#have given them enough support to have a successful and stable career

[thundergrace]

Happy Birthday bbs 💓

[derinwrites]

How can I make money writing fiction?

I'm gonna be straight with you. There is no guarantee that you'll make enough as an independent writer to make it worth your time. You very well might -- I make a liveable wage as an independent writer -- but many don't. Most writers I know also have a job. And luck plays a big part in it.

If you're interested in going forward in spite of this, you have two main options for monetisation open to you, and you are going to have to pick one. I call them the sales model and the sponsorship model, and you are going to have to pick one.

The sales model involves writing stories and selling them to readers. You can put books up on Amazon or Smashwords, sell them direct from your own website, enlist the help of a traditional publisher to handle that for you and let them decide where to sell, whatever -- the point is that your money is made from the sale of books to readers. If you go with a traditional publisher, you're using this model (though they will give you some of the money ahead of time in the form of an advance). Most indie authors also use this model, publishing through draft2digital, Ingram Spark, direct through Amazon, whatever. I've never relied on the sales model and can't give you any advice on how to do this, but Tumblr is full of indie authors who probably can.

The sponsorship model involves soliciting small amounts of money from various readers over time. This is ideal for web serials, and it's what I use. I use Patreon, which is designed specifically for this purpose, but you can use other sites such as ko-fi. This model involves providing regular content for free, with bonuses for those who support you.

"Can't I do both? Sell books and have a Patreon?" You absolutely can! I know several indie authors with a Patreon. I sell my completed books as ebooks and will eventually sell them as paperbacks. But your time and attention is limited, and so is your audience's, and you're going to have to half-arse one of these in order to have enough arse to whole-arse the other. You're going to make a lo of decisions that benefit either the sponsorship model or the sales model, not both. So pick your primary income source early and commit.

I can only advise on writing web serials and using the sponsorship model, so I'll go ahead with that assumption. If you want to make a liveable wage doing this, not only will you need luck, you'll also need patience. This is not a fast way to build a career. at the end of my first year of doing this, I had one single patron, and they were a real-life friend of mine. When I reached an income of $100/month, I threw a little party for myself, I was so happy. It had taken such a long time and was so much work. I reached enough to cover rent/mortgage after I'd been doing this for more than four years. It's a long term sort of career.

Here are some general tips for succeeding in this industry, given by me, someone with no formal training in any of this who only vaguely knows what they're talking about:

Have a consistent update schedule and STICK TO IT

The #1 indicator for stable success in this industry (aside from luck, which we're discounting because you can't do much about that) is having a consistent update schedule. Your readers need to know when the next chapter is coming out, and it should be coming out regularly. Ideally, you should have no breaks or hiatuses -- if you're in a bus crash or something, that might be unavoidable, and your readers will understand if you tell them, but if you're stopping and starting a lot for trivial reasons, they WILL abandon you. You can't get away with that shit if you're not Andrew Hussie, and I'm pretty sure Andrew Hussie doesn't message me for career advice on Tumblr. If you find you need a lot of hiatuses to write fast enough then you're updating too often; change your schedule. A regular schedule is more important than a fast one (ideally it should be both, but if you have to pick between the two, pick regular).

2. Pay attention to your readership, listen to what they want from you

Your income is based on a pretty complicated support structure when you're using the sponsorship model. this model relies on people finding your story, liking your story, and continuing to find it valuable enough to keep paying you month after month. This means that your rewards for your sponsors should be things that they value and will continue to pay for ('knowing I'm supporting an artist whose work I enjoy' counts as a thing that they value, to my great surprise; there's a lot of people giving me money just for the sake of giving me money, so I can pay my mortgage and keep writing for them without needing a second job), but it also means supporting the entire network that attracts readers and keeps them having the best time they can with your story -- being part of a rewarding community. Because this is advice on making money, I'm going to roughly divide your readership into groups based on how they affect your bottom line:

sponsors. People giving you money directly. The importance of keeping this group happy should be obvious.

administration and community helpers -- discord moderators, IT people, guys who set up fan wikis, whoever's handling your mailing list if you have a mailing list. You can do this stuff yourself, or you can hire someone to do it, but if you're incredibly lucky and people enjoy being a part of your reader community, people will sometimes volunteer to do the work for free. If you are lucky enough to get such people, respect them. They are doing you a massive favour, and they're not doing it for you, but to maintain a place that they value, and you have to respect both of those things. My discord has just shy of 1,300 members and is moderated by volunteers. I'd peel my own face off if I had to moderate a community that large. If you've got people stepping up to do work for you, you need to respect them and you need to make sure that they continue to find that rewarding by doing what you can to make sure that the community they're maintaining is rewarding. Sometimes this means taking actions and sometimes this means staying the fuck out of the way. Depending on the circumstances.

fan artists. Once you have people drawing your characters, writing fanfic of your stories, whatever, treat these like fucking gold. Give them a space to do this, and more importantly, give them a space to do this without you in it. Fanworks are a symptom of engagement with your work, which is massively important. They are also a component of a healthy community, an avenue for readers to talk to each other and express themselves creatively to each other. Third, fanworks act as a bridge for new readers. When readers share their art on, say, Tumblr, it can intrigue new people and get them into the story. Your job in all of this is to give them the space to work, encourage them as required or invited (I reblog most TTOU fanart that I'm tagged in on Tumblr, for instance), and other than that, stay the fuck out of their way. These people are vital to the liveblood of your community, the continued engagement of your audience, and the interest of your sponsors. Some of the fan artists will be sponsors themselves; some won't be. Those who aren't sponsors are still massively valuable for their art.

speculators, conversers, theorists, livebloggers, and That Guy Who's Just Really Jazzed For The Next Chapter. Some people don't make art but just like to chat about your story. These people are a bedrock of the community that's supporting your sponsors and increasing your readership, and therefore are critical to your income stream. Give them a place to talk. Be nice to them when they talk to you. Sometimes, they'll ask you questions about the story, which you can choose to answer or not, however you feel is appropriate. They'll also want to chat about non-story-related stuff with each other, so make sure they have a place to do that, too.

that guy who never talks to you or comments on anything but linked your story to ten guys in his office who all read it now. Some of your supporters are completely invisible to you. You can't do anything for these people except continue to release the story and have a forum they can silently lurk on if they want to. But, y'know, they exist.

If you want to focus on income then these are, roughly, the groups of people that you will need to listen to and accommodate for. You can generally just make sure they have space to do their thing, and if they want anything else, they'll tell you (yes, guys, paperbacks will be coming eventually). Many people will fit into multiple groups -- I have some sponsors that are in every single one of these groups except the last. Some will only be in one group. A healthy income rests on a healthy community which rests on accommodating these needs.

3. If you can manage it, try to make your story good.

It's also helpful for your story to be good. Economically, this is far less important than you'd think -- there are some people out there writing utter garbage and making a living doing it. Garbage by what standards? By whatever your standards are. Just think of the absolute laziest, emptiest, hackiest waste-of-bandwidth story you can imagine -- some guy is half-arsing that exact story and making three times what you'll ever make on Patreon doing it. And honestly? Good for him. If he's making that much then his readers are enjoying it, and that's what matters. Still, one critical component of making money as a writer is writing something that people actually want to read. And you can't trick them with web serials, because they don't pay in advance -- if they're bored, they'll just stop. So you have to make it worth their time, money and attention, and the simplest way to do that is to write a good story.

This hardly seems mentioning, since you were presumably planning to do that anyway. It's basic respect for your audience to give them something worth their time. Besides, if we're not interested in improving our craft and striving for our best, what are we even writing for? I'm sure I don't need to tell you to try to write a good story. The reason I list this is in fact the opposite -- don't let "I'm not a good enough writer" paralyse you. The world is full of someday-writers who endlessly fuss over and revise a single story because it's not good enough, it's not perfect, they're not Terry Pratchett yet. Neither was Terry Pratchett when his first books were published. If you're waiting to be good enough, you won't start. I didn't think Curse Words was good enough when I started releasing it -- I still don't. I started putting it out because I knew it was the only way I'd get myself to actually finish something. I don't think it's all that great, but you know what? An awful lot of people read it and really enjoyed it. And if I hadn't released it, I'd have been doing those people a disservice.

Also, it taught me a lot, and based on what I learned, Time to Orbit: Unknown is much better. If I'd never released Curse Words, if I hadn't seen how people read it and reacted to it and seen what worked and what didn't, then Time to Orbit: Unknown wouldn't be very good. And it certainly wouldn't be making me a living wage, because it was the years writing Curse Words that started building the momentum I have today.

And Time to Orbit: Unknown as it is today has some serious problems. Problems that I'm learning from. And the next book will be a lot better.

So that's basically my advice for making money in this industry. Be patient, be lucky, be consistent. Value your community; it's your lifeline, even the parts of it that don't directly pay you. And try to make your story as good as you can, but make that an activity you do, not a barrier to prevent you from starting.

Good luck.

[nayatarot777]

👀🪃💢how is your return-to-sender hitting? 💢🪃👀

this is a reading for those of you who have done return to senders to someone who’s on some weird/scary bitch behaviour. no matter how simple or elaborate your energy work is - you could do your r2s through spellwork, visualisations, scripting, etc. - this reading will expose how it’s hitting the intended target(s).

choose from the images below. they’re not mine, btw. they’re from pinterest.

don’t over-complicate listening to your intuition. which image do you like the most? that’s the one that calls out to you the most.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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•••••••••••••• pile 1 •••••••••••••••

hi pile 1! welcome to your reading ☺️

this is either a group of people who your r2s is directed to, or multiple individuals. you might not have even targeted anyone in particular - just anyone who’s an enemy (open or hidden) - and i’m seeing that there are a lot of people getting their negative energy thrown back to them.

you guys have supporters of some sort. a small community of people who really love and support you and you appreciate them. this community has bonded together thanks to your practice and development with something.

you began something small but it’s been very well received and you have an extremely stable foundation for whatever this is that you’re developing. i definitely feel like this is either in your local community, or online. and the oppositions who are getting their karma have been evil-eyeing tf out of your success. even if you only see this success as small and brand new or “nothing that great”. others would disagree, pile 2.

they don’t like how loved you are and they don’t like the fact that you’re actually successful with something that requires skill. what you’re doing requires an investment of time, effort, and diligent practice (maybe even a god-given gift) - all of which these people feel like they can’t compete with.

their karma is that they’re going to expose how immature they are in reaction to positive news about whatever project you have going on. i see them embarrassing themselves in front of a community (whether it’s one of their communities or in front of your community of people).

their finances will also be fucked with, since i feel like they were probably evil-eyeing yours. they’re going to have a major restriction on their cash flow into their bank accounts. i’m feeling saturnian energy so you could’ve called upon saturn when doing your energy work or you could’ve done this work on a saturday (since saturn rules that day). there’s definitely going to be a fluctuation in their finances, and they’re going to feel immature and dissatisfied with where they’re at financially.

they’re not going to have the stability that they need to feel like they’re a grown, responsible adult. i’m seeing that they might want to move out of their parents house, or develop a career, or save money to buy a car. whatever it is, they’re going to be prevented. they’re literally going to feel like they’re still a young teenager when these people could be in their young adult/middle-age/elder years.

i’m seeing that some of these people - or one of these people in particular - is clearly very attention seeking. they’re going to be ignored by the group of people that they usually receive emotional fulfilment from. this group of people aren’t going to want to deal with them anymore because they’re so draining.

they’re going to feel under appreciated and undervalued. i’m seeing that these people might put in more work at their jobs than their coworkers, but they’re the ones who are singled out for “not doing enough” whenever they feel like taking things easy. they’re not allowed to “slack off” which is actually just them lowering their work effort to the same level as their coworker’s. their manager/boss expects the excessive work effort all the time and it’s going to take a toll on their emotional and mental health. they’re going to be aware that they’re selling themselves short but feel like they can’t do anything about it for some reason.

i’m even seeing that for some of you, some of these people have been copying you or your work. either way, nobody’s really paying attention to their plagiarism the way that people do to your originality, but this will be exposed and realised by many people. it’s going to be obvious or it’s going to be made obvious by someone in particular. a fire sign perhaps? the king of wands is the card that represents this person. this exposer is someone who puts in A LOT of hard work and passion into their own projects, so plagiarism is a huge pet peeve for this person. that’s why they’ll be the one to expose these copycats.

•••••••••••••• pile 2 •••••••••••••••

hello pile 2, welcome to your reading ☺️

this person is going to be backstabbed heavily by someone who they believe truly loves them. they could be experiencing more conflict with their partner/whoever they’re dating more than usual, but they’re adamant on finding a solution to these problems.

their person on the other hand? not so much. this backstabbing might not even be that. it could just be their partner breaking up with them and they take it as a betrayal because of their abandonment issues.

for those of you who know that this person is single, any attempt at offering love will be rejected. and i’m seeing brutal rejection too. they could’ve brutally rejected you in some way, and now they’re going to be humbled. any chance of genuine romance and love offers of substance isn’t available to this person now. or anyone that they get into a relationship with will be a hidden enemy. they’ll fall for them though.

they might also be verbally attacked by multiple people. i’m hearing “verbal jumping” 😂. this could also be the way that they speak to themselves. they’re going to become their own worst enemy and verbally abuse themselves to the point of sabotaging major blessings that they’ve been trying to manifest. this could play out in work, friendship, or love for them.

i feel like this person is an insecure person to begin with, and they were evil-eyeing and psychically attacking your intellect, your abundance, your money, and your ability to attract people who are genuinely loving to you (romantic or platonic). that’s why they’re experiencing all of these things. this person could’ve been attacking your physical appearance in some way, but i’m seeing that upon the return of their jealousy of your physical appearance, the decline in their mental health will negatively affect their physical. this person might prioritise their physical appearance and i’m seeing that they’re not going to like the way that they look at all.

they’re also going to have to watch a major blessing or some major abundance pass them by because of being stuck somewhere. stuck in a job that doesn’t pay well? or stuck in a relationship that doesn’t make them happy? whatever it is, life is going to taunt them with something or someone who would’ve been way more of a blessing to them. but they’re going to miss out on this. i’m seeing because of their lack of action. they’re feeling stuck. i really feel like this missed blessing will be caused by them staying loyal to a relationship that they clearly aren’t being valued in.

i’m also hearing that the more that they get hit with their karma, the more you receive abundance and major bouts of growth with your manifestations. you guys may have used Jupiterian energy in this return to sender to gain abundance alongside protection from this.

for a lot of you, this person is going to have a decision to make in a 3rd party situation that they’re put into. that’s probably why they feel stuck in their situation. they’re still going to stick around and compete for the attention of their deceitful partner instead of getting tf out, and they’re going to have to deal with missing out on some major abundance because of this too.

•••••••••••••• pile 3 ••••••••••••••••

hi, pile 3, welcome to your reading ☺️

this person is going to feel very apathetic about their life. this could be due to friendships that just don’t resonate with them anymore. they could feel as though these people are too immature or too reckless. i’m seeing that they’re going to have to give up the expectation of an equal give and take with these people. they could be an ex-friend to you who is realising that you (and maybe even others who they’ve mistreated) were the people who could’ve helped them actually get somewhere in life. i’m just picking up on this person being around people who want to party, drink, prioritise men and/or women, etc. they don’t even resonate with that anymore.

i’m also seeing that this person will be the one who everyone comes to - mainly for money or some type of materialism? if they smoke 🍃 then it could be that they’re being used for that by those around them currently. it’s almost like they recognise this but they put up with it because they have nobody else. i’m getting people pleaser vibes. they definitely are going to feel under appreciated by their circle though.

their circle also won’t take much interest in their hobbies either. they’re going to feel ignored and not supported. they may even give up a whole entire hobby because they’re no longer receiving people’s praise and validation from it.

they’ll always feel left out around these people, as if they’re the odd one out. this person may have tried to “other” you at some point and now they’re receiving the same treatment. i’m seeing the main message that for this person to be accepted by people who they don’t even feel valued by, they’re going to have to give up some of their wants and desires. hobbies and interests that don’t fit with this group will be something that your target leaves behind.

i’m even seeing that for those of them who are in relationships, they’ll feel like their partner gives more to everyone else than they do to this person. they feel like they can’t complain for some reason though. this could have something to do with being financially reliant on this partner? or reliant on them for a place to live? something like that. for others, this person is being taken advantage of financially. their partner might continuously ask for money and because this partner is so desperate to keep them happy, they don’t put up any boundaries with them.

this person is going to ignore a genuine connection with someone because they choose to focus on superficial ones. they’re going to settle for breadcrumbs and even try to convince themselves that they just need to accept it. their self esteem is going to be at an all time low, no matter how much they try to cover this up.

[themotherofallthings]

I think the whole BMG article today is just yet another example that there is no one that can help Louis or his career quite like his fans. If a large label like BMG can’t manage to figure out, in a creative & diverse way, how to promote Louis outside of the normal, then there is simply no hope for him within the industry stable. Being an independent makes sense at this point. 

Louis signed with BMG to give “industry” one more shot. Because he clearly wasn’t prepared to be fully independent after Walls. I think that tour changed that a lot for him. And if he had had this confidence coming out of his contract with Simon, I’m hard pressed to believe he would’ve signed with another label.

So for those folks saying that Louis doesn’t want mainstream success, I say, Louis wants success. He’s ambitious and has an ego. He cares, a lot. Maybe not about being the next Ed Sheeran or Harry Styles, but he’s proud of his music and what he has to offer and it would be naive to think that it doesn’t bother him that he doesn’t get air play, especially when he’s alluded to it in a few interviews over the years.

