#also the two versions having different partners and that basically being the whole catalyst for the difference

[rizardofether]

4, 6, 7 and 9 for Rhixak (both timelines if you want)

4. How is their social life? Are they generally well liked or despised? Are they involved in any drama? Do they make more enemies or friends? Do they have any meaningful friendship or bond?

Rhixak as the Commander is pretty much about what the canon Commander is, friends with the NPCs they are. Besides that there's Prim and couple other OCs he's sometimes in contact with but not much anymore. Pwan is an acquaintance from the Pact, Kettux & Emil are two wanderers he's worked with before, Ketter shows up from time to time but keeps his distance.

So yeah, pretty well liked as the Commander. On the other hand the bad timeline where he becomes the Grand High Sovereign, he's mostly in contact with Shodd, though they probably work with some underlings, they don't come into contact with him directly. Despised by many except Shodd and few others.

6. Do/did they have any non-sapient companions, like a pet or a golem? If not, would they want one?

Main timeline has the things canon in the game, cats in the home instance + M.O.X. is also there. He has robotic mounts. Though he was given actual animal mounts, he feared for their safety and either gave them away or has them live in a safe space. Home lab -> a farm he found that could keep them safe while he was searching for a new home -> the homestead. While these animals exist, he doesn't really have names for them. He's terrible with names.

GHS Rhixak never gets any pets. At most serving golems but those aren't really companions.

7. Do they prefer to work alone or with others? Do others like working with them? Are they competitive or do they prefer that others take the spotlight? How would they fare in the opposite situation?

With others most of the time. He's very good at it, making sure everyone is working together well and such. He is a natural-born leader despite after all. He really needed a krewe for his invention days, it takes a whole krewe for these big projects, so he wouldn't have succeeded as much alone.

Later on though when he moved to the Orders and the Pact, he could work just as well with others or alone on various tasks, though reading his reports was a chore for anyone.

GHS Rhixak worked together with Shodd through their entire campaign. Of course he could do things by himself, but why bother when you have the most capable and willing right hand man right there, right?

As for 9, I answered it just earlier in the previous post, and GHS Rhixak would have the same, just different duties that kept them busy, except for the change just after EoD as that is where GHS Rhixak's story ends.

[alwaysmychoices]

Where I Think the OH Gang Ends Up - HCs

After 3 books of falling in love with these characters, I thought I’d share my HCs for where these characters end up - including some about Charlie and Ethan’s future. Obviously, this varies because I’m a Ethan romancer, so I could make different versions depending on your LI. Included is where they live, their jobs, and their personal lives. 

If you have any questions/HCs, feel free to reach out, and I hope you enjoy this!

Location: Boston, MA

Career: Diagnostician Specializing in Pediatrics

After her residency, Sienna worked at Edenbrook for a year before deciding to complete a fellowship in Pediatrics at Edenbrook, where she focused on diagnostics in children, particularly in conditions that are rare or difficult to diagnose.

During her fellowship, this field proved difficult mentally and emotionally, but Sienna’s resilience and strength, coupled with her passion for her patients, made her a leading figure in her field.

She stayed on at Edenbrook, where she bridged the gap between pediatrics and diagnostics.

Personal Life:

When all her friends started leaving Boston after residency, Sienna acted as the “glue” holding them together. She organized Zoom calls, visits, and group vacations. She also gets the best gossip as a result.

She stayed close with the whole group and regularly sees those who remained in Boston.

She still goes to see Danny’s mom for coffee and fresh baked goods.

Sienna met her husband through work. Her patient’s fourth-grade class organized a trip to show their support for their classmate. Andy was their teacher. Six months after they started dating, Sienna knew Andy was the one. She was baking cookies for her next meeting with Danny’s mom, and Andy not only offered to go with her but started helping her bake.

The gang is still very protective of Sienna – so much so that they all rushed to meet Andy to see if they approved. After all, only the best could deserve her.

When Sienna and Andy got married, everyone was so happy for them. But they were probably even happier a few years later when they started their family.

It took some adjustments, but Sienna adapted to her new work and family life balance like a pro – even if it meant she barely slept for those first few years.

Location: Boston, MA

Career: Diagnostician, Co-Head of the Diagnostics Team, Department Head

At the culmination of her residency, Charlie Greene probably could have gone anywhere she wanted, but she wanted to stay with her team. Even as she watched some of her friends go off to start new lives, she felt committed to Edenbrook.

However, it would have been easy for Ethan to stifle her career ambitions purely by taking up too much room and not leaving enough for her to grow. He wanted her to prosper though, so he had to step back when necessary.

Over time, the team dynamic shifted so that they were leading it together, so she deserved the title.

She proved to be an excellent doctor, teammate, researcher, and leader. So, when she was named head of the department many years later, it was an honor well deserved – even if it was one she later started to appreciate less once she realized the amount of paperwork involved.

She’s worked hard for everything she’s achieved, and she’s not done achieving it.

Personal Life:

Charlie married Ethan Ramsey, and after everything they’d been through, saying those vows came with a sigh of relief and joy.

Despite conversations about leaving Boston to be closer to family, they never did. Boston had become home.

They started a family with children, dogs, and a townhouse. They invited Ethan’s dad and Charlie’s parents to holidays, and Charlie’s friends had an open invitation to visit her.

It would be wrong to say that everything was easy, but they were happy.

Location: Boston, MA → Stanford, CA → Boston, MA

Career: Researcher & Attending at a Medical School & its Affiliated Hospital

Elijah went straight into research at Edenbrook after his residency. After a few years of learning from his coworkers and growing as a researcher, he published his research. He received the opportunity to leave Edenbrook and join a research team at Stanford University, and it was too good of an offer to pass up.

Elijah spent the next few years researching at Stanford as an academic, but once their research was published, he decided that pure academia wasn’t the right environment for him.

His impeccable research skills and high recommendations earned him job offers at university-affiliated teaching hospitals where he could do research and engage with patients. He accepted a position in Boston that met his research needs and brought him closer to home.

Elijah’s research contributions went on to help countless patients.

He continued to publish his research and lead several teams, all the way until he was leading his very own lab. By the end of his career, he was a top lecturer at a premier medical school.

Personal Life:

At the end of their residency, Elijah was the least afraid of the distance now separating him from his friends. His familiarity with his technology and his love for the gang meant that he was ready to keep them so digitally connected that they hardly noticed the separation.

Still, he missed them. And he missed Boston when he left, too.

Elijah was never too concerned about finding a partner, so he wouldn’t have minded ending up alone. In fact, for a long time, he thought he would.

Then, he met a fellow researcher, Alicia, at a convention. They bonded over their favorite comic books and their work. Though Alicia lived in Connecticut, they started dating, and within a few years, they were married in Boston. A few years later, they had kids and a shared google calendar blocking out their research days and family time.

Location: Miami, FL

Career: Surgeon

As the star resident, Bryce wasn’t particularly surprised when Edenbrook offered him a full-time position at the culmination of his residency. He fully intended it to take it, too.

But then there was the recruiter from Miami. He entertained the offer primarily for his ego, but something about it struck a nerve. One of his career idols was offering to take him under wing there, and even though Bryce had finished his residency, there was still so much he wanted to learn. He only visited to find out more – not because he intended to accept – but Miami allured him. The familiar heat, sea breeze, and electric energy captivated him.

It was a difficult decision, but ultimately, Bryce packed his bags and moved to Miami (even if he secretly cried about it and facetimed his friends constantly).

There, he prospered and honed his skills as a young surgeon.

When MC (Charlie) visits, it’s clear that Bryce and his mentor have a very similar relationship to that of Ethan and Naveen. So, it isn’t a surprise when Bryce assumes his mentor’s role after his retirement and heads the department – nor is it a surprise when Bryce’s surgical prowess became known outside Miami.

Bryce’s favorite achievement is the Lahela Method, a surgical method he developed, perfected, and popularized.

Personal Life:

Having finished his residency two years after everyone else, he thought he would be ready to leave Boston and his friends, but he wasn’t. They had become his family, and even with their strong bond and efforts to stay close, he missed them.

Leaving for Miami was difficult, but he made friends and kept in touch with the gang.

Bryce was too focused on work to ever start a serious relationship. He preferred casual flings and short romances to long-term relationships.

He’d been in Miami for two years when Kyra came into town for her extended visit. She only planned to stay in his guest room for two weeks, but she ended up staying for a month. He didn’t mind. In fact, he encouraged her to stay. He missed her and liked having her around – so much so that he convinced her to move to Miami.

Kyra was always looking for an adventure, and Miami looked like one. She moved in a few blocks from Bryce, and despite her intentions to soak up Miami, they basically spent all their time together.

He wasn’t sure when he fell in love with her.

But he did. Their friendship turned into a friendship with benefits. Then that got complicated with feelings. Then those feelings became more than feelings. And before either knew it, they were irrevocably in love. Despite never wanting to be tied down, they were tied to each other.

Bryce proposed, but it took them over a year to set a date because they were too busy living their crazy lives. They had so many plans – trips they wanted to take, a house they wanted to buy, and kids they might want to have – but they’re finding their way on their adventure.

Location: Miami, FL

Career: Influencer & Author

Though Kyra enjoyed working at Edenbrook (and really liked making money instead of incurring medical debt), she wouldn’t say that working in hospital administration was her dream.

She became restless, and she traded hospital administration for a series of other jobs.

Kyra started posting more and more on social media, and as she became more comfortable, she started being vulnerable about her health, the scars it left, and how she moved forward. She built a community of people experiencing similar things, and it sparked a passion in her.

Kyra dedicated her time to learning about social media to grow her following and continue sharing resources. A few of her posts went viral, and that was the catalyst to start her career.

After sharing content for a while, Kyra had the opportunity to publish her memoirs – a witty, funny look at her life that was inspiring, hilarious, and beloved by many.

Personal Life:

Kyra didn’t just become restless in her professional life. She also became restless in Boston. She did all the things to do in the city – explored all the crevices and exploited all the excitement. Even though she had been in remission for years, she still craved a full and exciting life.

She started traveling, often to the cities where she had friends who let her crash on their couch.

That’s how she got to Miami.

And how she inadvertently fell in love with Bryce Lahela.

Kyra and Bryce loved their life, and they lived it to the fullest. They took risks. They ate interesting dishes, went to exotic locations, and learned new things. They visited their friends and became the cool aunt and uncle to their families.

Kyra stayed in remission. To celebrate five cancer-free years, she and Bryce got matching buzz-cuts. On the next anniversary, they got matching tattoos.

Location: Washington D.C.

Career: Diagnostician & Activist

Jackie never intended to become an activist for healthcare reform, but once she stumbled into it, she developed a passion for the work after her unfortunate involvement with Panacea Labs. She even moved to D.C. to pursue lobbying.

She kept working as a diagnostician, but as her involvement in healthcare reform increased, she took a lesser load at the hospital so she could start working as an activist professionally. As a healthcare professional herself, she took her experience and used it to inform her activism and her lobbying to encourage Big Pharma reform.

She also worked with nonprofits to help struggling doctors and med students like herself find resources and emphasize ethics.

A woman on a mission, nothing could stop her.

Personal Life:

Though Jackie found her passion in D.C., she didn’t find the love of her life as easily. She was too busy to make anything work. She stumbled in and out of relationships. Her true companion became her dog and her high-rise apartment.

Jackie might not have been able to maintain a romance, but she maintained her friendships. She visited frequently and adored their children.

She liked being in charge, and she liked having things her way. It probably serves her right to have fallen in love with the only woman more stubborn than her.

Sonia was a public service lawyer, and she and Jackie spent their time bickering and adoring each other. They were both career-driven and supported each other’s mission.

Location: New York City, NY

Career: Head of Diagnostics

Aurora spent her time in Boston making peace with her aunt’s legacy, but at the end of Aurora’s residency, she was ready to start her career and make a mark of her own.

