#poverty vultures

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Show Up, Take Photos

The Meghans are global frauds. Every "good" deed, Every word & Every dollar is a GRIFT. "Nigerian girls & women" my arse.💔

Do they really expect us to believe that a global games event could ever be hosted by a country that repeatedly loses track of women & children? Harry and Meghan have the lowest of low in IQs but the rest of the world can see that THIS poverty tourism trip is yet another SUSSEX SCAM.

No country will send disabled athletes or veterans to compete in a country that cannot keep track of school kids. Shame on Nigeria's Defense Minister and all at Invictus who are involved in this fraudulent visit.

"Bring Back our Girls 2.0

"The abduction of the 287 children in Kaduna state on March 7, 2024 near the West African nation’s capital, is one of the largest school kidnappings in the decade since the kidnapping of schoolgirls in Borno state’s Chibok village in 2014 stunned the world. Analysts and activists say the security lapses that allowed that mass abduction remain..."

"One man was shot dead as he tried to save the students, school authorities said"

"The parallels between the two kidnappings have created more worry for parents, as even to this day nearly 100 of the Chibok girls remain missing."

BY CHINEDU ASADU

March 8, 2024

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — "Security forces swept through large forests in Nigeria’s northwest region on Friday in search of nearly 300 children abducted from their school by motorcycle-riding gunmen in the latest mass kidnapping, which analysts and activists blamed on the failure of intelligence and a slow security response.

The abduction of the 287 children in Kaduna state, near the West African nation’s capital, is one of the largest school kidnappings in the decade since the kidnapping of schoolgirls in Borno state’s Chibok village in 2014 stunned the world. Analysts and activists say the security lapses that allowed that mass abduction remain.

The victims of the latest attack — among them at least 100 children aged 12 or under — were surrounded and marched into a forest just as they were starting the school day, said locals in Kuriga town, located 55 miles (89 kilometers) from the city of Kaduna. One man was shot dead as he tried to save the students, school authorities said."

J-P Mauro - published on 03/14/24

"With no word from the abductors, the bishops are calling on the state to identify the kidnappers and save the hostages.

The remote town of Kuriga, in Nigeria’s Kaduna state, is still reeling after dozens of armed extremists kidnapped hundreds of students out of their classes in broad daylight on the morning of March 7. Worried parents are now calling for government intervention, after days without any word from the abductors. As of March 13, the children have yet to be found. 

The AP reports that at least 287 students were abducted – with about 100 of them aged 12 or under – making it one of the largest kidnappings since the 2014 abduction of the Chibok girls, when 275 girls were taken from their school by Boko Haram.

The parallels between the two kidnappings have created more worry for parents, as even to this day nearly 100 of the Chibok girls remain missing. 

The March 7 kidnapping saw children taken from the school just as the day was starting, at around 8 a.m.. They were herded into the forest. It took authorities several hours to respond to the scene and begin a search operation, but it is unclear how deep into the forest the kidnappers went.

Locals have suggested that the abductors belong to a group of bandits who have been terrorizing remote villages in Nigeria’s northwest and central regions.

14-year-old Nigerian girl could declared a martyr. Nigeria is one of the places of most intense suffering for Christians in our day.

Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi has called on the government to intercede on behalf of the Christian population, which he said is being targeted by these attacks. Bishop Anagbe told OSV: 

“The kidnappings, killings and destroying churches we are experiencing every day are aimed at finishing Christians. We are worried that despite such killings and kidnappings, the government has never arrested anyone. As a church, we now demand that the government act quickly to stop these vices that continue to dishearten people.”

I try hard not to hate anyone, but The Meghans sure know how to push the right buttons. 🤐🤬

Safety 1st: The UK is unsafe but African countries where Nigerian schoolgirls are kidnapped & Zika Zones for childbearing royals are no problem.

Team Sussex: Global Court Jesters

[lithuvan]

ever since i saw the sam smith airport jeans photos i couldn't stop thinking about this

at least pelle wore some leggings under his jeans

[wilwheaton]

Frederick Douglass, who was born into Southern slavery, described the South as “a little nation by itself, having its own language, its own rules, regulations, and customs.” Fewer than 2000 families — six-tenths of one percent of the Southern population — owned more than 50 enslaved people and ruled the oligarchy that we call the Confederacy with an iron fist. The 75 percent of white people in the South during that era who did not own any enslaved persons generally lived in deep poverty. Women had no rights, queer people were routinely tortured and murdered, education for both enslaved Africans and poor whites was generally outlawed, religious attendance was often mandated, and hunger and disease stalked all but those in the families of the two thousand morbidly rich planter dynasties. Modern-day Red states are doing their best to recreate that old Confederacy, right down to state Senator Kathy Chism’s new effort to return the Confederate battle flag to Mississippi's state flag. Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence have both emphasized their presidential pledges to restore the names of murderous Civil War traitors to American military bases, celebrating their armed defense of the “values” of the Old South. Today’s version of yesteryear’s plantation owners are called CEOs, hedge and vulture fund managers, and the morbidly rich. They use the power of political bribery given them by five corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court — with Clarence Thomas’ tie-breaking Citizens United vote on behalf of his sugar daddy Harlan Crow — to lord over their Red states, regardless of the will of those states’ citizens.

Why are red state 'welfare queen' oligarchs allowed to mooch off of blue states?

[grotesque-grimoire]

Looking for active witch blogs that post:

🕯 Altars

☠ Baneful Magic (curses, hexes, jinxes, etc.)

💸 Budget / Poverty / Struggle / DIY / Upcycling Witchcraft

📖 Magical Books (pics of grimoire pages, flip-throughs, book recs/reviews, etc.)

💲 Money, Business, & Prosperity Witchcraft

💀 Necromancy, Death Witchcraft, and/or Cthonic/Death Deities (also funerary stuff, medical examination, etc., love that stuff)

🌿 Practical & Responsible Herbalism (gardening, cultivating, harvesting, foraging, herbal remedies, recipes, salves, ointments, etc. but no anti-science, anti-medicine, anti-allopathy shit)

📝 Sigils (free to use, preferably)

👻 Spirit Work (esp. animal spirits, dryads, egregores, genus loci, gorgons, & mermaids)

🥄 Spoon-Conscious Witchcraft (for those who are disabled, exhaust easy, etc.)

✨ Things relating to: Santa Muerte, Artemis, Serket/Selqet

🦴 Vulture Culture (responsible)

Reblog or send me an ask if you think your blog might suit my taste. Disclaimer: not Wiccan, not Pagan, not Heathen; just a witch who's curse-positive, eclectic, & agnostic.

[fictionadventurer]

What was the point of Scrooge's trip with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come? On a structural level, it makes sense--three is the fairy tale number, and you can't visit the past and present without also including the future--but on a character level, it doesn't quite seem necessary. Showing a man that he'll die alone, unloved, and unmourned seems like the strategy you take as the last-ditch effort to convince a guy that he needs to change his ways. But that situation doesn't apply to Scrooge. He started softening immediately after he first arrived in his past. By the time he finished with the Ghost of Christmas Present, he was fully onboard with the need to reform, so the Ghost's vision of his future seems like unnecessary cruelty. Why show him all this when he was already planning to change his ways?

A few things come to mind. One is that this vision of the future wouldn't have affected Scrooge unless he had already changed his ways. A cold, hard businessman could have seen his lonely death as just the way of the world, might have viewed the people who stole the clothes from his corpse as just people doing what's practical in this world. He needed to relearn the value of the intangibles--human connection, respect for others--to see the true horror of the lonely death and the vultures who defiled the dead man.

But why the horror? Can't he reform without being threatened with doom? It's possible--but it's also possible such a reform would be temporary. After all, Scrooge started as a friendly, loving young man, but retreated into himself and his business out of fear of poverty and fear of the way the world looks down upon poor people. Even if a reformed Scrooge started on a course of Christmas charity, there was always a chance that the enthusiasm would fade, and the worldly fears would start creeping back in. The only way to beat those fears is to give him something to fear that's even worse than poverty. He needs to see the horrible end that his selfish ways would lead to, so he won't be tempted to slide back into them.