So knowing, definitively, that Louis wasn’t (and isn’t) going to get air play and that BMG knew that going in, why on earth would they waste valuable manpower, $$ and effort to get BTM on the radio? Was that Louis asking them to try? Was it BMG thinking they could change minds? Hard to say, but all that proves is that their efforts might have been put to better used elsewhere. Perhaps capitalizing on existing fans and fandom UAs to promote Louis in original and organic ways. 

I think the most exasperating part of all of this was the mention of the Rolling Stone cover. That was the biggest ball they dropped. Saying they wanted the cover but because Harry was on the week the album dropped, they went with NME instead. As if RS only puts out one cover a year ffs. They would’ve known months in advance when the album was going to be ready and what date the album would drop. They could’ve courted RS the instant they had that date. And if cover for the week of the drop wasn’t available, they should’ve pushed for another. 

I’m not upset that they went with NME. They are a respected within the industry but they are not as well known to the general public where as Rolling Stone, less respected these days, but way better known to the general public. And landing on the cover of RS would’ve been a huge deal for Louis. And some fans can argue all they want that that might not be something Louis wants or cares about, he wouldn't be stupid enough to pass up that kind of pr coup.

So what is the take away? I don’t know. Other than what I’ve been feeling and trying to embrace for ages now. If Louis is happy, then I’m happy. If he is content with the status quo, then there is no reason for me to not be. I think a lot of fans feel like Louis’ career should look a certain way, based off of what we as his fans do to promote him and the fact that it doesn’t, makes us angry and frustrated.

But here is the thing, his career is his. It should look how he wants it to NOT necessarily how we want it to look. He said a long time ago he would not let others define success for him and would not chase radio. And I think that is a sane choice/decision given what he is up against in that area. 

Louis never fails to impress me with how grounded he is and how he trusts himself enough he’s avoided becoming cynical or bitter. Which makes his success all more astounding given everything he has had to put up with. He is  grace under fire and I for one find that both beautiful and inspirational and worthy of celebrating and supporting. 

There are plenty of artists that would kill for a career like Louis’. Who would give anything for the kind of social media engagement he has with his fans. And who would do almost anything for a sold out world tour like Louis had is first time out. So we learn to practice gratitude. Continue to bitch that he deserves better and hope that one day, the petty political behind the scenes bs holding him back finally dissipates and he gets to actualize his full potential. Until then, we keep supporting, streaming and screaming to anyone who’ll listen that Louis is indeed a superstar.

#Peace.

[tea-with-evan-and-me]

I do think Haley is a good and fitting person. But the age difference is too big in my opinion. What bothers me the most about this situation is the male privilege… Men have enough time to make experiences, build a career and then have children with a younger woman when they’re 40. Women have 10 years less. But our culture is not addressing the problem. So a lot more women end up either childless or without a career/ status.

i understand what you mean, but it’s not really a huge age gap given the fact that haley is nearly 30 herself. not so young that the difference is creepy, at least to me. anyway, here’s a bunch of thoughts lol

i think we’ll forever be stuck in this unequal power balance because men aren’t going to just concede a comfortable advantage they have and start working on the female timeline that exists because of a biological clock. realistically, why would they? nowadays women are doing all kinds of.. quite frankly, morally dubious and invasive medical procedures to have kids far past appropriate childbearing age. to include surrogacy, which is just the disturbing act of paying to rent another, potentially vulnerable or cash strapped woman’s womb. this tells you that loads of women will do the exact same thing (delay parenthood) if they can manage it. there’s so many variables - school, career, finding the right mate, becoming financially stable.. quite frankly it doesn’t make sense to be mad at men for being able to postpone the enormous undertaking of parenthood, but maybe shake a fist at god if you believe in him? 😬

anyhow, speaking more to the problems with our culture.. i can say that even successful women who “have it all” will follow a trajectory i don’t understand: work incredibly hard to establish their careers, find a mate, then balance adding motherhood into the mix while working just as many hours as her male SO, and still be burdened with the majority of the child rearing and emotional labor because they settled with a man who does not see them as equal partners in life. and he can just flee if she becomes too much of a nag! now, understand when i say this i’m not speaking to women in abusive or controlling relationships, but i really don’t know why this is something anyone would willingly sign up for. i know, i know; every stressed and depressed wife and mother who isn’t getting support would say they didn’t sign up for that, they imagined it’d be different. but i just can’t fathom being that divorced from reality. it’s far more unusual to find a man who has worked to make things a 50/50 split with his wife, or to find a man who stayed home with the kids so his wife could go to school and work to advance herself. am i the best person to assess this? as a lesbian for all actual intents and purposes (lol) who is adamantly childfree.. the answer is up for debate. but i think an interesting thing to ask is: in these age gap relationships where men find a younger woman to become “old” dads with, how many do you think really weren’t fussy about having kids, whereas the younger woman really desired motherhood? 🤔 in general, i just don’t think men see parenthood as the all-important, life-defining necessity that so many women do. when you see the significantly older men who have kids, i highly doubt there’s a normal level of involvement.

[emilmoreno]

Full Name: Emiliano Moreno Nickname: Emil Age & Birthday: 32 - November 20th.  Occupation: Marine Welder Preferred Pronouns & Gender: He/him & cis-male Sexuality: Heterosexual Hometown: Briar Ridge, South Carolina. Neighborhood: Beach Front Family: Isabel Moreno - 9 year old daughter.

Pinterest | Connections. 

trigger warnings: car accident.

Born locally, Emil had what he would consider a mostly fairly middle of the road childhood. He often felt a bit detached from his parents, but he wanted for very little outside of perhaps a more socially stimulating environment. His uncle who was deemed by his ma as the ‘wild’ one of her family is very close to him.

A lot of times it was his uncle that took him to tee-ball, and sat in the stands all through his schooling years on the field.

Just as he was about to pack his bags and get out of dodge on a baseball scholarship, he experienced one of his first real upsets in life. His ma was in a bad car crash, and had to go through physical therapy. With medical bills and her needing help around the house, Emil put off college.

A semester turned into a year plus, but eventually with luck on his side and some help from his high school sweetheart’s family - Emil left town for his belated start out in San Diego on scholarship and studying physical therapy.

Everything was going pretty swimmingly, even his long distance relationship and he was so close to making the draft that he could practically hear the stadium crowds cheering for him. but alas life had one more curve ball for him & he was given the news that Maya was pregnant and Emil immediately dropped everything to go back home.

Things went downhill from there in the years to follow. Between his own emotional distress of giving up his dream, there was a lot of tension between him and Maya that he thought getting married could somehow fix. When it didn’t, the pair had a really ugly divorce and a custody battle you’d expect to be run by Judge Judy. Maya was successful in painting Emil poorly and in the end, though he’d get visitations, he lost the custody battle for Isabel.

Having followed in his father’s footsteps upon coming back home, Emil nowadays has a very steady career. Though none of it is what he imagined he would be doing growing up he’s far from miserable, he’s adapted pretty well. Being able to turn his welding experience into his own thing by getting all his diving certifications definitely helped him settle in. Coaching tee-ball and being a sub for a local softball team certainly helps as well. The main stress in his life currently is dealing with his ex-wife and having to sometimes fight tooth and nail to get his owed visitations etc. with Isa. It doesn’t help that she’s old enough to ask questions Emil doesn’t always have an answer to, like why she has to stay with her mother. He’s stable enough that he’d like to go back to court, but he’s a little nervous it’d be hard on Isa and that he has less of a leg to stand on when Amaia has had her for as long as she has.

Fun facts:

he has a husky named Hercules after the dog in The Sandlot.

can be a bit of a thrill seeker. Likes roller coasters, dancing, and spontaneous road trips.

technically has enough diving certifications he could be a diving instructor but has little interest.  

owns way too many jerseys kind of sports fan, has seasonal tickets. supports a lot of local teams.

has a serious shellfish allergy, which is slightly amusing given the local cuisine.

likes #DadJokes and always has a snack on him because of either Isa or the kids he coaches for tee-ball.

Connections: I’ll make a full page with more suggestions etc. but here’s a quick handful to help with plotting!

Guy friends - sports fans, drinking buddies etc.

Female best friend - I'd like them to be a local similar in age if possible, so they could know his ex-wife and have gone to school together.

Dog sitter | Neighbor | Flings - I promise I'll add some other ideas & a full plots page once I get the time this week.

[hong-kong-art-man]

CY Leo Is Too Good To Be True: A Good Music Skill, A Good Look, A Good Family, A Good Academic Qualification And A Good Girlfriend: Being The World-renowned Harmonica Artist, What Can Be His Fears Of The Unknown?

In the mystery of music lie the secrets that a talent will spend his whole life to uncover. He likes to feel un-settled and has huge inventories of worries of the unknown. When trials of life, one after another, come to test his faith in art, doubt will be removed one day if he sets his ultimate hope in that he loves—art.

CY Leo (何卓彥) was born in 1994 and has never been tired of harmonica since the age of 6 when he started to learn the tunes from his father who is a well-known harmonica player in Hong Kong. The harmonica, also known as a mouth harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument in many genres, notably in blues, country and classical music. It was adapted from an old Chinese instrument called Sheng (笙) more than 1000 years ago.

We are only the stars and, of course, jealous of the moon: Leo, already possessing the talent of music, has a good look with the similar charm of Timothée Chalamet. He also has a great height, an impressive academic qualification (occupational therapy), an enviable family background in which both parents are medical professionals and his younger brother is a teacher, and finally a sweet girlfriend and they fly in pairs to wherever he performs.

Leo is a beautiful butterfly that is also a busy bee. He practises harmonica more than 3 hours a day. He makes online video lectures to teach people how to play harmonica. He produces harmonica concerts and CDs. He takes part in activities which promote community support for harmonica. The award given by Hong Kong Arts Development Council in 2020 is just a diamond Koh-i-Noor which glitters among many crown jewels that are already his other international awards. CY Leo is a supper for many female sharks. This is a figurative speech but you can know the degree of his popularity that I am referring to. Leo was not mad at my joke and responded politely, “I am simply a lucky man!”

I asked Leo, “Are you too good to be true? I just attended your concert. Your music is totally stylistic! The audience was respectful of your work.” He faltered, “Currently, things for me are too good to be true. But, fears of the unknown have the power to trouble my heart, over and over again.” I was puzzled and raised the question, “What kind of fear?” He replied seriously, “I am a family man. I love to be as closely as possible with my family. After I get married and have kids, I guess my wife and children cannot fly with me to do worldwide performances. The hotel room empty of them will be the saddest place.”

He continued, “What is at a peak is sure to go down. If I lose my popularity one day and earn substantially less, shall I be able to survive and have enough money to be a breadwinner? Where can I get bacon to bring home?” I asked, “So?” He said, “I think I need to be a music teacher at the same time so that I can add another string to my bow.” I remarked, “Always remember: as a top musician, your focus will determine your success. I am a lawyer and writer. I sometimes do think I am neither here nor there.”  

Leo thought about it for a while, “Stable income matters but I shall definitely not treat pop music as my career. I do play pop music from time to time so as to bridge serious music and popular taste. I want to remain a fine art musician. I love harmonica. It is light, easy, handy and affordable. It should be music for everyone especially youngsters. They can talk to the music when they are happy or moody—anywhere, just getting a harmonica out of the pocket. The sound quality of harmonica is close to that of a human voice. When you play harmonica, it seems like someone singing side by side with you! I disagree to the suggestion that harmonica is not a serious music and it is just great for busking only.”

Maurice Lee

Chinese Version 中文版: https://www.patreon.com/posts/wai-biao-cai-hua-101156253?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

CY Leo Jazz Quintet at Montreux Jazz Festival China https://youtu.be/o9gj5lVn0BA?si=y3vaxi7ycEiuEqpY Acknowledgement – Cy Leo

CY Leo & The Guardians of Groovin' Underworld《Wolala》Official Live Performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfjWssdEdW0 Acknowledgement – COLLAB HK

CY Leo Solo Harmonica https://youtu.be/JjRZI-MUgag?si=ErAlGh_bDIaISbjM Acknowledgement-Cy Leo

Harmonica Talk by CY Leo https://youtu.be/mxZbKmViwks?si=VtmnaP5TX6UJXK4v Acknowledgement – HK Arts Festival

《青春舞曲》Harmonica https://youtu.be/W4YTbaoABhM?si=MU5Yz8UyhtZWnnOp Acknowledgement - 中華口琴會

[generation1point5]

Anxiety feels like your mind running at a million miles per hour in a manic state; lots of overthinking and reading too much into little things. All the little things set you off, the smallest failures like the last chance for success gone. Work hasn’t made me anxious in a while, not since the pandemic when I worked in the private sector. By all material metrics I’m in a much better place than I was back then, but I find myself in much the same place mentally.

Work has always been a means to an end to me, a means to pursue my hobbies. I don’t even necessarily think that’s a bad thing. I’ve seen what making your passion your work does to artists when not properly balanced with the other factors that make a good life. Creativity is like fire, and like any fire there’s a risk of burnout if it is not properly channeled and controlled, but work in this day and age affords little to balance life. I love writing, but my biggest fear if I ever made it my work is that I’d grow to hate it. Neither is there any stability to pursue the arts as a career, at least not as far as the States are concerned. Only a good deal of success could afford a stable means of living, and I am yet unproven. 

At the same time, after many years of wandering from one job to another, I finally find myself in a place where I’m forced to choose between my work and my hobby. It is probably the most singular thing that I hate about capitalism; staying in a certain position for too long is considered stagnation, there must always be growth, not only in profits but also in employee professional development. This would be desirable, if not for the fact that what I do to make a living is not what I love. But at a certain point, and it should be noted that any idea of comfortable living is well beyond said point, people expect a passion for what you do to put into the work that is expected, having worked in a given field for so long.

Especially when it comes to the west, there is an individualistic, liberal notion that people get jobs doing what they love, but the realities of capital preclude that notion in the art industry. There is a necessary barrier of entry, it has to have enough appeal to a broad enough audience to support the work financially, or to attract the patronage of a sufficiently wealthy few. The realities of the market are a reality as old as time, and aren’t apt to change unless a radically different economic model were to be implemented. In our current contexts, making art for a living also rarely means making what you love unless it aligns well with the audience that supports you. But like any other form of work, I think commissions first and foremost are a means of sustenance, not passion, and don’t always align with the interests and inspiration of the creator who takes them on. Even when you make your hobby your job, it doesn’t stop becoming a job; your product is just made with someone other than yourself in mind, and that is a fundamentally distinct act from what is self-generated.

It is an odd conclusion that I arrive at: that art as an expression of identity is often at its most sincere, its most genuine and well-crafted, but as a means of living it is not necessarily sustainable. It is a dangerous thing to tie one’s worth to one’s identity; that kind of conflation leads to all sorts of crises when no validation is forthcoming. For my own part, I don’t mind if my writing isn’t recognized; part of me is kind of relieved that there is no pressure from a huge success to put external pressure to perform in the future. There is freedom of expression in it; I share what I produce out of my own will, able to share in the joys of people who engage with it and not having to fear the rejection of others.

But professionally and materially, I’m at a fork in the road where I’m being forced to choose between work and my hobby, and that thought alone is a maddening one. I have no desire to waste away at a job in which I derive no meaning; in like manner, I do not want to make what I find meaning in to be the sole means by which I live, if indeed it does not have the impact to be financially sustainable. The worth of words is too precious to be expressed in monetary terms; I do not want to find my validation in the opinions and monetary support of others. I am who I am; I wouldn’t want that to be changed by success or failure. It should remain as-is, a mere fact that heeds little the tides and fortunes of a chaotic and apathetic world. My compulsion for self-expression through writing is not a demand to be valued; it is a desire for relationship, using a means that may very well last beyond my lifetime, across cultures and backgrounds with whom I have no affiliation with or will ever know. 

There is nothing transactional at the heart of any form of art; it can be commodified, certainly, and its physical and structural characteristics imitated, but the beauty of art (as I’ve come to understand it) is its ability to connect all sorts of unlike people together. It is what distinguishes humanities from the other disciplines. It is both a means of understanding oneself and the world around us, and the world is so much bigger than the jobs I work to continue living in it. I would never want to lose sight of that by having it become my job. But more and more I am being confronted with the question of whether I can make my passions my job.

I think my will to write will always find its way out, heedless of the circumstances that dictate my material well-being. I would not be able to subdue it, nor do I want to. Life is too short and beautiful to merely subsist through it all. There is something within me that screams to be heard. Should it be silenced, then the rocks themselves would cry out.

[acaplion]

Career Astro Notes I

Hii! I just want to say thank you so much for all the love and support. I asked you what you wanted next, and career astro notes won by a landslide. So, here you go! As always check out my masterlist for more astrology observations and pick a card readings! If you enjoyed this post please like or reblog so that more people can see it. Feel free to leave your thoughts in replies, I love reading them!

*Note: For celebrity placements I used astrotheme.com and only took the ones with at least an A or AA rating. Without accurate birth times it is impossible to accurately determine MC and 10th house.

Most people will have the midheaven and rising placements listed below but it depends on the degree of your ascendant. I am a Capricorn ascendant for example but I have a Scorpio MC instead of the traditional Libra MC.

Not everyone will have their MC in the 10th house. Midheavens can also be found in the 9th and 11th houses. Thus you could have your MC in one sign and your 10th house in another one. Your MC is connected more to your public persona and your 10th house more broadly about your career. However, to get the full picture of your career you would want to look at all of the above.

