over 96,000 National Guard, State Guard, 82nd Airborne, and 3rd Infantry Regiment service members.  The deployment was the largest military operation other than war in US history, and it was in response to protests concerning, in part, the militarization of police forces.  The police were outfitted in riot gear.  They used physical force against BLM protesters, including batons, tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets, “often without warning or seemingly unprovoked,” per the New York Times.  Anecdotally, everyone I know now knows how to neutralize pepper spray, treat rubber bullet wounds, build shields out of household items, how to prevent cellphones from being tracked, and how to confuse facial recognition technology to prevent being identified (as six men connected to the Ferguson protests mysteriously turned up dead afterwards, and the police were using cellphone tracking technology).  Amnesty International issued a press release calling for police to end excessive militarized response to the protests.  There were 66 incidents of vehicles being driven into crowds of protesters, 7 of which explicitly involved police officers, the rest of which were by far-right groups.  Over 20 people were partially blinded after being struck with police projectiles.  When the BLM protests were happening, Trump said that, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

In contrast, the response to the Capitol protesters was relatively tame, especially given that the US Capitol’s last breach was over 200 years ago (when British troops set fire to the building during the war of 1812) and the rioters weren’t being shy about their aspirations to conduct an armed insurrection incited by the sitting president.  There was (widely available, able to be found through a Google search, everyone saw it) prior intelligence that far-right, extremist groups were planning on (violently) Storming the Capitol on January 6th, with the intention of interrupting the Electoral College ballot counting and holding lawmakers hostage.  However, the US Capitol Police insisted that a National Guard presence would not be necessary for the protests, and Pentagon officials reportedly restricted DC guard troop from being deployed except as a measure of last resort, and restricted them from receiving ammunition or riot gear.  They were instructed to engage with rioters only in self-defense, and were banned from using surveillance equipment.  Despite prior knowledge of the “protests”, Capitol Police staffing levels mirrored that of a normal day, and no riot control equipment was prepared.  The Capitol Police weren’t in paramilitary gear the way they were for the BLM protests.  The mob walked in to the Capitol with little resistance.  Some scaled walls, some broke down barricades, some smashed windows, and one video even seems to show Capitol Police opening a gate for the mob. Rioters traipsed around the Capitol (one of the most important government buildings in the country) with little resistance, looting and vandalizing offices of Congress members.  Some rioters felt safe enough to give their names to media outlets, livestream their exploits, and take selfies with police officers.  One man was (ironically) carrying a Confederate flag, a symbol of a secession attempt on the part of the South (and of racism). It took 50 minutes for FBI tactical teams to arrive at the scene, and the National Guard were initially directed by Trump not to intervene.  Pence later overturned that ruling and approved the National Guard.  Police used finally used riot gear, shields, smoke grenades, and batons to retake control of the Capitol, but notably no tear gas or rubber bullets.  Video showed rioters being escorted away without handcuffs.  Trump’s response to the riot was, "we love you. You're very special ... but you have to go home." 

This is where I’m going to get a little editorial, but I think it’s important to say.  If the people storming the Capitol Building were Black, they would have been met with a large, pre-coordinated military presence, violent restraint, arrests, and quite possibly would have been shot.  They wouldn’t have made it inside the Capitol, much less been given free rein to wander around without immediate consequence. Hundreds of people during the George Floyd protests were arrested for just being present- 127 protesters were arrested for violating curfew on June 2nd in Detroit alone, twice the number of arrests made during the storming of the US Capitol.  It turns out that the police do know how to use restraint, after all.  What an absolute shock.  It’s almost like they’re a corrupt and racist institution we should get rid off...

The last big thing I want to talk about is the outcome.  The BLM protests were meaningful, but the outcome from them has been tame.  Nobody has been accused of domestic terrorism. State and local governments evaluated their police department policies and made some changes, like banning chokeholds, partially defunding some departments, and passing regulations that departments must recruit in part from the communities they patrol.  Only one city, Minneapolis, pledged to dismantle their police force.  The response has largely been localized.  I think the biggest impact it’s had is introducing people to the concept of police abolition and getting more people involved in the movement.  By contrast, the Capitol riots have resulted in over 25 people being accused of domestic terrorism and the second attempt to impeach Donald Trump, something that has never happened before in the history of the US.  

