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yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy · 5 years ago

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The Willow Maid Part 2

Thank you to @waiting4inspiration for hosting another challenge where we take myths and legends and do fun things with them, like what I’m trying to do here. @inforapound wanted to be tagged too. Those who read the Bible, will find references that I honestly am not trying to be sacreligious or offensive or anything, I’m trying to have some harmless fun here and provide entertainment as I mash so many things into one and connect dots here.

Ha. Anyway, enjoy.

The Willow Maid

Part 2

When Floki woke up again, the willow maid had returned with a bowl of stew, some bread and some more tea for him to drink.

“Thank you Rayth.” He thanked her graciously, as he took the wooden platter and settled it over his lap before he dug into the spread as he couldn’t help but stare at her. She was so beautiful and eerily perfect, which he mused a goddess should be, it was a little unnerving to look at her but the more he did, the more he felt at peace because he could sense that she meant him no harm, only good.

“So what are you a goddess of?” Floki asked. “Protection?” He guessed.

“I suppose, if you say so.” Rayth nodded in agreement.

“How would you like to be worshiped?” Floki asked and Rayth had to think about that for a moment.

“By being kind and respectful to the women and children in your life.” Rayth answered.

“Are there more like you?” Floki asked.

“Yes, when I agreed to look after you, my sisters who have shown themselves to you told me that you were special and worth saving.” Rayth answered.

“The bee woman and the raven woman?” Floki remembered.

“Yes, among others.” Rayth nodded.

“Is this the World Tree?” Floki asked.

“It is, and you are the first son of Adam to be welcomed into it since the great flood, it is connected to all the other trees in the world, any fruits that can be found on trees, even bushes and shrubs can be found in it. And in some areas, we bring other plants like root vegetables and vines and grains and of course some animals get left at other trees as offerings, so I keep them, the chickens eat the bugs in the tree, that's where we get the eggs, the goats eat the excess foliage so I get my milk and cheese from them.

“So no meat other than the eggs?” Floki asked.

“No, men have only ever wanted meat after the great flood, neither I or my sisters crave it, but if you do, I can check the other alters for an animal sacrifice.” Rayth answered.

“Do you not take pleasure in them?” He asked.

“Me personally? No, some of my brothers and sisters do though, I personally think animals are more useful alive than dead but my siblings would argue that there is nothing like life blood because it’s been set as sacred since the beginning of time and they take pleasure in it, but I do not. I think there has been too much death in the world already, no use in adding to it.” Rayth shook her head no.

“You keep calling me a son of Adam, who is Adam?” Floki questioned.

“Who do you call the father to all?” Rayth returned.

“Odin.” Floki answered.

“Ah, then, you are Floki- son of Odin then. I realize that names change with time as do languages. I remember when there was only one language in the whole world, but my own grandfather put a stop to that.” Rayth recalled.

“Who is your grandfather?” Floki asked.

“You would not know his name, since he has banished my own father and erased my father’s own name so that no one may know it, not even my mother or myself know my father’s real name. So I will not speak of my grandfather’s name.” Rayth insisted.

“What is your mother’s name then?” Floki asked.

“Lilith.” Rayth smiled proudly. “Once you’ve eaten, you should rest some more Floki son of Odin and I will bring you back to your people, well, what’s left of them.” Rayth said.

“My people?” Floki repeated.

“Yes, the people you brought to the land of the gods. The volcano that erupted that caved you in- my sisters spitefully threw burning boulders at your opposers, only believers are left. And the soil is now very fertile and you’ll be able to grow whatever you want to now, they couldn’t bless the treacherous with the good.” Rayth informed him before she took the tray back, once she saw that he had eaten and drank his fill.

“Also, feel free to eat whatever your eyes desire and if you need help, just call and I’ll come.” Rayth told him as his bed laid down again before the leaves opened up to reveal the cosmos above his bed as Floki gazed in awed wonder at it all as his hands reached out and grabbed a bunch of grapes that were growing near his head, marveling at how sweet they were- like candy and giggled to himself, tickled that he had so many of the gods favor- to the point that it was the goddesses who took care of him now. He only wished everyone else could see the truth.

The next day, he felt better than he ever had, like his heart, mind and soul were whole and his sleep was the most restful he had ever had in his life, he almost didn’t want to leave as he eagerly got out of bed and investigated every centimeter of his “room” and got to try and taste fruits he had never seen before, let alone tasted.

“Want some help?” Rayth asked as she came in with his breakfast, more bread with berries mixed in, fried scrambled eggs and fried potatoes with onions.

“Yes please,” Floki said as she got a stone knife from her belt and opened up kiwi for him and handed him a spoon before she opened up some oranges and other citrus fruits and even some dragon fruit, sliced some star fruit, opened up mangos, papaya, pineapple and other exotic tropical fruits, even coconuts and had him drink the milk from those.

“What are these hairy ones?” Floki asked.

“Rambutan,” Rayth said as she peeled it and ate one for demonstration as he imitated her as she showed him so many fruits, he lost track of which ones were which and from where but he ate until his stomach was sure to burst and his face had streaks of sweet sticky juice to his his neck.

“You need to bathe,” Rayth insisted as she took his hand and led him down the seeming maze of hallways and rooms made out of this tree before he came to a room where there was a tub in the wood itself that had an ever flowing spring in it, the water warm like from a sulfur spring but there was no sulfur. “Here, I have all the kinds of soap I make here to choose from, this one is best for your face, this one is better for your body however for your private regions, this one is best and of course your hair and even your beard should be washed with this one.” She specified as she pointed them out before he put his hand up to his head and realized he had a full head of hair again. Which was odd.

“You get in and I’ll return with a clean garment for you when you’re done.” She excused herself and left him to take care of himself before he got out of his tunic and got in the water with the soaps, watching as practically years of dirt and grime and oil came off of him in an instant as he washed everything with the soaps she told him to before she came back several moment later with a fresh clean garment, made out of a silk and cotton blend of cloth and some trousers.

“Stay in the water as long as you like, I’m in the next room making soap.” Rayth said as she caught herself trying to sneak a peek at what the creator gave him and forced her eyes away as her cheeks stained cherry and even the tips of her pretty pointed ears got dark as Floki tilted his head as he realized...she was attracted to him.

He got out of the natural tub and the water drained itself before it refilled itself anew as he put the clothes she provided on himself before he looked in the mirror, he looked...younger and healthier, he had never seen himself look so clean before as he wandered out of the room and listened for sounds of his host until he heard faint singing and followed that sound to find Rayth sitting down, pouring different colored liquid soaps into molds with different things like dried flowers as she mixed them in before she set the molds aside. The song she sang was peculiar, like he had heard it before but he couldn’t place where. The language the song was in- he didn’t recognize, but it sounded beautiful nonetheless, like his soul was being uplifted while his heart became happy and he had peace in his being.

“You have a lovely voice Rayth.” Floki praised which caused her to jump a little in surprise before she put her hand over her heart and smiled in relief at him.

“Thank you, I thought you’d be in the bath a little longer, you surprised me.” She explained.

“What language was that? That you were singing in just now?” Floki asked as he leaned against the door “frame” that was huge branches growing vertically.

“The original language my grandfather spoke to humans after he created them. It is the language he speaks to his own kind in the spirit world. All spirit beings know this language as our mother tongue, it’s humans who have deviated from the true tongue.” She answered.

“So..it’s the language Odin speaks?” Floki realized.

“Sure.” Rayth smiled politely.

“So your grandfather is Odin, does that make Loki your father? Or Thor?” He asked.

“Not exactly but my father is very much like Loki so for your sake and simplicity’s sake, sure, because otherwise, you couldn’t understand.” Rayth nodded in agreement.

“When was the last time a son of Odin was in this tree?” He asked.

“Never, you are the first.” Rayth said as she popped other soaps out of their molds and began to slice them with wire.

When was the last time a son of Adam was in this tree?” Floki inquired as Rayth took a deep breath and a measured exhale.

“A very long time.” Rayth answered as her face grew somber.

“What was their name?” Floki asked.

“His name was Abel and I don’t like to keep track of how long it’s been since he has died.” Rayth answered as tears began to well in her eyes as she tried to distract herself and will her tears away before they could fall.

“You loved this Abel.” Floki realized.

“I did, he was my first love, and my last.” Rayth answered with a sad smile.

