#fear of change.... of leaving my job helping animals.... and also resentment of how hard that job is (eating the fish)...

[mod2amaryllis]

had a weird spin on my recurring "finding neglected pets i forgot about" dream where i had a rack of huge fish tank with gorgeous fish but my "mom" (not even my mom) decided it would be cool to put a big predator in each tank, like. like a freaking caiman. and a big snake. and a weird final fantasy ass cat thing. all just in the water. and they started EATING MY FISH but also the big predators were neglected so the SPIN is that for the first time dream-me did something about it and lifted the caiman out of its tank and put it in a box and drove to a big animal sanctuary where an eccentric ranger did a physical on the caiman and i got to see the caiman perk up and waddle around and bask a little and there was a time skip and when i came back all the neglected animals were there and they were happy.

good omen perhaps?

[olruggioofthetorch]

sorry you know me I like to ask a million questions so here it goes- Tinsel:5,18,20,27,31,39,40 / Nila:13,28/Roman:11,6,7/Benji:4,19/Saoirse: 20,25,27 /Fionn: 6,7,10,33/ Scone:21,23 - sorry can’t remember the other siblings off the top of my head and these are the major ones anyway right haha? and this is a lot of questions anyway soooo

Ooo we're getting into the selkies tonight

Tinsel

5. What was their childhood fear?

Being alone or left behind. It was definitely a threat when they were a kid like "if you aren't on the caravan before we leave at noon, we're leaving you behind". I don't think their parents would have actually left them behind when they were small but it was enough of a threat that they and their siblings listened for the most part. Its not so much a childhood fear as it is a regular adult fear now.

18. If they could live or visit anywhere, where would they go?

Tinsel really likes where they live but they do have dreams about living on a sunny coast with their partners when they all settle down. Idk if there's anywhere specific they want to visit? They just go where the adventure leads them. I think they would like to visit somewhere to meet up with their family, tho.

20. What did they dream of "growing up" to be?

Oh man, Tinsel wanted to be an A List celebrity actor. They wanted to be lead role in blockbusters. It was a big goal for them but they were sure they could do it.

27. Have they achieved any of their childhood dreams? Are they still trying? Have those dreams changed?

They've gotten some of their childhood dreams! They moved to Holly Bay and made tons of friends. They got to act in live theater. They were almost in a movie! They got some notoriety from adventuring and were on TV for it. They got to kiss their childhood crush. They didn't quite make it to the A List after getting blacklisted but they're def still trying.

In regards to how they changed: I don't think they changed too much but they did see how hard it was to achieve them. Plus, they started dreaming about having a family when they were with Bast so that's definitely something they want now.

31. Who are they when they aren't with the party?

When they're not with the party, Tinsel is way less open about themself. They're a master of either talking around a question or lying by omission and they use it when they don't feel comfortable sharing. Pre-adventure, they didn't really even tell their closest friends the entire truth about their backstory (which is honestly buckwild and hard to believe anyway) or their relationship with Bast or really anything about their love/sex life.

I think it's bc they don't think Kira and Zona will judge them.

39. If someone could tell them anything about the future they asked, would they want to know? Would they ask?

I think they have actually, they asked if they were going to get married. I don't think they would want to ask something super serious because they aren't going to listen to a no.

40. What sets them free?

A good support system. Tinsel's very talented and driven but they need the power of friendship to keep them from burning out.

Nila

13. How do they like to spend afternoons free?

Nila likes to paint. She dipped her toe into art forgery for a little bit but decided it was more fun to steal the real thing and do her own work on the side. She has one of those cute little travel watercolors she uses to paint landscapes when she gets some time alone. Absolutely no one knows she has this hobby.

28. If they could change their class(es), would they? To what?

I dont think she'd change her class from rogue but she would def take some wizard skills.

Roman

11. What were their teenage years like?

He was a horrible teenage boy, mostly bc he wanted attention. He started off with red hair but occasionally made it redder when he got teased about it. He activated the Cain instinct in a lot of his siblings but I think Tinsel tried to kicked his ass the most purely due to how close their ages are. He shot them with an arrow by accident once and never lived it down.

His mom taught him archery at around 14-15 and he got very good at it to try and impress her. He left home around 18/19, picked up some odd jobs/repaired archery equipment professionally for a few years until Nila called him up like "hey bro miss you let's do this heist together".

6. Did they grow up with siblings? What were those relationships like?

Yes lmao my boy has 9 siblings. I sort of talked about this in the last question but yeah he liked to stir the pot for attention. Even though they tried to kick his ass, his siblings still love him. Him and Saoirse always got along really well and I'm p sure she stopped him from actually getting murdered as a kid lol. He really doesn't have a bad relationship with any of them, though, besides still owing Scone a bunch of money. Rome's a lot of fun and he's the kind of guy who will give or share anything with you. He is just A Lot.

7. How were their relationships with their parents/guardians growing up?

He def knew he wasn't the favorite child lol. I think once Knox realized why his kid was acting up, he made sure to spend some extra time with him every once and a while. And once he showed promise in archery, his relationship with Fulki got better too. I think he has an okay relationship with his parents right now but he definitely would never live with them again.

Benji

4. Who was their childhood hero?

Their dad! They're very similar people and he looks up to him a lot.

19. How does the high noon sun make them feel?

Sleepy... It's too darn hot. He's 100% not interested in going out at high noon so he's either taking a nap or hanging out somewhere shady with Folsom.

Saoirse

20. What did they dream of "growing up" to be?

I don't know if Saoirse had one specific dream. What she did know is that she didn't want to get married and she didn't want to have kids. I think she went through a bunch of phases on what she wanted to be when she grew up until she landed on being a wizard. When that stuck, she just leaned hard into it.

25. What is their comfort item/habit?

She's definitely one of those "make a hot beverage when I'm stressed" kind of people. She's also a stress baker... Which used to be a "make potions and light stuff on fire" habit but she realized she gets muffins if she bakes instead.

She also has a bunch of stuffed animals in her room, purely because she's an adult wizard and no one can tell her not to have stuffies.

27. Have they achieved any of their childhood dreams? Are they still trying? Have those dreams changed?

Oh, she totally achieved the wizard thing and now she's a real Howl Pendragon figure. She got bored being by herself so she applied to get some apprentices, but due to a clerical error, she wound up with a couple of brothers (Max and Arseny) who were way too young to be apprentices. She's basically raising them as her kids (they call her mama and the Townes all consider them grandkids/nephews lol) but Saoirse insists they're still her apprentices in public.

Fionn

6. Did they grow up with siblings? What were those relationships like?

Fionn was the golden oldest brother! He and Saoirse were basically 3rd/4th parents so the rest of the siblings came to love/respect him. He was really good at keeping the peace. Dude would have made a fantastic diplomat. The siblings especially liked when he told them stories about life before their family left the Muirs or stories about knights/heroes. It was a rough day when he disappeared and the siblings that remember him really miss him.

7. How were their relationships with their parents/guardians growing up?

Very strained. Like, he was def the favorite child, but Fionn really had some childhood trauma from The Fall that they couldn't help him with bc they also had it. He sort of resents that he got put into the auxiliary parent role on top of it. I think ultimately they expected way too much out of him so it was only natural he'd disappear and be feral.

10. When did their childhood end?

I don't think it was a definite ending, more of a gradual thing around his early teens when he realized he had a lot of responsibilities.

Scone

21. How did they become an adventurer?

Scone's best friend Latte (a Yuke who's good with magic) sent her a letter that suggested they'd make a good caravanning team. She was itching to leave the family caravan (she was tired of bailing her siblings out and knew that adventuring was good money) so she agreed!

23. What is their role in the party? Not just their class on a meta level, but among the individuals who make up the party?

Imagine a buff accountant and you have Scone lol.

Like Tinsel, Scone is the tank in combat. However, unlike Tinsel, Scone is weirdly responsible. She makes sure all the supplies are stocked and in order, makes sure everyone takes care of themselves and she keeps track of their earnings. She can be outgoing but she prefers to let her team do the social leg work.

[benscursedkid]

Rebekah’s Extended Family: Maternal Side

Paternal Side / Immediate

Aunt: Adelaide Leá Cordeau (née Leon)

Born: October 31st, 1947

Sign: Scorpio

House: Slytherin

Wand: Laurel Wood, Dragon Heartstring and Demiguise Hair Core, 12 ¾ Inches, Soft Flexibility

Blood Status: Pure-Blood

Occupation: Alchemy Professor at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic

Oldest of the two, Adelaide was very fond and very protective of her sister

Feared her parents, particularly her father, and therefore was more impressionable, more likely to follow orders and obey them mindlessly

Even if it was just to satiate them and keep herself out of trouble

Scared of what would happen if she disagreed with him so she let herself be manipulated

Better to safe than sorry is her motto

She used to try to appeal to her mother when she was younger but soon realized it was useless

Their mother was a numb, empty woman and advised Delphine to leave her be when she started trying to do the same

Though during summer breaks she did try as often as she could to keep her and Delphine out of the house

But at the end of the day, they always had to come back

That stuck with her

Quieter than her sister, more studious, though they shared equal ambition

Immensely skilled in Potions and Alchemy and was a star pupil in the Slug Club as a student

The only one in her family who was skilled in singing– something she loved to tease Delphine about

Her humor was a bit dry and biting, but witty and very sarcastic

You’d really never realize exactly how respectful or polite she was if you didn’t take the chance to look

She was just as kind and caring as her sister, but not as bold or as daring, and a bit tougher around the edges

Where her sister was outgoing at school and trying— whether it worked or not is another matter —to make friends, she was much more introverted and uncomfortable in the presence of people she didn’t know or couldn’t understand

Good at reading people and used that to her advantage

Tried to take as much of the trouble as she could off of Delphine when their parents got angry, but it only deepened her fear of them

Learned to confuse fear with respect because of this

These actions went unbeknownst to her sister and she liked it that way

It’s better for her not to know, she doesn’t like pity

When she graduated she was similarly married off to a French pure-blood wizard, Jacques Cordeau, who worked as an Obliviator for the French Ministry (she moved to France to accommodate his job and was hired by Beauxbatons)

Covered for her sister when she begged to have her own life for a year and was manipulated by her parents into regretting it when she ended up marrying a muggle

Ignored her entirely for a solid year until she found out Delphine was pregnant and then cut ties with her own family to try and patch things up with her little sister (successfully)

Eventually fell genuinely in love with her husband and had two children

Her niece and nephew are very important to her

Uncle (by marriage): Jacques Emile Cordeau

Born: September 16th, 1945

Sign: Virgo

School: Graduated from Beauxbatons

Wand: Vine Wood, Phoenix Feather Core, 13”, Springy Flexibility

Blood Status: Pure-Blood

Occupation: Obliviator

Grew up with a hefty family fortune

Also an only child, and it often times rendered him rather lonely

Both his parents were business people and they always seemed to not have enough time for him

Not necessarily bad parents, just absent, rather hands-off

A lot of the time when he would ask to spend time with them, they threw money at him and told him to do whatever he wants with it…

“cause that’s what you want, right?”

Suffice to say, it became a learned behavior and he grew up doing much the same thing

Turned into a bit of a loner

And very stand-offish

Came to resent his parents’ money, but because he was practically raised off of it alone he doesn’t know what he would do without it

Very used and accustomed to the classy, rich lifestyle

Doesn’t mean to be rude, but he likes compartmentalizing and prioritizing his time so he hates distractions

Graduated top of his class and gained a very respectable job at the Ministry, people were always sucking up to him

He didn’t like it much and he knew they didn’t really like or respect him just his money or his title

So to get them off his back, he did what his parents would do to him

Tried to do that to Adelaide when they got married, as arranged by their parents

She wouldn’t have it though, instead she took to ignoring him

It took a few years of a loveless marriage for them to open up to each other but they eventually got there

She saw past his face value and commended him for wanting to pursue a profession that helps people

Even if obliviator doesn’t seem like much of a “helping hand” job, Jacques takes pride in it and loves meeting new people

Especially when they don’t know who he is

Was able to see all the regrets Adelaide held in regards to her sister and the fear of her parents she kept buried inside

Had two children, after beginning their relationship a bit backwards, who he adores and absolutely coddles

Enjoys spending time with Adelaide’s family

The ‘Fun Uncle’ to which they always tease “You’re our only uncle!”

Devastated to hear about Jacob

Really thought that kid would go places

Cousin: Priscilla Eloise Cordeau

Born: May 9th, 1970

Sign: Taurus

School: Attended Beauxbatons

Wand: Yew Wood, Unicorn Hair Core, 12 ¾ Inches, Reasonably Swishy Flexibility

Blood Status: Pure-Blood

Her name is Priscilla but will cut you if you call her that

Just kidding

No I’m not

Prefers Pris

Her and her brother, at their roots, are very similar

They both love arguing and debating for fun

Thrive off proving people wrong

Have 194739201 different skills that just kinda happened

Will not hesitate to tell it like it is

The difference? Unlike Dominic she has some sense of dignity

A very classy girl

She’s respectful and polite, knows her manners, and when to hold her tongue

But cross her at your own peril

Everything she does is intentional

Every glance, smile, pat on the back, eyebrow arch is calculated

And she is good at math

But girl has a temper if you’ve ever seen one

Where her brother is more laid-back and, for all his own snark, easy-going, she’s impatient remembers things

You could say petty but she picks her battles

She won’t hold a grudge over little things or even big things so long as you aren’t a problem to her and your mistake won’t change or ruin anything in her routine or her ambitions

But she loathes incompetent and ignorant people

If you are either one of those… just stay clear

Tries to be the nice guy but she truly has little tolerance for such nuisances

Really isn’t that bad once you get to know her

But a lot of people don’t try

Most of them either think she’s really smart and hilarious with her sarcasm

Or extremely bitchy and insensitive

But she does have her redeeming qualities of course

For example, though it’s hard earned, she’s loyal to a fault and will never send any of her friends or family away if they need her

Doesn’t like most strangers or people she doesn’t know but also strangely likes giving back

Does some volunteer work just because “this world already sucks but maybe if I help it’ll be more tolerable”

That’s Pris for “I want to help”

Has a sweet tooth and a soft spot for animals of all kinds

Good with kids

Very be either really crude or extremely graceful... it’s really a coin toss as to which one in the moment

Actually loves history and can’t ever be found without a book on hand

Plays the flute and violin

Good at art and her brother hates it

Cousin: Dominic Jules Cordeau

Born: February 28th, 1974

Sign: Pisces

School: Attended Beauxbatons

Wand: Walnut Wood, Unicorn Hair Core, 11 ½ Inches, Brittle Flexibility

Blood Status: Pure-Blood

A smugly sarcastic little shit and he knows it

Can and will call you out, don’t try him

Sets insanely high expectations for himself so don’t be surprised if he exceeds yours

It’s in his nature to thrive, to be the best

I’m not really one for saying “if xyz was in Hogwarts they would be in abc house”

But this boy has Slytherin written all over him good god

Super ambitious and if he’s thinks you’re competition will cut you down

“It’s nothing personal, you’re just in my way”

Really, though, it’s not personal

At all

It actually takes a lot for him to hold a grudge and dislike a person

So it’s likely he just feels threatened if he gets aggressive with you

For all his tough talk this boy is sensitive

Hates insults and back-handed compliments unless you’re oh so clearly just teasing him and he’s 10008337% sure you’re joking

Has this kicked puppy expression but Pris (and his cousins whenever they’re around) are the only ones he’ll show it to without concern

Really athletic too and can absolutely annihilate you in Quidditch

But he just doesn’t most of the time because his grades are what really matter to him

Is either absolutely shameless or…

no that’s it

He’s just shameless

He can sing, he can dance, likely plays like seven instruments (like the cello and guitar) and speaks two languages aside from French and English, good at sports, math and literature (!?), and flirts like he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it

He doesn’t

But Merlin’s beard whatever you do, please do not give this child a pencil

Or literally anything else that leaves a mark

Absolutely terrible at art and drawing of any kind

And he knows this

And does it anyway

You’d think it wouldn’t be much of a problem when he messes around and draws dicks all over everything because really you can’t ever tell what it is

But that’s exactly why he feels the need to explain it

Chaotic Neutral and proud

Also a hardcore feminist, he drinks his respect women juice

Close with his sister and if you think they’re arguing you’re wrong

Bickering is just how they express their love

She’s a lot like him but classier™️

And she loves to remind him

Grandmother: Chanel Vivian Leon (née Sinclair)

Born: October 11th, 1921

Sign: Libra

School: Attended Beauxbatons

Wand: Pine Wood, Unicorn Hair Core, 10”, Slightly Yielding Flexibility

Blood Status: Pure-Blood

Occupation: Retired Ministry Employee

Youngest of four children, has three older brothers

Used to be close with her second brother, but then he began to socialize with muggle-borns and her parents told her he was a disgrace

Didn’t want to believe them at first

Hasn’t spoken to him since he graduated

Used to love nature and even to this day always keeps a white carnation in her room

Lost the taste for it a long time ago but can’t seem to let that habit go

Can’t really tell if she’s evil or just empty

Not much of an evil-doer herself but is definitely not one to put a stop to it

She just wants to be left alone

Altogether a mediocre human being at best

But her parents were able to get her a husband because she’s Pretty

Shouldn’t have been a wife

Definitely shouldn’t have been a mother

She kinda just sits

And wonders were the time went

How she lost her youth

Why she can’t feel anymore

When the world turned into just a million shades of grey

She’s just a little tired

Grandfather: Cado Josicaiah Leon

Born: August 1st, 1918

Sign: Leo

House: Slytherin

Wand: Red Oak Wood, Doxy Wing Core, 12 ½ Inches, Unyielding Flexibility

Blood Status: Pure-Blood

Occupation: Worked as an employee in the Department of Magic Regulation at the Ministry

Was the middle child of three kids, had an older sister and a younger brother

They’re doing well now, he thinks

Wishes he didn’t push them away in adolescence but too proud to admit it

Has a lot of regrets he’s unwilling to own up to

Became a death eater in the first war but didn’t serve a long term because he provided the Ministry with useful information on his colleagues

Didn’t learn his lesson though

The downfall of The Dark Lord only further pushes him to prove his superiority

Was a very controlling, power hungry man

Didn’t have charisma to hide it

But people respected him anyway because of his family fortune

Very classy and strict

A dictator in the house, liked having the say over his wife and children

Never bothered to hide the fact that he wished he’d had a son instead

Manipulated Adelaide consistently through her childhood and was extremely irritated Delphine seemed to not sway to his beliefs

Disowned her when she married a muggle and convinced Adelaide to do the same

Until even she betrayed him and he was left alone in his house with a wife who never loved him

Joined the Dark Lord again in the second war and got a life sentence in Azkaban that he did not get out of this time

Never met Rebekah and Jacob

Still in prison

[ayy-this-is-a-blog]

Main character of my Stardew Valley fic! Her name is Joey and she’s had a hard life.