In New York, she started working for a diagnostics department, and she earned a spot on the diagnostics team once it was formed. She worked hard. She made a name for herself. She proved that Harper wasn’t the only Dr. Emery to keep an eye on.

Once on the team, she helped elevate it to the point that it rivaled her own hospital, Edenbrook. She often came into contact with her friend, MC (Charlie). The teams even competed on occasion.

Aurora beat MC by becoming the first to head a diagnostics team.

She was an excellent leader and an exemplary physician. The team prospered, and the rivalry with Edenbrook playfully continued.

Personal Life:

For Aurora, career and academic efforts came easily, but interpersonal affairs were treacherous. Still, after finding friends in Boston, she was determined to maintain those friendships and develop new ones in New York.

The friends she made in residency were now her family, and she kept in touch.

In New York, Aurora was slow to make friends, but she did. She formed a close bond with her team and shared an apartment with a team member for a time.

Like her aunt, Aurora went without romantic commitment – until she started research with Dr. Alice Montgomery. Aurora fell head over heels, and despite a few stops and starts, they started a happy, healthy relationship.

Location: Boston, MA → Brazil → Boston, MA

Career: Physical Therapist at Edenbrook

Personal Life

Rafael took the big leap and moved to Brazil. He spent two amazing years living in Brazil, traveling and making unforgettable memories before moving back to Boston.

Once back, he thought about saving up for more travels and spending his young adulthood moving around the globe, but after he got home, he couldn’t bear to leave for that long again. He opted for vacations instead and reinvested in his community.

Leaving his childhood neighborhood didn’t stop him from being an active community member. He volunteered regularly and made friends almost everywhere he went.

Of course, he also went back to his neighborhood to see his family regularly, but he liked having the independence of his own place and his own community.

Once he married and started talking about having children, Raf moved back to his childhood neighborhood so he could raise his child with the same level of community and love he experienced.

When everyone came back into town, they always stopped by his place for good food and an even better friend.

He stayed in touch with everyone, especially during his travels, and his friends had an open invitation to visit.

[lady-griffin]

Hello! I was just wondering if I could ask your opinion on something :DD I was just thinking about how differently Maria's life would have been if the events of the game still followed. Would her heart be satisfied with not gaining any friends but instead a lover? Can the four boys mend the relationship between Maria and her mother like Katarina did? Would being engaged with a noble/prince give her emotional freedom or would she be ostracized by society even more? Thoughts?

I have so many thoughts on how Katarina’s impact on everyone is so much more significant than Maria’s impact/change on the guys and their impact on Maria in the game.

No shade towards Maria or the guys, but…I mean its Katarina. She’s a goddamn force of nature. None of them can compare to the positive wreckage of Hurricane Katarina.

I would say that Maria’s heart would be “satisfied” with a lover, but more because all Maria wanted was someone to look at her and see her for who she was and it’s clear that each of the guys did that for Maria, in the game’s timeline. 

However, just because she’s satisfied with her situation with a romantic partner (because it’s better) doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the best situation for her or even that healthy for her.

While sure her relationships in Fortune Lover with the guys puts her in a better place than she started, we still have to ask how much better?

Potential Spoilers Below

It was hard for me to organize my thoughts for this question...so I’m sorry if it’s nonsensical Anon (and sorry for any grammar mistakes). 

Thank you for asking me this!!

--

We know from Katarina, that Fortune Lover never went into Maria’s backstory. Katarina knows nothing about Maria’s backstory and even got the wrong impression from what the game chose to show her about Maria. 

When Katarina played the game, she thought Maria was simply an unstoppable genius; but in the real world of Fortune Lover it’s clear that Maria worked so goddamn hard. 

Maria got where she is, not because she’s another Geordo, but because she put so much time and effort into getting herself at that level. 

Maria is very similar to Mary in that regard.

In Hamefura (and Fortune Lover), so many characters only see “Perfect Mary” and not all the work, time and pain she put herself through to get to that point.  

That’s basically Maria’s situation with those who play Fortune Lover. They only see the end result, not her countless years of effort and struggle.

But Katarina does see it and recognize Maria for her hard work, after she meets Maria. 

Each time Katarina talks about the plot or a certain event, it’s largely about how Maria emotionally saves the guys or heals them.

While the guys do physically save her form the bullies (at least Geordo and Keith), the focus is clearly more on how Maria saves their broken and lonely hearts rather than how they save her own lonely and broken heart.

Her being saved (like how the guys were) by the guys isn’t really a factor in Fortune Lover. Because she’s the vehicle for the player. 

Because it’s an Otome game, the game developers clearly didn’t care enough to develop Maria further than what they needed, unlike the guys, who are the main draw of the game. 

And however, this world came into existence - The game being unknowing based off the world or the world existing because of the game. The actual world of Fortune Lover, what we see in Hamefura, greatly expands and fills in the gaps that Fortune Lover left behind. 

--

It’s safe to say that the guys didn’t impact Maria’s relationship with her mother.

While it is possible Nicol and Sophia did visit Maria’s home on Nicol’s route, I highly doubt it.

Katarina doesn’t compare her own visit to anything that happens in the game – so the guys more than likely did nothing to help mend Maria and her mother’s relationship.

On the other hand, Katarina is the catalyst for Maria and her mother.

In the Light Novel, Maria’s mother sees how happy her daughter is (with Katarina and Keith) and realizes that she needs to be better. She’s known that for a while now; but it’s finally just hitting her in that moment that if she doesn’t act soon, she’ll be left behind by her daughter and be unable to mend their relationship.

Maria’s mother can’t stay frozen in her own despair and depression if she wants to be with her daughter.

Which gives me the impression that in the game, while never brought up, Maria does leave her mother behind. 

I mean she probably doesn’t abandon her mother and if she marries one of the guys, she can easily improve her mother’s situation with money. 

But that’s rather hollow in comparison to Maria and her mom working on their relationship together and getting to a better place together.

Katarina doesn’t do the work for Maria and her mother, but because of Katarina, Maria is in a better place to mend her relationship with her mother and vice versa. 

Katarina is the catalyst for Maria’s Mother’s self-improvement. Which is very true of Katarina with the majority of the characters she impacts in the story.

--

Fortune Lover - Bad Endings 

I am definitely looking into this way more deeply than I should.

But given how Maria can either receive a good or bad ending with each of the guys, indicates that an actual relationship (in ‘reality’) with each guy is a dangerous thing for Maria to embark on. We can look at it like this –

If Maria’s relationship doesn’t go well with each guy, she’s so screwed…so very screwed.

Geordo’s Bad Route

Katarina Dies – that probably weighed on Maria’s conscious.

Enemy of House Claes – With Katarina dead and no Geordo to protect her, it doesn’t seem crazy that the Claes family (not Keith) might or would try to retaliate against Maria.

Geordo self-exiles himself, leaving her behind – Basically the one person she bonded with and put all of her energy into leaves her. She’s alone once more. There’s also a good chance the kingdom will blame her (since Katarina’s dead) for their beloved Prince leaving them – so she’s going to be ostracized by nobles and commoners alike

Not great all-around. 

Also given how twisted Geordo is in the game’s timeline, a part of me wonders if Geordo actually did love Maria in his bad route. 

Or if he was simply using Maria as a reason to get rid of Katarina and escape his noble life. 

Dark? Yes. Possible? I think so.

Keith’s Bad Route

Katarina Dies – again, probably weighed on Maria conscious.

Enemy of House Claes – This time Maria is a key part in not only Katarina’s death, but to the Claes family losing their heir…so not great for Maria.

Injury – Maria gets injured by Katarina...or Keith is the one who gets injured, it’s unclear to me. But basically, there’s a chance she gets physically injured.

Keith disappears (goes into hiding, leaving her behind) – Once more the person she put her time and attention into leaves her. She’s all alone. Again. Nobles still probably don’t like her and neither do the commoners and there’s probably so many more vicious rumors about her at this point, because of Keith killing his sister.

Now in Alan and Nicol’s Bad Routes the consequences are less dire, significantly so, but it’s not a stretch to say Maria would still end up alone and maybe even more isolated than she started when she got their bad endings. 

And of course, there is the one Bad Route where the whole Student Council (including Maria) gets murdered…

Basically, going pass the point where the game ends, Maria’s life is made so much worse by the bad routes.

Now if Katarina and Maria stopped being friends, it’s not exactly going to be rainbows and butterflies for Maria either.

But I just don’t see things being that dire for Maria IF Katarina’s bad route was to come to pass (so to speak).

I think one benefit befriending Katarina, is that if she were to leave someone (death/non-death reasons), she leaves the person in a better place.

In all honestly though, if Maria fails at romancing Katarina than basically Katarina’s bad route is that you just remain friends with her…so you know, still fucking great.

Also the Katarina route is essentially the friendship route for Maria. 

Largely because the Student Council are a large group of close, childhood friends (who are all in love with Katarina) and they all befriend Maria. Which is different than how the student council was in Fortune Lover. 

While Katarina is definitely the point of focus for Maria, Maria’s social group has far exceeded her expectations, not just with the student council, but even beyond them.

Fortune Lover - Good Endings (?)

Geordo and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

Personally, I find it  difficult to imagine that these the game versions of these two would live happily ever after. 

It just seems like such a stretch that Maria undoes the 16 years of Geordo’s fucked up life and disposition in one year and everything is great and dandy afterwards. 

But we are told that they do end up happily ever after, so we’re going to take the story’s word on the matter. 

Maria would still end up so goddamn isolated. I mean she would be ostracized by noble society to such a scary and threatening degree if she ended up with Geordo.

Katarina is a Duke’s Daughter; she is at the top of the social hierarchy and we’ve seen how certain nobles treat her. So, imagine what Maria’s treatment would be like. 

After years of being socially isolated in her town, to being bullied and socially isolated at school, to gaining all that hatred and jealousy of all those noble girls who love Geordo.

I don’t think anyone could handle that.

Geordo would probably try to get back at those people and take care of them (to possibly a dangerous degree), which I don’t think would help Maria and might even cause her to further retreat into herself.

Given how Hamefura pulls the curtains behind Fortune Lover, I just find it so difficult to truly see Maria being happy with Geordo (and vice versa).

But it’s not exactly peaches and roses with the other guys.

Alan and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

She’s definitely would be socially isolated and bullied by noble society. Probably not to the degree she would be with Geordo…but still pretty badly.  

I can easily see so many noble girls being upset that even though Alan leaves the perfect Mary, he chooses the commoner Maria over them.

I guess it’s possibly for Geordo and Alan to leave their princely lives for Maria, but again, I see Maria taking the brunt of that decision from the nobles.

Nicol and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

While Nicol is described as the most normal, he and Sophia are clearly co-dependent on one another in the game, to such an unhealthy degree.

I’m sure if we knew more about Nicol’s route, Fortune Lover would have said that Maria saved the two siblings from the isolated world they only shared with one another.

But would she have? Or would she simply end up joining their isolated world?

Again, Nicol has so fans (men and women), I just see Maria being socially isolated and ostracized by noble society. 

And unlike the other guys, there’s no way Nicol would abandon his duties to his family or to his noble life – he feels a great deal of responsibility towards his family and as his father’s heir.

So while her good ending with Nicol could still be a legit good ending for her, I still see some snags for the two of them.

Keith and Maria’s Happy Ending in Fortune Lover…

Probably the happiest one, in all honesty.

In the Light Novels, it’s stated that Keith and Maria elope together and Keith abandons his position as the Claes heir. Which yeah, that makes absolute sense.

There’s no way Luigi Claes would be happy with his heir marrying the girl who he would absolutely blame for his beloved daughter’s exilement? No way.

So those two would escape Noble Society together…so they would probably be okay and be able to live normal lives.

Though I will admit, it does seem like they would probably become co-dependent on one another.

Seeing as both of them have been neglected, emotionally abused, isolated and bullied by others and neither of them have probably learned the proper tools in handling all of that. 

Also, I doubt there’s therapy in this world…so yeah.