“Come, I think we were left some meat at one of the alters today. I know you must be hungry for it.” Rayth changed the subject and walked down a different hallway as she checked hollow stumps like they were cupboards, secretly wiping at her eyes as Floki could feel her sadness like it was his own. It had been eons of time since her heart was broken and her own heart had never truly healed. Time had only made her loss bearable.

“Ah, a piglet, the poor thing.” Rayth took it and cradled it in her arms and wiped off the dirt before she presented it to him.

“Should this be enough?” She asked.

“More than enough.” Floki nodded before she led the way back to her kitchen.

“You can cook it here,” Rayth said as she pointed to the fire as she worked on getting more bread dough made and a delicious rice and vegetable dish for them as Floki picked some herbs and onions and garlic for his dead piglet as he patiently roasted it with all of that inside of it.

“So is it only you and your sisters in this tree?” He asked.

“It’s been just me and my animals as of late, this tree was overflowing with my family before the great flood, but after...not so much. I was spared because I can disappear into the tree itself, some of my family wasn’t so lucky. Of course since then my parents made more siblings for me, but...they like to be elsewhere among the other sons of men. So, unless they come to visit, it’s usually just me.” Rayth answered.

“So you’re lonely.” Floki realized.

“Yes and no, I like living by myself and not having to answer to anyone. I like cultivating this tree and taking care of it and I like my animals and what they provide for me, I like the vast variety of foods I have at my fingertips at all times and I like not having to depend on anyone. And since the tree is connected to all the others, I can travel all over the world without ever leaving home. And when I do get lonely, I can always leave for short periods of time and blend in with anyone else and attend parties and festivals. People leave coins and other goods at the other alters so I have no shortage of coins or trinkets or jewelry or anything else I could ever want.” Rayth shrugged her shoulders.

“So they leave gifts at your alters for blessings? Answered prayers?” Floki inquired curiously.

“Usually. My other sisters usually take care of that. I only have access to alters that are in the hollow bases of great trees, my other brothers and sisters watch over the others and take care of their chosen people.” Rayth answered.

“But you don’t have a chosen people?” Floki gathered.

“No, I never preferred one race or tribe over another. I think they are all wonderful in their own ways. It was only because I can travel like I do that my sisters and your daughter and your wife asked me to save you. I am very partial to children myself, I love their innocence and imagination and sense of wonder. It seems that the more time goes on- children lose all of that sooner and sooner in their lives. But you are an exception- you never did lose yours. That’s why you were able to see my siblings. That’s why you’re able to see me.” Rayth smiled fondly at him as she turned from kneading her dough before she turned back to it and once she was done she washed her hands before Floki left the pig to roast as he came up behind her and gently hugged her from behind.

“What are you doing?” Rayth asked.

“Hugging you, it’s been a long time since you got a hug, everyone needs a hug every now and then.” Floki answered and Rayth was touched by how pure this gesture was and how gentle his soul had become in his relatively mature age before she turned and hugged him back.

“Thank you Floki.” She whispered before the pig began to burn which broke them up before they returned to their tasks of making a meal together.

“So you’re able to see them then? To talk to those who have passed on?” Floki asked as they ate their meal together. Rayth graciously taking a bite of the roasted pig but not wanting any more than that.

“Yes, even though you are spiritual, you are still mortal. You can see spirit beings when they choose to be seen by you. But otherwise, this is as close to the spirit realm that you can ever be in your living state.” Rayth explained as she looked up to the light filtering through the leaves in the ceiling for emphasis.

“Wait, the spirit world, is just right up there?” Floki realized.

“Yes, but again, you can try to look but it will blind your eyes, you can try to touch but it will deaden any limbs you put through the leaves. You can try to hear- but you’ll go deaf. But there is a way to sense them, come.” Rayth invited as she took his hand again and brought him to a room that was clearly an alter of some kind where there was a stump, carved with living and moving designs that were almost hypnotic.

“Come,” Rayth invited as she had him stand on the stump with her before she took his hands and hand him reach up simply place his hands on the leaves, pushing up into them ever so gently but not pushing through the canopy at all before Rayth seemed to call and whisper- her mouth moving but his ears could barely hear what she said but he felt what she was saying in his body- in his bones like the sounds she was making were moving through him before he felt a little hand press against his in the foliage- like feeling it through a cloth.

‘Hi Daddy,’ came a message directly into his brain- in his daughter’s perfect little voice before his other hand felt another hand touch it, this one bigger, it was Helga.

‘Floki’ came his wife’s voice, she was laughing yet crying and so happy to be so close to him again, yet so far.

“There, the connection is stable, take as long as you need.” Rayth told him before she had vines grow down from the canopy to help support his body and his arms so his body didn’t strain to stay as connected as possible before she left to give him privacy.

#The willow maid #mythsandlegendschallenge #Vikings Floki #floki x reader #floki the boat builder #Floki imagines #@waiting4inspiration

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ununniliad · 5 years ago

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Death of Trophy Wife #7: "Return of Angel"

Content warnings: Screwed-up ways of thinking, totalitarianism, and a really gross metaphor involving poo.

----

"Damn it." Michael K. Hotstuff, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, slammed his fists into the conference table. "Arc.ham Asylum was the ultimate secure facility, containing the most dangerous objects on the face of Planet T-Bone, and someone, we don't even understand who, ripped through it like single-ply toilet paper."

The table was long, and made of ebony wood. Along it were seated high government officials of the Loonited States of Ame.rec.a; the Secretary of the Interior, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Director of the NSA - all of the people who were cleared to know the secrets stored beneath Arc.ham, or at least, as many as they could get in one room on short notice.

At the head of the table sat the President of the Loonited States. These days, she was referred to as President Ideal Rosenbaum, but she was once known as the Enemy of Compromise, the Mauler of Mediocrity, and the Defender of Absolute Truth, net.hero Ayn Rand Lass. She steepled her fingers and adjusted her glasses. "It is my theory that this savage attack was perpetrated by the strangest domestic terrorist our nation has ever seen."

Her VP, Buckminster Psydekik, gasped. "You mean--"

"Yes. The criminal known as Kid Enthusiastic, and his team of net.villains, the System Corrupters."

Director Hotstuff stood. "Ladies and gentlemen..." Music started playing in the background.

"What do we know about Kid Enthusiastic?

Nice supervillain, colorful suit!"

Aloysius Netro, senator from Net.ropolis, harmonized nicely.

"No killing, no looting,

Anarchy and cookies!"

President Rosenbaum smirked.

"One thing I'll say for him--

Kid E is cute!"

They picked up the standard-issue maracas lying on the conference table and shook them. "He is ridiiiiiiiiiiiculous~"

Then they-- ...oh, hang on a minute, I've got a phone call... oh, hi, Kindle! Nice to-- um. Ah. You've been reading, I see.

Well, no, I hadn't considered it particularly sacreligious to...

Well, I mean, it's a musical, and the pre-existing Biblical aspects of LNHY mean that...

Well, I guess it could be considered a bit egotistical to equate a character of my own devising to one of the most significant cultural icons in the world...

Uh-huh... uh-huh... yeah, okay. Sorry about that.

Anyway. After everyone stopped parodying Andrew Lloyd Webber, President Rosenbaum stood up, walking to the window and peering out at some iconic Washington.gov monument. "So far, we have been content to allow the individuals who claim superior skill and call themselves net.heroes to chase this band of anarchists. But this has not been effective, and now the security of this nation is in real jeopardy." She turned to the room. "My fellow Ame.rec.ans, colleagues against corruption and evil... we have another option. If we have the courage to use it."

"...wait," said Director Hotstuff. "You're not talking about--"

"Yes." She looked over the rims of her glasses at them.

"They were banned!" shouted Senator Netro, waving his hands. "Banned and locked away where they would never again see the light of day!"

"Indeed. Because they were being used against everyday citizens. If they were deployed against true enemies of the people, all objection would be silenced under a wave of gratitude." She walked back to the table, leaning on her chair. Her pose was relaxed, but her eyes were hard. "Besides... do we truly have a choice? You know the things that were locked away in Arc.ham. The very existence of the OId Ones... the Ame.rec.an way of life would be shredded."

One by one, the powerful, important people around the table looked at each other, and saw no answers; one by one, they looked down, nodding in submission.

She nodded as well. "Then we are in agreement. Reactivate the Seraphim."

----

President Ideal Rosenbaum returned late to her rooms. She poured herself a fifth of whiskey, settled back, and remembered.

