#i tried to educate her (and my older sister has also tried to reason with her) and she's refused to grow as a person

[theemmtropy]

Posts on this site will be like "Every person who is a minority shouldn't have to educate you! There are so many already-existing resources you can seek out!!" And then turn right around and say "Minorities need to be the better person when challenging and educating people who have bigoted beliefs!!" I'm fucking tired, and I'm not gonna waste my fucking time trying to convince someone that I deserve to be treated like a person.

[abbyfmc]

Plot Idea #4:

A girl named (Y/n) was the daughter of a war general whose family always served closely to the royal army, having contact with the king himself. Her mother, on the other hand, was an old childhood friend of the queen of that time so she would bring her children to the castle for visits.

Thanks to this, (T/n) met the yandere prince when they were children, (without any of them being aware that this was only to arrange a marriage for them years later) so they spent a lot of time together playing and talking.

(T/n) was not an only child, as she had more siblings who due to medieval times, died due to diseases such as tuberculosis, including her mother. This saddened her to the point of making her a lonely person. Her father, having her as the only descendant in his lineage and little time to even get married; overprotected her due to fear of losing her, to the point of not letting her accompany him to the palace and leaving her at home in the company of her sisters ([Y/n]'s aunts) and governesses.

The yandere prince had already grown attached to her, as (Y/n) took him out of his monotonous prince life and her absence worried him, to the point of asking (Y/n)'s father repeatedly about his daughter. He knew about the loss of her siblings and mother due to tuberculosis, being the cause of her distancing herself so much due to depression.

He sees that she is not only more beautiful than before and how lonely she is, but how shy and distrustful she has become; he was also the one to blame for distancing himself from her due to his hard and arduous upbringing. He spends time with her and realizes that he is wanting her more and more, while she is still insecure. On the other hand, the old king is very proud of the educational and military work that (Y/n)'s father has done, so in his last days he not only arranges the marriage between (Y/n) and the yandere prince, but also promotes (Y/n)'s father and his family to a very good and high economic, political and social rank.

When the king dies, he leaves his queen a widow and the yandere prince is not only married to (Y/n), but is promoted to yandere king (and thus [Y/n] is promoted to queen). At first (Y/n) didn't want to get married and tried to protest to her father over and over again, but he told her:

-"Listen (Y/n), I don't like this very much either. At first your marriage wasn't a big deal even though the old king had proposed it, but now things are different. Your older and younger brothers, who are the ones who could bring this clan forward, have passed away along with your mother and for that reason our family only has you as a hope. I myself am getting old and you know it, and if something happens to me, there will be no one to look after you once I'm gone. I'm sorry, but we all have a responsibility to fulfill; that is yours and there are no other options."-.

While it was true that her father was getting old and he was quite right, she was nervous and insecure. On the other hand, the yandere prince was delighted with the marriage whose ceremony was finally very close. He promised to take care of her at all times, to the point of not stopping to watch her through guards or by himself. The yandere king introduced her and showed her off to everyone, but he also overprotected her from anyone the yandere king considered a threat, to the point of only allowing his father-in-law to visit her in the palace.

-The End.

Yes, you can use my ideas, just give me credits.

[rise-my-angel]

Some stans actually believe that once Jon learns of his true parentage he will be happy. Jon literally just wants to be acknowledged as a Stark, he wants nothing with that shitty prince or his fire loving family. He might get some closure knowing about Lyanna but Ned Stark will always be his daddy.

I was thinking about this, and really, it doesn't change much of Jon's understanding of Ned. He knows his father isn't telling him the truth, or at least by not saying a word to him about his mother, he is keeping information from him on purpose. He knows Ned was hiding something about his birth, because Jon spent his entire life wondering what couldve happened between his mother and his father to cause him to shut down about it, even to him, even to Catelyn.

Jon already is aware that Ned is hiding something. He just does not know the degree of the secret.

But also, I am sick of people dismissing Neds role in his life. Ned is not Jon's uncle. Sure by blood he is, but Jon was raised thinking that he is his father. He was treated just like a father treats his son, he was loved and given the same education that Robb got, he was raised in the family home getting to grow up with his brothers and sisters.

Jon didn't suddenly lose all those days or evenings he wouldve gotten to spend with his father alone. Didn't suddenly lose all of the times they acted just like a loving father and son with no hangups. He didn't suddenly lose the fact that to Ned Stark, Jon is not his nephew, he is his son.

Jon does not suddenly lose that Ned never even gave him a reason to feel like he wasn't a good enough son. He interacted with his father his whole life in a way that made him feel loved to the point that even now that hes dead, Jon routinely feels frustration that multiple older men in his life have tried to place themselves into the position of a father figure to Jon.

He was given a personalized version of the Mormonts ancestral sword, that was once belonging to Jeors son. Jon's honoured but he is not lost on the implication that Jeor looks at Jon like a pseudo son and it bothers Jon even then. Men can give Jon a thousand swords but it will never change that his father alone is Ned Stark. And keep in mind, this occurs during the period of time early at Castle Black where Jon is resentful and thinks Ned let him come here because this life was all he deserved. And he STILL refused to let someone sway him into seeing a man as a father figure other then Ned Stark.

Jon through all the insecurities and anger, loves Ned Stark as much as a son possibly could. More then once Jon thinks in situations that could lead to his death, about Ned. He always circles back to what would his father think or do. Jon dictates his independent, adult life based around learning to be the honourable man his father wanted him to be and does so without resentment.

My negative opinions of Rhaegar aside, Jon has no attachment to the thought of him as any kind of man. He grew up his whole life knowing the story that Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna Stark. He grew up likely hearing the rumours that she was raped. He knew that kidnapping led to her dying tragically at the age of 16 in a way that clearly traumatized his father.

Jon has never been missing a father figure. He has always been missing his mother. Not missing a mother figure, only his mother. The only person he cares to learn about is her because shes the one person in Jon's blood he has never truly known. Then he learns hes heard about his mother his whole life, and realizes the bloodshed caused both for his conception and that she died without having a chance to be with her son at all.

Learning the truth is about realizing WHY Ned did the things he did. Why telling him about his mother was both too painful and too risky. Jon can be angry he was lied too, but does not change that Jon is smart and will understand that Ned did it all to protect Jon.

Jon will realize Ned did not need to raise him as his own son, in his home and family and give him love, to keep him safe. Jon knows Ned did all of that because he loves him the way Ned loved Robb or Bran. Jon will ultimately realize he never actually lost the father he grew up with, because Ned always considered Jon to be his son.

Learning the truth for Jon is about Lyanna, it's about learning that his mother died with her last words begging Ned to protect him because she loved him. It's about Jon realizing he is an echo of the dark shadows of Lyannas final months of life and that he needs to stand up and fight because she couldn't. That he needs to protect the ones he loves the way he wishes he could go back in time and protect her.

It's about realizing hes always had a father, because to Ned, Jon was always his son through and through. And it's about Jon realizing that he needs to live and fight because without him, Lyannas memory will fade away forever and he will not allow that to happen to her again.

Whatever people want to say about how Jon will feel about learning his blood is partly Targaryean, they will always downplay Jon also coming to terms with himself as a Stark.

However Jon will feel about the Targaryean side, none of that will take away that Jon will realize how incredibly important his Stark side is and always was. Their speculations about how Jon will feel about a man hes barley thought about his whole life, should never overpower that the truth leads Jon to the thing that matters.

That Jon Snow has always been loved, and he's always been a Stark. Because he was the son his mother died begging to protect, and he was the son that Ned Stark chose.

[aquagirl1978]

Meet my OC: Charlotte (IkePri)

Name: Charlotte Lelouch Paired with: Chevalier Michel Relationship: romantic Age: 27 Hair Color: dark red Eye Color: hazel green Birth Sign: Aquarius

Early Life

Charlotte came to live at the Palace in Rhodolite at an early age. Her mother, Clavis' sister, passed away when Charlotte was very young. With her father not in the picture, the now orphaned Charlotte moved into the palace to live with her aunt Leticia and cousin Clavis. Clavis and Charlotte were the best of friends, with Charlotte following her older cousin around and getting into trouble with him.

Incredibly intelligent and kind hearted, Charlotte was much like her cousin down to the matching birthmarks below their mouths. The one glaring area where the two differed was on their relationship with Chevalier.

Charlotte often acted as a buffer between the brothers. Clavis, never wanting to be alone with Chevalier, brought Charlotte along with him to make things more bearable. Chevalier, who tolerated so few people, allowed Charlotte to remain as, in his words, she, unlike her fool cousin, knew when to stay quiet.

After the death of the former queen and her aunt, Charlotte's future was unknown, until Sariel agreed to let her stay. He reasoned that it would be detrimental to her to remove her from her closest living family member.

Childhood Friends

When they were young, Charlotte had a somewhat distant, but respectful, relationship with Chevalier. She would remain (mostly) quiet in exchange for borrowing books from his library. They would sometimes read together, with minimal words exchanged. She was in awe of Chevalier - his genius, his grace, and as she got older, his looks. She never understood why Clavis hated him so much, and perhaps a part of her tried to get closer to Chevalier to improve their relationship.

There came a time in Charlotte's education when she, to put it nicely, outsmarted the palace teachers. Sariel was at a loss as to what to do with her - being the hellcat's cousin, no one wanted her as a student. That is, until the second prince agreed to be her tutor.

From that day on, they would spend time in each other's room studying together. Chevalier was impressed with her intellect, and found her thirst for knowledge refreshing. Unlike her cousin, she was not obsessed with besting him and was therefore able to focus her attention where it mattered.

It was during these study sessions when Chevalier first noticed he was experiencing strange feelings. They weren't unpleasant, a bit bothersome if anything. Over time, he grew accustomed to them, so much so that he even enjoyed these new feelings. He knew then it was time for him to stop being Charlotte's tutor.

Dating Chevalier

Now we get to the anti-climatic part of this story. I don't want to put anything here, because this is where it gets fun - flirting and kissing and teasing and more - and I have fic ideas planned for their dating journey. I'm gonna kinda just end it here, if I don't I'll ramble on until I can't write anymore words on this post. Charlotte has lived in my head for close to three years now, and I have a lot of stories in my head. Some I might share, some I won't.