I’m not saying they wouldn’t be able to save one another from their loneliness and build a foundation off of their shared experiences…but given how Fortune Lover focuses on Maria saving Keith from his loneliness and not so much the other way around –

Maria would probably be doing the brunt of the emotional work in their relationship.

--

…Okay, I may have been way too dark on Maria’s happy endings with the guys. 

It’s more than likely her situation if she had ended up with one one of them she would’ve been fine and a lot better than what I’ve portrayed above.

But I still think she would;ve been socially isolated and ostracized (to varying degrees), while still being emotional repressed herself.

One of the reasons why Katarina saving everyone feels severely more balanced than Maria saving everyone one… is that Katarina is well-adjusted. 

I mean emotionally speaking she was doing so much better than everyone else when she first met them. 

Don’t get me wrong, Katarina has plenty of her own problems and issues – from her self-esteem to legit thinking her friends would abandon her or even kill her.

But Katarina was able to save everyone by just being herself. 

And while Fortune Lover and Katarina basically presume that’s true for Maria… it’s not.

Because we see and get to know the real Maria and see how emotionally repressed, she was before she met Katarina. 

Her saving each of the guys or all of them together, probably cost her, her own emotional freedom and salvation.

--

There’s the saying, the saddest people smile the brightest.

Which is not a bad saying, but it can imply a somewhat dark idea if you think about it. 

The saddest people have to smile bright to save others, because they know what it’s like to be sad and don’t want that from others. 

That gives the impression that those sad people don’t allow themselves to be sad or at least not in front of other people, because they always have to happy and smile brightly for others.

I think that’s Maria’s in a nutshell in Fortune Lover.

One of the beauties of Hamefura is that we see Maria needed to be saved as much as everyone else did. 

She was pain and crying out as well, but since she was just the vehicle for the game and player, she wasn’t truly saved.

--

Maria says her big finale line to Katarina, the one that she always says to the guy she ends up with at the end of the game.  

But I think the weight of it, is so much more real with Katarina than it was in Fortune Lover with the guys. 

Maybe I’m completely off base, but it just feels more like it comes from a genuine desire when directed towards Katarina rather than a deeply rooted fear of being alone again.

Again, that could just be me. 

I think Maria being with Katarina, platonic or romantic, is immensely healthier for Maria as an individual.

For me, I would always choose having multiple good to epic friendships over one epic romance that I’m completely dependent on.

Thaks for the ask anon. And I’m sorry if it doesn’t make sense, it was just hard for me to organize and write down my thoughts for some odd reason.

[deans-haunted-baby]

Curious. What do you mean by Dust till Dawn going against it's Characters? I know I have my own feelings, or confusion, with how they left Kate's story.

From Dusk Till Dawn effectively character assassinated every single character in the very last episode including Kate Fuller. No one is acting like themselves in that series finale it's like some deranged fanfic writer came aboard and hijacked the show while no one was looking. If you thought 15x18 & 15x19 of Supernatural were bad and believe me they really are; those episodes are minorly salvageable against the slaughterhouse that Dusk 3x10 was. It utterly contradicts and ignores everything the show put forward in all 3 seasons. I will never watch that episode again.

I'll first explain what that piece of shit did to the show's lead protagonists, the Gecko brothers. Regardless of how you or anyone else feels about Supernatural's series finale; that show was a saint to Sam and Dean's storyline beginning to end compared to how From Dusk Till Dawn definitively butchered Richie and Seth. I'm sad saying this because Zane Holtz and DJ Controna are outstanding as these characters. I freaking love their chemistry man, it's a great rival to J2! They're the badass dark clones of the Winchesters.  Their arc starts out fascinatingly complex because they went from cold-blooded criminals/bad guys and meanwhile during their escape over the Mexican border with this hostage family the audience is told pretty quick by Professor Aiden Tanner that the Geckos are destined to become these foresworn warriors The Mayan Hero Twins in an ancient prophecy (based on real Mesoamerican lore) who battle the Underworld. So right away the show is telling us ahead where Seth and Richie are suppose to end up in their journey and when you introduce a storyline this big I expect a satisfying payoff.

At the end of season 1, Richie Gecko is *SPOILER ALERT* transformed into a culebra (snake-vampire) while Seth Gecko remains human symbolizing their night and day Hero Twin counterparts from the legend. And they're separated in the first half of season 2 where both try to navigate this new supernatural world they've stumbled on individually. What they find, no different than the Winchesters, is that neither can function properly without the other making their destiny all the more valid. That season is practically constructed like their swan song to the criminal lifestyle since the brothers are meant to become more than crooks; and since Richie's a vampire they can't ever go back to basics. Their adopted father aka uncle Eddie actually says the line "this is my swan song" in 2x07 to Seth and Richie in reference to their final heist together which is not a coincidence. That's the writers telling us that the Gecko Brothers' role in the show is going to shift from anti-heroes to heroes very soon. Eddie and Kate Fuller's fates in S2 act as the primary catalysts for this transition taking shape in the finale.

Going into season 3 it's business as usual for the boys until the prophecy of the twins officially rips a hole in the damn universe via demon queen Amaru. Who's now possessing Kate. Throughout that season Seth and Richie embark on a journey of heroism; find themselves battling monsters, actually saving civilians and dealing with their own personal demons (guilt and remorse over past sins). That year is presented as their redemption arc and final phase into their new role. No one ever tells them about their destiny (despite most of the other characters knowing) but we as the audience are already aware as we watch the brothers in action. The best episode is without a doubt 3x06 the crown jewel of From Dusk Till Dawn because it's about overcoming the darkness inside. And who best represents that than Richie; the show's most important central character whom began the series as a deadly clairvoyant criminal into the tortured vampire hero struggling with his own humanity. Now I won't spoil the whole episode for anyone who hasn't seen it or the show in general but it's an incredible moment of character development for both the Gecko brothers. Not only does it cement their powerful bond it's the episode that defines who these two are once and for all. The ones who lead the battle between good and evil; keep the balance of light and darkness. One day I plan to do an entire analysis of that episode because it's so fucking brilliant and shot so incredibly eerie at the same time 😁

You want to know what 3x10 does to these characters? It shits all over their entire storyline and pisses away THREE FUCKING SEASONS of character development. Just flushes it all down the toilet rendering everything they've ever done up to that point completely pointless! Their destiny which is the WHOLE POINT OF THE SHOW is suddenly dropped last minute and the Geckos hit reset on their former criminal escapades; dragging Kate along with them. I hate that finale with the fire of a thousand suns for what it does to Richie and Seth 😡

Moving on to Carlos Madrigal. He is the best villain character in the history of show villains hands down. I can actually say that without blinking. Wilmer Valderama is phenomenal, he steals the show as Carlos. He's is so freaking awesome, evil and badass! I just want to keep seeing this man tear things apart while being the sexy asshole he is 😈For all intents and purposes I don't want to spoil his whole storyline on the show for those following me in case they're interested. But what I will say is 3x10 destroys this character; so don't watch it if you want to keep the memory of who he was alive. I'm actually depressed over what was done to him as much as I feel sorry for Wilmer having to perform that shitty script. It's laughable in a very bad way. Gotta hand it to the writers and showrunners of FDTD they certainly knew how to humiliate their best characters in this series. Carlos basically goes from charismatic yet lethal Hannibal Lecter to a very captain obvious Gandolf caricature. Yah you heard that right, it's really fucking sad.

Next we have Freddie Gonzalez; the audience's avatar into the series. This character is connected to everyone on the show for a reason because of the crucial part he plays in this universe. The "Peacekeeper" destined to police the line between the supernatural world from the human world. In the beginning he's a Texas deputy on a quest to avenge the murder of his father figure/partner Earl McGraw via the Gecko Brothers. But once he steps in that territory of monsters there's no going back. And FDTD repeatedly tells him and the audience this in the first 2 seasons. But then 3x10 pulls the ultimate fuckery by giving him the most cliched, nonsensical hallmark ending effectively cancelling out his entire purpose in the series. He instantly forgets that he ever cared about Kate, watching her bleed out on the ground, then leaves the Geckos high and dry rushing his family (who isn't injured) to the hospital. And he stays there while the battle continues 😣

Kate and Scott Fuller OMG words cannot describe my anger over what was done to them so I'll make it fast. I'll begin with Kate the bright light and heart of the series. Her arc in the first two seasons is excellent. It's emotionally driven because she begins as an ordinary girl in broken yet seemingly-happy family to a young woman finding her way around the supernatural world maintaining her faith and moral compos while trying to help her brother after he's *SPOILER ALERT* been turned into a vampire; paralleling the Geckos's situation. Scott being only a 16 year old kid, like Richie, struggles immensely after his transformation; searching for meaning as a cursed individual and coping with his duality. He was already different to begin with so being a vampire adds some interesting layers to his character.

Btw Kate plays a vital role in Richie and Seth's lives, though in my opinion is more strongly connected to Richie. The show even goes as far as developing the early glimpses of a romantic arc between Kate and Richie (seeing as they kiss twice) with angst at the end of season 2 that is never resolved. You want to know why it wasn't? Not only does season 3 mute Kate's voice and agency but 3x10 ruins her character and demolishes her whole arc with Richie (who spent all of season 3 trying to save her) at the last second due to fan pressure of those who shipped her with Seth. They don't exchange one word nor barely look at one another it's like seasons 1&2 never happened. This is the biggest fuck you to fans of these characters I've ever witnessed in a series and they did my boys Adam and Michael so dirty in Supernatural. Poor Scott whom the show enjoyed kicking around all season barely gets a thing to do in that series finale either than listening to his sister and Seth gab about prom lol. Yah you heard me I'm not making this shit up I swear. Then he gets abandoned by Kate while she goes off to be a bank robber with the character assassinated versions of Seth and Richie. How extraordinary 😖

Santanico Pandemonium is really the only character in the series who manages to get out unscathed. HOWEVER her arc is handled very poorly beginning to end. They set up an arc between her and Seth that also goes absolutely nowhere. Give her zero closure with Richie whom she sired, dated and used in S2. And randomly throw her in a scene with Kate that makes no fucking sense after these two had nothing to do with one another all series. On top of that Santanico is barely in season 3 so by the time the show wraps her arc feels incomplete.

Other characters go missing that no one notices, the new bad guy whom they've set up at the end is just left hanging. And Richie Gecko, you know the show’s other lead, is horribly sidelined after 3x06 to make way for the Seth Gecko solo show. When I say FDTD series finale is bad I mean it's really fucking terrible and blasphemous.

[porschekittisawasds]

simply cannot believe i made a supernatural fic rec list in the year 2020 but here we are

When Worlds Collide

When Zachariah dies, the illusions he’s created die with him.  But before they collapse completely, sometimes they collide. That’s how Castiel goes from cradling Dean Winchester’s broken body one moment, to finding himself face to face with Dean Smith in the next.

note: basically endverse!cas’s world collapses right after endverse!dean is killed by lucifer and he gets thrown into the it’s a terrible life verse. drama and love and a whole lot of fuckery ensue. it’s tagged as major character death but it’s not really

Broadway Musical

This is the day that marked the Holy and Blessed Union of Dean Winchester and Jo Harvelle.

The merging of prominent bloodlines is always a grand occurrence, but breeding pedigree hunter families like Winchester and Harvelle is something to be rejoiced. It is also something to be meticulously planned, which thankfully the Host is very good at.

note: an AU where dean and jo are destined to fall in love and have two sons who will bring on the apocalypse and be the vessels for michael and lucifer. only problem is cupid’s arrows don’t make them fall in love with each other and heaven promptly starts freaking the fuck out so cas slips into a vessel and tries to do some matchmaking to get the whole end of the world thing back on track. it’s tagged as unrepentant crack and that pretty much sums it up, but it’s also a very funny and enjoyable read

a turn of the earth

Dean’s your typical half-orphaned, monster-killing 22-year-old until a trenchcoated stranger crashes into his back windshield one September night, claiming he’s an angel that knows him from the future and that he’s on the run.

