#or go do a masters elsewhere and lose almost all of my social life and volleyball which was probably what got me through 2nd year

[highmarshall-azure]

.

[dilucids]

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤSacrificial duties, Mondstadt ver.

would they sacrifice you or mondstadt?

includes: jean, lisa, kaeya, diluc, amber, albedo and venti.

( i'm too socially inept to request for someone to do this so i took matters into my own hands. )

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 JEAN GUNNHILDR ━━ DANDELION KNIGHT 〕

━━ is this even a debate? jean would sacrifice you to save mondstadt.

━━ the question would tear her apart though, she'd spend so much time trying to find another way to save both her city and you that she'd neglect her health ( basic needs, like eating, sleeping )

━━ if it were a person or god who was demanding these terms, she'd try to negotiate anything to save both, even her own life, though if you were willing, she'd hesitantly ( literally beg you to not go through it and reassure she'll find another way ) let you go.

━━ no matter what she chooses, she'll still feel incompetent in the end, as if she isn't good enough to be the acting grandmaster and would probably overwork herself to try and focus on something.

"I'll do it," Jean looks back at you, horror flashing through her eyes though you didn't falter, still staring the entity in her eyes. The wind picks up as if feeling the ameno swordswoman's vivid emotions, she shakes her head, taking small steps towards you as she reaches out for your hand. You cringe when she fell to her knees, "no no no, please, you don't have to do this."

You don't look at her, knowing it would only make things worse for the both of you, you didn't want her to be the last thing you saw nor did you want your face to plague her dreams like a ghost. "I care about Mondstadt too, Jean." You hope she understands that you were also doing this for your city and doesn't blame herself, "it's my duty."

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 LISA MINCI ━━ WITCH OF PURPLE ROSE 〕

━━ lisa is a bit more of a wild card.

━━ lisa only oversees the library of mondstadt but it's really unclear the extent of her care for the city itself.

━━ it's impossible for one to say if she would hold a lover priority over a city due to lack of background so that's why she's more of a wild card right now, because i could see her potentially doing either.

━━ though i'm leaning a little towards sacrificing you because of her closeness with jean and her involvement in the knights of farvonius, she knows it would be morally wrong to sacrifice an entire city for one person, lover or not.

"It's okay," you reassure her, smile still gracing your face albeit the heavyweight pressure of death for your city digging it's claws into your shoulders. "I'm sorry," she apologises for the nth time and you can do no more than squeeze her hand in affirmation, knowing a hug would be too much for the both of you right now.

You feel her fingers slip through yours and your hand is embraced by the winds of Mondstadt, a sudden change from the electricity that plagued her fingertips and passed onto yours. You take a shaky breath and leave her behind you, her eyes watching your back along the way until you were nothing more than a dot in the horizon━━ ready to become a star in the sky.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 KAEYA ALBERICH ━━ FROSTWIND SWORDSMAN 〕

━━ another wildcard!

━━ unlike lisa, however, i'm leaning towards sacrificing monstadt.

━━ even with all his background knowledge, kaeya is still a character that holds a lot of secrets and it's canon that he's a mysterious figure, cavalry captain or not.

━━ don't get your hopes up though, because he still may sacrifice you ( after a talk with jean or diluc/j )

━━ kaeya lets anything happen as long as it falls into place of how he has expected to end, he really doesn't know what to do when an unknown entity shows up and demands the price of you for his city or vice versa.

━━ really hard to get a grasp on him.

━━ i could see him spending one last day with you after deciding he was going to give you up ( you obviously knew of this ) but after 24 hours with you, away from mondstadt, he might realise that, even if he regrets it for the rest of his life, he'll never be able to give you up.

━━ alternatively, if he didn't open up to you about this or went to jean or diluc, they would convince him to "do what's right" and give you up.

"No. I'm not doing it," his tone differed from the norm━━ he was never like this, not even on official knights' business. His eyes unnervingly determined, tone you were unable to refute, and words that scared you. "Kaeya, you have to," your fingers place themselves over his, which were barely touching your cheeks.

"I'm not doing it," he reaffirms, sounding as if he were trying to convince himself out of all people. "I'm━━ I'm not losing you to some city. I can rebuild a city, we can find a city elsewhere," he states, eyebrows furrowed and not taking a single breath between his words. You pry his fingers away from your cheek, holding them over your lap. "Kaeya, this isn't just 'some city', it's the city you love. The city we love." You coax, finally getting him to look into your eyes. "You're the person I love." He says, exasperated.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 DILUC RAGNVINDR ━━ DARKNIGHT HERO 〕

━━ hate to be the bearer of bad news,, and as biased as i am to this man, he would give you up.

━━ wouldn't open up to anyone about it, he'll just drive himself insane pondering both options.

━━ and although it would literally make him insane even thinking about losing someone precious to him ( again ) but his loyalty lies within the city of freedom and the city alone.

━━ even after the dispute with the knights of farvonius ( in the webtoon ), he still remains as the protector of mondstadt and i don't think nor am i able to see it will ever change.

━━ unlike kaeya though, i don't think he'll be able to see you at all once he decides to sacrifice you, he'll just be reminded that he'll never be able to see you again and the terrible decision that he's going to go through with.

━━ will also throw himself into extensive work to get you off his mind afterwards.

"You okay there?" Your eyebrows furrow, leaning against the open door of Diluc's office, seeing his hair tied back into a bun, hands in his face as he gazed deeply at his wooden desk. His head flies up at the sound of your voice, clearing his throat, "when did you get here?"

You shrug, taking steps towards him as he leans back into his chair, "being a hero taking a toll on you?" You tease him, taking a seat on his desk next to him and placing your feet on the chair, leaning forward to cup his cheek. He turns away. You're no stranger to his austere ways so you merely lean back, balancing yourself with your hands against his desk, telling him about your day.

"━━and then he wrapped it up and sent it to me, which was awfully disturbing might I add."

"I'm sorry," your eyebrow quirks when he suddenly cuts into your storytelling. You push yourself forward, reaching out for him and redirecting his gaze ( which hadn't looked in your direction even once ) onto you. "What's wrong my dear?" He only grimaces at the nickname━━ wincing almost and still refused to look at you, gaze cast upon the floor behind his bangs. You couldn't even see his eyes.

"Your guilty act is making me ponder if you've had previous relations with someone else, Master Diluc," you frown a little, using your other hand to force him to peer at you. He leans forward, placing his forehead on yours and whispers, "never."

"I just wanted to apologise for the future," you smile a little and place a kiss on his forehead. "I will always forgive you."

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 ALBEDO ━━ THE CHALK PRINCE 〕

━━ albedo's original creator hails from khaeri'ah and venti, archon of mondstadt, was one of the original seven who aided in the destruction of khaeri'ah; is that enough reason to destroy it for a lover? no.

━━ would he still do it? yes, yes, yes.

━━ we all know he considers himself a threat to mondstadt but i don't think he would've ever thought this was why he was a threat, to hold an entire city in his palms and be able to destroy it with a single word was quite a terrifying thought.

━━ it wouldn't stop him though, i really don't think albedo holds any sentimental attachment to mondstadt, he only works and lives there as of right now but he's currently heeding his creater's words and pursuing the truth of the world.

━━ he might grimace over losing a few people that he holds dear and end up rethinking his decision but in the end, will choose you.

━━ another reason i think he would destroy mondstadt is that, once albedo discovers something or the feeling of enlightenment that comes with studying something new disperses, he is quick to stop studying that and abandon it due to the "bittersweet truth" hitting him so if he grew tired of mondstadt,,,,,, rip to jean 🙏

Your eyes flicker from the sight of his back to the unknown entity, hovering just above the floor, her eyes uninterested in you as she gazed into Albedo's eyes, maybe trying to read his expressionless face. "Have you made a choice, Kreideprinz?"

Nothing is said. Nothing from Albedo nor you, you didn't seem to have a part in this private conversation but you also seemed to be an integral part of it due to the way Albedo kept looking back at you, squeezing your hand as if to remind himself that you existed. "I'm choosing them."

She peers at you now, her eyes boring into yours as she scans you for something, "are you sure about this decision?"

For some odd reason, you're not offended by her words, maybe because she didn't sound like she meant it in a rude way ( it also seemed out of her standoffish character ) but was genuine in her curiosity if Albedo would go back on his words. He squeezes your hand again, rubbing circles on the back of your hand━━ something he did to calm you but it seemed that this action was to ground him instead.

"Yes, I am."

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 AMBER ━━ OUTRIDER 〕

━━ YOU.

━━ in the most heart breaking – heart warming way ever, she'd give you up.

━━ notice how more than half of these mondstadt fuckers would give you up? yeah 🙄

━━ on a serious note, a lot of them have devoted themselves fully to protecting the city and i don't see any one of them being able to give the command to destory the city, even if their s/o was being held with a knife to their throat right infront of them and amber is the very same.

━━ even though we don't know to much about her, she is seen as a perfect example of justice by kaeya, and is extremely devoted to her work, she's just below diluc and jean in the most to least likely to sacrifice you in my opinion. it's simply overlooked due to her lack of presence in the game.

━━ i think her compassionate and kind side will make it harder for her to come to a decision because she doesn't want to have to lose one thing to keep another but in the end, she will give you up.

Amber seemed extremely distressed, immediately running into Jean's office once arriving back at the Knight's base after finishing her usual trek of Mondstadt's surroundings. You had attempted to call out her as she ran through the halls but she didn't even look your way, which was peculiar to you but you could only guess something dangerous must've happened due to her eagerness of reaching Jean's office, slamming the door wide open.

You quirk an eyebrow and Kaeya, stood beside you, whistled briskly, hands on his hip. "Someone's in a hurry," you roll your eyes at his comment and simply grab his arm, dragging him over to Jean's office, "just shut up and come."

The minute you knock and open the door however, the room is quiet. Jean sat on her chair, elbows placed on the table and concern burrowed deeply within her furrowed eyebrows and Amber, who was shaking her leg up and down in anxiety, fiddling with her nails.

Kaeya seems a little amused by the situation, unlike you, who was extremely concerned by the little actions of anxieties Amber was exhibiting, striding over to her side in an instant. Placing your hand on her shoulder, she leans into you almost instantly and begins quietly sniffling into your shirt.

You mouth to Jean that you're taking her out and Jean nods, thanking you with a small smile on her face. You guide Amber into a quiet room in the headquarters, letting her silently cry as you attempt to soothe her. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?"

She shakes her head, only repeating a small, "I'm sorry."

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ〔 VENTI ━━ WINDBORNE BARD 〕

━━ venti is characterised as a free spirit, like the freedom that the city of mondstadt represents, he carries that within him but at the end of the day, he is still mondstadt's archon.

━━ so we all saw this coming but you 👫

━━ i don't really think there's a lot to explain, he's their archon and even if he loses everyone he's ever loved, his priority is mondstadt.

━━ he'll probably take you on that ride on dvalin he's been promising you for the past year with no explanation.

━━ you'll ask him why he's dragged you from work and he'll just say he's feeling nice or that the winds are good for a ride right now.

━━ you'll stare at him with that, 'don't–you–control–the–winds?' look and he'll wink at you, telling you to stop staring at him or he'll blush.

━━ will completely come undone when he seed you happily laughing on dvalin's back, arms spread open as your laugh echoes into the wind.

Your excited whooping is all he hears, previous nervousness abandoned with his hands placed on your waist as Dvalin pierced up above the clouds; the ground nothing more than a fleeting dream to you both. It's such a shame that young, immature Dendro Archon got his hands on you first, gifting you his gift of Earth's nature━━ if not for the God of Wisdom, Venti would've gifted you heaven's winds if he knew how simply being in the sky made you so ecstatic.

The adrenaline finally dies down when Dvalin arrives just above the clouds, wings creating new and dispersing the old. You lean into Venti who takes this as an invitation to push himself further into your side and begin playing with your fingers, allowing you time to simply relish in the situation. "You're awfully quiet today," you muse, staring at Venti with a small smile.

He hums, "it's quiet up here," in nothing less of a whisper. You nod along with his words, fighting the urge to jump into the clouds, knowing you'll pass right through them. Venti sinks into you further somehow, like you were a passing cloud; his shoulder pressed into the crack of your arm and torso, head leaning on your shoulder. "You'll be okay Venti," and you embrace him.

[captainkurosolaire]

I challenge you to pick five Tumblrs in your social circle and tell them something you admire about their blog!

Only 5? I could probably do 500. However, that's determined by what's considered my social circle. I'm often in my head being incredibly social continuously is really a challenge of mine. I'm always actively marching to something, my flame of passion when I have it, I can do some crazy stuff but it diminishes relatively quickly, so I try to cling. But I'll up your thing and list 25 of my fave people. Ask me this same thing in a Month, I'll keep doing 25, until I do all the people. How about that? (If anyone wants to be taken off mention let me know.)

@eligos-venator

- Has one of the most intelligent and sophisticated minds, I've had the pleasure to know. Literally admire all his aesthetics, work, head-cannons, ideas. It's only a benefit that the dude shares some OC characteristics to my own (Winning features). I really enjoyed the short-thread we did. It was incomplete, mainly because of my faults. I want to actually be better to give him a proper delivery and RP worth his time, but he's incredibly worth the investment of eyes.

@mischiefandmystics

- If there was a Mount Rushmoore of writers who kept me in this endeavor, encouraged me. Sun'ra is one of them. His characterization skills, writing, the delivery and how believable his character is, they're masterful acts.

@mishivymendi

- I wouldn't be nearly tamed or as creatively freed if it wasn't for this gem. She broke my shell, I really didn't at a time ever see myself being anything really beyond a smut writer, but Mishi not only saw potential in me, but brought it out. Her stories and world's she brings to life are so majestically colorful.

@asymphonyofash

- My go-to. He's another pillar individual who saw things in me past just the obvious perception, (Probably second longest XIV RPer I know.) Taught me a lot of the lore, I shot him up and he's sort of become my stapled rock. He's right aside Sun'ra met them about the same, both took me under their wing's as I quietly observed and absorbed.

@lavender-hemlock

- We're always up and front with each other, never feeling like I couldn't say anything around, extremely rare to share that these days. Her gif's are legendary, something on my own terms I want to soar in quality. The writing she does is astounding. Character has so many mysterious pages that are quite addictive to want to explore and learn them. (Encore 20 below-cut)

@under-the-blood-moonlight - Her sweetness and artwork and overall is just a friendly presence to be around. I cherish them so much. One I can jive with more darker undertones with. She's one the most hardworking and ambitiously creative people. I'd mail them infinite hugs if could. Thanks for being you! @roxinova - I owe a lot of credit to her. She's constantly OOC and everything was nudging me too be more inclusive to things and involved heavenly. It's rare for me. I'm really horrible about that my autism sets me back socially, I constantly will be drowned by the next day and be reverted back to better off alone, that's my major crux and weakness. But her thoughtfulness, these things, aren't ever foreign to me, I do pay attention probably better than any would ever give me credit. She's a beacon model to have as a friend. @corpse-dancer - Haven't ran into many words with them, but her character, screenshot game, expressiveness, they're all a marvel to constantly see, alongside her attitude and bringing life character. I do think if I were better, we would click quite splendidly. They've recently reminded and motivated me to pick-up my daily-practice, or try too. Keep being a rockstar. @fair-fae - Few who wouldn't know who she is in this community. She's been in my opinion a huge core. I'm certain she's inspired many who weren't even RPers too try it by seeing her at the Quicksands or elsewhere, a tyme ago. Making no exception, I was even one of those. I used to be in QS every-single day and was often doing my shameless stuff. Though her presence first did show me there's a lot more. I admire her in all fields. Also appreciate her adopting me to the FC and her always thinking of others and giving events, or her aesthetics and portrayal, its the epitome of swan elegance. @thorcat - One of my most treasured friends. Been RPing with them for a longtime. There's never anything complicated between us or a rift of drama, it's just let's go and have fun. We really mesh well, I've welcomed nearly ever character and got the privilege to RP with nearly all them. They always open up envelope and help me, settle on back and just laugh. Whether used to be waking up to their characters humping my afk one or use randomly having a hardcore banter between Ufah and Captain and capturing them as a voidal pet. Memories with them isn't something I'd ever want to lose. I love ya! Never stop enjoying life for anything. @lukawarrioroflight - I get in the gutter find myself lacking motivation or writing, discouraged even... But I never have felt, I could ever do any wrong with this person, they bring the light out of me. So no matter what, how many hospital-beds I yearly visit, it's because of this rare nature, that I come back, even if they're the only one's ever to read my stuff. I would do it for them alone. @scholarlybreadbun - I've only been back recently and they've so much warmth. Their presence is the sun of inviting. The couple and posing all the shipping that stuff makes me even melt. I'm not particularly talented in regards to posing couples, but I took notice of them along time ago and set on quietly improving. Really like them for them, wouldn't ever want them to change that. Ideally look forward to be in their orbit longer so I can bask in them. @seascrapes - Been mutual with them for a while. Their aesthetics and character is all S+ level. I appreciate throwing back tagged prompts with them, one of many people I really think would be enjoyable to collab with any other seafarers. The artwork and pieces of Tal Brook, are breathtaking as ever exceptionally too, not to mention. Love your stuff matey, you're a king. @mai-takeda - Is a myth. Her absolutely sheer friendliness and her attitude, are so positive influencing, I was so thrilled to be welcomed with her and boosted by them early on. I couldn't see myself, wanting to exist where they didn't have happiness like the same she always delivers by just doing so many soft-things. Not to mention her writing... She's a whole world to throw yourself gazes

under. @zhauric - It doesn't go far either without the same breath of Mai, I could say about Zhauric. He's someone worthy to look-up and also recognize they're passionate and inviting, hoisting up literally everything. Could easily find any of their characters comrades with my own, or jiving alongside. Not to mention last XIVWrite, they slaughtered it. So enjoyable to read them all. I like how organized their blog is too, motivated me recently to redux my entire thing. @cadrenebula - They have so many diverse characters and their entire roster is vibrant and is imbued with a massive flux of life. They are able to encapsulate so many character's voices and portray them so effectively too, I really admire that greatly. They've made me think bigger and try myself recently at actually undertaking a huge roster of characters too. I've taken many breaks, but I always am so graciously returned often with them close-by and that's so incredibly sacred. I've seen a lot of people get discouraged or quit, leave, departure, etc. But they always seem to have a bigger house then they had last I took a break and I enjoy peaking in. @silvernsteel - Her artist and gif-work are awe-aspiring, there's little unrecognizable by her photo-sets and edits. They helped me even tip-toe into uncharted with giving me the recipes to try incorporating gifs into my arsenal. Plus so delightfully pleasant to actually talk with and just chill. I want nothing less in life, than the beauty they give, to be returned to them for eternity in all their glorious air. If ever needed anything of me, they've got me. @spotofmummery - We talk about passion or friendliness or overall a person to even remotely try to be, I got to include them. Their web-series and writing, screen-work, everything they do is fantastic. And that's furthered back nearly any I've met showcase or immortalize how just genuine of stellar person they are. I wish them always the energy to create and sparks. @snow-covered-moon - They've never been anything less but absolutely a diamond to know. I enjoy their character, their almost always abundant of energy that's very rub inducing. Their WoL character stories, writing, screen-shots, everyday they open up a new pandora box of joy, there's no mistaken love behind their character and that's infectiously easy to also enjoy something when the author does too. Always healthy to be around, I never feel short of vitality when they're close-by. @letheofthelost - Always cheerful or least encapsulates with me, they're a carnival ride. Just pure epic story-telling and engaging equally as passionate, constantly writing characters, not looking for anything outside of RP or anything really just being their selves, they fade all others. I love their presence, them as a person. Enjoy any character they'll ever come and throw under me, or a change of pace. Always feels easily understandable between one another. @crow-iv - Together we're an unfiltered, unstoppable wake of pure passionate writers and art. But I would say they're far ahead of me, in every regard. Already able to portray multiple characters in a scene and do such in-depth thinking, alongside even sketch or draw right afterwards or a scene. They're so talented, huge reason I set-out on giving them a Crew of cast and actual stories to-tell when I'm actually caught up and if they interested and we both have the room, I really think if further myself, I can be better and supply more for them to draw and I want to see them soar. I want to give them all my improvements and effectiveness. @trishelle - They've such a reinforcing personality and aura around them that easily bolsters anything that dares thinking they're about to be depleted so energizing. Aesthetics, characters, all them are so lively that further compliment their own mun's great welcoming presence. Worth hundreds of smiles and stars, keep high. Wish I had more time to dedicate to learning you! But I do notice and appreciate you. @fracturedfantasia - One of my people, I like to retreat and just talk my full

head-cannons with or learn, share insightful and inquisitive thoughts about philosophies and multi-culture things. Or plotting and in-general, they're a well of information and brimming ideas, they are every making of what makes a quality friend. When you can generally be open-about-all that's a real one right there. Their characters and tarot readings, I always would implore if they're offering. Thanks for giving me any-time. You're truly a treasure. @violet-warder - Never have even came to words with them yet unfortunately but didn't mean as a mutual, I haven't admired all their screenies, writing, or the aesthetics they bring of their character. Glamours is real end-game, I like all what you've done and put together. I care strictly about what represent and give, I don't want to see them ever think anyone want's them gone, they are abundantly so talented and possess things only they can deliver. I think recently came back too, and I'm glad to share, hopefully, overtime I can build you better up. Or eventually even talk, but I'm certain you are a busy-body person too, so we're relatable. @layla-grey - I have a lot of underline issues that set me back as a flawed person, but I've never not been anything but someone who's open, it's why I always do include my f-list in anything or etc. I'm not here to present this facade, and really don't care to be an image crafted by another. No one as of recently or now, am I close with as an RP partner or friend with then this stunning masterpiece. I never let-up on story-telling or anything so I can eventually use my Crew or other Characters, to give them anytime a master entertaining day, they push me to not be short-changed. IC and OOC I would devote my full attention too cause they've never shed from me. Didn't ever matter how much silence or anything, they're always around. And don't expect anything out of me or pressure. Just accept me and I equally share that sentiment, I want you to have everything in this world has to offer. ----- This is just a fraction of people, I've paid attention, noticed or know. I've been around in this Community for many years. There's a lot of things I could say about it, more probably then anyone else. But what matters to me, is recognizing the people who are here, that work hard, build others up, support, constantly are a beam. I don't need to interact with everyone, to know when someone is generally out for good. Or they're out for bad I've learned inquisitiveness longtime ago, I had to survive and remain afloat. I just go out and be me, and along the way, I get to find people like these, who help bring out the best me. I am nothing without these people, creators, writers, artist. I'm a terrible friend, horrible person, I don't have the energy to interact NEARLY with as much as I'd like with you all, If I could clone myself, or if things were different, I would drop it all to be in your orbits more if could. But, do know I appreciate you. And even if you ever do depart from this whole community or anything, know that anything you share, or give, that stuff does matter, somewhere, someone was aspired, if nothing else, by me. ONLY you can give the worlds you see and I am thankful. Do love yourself.