On that note, I do welcome any and all asks about her, about her relationship with Chevalier and Clavis and anyone else in the palace. I will be reblogging OC ask games moving forward - always feel free to ask about her. I also have a modern AU for Charlotte and Chevalier which deviates greatly from canon. I might actually be more invested in that one, as I have far greater creativity there.

I also had so much fun working on this for Charlotte, that I have created another OC, this one for Ikemen Villains, and I hope to have her page up soon.

[thevexinator]

Since Asagiri won't give you Guild content, I will. Headcanons, but they're based on irl facts I found within 5 minutes of googling. [These are just my hcs you can add your own if you wanna]

Louisa May Alcott 💌

- Louisa and Nathaniel are family friends. Irl, Louisa's father was one of Hawthorne's pallbearers [pallbearer - someone helping to escort of carry a coffin]. In the setting of BSD, their families were in close relations due to operating at the same church. Even though Louisa doesn't remember, Nathaniel often looked after her since the older girls [Louisa's older sister Anna and Nathaniel's older sister Elizabeth] were often helping around with the adults.

- She really likes pulp fiction.

- She's knowledgeable about the medical field. The real Louisa was a nurse during World War 1.

- Speaking of war, Louisa is a major history nerd.

Margaret Mitchell ☂️

- While BSD Margaret dresses like what if Mary Poppins was a British aristocrat, the real Margaret Mitchell actually preferred dressing in men's clothes. Thus, whenever she's not on duty in the Guild, she's chilling in something she stole from Nathaniel.

- She's afraid of fire. Why? When Margaret was a child, her clothing ended up catching fire on accident. She's never been the same since.

- She also has driving anxiety. When she was 12, her dad hit a deer on the road. She's never been the same since.

Nathaniel Hawthorne ⚔️

- Generally avoids discourse about the Salem Witch Trials. An ancestor of his played a big part during it, two others were married to women who were accused of being witches. Thus, he added the 'w' to his last name.

- He's surprisingly good with glasswork. When the real Nathaniel and his wife moved into their home, the etched poems into the glass of the windows.

- For a large part of his life, he lived in a commune.

- Occasionally, he sees ghosts. The real Nathaniel once said he saw the ghost of his friend reading his own obituary.

Edgar Allan Poe 🦝

- He's an orphan. He doesn't tell people that.

- He likes being alone. Until he gets the feeling that someone is somewhere in the room with him.

- Insanely intelligent. He knows exactly what he's doing.

- Very weak constitution. One time, when the Guild were all drinking and whatever else they were doing, Poe blacked out after one drink of wine. Everyone genuinely thought someone tried to kill him until they found out he couldn't handle alcohol.

- Unphased. He's seen it all. Death? Child's play. Heartbeat under the floorboards? Normal Tuesday. Corpse falling off the roof? Crazy. Someone walking into the party dressed in red? Standard party etiquette.

Lucy Maud Montgomery 🪆

- Also an orphan. Doesn't tell people about it.

- Very charming. She can flirt. She just chooses not to. She knows she's too powerful.

- Cripplingly depressed. Self-explanatory.

- Has girl nights with Louisa and Margaret, basically a few hours of them doing girl activities. They tried to summon Bloody Mary at least seven times to no returns.

H. P. Lovecraft 🦑

- Lovecraft has monochromacy, a condition where someone can only see in grayscale. This is derived from irl Lovecraft's "The Color Out of Space," essentially Lovecraft's low education being the reason why he didn't know about the electromagnetic color spectrum.

- He's afraid of crowds. He hates it here so much.

- Has epilepsy. The only thing that can stop this eldrich monstrosity in a human trench coat is the average disco party.

- Loves cats. He is so normal about them. Cats run to him like crazy.

- He glows in the dark. Why shouldn't he? He's earned it. He's also deficient in vitamins science hasn't discovered yet. His ankles popping sound like rogue gunshots.

- AroAce. Intimacy is a concept he doesn't understand and doesn't want to.

John Steinbeck 🌳

- He's very much a dog person. His family keeps dogs. His favorite breed is the Australian Sheep dog.

- He was very sick as a child.

- Really into marine biology. [Steincraft fans stay winning.]

- Before the Guild, he worked as a construction worker, newspaper reporter,and caretaker.

- Ironically enough, he has a pollen allergy. It's not severe, just watering eyes and sniffles. He hates it.

Mark Twain 🔫

- So normal about the ocean. He takes Lovecraft and John with him when he goes boating.

- Into geology. He's the guy who collects rocks whenever he's outside.

- Guild game night isn't game night is Mark isn't beating everyone in every board game to ever exist.

- So normal about cats. The real Mark Twain has 19 cats, all with titles like Apollinaris, Beelzebub, Blatherskite, Buffalo Bill, Satan, Sin, Sour Mash, Tammany, Zoroaster, Soapy Sal and Pestilence to name a few. BSD Mark has one ginger cat he adopted off the streets of Yokohama he names Sal, occasionally calling her Sin whenever she's around Nathaniel.

- He almost drowned twice. One would think that would kill his passion for boating, but he baller'd his way out of it.

Francis S. K. Fitzgerald 🪙

- Dyslexic and in denial. Louisa tried to gently bring it up to him that half of his work email was spelled incorrectly, but he was in denial and chalked it up to it being 3 in the morning when he wrote that work email.

- He worked as a screenwriter before the Guild. Coincidentally, he met his wife there!

- He strikes me as a guy who owns a copy of "A Pickle For the Knowing Ones". If you don't know what that is, please look it up. I promise it's worth it.

- Makes too many dad jokes. John and Nathaniel officially want him dead.

- He forgets to sleep. He just forgets. Even though he looks like he died and got resurrected without prior notice and everyone in the Guild is asking him if he had a breakdown, he forgets to sleep.

Hermine Melville 🐋

- At some point in his life, he lived in the Pacific Islands.

- Hiking enthusiast. He likes the mountain terrain a lot.

- His office smells like smoke. No one knows why. It just does.

- Not much about him to be honest. I wish there was more screentime for him. <//3

[twistedwonderlandshenanigans]

Hey i really liked your headcanons for rooks family! I’ve been obsessed with the idea of his parents being hoarders and I was wondering if you had any more to add? If not that’s alright!🙏

Finally got to this, so sorry for the wait!!

Random HC's I Probably Overexplain - Rook Edition 1

TW: Hoarding (obviously), health issues, parentification of his older sister, dead (exotic) pet First things first, Rook is the youngest of seven. His mother has always been one who stays home, enjoying the art of taxidermy and studying the physiology of animals, where his father has always been more of a hunter. Like I mentioned in my Family HC's, Rook is very close with his mother, as she taught him to appreciate the sacrifice of death in order to sustain the circle of life. However, that 16 year gap between Rook and his siblings made her realize just how much stuff she had gotten rid of over the years that were testaments to her kids childhoods. As her kids started to move out and leave home, panic started to set in and she couldn't bring herself to get rid of any of their things that really, should have been thrown out. She tried to keep it all organized, but when her husband gently suggested they start going through it all, taking photos of what they didn't need, she broke down and refused, telling him it wasn't the same as having a physical copy of it all. Her husband backed down - after all, he was barely at home. He could deal with the mess for the few days he would stay home for the sake of the comfort of his wife, and his time out in the woods meant that his kids had another place to be as the house seemed to squeeze them out...even though that was the last thing his wife wanted.

Rook was a surprise, to say the least, but once his mother was pregnant with him, her nesting only went to 11 and it was the snapping point for one of the two kids still living at home. The elder of the two packed their bags, left a note tacked to one of her taxidermy animals, and went no contact, leaving their 16 year old sister and baby brother behind.

Rook's older sister couldn't bear the thought of Rook growing up in the environment her mother had made for him, and decided that at least until she was 18, she would stay and try to clean, as well as keep record of what the house used to look like so that maybe one day, she could restore it completely. However, when her mother caught her trying to clean the kitchen enough to try and cook, her mother broke down in tears. Her father told her that if she stressed her mother out too much, she would be solely responsible if the baby died. Because of this, she stopped cleaning, but vowed to stay to try and be a buffer for her brother, as well as get him his basic education if nothing else.

Postpartum depression ended up hitting Mrs. Hunt really hard, and once her husband confirmed his daughter was comfortable taking care of Rook for a few hours at a time, he spent his time trying to take care of his wife.

Rook and his sister ended up spending a lot of their time outside or in her room - which, she had finally been allowed to get rid of things she didn't want anymore as she was able to reason with her mother that the baby should at least have a cleaner area to crawl as he got older. This ended up being even more beneficial, as his crib was in her room and she became the primary caretaker for him. During this time, her parents were just trying to keep her mom from giving up on everything.

When Rook was about two, their mother finally tried to reach out to a company that would help her clean, however, because the family lived off the grid, they had some money, but not enough for the job that was required. Rook's sister gently volunteered to start cleaning, but at this point, her father had also gotten used to the "cozy" feeling of having his kid's belongings all around him and struggled with the idea of having anything change, especially as his wife was just starting to get better, he thought changing her environment wouldn't be beneficial for her.

So Rook's sister respected her parent's decision and continued trying to take care of Rook to the best of her ability, however, she did so outside as often as possible, so in the winter when she had to stay inside with him, they would both get incredibly ill from black mold exposure. Her parents wrote it off as a cold, so her tipping point was when he couldn't breathe, even when she wrapped him up and took him outside. She swaddled him as best she could and trekked on foot to the nearest town, knocked on the first door she could get to, and begged for assistance for him. The people in the home drove them both to the hospital, where he was treated for his symptoms, and she was treated for frostbite. Her dad ended up tracking them down, acting glad to see them, but on the way home reprimanded her for pretending to be Rook's parent and for not letting the family handle it themselves, and making sure she didn't tell anyone about the situation at home.