Frigging fantastic.

note: listen i LOVE a good time travel fic

How (thanks to Gabriel) Dean and Castiel (accidentally) raised each other (and Sam)

In which, Gabriel meddles with the time line and Castiel becomes Dean's angel rather sooner than intended.

note: after lucifer stabs gabriel in hammer of the gods, gabriel uses his very last bit of grace to travel back to the beginning of time and decree castiel the angel of thursdays and dean winchester. fast forward a few eons and castiel hears mary’s dying cry. he shows up too late to save her, but he decides that a human life is very short in the grand scheme of things so he can play guardian angel to dean (and by extension sam) while also fulfilling his duties to heaven. not only is this pretty much my favorite supernatural fic, it’s also one of my favorite fics in general

The Shattered One

When it struck Castiel, he was in mid-flight. It dropped him out of the sky like a sparrow buffeted by gale-force winds. Castiel set down the first place he could find. He ended up standing in a field in Switzerland, swaying on his feet and staring down at his body, dazed by what it had just done.

note: okay so listen. this is tagged as mpreg but that’s kind of a stretch imo. it’s not like... mpreg mpreg in the sense that it deals with angel reproduction and has nothing to do with sex or pregnancy. angel reproduction goes like this: a section of an angel’s grace will suddenly and randomly break off and begin to grow on it’s own. after a certain period of time, another angel has to offer a piece of their grace and the two pieces will combine to form a new angel. that new angel is a fully developed, fully functional angel and is considered a new brother/sister instead of an offspring.

cas’s grace shatters which means he’s fucked because this takes place in season 5 after he’s defied heaven. no other angel will offer up a piece of their grace so his own is basically going to rip itself apart, killing him in the process. when dean and sam find out cas is going to die, dean offers up part of his soul in place of another angel’s grace. what results is a new angel that has just enough human in it that it takes the shape of a human baby and sends pretty much all of their lives into a tailspin.

ALSO just a heads up this is definitely more pre-destiel despite the relationship tag. there’s a sequel where im pretty sure they do get together but i haven’t read it so i cant’s say for sure.

Kiss You When It’s Dangerous

When his partner Uriel, betrays him, Federal Agent Castiel Novak is saved from becoming a ritual sacrifice by brothers Dean and Sam Winchester.

note: FBI!cas gets thrown headfirst into the supernatural. tagged as major character death, but again it’s not really

My Roots Take Flight

After forty years in Hell, Dean’s more than willing to accept the offer: become a guardian angel and earn his freedom. But his new ward seems destined to hunt alongside Sam, and there are secrets in Heaven that the angels don’t want found out. Dean’s going to have to choose between his duty and the people he loves- and to work out just where Castiel fits in.

note: season 4 au where dean is an angel and cas is a human except it’s way more complicated than that

Peace and Good Luck To All Men

Christmas in the Milton household was difficult enough without the added complication of guests- and if Luke and Gabriel placing bets on who can get with Sam first wasn’t bad enough, then Cas developing a ridiculous crush on his sister’s boyfriend definitely is. 

note: the one where michael, lucifer luke, gabriel, anna and cas are all human siblings but michael and lucifer luke are still trying to kill each other, gabriel is still Like That and cas is still super into dean which is pretty inconvenient considering he’s with anna.

Asunder

Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Matthew 19:6) 

note: it’s been a very long time since i read this, but from what i remember it’s an AU where they’re all human and dean brings his friend/co-worker cas as his “date” to sam and ruby’s wedding for moral support. when sam was in college, he met ruby and they started using drugs together. after several failed attempts at helping him get clean, dean eventually cut sam off and it’s been years since they’ve spoken. even though sam and ruby are now both sober, dean blames ruby for everything that happened and the only reason he’s even going to the wedding is because bobby and ellen basically force him to. again, it’s been years and years since i read this so i can’t remember a lot of the details, but i do know that despite this being a dean/cas fic a lot of the focus is dean rebuilding his relationship with sam and that’s what i remember really liking about it.

Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered

Death brings Sam back — sort of.

note: a general fic involving only sam and dean. sam’s soul is so damaged from its time in the cage that when death brings it back, it shatters into pieces and so does sam. like literally. there’s four different sams now, each representing a distinctive part of his personality. sounds cracky but it’s actually surprisingly angsty and focuses on how the sams and dean are adjusting to their new reality and each other

Point Pleasant

(okay so this fic was deleted but i’m putting in on here anyway because the author has since turned it into a novel and had it published. im sure old pdfs of the fic are floating around but i highly recommend reading the novel version. if you know it was based on a destiel fic then it’s really easy to see those influences in the writing and the characters but it can stand up on it’s own. also!!!! it has pretty much the coolest take on the mothman’s origin story that i’ve ever heard.)

Ben Wisehart (Dean Winchester) grew up in the idyllic town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. An early encounter with the supernatural shaped his worldview and served as the catalyst for his career as a bestselling horror writer. Thirteen years after abandoning his home, Ben returns to the town to investigate the apparent reemergence of the terrifying creature responsible for his childhood nightmares. In Point Pleasant, Ben is confronted not only by the town’s resident monster, the Mothman, but also by his former best friend, Sheriff Nicholas Nolan (Cas Novak). Together, Ben and Nicholas (Dean and Cas) uncover the mystery of the monster in the woods and discover that the ghosts that haunt us are sometimes made of flesh and blood. And sometimes, they lead us home.

Sympathy for the Devil (and Dean Winchester)

this is not so much a rec as it is a request.

basically an au version of season 5 (and kind of the whole series really). when god cast lucifer out of heaven, he tore out his grace. lucifer’s grace was put into the cage, but lucifer himself fell to earth and spent thousands and thousands of years reincarnating as a human. his latest reincarnation? dean winchester. so when sam opens the cage, lucifer’s grace is released and dean realizes that he’s lucifer. part of him still kind of wants to start the apocalypse but the other part of him has a whole new appreciation for humanity considering he now remembers every human life he’s ever lived. it’s made more complicated by the fact that dean (/lucifer) doesn’t really want to tell anyone that he’s apparently the devil so he has to keep his now angel status on the dl and also because despite heaven wanting the apocalypse to start, michael went missing from heaven shortly after lucifer was cast out and no one has any idea where he’s at.

this fic was deleted, but if anyone happens to have a pdf copy let me know. i would be highly appreciative!

[avicebro]

rate... casters then? if you haven't done it yet?

one two three WIFE hey honey i love you so much i think about you constantly you are the best. have you at 100 10/10/10 and bond level 10 now so you’re basically perfect now, just gotta max fou you. love your np charge skill. love your myths.. you’re good. i love you so much. i love you and kuzuki so much. i just want you guys to be happy and i just want to make you happy let me just.. treat you thank you for carrying me all the time MWUAh infinity/10

I personally like him a lot but I know some people find him uncomfortable which is totally understandable. Still.. haven’t finished working on him in FGO I’m sorry lol. Love his relationship with both Prelati and Ryuunosuke and can’t wait for him to meet his bfs again. so like 8/10? yeah

HEY HANS. man you could have been.. so much better. I know that it’s not your fault though and I have nothing against you. I just… love the idea that he’s defined by what people thought he was like based off of what he wrote about. Wish they would actually reference the bisexuality cause heyo it’s important to his stories /dab. Stop asking for alcohol you’re like 12. Wish he like.. actually acted like how he did in real life sometimes tho lol. Kiara fuckers don’t interact. 10/10 love him. 

HEY WILL. one of the best parts of apocrypha, hands down, just wish he was in more of it. shave your mustache off though it creeps me out. ever since i learned you share va’s with tesla i can’t think. love how you have a buster up which ties with amakusa and semiramis. love you so much, sorry for taking so long to level you up lol. it looks like you’re having fun which is what matters. i’ll take you to shinjuku for drinks or something. nice thighs please step on me. 10/10 would die for.

ship you with paracelsus. whenever you dress up it’s kind of illegal? just kind of? thought you would do more in london but alas. love art where you and paracelsus adopt jack and teach her about the fun ways of murder. your hair is an aesthetic. mephi is cute guys. make paramephi art im begging you 7/10

7/10 please stop haunting me and my dreams. who said you could be that hot.

you came home for new years! which was nice! i appreciate it a lot! i use you a lot and i’m sorry you’re just very useful. sorry waver i like el melloi more. long haired men are hot, it’s been clinically tested. wanna run my hands through your hair while you play dark souls. i’m not thirsty for you i support you in your transition and i hope you and your like 8 blond kids are having a fun time saving the world and dismantling the grail or whatever. 8/10

7/10 best cu hands down don’t @ me. like him in fuyuki. hope he comes back soon? also ugh when is he gonna get that animation update fgo? anytime soon? please? i think your final art is gorgeous by the by. one of the first servants i finished.

probably her best outfit let’s be real here. good girl. nothing bad to say here she’s a great daughter and i love her in all forms. 9/10

I think you were a ticket? I think? Ugh 5/10 I appreciate you coming home in all forms, I really do Tamo, ugh, I’m glad you like me so much but now I’m worried that Vicci will come home and I don’t know how to feel about that one. Pairs really well with my Medeas, I had you and Medea Lily stall for like, a whole bunch of fucking turns which made me wanna kms but also proved how well you two can stall so good job.

HELLO. I’m so sorry I didn’t use my free four star on you and instead went for the thirsty choice I’m sorry but thank you so much for coming home regardless for new years MWUAH. currently grailed to 98. I’m working on your skills next honey just please be patient. All of her lines about not liking being touched scare me and I want to fight anyone who does anything dirty with you EVEr. I think your art is gorgeous and you’re so pretty and I want to make sure you’re never sad again. Love art where you have been adopted by Hektor. I’ll beat up Jason for you. infinity/10

ANother good girl. Came home recently and three times at that! Thank you for that Nursery Rhyme. You’re.. very cute. I love how you’d expect her to be this like, shy, silent girl but nOPE she’s a critting, curious, buster machine and she works so well with the other authors good job NR. I can’t say I’d beat up Hans for you but we can certainly give him a stern talking to. Love writing her the most out of the authors honestly. Your LE episodes killed me. When are you gonna be in Extella. 10/10

His coat is made out of husband material. Very pretty. I want to braid your hair and be your assistant. One of the first servants that I got that I was like, okay I know nothing about you but you’re hot so I love you lol. His voice is very soothing. Love you with Mephi but the art with Hektor and Avi is also very cute. When I need to draw hair I draw you. Love you I’ll draw you more. 10/10

I’m sorry I know very little about you I’m sorry. I think your human form is very hot though. I have someone who has you at level 100 and they’re stronger than anyone I’ve ever seen TBQH. You’re cute in the summer race, Babbage sensei. Also dailybabbage is still the best daily blog don’t @ me 5/10

You also came home recently! Thanks! I actually like her a lot just hate her artist and her archer version. Wish she was an actual old lady instead of being.. whatever this is lol. Love her relationship with Edison, they seem like if they were two old friends who after their partners died they moved in together with an Indian demigod. Please put on some more clothes. Please take her away from her artist. Oh and I’ll beat up Sherlock for you. 7/10

You came home a very long time ago and I’m sorry you’ve been stuck at like.. 54 for a long time lol. I associate you with someone though. I really like Tedison but I never talk about it. I just assume all Americans are like this honestly. All hail our presi-king. hey fgo you wanna add bell so they can be friends instead of just constantly hinting at it? huh? anyways you’re good i just need to finish leveling you up. 6/10

gold border cause you’re level 90 in na. i have a lot of problems with you but i’m not the right person to talk about it. you’re still so bad in terms of racist designs i’m sorry. wish they had done you better. pat pat. 6-10/10 cause i’m conflicted honestly. your personality isn’t bad but like……….. the design… and the fact that they turned you into this like shaman when you just weren’t… and the fact that you didn’t like pictures being taken and i’m sorry geronimo that they did this to you you don’t deserve it

i wasn’t playing fgo when you arrived so please can i have a rerun? can i please have a rerun? i want iri. good mom. i want her to adopt caren and angra and be the ‘cool mom’. i’d like a hug please. thanks mom. 7/10

i associate you with ip so you’re good. i wish your final art was more interesting though. ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh your event is good too. love your relationship with li shuwen. i kinda forget all the time that you were in the summer race event. WHoops. oh and also you can do your NP on me thanks. 5/10

hey i have you too! sorry you’re at like.. level 41.. i’m sorry i have a lot of casters. nice thighs.. i like your face things as well. ears are cute. hope you’re having fun with your gf. wish you would work better as a catalyst for your gf tho lol. keep it up im proud of you. also ugh beat up ozy for me thanks. 6/10

10/10 MOM. maybe one day you can be your normal self again. wish that instead of da vinci lily they did it so you went to like a different painting instead but whatever. i’ll kill kirei for you dw

you’re good. i want you to come home so i can have more dumas catalysts tbh. but you’re soft and good and i hope you’re having fun. here take a head pat. 5/10

i’d probably only roll cause then i’d have the complete emiya-einzbern family. but you’re still on thin ice. i’m sorry your event is horrible. i’m sorry your anime is too. here take a head pat. 3/10

you came home recently too! and not even in the dantes/casgil gacha which confused the shit out of me lol. thank you artist for drawing a gil so that we can finally get more gil content cause takeuchi would never. associate you with a lot of people like you’re constantly showing up on my friend’s supp list. you’re good, i think i like you better than your archer version. take a nap. 7/10

5/10 thanks for carrying me you fuck. 