There's also the fact that seeing his death makes him ecstatically happy to find that he's alive after the Ghost is gone. Had Scrooge been spared the vision of his future, he might have been happy to find himself on Christmas Day, but his joy would have been nowhere near the manic glee he experiences after coming back from the future. Now, he doesn't just get a new start--he gets a second chance. Coming back from his own grave makes him mindful of his death, but it also makes him hyperaware of the fact that he's still alive. He isn't in the ground yet. He still has time to do good and make connections with others so he doesn't die alone.

Seeing the past reminded him of the innocence he'd lost. Seeing the present reminded him of the people whose lives he was missing out on. Seeing the future reminded him that death is waiting, so it's important to live virtuously while we can. All three are important because all three brought him outside of himself and taught him to value the wider world, just in time to live through another Christmas Day.

[the-mortuary-witch]

𖤐 INTRODUCTION 𖤐

I UPDATE ALL MY POSTS IF I FIND NEW INFO. THIS BLOG OF MINE IS SPIRITUAL, IT IS NOT AN AESTHETIC OR FETISH!

Everyone is welcome on my blog, no matter your skin tone, body type, gender, sexuality, beliefs, nationality, and interests.

DO NOT interact with me or my account if you support anti-abortion, pr0shippers/or are one, bullying, climate change, war, poverty, terr0rism, fetishize serial ki!!ers r@cism, murder, r@pe/r@pists, hom0phobia, transph0bia, sexism, ableist, anti vax, Donald Trump, n@zi’s, any kind of abuse, besti@lity, arson, JK Rowling, furries, therians/or are one (you make me severely uncomfortable), and just overall piss off if you can’t be a decent human being and if you have a nsfw blog, bc you will be blocked.

ABOUT ME:

My name is Grim. I’m 19-years-old, Icelandic, my personality type is ENFJ, and I’m an ambivert. I have been a Satanist since Nov 2023 and a witch since Feb 2024. I’ve learnt a lot so far, and still currently am doing research on Satanism and witchcraft. This blog of mine is dedicated to Satanism, Witchcraft, deity and entity info.

Currently Working With: Lady Aphrodite, King Asmodeus, Lord Fenrir, Mother Freyja, King Hades, Mother Hecate, Lady Hel, Lord Loki, Mother Lilith, Lord Lucifer, and Queen Persephone.

Will Soon Be Devoted to: ???

Magickal Interests: sigils, crystals, spell work, meditation, protection magick, deity and entity work, and runes.

Other Interests: metal and rock music, corpse paint, anime, manga, drumming, taxidermy, exercising, vulture culture, and collecting vinyl and CDs.

SOCIALS:

INSTAGRAM: @the.mortuary.witch

PINTEREST: @the_mortuary_witch

TIK TOK: @the_mortuary_witch

POSTS:

SATANISM:

SATANISM INFO

THE 7 FUNDAMENTAL TENETS

PAGAN AND SATANIC HOLIDAYS AND CELEBRATIONS

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SATANISM, WITCHCRAFT, AND PAGANISM

THE 11 SATANIC RULES OF THE EARTH

WHAT SATANISM DOES AND DOESN’T SUPPORT

THE 9 SATANIC SINS AND THEIR MEANINGS

WITCHCRAFT:

2024 WITCHES CALENDAR

THE SABBATS

WAYS TO CELEBRATE THE SABBATS

IMBOLC

OSTARA

BELTANE

LITHA

LAMMAS

MABON

SAMHAIN

YULE

WITCHCRAFT INFO

SPELLS

SPELL BAGS

EVERYDAY WITCHCRAFT

TYPES OF WITCHES

TYPES OF HERBS AND SPICES

TYPES OF CRYSTALS

TYPES OF WATER

TYPES OF DIVINATION

TYPES OF DEVOTIONAL ACTS

INCENSE PROPERTIES

HERB AND FLORA PROPERTIES

GRIMORE IDEAS

WITCHY RED FLAGS

FRUIT CORRESPONDENCES

CLEANING / REUSING SPELL JARS GUIDE

GRAVEYARD GUIDE

COMMON WITCHY TERMS / TOOLS

WITCHY SYMBOLS AND THEIR MEANINGS

FAMILIARS AND THEIR MEANINGS

WHERE YOU CAN DRAW SIGILS AND RUNES

CANDLE COLOUR MEANINGS

PLANETARY MAGICK

FULL MOON MEANINGS

MOON PHASES

DAY OF THE WEEK MAGICKAL CORRESPONDENCES

LOW EFFORT / ENERGY WITCHCRAFT

DEITIES AND ENTITIES:

CONNECTING WITH DEITIES

TYPES OF DEITIES

DEITY MASTERLIST (PART ONE)

DEITY MASTERLIST (PART TWO)

IDEAS FOR TALKING TO DEITIES AND ENTITIES

DEITY AND ENTITY PLAYLISTS

DEITY AND ENTITY AESTHETICS

ASMODEUS

ANUBIS

APHRODITE

BAPHOMET

CERBERUS

FREYJA / FREYA

FENRIR

HECATE / HEKATE

HERMES

HADES

HEL

LOKI

LUCIFER

LILITH

MA’AT

NYX

PERSEPHONE

RAUM

SKÖLL AND HATI

SELENE

SANTA MUERTE

THE MORRIGAN

[funnywildlife]

THE SECOND VULTURE:

In the 1990's there was a widely circulated photo of a vulture waiting for a starving little girl to die and feast on her corp. That photo was taken during the 1993/94 famine in Sudan, by Kevin Carter, a South African photojournalist, who later won the Pulitzer Prize for this 'amazing shot'.*

*However, as Kevin Carter was savouring his feat and being celebrated on major news channels and networks worldwide for such an 'exceptional photographic skill', he lived just for a few months to enjoy his supposed achievement and fame, as he later got depressed and took his own life!*

*Kevin Carter's depression started, when during one of such interviews (a phone-in programme), someone called in and asked him what happened to the little girl. He simply replied, "I didn't wait to find out after this shot, as I had a flight to catch..." Then the caller said, "I put it to you that there were two vultures on that day, one had a camera".*

*Thus, his constant thought of that statement, later led to depression and he ultimately committed suicide. Kevin Carter could have still been alive today and even much more famous, if he had just picked that little girl up and taken her to the United Nations Feeding Center, where she was attempting to reach or at least take her to somewhere safe.*

*Today, regrettably this is what is happening all around the world. The world celebrates stupidity and inhumane act, at the detriment of other. Kevin Carter should have taken the girl away from that place, which will cost him nothing, yet he didn't. Here is the inhuman posture, "he had all time to take his shot, but he had no time to save the girl's life".*

*Thus, we must all understand that, the purpose of life, is to also touch lives. So are you too a Vulture. In whatever we do, let humanity come first, before what we stand to gain out of the situation. In all we do let's always think of others and how we can be of benefit to humanity, how we can lend a helping hand and wipe away tears. Hence, when we seek knowledge, wealth, fame, skills or even positions, let's think of how we can use it to benefit the people and society at large.*

*Today, there is a lot of poverty in the land, so if our God Almighty has blessed you, be a blessing to others, extend a helping hand to those in need. Remember, you giving, is also a way of appreciating divine blessings, bounties, and favour of God Almighty upon you. Therefore, it is very important that we all should help the poor and needy, the orphans and widows amongst us, so that they can meet their needs. Please don't be a Kevin Carter, be human and think humanity.*

*Beware, we humans are not humans, if we lack humaneness in all we do.*

#FoodForThought

[laugtherhyena]

Hi Mary hiiiiiiiiii

Character story

The silent Bohemian night reigns with an underlying uneasiness to it. You can't help but feel as if something sinister lurks in the horizon, just beyond where your eyes can reach..