As Rook got older, his sister took on the responsibility of getting him into school, as well as teaching him how to hunt/fish and general survival skills, the way her father had taught her. This type of influence kinda snapped her dad out of his agoraphobia and he started trying to get more involved with Rook and raising him, still out of the house. When Rook was about nine, his sister and mom got into a huge argument, and her mother blamed her for being the reason she wasn't close with her son. Rook then de-escalated the situation by showing his mother he had been reading her old research journals. While it wasn't a lot, it was enough for his mom to get her workspace back. His sister helped her clean and organize that space to the best of her ability, his father started to hunt more often again, and his mother started to lead him through the importance of the circle of life. As balance started to seep back into their lives, his older sister started feeling more comfortable leaving Rook in the care of her parents and really get to start her own life. She still feels guilt for leaving, but she promised Rook to stay penpals and they did! She would regularly send him trinkets from her stays wherever she was, and often sent photos of her visiting with their other big siblings, telling him one day she would come back for him and bring him to see the rest of the world. That was all Rook had to hang on to as his parents started to spiral again now that another child had left the house.

When Rook was about 12, his father brought home a hyacinth macaw for him, (yes by unethical means, but you knew that), and he found it absolutely gorgeous. He loved that bird more than anything, so when it went missing one day, he was absolutely heartbroken. He ended up finding the poor bird weeks later, stuck behind some books on his mother's bookshelf. His mother saw it as an excellent opportunity to brighten up the home with a splash of colour by getting Rook to taxidermy his beloved pet. After that day, he decided pets were overrated - animals were meant for food, for study, or for trophies and that was it.

It's not that he doesn't have good memories of his parents, there were certainly really high highs, but there were also very low lows. His parents haven't gotten much better in the house they live in, and he's gone minimal contact with them. He's still trying to get over the feeling of abandonment his sister left him with, but doesn't blame her for leaving. Overall, talking about home and family is just painful for him, so he'd rather not. He likes to watch people because he fantasizes about what his life could have been like if he were in their shoes instead.

[soyforramen]

Apologies, my brain has latched onto a new fandom and just. Cannot process until I vomit this out. So buckle up babes, it's a long one. All apologies in advance.

Complete change of timelines where Madam Yu is the one to find Wei Wuxian, or rather her maids do. They're sent out to Yiling for like... cultivation things, night hunt, secret assassinations, or whatever. They find him very soon after his parents die, early enough that he's just barely on the streets for a few months. Jinzhu and Yinzhu hear about the death of a cultivator who trained under Baoshen Sanren and that her child was recently kicked out, such a shame, but who can feed any more mouths the winter after a bad harvest?

So Jinzhu slips out, finds the kid and they abscond back to Lotus Pier. As they show up they're like, wait out here kid, we've got work to do. And as he's waiting, Jiang Yanli comes up with tea for her mother and is like ??? And Wei Ying imprints on her the moment she gives him a few biscuits and tells him she makes him laugh. So when she goes into the room, Wei Ying follows her in and Jinzhu and Yinzhu are like.

Oh. Right. We found this kid and his mom is supposed to be that lady you really didn't like back in the day, what do you want us to do with him? And Madam Yu at first is like,

But then she sees how starry eyed he is over Jiang Yanli and Madame Yu has a light bulb moment of seeing him waiting for Jiang Yanli to tell him what to do and is like. Wait. And looks betwen Jinzhu and Yinzhu and is like. Wait.

She tells them she's going to adopt him and immediately goes and gets that done. When Jiang Fengmian finds out she tells him to go find his own orphan and just shuffles Wei Ying over to stay with Jinzhu and Yinzhu. (It's not like he's stopped her before, and it's not like he can now. Besides, she found him first. Don't you have a sect to run?)

So now Wei Wuxian is going to be raised alongside Jiang Yanli rather than Jiang Cheng. The twins start to train him and raise him, and eventually he tries calling Jinzhu Mom and Yinzhu Auntie in public and they're both like.

Don't call me that. We are not related. But inside they're all.

It doesn't help that he's quick to learn and sweet, and they're quick to praise him and correct him in an age appropriate way even though they're still really strict and seemingly cold to him. (Wei Wuxian had to get it from somewhere is all I'm saying.) But also they make sure he's fed and clothed and has proper training and an education.

It's constantly impressed upon him that Jiang Yanli is his sister and that he needs to protect her and she'll take care of him in return. Madam Yu especially does her best to make sure they bond, because if her daughter is to marry into Jinlintai, she's damn sure going to have more protection than just a coterie of maids and random Jiang disciples. Especially since it's becoming clear to everyone that there's something wrong with Jiang Yanli's overall health, and there's some chronic pain and fatigue that hits her every so often. So if she had someone who knew her best and could take care of her throughout her life...

Since Wei Wuxian is only five and Jiang Yanli is only a few years older than him it will be similar to how the Meishan Yu heirs are raised alongside their own bodyguards. (I have this image that the Meishan Yu Clan is like a snake, in that they move quietly and lurk in the shadows until they strike, which would also explain a lot as to why Madame Yu is called the Purple Spider.)

As he grows up, Wei Wuxian is still an absolute chaos demon, only this time the first time he tries pranking anyone and he's caught, the twins make him do twice the amount of training and subtly imply that the reason he's being punished is not the fact that he's being silly with harmless pranks, but the fact that he got caught at all.

So they train him in the Meishan Yu way, which is far more covert and focused on getting in quick and dealing with things, and in the Jiang swordplay, which is focused on speed and agility. Meaning he's good with a sword, much better than good, but he's not at the same level as he is in MDZS OG. But he's also got an extensive collection of daggers, stilettos, hidden talismans, and fighting dirty and shamelessly.

Jiang Cheng is jealous that Jiang Yanli now has another brother, and that Wei Ying is monopolizing Jiang Yanli, but both his father and his mother are focused on his training and education in becoming a sect leader, and Madam Yu isn't constantly comparing the two since they're not 'competing' against each other like she seemed to think in cannon. Instead when Jiang Cheng gets too frustrated about not figuring something out or is too hard on himself, Madam Yu throws Wei Wuxian at him to train with.

As they get a bit older, Wei Wuxian is like, but is jiejie learning all this? And Jinzhu has to tell him that no, she's got a small core, besides she has you. Wei Wuxian thinks that's stupid, and says so loudly, so he goes to teach her at least the basics so she can defend herself with hidden daggers, terrifying hair pins, and talismans at the very least.

It's at that point that they realize how adapt he is with talismans, so they make the decision to send both him and Jiang Yanli off to Meishan Yu for him to train with their masters. Jiang Yanli meanwhile is sent to her grandparents and aunts to learn more about political manipulation training, management of sects, trade, logistics, etc.

It's at this point that they get the invitation to Gusu, and Madam Yu insists both her kids go. Which also means Wei Wuxian, professional rule breaker, also goes along with them. During the day he's as perfect as Jinzhu and Yinzhu could ever dream, but he immediately breaks curfew the first night because a) Emperor's Smile, and b) jiejie's in pain again, and the medicines they were sent with weren't working right, and jiejie's dorm mate said that these herbs from Caiyi could help...

Anyways, Lan Wangji is totally able to win against Wei Wuxian in strength, and breaks one of his wine jars again, but since Wei Wuxian was always told to make sure to never get caught, at least this time he had a mask on. So technically Lan Wangji can't say for 100% certain who it was who broke curfew. (Discretion, always, might have been tattooed on his forehead by Yinzhu.)

But like. Lan Wangji is like. Bro. My man. Dude.

Thus beginning his utter fascination with Wei Wuxian because of course the Head of Discipline can't let any infraction go, cause denial (whomp whomp).

Wei Wuxian is thrilled to get such a response out of someone so poised and stoic, especially since he's never been able to do that with his mom or aunt or even Madam Yu. Jiang Yanli thinks it's absolutely hilarious, immediately pegging Wei Wuxian's interest as a crush, and when Wei Wuxian dismisses that, she has to be like

Sir. I know you. I helped raise you. This is a crush. So she's super encouraging that they spend time together, and shows her true colors as an instigator when it comes to her didi. But Wei Wuxian pushes back since they won't be there long enough to form any real long term attachments.

(Actual video of Wei Wuxian during this conversation)

Anyways, Gusu Arc is similar to last time, only Wei Wuxian isn't technically a student, but he does sit in on the classes and surpringly draws 0 attention to himself, making Lan Wangji's suspicion of him even more suspicious to Lan Xichen.

This time, Jin Zixuan isn't punched. Jiang Yanli gives him a cold bow and walks away, but that night Wei Wuxian definitely makes sure that Jin Zixuan knows that that wasn't cool, cause like. It's Jiang Yanli, she's the best why wouldn't you think that? Wtf sir, why would you say anything like that? And oops, look how sharp this dagger is, and oops my talisman slipped. Again.

Needless to say, the next day Jin Zixuan has a healthy respect for staying far away from Jiang Yanli or even thinking about her, and if he doesn't even look Wei Wuxian's way? Well, no surprise there.

MianMian is totally Wei Wuxian's BFF now, though, since she's never seen anyone be able to handle Jin Zixuan so well, and that includes his mother. Lan Wangji is, obviously, jealous, Jiang Yanli continues to instigate meetings between them, and the day of the Waterborne Abyss Wei Wuxian is finally like.

Oh. That's what Jiang Yanli meant about Lan Zhan. And Wei Wuxian is just like,

This leads to further shenanigans between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian to the point that even Lan Qiren is like. Lan Wangji, just ignore him. We have three weeks left, it's fine. But Lan Wangji is like, he gave me rabbits? But also broke 82 rules in less than 10 minutes? And also he's annoying? But why is he paying more attention to Luo Qingyang?

Anyways, they finally go home, Cloud Recess is attacked, and the Wens are like. Time for the worst summer camp ever! Jiang Yanli begs Wei Wuxian to go to the Wen Camp with Jiang Cheng to keep an eye on him. Wei Wuxian refuses until Jinzhu steps in and uses her mom voice, telling him in no uncertain terms he's going, and Jiang Yanli will be in Meishan, as far from the Wens as she can be right now.