Aries Rising⇒ Capricorn MC

Taurus Rising ⇒ Aquarius MC

Gemini Rising ⇒ Pisces MC

Cancer Rising ⇒ Aries MC

Leo Rising ⇒ Taurus MC

Virgo Rising ⇒ Gemini MC

Libra Rising ⇒ Cancer MC

Scorpio Rising ⇒ Leo MC

Sagittarius Rising ⇒ Virgo MC

Capricorn Rising ⇒ Libra MC

Aquarius Rising ⇒ Scorpio MC

Pisces Rising ⇒ Sagittarius MC

Empty 10th house: So for starters, everyone has a Midheaven because it’s an angle so even if you have an empty 10th house you still have an MC. Empty houses aren’t the worst thing; it can just mean that your career is not the most important part of your life.

Aries Rising and Capricorn MC: These people care SO much about their career but they may actually struggle in staying when the going gets tough. While Capricorn is not known to be flighty, it is still a cardinal sign so when both your rising and your MC is cardinal, there is a desire to start many projects but never finish them. Capricorn MC does not mind the corporate world as the sea goat is accustomed to clawing their way up the mountain. Aries Rising though can become very bored with corporate life and constantly look for something new and exciting. One of my friends has this placement and joining a company that was more corporate with structures was the key to her success. So look for a career that has structure yet enough excitement to keep Aries happy. For ex: I think Sales or account management would be a great fit.

Virgo Risings and Gemini Midheavens: Since Virgo Risings tend to have Gemini MC in their 10th house they can actually be quite indecisive on their career. Everything sounds like something they potentially could do so instead they simply do nothing. They may feel a sense of failure, since Virgo Risings tend to be perfectionists but they are honestly their own worst enemy when it comes to having a stable career.

Capricorn MC, Saturn in the X House, Capricorn X House: This feels so odd because you would think Capricorn MCs and Capricorn 10th houses should succeed easily in their careers but I have personally observed these natives struggling with their careers. I think this is because being a Cap MC brings a lot of pressure to succeed and since Saturn rules Capricorn, they could have early setbacks in their career that they have to overcome before being successful. I think like Virgos they can be perfectionists and self sabotage themselves. If you are experiencing hardship in your career I encourage you Cap MC’s to work hard because Saturn rewards those who keep grinding no matter the odds. Now, take good care of your health also!

Also just because you have the ambition or desire to succeed doesn't mean you are given the opportunity. With these placements, there is an innate desire to succeed that sometimes can cause the natives to stop entirely. They procrastinate on choosing a career choice because what if they fail. As your resident Capricorn dominant I'm here to tell you that you WILL succeed. Put in the work, do what you love, be yourself and your hard work will create the opportunity. Father Saturn comes around to grant good karma to those who have worked hard. So sow those seeds so that they become beautiful flowers.

Chiron in the 10th house: I mentioned this previously, but I really do think natives who have Chiron in the 10th house struggle with their career. They might also struggle with reputation issues. I know someone who lost out on one of the top universities in their country because of a reputation for being an immature boy in high school. He still got into another top university but you can see how his previous reputation took away from him. If you look at the celebrities who have Chiron in the 10th you can see that most of them have suffered from reputation issues and their career. Angelina Jolie is a great example of that, yes she’s famous for her acting, but she’s almost just as famous for her affair with Brad Pitt. Kylie Jenner is a great example of using that reputation to her advantage. She essentially turned her scandals into gold with her lip kits.

Celebrities with Chiron in the X house: Angelina Jolie, Kylie Jenner, Catherine Middleton, Jake Gyllenhaal, Pablo Picasso,

Lilith in your 10th house conjunct Midheaven could mean that potentially you could use your sexuality to your advantage in your career. Maybe for example you land Real Estate clients easier because men are enamored with you and your looks. It can range from the innocent to the not so innocent. Dakota Johnson for example is well known for her role in 50 shades of Grey.

Celebrities with Lilith conjunct MC: Amy Winehouse, Dakota Johnson, Penelope Cruz, Supposedly JLO but unsure if her birth time is accurate.

Scorpio Midheavens: I have personally seen this in several charts of Medical providers particularly those in Chinese Medicine and Naturopath (so not mainstream western medicine). They also could do well in any career that requires depth and looking past the surface. They would be great detectives for example!

MC Conjunct North Node: Now I personally have this in my chart. I saw this in her astro observaations #4 and I agree. She observed that MC is your life’s purpose while North Node is your soul’s purpose. But to take that one step further. If these two are conjunct then your life’s purpose and soul’s purpose is aligned in this lifetime. I also think it amplifies the role your career has in your life. Perhaps, you will make some life changing or soul changing discoveries in this lifetime. This can be anything from science to literature to occult affairs. Your life purpose would be to change the world somehow. Please don’t shortchange yourself, change comes from one step and you can be the change you want to see in the world.

Empty X House, with many planets in the 4th house OR conjunct IC: I mentioned this in an astro note here, but I have seen this in a few people's charts who while they had a good education for whatever reasons became a stay at home mom or dad. It was like their career was forced into the back seat and their entire focus was on the family. Like I said earlier an empty 10th house isn't necessarily a bad thing, all of the people I have seen with this chart were well off they just didn't have to work a traditional career for it. Taking care of the family so their spouse can work is a sacrifice that many make.

Thank you so much for reading! If you liked this post, please like or reblog so that more people can see it. I love you guys so much!

💋 acaplion

© words only acaplion nov 2021

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

Hey slug, thanks for the hard work you and your team do for the fandom!! me and some friends were discussing this and i thought it would be nice to see ur answer to this (only if it doesn't bother u, of course!!): what characters do you think parents would give a big thumbs up if you introduced them as your partner (in terms of personality and traits)? I personally think Hifumi or Ichiro would be the best son-in-law...

What an entertaining question. Believe it or not, I’ve given the matter some thought before for reasons entirely unrelated to this, so presenting: Hypnosis Microphone Men and Whether or Not You Should Bring Them Home to Your Parents.

Since there’s a wide age range among the cast members, assume that the “you” in question is roughly each character’s age.

Ichirou: Absolutely. This man is objectively a dream boat. Runs his own successful business? Check. Respectful to people of all ages? Check. Cooks? Check. Cleans? Check. Good with kids? Check. Take Ichirou and marry him before your parents marry him themselves.

Jirou: As far as high school boyfriends go, Jirou’s not a bad choice. He’s a sweetheart, popular, plays music. Doesn’t do drugs in the school bathroom. Could have better grades, but hey, you can’t win them all. He seems like he’d have you home by 8 pm. You know what? Sure. Why not? You could do worse.

Saburou: Saburou is the kind of middle school boyfriend that your parents openly like and privately dislike. What I mean is that he’s very polite to most elders and super smart, so he’s the kind of kid who is entirely unobjectionable, but he’s also the kind of kid who would try to mansplain your parents’ jobs to them. Worst of all, he would be entirely correct in what he’s saying. Your parents probably want to punch him, but they don’t because assaulting children is illegal, not to mention immoral. They will breathe a collective sigh of relief when he finally breaks up with you so he can focus on studying for the Science Bowl nationals.

Samatoki: I am so torn on this one. On the one hand, he’s every parent’s worst nightmare. He smokes indoors, has an awful temper, and is a fucking gangster, for pete’s sake. Yet he can also be a sweetheart who cooks for you and does everything to treat you right. I’m really stumped. Probably the best solution, if you’re really wanting to get in on that Aohitsugi ass, is to cut out the middle man and date Nemu instead. She is perfect in every way, so your parents will love her.

Juuto: If your parents watch Antiques Roadshow, then he will have a lot to bond with them about. Otherwise I think he’d be that kind of person who tells stories about himself way too loudly at family dinners, and after he leaves, one of your parents pulls you aside to say, “Your boyfriend’s really kind of an asshole, don’t you think?” I guess date him if you’re okay with your parents thinking you have cruddy taste.

Riou: I feel like the hard part here is luring him out of the woods and into a family dinner, but from there, it should go great. He’s over 6 feet tall. He can cook well. He has a strong sense of purpose and knows what he wants to do in life. Most importantly, he has a wonderful heart AND every survival skill known to man. He will change the oil in your parents’ car, fix the leaky pipe you’ve been meaning to get around to for six months now, clean the hood above the stove, and then swap recipes and heartfelt compliments with whichever parent does the cooking. Who cares if he doesn’t have a stable income? You don’t need that with guns like those. (insert flexing Riou image here)

Ramuda: I’m trying to think about the concept of a) dating Ramuda and b) introducing him to a set of parents, and I’m drawing an utter blank. There is nothing but “???” in my mind. I’m going to hazard a guess that this one would be a terrible idea.

Gentarou: Wow, your parents had no idea you were dating a prince of a tiny little kingdom in the Mediterranean AND a Harvard law graduate AND the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize AND the man who discovered a cure for cancer in an expedition deep into the heart of the Amazon rain forest. Look at you! What a catch. Only attempt this if your parents are gullible.

Dice: As much as I love Dice to death, this one is a no. Your parents do not want you dating a homeless man with a gambling addiction and bad table manners. Plus, the MIL here seems hard to get along with. Nuh-uh.

Jakurai: Absolutely. You’re in your 30s, so your parents are at least middle-aged. Probably they have some joint problems or some back pain. Jakurai can let them kiss that pain goodbye, and in return, they can let him kiss you! A win-win. He also boasts a handsome salary, has a lovely house, and seems like he’d be super respectful in a relationship. Yes. Go. Marry him.

Hifumi: If you’re a girl, you’re probably going to have to sit this round out. If you’re a guy or nonbinary... yeah, you’re probably going to have to sit this round out too. See, if you have a mom, how is Hifumi supposed to meet her? I guess you could... idk... stick a lampshade on her head and expect him not to notice. That could potentially work, but it’d raise a few awkward questions. If you do happen to live in a female-free household, though, you’ve hit upon the golden opportunity to make this man yours. You can replace every instance of the word “wife” in Judy Brady Syfer’s famous essay “I Want a Wife” with the word “Hifumi” and still have it make perfect sense, and it shows.

Doppo: I can’t in good conscience recommend this one. Sure, he’s hardworking and certainly polite enough, but does he have the time to respond to your emotional needs? Hell, does he have the time to respond to his own? If you invited him to family dinner, there’s a good chance that he’d need to work overtime and miss it. He’d apologize and buy you flowers to make up for it, but you know he’d also be worrying about the cost of those flowers, so... is it really worth it?

Kuukou: For some reason, my parents actually like Kuukou (although I think he’s also the only character they know besides Ichijiku), but I don’t think this would hold true for most parents. He sounds good on paper, but he’d probably make a disparaging comment about someone’s ass in the first five minutes. Perhaps if you tape his mouth shut and tell your parents he’s doing a vow of silence, then yes.

Juushi: As far as high school (is he still in high school?) boyfriends go, Juushi’s not that bad either. He’s shy but sweet. Respectful. In a band, but the kind that makes money and doesn’t operate out of someone’s garage. Yeah, you know what? Go for it. You could do worse. Just scroll up on this list if you need proof of that.

Hitoya: Yeah, absolutely. Hitoya has a great career and a fantastic attitude. He doesn’t take shit from anyone but can still be polite in the correct contexts. He also seems like the type who would get into a serious relationship and treat his partner right. Fuck it up. I support your love.

Sasara: Yes. He has the exact type of humor favored by parents of the father variety. Plus, he’s a famous comedian. There is good money to be had right there.

Roshou: Absolutely. Rather shy but very talented, hardworking teacher who obviously puts his heart and soul into his job? Of course. As long as he doesn’t death glare your parents, it will work out fantastically. Plus, he can talk about sports! That’s a thing that parents like, right?

Rei: Absolutely not. You remember last May when your parents answered a call from the IRS telling them they were about to lose all their money unless they gave the nice man on the phone their bank account password right at that very instant? He was the nice man on the phone. Why the hell would you bring this threat into your parents’ home? Look, you’re in your mid-40s. Your parents are getting up in years, and they want to see you settle down and be happy with someone. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is not it. Why are you with Rei in the first place? Is it the fur coat? Listen, you are a grown-ass adult, and you can buy yourself as many fur coats as you want. I believe in you. It doesn’t have to be this way - you deserve better.

[aphrostarot]

Pick a Pile for the Month of May

How will the month of May go for you?

Remember that this is a general reading and some things may not apply to you. Do not try and force it to fit. If you would like a personal reading you can click here. There I have my shop where I offer all of my readings including a month ahead spread.

Pile One (Green Aventurine Moon):

What is your current state?

The Hermit: You’ve been in a period of self-isolation, spending time with yourself. Maybe you have been working on your spiritual growth or maybe this period alone was forced on you, whatever the reason is it was definitely needed to further you on your path.

What is your personal theme for this month?

Death: This month you will be going through your death cycle. Coming out of that period of isolation and blossoming into your new self. Death is all about shedding the old and welcoming the new, so, parts of your life will be transformed this month. This is not a bad thing! This is a good thing it is helping you to further become your destined self!

What will you accomplish this month?

Page of cups: The Page of Cups or the Princess of cups is always represented by someone who craves love and affection and is extremely sensitive but is emotionally immature. This is you. Spirit is saying that this month you will be working on accomplishing becoming more emotionally mature.

What should you avoid this month?

Ace of Pentacles: I get the feeling that you are the person who is extremely sensitive but doesn’t talk about or show their feelings, for whatever reason, maybe it became a defense mechanism due to childhood trauma, or maybe you were raised to just not show your feelings. So, instead of showing feelings, you dive into work to distract you from your emotions. Spirit is telling you not to do this, this month. You need to work on developing your emotional maturity.

What should you embrace this month?

The Lovers: More often than not this is the card of romantic partnerships. If you are in a relationship right now, this could be telling you that you need to work on talking about your feelings and showing your love and affection to your partner. If you are not in a relationship then this is telling you that you should stop bottling up your feelings and instead of hiding your feelings from everyone, including yourself, you need to express your feelings this month.

What obstacles will you face this month?

Seven of Pentacles: This is the card of study. You may be planning on going back to school, or, you may already be in school. Spirit is telling you that this will be an obstacle in your emotional maturity this month. You may be given a lot of work that takes you off course, this will definitely stress you out. You will be needing to find balance this month, a balance between work/school and your emotional self.

Where should you find support?

Seven of Wands: This is the card of fights, so having it come out in a support outcome is strange, this is why I drew two cards here, for more clarification. What I will say is that this is the card of fights with someone near you. You may try and go to someone close to you for support and instead of giving you what you want they do the opposite and this upsets you. This card on a positive note does say that you will come out of this fight on top.

Nine of Cups: This is a lucky card, the card of wish fulfillment. This is further saying that luck is on your side regarding this fight. That you will come out on top. Another way that both of these cards may manifest is that you never stand up for yourself and that this month you will and people may not take it the right way but spirit is saying that you have nothing to worry about, luck is on your side.

What action do you need to take this month?

Knight of Pentacles: The knight of pentacles is the slowest moving court card in tarot. Their message to you is “good things come to those who wait.” You may be the person who lacks patience, the person who wants everything and wants it yesterday. Spirit wants you to be patient with yourself this month. Remember healing is not linear.

Some advice and encouragement from Spirit:

The Fool: This is the card of beginnings, of leaping headfirst into the new journey without any worries. Spirit is encouraging you to embrace the Fools energy this month. Leap into this new journey without any worries because after all spirit has been telling you that luck is on your side. You will come out on top.

Pile Two (Goldstone Star):

What is your current state?

Eight of Swords: The Eight of Swords most always represents feelings of entrapment. You are currently feeling trapped in a situation, though you may also be trapped in a situation and not be aware of it. This is the card of controlling relationships, this can be romantic, platonic, even familial. Whatever the relationship is spirit is saying that it is too controlling. It is not good for you.

What is your personal theme for this month?

Knight of Pentacles: The knight of pentacles is the slowest moving court card. Their lessons always involve patience. The mantra of this knight is “Everything is better done right than done quickly.” This month you will be working on your patience. You will be pushing through some hard times and this will be hard work. You will get through this with patience.

What will you accomplish this month?

Six of Swords: The Six of Swords is the card of progress. This month you will be persisting through some tough moments but you will be making progress in your divine journey. Since this is the card of movement, this month you may literally be moving away from something or someone. This movement whether literal or figurative is going to help further you on your path.

What should you avoid this month?

Five of Swords: The Five of Swords is the card of defeat. Spirit is telling you not to give in to your feelings of defeat this month. You will get through this! The universe only ever gives you things they know you can handle, they know you can get through this! Spirit wants you to keep persisting because your hard work will pay off.

What should you embrace this month?

Ace of Wands: This is the card of creation and it usually comes out when spirit is telling you that you are about to create something that will have a great impact. This can be a birth of a child, a new job, a new hobby, a new relationship, etc. As far as what spirit wants you to embrace, they want you to embrace your enthusiastic side. They want you to get excited about what's coming into your life!

What obstacles will you face this month?

Three of Pentacles: This is the card of learning. Usually represented by a period of time where you are learning more about yourself. With the creation coming out too as well as the artist, I would say you may be learning more about your creative self this month. As an obstacle, I would say that you may not think you’re worthy of this or you’re too stubborn to begin this journey. Spirit wants you to be furthering the development of your creativity this month.

The Artist: The artist is the creator of all. They are the embodiment of all things creative. As an obstacle I would say that again, you may not believe that you are creative enough to start this journey and your own self-doubt is your obstacle.

Where should you find support?

