#ridwan beshara

[karaischosenhistory]

History of Jobs

Today, we’re looking at the Ennead’s resumes! This is (of course) not a complete list because of how old the Ennead are and the number of lifetimes they’ve lived, but this gives a good enough idea of what they’ve done in their lives. 

*Please note that we are not counting their full-time jobs as ‘immortals-to-keep-humanity-on-the-correct-path’ within this list. It’s a given.

Jinal: Most of their jobs have revolved around medicine. They’ve spent time as a military nurse, therapist, and critical are intensivist. They also spent time as a high school choir director. Their current job is a trauma surgeon!

Haku: Literally became the Pocket Dimension Future Guide as soon as their powers kicked in. Does not work with mortals. 

Minerva: Minerva has worked a huge variety of jobs, including being a blacksmith, sailor, labor activist, and Olympic gymnast. Her current job is being a stunt actress.

Ven: Ven’s love of the arts bleeds into their job history as well. They’ve been a concert pianist, child actor, and a painter. Their most recent resume addition is as a movie score composer. (Side note: OP has a headcanon that Ven was Beethoven. ‘Cause. Beethoven. Anyway.)

Kai: Kai has fucked around and found out. From railroad worker, author, and pastry chef, to Asian American activist, NASA scientist, and a physics professor, Kai has explored their interests and passions over their several centuries. 

Mateen: This man continues his Pathetic Man streak. He worked as a farmer and soldier. That’s...the majority of it. Now, he’s a criminal defense attorney and activist! 

Ridwan: Also served time as a soldier! Why? Idk they grew up in a war so as- oh. Uh. Moving on. They essentially pioneered queer studies, spent time as a poet, and currently work as a journalist-slash-queer-rights-activist. 

Silpa: An absolute Badass. Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Software Engineering. Does it involve metal? Yes? Then they’ve probably done it. Their current work focuses on developing accessibility tools. 

Felix: What to say about Felix? He’s done sculpting work and, as his powers would lend itself to, was an Olympic medalist in figure skating. He is currently a figure skating coach. 

[sanini-panini]

been rewriting the oldest tracks in my series of oc tracks related to their moments of "self-realization" or "return" so to speak. this one pairs with felix's rewritten version since the two of them play crucial roles in each other's stories (and also bc they're dating). link to felix's here.

[karaischosenhistory]

Origins

Today, we’re talking about the web-serial worm. 

The web-serial influenced the concept of power manifestation, since they were considered to be representative of “their trauma, their desires, or their personalities.” The Ennead already had their powers, so the author chose to throw this painful concept onto the giftees instead. 

The author listed the giftees (edited for clarity/summarization). I put them below the cut in case you don’t want pain. 

Lian’s creator: zy (tumblr here)

Joshua’s creator: Earthytruce

Peter’s creator: may (ao3 here)

Morgan’s creator: hi :) (other blog @tenuntilfightcall)

Juli/Karyme/Rae/Dani are the author’s creation: @sanini-panini

Morgan (Jinal, weather control): at its core? control issues. she has never been allowed to control any moment of her “miserable life, so to be able to control something as monumental as weather?” taking back control, not just of her life but of the world around her, makes the horrors of the life she’s already lived a thing of the past and opens possibilities of the future.  (the author pointed out that mind control, while a possibility, isn’t a priority for Morgan. she has never cared about others, just the “circumstances that seem insurmountable”. 

Peter (Haku, item summoning and telekinesis): he is a very practical person. if something doesn’t have a purpose, he’s unlikely to use it BUT if something needs to happen in the moment, his power lets him evolve to meet that need in the moment. his telekinesis isn’t active control, but combined with his blunt nature, he nudges people into the direction they need to be (not necessarily for his own gain) (the author elaborated telekinesis doesn’t change a person’s motivations, just direction).