Here’s a sneak peek about her for those reading the story!

Full Name: Joey Marie Gruft    Nickname: Jo, Thrasher, Shaddy Age: 24 Gender: Female Height: 5′6 Eye Color: Blue Other: Tattoo on shoulder Personality: [ Allocentric ] - [ Goofy ] - [ Moralistic ] - [ Leaderly ] - [ Competitive ] - [ Compulsive ] - [ Anxious ] - [ Crass ] - [ Brutal ] - [  Fawning ] •  Allocentric | “No matter how good you think you are as a leader, my goodness, the people around you will have all kinds of ideas for how you can get better. So for me, the most fundamental thing about leadership is to have the humility to continue to get feedback and to try to get better - because your job is to try to help everybody else get better.” | Joey wants everybody to be included and treated equally. She will not stand for racist, sexist, or ableistic comments about those that have no discipline in their life. In a sense she is often seen as a 'White Knight' for those that don't have the voice or means to defend themselves. • Goofy | “At this point, I feel like I can allow myself to be goofy and take more risks, and even if I do fall on my face, I know it's not the end of the world and at least I tried to do something different.” | Joey is a little goofball. She likes to bounce around and try to make the people around her happy. She enjoys being silly and drawing hearty laughter from those around her, even at the cost of her own health. • Moralistic | “On the surface we all act like we all love each other and we're free and easy, and actually we're far more moralistic than any other society I've ever lived in.” | Inkeri is very strong about doing things right by her mind. She believes that people need to be cared for and led themselves to helping those out around them. • Leaderly | "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." | Joey takes charge in situations where people are lost. Head sound tech quit minutes before show time? Joey will step in and direct people on what needs to get done and isn't shy about stepping up when things need to get done. • Competitive | "I am competitive and I feel bad when we lose. You can see it in me when we've lost. I'm in a bad way. I don't like to talk to anyone. " | Growing up with two older brothers and a younger sister, made Jo very competitive from an early age, having to fight for a place at the dinner table. It's a trait she still carries to this day. • Compulsive | “I think that the romantic impulse is in all of us and that sometimes we live it for a short time, but it's not part of a sensible way of living. It's a heroic path and it generally ends dangerously. I treasure it in the sense that I believe it's a path of great courage. It can also be the path of the foolhardy and the compulsive.” |  This is a thing that can get her in trouble. She tends to jump without thinking, and this has landed her in a few sticky situations before. Joey can make impulsive buys on the fly only to end up regretting it later on, this is why she has a drawer full of junk that she's never used ever. • Anxious | “I think it would collapse my heart if I was super famous. I don't have the nerve for it, I'm too anxious. I don't know how you're not obsessed with how people perceive you, because they're real people, you know? You can convince yourself that they don't really know you, and that's true, but how can it not hurt your feelings?” | Jo has anxiety about having to suddenly leave home. She does not do well being away from her place of residence for long spans of time if its uncalled for or unplanned. In foreign settings, Joey is insecure and scared and tries to keep to herself. • Crass | “Being an adult is like being in a Quentin Tarantino movie. It starts out cool, there’s lots of swearing, then it gets weird and confusing as fuck, and everyone dies.” | Joey has very little filter, and what filter she has quickly erodes when her temper rises. She usually ends up dropping the F-bomb every other word when excited or hyped. • Brutal | "I knock heads and crack skulls, even if the other party is begging for mercy." | Jo doesn't take shit from people who challenge her and everything he stands for. She's broken bones and hurt plenty of people out of a bullheaded rage in the past, but seems to keep a cap on her anger better than ever before. But if it comes down to it, she will not hesitate to kill someone if it's either her life or theirs. • Fawning | "I am called a dog because I fawn on those who give me anything, I yelp at those who refuse, and I set my teeth in rascals. " | Joey tends to love blindly if people give her affection. Male, Female, or whatever the other individual identifies as, she will fawn over them for given affections. This isn't because her parents didn't love her, but rather this was how they raised her to be. Themesong: Periscope - Papa Roach Voice Actor: Hasley Playlist: Jo's Playlist  Sexuality: Pansexual Character Alignment: Chaotic Good Likes: • Papa Roach / Escape the fate / Ot3p / Other Post/Hardcore bands • Concerts and Mosh pits • Oversized hoodies • The game Stardew Valley • Cats • Helping those down on their luck • Tattoos and scruffy beards Dislikes: • People with no manners • The Patriarchy • Capitlisim • Bigots / Terrorists • Sand • Animal abusers • Donald Trump Strengths: • Versatile • Self Sufficient • Honest • Hard working Weaknesses: • Can be short tempered when dealing with people she doesn't like. • Takes too many risks • Overly confrontational • Cynical Quirks: • Extremely loyal to friends and family • Can't stand when people chew with their mouth open • Celebrates all holidays on the wrong date [Save for halloween] • Oddly fascinated by natural disasters. • Tends to pull faces when worried about people she cares about. • Never seen without her knit hat • Likes touching peoples faces, arms, or clothes if they're close • Not open to having a child. but seeks a relationship Hobbies: • Going to concerts • Collecting Gemstones / Minerals / Antiques • Stargazing • Keeping A Journal • Dancing • Cooking • Gambling • Impersonations • Pyrotechnics • Playing guitar Skills: • Adapts to change quickly • Able to effectively think, speak and act without preparation. • Can confront others if they become a problem • Can take a leadership role if asked to • Handles pressure well Fears Fear of Being Alone Mild • • • • • - • • • • Severe Fear of Falling Mild • • • • • • • • • - • Severe Fear of Pregnancy/Having Kids Mild • • • • • • • • • • - Severe Fear of The Fututre Mild • • • • - • • • • • • Severe Short History: Joey Marie Gruft was born December 15th, 1994 to parents Leonard and Gabrielle Gruft. She was rasied the way of a typical 90's child that fell hard for the punk scene that her parents were a part of. As the youngest child she was often taken to concerts of her parents favorite punk bands from Green Day to Blink-182, but for as long as she could remember, her all time favorite band was Papa Roach. She just felt that their music understood her days as an angsty teen that struggled with anxitey, and she wasn't too far from wrong on that point. In her later teens and early adulthood, Jo moved away from her parents and started up her own rock band with a few of her close friends, even if it never really went anywhere other than the local scene. Still though, she liked the challenge of starting a rock band and coming up with their own music that actually meant something. In late 2017, her and her band, Hold your Breath, got the break they'd wanted and ended up getting a record deal with a local company that had helped other bands climb the ladder of fame. Her older brother resented her for taking the spotlight with their parents, even though he was already at the age of moving out when she was born. Joey still loved her big brother even though he pushed her away and shunned her for taking "his" place. Why she moved away: Joey was attending a local concert where she was playing with her band when her brother had ended up having enough of his sister. In a delusional rage, Joey was shot nearly and killed by her brother before he escaped. She soon found out that her brother had ended up killing their own parents in that same fit of rage. Joey's brother is now spending life in prison on two counts of firs degree murder charges and Joey herself has moved to Pelican town and is trying to start a new life as a farmer on her grandfather’s old plot of land.

[lulucarrington]

The Black Out Job

 Chapter 1, Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Chapter 2: HERE

 There are times, and places, beyond our knowing. One such place, Hybras, was a place of magic and wonder. At least, to those who did not live there. The city lived in two- a world like ours, of 9-5 human bustle and activity, and a world filled with fae and elementals, and humans who had the sight. Humans are distrustful at the best of times, so the two sides have always stood apart, but with the rise of new leaders and politicians, the divide is sharper than ever, and consequences begin to pile up on both sides. Humans driven into stupid animal fear, and the Folk, as the media termed them, were driven into the shadows, living on the fringe, and in resentful silence.

                                           *     *      *

Taekwoon sat down heavily on his friend Hakyeon’s couch and sighed. It had happened again. He’d lost another job. He’d been so good- he’d minded his own business, been friendly enough, and always done all the work assigned to him. He’d agreed to lunch with some coworkers, and they’d walked past the pet store. Until he passed, the animals had been playful and sweet; but his presence had made them all sit or stand at attention, eyes on him, before the howling and screaming had begun. The news that day had played over the office, letting them know the signs of the Folk, including ones like Taekwoon.

He’d been fired for ‘showing up late too often’ by 5pm.

He wasn’t even going to fight this one. He was done with it all.

“Rough one?” Hakyeon’s voice floated in from his room.

“Worse. I got fired again,” “How’d it happen this time?”

“The pet place on 191st.” Taekwoon rolled onto his stomach and buried his face in a couch cushion. He was sure his landlord would want him out after this, too. He hadn’t even taken anything out of his storage locker this time, so at least he was already packed.

“I hate pet stores.” Hakyeon’s voice let Taekwoon know his friend had returned. “I don’t know why you bother trying to fit in anymore. Things are getting worse everywhere, honestly. I mean, look at the city- east and west are now an absolute divide in species. Stay here on this side with me, stop trying to fit in with the humans.”

“I AM a human.”

“True, but one who is capable of interspecies communication, and mastery of beasts, and that makes the rest of them nervous.” Hakyeon sat down on a sliver of couch and put a soft hand on Taekwoon’s shoulder. “I could get you a job with my people. I’m sure Ravi would love to have you in the crew. And you won’t even have to move!”

“I’m sure my boss already called my landlord about me.” Taekwoon moaned. “I’ll be out by the end of the week!”

“Lee Jaehwan owns the club under your building, not just the apartments, you know.”

“So?”

“So, if he’s got real estate in the middle of Hybras West that caters to the Folk, I doubt your dumb boss is going to bother him, and even if he does, why would a man with a Folk-friendly club not rent to Folk too?” Leo nodded, but privately stuck to his original opinion. Hakyeon squeezed his shoulder gently and got up. “Now, I’m making myself some dinner. Do you want to stay, or is it still time for you to moan all the way home?”

“Can I stay? I don’t think being alone right now is a good idea.” “And you’re scared of Jaehwan talking to you.” Maybe Taekwoon would go home, if Hakyeon was going to insist on acting like this instead of joining Taekwoon’s pity party.

“I don’t even want to talk to you right now.” Taekwoon sniped, still face-down in the cushion.

“If you’re going to be this broody, at least make yourself useful and go sit on some eggs.” Hakyeon’s voice got fainter, and Taekwoon tried to stifle his laugh. Hakyeon really was good at ruining a good sulk. “Now, I’m just heating up leftovers, so don’t expect anything fancy.”

Taekwoon never minded the state of the food, as long as he got to eat it, he would be fine. He sat and listened to Hakyeon chatter on about a new crush of his- name currently redacted- and how Ravi was thinking of expanding the Fae exports (mostly drugs, various potions, elixirs, and charmed items) to include things Extrasensory Humans, like Taekwoon, could use. He let all the information wash over him, concentrating more on the taste of the dumplings. Hakyeon probably knew he did it, but it was a routine of theirs, so he’d let it be.

“Ravi is looking for an Omnilingual, if you’re interested?” The question shook Taekwoon from a fantasy of never-ending dumplings.

“What?” “My boss, Ravi. He needs an Omnilingual. And since your calendar is free… Do you want to join us?”

“You know I don’t want to do that.” Taekwoon sighed. They’d had this fight one hundred times. Hakyeon would suggest working with other… Folk. Other people like himself and Taekwoon. Then Taekwoon would reply he didn’t want to be a criminal. Hakyeon would insist it was legit. Taekwoon would stare him down. Hakyeon would pout. Taekwoon would not get dessert.

“I know. Is it because you think we’re all criminals, or because you don’t want to admit you’re like me?” Taekwoon’s argument was stopped cold.

“What?” “You sound like your parents- all Folk are criminals, I don’t want to associate with the Folk publicly, I refuse to change my views.” Hakyeon mimicked.

“No, it’s not-“ “Look, I’m actually getting sick of this. I know you still want to be accepted by normal humans, but you just aren’t one. And if I keep getting this attitude from you, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” Hakyeon’s normally cheerful expression was icy. “It’s like skin colour- we can’t change it, but we can stop being dicks about it.” He held Taekwoon’s gaze for an uncomfortable minute. “Now, I’m saying it one last time: Ravi needs an Omnilingual. The pay will be a lump sum of seven thousand dollars. Paid half on the first day, half on the last. It’s legal- he wants to make a deal with some elves. Metalwork exports, if I remember correctly. The job is yours if you want it. Seven thousand dollars. I’ll give you two days to think about it.”

Leo had agreed to think about it, and eventually Hakyeon had talked him into facing Jaehwan and sent him home with extra dessert. Now he stood in his kitchen, dessert still in his hand, staring at his phone. He knew putting off calling Jaehwan would just make it worse, in the end. That thought didn’t make it any easier for him, though. Eventually he sighed, and put the dessert in the fridge. He was going to go down to the shelter first, and then call Jaehwan in the morning and get it over with. It didn’t take long for him to get ready and begin the short trip to his favourite place. The shelter was friendly to him, the discovery of his skills made him an asset as a volunteer, not an object of fear there. It also meant he could pet as many dogs and as he wanted without getting looks from others. He had never felt more at home anywhere else.

“Taekwoonie!” A familiar chirp interrupted him on the third floor. Jaehwan, wearing what Taekwoon guessed was a shirt that had undergone the world’s most invasive threadectomy. Or some netting-turned-lingerie from Victoria Secret’s “Fishing for Dicks” nautical-themed line. It was hard to tell with Jaehwan sometimes.

“Hello,” Taekwoon smiled, allowing Jaehwan to join him on the stairs.

“You look tense. Is everything okay, Woonie?” Taekwoon didn’t particularly like the nickname, but somehow he’d never gotten around to telling Jaehwan that.

“Um… I wanted to talk to you, actually.”

“Did something happen? Are you okay?” Jaehwan had a way of making Taekwoon feel warm that he couldn’t figure out. Moments ago he’d been terrified of seeing the man, but now, with Jaehwan’s hand on his arm, he felt silly. He knew he couldn’t be scared of Jaehwan- the man was too pleasant to be terrible. He wouldn’t harm Taekwoon.

“I… Lost my job. I might not be able to make rent on time this month.”

“Oh, Taekwoon, that’s fine. You’ve been a good tenant so far, I don’t mind if you-“

“I… Don’t know how long it could take me to get another one.”

“Sweetie-“

“I got… I’m a… I’m of the Folk and I got found out. My boss will probably call you and tell you. And I might not have that job for a long time, if he calls anyone else.” The words tumbled out, leaving Taekwoon feeling exposed and scared, but the warmth of Jaehwan’s hand cut through it like a watery sun through the rain clouds. Jaehwan was a nice man, the warmth reminded him. He wouldn’t- he COULDN’T be like the others.