In an attempt to ignore the chill underneath your skin,You reminisce about what has led you to this point in life…

Your memories are often hazy. Vague, unclear recollections of past plights and terrors scattered throughout the years you clung to life. Your own hardships botched your ability to recall much beyond blurry faces and muffled voices. 

You've been alone for as far as you can remember. Alone together with countless other children in a place disguised as a safe haven, the predacious gaze of the black hearted vultures deemed "holy" had always been the only eyes set on your kind.

Carrying away naive children to the darkest corners of the building, never to be seen again. You were one of them, or you would have been had you not…

What did you do? What happened then?

…

You can't recall. Maybe that's for the best. 

You do remember swearing to whatever gods are out there to never set foot near that place again, let alone stay in the presence of the men in dark tunics.

The merciless streets of prehevil became your new home. For weeks on end you crawled aimlessly through the dirty alleys while the townsfolk steered away from you on sight, staring down at your deteriorating physique as if you were a filthy creature, barely even human. 

Rummaging through the garbage for food scraps became an everyday occurrence, you didn't even mind the rancid smell anymore, it was certainly better than when you had to feed off of rats and dirty crawlers to survive.

It didn't take long for you to meet others like you, but much like the townsfolk, the children were not kind. The teachings of the streets instilled in the street urchins only one instinct…

Convince the children to lend you a piece of their food. (Gain persuade)

Despite their treatment of you, you didn't retaliate. You knew those children were no different from yourself; lost, scared and hungry, doing everything in their power to remain living.

And so you tried to reason with them for a scrap of moldy bread. They yelled at you, you tried again. They threw trash and rocks at you, you tried again. And again. And again.

They didn't budge. As the moon took a hold of the night sky, you slept with an empty stomach. That's alright, you had become well acquainted with the feeling by now.

Steal the food for yourself (Gain steal)

You tackled the street urchins and pried the moldy bread from a boy’s scrawny hands. You ran as fast as you could, but your frail legs couldn't outrun the enraged children.

You were knocked down and beaten senseless by your peers, it hurt so much you wondered how you were still alive once you woke up the next day.

For the following weeks, you lived in the darkness of the sewers as your frail body struggled to heal its injuries. The smell was atrocious, but it kept you hidden from their wrath.

You soon fled to the old town, in its slums an abandoned shack sheltered you from the cold Bohemian nights. The rundown alleyways had danger lurking around every corner, but the shared pain of poverty amidst its citizens made you feel as if you're right where you belong.

As the years went by your mind grew sharper but your body remained rather frail, you watched as the street children from your time met unfortunate ends one after the other, and in their absence you found more children lurking the streets.

You took it upon yourself to show them the ropes, give them some of your belongings and share a bit of the little food you had. When it rained relentlessly you opened your doors to shelter them, when they wanted to chase a better life beyond prehevil you helped them hop on the train wagons.

Sometimes you went along, but you always found yourself back in the streets of the old town, alone once again. That's alright, it's how it's always been. By now you know this place like the back of your hand, as much as you're looked down upon, you know of a couple ways to get by…

Search for gigs around the town (Gain ×1 lucky coin, ×2 moldy bread and beer)

There's always someone in need for your services in the city, that is; the taxing manual labor they didn't want to do themselves. You were hardly ever paid with money, even when you insisted, your employers would rather reward your services with leftovers or worn out clothes.

You never complained, it was better than nothing.

Harvest goods from the wild (Gain ×2 green herb, turnip and carrot)

The woods around Prehevil can be surprisingly resourceful if you know where to look. Over time you learned how to spot vegetables growing amidst the weeds and that some greens are quite helpful against certain illnesses.

You found the solitude of the forest rather comforting.

A lifetime of fending for yourself taught you plenty of ways to acquire the bare minimum to keep living, some in ways you would never have imagined. Strange cultists pay a hefty price for the meat squirming inside your body, witty townsfolk give you a quick buck for some strange plants you found in the woods, and the train wagons you ride in cary so many goods you're certain no one will notice if you takes a little bit for yourself.

But life has never been kind to you, even now it seems to strive to rip the little you have from your cold trembling hands. One evening you returned to your shack being raided by a gang of thieves, you tried to fight them off only to be quickly overwhelmed and beaten by those men like a punching bag.

You laid on the ground, battered and bruised as the thieves laughed at your expense before taking their leave. There was nothing but pain left for you, everything hurt, you could hardly breathe…

Return home (Gain endure)

You swallowed the blood pooling in your mouth and crawled to what remained of your home, further staining the dirty mattress you slept on.

You had never felt such visceral pain before, as if your body had been set ablaze and your bones had pierced through your lungs. Your heart however thumped the urge to keep on living, and as such, you endured the suffering.

Chase the burglars (Gain ×1 rusty pipe and terminal surge)

The blood pouring down your mouth filled you with a glistening ire you had never felt before. Against all odds, you stood up and charged at your abusers like an enraged animal.

Pipe in hand, you hit them until their bloodied bodies stopped moving, mangled beyond recognition. You bashed the last one’s skull open before collapsing from exhaustion besides the corpses.

You have no recollection of how you survived the weeks after the incident, but you made it, and that's all that matters. As long as your heart is still beating you have time to get your life back on track no matter how much you have lost thus far.

There’s even a new job opportunity for you; the owner of the old hotel needs someone to clean the pipes, he was even kind enough to give you an old mattress and let you sleep in the storage room as long as you had everything done by the weekend. 

As payment for your services, what did you request?

Medical goods (Gain ×2 blue vial and cloth fragment)

Financial compensation (Gain ×20 shillings)

Food and drinks (Gain ×2 dried meat and vodka)

The feeling of the soft mattress cushioning your malnourished body after a long day of work brings a calm that knows no equal. 

For a moment, you forget about the pain that has tainted every day you've lived thus far. allowing yourself to be enveloped in soft sleep...

Character skills

[neonlight2]

Jaehaera Targaryen (oc)

Masterlist

Warnings: smut mentions, sexism, touch of homophobia, and mentions of incest (and step-cest)

Again— it’s the Targaryens, what do you expect.

(Only the older parts of the family cause… the younger ones don’t know the difference)

What we’re their relationships like as she got older?

Viserys

First off— Absolute pushover.

Shouldn’t be a surprise with how he treats Rhaenyra. Man will literally break all tradition, with the justification of “I am king”.

Jaehaera wants to wear pants instead of dresses. Done, without a second to waste. And if she did want to wear a dress, you best believe it was the best money could buy.

His darling daughter wants to study with high scholars— only the best teachers of course. Anything she wished to know or learn she’d be taught. Books would be imported from the farthest edges of Westeros. Oh— and best believe he built her a private library. He knows how she loves her privacy, how she detested the public and fuss of events. He’d catered to her every need as she grew.

Even when he didn’t necessarily agree— like with swordsmanship. Viserys would be so freaking worried at the beginning, not wanting his little girl to get hurt. But he lets her anyway.

And even though it’s “against the rules”, Jaehaera could compete in tournaments whenever she damn well please, and he was always there to watch with pride.

There was not a price in gold that would hinder her requests. If the girl has asked him for a fucking castle bigger than king’s landing, it would have been made— and he’d put every man he could to work in order for it to be done quickly. Amazons quick delivery service would have NOTHING on this man’s will.

However, she was never extreme in that fashion. The kingdom was honestly lucky that she was far more rational and conservative with money, or else they may be in poverty.

So as she got older, matured, and got around to marrying age— all suitors of all ages came in like filthy vultures. And of course, no one was ever good enough.