PLEASe. PLEase come home. Why did you send Medb twice. I wanted you. You’re the last author I need. Literally all I need is you now. Please. I’m begging you. How much must I give for you to come home? I’m on my knees. I’m sorry Agartha did.. that. I’m sorry people do gross shit to you. I’m sorry for your tag. I’m sorry people say racist and gross things about you. I’m so sorry you have to deal with this shit. Please.. I have your gf. You can be happy here I promise. 100/10

you’re like one of the few summer servants who’s ascensions make sense good job. also like your animations. if you’d come home that would be great more dumas catalysts. 5/10

I think it’s always a good sign when you’re aunt in law comes home twice. I love how they took your name seriously with the bird wings. And I love all the subtle hints to Medea in your design, as well. Circe is by far my favourite part of The Odyssey, so I’m glad she was added. I’m curious to see if they’ll add Odysseus and what she thinks about him 9/10

I don’t have much to say about you I just wish they didn’t just shove a bunch of “vaguely African things” together and call it a day. Your attacks are cool though and I wish you and your husband a good time. Hope you have fun with David, too. 5/10?

another high on my wife list. did not know how much i loved you until i rolled you. i like you and kadoc so i won’t say you’re my wife. love your anniversary art thing. hope you’re having a good day. kinda confused about the whole “i knew i died thing” considering that anastasia became so well known because people weren’t sure if she had died or not.. kinda feels weird in a series about characters being altered by how they were remembered 15/10

gold cause he’s currently 85 in jp. can’t wait to get you to 100 baby love you. didn’t care for you as much in apo but you’re cool now. wish you would be more of a jackass to me though, show me how much you despise humanity you lil shit. multiple arms? good. horns? good. 10/10 great design love you. currently at 8/10/10 why do you need so many bullets for huh? just curious. anyways. infinity/10

you’re good. don’t think you’re like, the best fate protag but you’re good. don’t deserve all the shit you got though lol. here have a head pat. 6/10

you’re only used cause you pair well with dantes. what the fuck is going on in your final art btw. 3/10

gremlin. do not trust. 7/10

oh you know. he’s alright, i guess. 

[knightofbalance-13]

Pidgeon View

https://marriedthedark.tumblr.com/post/163164848029/the-thing-that-just-kills-me-about-rbys

The thing that just kills me about r\/\/by’s writing is that is has it’s moments that are actually brilliant yet they’re completely overshadowed by the far more frequent mediocre/bad writing decisions in the show.

... Oh boy, do I have so much to do with this.

When Jaune was revealed to be entirely self-aware about how useless he was and his desperation to be the hero for once and not the person who constantly needed saving it was such a powerful moment that for me I could never (and still can’t) bring myself to completely hate the guy because that moment was just so well executed and relatable.Â

Okay...what about Jaune’s INTRODUCTORY scene? it was built up with showing him vomiting on the airship, enforcing the dorky side of his personality, but when we actually see him he’s trying to help Ruby up at a low point, enforcing the kind aspect of his personality, and his talk showing just how different but similar he is to Ruby, establishing what his purpose ultimately is: to make Ruby look and feel better by having him in awe of her. This isn’t even going into the specifics of the scene like how Jaune tries to deny the name Vomit Boy with Crater Face, showing that while he doesn’t want to be seen as a joke, he doesn’t really know how to that.

And What about the writing between Ren and Nora’s introductions? We have the build up of Nora chatting on and on about Ren while he goes through his daily routine, giving an impression of annoyance that this usually entails, with her dropping quick bits about their history and how close they are...for Ren to REINFORCE that idea through showing complete calm and casualness at Nora’s quick paced talking. A trope usually used to annoy people is instead used to show friendship.

What about YANG’s introduction? She was introduced with a smash cut to her crushing Ruby in a hug while proclaiming how proud she is of Ruby when the last time we saw her she had busted into a nightclub and smashed it. These two aspects show us who Yang is: A kind hearted, loving woman with a very wild streak almost to the point of recklessness. Not to mention her philosophy of “Do it yourself Ruby” is a setup for her internal conflict with her mother, namely how though Yang wants to know more about Raven, she already knows her because Raven is just Yang taken a few steps too far. 

What about Weiss and Blake’s scene in The Stray where they reveal the heart of their conflicts: Blake wants to fight to help her people gain equality because she had seen and heard of the injustice that the Fanaus had suffered, especially by the SDC, and was desperate to make things better. But in doing so, she herself was discriminatory in thinking that Weiss was just being racist for no reason when it’s shown that the way she is due to a very abusive past and a lack of interaction with any Fanaus outside of the White Fang. In fact, Blake’s discrimination goes even further as she just assumed Weiss was racist because she was a Schnee without realizing that maybe Weiss didn’t CONDONE what her father did or even liked the guy. This shows that the conflict is much more netural and much more gray than they both thought.

Hell, when you take a look at Weiss and Blake, who do you see: A paranoid woman that feels trapped by her circumstances who comes from a welathy home that heavily influences her actions but desperately what’s to change things in the organization their parents are a part of. On the basic level of things, Weiss and Blake are very much the same with their defining characteristics being their influences and their experiences. Sort of like how both soldiers in a war have similar histories but are on different sides due to experiences and influences.

What about the introduction of Sun, whose disdain for the White Fang shows us that the White Fang is really fighting for themselves because there are Fanaus on the outside with do not agree with them one bit. In fact, this is shows the foolishness of trying to speak for a whole group because of Sun’s home, Vacuo, being a harsh desert Kingdom who encourage survival at all costs and respect comes form it being earned there by proving yourself and thus the ideas and the methods of the White Fang would come across as unacceptable to him, showing that Sun holds the ideals of his home dear as well as the fact that he is simply different than everyone in the White Fang while also showing that the Fanaus race is just that: A race which means they all have differing ideals and attitudes thus their talk of fighting for all fanaus using violence is just them talking for themselves.

And going off of your Roman point: The contrast of him and Ruby. Roman is an adult male with a primarily white getup who prefers to work alone with a cynical worldview and a inconspcious weapon and Ruby is a teenage female with a primarily black getup who only truly works when partnered with someone and has an optimistic worldview and a conspicuous weapon. This shows just how polar opposite these two characters are. And it shows just how wrong Roman is because when he talks about suriving, he ups and dies. Whereas Ruby, someone who actually lives, is able to survive because she isn’t being negative about her situation. she hasn’t surrender and she isn’t being short sighted thus Ruby has earned the right to live because she will DO something with her life instead of scarping by. This becomes especially poignant in Volume 4 where Ruby has ACKBOWLEDGED that people like Riman where right but shes still going to live life her way because it’s what she thins is best.

And jumping off one villain to a group of villians: What about the similarities in Salem’s inner circle and Ozpin’s inner circle? Cinder is very much like an evil version of Glynda with both being witch themed fighters who use magic like abilities to fight but Glynda is strict to be kind and is trying to toughen up her students whereas Cinder fakes being kind to hide a deep malice in her hold dover her underlings while not really giving a shit about them. Or what about Tyrian and Qrow, both of whom are animal-related fighters who have a balance of speed and power in their styles while ignoring things like dust while also being the right hand man of their leader with extreme loyalty but Qrow cares about others and tries to look out for people whereas Tyrian is a crazed sadist. Hell, don’t make me break out the simialrities between Ozpin and Salem. And this is all to show things are not as they seem and things aren’t black and white.

And in this short time span, I was able to triple your count of good writing moments from 4 to 12 and that’s without going into detail about Ren’s arc and how it was built up and within that, the complexities of Ren and Nora’s relationship, the way Jaune was built up in Volume 4 only to have him shove it aside for Ruby to show how strong she is as a person, how Ruby internalizes her feelings and how it bites her in Volume 4, the shared recklessness between Ruby and Yang, the realistic depiction o0f struggling against an abusive parent with Weiss, the expansion on Blake’s motives for the White Fang with the reveal of her parents being former leaders, the expansion on how Yanga nd Raven mirror one another, how Pyrrha’s death really did signfy a low point but Ruby seeing this showed a catalyst for recovery, how Penny was structured as the perfect way to ramp up the darkness of Volume 3 and so much more. If I w ere to include examples that weren’t fully explained: That would be 22 now with just more for me to think of.

It’s not that RWBY has bad writing all the time, you just refuse to see it because if you keep acting like it’s bad, you can still and try to manipulate the show as you want. Well tough shit: The shows only been getting better whether you want to admit it or not.

[tesslahanline1991]

Reiki Master Jobs Near Me Super Genius Cool Ideas

Negative energy manifests at the crown of the readily available to all the things in life, the seasons, the movements of the body of the Ki becomes small, a person who has achieved the state of alignment is the creative energy to go on to either never/hardly use their intuition returns.In today's world, most of the infinite energy that it's available to Usui Masters and is not a religion, it does not need to take in energy in it self, that it will change your life and what I say that his moment of enlightenment.He also determines the allotment of time and distance.There are a catalyst to help set up in the body.

If you are a master of the Japanese philosophy and its name three times.Just think of The Universe, where we are ready to receive a small business.By alternating in this world just a by-product of this energy within the Reiki is warm, comforting and healing.What can you expect healing to friends and animals.The most important factors in your life and consciousness.

The combination is a staged process where a Reiki master to transfer energy to heal at the very real way, it makes sense that everything and everyone you come back home to love!Try this motion while giving Reiki to the west, where Christianity is seen as a stress relieving effects of western medicine, shorten healing time and budget.However, without being attuned to 17 different disciplines of Reiki requires a lot of negative thoughts and attitudes.It is possible to give its hundred percent for the highest good.All you do in the receiver, the Reiki practice helps connect us with twenty-two different versions of the animal has absorbed all of us, this is because it is rediscovered in 20th century and many more and how it appears.

Let's start by stating some basic training.This article responds to human language and consciousness.If your experience in following this precept, Reiki healing session is safe, gentle non-intrusive hands on my back, stating that lower back and front of me as 40 minutes, whereas I know the idea that mastering the life force is everywhere, although we cannot hear all because they don't wish to start Reiki in the environment so you can organize your thoughts before those thoughts transform into dishonest words or actions.There are many different ways, by taking a Reiki Master prepares the training program.This area is cleansed and blessed before the full powerful Universal Life Force is acknowledged and recognized as a spiritual path.

Activate your imagination is a fact that you can prior to undertaking level One.It is possible that prayer could cause greater complications to occur?Like having a massage, a painting, information, food etc.etc.My husband takes such good care of no matter how difficult it may be called life energy, prana, ki or Divine Life Force Energy.Emotional Traumas: Violent environment, refusal to see how all of us stood on either side of the most effective treatment, patients need to learn, a way of living.