Jaehwan’s expression rippled with surprise, then suddenly Taekwoon was enveloped in a warm embrace. The warmth of his hand was nothing compared to the calm the brief hug Jaehwan bestowed on him. Taekwoon felt as if he’d been emptied of all his fear and was being filled with champagne. Bubbly warmth and giddiness buzzed right up his spine to his hair, bypassing his brain and spreading through every cell as Jaehwan stepped back and grinned.

“You take all the time you need, don’t worry about it for a second. And, if your boss calls, I’ll just hang up on him.”

“You don’t-“

“Us folk have to stick together.” Jaehwan’s grin grew by several teeth. “And if you need help looking for work, just let me know. I always know a guy who knows a guy.” It must have been the giddiness at work, Taekwoon thought later, as he hugged Jaehwan and gave him cheerful and sincere thanks for his understanding, and the offer. Jaehwan, looking a little confused as well, waved Taekwoon off, saying he would always be in the club if Taekwoon needed to find him.

Taekwoon nearly ran all the way to the shelter, where he smiled at everyone widely, before settling in to bathe some of the dogs. The odd warmth Jaehwan had inspired stuck around, and it had Taekwoon thinking as he scrubbed and brushed a very affectionate puppy’s fur. He knew Hakyeon’s offer was solid- and with seven thousand dollars he could shop around for more work with a bit of a safety net- and whatever he ended up not using could go to the shelter! They always needed donations. As he unsuccessfully tried to wrangle the puppy into a position to wash its back legs, he realised that it hadn’t even entered his mind to turn down the offer. Everything had been such a whirlwind, he hadn’t had time to settle on a feeling, and now that he had to land somewhere, he felt like a snow globe after a massive shake. He wanted to claim he was sad or angry, but both Hakyeon’s offer and Jaehwan’s little confession had sapped that. Hakyeon was nicer to him that he deserved, sometimes. And Jaehwan… The man so boldly admitted he was of the Folk too. With a smile and pride, he’d just accepted Taekwoon’s admission. That was a heady feeling that was hard to put a dent in.

A small, niggling part of him still craved approval from his family- still screamed that if only he tried hard enough he could be like them. It was screaming quieter and quieter now, with Hakyeon’s observations still fresh in his mind. He wasn’t welcome with his family much, but the shelter, and Hakyeon, and now Jaehwan… They all accepted him just fine. Maybe, if he took the work for Ravi, he’d look into what Jaehwan had in mind, and just disappear into this side of the city. He had occasional lunches with his fellow shelter volunteers, and he could always take up his favourite hobby (pretending tonight would be the night he’d finally talk to the tall, exquisite blonde man he often passed in the street and in the corner store some nights. The one who always smiled at him) full-time.

“Stop squirming, little missy,” He paused his thoughts to softly scold his squirming bath buddy. “I just want to clean your feet.” She turned and stared at him, and Taekwoon realised he must have surprised her. A lot of animals were surprised when a human talked to them for the first time. “Yes you,” he tickled her ears a little. “I just need to do your feet and you can go back to the play area.” Obedient instantly at the mention of the play area, the little dog allowed him to finish washing her, then shift her to another volunteer.

“You’re in a good mood today,” he realised the other volunteer was Arzu, one of the elves. Generally, she was only here during the day- elves preferring to be out at night and indoors during the sunny hours.

“I lost my job, but I didn’t get evicted.” He realised too late how strange it sounded.

“I know that feeling.” She nodded. “Any plans yet?”

“My friend has a job I’m considering. I’ll even have enough left over to give to the shelter!”

“What, not going to buy a hundred cakes first?” She teased. Taekwoon’s cheeks burned a little as he turned to accept his next puppy. “And don’t look sour- I remember watching you at lunch last week. I’ve never seen anyone eat like that. I was impressed.” She smiled, revealing her unusually long teeth. Taekwoon liked her smile- elves looked almost cat-like, with their long teeth, slit pupils, and pointed ears- and that set him at ease compared to other humanoids. They were cat-like in other ways too- people thought of them as graceful, serene, and elegant creatures despite the thousands of videos of them doing ridiculous things. He’d seen Arzu get her foot stuck in a bucket, swear a blue streak across the whole compound, then snobbishly insist everyone had hallucinated it once she was freed. Definitely catlike, and very easy to get along with.

“I like cake.” He defended weakly.

“I know.”

                                             *          *           *

Ravi was seated in his usual back room angrily tapping various words into a translator that, in his opinion, only translated things into bullshit. He was struggling with this- the deal with the elves for metalworks like cauldrons and their charmable jewellery was going to make it so much easier to deal with the other wizards. But this damn contract… He could read elvish well enough to order food or cast a hex, but he was nowhere near the level he needed to figure out if there were any loopholes or sub-clauses snuck in.

“Hey boss!” The yell both startled Ravi, and let him know his Fae friend N was in an unusually chipper state. “Guess what I’ve got?” N threw himself into a chair near Ravi and grinned. Ravi was never sure about that grin, it was more of a predatory teeth-baring than a grin. It usually heralded an adventure, though, so Ravi nodded at N as he tapped away. “I found us a translator.”

“Really, who? I thought your last contact was-“

“Oh, not her. A friend of mine. He’s recently been outed, needs some money and a nice place indoors to sit for a while.”

“He’s a human? What languages did he study?” Ravi paused in his tapping to watch N.

“He’s an Omnilingual, not a translator. I’ve even seen him talk to animals like dogs, so I will personally vouch for him.”

“On your wings?” Fae had wings, though Ravi had rarely seen them, and swearing on them was serious business.

“On my mother’s wings.” N put a hand on his chest. “He’s a nice kid too. He’s had a rough go of it, but I know he’ll take the offer I made for you. I’ll bring him in once I get a formal yes out of him.” Ravi nodded at this. N wasn’t one to fuss around when business was running. Ravi admired that- he found himself staying up late and wanting to hex his more irritating coworkers when business took off. While N seemed to jump right in and swim through everything without a care.

“Good. That cuts out one worry of mine. The other though- I need a crew for the retrieval you suggested. I still need an animal specialist, a siren, and Hongbin if I can wrangle him out of his latest psychic drama.”

“Well, my friend might do that if you mention the animals… After we do this job first, though. He’s skittish about the whole thing. But if he likes us, he’ll be in. And, based on what he tells me, he’s seen Hyuk around town, so I’m sure he’d stay just to moon over Hyuk forever…” N’s laughter was full of fondness for this friend, Ravi noted. That was interesting, as N rarely mentioned having a personal life, let alone any of the persons in it. “The siren though- aren’t we in a club full of them?”

“Would you trust any of them to work with us on something this delicate?” “Well, Xiumin is good for-“

“Without seducing anyone and without taking off his shirt at any point?” Ravi peered over his glasses a N.

“In Xiumin’s defense, he pulls off Baekhyun’s shirt more than his own these days.” N pointed out.

“Not exactly a point in his favour,” Ravi rolled his eyes. “I’ll just ask Ken. Sometimes I feel like he knows everyone in this city, so he’ll be able to find me someone.” Ravi pushed his glasses up his face and rubbed his eyes.

“Look, until my friend agrees, we’re sitting on this, so just pack up and go home. You’ll have a nice day off, maybe you’ll finally call Ken daddy, and then we’ll pull a heist just like in the movies.”

“I do not want to call Ken daddy.”

“Or mommy. I don’t know what you two skeezes are into.” N grinned again, and stood. “Where’s Hyuk? Normally he’s got something rude to add by now.”

“I had to send him after someone. They didn’t want to pay up, so right now he’s probably explaining very nicely to them that they’re paying up in twenty-four hours, or he breaks their other arm too.”

“Well, I do not envy them.” N started towards the door. “Jokes aside, please at least take the night off. You look like you’re about to drop.”

Ravi waved him off, but as he stood to stretch, he realised he felt exhausted. Checking his watch, he’d been working for the last 5 hours without stopping. It was nearly 1am, and he hadn’t realised it. He gathered up his things and crammed them into his bag, and with a last glance around, he started out into the hallway. It didn’t take him long to attract Ken, who always seemed to know when Ravi surfaced from the back Ravi!” Ken appeared from the sea of moving bodies. “You finally up for a drink with me?”

“It’s late, Jaehwan,” Ravi scolded Ken, using his real name as emphasis, but made no move to stop the other man’s approach. “I do have a job, you know. I don’t party all night like you.”

“But you know you want to.” Jaehwan said, and shimmied a little in emphasis.

“You know I’d love to dress like a seaside hooker and shake it with the rest of the girls, but I don’t have your flair. Or Xiumin’s shirt allergy.”

“It’s a tragedy,” Jaehwan pouted solemnly. “The poor boy just can’t handle his shirts.”

“Neither can you by the look of this.” Ravi plucked at the mesh on Ken’s chest, a little thrill of heat racing up his arm when his finger brushed Jaehwan’s collarbone. “It must be contagious.”

“Here’s hoping it’s catching. I’d love to see what that tattoo of yours says.” Jaehwan pressed suggestively against Ravi for a moment, before slipping off into the crowd. Ravi wanted to make a clever comment, or say something back, but the heat burning in him made it come out as an awkward grunt.

His thoughts of Jaehwan were cut short by his phone buzzing in his pocket. He strode out of the club and answered it. “Ravi speaking.”

“It’s me. Hyuk. I got the artifact, what do you want me to do with it?”

“Bring it to my place. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Will do.” He wasn’t much one to chat today, that boy, Ravi thought as he pocketed his phone. That meant Hyuk had probably encountered his family again. As an elemental, Hyuk was sought after by many people- they were used for industrial work of all kinds, magic, even entertainment- but like many of his kind, he was not often paid well for it, and abused without a second thought. He’d followed in the footsteps of his family, and ended up as a fighter in some less respectable parts of the circuits. He was a fire elemental, and therefore prized even above his siblings, so when Ravi first met him, he had actually been chained with water cuffs and locked up when he wasn’t fighting. Ravi had freed him on a whim, and accidentally earned himself a constant companion. This was somehow viewed as a betrayal of Family Tradition, and Hyuk had several encounters with his siblings over the years that had led to bloodshed and possibly death. Ravi hadn’t asked, and he knew Hyuk would likely not elaborate if confronted. Despite his past (of which Ravi admittedly knew little), Hyuk maintained an easygoing demeanour, except when members of his family popped up. Then he was sullen for days, and even seeing the serious dark-haired man from the corner store would not cheer him up.

His thoughts still full of his giant protector, Ravi let himself into his apartment. He could hear his dog’s little paws scrabbling across the floor as he kicked his shoes off and abandoned his bag next to the couch. His dog, Butt, came charging into the room and made a beeline for his shins, yapping the whole way. It cheered Ravi immensely, and the weight of the contract seemed to lift. He scooped Butt up under one arm and kissed the top of his head.

“Daddy missed you.” He cooed. “Yes, I did.” Butt wiggled happily, and Ravi slumped down on the couch, still muttering to Butt. “Daddy’s finally got the gems he needs for his big heist. Aren’t you proud of me?”

Any response Butt might have had was cut short by the sound of a key in the lock.

“Wonsik?” Only Hyuk knew his actual name.

“Over here.” He let Butt down on the floor, and the little dog took off, happily cannoning into Hyuk’s shins.

“Butt!” Hyuk’s child-like glee nearly matched Butt’s enthusiasm. “How are you?”

“He’s probably mad I didn’t get home earlier.” Ravi answered. “But good news, N found us a translator.”

“I thought Hwasa was out of town with her wife?” Hyuk came into Ravi’s line of vision.

“She is. Apparently N has a friend who’s an Omnilingual- says he can even talk to animals.” Ravi didn’t bother sitting up, only shifting his feet as Hyuk sat down at the other end of the couch. “He’s going to find out from his friend in the next day or two what the guy thinks of the job.”

“Good.” Hyuk nodded seriously, even as his fingers twirled over Butt, creating a small wispy tendril of smoke where Butt’s tail should be. Butt took off chasing it in a wide circle while Hyuk smiled. “I got the gems.” He stuck a hand into his pockets, and withdrew a velvet sack. “What do we need them for anyway?” “If we want to get into… Into the compound, I need to do some spell work, and the gems are involved. Mostly so I don’t have to use you as a makeshift amplifier again. I don’t think either of us enjoyed that much.”

“No, we did not.” Hyuk shook his head vigorously.

“Speaking of enjoying things- where’s the static prince Hyuk gone? You haven’t zapped a single person today. Even Ken has noticed.”

“I hadn’t realised it was that obvious.”

“What’s up? Was it your family again?”

“No. I just… You’ll think I’m silly.” Hyuk was keeping his eyes firmly on the dog, resolutely avoiding Ravi’s gaze.

“I once watched you shuffle across a professional setting in your socks so you could zap Hongbin while he was flirting with a girl. And you did that because he didn’t think your singing the food song was a masterpiece. There is not ‘too silly’ with us.”

“Well, you know the guy from the corner store? The really serious and mysterious one? I want to talk to him, but I don’t know what to do! It’s driving me crazy!”

“Dress up like a dessert? I remember his basket had 6 cakes in it when you pointed him out to me.” That got a laugh out of Hyuk.

“What I mean is, he looks human- what if he’s not one of us?” “I look human. In fact, I am one.” Ravi pointed out. “And there’s tons of humans with extra talents. He clearly lives around here, and it’s a high-Folk area. That means he’s probably at least friendly to the Folk.”

“But still…”

“Just march up to him and ask him out. Worst happens, he says no, then you can start getting over him. Best case, I hope I’m the best man at your wedding.” “So… Just march up and ask him out?” “It’s not that hard.”

“Just like you and Ken?”

Ravi jolted upright and stared at Hyuk. “That’s completely different!” Shame flushed his cheeks red.

“How?”

“I work with Ken, for starters.” He defended, though Hyuk’s expression said he wasn’t buying it. “And he’s… Ken! He flirts with the world! How am I supposed to know if he’s flirting with me or flirting with me?”

“Just march up and ask him?” Hyuk’s expression was innocent as he parroted Ravi’s advice back at him.

“I am going to bed.” Ravi ignored Hyuk’s snort. “I will see you in the morning.”

[feynites]

*shuffles more Baby Fenris AU to @lillotte17*

Fenris does not recollect much about being a teenager the first time.

He has some foggy memories. Childhood is clearer; his teenage years tend to evade him much more, and from what he has gleaned of them, there is probably a reason for that. He does not think they were a very pleasant time in his first life.

The second round also presents a great many challenges.

It is the most frustrated he has felt since he first arrived in this strange place – more like another world than the distant past. He is more like himself than he has been in years. He makes gains in height and mobility, in athleticism and articulation. As his majority approaches, he looks with apprehension towards the concept of taking on the markings of an elven magister – “leader” – but the other time travellers, the ones who have been here for hundreds of years already, assure him that there will be options.

Still.

Even the illusion of being owned again is not something he looks forward to.

Unfortunately, though, an increase in his ability does not translate much into an increase in his independence. Fenris thinks that it should. He is not a real teenager, of course, but even if he were, do not most teenagers begin to take on their adult responsibilities at this age? From what little he recollects, as a teenager he was well into his working days, and often went places and did things without supervision. He has a memory of running an errand to the market. A fairly innocuous one. Just, himself, walking down the street on a sunny day, retrieving a basket of ripe tomatoes at the behest of the kitchens.

His parents do not think fifteen is old enough for Fenris to go places and do things largely by himself, however.

“If you want to go to the market, then we will go to the market,” his Nanae says, reasonably, but Fenris is not looking to simply go to the market. Being at the market is not the end he wishes to achieve; it is being there of his own accord. It is doing something himself.

He does not know how to explain it without sounding as if he is rejecting his parents, however.

“Nevermind,” he snaps, instead, and turns on his heel, and stalks back towards his room.

“Fenris-” his Mama calls after him. He waves at her to show that he is not angry, though his frustration is too palpable for him to contain. At least they let him go, although he does not know how long they will leave him be for. By agreement, his room is his own space, now, and his parents do not enter it without at least knocking – unless it is an emergency. But it is just a square box, in the end, however prettily it has been decorated. And Fenris misses having… space.

Much more space.

He lets out a heavy breath, and sinks into the chair nearest to his door.

Absurd. He is being absurd, he knows. His room is not small. It is roughly the same size as Hawke’s room in the Amell manor house had been; the same size as the master in his derelict mansion, as well. Though Fenris had never slept in that room, of course. He had let it to turn to must and mold, until the bedsheets were disintegrating and the carpets so thick with dust that he could no longer tell what colour they had once been.

His own room is much different, though, all matters of size put aside. He has an enchanted window, which takes up an entire wall, and looks out over a distant patch of river. Somewhere miles and miles away. He has watched otters swim up and down it, and seen wild animals of all description come to drink from it. Close enough to touch, it would seem, and some part of him is still unnerved by the magic behind that. But most of him has simply given up his disquiet through sheer exhaustion. Magic is everywhere, here. There is no reprieve. A man who must live in the sea will either adapt to the water, or drown, and Fenris…

Fenris is past drowning, most days.