But what really concerns me is the precedent this sets.  Donald Trump is an idiot, and he’s gotten this far.  We can’t count on the guy who takes his place to be an idiot, too.  The next guy could be clever, strategic, well-spoken, well-mannered... not to invoke Godwin’s law here, but people liked Hitler.  He was a persuasive speaker and capitalized on conspiracy theories about World War 1 to gain support.  His 1923 attempt to overthrow the Bavarian government failed, but sympathy for his aims grew.  He painted himself as a good, moral man who loved dogs and children and was trying to do right by his country (by, among other things, arresting communists and leftists, and then eventually all minorities).  Trump isn’t Hitler.  He’s not even a Hitler analogue.  But Trump has already done this much damage to the fabric of our society.  He’s worn down our relationship with the media, with one another, with democracy, with morality, and with truth itself.  We have to be prepared for the idea that the next guy might be a much better politician.  Getting rid of Trump isn’t the end; it’s the beginning of a fight against fascism that’s only going to grow from here.

There are other differences you could point to.  BLM protesters wore masks to prevent the spread of COVID (and indeed, researchers have reported that the protests did not drive an increase in virus transmission), for example, while the rioters were largely unmasked.  But I think the bottom line is that the millions of BLM protesters were doing their best to be responsible citizens fighting peacefully for an evidence-based, human rights cause, even though they knew that as a primarily minority group of people, they would be met with violence.  The thousands of far-right, white, Capitol insurrectionists were doing their best to overturn a free, fair, safe, and democratic election because of a call to action by Trump and a stringent belief in disproven conspiracy theories, which they knew would be met with minimal resistance despite the severity of their actions.  The insurrectionists are fascists, full stop, and we should call them what they are.  The BLM protesters were by and large just people, of all different political views and motivations, who wanted to fight against something they saw as unjust.  

I’m sorry that this is such a long post. This topic has been on my mind all week, and I wanted to give it the nuance it deserves.  All we can do from here is to keep fighting- for justice, for truth, and, hopefully, for peace.

[antiquecompass]

First Line Game

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors! 

Thanks to @static-abyss for the tag!

(I’m going to go for actual whole stories here and not the ficlet collections or single tiny ficlets that just didn’t fall into the bigger ficlet collections.)

1. Wait until the moon has neared its zenith. (Never Fall Again; The Untamed)

2. The Meeting of the Bastards was the near semi-annual gathering of all of Mo Xuanyu’s half-siblings. (And We Will All the Pleasures Prove; The Untamed)

3. “We’ve lost him, sir.” (A Lionheart; The Untamed)

4. “You know, there’s a whole other part that comes with dating him, right?” (Jiang Cheng and the Lans; The Untamed)

5. He was seeing and hearing things again. (The Truth is Stranger Than All My Dreams; The Untamed)

6. Jiang Cheng had established the maternal visitation rules for a reason. (I Am Yours, If You Are Mine; The Untamed)

7. Meng Yao studied the business card in his hand. (Ain’t Good For Anyone Else; The Untamed)

8. See, the thing was, Jiang Cheng was actually good at relationships. (Wen Qing Knows Best; The Untamed)

9. At eighteen, Nie Mingjue lost his parents, dropped out of college, and fought the entire world to keep custody of his baby brother and control of his family business. (All My Sins Were Born in a Kiss; The Untamed)

10. Jiang Cheng wasn’t the eldest of his father’s children, nor was he the most talented, most feared, or most respected. (Just Two Lost Souls; The Untamed)

11. The House of the Heavenly Arch was the wealthiest of Gondolin’s homes, rumored to have more coin and jewels than even King Turgon himself. (Once Upon Another Time; The Silm)