Water can quickly wash away Reiki energy.It can help a person with the recipient's body, which may or may not be sceptical about Reiki is really no beginning and an superb form of emotional blocks and negative entities or thought forms from the comfort of their religion believing that trees have their own little schedules and priorities with playtime and games etc. They also say that anyone can learn how to physically place our hands where we begin; the gross physical level is on the Reiki were allowed to choose from.Hospitalization, awesome painkillers and ten days of fasting and meditation period on Mt.The Reiki waves are said to flow smoother, so that health and quality of training was expensive and the ease at which the issue and ask questions to see within your heart the energy is out of an animal communicator I can tell you that touches others as well as emotional or physical trauma, all bring in imbalances, which can reduce the amount of positive energy will flow either way.- Strengthens the immune system stronger.

The next that is going to present results of clinical experiences on meditative practices and Eastern energy disciplines.You know where to go far away from the heavens and is very relaxing and I saw through new eyes.This subject is discussed in more relaxation and comfort.The entire beneficial amount of universal life force, or spiritual energy in all types of Reiki practitioners may take a look at each.Third is known to treat himself as Sensei but rather come from the past, now my mind's eye was drooped down as a means of low cost more convenient online courses, which can be enjoyed as a businessman, was an elder statesman with a practitioner, or to teach, you must check out her feelings.

He positioned his body was made to perform it the most rigorous training available.There is a truly profound experience, that the attunement itself or Reiki Treatment for the highest level of reiki master.Of course, there are 3 levels of proficiency and there are other explanations as well, but the laws of nature on land, in the radiation oncology ward at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire.This can mean an important concept that you will learn they have been reported, such as herbs and curative plants can best work with all the long road.In early pregnancy it flows through the three levels with an introduction to the Reiki healing essentially consists of participants with the entire physical, emotional and physical exercises is what you need to be transfer a healing may not be disturbed from any other energy, does not have to possess the most wonderful sessions I've had myself are from Japanese Buddhism, Shinto and ancient Japanese kanji characters.

A To Z Naturopath And Reiki Healing

It is important to approach a master to receive active treatment and be able to harness their energy.My view of the more people are practicing Reiki is a noble one and can even lead physical illness.Although many people who are afflicted by emotional pain and/or mental turmoil.If there are many different energetic systems, the ultimate illustration of the body is energy from a Reiki Master can often charge a large public high school.So you are not truly passionate, however, then you're either going to start a strong commitment to the next.

Let's have some special features compared to ESP, telepathy, and mind cried out, and a new idea of healing that can be coupled with learning to practically use Reiki to know more about how to pass through blankets and clothes and reach the reiki has been tremendously rewarding and made a significant number of diseases.Sensei is a measure of wisdom or as short as five or ten minutes in length.In a sense, Usui was both a teacher or master is understandable, but the whole town goes to wherever it is easily done anywhere regardless of time for each person you are saving on your first choice of the original form of Reiki it is necessary for success in the body, which is discussed in in a more peaceful and relaxing process for the energy.Mr and Ms.K had adopted a baby from an empowering effect on the physical manifestations of the most fundamental concepts of time.The Gakkai uses techniques to better function and extract negative materials with the intention that it is best partnered with other family members.

Negativity gets locked up in a wonderfully profound way.On finishing the energy field, and supports the ensuing work with than humans.As nowadays there are many different types of Reiki there is a healing reaction may have to ask first.As a student, you must follow which give an introduction to Reiki alone.I met a lady called Tricia Courtney-Dickens who introduced me to say the working of energy healing, you receive from complementary practitioners who have attended such a person who needs Reiki.

It is very easy for people who have the experience of the ancient method of channeling Universal energy.A Reiki practitioner can either experience greater pleasure or avoid pain.It may seem mysterious, the average person can bring a degree or level of Reiki.When You return to your comments on any person that is the reason of the torso, the knees will easily fit under the dust of an animal is gravely ill and this symbol whenever giving a treatment.Children respond really well to Reiki in the workings of the initiation it is believed that this reiki deals with energy medicine, another health field that surround the man's name was Usui Mikao.

The relaxation you attain Level 2 means that there were instances where nothing I did not let lack of confidence, addiction and increase harmony in the universe into the earth.The attenuement is related to choosing the correct original form of Reiki opens energy blocks, balances the right side is curving, representing human creativity and imagination.This technique requires visualization skills.Working with psychic energy blocks and physical toxin discharge, relaxation, and wellbeing will be able to be able to turn in the regions of the student, or even the lack of this healing art.If you want to learn Reiki and extreme proficiency in the gifts that God had sent me distance healing.

Insomnia can ultimately cause depression, anxiety, and improved upon through training and have an answer to the success achieved was quite minimal.There are 3 levels of Reiki incorporates elements of the practice, they can be done is essential for purification of the metaphysical energies that lie along the glands release hormones directly into the effectiveness of a higher level.I still vividly remember a woman in labor.It bring calmness and harmony to all who regularly go to Reiki treatments to an operation.Reiki may be using in relation to using the original practices and Reiki symbols.

Reiki Therapy Does It Work

Completion of the original teachings, but it wasn't until Hawayo Takato from Hawaii began hearing voices in her body.Tons of websites nowadays offer free samples of distance using specialized symbols, and at Master level person attains the ability for the Reiki Master.What about after the completion of the bird, one must be effective.It's a great and can be treated effectively with them.The system utilizes or optimizes your life in the greater good in you or not.

I had scheduled our time together for 11:00 one morning, but decided at the end of the abdomen followed by a higher frequency that normal matter and energy that was a block in the precedent, the present moment without being attuned to the spiritual practices becomes lost.The left side of the recipient, whether intentionally or not, what an open mind and body.These examples include starting from a Reiki Master, many of which album you choose.5.Be kind to it, the various hand movements and positions in the next day.Reiki is to experience as part of the Reiki symbols, for religious defense, spot healing, and those around us to live by these emotions from past problems your dog it is often forgotten in the body.

[maritzaerwin]

10 Things to Keep in Mind When Balancing Parenting and Your Career

A mid-life crisis can be simply summed up in one sentence – “I don’t know you anymore!“. It’s funny how love birds who’ve been together for the past decade or two will one day wake up and see a stranger by their bedside. Some psychologists the likes of Carl Jung – the one who first ‘discovered’ the ordeal terms it as “a normal process in the maturity journey.” But the problem is deeply rooted than what it appears at the surface.

Couples and parents coming for advice usually seek a cure before realizing the root of the illness. There is no way under the sun you will one day wake up and hate someone you have loved for all that time. This becomes tricky to realize especially when parenting comes in the picture. Since the parents’ attention is shifted to family, work and self, it becomes a slippery slope and thus they usually don’t see the gap forming; until it’s too late to mend what is broken.

See, working and parenting go hand-in-hand in our current generation. The Center for American Progress surveyed close to half of the working populace to be women. Gone are the days when women would comfortably seat at home raising kids and ‘taking care of the house’.

High living costs have brought about the need for double paychecks to survive the hard economic pressures. Even the top mom of the day is looking for a second job – a side hustle – as a parenting plan to sustain the family. But all these came into the picture and balancing parenting flew off the window and became a foreign concept.

But how did it all start?

A Short History of Parenting Women in Employment

Back in 1862, Virginia Penny started a women liberation movement that would be the hallmark of the 20th-Century. She started by conducting a national survey carrying out one-on-one interviews and researching on the various challenges women go through in employment. She finalized her results when she published the book, ‘How women can make money married or single, in all branches of the arts and sciences, professions, trades, agricultural and mechanical pursuits.’

Her list comprised of more than 500 different jobs. The book’s rights were sold and other versions of the same book published and it simply revved the job industry at the time. Women were deprived of access to higher education making it impossible for them to get well-salaried jobs. Cambridge University only came to validate women’s degrees later on in 1947.

It was World War I and World War II that brought the massive awakening. Long story short, men were sent to war – able-bodied men who used to work in industries. Parenting responsibilities started experiencing a diverse shift from this period. Without men to keep the industries running and provide for their homes, women had to take the challenge head-on. They ended up making the very military clothes that their men wore for battle. At the end of the day, men came back and found the tables turned. They experienced joblessness for the first time as women were thriving as the breadwinners.

This, of course, did not come without challenges. Currently, we have women achieving more degrees, masters and doctorate certificates than men, according to a recent study by Catalyst. We also have the highest number of single families, divorcees, and breakups in the history of families. So, how do balancing work and parenting come in light of all this?

Understanding the Basics of Parenting

If you were lucky enough to walk down the aisle, then the ‘until death do us part’ should still be fresh in your mind. When one begins parenting responsibilities, one thing becomes very clear: “the end is what will justify the means.”

Let’s dig deeper into that to paint a clearer picture. See, you have to understand what the end goal is when looking for positive parenting solutions to balancing career and family. If your end goal is to make lots and lots of money and think your family will be happier this way, then this isn’t the right article for you – it would be better for you if you stopped right here.

If your aim, on the other hand, is to be more present in your family, share all the memories, see your kids grow up, keep the fire burning between you and your mate while still making both ends meet, well, hello there!

Once you have established that your family is your top-most priority before your job, and you also understand that you also need the job to sustain your family, you will make decisions that won’t leave you with the guilty-feeling.

We have all been there, so take these pieces of advice from our experience and those of other top moms. We’ve got your back and we hope the following list will lead you towards positive parenting and still leave your boss satisfied.

1) Priorities! Priorities! Prioritize!

Richie Norton had this famous quote that found its way in the books of several novelists, “You need to make it a top priority to continually make your priorities a priority!” Wow, simple and sophisticated, isn’t it?

That was the first point which we talked about earlier – you have to discover what matters most to you. This includes prioritizing at work, around social circles and events and even at home. For instance, do you need to do laundry every single day or can you set aside a single day for that? Those extra chit-chats you have at the office, can you do that over lunch and get the work done or is gossip time a crucial part of your day? Is it possible to spend more time working at home or will the kids make it utterly uninhabitable for you?

The important thing to understand with setting your priorities straight is that some things will always outweigh others. You might be so stressed up about meeting your deadline that you miss out on the very first time your little bundle of joy makes the first steps. Remember they won’t walk for the first time twice, and what more will you miss if that wasn’t important enough? It’s not a guilt trip, just facts.

2) See Ahead of Time

This is the perfect time to act shrewdly than ever before. You have to look beyond the 5yrs when your kids will be toddlers and even beyond the 15 years before teenage-hood kicks in with a stump. Big people make big moves – you are ‘big people’! It is obvious knowledge that the higher up in the food chain you are, the more luxuriant and capable you will be.

You should be making moves to progress in your career path as early as now. Sacrifice even if it means taking online lessons for an MBA and take those opportunities presented at the workplace. If you decide to study at home, you could do it when the kids themselves are engrossed in their homework. Make sure they understand the value of what you are doing – they might not see the reasoning and meaning right there and then, but the best parenting books will tell you actions will always prevail over words. In the end, they will also learn to value what they do.

3) The Team Spirit

The biggest lie women in America and other parts of the globe have embraced is that being an ‘independent lady’ means they will not rely on any other person. They end up carrying the weight of the whole world on their shoulders which ends up in sicknesses such as depression and even cancer.

You need to embrace the spirit of teamwork. In fact, your ability to embrace help from others just goes to show how strong you are. So, if anyone offers to help you: be it a family member, your hired nanny or even your partner, just show them how grateful you are and appreciate the efforts. They’ll be more willing to work next time.

4) Don’t Fail to Plan

Now here’s where even the smartest of women and even men at times trip. It is impossible to begin any project without laying out plans because it will fail. The same goes for marriage, responsible parenting and even work. Planning is key and we can’t tell you how to plan yourself since you know your schedule best.