[invitedeath]

SEPHIROTH                          — relationship & plotter call.

hello lovely isolians! it’s been actually ages since i made my first one, or my second one, so i’m coming back with new vigour & hopefully some new ideas to tempt you all into friendship ( or...enemy...ship) with sephiroth!

so liking this post means that you are 100% down with interacting with me in some fashion! ways this might happen may be... → me sending you im’s / tumblr asks to plot or chat! i can be quite a talkative person as a forewarning, as i love discussing rp things as well as getting to know my rp partner!  → if we are already friends on discord or twitter, i might message you that way to ask you about plots or ideas or to run things by you. → exchanging ask memes / meme day things that might be a bit more personal than a general sentence meme. → possible random starters or musings dedicated to your muse, sometimes i get sudden inspiration for these things! i will always check first that you’re okay with taking on a new thread, but yes this is for just... if i get inspired & want to put something up for you! → general tomfoolery and shenanigans in character ( and ooc if you like )

you can contact me via the im system here, by the /ask feature or you can ask for my discord/twitter if you prefer those. just let me know. discord is the most private however so we’d need to chat a bit more elsewhere first just for my comfort! i am in the isola discord sever however so we can totally talk in that server for a bit too!

FRIENDS.

↪ honestly friendships aren’t typically on the agenda for him. he is arrogant beyond belief and considers everyone to be weaker than him or to some degree unworthy of his time or energy. he really does not have any interest emotionally in anyone besides himself, instead he is far more likely to use and discard people when they are no longer needed. HOWEVER, in 2020 sephiroth underwent quite a big character development stage, essentially his long-term goal came to a head and it backfired pretty back when he got all his powers back, so while he’s super strong again now, he’s also semi-content (i guess) with living in isola for a while, if only so he can figure out how the multiverse works (meta, i know). he talks to people now (wow!) and engages in mostly philosophical conversations, about... life. death. etc.

↪  i am down to... vague villain-alliance type deals with fellow power players here. he wont consider your muse a friend, but rather a pawn or even a means to an end, that end being his goal of generally using this island for his means, apologies. preferably the intellectual, over-powered, edgy types will probably gravitate towards him more, but i’m willing to throw anything at the wall to see what sticks. he’s not a nice guy, by any means, but it would be interesting to see how he has to play the game here to his advantage until he regains powers. i especially would like to interact with other villains who are kind of just chilling, maybe they’re veterans in spirale also and they can share a glass of wine over watching all the citizens running around like ants. we could also do a murder if you are into that. 

↪ there are some cases where he might engage in conversation with non-villain types and these would likely be far more dialogue-heavy threads including metaphorical topics or debates. the conversations of life, death, mortality, good vs evil, frailty of existence, legacy, power and corruption, calamities, birthright and betrayal are just some of the topics possible to arise in discussion. that being said, whilst these topics would be of interest to him, the character themselves must meet his standard of what he considers worthy of his time eg. those just willing to argue with him will bore him whereas someone curious to his nature might be treated to an actual conversation. over time this has opened up into most people being capable of talking to him. he has less patience for over-eager plucky types, but anyone with a respectable manner who likes talking a lot will probably find an interesting conversation partner in this... ONLY SLIGHTLY CHILLED sephiroth. he’s not totally chill, he’s just a lil chill.

↪ warriors, outcasts, villains, intellectuals, fellow puppet-master type villains especially, those he ‘befriended’ in past events, perhaps even neighbours to his castle would all be likely connections. friends of those he has worked alongside or met, or those wishing to seek great power and know of his existence might seek him out also, but yes... ““““friends”“““ is a very difficult term for him. he’s getting better.

→ his most recent developments see him as a far more casual version of his canon self, over a year of living as close to a “domestic life” as possible have meant that whilst he is aloof and cold, he is also far more likely to be out and about, buying wine at some creepy gas station at 4:30am for example. he chats when he’s in the mood and might even stick around to cause some chaos for the sake of boredom eating him alive. so whilst he is still very much a dangerous inhabitant here in spirale, sephiroth is currently Domesticated somewhat. 

ENEMIES.

↪ heroes of all shapes and sizes might feel threatened by the ominous presence of a monster who seems inclined to side with chaos as opposed to peace. he’s not outright starting fires here but he is present in the more morbid moments of isolian discourse, an omen of death lingering on the sideline. he has his plans and he may just mock you with them, but in general since he does and WILL cut down npcs ( or players ) alike, he makes for the perfect villain. BE WARY he has all of his powers unlocked and knows the island well. fighting him would not guarantee your victory, especially if you are a freshly applied character.

in feb 2020 he almost brought chaos to spirale too so i’m sure anyone holding a grudge or wary of a potential threat like that would be very aggro towards him.

↪ he has traumas. plenty of them. some of them originate from labs and white coats, meaning he might just view you as an enemy if you’re a scientist or someone who dabbles in human experimentation. his reasons are his own, but let’s just say that if you consider him a good candidate for poking and prodding with scientific equipment, you may just lose an arm.

↪ i LOVE fight threads especially really gritty, bloody types. i would prefer to plot these out so we know what’s going on beforehand, but feel free to develop these with me honestly i love a good old classic villain hero showdown. he’s less likely to get into these without a good reason but if we do one, the winner is randomly determined via generator to make it fair if your character is also uncapped!

→ police/law enforcers/general crime stoppers might remember him for causing a bit of trouble in the past! insert how bad me be gif. try and ??? get him to apologise i guess. arresting sephiroth sounds like the plot of a funny movie. 

LOVERS.

↪ this man has a bf now, can you believe it? 2021...isola gay rights. 

MISC.

↪ pawns and such would be a fun dynamic later. his general presence is pretty terrifying, so it wouldn’t be a stretch if you have an appropriate muse for them to be fearful enough to carry out some little tasks for him. this might be more common later on, but i’m down to discussion for it currently!

↪ places you may find him can include:                 ↪ near his residence ( personal housing; castle in the mistwood  )                 ↪ fibonacci ward ( levels 3 and 4 especially due to the museums and things. but also the lowest levels, he tends to wander around there as if searching for something... feel free to try and figure out what it is )                 ↪ golden ward ( the university if only to borrow books from the library, he can read there for days at a time without sleep or food. he reads all kinds of things, both fiction and non fiction. )                 ↪ archimedes ward ( pretty much everywhere in this ward, it’s my favourite. he enjoys music and art sometimes. hit me with that biblical shit. )                ↪ the mistwood ( 100% down to be that cryptic creature that leads you from your path to your likely doom )                ↪ the city of yesteryear ( typically the underground areas, just investigating really. any strange occurrences would likely draw him there as would any presence of a strong power. )                ↪ atop skyscrapers, looming at the ‘edge’ of the world we can currently explore, typically more active at night, perhaps at the scene of a murder / attack ( plotted ), if he’s feeling extra ballsy he might be found in a bar but its very rare. very VERY rare, wandering broken buildings, invading scientific facilities or buildings. he’s not going to be found in busy, socially strained areas basically.

↪ i’m down for any ideas you might have too for plots so feel free to just message me if nothing here caters!

STATS PAGE | APPLICATION | PLOTTING PAGE

[oswildin]

What’s My Name? ~ Dhawan!Master x F!Reader

Summary: You had a best friend, who you thought you knew everything about... Turns out you didn’t know him at all... Let alone expect him to be your friends oldest enemy.

Warnings: Possible spoilers.

**EDIT**

There’s now a PART TWO: https://oswildin.tumblr.com/post/190148897825/unlucky-in-love-dhawanmaster-x-freader-part-2

~

“Where are you going now?”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes, turning round to see her friend giving her a knowing look. It had been a few months since she’d started travelling with the Doctor and the fam. She loved every second of it, but she wasn’t going to let it take over her life completely. She still had to work, keep her flat, and have a social life outside of fighting aliens in space.

“Out. Is that ok?” She retorted, seeing her friend stood with folded arms before her.

“Again? You only just got back.” Her friend, Mason, raised an eyebrow.

(Y/N) had met Mason through a mutual friend on a night out. Since then they were inseparable. Well, until she started travelling with the Doctor. She had to admit she was beginning to go AWOL on her friend. She felt guilty.

“I know- but- It’s really important. Like, really really important.” She tried to explain herself, but couldn’t give too much away. He’d think she was mad if she told him the truth.

“But I came round to spend time with you!” Mason insisted, standing from his seated position on her sofa. Oh no, he was giving her the puppy dog eyes. She hated when he used them.

“I’m sorry-“ She looked at her friend sadly before her phone started to buzz. “I promise, when I get back, we will play any board game of your choosing. As long as it isn’t operation cause by god you are awful at that game.” She laughed. “It’s almost like you want to kill the patient.”

“Maybe I do.” He teased, his eyes going dark for a second before smiling. She lightly hit him on the arm before her phone once again buzzed. She answered it.

“Yes! I’m on my way!” She ended the call, sighing to herself. “I’ll see you later ok? Let yourself out!” And with that, she left her friend alone in her flat, as she ran out the door, running to where the Doctor had told her to meet.

Hours later, (Y/N) finally had arrived home. She was exhausted, and quite frankly was ready for bed. She didn’t know how the Doctor could keep up with the adventures and not need rest. She knew Yaz, Ryan and Graham felt the same as her.

“You’re back late.”

(Y/N) jumped, her hand landing on her heart as she swore to herself.

“Jesus Mason.” She switched on the light, revealing her friend sitting in the dark on her sofa as she raised an eyebrow.

“What are you doing here? And why are you in the dark?” She asked confused, folding her arms.

“Just thought I’d make sure you got home safely.” She rolled her eyes at his antics.

“It’s 1am.” She looked at the clock. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping. Don’t you have work tomorrow?” She countered, sitting beside him on the sofa, sprawling out as she closed her eyes for a moment.

“You look exhausted.” He commented.

“Geez, thanks.” She laughed lightly. “You do know how to make a girl feel beautiful.” She joked, as he stared at her, trying to analyse her. “I just went out with a few mates that’s all.”

“Really? So what is that on your wrist?” He nodded to the device on her left wrist as she swore under her breath. She had forgot about the perception filter device the Doctor had given her and the others on their adventure.

“Oh it’s er, the new Apple Watch.” She shrugged, pulling her jacket sleeve down to cover it. Mason shook his head at her answer, knowing he wasn’t going to get anything else.

“Thought you should know, I’m going away for a bit.” He told her as she looked saddened by his words. “Going to travel to Australia. Spend some time out there. Got a mate out there. She’s coming to visit.” She couldn’t help but feel her heart sink at the ‘she’ in his sentence, but she soon recovered as she plastered on a fake smile.

“A she huh?” She teased, nudging him. “I’ve never heard of her.”

“We go way back.” He seemed to reminisce. “Grew up together. We’ve drifted over the last few years. Thought I’d get back in touch.” He wore a slight smirk as he spoke.

“Well... considering you’re going away for a bit, let’s say for old times sakes we play some Operation.” She reaches beside her sofa to grab the game.

“I thought you said I wasn’t allowed to play it anymore.” He inquired, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah well... gonna miss you annoying me with your deliberate losing.” She smiled, setting up the game.

(Y/N) felt herself wanting to tell her friend how she felt. But she couldn’t. Not with her hectic life, she couldn’t drag him into it. Nor could she possibly ruin their friendship. So instead she stayed silent, playing board games with her friend until stupid o clock in the morning.

It had been a few months since Mason had left to go away. (Y/N) missed him massively, and found herself travelling more with the Doctor to cope with the quietness of her social life. The Doctor knew about Mason, she could tell how much he meant to (Y/N). She still had texts from her friend every now again, but not much contact since, which worried her. She thought they were drifting.

On their next adventure, Yaz, (Y/N) and Ryan were going undercover as journalists, to interview Daniel Barton head of VOR, as he seemed to be prime suspect in their latest situation. However, it didn’t just stop at them questioning him, oh no, they just had to break into his office to get as much information as possible from his computer. From nearly getting caught, they ended up in an even worse situation, confronted with the aliens who wanted to take over the planet.

The trio stood in front of the creature as it reached out, grabbing (Y/N) in the process, as the glow intensified, causing the girl to disappear before her friends eyes.

“Bring her back!” Yaz ordered the alien, which of course took no notice, beginning to also reach out for her. Ryan grabbed his friend, dragging her out of the office with him as he got on the phone with the Doctor.

(Y/N) found herself alone. She looked around as she was surrounded by what appeared to be large wires. Lights ran up the wires as she called out for anyone. She felt her heart rate increase as tears welled up in her eyes. Where was she? Was she dead? Was she inside some sort of giant computer? So many questions ran through her mind... but as quickly as she arrived, she had left, transporting elsewhere.

“(Y/N)! Turn the power off in there.” She heard a familiar voice as she opened her eyes, which she hadn’t realised she’d kept shut. “(Y/N)! How are you even here?” Her eyes focused as she saw the Doctor with her hands against the glass container. Her eyes scanned the room as she spotted her other friend, Graham, and a face she didn’t expect to see.

The container lifted as she was free, the Doctor instantly hugging her friend who still seemed terrified. Not much scared her, but the thought of being all alone in such a dark, empty space scared her to the core.

She looked over the Doctor’s shoulder seeing Mason, looking somewhat concerned before he held his finger to his lips.

A moment later, the Doctor was back at trying to work out the aliens plan, whilst Mason lead her over to a chair to sit down.

“What are you doing here?” (Y/N) quietly asked, sending him a confused stare. He sighed.

“Alright, shows over.” He sat opposite her. “I work for MI6.” He said bluntly causing (Y/N) to blink in shock. “I have done for a while now.”

“How- Why didn’t you tell me?!” She lightly whacked him on the arm, causing Graham to send a glance their way.

“Because I can’t talk about it! Being an agent kind of means being secretive.” He whispered, as he smirked. “Also you weren’t exactly telling me the truth about where you were running off to either.” She rolled her eyes, knowing he was right.

“Is Mason your actual name?” She inquired, swallowing the lump in her throat. He sent her a sad smile, which gave her the answer she already knew. “Yeah, I guessed not.” She laughed lightly. “I have so many questions.”

“I bet you do.” He stood up. “But we need to focus on the job at hand. Stopping whatever those creatures are.”

Whilst the pair were talking, the Doctor went to pick up Ryan and Yaz, as Graham and Mason, or O, should (Y/N) call him, had a chat. (Y/N) stood looking at all the paper work that was laying around, shaking her head in surprise at how much her friend actually knew about alien life. Small world. She thought.

“We need to pay Barton a visit.” The Doctor declared.

“Good thing he's having a party, then. We got invites.” Ryan grinned, looking proud of himself.

“Yes! Nice work, you three. Got invites for us all, have you? I'm sure I can hack a guest list.” The Doctor beamed, turning to O.

“What do you reckon, O? Fancy a trip in the box?” She nodded to the TARDIS as he began to grin.

“I really, really would.” He sounded like a happy child as (Y/N) smiles fondly at her friend.

“Be my guest.”

O walked in, taking in the TARDIS interior as (Y/N) watched from outside with everyone else.

“Shut up!” He mumbled to himself as he reappeared at the door. “Ridiculous.” He looked confused as (Y/N) laughed.

“Yeah well, get used to ridiculous.” She commented, walking towards the TARDIS. “Cause that’s the word I was use to sum up over 80% of the adventures we have.”

“Oi!” The Doctor retorted as the others smiled upon entering the ship.

They all decided they needed to change into clothing more appropriate. If they were going to crash a party, may as well look good whilst doing it.

(Y/N) decided on a deep purple velvet tux, pairing it with black heels as she put on a dark purple lipstick to correlate with her outfit. She had to admit, she hadn’t dressed up in a while. She’d never had the time or the energy to do so since travelling with the Doctor. As she exited the wardrobe, she headed back to the console, seeing everyone in their tuxedos. Her eyes landed on Mas- O, as she felt her heart skip a beat. Damn, he looked good. She’d never seen him dressed up before. O made his way over to (Y/N) after he spotted her reappear.

“You look... lovely.” He complimented quietly, not wanting the others to know they knew each other. “Never seen you dressed up like this before.”

“Not exactly had the chance over the last few months. Been a bit busy.” She commented. “Also I could say the same for you.” She smirked. “Suits you, this whole James Bond look.” She teased as he bashfully smiled.

“Right!” The Doctor exclaimed. “Let’s go crash this party!” She beamed as she pulled the lever.

The six headed into the mansion, as (Y/N) stared in awe of the size of the place.

“Barton has all this, and yet he’s still wanting the universe?” She muttered under her breath.

“Sometimes it’s never enough.” O replied, as they all split off to look for Barton, whilst of course getting distracted.

O and (Y/N) found themselves at one of the many gaming tables.

“It’s like they knew we were coming.” (Y/N) laughed. “Games are our thing.” She picked up the dice, shaking them in her hand before throwing them down the table. Everyone made noises around her as she cheered for herself, causing O to stare at her.

“Did we win?” She asked, confused by everyone staring at her weirdly.

“No.” O smirked, appreciating her enthusiasm.

“Didn't know what I was doing anyway.” She shrugged. “Im used to playing Operation.” She retorted as he smiled.

“You know what they say - lucky at dice, unlucky in love.” He commented as she raised an eyebrow. Her heart skipping a beat once more as they looked each other in the eye, (Y/N) being very conscious of how close their faces were.

“Do they really say that?” She said quietly, almost breathless.

“No.” He replied, causing her to shake her head at his antics.

“Well, I guess we should try another game then!” She exclaimed, pushing herself away from the table as O watched her admiringly.

The gang quickly ran out of the mansion as they heard Barton was getting away. They saw him enter a black car as the Doctor shook her head in defiance.

“Oh no you don’t.” She ran towards the bikes that were outside the front of the mansion. (Y/N)‘s eyes widened.

“You’re not serious, Doctor!” She shook her head running after her friend.

“Deadly serious.” She hopped on, putting on a helmet as the others followed suit.

“This is crazy.” (Y/N) shook her head, jumping on one of the motorcycles, O sitting behind her.

“Have you ever driven one of these before?” He asked, placing his helmet on.