Queen of Swords: The Queen of Swords is an extremely strong feminine energy who doesn’t let anyone take advantage of them. Everyone knows where they stand with this person. If you know someone in your life who has this energy spirit is telling you to go to them for support. If you don’t know this person, spirit may be telling you to embrace this energy, you need to start standing up for yourself, it is your time to stand your ground and fight for what you want.

What action do you need to take this month?

Page of Swords: The Page of swords may be a warning that someone in your life is gossiping about you but with this card coming out as an action that you need to take I would say that this is not the case. Spirit is telling you to take on the energy of the page of swords. Be vigilant, and on your toes, ready for anything to come your way. If you resonated with having to embrace the Queen of Swords' energy then you may need to stand your ground and stand up to people who don’t have your back.

Some advice and encouragement from Spirit:

Six of Wands: Since the Six of Wands represents success, spirit wants you to know that you will be successful this month. They want you to push through the hard stuff because you will make it through this! You will be successful in your journey.

Pile Three (Tiger Eye Star):

What is your current state?

Four of Wands: The Four of Wands is all about stability. You are currently in a very stable position in your life, whether that be emotionally, in your career, or in your relationships. Spirit is saying that you have found stability.

What is your personal theme for this month?

The Star: The star is hope. So, the theme of your month revolves all-around hope. You will be hopeful that your dreams are coming true this month. You will be feeling very optimistic this month, feeling as though you can accomplish all of your desires.

What will you accomplish this month?

Queen of Cups: The Queen of Cups is the most empathic and loyal of all the Queens. They represent someone who is there no matter what for their loved ones. You may have been trying to be this person and if that is the case spirit is saying you will become them this month. If you have not been trying to be that person and you are already that person spirit is saying that you will be more successful at it this month.

What should you avoid this month?

Two of Pentacles: The Two of Pentacles often represents a time of financial difficulty. Spirit wants you to keep an eye on your money this month, don’t overspend. You need to avoid making big purchases this month. Don’t get carried away in your optimism and overspend. Be wary of how much you are spending this month.

What should you embrace this month?

Ten of Swords: This is the card of disaster. All conflicts, drama, and emotional pain will come to an end when this card appears in a spread. Spirit wants you to embrace these endings, don’t try and force things to stay in your life. Whatever is leaving needs to leave to further your development, allow it to leave.

What obstacles will you face this month?

Five of Swords: The five of swords almost always symbolizes defeat. You may feel defeated about something this month. Maybe it has to do with what is leaving your life this month. Whatever it is spirit is telling you that sometimes life isn’t fair but that they only give you things they know you can handle.

Where should you find support?

Three of Swords: The three of swords represents sadness. You will be feeling a great deal of heartache regarding this defeat. Spirit wants you to embrace these feelings, they want you to lean on these feelings to help you get through the pain. Don’t repress your feelings this month.

What action do you need to take this month?

Ten of Wands: This is the card of pushing through the pain and juggling your life. Focus on self-care at points during this month. You need to give yourself time to heal and love yourself. Yes, you will be juggling a lot this month but, you still need to find the time to treat yourself.

Some advice and encouragement from Spirit:

Knight of Cups: This King is the most empathetic king in Tarot. They represent a time in your life where you are growing emotionally. This month spirit is testing you and your emotions. But, they are telling you that you got this! They are giving you these things because they know you can get through them and come out the other side an even better person.

Pile Four (Moss Agate Moon):

What is your current state?

Five of Cups: The Five of Cups almost always represents a period of sadness. You are currently in a pretty negative place. Typically this card makes an appearance when you have just gone through a break-up. Other times it represents general feelings of sadness. If you are going through a period of sadness right now I want you to look up at the Five of Cups card in the picture above, notice how there are three cards tipped over and yet there are two standing upright behind the person? That person is you, you are caught up in your feelings of sadness at the moment and though it is alright to be feeling sad and embracing those feelings, there is a difference between embracing the sadness and letting it consume you. You are letting your feelings consume you at this time and spirit wants you to be aware that though three of your cups are spilled you do still have two standing upright. Not everything in your life is over right now. Remember that.

What is your personal theme for this month?

Five of Pentacles: This is the card of loss. So, going off of the card that represents where you are currently, I would say that at the beginning of this month you will still be trying to get out of this funk.

Eight of Cups: The eight of cups is ‘departure’. Letting your past go and moving on to a new beginning. The second half of this month will be you letting go of your pain and start a new cycle of your life. You will get through this pain! Spirit wants you to know that. They want you to know that you will be starting a new journey of your life this month.

What will you accomplish this month?

The Sun: The sun is happiness. You will find your happiness again this month. You are going to enter this new stage of your life, and find happiness.

What should you avoid this month?

The Tower: This is the card of destruction, of everything falling apart. Spirit wants you to avoid sinking deeper into your pain. They want you to avoid allowing this pain to swallow you whole.

Justice: This card may only apply to some. Spirit wants you to avoid seeking justice for something that was done to you in the past. They say that though revenge feels right and maybe you think it will help your pain, it will not, it will only further your pain. Do not seek out revenge, take the high road and heal yourself a different way.

What should you embrace this month?

The Emperor: The Emperor is the boss. Spirit is telling you that you are the boss of your own life. You need to embrace that boss bitch energy. You will come out the other side of this and become the boss that you are. I will also say that as I was channeling for this pile Joan of Arc by, Little Mix was playing so you may want to listen to this song this month.

What obstacles will you face this month?

Seven of Pentacles: The seven of pentacles is the card of study. You may currently be in school or thinking about going back to school. Whichever one it is, spirit is saying that this month this will give you troubles. I will say though that this card does symbolize hard work paying off. Push through this because you will come out the other side an even better person.

Where should you find support?

The Lovers: This is most commonly associated with romantic love. If you are in a relationship then you can find support within your partner. If you are not in a relationship then you can find support with your loved ones (friends or family). This could also mean that you can find support within your own self-love.

What action do you need to take this month?

The Empress: This is the card of pregnancy. Now I do have to say that this doesn’t always have to mean literal pregnancy, it could though so, you’ll have to be the judge of that. Pregnancy is always represented by a new beginning and with the eight of cups coming out too I would say that you need to take the steps to start this new journey this month.

Some advice and encouragement from Spirit:

Strength: Spirit is telling you that you have the strength to get through this!

Temperance: This the card of equilibrium. It is telling you that soon you will feel content in your life. Happiness is coming!

Channeled Messages:

You are a wild child. Crafted by fire and lightning. How can you embrace your wild woman (self) today (this month)?

Affirmations:

Love is divine and I am nothing except love.

My heart is a compass. The path of love is true abundance.

Remember that this is a general reading and some things may not apply to you. Do not try and force it to fit. If you would like a personal reading you can click here, where I list all of my readings I offer, including a month ahead spread.

[toxoiddiamond]

T H E B A S I C S Given Name: Rafael Caleb Isserlis Nicknames: His family all call him Ray, but most people just call him Rafael. Age: 30 Birthday: June 6th Zodiac Sign: Gemini Birthplace: Sunnyvale, California Current Location: Barcelona, Spain Speaks: English, Spanish, some Castilian, a bit of Hebrew but not much. Dominant Hand: Right Education: He graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree. His original focus was Computer Software Engineering, but he switched his focus to Drawing and Painting in his sophomore year. Occupation: Bouncer at a strip club, and he has been working on a comic book with a friend (Rafael is working on the art, and his friend is the writer/story creator) for about a year. They hope to publish and sell it at some point soon. Vehicle: 2003 Opel Zafira in silver. Not the most attractive car, but he got it for cheap and it has been very reliable for him. Worldly Possessions: Lots of art supplies, a bunch of comic books, tons of dog toys, a photo album full of family pictures (put together for him by his mother before he moved to Spain), and tons of blankets and pillows because he loves to be comfy~ Pet(s): A black and white Mucuchi named Oreo. Rafael loves taking Oreo pretty much anywhere that dogs are allowed, and Oreo is always very happy to go on adventures.

A P P E A R A N C E Height: Just under 6’ Hair: He generally keeps it trimmed short just because it is easier to take care of, though he occasionally grows it out a little longer so the curls really show. He’s never dyed it before, so it is his natural dark brown color. Facial Hair: He always has at least a little bit of facial hair, even if it’s just some light scruffiness. He does like to let it grow out more sometimes. Eye Colour: Brown with some flecks of hazel Skin Tone: Dark, though the tone varies depending on the time of year. He is quite a bit darker in the warmer months thanks to his love of the outdoors. Clothing: He dresses casually for the most part, lots of jeans and t-shirts (especially band tees). If he’s working, he might wear a nice jacket as well. He almost always wears combat boots, unless he’s going running or hiking, then he’ll wear comfy sneakers. He loves wearing beanies, especially in colder weather, and he has them in a bunch of different colors. Although he doesn’t have much reason to dress up, he does look great in a suit and has some nice clothes on hand just in case. Distinguishing Marks: He has a couple of large tattoos on his chest, and a half sleeve on his left arm. He plans on getting more tattoos at some point, but he hasn’t decided what he wants or where. Face Claim: Jordan Calloway

H E A L T H Physical Health: Rafael is in excellent health– he loves doing any sort of physical activity, especially if it involves being outdoors, so he's very fit. He works out on a regular basis and eats quite healthy (though he's not opposed to a little junk food now and then). He gets sick now and then, just minor things like a cold or a mild case of the flu, but he's never been seriously sick or anything. Basically, Rafael takes great care of himself. Physical Abilities/Limitations: He can lift very heavy things thanks to his weight training at the gym. He's got good endurance/stamina– he can hike or run for quite a long time before needing a break. He's a good artist with a very distinctive style; he is constantly drawing, doodling on napkins, just keeping his hands busy whenever he can. Addictions: No addictions to speak of. Allergies: Citrus in general makes his mouth hurt, but sometimes he eats it anyway because he just can't resist. Mental Health: Generally good. He had a very stable upbringing with lots of supportive friends and family around. He is lucky enough to never have experienced any sort of mental illness or any really traumatic events in his life.

H I S T O R Y Summary: Rafael was born in Sunnyvale, California to wealthy parents (his mother is an OB/GYN, and his father is a very successful software engineer). He was the fourth of five children. He grew up surrounded by a very loving family, including much of his extended family, and had a near idyllic childhood. Growing up, Rafael always showed an aptitude for art– he was quite a skilled artist from a young age, but he also had a deep interest in his father’s work and loved all things to do with technology. He taught himself to code when he was about twelve years old and even made a couple of very basic games just to practice. Rafael was always a great student, not exactly straight A’s since he had a bit of a hard time in his literature classes and some of the more complicated math classes, but he never got any grades lower than a B, and he always tried his hardest and studied a lot, did extra credit whenever he could, etc. He also always had a lot of friends and was a bit girl crazy in high school, so he was always dating a new girl. He was on his high school’s soccer team as well– the PE coach always wanted him to go out for the football team, but Rafael hated football and still does, so he never bothered, preferring to use the time to do various volunteer projects or just hang out with his friends. Thanks to his excellent GPA and a wealth of extracurriculars and volunteer experience, Rafael had an easy time getting accepted into UC Berkeley. He initially majored in Computer Software Engineering, as he’d always planned– but after a trip across Europe with some of his friends just before his Sophomore year of college, he had a shift in perspective and realized that he really wanted to focus on his art after all. He changed his major to focus on Drawing and Painting, which was a bit of a surprise to his family, but they were, as always, very supportive of his decision, especially since it turned out he wouldn’t lose any progress toward his degree. After graduating, Rafael decided to do what he’d always wanted to do and live abroad. He decided on living in Spain, since he had taken nearly eight years of Spanish between high school and college and was almost fluent at that point. He spent a few years just travelling around Spain, exploring, working odd jobs, meeting people, just having a good time. Eventually he ended up settling in Barcelona after meeting a particularly good group of people, finding himself a quaint little house in the heart of the city, and getting a job as a bouncer in a local strip club. He has been there ever since. Job History: He didn't have his first job until college– he worked as a barista at a Starbucks on campus for his entire college career, which he actually really enjoyed. Once he moved to Spain and started traveling around, he did tons of odd jobs helping out with manual labor, working in restaurants, helping out around people's houses, doing yard work, just anything he could find that didn't require a lot of commitment. Once he settled in Barcelona, he took a job as a bouncer in a strip club because it paid decently well and fit into his schedule very nicely– that is where he's been ever since. Fondest Memories: Lots of happy childhood memories, too many to list actually. One of his fondest memories is his trip across Europe with his college friends. Plus all his adventures across Spain and the various times his sister Eliana has come to visit him. Worst Experiences: His paternal grandparents both died in a car accident when Rafael was fourteen, and that was probably the single worst experience of his life. A couple of his breakups were particularly rough on him as well.

C O M M U N I C A T I O N Speech Pace/Style: Definitely not a smooth talker, but not super awkward either (unless he’s trying to flirt). He’s laid back when he speaks, not overly formal, always seems pretty relaxed (again, unless he is attempting to flirt). He doesn’t talk excessively, but he’s not quiet or shy either, always loves to jump into a conversation, especially if it’s about a subject he’s interested in. If someone gets him started on a subject he’s passionate about, he gets very animated and excited about it. Accent: American accent, which sometimes comes through in his Spanish– though his Spanish accent, for the most part, is pretty good. Favorite Phrases or Words: He says “oh snap!” a lot when speaking English, something that rubbed off on him thanks to his younger sister. Usual Curse Words: He doesn’t curse a whole lot– it’s not that he’s offended by cursing or anything, he just kind of doesn’t think to curse unless he’s angry or really passionate about something.

P E R S O N A L I T Y, M I N D S E T, A N D B E L I E F S Personality Type: ENFP-A Sense of Humor: Rafael loves to laugh and has a pretty open sense of humor. The only type of humor he doesn’t vibe with is super offensive or raunchy/sexual humor, that’s just not his thing. But anything silly, clever, wordplay or puns, non-sequitur/weird humor, all of that is totally his cup of tea. Habits: Rafael is a bit fidgety and always has to be doing something with his hands. He can be still if he actively focuses on not fidgeting, but it's a little difficult for him. He's constantly drawing on napkins or little pieces of paper, on himself, and on others if they'll let him. If he doesn't have a pen handy then he'll crack his knuckles or he'll kinda rock back and forth on the balls of his feet. He just really cannot hold still unless his mind is fully occupied with something. Fears/Phobias: The whole idea of ghosts or demons really freaks him out. He also sometimes has a touch of existential dread and wonders if he’s going to be alone forever, but that usually doesn’t last long, just a sleepless night or two and then he gets past it. Strengths: Rafael is a very caring, sweet person who is genuinely interested in other people and loves to help whenever he can. He is attentive to people’s needs and tends to anticipate those needs in advance, so he is quite a thoughtful person. In general, he’s an optimist who likes to look on the bright side of things no matter how bad the situation may get and tries not to let the little things get him down. He is also very protective of those he loves, and though he is friendly to people almost all of the time, if anyone is rude to or tries to hurt someone he cares about, he won’t hesitate to speak up on behalf of or physically protect his loved one. Flaws: While his optimism is often a positive trait, Rafael sometimes takes it too far and doesn’t allow himself to just be sad or angry now and then, even when it would be good for him. He tends to suppress any emotion he perceives as negative instead of actually processing his feelings. In relationships, he can be a bit possessive and jealous at times, but he knows that’s his own problem and he really tries not to take it out on his partners. Hopes/Desires: He really hopes to get his comics published at some point– he just really wants to get them out there, even if they don’t get super popular or anything, he’s just really proud of their work and wants people to see it. He also really wants to find someone he can settle down with (or go on adventures with), someone he can spoil with tons of love and affection. He would love to get married and maybe have kids someday, but if his partner didn’t want children he would be okay with that also. Self-Esteem: Super good, honestly. He has his moments of insecurity just like anyone else, but overall he is comfortable with himself and believes himself to be a good person. Religion: Kinda Jewish, kinda atheist. It’s complicated.

R A N D O M Sleeping Position: Curled up on his right side, usually. Boxers or Briefs?: Boxers Day or Night?: Night for sure, he is naturally a night owl. Top or Bottom?: Probably top more than anything, but if he was with a partner that wanted to switch it up, he would happily give it a try~ Partying or Relaxing?: This would be a really hard choice for him, but he would probably have to go with partying. He loves the atmosphere of a good party.

R E L A T I O N S H I P S Closest Friend: Besides his younger sister, Rafael's best friend is Isabel Maduro, a woman he met when he moved to Barcelona. They have been working together on a comic book series for a while now; she is a very talented writer who comes up with stories that blow Rafael's mind. They see each other fairly often not just to work on the comics, but to go on walks or out to lunch, or on the occasional hike. Relationship History: Rafael had a ton of relationships in high school, many of which lasted two weeks or less and obviously those relationships didn't get serious at all– Rafael was just kind of playing the field at that point. He didn't actually have sex, or a serious relationship, until his first year of college. He then dated his first serious girlfriend, and they lasted about six months before she broke things off because she felt he was more attached than she was and she didn't want to waste his time. That is actually how all of Rafael's relationships have gone since then– he always gets broken up with before a year has passed (often much sooner than that) because they're not as into him as he is into them, or he's just too much, being too intense, etc. As a result, he's now reluctant to express his feelings at all because he doesn't want to put pressure on anyone. Sexual Partners: Rafael doesn't exactly get around or anything, but he has had about a dozen sexual partners in his life, all of them women. Thoughts About Sex: Rafael loves sex within the confines of a relationship but doesn't have much interest in it other than that. One night stands, flings, anything like that is not for him. So far, Rafael has only been with women. He's been attracted to men before and he knows he's definitely not straight, but he's always been way too nervous to try and flirt with men. He has never come out to anyone but if he were to end up in a relationship with a man, he wouldn't hesitate to come out– his sister Eliana is a lesbian and currently engaged to another woman, and was readily accepted by their family, so he knows they would all support him if he ever told them.

