#his children to be Very Angry at organised religion in general

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

tbh i have looked into this in terms of spiritualism/witchcraft/paganism! and it's not that i don't vibe with them. i very much do. i've even dabbled a little.

but i think growing up in an aggressively atheist household really did a number on my confidence to Celebrate/Worship/BelieveTM freely. whenever i think of partaking in festivities that are not justified by the mainstream, i feel a little silly for it. like i have to hide that part of myself away, lest i be scoffed at.

which i realise is a personal thing i should probably work on, but doesn't make the shame i feel go away.

now that valentine's day is over i have nothing to base my vibe around until halloween, the distribution of atmospheric annual holidays is miserable

[cobieeliseforsh]

I'm getting pretty annoyed with the amount of bullshit in the media right now. I just read an article about the "antisemitic" conspiracy theory Qanon. Calling Qanon antisemitic is like calling the KKK a group opposed to the career of Will Smith - technically true, but clearly a small subsection of a greater whole.

So, to remedy this...

COBIE'S FRUSTRATED GUIDE TO QANON FROM SOMEONE WHO LOVES CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND WISHES THIS ONE WOULD FUCK OFF BECAUSE IT IS BORING AS SHIT BUT NOT FIZZING WITH ENERGY, EVEN ON A MOLECULAR LEVEL, BECAUSE IT IS A DUMB AND LAZY REHASH FROM THE 80S OR EARLIER!

PART 1: DA FUCQ IS QANON?

Qanon is a grooming organisation for the Christian Far Right Death Cult that has held the Republican party in its sweaty hands since the ascent of Reagan in the 1980s. They believe in some bullshit I won't reprint here because I have no intention of spreading their ideology, but if you've heard of the Satanic panic, this is Satanic Panic 2: Now With Pizza!

Qanon is, by definition of their own supporters attacks on Muslim terrorism, a terrorist organisation. And, though it seems impossible, they're stupidier than ISIS ever were, because at least there was some twisted logic behind ISIS: poor young men fighting revolutionary wars against what they see as corrupt and immoral authorities and ideologies is nothing new. Qanon is literally the powerful declaring war on those without power out of fear that those without power (Satanists) live only to physically abuse their ugly, fat, prejudiced, stupid children. Despite the statistically most likely people to abuse them being them themselves, and there being plenty of evidence that many of these hypocrites have done that in the past (numerically many - one thing I believe Qanon followers on is that the majority are gullible Maud Flanders types, so statistically it won't be that many).

Donald Trump supports them over the "violent" Antifa (Antifa haven't killed anyone since 1993 (and that was a suicide), aren't actually an organisation, and are against facism, which Trump also claims to be against), despite Qanon followers carrying and firing weapons regularly, having shot up a pizza place in a terrorist act, refusing to wear masks, and other acts of violence designed to terrorise people.

PART 2 WHO DO THEY HATE?

Um... like, 98% of people.

Qanon is primarily an Apocalyptic Christian Far Right Death Cult. They believe in what they call SRA (Satanic Ritual Abuse) which happens at such a low frequency as to make it as serious a problem as being invaded by pookas. You might find anecdotal evidence here and there, but the majority of cases are hearsay spread by people who weren't there who were a part of or raised by people who were a part of the Satanic Panic. If you hear about it, it's likely bullshit. Just look at the West Memphis 3: accused of Satanic Ritual Abuse, they were sent to prison for wearing black clothes and being teenagers without any evidence. Now, whoever killed those boys is still loose, because Qanon, like all right-wing groups, is about being obeyed, not about justice.

So, with Satanic Ritual Abuse being fucking vapour, they can accuse ANYONE. And if there is no evidence, they cry COVER UP. There is no way, at all, to prove this mindset is wrong as it always self corrects, because being religious in origin, it is driven by BELIEF, not evidence.

So, whoever they believe is evil, is, as far as their reality tunnel goes.

Muslims? Evil child abusers. "But there is no evidence of that. In fact, the Muslim community is actually very protective of their children and other children. They're amongst the kindest people you can meet, even if their political leaders in their own countries are jerks." Well, says Qanon, that's because their community covers up the abuse. There wouldn't be any evidence. But my cousin went to school with a girl who was groomed by a Muslim. It's clear it is something all Muslims do. "But that's stupid. That's like saying that because Ted Bundy, a heterosexual white Republican, murdered loads of women, all heterosexual white Republicans want to murder women!" Now, says Qanon, you are just being silly. Besides, I believe Muslims are bad and Republicans aren't. You can't question my beliefs.

But we can, and we should.

Qanon followers use this vague structure to create complex webs that link up various conspiracy theories, but they aren't a complex web. They're just a list of petty grievances they have from living in their own personal echo chamber.

They hate women, they hate girls, they hate boys who don't conform to their expectations, they hate men who vote left-wing, they hate gay people, bi people, really anyone who isn't heterosexual, they definitely hate trans people (see: trans people want to use bathrooms to abuse children as merely an extension of the Satanic Ritual Abuse claims), they hate people with coloured hair, bright clothes, they hate Jewish people, they hate Muslims, they hate anyone from a fringe religion that doesn't look right, they hate foreigners, black and brown people... anyone they define as different. And to back this up, they claim to be "the majority" being dictated to be a "minority" - they aren't. They're a minority of gobby cunts, a Karen of Nazis (Karen being the best collective noun to describe these childish crybabies who were so desperate to remain in a state of childlike innocence they embraced both religion and then keep insisting their imaginary friend, Jesus, is following them everywhere, like a psychotic stalker ghost).

PART 3 WHERE DOES THEIR BULLSHIT COME FROM?

This is probably the most important part. Not what they believe, but where these ideas come from, and why they aren't new.

Qanon is a mixture of young-and-edgy YouTube/8chan influencer, white supremacist religious manipulation, pro-Capitalist Protestant religious "life is shit, embrace misery" ideology, pedophile hysteria, and "we hate the idea people have rights because we're power mad, but we're going to frame this as a backlash, normal people making their voices heard, a culture war, or whatever else we can rebrand PREJUDICE because even we don't want to admit we are bigots".

So, first of all, the angry white online teenagers: have always existed, will always exist. Their parents don't give a shit about them unless they cause trouble. So, they learn quickly that the best way to get attention is to cause trouble, which leads to kinship with other troubkemakers, forming an echo chamber of escalating troublemaking. But they're also angry, and often poor (in their eyes, or in actuality), so they're drawn to outrage, and like causing it. They're attracted to movements like this because they believe it's a chance to get some attention, someone to notice them.

And who notices them? White supremacists are always on the lookout for recruits. They feed their need for outrage and attention by misrepresenting everything. They take puff-piece news articles and shoddy journalism and further twist them into movements around positions that have no basis in reality. Vaccines? Designed to hurt you. "Uhhh, no," you say. "That's literally the opposite of what a vaccine does." I don't believe that, they say, and you can't question my beliefs. BLM? Terrorism. "No, they just want to not be shot." No they don't, they want to take over and put the Jews in power, and you can't question my beliefs! "You have no evidence!" COVER UP! they scream.

So it goes, so it goes.

Meanwhile, the Protestan work ethic of, "If you didn't suffer, you don't deserve it," goes on and on. They believe that shit things just happen, you can't stop them. Capitalism is founded on this very, very relugious principle: work should be pain for it to have value. This justifies promoting assholes, and making things difficult. But it also promotes the idea that you can't do anything to combat inequality, as that is natural, and you can't do anything to stop bad things happening, they always will, so why try? This lends Qanon a specific pattern: complain, do nothing, complain nothing is being done, still do nothing, repeat. It's wrong to intervene, you see. This allows them to say racism is bad, but God wants us to suffer so we deserve phony-heaven, a paradise they think is built on bricks of human misery... does that sound glorious to you? And if you have something, clearly you did suffer to get it, and so you are worthy, which is why Trump is a hero to them and they believe his every utterance of verbal diarrhea about him being persecuted (to be fair, he is, but he deserves it because he's lazy and incompetent).

Pedophile hysteria is also generally religiously motivated. Children should be protected, but they are not innocent angels. I've worked with children. Some are nice, some are sneaky, some are violent bullies, and so on. The one thing that unites all children is that they are ignorant. That's why we send them to school. And there are people who want to prey on children. The world we usually use to describe those who most often hurt, abuse and damage children is, "family". Promoting the idea of gangs of rampaging pedophiles snatching children into vans and harming them in shadowy rooms, or murdering them in some Satanic ritual, is laughable compared to the epidemic of children being harmed by those parents terrified the pedophiles are out there. Such fear motivates them to do untold harm to children, restricting their freedoms and their growth, teaching them that all sex is bad so they never enjoy it, forcing them to be things they aren't, and turning a blind eye to obvious abuse because those doing it are not the model of abuse being put out by the press and Internet communities. In that last way, Qanon is a driver of child abuse: it actively encourages Apocalyptic Christian Far Right Death Cult members to nit even ask the obvious question: if Epstein was abusing kids, and Epstein was hanging out with Trump, was Trump maybe involved in some way?