“Would it make you feel better if I lied and said yes?” (Y/N) remarked.

“No.” O looked at her in fear.

“Then no I have never ridden a bike before.” She twisted the handle, the bike starting to volt forward. O tightened his grip on her waist, causing her heart rate to increase. She didn’t know if it was because she was scared to die, or because of the closeness the two were sharing.

The six followed the black car, before gunshots started being heard ahead. (Y/N) yelled as one bounced off her bike.

“Oh my god! We’re gonna die!” (Y/N) shouted, whilst Graham yelled in front.

“Is this always what it’s like with the Doctor?!” O shouted, holding on tight still to (Y/N).

“Believe it or not. This is one of the quiet days!” (Y/N) yelled in response, trying her hardest not to crash or get hit by a bullet.

They all managed to arrive at Barton’s destination without any injuries, surprisingly. As they all quickly jumped off of their bikes; running after the plane that was about to take off.

“Oh come on!” (Y/N) sighed, trying to keep up. “Stupid heels.” She quickly kicked them off, running barefoot after the others. O was a little behind as she saw he was struggling. “Mason come on!” She called behind, forgetting all about the fact he was an agent for the moment. She held out her hand as he grabbed it, sprinting as fast as they could towards the back of the plane. The others were cheering them on as they finally made it, O being pulled up first as he turned as helped (Y/N) up too.

“Sorry. I've never been good at sprinting.” O commented as he tried to catch his breath as they headed into the seating area of the plane.

“Never been good at sprinting?��� The Doctor asked, face full of confusion.

“I was the last one in every race at school.” He continued as the Doctor shook her head.

“No, no, no. I read your file. You were a champion sprinter.” She replied as (Y/N) looked between the two before O’s face turned dark.

“Mmm.” He mumbled. “Got me. Well done.” He said lowly, causing everyone to look confused. He stared at the Doctor with dark eyes as (Y/N) suddenly felt frightened by her friends gaze.

“What's going on, Doc?” Graham asked, sitting in one of the seats.

“I don't know.” She responded truthfully, as (Y/N) started to get a sickening feeling to her stomach.

“You'd best take a look out of the window.” O told them as everyone glanced out the right side, seeing his house flying outside the window.

“How's your house out there?” Ryan asked, looking back and forth between the window and O.

“Bit Wicked Witch of the West, but you get the gist. Maybe.” He had his back to the gang as he furrowed his brows. “Maybe not.” Everyone looked on confused, as he turned back towards them all, sparing a glance at (Y/N) as she looked frightened. “Oh, come on, Doctor, catch up. You can do it.”

“Ohh!” The Doctor seemed to have a realisation as her expression turned to pure shock.

“That's... that's my name, and that is why I chose it.” O laughed. “So satisfying.” He clapped his hands together. “Doctor, I did say look for the spymaster. Or should I say spy... Master?” (Y/N) couldn’t describe it he suddenly looked menacing. It sent a chill down her spine. “Hi.” He waved to the Doctor as she shook her head.

“You can't be.”

“Oh, I can be. I very much am.” He walked towards her.

“So what's going on, then? He's not really O?” Ryan asked, brows furrowed, finding it hard to follow.

“I'm her best enemy.” He chuckled lightly as he smiled at them all. “Call me Master.“ He looked over to (Y/N) who looked hurt. Betrayed. Confused. “Not O. Not Mason.” The Doctor looked at (Y/N) as she gasped slightly at the admission. “Master.”

“You were Mason.” The Doctor looked at (Y/N).

“So you... You tricked me?! Twice?!” (Y/N) exclaimed, hurt in her voice as tears welled in her eyes. The Master laughed manically, clapping his hands.

“I know! Isn’t it brilliant!” He laughed madly, causing (Y/N) to recoil.

“Why?” The Doctor questioned.

“To get close to you, of course.” He said casually. “Thought that was obvious.” He smirked. “And it was so easy.” He smiled. “She didn’t suspect a thing! Don’t know if it’s stupid or just... endearing how trust worthy she is.” (Y/N) felt like time slowed down, like her world was crashing down around her.

“Leave her alone!” Ryan exclaimed, as the Master laughed lightly.

“And what are you gonna do? Huh? Cause I control everything.” He breathed out dramatically after his sentence.

“Why?” (Y/N) finally spoke again. “Why me?”

“Cause it’s a game... and you like those, don’t you?” He gave her an almost soft look. “Humans. So simple. So easy to please.” She let a tear fall. “But it’s not over yet!” He shook his head. “Oh no!” He clapped his hands together before revealing Barton was no longer in the cockpit. “Cause you have roughly 50 seconds before you all die.” He paused. “But let’s play a game, shall we?” The Doctor tried to figure out what to do, her mind racing as the others seemed to begin to panic. (Y/N) stared up at the man she once called her friend, the man she adored deeply, the man she had grown to love.

“If you can answer this right, you get to survive.” He looked down at (Y/N). “What’s my name?”

(Y/N) paused, looking at the others in confusion, before glancing at the Doctor.

“No help from the others! You can’t call a friend!” He exclaimed as she jumped, looking back at him.

“What’s my name?”

(Y/N) blinked as she looked away from the man, looking down at her hands in her lap.

“Master.”

“I can’t hear you.”

“Master.” She said louder as the others felt their panic rising.

“Is that your final answer?”

“Yes!” (Y/N) exclaimed. “Just stop this! Let me and my friends go.” He smiled bitterly at her.

“I never said I’d let them go.” He furrowed his brows as she felt her heart drop. He grabbed her arm, pulling her up with him.

“One last thing Doctor! Before you die!” He got close to her face, the cabin blowing up as the plane began to crash. “Everything you think you know, is a lie.”

He stood back up, pulling (Y/N) which him as he went towards the back of the plane, watching as the chaos unfolded. He laughed as he teleported off the plane with (Y/N) as she tried to shout for the Doctor.

[whocalledhimannux]

hi I wanna like...... yell about the whole Godekker sequence and the poetry of Kamet relying on Costis for 99% of the journey and feeling like an idiot, but then having this mini-episode where he is the one totally in charge, he is the one in charge of executing his own plan, and it involves him 1) making good use of the skills he developed as a slave, not in dealing with free men, but in dealing with OTHER SLAVES, and 2) being forced to confront the way that he thinks about slavery and society.

this is going to be long and rambling because I’m tired and should be sleeping. but I feel like, throughout the book, Kamet’s views of free and enslaved people are both very convoluted and very black and white. he can be simultaneously arrogant about his own importance compared to [all] Attolians, and put himself so low in the social hierarchy that he doesn’t deserve a bed or a full meal. and to some extent, this kind of thinking is both logical and necessary! that’s reality for him! if he blurs any of those lines, he would be forced to deal with the fundamental inequality and trauma of slavery, and he can’t do that.

(he also puts himself above other slaves pretty much throughout the book--which, again, makes sense given his actual position as the future emperor’s secretary, and given his mode of thinking. “those other slaves may be abused, but I’m special. I’m smart and important, and if I’m mistreated, it’s not because I’m stuck in a fundamentally oppressive system, it’s because I made a mistake. I have control over whether it happens again.”)

and for most of the journey, he doesn’t need to challenge those subliminal beliefs. he either pretends to be a perfect humble slave surrounded by free men, or he pretends to be a free man himself (although he does struggle with that). but that falls apart a little bit when he’s around other slaves, because they understand each other in a way that the free men around Kamet don’t understand him. think of Kodester, when his first use of his authority as a “free man” is to help out a slave--and that slave almost instantly realizes Kamet must be an escaped slave himself.

and then, when Kamet is threatened by Godekker, he thinks back to being in Nahuseresh’s household and how he dealt with slaves there, and this is what he says: “Gentle with them, I explained my authority, always making them see that we were on the same side, both slaves, both capable of treating the other with the respect we were denied by free men.” (emphasis mine)

I know this is a reflection on how Kamet used to feel, so it’s not new to him, but it’s new to the reader. it’s Kamet simultaneously feeling true humility (in solidarity with other slaves) and acknowledging his fundamental worth that his enslaved state has denied him. this feels like a natural progression, too, from when he and Costis were talking about Kamet’s time in Attolia and Costis said “you were lonely” and Kamet replied “I was underappreciated.” I think that frank attempt to explain his feelings/the power dynamic to Costis paved the way for him to talk about this to the reader later. so this is my point #1--by taking on that role again, a slave talking to another slave, Kamet is able to relate to people in an honest way, which he struggles with elsewhere in the book. For him, self-respect and mutual respect are very thoroughly entangled. he can’t respect others unless he admits that he is as powerless as they are, but by putting himself at their level, he can acknowledge that they both deserve respect.

(this comes back to the whole “slaves don’t do favors” thing--slaves can’t give away any of the little power they have. free men can be gracious. and one of the first conversations Kamet has a free man is along the same lines; Relius tells him not to drive a hard bargain, but to trust Eugenides. essentially saying “you aren’t a cheap person, so don’t act cheaply. treat others with respect, because you are worthy of respect.”)(any other Jewish QT fans out there? I’m basically struggling to describe the concept of b’tselem elohim here in a secular context.)

moving on to #2, Godekker is really the PERFECT foil for Kamet, because he is that uneducated, powerless slave that Kamet tries so desperately to distance himself from. yet he has so much power over Kamet and very bluntly tells him the things that Kamet has been subconsciously saying to himself for years. Godekker tells him that he’ll never stop being afraid, that he can’t have friends, that he’ll always be a slave to some master, that he shouldn’t do favors for people. ALL things that Kamet has said elsewhere in the narrative. (honestly, in another genre Godekker would be a spirit sent to Kamet in his dreams or some shit.) and some of these things he agrees with even as Godekker says them. some of them he doesn’t.

sometimes (most interestingly) his actions and his words conflict. he says that slaves don’t do favors, while at the same time doing this massive favor for Costis--like really, if anyone ever believed that Kamet would leave Costis at any point in this novel, I am 100% certain this section of the book killed that idea. I also find it so interesting that Kamet says “he’s taking me to his employer, who will free me,” which is the official plan, which Kamet DOES NOT INTEND TO HAPPEN, instead of just like... saying “he helped me out and I want to make sure he survives, but I’m bailing on him soon, don’t worry.” this is also the first time Kamet admits that he doesn’t actually like being Nahuseresh’s slave, despite all the prestige he’s been bragging about for two hundred pages--that he might smash Nahuseresh’s head in with a rock if given the chance!

and then, when Costis wakes, Kamet keeps trying to interrupt him with reassurance, and Costis doesn’t need them. Costis trusts him and tells him that he’s strong enough to be a free man--again, Costis has thought of Kamet as a free man for THE ENTIRE BOOK and Kamet has never once believed him, until this scene. Costis’s faith in him, combined with his... individual authority and agency in this scene, that’s what pushes his character development.

I’m almost done, I swear. but like... I think Kamet might honestly be my favorite character in the series, and one reason for that is that MWT shows his development so well but almost never tells it. Which is so fitting given that he’s a slave and given that we’re reading his own narrative. Kamet loses a lot and gains a lot throughout this novel, and irl that’s hard. we don’t always recognize when change is for the good. it’s natural to regret what we had, or what might have been, and what looks like a positive change to other people doesn’t always feel positive in the moment.

we, as readers, know that Kamet has been treated terribly, know that he and Costis are friends, know that Eugenides is a good person and will be a good friend to him, [think we] know that he will ultimately be better off, know that he has the strength and skill and moral character to live life as a free man. and we see so many of these seeds in this section of the book. but Kamet doesn’t see them as clearly as we do. and that is some DAMN good writing.

in conclusion, Thick as Thieves is incredibly written and I love it very much, good night and I’m sorry for the inevitable typos/repetition.

[greecegreekreporterpost]

How bad are things for the people of Greece?

The people of Greece are facing further years of economic hardship following a Eurozone agreement over the terms of a third bailout.

The deal included more tax rises and spending cuts, despite the Syriza government coming to power promising to end what it described as the "humiliation and pain" of austerity.

With the country having already endured years of economic contraction since the global downturn, just how does Greece's ordeal compare with other recessions and how have the lives of the country's people been affected?

The long recession

It is now generally agreed that Greece has experienced an economic crisis on the scale of the US Great Depression of the 1930s.

According to the Greek government's own figures, the economy first contracted in the final quarter of 2008 and - apart from some weak growth in 2014 - has been shrinking ever since. The recession has cut the size of the Greek economy by around a quarter, the largest contraction of an advanced economy since the 1950s.

Although the Greek recession has not been quite as deep as the Great Depression from peak to trough, it has gone on longer and many observers now believe Greek GDP will drop further in 2015.

Dwindling jobs

Jobs are increasingly difficult to come by in Greece - especially for the young. While a quarter of the population are out of work, youth unemployment is running much higher.

Half of those under 25 are out of work. In some regions of western Greece, the youth unemployment rate is well above 60%.

To make matters worse, long-term unemployment is at particularly high levels in Greece.

Being out of work for significant periods of time has severe consequences, according to a report by the European Parliament. The longer a person is unemployed, the less employable they become. Re-entering the workforce also becomes more difficult and more expensive.

Young people have been particularly affected by long-term unemployment: one out of three has been jobless for more than a year.

After two years out of work, the unemployed also lose their health insurance.

This persistent unemployment also means pension funds receive fewer contributions from the working population. As more Greeks are without jobs, more pensioners are having to sustain families on a reduced income.

According to the latest figures from the Greek government, 45% of pensioners receive monthly payments below the poverty line of €665.

Plummeting income

The Greek people are also facing dropping wages.

In the five years from 2008 to 2013, Greeks became on average 40% poorer, according to data from the country's statistical agency analysed by Reuters. As well as job losses and wage cuts, the decline can also be explained by steep cuts in workers' compensation and social benefits.

In 2014, disposable household income in Greece sunk to below 2003 levels.

Rising poverty

Like during all recessions, the poor and vulnerable have been hardest hit.

One in five Greeks are experiencing severe material deprivation, a figure that has nearly doubled since 2008.

Almost four million people living in Greece, more than a third of the country's total population, were classed as being 'at risk of poverty or social exclusion' in 2014.

According to Dr Panos Tsakloglou, economist and professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business, the crisis has exposed Greece's lack of social safety nets.

"The welfare state in Greece has historically been very weak, driven primarily by clientelistic calculations rather than an assessment of needs. In the past this was not really urgent because there were rarely any particularly explosive social conditions. The family was substituting the welfare state," he told the BBC.

Typically, if a young person lost his or her job or could not find a job after graduating, they would receive support from the family until their situation improved.

But as more and more people have become jobless and with pensions slashed as part of the austerity imposed on Greece from its creditors, ordinary Greeks are feeling the impact.

"This has led to many more unemployed people falling into poverty much faster," Dr Tsakloglou said.

Cuts to essential services

Healthcare is one of the public services that has been hit hardest by the crisis. An estimated 800,000 Greeks are without medical access due to a lack of insurance or poverty.

A 2014 report in the Lancet medical journal highlighted the devastating social and health consequences of the financial crisis and resulting austerity on the country's population.

At a time of heightened demand, the report said, "the scale and speed of imposed change have constrained the capacity of the public health system to respond to the needs of the population".

While a number of social initiatives and volunteer-led health clinics have emerged to ease the burden, many drug prevention and treatment centres and psychiatric clinics have been forced to close due to budget cuts.

HIV infections among injecting drug users rose from 15 in 2009 to 484 people in 2012.

Mental wellbeing

The crisis also appears to have taken its toll on people's wellbeing.

Figures suggest that the prevalence of major depression almost trebled from 3% to 8% of the population in the three years to 2011, during the onset of the crisis.

While starting from a low initial figure, the suicide rate rose by 35% in Greece between 2010 and 2012, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.

Researchers concluded that suicides among those of working age coincided with austerity measures.

Greece's public and non-profit mental health service providers have been forced to scale back operations, shut down, or reduce staff, while plans for development of child psychiatric services have been abandoned.

Funding for mental health decreased by 20% between 2010 and 2011, and by a further 55% the following year.

The brain drain

Faced with the prospect of dwindling incomes or unemployment, many Greeks have been forced to look for work elsewhere. In the last five years, Greece's population has declined, falling by about 400,000.

A 2013 study found that more than 120,000 professionals, including doctors, engineers and scientists, had left Greece since the start of the crisis in 2010.

A more recent European University Institute survey found that of those who emigrated, nine in 10 hold a university degree and more than 60% of those have a master's degree, while 11% hold a PhD.

Foteini Ploumbi was in her early thirties when she lost her job as a warehouse supervisor in Athens after the owner could no longer afford to pay his staff.

After a year looking for a new job in Greece, she moved to the UK in 2013 and immediately found work as a business analyst in London.

"I had no choice but leave if I wanted to work, I had no prospect of employment in Greece. I would love to go back, my whole life is back there. But logic stops me from returning at the moment," she said.

"In the UK, I can get by - I can't even do that in Greece."

[otome-addicts-notsoanonymous]

This is the entry by @voltage-fanfictions​ for the fanfic giveaway! Remember, in order to vote you must COMMENT on this post! All the voting rules and the master post can be found under #fanficgiveawaymaster, or here. Other submissions can be found on the master post, or under #fanficsubmissions

Christmas Miracle [Kissed by the Baddest Bidder x Star Crossed Myth crossover] [Reader Insert] [Giveaway Entry]

Huffing, you lifted yourself from your position at the bedside, checking no-one was around before cracking your back upon standing. With Chisato and Sakiko having been called off to cover work elsewhere in the hotel you were left to fend for yourself until they were complete whatever tasks they were assigned, so with a quick once over of the room hoping that your pager stayed quiet, unfortunately for you, as it always did, the pager in your pocket started buzzing. Of course, you were left with no choice but to drop your equipment and made a mad dash for the penthouse.

“You’re late.” Eisuke’s announcement was anything but a shock to you, only on one or two occasions in which you happened to be close by to the penthouse anyway had you managed to be on time. You simply gave a small smile.

“I’m assuming you would like coffee.” You didn’t even bother to wait for a response as you made your way over to the coffee machine and began creating the in demand beverages, placing them in front if the corresponding bidders. You went to leave the room but Eisuke’s voice behind you stopped you in your tracks.

“There’s a business meeting this Saturday. You’re coming with me.” Your heart dropped to your stomach.

“Um, Mr. Ichinomiya, I’m really sorry but I can’t.” You didn’t even need to look at him to know you were being pierced with an icy glare. Mamoru whistled under his breath.

“Damn kid, finally grow a backbone?” Shrinking back, you could only stutter out.

“I’m so sorry, but I already have plans and I can’t get out of them. Even for you.” Before you had to endure to wrath that would come from your refusal you turned leave again, only to run smack into someone in the doorway. Losing your balance, you expected to fall face first to the ground only to be caught by someone.

“Good grief, keep your eyes forward and look where you’re going!” You glanced up and gave a sheepish smile to a rather annoyed looking Shuichi who was still supporting your frame against him. Wordlessly, he steadied you on your feet before stepping around you and moving into the room, giving you your chance to escape.

It’s not that you didn’t want to help Eisuke, honestly you were terrified to go against their wishes, but the people you were agreeing to meet were even more powerful, and you weren’t sure which group to be more afraid of, the bidders or the gods. The bidders may be powerful, but even they couldn’t compare to divine beings, and you’d thought your life couldn’t possibly get more chaotic, but as if to prove you wrong life had dumped this in your lap.

Your meeting with the gods had been far from expected, but then again who goes to a planetarium expecting to fall off the room, be saved by gods, told you’re a reincarnated goddess and that you were needed to absolve their sins. I mean it’s hardly a typical Saturday, yet that was exactly what had happened to you the previous January.

As you could imagine those interesting relationships got off to a rocky start, the gods weren’t participating kind to begin with, fighting over who got use of you first only to then be furious to find you couldn’t just snap your fingers and remove their marks of sin. You almost slapped them at that point, did then honestly expect to just show up in front of you and for you to tell them that you knew exactly what they needed? For gods, they were a little dumb in that sense. So being the almighty beings they were they decided they were going to ruin the little time you had off. Great.

This has been going on for about eleven months now, you’d spent equally with each god and somehow their marks of sin had faded, only recently did the final one fade and even though you were happy to be getting the time back, you couldn’t help but be a little sad that you wouldn’t see them again, until of course you received the message yesterday from Altair that you needed to go to the mansion on Saturday because the gods had news for you. By some miracle over the past twelve months you had somehow avoided clashing diaries with the two, but you guessed your luck had to run out at some point and although the bidders could make your life hell, they were not divine beings with powers that could be used to harass you until you did as they asked, and the arrangement was made with them first so for the first time you turned down Eisuke Ichinomiya, I mean he had to understand his one time in the entire time they held ownership over you, right? Still, knowing Mr. Ichinomiya it would probably be safer to ask the gods to use the sofa in the mansion for the night before, so when the next day had passed you did just that.