P A R E N T S Name(s): Shira and Booker Isserlis Age(s): Both 64 years old. Social Standing: White collar for sure, and they are in very good social standing. Occupation(s): She is an OB/GYN who is set to retire in a couple of years, and he is a computer software engineer who doesn’t plan to retire anytime soon. Religion: She is Jewish and he is agnostic, but does observe/celebrate Jewish holidays and events. Quality of Relationship With Their Children: They love and support all of their children unconditionally. They do worry about Rafael sometimes just because he’s more of a wanderer than their other children, he’s a bit more aimless, but they know he can take care of himself. Living/Deceased: Both alive and in excellent health.

S I B L I N G (S) Name(s): Daniel Isserlis, Itai Isserlis, Tamar Huang, and Eliana Isserlis (soon to be Eliana Florakis). Age(s): 34, 32, 31, 29. Yes, their parents basically had all of their children back to back. Social Standing: They have all done very well for themselves, and are all in good social standing. Occupation(s): Daniel is a software engineer and works with their father. Itai is a forensic accountant and he has helped to arrest many white collar criminals. Tamar runs a non-profit organization that helps underprivileged children by providing housing, food, education/tutors, and after school activities. And Eliana is an event planner who specializes in weddings. Religion: Daniel and Tamar are still devoutly Jewish. Itai and Eliana are more like Rafael– they appreciate and enjoy aspects of Judaism but they don’t really believe in it. Quality of Relationship with Character: Rafael loves all of his siblings and would do just about anything for them, but he is definitely the closest with Eliana out of all of them. He really only sees/talks to his other siblings a few times a year, but he talks to Eliana all the time. Living/Deceased: All alive.

D A I L Y L I F E Living Arrangements: He lives in a cute little one bedroom house right in the heart of the city, on a very busy street. He loves being right in the middle of everything, so it’s ideal for him. The place was a bit rundown when he first bought it, but he has fixed it up quite a bit and although no one would say it’s luxurious or anything, it’s definitely nice and comfortable. He loves having guests over and has lots of seating and a large TV, plus a pull-out couch in the living room just in case anyone stays the night, not to mention a spacious king sized bed in his room.

[nissakii]

What do Mystic Messenger characters represent in society? [MysMe]

Mystic Messenger which is a game filled with a lot of action, drama and some sort of romance is still really close to our reality.

Especially the characters represent a lot of us and the many different situations people can be in and suffer from, as every and each of them offers us a route in which we can see more of the character and help them to achieve their ending (or not if you are curious to get the bad endings).

Yet what do those characters represent in our usual lives?

Where do we see each and every one of these characters in our society?

In the following blog post, we will see that every character shows us a certain place and piece of our reality that Cheritz put in their game.

Yoosung Kim

Starting with the youngest member of RFA let’s take the one who hasn't experienced the world of work yet.

As an uni student Yoosung is the very representation of someone who isn’t sure where life could lead him after achieving one big goal: getting into university.

Because despite the fact that standing on one’s own feet starts at that phase in life it is mostly the time where many feel lost as they see themselves stuck in their current life.

And Yoosung is one of those many cases that represent those people in Mystic Messenger.

Living alone for the first time and suddenly feeling the overwhelming force of being responsible for his own mistakes, he sees the sudden challenges of life that come with it.

On top of that with the death of his cousin Rika which he loved so dearly, nobody is very considerate of his feelings, depression and sadness that still lingers inside of him despite that they all claim it is understandable.

His dream job as a vet that was closely tied to the death of Rika’s dog is the more unattainable and painful to think about after the events as he requestions the morals and standards of society.

Being in the age of constantly being expected to give good results and succeed in order to become valuable to society’s standards, he starts to realize how unfair the chances in life are as he compares himself to Jumin Han who was born rich and with his future already set.

We already discussed a lot about Yoosung’s insecurities and general character in another blogpost, but referring to it Yoosung constantly sees no value in whatever he does beside in helping the RFA which as well due to the death of Rika became inactive until MC appeared.

When someone stops to value what he does or sees no merit in it, there are always the questions:

Why did I start this anyway?

What is the whole purpose of this?

Maybe it’s not for me?

And with those questions, with the heavy burden of a private life and social circles that also have a place in one’s life, sometimes there is a need to escape them all.

As a student just running away or taking holidays is not that easy leaving a bunch of responsibilities behind, so the next best way to stop thinking about the life around you is, immersing into another life- gaming.

Gaming may be a good coping mechanism but also a big threat for those who want to constantly flee from their reality slowly developing a game addiction without realizing, just like Yoosung slowly started to lose himself in LOLOL.

Studying, sorrow, wanting to flee but also wanting to become someone standing on stable footing.

They are all parts of finding oneself in the process, going through the harsh times of slowly diving into the world of adults and that is what Yoosung represents - the start of a new phase in life, probably one of the harshest.

Jaehee Kang 

Close, but still more experienced would be Jaehee Kang the only female of the RFA next to the MC, a chief secretary at C&R and  also the assistant of Jumin Han.

Jaehee is someone seen as a prime example and role-model, being a stable career woman who achieved a lot in her life and has a fairly high income to support herself.

In society’s eyes she is someone who contributes to success and as she is even an early top university graduate for which she got a scholarship in highschool making her extremely diligent and intelligent since her childhood.

Yet Jaehee gave up a lot to be in the position she is right now, she even cut her long hair and wears glasses despite her good vision since it is part of the demands Jumin made for the job as his secretary.

As she said herself her work contains a lot of tasks which some of them she isn’t even supposed to do and go beyond her ordinary secretary job, yet she does them and doesn’t complain since she gets paid for it.

In Zen’s DVD she tried to find a bit of happiness in her daily monotone routine as she works day in and day out, where she even eats out a lot and until late hours, having to take care of her boss’s cat when asked to.

In one of the chats in which Jaehee and Yoosung are talking about how successful and stable Jaehee is unlike Yoosung who is still feeling lost and doesn’t have that stability in life which she wouldn’t understand.

Jaehee on the other hand responds that despite having a job it’s not really that what she wanted to do and that she is still wondering what it is that she actually wants to do as she mentions that she used to go hiking a lot as her hobby, showing that despite being in a good position in society Jaehee still doesn’t feel fulfilled and rather a bit trapped in her monotone working routine which she basically devoted her life to.

Jaehee represents those of who seem like they have achieved a lot and do have a place in society job-wise but are still not sure what it is what they really want to do as they live in and out of their secure routine which they maintain and people expect them to be satisfied with.

Zen

Zen or how he is called by his real name, Hyun Ryu is one of the few characters that actually went through and made his dream his actual job.

Despite his looks he did not become a model but an actor depicting many emotions and roles in which he loses himself in while giving his best to show the audience the true nature of the persona he is currently playing.

We see Zen being a bit more on the easy-going side and encouraging Yoosung for example to follow his heart and dreams like he did, since it worked out for Zen. Yoosung encounters that Zen has the looks to follow the way he wants to which he won’t deny yet it’s not the only quality Zen bears.

He is a very hard-working person, strict on himself when it comes to working out or dieting and also tends to be a workaholic engrossing himself in constant development to fulfill his dream, which is not tied to his looks. Quite contrary Zen despises the fact that some people choose him a role only fitting for his looks and even worse asking him only to model instead of acting, as he mentions that it is acting that he wants to do and not modelling.

In that way his wishes often get disrespected or disregarded due to his looks, also he is being seen as shallow which may lead to people jumping to conclusions.

We see in Zen’s route what a harsh path he had to take in order to pursue his dream, it took him a lot of sacrifice, patience and work to be where he is and it’s only the start for him.

He ran away from home since his parents did not approve of his dreams, he was not the best at school and also dropped out renting an apartment for himself struggling through hard times to survive.

But despite that he never gave up since his dream was his passion and something he did with much eagerness and seriousness, even though many may call it foolish or risky.

Zen is the best representation of the people in our society who choose to derive from the usual path striving for a stable job and take many risks to achieve their dreams.

Because of those dreams life may get a bit harder and the chances are not high, yet Zen is the best example that it takes time, sacrifices and sometimes harsh circumstances to reach that what you want to do.

He is the hard reality of chasing your dreams.

Jumin Han

More or less in our category of society, Jumin Han is a less common case of working hard to achieve a high status and standard in that sense which doesn’t make him lazy or given everything for nothing, but makes his life sure easier from a materialistic perspective.

Cue materialism the first thing that not only RFA mentions when MC enters the chatrooms in the first days but also a misunderstanding from the start is that Jumin only sees numbers and facts, wielding his money to obtain whatever he desires and living an easy life.

Sure enough, money is one of the most fundamental problems that make life much harsher when it's lacking, also it’s the main cause of many stress factors since education, work and status are all basically tied to money. 

If the world is not about money in a certain sense why are we struggling that much anyways to get amazing jobs and maybe in some cases like Jaehee give up part of our life and identity?

But Jumin is the perfect example that the rich people who exist out there or at least some of them do not rely solely on their privilege of being born rich, yet still work hard to prove their position in society as Jumin still graduated as a top student, being part of MENSA which requires high IQ to become a member of and has a policy of working as efficiently as possible.

In that sense Jumin is a talented, intelligent young man who doesn’t want to simply rely on his background but also showcase his skills as he always strives to get the best results in the company to make sure he deserves the place as the CEO in line.

Since Yoosung constantly nags and complains about Jumin’s background being a bliss and that he had a comfortable and easy life, Jumin does not tell him he might be wrong but that he simply did not decide to be born that way and still encourages Yoosung that he has good qualities which Jumin finds appealing enough to hire him as an intern, showing him that it’s still important which skills someone hones.

Yoosung is just one example of people viewing him as someone who is just lucky enough to be born rich or the unfairness of status by birth, but they do not see the the dark side of Jumin’s life as he never had any stable relationships beside V that he cherishes so much also that people only put light on his status but not the work that he himself put into, visiting lessons since childhood not growing up like a usual kid playing freely without fearing to be kidnapped.

Therefore the concept of love is quite strange for him and beside in the good ending of his own route where he finally starts to learn about it, the box of emotions Jumin holds is always hidden deep within him projecting his own weaknesses on Elizabeth the 3rd who gives him the secure form of love and loyalty.

In any other situation love is not needed in the world he grew up in since facts and cold logic represented as results of success is what the people need to see from him, mistakes are a sign of weakness and incompetence especially him who everyone is constantly watching.

Jumin represents those in society who may seem to have high status, wealth and cozy life yet struggle due to the things that cannot be merely achieved by money alone, highlighting the importance of interpersonal relationships.

Saeyoung Choi/707/Luciel

That the world is not an easy place that can be seen only as black and white shows us the next character who suffered a lot through the dark and hidden secrets that society often tries to brush under the carpet.

Saeyoung Choi and his twin brother who we will examine later, show us the cruelty hidden in a small apartment living with an abusive mother who used to beat them up, verbally abuse them as a consequence of them being the illegitimate child of the prime minister.

Since Saeyoung was the more skilled one from a young age, he was treated badly but not as worse as his brother Saeran, which left him with no choice than using his talent to save his brother.

In order to that there was only one option and it was to leave his brother behind leaving him in the hands of V and Rika to protect him while Saeyoung would study to make sure when comes back he and Saeran could run away together.

And he took that option instead of fearing to be killed by his father one day or even by his mother.

In the end Saeyoung landed in an agency which stripped him of any identity and made him work like a machine even before he turned legal due to his level of skill and intellect.

With no place to escape anymore and the only light thinking that Saeran is safe and protected from some floppy disks he has with some pictures of him, he gave into corruption but not turning bad since his intentions kept him pure.

The RFA were a little safespace for him yet Seven never had the right as he claims for that since he doesn’t even have an identity anymore being neither Saeyoung nor any other person as his jobs demands for him to constantly change names and places if needed, therefore he doesn’t even have personal data anywhere.

He even forgot who he is at some point if it wasn’t for V and the floppy disks leaving him in an identical crisis and no hope to be understood by anyone as he constantly wears a mask and never is his true self.

In his eyes his is constantly extorted by his agency and even in some routes he claims that RFA puts a heavy load of work on his back which he likes to do but there are some endings in which Seven finds out that Saeran is under bad circumstances and even worse the hacker who infiltrated RFA and wanted to get rid of him, leaving him to lose trust in the last person he had, V.

Saeyoung Choi represents those who are mistreated, used and extorted in society, forced to live a life in which they cannot decide for themselves and were left to make choices that led them to an unfavorable position instead of helping them.

He is the one showing us that the shadows exist and fear of losing existence due to being nuisance and eyesore for people who have a more favorable place in the eyes of the government.

Saeran Choi/Unknown/Ray

Last but not least the other part of the shadows, Saeran Choi also known as either Ray or Unknown.

Unlike his brother he is at first not shown to have any special talent and since childhood he was a very fragile and kind boy who was seen as weak due to his nature.

A trait that made him prone to being attacked and mistreated not only by his mother but many other people.

But starting with his mother as he was less free than Saeyoung and even tied him up to avoid that he would roam around freely, his mother used to call him weak, useless and of no value as his brother is far better than him and skilled, at least making him worth to be kept alive.

She even deprived him of food and water at times, beat him up and made sure he would know his place in the world as she describes people like us comparing him to her.

Yet Saeran always looked up and trusted his brother since he was a good-natured person despite the fact that he started to manifest the idea that he himself is useless and a burden.

Even when Saeyoung left he was sure that he had a good reason and blamed himself for being useless, but due to certain circumstances and manipulation he was told that Saeyoung ran away from him.

It took a lot of torture and brainwashing to make Saeran finally give up the idea that Saeyoung will keep his promise and never ran away from him. which he later fueled his grudge with.

Rika who used him for mint-eyes plans made sure to keep him as Ray, the one who knew that he was of no merit or value to the outside world, and the moment he would leave the place he now belonged to would be the moment people would trample him, the weak down to the ground.

She also made sure to make him believe that there is no other place for him since he is someone unstable, someone who can only bloom if he worked for mint-eye and that his skills are not needed beside in here the place that would never betray him.

As we notice in Ray’s chats, the same exact words are used when he speaks to MC as he tells her if he doesn’t succeed he would be thrown away and that the world outside is an unprotected place full of people who are cruel.

Weirdly enough in one of the chats Ray shows MC a photo of two plants that sprouted in the from the same ground, but one was almost dying while the other one bloomed as he referred to Saeyoung and himself,  noticing that the stronger one used the weaker to survive therefore he cut the stronger one and used it as a fertilizer rejecting the idea that in any kind of way the stronger could win over the weaker one even in nature’s way.

MC who can be as nice to Ray/Saeran as she wants to be, he will always bring up the fear of being left behind as he has the stigma of being unstable by himself or unusable if not finishing the job as it’s the only thing he can bring any profit in and that he is no use if he doesn’t fulfill his role as a puppet.

Saeran Choi represents the undermined and discarded people of society who were not give a chance nor an option to show their ability, but were stigmatised or manipulated to act as puppets as they are only of worth when they can fulfill the needed tasks as their weakness is something unsightly and doesn’t have a place in this world.

The weak never survives, it’s the survival of the fittest… which means if there is no merit in what he does there is no need to keep him.

Are there any other characters which you see in society that are also part of the mystic messenger cast?

Do you feel especially tied to one of the characters in one of these aspects?

Until then - I just got a message

Makii

Original Source

[ghoztlinkblot]

Chapter 2 - Hero Schools

The Government-Hired Heroes, shortened simply as the GHH for convenience, was a specific branch of the police born around the 12430s as an answer to the growing rise of superpowered crime; if the future of felony was in individual personalities with outstanding traits more so than in large organisations of nameless, faceless crooks, as it had appeared back then, authorities would adapt and follow suit. Originally rather small, it soon imposed itself as a signature part of the police force. As the years passed, and the GHH solidified its political importance and cultural impact, one would have expected more and more abilitied folk to flock to its doors every year; and, though, in some regards, that wasn’t inaccurate, the truth was a bit more complicated.

While back in the first few months of 12417, abilities were brand new, flashy and rare, assuring anyone who had them to be put into the spotlight, advantaged regardless of what the ability actually was, the First Supervillain crisis just half a year later proved how unstable the status of abilitied people was. Even after the abilitied revolt, Scarlet Maylis’ government and reforms, and abilities becoming an everyday thing, over the following century, this trend only worsened. The GHH had more stories wherein everything went wrong than of normal, successful heroes, it seemed. The truth was, the media simply made more noise for those trashy tales, but that was enough to stain te GHH’s reputation. And it all had started with its inception.

Scarlet Maylis, or the iconic “magical girl” Bleeding Heart, generally seen as the de facto leader of the First District, a movement spawned in response to the First Supervillain discourse to offer the discriminated abilitied an outlet, and that had eventually grown to carry out a full-on coup d’état, defending the rights of her kin all throughout the country, had gradually grown more and more extreme in her views once put in charge of the government. While many still remembered Bleeding Heart, and that cute little cheerleader chant - “B, L, E! E, D, I! N, G, ♡!” - fondly, her role as a quasi-dictatorial leader was controversial, splitting the public opinion to this day. And the Government-Hired Heroes, born under her jurisdiction, were stained with a similar reputation. One of the first big GHH controversies was that of Adrian and Luna Maylis, Scarlet’s own children and some of the first-ever GHH heroes, enrolled in their youth and who’d both run away from that responsibility before they’d even hit their coming of age - sixteen years old. Though they both eventually returned and enrolled back into the force after all just a few years later, the damage was done.