And then there is just the prejudiced crowd, most notably the American-exceptionalism delusional whack jobs. Let me be clear, all forms of exceptionalism are prejudiced, as they suggest that those who are exceptional are better and mire deserving than others, and the real world does not contain such hierarchies, just stuff that happens until it stops happening. A monkey may be the alpha, but one day they won't be. It's not a hierarchy, it's just a thing that happens that we project a power structure onto. Who knows what monkey culture is like? Maybe to them deference is more honourable and respected than being in charge. No-one has asked monkeys for their views of ideology or power structures.

This often manifests itself in ideas of, "We shouldn't be ashamed!" and that movements they don't like are, "Against us!" Well, if you're setting out to hurt people because you believe you are better than them, you should be ashamed. That queer Pakistani girl you keep out of college could have been the one to cure cancer! She might have had the unique perspective to make that breakthrough. And, yes, some of us are against Qanon, because Qanon is hurting people. That is the point of the movement: to harm its enemies, by denial if freedom all the way up to outright murder. It isn't a Pride parade or BLM demanding equality and an end to deaths, its a hate movement driven by a desire to punch down, and ultimately perpetuate the very system that isn't even working for those who follow its own ideology.

It's based on fear of the new, even if that new place is better than the old one, change can be scary. They think equality will hurt them, the way collective bargaining would hurt them. But we don't live in a system where resources are so finite you have to do without, we live in a system where resources are finite but we throw away an excess because capitalism couldn't make rich people richer by giving it to those who need it, so they dispose of it and introduce scarcity to drive up the cost. Working together would force them to stop doing that, which is why movements like this exist: to perpetuate a form of exceptionalism more like a cult, where only the leaders reap the rewards.

PART 4 WHAT IS THE END GOAL OF QANON?

It doesn't have one.

Qanon is a right-wing movement. Right-wing movements are about winning arguments now, and then feeling smug, even when the damage is undone later. It's about a sense of self-satisfaction, and not anything else.

Plus, Qanon has so many stake-holders who hate each other that the movement will eventually descend into cannibalism as all these things do.

Finally, being primarily religious in its design, it won't take long for many religious types to realise Q is kind if a God-like figure, a false idol, and when that happens, plenty if their leaders will become worried that their followers are so focused on Q they might "stray from the path" of donating all their money to their church.

Unless it turns out that Q is Q from Star Trek, in which case their end goal is to test Jean-Luc Picard.

PART 5 SHOULD WE FEAR QANON?

Nah. It's a group of fringe lunatics whose time in the spotlight will be fleeting. As I've already said, even their ideas aren't original - this is the Apocalyptic Christian Far Right Death Cult version of Fortnite stealing dances: everyone goes crazy about it for a bit, but it's so insubstantial in its original form, nevermind the cover band version, that almost all people with a lick of common sense will dismiss it. Plus, it doesn't serve any agenda: Trump could easily find himself on the receiving end of it, that one Qanon politician just elected will likely be marginalised the moment Trump vanishes, and having a single person won't sway any votes in such divisive times, which means they'll be proclaimed ineffectual soon enough, and with Epstein it is already showing that it isn't something which helps the powerful, meaning a lot of people who do have secrets will want it gone sooner rather than later lest it bite their own hands. Plus, they are actually harming people - and say what you like about the Republicans, they don't tend to respond well to the PR disaster of groups they side with directly attacking or killing people unless they are their own ACAB stormtroopers.

Plus, it's a bunch of saddos on the Internet. Chances are if you see someone screaming about Qanon and waving around a gun, they'd have done the same and screamed about lizards had it never got started.

PART 6 WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Stop giving them attention. This is one of the most BORING conspiracy theories ever created. Seriously, since 9/11, conspiracy theories have really gone downhill. They used to be about aliens and subterranean kingdoms, and now they're just attempts to misdirect pedophile hunters from the right-wing types who have covered up child abuse, and tie it to phony "think of the children" and "Satan is out to get us" religious hysteria.

With covid-19, the press is having a very slow news cycle, so they're desperately grabbing at anything that can drive search engine algorithm clicks to their sites, so they're covering Qanon because they've seen it trending. I doubt most people involved with it really believe in it, but it is so directionless that it wouldn't matter if they did. Qanon Con would descend into bloodshed fairly quickly because everyone would be angry and arguing that the tater tots are secret SRA code for cannibalising children or that it reveals that Hilary Clinton buries children beneath fields of potatoes. It's stupid, the people involved with it are stupid, and the bigger question is what they believe that led them to this:

Disenfranchisement. Having to respect the beliefs of others. Prejudice. Anger.

Well, boo-fucking-hoo. If these shitbags actually want to stop harm to children, maybe stop supporting gun rights so kids aren't being gunned down in schools, and black kids don't keep getting gunned down everywhere. Until you do that, Qanon, you're the child abusers.

[fear-the-0ld-bl00d]

hello! i was curious, if you feel comfortable discussing it, what does it mean to be a luciferian? i’m not familiar with that term, i’m assuming it’s a religion, but i was just curious what luciferians believe :)

Oh my, this is going to be a long reply but I hope that it will help.

Okay, first of all, I guess I can’t say much about theistic luciferianism from the practical side because of one simple reason - it’s not something I practice. I’m an atheist who finds luciferian philosophy as empowering and simply right, the reasons I will explain later. Just as there is theistic satanism (aka worshippers of devil) and atheistic satanism (good example may be the Church of Satan), there are theistic and atheistic luciferians.

By my understanding, theistic luciferians do believe in God but they find him as the bad guy. From luciferian point of view, he’s a tyrant, a despot. He’s a liar (Eve was told she would die if she had eaten the fruit from the tree of knowledge, which was not true), he’s selfish (guy basically made humans because he wanted someone to worship him and angels weren’t enough), he’s sadistic and cynical for his believers (remember what happened to Hiob?), he destroys everyone who dares to not believe in him or oppose his morality (many stories from the Bible, such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah). He tries to defend himself with this whole free will nonsense but at the same time he claims that there’s a special place where everyone who don’t believe in him or does something he doesn’t approve will suffer forever. Simplifing, this is how we, the luciferians, interpret the figure of God.

On the other hand, there’s Lucifer, literally the bearer of the light. He’s the fallen angel who opposed the tyrany of God. He didn’t want to fulfill God’s irrational will and decided to no longer serve him. Because of that, he was banished from the Heaven. He’s the very first rebel against God. While God is seen as a despot, Lucifer is a warrior for our free will. Also, Lucifer is the one who made Eve eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge. In other words, he is the one who gave us the knowledge and the ability of critical thinking which is essential in analyzing reality and making rational choices (so he gave us the enlightenment). The fact that this one thing made God mad enough to banish humanity from Eden is another evidence of God’s despotic nature.

So as you can see, in luciferian philosophy Lucifer is the good guy who helped humanity to evolve mentally. Being inspired by Lucifer is to seek knowledge and truth, and to rebel against foolish will of authorities. It may be social constructs, it may be government - just think critically and decide for yourself what is right and what is wrong.

As I stated at the beginning of this post, I can’t say much about theistic luciferianism but I’ve seen that many of these people also practice magic. It’s a kind of occult religion, I guess.

End of the most informative part, let’s get to my personal story related to luciferianism.

So here’s my point of viewl. I’m from country where like 85% of people (and there are over 38 millions of us) claims to be Catholics. I would say that the Catholic Church has a huge impact on politics and general life there especially since a conservative party won last election. One of the things I guess are pretty rare in other countries is the fact that there’s a special lesson of catholicism in school and it’s financed from the government budget (so well basically everyone’s taxes). It’s not compulsory but the sole existence of this subject tells a lot about my country I guess (other religions such as islam don’t have such a lesson in our schools). I liked it in middle school because I had had a nice teacher and we learned mostly about the culture and symbolism of specific scenes and events in the Bible then but when I went to high school I escaped this shit after idk month I guess. The priest showed my class a lecture about ‘exorcisms’ which wasn’t about exorcisms at all - but it surely was about spreading hatred against other religions, other sexual orientations, the victims of rape(!) and women who had abortion (the lecturer literally told something about their wombs being haunted and ghosts of the ‘killed children’ possessing another children of these women). And it’s something common in the Catholic Church there.