He thought the same for both his daughters, the only reason why he made Rhaenyra marry was in order to secure he claim to the throne— heirs. Jaehaera on the other hand…

Jaehaera at 14/15: Father I don’t wish to marry—

Viserys: GREAT ITS SETTLED THEN

Of course if she did fall in love or wish to marry, he wouldn’t be able to say no. It’s damn near impossible. I swear to god this man would actually rather die than say no to her.

Jaehaera would DEFINITELY become more of an adviser to Viserys as she got older. She was already like his own little personal spy, so as she got older, made more connections, and was actually able to stir the pot without being harmed (because now she’d love for a bitch to try—), that relationship only grew stronger.

Most people when they watch the two together could get mental whiplash I’m not even gonna lie. One moment Jaehaera is kneeling before Viserys calling him “my king” or “your majesty”— basically going through ALL the damn formalities even though viserys has told her a thousand times she doesn’t need to— just to act like a child the next minute. Sure, if she has something political or otherwise important to tell him, Jaehaera stays more calm, professional even. But the moment the formality is over and done she like, “Hi dad! Wanna watch me dual? Oh! I learned a new trick on Shkros!”

She’d also just tell him the most random shit and facts she learns, probably rant about stories or things she’s gotten insanely fixated on. Viserys would EAT THAT SHIT UP. He could listen for hours and smile or laugh at the girl.

Oh, and Viserys literally became deaf at some point to all slander toward her, even if it came from Otto. Man would not hear of any of it.

In his mind Jaehaera did no wrong. So when anyone questioned her innocence or reputation—

“All of these are mere, petty rumors from jealousy for my daughter’s brilliance.”

“I will not hear of it, next person to say such a thing will lose their tongue.”

“Jaehaera would never, and even if she had you have no proof.”

“Who are you to question the princess? My daughter?”

To the day until she inevitably starts leaving more frequently, they would meet almost every night in the kitchens, sharing bread and milk like the day they first met.

Sadly, around the time his sickness gets really bad, she would be gone even longer. He knew why.

She had spent months before trying to heal him, and she did a better job then the scholars and maesters could ever dream. But they both knew that it was only slowly his demise. There was no cure for time, as it was fast on viserys heels.

A lot of people thought they had a falling out during this time because of her absence, but the truth of it was that they had an agreement. Jaehaera had made a promise to secure and protect their family. Not just Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne, but the state of it all.

She went to every kingdom to make alliances, or to strengthen old ones. She made deals to compact no army could penetrate them. And she would be damned if she failed.

Jaehaera had barely the idea of what love felt like before she became Viserys’ daughter. So with all her being she’d protect her home, her life, his legacy, her family.

Daemon

Two words— Teddy Bear.

He’s an absolute simp.

Would and does worship the ground she walks on.

If you thought he was insufferable when she was younger, following her around, constantly seeking her attention, giving her anything she stares at too long, and talk about protective— times that by a million.

The moment he came back and saw how she had…matured. Daemon went feral. I’m talking glaring at every person who so much as glances Jaehaera’s way that wasn’t family. He even had a small bit of beef with Sir Harwin because of how close he had become to her. It was only until she told him to back the fuck off that he calmed down.

He’d also use every excuse he could muster to be close to her. And Daemon likes to be sly, or try at least, so it would start innocent.

*walking literally anywhere, even around the castle, and he hold her hand* “Don’t want you to get lost my little wanderer.”

*Leans against her: arm around shoulders, or wrapped around her waist to rest his head in the crook of her neck.* “I’m tired.” Or if your at an event, “You soothe the throbbing in my head, love.”

Then this bitch would push his luck.

He’d slowly slip his fingers up her shirt or any bare skin he could get his hands on— and being that she didn’t normally like to wear much, he had so many places to choose from.

“My hands are cold!” *it’s literally like 100 degrees out*

He also has a weird obsession with her hair. Like he’d dimly admire it at first, wondering what it feels like. Was it was soft as feathers? Or smooth as silk?

Well one day he impulsive touched it. Of course he made it seem as if it were a normal interaction— brushing it away from her open shoulders to show off the dip in the heavenly dress she wore to some banquet he couldn’t even remember the occasion for.

All he knew was that he instantly became addicted to the feeling of the strands between his fingers.

They’d be talking underneath the trees of the gardens and he’d randomly start petting her head. At first Jaehaera would tense up because of the foreign feeling, but after a few seconds and Daemon asking her permission, she’d let him to it again. Oh he’d be jumping for joy in his brain.

Especially loving it when her eyes would flutter shut when he’d start to scratch her scalp and massage her temples.

And however wholesome this man could be at sometimes, he’s mind would definitely wander. He’d start to wonder what it’s be like if she were underneath him, hair and body sprawled out for him to play with. To make her feel good.

Or perhaps if she were to ride him and as she leaned forward, her hair would drape around them, all while tickling his thighs, arms and face. Oh how pretty she would look.

Oh and don’t get him started about how hard he gets when she pulls her hair into a ponytail or high braid. All he could think about was taking her from behind, pulling on her hair so that her back would be flush with his chest.

God she drove him crazy.

So the infamous Prince, know for being I’ll tempered and cruel, would be siting with the girl in her free time, taking turns braiding each others chair.

What he doesn’t know is that she’s not as oblivious as he thinks. It wasn’t hard to notice how he’d have to shift in he seat around her, or the growing bulge in his pants as she laid her head in his lap— letting out shameless moans as he kneaded her scalp.

Jaehaera just thought in rather fun to tease him, and to make him think she was totally innocent in her acts.

But besides the obvious sexual tension— Dameon would respect Jaehaera a lot. Of course he’d still be hot headed, crazy, and rebellious. It was his nature. And it also happened to be hers in some cases.

It was almost like putting two delinquents in the same room with some gunpowder a few matches.

The only difference was that she was more rational when it came to future consequences. She actually looked ahead. Dameon… not so much. He’d rather jump into battle or war, only depending on himself and his sword “dark sister”.

But.. if he had to, the person who’d he’d listen to was Jaehaera. And that’s because in his eyes, she was always right.

And that was not to be disputed.

Rhaenyra

She’s spoiled. We all know that. So she’s definitely get more possessive of Jaehaera.

When she married Laenor, it was hard because she longed for intimacy that he could not give her. But she was content with him because she thought she had at least evaded being married to an imbecile.

So even though it was unheard of, Rhaenyra still insisted on sharing a bed with her almost every night. Both girls were always close, and comfortable with each other physically. Rhaenyra had been the second person to bless her with gentle affection through touch. One might say that other than herself, Jaehaera trusted Rhaenyra with her body the most.

They would cling to each other in the night, bodies intertwined, grazing each other carefully, or tenderly squeezing flesh. All of it was natural to them. And to Jaehaera it was all she’d ever known when it came to the pair. It was only after their incident at the brothel that caused a shift in their behavior.

Rhaenyra had only heard of what had happened with Jaehaera because of her fathers reprimanding. It was light compared to what she faced, but she still felt something brewing in her stomach. She couldn’t quite place the emotion, it resting somewhere in between jealousy and curiosity. And it scared her.

Soon she found herself growing paranoid and angered at everyone Jaehaera looked at fondly. Especially a particular maid of hers…

Soon Rhaenyra would lie awake at night, Jaehaera sleeping soundly beside her, and she’s let her mind wander to what she thought the girl may have been doing with other women.

Soon she’d been touching herself at the thought of it being her who received such attention from Jaehaera.

And later as she noticed Daemon’s actions toward them both she couldn’t help but dwell on the thought of having them both. Even after Daemon married Laena. She’s simply add her to the equation too; she knew how much Jaehaera fancied her.

However, as the drift between her and Alicent grew even larger— especially after the whole air Criston cole situation— she became more worried that Jaehaera would leave her.

She had no reason to worry, I mean Jaehaera absolutely adore the girl. She would do practically anything for her. And the two princesses were almost attached at the hip at some point.

Yet as Jaehaera began to venture farther out, her time away from home increasing every voyage, Rhaenyra would make sure to claim whatever time Jaehaera had to spare when she had returned.