Turtle Time! All of the disciples are essentially going:

the entire time they're there. The arc goes basically the same, only more Wangxian cuddling, teasing, and Wei Wuxian being a shameless flirt to Lan Wangji's horror.

Jinzhu and Yinzhu travel back with Jiang Cheng to save Lan Wangi and Wei Wuxian, and for the first time Jinzhu and Yinzhu show in public that the familial connection with Wei Wuxian goes both ways. The twins insist Lan Wangji stays until he's healed because they owe him a debt for saving Wei Wuxian, but mostly because they're nosy as shit about him. Wei Wuxian would not stop talking about him in his letters and when he returned, so they're like who is this?

Then they meet him, and are all. Ah. Fellow Introvert. Amazing.

We will still kill you if you do anything to our surrogate child/nephew.

Lan Wangji is like. Fair. But also what are you talking about I totally didn't write him a romantic song or anything.

Things tighten down all over the cultivation world after that, and Wei Wuxian is sent to Meishan Yu where Jiang Yanli is, and they miss out on the Lotus Pier attacks. When they get news of what happened, Jiang Yanli has to keep Wei Wuxian from immediately going back, since they both know that if Lotus Pier burned then their parents died defending it. A few days later, Jiang Cheng shows up, along with a badly hurt Jinzhu. Madame Yu forced Jinzhu to go with him since she knew Jiang Cheng would immediately be like. Nope, gonna go back to Lotus Pier to my death the minute Zidian released him.

Both of them are going through major surivor's guilt, but Jiang Cheng sneaks off to get his parent's bodies at the very least, and Jiang Yanli sends Wei Wuxian to chase him down. When they get there, Wen Ning finds them and shows them where the bodies have been moved to.

(Wei Wuxian sees his aunts body and has a major trauma moment, realizing that he's lost what basically amounted to his second mother, and almost lost his first. He decides he's not going to lose either Jinzhu or Jiang Yanli, and he'll do his best to keep Jiang Cheng around either.)

Basically it's the same progression, only this time Wei Wuxian's loyalty isn't to Jiang Cheng, but to Jiang Yanli, so he drags him back to Meishan. There, Jiang Yanli begs for something to be done to help her brother, but the healers are all at a loss.

Jinzhu, meanwhile, only wants to get revenge even though she's still really weak from the attack. All she wants to do is go on a suicidal mission to take out the Wens and Wei Wuxian is Not Having That. He refuses to let her go alone, and Jiang Yanli refuse to let Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng out of her sight. She knows Wei Wuxian would definitely sacrifice himself for Jinzhu, but he's her brother. They're far close than Jiang Cheng because they spent almost every waking moment together due to the circumstances, and by their own choice.

Jiang Yanli starts openly calling Jinzhu her aunt, putting her on the same level as her mother's sisters, and Wei Wuxian calls her mother in public, even though she fights it at first.

Eventually it becomes obvious that neither Jiang Cheng nor Jinzhu are getting better, so Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian decide to seek out Wen Qing, who had grown close to Jiang Yanli when they were at Gusu, and ask for her help. They come up with a plan where Wen Qing and Wen Ning are 'captured' by the remaining Jiang disciples, and brought back to Meishan.

There, Jiang Yanli finds out about Wen Qing's research into golden cores, and begs Wen Qing to transfer Jiang Yanli's to Jiang Cheng. After all, she's never been able to do anything to it due to her illness, and even as weak as it is it's still enough for him to cultivate.

Jinzhu is still trying to sneak out, and Wen Qing finally sits her down and tells her she still has a family, even though her sister and mistress are gone. The best thing Jinzhu can do now is to watch over Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli and her own child rather than trying to stay in the past. Jinzhu is not happy about this, but Wen Ning speaks up and says that since Jinzhu helped raise them, if Jinzhu left it would be like losing another parent all over again.

This, and Wen Qing's locking down of her core, make Jinzhu calm down and think long term rather than emotionally. Once Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli, and Jinzhu are healed enough, Wen Qing and Wen Ning are 'released' and go back to the Wens.

The Sunshot Campaign progresses in much the same way, only Jinzhu and Wei Wuxian work together to gather intelligence, while Jiang Yanli works closer with the sects in strategy and logistics behind the scenes. Jiang Cheng is still an angry butterball at this point, but Wei Wuxian isn't doing demonic cultivation, which creates problems, but they somehow manage to struggle through.

Jiang Yanli works to make sure the Dafan Wen get 'captured' very early in the campaign who have to look at the rest of the sects and be like. Y'all. They hate Wen Ruohan just as much as us. But also.

Free Healthcare.

In a war.

(NMJ is still against it, but he's overruled by literally everyone else.)

When Lan Wangji is away from the camp, Jiang Yanli and Jinzhu are both like, no, no moping Wei Wuxian. And they throw a bunch of paper at him and tell him to go do something useful. He ends up making new talismans that help with the war effort, and some that just make life easier, and hands them out to as many people as he can.

Once the Dafan Wen reach them, Wei Wuxian, once again, latches onto the orphaned A-Yuan. Jinzhu takes one look at them and immediately thinks,

and sets off to try and figure out how to adopt a grandchild. Lan Wangji is just thinking 'Yes. Perfect Husband Material' when he sees Wei Wuxian with A-Yuan.

Jiang Yanli has to be the one with the brain cell, pointing out to Wei Wuxian that he cannot adopt a child during a war. And especially not if he's still single. Seeing how Lan Wangji is looking at Wei Wuxian, Jiang Yanli seeks out Lan Xichen and tells him, this is what we're doing. Don't ask any questions. But your brother is going to marry my brother, so make sure neither of them die. Thanks.

Once they get close enough to Nightless City through the strength and power of Nie Mingjue's mustache and (insert epic war arc here), Jinzhu and Wei Wuxian sneak into Wen Ruohan's palace, and Lan Wangji invites himself along for Reasons.

When they share the logistics they've found out (time tables, the fact that Wen Ruohan is having health issues, the lack of cultivators within the walls of the city) with the rest of the war council, Wen Qing (invited there by Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng, specifically), points out to the rest of them that the medicine's Wen Ruohan takes are healthy in small doses but are also. Hella Poisonous.

And the rest of them are like, ok? Cool? But what does that have to do with us?

And Wen Qing just looks at them. You captured me, babes.

So Wen Qing 'escapes' back to Nightless city and because she looks absolutely awful (again, she knows what herbs and medicines to take to make her look tortured and miserable), and Wen Ruohan sees her and is like, my niece! You have returned to me, even though I no longer have your family to blackmail you! You do like me!

And she's like, yes, of course I do. I also brought the Jiang Sect Leader with me, and you could totally lock him up in the dungeons, or you could just. Let me keep him and experiment on him, that would be awesome?

And Wen Ruohan is like,

(Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng is the one sending information back to the Sunshot Campaign through lights in the window at night.)

Anyways, Wen Qing ends up being Wen Ruohan's doctor, again, while the fighting goes on outside, and rumors start to go around about one or three spies being inside Nightless City. Wen Qing says that they've got to rout the spies out or we'll lose this war.

Meanwhile, Meng Yao is just

Paranoia grows rampant as Jiang Cheng uses Wei Wuxian's talismans to make it seem like the spies' activities are increasing until Wen Ruohan only lets Wang Lingjiao and Wen Chao supervise and bring him his meals. So its a THING when he ends up bedbound with a poison that only Wen Qing can treat him for. And since Wang Lingjiao and Wen Chao were the only two who could have tampered with his food, and Wen Qing is above reproach being the prodigal son doctor (and the spying and the evidence of it was going on before she got there), Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao are executed.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch Sunshot Campaign:

Jin Zixuan is still being stupid about Jiang Yanli, and he lets the same woman take all the credit for Jiang Yanli's food, and he confronts her when she tells him that no, that's from me. And Jiang Yanli just bursts into angry stress tears - but no one other than her knows that - and Wei Wuxian snaps. Jiang Yanli takes him down before he can get to Jin Zixuan, though, quicker than anyone but Hanguang-Jun has been able to.

(Jinzhu pointed out all his weaknesses to Jiang Yanli long ago, and Jiang Yanli Does Not Hesitate.)

And everyone else is just looking at her like, wtf? Then Jiang Yanli proceeds to dress Lan Zixuan down and his only thought is

Nie Mingjue continues to be a bear of a warrior and wins skirmishes and takes out Wen Xu. At this point Jiang Guangshan is looking at it and being like, ah yes. I help. Here's two more cultivators. And generally continuing to be The Worst.

Jin Zixuan and his contingent of MianMian and other cultivators collectively roll their eyes.

But Nie Mingjue's story is a completely different story with grand, overarcing themes of brotherhood, trauma, war and glory, and family trauma, but that is not what we're on about today folks.

Flash back to Nightless City where Wen Ruohan is losing his shit and Wen Qing keeps on gaslighting him, because she is a chaos demon on the same level as Wei Wuxian when given a chance. Wen Ruohan decides he can only trust like, two people besides Wen Qing, and the rest of his sect is just waiting for him to show any weakness.

Wen Qing very gently tells him that he hasn't been sleeping well, that's why he's so paranoid, and makes him some very strong sleeping droughts. She warns him not to take too much all at once, though, because when taken in large doses it's deadly. Only he doesn't realize that not only does it have a strong depressants in it, it's also full of stimulants that don't let him fall asleep.

After only a few days, Wen Ruohan is hella hallucinating and it gets to the point where his liver just. Fucks off. and he dies brutally. And since he's executed all of his remaining line, Wen Qing is the next in line for sect leader.

Immediately her first decree is that the Wens are surrendering and she throws open the doors to Nightless City and orders the remaining Wen soldiers to stand down. Jiang Chang comes out and is like, can I go home now? And Wen Qing is like,

The Jin are still like, the Wen have to pay we lost sooo much to them, wah wah wah, but this time even Jin Zixuan is like Bro-Dad. Chill.And Jin Guangshan kind of has to since he isn't able to claim Jiggy's killing of Wen Ruohan this time around.