But it’s just one of many examples of absurds related to the Catholic Church. A Catholic organisation, Ordo Iuris, tried to reduce already limited abortion laws there. Right now, our women can have abortion only in 3 cases: the pregnancy being caused by prohibited action (such as rape or incest), the pregnancy being a serious threat of women’s life or if there’s a suspicion of a serious defect of fetus (such as Down syndrome or toxoplasmosis). The Ordo Iuris wanted to deprive women of the second option, forcing them to give birth at cost of own life. Aaaand the Catholic Church there obviously approved. Fortunately, because of huge and loud protests it hadn’t enter into force.

Something like half a year ago there was finally a sentence in case of a young girl being several times raped by a priest. She had been held in his mother’s apartment, raped and tortured for long time. As an adult, she’s in ruin now, had had several suicide attempts and will never know the peace. He ruined her. And the judge decided that his order should pay her a huge (about 259700 $) reparation. Well, it pissed Catholics off. Many people attacked her on social platforms and it hadn’t even been regular citizens. Even politicians and important journalist mocked her saying things like ‘even whores don’t get so much money’. She tried to kill herself again. She still lives and I hope that she’s better now. This is the Catholic love of neighbor there.

Saying about recent scandals, during Lent, one of parish in Gdańsk decided to make an event for children. They had to bring things related with other religions or occultism in their homes and then... Burn it outside the church. Like, what the heck??? Among burned things were books like Harry Potter but also a traditional African mask. The Church there literally burns things related to other religions or cultures. Also, few days ago there was a huge scandal because of Burning of Judas in one town. It’s a kind of an old folk ritual and there wouldn’t be anything special about that if... their Judas wasn’t designed after the stereotypes about Jews. It had huge nose, payots, and a big wide-brimmed hat. People beat it (encouraging children to do the same), then cut off it’s head and burned the doll at the stake. And that day was an anniversary of the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Do I have to say more?

As you can see, because of many reasons I guess I have a right to be angry and see this institution there as a bunch of dangerous fools. I don’t have anything against Catholics in general and I mourned the victims of Sri Lanka, but the very institution is just toxic for the society. In my opinion and regarding history, the Catholic Church had always been against people and progress, both cultural and scientific. Because of that, I do and I will oppose them and their tyranny, just like Lucifer once did. He’s my role model and encourages me both to rebel against injustice in society and to improve myself as a person and a scholar.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk *drops the microphone*

[lillayalightfoot-blog]

Character Introduction

So my friend @lordagaming initially helped me to come up with the idea for the brothel, The Velvet Rose. We created it as a part of a DnD campaign that I was writing and it took root in my brain and came to be my current WIP. 

But he created the character of Xander while I created Lillaya. So when I started working on this as a piece of writing, I asked him to fill out the character intro for Xander. Here it is at long last, a full intro to the complex and wonderful character of Xander!

Name: Xander No Surname that they can remember

Gender: Male

Age: Young adult in terms of Incubus ages, but actual age around 200. His exact age is unknown.

Marital Status: In a long-term relationship with Lillaya although is polysexual as is his nature.

Spouse: None

Hair: Human form – Medium brown-blonde hair, styled to look slightly messy but attractive. Though the hair colour, length and style can change depending on his client’s preference. Clean shaven unless a client prefers facial hair. Demon Form – Long black hair (halfway down back), messy, untamed. Clean shaven.

Eyes: Human Form – Piercing bright blue Demon Form – Completely white

General appearance: Human Form – Pale skin like someone who doesn’t really go outside. Wears long flowing robes, with some plain, yet elegant, linen trousers. Often doesn’t wear a shirt. Walks elegantly and with grace but with an overwhelming aura of confidence and power. Demon Form – Grey-purple skin, tattered bat like wings, long tail, various arcane and ancient looking tattoos

Origin: Unknown – often has fragmented dreams about what he assumes his life was like a while ago (which are often the source of how he learnt how to utilise his powers). His strong memories start with him waking on a road near a farm as a child. The local farmers then took him in as their own to help on the farm.

Height: 6’ 7”

Weight/Body Structure/Physical Faults: Extremely toned and well defined, not ‘big’ but his power to weight ratio is that of a professional athlete's. Very light on his feet. His back in demon form has marked with a lot of long faded scars due to the lashings received as a slave. Additionally, this means his wings have been slightly damaged, though they have been healing well.

Race/Species: Incubus

Parents/Elders/Guardians: Foster Parents– Asami and  Kei, a happy farming couple. They were unable to have their own children and so welcomed the chance to adopt Xander as their own.

Siblings: Unknown

Children: None. He is not compatible with races other than fellow succubi and incubi. Were he to have any it would most definitely be with Lillaya.

Friends/Allies: Lillaya

Beliefs/Religion: He strongly believes that people like slavers, who treat others like work animals, should be treated like an injured animal themselves and be put down. He thinks that the concept of the major religion, the Faith of the Kiviara, is stupid. Why should a divine being be revered if it only helps a small few? As a child he worshiped the Kiviara, as his foster parents did but nothing good came from it and so he gave up.

Dreams/Life Goals: To see a world where people aren’t ruled by fear or servitude, where everyone should be free to live for themselves. To make sure others enjoy the life they have. To aid Lillaya in running and creating the world’s most successful brothel.

Hobbies: Singing. Playing instruments (Piano, Guitar, Harp and similar others).

Likes: Being the centre of attention. Having people confide in him.

Loves: Sex. Lillaya.

Dislikes: People who think that they are greater than others, either by birth or position. Everyone should be equal.

Fears: Not being able to help people he loves and consequently losing loved ones. Losing to the darker side of him.

Strengths: Organised. Charismatic. Loyal to those who he loves. Confident. Protective. Very open. Can speak most languages.

Weakness: Very open. Cannot tolerate when people abuse power or position and will make them pay for what they did. Can be impulsive. Relies on Lillaya to keep him calm so that the worst part of him doesn’t surface again.

Bad Habits: Speaks his mind without thinking the consequences through. Does not take being spoken down to well. If he gets too angry or otherwise strongly emotional he struggles to maintain his human form.

Normal Talents: Singing (Not nearly as talented as his counterpart Lillaya but good nonetheless). Multi-lingual. Eidetic memory (doesn’t forget anything he doesn’t want to). Excellent at reading people.

Supernatural Powers & Abilities: Able to see into the surface of most people’s minds- this helps him to be insightful and allows him to find out what people want. He can dig further into the mind of people but needs to spend time with them. Able to affect the mood of those around him. Due to natural stage presence and aura he can use his hypnotic ability very well on large crowds, but he is less effective on individuals. Can fly in demon form but not for nearly as long or as fast as Lillaya due to his damaged wings from his time as a slave.

Temperament: Quick to anger if pushed. Although usually sanguine.

Background: Xander woke up in the middle of a crop field with no memory of his life before that moment. It turned out that the field belonged to a happy couple unable to have their own children. They adopted him and cared for him and he helped on the farm as he grew up. Occasionally he had dreams that revealed to him his true demonic nature. He was practicing his demonic abilities away from the farm one day and, on his return to the farm,  found guards beating his parents as they hadn’t provided enough tribute to the ruler of the region. Xander tried to help but was restrained and made to watch the guards punishing his parents. Eventually he snapped, and his demon form emerged. He hypnotised the guards into killing themselves, and then travelled to the ruler’s throne room where he convinced the guards there to kill the ruler. His foster parents still loved him for who he was, despite the clearly unpredictable nature of his demon side.  But they agreed that it wasn’t safe for him to stay with them any longer and so they gave him what little supplies they could afford, and he left, heading in whichever direction seemed best. He was ambushed on the road by a group of slavers who were hunting magically gifted people. Surprised and unprepared, they got the better of him and took him to their camp. He had been there for a few weeks, recovering and was ready to make his escape attempt but that was when Lillaya was brought into the camp. He felt a connection to her and so remained to learn more about her. They found out they were of the same race, he an incubus and her a succubus, although she hadn’t learnt how to use her powers yet. The next 3 years were spent teaching her what he could and then learning and developing their abilities together. In that camp, they endured hell and came back stronger. When they were ready to escape, they had a bond stronger than anyone else in the world. After their escape from the camp, they lived on the street for a bit. This continued until they started to charge sexual favours for food and a place to live. This eventually lead to the founding of The Velvet Rose. The business is now so popular that Xander sends weekly amounts of money to his parents, occasionally seeing them when he can and if he can get away from work.