Of course, she didn’t mind sharing this time with other people she loved: Viserys, Daemon, Laenor, Sir Harwin.

Jaehaera knew. Anyone could tell that her children were not sired by Laenor, but Jaehaera knew that they were his kids.

And that’s because she walked in on them fucking once.

To this day she’d tease Rhaenyra about it, occasionally praising her for how quiet she could be with such a large prick inside her.

(She would also confirm to anyone that asks that Sir Harwin is hung— because let’s be honest he is.)

And after Rhaenyra had Jace, she’s notice that happened to grab even more of Jaehaera’s attention. More of her protection. Jaehaera would visit more frequently, ask if she was being properly taken care of, if anyone had disrespected her, and constantly hovering around her and Jace when she was at home.

As much as Rhaenyra loved Sir Harwin, she couldn’t deny that Jaehaera was a huge reason for her having more children. For the more she had, she more of Jaehaera she got.

Alicent

Obsessed and paranoid.Gonna be real— we all saw this coming.

Alicent would definitely be giving yandere, but she would never tell Jaehaera when she could or could not leave. (Like shed be able to in the first place.)

At first, when they’re in their later teens, Alicent really just wants to keep Jaehaera in her life. So she sees Rhaenyra as a threat, because they’re at all odds.  She gets extremely worried whenever Jaehaera starts to pull away because of her marrying Viserys, and a little scared. Alicent really didn’t like lying to her, but she was as equally as scared of her father’s backlash. So when Jaehaera started to catch on with the whole scheme, Alicent didn’t know what to do or think.

Jaehaera was never actually cruel to her in anyway. In fact, the rather opposite. She’d still join her for tea or visit her whenever Rhaenyra was busy with her duties. But there was always a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that made her need validation.

“You’re not mad at me are you Princess?”

Glancing up intently at her, Jaehaera would answer, “No, Ali. I just hate your father insists on hurts those I care for.”

Hitching her breath, there was a small flutter in the pit of her stomach. Jaehaera made it sound as if she were included in the category. That sent Alicent’s heart on fire.

“And don’t think of defending him darling,” Jaehaera snipped, standing up to grab ahold of her chin. “It’ll just make me hate him more.”

Would definitely become paranoid later on as Rhaenyra has kids because well… Jaehaera increasingly becomes more attached to her as she does. Not that Alicent’s children don’t get enough attention as is. Jaehaera spoils every single one of them. But Alicent doesn’t see it like that, so what does she do? Talks shit.

She’ll start sneaking in comments or rumors of Rhaenyra’s children’s the obvious hair color difference, and other features. How they’re “growing in to very clad, dark handsome boys” and how she “adores their curly brown hair”.

Then, on top of it all is— she thinks she’s getting away with it at first because Jaehaera will laugh occasionally and say something back. Soon she becomes unaware of the warning stares being sent her way. Her growing audacity eventually leads to a more intense reaction after she questions their birthright.

“I’m not sure if they would be given the thrown that easily.” She’d say calmly with a soft smile while pouring Jaehaera a drink.

She’s hear the princess hum and ask, “Why’s that?”

“Oh you know, their features are rathe strange for a Targaryen. Some might question if they are truly—,”

Alicent would be cut off quickly, and the bottle of wine would have slipped through her hands from shock and broke into pieces by their feet if it weren’t for Jaehaera’s quick hand. With one hand setting the bottle aside, the other held Alicent’s jaw firm, making it so she couldn’t talk, yet it would not leave a bruise on her skin.

Jaehaera’s were practically predatory as they glared into Alicent’s. And as she leaned closer to the woman’s face, Alicent couldn’t help but gasp at the proximity.

“Don’t start acting like your father Ali. It doesn’t suit you.” Jaehaera would whisper firmly, pulling away only to keep a burning gaze. “And if you ever say something like that again around me, I promise you, I will kill him.”

After her hand leaves her mouth, Alicent would rub the tender skin, weak in the knees and almost desperate for it to return. “Why?” She’s ask in a whisper.

Tilting her head to the side, Jaehaera’s expression softened and she caressed her cheek. “Because he would have killed something I care for. And I cannot allow that.”

Otto

He’s a petty bitch.

Would not know what the fuck to do when it comes to Jaehaera.

Would also try really hard to spread rumors about her under the kings radar. Probably called her a homophobic slur at some point and made a backhand comment about her being a woman. We all know it’s true.

He’s well aware that she hates him after Alicent marries Viserys. Would for sure get tortured by Daemons antics even more because of Jaehaera’s permission.

Honestly he’s just fucked, so he’s constantly trying to find a way to keep himself in the good graces of the king, so Jaehaera won’t kill him.

Also another reason why he’d push Aegon to succeed the thrown— also also another reason why the greens pull this shit while she’s gone on her voyages and travels. He knows he wouldn’t be able to get away with it otherwise.

Sir Criston

Another petty bitch.

Jaehaera finds him annoying after a while. She gave him a little sympathy at first because of the whole Rhaenyra brothel incident, but she’d always choose Rhaenyra.

Lightens up around Alicent because she likes her. But she’ll roast the shit out of him at any time. Unprovoked.

And if he really pisses her off best believe she’s threaten him (and let Daemon loose).

“I gave you the position in the kings guard, I could easily take it away. Even if it hurt Ali’s feelings for a while. She could never stay mad at me. She’d forget you in a heartbeat.”

Sir Harwin

Homies Fr

These two would just make a bunch of dirty jokes, cursing like sailors, and spar.

Canon that they would call each other bad worms as pet names:

“Good morning my little bitch how are you?”- Jaehaera greeting him in the mornings for training.

“Hey arsehole! You owe me one!” - Harwin after covering up for her to go sneak off with a lady/lord and/or when he’d lie about seeing Daemon first in the nighttime competitions.

Causal greetings or hellos: “Hello there cunt!” “Ahhh there’s my favorite little shit!”

Both were definitely into each other some point but it was a fleeting crush. He fell in love with Rhaenyra, she loved him, so Jaehaera loved them and that they were happy.

Harwin along with Laenor we’re her personality wingmen and cheerleaders.

He’d cover/lie for her in a heart beat. And he has soooo much respect for her. In another life they’d probably be siblings.

Laenor

I’ll say it again for the people in the back: Laenor is Jaehaera’s cheerleader.

If they had the word bestie back then, best believe he’d be like: “GO BESTIE, GO!!!”

Ton of gay jokes, but also would comfort each other being of society and internal homophobia because people fucking suck. (I’m looking at you Otto)

Definitely have seen each other naked, probably drunk or honestly skinny dipping. Also— because they’re constantly covering for each other so they can… Y’know… they’ve probably stood guard for each other at some point. So I can definitely see Laenor or her just opening the door once as the other and whoever they’re with is mid fucking, and be like: “can you hurry up Rhaenyra (or some other person) is looking for you?”

And if Laenor ever finished quickly, Jaehaera would say: “damn took you longer than I thought, ten whole seconds, I had my money on five.”

Oh and Laenor absolutely giggles or chokes on his drink anytime someone says anything remotely disrespectful toward Jaehaera or him because he knows this person is about to die.

Rhaenys and Corlys

Definition of second parents. Basically adopt Jaehaera whenever Viserys isn’t around.

Corlys is so proud of her when she gets older and leads a battalion and or her own voyages. He would also get teary eyes whenever he sees her helping Luke learn how to navigate and captain a ship, then blame it on “salt water that splashed into his eyes”.

He LOVES being a girl dad (excluding Laenor). Prizes Laena and Jaehaera. And even low key ships them because let’s be so for real… he knows. Later he’ll make jokes that it must be in the gene’s because both his kids came out fruity.

And Rhaenys and Corlys adore the relationship between her and their kids.