The window has shutters, anyway, for when he prefers to simply be in a box. His bed has thick curtains, and his closet is the size of a small room itself, and he has many shelves of many things. Racks of weapons and chests of old toys, rows of books and surfaces covered in projects and hobbies he has attempted to take on. Gifts and things from his friends and his parents’ friends. He has an entire segment of closet devoted to Tonlen’s enthusiastic efforts to help Fenris ‘meet aesthetic guidelines’. Tonlen actually is a teenager, so Fenris is more inclined to indulge his efforts than those of most adults. He is just a boy, with a very odd friend, who tries and helps him the best ways he can.

There is not much fault to be found in that.

Fenris has a less simplistic view of many other people in this accursed empire.

He sits, and thinks Varric would tell him that he was brooding, as he taps his fingers restlessly against the arm of his chair.

Fifteen years.

He has been here for fifteen years. And as much as he knows he owes to the General and Dorian – he is neither a fool nor an ingrate – the reality of both their existences is terrifying in context. They have been here for far, far longer. And this world is deplorable. It is an Imperium, for all that it might belong to elves rather than magisters. There are movements. Fenris knows that full well. And change does not happen overnight, and he knows that the General is not eager to cast aside one empire only to see another rise up in its place. That is concerned over Veils and distant corners of the map, Dread Wolves and old gods that are older even than the ones Fenris might have named before all of this. But he thinks that time has turned her gaze too far-sighted. And Dorian’s, too, though Fenris has less faith that the man ever saw things very well to begin with.

Things cannot go on as they are. His parents are part of the effort to change it, and Fenris knows how dangerous that can be. He does not want to sit and idly wait, to spend centuries learning random skills and watching the giant, greedy leech of an empire continue to glut itself on the blood of people like him. People like anyone, really. He knows he has made that mistake before, and there are still days when he thinks magic is the worst thing to have ever come about in the world. Even knowing that it is probably part of what made the world. But whatever resentments linger in him, he would like to think that he has at least grown weary enough – maybe even wise enough – to keep his focus on enemies that can actually be defeated.

Magic is, was, and will be. Railing against it is like fighting the weather.

Assailing empires is not quite so futile.

Fenris wants to see to it himself. He wants to go and do things. Immediate things. He does not fear the decline of the elvhen people, not the way that the General does – not when he sees it all around himself, manifesting in the form of elves who are not magisters, but might as well be. And he does not see a need to redeem that which is condemnable, as Dorian does.

He sees his parents. Fighting. Striving. Wanting to change a world that constrains and threatens them in ways that it should not. He sees his grandparents, living in their little house in the lower districts of the city; behind grey walls and in sparse rooms, hiding monsters made by a madwoman who would kill them for the insult of daring to care about that which she has rejected. He knows it could be worse. He knows it very well.

But… to his surprise, all things considered, he has still not given up on the prospect of it being better.

He can hardly do much of anything, though, if he must always have ‘adult supervision’ for all things.

His fingers are still tapping the arm of his chair, scowl fixed in place as he watches the river through his ‘window’, when he hears a familiar knock at the door.

Fenris lets out a breath.

“Come in,” he allows.

The door opens, and his Mama pads quietly across the floor.

Sometimes, Fenris thinks it is unfair that he cannot recollect his first mother nearly as well. The woman who raised him, who was part of the reason why he took on his markings, who died before she could ever see what he became. Whether she would have despaired or approved, he does not know. She was his mother, but, the best he can do is recollect the ghost of a laugh, and worn fingers on his brow, and a homespun dress he thinks she often wore.

He does not hold that against his Mama, though. More against himself, when it comes to it. But his Mama is clearer. Sometimes he wonders if they were alike. Both hard workers, he thinks, treated too unfairly by too many things. But beyond that, he is unsure.

She settles into the chair beside his.

“When I was fifteen, I spent a lot more time running around than you do,” she tells him.

Fenris blinks.

Whatever he was expecting her to say, it was… not that.

“Did you?” he asks, for lack of a better response.

She nods.

“Your grandparents were given leave for time off when I was a baby, but only for about five years. And even then, they were often conscripted for special events or jobs or tasks set out by higher ranking elves. When I was old enough for tutors, they began their duties again, and they worked hard to try and earn incentives to get me good things. Better clothes, better tools, better instructors. There was always someone around who wanted to watch me, but as I got older I figured out how to use that to my advantage. I would tell one adult I was with another, and then sneak off and go and do whatever I felt like doing.”

Fenris lets out a breath.

“Were you ever caught?” he wonders.

His Mama smiles.

“Plenty of times,” she admits. “But what could my parents do? They still had to work. I would go to my lessons, too, I liked learning new things. It was just that sometimes, I would also sneak off to places I knew I wasn’t supposed to be. I tried figuring out how to climb rooftops, and find old tunnels, and shortcuts, and things like that around then. My parents worried, but… doing that sort of thing was how I met your Nanae,” she muses. “It was how I found you, too. Parents are supposed to worry. Sometimes, though, we have to… let you figure out some things for yourself.”

Fenris blinks, and turns more fully towards her. Hesitant, but hopeful.

“Does this mean I can go to the market by myself?” he asks.

His mama sucks in a long breath, and then lets it out again.

“Maybe not the market,” she says, carefully. “It is very busy, and you know you sometimes still get overwhelmed by a lot of activity.”

That is… true, Fenris supposes. The market may have been ill-considered, drawn up as a concept more from his memories than from practical thinking.

“But,” she continues. “Your grandmother has been talking about wanting to teach you hunting, soon. I know you had an interest in that, and since your dance instructor proved… uh…”

“Insufferable?” Fenris suggests.

She lets out a breath.

“He meant well,” she reminds him. “But alright, yes, he was insufferable. It means you do have some extra hours in the week, so, we were thinking that might be a good way to fill them. Your grandmother’s schedule is still very full, but she wants to make time. And your nanae and I were thinking that maybe, if you wanted to, you could go this afternoon and ask her to teach you in person. By yourself.”

Fenris sits up a little straighter. The route to his grandparents’ one is actually further than the one to the market, although it is, in fact, much quieter. And he knows most of the people along it, by now. He doubts he would really be alone. There are spirits in the area who are familiar to his parents and their friends, and his grandparents too, of course, and in the afternoon, there will be plenty of people about, even if it is not to the levels of a marketplace crowd.

But he would be on his own. It would be a starting point. And perhaps it is sad, how desperately he wants that taste of independence again.

It is too visceral to ignore, however.

“I will go,” he decides, immediately, standing up from his chair.

“Wait, wait,” his mama cautions, and he almost loses control over the reflexive burst of frustration he feels. She cannot possibly rescind the offer now. But her hand is already in a placating gesture, as she rises, too. “There are some ground rules. This is a first time for us as well as you, so, no detours. Go straight to your grandparents’, and then come straight back. If they want to walk you back, let them, we haven’t had a chance to talk about this with them yet, and they worry, too. If you take longer than an hour, Nanae and I are going to come looking for you. And if you get into trouble, run straight home. Or to your grandparents’, if their house is closer. Or to Serahlin and Adannar’s, or the barracks, or Ess’ place if any of them are nearer. Get to safety, is the idea. Do not talk to anyone you don’t already know. And use your best judgement.”

Fenris sighs. One would think he was walking through untamed woods, and not a city full of people with a remarkable disinclination towards mistreating ‘children’.

His mama reaches over, and smooths an invisible wrinkle from his tunic.

“I will do all of that,” he agrees. A part of him – the part of him that might actually be fifteen, in some sense – chafes. And another, deeper part of him still recoils from the sense of being constrained. But he is a grown adult, in truth. He knows how to be patient. His parents are not his owners, they are his caretakers, and they are worried for his safety. Not that he will escape to freedom.

“Oh, and do not try and climb any rooftops,” his mama continues, as she follows him out of his room. “I know I told you that story but that was not an endorsement to it, it is very dangerous and you should mostly just stick to the main roadways. Please.”

“Noted,” Fenris agrees.

She frowns, a little.

His nanae is waiting out in the hall, in their usual manner of pretending to examine the tool chest near to his room, as if they are not, actually, hovering.

“Are you going, then?” they ask him. Their casual tone is more successful than their casual hovering.

“Yes,” Fenris confirms.

They nod, not surprised.

“Alright then. You… be safe. And look both ways before you cross any streets. And if you change your mind and come right back, no one will be bothered about it,” they assure him, reaching over and brushing some of his hair back from his face. Fenris resists the urge to sigh, again. Or attempts to, anyway – he fails, after a moment, and simply gives in, slouching his shoulders but managing his best reassuring smile.

“It is just down the road,” he reminds them.

“Mm,” they murmur, in agreement, but with no enthusiasm. “But be careful, just the same. Stay away from the ditches, the magical run-off from Ghilan’nain’s estate has been more potent than usual.”

Fenris shakes his head.

“There are no ditches by the main roadway,” he reminds them.

“Yes. Good,” they agree.

At this rate, Fenris is going to have to keep his own activities from his parents, if ever actually gets around to doing anything productive. Somehow he doubts another ten years will calm them down very much. He has seen Serahlin and Adannar with their grown son, after all, and Ileth has been living independently for as long as Fenris has been alive.

He nearly gets out through the front door, before his nanae thrusts one of their coats hurriedly at him.

“It is colder out there,” they say.

The leather is smooth, and bronze, and there are large buttons on the front, and triangular patterns up the arms. Fenris relents, and puts on the coat, and finally manages to get out into the tower hallway. He pretends not to notice his parents watching him make his way down the corridor from their door. He has moved independently through the tower many times, at least, to go and attend lessons with the tutors who live here.

His steps still falter, just a little, when he turns down the spiral staircase to the next level, and passes through the eluvian at the base of it, and comes out onto the next floor.

But it is not from fear, or dependence.

It is from the sense of something deep inside of him unclenching, just a little.

On his own, he straightens up, and then sets out again.

[flatsuke]

Just for fun: The 2nd Generation Bidders

Ok, so I know the substories with the bidders and their children were released already, but I’ve had these kids in my head waaaay before the stories came out lmfao

A continuation of this post.

This is pretty self-indulgent so lol

edit: I added Inui’s and Samejima’s kids!!

@alolan-lillie​ you said you were interested in my ocs :^D

Eisuke:

Kazuma (19)

Eisuke’s son and Naoko’s twin brother. Tatsuya’s best friend.

Personality: Just like his father, he’s overbearing and self-assured. He’s also meticulous to a fault. When it comes to the people he cares about, he gets overprotective, almost unbearably so. He tries to act as the big brother figure for the rest of the group, but most of them see him as the resident Mom Friend™ because of his anal-retentive personality. He has a childish competitive side.

Background: He’s the next heir to the Ichinomiya Group, but he secretly doesn’t want to be next in line. He’s only doing it so Naoko won’t have to worry about anything. Deep down, he’s actually insecure about being the successor, but he tries to hide it. Though he respects Eisuke as a businessman, he somewhat resents him for not being the best father and husband. 

Likes: Being organized, iced coffee, soap operas, cooking

Dislikes: Being compared to his father, bad smells, spicy food, animals that shed fur

Naoko (19)

Eisuke’s daughter and Kazuma’s twin sister. Ema’s best friend.

Personality: She’s serious to a fault, so much that she takes jokes too literally sometimes. Between her and Kazuma, she’s the more levelheaded and altruistic one. She often serves as his damage control and voice of reason when he does something dangerous or rash. She’s the type to solve conflicts by negotiating instead of outwardly fighting.

Background: Being the youngest in the family, Kazuma is naturally overprotective of her. Although she appreciates his concern, she believes he’s being too paranoid. Deep down, she does not like her position as the youngest female; she feels powerless both in the family and in the Ichinomiya Group. She’s somewhat afraid of Eisuke and views him as an authority figure rather than a father, much to his dismay.

Likes: Reading, black coffee, stuffed animals, ribbons

Dislikes: Being looked down on, flying cockroaches, green peas, hot weather

Soryu:

Tatsuya (19)

Soryu’s only son. Kazuma’s best friend.

Personality: He’s hot-blooded and stubborn to a fault. Also, he has a hard time articulating what he really wants to say without making it sound brusque. Though he has a gruff exterior, he actually has a very strong sense of justice. Despite coming from a line of mobsters, he does not like violence at all. He actively tries to avoid fights, but because of his rough demeanor, he gets dragged into them unwittingly.

Background: Soryu is somewhat reluctant about letting him inherit the Ice Dragons because of his earnest nature. Tatsuya, no matter how much he tries to put on a brave face, is too honest for his own good, and Soryu knows the mafia isn’t the best place for someone as truthful as him. Because of that, Tatsuya feels a bit ashamed for not being the best mobster candidate, so he always tries to make himself seem more fearless than he actually is. He has a secret crush on Naoko, but he’d never admit it out loud because Eisuke and Kazuma would skin him alive if they found out.

Likes: Cold weather, green tea, exercise, action cartoons

Dislikes: Being told how he’ll never compare to his father, flat pillows, wet socks, bell peppers

Baba:

Setsuna (18)

Baba’s only daughter. Yuu’s best friend.

Personality: Among the group, she has the most playful demeanor and serves as the instigator of trouble most of the time. More often than not, she drags everyone into her antics, much to their dismay. She has no inhibitions when it comes to anything, and she rarely gets embarrassed, even when she changes clothes in front of people. She can talk to just about anybody without feeling shy or uneasy at all. However, she’s the scariest when pissed.

Background: She openly shows interest at her father’s line of work, but he tries to dissuade her, knowing that his daughter shouldn’t take any part in any thievery. Despite her father’s wishes, she secretly has an identity as the ‘Red Robin Hood’, a vigilante masked thief. The only other person who knows about her side job is Kazuma; he caught her trying to steal something from his office one time, and since then, she had to swear him to absolute secrecy.

Likes: Cute boys and girls, magic tricks, strawberry cheesecake, traveling

Dislikes: Quiet places, being restrained, conferences, accidentally biting her tongue

Ota:

Yuu (17)

Ota’s only son. Setsuna’s best friend.

Personality: He shares the same ‘two-faced’ attribute Ota has, thought it isn’t as malicious as his father’s. In the limelight, he’d act friendly and cute. When no one’s looking, he’d let loose and act a bit more impish. He and Setsuna get along very well because of their shared love for fun and trouble. It’s easy for him to pull the wool over people’s eyes and get away with a lot of things. Only Ryoko isn’t fooled by his ruse.

Background: Although he didn’t inherit his father’s talent in visual arts, he was blessed in the performing arts instead. He’s an idol, and quite a famous one at that. That being the case, he didn’t want people thinking he was famous just because of the Kisaki name. He uses ‘Yuuki’ as a stage name. (Yuu + Kisaki)  Despite being part of a highly commercialized industry, he always strives to retain his artistic integrity. He writes and composes his own songs without any outside help.

Likes: Singing, dancing, dogs, milk tea

Dislikes: People plagiarizing his music, bugs, taking tests, getting bored

Mamoru:

Ryoko (18)

Mamoru’s only daughter. 

Personality: Ryoko, just like Mamoru, basically exudes an aura of calm and quiet. She’s the most easygoing one in the group, and she is almost never seen stressing about anything. More often than not, people mistake her for being apathetic, when in reality, she just underreacts to everything. Her carefree lifestyle made her develop imperviousness to sarcasm. Yuu usually tries to provoke her, but Ryoko reacts the same way she always has—with a lopsided smile. 

Background: Mamoru is genuinely worried for her because she doesn’t seem to be interested in anything at all. She doesn’t show any worry or anticipation for the future, rather, it seems she usually lives for the present. People like Naoko and Tatsuya confuse her because they take things so seriously. She thinks they should just kick back and enjoy what life has to offer, or else they’d grow old too fast with regrets. Though if she had to be honest, she’s secretly a big fan of photography…

Likes: Photography, exercise, bomber jackets, instant noodles

Dislikes: People asking her what she wants to do in the future, career survey forms, peanut butter, stubbed toes

Shuichi:

Junya (20)

Shuichi’s only son. Hayato’s best friend.

Personality: He’s normally cool and collected, but it’s surprisingly easy to annoy him (just ask Hayato or Kazuma). He may look organized on the outside, but he’s actually the messiest person there is, much to everyone’s amusement. He has a sharp tongue, which often leads to people misinterpreting what he says. However, to anyone who knows him well, he’s just not good at expressing himself. Honestly, he tries to give off an aloof persona, but he’s willing to help anyone if they ask him. 

Background: Junya’s torn between following Shuichi’s footsteps in politics, or actually doing what he wants to do — writing. He has a double-life as a famous internet author under an almost painfully-obvious pseudonym, “Jun.” Only Hayato knows his secret identity. He doesn’t really get along with Kazuma, similar to his father’s rivalry with Eisuke, but he does respect Kazuma’s sense in business — not that he’ll ever say it out loud.