@unwriter-sc @intheeunder @hell-yeah-writing @izzynuggets

Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed from my tag list :)

[i-am-too-sick]

All of them for Callaghan.

Questions 1-5 answered here! Putting the rest under a cut because this got really long.

6. What were they like at school? Did they enjoy it? Did they finish? What level of higher education did they reach? What subjects did they enjoy? Which did they hate? He's currently in fourth semester in college. He has no idea what he wants to major in, but he's leaning toward sports medicine. He's a decent student and loves science and history. He absolutely hates his American literature class.

7. Did they have lots of friends as a child? Did they keep any of their childhood friends into adulthood? He had a lot of friends growing up, but they all went their separate ways after high school.

8. Did they have pets as a child? Do they have pets as an adult? Do they like animals? He had a lot of pets growing up, including a box turtle and a couple of hamsters. The only pet that remains from his childhood menagerie is an old, overweight Dachshund named Pickles who lives with his parents.

9. Do animals like them? Do they get on well with animals? He likes animals very much and they seem to like him as well.

10. Do they like children? Do children like them? Do they have or want any children? What would they be like as a parent? Or as a godparent/babysitter/ect? He likes kids well enough, but he never really knows how to act around them. The younger they are, the more awkward he feels. He'd probably want a few kids later in life.

11. Do they have any special diet requirements? Are they a vegetarian? Vegan? Have any allergies? He's lactose intolerant, so he has to limit the amount of dairy he eats, though sometimes he can't help himself and regrets it very much later.

12. What is their favourite food? He loves cantaloupe!

13. What is their least favourite food? He doesn't like pork very much.

14. Do they have any specific memories of food/a restaurant/meal? Not really.

15. Are they good at cooking? Do they enjoy it? What do others think of their cooking? He knows the basics of cooking a meal, but it's more something he does out of necessity rather than because he enjoys it.

16. Do they collect anything? What do they do with it? Where do they keep it? Growing up, he used to collect baseball cards, but he stopped after a few years.

17. Do they like to take photos? What do they like to take photos of? Selfies? What do they do with their photos? He doesn't take a lot of pictures, but his favorite kinds are candid ones.

18. What’s their favourite genre of: books, music, tv shows, films, video games and anything else He doesn't do a lot of leisure reading, and he listens to a lot of jazz music because of his dad, but he also listens to hip hop and some electronica. His favorite genre of movies and video games are action and adventure.

19. What’s their least favourite genres? He can't stand country music and documentaries make him sleepy.

20. Do they like musicals? Music in general? What do they do when they’re favourite song comes? He doesn't really get musicals because he doesn't think spontaneous singing and dancing is believable. He likes to listen to his music when he works out.

21. Do they have a temper? Are they patient? What are they like when they do lose their temper? He has the patience of a saint. Unless he already has a lot on his mind, it takes a lot to make him angry. When that happens, he usually just silently fumes.

22. What are their favourite insults to use? What do they insult people for? Or do they prefer to bitch behind someone’s back? He doesn't really have any?

23. Do they have a good memory? Short term or long term? Are they good with names? Or faces? He good with recognizes faces of people he's seen more than once, but he's terrible with names.

24. What is their sleeping pattern like? Do they snore? What do they like to sleep on? A soft or hard mattress? He gets a decent amount of sleep each night.He doesn't snore and he likes to sleep on a plush mattress.

25. What do they find funny? Do they have a good sense of humour? Are they funny themselves? He thinks Pickles the dog is hilarious.

26. How do they act when they’re happy? Do they sing? Dance? Hum? Or do they hide their emotions?He's definitely a hummer, sometimes annoyingly so!

27. What makes them sad? Do they cry regularly? Do they cry openly or hide it? What are they like they are sad? He doesn't cry easily and when he's sad, he gets distracted easily and quiet.

28. What is their biggest fear? What in general scares them? How do they act when they’re scared? He isn't very keen on being up high, but he'll do his best to grin and bear until it overwhelms him.

29. What do they do when they find out someone else’s fear? Do they tease them? Or get very over protective? He just goes with the flow and won't tease them.

30. Do they exercise? Regularly? Or only when forced? What do they act like pre-work out and post-work out? He tries to get at least a fifteen minute workout each day, whether it's going for a jog or going up and down the stairwells at school.

31. Do they drink? What are they like drunk? What are they like hungover? How do they act when other people are drunk or hungover? Kind or teasing? He's a social drinker and he tends to get louder the more that he drinks, though he isn't rowdy. Sometimes his hangovers can be brutal, but he doesn't get them too often. He kind of becomes the "mom friend" when his friends get drunk.

32. What do they dress like? What sorta shops do they buy clothes from? Do they wear the fashion that they like? What do they wear to sleep? Do they wear makeup? What’s their hair like? He's not big into shopping and a lot of his clothes used to belong to his brother.

33. What underwear do they wear? Boxers or briefs? Lacey? Comfy granny panties? Briefs.

34. What is their body type? How tall are they? Do they like their body? His body is toned, and he's decently tall.

35. What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure? Sometimes, he likes to watch America's Next Top Model.

36. What are they good at? What hobbies do they like? Can they sing?He's good at sports. His singing voice isn't bad, but he doesn't really like it.

37. Do they like to read? Are they a fast or slow reader? Do they like poetry? Fictional or non fiction? He's never been big into reading.

38. What do they admire in others? What talents do they wish they had? He wishes he could be braver like his brother.

39. Do they like letters? Or prefer emails/messaging? He's a big, big texter.

40. Do they like energy drinks? Coffee? Sugary food? Or can they naturally stay awake and alert? He prefers energy drinks or coffee.

41. What’s their sexuality? What do they find attractive? Physically and mentally? What do they like/need in a relationship? He's still trying to figure out his own sexuality, and that includes qualities he finds attractive in other people.

42. What are their goals? What would they sacrifice anything for? What is their secret ambition? His goal is to finally decide on a major area of study and graduate.

43. Are they religious? What do they think of religion? What do they think of religious people? What do they think of non religious people? He grew up baptist, but his family really only went to church on holidays.

44. What is their favourite season? Type of weather? Are they good in the cold or the heat? What weather do they complain in the most? He prefers the warmer months because likes to do things outdoors. He absolutely does not like the rain because he gets restless when he's inside for too long.

45. How do other people see them? Is it similar to how they see themselves? Initially, people are him as intimidating, but he actually has a very warm and inviting personality.

46. Do they make a good first impression? Does their first impression reflect them accurately? How do they introduce themselves? Yes.

47. How do they act in a formal occasion? What do they think of black tie wear? Do they enjoy fancy parties and love to chit chat or loathe the whole event? He doesn't like getting dressed up for fancy occasions, but he usually enjoys himself once he's there.

48. Do they enjoy any parties? If so what kind? Do they organise the party or just turn up? How do they act? What if they didn’t want to go but were dragged along by a friend? He'll make an effort to have a good time whether he's there against his will or not.

49. What is their most valued object? Are they sentimental? Is there something they have to take everywhere with them? He likes wearing his brother's military dog tags.

50. If they could only take one bag of stuff somewhere with them: what would they pack? What do they consider their essentials? A bottle of water, a few snacks, and a basketball. Maybe an extra shirt.

[drcontrarian]

The New Normal - From a Real World Perspective

I think it is pretty ironic that our attitudes towards toilet paper reveal what shitty humans we are.

And it is ably demonstrated by ‘everyman-and-his-dog’ offering advice on the Post-Covid world and inane ‘tips to transform yourself in a crisis’ that masquerade as marketing advice; as if these pundits have experience in the effects of the pandemic.

On the  plus side, true blue capitalists are hard to keep down and it is good fun to watch.

But that does not mean we can’t grapple with some of the issues we are all facing. I thought a useful approach would be to attempt to identify some of the underlying fundamentals that may indicate the direction/ momentum of change.

And then, just because I hate the generic ‘consultant-speak’ like ‘become more responsive’ and ‘identify strategic opportunities’ as the ‘changes’ we should embrace, I will instead offer specific, detailed tactical changes that may or may not play out, but are worth thinking about.‘ 

Before we get to the short-term (Part B)changes that will manifest post-pandemic 2020, consider the broader socio-economic context (Part A) that it will play out in.

PART A: Macro Changes

There are a few drivers that are shaping the landscape of our future.

ONE: Major changes information technology has brought about

The Guardian published a piece in 2017 that presaged the end of capitalism.

“First, it has reduced the need for work, blurred the edges between work and free time and loosened the relationship between work and wages. The coming wave of automation, currently stalled because our social infrastructure cannot bear the consequences, will hugely diminish the amount of work needed – not just to subsist but to provide a decent life for all.