The journey to the mansion gave time for the exhaustion of the week to set in. The Christmas period, which was pretty much from the end of Halloween now, was always busy in any form of service or retail work, but there seemed to be a lot of guests who had yet to feel the festive cheer. You knew you weren’t the only one who noticed, many of the staff were commenting on how some of the guests seemed meaner, and you had to agree. Sure, it wasn’t odd to deal with a complaint or two, but the sheer volume of upset customers you were dealing with was completely abnormal especially for the time of year.

Reaching the mansion, you forewent knocking because you were freezing and stepped inside, removing the gloves from your hand and rubbing the cold appendages together. No doubt hearing the door close, Dui emerged into the hallway. He looked slightly shocked for a moment before running up to you.

“What’re you doing here? Is there a problem?” You shook your head in response.

“No Dui, no problems as such.” Noticing your reddened fingers, with a slight blush he took your hands in his own, allowing the warmth of his hands to bleed into your own.

“Is there something we can do for you then, there must be something to bring you here this late and in this weather.”

“Well actually, I do have a bit of a strange request.”

“Oh? What’s that?” You thought for a moment about the phrasing before just deciding being blunt about it would be easier.

“I was wondering if I could perhaps stay the night.” If you though his blush couldn’t deepen more you were wrong. His entire face was practically the same shade as the cherries he so adored. His widened eyes met yours and you realised at that point exactly what he was thinking, but before you got the chance to correct him another voice joined the conversation.

“Staying the night? Well you’re always welcome in my room.” Partheno gave that flirty smirk he always did, you could practically feel him undressing you with his eyes and he slid next to you, wrapping an arm around your waist and discreetly pulling your hands from within Dui’s grasp.  “If you want me, just say the word and I will show you quite the night.” The hand at you waist crept lower and lower. Just as his hand was creeping low enough to be deemed socially inappropriate and you could see Dui getting ready to intervene, yet another voice was heard.

“Partheno. I think it’s best you stop now.” You turned to see Karno descending down the stairs with his normal calm expression. “You wouldn’t want to be accused of sexual harassment, would you?” Partheno smiled in return, looking at you.

“Harassment? I’m just inviting her to join me in bed tonight.”

“Partheno!” Dui’s cheeks exploded into redness again as Karno shook his head with a chuckle.

“I don’t think you’ll have the time. Zyglavis is calling you two, you should probably head back to the heavens.”

“What a shame.” Partheno sighed. “But my offer if always open. I’d be more than happy to spend the night pleasuring you beyond your wildest dreams.”

“Partheno! We should go now!” And before he could say anymore, Dui grabbed Partheno and steered him back into the mansion. Once the hall fell silent again, Karno turned to face you.

“I’m sorry, how rude of me to leave you standing out here.” He offered you his hand with a smile. “Please, come inside. It’s much warmer in there.” You took his outstretched hand, and he clasped it gently, lacing his fingers through yours as he began to walk you through the mansion. “I’m surprised you’re here so late.”

“Yeah, I was just asking a favour. Are Zyglavis or Leon here?”

“No, it’s pretty empty. There’s a bit of a problem right now. I’m sure you’ll find out about it soon enough.”

“Oh..” You wanted to dig further, but his tone told you you wouldn’t get anything from him anyway, even if you did ask. So you simply settled on your original question. “Then I guess you’re the next person to ask.” He looked towards you, curiosity clear on his face.

“And what might your question be?”

“I was wondering if I could sleep here tonight, on one of the sofas.” He froze for a moment, before shaking his head and continuing to walk.

“Why would you need to? Are you in trouble?” You laughed and shook your head.

“Nothing like that. You see I was asked to come and speak to Zyglavis tomorrow by Altair, but my boss wanted me to attend some meeting with him. He wasn’t particularly happy when I said no and I have no doubt he’ll try something to get me to attend with him. It wouldn’t be the first time he pulls a ridiculous stunt like that.”

“Is he really that bad?” He looked slightly shocked. “Can’t you raise it with your management?”

“Karno, the ‘boss’ I’m referring to is the CEO. I literally have no-one to go to.” He went silent for a moment.

“If you wish for it, I might be able to do something.”

“Unfortunately I think my wish would end up falling to the Punishments Department. Thanks all the same though.”

“If you insist.” He sighed. “But back to your original question, I don’t have a problem with you staying, but I’m not sure I’m comfortable letting you sleep on the sofa. You’ll be very out in the open.”

“Karno, you guys are gods! Why on Earth would I be in danger when you guys have goddesses falling all over each other to talk to you all.”

“Gods we may be, but we are still men. And when something special is defenceless it can be hard to resist. Although I don’t think anyone would truly lay a hand on you, I would much prefer in you used my bed for the night. I will be in the heavens so you don’t need to worry about me joining you, no matter what I might like to do.” You decided to ignore the end of his statement.

“Are you sure?”

“I insist, it’s the only way I’ll allowed it. Would you like to rest now? There aren’t many others here and those that are will be coming and going.”

“Well it is late, and I am tired, so I think I’ll take you up on that offer Karno.” He gave a small nod, leading you down the corridor towards the bedrooms before stopping in front of his own, opening the door and stepping to the side to allow you to pass, you turned back to face him and he smiled.

“I should be going now, but sleep well, ok?” He didn’t wait for a response, leaning forward he gave your forehead a small peck before he closed the door.

As asked, your sleep was deep and peaceful and you awoke to light leaking in through the window. In your foggy state it took you a little while to realise where you were, but it soon came back to you when you looked around the room. Pulling yourself from the bed you quickly moved to rummage through your bag for the shirt and underwear you had brought with you. Blinking the sleep from your eyes you noticed there was a sink in the corner of the room that wasn’t there before and you silently thanked Karno as you brushed your teeth and used the flannel to give yourself a quick wash. With a quick sweep of a brush your hair looked as it always did, and you decided you were presentable.

You emerged from Karno’s room as quietly as you could, but as always luck wasn’t on your side.

“Well hello little lady, fancy seeing you here.”

“…Hi Lou.”

“Karno? Not a bad choice, however I can almost guarantee that I can offer more in that department.” He walked forward, locking his eyes with yours and placing his hand lightly on your cheek. “Would you let me prove it?”

“Um…I’m not that kind of person.”  He held your gaze, expression not moving from the sultry smirk he had for a good thirty seconds before he laughed, patting your cheek. “I’m joking, Karno told us you were staying.” He looked past you to the door. “However, he didn’t say you were staying in his room. But Zyglavis will be down from the heavens any minute now, so you should probably head down.”

“Oh, ok. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Not a problem, little lady.”

Following his advice, you made your way to the lounge, finding it empty you sat yourself on the sofa. As Tauxolouve said, Zyglavis stepped into the room shortly after yourself. He looked mildly surprised to see you but composed himself fast.

“You’re already here, how punctual.”

“I try my hardest.” He appeared slightly awkward for a moment, and as you stood to face him he sighed.

“My apologies for this, but I don’t think dancing around this matter is going to help anything. I’m going to be honest with you, your life is in danger.” You couldn’t conceal your shock.

“What?”

“I’m sure you’re aware of the current upheaval in the heavens. The reason the gods have not been as present on earth is because there has been a gradual yet disturbing increase in dark energy. We’ve come to find the reason for this is the revival of a being called The Dark King,”

“A name like that is never a good thing.”

“No, it isn’t. The Dark King has been the cause of deadly conflicts before and somehow he has been revived. His followers have somehow amassed enough power to bring him back but at this point he is still weak, which is where you come in. Your soul contains a huge amount of power, which although currently dormant can still be harnessed. We believe he will try to target you to obtain the power of your soul, and return himself to full strength.”

“…I’m assuming this would kill me.” He gave a solemn nod.

“Yes, the only way to use them would be to remove your soul from your body to awaken its dormant powers and absorb them, if he succeeded The Dark King would be as powerful as the King of the Heavens. We can’t let that happen, it would mean another war which would put every living thing at risk.” Noticing your quietness, Zyglavis apologised. “I’m sorry to be the one to reveal this to you, but don’t worry.” He stepped forward, resting a hand on your shoulder. “We won’t let The Dark King take you. The twelve of us have been tasked with protecting you.”

“I see, that’s comforting to hear.”

“I’m glad. One of us will remain at your side whenever possible, if we cannot for any reason be with you physically then I will send my shadows to watch over you, and your assigned guard will watch from the reflecting pool to monitor your safety.”

“Thank you Zyglavis.” You smiles softly at him. “Also thank you for telling me, I know it probably wasn’t something that was easy for you to do.” He looked slightly shy at your words.

“I was only doing as asked by the King.”

The next day you were back in your apartment, and as you opened the door to leave you nearly jumped out of your skin when Teorus popped out from behind the wall.

“Good morning Goldie!”

“Christ Teorus, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” He laughed at your frazzled exclamation.

“Well you did know one of us would be showing up!”

“Yeah, but I was expecting to be approached like a normal person!” He smiled and grabbed your wrist.

“Oh well, let’s get you to work, from what you’ve said your boss is scary and you don’t want to be late.”

“Yeah, you have a point.”

The walk to the Tres Spades was quiet, even now you had t exactly processed what you were told, I mean finding out your life is at risk isn’t something particularly easy to stomach. Before you even realised, you were stood outside the hotel where you snapped back to yourself.

“Oh, sorry Teorus, guess I spaced out. That was rude of me, but I really need to be going.” You apologised, but just before you slipped your wrist from his hand to enter the building he spoke.

“Goldie.” His voice had lost its playful edge. “ I know you’re scared. You don’t need to pretend, but just know that you look prettiest when you smile. So keep your head up, ok?”

“I’ll try, I guess.” Realising that was the best he was going to get, he dropped a kiss on the top of your hair.

“I’ll be back to pick you up when your shift is finished.” Before he walked away to no doubt teleport to the heavens.

Walking inside you were met with a character who honestly you didn’t have the energy to deal with right now, and the look on his face just screamed trouble for you. The corners of Ota’s lips were downturned and his brow was furrowed, it was easy to tell he was far from happy. You were about to give your normal greeting when he grabbed you by the wrist and pulled you to the side, covering the spot where Teorus’ hand had been.

“Koro. Who was that guy?” A sickly sweet tone left him and you couldn’t help but gulp.

“He’s just a friend, Ota.” The grip on your wrist tightened.

“Oh? Do you let all of your friends kiss you like that?”

“Ota! You make it sound like he made out with me or something, it was just an affectionate peck on the head!”

“I don’t care what it was.” His eyes narrowed. “You let another man kiss you, and this will be your last warning. You don’t get to find another master, Koro. You’ll be punished if you try to.”

He walked away, leaving you staring at his back for a while before you got your legs to move again.

As expected, Mr. Ichinomiya wasn’t particularly happy about you escaping his clutches for the previous weekend. He assigned you task after task as punishment for disobeying him and you were left exhausted, barely having the energy to manage the walk home with Teorus and the pattern continued like this over the next few days. One of the gods would escort you to and from work but apart from that things didn’t feel all too different normal. For a few days at least.

The Thursday of the following week you were waiting outside for Ichthys, but you could see Zyglavis’ shadows standing guard a few feet away. From under the canopy of the building you stepped towards the side of the road, itching to get home.

“What’re you waiting out here for?” Turning around, you came to see Mamoru making his way out of the hotel. You gave him a tired smile.

“Oh, a friend of mine is going to be walking home.”

“You got a lot of friends suddenly. They doing this for any reason?”

“What do you mean?”

“Look kid, if something’s wrong you cause more hassle for us when you keep quiet. Is something going on?” Before you could even think to respond, you saw his eyes widen, the cigarette fell from his mouth as he grabbed you harshly, holding you against his chest as he leapt out of the way of something. You met the concrete with a thud but that was soon overpowered by a horrendous shriek of metal against concrete before there was an explosive sound. Still a bit dazed, you looked up from your place beneath Mamoru, only for your eyes to meet the sight of a car crumpled again the next door building. Right where you had been standing. Your blood ran cold and you gulped as Mamoru pulled you to your feet. “Kid, don’t even think of lying to me right now. What’s. Going. On.” His tone was serious and as you struggled to find the words there was the sound of footsteps behind you.

“Are you ok?!” The familiar voice of Ichthys rang in your ears and you were pulled from Mamoru, being spun to face the clearly concerned god.

“I’m fine Ichthys, I’m fine.” Running his hands down your arms, he let out a small sigh of relief.

“I thought it was going to be too late.” He pulled you into his arms. “Thank heavens you’re safe.”

“And who the hell are you?” Mamoru’s brought you back to yourself. You jumped out of Ichthys’ arms like you’d had cold water thrown over you.

“I’m Ichthys!” Mamoru looked him up and down.

“Sounds like a stripper name.” You blanched at his words.

“Kishi! You can’t just say stuff like that to people!” His frown didn’t lessen.

“I think this asshole knows his name ain’t what I’m after. Who are you to her?” He jutted his chin in your direction. “And I ain’t gonna buy that you’re ‘just a friend’. I’m not stupid.”

“Ok, I’m her boyfriend!”

“Ichthys this isn’t the time for jokes!” You yelled, noticing the look of anger on Mamoru’s face.

“No, it isn’t.” All three of you turned to see Krioff approaching.

“Another one? Where are these assholes coming from?” You ignored Mamoru’s mutter.

“Circumstances have changed. I think we should go inside to talk about this.” He gave a pointed look to you and Mamoru. Huffing a sigh out when he looked at you, the cop motioned with his hand, taking the three of you back into the hotel.

When you reached the penthouse, the bidders automatically turned to look at the entrance and Eisuke scowled at the unknown people.

“Would you two care to explain why these men are in my penthouse without permission?”

“They’re here to explain what’s going on with the kid. Whether they want to or not.” Without knowing what to say you looked at the gods pleadingly, and Krioff gave a small shrug.

“It’s fine. The King has given permission for them to know. I’m just relaying a message.”

“King?” Soryu didn’t look impressed. “What kind of nonsense are you talking.”

“How much? How much do we need to tell them?” Your couldn’t help but admit you were slightly scared of how the bidders would react.

“All of it.” Noticing your discomfort he carried on. “Want me to tell them?” You could only nod, refusing to meet their eyes.

“Tell us what?” Eisuke seethed. “Unless you want a harsh punishment, you better start talking.”

“Hey, leave her alone.” Ichthys came to put a comforting arm around your shoulder. “She’s having a hard enough time right now without you guys being mean!”

“Your employee is a reincarnated goddess.” When Krioff said that, silence encased the room, sharp eyes fixing in on him. Honestly, what did you expect when you let Krioff speak for you other than blunt honesty?

“Do you honestly think we’re going to believe that?” Shuichi hissed. Krioff simply looked bored, like he was expecting that.

“Believe it or not, it’s the truth. She was a goddess in her previous life. Currently her life is in danger, and I’m here to take her, and all of you, to the heavens for better protection.”

“Wait, they’re coming too?”

“The King believes that if they are here on Earth the Dark King could use them as a means to draw you out. We would rather a few more humans know about us then risk the entire world.”

“This is like a plot ripped out of a kids book.” Ota muttered. “Try to be a bit more creative at least.”

“And don’t think we’ll be going anywhere with you, including my employee. Now leave my hotel, I’m already sick of looking at you two.” Krioff and Ichthys looked at each other.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing we don’t need you to move to get you where we’re going.”

Before the bidders could speak, Krioff snapped his fingers and you felt that horrid lightheaded feeling and your vision went black, only to fade back into view with you all stood in the throne room. Appearing stunned beyond words, the bidders just stared as you gave a small bow the the King.

“Your Highness.”

“The former goddess, it has been a while since we last spoke.”

“Yes, I’m sorry about that.”

“There’s no need to apologise. Circumstances haven’t lent us to free time recently. But for now we can communicate with ease. As I asked Krioff to tell you, you will be staying in the heavens for the time being. The Dark King’s power is continuing to grow at an alarming rate, we can’t risk him taking your soul.”

“What is this nonsense!” The yell of pure irritation drew your attention back to Eisuke. He looked far from impressed, if looks could kill the entire room would be dead. You simply looked towards your feet.

“It’s not nonsense Mr. Ichinomiya. I’m a reincarnated goddess.”

“You, a goddess?” Hikaru smirked. “Are you trying to make me laugh?”

“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true!”

“That’s enough.” Eisuke spoke, grabbing you by the wrist. “We’re going back to the Tres Spades, where you can explain to me fully what lies these people have filled your head with.” As he made to leave the throne room with you in tow, the King of the Heavens snapped his fingers, freezing Eisuke where he stood. The billionaire looked shocked only for a moment, before anger you had never seen flared in his eyes.

“Eisuke Ichinomiya, none of you will be leaving the heavens for the foreseeable future. As I’m sure was explained to you by Krioff, going back to Earth right now puts both yourself and the world at risk. I do not care whether you believe in us or not, but you will do as I command. Everything, every part of your life is in my hands. You would do well to remember this while you are here.” Another snap later and he was free once more. Looking hesitantly over at him, the fury in his eyes was clear. Eisuke was used to winning, and not being top of the food chain clearly didn’t sit well with him.

“If we’re staying here, where exactly are we staying?” Baba queried.

“I will have the gods show you to your temporary rooms, Krioff please see that our former goddess is settled. I need to speak with her acquaintances.” With a gentle hand on your back, Krioff lead you from the room.

“Thank you for this Krioff. I know this is probably the last thing you all need.”

“This is about protecting the world.”

“I know that.”

“No, you don’t.” He turned to meet your eyes. “I’m saying that the world that has you in it is worth protecting.”

The rest of the walk to your room was in silence, and after a few questions about the room, Krioff left you in peace. You settled on the bed, holding one of the pillows to your chest and hugging it against you. You were scared, of both the Dark King and the bidders. Of course the threat of death was never to be taken lightly, but the reactions from the bidders caused a very different fear to bloom in your heart. You never planned to tell them of your origins, it’d taken you months to accept it yourself. Yet here they were, being faced with not only the reality of who you were, but also the entirety of the heavens on top of the fact that they could be in danger because of you. You feared they still wouldn’t believe you, that they would brand you a liar or accuse you of betraying them. You were scared they would abandon you.

A light knock at the door drew you from your thoughts, and you gave a small noise to allow the person to enter. Baba’s face appeared around the edge of the door, and he gave you a small smile.

“Hi princess, how are you feeling?” You sighed.

“About as well as expected considering everything.” He slipped around the door, closing it gently behind him and came to sit on the bed next to you, as he chuckled, you looked at him quizzically.

“I’m sorry, I just remembered how I often called you my goddess. I guess I wasn’t wrong, was I?” You joined his amusement with a grin before his smile dropped ever so slightly. “Say, how long have you known that you weren’t human?”

“I am human, Baba.”

“Princess, you know what I mean. How long have you known about this?” For a moment you considered whether you should lie or be honest, but deciding you’d had enough of being deceitful around it, you opted with telling the truth.

“I’ve known for about a year.” You didn’t miss the look of hurt that passed the thief’s face.

“…And you never thought to tell me?”

“Baba, would you have believed me If I had?”

“Perhaps for a while I would’ve thought you were joking, but I know you. You’re not a liar. After a few months…I think I would’ve. I’m sorry that you didn’t see me as trustworthy for your secret.”

“Oh Baba, it’s not like-“ he placed a finger over your lips.

“You didn’t think I would believe you. That in itself shows I haven’t proven myself to you yet.” He gave you another sad smile. “I’ll prove myself to you. It may take me years, a lifetime even. But I swear that I’ll show that you can share anything you need to with me.” Running the thumb from your lip over your cheek, he stood from the bed. “It’s getting late, and from what I’ve heard you’ve had a very long day. Sleep now princess, we don’t want your beauty marred by exhaustion.” Following his words of comfort, he quietly left the room. With the darkness feeling comfortable for the first time since this began, you fell into a guilt ridden sleep.

The next day you awoke feeling just as groggy, and without any particular thing to do you simply made yourself presentable and left your room, hoping to find anything to alleviate your stress and boredom. You headed out into the hallway, and the silence was unnerving to you. The normally bustling palace was so quiet it almost felt dead. So you were relieved when you saw Soryu emerge into the corridor.

“Good morning Soryu.” He nodded at you. “Is everything ok with your room?”