But besides the GHH and its leaders’ own faults, heroism just didn’t have as favourable an image as many other jobs. As a result of Maylis’ politics, abilitied folk had become the majority; it was no longer a standout category that ensured you an edge others didn’t have on the job market. Plus, heroism didn’t pay all that well, and the interviews were infamous for being especially harsh. Many parents therefore advised their offspring against pursuing such a career, and even if many GHH-philes still enrolled by dozens into the GHH, it found itself short on staff by the turn of the century.

The government needed to find a way to solve this. While heroism itself was in deficit, the capital’s culture, tourism and advertising depended on its theatrics. They had to make heroism more appealing, to stop abilitied people from picking other careers, or worse, using their abilities for crime and further overworking the GHH. Investing remarkably high amounts of money, they came up with an eccentric solution : hero schools.

Entirely government-funded, they were free, well-furnished schools who, on top of teaching typical subjects, promised to raise children into the GHH-compliant heroes they were always meant to be. In other words, they were free schools that ensured a stable, guaranteed job to anyone who passed with decent honours, right upon graduation. Heroes, vigilantes and villains had always been most popular amongst children; to them, there was a certain prestige to attending such a school, which made them brag about it to their friends and peers, who in turn whined to their parents to let them attend as well. Add in a few meaningless advantages and coupons, and the formula was complete; not only that, it was successful.

The GHH went from accepting any old resume that still dared come their way to reaffirming its cutthroat reputation as a prestigious organisation; it seemed nearly impossible to be hired for one who hadn’t graduated from a hero school. The two institutions grew almost indissociable over time; The hero-school grading system - C, B, A, S - became a standard of the GHH itself, which now categorised its numerous employees in the same way; C rank, B rank, et cetera. These ranks were made public as well, as fans loved to tier and compete, and reflected a difference in workload, work ethic and efficiency expected from different heroes, as well as the way they were treated. Salary, leniency of their superiors, general authority within the workplace; a bonafide hierarchy formed between employees that, on paper, shared the same contracts and jobs.

The rankings became more and more central to the GHH’s inner workings over time, and would determine things such as which heroes were paired up together; Bs with Bs, As with Cs, and Ss by themselves. In other words; As got to boss Cs around, Ss had private offices, and Bs did most of the work on their own. There were exceptions - the Golden Trio was allowed to work together, thanks to the influence of Bonnie’ family - but they were few, and didn’t change the overall situation.

The inequalities leaked out of the GHH’s walls, spreading to the capital as a whole. Non-abilitied folk, who had already become a minority, were now further disadvantaged; while, technically, one was not required to have an ability in order to be hired by the GHH, as that would’ve legally counted as discrimination, it was indeed a requirement in order to be enrolled into hero school, as that legally counted as a necessary credit. Thus, non-abilitied kids would often be shunned by their classmates, or even their own parents.

Still, it wasn’t as though every kid wanted to pursue that career path, nor like every parent was willing to support such a choice. Many abilitied people still led typical studies; such was Neville Elire Schifozzo. Born to a lower middle-class family, he had no interest in heroism; he’d attended public education, been taught plumbing, and worked as a plumber from age sixteen to age thirty-two, married and divorced. Somewhere along the way, he’d longed for something else. Something more. Anything, maybe. Or something specific. Either way, that desire had led him to the GHH. But how could he hope to be hired given his education? Simple: His ability.

Though it looked like simple teleportation at first, it was completely different, and unlike anything that had ever been seen before. Manipulating space was as close to reality warping as abilities had gotten since the death of Providence, a sister-in-arms of Scarlet and the rest of the First District, who had the ability to manipulate events, people, probabilities and their consequences themselves. While nothing as all-encompassing as that, Spatial Plumber’s ability was still leagues above average, with endless potential for defense, offense, sneaking, information-gathering and all other purposes. And yet… his unwillingness to speak up about it and lack of proper experience in the heroism field landed Neville at a solid B. Thus, he ended up teamed up with another B ranking hero: Bubblegum.

She was what Neville had been looking for. Not in any romantic sense, but more generally, in his life. She had the spunk, the energy, the optimism that he had lost, if he ever had it. She quite simply lit up his life. She liked his company too; he was entertaining, honest, simple, and polite. Their friendship was clear to see in how they worked together. Something tied that quiet, unassuming man and that loud charismatic girl together, whatever it was. Maybe that was why they would both, separately, end up quitting the GHH to do their own thing.

Tapas / < previous // next >

[reallifesultanas]

Portrait of Rüstem Pasha/Rüsztem Pasa portréja

Rüstem Pasha is one of the most controversial figures in Ottoman history, a model of fidelity and deceit at the same time, as his loyalty to his wife and mother-in-law is legendary, yet he is considered the greatest responsible in the death of Prince Mustafa. But what is the truth? Was Rüstem a loyal statesman, rare as the white raven or the greatest traitor and killer of the empire?

Origin and upbringing

Rüstem, according to his own account, was of Croatian descent, born as the son of a swineherd between 1500 and 1505. At least one of his brothers is known, Sinan, with whom they came to Istanbul through the devşirme system. His brother also became an influential pasha over time. He studied in the Enderum along with other intelligent boys who were considered suitable for education. Those who did not have the intelligence to get to Enderum were assigned to the Janissaries or other militaries. Rüstem was a particularly intelligent and talented man, he excelled among the other students of Endrum with his knowledge. He was fluent in at least three languages ​​and also had special talents in close fight and military warfare. He was also a particularly sober, calm man who never acted recklessly.

The beginning of his rise

Opinions are divided on how Rüstem drew the Sultan's attention to himself. According to some sources, during the battle of Mohács in 1526 he acted as the sultan's weapon bearer and Suleiman noticed his loyalty and intelligence here. Others say once, Rustem, through a window, saw Suleiman passing under the window and he saw how the Sultan drop something accidentally. Rüstem throwing himself out the window to return the object to the Sultan. If the latter is true, then Rüstem arrived in Ottoman history with a hard entry.

Either way, around the mid-1520s, Suleiman had certainly recognized Rüstem’s talents and appointed him one of his personal men. He became the chief supervisor of the sultan's stables and the stirrup holder when the ruler got on the horse. With this position, Rüstem could actually go anywhere with the Sultan, during which, of course, the Sultan had time to get to know him more and more. Around this time he could also spend time with the sons of Suleiman, as his sons often rode out with the sultan or accompanied him on a campaigns. So he was already in relatively close contact with the sultan's sons here, especially with Prince Mehmed, who spent a lot of time with Suleiman, and his younger brother, Selim. But it is also possible that he also had the opportunity to see or even meet his later wife, Suleiman’s daughter, Mihrimah, as according to some sources, she also rode out with his father occasionally.

The rise of Rüstem, scared several others. Suleiman's confidant, Ibrahim, for example, according to a 1534 report, said he did not particularly like Rüstem. And the reason for this was that the sultan had repeatedly accepted Rüstem's advices and raised the man higher and higher, and Ibrahim was afraid for his own position and perhaps he was jealous that someone else was near the sultan besides him. Ibrahim made a special effort to get rid of Rüstem. It was Ibrahim, who made him the beylerbey of Diyarbakir. With this, he exiled Rüstem to the Iranian border, hoping he will be forgotten there. However, Rüstem did not think so and did an excellent job in Diyarbakir, forging an advantage from his exile.

Suleiman, after Rüstem proved his abilites in Diyarbakir, made the man the beylerbey of Anatolia in 1538, and then in 1539 finally elevated him to the rank of vizier, and also gave him one of the greatest positions a pasha could ever attain, making him Damad (son-in-law). Suleiman gave his daughter Mihrimah to him.

His marriage to Mihrimah Sultan

The marriage of an imperial princess has always been a serious political decision. In Mihrimah's case, Suleiman had probably long ago decided that Rüstem should be her husband. In vain did Hürrem Sultan want another husband, Suleiman immediately rejected Hürrem's proposal, the young and handsome Egyptian beylerbey as a husband candidate. Why did Suleiman choose Rüstem? He definitely wanted a husband to her daughter who was loyal to her and to the Empire, thus avoiding having to be replaced, executed, and thus orphaning her own grandchildren. In addition, he wanted a husband who was fit to hold high positions so that he could stay in Istanbul with her daughter, since Suleiman, who was famously devoted to her daughter, surely did not want her daughter to live away from him. So Rüstem proved to be a perfect choice.

Suleiman's strong determination to Rüstem, is also shown by the fact that despite the gossip spread by Rüstem's enemies that he had leprosy, Suleiman did not changed his mind, but sent his personal doctor to examine Rüstem. The doctor, while examining Rüstem, found a louse on him, which ruled out that he had leprosy. Knowing the particularly demanding nature of Rüstem and knowing the fact that he changed his clothes daily, it cannot be ruled out that the lice were put on him as an intrigue of his own. All the obstacles were removed from the healty Rüstem.

Mihrimah was 17 at that time, and Rüstem was described to be twice as old as the sultana, so he was about 34 years old. Suddenly it seems like a big age difference, but compared to the age difference of the other sultanas and their husbands, Mihrimah was quite lucky. True, Rüstem was probably not the kind of man, teenage girls dreamed of, as he was described as a short and red-faced man, yet he guaranteed that Mihrimah could stay with her family in Istanbul forever and could gain serious political influence with him. In addition, Rüstem knew Mihrimah's brothers well, so it was clear that he will be on Mihrimah's and her brother's side in the fight for the throne.

The wedding was finally held in the fall of 1539, along with the circumcision ceremony of Mihrimah's two younger brothers, Bayezid and Cihangir. The ceremony eventually lasted for 15 days, and whole of Istanbul was celebrating with the family.

His marriage to Mihrimah was clearly not a love match, but all indications are that over time they have learned to respect and accept each other. Their marriage was crowned in 1541 by the birth of their daughter, Ayşe Hümaşah. Unfortunately, there is not much evidence of Rüstem’s relationship with his daughter, but based on second-hand evidences they were close to each other. Over time, Mihrimah and Rüstem had a son, Osman, who unfortunately died young. The time of the boy's death is unknown.

Political rise

In 1541 Rüstem was the second vizier, so he advanced nicely. In this position, the sultan made him the head of the Hungarian campaign of the year. This was a very important appointment in Rüstem’s career. The Kingdom of Hungary lost its king János Szapolyai the previous year, whose successor was only a two-week-old boy. As a result of the unexpected event, Habsburg Ferdinand immediately launched an attack to gain even more shares from the Kingdom of Hungary. Therefore, the Ottomans could not wait so they launched an attacked. Eventually in the end they won and were able to tore Hungary into three parts for more than a century. Transylvania and Eastern-Tiszta area remained in Izabella and her infant son, János Zsigmond's hands for 10,000 HUF rax for a year. The Highlands, Croatia, Western Transdanubia, Slavonia remained in the hands of the Habsburgs, while areas between the Danube and Tisza river were under the control of the Sultan. Rüstem played a major role in the fact that Transylvania and the area of Eastern-Tiszta was able to stay in the hands of Izabella and his infant son. The sultan had planned it differently. Suleiman wanted to annex all of Transylvania and the Eastern-Tisza area to the Empire, and wanted to take Izabella and her son to Ottoman captivity in Istanbul. However, Izabella sent pleading letters to Hürrem Sultana and the Mihrimah Sultana and also sent gifts and ambassadors to Rüstem. Rüstem, enjoying the support of Mihrimah and Hürrem, finally succeeded in convincing the sultan to leave Isabella and his son as ruler of Transylvania and Eastern-Tiszta area. This was a huge step and a success, as Suleiman had reacted very aggressively for Isabella's previous plea. Isabella a few months ago asked for the release of two Hungarian lords who were captives of the Sultan. Suleiman refused the request and immediately executed the two lords. With such a background, it is particularly interesting that Rüstem, Mihrimah and Hürrem were able to convince the Sultan. Their intentions are unknown. Mihrimah and Hürrem perhaps stood by the woman because they felt sorry for her, but Rüstem perhaps had a more rational point of view: the Ottomans most probably wouln't be able to keep Transylvania under their rule, and its loss would have been unpleasant for them, so it was better to make the rulers of it to their vassals.

The former event also shows well that Suleiman respected Rüstem very much, but still he denied from him the grace he had previously given to Ibrahim. He never allowed Rüstem as close to himself as he let Ibrahim anno. Mihrimah and Hürrem objected to this, according to several sources, as they tried to persuade the Sultan to let Rüstem closer to him. However, the sultan always replied that "it was enough for me to commit such foolishness once." This is a good indication of how deeply Suleiman was hurt by Ibrahim’s betrayal and was certainly afraid of having to endure something similar once again.

However, the Sultan's slight distancing did not deter Rüstem from having the same intimate relationship with the ambassadors as Ibrahim had previously done. The ambassadors, without exception, described Rüstem as one who really likes to talk to them about himself. He often boasted, ironically, to what heights the son of a swineherd could ascend in the Ottoman Empire. In addition, the ambassadors also noted how intelligent the pasha is, especially enthusiastic about all matters and making decisions in a very forward-looking manner. And the most important thing, which did not escape the attention of the ambassadors, was that Rüstem, unlike Ibrahim, always spoke of himself as a subordinate of the Sultan, was loyal to the Sultan to the extreme and was famously incorruptible.

In 1544 Rüstem finally received the title of Grand Vizier, which Suleiman had given him knowing he was an ally of Hürrem and Mihrimah. As a Grand Vizier, he was always praised by the ambassadors and the Sultan was pleased with him. His most important success as Grand Vizier was that he managed to fill the imperial treasury. He used every possible solution to this, for example, he sold the flowers and vegetables grown in the palace gardens. Because of this, he was considered by many to be greedy, but nonetheless, in the end, he eventually managed to solve the empire’s financial problems, which Ibrahim had only exacerbated before. The other brilliant solution he ran to make money was to blackmail the ambassadors. He wanted them to come with most expensive gifts possible. If a gift wasn’t expensive enough, he simply didn’t receive the ambassadors. Because of this, the ambassadors complained a lot to their rulers and were ashamed to ask for more money and gifts. Each year, he asked more and more from the ambassadors. One of the ambassadors, the clever, Alvise Renier, eliminated this problem, by sending 100 gold ducats in every year to Rüstem before he could ask for more. It may seem greedy, but Rüstem delivered most of these gifts and money - unlike the previous Grand Vizier - to the Imperial Treasury and retained only some of those which were personal gifts. It was the "greed" of Rüstem that kept the financial background of the empire stable for the second half of Suleiman's reign, however, Rüstem was not popular among the people of Istanbul.

The fight of the Rüstem-Hürrem-Mihrimah coalition against Prince Mustafa

Rüstem as Mihrimah’s husband was clearly committed to Mihrimah’s full-brothers. Especially that he knew the princes closely, while he had no connection with Mustafa. In my opinion, that is why it is a mistake to condemn Rüstem for his choice. Which man would support a prince who poses a threat to his wife and brother-in-laws? Plus, Mustafa never liked Rüstem Pasha, so if he wouldn't be against Mustafa, that would cause his death.

How the coalition fought Mustafa is not exactly known, as they left no evidence. Most likely, their basic principle was that all the naturally occurring faults of Mustafa were said to the sultan, while in the case of the sons of Hürrem these mistakes were hide. Thus, in fact, without slander or lies, they were able to weaken Mustafa in the eyes of his father. In addition, Rüstem, as Grand Vizier, became the deputy of the Sultan and could decide on a great many things. Thus, Mustafa also had to ask him for support when in 1549 the Georgians assassinated the governor of Erzurum. Mustafa asked for a supportive army from Rüstem so that he could oust the Georgians beyond the borders of the empire. However, Rüstem ignored and then rejected the request, as it would have been dangerous to send soldiers to the highly supported Prince Mustafa. In addition, the possible success of Mustafa would have further increased his popularity and perhaps Suleiman would have recognized his son’s virtues. However, we must not be sure that all this took place without Suleiman's knowledge. It is very likely that Rüstem informed Suleiman about Mustafa's request. Mustafa's popularity, however, had so far threatened the Sultan's rule, so it was not in Suleiman's interest to send an army to Mustafa. A few years later, a similar Georgian attack took place, with a similar outcome.

Suleiman's health gradually deteriorated, and his gout caused him more and more difficulties from the second half of the 1540s, and he put even more burden on Rüstem's shoulder. He had to organize and lead campaigns instead of the sultan. The people and soldiers did not like the sultan's absence very much and more and more rumors were spread that the empire needed a new, warrior-like, healthy sultan. This problem culminated in 1552. Rüstem led the army, which consisted of 50,000 soldiers, most of whom were Janissaries. Shortly after their departure, he received word that the sultan was very ill, perhaps on his death. Rüstem did not continue the campaign in such circumstances, but camped, for he was afraid to get too far away from the capital. He feared that Mustafa, if he took the news of the events, with the help of the Janissaries, could easily march into the capital and execute the sons of Hürrem after taking the throne. The sultan's health soon began to improve, so that Rüstem could continue the campaign. However, the difficulties were not over here. When the army reached the intersection between Amasya and Konya, the Janissaries decided to pay their respects to their future sultan, Mustafa, in Amasya. Rüstem ordered the Janissaries not to leave the camp and continue their journey, but the Janissaries rebelled and most of them headed for Amasya. Rüstem continued his journey along with the leading agha of the Janissaries and some loyal Janissaries towards Konya. Mustafa, to top of the trouble, welcomed the Janissaries and received their greetings. Rüstem immediately wrote a letter to the Sultan about the events, but Suleiman did not believe that his son had done so and made the Janissaries solely responsible. Returning to Istanbul, Rustem told Suleiman again what had happened, proving with evidence that Mustafa had indeed distributed money and food to the Janissaries. The Sultan told Rüsztem not to talk nonsense. However, Rüstem also continued and recounted the rumors circulating in the camp that Mustafa was planning a revolt against the Sultan with the help of Tahmasp Sah, a Persian ruler. Although Suleiman was still dismissive with Rüstem, he certainly began to suspect his son because he ordered an investigation into the case.