Second, information is corroding the market’s ability to form prices correctly. That is because markets are based on scarcity while information is abundant. The system’s defence mechanism is to form monopolies – the giant tech companies – on a scale not seen in the past 200 years, yet they cannot last. By building business models and share valuations based on the capture and privatisation of all socially produced information, such firms are constructing a fragile corporate edifice at odds with the most basic need of humanity, which is to use ideas freely.

Third, we’re seeing the spontaneous rise of collaborative production: goods, services and organisations are appearing that no longer respond to the dictates of the market and the managerial hierarchy. The biggest information product in the world – Wikipedia – is made by volunteers for free, abolishing the encyclopedia business and depriving the advertising industry of an estimated $3bn a year in revenue.”

TWO: It’s what people want

It is what people want, probably in response to the helplessness that is induced by ONE above.

Recently, the ABC (Australia) published a piece that observed that senior officials from the governing (conservative) party as well as members of the community took exception to the way people were hoarding and ‘profiteering’ by arbitraging the shortages wrt to everyday items like toilet paper.

Seeking out gaps in the market and exploiting price anomalies are the everyday activities of anyone involved in any kind of trade, from shopkeepers and grocery wholesalers to money market high-flyers who trade synthetic derivatives of complex financial instruments.

As a free-market economy, successive governments of all persuasions for the past half-century have embraced the idea that government should not run commercial enterprise. They've preached privatisation, asset recycling and the fundamental belief that free trade and minimal government intervention will maximise wealth and lift society as a whole.

Traditionally conservative governments are responding in ways that left-leaning/ socialist regimes could until recently only dream of. Tom Quiggan said this in an article on ThinkSpot:

“The current government led response to the pandemic and the financial crisis appears to be panic driven. Momentum is growing behind the idea that governments should be able to bail out every individual and every industry that is facing financial stress. While this is normatively appealing, it is unsustainable for anything beyond a few weeks and unlikely to be productive. Throwing money at failing systems is how we got to the financial crisis we are in now. It also means that debt and taxes are virtually guaranteed to increase in the next years or services will have to be cut dramatically.   

The children of today are the tax payers of tomorrow and they will suffer immensely if the system is not fixed.

These massive bailouts will have the effect of rewarding those who made poor decisions and wound up in debt. They will punish the prudent who were saving money during the perceived good times.  This will fuel yet another divide in society as the prudent and hard working become distressed or angry at being fleeced (again) to support the imprudent and wasteful.

Quiggan is essentially heralding the undesirable consequences if the traditional conservative/ libertarian approach to the economy is not upheld. But it is not, and even the most casual observer will recognise this in the communities we live in.

One cannot possibly believe that traditional, industrial capitalism will not be transformed into something completely different. We are creating a new normal and we don’t quite know what it is.

Whether it is labelled as a ‘neo-socialism’ or a ‘neo-capitalism’ does not matter, but it is one where trade is less free and the government (or some central bureaucracy) holds power over supply. Because the government has played the role of payer and lender of last resort, why not payer and lender of every resort. Debt jubilees/ Universal Basic Income and the like are the nature of things to come.

It is either that, or war.

Cryptocurrency is the dark horse. It could undermine the power of a central authority and give people unfettered freedom to move money around at will, without knowledge or intervention of any government. It will likely be regulated before it fulfills its potential.

It should be exciting, but I find it scary. And the reason for that is philosophical. I don’t have faith in man’s ability to create something good out of this.

THREE: It is the nature of Man

(You can safely skip the next paragraph because it is a philosophical justification for my overall pessimism.)

From a religious philosophical perspective people are cast as ‘sinners’. Sinners are (by definition) those who ‘miss the mark’. If you want to get an idea of what the global culture is like (what it values) then simply look at the aggregate of what ‘trends’ on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Half the world’s population are on those platforms, so that is as representative a sample size as you can get. 

What Nietsche meant when he declared God dead, is summarised by Mark Sayers:

“What we are experiencing is not the eradication of God from the Western mind but the enthroning of self as the greatest authority.”

Now what could go wrong when those who ‘miss the mark’ become the ‘authority’? 

The first two observations about the changes happening are probably uncontroversial. My pessimism about the quality of that future outcome is arguable if you have faith that humans on the whole always improve things ; i.e we are progressive in a way that leads to a (greater) good or at least better.

I am pessimistic about Man’s ability to create a positive/ beneficial world when it becomes untethered from the Judeo-Christian fundamentals. Even if the idea of religion and God sits uncomfortable with you, any objective observer of history cannot realistically deny that ‘western civilization (and all of our laws) are founded upon these Christian foundations.

Whether we would be better or worse off when we divorce our societies from these belief systems is a matter of opinion (and I don’t need to debate that here) - but I offer it as my rationale for being sceptical about a humanistic framework as the basis for lasting stable societies.

PART B: Micro Changes

John Batistich writes in Smart Company predicting the following changes in the retail environment:

Consolidation (specifically in Supermarkets)

Higher concentration

Fewer stores

Online step-change

One department store

Two discount department stores

More local

Rent reversions

Percentage rent

Make expenses variable

Cash economy declines

Cashflow management

New concepts

Most of these observations are simple, legitimate extrapolations of current trends, so I will limit my commentary to a few observations:

Rent reversions will be at unprecedented levels for many categories in many areas - I predict that it will be up to 50%. (This will place pressure on Superannuation funds’ returns, adding to economic woes, and pressure on Boomers to remain in the workforce.)

Making rents/expenses variable is something that I long advocated (see Beat of the Mall). This pandemic has proven that risks can’t be isolated to between categories/ sectors and that variable rent is a sensible way of synchronising the timing of economic fluctuations (good and bad) between members of a supply chain.

The downside is that one person’s variable expenses is another person’s variable income. Variable incomes are typically associated with higher risks and higher risks are features of an unstable ecosystem.

In an article in QSR Magazine Micha Magid the co-founder of Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque (US fast-casual concept) , is brave enough to nominate fairly specific outcomes. I smummarised those in a previous post.

They are worth reading because they are very specific, practical outcomes that are articulated. For example:

Approximately 25 percent of all restaurants remain indefinitely closed with 90 percent of the closures hitting independently owned locations.

Delivery focused restaurant brands do very well into the end of the year.

Great ethnic restaurants become increasingly harder to find

The salad chains underperform the rebound as raw food still caries caution in the national psyche. 

I would like to add a few more specific prognostications to this list as it applies to the hospitality sector:

The return to ‘business as usual’ will be a gradual process, initially driven simply by people getting frustrated with isolation, and then once restrictions are lifted, the high unemployment rate will depress spend. (A recession or worse is actually likely).

Retailers will start practicing surge pricing

Consumers will hate queuing, so ordering ahead, table ordering and click and collect will continue to grow

A greater focus on food safety & hygiene (keep cups may lose momentum)

Unreasonable demands for small (uneconomical) deliveries - accepted during the pandemic - will prove the undoing of many restaurants

Price of meals will escalate to accommodate rising input prices (drought, fires etc) and unsustainable delivery costs as competition is reduced and the remaining operators have more flexibility.

In response to the above, consumer demands and expectations around customisation and health will put pressure on production times and costs.

The life cycle of new concepts will shorten, making innovation nonviable for landlords whose capital contributions allowed many concepts to be born

[automatismoateo]

I attended my friend's Catholic funeral and it made me angrier than I've ever been in my entire life via /r/atheism

Submitted June 06, 2019 at 01:13PM by areyoustillintoit (Via reddit http://bit.ly/2KwFYw3) I attended my friend's Catholic funeral and it made me angrier than I've ever been in my entire life

This is a long post because I'm fucking angry.

A few days ago, I attended the funeral for one of my high school teachers. He was a very formative influence on who I am as a person today, and I wouldn't be doing what I am now without him.

In 2017, he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Motor Neurone Disease at the age of 45, and soon after the diagnosis, symptoms started appearing, and not even 6 months later, he couldn't talk, walk, eat, and could only communicate in short sentences using a computer device that recognised his eye movements.

Even still, I would visit him as much as possible, and spend hours with him just hearing a few sentences. This didn't matter though. I would have spent more time with him if his constant need for sleep wasn't ever-present.

Just last week, he passed away, and I was invited to his funeral, which, to my surprise was a Catholic funeral. This struck me as odd because we had had many conversations about religion before, and he was always a staunch atheist. I knew that his family was Catholic, but I always knew that he wasn't. I decided not to think too much about it, because he was already dead, and it's not like it was going to matter where it was or who was delivering it, because funerals are meant to be a celebration of life, right?

Wrong.