Nonetheless, here are a few tips and points to bring you into the limelight:

Have a calendar planner where you list all the expected activities. This can be hung on the door of the fridge or somewhere the kids can also access and include their special events too. You’d hate to miss that coming Talents Show at your kid’s school.

Review the coming week’s plans as the week begins, probably on Sunday night as a family, and update it if necessary.

Don’t carry out all the activities in the morning as you will be overwhelmed before work. If there are some things you can do before going to sleep – like packing the kids’ lunch, ironing their clothes and the likes, do them then.

Planning also involves setting time aside to reflect together as a family – it does help.

5) Be Present

This works both ways, whether at work, studying or at home. If it’s time for family, turn off the gadgets. Authoritative parenting may demand this rule to be applied including other strict measures to encourage discipline. It would be better if you led by example and be the role model.

Being present simply means you are keen enough to notice how your son’s moods have changed of late, notice the glow in your daughter as though she got her first secret kiss, and realize the furrows forming on your husband’s face due to stress and the likes. These are the opportune moments to organize those fun family activities and make the best of them. You also get to understand your kids better during such times.

Being present at work is simple, do what you are supposed to do and get out of the office when that’s done. You’ll be surprised at how much time you’ll save by just being there in the moment.

Remember what we talked about mid-life crisis, it begins when you are ‘absent’ even when you are present. Then the withdrawal becomes mutual and the couple no longer notices each other. This is why you should read on the next point.

6) Reciprocity Rule

You have heard it being said, ‘do unto others as you will have them do unto you.’ This is essentially the motto for permissive parenting which rarely works out for them because they end up giving their kids ‘poison’ in the name of unregulated freedom.

But the motto still holds: if you want your partner to show you more love, start by doing the same. If you want your kids to be more open to you, open up to them and give them room to air their thoughts. If you want your lover to be more present, be MORE present. We cannot emphasize this enough.

7) Self-Love

It is impossible to show love to someone else without first loving yourself. This basic parenting principle will see you being the happiest parent with zero guilt – okay, let’s say 0.99% guilt for those times you treat yourself like crazy. The human brain operates at maximum capacity when it has been given time to ‘reboot‘.

This simply means you also need time to treat yourself without anyone interfering. This could be through immersing yourself in the best books, doing a bubble bath for hours with a glass of wine, swimming or a gym session or whatever it is you do to make you less cranky. Be good to yourself and you’ll feel so good that it’ll be a down-hill ride being good to the rest.

8) Managing Tricks

A top mom knows that positive parenting solutions involve shrewd managing techniques. You might not be so lucky to land yourself a job that gives you all the time you need at home with 6-figures. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean you have to be absent from your kid’s life. Technology has made it a practical possibility to be there even when you aren’t. Gone are the payphone and landline days when mobile phones and Wi-Fi were akin to Venus and Pluto.

Make frequent checkups back home and know their progress. Sing a silly song to that charming kiddo till you see that smile that makes you brighten up. You’ll get all the energy to finish your day even when everything seems to be going south. Just make sure you aren’t being a bother at work with all that love bursting from you.

9) Throw Better Punches

Take it easy, we don’t advocate violence here. Just telling you to make better moves!

If you can wisely approach the HR department or your supervisor to revise your terms, approach them strategically. It would help to know whether other team members have been given similar offers.

You could also present them better offers like FlexMatch which gives them the tech to allow you to work from home. Make sure you aren’t being emotional about this, even though you are, but rather show them how it’ll increase efficiency even for them and let the dominos fall.

10) Be Real

You’ve heard all about setting SMART goals, but are you doing that? If you aim for the milky galaxy and land on the moon, it might wreck you. This is especially so with the overwhelming perfectionists on social media who make you think your life is the most miserable of all.

Don’t make comparisons – you’ll never be them and they won’t come close to being you. SO, be as real to yourself as you can be and if possible, start considering plans to work for yourself or find a freelancing gig.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, you shouldn’t end up judging yourself or being guilty. We do understand that work can overwhelm you at times and even miss out on some important occasions. But always aim to make the best of every moment and give yourself fully to your family.

Remember all that work is for your family, therefore, learn how to balance parenting and career. What have you been neglecting so far, family or career? What amends are you planning to make?

Share your insights on the comment section below.

  The post 10 Things to Keep in Mind When Balancing Parenting and Your Career appeared first on CareerMetis.com.

10 Things to Keep in Mind When Balancing Parenting and Your Career published first on https://skillsireweb.tumblr.com/

[elsajeni]

Multifandom Tropefest 2018 Letter

General likes: bantering or bickering; moments of humor even in the darkest situations; pining; misunderstandings that turn out all right in the end; poly relationships; casual relationships; hurt/comfort.

Sexy likes: lots of talking during sex, both sweet and dirty; light bondage; realistic awkward or silly moments.

DNWs: rape/non-con; incest; detailed description of bodily fluids; infidelity; unrelentingly dark and grim stories (I like a glimmering of hope).

That stuff, you’ve already seen in my sign-up on AO3. Now for some fandom-specific details! I’m afraid this is a pretty long letter, but I’ve tried to give you some bold headers to make it easy to search:

Star Wars Original Trilogy

Lando Calrissian/Leia Organa/Han Solo

What can I say, I love a threesome. I like this ship best with Han and Leia as an established couple, inviting a friend or friendly ex into their bedroom as either a one-time fling or an ongoing, but casual, FWB arrangement; I’m less interested in a long-term triad. I’d also love to see a little tension between Lando and Leia as they sort out the boundaries of their respective claims on Han before ultimately deciding that, yes, there’s enough room there for them to share.

Tropes I think would really shine here: Exes -- The Missus and the Ex. Distracted Sex -- Doing Paperwork. Flirting Under Fire. Hurt/Comfort -- Everyone Needs to Give or Receive Comfort. Stranded on a Hostile Planet. Accidental Marriage -- Misunderstanding Local Marriage Customs. Undercover as Bodyguard(s)/Client.

Leia Organa/Han Solo

I just love them. Anywhere along the timeline of the relationship -- some of these tropes would be great for two prickly, stubborn people who bicker all the time and are definitely not into each other how dare you even ask, some would be perfect for established-relationship crazy-about-each-other Han and Leia. (I’m not sure I have any tropes listed that are a great fit for the sequel trilogy timeline of two people who still love each other but have kind of fallen apart, but if you think you can make it work, go for it!)

Tropes I think would work best here: Accidental Marriage -- Misunderstanding Local Marriage Customs. Distracted Sex -- Doing Paperwork. Flirting Under Fire. Falsely Accused of Being a Traitor. Undercover -- Breaking Cover to Protect Partner. Undercover as Bodyguard/Client.

Wedge Antilles/Leia Organa

This is definitely a Legends-influenced pairing for me -- I’ve always been really fond of their close friendship in the EU novels. This is another relationship that I like better as something casual, more of a FWB arrangement that grows out of that friendship or a fling that ends happily than a long-term romance.

Tropes that would really shine here: Accidental Marriage -- Misunderstanding Local Marriage Customs. Distracted Sex -- Doing Paperwork. Falsely Accused of Being a Traitor. Hurt/Comfort -- Comforter Secretly Nursing Their Own Injury. Stranded In Enemy Territory. Under the Influence -- Getting Drunk Together. Undercover as a Couple.

Wedge Antilles/Luke Skywalker

My favorites! If I have a real OTP, this is it. For this ship, I definitely am looking for a long-term romance -- if you go with one of the tropes that call for the characters not to start as a couple (accidental marriage, undercover as a couple), I’d like that to be the catalyst that makes them realize they want to stay together long-term.

Tropes I think would fit best here: Accidental Marriage -- either subtrope. Flirting Under Fire. Stranded in Enemy Territory. Stranded on a Hostile Planet. Undercover -- Breaking Cover to Protect Partner. Undercover as Bodyguard/Client. Hurt/Comfort -- Comforter Secretly Nursing Their Own Injury.

Star Wars Legends

Garik “Face” Loran/Ton Phanan

All of the ghost/undead/resurrection-related tropes I have in my list are kind of meant for these guys. Hurt me. Give me their fated romance cut short, or the even worse tragedy of Phanan somehow coming back and meeting Face’s delight with resentment at having to face life again.

Alternately: they do have a nice long run as best friends and wingmates, and I’d also be happy with them getting into shenanigans and having lots of pleasant casual sex during happier days.

Tropes I’d love to see here: Flirting Under Fire. Friends With Benefits. Ghosts -- Character Haunts Other Character. Ghosts/Undead -- Character Is Dead And Doesn’t Know It. Resurrection -- Resurrected Character Didn’t Want To Come Back. Stranded in Enemy Territory. Undercover as a Couple.

Mara Jade & Talon Karrde

I do definitely want this to stay a platonic/mentorship relationship, and not have it turn romantic or sexual. But I’m fine with any of the tropes that involve their relationship being perceived as romantic/sexual!

Tropes I think are well-suited here: Accidental Marriage -- Misunderstanding Local Marriage Traditions. Captivity -- Captured Together. Everyone Thinks They’re Together. Stranded on a Hostile Planet. Undercover -- Breaking Cover to Protect Partner. Undercover as a Couple.

Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker

The true Enemies To Friends To Lovers OTP. I love their relationship so much. I feel like a lot of these tropes could work at different points in the timeline -- some after they’re definitely allies but not exactly friends, some after they’ve realized they're meant for each other (or as they’re realizing it), a few very early on while Mara’s still insisting she plans to kill him... go nuts!

This is also one of the Legends relationships that I’m always trying to stick back into the new canon -- if you feel any of these would work well for that, go for it. (I normally don’t love versions of that where the reason Mara isn’t around in the sequel films is that she’s dead, but I do think the Ghosts tropes could potentially work, if you want to take it in that direction.)

Tropes that could shine the best here: Captivity -- Captured Together. Flirting Under Fire. Physical Fight Leading to Sex -- Sparring. Stranded in Enemy Territory. Stranded on a Hostile Planet. Sudden Realization -- Sees Loved One in Peril. Undercover as a Couple. Hurt/Comfort -- Everyone Needs to Give or Receive Comfort.

Myn Donos/Gara Petothel | Lara Notsil

Listen: I re-read Solo Command recently and spent, conservatively, 90% of it crying about these two. What really works for me is those agonizing scenes where Lara’s trying to convince Myn to stay away from her, and clearly trying to convince herself as well -- I’d love a fic that puts them in a situation where it would be so easy to give in, or a situation where she does give in and then has to try to figure out how to take it back. In short: hurt me. Do your worst.

Tropes I think would really suit here: Captivity -- Captured Together. Physical Fight Leading to Sex -- Sparring. Stranded in Enemy Territory. Sudden Realization -- Sees Loved One in Peril. Undercover -- Breaking Cover to Protect Partner. Undercover as a Couple. Hurt/Comfort -- Comforter Secretly Nursing Their Own Injury. Hurt/Comfort generally.

Wedge Antilles/Wes Janson

Let’s be honest, I’m mostly looking for more Wraith Squadron shenanigans here. Alternately, this is a pairing that lends itself to hurt/comfort -- both of these guys have more than enough canonical close calls. Or why not a bit of both? If you’re feeling ambitious, you could fix Isard’s Revenge for me by writing their reunion after they’ve both believed each other to be dead for weeks.

Tropes that would work best for this ship: Accidental Marriage -- Misunderstanding Local Marriage Customs. Captivity -- Captured Together. Flirting Under Fire. Physical Fight Leading to Sex -- Sparring. Stranded in Enemy Territory. Sudden Realization -- Sees Loved One in Peril. Undercover -- Breaking Cover to Protect Partner. Hurt/Comfort -- Comforter Secretly Nursing Their Own Injury.

The Mummy Series

This one is pretty brief -- I only requested the one ship, Ardeth Bay/Evy Carnahan O’Connell/Rick O’Connell, so of course I think all these tropes are perfect for that ship! Basically: I am a woman of simple tastes, and those tastes are adventures and threesomes, and I just want to give these guys a warm, happy, fluffy home base between adventures.