12. “What is that? Did you? Wei Ying did you steal a baby?” (A Long and Happy Life; The Untamed)

13. “Sir, is this really necessary?” Special Agent Andy Haldane asked. (The Undercover Job; HBO War)

14. Ten months ago Klaus Hargreeves didn’t know, or want to know, or honestly gave a damn, about time travel. (Such Unimaginable Things; The Umbrella Academy

15. “You’re not suggesting any roadside distractions this time,” Runner Conley said to his friend and road trip companion, Hoosier Smith. (There’s a Light On in Chicago; HBO War)

16. When Runner Conley told everyone back home he was joining Starfleet Academy he was met with laughter. (Made of Star Stuff; HBO War)

17. Andy Haldane loved early mornings in Boston. (The Holy Vow of a Teenage Kiss; HBO War)

18. “We’re going to die out here.”

No words should ever be spoken so sincerely through a mouth full of beef jerky. (Strange Trails; HBO War)

19. “I think I’m about to get fired.”

“Sucks to be you, Hoosier.” (Next Day Gone; HBO War)

20. Nightmares weren’t a common thing for Sam Wilson, not anymore at least. (Are Made of This; Marvel)

I def. expected more stories to start with a line of dialogue since that’s where they always start in my head. I ABSOLUTELY miss writing the contrary bastards of Team Leckie. I obvs love to start off with short to the point opening lines. And I really, REALLY need to work on finishing those WiPs.

My favorites are probably #12 because holy crap did that little stupid fic idea spawn a hell of a verse between me and @pawsnread. I’m also fond of 18 because I miss my Philly Boys always. PEAK sarcastic banter there. Honorable mention to #7 bc that fic got out of control and ended up the largest single fic in the entire ‘verse and is my second personal fav of the ones I wrote, just after Just Two Lost Souls.

Tagging: @tahnawanda @pawsnread @givemeunicorns @lavenders-bi @greenandhazy @souhaiite @floorlimes and anyone else who wants to give it a go!

[illumiiiz]

Tumblr Slam Book

Thanks for tagging me @bluebellhairpin ! Love ya! 💕 I hope you’re doing well!! ~ Eve

- 

1. You can call me: Eve, which isn’t actually my name but I like it better lol. And I’m open to any nicknames as well ^^ 

2. Three random facts about me:  A) I’m super shy irl but online I've been told I can be really intimidating ffhfhjsk  B) I’m the mom friend, in every single friend group I'm in. If you’re friends with me then boom, prepare to be looked after, taken care of, and given hugs and headpats and affectionate swats upside the head  C) I try to be cool and edgy but it doesn’t really work

3. My hobbies are: Primarily drawing, reading, and playing piano, but also archery, listening to music, procrastinating, sleeping, and procrastinating sleeping

4. Things I love: BOOKS, (ESP THE OLD COPIES THAT SMELL KINDA LIKE DUST BUT THERE’S THAT AMAZING OLD LEATHERY PAPER AND INK SMELL TO THEM AAAAA), anime, my friends (online and irl, i love you all), my bf, piano covers of songs

5. Things I hate: Bullies, loud noises (listening to my music loud is ok tho), false rumors, being interrupted, awkward silences, bees/wasps

6. Things that make me happy: My friendssss, drawing, being alone in my own space, autumn, nighttime, rain and thunderstorms, compliments (even tho I never know how to respond and usually just end up laughing awkwardly and saying “nah...”)