When the funeral started, one of his colleagues from work gave a beautiful eulogy that brought everyone in the room to tears, and I thought that the rest of the funeral would follow in a similar path.

Not only was that pretty much the last time my teacher was mentioned in a positive light throughout the ENTIRE hour-long service, but it was also one of the last time he was mentioned in general.

After the eulogy finished, the priest then spent the next 30 minutes talking about how "Jesus is our saviour" and how he's going "bring us all to salvation" and if we don't believe in him "we will be forced to live in eternal punishment". I sat there absolutely bewildered, glancing at others around the funeral to see if they were feeling the same way. Were they actually just sitting there and accepting the fact that this wasn't a funeral for a great man, but just another sermon for a priest who didn't even say the deceased's name correctly?

I didn't think it could possibly get any worse, but it did.

After standing up and saying a prayer, the priest then went into a 10-minute rant where he said, verbatim, no word of a lie "[my teacher] will now lie in peace. His life was riddled with sin, which caused his body to give up on him, and god to abandon him. But now he has left this earthly realm, he walks with Jesus."

Straight up, this motherfucker who works for an organisation that has covered up and allowed the systematic physical and sexual abuse of INNOCENT children for HUNDREDS of years had the fucking audacity to say that the reason he was inflicted with a disease as horrendous as Motor Neurone Disease was because he was a "sinner"? Are you fucking kidding me? How the fuck do you explain all of the priests who live great, wealthy lives with nothing wrong with them, even though they've hurt children, you enabling piece of shit?!

I was so livid that I left the funeral almost immediately after because I had serious thoughts about telling the priest what was on my mind, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

I understand that this funeral wasn't "for me", but it was seriously hurtful, and I can't believe that someone would say something so toxic, evil and vile at what is supposed to be a celebration of someone's life. I have attended a Catholic funeral for a friend who has committed suicide before, and there was a similar vibe of blaming them as well, instead of celebrating them.

If Catholics want to be respected, they should stop allowing the abuse of children and disrespect of the dead to happen in their name.

Thank you for listening.

[whysosirius-james]

James Sirius Potter + Questionnaire (1/??)

trigger warning ; alcoholism

ORIGINS & FAMILY

Name:

James Sirius Potter (adopted name)

Bernard Vernon Dursley (birth name)

Nickname(s): James, Jimmy, Jim-Jam, Bernard (sarcastically)

Reason for name:

James is his adopted grandfather and Sirius is his adopted father’s godfather. They were two men Harry looked up to and loved and in turn, James aspires to be them.

Bernard is a Dursley family name and Vernon is his biological grandfather’s name. He has not used this name since he was adopted and has no intention of changing it back in the future.

Birthday: Thirteenth of November, 2003

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Somewhere in England, exact location unknown.

Places lived since: 

In the unknown location for a few weeks with his mother

With his biological father in Little Whinging for nearly six months

With his adopted parents and siblings in Godric’s Hollow following his adoption

Hogwarts from age eleven to eighteen for most of the year

With Mackenzie in a house they bought together in Hogsmeade following his graduation

Parents’ names, backgrounds, occupations:

Dudley Dursley - Biological Father - He is the son of Vernon Dursley and Petunia Dursley (nee Evans, deceased as of 2020) and maternal cousin of Harry Potter. He is a muggle and was a bully as a child, especially towards Harry, which he has since come to regret. He had an affair with Samoan witch - unaware of her heritage at the time - and Bernard was the result. Dudley asked his cousin to take Bernard, to be named James, as his own when he started showing signs of magic so that he would not receive the same treatment Harry did growing up. He currently works as a salesman in the position Vernon held before he retired. He had another affair which resulted in James’ muggleborn half-brother, Fletcher (who he does not know about). Dudley got married in 2007 and has no other children.

Talia Leapei - Biological Mother - She is a pureblood, Samoan witch. James does not know who her parents are. She had an affair with Dudley Dursley early 2003, resulting in her pregnancy. She kept him for a few weeks before leaving him at Dudley’s doorstep. In 2021, she wrote to her son to get in touch and they have since been in contact. She is currently a florist in Samoa, is unmarried and has no other children. James met her in 2023.

Harry Potter - Adopted Father - He is the son of James Potter and Lily Potter (nee Evans) - both are deceased - and the maternal cousin of Dudley Dursley. He is a halfblood wizard, Gryffindor alumni and was the captain and seeker on his school’s Quidditch team. He led Dumbledore’s Army and defeated Voldemort at seventeen. As a favor to Dudley and to keep a child from abuse for being magic, Harry agreed to adopt James - then Bernard - and pretended that he was his and his new wife’s biological son.  He is the current Head of Auror Office and occasionally guest lectures for Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. He is married to Ginny Weasley-Potter and is the father of two other children, Albus Severus and Lily Luna.

Ginevra “Ginny” Weasley - Adopted Mother - She is the daughter of Arthur Weasley and Molly Weasley (nee Prewett). She is a pureblood witch, Gryffindor alumni and the chaser - and at one point seeker - on her school’s Quidditch team. She fought in the Battle of Hogwarts alongside Harry, Ron (her older brother) and Hermione (friend, now sister-in-law). She agreed without hesitation to adopt James with her husband, Harry, and used her sabbatical from her career to hide her “pregnancy” and maternity leave. She is the former chaser for the Holyhead Harpies and former senior Quidditch reporter for the Daily Prophet. She currently works as the Sports Editor for the Daily Prophet . She is married to Harry Potter and is the mother of two other children, Albus Severus and Lily Luna.

Number of siblings: Two

Albus Severus Potter (adopted, younger brother)

Lily Luna Potter (adopted, younger sister)

Edward “Teddy” Lupin (god-brother / “adopted” brother)

Fletcher Duke (younger paternal half-brother)

Relationship with family (close? estranged?):

James loves his adopted family; parents, siblings and numerous cousins. There is nothing more important to him than them and he would take a bullet for each and every one of them. He has a unique relationship with each of them. Their bond has only grown strong since they found out he was adopted and accepted him for he knew that they would love him no matter what and vice versa.

Before knowing that he was his biological father, James’ relationship with Dudley wasn’t much to talk about. Harry always insisted on his three children visiting his cousin. James never understood why and was always reluctant to go until he received the letter with the truth when he was eleven. After that, he made much more of an effort and writes to him frequently.

Up until 2021, Talia Leapei and James had no contact. All he knew was her name. She wrote to him out of the blue which had a major impact on him. It took him months to respond and they’ve exchanged only a few letters. They met in 2023 and she was invited to his wedding, even organising the flowers for it.

James does get along with Fletcher despite not knowing they are related. They are not close but if James ever did find out, there is no doubt that he would want them to be.

Happiest memory:

The day Lucy was born. It was the best birthday present ever. 

As of 2024, his marriage to Mackenzie Finnigan-Thomas

Childhood trauma: Most of James’ trauma occurred in his teens / young adulthood when he became an alcoholic in his sixth year - since recovered - and when his girlfriend Mackenzie and cousin Lucy were kidnapped by Death Eaters in 2022.

Children of his/her own?: N/A

PHYSICAL

Height: 5′ 11″ /  1.8 m 

Weight: 161 lbs / 73 kg 

Build: Athletic

Nationality: English & Samoan

Disabilities (physical or mental, including mental illnesses): Alcoholism (in recover)

Complexion (freckles, acne, skin tone, birth marks): Two small moles on his left cheek close to his jawline, otherwise totally clear complexion

Hair color: Ginger

Usual hair style: Messy

Eye color: Dark Brown

Glasses? Contacts?: N/A

Style of dress/typical outfit(s): James’ style is very casual and comfortable (i.e. jeans, t-shirts and sneakers). He generally wears very plain shirts with the occasional logo or slogan written across it. He is also prone to wearing plaid shirts or bomber jackets over said t-shirts.

Health: James is rarely sick. He keeps in good shape for Quidditch, eating well and working out frequently, especially since finishing rehab. When he does get sick, he’s quite stubborn about it and lives in denial until someone literally forces him to rest.

Grooming: James showers every morning after his jog and again in the evenings after Quidditch practice. He tends to wear clean clothes. He does not wear makeup or pluck his eyebrows (although every now and then one of his female cousins plucks them for him but he never asks). 

Tattoos? Piercings?:

James has a tattoo that represents each of his siblings and cousins:

A teddy bear for Teddy on the top of his right arm.

Lightning bolt on left ring finger for Albus.

An orange lily on the back of his left shoulder for Lily.

On the back of his right shin he has a rose for Rose.

A flame on the back of his right shoulder for Hugo.