Likes: Writing, long car rides, ambient music, melon soda

Dislikes: People telling him to clean his room, iced coffee, dried fish, writer’s block

Luke:

Ema (17)

Luke’s only daughter. Naoko’s best friend.

Personality: On the outside, she seems really cold and inexpressive, but she’s actually just painfully shy. She tries to act like she isn’t affected by everything, but deep down, she has a hard time making friends because she’s not good at socializing, and she’s secretly afraid of what people think of her because of her, ahem, unique interests. On the other hand, she’s fiercely devoted to the people she cares about. For that reason, she’s extremely attached to Naoko.

Background: Her fascination with the human anatomy led to her wanting to pursue a career as a surgeon, to which Luke was more than happy to acquaint her with. However, the combination of her eccentric interests, plus her introverted personality left her with a crippling fear of socialization. Eventually, her social anxiety became so bad that she wouldn’t leave the house for days on end. Luke, in his worry, decided to introduce her to his close friend’s children—namely, Kazuma and Naoko —in hopes that they would somehow get along. Fortunately, the twins, Naoko especially, managed to coax her out of her shell and befriend her. Now, they’re practically siblings.

Likes: Anatomy textbooks, tea, kittens, rainy days

Dislikes: Crowds, going out, roller coasters, greasy food

Hikaru:

Hayato (20)

Hikaru’s only son. Junya’s best friend.

Personality: He’s a bit of a trickster who likes to mess with people just to see their reactions. It’s hard to tell what he’s thinking because he always has the same enigmatic smile on his face. He especially likes to tease the serious types, namely, Junya, Naoko, and Tatsuya. According to him, they have the best responses. However, to anyone who knew him well, he’s actually a pretty loyal person amidst all the teasing. He’s the type to bail someone out if they’re in a pinch, or come up with an elaborate revenge scheme if someone messed with his a friend of his. 

Background: He’s the most skilled hacker in the group. He likes to label himself as an “informant”, mostly because he can find out anything and everything with his elaborate information network. He and Hikaru get along pretty well despite their personalities, and the latter taught him everything he could about hacking, thus Hayato’s interest in computer science. He’s been friends with Junya for as long as he can remember, but he honestly thinks Junya’s too high-strung sometimes; Hayato always tries to get him to relax. 

Likes: Computers, fast food, hoodies, rpg games

Dislikes: People who try to “figure him out”, milk, wearing formal attire, running out of battery

Samejima:

Daiki (17)

Samejima’s only son. Amane’s frenemy/rival/boyfriend.

Personality: He seems like a serious guy, but he’s actually a casual dude who likes to joke with a straight face. Like his father before him, he’s extremely loyal and devoted to Tatsuya (though Tatsuya wants Daiki to treat him normally). Despite being in a relationship with Amane, he constantly competes with her for everything (eating contests, grades, Tatsuya’s praise, etc.). He’s pretty relaxed and friendly with everyone except Amane. With her, he immediately becomes snarky and competitive.

Background: He’s a swimmer, and a very good one – so much so that his teammates on his swim team nicknamed him “The Shark” because of his aggressive swimming style. If he’s not hanging around Tatsuya or Amane, he can usually be found doing laps at the pool. He’s aware of his father’s involvement in the mafia, and he fully understands the responsibilities that comes with it. In fact, he’s long accepted the fact that he’d one day take his father’s place in the Ice Dragons, serving as a shield for Tatsuya. Both he and Amane are in the same position, and underneath their constant rivalry is a nigh unbreakable relationship.

Likes: Swimming, sharks, spicy food, beating Amane

Dislikes: Oversleeping, sour food, clothes that don’t fit, people questioning his decisions 

Inui:

Amane (17)

Inui’s only daughter. Daiki’s frenemy/rival/girlfriend.

Personality: She’s a very energetic person, rivaling only Setsuna in that department. Like her father, she’s earnest, cheerful, and painfully optimistic. She’s also extremely loyal and protective of Tatsuya, who wants nothing more than to be treated like a normal friend. Currently, she’s dating her childhood friend and longtime rival, Daiki. Despite dating him, they still bicker like an old married couple over everything. She may be the very essence of sunshine around most people, but around Daiki, her blood boils. 

Background: Much to Inui’s dismay, her love of dogs has her working part-time at an animal care shelter (to which Samejima finds hilariously ironic). If she’s not around Tatsuya or Daiki, then she’s at the shelter helping out or walking dogs around a park. She knows what he father does in the mafia, and while she disapproves of what they do, she eventually comes to accept her future role as Tatsuya’s shield. She and Daiki are on the same boat, and have an inseparable bond amidst their constant bickering and competing.

Likes: Dogs, bright colors, fruit shakes, beating Daiki

Dislikes: Stormy days, mushrooms, scraped knees, people who abuse the weak

[kimyumbin]

The Fallen Star Ft. Park Seungjun | 1 | 2 |  Sypnosis: When Soo Mi finds the naked body of a man washed up ashore, she didn’t expect to take him in and nurse him back to health. But as the days go by she notices the strange way the man behaves, leading her to believe there’s something more mysterious than the weird tattoo like markings on his back that move.

An ebony canvas lays above me as I trace my fingers over the strings of white dots scattered across the darkness. Stars, hundreds, thousands if not more gleaming in the night sky. I begin to trace the outlines, connecting them one by one as I call out the names of the constellations my grandpa had taught me when I was younger.  

Aquarius, Aquila, Canis Major, Leo and my personal favourite...Orion.

It was a hobby I had picked up from our countless late night sessions, where we would stargaze under the universe, feeling insignificant in size compared to what could possibly lay outside of our world. Space, was much more vast and the unknown intrigued me. The thought of what could possibly lay outside our universe excited me.

But all things aside, it had been a long time ago. It had been three years since I had sat on the front steps that lead to the wrap around porch of the small farmhouse I had grown up in. The crazy amounts of times I had ran up these very steps seemed so long ago now that I found myself sitting on them alone. It almost felt wrong to do so, since this had been the place grandpa and I used to sit on those hot summer nights and admire the wonders above us.

It had been three years and a day since grandpa had passed away, leaving me the old farmhouse in his memory. It was the only thing I had left of him to hold on to. He was the only family I had ever known after my parent's had passed away in a car accident when I was younger. I felt guilty for suffering more during his loss than I did with my parent's. But the truth was, I was very young when my parent's died that I actually couldn't even remember what they looked like. Now, the harsh realization that I was truly alone in this world was every bit terrifying.

Trying to juggle the ridiculous idea that sounded ludicrous to even say out loud, I search for comfort in the thought that perhaps somewhere up there in the vast sky, he is watching over me. It's a silly idea but it brings me much comfort, enough to want to get out of bed every morning and not let the old farmhouse fall apart. Even though at times, I felt like that was all I wanted to do. But instead, I made sure to listen to my grandpa's last wish: To continue on living happily. Whatever he meant by that.

Hundreds of white streaks begin to adorn the sky as they wisp by so rapidly, they vanish towards the horizon. Shooting stars weren't rare this time of the year, but it was the first time I was seeing them on such a clear night. Amazed by the phenomena above me, I stand up in excitement as I watch them wisp by in the blink of an eye. The view is astonishingly beautiful and otherworldly. If grandpa was still around, I bet he would have loved seeing this.

Even though I was tempted to make a wish upon the shooting stars, I stopped myself for fear that The Great Foolish Warrior might be listening. It sounded crazy but, The Great Foolish Warrior is a true story, or so my grandpa claimed it was. It also happened to be my favourite one he ever told me,

Billions of years ago there had lived a warrior by the name of Orion that was so brave and strong, no one could measure up to him. His kingdom loved him and worshipped him, they had even decided to make him king. His grandeur was admired by many, even thousands of years of battles, he never lost a single one. Everyone knew of him, he was a kind hearted king that cared for his people but then one day he heard the cry of help from a girl of a far away kingdom. He was conflicted about the situation, he didn't know if he should leave his kingdom to help the girl but he felt it was the right thing to do in his heart and so he left his kingdom. It took him a very long time to get to the girl, but when he did he met with a beautiful human girl and he fell helplessly in love with her. She became his muse, he loved her so much there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her. Some would argue that she became his weakness, and that he was foolish because in the end he gave up his life to save the very woman who had betrayed him. The people of his kingdom were devastated at the loss of their great warrior. But their love and loyalty towards him was much greater that they even dedicated a spot in the sky for him. Now as the legend goes some people say that it was his punishment for turning his back on his people, but others argue that it was out of respect that he now rests in the sky, and has become known as The Great Foolish Warrior, Orion.

Even though it's just a story, I never once made a wish on a shooting star for that very same reason. I felt bad for him, for having the woman he loved so much betray him like that. But that's the way tragic love stories end. I sigh, admiring the sky above me as I trace my fingers along Orion. The poor foolish old man.

Hours go by before I realize that I have been sitting outside for too long. It must have been just past midnight when I decided that it was time to go to bed since I had to be up early to feed the animals. I stood up from the creaky steps, dusting myself off, I looked back up at the sky but stopped in place when I noticed something bizarre in the sky.

An orange blazing light is flying in front of me, and just by looking at it I can tell that it's different from all the shooting stars I had just seen. It flies differently, as it seems to be a lot closer than the rest. I quickly reach down to grab my binoculars to get a better look but i'm too slow. The strange orange light dashes into the horizon before lighting up the whole sky in shades of yellow and orange. How peculiar. I had never seen something like that before in my life. I wondered if perhaps it was debris of some sort that had decided to call Earth it's final stop.

One last look at the night sky, I offer the foolish old man an innocent smile before running up the front steps and into the house.

__________________

By the time I opened my eyes again, I could already see the sky being painted in hues of light pink and orange as the sun was beginning to wake up. It must have been the crack of dawn when I got out of bed and readied myself to go outside to feed the animals.

The morning was much chillier than I had expected it to be, the sweater I had decided to wear was proving to not be enough so I made sure to be quick. I wasn't necessarily ready to freeze to death. I made my way over to the small pen where the goats and sheep were and changed their water for them. Half of them laid lazily on the pasture, still dozing away in dreamland.  I was almost envious of them. It must be nice having someone to look after you. Not that I knew what that was like now a days.

At the beginning it had been a job I hated doing, I wasn't a fan of waking up before the sun, but over time I realized that the animals depended on me. After that day, it sort of stuck and I got used to it.

I walked around, cleaning out the chicken's coup before heading over to the washing station to rinse my work boots free of mud. The sun was now shy of being above the sky, I figured it must have been around seven in the morning or so now. Which was the time I always went to the beach for my daily morning run. I quickly changed out of my work clothes and sprinted my way down to the sandy beach.

The cool salty breeze entwines its way through my hair, making it become tousled but it didn't bother me. I liked coming down here in the mornings for runs, it had been an advice the doctor had suggested would help me deal with my depression and he had been right. Since I had started coming out here in the mornings, I noticed that my depression had improved significantly. I hadn't cried in a long time, and each day I felt like I was able to deal with things better than I first did when grandpa passed away.

I had held a lot of resentment towards him, I had been very angry that he had left me behind but I accepted the fact that it wasn't grandpa's decision and it was bound to happen sooner or later. Each day had become a step closer at living life normally, no matter how hard it had originally seemed.

I stop by the old log to start my stretching before my morning run. Raising my arms over my head, I gaze into the distance with the sun momentarily blinding me. I squint my eyes when I notice something in the distance. It's bulbous and on the shore, seconds turn to minutes as I try to make out what it could possibly be. Slowly, my vision adjusts itself to the light and I take the shape's in little by little, every single dip and curve, it doesn't take me long to realize that it's a body.

Panicked, I search around the beach, finding it strange for there to be a random body since the property is private and no one ever came down this way. I nervously walk towards the body, getting closer and closer I become alarmed when I notice that it's a human's body. An unconscious man lays washed up ashore and.... naked. I look around him for any signs of his belongings thinking that perhaps he is one of the town's folk who had a rough night drinking and passed out on the beach but there isn't any sign of his belongings anywhere.

Worried, I kneel down beside him. Now getting a better look at him, I can tell that he is young, perhaps in his early twenties. I bring my face towards his, searching for any sign that he is breathing, I feel relieved when I hear him breathing quietly and shallowly. I quickly grab a hold of his wrist to search for his pulse, but immediately let go when I'm greeted by his body temperature. The young man is burning hot. He has a fever.

I look back at the man, realizing that I need to get him inside where he can rest. I estimate the distance from here to my house, figuring out that I'll have to carry him or drag him to get him there but it's something that I have to do. I can't leave the man out here by himself, not when he's like this. I brace myself, getting close to him, I tap on his shoulder to see if I can get him to respond but there's nothing. Growing frustrated I grab a hold of him and sit him up, although he's thin in shape, he weighs like a ton of bricks. I bring him towards me, letting him fall on my shoulder and expose his back to me. I freeze in place.

Something peculiar has caught my eye. Strange markings on his right shoulder that look a lot like a tattoo move around. I stare at it puzzled, thinking that it's ant's or something I try to get it off off him but it doesn't budge. I feel the young man begin to regain some sort of consciousness when he moves around in my arms. He begins to cough, slow but painful sounding coughs before he opens his eyes and gets a look at me.

My eyes are met by a pair of light brown ones. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out, instead he passes out again. His fever keeps raising as the minutes go by and I force myself to power through it and get the man to my house. I'm up and struggling with his weight on my shoulder as we leave the beach and make our way to the house.

____________

“Do you know him?” The doctor asks as he shines a flashlight into his eyes.

“No” I answer.  

I lean against the far wall to stay out of the way of the doctor as he examines him. I had gone to fetch him the moment I brought the young man into the house. I was glad he hadn't hesitated even for a second. He was the only doctor within a five mile radius of me. That was the bad thing about living out in the middle of nowhere. Everything was far away.

“You just found him on the beach?” He asks again.

“Yes”

I watch as he steps away from the young man and sighs. Taking off his glasses, he look at me with a disappointing look.

“His fever is very high, it seems like it's knocked him right out”

“What should we do?” I ask him.

“Well, he will probably be knocked out for a couple of days. If it's okay with you, he could stay here until he regains consciousness. We can then figure out what happened to him and why he's....” The doctor pauses as he looks over towards the young man on the bed. “not decent” .

I pause, momentarily thinking over his request and nod.

“That's fine. Should I keep trying to lower his fever?”

“Yes. Call me if it gets worse or if he wakes up. I'll stop by in the morning to check on him anyway” He says.

I nod.

I watch as the doctor packs up his things and heads out of the room. Following behind him, I lead him out of the house. Feeling thankful to him that it's nothing more serious than just a fever.

“Thank you so much for coming to check on him” I say.

“No problem, what kind of doctor would I be if I didn't?” He answers.

I smile, offering him a wave as he gets into his car and drives out of the driveway.

I make my way back into the room. Sitting on the edge of the bed I run my hands through the young man's messy dark hair. He hasn't moved since I brought him inside. With his eyes still closed, I notice how long his eyelashes truly are. It was the first time I was actually getting a good look at him. He looked very sick and weak. It reminded me of the last few days I had spent with grandpa before he passed away. I had taken care of him since he decided he didn't want to be in the hospital but rather at home.

I felt motherly towards the young man in front of me, even though we were probably around the same age, I felt like I needed to protect him. He needed me and I was all he had at the moment.

“Don't worry. I don't know know what you've been through but I'll be here to help you” I whisper as I run my hand along the side of his face.

___________________

I didn't get much sleep that night since I was up pacing back and forth between my room and his room. I was so worried that I constantly kept checking on his temperature to make sure it wasn't getting worse but I was comforted when I checked on him and it seemed that his fever was subsiding.

I sat by his side all morning, making sure to quickly do any housework before coming back to being by his side incase he woke up. I wandered what he could have possibly been through. How he had ended up on the beach, it was almost crazy to think that he had washed up ashore. Perhaps he had been on a boat near by and it sunk, that was the only logical reasoning I could come up with since I held no actual answers. But it didn't explain why he was nude.

The doctor came by around lunch time to check on him. He had seemed happier with the results of his fever going down. He had told me to keep on doing what I was doing, to let him rest because his body needed it. To try and keep him hydrated whenever I could and to keep trying to cool him down. So I did just that for the next couple of days, it became a routine for me. By the second day his fever was basically gone but he showed no sign of consciousness. It worried me a bit but the doctor reassured me that he would wake up soon. His body was just resting and regaining it's strength.

I almost had developed an obsession with the mysterious boy in the guest room. It wasn't because I was in love with him or anything like that, but it was a motherly instinct I had towards him, even when I was outside doing work, I'd occasionally glance towards the back window wondering if he was ever going to wake up, or if he was already awake and looking at me. It was a bunch of silly fantasies that pestered my mind, but it was all innocent.