As Ayn Rand Lass, Ideal had been who she truly was, what everyone should be. Simple. Straightforward. Good.

She had worn a faceless mask that was perfectly white on one side and perfectly black on the other, and a trenchcoat covered in mirrors, reflecting the light of reason, so that criminals could not fail to see what they'd become. She missed it, nowadays, even though, seen in the sober light of day, she had to admit it was gaudy as fuck.

She had helped those who needed it, and delivered ruthless justice onto those who preyed on society. She had been righteous, and and a hero, and...

Damn. She'd promised herself she'd never go into the Gray. And now here she was, down among the muck and mire.

But America had needed her. After the Sexagesimal Luthor administration had ended, his former VP, Rich Notanalien, had won nearly unopposed. But Luthor's calculating mind and sheer force of personality were what had held things together despite rampant corruption in his administration, and without that, the economy went into a devastating tailspin.

Things had been bad. They could have had revolution on their hands, and who knows what socialist nightmare would have taken root? So when Notanalien declined the chance for a second term, Ideal stepped up. She didn't know politics, but she knew the hearts of men. She had enough levers on enough people to get the nomination, and enough courage to propose cutting away the patronage that had lead to the nation's resources bleeding into the pockets of the corrupt.

Of course, this had not been popular among those whose pockets were now slightly lighter. The power-greedy fools had fought change, but they hadn't been able to stand against her for even one year. Soon they were eager to bend the knee. They were weak and corrupt... corrupt enough to reactivate the Seraphim.

The Seraphim... relics of the bad old days. When Project Lighthouse had been in full swing and the unbeliever re-education camps were still thought of as a clever way to win the culture wars instead of as an obscenity, the final step was planned to be mass conversion. To that end, the senators and military men who were part of the Project manipulated budgets and personnel to create the tools they would need to force compliance. Giant robots, modeled after angels. Stupid and wasteful, especially after things started to fall apart. In the end, they were deployed only once - against the Iconoclast, as she took apart the camps and freed the unbelievers.

Heh. Unbeliever. That was precisely the right word to describe Ideal. She did not actively fight against the idea of a god, but she had no reason to believe in a god created by men. The only powerful being she needed to justify her actions was herself.

And what of those who were so very pious that they got elected on it? Did they follow the strictures of their religion, tending the sick, feeding the hungry? Or did they vomit animal feces from their lips as their hands worked behind their back, weaving a skein of gray wool into a web of lies, catching all worthy and kind people in bondage?

This had to stop. Good had to prevail against evil. The mediocrity that infested this place had to be swept clean, replaced with real, hardworking people who actually deserved the responsibility of running a nation. And once she had the Seraphim, she could be the broom.

Ideal finished her drink. If they wanted angels... she would be their Angel of Death.

----

Author's Notes:

For those of you completely befuddled by the sudden musical number, it's a reference to Jesus Christ Superstar, and specifically the number "This Jesus Must Die". I apologize profusely.

Michael Hotstuff was named after Michael Casper, Clark Gregg's FBI agent character on The West Wing, by way of a Harvey Comics reference.

Sexagesimal Luthor was a compromise between Saxon's use of Hexadecimal Luthor in The Daily Super Short-Short Story #51, and Arthur's noting that we really don't want to use characters we don't have permission for in LNHY. (Arthur came up with "Sexadecimal Luthor" as a name, and I tweaked it, because "sexagesimal" is a really cool word that people should use more often.)

The Seraphim are references to the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion by way of the Sentinels.

#Original Fiction #Superheroes #Political Drama #Adventure #Legion of Net.Heroes #LNHY #Death of Trophy Wife

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thecandywrites · 6 years ago

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Babylon The Great

OK, once again I had this AMAZING AND EPIC DREAM and it’s inspired this and it’s also been inspired by @momolady‘s gods and goddesses pieces. Yes I feel completely sacreligious for writing this. But at the same time, this story is going to be REALLY FUN and I really hope ya’ll enjoy it. I’ve never written anything like this before so I’m also really nervous and I hope once I release this into the world I’ll be able to go back to writing my usual stuff in peace.

Babylon the Great

Your name is Sephira, you were born with a midnight blue, almost black sapphire in the middle of your chest the size of a grapefruit that acted like your heart, you were first born of the black diamond queen Mercii, daughter of the black diamond queen before her, your grandmother, Shahlah, all daughters were born with that color of sapphires that transformed into black diamonds once they took their mother’s place.

Your mother however, Mercii- the only one she ever had mercy for was you. Your mother was otherwise a merciless woman who’s “castle” was a great magic Baobab tree, rooted in a cesspool that was like a moat around it- in a desert and lived off of death from the outside world but provided life for you and your mother and all those who served you. But your Baobab tree was different, on the outside it looked like a large normal Baobab tree, the thick menacing branches covering and concealing the inside, which was lush, green and soft, provided every fruit on earth and underneath the cesspool, which was only so deep, deep enough to drown anything that caught in it, the bottom magically held up on air, was a garden and lush paradise like place where your mother’s servants lived, the sunshine filtering through the cesspool, keeping the temperature perfectly comfortable, the garden also providing you all with every spice, vegetable and grain on earth so that you wanted for nothing except meat and the garden was watered by a whirl pool at the true base of the tree- the water itself the prettiest aquamarine blue and crystal clear and ever fresh and even had a second pool that had all kinds of fish and seafood in it that replenished itself so that you got to enjoy any and all delicacies of the oceans, lakes and rivers too. Your mother’s servants- all of which were women, made eternally youthful in their service to your mother and by extension, you- who prepared all your food and clothes and served your mother and yourself with absolute loyalty and were completely devoted to your mother and yourself and cared for you and in return for their service, they were protected against the otherwise cruel world and it’s ravages, including time.

But you were not an only child. Your “brothers” were in a state of stasis within the branches of a tree. Your mother however was a mysterious legend, a goddess- and suitors- usually kings, emperors, czars, shahs, sultans, Caesars and other kinds of rulers, the rulers from all over the world came to mate with her and to get the sons they sought after, each son himself was born with gems in his chest just like you but much smaller, usually the size of quarter or perhaps large grapes, occasionally a daughter was brought into existence and even she was put into stasis or given to the kings who wanted them to keep you from having rivals for your mother’s affection but they were not normal children. They were born already five years old and in a sleeping state, and fully dressed in the traditional garb of the ruler, their potential appearing on a placard at their feet in their “beds/cribs” that were embedded into the very center of the tree. For every mating session, your mother produced about a dozen sons. The process by which your mother mated and produced children was a mystery to even you. The traveling rulers would pick a few or up to ten sons of their choice and those would be awoken and greeted lovingly by the rulers and their memories were always as if they had been born and raised by women in the ruler’s own household and the rest your mother would put into the branches of the tree for future use, the tree itself growing every time she had children, the tree therefore was, in reality, very, very large so that it was a forest in of itself- to the point you lost count of how many “brothers” you had and how many “sisters” you had.

Anyone unlucky enough to come to the tree when they weren’t “invited” to the tree by your mother often got lost exploring the tree and died and on those your mother, yourself and those who served you- feasted, their bodies magically transforming into the most prized meat of all desired kinds. The kind of meat that never went bad or rotted, ever fresh, magnificently marbled and tender and delectably delicious and even those were fed to the rulers when they came. Many unwitting travelers or adventurers, drawn by the promises of treasure and fabled jewels.

Your mother actively used you as bait in your ‘pre-training’ since you were just as devastatingly beautiful as she was, she purposefully kept you naive and innocent so that you were even more tempting to them and you did not age physically or mentally past the age of 17/18. In fact you did not know how old you were or how old your mother was, time passed in a strange way here and you did not celebrate birthdays so there was no way to keep track of time.

Your job was to sit in the tree, in your ‘section’ of tree that had a ‘window’ in the branches of the ground and sing, your own voice like a siren- the most beautiful ever heard- magically carrying far and wide all over the world and drawing in more victims for your mother to feed off of. The songs you sang spoke of adventure and excitement and treasure beyond imagination and of course you, an innocent virgin looking for someone to “save you” from this “castle” and take ownership of you and all that you possessed since you were sole heiress to all that your mother possessed, your beauty, your own potential for heirs added as extra enticement. Rulers came following your mother’s call, your mother’s voice only being heard by them, her call- her own siren’s song tempting them with handsome, dynamic and perfect sons that had any and all characteristics each king wanted and those kings brought all the gold and treasure to you- that was stored in the magical trunk of the tree along with “food” in the form of prisoners of war to also feed her. Your mother was insatiable and wouldn’t be satisfied until every ruler came and she milked each one dry. When she would have every ruler in the world, only then would she be satisfied, her hunger sated and retire and in her retirement would she train you to be her replacement for you to carry on the tradition, since it was ‘your fate’.