Rhaenys especially. She loves how safe and natural both her children are around her. They don’t have to pretend. She swears she’s trust her with both their lives because she knows Jaehaera would always protect them and vise versa. (Also ships Laena with her, and claims all the time that Daemon is just a third party.)

[the-martyrfication-of-the-matron]

So the biggest reason why America's portion size is what it is is purely due to family size.

While the average amount of kids per family in the US is listed at 1.93, it is not accurate to it given how it takes into account families with no children, something that has increased exponentially in recent years. In reality, most families in the US who choose to have children AND choose to have more than one child averages out around 4 kids, with that number varying state to state..

Where you will be facing the largest portion sizes and what I have seen a lot of European people call "The reason why Americans are so fat" is in southern religous states. States where it is completely normal to have anywhere from 5 to 13+ kids because of religious purposes and a lack of sexual Healthcare and preventative options. (The reason why I was born, thanks Florida.....)

I come from a family of 5 kids, and right now, there are 3 teenagers two if whom who do athletics and one who is going through it growing wise. That requires a LOT of food per week so it requires buying in bulk. Something the stores in America are designed to do.

Also a lot of paydays happen either every other week or once a month so when payday comes, you pay you bills and immediately hit the store to buy yourself enough food to last until next paycheck. With a lot of families living below the poverty line, bulk buying is the smartest choice as well.

Even if we separate a financial aspect, sharing a large bag of chips with one friend is hard enough but sharing it with four siblings who surround you like vultures results in being left with crumbs. If my parent doesn't get the whole tub of cheese balls, I will probably only be able to get a cheese dust while my faster siblings will be full and happy. (Literally, it's a goddamn race)

Now onto restaurants, you are fully correct in us having a leftover culture, but we also have a family share culture. There are several restaurants here where you are not ordering for yourself but the entire table, which involves much larger portions. Same if you are eating a family dinner at home, you are portioned food from the collective dish.

Onto leftovers themselves, in recent times that has shifted less from families and more into poverty and work culture. A lot of families and people here can only afford to eat out as a luxury, so being able to eat leftovers the next day as a reminder is great. Also, a lot of times for work, we aren't given proper lunch breaks or provided food, so you bring leftovers that you can quickly reheat and devour to work.

The entire thing is not an "Americans are unhealthy" thing but an entire cultural thing.

I’ve never seen why people make a fuss about going to other countries and going ‘woag this is so different and weird!’

And I think there’s a big sense of entitlement when it comes to Europeans going to America because there’s this big presumption of similar culture where there really isn’t, and when you look at a multitude of things in America through a European cultural lens, it is a little bit fucked. But that’s putting it in a context it doesn’t belong in, so obviously it’s gonna be a little funky.

[therwriter]

Some spoilers for Come Catastrophe or Wake of Vultures

I enjoyed this event as a character study and portrait of poverty and pride and such, but think they really dropped the ball in the second half by not committing to the strongly implied set up that Blacksteel was about to do some heinous PMC bullshit, and thereby letting Jessica make a genuinely significant choice to sacrifice everything to oppose them, as opposed to effectively slumming it to find herself. The frontier sucks! Dorothy goes insane over it! Going to live with the people who got deported there is not a happy ending Jessica! Most of them won't survive the winter and the people responsible get away with it! Arknights loves its moral myopia and refuses to have any actual societal change but I think showing the PMC as Secretly Cool TM who lets them get away wasn't the right move here.

The scene where Franka and Liskarm refused to fire on the crowd would likewise be more meaningful imo if a) the crowd was actually rioting and b) it was an order from the top. Basically I wanted the BS crew to have to confront the fact that they work for a PMC and what that means, and take a stand.

....Also they didn't go with cowboy Jessica and that is an even greater crime.

[spinnysocks]

i've been sucked into a RDR2 fixation at the same time as my Lion Guard one. naturally, my mind crossed em over and BOOM! i present: The Outlanders in a human au where they're COWBOYS!!! buckle up >:)

also you don't have to know anything about rdr2 for this au! it's based loosely on some of the events and dynamics of the game, but i mostly wanted to develop a cool human au :3

under the cut cuz long post!

setting things up:

jasiri takes the role of dutch essentially. she is the leader of the "gang", as i'm gonna call it! although she was supposed to be head of the Hyena family, she and madoa rejected the town lifestyle and started their own together, the 'cowboy' life i suppose haha. their motto is something like 'Free, but Good'. their original gang (jasiri's clan in canon) has changed a bit over the years as the members slowly joined, and some died - the two of them have looked after wema and tunu together ever since their mother passed away

as the cowboy life appears pretty sketchy to most of the prideland townsfolk, jasiri and madoa started helping people wherever they could, however big or small. they gained the trust of the towns and started to move on to harsher parts, a desert called the Outlands. eventually, their smaller jobs transformed into the much bigger and more impactful goal of trying to help/see the good side of the land's notorious gangs. jasiri realised that's what she wanted overall - to help people, even if they hurt others, and hopefully change their ways. she wanted to help them live "Free but Good". obviously janja's gang was her first target....

janja's had a rough life. his mother and her infamous gang dropped off the face of the earth one day, so he and his friends were raised by mzingo's gang. seeing it as their means to survival, janja led his gang in town raids, stealing whatever they needed, even if it sometimes ended in the gang getting hurt or killing townsfolk. though it took a lotta standoffs between them, jasiri eventually got them to see eye-to-eye. she showed him how she was surviving without the need to kill innocent people, and with time they became the first gang she reformed! janja reminisces a lot about when he led his gang, but he wouldn't change his new life for anything, and he would defend his new gang till the end

mzingo and his gang followed janja's joining. it didn't take them much convincing- despite a few conflicting moral values- as it was a hard time even in the towns and they were pretty much going to starve without jasiri's help. the former Vulture gang members kinda work as spies for jasiri, specialising in being swift and able to spy from high vantage points on horseback. i'd say jasiri and mzingo have a decent friendship and work pretty well together on strategy; mzingo likes being able to put his brain to use and jasiri likes him not using his questionable strategies to kill people lol

the Jackal family were basically forced to absolute poverty. the only thing reirei and goigoi could really do to get enough for all of them was steal for money, food, travel, etc. it was the only way they thought they could survive, believing there was no help for them, and there wasn't for a while. with janja's gang- who somewhat threatened their livelihood- reformed, it was much easier for reirei and her family to take what they wanted from people, but jasiri's offer to her was pretty convincing... so after a few hard and lonely years, reirei accepts jasiri's help. she promises them food, warmth and community- kind of the only thing reirei ever wanted for herself, her husband and her children, and they get to live free too! she's just happy that her husband and children are happy, and that she can be too, even if she can have arguments with the other former gang leaders lol

kiburi's gang..... yeah they were definitely the hardest to convince. jasiri wasn't acquainted with them at all. they'd were a bit newer to the Outlands, coming there after some failed riot kicked them out of their town. but janja, mzingo and reirei knew them well. kiburi was very adamant that he didn't care for jasiri's lifestyle, that it was "too soft" for he and his gang, that they didn't want or need their help and that violence was just "what they did". jasiri had just about accepted defeat. that was until one night kiburi's gang were attacked by strangers who were too much for them, but jasiri's gang swooped in to save them, both from the attack itself and their bad wounds. if it wasn't for them, kiburi's gang would be dead. he doesn't have much of a choice but to sign off his leadership in exchange for the protection of his friends, which he decided inwardly matters more to him than being leader anyway. in joining the gang his personality doesn't change much from the outside, but you spend a little time with him and you realise he's a good guy beneath it all

the same sorta thing went for ushari and the Skinks. ushari grew up in the stuffy towns and he liked it well enough when he was left alone, but he just kept getting disrespected by people. it only took a few months for him to snap, and then it was him who was disrespecting by plotting against the different towns in the lands. his plans were pretty genius, especially with his acquaintances shupavu, njano and their gang called the Skinks, who just so happened to be the best spies in the lands. despite their lack of brawn and being far from well-off, together their plans were dangerous and could cause lots of townsfolk casualties. people also just kept getting tricked and robbed by the skinks. no one wanted anything to do with them, ushari, or anyone associated with them (ahem, kenge and sumu, ahem ahem)