7. Things that make me upset: NOT KNOWING HOW TO RESPOND TO THINGS JFJDKSJKSJ, arguments and tension (between anyone, even if it don’t concern me), stress, having a lot of things to do, being ignored when I’m trying to say something, seeing my friends upset

8. I’m currently obsessed with:  Kylo Ren but we already knew that , Star Wars, Haikyuu!!, Lord of The Rings

9. If I had an Anywhere door: Can I have a door that opens into any fictional world?? Please? If not then definitely a door that opens to wherever my friends are bc I miss them all the time 

10. My favorite fictional character is: RIGHT NOW, there’s a few. Kylo Ren, Samwise Gamgee, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yuu Nishinoya,... I could go on but I shall not :) I mean unless y'all want me to, then by all means drop me an ask 👀

Aaaaand I’ll tag @aragornswife @entishramblings @fizzyxcustard @thelokiimaginechronicles ! If y’all want to do it of course! And anyone else who wants to is welcome to join!! 

[strawberrybrainrot]

According to Legend pt. 2 (Sylvain x f!reader) request

Alternative title: Sylvain realizes he could’ve had a bad bitch

Pt. 1 Here  

Notes: takes place after the timeskip and reader is a bad bitch bc I decided she can’t let a man hold her back sorry not sorry also can you tell I love paralells

After Emperor Edelgard started the war, the entire continent was sent into disarray. The monastery was left abandoned and broken. War and panic plagued the cities and tore families apart. When you saw how much the people of Fearghus were suffering, you decided you couldn’t sit back and watch. No longer bound by the confines of marriage and duty, you left home and spent the last five years using your status as a noble to help those in need find refuge.

Though Sylvain had not spoken to you since your time at the Officer’s Academy, he often heard rumors from his family’s soldiers about a young falcon knight whose description matched yours. You had built quite a name for yourself; traveling throughout the kingdom, healing the injured, and swiftly taking out every foe you faced. If anything you had become somewhat of a legend among the common folk.

Truth be told, Sylvain had a very hard time getting you out of his head. There were times that he would look at certain objects, or eat certain foods and be reminded of you. It made him realize just how much he actually missed you.

He missed the way you would genuinely laugh at his jokes, or how you would teasingly scold him for not taking his training seriously. He especially missed the soft smiles that would warm his heart.  

There were parts of him that wished he had turned back and apologized. He knew he messed up that night at the tower, but he couldn’t take back the hateful words he said. Because of his outburst, he probably lost the only true love he had ever experienced. At least now he knew you were okay, thriving even, and that was enough for him.

A few weeks ago, Sylvain was met with several letters from his classmates, asking him to return to Garegg Mach. It seemed that even though Byleth and Dimitri were gone, his friends were still bent on keeping the promise you all made five years ago. Now he was back at Garegg Mach, once again fighting side by side with his all of classmates.

Well, almost all of them. So far, you were nowhere to be seen. If he was going to be honest, Sylvain was a little disappointed; He was hoping he would finally get to see you at this reunion. On the way to Garegg Mach, he thought of all the ways that he could apologize. None of them seemed like they would be enough to get him back in your good graces, but now it seemed he wouldn’t even get the chance to try.

Distracted by thoughts of you and the onslaught of thieves coming his way, he failed to notice an assassin slipping through the trees behind him. Before he could register the blade coming towards his back he heard voice from up above.

“DUCK!”

Without any question, he dodged just in time as a javelin sailed over his head and impaled the assassin close behind. He looked up to see who had saved him, and widened his eyes at the person above.

After five long years, there you were. The sight of you, alone against the sky as you sat on your pegasus left Sylvain breathless.

As you landed next to him to retrieve your weapon, he couldn’t help but gape at your sudden appearance. He was speechless. Before he could even speak a coherent word, you cut in.

“We can exchange our greetings later, right now focus on the enemy ahead. I’ll do my best to cover you.”

He didn’t expect you to speak first, so all he could do was watch in awe as you reared your pegasus and took off into the sky. But you were right. Before he could say his piece, there was a battle to be won.

After a long battle, the group took shelter in the monastery to discuss future plans to quell the war. When the war meeting was finished, everyone broke off to explore the monastery. You had quietly slipped out before everyone else, but Sylvain knew exactly where to find you.

As he neared the old Goddess Tower, he saw your silhouette leaning against the railing as you stared out toward the setting sun. He began to walk slower, quieter, as the reality of the situation set in.