But the thought of luring your potential “brothers” when you would take your mother’s place didn’t sit well with you. This whole situation didn’t sit well with you at all but it was the only way to survive with your mother and you knew of nothing else. But the few scant moments with the adventures, themselves promising you lives free from the prison of the tree sounded enticing too. And you wondered if they spoke truth or only spoke of what they thought would lure you out of it. Your mother was quick to stamp out any thoughts of anything being better than life in the tree which was portrayed as a safe haven for you but a death trap to others ‘who only meant you harm’. Part of you strived for your mother’s approval, for her affection, for her wisdom. You knew how to read and write in every language there was, some of the gifts from the rulers being books and your library rivaled all others on earth and beyond, the books themselves able to be magically preserved but there were certain books your mother hid away to keep you from getting any ‘bad ideas’ or ‘confusing, stupid philosophy of man’ or simply ‘nonsense’ otherwise they were to teach you the languages of man and ‘the classics’ to make sure your siren’s calls appealed to everyone. You knew mathematics, learning to count all the treasure your mother possessed, which was to be your inheritance, which measured in the billions even though that was never enough for your mother and she tried to teach you her insatiable-ness which you did your best to mimic but never truly felt, ever.

A cruel trick your mother played was to let only one prisoner of war go back to his home, letting them spend time, only an hour or so with you to fall hopelessly in love with you and you would “help” them escape the death trap tree and profess that only if your mother was killed that you could be free to leave the tree, otherwise you were bound to the tree, by a magical chain around your waist, like a body chain made of pure magical black gold and black diamonds, unbreakable that besides the midnight blue sapphire in your chest, you wore always and was your only piece of jewelry. The chain itself something of comfort to you, like an ever present hug from your mother, it protected you from getting stolen. However when you helped these ones escape, the chain itself got tighter the closer you came to the outside world, to the point that once you were outside the cesspool moat, it dug into your flesh painfully and made you cry, telling these ones that surely the chain would kill you if you took even one more step away from the tree and they believed you. All the prisoners promised the same thing, to come back with armies to kill your mother and free you. But while they fell helplessly in love with you, your heart was untouched and you felt nothing for them, not even attraction to them and had been groomed to be an excellent actress and to fake your own feelings for them. You got praised for how well you were able to deceive them and give them false hope and sadly in this, you strived for perfection and your mother’s approval and once you crossed the moat back to the tree, the looser the chain became until it was comfortably loose yet again by the time you returned to your room, steps forming in the trunk of the tree so that you could climb the tree with ease. Your mother often ‘at the door’ of the tree, unseen by the one that was set free to offer you congratulations and praise and love and affection for a job well done.

Most lived up to their promises and brought back armies of hundreds of thousands, often kings accompanying them and those your mother would lure and use like the others, the rest, your mother and yourself would put on a ‘play’ for them, your mother being ‘the evil one’ and taunting the “hero” and you yourself would call out to them by name, ‘crying in relief that you were about to be saved’ your mother and yourself secretly giggling and cackling to each other in the tree at the spectacle before you which to both of you and those who served you- was very entertaining, the tree which was a living entity itself became alive and killed them by the most evil way, but again, you would act as bait, beckoning the hero to your ‘window’ and that you would ‘help’ them by raising a forest to feed the men who came as ‘thanks’ to them for coming so far to see you again. The tree itself would grow a lush forest, around the cesspool moat filled with all the foods available to you and your mother, but the fruits were all poisoned, poisoned because they were watered by the cesspool that contained every virus, every disease, every ailment and sickness, all of which you and your mother were immune to and that your kisses cured. You could bathe and drink from the cesspool if you wanted to and to you it would magically transform to the cleanest and purest water that was addictively sweet and flavored with the fruits. And without fail, the rulers themselves would get sons and those would be allowed to return home but their armies would fall and their bodies like the most nutritious manure to the tree itself and when the forest would recede, the army would vanish with it. The kings, needing to save face, spun tales that your mother had transformed into a dragon and had razed their armies to the ground and only they and their attendants escaped with their lives and how they were able to ‘save’ these little princes from her and her captivity but that you yourself remained prisoner still. Your mother would hear about such tales when the next rulers came to meet with her and it always provided her with amusement and entertainment.

The tree itself had a pool in the middle of the top of it, where the trunk flattened out to provide your ‘palace’ to you, heavenly fragrant blooms, ever perfect and ever fresh floated in the water at all times and the water was pure, clean and perfumed and you bathed and got massages and beauty treatments daily. Or the tree even had fountains in the branches themselves that also had the refreshingly cool and flavored water that flowed freely to quench your thirst when you got tired of drinking the juices of the fruits or the countless varieties of teas and coffees invented and perfected by your mother’s servants. Even bees had hives in the branches, fed by the flowers and the fruits and never stung you, actually you suspected that they didn’t have stingers at all. In fact you could talk to the bees and politely ask to eat from their honey, which they offered freely, letting you eat as much as you desired since there was always an over abundance. The wax of the comb providing candles and therefore light to your mother and you and those who served you at night. The birds and even fruit bats and lemurs, were your only friends and “pets” and while they knew the fear of man, they did not fear you at all and you could approach anything that lived in the tree and befriend it and you looked forward to the young of all the birds and lemurs and fruit bats that would be born in the forest of the tree that knew no predator. Even the birds, which seemed to come from all over the world and were exquisitely beautiful and colorful from humming birds to birds of paradise to parrots were free to nest in the branches, free to eat the fruits or the seeds and nuts of the fruits or even the bees themselves since that was the only insect allowed in the tree. Flies and mosquitoes however swarmed the cesspool but stayed away from you and your mother and your “invited” guests. Otherwise the only people you knew were your mother, her servants which doubled as your own and the victims. The rulers themselves you were never allowed to meet and the only time you knew they were there was because your mother would keep to her own rooms with them for the duration of their stay and you ate your meals alone or with her other servants. The tree itself would shield you from their sight, you could pass them in ‘the halls’ of the tree and never know it because of the foliage of the tree.

Your hair grew down to your bottom, thick and luxurious and had shades of every color of hair, from blacks to browns to reds to blondes, the tips of your hair more blonde than the black roots, your mother said that the sunshine itself made your hair that way and didn’t question it since her hair was the same way, shiny and conditioned and softer than any silk. And the waters of the pools either in the top of the tree or the pools with the fish or the pool around the true base of the tree also beautifying you, your face and body so that it was perfect without blemish. You had never had acne, ever. Your skin was baby soft at all times, never to form a callus or mole. You had never even had a paper cut and you knew no physical pain other than when your chain tightened around you in your ‘act’ of trying to leave the tree. Even yet you were surprisingly fit and strong because every night that your mother wasn’t hosting rulers, you danced with your mother in the tree, the servants being professional musicians and playing a variety of music so that your mother and yourself danced all the dances of the world with ease and proficiency, your mother having taught you to dance since you could walk and dancing brought you both joy and merriment and even she danced for the rulers, you knew from the sound of the music on the other side of the tree that that’s what was happening and you often danced, alone, by yourself, inventing new moves yourself, practicing in a mirror and even that your mother praised and encouraged. You were treasured by your mother and therefore protected against everything. And your body shape was that of universal perfection and perfect in proportion and the perfect balance between soft and fit. Your eyes were a work of art, deep intense purple but with splashes of turquoise and Kashmir sapphire blue and deep emerald green. They were the most beautiful eyes in the world.

However one day- there was a shift, there was one Sultan that refused to come to the tree but he had something that your mother seemed to crave and feel like she would surely die if she did not come into possession of it, her hunger consuming her. And so this was your first test as her future replacement. If you could go to this kingdom and take possession of this object and return it to your mother, you would be rewarded by her unconditional love, which before now, she only bestowed her affection when you obeyed her and proved yourself to her- and so she would officially retire and would train you to be her replacement. You were given rules to live by while away from her watchful gaze. Then you were armed with the greatest of treasures. The satchel of assured success.