So everyone fucks off to rebuild their sects; Jiang Cheng works on his 'new' core; and Jiang Yanli works to rebuild the sect, forcing Wei Wuxian to do a lot of the work because she's tired, man.

Eventually, Lan Xichen gets tired of Lan Wangji moping about and sends him to Lotus Pier under the guise of intersect relations, along with a letter outlining a marriage proposal because at this point even Lan Qiren just wants to marry Lan Wangji off to put him out of his misery.

Side Story: Wei Wuxian absconds with the rest of the Dafan Wen who have all looked at Nightless City and been like, nah. I'm good. And Wen Qing is like. Same. Especially since

So the Wen are disbanded as a sect officially as a condition of surrenduring (and she didn't want to lead the remaining Wen soldiers, they super suck).

Instead she goes to Nie Mingjue, since the Nie's were the only sect who didn't have majorly damaged land during the war, and Nie Huaisang and her got on famously, and rolls up like, Yo. NMJ. I want to build a medical pavilion, and he's like. No.

And NHS is like. Bro. Please, let me handle this. Wen Qing here's a nice spot just outside our home, and here's some money to train medics and learn about our terrifying cultivation methods, thanks.

Side Story Time!

Wen Qing and Nie Mingjue end up in a hate/fuck relationship, playing a long game of chicken until they end up married. Wen Qing is able to cut back on the resentful energy of the Nie Cultivation methods through a combination of Wen medicine and Lan musical cultivation to extend his life in a 'You can't die yet, I need more funding,' sort of way, and Nie Mingjue agrees to her methods because 'I'm still suspicious of you."

Everyone else is like, please use better silencing talismans Sect Leader we are begging you.

Nie Huaisang is currently commissioning three seperate plays dedicated to Wen Qing Alone.

Back at the plotline: The Phoenix Mountain Hunt still goes on as planned; Wei Wuxian still throws a flower at Lan Wangji; only this time he spends the entire opening ceremony at Jiang Yanli's side, who is there more in an official pseudo-sect leader capacity rather than at Madam Jin's invitation.

Madam Jin is still like, My son's a dick, yes, but marraige maybe?

Wei Wuxian snarks at this underneath his breath, and Jinzhu discreetly stabs him with a hair pin and reminds him to behave. Jiang Yanli tells Madam Jin that the Jiang Sect is willing to honor the marriage if the Jin are since their sects are so close, but only on the condition that Jin Zixuan is the one wanting to enter the marriage. Otherwise, if he is still against it, they should dissolve the marriage since the Jiang's have already taken so much insult from him personally.

Before Madam Jin can protest too much, Jiang Yanli steers the conversation with the other sect leaders around them to matters of trade, adeptly putting to use the more intensive training of a sect she received at Meishan to use.

A few hours into the hunt, Wei Wuxian gets fidgety, and Jinzhu chases him off to check on Jiang Cheng to keep him out of trouble. On the way, he 'finds' Lan Wangji and at some point in their walk, Lan Wangji looks as if he wants to confess something, but they're interrupted by Jin Zixun's appearance, along with Su She and a few other reprobates.

Wei Wuxian manages to be polite enough, and waits until he and Lan Wangji are walking off to slip a few talismans Jin Zixun's way so he can't reasonably be blamed. Su She, ever the sycophant, still blames him, claiming that he saw Wei Wuxian do it. And Lan Wangji is like, I was right right next to Wei Ying and I saw nothing.

Jin Zixuan stumbles upon them, along with Jiang Yanli, presumably on a walk together, with Madam Jin and Jinzhu behind them. Jin Zixun whines about it to his cousin until Lan Wangji pushes him for proof of a talisman. Surely there would have been a paper or ashes or something left to prove that there was ever a talisman to begin with.

(Knowing full well Wei Wuxian has come up with a talisman that leaves no trace.)

When Jin Zixun turns to Jinzhu, thinking that surely one of Madam Yu's maids knows just what Wei Wuxian gets up to, she just turns to face him and stares, letting the numerous scars on her face scare him off of it.

As they return to the pavilion, they all have to watch as Jin Zixuan is awkward and weird around Jiang Yanli, and Wei Wuxian can't help but make faces about it. Jiang Yanli catches him and points out, to his utter embarassment, that he's worse around Lan Wangji, and since she's had to deal with it for the last ten years, he can deal with it for one hour.

That's more than enough to keep him quiet until the banquet that night, though it doesn't help to keep Lan Wangji from looking too smug about it.

[i-need-some-advice-on]

I need some advice on some choices I'll have to make. My parents are very strict and religious people, their whole outlook into life always had a religious outlook. They're also very homophobic and sexist, and it's tied to their religion. They're also impossible to change the minds of. I tried (for much lighter subjects to them) to show them another view, backing it up with lots of information, philosophical points, even religious context and they wouldn't budge, all the books and research I referenced became "the west's propaganda", and "fake information", the religious points I made got ignored, everything I said got cut down to me being too inexprienced and young, I would understand when I'm older (I'm fucking 20, every other adult in my life has been telling me that I'm very mature and wise ever since I was eleven).

I'm bi and also a woman. Their sexism and homophobia is not subtle. My mother told me during the pandemic that she wished "COVID kills all the bad people, you know, the lesbians" and my father is expecting me, no arguing, to only work if it's a women only workplace which fucking impossible to find. I'm in college and I can't imagine what would happen if they knew I talked to male classmates, because simply talking to men is something they can slutshame me for, but it wouldn't be the worst they'd do. I know that no matter what I do, I will never be allowed to be myself around them, and that they will not accept me if I am being myself. I have reason to be scared that they would do more than just disown me.

I have three reasons for still not wanting to leave. 1) I know how it sounds but I still love them. I don't want to lose my family because leaving means that. 2) I may not be able to look after myself and I won't have the financial support of a family like some other people. The world is scary. 3) I have sisters that are younger than me. My dad already has some questions about us getting our educations and I'm scared if I leave the questions he had about my "woke university" "corrupting my soul" will be definite and he will not allow them to get their educations after I leave, the youngest is 6 now, it would take her 16 years to get a college education, assuming she doesn't take gap years. I would be 36. To me it's not a question to make sure they're also safe and at least have a college education, I will not sacrifice that. How do I get out of this, how do I survive. (I don't live in America, nor UK, nor Europe)

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[tbkenvs3000w24]

My Relationship with Nature 

Hi, I am Tess, a third-year Environmental Science Co-op student at the University of Guelph. Welcome to my first post on my nature interpretation blog where I hope to share my ever-growing love of nature and opinions on environmental suitability.  

I would describe my relationship with nature to be one of respect, curiosity, and love. Being outdoors, whether I am at my Muskoka cottage, hiking a new trail or simply sitting in my backyard brings me a sense of peace that I do not find anywhere else. When I am in nature, I allow myself to slow down and take time to be present with my surroundings by admiring the landscape and listening to the sound of leaves rustling, water flowing and the animals in the distance.  

Photograph I took at my cottage located on Six Mile Lake in Muskoka, Ontario. The evening was cold and windy, but the sunset was beautiful. 

My love for nature stems from my access to the outdoors as a child. I am incredibly lucky to have built positive experiences outdoors through having access to nature, recognizing this as a privilege not everyone has as a child. My favourite memories come from my family cottage, camping trips, the numerous trails in my hometown and hours of watching Animal Planet growing up. I spent hours playing outside with my sisters chasing butterflies, catching frogs, swimming in the lake at our cottage and walking through the woods. These experiences as a child have fostered my appreciation and curiosity for nature and our environment.  

A picture I took of Eramosa River from the top of a cliff during a hike at Rockwood Conservation Area just outside of Guelph. 

My sense of place in nature comes from my parent's exposing me to the outdoors from an early age. My parents took my sisters and me out on the water at our cottage, where they showed us around the lake, taking us into swamps to see loons, swans, frogs, turtles, fish and more. They taught us the landmarks on the water and the history of different cottages on the lake. They helped build my knowledge of the place where we spent our summers. Also, my mom and dad took us camping and hiking in many Ontario Provincial Parks. showing us the beautiful landscape our province has to offer. My mom shared her knowledge of plants and birds with me allowing me to recognize distinct species. The opportunities my parents gave me in natural areas built my positive relationship with the environment and gave me a sense of place. 

This is a picture of the Uxbridge Brook I took last summer while on a hike in my hometown, Uxbridge, Ontario, with my mom and sister.

As I got older and started to pay attention to environmental issues, my general fascination with nature shifted to focus on problems such as climate change, pollution, and species at risk. The foundational experiences I had as a child in nature helped fuel my want to help protect our natural world. I moved away from being someone who simply enjoyed nature to someone who tries to conserve it. This is one of the main reasons I decided to study environmental science at the University of Guelph. Through my schooling, I have further developed my love for nature and sense of place while building tools that will help me pursue a career working to solve environmental problems.  

Snowshoe race at the Etobicoke Outdoor Education Centre.

Through co-op, I worked as an outdoor education intern with the Toronto District School Board at the Etobicoke Outdoor Education Centre. Here, I worked with students with varying levels of experience outdoors and interests. Through this four-month position, I helped provide hundreds of students from the city the opportunity to participate in outdoor activities such as biodiversity hikes, night hikes, winter activities and outdoor games while teaching them about sustainability. Here, I used my personal love for nature and knowledge from my program to help children develop connections with nature. 

A photograph I took at my Cottage in February a few years ago.

I look forward to further exploring the natural world in diverse ways and sharing these experiences with others throughout this course. 

[aoyama-division]

Luis's Thoughts on Ginza Division

Masa Judice

"...You know, most people probably don't know this about me, but I'm a very religious person. My parents didn't see the point in taking me to temples or churches, but my Abuela was the one who educated me on the importance of religion. At first, when I was younger, I didn't really see the point. But as I got older, wiser, and started spending more time in the church, then I realized just how important it is to have something that you believe in. I tried to get Tomi and Karada interested, but eventually, I quit wasting my time since neither of them could be bothered. I'm grateful that I got to know Shisuta from Ueno; she seems to be one of the few people that I can openly talk about my faith with."