The closer he got to the tower, the more he began to panic. Now that you were here, what was he supposed to say?

Sylvain knew that he had to make things right, so he took a deep breath and began walking towards you. You noticed his presence and locked eyes with the red haired man, but made no move to change your position.

When Sylvain reached you, he awkwardly took his place next to you. Unsure of what to say, the two of you stood there quietly watching the sky turn a bright orange as the sun set over the horizon.

Sylvain collected his thoughts and opened his mouth to speak, but you beat him to it.

“You’re here to apologize aren’t you?”

Sylvain gaped at your sudden confrontation. He guessed that his actions were obvious, from his attitude and his serious silence, but he didn’t think you would comment on it.

“I- uh, um, yes. But I also wanted to thank you.” Sylvain mentally slapped himself for the lame reply, “You really saved me back there, so… thanks”

Sylvain could feel his heart beating faster in his chest as he felt your gaze finally fall upon him. He hated how after all this time, you could still easily sway his feelings. He took another deep breath.

“But yes, I wanted to apologize to you for... well, everything.” He turned his body towards you as he kept his eyes locked with yours, “I thought I would get over you, like I did with every other girl who was after my crest, but no matter what I did I would always find you roaming in the corners of my mind.”

“And hearing all of the stories about you from our soldiers just reminded me of all reasons why I let you into my life in the first place. You really are something special... and it was stupid of me to shut you out like that. I know the way I treated you wasn’t right, but I want to make things right with you.You don’t have to forgive me right now, or ever, but I at least want you to know I regret every moment I spent not by your side.”

Sylvain’s face softened as he looked into your concerned eyes. He knew that you were skeptical, but he just had to let you know how he truly felt.

“I just... don’t want to be without you anymore,” He tucked a strand of hair behind your ear and gently placed a hand on your cheek.

“I love you, (y/n).”

As he spoke, you watched his face closely for some sign of insincerity, and sighed when you could not find any. You softly placed your hand on top of the one that caressed your cheek. You wanted so much to lean into his warm touch, but instead you gently pulled his hand down and took it into your smaller ones.

Part of you was relieved that he meant every word, but for some reason you couldn’t bring yourself to be happy with his apology. It’s not that you didn’t return Sylvain’s feelings— far from it in fact — but it was because of this heartbreak, that you were finally able to take your life into your own hands.

You kept your eyes focused on the hand you were holding as you began to speak softly.

“Sylvain, I appreciate your apology, but... it isn’t necessary,” His eyes widened as you began to explain yourself, “I’m glad that even after all these years you still feel the same, but I can’t let you in that easily.”

When you glanced up at his face, you expected to find sadness in his eyes. Instead all you could see was understanding. Seeing his reaction you continued your reply with more confidence.

“I’ve spent the last five years helping people in ways I could only dream about when I was younger. And there’s still so much more that needs to be done-- so much more that I need to do.”

You took a deep breath, released his hand, and stood up straight to face him before continuing.

“I want to continue cutting my own path in life, so for now... can we put feelings aside and just be friends?”

Sylvain let out a sigh of relief as you finished. He had mentally prepared himself for an earful, for crying and yelling, but he never expected you to say something like that. Then again he had always admired how you weren’t afraid to stand for the things you believed in -- it was one of the things that made him fall for you-- and he understood your need to forge your own future. Afterall, he was the same way.

Sylvain was just happy that you were willing to meet him halfway and repair your relationship. For the first time in five years, a genuine smile that found its way on his face as he replied.

“(y/n) (l/n), it would be my pleasure to ‘just be friends’.” He said as he bowed dramatically and winked. You rolled your eyes at his actions, but couldn’t fight the smile that crawled up your cheeks as his playful attitude returned.

With the tensions released, the two of you spent the rest of the evening catching up and telling stories. You realized how late it had gotten, and decided to retire for the night.