Each little sack in the satchel had magical items including a few loose items like a cup that would fill with the waters of the tree or any other liquid you desired to drink, a bowl that would fill with the foods you grew up on or any other food you desired to eat. A sack that would contain any and all treasures in the tree itself, that would have any and all monies you would ever want or need for your journey. Also a magic book with maps and instructions to get you through where you would be traveling through and a pen so that you could write back to your mother to tell her what you were doing and what you were encountering so that she could advise you if you didn’t know how to proceed. You were dressed in gorgeous clothes that would keep you comfortable, a cloak that would keep you perfectly warm in cold weather or perfectly cool in hot weather and softer than fur or silk and would protect you from the harsh sun as well, clothes that were softer than silk and never be uncomfortable or cause sores. Shoes that would protect your legs and feet and never cause blisters or calluses. And under garments that would protect you from ‘the violence of men’ that if any man touched you without your consent, they would die instantly. You were given a tent that would set itself up and be your home away from home and a bed roll that once rolled out was just as comfortable as the one in your ‘room’ in tree.

You also came into possession of an alicorn, that was both unicorn and Pegasus who would look after you and protect you and to trust it because it would also take you home too. You were also gifted with a set of wings- painted on your back that if anything ever happened to your steed, would become your own set of wings to get you out of any danger, also to give you freedom of flight if you ever wanted it which your mother encouraged you to use and explore the beauty of the outside world while you were in it but not to ignore the ugliness of the world either because the beauty of the world was fleeting but the ugliness was everlasting.

The painting of your wings onto your back and your butt and the back of your legs and sides felt so good, like another spa treatment where your body was brushed with various muds and lotions and oils. But it would forever stay on your skin like a tattoo without the pain of an actual tattoo. You noticed that your mother had the same mark on her body and she told you that that was what her mother had done for her when her own mother had a similar situation before your mother took her mother’s place just like you would take hers when you returned.

Then came the instructions, this was a mission of good will, you would pass through many towns and villages and kingdoms, you were to heal the sick, feed the hungry, bless the children, help mothers give birth and educate the women so that they could protect themselves and better themselves. If you found young girls or especially orphaned girls, even babies that your heart went out to, you could take possession of them, offer them the protection and care your mother’s servants had and all that you needed to do was wrap them in your cloak and they would be magically transported back to your mother and the tree for your mother’s servants to care for and raise so that they would serve you and your own daughter with absolute loyalty and devotion since all of your mother’s slaves would be laid to rest when she would be laid to rest since their loyalty to her demanded that of them so that they could serve her in the afterlife too and that her servants and slaves would instruct these ones and raise them with the same loving care that you were raised with. You even had a sack full of candies- that were actually medicines that would protect any and all that would eat them- specifically children- from all diseases and ailments and would keep them healthy until they would die of old age.

But she warned you that any and all ‘stories’ and ‘legends’ about you and your mother and your grandmother and her mother before her, were often propaganda and to not believe them all, that if it was good, to confirm it, if it was bad to deny it and prove it wrong with your good deeds and to not believe it if it was bad. That you, your mother and grandmother and her mother before her and so on were simply known as ‘Babylon the Great’ by some since your linage came from the original fabled city of Babel and Babylon beyond that and even before that, the first great city to be built in human history and that it was also something to do with the Baobab tree you lived in. That you were descended from the first queen on earth and that you were a queen in the making. A goddess worthy of worship and that all men would do anything and everything for you but only to possess you because their greed knew no bounds. You were also warned that men in general were treacherous, dangerous, deceitful and to be despised and you had to be very careful and wary of them. That while they could offer you a sexual release and their seed could give you children, that they were as a whole- selfish, violent and horrible. But, if you found a man, who was not like that, who was kind, generous, gentle and loving, that if you so wished, you could lie with him and let him love you and he in turn could teach you how to love and that he could be allowed to come back to the tree and live out the rest of his days in peace with you but he would eventually die of old age while you stayed forever young and that in your heartache of loosing him, only then would be ready to be the next Babylon the Great and you would live the life your mother led and that the insatiable hunger you only had a hint of would come full force. But that was only allowed after you met with this king and got possession of whatever it was that he had that he either could not or would not come and give to her himself.

The day and night before you left, your mother finally taught you the art and craft of sex, using a dummy made out of gold but was hollow and light and how to be alluring and irresistible and charming and pleasing and she did something to your womb that would insure you would not get pregnant until you returned to the tree and it was only then that a desire for sex and men in general was awakened in yourself, like it had been dormant before. She painted a symbol onto the skin over your womb that protected it and that was universally understood to guard and protect you and your womb or so she told you. She also warned you about rape and abuse, all forms of it and tricks that would be tried on you and how to recognize them and evade them.

But she told you that if you chose to live in the rest of the world rather than return to her, that she would replace you with one of your sisters and forget any and all memory of you and that all love she had for you would die out and that any and all protections would be lifted from off of you that all memory of how to get back to the tree would be lost and forgotten and that you would age, grow ugly, so ugly that no one would ever think of you as beautiful or love you and you would die alone, bitter and full of resentment towards whatever you chose and put above your mother. That nothing in the world, not even the chance to be queen of any nation or empress or whatever station would ever equal to the life you could live in the tree because outside of the tree you would be subjected to the very men you were born above, because you yourself were the daughter of a goddess and therefore a goddess yourself. And that the jewel in your chest would fall out, shatter and turn to worthless rock and dust because it was really that that the men of the world wanted. And a real human and very mortal heart would grow in it’s place and then you would know the ravages of time and that you yourself would be despised and resented and would be seen as a curse by the whole world, your skin would become rough and stiff with callus because you would have to really work very hard doing painful labor just to eat nasty bread and only nasty bread and tough and tasteless vegetation before your perfect white teeth would yellow then blacken and rot and fall out of our mouth and your perfect skin that before now was without blemish would transform into nothing but blemishes and that your hair would break and fall of and become dull and the ugliest color before it turned gray then white with age so that it would never touch your shoulders and it would be so thin everyone could see your scalp and that your eyes would turn the color of excrement before they would go milky with blindness and you would be at the mercy of a world that had no mercy and that you would be raped and beaten and never know kindness ever again and you would be slave to everyone. It was enough to scare you into obedience.

In the morning you bid your mother goodbye, giving her a long tight hug along with your mother’s servants and slaves who had each made something special for you, charms to protect you made out of gold and jewels and precious stones and wood that they hung them all onto your body chain and a locket containing a picture of your mother and blessings for you and your alicorn who you got to name- you named her Kaisa. She was amazing because she had the ability to be any color you wished her to be while also if she was around other horses, she would blend in, her wings disappearing into her body and her horn disguised as a patch on her face so that you looked like any other person on the back of any other horse, or if you were flying, you would appear like a cloud from below and would blend in with the others so that you were untraceable when you wanted to be. Kaisa had spunk and a wonderful personality and riding her was the greatest joy you had yet to experience.

She flew you high into the sky, until your forest of your tree could be seen and appreciated, your dessert gave way to dense rainforest and untouched wilderness that was beautiful. You flew towards your destination and then noticed the intense greenness of your home soon gave way to a duller green. Kaisa then flew you to the city of women, filled with amazons, warrior women. This was the one place your mother instructed you where you would be safe and that they would further instruct you on how to survive the rest of the world. When you arrived, they greeted you excitedly as you noticed, they too had gems in their chests as you realized they were the descendants of your mother’s sisters since at the time of your grandmother’s death and your mother became Babylon, they were released from the tree and set free and they had built a city for themselves since they were super human themselves but had not gotten the gift of goddess and that all the young women were officially your cousins and that when you would take your mother’s place, your own sisters would be released from the tree and be taken here to be cared for by their aunts as their own. They were all beautiful and fun and amazing and you spent days feasting and partying with them, them teaching you all the different kinds of dances throughout the world, each one you perfected only after trying it once. They themselves were very picky about the men they allowed to live with them and from these men you were introduced to and they themselves began to explain more in detail about what other men outside the city were like and what to be careful of as well as what to look for if you chose a husband yourself and their insights were invaluable and you spent as much time with them as you could since they gave you a sense that they were like your fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins. When it was time to leave, they too gifted you with much, a lot of technology that they had acquired that you sent back to the tree for your mother’s servants to implement.