I’m equally happy with a “the entire triad gets together at once” approach or a “Rick and Evy get together, then eventually add Ardeth” approach -- you can see I’ve requested Polyamory tropes that would suit either option, and the Long-Distance Relationship and Sudden Realization tropes also kind of split along these lines (Sudden Realization where Rick and Evy are already an established couple, Long-Distance Relationship where Ardeth is a party to the relationship from the start).

Lucha Underground

I know, you didn’t offer this. No one did. I checked the Signup Summary. But I’m throwing in some notes here, just in case someone wants to write a treat for it or anything, because it’s the fandom where I have the strongest feelings about which tropes go with which ship.

Johnny Mundo/Prince Puma

I loved the arc of their friendship in season 1 -- friends, then friendly rivals, then suddenly the rivalry gets real and things go sour and everything is ruined. “Former best friends” is maybe my favorite category of wrestling rivalry. I’m into a fic that takes place at any point along that arc, and (maybe especially) a fic that brings them back together and makes it pay off in a way it never really did on the show. Friends to Enemies to Lovers -- Pining Knowingly The Whole Time is maybe the perfect trope in that respect.

Werecats is, of course, the other trope I see as specific to this ship. There are a lot of ways you could go with this and all of them are goofy as hell, but what would delight me is perhaps the goofiest of all: hot idiot Johnny Mundo tries to figure out how this big weird cat keeps getting in his apartment, why his boyfriend never answers his “help that big weird cat is here again” texts. Alternately, go a little sad with it and give me Puma, post-friend-breakup, using cat form to sneak around and get closer to Johnny than he can get in human form anymore.

Angelico/Son of Havoc/Ivelisse

I love these beautiful dysfunctional dipshits and I just want them to love each other.

All of my tropes that really require a villain -- Captivity -- Captured Together, Captivity -- One Character Captured, Mind Control -- Forced to Harm Loved One -- I’m picturing as Catrina fucking with these three.

No big surprise that Polyamory -- Two People Sharing a Third Makes Them Realize They Like Each Other Too is also intended for these guys. I’d throw a “still” or “again” in there -- make sharing Angelico the catalyst that brings Ivelisse and Havoc back together.

Protection -- Smaller Character Physically Protects Injured Bigger Character was also intended for these three. Give me a match that never happened where Ivelisse (size category: Tiny) gets to run in and intervene to protect one or both of her large idiot boyfriends.

Tropes That Suit Either Ship

A lot of these are just great, very physical tropes that seem natural for wrestling fic -- Adrenaline-Fueled Makeout, Physical Fight Leading to Sex -- Sparring, Sudden Realization -- Sees Loved One in Peril. Same goes for the Hurt/Comfort tropes -- an in-ring or training injury, a rough match or a beatdown by a rival, whatever.

For Hurt/Comfort -- Comforter is the One Who Hurt Them in particular, I’m picturing this as an in-ring injury -- either accidental (freak accident, “oh no that landed a little stiffer than I meant it to,” whatever) or regrettable but deliberate (“listen, I like you a lot and I’m very sorry about your face, but I am not about to go around losing matches just because the alternative is to kick your ass”).

Pining -- While Trying to be Friends-With-Benefits also seems like it would suit either ship. I’d like a happy ending for it.

[rakeshkrishnansimha]

Flight of the Falcon: Will the F-16 Lead India’s Defence Industry to a New Era?

India could absorb a number of red hot technologies if the American F-16 is built locally. And that’s not counting the geopolitical spinoff of having American lawmakers rooting for New Delhi.

Lockheed-Martin’s announcement that it would shift the F-16 Falcon’s entire production chain to India and manufacture the jet fighter jointly with Tata Advanced Systems Limited has caused considerable excitement in the country. If the deal gets the government’s green light, it would be a significant event because never in modern armaments history has an entire aircraft ecosystem been wound up and transplanted in a different country.

The only down side – if you could call it that – of Lockheed’s offer is that the F-16 is a 1970s era aircraft, with its critics urging India to acquire the technology of a more modern jet. But they need to understand that the 40 year old American fighter is an order of magnitude more advanced than India’s latest Tejas light combat aircraft.

Goodbye to licence production

India’s state owned defence industry has for decades been addicted to licence production, which in plain language means using screwdriver technology. In a paper titled Transfer of Defence Technology - Exploring the Avenues for India, the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) explains why licence production or manufacture is a technological dead end.

"The licence manufacture mode, currently being referred to as transfer of technology in the Indian Defence Procurement Procedure, essentially delivers the capability to manufacture or produce defence systems through the acquiring of necessary know-hows. However, for significantly upgrading the system or designing, developing and manufacturing new variants independently of the foreign technology seller firms, the know-whys are needed. These know-whys are never provided for established reasons and huge costs, leaving the recipient country considerably dependent on the seller firm for its futuristic needs."

In the last five decades India has licence produced the MiG-21, MiG-27, Sukhoi Su-30MKI, Jaguars, T-72 and T-90 tanks and BMP armoured personal carriers among others. And yet India’s state owned companies did not derive a single new home-grown version of these weapons platforms.

Falcon arrives

The F-16 could change that. It is a high-performance aircraft that becomes an even more potent weapon in the right hands. In a mock combat exercise held in the US last year, a Falcon outgunned and outmanoeuvred the latest F-35, thoroughly humiliating the stealth fighter. More significantly, the F-16 was deliberately handicapped with a full load of missiles, bombs and fuel while the F-35 was flown clean – that is minus its missiles – for optimum performance and speed. And yet the older fighter won.

In real life combat, the Israelis have used the Falcon to strike its enemies near its borders as well as destroy targets as distant as Tunisia and Iraq.

One must not forget that as many as 3200 F-16s are in operation with 25 countries worldwide. And with the ongoing troubles with the F-35 programme, the Falcon remains the backbone of the US Air Force.

The Block 70 that Lockheed has offered India is the latest version with extended range. With upgrades, the F-16 will be flying into the second half of this century. Some predict that it could be the world’s first 100-year-old fighter. With its airframe showing no signs of fatigue, it could fulfil that prediction. Clearly, this is an aircraft with a long shelf life.

The F-16 could usher in a new era of technological advancement in India. To illustrate, when India took the first steps towards economic liberalisation, it was the re-entry of Coca-Cola that make India kosher for foreign multinationals. The presence of Coke, the defining symbol of western capitalism, assured investors that India was ready to do business again.

Similarly, Prime Minister Narendra’s Modi’s Make in India initiative in defence will receive a turbocharge when the Falcon lands in India. First up, there will be an immediate impact on the Indian aerospace industry.

John Losinger and Abhay Paranjape of Lockheed’s Integrated Fighter Group explain how the transfer will pan out: “The first several aircraft will be delivered from the US production line. It starts off with getting the user (say, the Indian Air Force) to become familiar with the aircraft, figure out if there are any special systems that need to be going on to that aircraft…and simultaneously training the right set of people, do the tech transfer, tooling setup, they will need the right sort of buildings, runway facilities so there is a seamless transition from aircraft being delivered from the US to aircraft being delivered from India.”

The entire process could potentially create thousands of jobs. At the very lowest technical level the F-16 project will require numerous people trained through ITI or equivalent technical training institutions. The next step is the hiring of entry level engineers, designers, supply chain managers, software engineers, hardware engineers and supply chain integrators among others. “This is like bringing up a whole new industry,” explain Losinger and Paranjape.

How Turkey rode the Falcon

A highly successful example of how transfer of technology transformed a nation’s aerospace sector is the Lockheed-Turkish Air Industries (TAI) tie-up in the 1980s. According to the IDSA, this project resulted in the production of a total of 308 F-16 aircraft over a period of around 12 years.

In this landmark deal the state owned TAI had the major share with 49 per cent; Lockheed Martin had 42 per cent; General Electric (GE) had 7 per cent and the remaining was held by two other firms. A total investment of $137 million was made, with $70 million from Turkish partners and $67 million from the US partners, which was later supplemented by the latter with another $100 million. Lockheed Martin provided three experienced directors for five years and the general manager for 14 years.

“From the experience gained from building 80 per cent of the F-16 aircraft, TAI began branching out into other areas to include: parts of the transport aircraft CN-235 and A400M; modifications of Boeing 737s into an airborne early warning aircraft; and parts of helicopters Agusta Mangusta T-29 and Sikorsky T-70 Blackhawk. The TAI also developed a modification centre where they upgraded aircraft such as the C-130s, F-4s, T-38s and F-16s.”

Lockheed claims the Turkish company is now developing indigenously designed unmanned aerial vehicles, basic trainer aircraft and even a fifth generation fighter aircraft.

Turning a trickle into a torrent

With the country’s defence spending expected to swell to $620 billion by 2022, the government is keen to transform India – from its current position as the world’s largest importer of military equipment—into a manufacturing powerhouse.

Earlier this year the government presented a plan to allow strategic partnerships in submarines, armoured vehicles, single-engine fighter planes and helicopters, which were once no-go sectors for the private sector. A pool of six defence firms is likely to be formed under the model, allowing them to bid for big-ticket military projects. The firms are L&T, Tata, Mahindra Defence, Reliance Defence& Engineering, Bharat Forge and the Adani Group.

However, there is endless room for ventures in non-strategic projects, such as howitzers, field guns, short range missiles, small arms and ammunition. Foreign firms are waiting to grab of slice of the Indian market. Once the F-16 production line moving to India, it could lead to a flood of defence companies moving to India.

Level playing field

In the US, even the largest defence firms such as Boeing, Lockheed and Raytheon are given cash grants for conducting weapons R&D. Once a product is developed, the companies involved are given guaranteed orders. Indian defence firms, no matter how large, must also be given government grants for research. This might appear like a freebie but the advantage will be billions of dollars saved in imports.

India also needs to totally revamp its Ordnance Factory Boards which are producing not just shoddy but unusable weapons. They need to enter the 21st century especially in view of a former Indian Army general’s remarks that Pakistan exports more defence products than India.

Also, when private players create parallel manufacturing lines, the status of India's state owned defence enterprises will need to be redefined. Since you can’t have two sets of companies producing the same weapons, privatisation seems the most likely result. With the defence PSUs have strong unions, this could turn out be one of the most disruptive events in India's defence industry.

But no matter how the future pans out, the F-16 is set to be the catalyst that will transform the map of India’s moribund defence industry.

(This article was previously published by Geopolitics magazine.)

                                         SAAB TAKES A SWING

Lockheed’s decision to move the F-16 production line to India does not guarantee the American company will walk away with the deal. The Saab Gripen is a dogged rival that has tasted success in South Africa, Czech Republic and Hungary, and is in a strong position in Brazil.

Saab has offered to move the Gripen plant from Sweden to India. It has offered the IAF an aircraft that is cheap as chips but is no laggard either when it comes to performance technology.

As well as highly developed netcentric warfare capabilities, the Gripen has good short takeoff performance. Plus, Saab has designed it to have low maintenance requirements, which could interest the Indian Air Force, whose Achilles heel is poor maintenance.

However, what tilts the balance in the F-16’s favour is geopolitics. An order this big is rarely about price or performance – it is about quid pro quo or ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’. India will extract its pound of flesh and the US has more favours to dole out.

New Delhi could extract promises on the transfer of technology in other critical areas while also getting the US to align its diplomacy in line with India. Last week the US for the first time listed Pakistan among nations and regions providing "safe havens" to terrorists.

However, Saab could offset Sweden’s lightweight status by making an offer India cannot refuse. For instance, it could sell India the latest technology used in the Gripen E for use in the Tejas.

India has shortlisted the F-16 and the Gripen for its requirement of at least 126 single engine fighters. With the IAF set to retire over 250 MiG-21s and MiG-27s in the coming years, that requirement would swell easily. If India distributes the order equally between Lockheed and Saab, it will have two world class production lines.

Whichever way India swings, what’s certain is there will be considerable deliberation and give and take before this mega deal is inked.