Sylvain quietly bid you good night and you made your way back to the dorms. As he watched your figure get smaller and smaller, Sylvain vowed that he would work hard to one day earn the right to be beside you for the rest for your lives.

When you were out of sight, Sylvain turned his head up at the the sky above him. That night, the stars seemed to shine brighter than usual.

According to legend, if someone makes a vow at the Goddess Tower, the Goddess herself will surely grant this wish.

Several years later, Sylvain found himself tearing up as he happily placed a golden band on your finger, fulfilling his vow all according to legend.

[miraworos]

Azira Fell and the Apocalypse Scroll (T)

SUMMARY: The hunt is on for a mysterious and deadly scroll with the power to topple the world into chaos. Will Dr. Azira Fell, professor of Egyptology, find it in time to prevent the impending apocalypse? Or will an evil organization bent on destroying civilization find it first? To have even a chance at saving the world, he'll need to rely on the wily Anthony J. Crowley, professional guide and adventurer. But can Azira trust the inscrutable explorer, or will he lose his heart along with his life?

Or: A Good Omens Indiana Jones AU, because why not?

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford - 1935

Doctor Azira Fell hummed a few bars of Davies’ Op. 51 as he selected a couple of works from the Ashmolean library’s collection. Sunlight streaming through the clerestory window above ignited the gold-embossed lettering on the cover of a book chronicling the Ptolemaic dynasty near the end of the Hellenistic period. To Azira, who practiced knowledge the way others practiced religion, the glow seemed an omen of the treasure within.

Descending the step stool, he carried the volumes to a nearby table. He laid them as softly as possible on the polished oak and tugged the lamp chain. Then he sat in the high-backed chair, wiggling ever so slightly with the anticipation of the chase.

The passages for which he was searching would likely be buried in the usual drivel of martial accounts, rankings, and supply inventories. The Romans really were such tiresome windbags about conquest. Very few saw the forest through the trees with all their facts and figures and mind-numbing reports. Thus, it was up to Egyptologists like Dr. Azira Fell, associate faculty of Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford, thank you very much, to find the occasional tree that hinted at the actual forest.

Azira took out his small, leather-bound journal, opened it to where the stub of a pencil was wedged into its pages, and began to record the call numbers of the volumes he’d selected. With any luck, he’d have a few hours uninterrupted by students to collect a handful of tidbits meriting further investigation.

“Dr. Fell!”

Azira’s shoulders slumped ever so slightly. So much for uninterrupted hours. He hadn’t even made it five minutes.

“Dr. Fell, you have to see this.”

Anathema Device, Azira’s research assistant and the first American woman to study Oriental Studies at Oxford, popped out from behind a set of nearby stacks, breathless with excitement.

“There you are,” she said. “I knew you’d be prowling around the 932s. Look at this.”

She hurried forward, holding a hardcover book open toward him. He recognized it at once as her mother’s account of her expedition to Nubia at the turn of the century, before Anathema was born. Her mother’s obsession with Egyptology inspired Anathema’s own passion for the profession.

“What is it, dear?” he said, as he took the book from her hands.

“I’ve read this entire thing cover to cover so many times, but I never noticed this before,” she said, her face alight like it always was when she made a new conceptual connection or discovery in her research.

Azira looked at the place on the page to which she was pointing, but didn’t immediately see the source of her excitement.

“I don’t understand,” he said apologetically.

She took the book back and read aloud. “In late 34 BC, authorities on behalf of Emperor Octavian claimed that Mark Antony had stolen a sacred scroll from the Library of Pergamum and gifted it to Cleopatra of Egypt as recompense for the burning of the Alexandrian scroll collection during Caesar’s Civil War.”

“Yes, but that was a false account to discredit Antony. Your mother knew that. We all know that.”

“That’s not the interesting part,” Anathema said, grinning wider. “It says a sacred scroll as in one—not many. Scholars generally accept that the rumor stated Antony gave Cleopatra something like 20,000 Pergamum scrolls. Not one sacred one.”