“Is there a point to your questions? If there is, just say so.” You looked away, taking a small gulp before working up the courage to say what you wanted to.

“I just…I just wanted to apologise for putting you through all this. For causing you all so many problems. I should’ve been more careful about being around you all-“

“Did you know this was going to happen?” You froze in shock.

“Of course not, how could you ask that?!”

“Then why are you sorry? You didn’t know this was going to happen just as we didn’t. There was nothing you could’ve done to prevent this, don’t apologise for something you had no say in.”

“…Right. Thanks for that Soryu.” You went to walk away only to be stopped by a loud popping noise. Almost instinctually Soryu pulled the gun from his blazer and pulled you against his chest as he brandished the weapon in the direction of the noise.

“Show yourselves!” Laughter rung around the two of you, and despite looking you couldn’t find the source. With a final guess as to who was behind it, you looked upwards to see Ichthys hovering next to one of the pillars, waving down at you innocently.

“Ichthys, what have you done this time?”

“Nothing, nothing. That’ll just be Dui falling for my prank!” You couldn’t help but sigh.

“I’m not even going to ask…”

“Is this really the time for pranks?” Surprisingly, Soryu spoke up to the god above him. “You say yourself that her life is in danger, don’t you think you should be working like the other gods to trying and stop this and keep her safe?” At his words, Ichthys rolled his eyes.

“Maaaannn, you are just like Ziggles. You’re no fun! Especially at times like this you need a bit of life around the place or it just gets so boring!”

“ICHTHYS!” The familiar roar of the minister echoed through the halls. Following which the male in question quickly fled the corridor with nothing but a wave. You and Soryu were left in silence once again.

“Soryu…you can let go of me now.” You didn’t think you’d ever seen the mobster turn so red before.

“Am I interrupting something?” Looking towards the other end of the corridor, the click of the male’s heels against the tiled floor became louder as he approached.

“No Hue, there’s nothing to interrupt.”

“Is that so?” The blue haired god gave a closed eyed smile to Soryu. “It didn’t seem that way.” At the insinuating tone, Soryu clicked his tongue and walked back the way he came.

“Hue, you are mean.”

“Mean? I’m simply stating what I see. Besides, I actually came to ask you for assistance.”

“How can I help?” He held up the sheets of parchment in his hand.

“With my missing eye and the volume of work we’re all taking on right now, I’m running very low on energy, even with being in the heavens. Would you care to help me work by lending me your power?”

“Like I did on Earth? Sure, I don’t see a problem with that.”

After helping Huedhaut for the majority of the day, he bid you a farewell telling you that you’d helped him immensely. You weren’t particularly tired at this point but with Hue’s dismissing you no doubt to make sure you weren’t overworked you were left to once again wander the palace. Contemplating whether or not to take a walk in the gardens, you couldn’t stop the squeak of surprise that left you when you were thrust against the wall.

Looking up towards the face of your captor, Eisuke’s expression certainly erred in the side or irritation. The nerves that had slowly been ebbing away over the course of the day swelled back up and he pinned you to the wall with his arm.

“You kept a secret from me.” He was practically glowering, a mix of damaged pride and annoyance, no doubt it was your fault with the way he was looking at you.

“Mr. Ichinomiya, I-“

“There are only two answers you can give me. Or have you forgotten that?” You deflated.

“No sir, I haven’t.”

“And what are those answers?”

“Yes and ok…”

“Now let’s try this again, did you keep a secret from me?”

“…Yes.”

“There. It was a simple answer. I don’t care what you think is best for me, what you think is important for me to know or what you think I‘ll believe. You tell me everything, then it is up to me to draw my own conclusion. Do you understand?”

“…Yes sir.”

“When we get back to the Tres Spades, you are going to be-“ He didn’t even get to finish his sentence. The billionaire was torn from you body and you were looking at the back of the Punishments’ uniform before you could blink.

“Listen here.” Scorpio’s tone was low and threatening. “You don’t treat her like that while you’re here. If I see you making her uncomfortable one more damn time, then I will not hesitate to clean this floor with your face. Understand me, human?” Without a word of acknowledgement, Eisuke plucked the rough god’s hands from his lapels with his normal grace and elegance, dusting himself off as he looked over Scorpio’s shoulder to meet your gaze.

“This conversation isn’t done.” He spoke, before turning and leaving.

Once he was out of sight, Scorpio turned back towards you and fixed you with a glare.

“You can’t let a piece of shit like that walk all over you! Stand up for yourself woman! I protect you when I can, but I’m not always going to be there to stop it!” You didn’t even get a chance to thank him as he walked away before you could speak.

Trying to shake off the earlier events for the day, you decided to do as you were planning originally and headed out into the garden. In a rather expected turn of events, you found Aignorus napping on one of the benches. You sighed to yourself knowing he was probably slacking off on work again, so to try and help him in the long run, you approached him and gave him a light shake.

“Aigonorus…Aigo…you need to wake up now.” He groaned, moving slightly only to throw his arms around your waist and nuzzle into your side.

“I don’t want to. Just let me sleep, you’re comfy.”

“As comfortable as I am Aigo, Leon and Karno are probably looking for you.”

“That we are.” As if by some trick of fate that seemed to keep happening recently, Leon strolled into the gardens looking wholly unamused. “We may not have many wishes to be granting right now, however there is still enough work for you to be required.” The sleeping god simply groaned in response, for a moment Leon looked frustrated, until his eyes fell on you and a smirk overcame his features, walking up to your form that was caged in Aigonorous’ arms, he placed his fingers on your cheek, forcing you to let out a squeak as you felt his power surge through your body.

“Cut it out Leon!”

“Oh? You tell me to stop, and yet you look like you enjoy it so much. Think of this as my thanks for assisting my department today. Hard work should always be rewarded after all.” At this statement and the insinuation behind it, Aigonorous’ face screwed up in bother, sitting up he flung Leon’s hand from your body and stood up lethargically.

“Leave her alone. I’ll do the work if you do that.” You didn’t miss Leon’s look of triumph.

Once the two of them were gone, you decided you’d finally had enough for the day, and began to head back to your room. Your small prayer of getting there without interruption went unanswered however. The moment you set foot in the building you came face to face with Luke who looks bedraggled as usual. He came stumbling over, and automatically began groping your collarbones. You couldn’t help but sigh.

“Luke.”

“What is it Sexy?”

“We are in the heavens. There are gods around. Surely you can find someone else to do this to right now.” The Doctor almost looked offended, shaking his head.

“I’ve already looked. Even here, I can’t find a pair of collarbone as sexy as Sexy’s.” Just as he went to, what looked like press his face into them, a hand pulled you from him, a seemingly common occurrence today. Looking over your shoulder you found Hikaru.

“Sorry to interrupt Doctor Foster, but we need her right now. Urgently.” Ignoring his whine of dissatisfaction, Hikaru began leading you down the corridor back towards the bedrooms.

“Hikaru, did you do that just to get me away from Luke?”

“No actually. Rhion is refusing to open his door for food, you’re the only one that can get through to him when he gets like this.”

“So you need me to get a plate of food in there?”

“Yeah, he hasn’t eaten for a few days at least, he’ll collapse if he doesn’t get something in him soon.”

“Sure, I can do that at least.”

When you came to stop in front of Rhion’s door that was close to your own, you saw the plate of food on the floor next to it. But just before you knocked on the door Hikaru spoke again.

“By the way.” You turned to look at him. “The King explained everything to us. I’m still having a hard time believing it all, but I just wanted to tell you…you don’t need to worry so much. I know you do that by yourself a lot. Whatever is going to happen will happen, and it’s best you just try and relax. I’ll be here to help keep you safe. Now I better go, he’s less likely to reject that food if you’re here alone.” He spun on his heels and walked down the hall, but you swore you saw him blush.

With Hikaru now out of the way, you focused on the task at hand. Picking up the plate, you gave a few knocks to the door. Not receiving a response you decided to try calling for him.

“Rhion.” Your voice was soft as you spoke, knocking again for emphasis. “Rhion, it’s me.” For a few minutes there was still silence, and you thought that perhaps you would have to try something else. However, from inside the room you heard a quiet shuffling noise, indicating some sort of movement, before the door cracked open.

“Alice?” He didn’t open it all the way and you were greeted by his messy mop of hair and wide, dark eyes.

“Yup, it’s me. Is it ok if I come in?” He seemed to hesitate for a moment, before he opened the door just enough for you to slip inside. Once in the room you noticed that he had drawn the curtains to block out the light, and that he was cocooned in the blanket from the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“…I want to go home, Alice. This place is too bright. I don’t like it, I want to go back to the Tres Spades.” His words were so innocent, and he sounded so vulnerable that your heart clenched. Placing the plate of food down of the bedside table you lead him back to the bed, where you sat him down and wrapped your arms around him.

“Rhion, it’s going to be ok. We’ll go back to the Tres Spades. But we need to make sure the Dark King is taken care of before we do, otherwise you could end up getting hurt. That’s the last thing I want.” From within the blanket, his hand reached out and latched onto your sleeve.

“You’ll be here with me, right? You won’t abandon me here, will you?” With a slight shake of your head, you brought the hand he wasn’t limiting the movement to up to stroke his hair.

“No, I’m not going to abandon you. As long as you’re here, I will be too.”  At your words, his expression seemed to settle slightly. “Now, how about we have something to eat before we both rest, ok?”

“Ok.”

Your days carried on like this for weeks, filled with nothing but chaos, even more so than normal. The bidders and gods just couldn’t seem to get on and were constantly in competition. Your days were mainly spent breaking up fights, fetching missing gods and relaying messages. But with what followed you almost wish that unbridled chaos had carried on.

It was sudden, sudden enough that you weren’t really prepared for it. The explosion that rang out around the heavens was deafening, and the entire structure of the palace shook. Following the people you did see, you headed out of the palace into the fields, and you froze in place. On the horizon was the Dark King, and he seemed to find you in the crowd instantly. A disgusting smirk stretched across his face as he singled you out, pointing into the crowd to your exact location.

“Bring her to me.”

Those words were all it took for anarchy to ensue. The Dark King’s men charged at the crowd, some gods scattered, running to hide from the oncoming attack while others stood frozen or prepared to battle. You yourself turned to run, knowing that if they got you it could be the end of everything you cared for, but you found yourself surrounded before you could think to move. Desperately searching for a gap in their encirclement, you didn’t have room to react when one began to charge an energy attack in his hand. But luckily before he could release it, there was a sickening crack and scream of pain. Behind the man with a now broken arm stood Dui, looking extremely annoyed and face twisting into a sadistic smirk.

“Bad move. You’ll be paying for trying a stunt like that, you idiot.” With the immediate threat disabled, you stood from your crouched position and to force his to move, landing a punch right into the man’s nose. The crunch was unmistakeable and with Dui quickly pulling you from them he was quickly able to take care of them, soon handing you over to Partheno, the closest god, so that he could deal with more of the surrounding threats. That’s how the battle progressed, you were thrown from god to god, allowing each one time to destroy the men who came after you immediately without putting you in too much danger. From Partheno you went to Karno, from Karno to Teorus, Teorus to Scorpio, Scorpio to Huedhaut and then back to Scorpio before being handed to Ichthys.

The heavens were a mess by that point. There were deep gouges in the ground, scars of a battle that would take years to fade naturally, mighty structures were crumbling, fires consumed the surrounding nature, trees were torn from their roots, and bodies lay still where they fell, staining the floors with the blood of their sacrifice. A place of pure beauty now a spectacle of war. But there was one group that caught your attention. The bidders were being surrounded themselves, with only a few guns between them and no divine powers, they were sorely losing against the powers of the Dark King and his men. They didn’t have long and you knew it, when one of the attackers raised their arm, about to release an attack you knew they wouldn’t survive your body moved on autopilot.

“Guys!” With a yell of exertion you ripped yourself from Icthtys’ side, dodging attacks left and right only to throw yourself in front of the energy blast aimed at your friends. You expected to die, you expected to be nothing more than a willing sacrifice.

However, when the dark energy touched your skin, something inside you broke. From your body an unfamiliar light began to glow, and despite never having experienced it before, you seemed to already know exactly what it was and what to do with it.

“What the hell?!” You ignored the shocked mutters on the bidders and gods around you, focusing your anger on the being that had started this whole thing. The turmoil, your pain, the suffering was all down to the Dark King, he may have looked angry, but it couldn’t compare to the burning rage in your soul.

“No! This isn’t meant to happen! You can’t use your powers! I won’t let you stop me!” He raised his hand to try and attack once more, but you simply allowed your own powers to meet his, pushing it back inside his body.

“I’m sorry, but that’s not your choice. You’ve caused enough suffering, and I think it’s time you go back to where you belong, in oblivion.” The light around you grew to a blinding level, and the yells of the bidders and gods were lost to the drumming of your pulse in your ears, as you allowed your energy to completely consume your form, and the world around you.

The screams of the dark king faded with your power, and as the light dimmed  enough for those present to uncover their eyes, the surroundings were calm once more, restored to their previous state, as if the battle had never happened, even the fallen began to move again. Your heavy breath was all that was heard. That was until you collapsed. With their closer proximity to you, the bidders were first to your side, Luke crouching next to you and gently rolling you onto your back to examine you. His hands poked and prodded at your body, checking your pulse, breathing and for any sign of physically injury, of which none seemed to be an issue, he was murmuring to himself so quietly no-one could make out what he was saying, and they didn’t want to disturb his trance in examining you.

“You’ll find nothing wrong with her, physically that is.” The voice of the King cut through the group, and they all turned to look at him. Eisuke’s scowl depended at his words.

“What do you mean physically.”

“Her soul is what is causing this. She reawakened powers her body is not built to handle to save us all.”

“She’ll be ok though, right?” Baba’s inquisitive tone didn’t hide his concern.

“She can be, but you need to let us through. Now.” The bidders looked unhappy at the idea, but begrudgingly moved, wanting to be the ones to help you but knowing that at this moment it was beyond their power they begrudgingly stepped aside to allow the gods to take their place. The King of the Heavens moved first, motioning to the gods who circled around your form before raising his hand. The appendage began glowing a beautiful golden hue, seeming to understand what he was doing, the other gods followed suite, their hands glowing their signature colours.

“Come on.” Dui whispered, closing his eyes and focusing.

“Little lady, you’ve got to fight.”

“Don’t give up on us now.”

The words of encouragement were by no means loud, but they didn’t need to be. The determination to keep you alive could almost be tasted, a burning feeling that physically would not allow them to stop until they succeeded. The bidders watched on from the sideline, all anxiously awaiting some shift in the atmosphere, the tension of not knowing gnawing at them. They didn’t have to wait to much longer. The cocoon of coloured energy around your body brightened suddenly, almost pulsing, before it slowly seemed to sink into your skin. The moment felt frozen, until a slight sigh of a breath escaped you, and the gods followed suit.

The King knelt down, taking your fragile form in his arms and standing again, raking his eyes over your form, looking for any signs of trouble.

“We’ve done all we can.” He spoke, turning to the rest of the gods. “The rest is up to her. This is no longer something we can affect.”

As he went to make his way back into the palace, he was forced to halt as Eisuke stepped into his path with his arms crossed.

“And where are you taking my employee?” The King looked him up and down before giving an amused smile.

“Back to the palace. She needs to rest.”

“She will do that at the Tres Spades.”

“She will do no such thing.” Zyglavis stepped forward, a deep furrow in his brow. “Her soul is still unstable, she is still in danger of losing her life. By remaining here until she wakes up we will be close by if something goes wrong. Those few moments could make all the difference.”

“Then I’ll be staying here.” The other bidders nodded in agreement.

“Staying?” Leon looked offended at the mere mention of the word. “You will be going back to Earth, where you goldfish belong. You have no need to stay now the Dark King is gone.” Baba stepped between the two seething men.

“He just means that taking her away from both her job and life could be questioned, and we would like to be nearby when she wakes up.” Leon simply glared.

“That isn’t going to happen.”

“I’m not asking.” Eisuke returned the expression, standing full height in front of the King. But to the surprise of everyone present, the royal simply started laughing.

“Eisuke Ichinomiya, I commend your bravery! No god, let alone human is brave enough to challenge me besides a select few. Very well, you’ve entertained me enough. I shall allow you to stay in the heavens until she wakes.”

“Your Highness-!

“No matter your opinion of them, these men have clearly proven their care for our goddess. I’m sure that if she wakes, she would like for them to be near as well. Can you deny this?” And uncomfortable silence fell over the gods. “I didn’t think so. You may continue using your assigned rooms for the time being. We don’t know if she will awaken, or if she does how long it will take. You must be prepared for any result.”

“She’ll make it.” Soryu spoke. “She’s strong enough to, for a woman.”

“Be that as it may, stress, pain or any negative emotion or injury can affect whether or not a soul heals.” He looked back down at your body. “Let us hope she can overcome this.”

You were placed back into your room after that. Tucked under the covers those close to you could almost pretend you were simply sleeping, but reality began to sink in as day after day passed. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to a month yet you still showed no sign of stirring, yet even now you were rarely alone. Every spare moment that was had by someone was spent at your bedside. Some speaking with you as if you were still awake, the others simply watching your form, thinking back over your shared times and contemplating whether they could cope in a world without you. Their answer was quickly found.

Perhaps that was the reason that they still refused to give up hope. The thought of you no longer being in their lives was something many of them had yet to consider, but this situation placed them face to face with the reality of losing you, and that was not something they were ready to face just yet. The gods may grant the wishes of humans, but what if the gods’ wishes were the same as the humans? Could they grant a wish to save a soul they too wished to stay alive? Wishes of life and death were not something within the powers of the twelve gods, which meant all they could do is pray themselves, hoping that there were indeed some entity out there who heard the wishes of the gods. Perhaps, that love and longing for having you back in their lives was enough to influence whatever powers controlled what the gods could not.

It had started as any other day. The somber state of the palace had not diminished, even with it being Christmas Day on Earth.

“Look at them.” Scorpio had hissed as he looked into the reflection pool that day. “Completely oblivious to what has been done for them.”

To add to the frustration, with it being Christmas. The gods were buried under seasonal wishes and punishments, and even the bidders had needed to go back to Earth, with corporate parties, mafia get togethers, art exhibitions and lax security, every bidder had something they required leaving the heavens to do. No-one was around to hear the yell of surprise let out by Altair, or the crash of the ceramic dish on the floor he had brought in to help clean your face. But the small god ignored the water pooling around his feet, he could only focus on you. You, who were sat up in bed, completely conscious.

His cry brought your attention to him, and you sluggishly pulled yourself from the bed on unsteady feet. Holding the frame to support yourself after a month of inactivity.

“Altair…what…what happened?” You didn’t receive an answer as the small boy threw himself and you, hugging your waist as he cried, you could only pick out the odd word but were somehow able to piece together that he was excited about you being awake. Realising you probably weren’t going to get a straight answer out of him anytime soon, you knelt down slightly so he could hold you in a more comfortable position. “Should we go and see the King?” He just nodded against your stomach.

When you entered the throne room, the King looked mildly shocked before you approached him.

“My, my. How very interesting.”

“Your Highness, I’ll go and tell the others right away!” However the King raised his hand to stop Altair in his tracks.

“No, don’t tell them yet.” He smirked. “I have a far more entertaining idea. Bring me those ‘bidders’.”

The gods were all groaning by the time they were summoned by the King. Everyone was tired, it was late, and the obvious issue of your state meant none of them were particularly excited to be called like this. With a sigh of resignation, Zyglavis and Leon opened the doors to the throne room. Zyglavis bowed upon entry and Leon simply strutted in as normal.

“At Your Highness’ request.” Zyglavis spoke as the gods all made their way into the room. Most of them already looking as if they wanted to leave. He could only smile, knowing the reaction that his news would bring.

“Now, why do my dear gods look so glum? Today is Christmas, a day of giving, joy and love.”

“We already fucking know that. Can we just get on with it.”

“Scorpio, watch your tongue.”

“Zyg, he already knows what I’m like. No point in hiding it now.”

“As much as I enjoy watching your quarrels.” The King interjected. I do have some news that might be of interest to all of you, and with it being Christmas, I won’t hold it from you. Come out now.”

They looked mildly interested at his call to someone they were yet to see, but the moment you came into view, their jaws all dropped. No longer were you unresponsive, your bright smile was back on your face as you stepped out from behind the throne, and the gods had never felt such relief as in that moment. A unanimous cry of your name filled the room, and to avoid them getting embarrassed and to greet your friends after learning what had happened from the King, you ran towards to group, hugging each god in turn.