A laurel wreath for Victoire on the outside of his left forearm.

A blue shell on the inside of his left forearm for Dominique.

For Louis, there is an anchor on the inside of his right ankle.

To represent Fred, there is a tattoo of a crown on the inside of his right wrist.

There is a joker’s hat on the inside his left ankle for Roxanne.

For Molly, there is a tattoo of a sun below Lily’s on the back of his left shoulder.

There is a pinky promise tattoo on the outside of his right upper arm. This is a a matching tattoo he has with Lucy.

James has ‘adventure’ tattooed on his inner upper arm.

A golden snitch can be found on the front of his right shoulder.

No piercings.

Accent?: British

Unique mannerisms/physical habits (bites nails, talks with hands, taps feet when restless):  He gets twitchy / shaky - especially his hands - when he feels like he needs a drink and also tends to tap his feet and fingers against surfaces.

INTELLECT

Level of education (high school drop out, undergrad BA/BS, PhD, MD, etc.): Hogwarts graduate

Gifts/talents/skills:

James is a very talented Quidditch player. He was the chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and later became captain. He currently plays a a chaser for the Montrose Magpies.

James is a very gifted prankster. As a Wotter, albeit adopted, he has access to the best pranking tools and ideas from his Uncle George and his shop.

James started to play the guitar at age twelve and his knack for it has only developed.

Alongside his guitar playing, James can sing and has written songs. His most significant example is the song he wrote for Mackenzie right before they got together. He spent a year working on and perfecting it.

Shortcomings: 

James has addictive tendencies, shown through his year of alcoholism. During that time he also smoked and did the occasional drug. Now he stays away from anything addictive substances, including caffeine.

He can be overly protective of his loved ones to the point of annoying them but he means well.

Despite not having Weasley blood, James certainly has their temper. He can get so angry especially when someone hurts the ones he cares about. 

Style of speech:

James usually speaks in a loud and confident voice. His tell when he’s upset or anxious is when he speaks quieter than usual.

Religious stance: Atheist (was not raised with any religion)

Cautious or daring?: Daring

Most sensitive about/vulnerable to: His adoption and his former alcohol addiction

Optimist or pessimist?: Optimist

Extrovert or introvert?: Extrovert

RELATIONSHIPS

Current marital/relationship status: Married to Mackenzie Finnigan Thomas

Sexual orientation: Heterosexual

Past relationships:

Penelope Hawthorne - This relationship was a bit of a roller coaster. They were together when his alcohol addition developed and when he went into rehab, he broke up with her and shut her out. At the time, he believed that she was the root cause of his addiction and thought it was best to stay away from her. They have recently made amends due to a mutual friend dealing with addiction and are trying to be friends.

Level of sexual experience: 

Normally, James only sleeps with people he has an emotional connection with. Altogether he has slept with four people, including his wife Mackenzie.

Most comfortable around (person): Mackenzie Finnigan-Thomas & Lucy Weasley

Oldest friend: Lucy Weasley

Pets?: Barn Owl named Hedwig II

VOCATION

Profession: Chaser for the Montrose Magpies

Past occupations:

Student

James worked three summers in Weasley Wizard Wheezes.

Passions:

Quidditch

Music

Pranking

Attitude towards current job:

Quidditch is James’ passion and there is nothing he would rather be doing.

Attitude towards current coworkers, bosses, employees:

James’ team is like his family and gets along with all of them.

SECRETS

Phobias:

Thanatophobia - fear of dying and losing a loved one

Atychiphobia - fear of failure

Life goals:

James’ main goal in life was to play for a professional Quidditch team, either the Montrose Magpies or the Wimbourne Wasps. He has achieved this goal.

He would also like to work his way up to team captain of the quidditch team he plays for.

His only other goal is to find the perfect woman and settle down and have a large family. His wife, Mackenzie has been told that she may not have children but he has no doubt that they will have kids one way or another.

Greatest fears: 

James is afraid of losing his family in any way, physically or emotionally, above all else.

Most ashamed of:

James’ biggest shame is lying for seven years about his adoption.

His year of alcoholism and partying was a shameful time for him especially when he started lashing out at his family.

Compulsions:

Alcohol Addiction (formerly)

Crimes committed: N/A

What he/she most wants to change about his/her self/life?:

Despite the flaws he knows he has, James would not change much. If he had to say anything, it would be to have more control over his temper sometimes.

DETAILS/QUIRKS

Daily routine:

On weekdays, James wakes up at six for a run and follows that with a shower. He eats breakfast with Mackenzie normally, which they take turns making. He then goes to practice for most, if not all, of the day, only taking a break for lunch and water. When he gets home, he eats dinner with Mackenzie if she’s home. They might watch a movie or he’ll write to his relatives before going to bed. He tends to go to sleep fairly early especially if he has practice early the next day.

On weekends, he still wakes up at six for a run and eats breakfast, occasionally he’ll make breakfast in bed for Mackenzie. If he has practice on weekends, his routine is similar to the weekdays or he will spend his day relaxing or hanging out with his friends and family. For a while after graduation, James would spend a lot of his day’s off unpacking and renovating the house that he and Mackenzie live in together. His weekend evenings are similar to that of the weekdays.

James will always spend his holidays with his family. He will likely go back to the Burrow, bringing Mackenzie with him if she’s available. This is still the case after graduation.

Night owl or early bird?: Early Bird

Light or heavy sleeper?: Heavy Sleeper

Favorite food: Anything Grandma Molly cooks

Favorite book: Quidditch Through the Ages by Kennilworthy Whisp

Favorite movie: Citizen Kane

Favorite song: Do The Hippogriff by the Weird Sisters

Favorite color: Dark Green

Coffee or tea?: Tea

Crunchy or smooth peanut butter?: Crunchy

Type of car he/she drives (or wishes he/she drove): James doesn’t plan on learning to drive. He thinks that apparating works better and more efficiently.

Lefty or righty?: Righty

Cusser?: Definitely

Smoker? Drinker? Drug user?: No / Formerly an Alcoholic / Formerly Though Recreational 

[gweyson]

avewy 5, 24, 48, whitnewy 3, 9, 38, NYOWA 6, 26, 28, awiewl 10, 37, 50, oweandew 12, 25, 43, weon 22, 30, 49 :3

5. Do they have any siblings? What’s their names? What is their relationship with them? Has their relationship changed since they were kids to adults?

he has 2 sisters and a twin brother !! his brother is named Caleb, & his sisters are named Min Jung (she gets p heavily involved in plot at some point fun fact) and his other sister. doesnt have a name yet oops.... he and caleb are pretty tight but avery has always been jealous of him bc caleb is just good at everything and also really cool and popular (nora is constantly joking about how caleb is what avery would be like but if he was Actually cool). min jung & avery start off not really liking each other but over the course of Plot they bond & become closer. hes got that dynamic with unnamed sister where they dont rlly like each other & kinda avoid each other but theyd help each other bury a body

24. What is their sleeping pattern like? Do they snore? What do they like to sleep on? A soft or hard mattress?

no matter how long he sleeps he will still be tired smh -____- hes a really heavy sleeper once he actually manages to drift off... he sprawls out & snores really loudly. also he loves sleeping on soft surfaces.....

48. Do they enjoy any parties? If so what kind? Do they organise the party or just turn up? How do they act? What if they didn’t want to go but were dragged along by a friend?

he hates parties but if he’s dragged along he’ll just follow around the person who dragged him there. also probably drink while hes there

3. Did they have a good childhood? What are fond memories they have of it? What’s a bad memory?

she didnt really have a great childhood no :( pretty much as soon as she realised she had powers ppl were trying to take advantage of that. plus she had a transphobic family so it was just a bad time all around !! shes away from all that now but :(

9. Do animals like them? Do they get on well with animals?

she likes animals & they’re usually lukewarm on her... she wishes they liked her more

38. What do they admire in others? What talents do they wish they had?

she admires anyone who is kind to other people no matter what !! and people who are honest ^__^ she wishes she could come off as a little softer & trust people more easily

6. What were they like at school? Did they enjoy it? Did they finish? What level of higher education did they reach? What subjects did they enjoy? Which did they hate?

she’s still in school, shes homeschooled by her mumther which she hates. she likes maths & sciences !!