Azira stood up. “You think she means the scroll? The scroll about th-the—Macedonian, er—”

“The Macedonian spice route,” she finished for him with a significant look. “Yes. I think she could have meant that. Hiding an indicator in plain sight is just like her.”

He took the book from her again and traced the spidery writing with excitement. Anathema’s mother was considered the preeminent authority on all things occult during the Ptolemaic Dynasty. That’s how Anathema had come to learn of the sacred scroll in the first place, through bedtime stories her mother had told her. Azira had learned of the scroll through other means, naturally, but when each had discovered the other knew of it, they instantly formed a bond that, over the last two years, had led to a close and trusted friendship.

“There’s more,” Anathema said, eyes dancing. “I looked up sacred scroll in her index, and the page it has listed is a separate page entirely, with no mention of a sacred scroll at all.”

“Which page?”

Anathema flipped the pages while Azira held the book for her. She stopped a third of the way further forward in the book, and pointed at a sketch of statue.

“I’m betting it’s some kind of coded location. But I haven’t worked out if it’s the picture or the words or both.”

“Good lord, Anathema. Are you sure it isn’t just a misprint?”

Anathema arched a cool eyebrow at him. “My mother never made mistakes. Not when it came to her study of Egypt. Never once.”

And, of course, she was right. Azira suggesting that the book was flawed was ludicrous. He had found firsthand accounts with less historical accuracy than the meticulously researched analysis he was now holding.

“Agnes Nutter, you sly devil,” Azira said, scanning the page Anathema had indicated. “You realize this means that not only did she know where the scroll was, or at least what happened to it—“

“—she also knew it was too dange—er, valuable, I mean—historically speaking—to let fall into the wrong hands.”

Azira was too lost in thought to chastise her near slip, though heaven knew what spies lurked in the stacks, just waiting for a crumb of information to fall.

“So it does exist,” he muttered to himself. “It does exist, and its location is knowable. It has been found at least once, and if it could be found by her…”

“It can be found by people other than us. Which could be bad.”

Azira tapped his lips, turning the puzzle over in his mind as he gazed at the page. “But where to start? We can’t go haring off into the desert without a proper destination in mind, my dear. We simply can’t afford it.”

“We could ask the Egypt Exploration Fund for an investment.”

“An investment for what? We’d need to tell them what we were looking for—”

“—the Macedonian spice route—”

“—as well as actually produce something of value upon our return. We can’t excavate a ghost, Anathema. No one would subsidize that.”

“On the contrary, brother,” boomed a voice from near the staircase about ten feet away from Azira and Anathema. “We may be able to come to some arrangement.”

Gabriel, patriarch of Azira’s extended family and, regrettably, Azira’s half-brother, approached their table with a jackal’s smile.

“What kind of arrangement?” Azira said with trepidation. He didn’t trust Gabriel any farther than he could throw him, family or no.

“Well, it just so happens Mother has a keen interest in the Byzantium-antiquities trade gaining momentum in the Mediterranean region.”

“What do tourist trinkets have to do with my research on the, er, the evolution of the gastronomical trade in the early Roman Empire?”

“I think your interests overlap quite nicely with the Foundation’s objectives in this case.”

The Foundation was the philanthropic arm of the White Dove evangelical organization Azira’s extended family had founded generations ago. It used monetary inducements to attract vulnerable populations into the fold, often at the price of sacrificing their cultural identity and heritage. That’s what had pushed Azira toward Egyptology and the study of antiquities in the first place. He wanted to protect the cultures and histories and identities of the people that White Dove’s Foundation tended to erase.

“What are the Foundation’s objectives, if I may?”

“Profit, of course. Profit that can then be turned to…charitable causes.”

“And by charitable, you mean missionary, I presume?”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Don’t forget that a sizable donation from the Foundation helps maintain this academic institution you love so much.”

“You still haven’t said what it is you want me to do,” Azira reminded Gabriel as Anathema slowly closed her mother’s journal and eased backward to be half-hidden behind Azira. Smart girl.