“Does this perhaps make you all feel a bit more jolly?” The King joked. He was met with stares, head shaking and the odd blush, but he was far from done. “But you see, it appears a Christmas miracle has happened. You appear to not have noticed that our little goddess does in fact now live up to her title.”

The god closest to you glanced down, only to inhale sharply in shock when he saw the bright stars shining in your eyes.

“That’s impossible…”

“Not impossible.” The King corrected. “But highly improbable. A human turning back into a god once releasing their abilities has a probability of less than 0.001%. A completely negligible figure, and it was a feat that I have never witnessed. However it appears that through sheer determination and willpower, our goddess has managed to resume her rightful place.” He allowed them a moment to let the information sink in, but he was personally looking forward to the next reveal most of all. Clapping his hands to draw attention back to himself.

“Now, as the universe granted you all your Christmas miracle. I decided to grant the goddess’ wish. I would hardly think it fair to force her away from everyone she knows and loves because she wanted to save her world, would you? So, after discussing their options with me, I would like to introduce you all to our newest department. The Department of Judgement.”

“The what now?” Leon frowned, and all of the gods couldn’t stop their eyes widening in shock when they saw who else emerged into their line of sight.

“Why are they here?” Huedhaut asked, a closed eyes smile not hiding his irritation.

“I would suggest you watch your tone.” Eisuke smirked, glaring down his nose at the gods. It was then the divine beings took in what they were wearing. Crisp white uniforms with gold trimmings, boots, and a deeply coloured armband that could been seen as either blue of purple. It was then that dread settled in their stomachs.

“You didn’t. These humans-“

“They are human no longer.” The King confirmed their greatest fears. “This is the Department of Judgements. I will be personally helping them master their powers. They will be working closely with you both of your departments, they will collect and interpret trends in various human fields and judge whether or not intervention is needed, working either on their own or collaboratively with your two departments. They will also be the heavens’ ‘human specialists’, they will be the first to be contacted if there are questions around human customs and activities.” He began motioning to the various people. “Eisuke will be their minister, and take care of businesses and corporations, Soryu will be vice-minister and handle underground organisations and criminal empires, Baba will be focusing on love and relationships, Ota on the arts, Mamoru on the various police forces, Shuichi on politics, Luke on medication, health services and epidemics and Hikaru on technology. Rhion, Samejima and Inui will work as extra hands in the department at the request of Eisuke and Soryu.” He wasn’t able to hide the smirk at the looks on the gods faces. “For the time being they will also live their human lives, until the point they would naturally pass away to avoid an interruptions, considering their positions in the human world, but after that they shall live solely in the heavens, alongside all of you. Treat them well, for our goddess will be working for all three departments, a week at a time, until she herself chooses one to work for.”

Eisuke smirked, eyes challenging as he glared at the other gods.

“I think it’s obvious who she’s going to end up choosing.” Leon all but snarled in response.

“I think not, new boy.”

“Now. I think she would fare quite well in our department.”

The King could only chuckle at the chaos that was beginning to unfold as each department grew more rambunctious. He could only applaud himself for a job well done, for all Christmas wishes were granted among this group. Even his own, he had a feeling the next year was going to be much more entertaining.  

Right, apologies this took so long to post, everything kept screwing up and I didn’t realise the entry date so this is far more rushed than I would’ve liked. I didn’t even get a chance to proofread! 

[wishingforatypewriter]

Queenmaker: A Sumire Story (Portraits of 119)

If there was one thing Mimasaka Sumire had learned from her parents, it was that information was everything. 

Her mother was a top detective whose investigative prowess had broken up many a triad and cartel in her time on the police force. Her father was a chef who’d masterfully incorporated psychological warfare into his craft. 

And Sumire? She’d be among the academy’s elite one day—of that she was certain. But for now, in her first year at Totsuki’s middle school, she just had to keep ear to the ground. 

So far listening had been an easy job because all 800 students in her year—the academy’s 119th generation—were talking. Specifically, they were talking about an heiress in homeroom A who’d moved into the Nakiri Mansion. 

That proud estate on the edge of campus had been unoccupied since the legendary jewel generation matriculated. Almost every first seat—including its current occupant Mizuhara Himari—had tried to take it over, but the illustrious Nakiri family always refused. So everyone was speculating about how a mere middle school student had gotten the keys to the most prestigious residence within miles of the school. 

I heard her family bought the mansion from the Nakiris. Her papa is richer than god, you know. 

She only uses shampoo that’s specially made with crushed pearls and Bulgarian roses; that’s why her hair is always so shiny! 

My aunt is on the Totsuki Network’s board of directors, and she swears that girl is betrothed to the chairwoman’s son. 

Sumire absorbed the whispers, measured the stories against one another and compared their weight. Nothing she’d heard about this Hayama Akane seemed completely accurate, but she wasn’t willing to rule anything out just yet. 

In the classes she had with the mystery girl—and her self-appointed body guard from the Mito family—Sumire learned the most of all. 

Fact 1: She was extremely competent. 

Even though their Intro to French Classic professor was the toughest grader in the middle school division, Hayama-san had never received a grade lower than an A. And she never seemed to lose sleep over her cooking assignments the way the mortal honor students did. 

Fact 2: Contrary to popular belief, she probably came from old money.

Sumire could tell by how she answered the other girls’ intrusive questions with aristocratic patience and indifference. She never bragged or flaunted her background in any obvious way.

“Hayama-san, how much is your papa really worth?” One of the social climbers, Kawashima Utau asked her one day before class. “I heard he’s been on the Forbes list for the past ten years.” 

“My parents don’t discuss money with me,” she replied without looking at the girl. 

“Well, how do you know the chairwoman?” 

“She’s a family friend.” Hayama-san was gazing out the window again. Sumire had noticed that she did that a lot; it almost seemed like she was wishing she was elsewhere. Anywhere else, really. 

“Do you know what kinds of girls the chairwoman’s son likes?” Kawashima-san continued. “Can you introduce me someday, since we’ve become such good friends?” 

From her limited observations, Sumire knew that Hayama-san wouldn’t answer that question. She was always extremely tight-lipped when it came to the Nakiri heirs, and Sumire had no idea whether it was because of her upbringing or a personal sense of loyalty to them. 

“Kawashima-san, I think the professor is going to come in soon. You should probably return to your seat.” 

Fact 3: She had mastered the art of the tactful burn.

Sumire wondered where she had learned that trick of inflection that gave her the power to dismiss people out of hand—and before her thirteenth birthday, no less. 

In what type of life was that kind of thing necessary?

In the weeks to come, Sumire largely abandoned her quest to find out more about Hayama Akane. The girl was absurdly private, and Sumire swore to herself that she’d never resort to stalking. So she decided to focus her time on more important things—like finding the best cooking spaces on campus. 

While in a prime location—only fifteen minutes from campus on foot—Sumire’s little studio apartment was somewhat lacking in the kitchen department. After compiling an elaborate spreadsheet with all the public kitchens on campus—along with their locations, amenities, and regular visitors—she determined that the premier spot would be a cooking practicum classroom on west campus.  

Sumire made a habit of making lunch there during her free period before classes came in for afternoon sessions. It was spacious, well-stocked with top shelf ingredients, and always empty—or at least it always had been. 

Sumire stood in the doorway and blinked a few times to make sure her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her. But a few seconds later, Hayama-san was still sitting by one of the workstations, sobbing quietly. 

Although this may speak negatively to the kind of person she was, the first thing Sumire thought of was how bad it could be if someone loudmouth saw her like this and told the newspaper. 

She shut the door and tried to determine whether anyone would be able to see into the third floor window. Only when she felt completely certain that their location was secure did she approach the other girl. 

“Um, Hayama-san...”

The pink haired girl looked up slowly, wiping her eyes. She made an admirable attempt at righting her posture. “You’re the one who usually cooks here. Mimasaka-san, right? Sorry. I’ll get out of your way in a minute.” 

Sumire shook her head, slightly taken aback by how quickly she’d drawn upon her irreproachable manners. You’re not in my way,” she assured. “I was just wondering if you needed anything.”

“Thank you, but I’m really fine,” Akane said, tilting her head upward to stop more tears from falling. It only worked halfway, and they were kind of suspended between her eyelashes. Sumire reached into her backpack and handed the girl a small pack of tissues. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Sumire said before glancing furtively at the clock. It would be twenty minutes, a half hour tops before students in the first afternoon block started filtering in. “Listen, is there someone I can call for you? Mito-san, maybe?”   

“Bells is in an RS meeting. I don’t want to bother her,” Akane explained. “I’m really fine. It’s just someone tried to call me from overseas and the connection dropped. It sounds silly, now that I think about it, but—”

“Can you use WhatsApp?” 

“It’s fine,” she assured, blinking back more tears. “If I started crying like this over the phone, that person would do something unnecessary. And I don’t think I can fake it today.” 

Sumire nodded, although she was beginning to suspect that Hayama-san’s interpretation of “unnecessary” was a lot different from most people’s. “Is there anything I can do?” 

Akane shook her head. “I’m really okay. Being here is just...a lot sometimes. You know?” 

“In my experience, sometimes it helps to take a break when things get too stressful,” Sumire told her. “If you want, we can go back to my apartment. It’s kind of small, but I have ice cream and a bunch of K-Dramas on DVD.” 

Akane seemed to consider this for a minute. “But classes start up again in half an hour.” 

Sumire shrugged. “People skip all the time at this school,” she said. “But if you’re concerned about attendance, I think I’ve figured out how to get into the school’s databases from the admin side. I can erase all the absences tomorrow morning.” 

At this, Akane chuckled a little bit and Sumire’s face flushed. “I-I promise I’m not a delinquent or anything like that. It’s just that I happened to see the login credentials one day and—”

“I figured that,” Akane replied, a bittersweet smile on her lips. “It’s just...you sort of reminded me of someone just now.” 

Despite her burning desire to do so, Sumire did not let herself ask who. 

The next few weeks were characterized by Hayama-san trying to repay Sumire’s kindness in a variety of ways. 

After she had returned 70 inch television, the town car and driver, and the gift certificate to Shino’s Tokyo—because all those things were exponentially more valuable than the 500 yen she’d spent on a pint of strawberry ice cream—Sumire thought the pink haired girl had finally gotten the message. 

But all that changed after the incident with the Korean RS.

One day in October, Sumire applied for an executive board position at the Korean RS. Even though she was an underclassman, her prowess in her specialty was undeniable, so the club’s faculty mentor had encouraged her to try for a leadership position. 

However, the club’s current president—a high school first year who’d made it to the Autumn Election’s quarterfinals—was so insulted by her ambition that he kicked her out of the club entirely. Sumire was shocked by his pettiness, but felt generally nonchalant about her dismissal; now she had sooooo much more time to catch up on her soap operas. 

But then, as it always seemed to at Totsuki Academy, shit hit the fan. 

One day, as Sumire was walking home from afternoon classes, a black limo pulled up next to her. Isabella Mito-Aldini thrust the door open. “Get in. Ask questions later.” 

Sumire did as she asked, and after a U-turn that shouldn’t have been possible in such a cumbersome vehicle, they were speeding back towards campus. 

“Mito-san, what is this?” she asked once the car stopped in front of the Korean RS building. 

The blonde gave her a long look. “This is what happens when you don’t just take the TV,” she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. “Nothing is going to be the same after this.”  

When they entered the club’s main hall, Hayama Akane was engaged in a confrontation with the RS president. 

“Nobu Renji-kun, I hereby challenge you to a shokugeki for control of the Korean Cuisine Research Society.” 

What. The. Hell. 

Sumire couldn’t believe it. Since the start of the school year, Hayama-san had never been involved with any shokugekis. And now here she was picking a fight with an upperclassman. 

“Can I ask what I’ve done to offend you, ojou-san?” the dark haired youth asked with a mocking grin. 

Akane narrowed her green eyes, something dangerous flashing in them. “You have two options, Nobu-kun. Accept the challenge or admit to your cowardice.”

“I thought you society girls were supposed to have better manners than that,” he said. “But have it your way. Just know that if I beat you, I’ll have you hand over the keys to the Nakiri Mansion.” 

“Done,” she said. 

In two days’ time Sumire was pulled from her latest Netflix binge by a knock on her door. As soon as she opened it, Hayama Akane placed the keys to the Korean RS into her hand. 

“There’s no return label on this one,” she said. “And my specialty is French food, so I honestly won’t do anything with the club. You have to take it.”

Sumire could only blink a few times. She had watched the shokugeki, witnessed the 5-0 win, but the whole thing was still unreal. “W-where did you even learn to kick ass like that?” 

Akane smiled. “Mostly from my godmother.” 

Sumire knew better than to ask who. “So are we even now?”

“Not even close,” Akane told her. “I’m still in your debt, Sumire-san.” 

“In what way are you—”

“Since that shokugeki, people have stopped asking me all those annoying questions.” 

“It’s because they’re all a little afraid of you now,” Sumire said. It was an understandable reaction, really. 

“Does it make me an awful person if I kind of like it?”

Sumire shook her head. “I don’t think so. If they’re going to talk about you anyway, you might as well control the conversation.” 

Akane stared at her for a moment, and Sumire worried that she had said too much. “Sumire-san, what are you up to right now?”

She pointed back to the television. “Just watching true love unfold. Why?”

“My godmother is in town today. I was about to go to lunch with her. Do you want to come?” 

As she locked eyes with Hayama Akane, Sumire knew that this would be her initiation. From this point on she would be inner circle—a trusted partner, a confidant. It would be her responsibility to ensure the well-being of this inexplicably talented person. She hoped she’d be able to manage it. 

“Sounds like fun. Let’s go.” 

[ask-riven]

New Riven Headcanon Timeline

// New lore means another new headcanon timeline for Riven.  The old ones are still on the blog, just archived and non-canon for things now.  In any case, this will be my official headcanon going forward.

4 - Riven’s first memories are of being at the farm where she grew up.  It was a rough place to live, and she saw many children come and go, some being adopted, some dying, others running away.  She learned her name was “Riven” here, and never knew her parents.  She’s so quiet she’s almost considered mute.

9 - By age nine, she understands what being a Noxian entails.  She yearns to travel and leave the farm, to be more than a farmhand, and often wanders off into the lands around her home.  She learns how to survive in the wilds, and trains her body with the heavy physical labors of farm work.  She’s a loner and keeps to herself, but causes no trouble.  She bonds with a cat used to catch mice on the farm, naming it “Cat”.  

12 - Every year, the conscriptors of the local warbands arrive in Trevale, looking for the strongest and most dedicated to join the ranks of the Legion.  At this young age she is still too young to be of use, but with each rejection, she pushes herself even harder to become stronger.  

14 - After 2 more years of training and hard work, Riven proves herself and is conscripted into the Legion, learning to fight and wage war.  Her strength and ferocious willpower force her to master a blade far larger than herself, and the other recruits stand awed at this young female who shames them all.  Her dark farm-tanned skin and white hair make her stand out as an outcast.  Some are jealous, but her quiet strength and ferocity instead forge the recruits around her into a proper unit, and her dedication impresses her superiors.

16 - Sent to the Northern Front as part of the Freljordian campaigns, Riven, at age 14, spends two years fighting as basic armed fodder.  She serves in a warband commanded by Quilletta Varn, and quickly makes a name for herself.  She constantly has to prove herself to naysayers, but the bonds she builds among her brothers and sisters in battle are stronger than anything else she has ever experienced before.  To her, they are her family.

18 - After two more years of brutal fighting, Riven’s direct superior is killed and she takes command of her brothers and sisters, leading them to victory.  This act of skill, tenacity, and bravery catches the eyes of her warband’s commander, as well as powerful persons in Noxus, and she is sent to the capital city.  There, she is presented with a blackstone runeblade by Boram Darkwill himself, a weapon enchanted by his Pale Sorceress.  It is during this brief time in Noxus that she meets Marcus Du Couteau, who sees her as a worthwhile investment in the future of Noxus after his own daughter had disappointed him.  She also briefly meets Katarina and Cassiopeia at a small handful of social gatherings where her notoriety is praised by High Command, and shown as a symbol of Noxian superiority.  She and Katarina don’t care for one another.

19 - After a year of further honing of her tactical skills, and learning to read and write, Riven is given command of a warband of her own, many hand-picked from those she had served with her entire career, knowing their strengths and weaknesses better than any other.  Here, she learns of the coming invasion of a land far to the east, a land known as Ionia, and her warband makes their way to the port cities to be shipped out to the foreign land.

20 - Riven, in command of her warband, is assigned a special operative from High Command for elimination of high priority targets near the front, something her warband is good at doing.  It’s Katarina.  Riven and Katarina butt heads countless times, even coming to blows once or twice, but eventually, they learn to understand one another, and become good friends in spite of Katarina’s initial jealousy.  They make a promise about shaking up Noxus when they get home due to their deep-seated belief in “true” Noxian ideals, something they both picked up from Katarina’s father, Marcus.

21 - Katarina is transferred to a different warband near the northern front, and as the invasion turns into a war, Riven‘s unit is assigned to protect another warband commanded by Emystan, a woman known for her brutality. Less than a month afterward, Riven’s unit is decimated by an attack from Emystan after she called for support, leaving Riven broken and without anything to hold her together.  She is lost and without guidance for the first time in her life since childhood.  In a state of grief-induced shock and in the midst of a mental breakdown, Riven slays Elder Souma, Yasuo’s master, and later that same night shatters her blade in a fit of rage and anguish.

28 - The war ends at the order of the new Grand General, Jericho Swain, but Riven still wanders in Ionia.  She lives off the land, putting down small outbreaks of trouble she may come across, but largely keeping to herself, her survival relying on her childhood knowledge and endurance.  She avoids any and all Noxians, and may or may not have run across various Ionian champions at some point.  She lives like this for years, only hearing tidbits of news from the outside world.  This is her personal “Dark Ages” and it lasts for seven long years.  She is 28 years old...

29 - Ionia is a land rife with changes since the war, and it is no stranger to conflict.  Oddly enough, Noxus itself is not without such changes as well.  Riven hears news from passing traders in secluded taverns and along the road.  Though she is without purpose in her life, she knows Ionia can never be her home, or forgive what she has done.  The reminders of her actions and sins are all around her, and she seeks answers elsewhere.   In the port towns, she hears whispers of an uprising, a Noxian Steward taking hold of a Noxian province, Basilich, and rebelling.  That Steward is Quilletta Varn. 

Present - With Quilletta Varn’s death and defeat at the hands of the Trifarian Legion, Riven is once again torn, and stands at the precipice of a different path through life.  She shattered her ties to Noxus and exiled herself, but redemption cannot be found in a land that hates her, that seethes at the damage she and Noxus wrought.  But, If one Noxian can stand up and buck against the lies and corruption of the Empire, why couldn’t she?  All she knows is battle, and never peace, with nothing left to lose.  The dead will never forgive her, but if she could give the life that was spared for their sake, to reforge that which was broken, perhaps they can forgive her when the Kindred comes for her.  And perhaps she can learn to forgive herself...

[eirenical]

Ayyy for the character solidlifying thing 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 for Declan?

First of all, thank you for asking!  :D  I’mhonestly pretty excited to get to talk about these guys, and Declan was the firstcharacter to form out of this universe, so that’s pretty exciting, too. ^_^  And, WHOO, apparently I’ve just been looking for an excuse to babble about this ‘verse, and I think you got more than what you bargained for.  ;D

(If anyone else would like to send me questions, feel free!  The characters are Declan, Braden, and Adesina (a poly trio), and Lehana (a princess who comes to them for help).

10. Is your character street-smart, book-smart, intelligent,intellectual, slow-witted?

Declan is intelligent, an intellectual, and very muchbook-smart.  Due to having a magical giftthat made him highly valuable, he led a relatively sheltered life.  Books were both his only escape from thatlife… and for an entirely different reason, the bane of his existence.  As a result, he spent much of his time withthem, even as he resented them.  So, helearned a lot and significantly broadened his own horizons, but he never had achance to run and play and engage with the world the way other children did.  That left a lot of his knowledge in the realmof the purely theoretical.  On somelevel, he very much resents his own intelligence, because he feels that—like themagical gift and the books it’s so wrapped up in—it’s the only thing for whichhe is valued.  And that magical gift hehas is someday going to be the end of him.

30. Are they holding on to something in the past? Can he orshe forgive?

Very much so.  Heholds a serious grudge against the people of his hometown—not so much on hisown behalf—but on Braden’s.  The price Declanpaid to get them both free of that place was a steep one and, because of it,neither of them will ever truly be free to be happy.  And he resents the hell out of the people oftheir hometown for having forced him to make that decision in the first place.