"Anyway, I have nothing against people of faith. My friendship with Shisuta is proof of that. I don't even really mind that Kuko kid from Nagoya, though he is not at all who a monk should model themselves after. ...But this priest here... despite the fact that he is famous and seems earnest when he preaches the Word, I can't help but feel something about him is off. My Abuela loves listening to him on T.V., and I won't lie, he is very passionate. But... I don't know, it's just something about him that I don't like. It also doesn't help that I hear he has a strong vendetta against Shisuta and her family. That proves that there is something wrong with this guy..."

Eiji Noguchi

"Noguchi-san. I met him once at a party my parents were throwing. I didn't really care, but I was forced to attend, as usual." Luis rolls his eyes. "But besides that, Noguchi-san is quite famous for his invention, PROFILE. I have an account on there, but I don't use it much, compared to my teammates. I often just use it to post pictures of some of the dishes I've made, days and memories I've shared with my Abuela, or just to check in with some of my acquaintances that I've met over the years."

"Other than that, Noguchi-san is a dedicated businessman and a family person. I remember he invited all of his family here to my restaurant for his father's birthday. I was kinda hesitant since I have had bad experiences with serving CEOs. But thankfully, Noguchi-san and his family were nice. I look forward to seeing them again sometime."

Oki Teagan

"This man... you all recall what I said before when I spoke about Chinami-san, the blind fortune teller from Ōta that used to be in a rap group before? Well, this guy was also part of the group, and I blame him for the reason that they disbanded. I know it wasn't entirely his fault, but you have to admit, his piss-poor attitude didn't help either. In fact, I think this guy got off on pissing off as many people as he possibly could. He thought that just because his rap group was doing so well and that he was a phenomenal rapper or something, that gave him the right to be as arrogant as he wanted. No one paid him much attention when the group broke up, and before now, I don't think anyone even cared that he had vanished for two years."

"It does make you wonder, though: what the hell happened to him during those two years? And why the hell did he suddenly join up with this team?"

Last Judgment

"'Last Judgment.' I have to admit, like Tomi mentioned, the name sounds 'ominous', as well as 'final'. I have to wonder exactly what this team's objective is in entering this tournament. I know Noguchi-san has stated that he is looking for a cure for his infant daughter who is ill. But I don't know about the priest or the former rap star. Judging from the name, I can't help but think the priest may have had something to do with the three of them partaking in this contest."

"...But then again, I know that Chinami-san is part of a team, as well, with her younger sisters. And since that angry guy is part of this team... could they have formed to eliminate Chinami's team and Shisuta's? I worry for both of them, but I'm sure they will be fine. After all, both women have outstanding teams that they are part of."

[thetenamongstthesethrees]

TW: REFERENCE TO SH AND RELAPSE OF SH AND SUICIDE ATTEMPT

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Ok so ik ive been inactive for a *WHILE* and im srry for that but like i have a buncha things that happened these past 3 months that I NEED To share SOOOO....

First things first, the one im most excited abt: I DID MY FIRST PERFORMANCE!!! My school was doing little mermaid jr and I got Scuttle! I was really happy to get my first role and getting at least one solo, and Im just happy overall on how it went! I think I did really good on my first try! Only bad thing was that now im kinda going through my lil mermaid hyperfixation and have been looking up fics where Sebastian and Ariel kinda have a Father/Parental Figure-Daughter or Older Brother-Younger (stupid but ultimately well meaning) Sister dynamic and have started to write a fic on that bc no ones done it before apparently😒(im going cray cray, bonkers mayhaps)

Might've gotten my eye infected(I live in the east of the us, new york to be more specific and woke up the day after the "live vintage (BLAME CANADA/j) filter" with my right eyes nerves slightly more irritated and haven't gotten that checked out so thats fun)

FINALLY finished that one drawing ive been making for 3 MONTHS.(well, technically....)

Almost done writing my passion project, AKA the one I originally wanted to make into an animated series but have settled for a book just in case that can't happen! I still need to work out some kinks, design more outfits, get all their personalities in check, make sure the world and magic is fully fleshed out, ect.

I also do band, and while I originally thought that I would have a problem bc of both band and theatres close scheduling(i originally had dress rehearsal on june 2nd, AND my band concert on June 2nd) but it all worked out in the end! My band concert went great, and while the dress rehearsal was a mess, we at least got through it! :)

Unintentionally quit SH! I was originally only meant to stop until AFTER performances, but ive been bettering myself and learned that if I ever want to forgive myself or at least move on I gotta stop feeling sorry for myself and not forget nor forgive, but remember, i just can't let it haunt me. I know I'll relapse, I always do eventually, but I want to enjoy these few moments of mental "clarity" while I can. I've also learned that for some reason i tend to become a more terrible person and despicable person the more time I spend at home with my mother, so that's fun. God, I hate America's education system, its messed me up BAD. AND the foster care system. I just tried to kms 2 times today, and she didn't even notice, or care. How sad is that?

On a lighter note, yes, as the rest of yt and TikTok, I got a minor lil hyperfixation on the Lorax and really think ppl should make more [PLATONIC] Lorax and Onceler dynamics, mainly the type where they're like some really annoying pair of bickering siblings or a father whos sick of his adopted child's shit, like there is so much on the table for platonic fluff and angst and most of what I've seen is romantic smut and fluff like CHANGE IT UP A LIL

Also, Ive been going to karaoke centers on Tuesdays and have become a lot more confident to performing in front of ppl! So far, I've performed "All You Wanna Do", "The Ballad of Jane Doe", "Heart of Stone", and am gonna do "What the World Needs" the next upcoming Tuesday, where I'm gonna try interacting with the audience while singing!!

(Also, before I end this....I may have ADHD??? my teacher who has ADHD says some of my behavior is "similar to hers"(i feel like thats just her way of saying i reek of neurodivergency) and I also did some research and I display similar/exact behaviors listed, have taken online tests from doctorate confirmed sites and basically all of them said to go get a diagnosis. I also found I do a few behaviors similar to stimming! Also also, I kinda suspect a lil more bc my mom has Autism and apparently sometimes neurodivergency is biological (i forgor the word) but my mom is kinda in denial abt my Depression diagnosis and thinks I got anxiety "biologically", so if I tell her I wanna get tested for ADHD shes just kinda gonna gaslight me into not believing that and i already told the school therapist and basically she just told me that I'm probably just imagining things or copying behaviors from my mother and that "kids like to give themselves all these titles nowadays" so I just did what I always do which is to keep it shut and act until they think you fell in line)

So yeah, thats all! Thanks for reading, now that my schedule is clear again ima start posting more frequently again, so be aware :) <3333

[msommers]

george is my new daughter but she's still in development mode so here's a bunch of unorganized, still to-be-confirmed rambles about her

georgina "george" "georgie" "gina" quinn; she/her; personality types tossed onto the graphic set here. obligatory pinterest.

part-time baker, tutor, and superhero. inherited aerokenisis (air manipulation abilities) from her parents, both well-established and famous heroes of freedom city.

has an older brother named zachary, he wields hydrokenisis openly while working as one of the city's firefighters and supers. also has a younger sister named charity, she doesn't appear to have inherited any powers and certainly doesn't have a dozen complexes about that fact.

parents: madeline & nathaniel quinn. undecided powers, though likely of elemental variety due to zach and george's ones lmao. potentially part of a group of supers, not determined yet. typical Good Guys type of heroes, decades worth of time spent cutting off crime and dispatching supervillains. heavily influenced the moral compasses and worldviews of their two oldest kids (honor and kindness above all, violence is the last resort, peacekeeping and protection are the goal), lessons they taught are remembered and acted upon even after their deaths reasonably lead to questioning if their ways worked. charity is somewhere around ten years younger than george so she had less time with the parents = conflict with her older siblings on their noble ways which got their parents killed. had quite a few awkward sibling meals end because of those "debates".

hero identity: zephyr. outfits are shades of sky blue and white, always with a hood and matching mask to obscure (some of, comic logic lets it work) her features. isn't spotted as often as other supers, but her vibes are known nonetheless: never fatally wounds, focuses on crowd control and flight, leaves criminals to the police instead of taking justice into her own hands. she'd only do it against chunky baddies who can tank damage but the image of her chucking various objects and items with the use of her powers is pretty fun. other power uses: speed bursts, electricity immunity, manipulating weather (incredibly exhausting on a bigger scale, not done often). has minimal hand-to-hand combat training that she learned from zach, taken up only if she's forced to ground herself during a fight and even then she tries her best to find ways to avoid it.

purely for fun, she's eternally a little chilly because i decided it'd be silly for her wind powers to affect her that way. her wardrobe reflects that and results in annual comments on how she's wearing ridiculous clothing during the warmer months.

the only quinn sibling to pursue education beyond high school, though it never saw much use due to hero life. i'm stupid do not ask me to specify her studies beyond physical science please and thank you <3

in her early teen years she started working at the family bakery (quinntessential confections) on-off, then eventually as an actual job during high school and college. had the privilege of flexible scheduling bc of the whole family-owned thing, which came in handy when she started to join in the supers activity alongside schoolwork.

was 23 when her parents were killed by doc holiday—a malefic entity from another dimension that takes human hosts to inflict its will, defeated in the 60s but recently returned possessing a college student to once again spread terror and violence. the quinns couldn't bring themselves to kill the being as he was controlling a poor kid that wasn't in control and actively hated everything the entity used him to do, which resulted in their deaths as holiday was motivated only to cause as much destruction and suffering as possible.