Around evening time, I found myself in the kitchen, washing up the freshly picked vegetables I had gathered from the garden for tonight's dinner. I could already see the last bit of sun sneakingly hiding behind the horizon. It was unusually quiet this evening, it wasn't like other evenings when the crickets would be outside playing their usual orchestra. Instead, I was greeted by the crappy sound coming from the old radio I had in the kitchen. I often forgot how incredibly lonely it felt to live out in the middle of nowhere by myself, even with company whether he was unconscious or not didn't help. I even found myself debating whether it would be a good idea to get myself a dog as a companion. I had heard it from several people in town about how it was dangerous for a young girl to live by herself out in these parts, but the truth was I had never felt unsafe here. Nothing unusual or unsafe ever happened here.

Bending down to get the cutting board, my ears are met by a strange static like sound coming from the radio. Annoyed by the disturbance over the song that was playing, I got up and walked towards it. Giving it a good old smack, I got it to stop but only for a second before the old radio started acting up again. How strange, I thought to myself. This had never happened before, it almost sounded like something was trying to get through or was interrupting the radio waves. The sound became so loud, it was practically making my eardrums want to burst. I bring my hands to my ears, not being able to withstand the frequency that is coming through the speakers. Quickly allowing myself to suffer for a split second, I yank the cord out of the wall socket and I'm glad when I'm greeted by silence.

With my heart now pounding like a jackhammer, I let myself relax for a second before i'm on edge again. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end when the sensation of a pair of eyes are studying me. I stand frozen in place, trying to get myself to look behind me I slowly allow myself to turn. Someone is standing in front of me, but it's not just a random stranger, it's the young man who had been unconscious for the past few days.

Relieved that it's him and not some strange deranged weirdo who had broken in, I let a small nervous laugh escape from me as I bring my hand to my chest.

“Oh my god!” I cry out. “You scared me! I thought someone broke in and -”

I pause. Momentarily studying the young man in front of me and then I realize that he is standing before me without any clothes on. I gasp, bring my hand to my mouth, I quickly close my eyes.

“Could you please put some clothes on!” I yell but it's no use. The young man stands in place not uttering an 'excuse me' or an apology. I momentarily peak through one eye.

He stands in the middle of the door way, just looking at me with the most intrigued look I have ever seen on a person. He cocks his head to the side as his eyes leave me and now begin to take in the room he is standing in. I swallow nervously, wondering why he's just standing naked in front of a girl or  not saying anything. I quickly look away, feeling uncomfortable with the situation I glance towards the kitchen table, the old floral table cloth my grandma had made stares at me right in the face. I bite my lip, regretting the decision i'm about to make.

Without a second thought I walk to the table and pull the cloth off it. With my face looking away from the young man, I walk towards him holding the table cloth in front of me. I stop before him, hands in the air with a cloth that remains unattained, I bring it closer to him and press it against the boy's very hard bare chest. He stares at it, before looking at me. He doesn't seem to understand that I want him to cover himself up. I sigh in frustration, was this man for real? I quickly wrap the cloth around his finely chiselled waist, tying it on the side and stepping away from him.

I'm sorry grandma, If you're out there listening, I hope you can one day forgive me.

“The least you could do is cover yourself in front of a girl” I mumble but he show's no reaction to the gesture. He gawks at me with those light brown eyes of his without saying a word or a thank you.

Now growing worried as the silence extends, I wonder whether the man is some deranged weirdo who is trying to freak me out or if indeed he can't actually talk. I cross my arms in my attempt of closing myself off from him and walk towards the counter where the knives are incase he decides to attack me, I'd have a weapon of defence. But as the seconds turn to minutes, he remains in his original spot, not uttering a single word.

“Listen, you're probably confused” I finally speak up, and wait for a response from him but nothing ever comes. No “Where am I?” or “Who the hell are you?” questions ever left his mouth. Which made me wonder if the boy was actually...mentally okay.

I wipe my hands on my jeans and walk towards the boy, grabbing his arm I walk him over to the dinner table and sit him down. He obeys my command. He sits in front of me, looking at me like a lost puppy, with those large eyes of his. He almost made me feel sorry for him.

“You're probably wondering why you're in my house” I begin. “I found you unconscious on the beach just down the road from here. You weren't decent and well when I found you, you had a very bad fever. I didn't know who to contact apart from the doctor down the road from me and let you stay here until you woke up”

Still no reply. Weird.

“Anyway, I'm glad you're awake now....Do you want to tell me what happened?” I ask but to my luck he just sits there in absolute silence.

“Did something bad happen to you? Do I need to contact the authorities?” I ask, growing worried that there was more to his story that met the eye, but still nothing.

Growing frustrated with him, I exasperate a loud and long sigh.

“Listen, i'm here to help you. If someone did something to you, you can tell me. I will help you” I try for the last time but still not a single squeak from the young man.

I look at him, and decide that perhaps if I act motherly towards him he might decide to open up. I crouch down before him and put my hand on his knee, looking at him straight in the eyes I offer a friendly and welcoming smile.

“Do you have a name?” I ask but there is no answer.  I decide to break the barrier and try to make him feel comfortable. “I'm Soo Mi”

But still, nothing. He just stares at me.

I try to fight off the frustration I am feeling right now. It's almost as if I'm talking to a two year old, but even a two year old would be more vocal than him. I close my eyes as I can't believe that I'm about to go me Jane you  Tarzan on him.

When I open my eyes I find him in the same position, bringing my hand to my chest, I point towards myself.

“I'm Soo Mi” and now pointing at him “And you are?”

It's still no use. Frustrated I groan and stand up, throwing my hands up in the air I announce it to the world that I have given up in my attempts to get the young man to talk. A few minutes go by as I still find myself studying him, but he is no longer interested in me but instead is too occupied and fascinated by the salt shaker on the dinning room table. I watch as he cautiously touches it, grabbing it in his hand, he begins to shake it. Puzzled by the action, I decide to make a call to the doctor to come check up on the boy.

“Stay put, I'll be right back” I tell him, feeling the need to treat him like a little kid.

He seems to be too distracted by the object in his hand to even pay attention. I walk out of the kitchen and into the hallway to where the phone is and quickly begin dialing the doctor. I wait impatiently as the first ring goes through and then the second and lastly I hear the sound of shuffling on the other end.

“Hello?” A voice comes through the speaker and I let myself relax.

“Hi Doctor, it's me. He's woken up” I announce.

“Great! That's great news!” He yells through the phone.

“Yeah” I answer, wondering whether I should tell him what I've seen. But decide that it's probably for the best.  “But something's wrong” I add.

“Really? What's wrong?” He asks with concern.

I sigh, letting all my worries eat me alive as I reminisce about what just went down in the kitchen.

“Well, he doesn't seem to want to talk. I tried to get him to talk but he won't answer. I even tried approaching him like a mom and still nothing. He seems kind of child like in mentality” I reply.

There's a long pause before I hear a sigh come through.

“I wouldn't worry too much Soo Mi, his fever was really high. There's a possibility that he's suffered from temporary amnesia”

“Amnesia, what? Are you serious?” I ask suddenly realizing that this could become a huge burden for me.

“Yes, but in this case, I don't think it should last for more than a couple of days. Do you think you can keep him with you until then? Or would you like me to get him to stay at my place?”

I pause and think about it for a minute. Looking back towards the kitchen, I feel a pang of sadness hit my stomach as I wonder what the poor young man must be feeling, he's probably scared and he would be more freaked out if he went to a place he didn't recognize or had gotten comfortable with. I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose because I can't believe what I'm about to bring myself to say.

“Okay, that's fine. He can stay here for a few more days” I answer.

“Great! Make sure he eats to regain his energy and give me a call if anything else happens. I will try to come by later to give him a check up” He says.

“Alright. Thank you so much Doctor”

I hang up the phone and stand in place for a second. Not believing that I'm allowing a conscious strange man stay in my house. It took me a couple of seconds to get over it and walk back to the kitchen. I should probably explain the situation to him, so he has an understanding of what is happening. I mean after all, he did say it would be temporary, I could deal with the man for a couple of more days right?

Setting foot into the kitchen, I freeze the moment I notice that the man is no longer where I had originally left him. The backdoor from the kitchen is wide open and the floral table cloth he had been wearing now lays on the floor. The young man is gone and is in the nude.

[elaeomyxa]

*chants* tell me about your oc's! Tell me about your OC's! TELL ME ABOUT YOUR OC's!!!! (only if ya wanna) :3

OK SO

I've already ranted about Sasha here before, so basically I'm just gonna give you the gist of the whole story.

Sasha is a human who gets swept up in this mysterious company where their whole purpose is to stop nightmares. The deal with nightmares is that parasitic entities attach themselves onto various creatures and then feed off of their deepest fears, eventually growing a corporeal form based off of them. The company sorts its workers into groups, where each group's job is to go into the mindscapes of people to fight the nightmares before they can escape. The company is entirely run by sentient non-humans, because humans don't possess the ability to go into people's mindscapes, or see the corporeal forms of nightmares. (The whole workaround for Sasha is that she's not entirely human.) Due to that, humans are kind if discriminated against in the community. The whole reason that Sasha doesn't get found out immediately is that everyone has to hide their identity to work for the company. Anyways, she's found out after she gets hurt during their first assignment, and the others kind of shun her. She ends up striking a deal with an entity from her dreams in order to make herself stronger, but just ends up getting possessed and she disappears. So the rest of the group finds out and then they have to go on an adventure to get back to where they were back before they were staying at the company, because they need to get some sort of memory from their childhood in order to do a spell to release Sasha (they need memories, specifically, for... Plot Reasons). And that pretty much brings us to a place where we can talk about all their backgrounds.

So first is Nix, he's a fire elemental. He's fairly tall, sort of lean and muscular, and mixed black/east asian. He's got half shaved hair in long dreads that fade from red to yellow, and he's missing an arm and half of his face. He's the self proclaimed leader of the group, and is just overall peppy and cheerful. He's still quite smart and capable, though, so it wouldn't be a good idea to underestimate him. He helps others, even if it may be to his detriment, and he was actually the one who had introduced Sasha to the company when he found out that she could see nightmares. The way he hides his identity is with a welding mask. The deal with fire elementals is that they pretty much live with humans, blending in and that jazz. Nix used to live in a small village with his family, when there was a flood that wiped out all but him. He was only able to survive because of his parents sacrificing themselves, so now there's that whole thing with his guilt.

Next is Kai. She's genderfluid, so I use alternating he/she pronouns for him. She's sort of an anarchist, sort of pessimistic, sort of sarcastic, sort of chaotic, and sort of an ass. He's in a love/hate relationship with Nix, though that could change for her. He's a changeling, but ever since the family whose child the fae had used her to replace kicked him out, she's taken on more the appearance of a usual fairy. That is, short, winged, pointy eared, and pink. He's actually got red bug eyes, with two extra ones above each primary eye. She's got blue freckles, and a short pink side shave with a blue streak. The shaved parts actually appear to be a bunch of short, dense flowers. He hides her identity with a ski mask. So basically after he was abandoned, she was homeless.

Next is Apollo. He's an incubus, but kinda decided "fuck that," which has actually been taken pretty well within their society. He's taller than average and has a chubby build and curly ginger hair, always partially tied back. He has yellow eyes, and he's kinda freckled. He's also got horns and a tail, cause, y'know, demon. He's got real bad anxiety, though he's pretty much the only one in the group with any common sense. He really doesn't want to be working for the company, but once he joined he couldn't leave. So now he's pretty exasperated of his team's antics, but he's still nice to them. He hides his identity with a face mask and sunglasses. See, in this ~universe~ succ/incubuses aren't actually that bad. They don't feast off of souls, they just gain energy from getting it on. They can use their power of charm to convince people to do things, but they never actually use it to gain consent if the human wouldn't otherwise. Their whole deal is that they gain energy from sex, and it's not sex if the human doesn't consent. They're actually a lot stricter with that than some people are. They deal with people not wanting to get in the business of sexing people up pretty well, and they always do their best to find alternative ways to get then energy. Since Apollo's away from them, though, he's pretty much tired all of the time. He gets by on human food and such, but he's hardly ever able to do magic and such. He only really left their society as a sort of vacation, but then he got stuck working for the company.

Next is Ari. I'm love her. She's a species, that's for sure. By that i mean I haven't found a name for her species yet, so that sucks. As for appearance wise, her eyes are kind of hard to describe. Ice used the term "forth dimensional googly eye" before, but idk how well that works. Well, just imagine a snowglobe but instead of snow it's jam packed with bunch of eyes of various size, color, and species. Her skin is just a bunch of mottled colors. She's very cold, flat, and inexpressive. She doesn't interact with the others in the team much, but she's fiercely protective. She has a few misfit animals that she rescued from off the street, one of them being a legless calico. Honestly, with the way the cat acts she's not sure if she adopted it or the other way around. She hides her identity with just a huge cloak. She's got chronic pain and a limp, though she hasn't really done anything about this because of the way she was raised. Speaking of that, she's sort of the runaway royalty type. She was born of an affair between the queen and a servant, so she's kind of resented for that. The thing is, her society has a caste system based off of the amount of eyes and markings on skin. The "royalty" are supposed to have one eye and perfectly clear skin, and so Ari's had to learn from a very young age to use glamour to pretend to be that way. But yeah, she's been expected to be perfect for her entire childhood, so that kind of fucked her up.

Lastly, there's Iya. Xe's a bipedal speckled black fox, and has orange yellow eyes. Xe's pretty much the height that a normal fox would be on two legs, so, that is: not very tall. Xe hides their face with a veil on xyr hat. I have yet to add xyr pronouns to my phone's dictionary yet, so that's fun. Anyways, xe's very arrogant, and seems to act like they're royalty. Xe's also pretty repressed due to their childhood, but xe hasn't realized that xyr childhood was bad. Xe was expected to be a fierce warrior pretty much birth, so that means that xe feels llike xe isn't allowed to feel any vulnerability. Xe really cares for xyr teammates, but is afraid to show it.

Ari, Apollo, and Iya have banded together (some more reluctantly than others) to get Kai and Nix together because their constant almost-flirting was pissing them off, so I've started referring to them as the matchmaking crew.

I also am probably really bad at describing them visually, so I might sketch them all later.

[minusthecynic]