Your first stop after that was a small village where you did as your mother instructed you, fed the hungry, healed the sick, educated the young and especially the women and got to help birth your first baby. You were shocked that you seemed to instantly know exactly how to do it, how to bring comfort to the mother, how to progress the birth and how to make sure both baby and mother survived safely and were in good health, teaching all the other women and young girls in the village this wisdom.

The next stop was a city, a very large one, you were so saddened to see so many orphans. All the young girls and baby girls you immediately ‘adopted’ and magicked back to the tree and the young boys too, you felt such deep pity for them and your heart went out to them. You got them adopted to good families and paid the families very well to take care of them so that these boys wouldn’t grow up to be ‘evil men’ but ‘good men’.

You repeated this process all along the way to your destination.

When you were outside the kingdom, you sat on Kaisa and looked at the very impressive city. It was the largest city you had ever seen. But you felt dread, like something was wrong, like this was a trap and you wrote to your mother and she told you to take courage and be bold. That it was a trap but that you had been trained for this and that they could never hurt you unless you let them and to not give them that power over you, that you were better and greater than the whole city itself. Kaisa transformed into a Akhal Teke, that looked like she was spun from shiny gold thread. Your own clothes changed again so that you were wearing the latest fashions from this part of the world and you felt like you were wearing about 20 pounds of gold jewelry and that your face now had makeup on it and that you were now sporting a nose ring and actual rings. It was showtime. You walked Kaisa in through the gates and held your head up high as you noticed every man seemed to stop and stare at you as you made your way to the palace. Kaisa seeming to know the way all on her own. You smiled and waived at the little kids and greeted them, the language of your tongue changing to their own.

When you arrived at the palace, you got off Kaisa and approached the door.

“I am Sephira- daughter of Mercii- Babylon the Great, I am here to speak to Sultan Roshan, he has something for my mother.” You announced to the man at the door and waited patiently for him to deliver that message to the sultan and the smallest of smirks formed on your face when men seemed to crowd around you at a respectful distance, staring at you and your beauty and splendor in awed wonder as Kaisa stood behind you and refused to be led away by anyone.

When he came back and informed you that the Sultan would see you, you dismissed Kaisa and she finally was led to the stables and you came into the palace. You looked at the palace appreciatively, yourself in awe of it’s splendor and decoration as you were led through it’s laberyinth of passages. When you were shown to the throne room you found an aging man sitting on the throne, flanked by many sons, some of which were handsome, some not. There was one son however that caught your eye. He was almost as handsome as you were beautiful. And for the first time in your life, you desired a man, you desired him. Another still caught your eye, for very different reasons and you too desired him but not as much as the first or perhaps you desired him in a different way. The thoughts and feelings were confusing and so you simply pushed them out of your mind and refocused on the sultan, you were here for him. Not his sons.

“Ah, the daughter of the famed Babylon the Great has come to bless me with her presence!” The Sultan cheered as he extended his hand out to you as you simply bowed your head respectfully but not nearly as low as any other was expected to.

“And to be bowed to by the daughter of a goddess, a double blessing.” He beamed happily as he stood up and came off his throne and approached you as you held his gaze.

“Thank you for coming all this way. Alas, my health does not permit me to come to your mother directly and her calls have haunted me since I first heard them and I am honored to be counted worthy enough to host you, her most prized possession. The rumors of your famed beauty have not done you justice, surely you are the most beautiful woman to ever grace this palace.” He praised as his words pleased you well enough.

“Thank you,” you said graciously as you smiled appreciatively at his praise. “Please, give to me the gift you have promised my mother, and I will bless your realm and be on my way back to her.” You requested as you lifted your hands, palm up so as to take whatever it was.

You blinked in surprise however when he outright laughed in your face, a deep hearty laugh that was mimicked by all in the throne room as you frowned slightly in confusion.

“Forgive me, what it is that I am to give you is not tangible.” He said with a twinkling in his eyes as you dropped your hands to simply clasp them in front of you as your frown deepened and you said no more as a small firey rage started to bloom in your chest. You did not come all this way to be mocked or made fun of as your sapphire in your chest soon began to bloom and glow red as did your eyes which stopped his laughter dead.

“Forgive me, please, I do not wish to insight your anger. What I mean is- it is simply knowledge that I possess that your mother has yet to attain, it will take time to pass it onto you. And once you learn it, then you will have what your mother desires and you may indeed bless me and my realm and be on your way.” He explained as the fire in your eyes and heart waned and left you, leaving your eyes and the sapphire on your chest to return to normal as you were appeased by this. Great, this was not a simple, quick journey. This was going to take time. Your mother would not be pleased to learn this but if her hunger and desire for this knowledge was as great and as all consuming as it was, perhaps she would have to wait just like you would have to wait and learn to be patient.

“Come, a feast will be prepared in your honor and your coming will be celebrated in a festival for years to come. Come, sit and eat and drink with me and my sons.” He invited as he gestured to a grand sitting area, where a lessor throne was set up for you to sit on. The cushions were soft and comfortable as you took a seat as did the sultan and his sons on throne like seats, equal to your own but lesser than the sultan’s before a feast was brought forth as the sultan introduced all of his sons, from the first born to the youngest who was only a boy of five. The youngest was your favorite. He was so darling and still innocent.

“So please, bestow upon me this knowledge.” You requested as you took a piece of Turkish delight and took a bite and got a cup of tea after eating the delicious feast.

“Well it is as such that it is so great that I can give you a piece of it at a time, otherwise it would be too much even for you, many have gone mad trying to take it all in too fast and I mean you no harm so I must go slow for your own sake.” He placated and you nodded in understanding.

Lesson number one was nothing more than a simple riddle but he said that the answer was the key, the answer- was the sun and to celebrate you figuring out the answer another celebration seemed to bloom in the throne room as dancers and entertainers along with a host of specialty liquor and wine, of which you only had a little so as not to lose your senses or inhibitions or not loosen your tongue as you kept an eye on the sultan and all his sons before the youngest came up to you, offering you a small bouquet of flowers from the gardens, this pleased you greatly, more than anything else had before this.

“Thank you Taliba,” you thanked him happily as you smiled at him adoringly.

“Do you wish to sit with me?” You invited as you pat the space next to you as he eagerly came and sat down next to you.

“What makes you a daughter of Babylon?” He asked curiously.

“This,” you said as you lifted your necklace to show him the sapphire in your chest as his eyes got wide.

“Can I touch it?” He asked respectfully.

“You sure can.” You allowed as he carefully reached out to touch it, It was faceted and glassy smooth.

“It’s so smooth and warm.” He noted in awe.

“It is, I don’t have a heart, this gemstone is my heart.” You explained.

“Wow.” He breathed before he pulled his hand away and you lowered your necklace back down over it.

“So I hear you live in a tree? Like a tree house?” He asked curiously.

“I do, my home is in a tree, a Baobab tree, only it’s magic.” You whispered to him excitedly as he gasped softly in excitement.

“Really? What’s that like?” He asked.

“It’s amazing, the tree itself provides all we need, it is like every fruiting and flowering tree all in one and in the branches there is all fruits that I wait until they’re ripe before picking them and eating them, there are bee hives in the trees and the bees themselves share their honey with me and don’t sting me, and all the birds of heaven rest in the branches and they don’t hide their nests from me and I get to watch baby birds hatch and get fledged and watch them learn how to fly and I can pet and hold them all and even name them if I wish. Lemurs and fruit bats are my pets because they too eat the fruits and nuts of the tree.” You told him, seeing no harm in him telling him that much. He was only a young boy, no need to burden him with the more unsavory elements of the tree.

“How big is it?” He asked.

“Well on the outside it just looks like a normal large one, but once you’re in it, it is much, much larger, the size of this palace.” You mused.

“That sounds amazing.” He sighed wistfully.

“It is.” You nodded in confirmation before you talked with him about his schooling and what he was learning from his tutors as you gave him some lessons using your book to help him practice his letters as you let him sit in your lap and had the book laid out as you helped him fine tune his letters and numbers and helped him understand some of his mathmatics.

“Do you have any sisters?” You asked him.

“Yes, lots,” he confirmed.

“Where are they?” You asked him curiously.

“Right there.” He pointed to room, divided by a stone wall that was intricately caved with spaces just big enough to peek through the wall where you could discern had many women in it, themselves only shadows in the room.

“How come they are not out here with us?” You asked.

“It is forbidden for them to appear in the throne room, for they are lesser than men and therefore unworthy to be in the greatness of the throne room, except you, you’re a goddess, so you’re good enough to be in here.” He answered matter of factly.