there was a massive, brutal shootout between the Prideland townsfolk and the Outland gangs before they reformed. jasiri tried to stop it and reason with the gangs, but all hell broke loose as everyone started shooting. ushari was shot as jasiri was talking to him. he was genuinely considering being the first to join her side, as she'd shown him genuine kindness like no one else, but it ended in the shootout (you can guess who shot ushari. i am glaring at you bunga). jasiri and her gang tried everything but the wound was untreatable :( the guilt weighs on jasiri's shoulders as well as the skinks. initially they tried saving ushari themselves- finally putting someone else over being in a fight- but were surprised and inwardly thankful that jasiri tried so hard to save him, even if it was futile

after the shootout and ushari's death, shupavu's gang spent a few weeks aimlessly wandering, realising that stealing wasn't so fun or as easy now that ushari was gone. they kinda awkwardly shuffled into jasiri's gang when she next came to see em. they found it really hard to fit in or do 'good'. like most of them, they joined because they kinda had no choice but to. eventually they find their place, especially when kenge and sumu join

only ushari and the skinks knew, but kenge and sumu were at that shootout too. they went because ushari, shupavu and njano told them about it and What Else You Gonna Do In The Wild West lmao. it was pretty tragic when they found out ushari died, they didn't know bc they were caught up in the shootout and weren't really on the main scene until the shooting started. realistically they probably caused the most carnage; kenge is insane and sumu is a sniper. they left once it was all over, expecting to hear from their acquaintances, but shupavu and njano had to break the news to em. they were also completely unaware that the skink gang joined jasiri

almost forgot to talk about their history! sumu doesn't come from the pridelands/outlands, he travelled a long way bc he pretty much worked as a hitman sniper for criminals who wanted townsfolk killed. he wouldn't stay long in each place to avoid getting caught by law, but he stuck around the outlands because ushari was a cool guy he actually made friends with, and kenge too. in kenge's case, he's that guy who could like. crack your skull if he wanted to. he's really antagonistic and has been in loads of bar fights before being run out of towns, but they could never kill him because he's too good of a fighter and too strong. i guess like rasputin without the lust lmfao??

but yes! kenge and sumu were eventually convinced to join the gang when jasiri finally met them, in her eyes she saw another two misunderstood individuals on the wrong path and managed to reach out to them. she probably called them "friends" and that was the first time they'd ever heard any stranger be that kind to them. both of em were definitely the most uncertain and antsy about being in the gang, as they'd lived solitary before, but no one was really going to bother or push them. sumu's the almost-silent one who has cleaned up a mess before you even notice there was one (perks of being a sniper) and kenge's the guy ordering the best drinks for the camp (perks of being a former bar fighter)

speaking of what everyone does in the gang, i will be talking about that in a follow up post 👀 because i didn't realise how long this was!!!

i have loved building this au!! :3 there might be a few tweaks along the way as i try to find a good balance between the outlanders being from a kids show and the brutality of rdr2 lol. i think i'm starting to develop a story i like tho, just going to flesh out important events as i go along :)

[cyn-write]

Songs of Octavinelle

Welcome to the return of "The Songs of..." series!

How this all started is I was listening to one of my Broadway playlists and thought, "Hey! This reminds me of (insert twst character)." That single thought led me down a rabbit hole of finding songs (specifically from musicals) that match the characters! This is the second installment in my "Songs of..." series (you can listen to "Songs of Heartstyble" and "Songs of Savanaclaw" here). So without further ado: Songs of Octavinelle!

Azul Ashengrotto

"Hey, Little Songbird" from Hadestown

~ The parallels between Hades and Azul are astonishing. I see Hades from Hadestown as an older version of Azul if Book 3 never happened (though there is still a high chance of him turning out like Hades). I can picture Azul singing this song to MC or any of his poor and unfortunate clients. Some lyrics that display this are: "Hey, little songbird, cat got your tongue? /Always a pity for one so pretty and young /When poverty comes to clip your wings /And knock the wind right out of your lungs /Hey, nobody sings on empty," and "Hey, little songbird, look all around you/ See how the vipers and vultures surround you/ And they'll take you down, they'll pick you clean/ If you stick around such a desperate scene/ See, people get mean when the chips are down."

Jade Leech

"My Friends" from Sweeny Todd the Deamon Barber of Fleet Street

~ The main reason I chose this song is because it gives me Jade vibes. I had a really hard time finding a song for Jade and juggling between a few, but this one stuck out for one reason, I could see jade singing it. The way Sweeny sings to his knives is the same way I imagine Jade singing to his Mushrooms. Imagine Jade singing this song to his array of Terrariums with MC singing how she is his friend he is as well. The lyrics that give me Jade vibes are: "These are my friends./ See how they glisten./ See this one shine.../ How he smiles in the light./ My friend," "My friend.../ well I've come home to find you waiting./ Home, and we're together!/ And we'll do wonders./ Won't we?" and "At last, my arm is complete again."

Floyd Leech

"That Beautiful Sound" from Beetlejuice

~ Much like my reasoning for Jade, I chose this song because Beetlejuice has the same energy as Floyd. The chaos of this song combined with the energy of Beetlejuice equals our beloved Eel! I can see Floyd and MC singing this while pulling pranks around NRC. The lyrics that scream Floyd are: "Do you hear that sound?/ That beautiful sound?/ That is the sound, of clean, white, shorts turning brown," "Panic and stress (panic and stress)/ Oh ain't it the best? (Ain't it the best)/ The sound of heart (heart)/ Exploding inside a chest (exploding inside a chest)/ It fills you with pride/ We're ruining lives/ Ain't it the sweetest noise in town, that beautiful sound?" and "They're out of my grill/ Because of that/ Shrill symphony/ Ain't it the/ Sweetest noise around/ That beautiful sound!" 

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

Stay tuned for more "Songs of..."

Please Like and re-blog!

[la-pheacienne]

What are your thoughts on Eponine? (I haven’t read the novel, I have only watched the Liam Neeson movie (which didn’t have Eponine) and a recording of the musical).

Thank you for the ask I love getting Les Mis asks 💖

So keep in mind that I have read this book 13 years ago so I don't remember a lot of details. I remember the core idea of her character though and she was one of the most badass characters in the book, I loved her.

So Hugo initially had another named planned for her but changed it after Baudelaire dedicated a poem to him (Les petites vieilles from Les Fleurs du mal) that goes like this:

These dislocated wrecks were women once,

Were Eponine or Lais! hunchbacked freaks,

Though broken let us love them! they are souls.

And that is a very good introduction to her character.

Her first trait that needs to be mentioned is hunger. Eponine was a hungry, very hungry young teen, starved, to be more exact, she had a horrendous appearance, some teeth missing, she was extremely dirty, her clothes had huge wholes, she walked barefoot I think. Hunger was so absolute and omnipotent in Eponine, as in a lot of characters from the book, that it seemed to completely erase any hint of personality, or agency, or personhood really. She seemed to not even be a human being at all, she was just a starved girl who resembled a starved animal more than a person. And that's the thing with hunger, it's so catastrophic and definite that it completely annihilates a person. You can't have free will, you can't have spiritual autonomy, you're just that, hungry. Hunger in Les Mis is the ultimate and most substantial form of violence, and Eponine embodies that.

"The grace of her youth was struggling against the hideous old age brought on by debauchery and poverty".