Juli (Minerva, fire control): double layered here. part of it is wanting to be flashy/showy but at its core it’s also about creation. making something new and rebuilding what was there. this both parallels and contradicts Minerva’s own story- Juli works to create something new and the beginning of Minerva’s story is based in burning something down. the flashy/show part of their personalities is perfectly in line. you can also make the argument that after Minerva used her power to destroy, she realized how much she could create with her ability and tried to move in that direction instead. 

Lian (Ven, sound manipulation): Lian is difficult because most of the powers listed here have to do with trauma, and they have none. however, my argument is that Lian tells someone what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. they can manipulate sound as part of giving truths, even when they’re unwanted, forcing Lian to consider saying what they need to hear and adapting to what they need to be. their backstory as a musician factors into their patron (Ven) in the way music can influence someone’s emotional state. 

Joshua (Kai, super speed and wings): we could talk about this forever, but Joshua’s speed allows him to protect those he cares about (Joel, primarily) and his wings give him the ability to run, but he chooses not to use that ability. (Author edit: His wings are about freedom. What’s more freeing than learning to fly?). Make of that what you will. also it ties into Kai’s whole air control thing nicely. 

Mateen doesn’t actually have a giftee. There are multiple reasons for this. One, given the nature of xis own power, the possibilities for the wrong power to end up on the wrong person were endless; essentially, Mateen was trying to prevent another xim during xis Joker arc. Two, xe refused to force someone else to have powers, the same way xe and the rest of the Ennead were forced into it. Three, author convenience. 

Rae (Ridwan, object switching/location): xyr desire to switch places with other people, both to escape xyr situation and walk in another person’s shoes. this ties heavily into their activist work in an effort to understand and help others out of whatever situation they’ve come up against. this can be tied into Ridwan, both in their activist work, and in Ridwan’s power to manipulate light- the ability to make someone see something other than what is already there. 

Karyme (Silpa, clairovoyance): she is always wanting to know more about anything she can. her power giving her the truths of each situation lets her record history in a detailed, accurate way. 

Dani (Felix, shielding): his power of shielding comes from the desire to shield others from pain in a way he was never shielded from his parents.

[karaischosenhistory]

Fact of the Day

The wifi name in the pocket dimension is “Days it took Ridwan to ask Felix out”. The password? “4748Days<3″.

Silpa created the name and password after Ridwan spent thirteen years pining for Felix and telling Silpa about it. 

[karaischosenhistory]

Fact of the Day

Ridwan taught Silpa the wrong information for a class and she acted on it. In front of a group of mortals. She will never live it down.

[karaischosenhistory]

Fact of the Day

Silpa locked Ridwan and Felix in a room to embarrass the shit out of Ridwan (it worked). The purpose was to make Ridwan look like an idiot while trying not to reveal their crush on Felix. 

It worked. 

[karaischosenhistory]

Fact of the Day

Ridwan and their giftee, Rae, both play the oboe. Neither of them wanted to be a band kid, but you don’t choose to be in band. Band chooses you (and doesn’t let you leave). 

[karaischosenhistory]

True Crimes: A Series

Rae’s true crime against humanity is pretending to not know memes. However, xe also doesn’t know a thing about pop culture or celebrity gossip. 

Conversely, xyr patron, Ridwan, is a horrible gossip. We stan two idiots. 

[karaischosenhistory]

Powers

It is at this moment I have realized that I never fully laid out what powers everyone has. So I’m gonna do that below the cut. Rip. 

The Ennead: Jinal: Hydrokinesis Haku: the ability to recreate their memories Minerva: Pyrokinesis Ven: Emotional Manipulation Kai: Aerokinesis Mateen: Biokinesis Ridwan: Light Manipulation Silpa: Metal Manipulation Felix: Cryokinesis

The New Guard:

Ilia: Unknown (read Karai’s Chosen to find out >:) ) Morgan: Weather Control Karyme: Clairvoyance Dani: Shielding Rae: GPS Location Joshua: Wings/Super Speed Peter: Telekinesis/Item Summoning Lian: Sound Manipulation Juli: Pyrokinesis

[karaischosenhistory]

Someone needs to pat Mateen on xis head and call xim a meow meow and Ridwan if you do it, I'll give you a thousand dollars.