26. How do they act when they’re happy? Do they sing? Dance? Hum? Or do they hide their emotions?

she just gets very excited and chatty and speaks very loudly !!!^w^

28. What is their biggest fear? What in general scares them? How do they act when they’re scared?

shes scared of adults in general... also people yelling/getting angry around her. also open spaces and heights

10. Do they like children? Do children like them? Do they have or want any children? What would they be like as a parent? Or as a godparent/babysitter/ect?

she likes kids & she thinks she wants to have kids but not yet !! a lot later in her life

37. Do they like to read? Are they a fast or slow reader? Do they like poetry? Fictional or non fiction?

she does like to read she just... doesn’t actually do it that often

50. If they could only take one bag of stuff somewhere with them: what would they pack? What do they consider their essentials?

she’d bring. entirelt too much makeup tbh jdkfhkdg and her phone... plus like. a first aid kit

12. What is their favourite food?

do milkshakes count as a food. he could live off those

25. What do they find funny? Do they have a good sense of humour? Are they funny themselves?

he has a p good sense of humour !! he’s very down to earth & relatable

43. Are they religious? What do they think of religion? What do they think of religious people? What do they think of non religious people?

hes not religious tbh but he probably considers himself agnostic? he had bad experiences with like. all the religious families he lived with so now he tends to try and steer clear 

22. What are their favourite insults to use? What do they insult people for? Or do they prefer to bitch behind someone’s back?

he’ll insult ppl no problem but hes never smart about it so he’ll probably just end up calling you a dumbass or a geek and not much more lmao

30. Do they exercise? Regularly? Or only when forced? What do they act like pre-work out and post-work out?

yeah he works out regularly !! he got into the habit of working out for monster killing stuff & even though hes not doing that anymore (or at least hes not meant to be) he still does it !! slightly less though. hes on the football team so he needs to be fit but not as fit yknow. 

49. What is their most valued object? Are they sentimental? Is there something they have to take everywhere with them?

he thinks it’s stupid to get sentimental over stuff so no to all of those

[gaiatheorist]

‘Drawing.’

Two headlines on BBC news articles containing reference to ‘drawing’, and they’re another illustration of how polarised ‘everything’ is becoming.

‘Corbyn draws crowds at Glastonbury’ and ‘Archbishop tells PM to “Draw the poison from Brexit”.”

Classic Guardian-comments style, I haven’t read them. I have very little interest in what ���organised religion’ has to say, especially the C of E, it’s a made-up religion, self-serving offshoot of the Roman one. Not The Roman one, the other one, I’d have more interest in the Roman one if we were having Saturnalia, and devotions to Bacchus and such, but that’s just hypothetically hedonistic me. 

I did watch the video of Jeremy addressing the crowd at Glastonbury. I have a soft spot for him, with his allotment, and his inconsistent tie-wearing, and his general not-raising-his-voice. Yes, it was a wealthy man addressing a load of people who could afford tickets to Glastonbury, I do see the issue with that, but he just comes across as so ‘human’, unlike the other one. His speech raised my spirits, and we all need a bit of that, the crowd were roused, even if sections of the mainstream media tried to complain about it. He’s being criticised for not ‘appearing’ at a forces-veteran thing, and taking to the stage at a music festival, I’m not certain where the other one was, probably under a rock somewhere, planning to suck draught-excluders out of buildings so she can use the money for sprinkler-systems.  

The Glastonbury crowd, there’s criticism that he was preaching to the converted, but that’s a sack of balls, in the face of Theresa’s stage-managed public appearances during the election campaign. Thinking-around-corners on that, it might actually be the fear that a Tarquin or a Persephone in the audience might hear something Mummy and Daddy had tried to shield them from. Can you imagine Theresa addressing Glastonbury? I can’t. I don’t know ‘who’ goes to Glastonbury, I’ve never been. (Appalling flash-back to myself and three blokes sleeping in a camper in a supermarket car-park in Glossop one Glastonbury weekend. Bloody ridiculous, especially when some passing drunks tried to ‘rock’ the van in the middle of the night. Oh, and the ex getting ‘food poisoning’, which was actually a hangover, and one of the other lads having to drive the van, with spewy-ex rolling about in the over-cab bunk. Honestly, 20 years of stupid ideas.) 

Off-topic. (I’ve been awake since just after 3am again.)  I have Pulp’s ‘Sorted’ roaming around my head, “Is this the way they say the future’s meant to feel, or just twenty thousand people standing in a field?” I don’t know, or care which other politicians have ever addressed Glastonbury. I don’t know how many of the people in the crowd will have had their opinions changed by JC’s words, or how many of them were in a lucid enough state to even remember they’d been there, then. It’s not exactly a JFK-moment, and ‘Say no to drugs.’, or do drugs if that’s your thing, but please be careful. It stirred me, a 40 year old woman, who sees too much about how the current government are getting an awful lot of things very badly wrong. I look under rocks, it’s what I do. I can’t say I’m fully on-board with all of the Labour party manifesto pledges, and, for all the mainstream media criticism that JC is some sort of rampant socialist, he’s actually going against some of his personal viewpoints to stay relatively safe-central. Jeremy is not ‘the prince who was promised’, but, dammit, he’s better than any of the Lannisters. 

He was articulate and engaging, he means what he says, and that integrity is appealing, in contrast to the inconsequential, hollow repetition of the May-bot. Yes, she has a lot on her plate, and yes, she was handed the shitty end of the stick by her predecessor, but she enrages rather than engaging, she’s evasive, not persuasive, she’s as far through as a kipper, she’s not as endearing as everyone’s pet badger-in-tweed. The only crowd she’d ‘draw’ would be people wanting to throw things at her. (Not advocating physical assaults on politicians, in any way, shape, or form, we’re better than that. A segment of Facebook did get a little whipped-up by a rumoured personal appearance in the area during the election, and it could have turned nasty, if it hadn’t been efficiently investigated, and found to be a false-flag, raised by one of the genuine socialist groups.) 

Drawing out the poison, that’s an evocative phrase, and comes with the connotation that someone is at risk of swallowing it. It won’t be Boris or Nigel, and there’s a fairly broad consensus that Theresa is done-for already, she’s lined up to be the collateral damage in this utter omnishambles. Sacrificial mutton, lined up to fall on a sword someone else sharpened. A year in, no further  forward in terms of what ‘Brexit’ really means, other than a toxic and divisive topic. A year ago, 48% of the UK smacked its collective head, more than 48%, to be fair, due to a quoted third of the population not even bothering to vote. 52% of those who voted had a bit of a party about the permitted curvature of bananas, and other such vital matters, and waited for the money we ‘could’ give to the NHS. The third that didn’t vote, I don’t know what they were getting up to, other than sitting about, thinking ‘Bugger, this is a bit of a mess, isn’t it?’

The ‘youth’ are angry at the ‘old people’ for voting leave. I’m not certain whether I count as ‘old people’, when I was ‘youth’, anything over 30 was assigned to the coffin-dodger category. I don’t engage with the ‘youth’, so haven’t had to explain that I voted stay, other than to my son, who knows, because he was in the booth next to me when I did it. (It is an offence to disclose how someone else voted, but you’re allowed to say which box you put your own cross in.) The ex, and the boy’s companion had both said they weren’t going to bother, which isn’t disclosing their vote, just their bloody toxic apathy. There’s anger directed from both ‘sides’ at the non-voters, I’m not angry as such, it’s more of a sadness, I know some people will have had valid reasons not to be registered to vote, not all of us want to be search-able, but those who could, and didn’t, I’m sad for them. There’s no poetry in that pity, I can’t ‘Dulce et decorum est’ it, the voiceless will die alongside those of us who spoke up, as corners are cut, and services dismantled, we ARE ‘in this together’, it’s just that we don’t know what ‘it’ is. 

“Brexit means Brexit.”, but NOBODY knows what ‘Brexit’ means in the first place, we’re fractious mushrooms, here, kept in the dark, and fed shite. Fungus spreads, as does the disquiet that the current government appears inept. That athlete’s foot itch, that the powers-that-be don’t appear to have a plan, that’s more infectious than the original “Shut up, snowflake, we won!” rhetoric, where the ‘prize’ turned out to be a voucher for a time-share, that could only be redeemed at an inconvenient point in time. Hollow, Pyrrhic, it’s no kind of a ‘win’ in real terms, and that’s the poison that needs to be drained, the uncertainty and insecurity, that nobody seems to know where we’re going. On paper, in theory, ‘showing our hand’ could give the 27 other players the advantage. We’re not children, bargaining for our ball-kicked-over-the-fence back, these decisions will have a lasting impact on all of us. I’m hover-hesitating on applying for vacancies in certain sectors due to the limbo-unknown factor, that’s a detriment to me, because I’m running out of money, a detriment to the sectors, because I have some phenomenal skills, and a detriment to everyone-else, because ‘you’ are paying the £317 per month the government thinks I can live on.

Drawing. I can’t draw any conclusions, other than that the country is screwed.