(might?? have a fun little thing of george having known the guy who holiday decided to turn into his puppet. add even more conflicting feelings to things.)

george ended up inheriting the bakery, while also needing to help cover the family home, which led to her doubling down on citizen work rather than super. she took up tutoring on the side, putting her studies to use there instead of searching for anything in those fields as she couldn't dream of letting the bakery go.

pastels are her beloveds and it's clear from the Everything about her. the bakery decorations, her bedroom, her wardrobe and accessories, etc etc. those things can also display her obsessive and perfectionist nature, everything must be neat and clean or it nags at her.

smth smth running battle with the umbral huntress who keeps trying to sway george towards altering her moral code because the city has so much corruption and her way of doing things is too "soft" to make a real impact. i'll bang out details later, important part is shoving my hero and my vigilante/villain together is fun and sexy. george never wavered until the deaths of her parents, unfortunately some of the huntress's points started to hit after that (probably won't last or truly change her mind?? but a fun journey to go on).

lowkey sims obsession and i don't think her gaming experience would go far beyond that franchise tbh. sometimes self-care is spending hours meticulously building a new school in sims 4 because you don't like the set-up of the default one included in the expansion pack, y'know.

listens to audiobooks as she works and her book collection is probably mostly of that variety, any printed ones are from childhood/teenage years or random ones bought to match an aesthetic she wanted for decorating a shelf or two.

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

speed reading or skipping paragraphs is a thing both me and my mom

(amazing person) (had me so late i only knew her as cool old lady) (the only reason me and my half siblings and technically not related at all but fuck that siblings got to grow up as family bc she fought tooth and nail with her exes for it) (and by fought i mean gritted her teeth and was polite to the vindictive assholes bc her exs had money and legal status and connections and an education that translated properly so they could have white color jobs while she was being a single mom below the poverty line working part time jobs still somehow making her kids feel like they lived in a magical wonderland and she was the dragon who'd eat anyone that tried hurting us)

had in common

(she died almost a year ago the first anniversary is coming up this is fine)

she grew up also poor af in her home country but her parents sent her to a RICH GIRLS PRIVATE SCHOOL bc her grades were good and this nuclear scientist Doctor Doctor -insert name here- who couldn't do the most simple everyday things (her husband was the same) and was in actual awe of my grandma (who cleaned for them) 's ability to figure out how to hang a picture straight or fix the plumbing

(grandma led her catatonic older sister across an active war zone as a teen and also told stories to my mom about mice who came out at night to read scraps of newspaper she left on the floor for them, she was legally blind and still walking a mile to the local store when i knew her, didn't care a fuck that i didn't know her language and i actually learned several family stories from her somehow)

the Doctor Doctor was convinced my mom would be stifled in a normal school, hence the Everybody Else Here Own A Pony And A Summer House Meanwhile We're Living On The Shack By The House My Dad Is Building For Someone Else situation with mom in rich girls school because of her scores

But

the thing is, my mom was kinda shit at school

(she almost failed one class bc the professor got pissed she wouldn't treat him like a god as a good student should so she refused to do anything in his class except fight with him and he DID fail her, but the other teachers and principle had her do a test and whoops turns out she'd learned his class better on her own than most of his students hehheheh fifty years later she was still gloating about it)

and this has to do with speed reading and skipping because, in one class, you were supposed to take turns reading out of a book and then later pick a topic to write a paper on

well my mom's turn would come, and bc she was like me, she wouldn't actually read the words. She'd see the shape of the sentence, scan the first letter of every line down the page, add that to the topic at hand, and kinda just FEEEL what the section was about

you'd think someone would notice she wasn't reading it right but she was So Confident and Casual about it i guess everyone just went "well i must be reading it wrong her version sounds right"

this worked for her!

until the paper came due, and she was asked to read hers in front of the class

well she hadn't written anything, turns out.

So my mom (who outside of school drifted between wearing boys clothes to scare off her friends exes or leather mini skirts with fishnet stockings and no undies depending on her mood) she picked up a BLANK piece of paper, stood up, and read out the Best, Most Well Thought Out And Insightful Paper her professor had heard all day

good, right? easy peasy pass grade. cheato completo

unfortunately the professor liked it Too much

and they asked. for a copy

So my poor mom had to admit that not only was her brilliant little paper an imaginary thing that didn't exist, she ALSO had to cop to all the OTHER times she hadn't been reading from the book, just to prove to her teacher that her paper WAS fake

(my mom had a real strong if weird sense of integrity. she'd bend the rules into a pretzel, but she hated the idea of being thought of as a Liar, when it was just for personal selfish reasons)

(lying to help someone else was another thing zero fucking hesitation there only gleeful dramatics)

now im not anywhere near my mom in coolness levels, but i also have the thing of skipping around when reading and going by shape and recreating what it might say based on other clues instead of just, seeing each word individually

a lot of the times it works!

it's also why I Can't Get A Driver's License

Reading Manuals Doesn't Work For Me And There's No School Or Instructor Place In Reach So My Can't Drive I'm Gay Credential Is Permanent! It's enforced! I've been assigned pedestrian by whatever the hell seemingly inheritable trait it is that made me and my mom find books in the library via size, color, geographic location and anything OTHER than the gods-damned TITLE!!

(thnx mom) (had to hold the instructions for instant mac and cheese physically in front of my face the entire time it cooked) (you'd have laughed) (i laughed instead tho don't worry) (miss you <3)

[ahiddenpath]

Have you made OC children of Eimi & Koushiro? Can you tell us about them if you have?

I've been sitting on this ask for a few days now, mostly because I genuinely can't believe someone out there is interested in my OCs and my OC x canon nonsense, and I am absolutely floored and grateful and crying the happy tears! The other reason is that I do have plans for an adulthood sequel to Growing Up with You and Tri: Integrity Lens, and I'm not sure if I should spoil things like children. But on the other hand, it will take years for me to get to this story, and things that far off in the future can be fragile. Who knows what will come to pass?

So, I'm going to write a little bit about Eimi and Koushiro's future kiddos beneath the cut! If you'd rather wait and find out/avoid spoilers, please don't go any further!

Izumi Hotaru

Eimi and Koushiro's firstborn is the adorable daughter we see in the epilogue. I have posts about her here and here, if you're interested!

Hotaru has all of Koushiro's mental abilities, paired with confidence and Koushiro's guidance. In some ways, she ends up smarter than Koushiro, but in others... Well, frankly, she ends up with a better work/life balance, so she doesn't devote herself entirely to knowledge like Koushiro does. She also has a ton of hobbies/interests that she splits her attention between, such as violin.

Hotaru has solid social skills and great confidence, but she tends to go off on her own. I guess she's like Eimi in the sense that she is good with people, but she doesn't gravitate towards social stuff. She treats the world like a hands on, educational playground, and is always eagerly getting into things. She likes to interact with the world to see how it works, and tends to wander off on her own, lol!

Personality wise, she is polite like Koushiro, but also thoughtful and empathetic, like Eimi. Like, her politeness isn't a kind of mask- she's just mirroring her father's language, and she loosens up about it as she ages, but always remains a good-mannered bean. As a kid, at least, her greatest weakness is probably... You know, that she'd prefer to be doing her own thing to everyday stuff like school, homework, and school activities/social stuff. She can come off as standoffish because of this. She also, um, can get into trouble by doing absolutely wild shit, like taking apart the family computer or trying some kind of behavioral experiment on pets or, um. Her peers. Like, her brilliance is more powerful than her life experience, and she doesn't know what is too much/inappropriate yet. There's zero malice to it, but it requires guidance. Koushiro and Eimi have their hands overfull with her.

Hotaru looks exactly like Koushiro, except that she has Eimi's arched brow, and will someday have her body type.

Izumi Koutaro

Eimi and Koushiro's secondborn. He also looks exactly like Koushiro, with exceptions: he has Eimi's eyes and skintone, and he has russet hair (brownish red, a color between Eimi and Koushiro's hair colors).

Koutaro is a lover of life; he adores this world, the Digital World, and everyone in both. He is by far the most extroverted Izumi, and he loves doing and experiencing. He joins his older sister on her Science Excursions and Various Explorations, but he also likes to do more... I don't know, typical stuff for kids his age, like soccer and music clubs. He plays guitar and sings, and likes to do whatever his friends and loved ones are doing.

Koutaro almost has, like... More in his heart and mind than his body can hold? He's constantly trying to burn off energy (he has a desk with bike pedals), but also... Well, struggling to stay on task? Koutaro is either deeply, unfathomably focused (the Izumi skill lmao), or he's bouncing from thought to thought and struggling to follow one thing at a time. Talking to him can cause whiplash and confusion in the listener.

His intelligence is far above average, but he isn't a dramatic outlier like his sister and father. Koutaro is playful and heartfelt, someone with very little filter- which usually works out just fine, because of how damned sweet he is. I'm not really sure if he ends up quite popular because of his sweet nature, paired with his intelligence, outgoing nature, and his musical abilities, or if he's sort of... Seen as odd, because of how his brain jumps around and because of how... Idk, not traditionally masculine he is.

I haven't developed Hotaru and Koutaro much yet, but those are the ideas I have so far! They could easily change by the time I get to writing about them.

Thank you so much for the ask, I am honestly blown away that you're interested in my work. I really appreciate it <3

[alarrytale]

Didn’t his father abandon him & Jay when he was a toddler? Then after Louis became famous he tried to publicly blackmail Louis into talking to him, or he was going to share a big secret about Louis. The guy was literal scum so yeah I can see why Louis wasn’t close with that side of his family. He didn’t grow up with Georgia like his other sisters did and it’s natural for someone to want to distance themselves from anyone on that side of the family after all of that. If let’s say Georgia was older than Louis and there was a bond established prior to all of this, their relationship would be different today because the bond was already there before all of this went down. But obviously that couldn’t happen in this case so they’re essentially strangers with absolutely no bond formed previously, only bitter feelings.

I remember there being info that Louis wanted the twins to go onto school and he was going to pay for it also but they chose the influencer life instead. I think things would’ve been different with the twins if they had further education. I know one of them wanted to be a midwife like Jay at one time. Agree with you about Gemma. The way she perpetually tries to affirm Sweet Creature is about her is such a weird hill to die on and to continue to harp on. Her thoughts & statements on mental health tend to be tone deaf when she tells Larries they belong in a mental institution any time she gets the chance to.

Hi, anon!

Yes, it's very understandable why Louis and Georgia are estranged. Georgia was raised by her dad and has a relationship with him. Troy wanted a relationship with Louis, and Louis didn’t want that, for a good reason. It's such a shame that Troy was in the way of Louis and Georgia having a relationship, because they're so alike. It is what it is though.