Felix at some point probably

[karaischosenhistory]

Fact of the Day

Each of the Ennead have an ‘internal bad’ that represents where they think they screwed up the most. It coordinates to their history, how they see themselves, and influences how they see their giftees!

Jinal - I couldn’t save anyone.

Haku - My decisions have led millions to their deaths.

Minerva - I’ve abused my power in all the wrong ways.

Ven - I cannot commit.

Kai - I abandon my responsibilities when they matter most. 

Mateen - I have only done bad things.

Ridwan - I’m not strong enough to protect them.

Silpa - None of it matters in the end. 

Felix - I’m a burden to others. 

[karaischosenhistory]

True Crimes: A Series

Ridwan’s true crime against humanity is keeping their phone above 60% battery at all times. Nerd. 

[karaischosenhistory]

Fact of the Day

Ridwan learned to braid while they and Silpa were imprisoned as children. After they were revived, Silpa convinced Ridwan to braid her hair. They pretend to hate it, but if they learned fancier braids for her, no they didn’t and we don’t talk about it. 

[karaischosenhistory]

Headcanon of the Day

Ven once locked herself in a dryer and Felix turned it on tumble dry. Minerva’s contribution was to remind Felix to put it on the gentle cycle. Ridwan shrugged and said ‘not my problem’. Kai let it happen because ‘she won’t be permanently hurt’.

It took Jinal thirty minutes to get home and unplug it. 

[karaischosenhistory]

Fact of the Day

The author watched the Shun/Ace divorce episode in Bakugon and it heavily influenced how they write dialogue! You can see the inspiration in the way our divorced dads (Mateen and Ridwan) talk to each other. 

[karaischosenhistory]

Origins Bingo: Row Three

In regards to this post, the author has chosen to elaborate on how the characters in their bingo card influenced Karai’s Chosen! Time for the second row! Please note, the majority of this is word for word of what the author said. I edited for clarity, simplification, and mocking.

Part One | Two| X | Four | Five

Zuko (Avatar: the Last Airbender): Zuko is, of course, a traitor (like many others) but the author’s largest takeaway is that villains are messy. They aren’t “inherently bad, that people can change for the better if they want to, and that even if they do change, that does not mean they deserve immediate forgiveness.” Zuko’s path coming back to the ‘good’ side is messy. Redemption itself is messy and impossible and being good requires constant work. In other words, Mateen-core. 

Ventus (Kingdom Hearts): Ventus (my love) is, at his core, an excellent example of the aforementioned ‘good requiring constant work’ concept. Just because he is free of darkness, he is not exempt from actively working to keep himself that way. Ventus is “at the mercy of everything happening around him and his only recourse is his two sibling figures. Ven Sumaya is a lot like that too.” (The author would also like to note the Ventus/Vanitas dynamic lives in their head rent free and they’re obsessed with it.) Ven Sumaya also gets their sunny personality from Ventus, because the author needed someone who was happy.

Free from Pain Square <3

Terra (Kingdom Hearts): Good intentions, bad choices, all leading to darkness they cannot control or hope to escape. The idea of the lingering will is also a heavy influence, “this idea that Terra’s anger and desire was so strong that a version of himself persisted…and continued to protect his friends.” A continuing theme in Kingdom Hearts itself is emotion lending itself to power, which also shows up in Beyblade.

Spectra (Bakugan): Similar to Ren (see previous post), except he knew what he was part of was evil yet was part of it because his father forced him to and to protect his younger sister. Eventually, he and his sister take down the bbeg, but only after death and abandonment. The author notes Spectra and Max are the closest characters on the bingo board for one reason: “willing to do abominable, horrible things to protect the ones you love.” It also brings up a symboling dynamic, since his sister doesn’t know it’s him, of “doing stuff to protect your sibling but also hiding that you’re doing that stuff to protect your sibling from your sibling.” Examples could be Joshua and Joel or Ridwan and Silpa.