Suleiman the following year, in 1553, to prove his suitability, himself led his troops into battle. In August 1553 they left Istanbul and headed east. However, Suleiman's goal was not primarily the campaign, but the execution of his son, Mustafa, on the pretext of the campaign. Mustafa joined his father's troops at Ereğli and, despite the opposition of his supporters, he went to the sultan's tent, where he was executed. The execution of the prince provoked a huge rebellion in the army, the soldiers demanding a scapegoat. Suleiman, to save himself and his sons who were with him, made Rüstem Pasha responsible and relieved him of his position. That night, Rüstem secretly left the camp, just in time because the angry Janissaries broke into his tent soon after and wanted to kill him. The ambassadors who covered the events raised the possibility that Rüstem himself had asked for his replacement to save his own life and that of the Sultan. This raises the possibility that the Sultan and Rüstem have reached some secret agreement that Rüstem will be replaced, but will return to his position for the first capable time. This possibility is also made probable by the fact that Rüstem, although no longer a Grand Vizier, returned to Istanbul and continued to behave like a Grand Vizier. Despite Kara Ahmed Pasa becoming the new Grand Vizier, Rüstem continued to receive the ambassadors in his palace as if nothing had happened. He also went to the mosque with the same splendor and accompaniment as before, and even clearly told the ambassadors not to worry, he would return to his office soon. And as a faithful follower of the sultan, he would not have dared to do this without the Sultan's knowledge. His wife and mother-in-law either did not know about the secret unity — or wisely pretended not to know about it — constantly bombarded Suleiman with letters and asked him to forgive Rüstem and let him return to his office.

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The newly appointed Grand Vizier, Kara Ahmed Pasha, Suleiman's brother-in-law, did not live up to expectations, so in 1555 he was executed by the order of the Sultan. Many also suspect the Rüstem-Hürrem-Mihrimah triumvirate was behind his execution. However, it cannot be ruled out that the Sultan chose the unsuitable Kara Ahmed as Grand Vizier with the purpose, to put Rüstem back in position as soon as possible. Either way, with the death of Kara Ahmed on September 29, 1555, Suleiman, who had just returned to Istanbul, reappointed Rüstem as Grand Vizier.

Unfortunately, after his return to office, there was not much peace during his reign. In 1558, the health of the Hürrem Sultan began to deteriorate. This fact alone has immeasurably overwhelmed Rüstem. According to a report in early April, the Grand Vizier was very "depressed and troubled" by the illness of the Haseki Sultan. On April 15, Hürrem passed away, and Rüstem lost one of his most influential supporters, his ally, with whom he worked for nearly 20 years. According to all accounts, Rüstem was deeply saddened by the death of his mother-in-law. Unfortunately, however, he did not have time to mourn. Suleiman was completely shattered, so Rüstem had to perform all the duties of the sultan, he also had to support his shattered wife and daughter as well. In addition, soon Prince Bayezid rebelled against his father.

Most sources mention that Rüstem favored Prince Bayezid over Selim, but we do not know the exact background of this. In any case, no matter how much he liked and supported Bayezid, at no point could he help. The prince did not disarm even at the repeated request of the sultan, and eventually, after losing the battle, he fled to Suleiman's chief enemy, Tahmasp Sah. It doesn't matter how hard Rüstem tried, he was not able to save Bayezid, moreover his health began to deteriorate rapidly in 1560.

His death and legacy

Rüstem finally died on July 10 1561, after a long illness. He was prepared for death, as he left behind a very detailed, precise testament. In it, he disposed of each of his property and possessions. He described which part of his property he would leave to the state, which to his foundations, which to the foundations of the Hürrem Sultana and which to the foundations of Mihrimah, and what he would leave of his personal belongings to his wife and daughter, Ayşe Hümaşah. He entrusted some of his charities to his wife and others to his daughter. The fact that he left nothing to his son raises the possibility that Osman died before his father.

Although the people did not like him, we now know clearly that it was due to the ingenious solutions of Rüstem that they managed to conceal the decline of the empire throughout Suleiman's reign. Rüstem was one of the few statesmen who did not accept bribes, who placed the Sultan before all things, and who died a natural death, in his position, as a Grand Vizier. In addition, Rüstem, although he had a huge wealth, did a lot of charity and lived quite modestly compared to his rank.

Rüstem took great care to build his own mosque, but death intervened. His mosque - one of the most magnificent mosques in Istanbul today - was finally completed by Mihrimah Sultan. And Rüstem - since his own complex wasn't ready - rests in the Şehzade Mosque complex, close to Princes Mehmed and Cihangir.

Used sources: L. Peirce - The imperial harem; L. Peirce - Empress of the East; Z. Atçil - Why Did Süleyman the Magnificent Execute His Son Şehzade Mustafa in 1553; C. Imber - The Ottoman Empire 1300-1650; Y. Öztuna - Kanuni Sultan Süleyman

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Rüsztem Pasa az Oszmán történelem egyik legellentmondásosabb figurája, egyszerre a hűség és az álnokság példaképe, hiszen hűsége a feleségéhez és anyósához legendás, azonban ő tartják a legnagyobb felelősnek Musztafa herceg halálában. Na de mi az igazság? Hűséges államférfi volt Rüsztem, ami ritka mint a fehérholló vagy a birodalom legnagyobb árulója és gyilkosa?

Eredete és neveltetése

Rüsztem pasa, saját elmondása szerint horvát származású volt, egy kondás fiaként született nagyjából 1500 és 1505 között. Legalább egy testvére ismert, Sinan, akivel együtt kerültek a devşirme rendszeren keresztül Isztambulba. Testvéréből is befolyásos pasa vált idővel. Az Enderumban tanult a többi intelligens fiúval egyetemben, akiket megfelelőnek tartottak a továbbtanulásra. Akik nem ide kerültek, azok a janicsárságba vagy más katonai szervbe lettek beosztva. Rüsztem különösen intelligens és tehetséges férfi volt, tudásával kiemelkedett már az Endrum többi diákja közül is. Legalább három nyelven folyékonyan beszélt, különös tehetsége volt a közelharc és katonai hadviselés terén is. Emellett különösen józan, nyugodt férfi volt, aki sosem cselekedett meggondolatlanul.

A felemelkedés kezdete

Arról megoszlanak a vélemények, hogy Rüsztem hogyan hívta fel magára a szultán figyelmét. Egyes források szerint az 1526-os mohácsi csata során a szultán fegyverhordozójaként tevékenykedett és Szulejmán itt figyelt fel hűségére és intelligenciájára. Mások szerint egyszer Rüsztem egy ablakon keresztül látta, amint az ablak alatt elhaladó Szulejmán elejt valamit, mire kivetette magát az ablakon, hogy visszaadja a szultánnak a tárgyat. Ha utóbbi igaz, akkor Rüsztem kemény belépővel érkezett meg az oszmán történelembe.

Akárhogyan is, Szulejmán az 1520-as évek közepe táján már egész biztosan felismerte Rüsztem tehetségét és kinevezte egyik személyes emberének. Rüsztem feladata volt a szultán lovának ellátása, a kengyel tartása, amikor a szultán felszállt a lóra. Ezzel a beosztással Rüsztem tulajdonképpen mindenhová a szultánnal tarthatott, amelynek során természetesen a szultánnak volt ideje megismerni őt. Ez idő tájt Rüsztem, Szulejmán fiaival is időt tölthetett, hiszen a fiai gyakran lovagoltak ki a szultánnal vagy kísérték el hadjáratra. Rüsztem tehát már itt viszonylag közeli kapcsolatba került a szultán fiaival, különös tekintettel a Szulejmánnal sok időt töltő Mehmed herceggel és vérszerinti öccsével Szelimmel. De az sem kizárt, hogy arra is volt lehetősége, hogy láthassa vagy akár találkozhasson későbbi feleségével, Szulejmán lányával, Mihrimahval, hiszen néhány forrás szerint alkalmanként ő is kilovagolt édesapjával.

Rüsztem felemelkedése többeknek is szemetszúrt. Szulejmán bizalmasa, Ibrahim például egy 1534-es követi jelentés szerint különösen nem kedvelte Rüsztemet. Ennek oka pedig az volt, hogy a szultán egyre többször fogadta meg Rüsztem tanácsait és egyre magasabbra emelte a férfit, Ibrahim pedig féltette saját pozícióját és talán féltékeny volt arra, hogy valaki más is a szultán közelében van rajtakívül. Ibrahim különösen igyekezett Rüsztemmel kibabrálni, például ő volt az, aki Diyarbakir helytartójává tette meg. Ezzel Rüsztemet az iráni határ mellé száműzte, azt remélve, hogy ott elfelejtődik. Rüsztem azonban nem így gondolta és kiváló munkát végezve Diyarbakirban, előnyt kovácsolt száműzetéséből.

Szulejmán miután Rüsztem bizonyított Diyarbakirban, Anatólia beglerbégévé tette meg a férfit 1538-ban, majd 1539-ben végre vezíri rangra is emelte, és emellett neki adta az egyik legnagyobb tisztséget, amit egy pasa valaha is elérhet, Damaddá (vő) tette, mikor neki adta lánya, Mihrimah kezét.

Házassága Mihrimah szultánával

Egy birodalmi szultána házassága mindig komoly politikai döntés volt. Mihrimah esetében nagy valószínűséggel Szulejmán már régen eldöntötte, hogy Rüsztem lesz a férje, ugyanis hiába akart Hürrem szultána más férjet, Szulejmán egyből elutasította Hürrem javaslatát, a fiatal és jóképű egyiptomi beglerbéget, mint férjjelöltet. Hogy Szulejmán miért Rüsztemet választotta? Mindenképp olyan férjet akart lánya mellé, aki hűséges hozzá, ezzel elkerülve, hogy le kelljen váltani, ki kelljen végeztetni, ezzel pedig árvává tennie saját unokáit. Emellett olyan férjet akart, aki alkalmas arra, hogy magas beosztásokat viseljen, ezzel pedig Isztambulban maradhasson, hiszen Szulejmán - aki híresen elkötelezett volt lánya iránt - nem akarta, hogy kislánya tőle távol éljen. Rüsztem tökéletes választásnak bizonyult.

Szulejmán erős elhatározását Rüsztem mellett az is mutatja, hogy hiába terjesztették Rüsztem ellenségei, hogy a férfi leprás, Szulejmán nem hitte el, hanem maga küldte oda személyes orvosát, hogy vizsgálja meg Rüsztemet. Az orvos miközben Rüsztemet vizsgálta, egy tetvet talált a férfin, ami kizárta, hogy leprás lett volna. Ismerve Rüsztem különösen igényes természetét, azt, hogy a kor szokásaihoz nem feltétlen illeszkedve, naponta cserélte ruháit, nem kizárt, hogy a tetű Rüsztem cselszövéseként került rá. Az egészségesnek ítélt Rüsztem elől pedig minden akadály elhárult.

Mihrimah 17 éves volt ekkor, Rüsztem pedig a leírások alapján kétszer annyi idős volt, mint a szultána, tehát nagyjából 34 éves. Hirtelen nagy korkülönbségnek tűnik, ám a többi szultána és férjeik korkülönbségéhez képest, ez kész főnyeremény volt Mihrimah számára. Igaz, Rüsztem valószínűleg nem az férfi volt, akiről a kamaszlányok álmodoznak, hiszen követi leírások alapján alacsony és vörösképű férfi volt, mégis garantálta, hogy Mihrimah Isztambulban a családja körében maradhasson örökre és komoly politikai befolyást is jelentett neki Rüsztem. Emellett Rüsztem jól ismerte Mihrimah testvéreit, így egyértelmű volt, hogy a trónért folyó harcban az ő és testvérei oldalán fog állni mindhalálig.

Az esküvőt végül 1539 őszén rendezték meg, együtt Mihrimah két öccse - Bayezid és Cihangir - körülmetélési szertartásával. Az ünnepség végül 15 napig tartott, egész Isztambul a családdal együtt ünnepelt.

Házassága Mihrimah szultánával nyilvánvalóan nem szerelmi házasság volt, azonban minden jel arra utal, hogy idővel megtanulták kölcsönösen tisztelni és elfogadni egymást. Házasságukat 1541-ben lányuk, Ayşe Hümaşah születése koronázta meg. Sajnos nem áll rendelkezésre sok bizonyíték Rüsztem viszonyáról lányával, de közvetett források szerint közel álltak egymáshoz. Idővel egy fiuk is született, Osman, aki azonban sajnálatos módon fiatalon elhunyt. A fiú halálának ideje sajnos nem ismert.

Politikai emelkedése

1541-ben Rüsztem már a második vezír volt, tehát szépen haladt felfelé a ranglétrán. Ezen beosztásában őt tette meg a szultán az azévi magyar hadjárat fejévé. Rüsztem pályafutásában ez igen fontos kinevezés volt. A Magyar Királyság ugyanis előző évben vesztette el királyát Szapolyai Jánost, akinek utódja egy kéthetes kisfiú volt csupán. A váratlan esemény hatására a Habsburg uralkodó Ferdinánd azonnal támadásba lendült, hogy még több részt szerezzen meg a Magyar Királyságból. Ezért az oszmánok nem várhattak, és támadásba lendültek és végül szakították hosszú időre három részre Magyarországot. A Tiszántúl és Erdély Izabella és csecsemő fia János Zsigmond kezén maradt évi 10.000Ft adó fejében, a Felvidék, Horvátország, Nyugat- Dunántúl, Szlavónia a Habsburgok kezén maradt, míg a Duna menti területek – a Szultán ellenőrzése alatt álltak. Rüsztemnek itt abban volt komoly szerepe, hogy végül a Tiszántúl és Erdély Izabella és csecsemő fia kezén maradhatott. A szultán ugyanis máshogy tervezte. Szulejmán be akarta kebelezni egész Erdélyt és a Tiszántúlt, Izabellát pedig fiával együtt török fogságba kívánta vitetni Isztambulba. Izabella azonban könyörgő leveleket küldött Hürrem szultánának és Mihrimah szultánának és emellett ajándékokat és követeket küldött Rüsztemhez is. Rüsztem pasa végül sikerrel győzte meg, Mihrimah és Hürrem támogatását élvezve a szultánt arról, hogy hagyja meg Izabellát és fiát Erdély és a Tiszántúl uralkodójaként. Ez hatalmas lépés és siker volt, Szulejmán ugyanis alig néhány hónappal korábban igen agresszív módon utasította el Izabella könyörgését két török fogságban senyvedő magyar főúr elengedésére vonatkozóan. Szulejmán a kérést elutasította és azonnal kivégeztette a két fogjot. Ilyen háttérrel különösen érdekes, hogy Rüsztem, Mihrimah és Hürrem képesek voltak meggyőzni a szultánt. Szándékaik nem ismertek. Mihrimah és Hürrem talán Izabella anyai és asszonyi könyörgése miatt álltak a nő mellé, Rüsztem pedig talán racionálisabb szempontból. Ugyanis meglehetősen kis eséllyel sikerült volna az oszmánoknak végérvényesen megtartani Erdélyt, elvesztése pedig kellemetlen lett volna számukra.

Az előbbi esemény is jól mutatja, hogy Szulejmán igen nagyra tartotta Rüsztemet, azonban megtagadta tőle azt a kegyet, amit korábban Ibrahimnak megadott. Sosem engedte magához olyan közel a férfit, mint anno Ibrahimot. Ezt Mihrimah és Hürrem több forrás szerint is nehezményezte, ugyanis igyekeztek rávenni a szultánt, hogy engedje magához közelebb Rüsztemet. A szultán azonban minduntalan úgy felelt, hogy "ekkora ostobaságot elég volt egyszer elkövetnem". Ez jól mutatja, hogy Szulejmánt milyen mélyen bántotta Ibrahim árulása és minden bizonnyal félt, hogy még egyszer el kelljen viseljen hasonlót.

Azonban a szultán enyhe távolságtartása nem hátráltatta abban Rüsztemet, hogy a követekkel ugyanolyan bensőséges viszonyt tudjon ápolni, mint korábban Ibrahim tette. A követek kivétel nélkül úgy jellemezték Rüsztemet, mint aki igen szeret magáról beszélni nekik. Gyakran dicsekedett ironikus módon azzal, hogy egy kondás fia milyen magasságokig tudott emelkedni az Oszmán Birodalomban. Emellett a követek azt is megjegyezték, hogy milyen eszes a pasa, különösen lelkes minden üggyel kapcsolatban és igen előrelátó módon hoz döntéseket. A legfontosabb pedig, ami a követek figyelmét sem kerülte el az volt, hogy Rüsztem - Ibrahimmal ellentétben - mindig a szultán alattvalójaként beszélt magáról, a szultánhoz a végletekig hűséges volt és híresen megvesztegethetetlen volt.