What hunger also does is it gives birth to the lowest, most debased, most inhuman form of monster. That's Eponine's parents, les Thenardiers, and I honestly cannot recall a single literary character that is more appalling than them. They were appalling people before they became so poor, but poverty turned them into actual vultures. So in this "cocktail Molotov" of moral depravity plus extreme poverty and hunger, what chance does Eponine have of becoming something more than a vulture herself? A vulture, or a living, lifeless, soulless corpse, like her sister.

Yet that's not Eponine's arc. Eponine starts as a bully to Cosette while she was a kid, then becomes this hungry street smart kid, then an accomplice in a gang of criminals (burglars, thieves etc) then she goes to prison for a short time. She is in love with Marius, and so she's torn between her jealousy and the desire to make him happy, that is why she helps Marius find Cosette's house and leads him there, then she observes them every night they meet in the garden. She even prevents her gang from entering Cosette's house, because she knows that Marius would be destroyed if anything happened to Cosette. That's the part of the book where she stops them :

"Please yourself, you won't get in. I can't be the daughter of a dog seeing as I am the daughter of a wolf! There are six of you. What's that to me? You're men. Well, I'm a woman. You don't frighten me, that's for sure. I'm telling you, you won't get inside this house because I don't want you to. If you come any nearer I'll bark. I told you, I'm the 'cab'. I couldn't care less about you. Now be on your way, I've had enough of you! Go anywhere you like, but don't come here, I won't let you! You use your knives, I'll use my feet, it's all the same to me. So come on, then!"

And then, after this very selfless act, she actively manages to separate Cosette and Marius. She scares Valjean so he decides to move, and takes Cosette's letter for Marius with no intention of giving it to him, then leads Marius to the barricades so that they can die together there. And then, she dies for him after giving him Cosette's letter :

“She let her head fall back upon Marius' knees and her eyelids closed. He thought that poor soul had gone. Eponine lay motionless; but just when Marius supposed her for ever asleep, she slowly opened her eyes in which the gloomy deepness of death appeared, and said to him with an accent the sweetness on which already seemed to come from another world:

"And then, do you know, Monsieur Marius, I believe I was a little in love with you."

She essayed to smile again and expired.”

So Eponine was a morally ambiguous person but an exceptional character, moving from debauchery, spite and depravity to bravery and love. She doesn't believe in the Cause, but she loves Marius and she dies for him in the barricades, thus her death is as honorable as any other person that gave their lifes in the barriades. I think Eponine's function in the narrative is to show that it is in fact, possible, for an exceptional character to be born out of total material, moral and spiritual decay. It is possible for a human being to preserve the quality of a person, even an exceptional person, and rise above theIr horrendous circomstances. She's a tragic character but the underlying message is ultimately optimistic, in a way.

Of course she was not presented accurately in the musical, she was sexualised in a way that the supposed "conflict" between her and Cosette looks like the conflict of a the popular high school girl vs the high school underdog which is SO not the case in the book.

[justlarkin]

Hey little Songbird from Hadestown reminds me of Fuxi in a way how the singer temps the other person with promises and comfort and safety while subtlety manipulating them cornering them and stroking the other person's fears to get them to do what they want and making it all seem to like their showing kindness and that it's all the logical conclusion

Hadestown is soo good!❤

Yeah, you're right! It fits Fuxi very well! It's very much like their Chapter 12 interaction.

"I'm a busy man and I can't stay long

I got clients to call, I got orders to fill"

^Fuxi's role as a World Representative fits Hades' as ruler of the underground.

"Hey, little song bird, cat got your tongue?

Always a pity for one so pretty and young

When poverty comes to clip your wings

And knock the wind right out of your lungs"

^the "oh, you poor thing" talk Fuxi gives MC.

"Strange is the call of this strange man

I wanna fly down down and feed at his hand

I want a nice soft place to land

I wanna lie down forever"

^MC recognizing that Fuxi is shady, but still slowly falling for his manipulation and into the temptation of staying there with him, no longer needing to fight.

"Hey, little songbird, you got something fine

You'd shine like a diamond down in the mine

And the choice is yours, if you're willing to choose

Seeing as you got nothing to lose

And I could use a canary"

^Fuxi telling MC exactly what he wants from them (his sister) and convincing them that since they're out of options, they might as well pick him.

"Hey, little songbird, let me guess

He's some kind of poet and he's penniless?

Give him your hand, he'll give you his hand-to-mouth

He'll write you a poem when the power's out"

^trying to persuade MC that Mononobe isn't really worth it and they should forget about him.

"Hey, little songbird, look all around you

See how the vipers and vultures surround you

And they'll take you down, they'll pick you clean

If you stick around such a desperate scene

See, people get mean when the chips are down."

^trying to convince MC that they have no allies left and that everyone has or will turn against them now that the truth is out.

[somethingclevermahogony]

Find the Word

I was tagged by @elizaellwrites , thank you!

My Words Are: Oath, Save, Aim, Major, and Cadence

Your words Are: Fish, Run, Screech, Down, and Drumming

Oath(s)

Narul stopped and pivoted to see who had spoken. Fifteen men spewed forth from a nearby hallway. Their bronze spears and armor gleamed in the torchlight, and the fearsome lions painted across their rounded shields snarled and barred black teeth. They were not the lackluster bullies, merchant’s sons, and reprobates who filled the ranks of the city guard; they were mercenaries, brought to Chibal from the rough southern isles of Korithia and Knosh to protect the Hall of Oaths and its masters.

Save

“Because we’re slaves. I don’t owe her father any kindness. I just do my job so I get fed and not hurt, my job is to clean the stables, scrub walls, and serve beer, not to save falling brats.” Suru said. Dunar nodded in agreement.

Aim

The two sides fought like clashing lions, blood speckled the polished shields of the Apunians and soiled the feathered crests of the Kishites. Carrion birds swirled high above, bald vultures and black crows. On both sides, great plumes of fire would sporadically erupt from the earth and whirling torrents of wind threw men like children’s dolls. This was the work of the sages. They sat atop chariots, eyes closed and faces gaunt. Akard could hear his own sages as they cried out to the spirits, struggling to be heard over the clash of swords and spears. Their magic was not strong enough to turn the tide of the battle by itself, and so instead their aim was to disrupt formations, to weaken and scatter.

Major

Akard sighed and began to pace back and forth. " I see. So you waste my time by summoning me here, and you subject my people to slavery and poverty despite my requests that you return them. Do not try to deny it, I decided to take a little tour of your lovely city before coming to speak with you. I saw the beggars and I saw the markets." The Bidani had indeed received multiple requests from Akard to release the foreigners but they had elected to ignore them. " Well, we were going to release them in time; it would have just been a major economic blow to our city if we just let them all go at once. We needed to get proper infrastructure…." " I did not come to this city to hear a greasy merchant babble about why they thought it appropriate to waste my time." Akard barked.

Cadence

“Something, anything then! Name something, and I will give it to you.” The giant tilted his head thoughtfully. “ Give me my childhood, remind me what it was like to be held.” “What?” “Or give me back my first kiss or my first love.” The pirate opened his mouth but no words came out. “Tell me my name. My real name.” “I…” “Make honey taste as sweet as the first time that I tasted it. Or remind me what a truly beautiful woman looks like.” “I’m sorry, I don’t...” “Give me something to do, or someone to talk to that won’t be gone or done by the time I blink. Fill in these holes inside my head, color the shadows or be wipe them away entirely. Help me remember or else help me forget.” The giant’s tone and cadence never wavered, it was monotone, emotionless. He raised his massive arm to strike. “I…I don’t…I don’t think that I can.” The giant nodded his head, and for the first time the unfortunate birgand was able to detect some glimmer of emotion in those cold dark eyes, a tired and melancholic disappointment. “Worth a try I suppose.” The body of the pirate captain hit the mast of his own vessel with such force that his body momentarily stretched and twisted completely around it before it fell broken to the deck.

Tagging @illarian-rambling , @patternwelded-quill , @unrepentantcheeseaddict , @elsie-writes , @mk-writes-stuff , and whoever else is interested!