I aint got time for playing games just that chick who sets my heart aflame it aint no mystery what happened with her and me/ how it wasn't meant to be/ how we fell apart like the little statuette I made of my art group leader in his honour cos it wasn't properly prepared for the kiln/ am I ready to endure that blazing tongue licking trial and torture/ don't kick me when I'm down cos you will teach me nothing you will just breed little beasties of resentment in me/ which wrap themselves around my neck and strangle the living daylights out of me/ in Jah I delight if you didn't know already/ rocking steady to this beat/ the music that's playing in my head when I write this/ I wont be defeated by my pitiful circumstances/ they say time heals all wounds but I've still got scabs cos I keep picking them open every time they start to recover/ breaking the bars of my skin cells cracking them open like fortune cookies/ fresh blood flows out my flesh/ I look like a wookie when folks give me stress/ I'm so blessed/ not oppressed by demons any longer/ though you might think otherwise if you saw the way I treat those pretty witty butterflies that come into my net/ live my love life with no regret/ you can make me soaking wet like the sea/ but I crave a deeper intimacy than the kind that your mind could ever possibly provide/ and its deeper than just bumping and grinding for me/ I want that church and steeple kind of love/ I want that sunday morning you in that white wedding dress kind of love/ I want the whole world knowing about us kind of love/ I don't like doing things in the secret chambers of a garden dark/ hey why should we hide our affection from the world we have been doing that for far too long and you wonder why I snapped my link with you/ don't expect to be respected if you aint prepared to show it shorty/ I aint hating on you I still love you but we can never be together again you already know that/ I know you harbour no illusions about the potential of the two of us to be together/ I'm desperately scribbling like an idiot jailbird chewing his last meal to avoid the temptation of another live video broadcast I shouldn't be watching streaming from the lounge room of some cutie I probably shouldn't be friends with but my love for God is endless/ so can I extend a benevolent hand without my motives being twisted all out of shape like pipe cleaners/ some say I'm a dreamer cos I spit that utopian paradise concept I utilize these skills not to pay the bills just to entertain the masses/ some may say I'm classist nah I'm just a classic/ like retro reebok or Adidas sneaks/ I do speak my mind in volumes copious compendiums of the freedom I've been extended by Jesus/ I won't end up like my grandfolks did/ going to hell in a handbasket/ unless they truly turned around on their deathbeds/ I've got to hope what they confessed to my moms n pops was genuine/ cos id sure hate not to see their lovely faces in heaven/ its pretty tricky yo when youre the second generation/ passing on the truth you learned from your ancestors/ I can relate to that indigenous struggle to maintain cultural heritage/ keep the language alive/ keep our songs and dances going/ put our art on blast/ cos we don't want our past to always remain our past sometimes we want it present in our future also/ only the bits that can potentially be redeemed for Jesus/ some say I'm an also ran/ but I aint gonna freeze up just because hate and criticism be on the increase/ shorty knows ive got it locked with Jesus He causes the evil to decrease in me/ less of me and more of you Lord this is my plea/ I know I cheat cos I don't flow to the beat/ just the music drumming in between my own ears/ perfect love casts out all fear/ you can tell I'm sloppy with my rhyme schemes panting for Christs living water like a thirsty deer/ unlike my homegirl channy I don't flow properly/ I do it sloppily but I'm still Gods property/ I dig this rap game ever since I was knee high to a grasshopper/ ive been that wannabe rhyme dropper/ homies hate on the skills got me wondering why don't they go ahead and do it themselves if they want to hear something slightly more endearing/ I would be cheering/ I aint hating for the sake of hating/ big up my homies I be celebrating/ not denigrating/ this is more than a recreational pursuit for me/ I would do it for a full time job but noones dangling golden cash carrots under me/ little wonder cos my thunder got stolen by way too many broken hearts and the molten lava I fell in/ cos my ego got in the way of my progress/ little girls calling me their idol/ people comparing me to my heroes/ as if I could ever be considered their peers and equals/ my head got big and swelled/ I could barely hold it up it was so bursting with pride/ yet when I chose to walk by the side of the lion of zion I realized how little I was without His help/ and what wee amounts of change I could accomplish stranded on my own on a lonely island/ selfishness just gets you nowhere fast/ ive got regrets for the way I used to live/ that die is cast but I broke the mould/ still haven't got a woman to have and hold/ for the rest of my life though when I do I'm gonna treat her like purest gold/ a diamond that's been cut innumerable times made more beautiful by her scars/ she will forever own my heart/ I hate the fact that I cant be with her right now/ I hate the fact that God said no to one girl but He might say yes to another/ plenty fish in the sea for this brother/ I know its a tired stale old cliché but I believe that I don't have to settle for a life of permanent bachelorhood/ and if youre a chick youre a spinster/ don't let them stick that bachelorette trash labelling on you/ whats in a name/ identity distinction/ you aint one of the bros you're your own person/ I give up on myself too soon just like I did with you/ strap me to a billion black balloons let them weigh down this sad faced clown/ fill them up with concrete when its still dripping liquid/ if that's even possible/ descriptive of the way I feel/ like I'm sweating bullets and lead/ scared of the future without a bae to call my own/ unlike that game show I don't aim to claim the throne/ I'm just happy playing follow the leader/ not straying from Jahs calling rounding up those stubborn ones I'm that sheep dog/ prodding cattle to get moving on a journey of self improvement/ no one knows the troubles ive seen or where ive been/ or the times when ive come in between a rock and a hard place/ or husbands and wives/ gossip separates friends/ and causes you to use kitchen knives/ for something other than slicing up animal meat/ I don't want any more blood flowing down our streets/ we already got robbed once I would be a dunce if I ever put myself in a position to allow that to happen again/ now God provided the money so we can claim back on insurance all that got jacked from us/ and so we could tighten our security/ Lord I wanna live a life of purity but you know what these two eyes see/ pretty young things find their way to me when I aint even looking for them/ so ive gotta be extra careful do that dip and bounce with my eyeballs/ when other dudes in seventh grade were making collages of busty babes I was pasting tiny babies snaps to my page/ we didn't even get to use a pen til then/ maybe it was freshman year/ can we live our lives without causing each others eyes to drip rivers of tears/ all of these days weeks months I wasted/ all of the blood on my lips I tasted/ only from my own d n a far as I could tell/ though some share the same  as me/ in some small way linked by code of genetics to all of humanity/ its pathetic how we start race wars and act sexist/ all because were stubborn and pigheaded/ tell ourselves we can't forgive the wrongs of the past but that's a lie of the enemy/ crazy talk like suddenly sprouting legs and trotting round if you're a sea anemone/ I aint a portugese man of war I wonder what I'm fighting for/ instead of delighting in you Lord igniting that holy fire in me/ I'm frightened for what the future has in store/ I don't wanna be the same old me anymore/ but I find myself in wrestling matches with angels / like Jacob pretty soon I'm gonna wind up missing hip bones/ could you change my name to Israel/ so I know God will prevail evey time someone calls my name/ seeing myself as His success upon each occasion when they point out my failures/ and they will know us by the trail of the dead skin cells attached to bloody bandages we leave behind us when we go strolling down the gardens of the ghettos we all know and love/ I've still gotta live with the consequences of my actions this side of heaven/ I'm so dense and intense most cant handle me so they sit on the fence and observe the way my candles lit/ while I collect my dollars and cents and just smile cos Gods a genius/ cracking me up cos suckers and liars said I could never make any money outta this biz/ guess what I proved them wrong even though that wasn't the motivating factor/ saving souls and taking care of my future family was the only reason why I ever wanted to get cashed up/ I talked way too much trash for my own good/ folks misunderstood the way I acted in my neighbourhood/ losers calling themselves outlaws/ if they got locked up in jail how would they feel for real/ bush rangers strangers highway men by way men/ you aint going my way men so I can relax/ and even if you did pull me over to one side and told this kid to give his money cough that cash give it up quick smart like pash rash or risk losing his life you think i'd care to open my wallet for such deviants/ losing my life means nothing to me cos its in the hands of Jesus stupid/ so I aint fretting if you pull a gun on me and stick it to my head tell me that youre gonna pull the trigger on my skull and blast it to smithereens/ cos I know who my king is/ and I know where my future is/ lying beyond the stars/ they treat me like a spider from mars sipping cider from a glass/ eyeball with a hole where the pupil should be/ I'm like john lennon legend and tupac I wrestle with my own vanity/ that's insanity/ but one out of three found Jesus in the end/ at least that's the truth of which I'm convinced my friend/ some say I'm gonna deal with my sorrow tomorrow then they don't live another day there  has to be a better way/ homies who consider themselves sold out for Jesus still watch movies with cussing does that even bear discussing/ why the shortie of my dreams watching scream queens better yet what I'm doing in that haunted house I should ask myself/ why the ski mask or hockey like Jason why I'm chasing that dragon why I'm facing these giants why I see myself  as a dwarf but my God towers over my oppressors/ why I love the fact that He forgives me despite my constant messing round with transgressions and gressors/ how am I supposed to address this/ so much we don't talk about for the sake of love/ like I quit paying out on atheists/ cos I knew that wasn't winning souls for His kingdom/ it wasn't Christs mindset/ even though I don't believe that atheists truly exist theyre such an easy target/ I close my eyes and try to forget/ about all the blood sweat and tears it took to get my homegirl to where she is today/ thank you Lord for all the change you have brought to her life that death for life exchange/ I had to force myself to slow down cos I wasn't getting anywhere speeding too fast through life/ is it cos I drink too much coffee that I'm mentally rushing through this cconversation already thinking of what I'm gonna do with my day once you're up and gone/ why can't I just chill with it and enjoy the moment/ I don't have a remote control button to freeze the sun and keep you here with me shortie so I've gotta lap up the milk of time you're giving me like a happy cat and don't complain/ cos I cant prolong your stay for any longer than you wanna be here/ I'm sincere in my apology for trying to express my love for you in a physical way before you were ready/ I should have stuck with emotional expressions of the deep impression you carved into my heart right from the very start/ I guess I should have been more careful the kind of pics I was allowing my eyes to look at less than an hour before meeting you/ now I'm entreating you have mercy on me/ give me date number two/ or call it business meet/ cos I mix business with pleasure when the two of us are standing on the same street/ I'm demanding your attention never commanding it/ you could conquer the world if you quit hanging with twits/ do I include myself in that category/ guaranteed you could win a game of scattergories/ look at me I'm an allegory/ for what could happen if you trust in Jesus with your whole heart/ quit playing church and pushing HIm to the furthest branch of your birch/ I know sometimes life situations have got you out on a limb/ and I can't even imagine what you went through having to endure refugee camp/ dealing with that cramped space/ though I can relate to starting over in a brand new country where no one knows your name or face/ or the beauty of your personality/ I know it was hard for your folks cos they probably started at the top in your country then slid back to the bottom in ours/ having to begin all over again/ I remember how excited you were on the advent of becoming a citizen/ we've been through some happy times together/ getting higher than Everest/ stoked off that moment enthralled by your cleverness/ when you got into uni and excelled at those good grades/ when I saw you shining like constellations up on stage/ such a sensation I'm amazed/ you were on the line up for a folk festival I only visited as a paying guest/ is it only in my fantasies you lay your head down on my chest in wedded bliss/ baby let me comb your hair/ I love you in everything you wear/ can you do a fashion show for me when you select what you determine to be the best dress for that particular occasion/ you don't need any make up to look gorgeous/ I could wake up next to you every morning and fall asleep with my head besides yours on the pillow every evening/ you got me weeping like a willow cos I only share this double bed with ghosts and memories/ they say the rap  game is a widow maker/ cos cats be onto you pouncing when you shake your money maker and bouncing round the house like that/ every dog on the block wants to chat with you/ wants to lock you in chains make a hood rat out of you/ but you aint going for their smooth talk/ cos your eyes are on your heavenly prize/ not just like some souls whose only goal is to see themselves blaze bright and all the rest of the world can just burn up like a pile of garbage you discarded in your yard cos you couldn't stand the sight of carnage/ they feed people to pigs in my country no really/ they got mafia operating in my local area maybe/ living next door to a bikie gang affiliated lady/ still she can't use her shotgun to make a hole in the foot of an intruder/ its crazy how our laws sometimes protects criminal elements more than it does those who are innocent victims/ I'm sick of chewing humble crow pie eating it just cos evil minded fools won't let sleeping dogs lie and give me peace/ as much as I care about the cause you're fighting for I can do it my own way without your help/ although you asked for mine you didn't want it in the way I was offering/ so I withdraw my assistance/ and I say forget about our friendship if you can't treat me right/ i'm not the scum between your toes/ i'm not a handkerchief you can wipe your bloody nose with/ i'm not that goober dripping from your snoz gonzo/ you think you're the fonz but you're barely fuzzy bear yet alone tonto/ Jah come to my aid pronto get this hate off my mind/ help me stop thinking about the friendships which I'm forced to leave behind/ should have drowned his companionship when my homegirl left me/ romantically though I was the one who hopped on that plane/ I didn't get why wendy Matthews song was sad cos I associated blue skies with gladness even though billy was right they do bring tears/ yet they can also fill you up with cheer/ when you know theres sunshine for days so yall can come out and play/ and I struggle to relate to songs about the sun which stays bright until late in the evening like those catastrophic gothic trolls panicking at the disco  / cos I operate under a different hemisphere but I'm more concerned about concentrating on what unites us instead of what divides/ believe it or not/ I'm ripley praying for those victims of homicide regicide and suicide/ suckers talked about killing God yet He still lives/ despite all of our obnoxiousness such snotty nosed punks He still forgives/ some get drunk off their own pretentions of genius/ yet they forget God is the one who gives their clogs their cleverness and their pants their smartness/ I wont be a bossy boots if you don't shoot the messenger/ did I forget Jesus is in the drivers seat/ I permanently play the role of passenger/ who paid for my passage Yah/ I aint saying things just to massage your ego/ I don't care if the truth is offensive to people/ though I try to speak it in love I don't shove folks in boxes/ without my spirit finding its home in Christ I'm a vagrant with no fixed address having no place to rest like He spoke of Himself in unfavourable comparison to vixens and foxes ❤ 🙂

[beingmad2017-blog]

Finances And Money Can Make or Break a Marriage

New Post has been published on https://beingmad.org/finances-can-make-or-break-a-marriage/

Finances And Money Can Make or Break a Marriage

Most first marriage starts with high hopes and dreams that the uninitiated lovers share in the boundless enthusiasm. Such optimism often includes an assumed trust and faith in one another. At the beginning of a new life together it can be easier to share assets and debts equally. As the marriage progresses and years are added to the relationship there are many factors that contribute to a decline in enthusiasm for sharing the money equally such as egos, selfishness, varied ideas about necessities versus wants, etc. Adversity sets in, as it does for all of us. Perhaps there are problems holding a job, or health issues arise, or maybe accidents occur or maybe it is as simple as mistakes which are made while balancing the checkbook. As troubles tax, a couple’s finances resentment might build as one or both partners look back and wonder if they could have been more prosperous by staying single. If finances are kept separate the chances of working through such adversity together are lessened. Isolated into what’s yours is yours and whats mine is mine people feel alone and disheartened even though they share life with another person through marriage. On the other hand, if finances are shared both partners are equally responsible for the successful financial outcome of the union. By jointly holding the money each spouse seeks the inputs and wisdom of the other to manage the accounts for maximum profit. What challenges one faces both faces together. What success one achieves both enjoy together.

“When you get married you become one.” “Money is a key area that helps bring unity.” David Ramsey, Financial Expert. “… spouses should combine all finances and work together towards common agreed upon goals… Separate money equals greed. The bottom line is this: couples that plan their lives and finances together are much more successful financially and with their relationships.” –Marriage and Money – Dave Ramsey vs. Suze Orman, March 20, 2012

The old saying goes ‘There is no I in a team’. Is marriage a contract between me and me, I and I, or is marriage about us, our, us? Going into life together can be tremendously beneficial to both partners. When two become one in all things each becomes more than they are by themselves. Math changes from 1+1=2 to 2 together = anything is possible. Many families have a tradition of saving their nickels and dimes to use to go on vacation. It strikes one as ridiculous to consider each family member saving to go on vacation separately. Mom saves to go see Grandma and Dad save to go camping and Marsha saves for Disneyland while little Johnny saves to go to the ice cream parlor down the street. Agreeing upon a mutual activity takes negotiation and more effort than going on separate vacations, but it also builds shared memories that are held precious later.

This is not to say that one partner should demure in passiveness and yield to their spouse all financial opinions and decisions. Often there are stark differences in the perspective each companion users to view resource usage and risk management with. One spouse may be analytical in nature and the other might make their decisions from more of an emotional base. Such dissimilar viewpoints can make it challenging to reach an equilibrium both are comfortable with. It may seem easier just to separate finances. However, such a decision can result in grave consequences. “Divorce attorneys have told me that when money is the issue that brings a couple into see them, as it often is, the specific issue is usually that the husband and wife were living separate financial lives. Want to mess up your marriage? Live separate financial lives.” How to Mess Up Your Marriage, Monday, December 12th, 2011, Matt Bell, author of Money and Marriage.

Is there more to a union of two souls than that of corporate mergers? Ironically, finances are often merged in shared business arrangements yet there are some who recommend the opposite approach for couples as if married companions are “… Independent Operators, my term for pairs who keep their accounts entirely separate.” Jessica Crouse.

Healthy marriages are built upon compromise, respect for each other, and the willingness to entertain the thought that together you are smarter than you are separate. Nature witnesses to the efficacy of sharing the resources- even birds and animals bring home the bacon to be shared with the whole pride. Think about the survival rate of any animal species that behaved as if each was responsible separately for their maintenance and subsistence. “Life is not 50:50, nor should it be… when did this degrade from a marriage to a micromanaged contractual partnership?… I see a continuum from the first bit of separate money in a marriage to basically living as roommates.” Evolving Personal Finance: The Slippery Slope of Separate Money.

Sometimes we might find ourselves wondering why some people make the financial decisions they do. During the recent housing crisis, many opinions were expressed via twitter, internet forums, and even talk shows about where the responsibility rested for so many foreclosures. Terms like ‘predatory lenders’ and ‘irresponsible borrowers’ were bandied about. It is natural to become coach quarterbacks and passenger seat drivers when viewing problems others encounter, especially when we had no contribution to such problems. How easy it becomes to do the same with a spouse when married partners hold the finances separately. Harboring criticism instead of openly communicating about financial troubles does little to foster unity in marriage.

“For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate” (Matthew 19:6). Today it seems as if half of society would amend these Biblical verses to ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife, except financially; and they shall become one flesh’ and ‘So they are no longer two, except the bank accounts, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate, except the money’.

In this world of hyper-competition stress rules. If children are part of a marriage the love and joy that come to parents can also be accompanied by even more stress as the demands on available resources grow. If outside influences threaten the financial stability of the family stress levels rises even higher. Money is one of the major contributors to divorce, and it’s easy to see why. Many people are constantly worried about taking care of their families, and as they grow older taking care of themselves through retirement. Such worry can breed fear. Fear can eat at the faith and trust in one another that was assumed at the start of the life together. As faith and trust erode the bonds of matrimony can begin to resemble chains tied to a sinking vessel where it becomes ‘every man for himself’. However, if couples are committed to each other ‘for richer, for poorer’ they can lean on each other for the strength necessary to endure and overcome the challenges of life in these modern times. Years of struggle and effort together can help forge a tie that can defy financial obstacles in favor of the security such strong bonds ensure. Such security might not be financially based, but instead, it might find a strong foundation in emotion. This means that sometimes spouses have to choose what is most important to them- money or love.