1544-ben végül Rüsztem megkapta a nagyvezíri címet, melyet Szulejmán abban a tudatban adott neki, hogy tisztában volt vele, Rüsztem, Hürrem és Mihrimah szövetségese. Rüsztemet nagyvezírként a követek mindig dicsérték és a szultán is elégedett volt vele. Legfontosabb sikere nagyvezírként az volt, hogy sikerült a birodalmi kincstárat megtöltenie. Ehhez minden létező megoldást bevetett, például attól sem riadt vissza, hogy a palota kertjében termő virágokat és zöldségeket eladja. Emiatt sokan kapzsinak és garasoskodónak tartották, ám ettől függetlenül végül neki sikerült megoldani a birodalom anyagi problémáit, melyeket Ibrahim korábban csak tovább rontott. Rüsztem másik zseniális megoldása a pénzszerzésre nem volt más, mint a követektől kizsarolni, hogy minél drágább ajándékokkal halmozzák el őt és a szultánt. Ha nem volt elég drága egy ajándék, egyszerűen a követeket nem fogadta. Emiatt több követ is panaszkodott uralkodójának és szégyenkezve kért több pénzt és ajándékot. Minden évben egyre többet kért a követektől, melyet az egyik okos követ, Alvise Renier azzal küszöbölt ki, hogy kérés nélkül évente küldött 100 arany dukátot a pasának, mielőtt az többért kérhetett volna. Kapzsiságnak tűnhet, azonban Rüsztem ezen ajándékok nagyrészét - a korábbi nagyvezírrel ellentétben - beszolgáltatta a birodalmi kincstárba és csupán a személyesen neki érkezők egy részét tartotta meg. Rüsztem "kapzsisága" volt az, ami Szulejmán uralkodásának második felére stabilan tartotta a birodalom anyagi hátterét, azonban ettől függetlenül, Rüsztem nem volt népszerű a nép szemében.

A Rüsztem-Hürrem-Mihrimah koalíció harca Musztafa herceg ellen

Rüsztem, mint Mihrimah férje egyértelműen elkötelezett volt Mihrimah öccsei iránt. Különösen, hogy közelről ismerte a hercegeket, míg Musztafával nem volt semmilyen kapcsolata. Véleményem szerint éppen ezért hiba Rüsztemet elítélni választása miatt. Melyik férfi támogatná azt a herceget, aki veszélyt jelent feleségére és sógoraira? Mindemellett Musztafa sosem kedvelte Rüsztem Pasát, tehát a herceg oldalán biztos lefokozás várta volna Rüsztemet.

Az, hogy a triumvirátus hogyan harcolt Musztafa ellen, pontosan nem ismert, hiszen nem hagytak maguk után bizonyítékokat. Nagy valószínűséggel az alapelvük az volt, hogy Musztafa minden - természetesen előforduló - hibáját és ballépését a szultán elé tárták, míg Hürrem fiai esetében ezeket eltitkolták. Így tulajdonképpen rágalmazás és hazugságok nélkül tudták meggyengíteni Musztafát apja szemében. Mindemellett Rüsztem nagyvezírként a szultán helyettese lett, és nagyon sok dologban dönthetett. Így Musztafának is tőle kellett támogatást kérni, amikor 1549-ben a grúzok meggyilkolták Erzurum helytartóját. Musztafa támogató hadsereget kért Rüsztemtől, hogy kizavarhassa a grúzokat a birodalom határán túlra. Rüsztem azonban figyelmen kívül hagyta majd elutasította a kérést, ugyanis veszélyes lett volna a nagy támogatottságú Musztafa herceg számára katonákat küldeni. Emellett pedig Musztafa esetleges sikere tovább növelte volna népszerűségét és talán Szulejmán is elismerte volna fia erényeit. Azonban nem szabad biztosnak lennünk abban, hogy mindez Szulejmán tudomása nélkül zajlott. Igen valószínű, hogy Rüsztem tudatta Szulejmánnal Musztafa kérését. Musztafa népszerűsége azonban eddigre már veszélyeztette a szultán uralmát, így Szulejmánnak se állt érdekében sereget küldeni Musztafa számára. Néhány évvel később hasonló grúz támadás zajlott le, hasonló kimenetellel.

Szulejmán egészsége fokozatosan romlott, a köszvénye egyre többször okozott számára nehézségeket az 1540-es évek második felétől kezdve, ezzel pedig mégtöbb teher nyomta Rüsztem vállát. Neki kellett a szultán helyett hadjáratokat szervezni és vezetni. A népnek és katonáknak pedig nagyon nem tetszett a szultán távolléte és egyre több olyan pletyka kapott szárnyra, hogy a birodalomnak új, harcos kedvű, egészséges szultánra van szüksége. Ez a probléma 1552-ben csúcsosodott. Rüsztem vezette a hadsereget, amely 50 000 katonából állt, melyek nagyrésze janicsár volt. Nemsokkal indulásuk után hírt kapott arról, hogy a szultán nagyon beteg, talán a halálán van. Rüsztem ilyen körülmények között nem folytatta a hadjáratot, hanem letáborozott, hiszen félt távol kerülni a fővárostól. Attól tartott, hogy Musztafa ha hírét veszi az eseményeknek a janicsárok élén könnyűszerrel masírozhatna a fővárosba és végeztethetné ki Hürrem fiait. A szultán egészsége hamarosan javulni kezdett, így Rüsztem folytathatta a hadjáratot. Azonban itt még nem volt vége a nehézségeknek. Amikor a hadsereg az Amasya és Konya közti kereszteződéshez ért, a janicsárok úgy döntöttek, hogy tiszteletüket teszik Amasyában jövendő szultánjuknak, Musztafának. Rüsztem megparancsolta a janicsároknak, hogy ne hagyják el a tábort és folytassák útjukat, a janicsárok azonban mit sem törődve vele fellázadtak és legtöbbjük Amasyába vette az irányt. Rüsztem a janicsárok vezető agájával és néhány hűséges janicsárral együtt folytatta útját Konya irányába. Musztafa pedig tovább tetézve a bajt vendégül látta a janicsárokat és fogadta üdvözlésüket. Rüsztem azonnal levelet írt a szultánnak az eseményekről, Szulejmán azonban nem hitte el, hogy fia ilyet tett volna és a janicsárokat tette meg egyedüli felelősöknek. Rüsztem Isztambulba visszatérve újra elmondta Szulejmánnak a történteket, bizonyítékokkal alátámasztva, hogy Musztafa bizony pénzt és ételt osztott a janicsároknak. A szultán magából kikelve közölte Rüsztemmel, hogy ne beszéljen badarságokat. Rüsztem azonban folytatta és elmesélte a táborban keringő pletykákat is, miszerint Musztafa lázadást tervez a szultán ellen Tahmasp Sah, perzsa uralkodó segítségével. Szulejmán bár továbbra is elutasító volt Rüsztemmel, minden bizonnyal gyanakodni kezdett fiára mert az eset kivizsgálását rendelte el.

Szulejmán a következő évben, 1553-ban, hogy bizonyítsa alkalmasságát maga vezette csapatait harcba. 1553 augusztusában hagyták el Isztambult és indultak kelet felé. Szulejmán célja azonban elsősorban nem a hadjárat volt, hanem hadjárat ürügyén fia, Musztafa kivégeztetése. Musztafa Ereğlinél csatlakozott apja csapataihoz és támogatóinak ellenkezése ellenére is a szultán elé járult, aki a sátrában kivégeztette. A herceg kivégzése hatalmas lázadást váltott ki a hadseregben, a katonák bűnbakot követeltek. Szulejmán, hogy mentse önmagát és vele tartózkodó fiait, Rüsztem pasát tette meg felelőssé és leváltotta pozíciójából. Aznap éjjel pedig Rüsztem titokban elhagyta a tábort, épp időben mert a dühös janicsárok nemsokkal később betörtek sátrába és meg akarták lincselni. A követek akik tudósítottak az eseményekről felvetették annak lehetőségét, hogy Rüsztem maga kérte leváltását, hogy mentse saját és a szultán életét is. Ez felveti annak a lehetőségét, hogy a szultán és Rüsztem valamilyen titkos egyezséget kötöttek, miszerint Rüsztem le lesz ugyan váltva, de az első adandó alkalommal újra visszakerül majd pozíciójába. Ezt az eshetőséget valószínűsíti az is, hogy Rüsztem, bár már nem volt nagyvezír, Isztambulba visszatérve továbbra is úgy viselkedett, mint a nagyvezír. Annak dacára, hogy Kara Ahmed Pasa lett az új nagyvezír, Rüsztem továbbra is úgy fogadta a követeket palotájában, mintha mi sem történt volna. Emellett a mecsetbe is ugyanazzal a pompával és kísérettel járt, mint korábban, sőt egyértelműen ki is mondta a követeknek, hogy ne aggódjanak, hamarosan visszakerül pozíciójába. Ezt pedig a hűséges Rüsztem nem merte volna megtenni a szultán tudomása nélkül. Neje és anyósa vagy nem tudott a titkos egyességről - vagy bölcsen úgy tettek, mintha nem tudnának róla -, állandó jelleggel levelekkel bombázták Szulejmánt és kérték, hogy bocsásson meg Rüsztemnek és adja vissza tisztségét.

Vissza a csúcsra

Az újonnan kinevezett nagyvezír, Kara Ahmed Pasa, Szulejmán sógora, nem váltotta be a hozzá fűzött reményeket, így 1555-ben kivégeztette a szultán. Sokan kivégzése mögött is a Rüsztem-Hürrem-Mihrimah triumvirátust sejtik. Azonban azt sem lehet kizárni, hogy a szultán okkal választotta a nem túl alkalmas Kara Ahmedet nagyvezírnek, hogy mielőbb visszahelyezhesse Rüsztemet a pozícióba. Akárhogyan is, Kara Ahmed halálával 1555. szeptember 29-én az Isztambulba épphogy visszatérő Szulejmán újra kinevezte Rüsztemet nagyvezírré.

Visszatérése után sajnálatosan nem sok béke volt uralkodása alatt. 1558-ban Hürrem szultána egészsége romlani kezdett. Már ez a tény is mérhetetlenül lesújtotta Rüsztemet. Egy április eleji jelentés szerint a nagyvezír igen "lehangolt és gondterhelt" volt a haszeki szultána betegsége miatt. Április 15-én pedig Hürrem elhunyt, ezzel Rüsztem elveszítette egyik legbefolyásosabb támogatóját, szövetségesét, akivel majd 20 évig dolgoztak együtt. Minden beszámoló szerint Rüsztemet mélyen megviselte anyósa halála. Sajnálatos módon azonban nem volt ideje gyászolni. Szulejmán teljesen összetört, így Rüsztemnek kellett a szultán minden feladatát ellátni, támogatnia kellett szintén összetört feleségét és lányát is. Emellett pedig hamarosan elszabadult a pokol, amikor Bayezid herceg fellázadt apja ellen.

A legtöbb forrás úgy említi, hogy Rüsztem Pasa Bayezid herceget favorizálta Szelimmel szemben, azonban nem tudjuk ennek pontos hátterét. Mindenesetre akármennyire is kedvelte és támogatta Bayezidet, egy ponton túl ő sem segíthetett. A herceg a szultán többszöri kérésére sem fegyverkezett le és végül a csata elvesztése után Szulejmán legfőbb ellenségéhez Tahmasp Sahhoz menekült. Rüsztem ezen események alatt ha akarta sem tudta volna megmenteni Bayezidet és egészsége is rohamosan romlani kezdett 1560-ban.

Halála és hagyatéka

Rüsztem 1561-ben végül hosszas betegség után hunyt el július 10-én. Készült a halálra, ugyanis igen részletes, precíz végakaratot hagyott hátra. Ebben vagyonának és tulajdonainak mindegyikéről rendelkezett. Leírta, hogy vagyonának mely részét hagyja az államra, melyet alapítványaira, melyet Hürrem szultána alapítványára és melyet Mihrimah szultána alapítványaira, valamint, hogy mit hagy személyes dolgai közül feleségére és lányára, Ayşe Hümaşahra. Jótékony szervezeteinek egy részét felesége irányítására bízta, másik részét pedig lányáéra. Az, hogy fiára nem hagyott semmit felveti annak a lehetőségét, hogy Oszmán apja előtt hunyt el.

Bár a nép nem kedvelte, ma már egyértelműen tudjuk, hogy Rüsztem zseniális megoldásainak volt köszönhető, hogy a birodalom hanyatlását sikerült végig eltitkolni Szulejmán uralkodása alatt. Rüsztem egyike volt azon kevés államférfinak, aki nem fogadott el kenőpénzt, aki a szultán iránti hűségét minden elé helyezte és aki természetes halállal, eredeti pozíciójában, nagyvezírként hunyt el. Emellett Rüsztem, bár hatalmas vagyonnal rendelkezett rengetet jótékonykodott és meglehetősen szerényen élt rangjához képest.

Rüsztem nagy gondot fordított saját mecsetjének építtetésére, azonban a halál közbe szólt. Mecsetjét - mely a mai Isztambul egyik legpompásabb mecsetje - végül Mihrimah szultána fejeztette be. Rüsztem pedig - saját komplexuma nem révén alkalmas a temetésre - a Şehzade mecset komplexumban nyugszik, közel Mehmed és Cihangir hercegekhez.

Felhasznált források: L. Peirce - The imperial harem; L. Peirce - Empress of the East; Z. Atçil - Why Did Süleyman the Magnificent Execute His Son Şehzade Mustafa in 1553; C. Imber - The Ottoman Empire 1300-1650; Y. Öztuna - Kanuni Sultan Süleyman

[carewyncromwell]

For the pairing asks, can you enlighten us as to endgame possibilities for Andre and Carey? I'd love to know why he isn't for her, and if you think there would ever be another chance for the long term between them.

*exhales* Well...

Carewyn/Andre

Ship Theme: No Surprise by Daughtry

At first glance, Andre and Carewyn seemed like an ultimate power couple. Two popular, intelligent, creative students with an interest in Quidditch and fashion and a talent for gathering others around them -- it seemed appropriate to just about everyone when the two went to the Celestial Ball together and subsequently started dating. But there was a lot more to their relationship than one would see from the outside.

For one, Carewyn didn’t really become popular enough to catch Andre’s attention until after she, Bill, and Ben broke the curse on the Ice Vault and she started cultivating some real confidence. Not long after that, Carewyn met Andre, and she quickly felt a lot of respectful admiration for him, given his sociable, confident personality. That same year Carewyn really started embracing her own distinct fashion sense too. By fourth year, she’d grown enough and become well-regarded enough as a Cursebreaker that Andre was attracted to her as well -- but Carewyn was always very aware of the fact that Andre was always attractive to her, while Andre only found her attractive after she became “Cursebreaker Cromwell,” something she’d never wanted to be. It left Carewyn with the crippling insecurity that Andre would only enjoy being around her as long as she were popular and glamorous, and once the Vaults were dealt with and she started pursuing the more peaceful, quiet life she really wanted, he would lose interest. Compounding the problem was Carewyn’s still-as-of-yet unrealized asexuality, which she also had trouble expressing to Andre when he wanted their relationship to become more physical.

This doesn’t mean Carewyn was the only one with issues, though. Andre can very often be incredibly blunt in his opinions to the point of being insensitive. Rather than tell Andre how much his words would hurt her, Carewyn would hide what she felt and try to soldier through, and Andre -- not being as in-tune with people’s emotions as Carewyn -- would frankly have no clue there even was a problem. And if the problem was ever brought up, Andre had a bad tendency to kind of dismiss any hurt feelings with the sentiment of “well, I didn’t mean it that way” or “you’ve got it all wrong”, rather than acknowledging the hurt or angry feelings themselves as something real and concrete. During the All-Wizard Tournament, Andre also rather carelessly put his desire to win over helping Carewyn with a challenge, even after she had gone out of her way to help him. This was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back, and Carewyn proposed that they separate and just be friends again. Andre didn’t oppose the decision, as he could see very clearly that they just weren’t working as a couple, but the two both feel lingering regrets about what could’ve been.

Now that they’re friends again, Carewyn and Andre have a very interesting dynamic. On the one hand, they know each other in a way no one else does (though Andre only really knows that Carewyn’s hiding a lot of herself from the world, not the true depth and nature of her insecurities), and they both care for each other deeply...but on the other, as friends rather than romantic interests, they don’t have rose-colored glasses on when it comes to how they see each other. And over time I think it’ll probably become clearer and clearer how right the decision was for them to split up. Carewyn wants to be a lawyer for the Ministry of Magic -- to stay in one place and focus on her career and how she herself can make a difference. Andre wants to play Quidditch professionally -- to travel and have a good time and probably raise a big family of his own. Andre would want a loud, exciting existence -- Carewyn would want a modest, stable one. Andre needs someone who can keep up with him sociably -- Carewyn needs someone who can support her from an emotional standpoint. 

For me personally, I see Andre and Carewyn much the same way I do my own parents, who’ve remained friends even after they divorced. It’s a kind of relationship that I don’t think really is discussed much or shown in media, largely because I know it’s not as common as it should be, but it’s still meaningful to me -- a love that was once romantic but has stayed constant even after cooling and becoming more platonic. It makes it so that even though Andre and Carewyn don’t get a happily-ever-after romance, they have a bond that will connect them forever and will make them always encourage the other’s success.

Ship Ask!