I agree with you that things would be very different if the twins didn’t grow up privileged and weren't taken care of by Louis. They would have to get an education, get a job and earn their own living and contribute to society. They would have to take responsibility for their own life. Now their major contribution and lasting impact on the world are enegry emissions from their endless travels.

Gemma has the right to share her own story about mental illness, but i find it very eye opening that for someone who wants to bring awareness to the subject, she's been eerily quiet about Liam's passing and mental health struggles. It's like she only cares about mental illness if it's her own. She's also contributing to uphold fake narratives and gaslights fans, and yes, in the past have used ableisms to put down larries, while also speaking about mental health and treating people with kindness...

Honestly, talking about the 1d siblings is not my favourite subject. It only pisses me off. I'm a fan of H and L, NOT their family.

[unhonestlymirror]

***

Had a dream about being a Cinderella or something, and I had two goth sisters and a goth stepmother who hated me for... some reason (there was no dad). We had to leave our home because we didn't have enough money, we quarreled a lot, there were murders on a railway station happening, and my real mom's friends eventually left me alone... Eventually, we've moved into a small two-story house, the stepmom invited a lot of guests (although I didn't like to meet new people), and she bragged about how she enrolled her girls in some cool college, and how she cherishes her real daughters (but not me), obviously waiting for me to get angry.

I said, "Yes, you're a good mother", really meaning it. "You've never said it to your real mom when you had a chance", a devil whispered in my ear.

The dark witch looked lost for a moment, and then she smiled as brightly as a child and exclaimed: "Yes! I'm a good mother! :D" and winged came back to the kitchen. The fact, that a person who hated me that much looked so happy when receiving an approval from my lips, caused me pain.

I ruffled my younger step-sister's hair and said "I saw how you put those annoying guests on their place. Well done." - and for the first time, Kitty didn't curse at me, but tried to hide under her bangs like a little crab, as if hearing something like this was completely new and embarrassing for her.

There was no Prince Charming to take me to the white palace, and there were no villanous step-family - there were just a bunch of unloved people in a small town, without much money, united with an unrelated to them girl under life circumstances. If I didn't succeed to make them feel happy and safe around me, I decided, I didn't deserve to live in a better place.

Time-skip. Me and my step-sisters were already grown adults, each with good education, our financial situation was pretty good. A detective found traces of my godmother in another country, which was hard to reach due to civil war. But I was gonna find her anyway. Too much effort and money has already been spent. "Are you gonna go in that dangerous place without me?!" - Catherine exclaimed. My older step-sister still has been wearing all black, including the over-knee high-heels. She also liked curling her thick black hair, which really made her look like a Dominatrix. In my flower dresses, office jackets and a hair bun, I looked ridiculous against her background.

"That's okay, - I smiled. - Someone needs to protect the house and take care of the business, and you are the best at this." It wasn't a lie, but I chose to remain silent about the fact that in a country with an unstable situation, the safest thing to do is to look like a provincial silly girl. Still, older step-sister wanted to protect me in her own way, and it made my heart warm. "Don't worry, we're gonna be okay. After all, Kitty is gonna be with me, too." Catherine didn't approve of this decision but she didn't protest either.

We've reached the final railway station eventually, the same one on which, many years ago, a lot of murders happened. It was sunny and peaceful outside, and although I allowed myself to enjoy this feeling for a second, I didn't let the weather deceive me. We walked around the whole city, every nook and cranny, and towards the end of the day, when hope had already begun to fade, I noticed a familiar gait.

The Godmother changed a lot from the last time I saw her. After all, decades passed. She had shrunk in height, hunched over, her hair had turned snow-white, and the lenses in her round glasses were so strong they made her look like Nana Grandma from the "Madagascar" cartoon. After all the people whom I used to know died, she was the only remaining thread to my older, happier life. The spark hit my heart and ricocheted into my eyes, face, whole body posture. "Godmother! - I shouted. - Wait, stop for a second!"

She quickened her pace. Me and Kitty exchanged glances. "Let's catch up with her." It would be harder to do if I was alone, I thought when we eventually succeed to "squeeze" Godmother. She still looked like an innocent old woman who didn't understand what was going on, but she had the aura of a hunted animal. I didn't like that.

"Godmother! It's me! Don't you recognise me? - I looked at her face more closely."

She did recognised me. Fear was reflected on her face, as if a long-buried nightmare had come to life before her. "I don't know!!! - she yelled. - I don't know who you are!!! Leave me alone, you satanists!" - she pointed at my sister.

"You're just a coward who's afraid of responsibility! - my sister went berserk suddenly, and her dark long bangs flew up, opening her fierce eyes. - I am aware you don't really like our family, but you could visit your goddaughter at least once, for her's sake! However, you've never come for dinner, not a single time! You were so afraid that your money "magic wand" would fall into our evil hands that you simply left Cinderella to her fate, left her alone, occasionally sending anonymous trinkets, like that shoe!"

Yeah, and that shoe had the fingerprints that got us here, so it's not exactly a "trinket", a memory flashed through my mind.

"If you cared so much, why haven't you taken Cinderella to your own home in the first place?"

"Leave me alone! - Godmother cried out tearfully and grabbed the sleeve of a man passing by. - Mr. Oculist! It's so nice to meet you! My lenses got a bit scratched, could you please look at them?"

"You old bitch!-"

"Language, Kitty, - I grabbed her hand. - Let's go."

"But!.. After all these years, you're just gonna let her go?! We've just received the confirmation that she stole your family's whole fortune! You should sue her!"

In a country with the civil war, as foreigners? You must be joking, Kitty.

We have never been short of money since we started our fashion business. And yet, I've never heard Kitty yelling in such a despair before. "I made your new glasses to order, as you requested." "Oh, they look lovely!" I froze in place and couldn't move a single finger.

"I've recorded everything! We must find her again and demand justice!-"

"Kitty, let's go home. I want to go home."

Kitty abruptly fell silent, her hands dropped. Her bangs covered half of her face again, making her look like a Hellenic statue in emo clothes.

For several minutes we stood there, unable to utter a word. Godmother left. Suddenly, Kitty lunged forward and wrapped her arms a bit awkwardly around me.

I haven't shed a single tear (publicly) since that day I've lost everything. Every day I greeted and saw off with a smile because That day forever deprived me of my parents, my home and the unconditional faith in the future. No matter how much I was being scoffed, wasting time on sadness felt like a sin. I could never be sure how much time I still had.

Kitty used to love breaking my colour pencils in half to piss me off. Right now, I felt like such colour pencil in her arms. My whole body was permeated with pain that I could not contain. My face was burning, and it felt like lava was flowing from the eyes. I expected Kitty to mock me as usual but she hadn’t said anything.

***

"I still can't believe that old hag tried to marry you on her another godson! What kind of shady business she does? What for would she even do that?"

"She needed to get rid of the competition, - I explained wearily, the throat was still a bit hoarse. - And I would not have been able to claim the inheritance if I had gotten rid of my surname and had trapped under control of Mr. Prince and his family."

I remembered how step-mom tore up my invitation to the ball right in front of me. It was one of those rare moments when I wanted to rebel and let go of control over my emotions. I was selfish enough to assume that she would waste her time to hurt the feelings of an alien girl. She turned her back on me when I started screaming at her, but when I came closer, I saw her face - furious and crying. Something happened, something which I didn't know about. There was a bigger picture I couldn’t saw yet, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to.

Eventually, she calmed down, but the invitation could not be restored. Well, I've got there anyway when I've reached 18, and learnt the truth.

"I'm sorry I called you a whore back then."

I stared at Kitty in surprise.

"Kitty, you were twelve."

"I- I was angry at you. You were intelligent, educated, elegant, literally from another world - and I thought you were gonna steal all mom's love and attention to yourself. I felt like it was so easy to become your shadow, and I was already unseen, and I hated you for that."

"Kitty-"

"At first, I hated you for your presence in our house, but later, I was afraid you were gonna leave us like my and Catherine's dad. It was easier to live with you, and I hated you for that. I hated that I needed you. That's why I cut all your dresses that day. It never fully come to my mind, how much you must have suffered. I'm truly sorry."

Right now she looked like that little crab in a shell again.

"It must have been bothering you for a long time, and I'm glad you've told me this, Kitty. I was never really angry at you, at all of you, though. And you will never be my shadow, because you are you, and you have so much light in yourself."

"We've made you work 24/7 as a housekeeper!"

"I didn't mind that. Doing something all the time was a good distraction from the pain."

"We've mocked you a lot."

"Maybe we all didn't get along well at first, but we've gone through all the difficulties together, and I'm really happy that I'm here with you now, and I'm not gonna run away. I will never run away anymore... Kitty, if you start sobbing, I'm gonna start crying, too, you know that?" - I finished a little grumpily, to hide the treacherous tremor in the voice. Alright, it was my time to hug her back.

Few hours passed, the landscape was monotonously calming. A white spot floated past and only a second later it dawned on me.

"There was my first home."

"WHAT?! Where?!"

"We've already passed it."

"What was it like?"

Before the war, before That day, it was a brownish brick multi-storey building, in the shape of the letter C.

Now, they plastered the walls, painted it all white, added a bunch of pompous statues made of dark metal... I didn't have time to examine the details, but it looked like a brand new glossy magazine. This Ghost of the Past bore little resemblance to the home of my childhood. There was nothing left to hold on to.

"It's different... Shit!"

"What?!"

"We forgot to buy souvenirs to Catherine and mom!"

"You think they would care??" - laughed Kitty.

"It's not like people can come to this country every time they want to!"

"Lucky for you... I've bought a couple of local fashion magazines!"

"You're my saviour."

I was leaving my old life behind for forever, and I didn't have a single regret about that. I was able to built a better life on the ruins of the old, in a foreign place, and "the hostile villains" turned to be my only family whom I loved deeply and wouldn't exchange for any palace, any cristal shoe in the world. And it was mutual! Isn't it magic?