While comparing the pros and cons of united versus separate finances in marriage a clear conclusion emerges that supports the unified approach. Consider the following from Engaged Marriage: “Reasons Why a Joint Bank Account is Best: Encourages regular communication about finances. Built-in accountability partner on spending matters. Fosters unity in money matters. Strong sense of working together to meet financial goals. Clear that all household income is treated as “our” money. No conflict or administrative work in ‘splitting up the bills’… The use of a single joint account also encourages (requires, really) open communication about your finances, which is absolutely critical to a successful marriage.” –Should Married Couples Have Joint or Separate Bank Accounts? By Dustin of Engaged Marriage.

A proponent of separate marital finances might argue that many of the benefits outlined herein can still be enjoyed even if spouses are not one with money. Without performing the work necessary for financial harmony it is like trying to describe the taste of salt to someone who has never experienced it before. There is just no substitute for experiencing the rewards other than doing the work it takes for two people to harmoniously live together financially. Communication can become improved as each works to understand the others’ point of view. Sacrifice can enhance mutual appreciation as companions work to compromise with each other. Trust grows as each spouse strives to achieve mutual goals set together. Sharing money in marriage is an opportunity, not a burden.

In summation, money can make or break a marriage. Just like most issues in life we can use it to achieve positive results or let it use us in which case negative results often occur. The easy road might seem to be the separation of the marriage finances. However, putting aside the possible negative consequences a couple thus engaged will miss out on the opportunities to build an even stronger relationship with their spouse through working together in good faith and trust in one another. It does require work and sometimes it is hard. A couple will not realize the rewards of such hard work by avoiding the same through keeping their finances separate. That trust and faith in each other that was assumed at the start of their life together can, through such hard work, grow into absolute confidence as the years accumulate.

[myupdatesystems-blog]

Finances Can Make or Break a Marriage

New Post has been published on https://myupdatesystems.com/2017/04/10/finances-can-make-or-break-a-marriage/

Finances Can Make or Break a Marriage

Most first marriages start with high hopes and dreams that the uninitiated lovers share in the boundless enthusiasm. Such optimism often includes an assumed trust and faith in one another. At the beginning of a new life together it can be easier to share assets and debts equally. As the marriage progresses and years are added to the relationship there are many factors that contribute to a decline in enthusiasm for sharing the money equally such as egos, selfishness, varied ideas about necessities versus wants, etc. Adversity sets in, as it does for all of us. Perhaps there are problems holding a job, or health issues arise, or maybe accidents occur or maybe it is as simple as mistakes which are made while balancing the checkbook. As troubles tax, a couple’s finances resentment might build as one or both partners look back and wonder if they could have been more prosperous by staying single. If finances are kept separate the chances of working through such adversity together are lessened. Isolated into what’s yours is yours and whats mine is mine people feel alone and disheartened even though they share life with another person through marriage. On the other hand, if finances are shared both partners are equally responsible for the successful financial outcome of the union. By jointly holding the money each spouse seeks the inputs and wisdom of the other to manage the accounts for maximum profit. What challenges one faces both faces together. What success one achieves both enjoy together.

“When you get married you become one.” “Money is a key area that helps bring unity.” David Ramsey, Financial Expert. “… spouses should combine all finances and work together towards common agreed upon goals… Separate money equals greed. The bottom line is this: couples that plan their lives and finances together are much more successful financially and with their relationships.” –Marriage and Money – Dave Ramsey vs. Suze Orman, March 20, 2012

The old saying goes ‘There is no I in a team’. Is marriage a contract between me and me, I and I, or is marriage about us, our, us? Going into life together can be tremendously beneficial to both partners. When two become one in all things each becomes more than they are by themselves. Math changes from 1+1=2 to 2 together = anything is possible. Many families have a tradition of saving their nickels and dimes to use to go on vacation. It strikes one as ridiculous to consider each family member saving to go on vacation separately. Mom saves to go see Grandma and Dad save to go camping and Marsha saves for Disneyland while little Johnny saves to go to the ice cream parlor down the street. Agreeing upon a mutual activity takes negotiation and more effort than going on separate vacations, but it also builds shared memories that are held precious later.

This is not to say that one partner should demure in passiveness and yield to their spouse all financial opinions and decisions. Often there are stark differences in the perspective each companion users to view resource usage and risk management with. One spouse may be analytical in nature and the other might make their decisions from more of an emotional base. Such dissimilar viewpoints can make it challenging to reach an equilibrium both are comfortable with. It may seem easier just to separate finances. However, such a decision can result in grave consequences. “Divorce attorneys have told me that when money is the issue that brings a couple into see them, as it often is, the specific issue is usually that the husband and wife were living separate financial lives. Want to mess up your marriage? Live separate financial lives.” How to Mess Up Your Marriage, Monday, December 12th, 2011, Matt Bell, author of Money and Marriage.

Is there more to a union of two souls than that of corporate mergers? Ironically, finances are often merged in shared business arrangements yet there are some who recommend the opposite approach for couples as if married companions are “… Independent Operators, my term for pairs who keep their accounts entirely separate.” Jessica Crouse.

Healthy marriages are built upon compromise, respect for each other, and the willingness to entertain the thought that together you are smarter than you are separate. Nature witnesses to the efficacy of sharing the resources- even birds and animals bring home the bacon to be shared with the whole pride. Think about the survival rate of any animal species that behaved as if each was responsible separately for their maintenance and subsistence. “Life is not 50:50, nor should it be… when did this degrade from a marriage to a micromanaged contractual partnership?… I see a continuum from the first bit of separate money in a marriage to basically living as roommates.” Evolving Personal Finance: The Slippery Slope of Separate Money.

Sometimes we might find ourselves wondering why some people make the financial decisions they do. During the recent housing crisis, many opinions were expressed via twitter, internet forums, and even talk shows about where the responsibility rested for so many foreclosures. Terms like ‘predatory lenders’ and ‘irresponsible borrowers’ were bandied about. It is natural to become coach quarterbacks and passenger seat drivers when viewing problems others encounter, especially when we had no contribution to such problems. How easy it becomes to do the same with a spouse when married partners hold the finances separately. Harboring criticism instead of openly communicating about financial troubles does little to foster unity in marriage.

“For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate” (Matthew 19:6). Today it seems as if half of society would amend these Biblical verses to ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife, except financially; and they shall become one flesh’ and ‘So they are no longer two, except the bank accounts, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate, except the money’.

In this world of hyper competition stress rules. If children are part of a marriage the love and joy that come to parents can also be accompanied by even more stress as the demands on available resources grow. If outside influences threaten the financial stability of the family stress levels rises even higher. Money is one of the major contributors to divorce, and it’s easy to see why. Many people are constantly worried about taking care of their families, and as they grow older taking care of themselves through retirement. Such worry can breed fear. Fear can eat at the faith and trust in one another that was assumed at the start of a life together. As faith and trust erode the bonds of matrimony can begin to resemble chains tied to a sinking vessel where it becomes ‘every man for himself’. However, if couples are committed to each other ‘for richer, for poorer’ they can lean on each other for the strength necessary to endure and overcome the challenges of life in these modern times. Years of struggle and effort together can help forge a tie that can defy financial obstacles in favor of the security such strong bonds ensure. Such security might not be financially based, but instead, it might find a strong foundation in emotion. This means that sometimes spouses have to choose what is most important to them- money or love.

While comparing the pros and cons of united versus separate finances in marriage a clear conclusion emerges that supports the unified approach. Consider the following from Engaged Marriage: “Reasons Why a Joint Bank Account is Best: Encourages regular communication about finances. Built-in accountability partner on spending matters. Fosters unity in money matters. Strong sense of working together to meet financial goals. Clear that all household income is treated as “our” money. No conflict or administrative work in ‘splitting up the bills’… The use of a single joint account also encourages (requires, really) open communication about your finances, which is absolutely critical to a successful marriage.” –Should Married Couples Have Joint or Separate Bank Accounts? By Dustin of Engaged Marriage.

A proponent of separate marital finances might argue that many of the benefits outlined herein can still be enjoyed even if spouses are not one with money. Without performing the work necessary for financial harmony it is like trying to describe the taste of salt to someone who has never experienced it before. There is just no substitute for experiencing the rewards other than doing the work it takes for two people to harmoniously live together financially. Communication can become improved as each works to understand the others’ point of view. Sacrifice can enhance mutual appreciation as companions work to compromise with each other. Trust grows as each spouse strives to achieve mutual goals set together. Sharing money in marriage is an opportunity, not a burden.

In summation, money can make or break a marriage. Just like most issues in life we can use it to achieve positive results or let it use us in which case negative results often occur. The easy road might seem to be the separation of the marriage finances. However, putting aside the possible negative consequences a couple thus engaged will miss out on the opportunities to build an even stronger relationship with their spouse through working together in good faith and trust in one another. It does require work and sometimes it is hard. A couple will not realize the rewards of such hard work by avoiding the same through keeping their finances separate. That trust and faith in each other that was assumed at the start of their life together can, through such hard work, grow into absolute confidence as the years accumulate. I like the following quotation about shared marital finances and conclude with it as follows: “Call me weird, but I just don’t understand the logic of this. Call me old-fashioned, but I think marriage should be a partnership. Call me crazy, but I think separating your finances is a bad idea… (what) you are saying to each other is “I mostly trust you, but not with my money.” With this sort of attitude, how could you possibly fail??? ‘sarcasm drip, drip'” –Separate Finances: A Recipe for Marital Disaster, By Greg | August 28, 2012, | Debt, Income, Saving Money on Club Thrifty.

[baburaja97-blog]

New Post has been published on Vin Zite

New Post has been published on https://vinzite.com/finances-can-make-or-break-a-marriage/

Finances Can Make or Break a Marriage

Alternative Financing options

Most first marriages start with high hopes and dreams that the uninitiated lovers share in the boundless enthusiasm. Such optimism often includes an assumed trust and faith in one another. At the beginning of a new life together it can be easier to share assets and debts equally. As the marriage progresses and years are added to the relationship there are many factors that contribute to a decline in enthusiasm for sharing the money equally such as egos, selfishness, varied ideas about necessities versus wants, etc. Adversity sets in, as it does for all of us. Perhaps there are problems holding a job, or health issues arise, or maybe accidents occur or maybe it is as simple as mistakes which are made while balancing the checkbook. As troubles tax, a couple’s finances resentment might build as one or both partners look back and wonder if they could have been more prosperous by staying single. If finances are kept separate the chances of working through such adversity together are lessened. Isolated into what’s yours is yours and whats mine is mine people feel alone and disheartened even though they share life with another person through marriage. On the other hand, if finances are shared both partners are equally responsible for the successful financial outcome of the union. By jointly holding the money each spouse seeks the inputs and wisdom of the other to manage the accounts for maximum profit. What challenges one faces both faces together. What success one achieves both enjoy together.

“When you get married you become one.” “Money is a key area that helps bring unity.” David Ramsey, Financial Expert. “… spouses should combine all finances and work together towards common agreed upon goals… Separate money equals greed. The bottom line is this: couples that plan their lives and finances together are much more successful financially and with their relationships.” –Marriage and Money – Dave Ramsey vs. Suze Orman, March 20, 2012

The old saying goes ‘There is no I in a team’. Is marriage a contract between me and me, I and I, or is marriage about us, our, us? Going into life together can be tremendously beneficial to both partners. When two become one in all things each becomes more than they are by themselves. Math changes from 1+1=2 to 2 together = anything is possible. Many families have a tradition of saving their nickels and dimes to use to go on vacation. It strikes one as ridiculous to consider each family member saving to go on vacation separately. Mom saves to go see Grandma and Dad save to go camping and Marsha save for Disneyland while little Johnny saves to go to the ice cream parlor down the street. Agreeing upon a mutual activity takes negotiation and more effort than going on separate vacations, but it also builds shared memories that are held precious later.

This is not to say that one partner should demure in passiveness and yield to their spouse all financial opinions and decisions. Often there are stark differences in the perspective each companion users to view resource usage and risk management with. One spouse may be analytical in nature and the other might make their decisions from more of an emotional base. Such dissimilar viewpoints can make it challenging to reach an equilibrium both are comfortable with. It may seem easier just to separate finances. However, such a decision can result in grave consequences. “Divorce attorneys have told me that when money is the issue that brings a couple into see them, as it often is, the specific issue is usually that the husband and wife were living separate financial lives. Want to mess up your marriage? Live separate financial lives.” How to Mess Up Your Marriage, Monday, December 12th, 2011, Matt Bell, author of Money and Marriage.

Is there more to a union of two souls than that of corporate mergers? Ironically, finances are often merged in shared business arrangements yet there are some who recommend the opposite approach for couples as if married companions are “… Independent Operators, my term for pairs who keep their accounts entirely separate.” Jessica Crouse.

Healthy marriages are built upon compromise, respect for each other, and the willingness to entertain the thought that together you are smarter than you are separate. Nature witnesses to the efficacy of sharing the resources- even birds and animals bring home the bacon to be shared with the whole pride. Think about the survival rate of any animal species that behaved as if each was responsible separately for their maintenance and subsistence. “Life is not 50:50, nor should it be… when did this degrade from a marriage to a micromanaged contractual partnership?… I see a continuum from the first bit of separate money in a marriage to basically living as roommates.” Evolving Personal Finance: The Slippery Slope of Separate Money.

Sometimes we might find ourselves wondering why some people make the financial decisions they do. During the recent housing crisis, many opinions were expressed via twitter, internet forums, and even talk shows about where the responsibility rested for so many foreclosures. Terms like ‘predatory lenders’ and ‘irresponsible borrowers’ were bandied about. It is natural to become coach quarterbacks and passenger seat drivers when viewing problems others encounter, especially when we had no contribution to such problems. How easy it becomes to do the same with a spouse when married partners hold the finances separately. Harboring criticism instead of openly communicating about financial troubles does little to foster unity in marriage.

“For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate” (Matthew 19:6). Today it seems as if half of society would amend these Biblical verses to ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife, except financially; and they shall become one flesh’ and ‘So they are no longer two, except the bank accounts, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate, except the money’.

In this world of hyper-competition stress rules. If children are part of a marriage the love and joy that come to parents can also be accompanied by even more stress as the demands on available resources grow. If outside influences threaten the financial stability of the family stress levels rises even higher. Money is one of the major contributors to divorce, and it’s easy to see why. Many people are constantly worried about taking care of their families, and as they grow older taking care of themselves through retirement. Such worry can breed fear. Fear can eat at the faith and trust in one another that was assumed at the start of the life together. As faith and trust erode the bonds of matrimony can begin to resemble chains tied to a sinking vessel where it becomes ‘every man for himself’. However, if couples are committed to each other ‘for richer, for poorer’ they can lean on each other for the strength necessary to endure and overcome the challenges of life in these modern times. Years of struggle and effort together can help forge a tie that can defy financial obstacles in favor of the security such strong bonds ensure. Such security might not be financially based, but instead, it might find a strong foundation in emotion. This means that sometimes spouses have to choose what is most important to them- money or love.

While comparing the pros and cons of united versus separate finances in marriage a clear conclusion emerges that supports the unified approach. Consider the following from Engaged Marriage: “Reasons Why a Joint Bank Account is Best: Encourages regular communication about finances. Built-in accountability partner on spending matters. Fosters unity in money matters. Strong sense of working together to meet financial goals. Clear that all household income is treated as “our” money. No conflict or administrative work in ‘splitting up the bills’… The use of a single joint account also encourages (requires, really) open communication about your finances, which is absolutely critical to a successful marriage.” –Should Married Couples Have Joint or Separate Bank Accounts? By Dustin of Engaged Marriage.

A proponent of separate marital finances might argue that many of the benefits outlined herein can still be enjoyed even if spouses are not one with money. Without performing the work necessary for financial harmony it is like trying to describe the taste of salt to someone who has never experienced it before. There is just no substitute for experiencing the rewards other than doing the work it takes for two people to harmoniously live together financially. Communication can become improved as each works to understand the others’ point of view. Sacrifice can enhance mutual appreciation as companions work to compromise with each other. Trust grows as each spouse strives to achieve mutual goals set together. Sharing money in marriage is an opportunity, not a burden.

In summation, money can make or break a marriage. Just like most issues in life we can use it to achieve positive results or let it use us in which case negative results often occur. The easy road might seem to be a separation of the marriage finances. However, putting aside the possible negative consequences a couple thus engaged will miss out on the opportunities to build an even stronger relationship with their spouse through working together in good faith and trust in one another. It does require work and sometimes it is hard. A couple will not realize the rewards of such hard work by avoiding the same through keeping their finances separate.