“Why are they unworthy?” You asked- to which he just shrugged before you looked from him to the Sultan and narrowed your eyes as your eyes burned red for a moment before you asked for your pen back and you wrote this into the book to your mother in your mother tongue to which she advised you.

When the celebration was proclaimed over since it was now the middle of the night and an attendant came to get Prince Taliba from you to put him to bed did you make your move.

“Thank you for your generosity Sultan Roshan, but I must return home now, my mother will simply have to live without the knowledge you possess.” You informed him as you bowed again as he looked quite alarmed at that.

“What? Why? Have I displeased you?” He asked worriedly.

“Yes, the women of your household were kept behind a wall. Are you so ashamed of them or is your culture so hateful and distasteful towards women that they are not permitted to be in your presence or mine? What makes them so unworthy that they are kept seperate from a room which you and your culture have deemed more worthy and better than them?” You returned as you nodded towards the wall and stared back at him pointedly as once again the fire returned to your eyes and your heart and your chest glowed red once more only this time heat rolled off of you as if you were a great fire yourself as fear soon bloomed on his face when the very carpet you stood on soon burst into flames around your feet but did not singe or harm you in any way.

“Uh, no, no of course not, there has been a misunderstanding, but of course, I am in the wrong and have erred by not having them in here with us, please forgive my error.” he stuttered and pleaded for your forgiveness.

“Then if you truly wish for my forgiveness and to me stay and for peace in your realm and for me to not burn your palace down to the ground with you and your obviously oh so precious sons in it and only save the women of your family- you will apologize to them, right now for not including them and not counting them just as worthy, important or precious as your sons and even more so because without them you would not be in existance or I will never see your face or the faces of anyone from your line ever again after I save the women in your family and hand them over to my cousins of Amazon and you will know the wrath of Babylon from this day until your dying breath.” You threatened as smoke and soot soon began to collect in the ceiling before he went over to the wall and bowed down to it and apologized profusely to all of his wives and daughters for excluding them and begged for their forgiveness and proclaimed them all worthy all honor and glory which appeased you. Most of his sons however were doing their best to hide their own outrage that you made their father, the sultan do such a thing, the second of his sons that caught your eye looking at you as if he would love nothing more than to kill you where you stood while the other simply smiled at you proudly.

“All of you apologize too.” You demanded as your face twisted into an angry snarl before the sultan ordered for his sons to join him in apologizing to the rest of the family as they reluctantly obeyed their father and followed his example and you could tell that their apologies were for your benefit and were not heartfelt at all except for the youngest and the one who had first caught your eye, they were genuine at least. But they were apologies. So you simply took it with grace and let your anger cool and cast a spell to fix the carpet that you burned and allowed yourself to be taken to your room for the night. Your bed for the night was not nearly as comfortable as your own and you simply took out the bed from your satchel and put it over the bed and only then were you lulled into sleep because now the bed was to your liking.

In the morning, you requested to meet only with the women of the Sultan’s family to make your time in the house fair to everyone and his many wives, concubines and daughters to bless them. You were shown to the royal house of women where the harem resided. You did not wear makeup or jewelry other than your body chain, you dressed simply to make yourself as approachable as possible.

All the women were eager to meet you, the most powerful woman they would ever meet who had the power to order the sultan himself around and to bend him to your will. You spent the day hanging out with them holding their babies and little ones and all their pets, blessing all of them, solving conflicts between the women to bring about peace and harmony within the harem and educating them and making sure they were all in good health, again healing all those with ailments and imparting as much wisdom and advice as you could as you really impressed upon them that they were as precious as sisters to you and you told them that you were going to champion for them to make sure they and all their daughters and their granddaughters would be treated better and that if the Sultan would not agree to this, you would personally take them to the city of women, the city of your cousins so that they would be treated like the precious beings they were and that they deserved men who adored them, dignified them, treasured them and revered and respected them the way you were. To this, they seemed very honored and thanked you many many times before they brought a book to you, they themselves could not read the language written in the book since it was foreign to them but to you, it was written in your mother tongue, a language that you learned was in fact quite ancient to them. A language only a handful of people could speak much less read.

It was a book of prophecy, one that their father had consulted before answering your mother’s call. In it, you were depicted as a half demon, that your soul could be saved if only you were persuaded to lead an army back to your mother’s tree and wage war against your own mother and defeat her and then the gem in your own chest would turn into that of white diamond with hues of every color and you yourself would become a new person- ‘the chosen bride’ that you would rule over the world from a throne of the first city which would rise from the ground and become established and brought back to memory since that too had been lost to time and you would break the cycle that you were born into, you would free all the sons in the tree of your mother and her line and they themselves would be true brothers to you and would help establish your own rule, the badness and evil in the tree itself defeated and the true forest of the tree being able to seen by the whole world instead of being hoarded by your mother and yourself and your servents, the fountain of youth under the cesspool would be able to be made available to the whole world and the cesspool itself would dry up and cease to exist and would never come back into existence ever again and that you yourself would cure every disease and every plight and plague. And instead of dying ugly and alone, you would be forever even more beautiful than you already were and adored the world over and would bring world peace and bring balance to the world because the love of your life, who was the son of a god- the one called Alpha and Omega who the wives and concubines of the very rulers who your own mother gave sons to, gave them sons and daughters too and it was your mother’s sons and the sons of the Alpha and Omega who were in conflict over all the kingdoms and empires of the world- the chosen son was named Yeshua but also could be understood as Yehoshua, himself from the other side of the world, who had a gemstone in his own chest, the size equal to the one in your chest that of an alexandrite, the color of your eyes but who’s eyes were the color of the gemstone in your own chest, a midnight blue sapphire. And together you would break the cursed cycle you were both born into of serving the ruling classes of the earth and would bring an end to it all and no longer feed off of death, but instead be satisfied with life and never grow hungry and the world itself would not know hunger either for food and what satisfied all would be in overabundance.

You were both thrilled and terrified to read it. You wondered if your mother knew of this prophecy. You also knew that if she was, she would hide this from you because this would threaten her and her fate for you. You took your blessing to copy any book you found that piqued your interest and got a copy of it, by smacking the face of it and another copy fell from the bottom of the book and compared the two to make sure they matched up perfectly before you told them to put the original back to where the sultan kept it and to keep the fact that you had seen the book and had made a copy- a secret they had to take to their graves to which they all agreed and vowed.

You didn’t know what to do with the book though, not trusting that if you put it in your satchel that you would be able to retrieve it ever again before you were given a second satchel to keep the book in which you accepted gratefully. That evening all the women in the house were invited for the evening meal which was also another feast and this time there were more dignitaries that came from far and wide to see you, the one true daughter of Babylon and that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see you with their own eyes instead having to go half way around the world to see you or your mother and thankfully the Sultan had warned them that you insisted on meeting the women of their family too so you took keen delight in meeting them all, especially with the other women and daughters of such ones, again, bestowing blessings on them all and at the feast, you insisted that you eat it with the women, the sultanas and queens and empresses and the like sitting at your table. As you asked them in hushed words about this ‘Alpha and Omega’ and they all excitedly confirmed that such a man existed and that all their sons by him also had gems in their chests just like the gems your mother’s sons had so now you didn’t know if you saw another man with a gem in his chest if he was your brother or if he was the son of this Alpha and Omega. This complicated things because the son himself would not know if he was the son of your mother or not because he could not remember her and the women always gave birth to their sons back in their ruler’s house so that the ruler felt he was the father and the gemstones would not be visible to him just like the gemstones of the sons of your mother went unseen by all other women but to you, you could see the gemstones as clear as day but you didn’t know how to be able to distinguish them and gave you worrisome fears. Part of you longed to meet this Yeshua and part of you hoped he was perhaps meant to be your daughter’s mate, maybe this prophecy wasn’t for you and your mother, maybe it was for your daughter? You hoped so.

Once again, you looked out over the all of the party that had gathered as you realized, there were over a dozen Yeshua’s here. The Sultan’s eldest son was even named Yeshua, the one who had caught your eye while the second one was named Yehoshua who had also caught your eye. But they were all clothed, you couldn’t tell if they had gems in their chests or not. But because of the candle light, you knew alexandrite looked like ruby in candlelight. So even if you could see their chests, you wouldn’t be able to see who had a ruby or alexandrite. This was become a battle of gems. A battle between the Alpha and Omega and Babylon the Great for who would ultimately rule the world.