“We need you to travel to Cairo and make inroads with the traders in antiquities. You have an eye for these things. You can tell when something is worth procuring.”

“And what do you intend to do with any relics I obtain?”

“Why, resell them, of course, at a price more fair for the discerning market,” Gabriel said. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the mysteries of the pharaohs have caught the imagination of others in the empire, others who happen to have the benefit of deep pockets. And why not indulge their petty interests if it encourages them to give generously to God’s chosen causes? In exchange, you could mount your expedition for your gastronomical …. whatever ... in your spare time, with our resources and our blessing.”

Azira pursed his lips, on the verge of refusing Gabriel’s request, no matter the familial consequence to himself. He didn’t need Gabriel’s blessing to go about his life, nor did he want it. If he was ever given it, he’d have to immediately examine at length whether he wanted to continue doing whatever it was that Gabriel approved of. Azira wouldn’t go so far as to classify Gabriel as evil—he was Azira’s brother after all—but if not outright malicious, then he was something just this side of it.

The refusal hovered on Azira’s tongue, despite the small nudge of a pointy elbow in his back. Anathema clearly wanted him to take the deal. But it was hardly worth the burden of being under Gabriel’s thumb again. The last time Azira had been in a similar position, it had not gone well.

“I wouldn’t know the first thing about setting up an antiquities trade, Gabriel. How would I even find these so-called traders? How would I know I could trust them to deliver a bona fide artefact?”

“No worries on that score,” he said with false amiability. He took a black card out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Azira. It simply read “Crowley,” with no address or number, only a snake sigil curled along the left-hand side. “This man is affiliated with a trusted business associate of mine. He’ll see to you, help you set up when you arrive.”

“And how do I find him, then?” Azira asked, agitated. “There are no details on this card.”

“Oh, he’ll find you,” Gabriel assured him. “Your accounts have been furnished with whatever funds you might need for travel and expenses.”

Guide or not, funding or not, Azira simply didn’t have the wherewithal to do what Gabriel was asking.

“Gabriel, I don’t think—“

Gabriel took that moment to lean into Azira’s personal space, looming over the shorter man with a deceptively mild expression.

“Listen, Sunshine. I may have understated things when I posed this as a request. You will do as I say, or I will be forced to withdraw my protection from you and my financial support from this fine academy. And we wouldn’t want that, would we?”

Azira swallowed. Much as he’d regret the loss of the funds to the university, the larger threat lay in the euphemistic “withdraw my protection from you,” which meant far more sinister things than the words themselves invoked.

“I look forward to monitoring your progress,” Gabriel said with barely concealed contempt as he shook Azira’s hand and tipped his hat to Anathema. “And, as always, Godspeed.”

Then with a dramatic swirl of his argent coat, he took his leave.

Azira stared speechless after his brother. He hadn’t even agreed to go. But that was how White Dove, and its founding family, operated. No one was permitted to say no. Questions were forbidden unless strictly necessary. Only the most powerful family members were chosen to lead, and if those leaders dictated that something be done, it was done—end of conversation.

Azira had thought he’d escaped it by becoming an academic. For the last fifteen years, he’d managed to skirt most family engagements and nod politely at the ones he couldn’t avoid, until almost no one in the family even remembered he existed, but for the annual expense in the ledger with Oxford as the payee. Or so he’d thought. It appeared he was still very much on Gabriel’s mind, in the event that he might prove useful.

“Well, that was…something,” Anathema said, returning to her position by his side. “Is he always that pushy?”

“Most times, he’s worse,” Azira admitted glumly. Then he looked at the card in his hand, the snake sigil sending a thrill of foreboding down his spine. “Cairo.”

“Don’t look so downtrodden. This is exactly what we wanted,” Anathema said, laying a reassuring hand on his arm.

“It’s not the expedition that worries me,” Azira answered softly, tucking the card in his coat pocket. “It’s the demons we will owe when we return.”

Read Chapter 2 on AO3

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