40. How is their sense of humor? Do they have one?

Oh, yes.  Declan has asense of humor.  It’s dry and biting andoften self-directed, but he has one.

50. What are the prevailing facial expressions? Sour?Cheerful? Dominating?

Sad.  Melancholy.  On the surface, Declan has everything hecould ever possibly want in love.  Heshares his life and heart with two amazing people.  They have everything they could ever need materially.  They have autonomy and fulfilling work.  But like all Binders, Declan has been livingunder a death sentence since the day he was born.  And thanks to the events I’m going to discussin answer to your next question… he has even less time than most.  He isn’t sad on his own behalf, though.  He’s known he was going to die before histime since the day he first understood what his gift meant.  He’s sad on Braden and Adesina’s behalf.  He tried to free Braden when they were young,tried to release him to seek someone else, someone he could keep for life.  He tried again when they met Adesina, thoughtthey would be happy alone with each other, but neither was willing to let himgo.  So, he knows that they’re going tolose him someday, and he knows they’re going to lose him sooner than either ofthem thinks they will, so that reality is never far from his mind.  It weighs heavily on him, and it shows in hisfacial expressions.

20. What were the most deeply impressive political orsocial, national or international, events that they experienced?

Hmm… that’s actually a hard one to get into without gettinginto serious spoiler territory.  Because overthe course of this trilogy, he and Braden, Adesina, and Lehana are going to beVERY involved in changing the sociopolitical face of the entire country.  But… like I said… spoilers.  -.-;;; So, I’m going to put the rest of this behind a cut.  ^_^

Apart from those events, the biggest social event he experiencedwas at the local level (his own hometown), and it involved Braden, one of thetwo members of his triad.  The firstthing you need to know is that Braden wasn’t born Braden.  He was born Kiera.  Kiera and Declan were best friends with veryopposite problems.  Just as Declan wouldhave loved a chance to play outdoors or even just have an opportunity to sit inthe fields or surrounding forests unsupervised, Kiera was forever seeking escapefrom her indoor chores to go out to play. She learned tracking and hunting from by spending time alone in the woods(and a lot of trial and error).  She learnedweapons and fighting and strategy by persuading the retired arm’s master to teachher.  She hadn’t the patience for most indoorpursuits, but she was truly gifted when it came to most physical skills.

Normally, this wouldn’t have been a problem. Unfortunately, shewas her parents’ only heir.  Apprenticingto the arm’s master, joining the army, even running off to join a mercenarycompany, none of those were choices for her. She had to marry locally, and she had to marry a man, so that anotherheir could be produced.  Her parents hadalready arranged a match for her, one that would join their merchant empire tothe textiles empire in the next town over.

Declan, on the other hand, was supposed to perform a majormagical working for the town when he reached his 18th birthday.  This would have changed the fate of theentire town, rewriting them into a more prosperous and politically advantageousposition within their country.  It wouldtake years, maybe even decades, off of Declan’s lifespan to do it—all Bindingmagic comes with a price—but he’d been groomed for this from the minute he wasborn.  

…but, at the last minute, Declan pulled a bait and switch.

You see, thanks to a quirk in Declan’s gift, and the factthat he knew Kiera very well and loved her very dearly, he saw what no one elsesaw: in the future that had been laid out for her, Kiera would be dead within twoyears of marrying.  And he wasn’t willingto let that happen.  So when everyoneelse thought he was planning to change the fate of the entire town, he decidedhe was going to change only one person’s fate—Kiera’s.  He began meeting with her in secret, mappingout with her the future she wanted for herself. And in the end, Kiera became Braden, and when Braden fled the town toseek his fortunes elsewhere, he took Declan with him.  The town declined, after that, never again ableto convince another Binder to set up shop as word spread of what they’d almostdone to the one who’d been born there. Binders look after their own.

(I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my original characters!  ^_^  Thank you again for giving me the opportunity to babble about them!  ^_^)

[gascon-en-exil]

Mercilessly Judging the Men of Valentia: Celica’s Party

It was only a matter of time before I subjected the guys of FE15 to the kind of vacuous judgment that represents the very best of gay hookup apps. I’ve even shamelessly stolen borrowed an idea or two from a similar series of posts on Pokémon Sun and Moon NPCs to give these opinions a little more depraved flavor. With the cast of SoV as small as it is some expansion from my earlier one-sentence summations was in order anyway.

Alm’s Party

A twink who can’t wait to grow up, he took down his face pic and falsified his age the minute he realized that all the attention he was getting was from tops looking to break in his virgin hole. Since he doesn’t have the body for a torso pic he just replaces his face with a photo of his town or school or something. He’s not old enough to go bar hopping yet, but he’s got the close-knit social circle of bickering catty friends already prepped for everyone to hit the legal drinking age. Clumsy and inexperienced in bed, but he firmly believes that he’ll improve with practice. He’ll undoubtedly end up having sex with one or more of his high school or college friends; the only question will be if anyone’s surprised when they’re still doing it ten years later when he’s older and twunk-ier. (Not that he’d ever hit the gym to lose the youthful look, but attitude does count for something.)

Presumable depth perception issues aside, he’s a master of NSA sex, alcohol preferred but not required. He’s the type of guy to greet someone with a picture of his erect cock, an address, and an open invitation to come over - and it’s not really a surprise that quite a few eager bottoms have taken him up on the offer. Loves and expects to be called daddy, but will be quick to inform anyone looking for sugar that they should look elsewhere. In spite of all appearances, however, he secretly yearns to settle down, though before he finds the perfect boy he has no qualms about fucking his way through every slutty collegiate, wasted bar fly, and stripper who’ll give him fifteen minutes to an hour. Laid back and overconfident, and likes to watch guys ride him. Hopefully he and his partner get tested before they say their vows.

It’s anyone guess how he’s on apps in the first place, since he doesn’t really seem to get how they work and scoffs at all the neat little labels and categories. He probably gets off on being called a bear and a daddy though, but it’ll take him a while to stop being embarrassed about it. Tragically for all the twinks who’d love him to sweep them off their feet he doesn’t pick up on their admiration, and is much more likely to take home a guy who can stand next to him in a scrape and kick back with a beer later. He’s still kind of new to guys and may need some coaching on how the mechanics differ from what he’s used to with women. Is curious about bottoming - he knows he can take a good pounding, bulky as he is - but no one will ever ask to top him.

Constantly on the road, he can never host because he lives out of his car (or at least that’s where you hope he lives). A sugar daddy sounds like a great idea to him, but his chronic commitment issues ensure that he’ll never stick around long. Has done all manner of crazy stuff in his time and isn’t shy about sharing with his hookups in extended post-coital gab sessions, which you suspect may be his primary form of social interaction. Prefers to act like he’s straight in public, for all the good it does him since he’s pretty bad at it and gets caught ogling guys fairly often. Will do pretty much anything if sufficiently motivated, but he’s got that one hard limit that will turn him into a sputtering mess the instant it’s brought up. Best not to ask.

Still in that hopeful phase where he expects to find true love wherever he may be happening to look, and he won’t hesitate to let anyone know it. Will immediately block anyone who opens conversation with a dick pic, or who starts talking sex too soon. In theory he’s greatly irritated by no fems masc4masc types, but secretly they really turn him on and fuel his penchant for straight crushes. A bottom because everyone expects him to be and good at it too despite unexpectedly little experience, probably on account of an impressive collection of toys he’d blush to admit to owning. At least if the loving bear of his dreams finally comes along his hole won’t get completely wrecked.

His body screams gym bunny, but he’s got the attitude of a hard-working provider underneath all those vanity muscles. He’s extremely shy and awkward when flirting - he’s no stranger to glory holes and indeed is more comfortable when his hookups are anonymous - so the quickest way to unsettle him is to ask for a face pic and ask about his life right from the start. His life is mundane and he’s fully aware of it, so prospective long-term dates can look forward to a humdrum partnered life broken up by enthusiastic sex. Is more likely to go to seed after settling down rather than try to keep up the muscle bear look into middle age, but he’ll wear it well and it’ll suit his life as a handyman and lowkey outdoorsman. Unsurprisingly he’s a fan of outdoor sex, but you’ll have to go somewhere very remote since nothing makes him softer than the fear of discovery. 

If you can think of it he’s tried sticking his dick in it, with somewhat mixed results. Fantastic at charming the pants off virtually anyone, but he’s never had a serious relationship because he hates being tied down (figuratively speaking, that is). Surprisingly successful in his professional life, which means he has a ton of disposable income to wine and dine his conquest of the hour. Of course, he’d just as soon buy a round for all his friends and plot out the drunken orgy later that night, because he’s at his best when he’s surrounded by people as affable and constantly horny as he is. Takes naked group selfies and cheerfully shares them in ordinary company, because screw the rules when he’s having fun. Holds the continent’s record for most orifices filled simultaneously, and he’s probably got a homemade plaque somewhere in his house proudly announcing that fact.

His profile name has dollar signs (or the Valentian equivalent) in it, and true to form he’s showing off up front as much as he can per the terms of service. Has probably been blocked and had to make new profiles more than once for solicitation of sex, but he hates small talk and would rather his hookups just get down to business. He’s worth everything he’s charging though; he can suck, fuck, or get fucked every which way imaginable and he’s got the skill and stamina to leave his partners extremely satisfied. Don’t make the mistake of trying to chat him up afterward, because he’ll either brush you off or say something crushingly depressing that makes you almost feel sorry for the man who just made you pay for sex. Has never had an actual relationship and probably never will, though he seems to not mind being an escort...or at least it doesn’t seem to be bringing him down more than he already is. You’ll never get him in a bar because he finds alcohol, drugs, and free sex distracting, but he has a secret sweet tooth. Go figure.

His profile states that he’s looking for massage partners, and he tends to have long meandering conversations on all manner of topics for days or even weeks before anyone consents to a meeting. He has a wry sense of humor and a wealth of knowledge and experience, which is almost enough to make up for how bizarre he is as a hookup partner. He’ll be fully into massages and foreplay for hours on end, and he’ll be constantly snapping pictures the whole time, but it’ll be a real effort to get him to so much as give you a hand job. It’s not even clear if he’s getting hard, though he’s clearly enjoying himself. It’s not until several weeks later when you find out through one of your friends on the app that he’s been freely trading nudes from your encounter with other prospective hookups that you figure out the sleazy old bastard’s game. Don’t try calling him on it though - he’ll just laugh good-naturedly and talk about how much you both enjoyed the experience.

Sweet, boyishly handsome, with good connections and a well-paying job, though on the flip side he has extremely high standards. He’s also a hardcore roleplayer in and possibly even out of bed - voices, costumes, the whole works. He’ll like you more if you can get into that with him, but vanilla sex won’t hold his attention for long at all. A surprisingly persuasive and effective Dom despite his shy public persona, and it’s pretty apparent that it’s just him living out another fantasy. It’s all good in the end though, because his interests mean that he’s taken the time and effort to research all manner of kinks and learn how to enact them in as mutually pleasurable a manner as possible. He’s very unlikely to ever marry, however, because of those aforementioned high standards and possibly some complicated family issues - which may also manifest as incest kink - on the side.

[anti-yuri-on-ice]

essay on why katsuki is a very generic character and is just as overrated as the anime itself

hello people today i wrote an essay on why ya boi pork katsuki is only a very generic and mary sue character and isn’t reall that Big Of A Deal as so many people insisted. im doing a comparison of him and 4 other sports anime protags, which is a fucking disgrace bc yo/i isn’t even a sports anime. but since so many people think it is i might as well cater to their taste.

now before you send me hate and ask me why dont i spend my time elsewhere or that i dont have a life, yes, i want to spend my time hating on this anime, and second, i really do not have a life. if i had to bear with the y/oi fandom for 4 fucking months, you can deal with a small meta which you dont even have to read if you dont click ‘keep reading’

i wont go far into defining what exactly is a sports anime but here is a link for you to check it out yourself https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Sports_anime_and_manga. this page contains almost every sports anime/manga.

imo sports anime/manga tend to focus 50/50 on the actual sport and character development. while they spend a lot of time explaining/portraying certain tactics and skills, or having characters monologue through a montage, they often focus on one character at a time (at most two) when giving character development, and such development is often done through realisation during a game/competition/practice. apart from these, sports anime/manga is also about teamwork and friendship. the ultimate goal is often set to be the ‘national champion’ and the whole team works together towards this dream. either they do achieve the goal or not varies in different anime/manga.

so, lets go back to our beloved katsuki shall we. since y'all like to think that yoi is a ‘serious ice-skating anime’ *coughs* *false advertisement*, let’s do a comparison between him, and the other sports anime/manga characters from actual sports anime/manga.

I have chosen a few popular/well-known characters from recent sports anime/manga

Hinata Shouyou from Haikyuu

Onoda Sakamichi from Yowapeda

Fujida Tatara from Ballroom e Youkosou

Sawamura Eijun from Diamond no Ace

And I’m going to do a compare and contrast by listing out their

personality

ability and skills

supporters (people who support him throughout the story)

hardships

Hinata Shouyou

personality: ray of sunshine, positive, cheerful, very determined, wants to play volleyball more than anything else, and doing so also gives him the utmost joy. may be a bit of a nuisance sometimes but the goods of this child still weighs out all the bads.

ability and skills: starts off as a 60% rookie, grows up as a strong player and a valuable member of the team. again, he achieved this by being determined. has stamina through extensive training, can jump very high.

supporters: his family, his middle school friends, and now his teammates

hardships: being at disadvantage because he is too short, being teased because of it, having doubts about himself and whether or not he can really be the next chiisana kyojin or not. losing his first competition (cries forever) (now i haven’t read the manga in a while or watched the third season of the anime so i don't want to add inaccurate details)

2. Onoda Sakamichi

personality: easily intimidated, has very low self-confidence and is very shy so he doesn’t have friends in middle school at all. can talk for hours about his favourite anime/character, very loyal to friends and is also helpful to others. genuinely enjoys being in a road racing team after mastering it.

ability and skills: again, starts off as a 100% rookie, grows up to be the national champion (sheds a tear). wins through sheer determination and the will to chase after others.

supporters: his mother, his two best friends in high school, his rival, and his senpais (especially Makishima, who is a great inspiration and role model to him)

hardships: having no friends before high school, zero self confidence, his mother has shown little knowledge in what he’s actually doing (tho she is still very supportive), nearly losing his first race because his bike broke down, chasing a hundred people in a race because he fell, and now holding the weigh of being a national champion and meeting people’s expectations and his own expectations.

3. Fujida Tatara

personality: very socially awkward, doesn’t really know how to express himself and gets teased/bullied because of it. starts dancing by chance and has no former interest/experience in it but learns to enjoy it and wants to master it.

ability and skills: starts of as a 100% rookie and now he is picking up skills here and there and has great potential in winning future competitions.

supporters: his teachers, his dance partners and the friends he met at the dance studio

hardships: still not yet very skilful in dancing and there is still a lot for him to learn. wants to ace every competition but at the same time knows it is impossible. had a big fight with his current dance partner and might cause collaborative problems with her.

4. Sawamura Eijun

personality: OVERHYPED all the time, shouts very loud, sometimes very annoying but is tolerated by his friends and teammates. at the same cares and encourages people all the time, very friendly, isn’t afraid to speak up, recognises rivals’ strengths and works hard to surpass them

ability and skills: he is scouted into a very good baseball team and has great skills and more potential yet to be discovered. trains hard, runs hard, and shouts a lot too.

supporters: his family, his childhood friends from his hometown, his teammates, and himself.

hardships: fear of being replaced mid-game, not being competitive enough in such a strong team, being very far away from home, very frustrated to why he can’t control the ball as he wish, fights with his catcher/captain a couple of times.

Now we look at katsuki

personality: very anxious all the time when he is a professional sportsman and should have a great deal of experience when dealing with defeat, low self-confidence, whiney, but sometimes is also weirdly positive and upbeat and non-whiney (inconsistent characterisation which is read as ‘unreliable narrator’ by the fandom)

ability and skills: is literally an international-level skater but somehow is not good at his job (?) idk because he is an ~unreliable narrator~ and has a lot of ~depth~

supporters: his family and friends back home (whose support is often neglected), and ofc, victor-senpai uwuwuwuwuwu

hardships: self-inflicted drama and inferiority complex and ‘omg what should i do victor-senpai will leave my ass if i dont win ;;;;;;;;;’

From this we can see

katsuki is a very generic character personality wise, and his personality isn't even charming. it’s just fucking annoying.

HIS JOB IS BEING A SKATER LITERALLY LIKE???? JUST HOW UNPROFESSIONAL CAN YOU BE WHINING ABOUT EVERY SINGLE ASPECT OF Y O U R JO B

he only values support from victor-senpai because his family and friends doesn't mean shit to him. they exist to run the onsen hotel where victor-senpai can flash him in front of everybody.

he hardly went through any real hardships as far as i can see. like i get that at first he was unfit to skate but then he magically can again and then everything was just great for him. everyone loves him (for some reason mmm do i sense a mary sue here) and he got noticed by victor-senpai through pole dancing and he hardly even practiced bc he spent all his time dating victor-senpai and won silver. lmao.

[sarahsfeministthoughts]

Week Thirteen: April 15th: The Human Wave: Immigration Stories

I was an accident. I wasn’t suposed to be here. Screams and sobs of sorrow filled the delivery room... as my mother had disobeyed the unspeakable rules… my mother had destructed her perfect white porcelain lineage… my daddy was brown.

My father, Jose, immigrated to New York City from Peru in 1969, at just 5 years old. He didn’t know the language but he knew Kung Fu. He had a severe obsession with martial arts legend Bruce Lee and committed his life to becoming just like him. He grew up in the projects of the Bronx and fought on the street every day, gaining a name for himself, taking down gangs and defending those who needed help. He was able to work his way up to eventually getting himself his own school and becoming a “Sifu” - the master. One day, my mom, Ingrid walked into his Kung Fu School…

I was born 9 months later.

The color of my skin being so light cushioned the fall a little…and once my eyes opened and were so big and blue, my mother’s family embraced me. They believed I didn’t do anything wrong… and if they shaped me right, banned me from learning Spanish or embracing any parts of my Latina identity… they believed I could be saved, pass as fully white and live a prosperous, privileged life, eventually marrying a rich white boy to solve and close the chapter on the inconvenience of my ingeneity.

My mother’s family provided us with a huge townhouse in the West Village upon my birth. They then filled our home with endless servants of color that were actually paid to be spies to report back on my father. Though he could not speak Spanish to me within such a controlled and monitored household, I began to learn about my Latina culture in other ways. My dad was “machismo” and he practiced that in different ways.

Firstly, the whole first floor of our house became my dads new Kung Fu school so I witnessed blood and violence every day and became very used to it. This was the frankest expression of his masculinility. The house always had atleast 10 men in it in workout clothes beating the shit out of eachother. This was taken further as all the media he forced me to consume was Chinese Kung Fu movies with eye balls being ripped out and heads flying across the room. I certainly wasn’t watching any teletubbies.

He felt the need to exercise control over me. This especially impacted my self expression as a girl. My “girlness” was curtailed by him and he would rip any skirt or dress that Gigi, my grandmother would gift me. He forced me to wear clothes of his choosing - picked from the boys section - big jeans and big tshirts with thermals underneath (even in the summer) out of a hyper fear of me being sexualized by men. To him, he was protecting me. He also would brush my teeth for me, telling me that I wouldn’t do it properly myself and practiced any way he could within the house to exert dominance that he couldn’t in the outside world.

I understood the sharp contrast between the social class and privilege differences between my mother and father at a very young age simply by the lifestyles. When visiting my fathers family, I would share a bed with 6 cousins. When visiting my mothers family, a chauffer would pick me up, maids would iron my church clothes, wake me with strawberry milkshakes and chefs would spoil me with whatever I desired. I was scolded at the dinner tables for not having proper table etiquette… however I had learned from my dad to just pick up a whole chicken and start tearing into it with no need of silverware.

My mother’s family didn’t understand his behavior and saw him as the biggest threat to my wellbeing and development. Therefore, my mother’s family worked hard to destroy the connection I had to my father. They did this in many ways.

Firstly, they tried to force me to associate the help (all persons of color) as “less then” as I’d watch them be pushed around, ordered and abused. I watched as they exercised their power over the help and I suppose they had intended for me to glamorize or romanticize how “powerful” they were.

Secondly, they gave me access to resources where I could access “superior exclusive knowledge” and paid for me to go to the most prestigous and expensive whitewashed academies where there were never more than 3 students of color and all of them were identified by their dependency on food stamps or the details of their scholarship. They were applauded for their brilliance, as if they were magnificent exceptions to their kind… and I quickly understood the truth was there were just not equal opportunities being given to them for them to even get to a level and equal playing field.

And probably most importantly, they endlessly attempted to assure me it was necesary for me to break any relations with my brown father and made sure I learned the word “golddigger”.

I was 5 years old when police sirens shattered me out of my sleep and 4 big men broke into my room with guns and dragged me out. I didn’t even cry, and later it was revealed to me that that was a concerning sign to them but I guess I was just so used to the chaos. I saw my daddy being ushered towards a cop car with handcuffs, held by multiple men. I locked eyes with him. He was humiliated. They had demasculated my father. They cradled me and they pushed and shoved him, smashing his face against the vehicle. I was 5 years old but I realized then and there that in this world, his life did not matter… but mine did. I had a voice… but he never would.

“Does your daddy ever touch you?”

What is a 5 year old suposed to say to that?

My mom was able to get him out eventually and the sexual assault against a minor charges were dropped… but our story was nowhere from over. Within two months, he was arrested again for “kidnapping” me. I understood that due to the color of his skin, my father was deemed as inevitably guilty of something. My father’s skin color made him a criminal… and my skin color made me his pure, fragile, victim.

I saw this even when I’d walk the streets with him hand in hand… the dirty looks I would recieve. I was being shown that by choosing to stand by my father, I was choosing the “losing” side. It would be easier to gallavant off with my mothers family and comfortably explore their manchines across the world. However, I loved my father and I could not let go of him. I was ready to reap the consequences of this.

My mother was hit first - they cut her money supply that she was dependent on and kicked us out of our townhouse, forcing us to struggle to find a rental within such short notice. We had come home to everything we owned outside of our townhouse. I began to associate my mother’s family with evil.

My mom turned to alcohol in her sadness and had great difficulty adjusting to such a simpler life. Desperate for money, my mom did as was as asked and my father was kicked out. I couldn’t help thinking how society had won.

She entered a new relationship immediately… He was (and is) an extremely dangerous alcoholic with a really bad temper. His name is Willy. He was actually one of my dad’s Kung Fu students.

He was (and is) extremely abusive and banged on my door every night to try to get in. I had to move my dressers in front to try to protect myself.

He encouraged my mothers alcoholism and they my mother began to abuse me as he abused her and I was the only one that she had the power to hurt. Child services visited almost every day as I’d come to school with bruises across my body. I never told on her. I just wanted to get through. Atleast once a month, she’d take it too far. I’d find her collapsed in her room with bottles scattted around her body, like flowers at a funeral. I took her to the hospital each time and they would say the same thing: “You’re going to kill yourself and leave your daughter all alone in this world.” She didn’t care. She loved alcohol more. She loved Willy more.

I was not safe within the confinements of school either. There, it was my gender that I began to learn about and experience how that made me a target.

My Math teacher requested my phone number and then used that to excessively attempt to facetime me and serenade me with emoji filled messages. He convinced me to join him alone in the school on weekends for extra help. When I went foward with my truth, I was shamed and told, “He’s such a nice guy!” and accused of lying and put on academic prohbation. This showed me that a white man could get away with anything and as a girl in relation to that, my word meant nothing.

My English teacher promised me A’s in exchange for my silence on his expressions of affection towards me. His flash went off when taking photos of me during a midterm.

Maybe, most impressively, the principal of my school developed a crush on me which caused him to impede upon my learning due to his need of constantly seeing me. A secretary would stick her head into every classroom door I was in and I would sink into my seat, knowing. “The principal needs to see you, Sarah.” I began whispering: “Do I have to…” When I would then sit across from him, he would pry about my daddy issues and offer me comfort I had never asked for. He would rub my back and play with my hair and I’d hold my breath and try to take my mind elsewhere.

When I was 14 years old, I was asked out by one of the only black kids in my school. Scholarship kid. I became super dependent on him because I had no one else. He learned about my family dynamic. He understood my vulnerabilities. He began to abuse me too. He told me he would kill me if I left him, and then he told me that I couldn’t tell anyone because he was black. And the sad part is I actually understood what he meant.

When I turned 18, I gained access to financial privilege - trust funds. I escaped. I moved out the same day. I was able to gain self power by drowning withself within my studies - allowing intersectional feminism to lead me and rescue me and allow me to understand how the personal is political and build the strength to stand up for myself. I now have a restraining order against my ex boyfriend and my mothers boyfriend as she still hasn’t been able to find her own strength to leave. I’m trying to work on personal relationships with both my mother and my father.

It saddens me everyday the realization that most kids in situations like me are trapped. My financial privilege saved me. This is a unique experience and it makes it that I have to do whatever I can to help those not as fortunate as me. No one should be stuck. I know what it feels like.

Overall, my identity is complex. I am biracial, yet I pass as white. I am a woman and that makes me unsafe in this world. I also have grown up experiencing two opposite socio economic classes and lifestyles. I have survived childhood abuse. I then survived domestic violence.

These markers of my identity make it impossible for me to choose to tune out and be ignorant to the injustices in our world. I believe that it is because of this that there is no better place for me than being a Global Studies major.

Everything is personal to me.

To me being a citizen in this world means doing my part to break every silence I’m expected to keep, no matter how hard it may be, because it cannot be underestimated how much this could help someone else.

I see so clearly all the interconnections of oppression and struggle as I have myself lived it. Therefore, to me, to be a true citizen of the globe is to embrace all these pieces that made me who I am and using them as fuel to be an advocate and pioneer for the change I want to see to better our world.

I will continue to share my authentic experiences and making sure that I use the that I have for good. I could have turned away, blinding myself from my Peruvian roots and taking the easier way -- I was shown directly the luxuries and peace I would experience if I was to fully seperate from my Latina and identify as white… but I chose not to. I chose to tune in and there is no going back now.

[sunshineweb]

20 Ideas That Changed My Life

Whenever I feel uninspired, I look to a collection of my favorite quotes and passages I keep in a document on my computer or marked in my books (my idea bank). Today was one of those days.

As I was re-reading some of these and remembering why I love writing, reading, and the power of words, I thought perhaps someone somewhere out there might be feeling the same as me before I started writing this post.

So, here are 20 of the most beautiful passages (in no particular order) I have ever read on life and related subjects, and which have helped me become a better version of myself over the years. These exclude everything I have learned from Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger (there’s anyways an overdose of these two wise men on this blog).

Hope you find these passages of some help, and worth your time. Ready? Let’s go.

1. Steve Jobs on Having Courage to Follow Your Heart and Intuition Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. (Source)

2. Naval Ravikant on Life Being a Single Player Game Socially, we’re told, “Go work out. Go look good.” That’s a multi-player competitive game. Other people can see if I’m doing a good job or not. We’re told, “Go make money. Go buy a big house.” Again, external monkey-player competitive game. When it comes to learn to be happy, train yourself to be happy, completely internal, no external progress, no external validation, 100% you’re competing against yourself, single-player game.

We are such social creatures, we’re more like bees or ants, that we’re externally programmed and driven, that we just don’t know how to play and win at these single-player games anymore. We compete purely on multi-player games.

The reality is life is a single-player game. You’re born alone. You’re going to die alone. All of your interpretations are alone. All your memories are alone. You’re gone in three generations and nobody cares. Before you showed up, nobody cared. It’s all single-player. (Source)

3. Eknath Easwaran on Fighting the War Within The battlefield is a perfect backdrop, but the Gita’s subject is the war within, the struggle for self-mastery that every human being must wage if he or she is to emerge from life victorious.

Scholars can debate the point forever, but when the Gita is practiced, I think, it becomes clear that the struggle the Gita is concerned with is the struggle for self-mastery. It was Vyasa’s genius to take the whole great Mahabharata epic and see it as metaphor for the perennial war between the forces of light and the forces of darkness in every human heart. Arjuna and Krishna are then no longer merely characters in a literary masterpiece. Arjuna becomes Everyman, asking the Lord himself, Sri Krishna, the perennial questions about life and death – not as a philosopher, but as the quintessential man of action. Thus read, the Gita is not an external dialogue but an internal one: between the ordinary human personality, full of questions about the meaning of life, and our deepest Self, which is divine.

There is, in fact, no other way to read the Gita and grasp it as spiritual instruction. If I could offer only one key to understanding this divine dialogue, it would be to remember that it takes place in the depths of consciousness and that Krishna is not some external being, human or superhuman, but the spark of divinity that lies at the core of the human personality. (Source)

4. Carl Sagan on Being Kind and Compassionate The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of the dot on scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner of the dot. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

It is up to us. It’s been said that astronomy is a humbling, and I might add, a character-building experience. To my mind, there is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly and compassionately with one another and to preserve and cherish that pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known. (Source)

5. Seneca on the Shortness of Life It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it. (Source)

6. Marcus Aurelius on the Unnaturalness of Anger When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surly. They are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own – not of the same blood and birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are unnatural. (Source)

7. Haruki Murakami on Weathering Life’s Storms Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bones. That’s the kind of sandstorm you need to imagine.

And you really will have to make it through that violent, metaphysical, symbolic storm. No matter how metaphysical or symbolic it might be, make no mistake about it: it will cut through flesh like a thousand razor blades. People will bleed there, and you will bleed too. Hot, red blood. You’ll catch that blood in your hands, your own blood and the blood of others.

And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about. (Source)

8. Dale Carnegie on Living One Day at a Time You and I are standing this very second at the meeting place of two eternities: the vast past that has endured forever, and the future that is plunging on to the last syllable of recorded time. We can’t possibly live on either of those eternities – no, not even for one split second. But, by trying to do so, we can wreck both our bodies and our minds. So let’s be content to live the only time we can possibly live: from now until bedtime.

“Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall,” wrote Robert Louis Stevenson. “Anyone can do his work, however hard, for one day. Anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, till the sun goes down. And this is all that life really means.” (Source)

9. Kahlil Gibran on Children Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable. (Source)

10. Viktor Frankl on Dealing with Success Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run—in the long-run, I say! — success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it. (Source)

11. Dostoevsky on Not Lying to Ourselves Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love. (Source)

12. Anne Frank on Seeking Solace in Nature The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles. (Source)

13. Nassim Taleb on Us Being Black Swans I am sometimes taken aback by how people can have a miserable day or get angry because they feel cheated by a bad meal, cold coffee, a social rebuff or a rude reception…We are quick to forget that just being alive is an extraordinary piece of good luck, a remote event, a chance occurrence of monstrous proportions.

Imagine a speck of dust next to a planet a billion times the size of the earth. The speck of dust represents the odds in favour of your being born; the huge planet would be the odds against it. So stop sweating the small stuff. Don’t be like the ingrate who got a castle as a present and worried about the mildew in the bathroom. Stop looking the gift horse in the mouth – remember that you are a Black Swan. (Source)

14. Yuval Noah Harari on the Power of Meditation According to Buddhism, the root of suffering is neither the feeling of pain nor of sadness nor even of meaninglessness. Rather, the real root of suffering is this never-ending and pointless pursuit of ephemeral feelings, which causes us to be in a constant state of tension, restlessness and dissatisfaction. Due to this pursuit, the mind is never satisfied. Even when experiencing pleasure, it is not content, because it fears this feeling might soon disappear, and craves that this feeling should stay and intensify.

People are liberated from suffering not when they experience this or that fleeting pleasure, but rather when they understand the impermanent nature of all their feelings, and stop craving them. This is the aim of Buddhist meditation practices. In meditation, you are supposed to closely observe your mind and body, witness the ceaseless arising and passing of all your feelings, and realise how pointless it is to pursue them. When the pursuit stops, the mind becomes very relaxed, clear and satisfied. All kinds of feelings go on arising and passing – joy, anger, boredom, lust – but once you stop craving particular feelings, you can just accept them for what they are. You live in the present moment instead of fantasising about what might have been. The resulting serenity is so profound that those who spend their lives in the frenzied pursuit of pleasant feelings can hardly imagine it. It is like a man standing for decades on the seashore, embracing certain ‘good’ waves and trying to prevent them from disintegrating, while simultaneously pushing back ‘bad’ waves to prevent them from getting near him. Day in, day out, the man stands on the beach, driving himself crazy with this fruitless exercise. Eventually, he sits down on the sand and just allows the waves to come and go as they please. How peaceful! (Source)

15. Ed Viesturs on Karma Although I remain uncertain about God or any particular religion, I believe in karma. What goes around, comes around. How you live your life, the respect that you give others and the mountain, and how you treat people in general will come back to you in kindred fashion. I like to talk about what I call the Karma National Bank. If you give up the summit to help rescue someone who’s in trouble, you’ve put a deposit in that bank. And sometime down the road, you may need to make a big withdrawal. (Source)

16. Albert Einstein on Widening Our Circles of Compassion A human being is part of a whole, called by us the “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. (Source)

17. Daily Stoic on Dealing with the Scary World In Aaron Thier’s wonderful new novel, The World Is A Narrow Bridge, there is a scene where Eva and Murphy, the two young prophets of the god Yahweh, are sent on a mission that terrifies them. As they begin the mission, Eva and Murphy are approached by Satan, who has been sent by Yahweh, to give them their final instructions. After Satan gives the instructions, he begins to leave for his next mission:

“You have to go so soon?” says Eva. “Right away?”

She looks devastated. Murphy, too, is unhappy. Satan frowns and chews on his lip. He doesn’t like to leave them like this.

“I’ll teach you a trick,” he says. “I’ll teach you an incantation that will protect against despair. If things are dark, and I’m not around to help, you can repeat it a few times and it’ll help.

It would go something like this: ‘The world is a narrow bridge, and the most important thing is not to be afraid.’”

Murphy and Eva both repeat this very slowly. Eva says, “That’s lovely.”

Satan nods. “Just repeat it to yourself when things are bad. You could try different translations too. ‘Do not make yourself afraid, the whole world is a narrow bridge.’

The point is this life we’re living—this world we inhabit—is a scary place. If you peer over the side of a narrow bridge, you can lose your heart to continue. You freeze up. You sit down. So too with life. If we think too much about the journey we have to make, the one that begins with the trauma of birth and ends with the tragedy of death, the one that is so perilous and unpredictable, we’ll never make it.

The important thing is that we are not afraid. That we don’t overthink things. That we don’t give way to fear, as the Stoics tell us over and over again. Just repeat it to yourself—The world is a narrow bridge and I will not be afraid—and keep going. Like the thousands of generations who have come before you. (Source)

18. Morrie Schwartz on Life’s Purpose and Meaning So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. (Source)

19. Seneca on Hope and Fear Limiting one’s desires actually helps to cure one of fear. ‘Cease to hope … and you will cease to fear.’ … Widely different [as fear and hope] are, the two of them march in unison like a prisoner and the escort he is handcuffed to. Fear keeps pace with hope … both belong to a mind in suspense, to a mind in a state of anxiety through looking into the future. Both are mainly due to projecting our thoughts far ahead of us instead of adapting ourselves to the present. (Source)

20. Courtney Peppernell on Living Our Stories Well You can’t skip chapters, that’s not how life works. You have to read every line, meet every character. You won’t enjoy all of it. Hell, some chapters will make you cry for weeks. You will read things you don’t want to read, you will have moments when you don’t want the pages to end. But you have to keep going. Stories keep the world evolving. Live yours, don’t miss out. (Source)

What Inspires You in Life? Please share in the comments section of this post (no investing stuff please, and no quotes, but only passages on life and living, with name/link to the original source).

Happy living!

The post 20 Ideas That Changed My Life appeared first on Safal Niveshak.

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[chocolate-brownies]

Hear from social entrepreneur experts—including Zane Wilemon—and several other insightful panelists at Wellspring this October. For tickets and more information, click here. 

Wellness industry professional discounts and scholarships available!

It’s possible to live the life you imagine. And when it comes to business, many people with an entrepreneurial eye are just as concerned with creating positive change as they are with making money. If this sounds like you and you’ve got a problem-solving mind, you may want to join the ranks among dozens of successful brands and start-ups as a social entrepreneur.

What is a social entrepreneur?

Social entrepreneurship breaks the prejudices of business by saying, “YES, you can make money and still contribute something good to society.” It’s using your company to develop, fund, and maintain solutions to environmental, social, and cultural issues. It’s noticing a problem and creating the solution.

I sat down with Zane Wilemon of Ubuntu Made, the fashion non-profit based in Maai Mahiu, Kenya and Austin, TX, and Amanda Kathryn Roman of Conscious Capitalism, Inc. to talk about all things social entrepreneurship. Ubuntu’s handmade bags and accessories empower mothers through employment all while providing healthcare to special needs children in the Maai Mahiu community, and Conscious Capitalism is an organization specifically dedicated to elevating humanity through business. Here’s what they had to say: 

Start by asking the questions that feel honest to you.

The best ideas start from a genuine place—often this means they serve as an answer to a important and personal question. Zane’s journey began with these three: What does it feel like be helping people? What do I believe in? And who am I?

“I had always wanted to help people, which was why I went to medical school,” Zane tells me. “But I was about to go into debt [more medical school] without exploring the reasons why. I had a crisis of faith. How do you know about something if you’ve never done it?”

The questions encouraged Zane to purchase a one-way ticket to Kenya, where he met fellow pastor Jeremiah Kuria. Together the two traded ideas, philosophies, and dreams, finding a commonality in their desire to contribute something good to world. That’s when they started their special needs school and Ubuntu Made.

“The two central themes that Jeremiah and I shared were opportunity and empowerment,” Zane says. “These people are just as eager to have a better life, be better parents, and be better citizens in their community. But they lack the opportunity to empower.”

  “Dig deep into your why,” Amanda adds. “Yes, your business should address a problem and create value in the world, but do you know why YOU are passionate about it? Do you wake up every morning thinking about it? Does it excite you?”

“Conscious business leadership begins on the inside. In order to lead a successful conscious business, you must know yourself and commit to an ongoing learning journey.”

Your questions could be anything. If you’re stuck, we suggest starting with these two: What excites you? Where do you see problems that could be solved?

Don’t be afraid to get messy.

There are myriad reasons not to start projects: ”I’m not ready, I don’t have the funds, I don’t have the time, I don’t have the resources or the background…” We will always have a reason not to start a project or mission. Perhaps this stems from the seemingly universal fear of failure. But here’s the thing—all of the most successful people have encountered failures.

“Trial and error,” Zane responded after I asked him how he created such a thriving company with zero business experience.

“I got my Bachelor’s in medicine and my Masters in Divinity,” Zane added. “Both of those things had nothing to do with running a business. But I educated myself to get the right people beside me, and here we are.”

Resist the urge to cut corners.

It’s no secret that starting a business, an ethical business at that, is hard work.There is so much room to cut corners or sell yourself short—but those loses are reflected elsewhere.

“If you’re always shopping for that bargain deal, there’s always going to be something or somewhere that’s cut,” Zane says. “People don’t realize that if you’re paying your employees health insurance, those costs are reflected in the product. And if you love the people who are working for you, you need to make loving decisions.”

“Ethical businesses hands down require more work and more intention. The big picture needs to be considered.”

“The Conscious Capitalist Credo says business is good, even heroic, because it creates prosperity and can do so much more to elevate humanity,” Amanda adds. “When that is your lens for making decisions in your business, the results are vastly different than when you are just focusing on maximizing profits for shareholders.”

The phrase “voting with your dollar” is almost trite at this point—but the objective behind the words is just as pertinent. Supporting (and starting) business that give as much as they receive raises the vibrations of more than just your own frequency.

Take care of yourself.

Your business is only as strong as you are. While it might be tempting to make self-care a low priority when you’ve got a million other things on your to-do list, nurturing your mental, emotional, and physical health is key to building a successful business.

Amanda explains how every day she makes time to connect with nature, herself, and her family. This, and a sense of assurance and self-worth, come in handy when it’s time to tackle new projects and business endeavors.

“My strength comes from proper fueling,” Amanda says. “Every day I focus on hydration, physical activity, meditation, healthy food, reading, and learning something new.”

“I live my life in passionate pursuit of service to others and so throughout the day,” she adds. “I am constantly asking myself am I serving as my highest self. When the answer is no, I ask myself what I can do to shift my energy and level-up. One of my rituals during this process is to ask myself, how can I contribute to bringing a smile to their face.” 

Take care of yourself to take care of your business that takes care of the world. It’s a simple but powerful way to make change. If social entrepreneurship is your calling, it might just me time to answer.

—

Amanda Kohr is the editor at Wanderlust. You can find her exploring new highways, drinking diner coffee, and on Instagram. 

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