#Lord please don't let me catch shit for this #this is just a little bit of fun #I do not want to piss God off #I do not mean any offense in any way #but this will count as a #monster boyfriend #demon boyfriend #angel boyfriend #kind of thing #and hopefully it'll be fun #please no hateful anons #or hateful messages period

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cerillosvillage · 6 years ago

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Four: Work It Out

Take it easy/ Don’t worry ‘bout it/ I got this/ I got this

The giant looked up as Ib entered the meeting place. The mercenary's face was still pale and his injured arm was in a sling, though the way he carried himself showed that either he was not in much more pain, or that he had enough experience with being in pain around enemies that he knew how to hide it. He took a seat besides Magdalena on the stone floor, crossing his legs underneath himself as she had. Unlike her skirt, though, his kilt did not reach the floor when he stood, and when he sat, it was clear that he did not bother with undergarments.

He said nothing, but made direct eye contact with the giant beastman. Omkir, for his part, did not appear fazed in the slightest.

"Your bodyguard?" He asked Magdalena.

"Her advisor," Ib corrected him in a clipped tone.

The meeting place was a great stone circle painstakingly carved out of the sandstone floor of the village. It was deep enough that most of the Cerillos clan, being just over five feet call, could not stand at the bottom of it and look out over the top. There were no chairs or seats of any kind in the meeting place. Anyone who came to have their voice heard in matters concerning the village had no choice but to sit on hard floor, so that everyone was of equal height - and therefore equal importance - during meetings. Most would bring woven rugs with them to sit on, but right now, the only people in the space where Magdalena, Ib, and the trio of mages. The mages, of course, had no rugs to sit on.

"As I was saying," Omkir continued, "we have brought with us a letter from our University explaining our purpose here. I understand that you have not heard of our University, but I believe you will find that the letter will answer many of your questions." He held a scroll up with one hand, opening his palm. The letter glowed a faint pink, and levitated on its own across the meeting place, until it hovered just in front of Magdalena.

She looked at the scroll, her face screwed up in the manner of someone deeply uncomfortable with their present situation.

Ib knew the issue without having to be asked. Not only did she not know anything about the University, she could not even read. The Cerillos people were a people who recorded everything orally. In fact, few people in the village had any education to speak of, something that Ib found quaint but frustrating.

"I've heard of your college," he said, reaching out on his own to grab the scroll. It felt warm in his hand and vibrated for just a moment, until the pink glow faded. Omkir furrowed his brow at Ib's actions.

"You lot, you're the ones that fuck around with the borders of earth and space, correct? I believe I heard stories of one of your schools exploding because a mage tried to harness cosmic energy."

Modthryth, the skinny masculine one, opened his mouth to speak, but Omkir raised a huge hand to silence him.

"An unfortunate accident. Master Scipio's work is not indicative of the rest of the institution."

"Right, right," Ib muttered, slipping a finger underneath the purple wax seal on the scroll. He unfurled it and read over it. The diction was long-winded and complex in the way only academics were, and while he was far more educated than the rest of the village, he'd never had a knack for reading such writing.

It did, at least, confirm that the trio truly were representing the University of the Arcane.

"So you have the backing of a school," Ib said, tossing the scroll aside. Omkir's brow knit together further. Ib was beginning to find amusement in antagonizing the beastman, though a glance from a worried-looking Magdalena made it clear that he needed to reign it in a little.

"So you're from a school," Ib continued, trying to tone down his natural arrogance. "But what are you actually here for? I want to hear it from you lot, not some obtuse professor."

Omkir's shoulders rose with a deep inhale, though he managed to keep his face relatively composed.

"As I said, we are mages--"

"I don't know that word," Magdalena interrupted. Ib cast a glance at her, willing her to shut up and not display her ignorance, but she continued. "I don't know what a mage is. That is not a word we have here. Before you go on, please, explain it to me."

The two smaller mages exchanged a bemused look, but Omkir did not show any signs of surprise or amusement.

"Simply put, we are practitioners of magic. Am I right in assuming you know what magic is?"

Magdalena nodded. "My husband's father was a holy man. He communicated with spirits, and they lent him their powers. Is a mage like that?"

"Not exactly," Omkir replied. He managed to say things that could easily be condescending without actually being so. He acted very much like a teacher, Ib thought.

"We do not have direct communication with spirits, though we do rely on them. We work to learn the secret names of everything we encounter; every rock, every tree, every stream. We then call upon those things by their secret name, which allows us to control them. When Modthryth disarmed your… advisor, he was using the secret name of steel. When Poe created fire, she was using its sacred name."

"I see," Magdalena said softly. "So… am I right in assuming you have come here because you want to learn the secret names of our caves, and try to control them?"

"No, you are not. We do not want to control the magic found in this region at all. We simply want to study it. Cosmic energy swirls around this village like a typhoon. Very few places in the world have such a strong connection to the cosmos, which indicates a connection to the Gods. We wish to understand this energy, to catalogue it, and, if you allow us, to help your village harness it."

"My people believe it is an affront to the Earthshaker to try to control him," Magdalena murmured. The very idea was sacreligious, and one of many reasons why both Elyakim and Ajra had been so reviled by the Cerillos people.

"My apologies, you misunderstand me," Omkir said gently. "I don't mean to suggest that you try to learn the secret names of the Gods. Rather, the energy surrounding this place runs wild and chaotic, which is why we were attracted here. No doubt other magic users will be drawn to this place as well, as long as the magic runs freely. We wish to help you contain it, to urge it into more productive uses, so as to avoid a confrontation with forces and people with malicious intent."

Ib could see that the mage's reasoning had struck a chord with Magdalena. She clutched her skirt so tightly, her knuckles had gone pale, and she sucked on her teeth. Already there had been two cult leaders try to take over the village. One, Ajra, had technically succeeded, and from what Ib had come to learn about Elyakim, he had been using the village's magical caves to create monsters. He could understand why the mage's offer was a tempting one.

Suddenly, she turned to face him. "Ib," she asked in a hushed voice, "you've heard of this… 'University.' Have they ever waged war on a region?"

Ib glanced at Omkir. The mage's face was impassive.

"No," he murmured back. "Mages are crazy, but they've always seemed too self-involved to bother trying to take anything over on their own. I've worked for kings who employed mages in battles, but the University itself has always remained neutral."

Magdalena bit her lip, looking at the floor for a moment.

"I… I'm not sure that we have the resources to provide room and board for strangers…" She said, finally looking up at Omkir.

"Money is of no concern," he said, waving a hand. "We have been given funding by our University. If you allow us access to your village, we will pay for anything that we use."

Magdalena looked down again, thinking.

"I'll allow you to stay for a month," she said eventually. "But you will be supervised everywhere that you go."

"A fair condition," Omkir said, bowing his head.

Magdalena stood up and climbed half way up the steep stone steps leading down into the meeting place. She signaled for a villager who had been sitting just above the meeting, and instructed him to lead the mages to an apartment. The mages stood and followed without a word.

Ib stood as well, watching them go. After the last of them had climbed out of the hole, Magdalena started up again. Ib reached up and caught her by the arm.

"Maggie," he said, "a word, please."

She looked over her shoulder to watch the mages follow the villager, then nodded and stepped back down the stairs.

"You think I did the wrong thing, don't you?" She asked.

"I'm not going to judge or question your decision," he said. "But I do have a concern. We have three patrolmen, and none of them has any experience fighting magic users. We're lucky that those mages didn't do anything worse. But if they're right, and this place is a hotbed for magical activity, we need to be better prepared."

"I've asked for people to join your patrol," she said. Her voice was pleading, and Ib was reminded of just how young she was. "But our people are pacifists. Even considering all that's happened to our village, it's hard to change their minds. My husband was always frustrated with that about his father."

"It's okay," Ib murmured, doing his best to soothe her before she had a breakdown. "I understand. But we do need to do something about the situation."

"Do you have any ideas?" She asked.

Ib took a deep breath. This would be a hard sell. "Let me bring in some mercenaries," he said.

Magdalena pursed her lips. "We don't have the money to pay mercenaries," she said, which was certainly true, but Ib could see the deeper meaning behind her words. She didn't trust mercenaries.

"I'll pay them," he said. "I've enough money to last me multiple lifetimes. More importantly, though, I don't want to bring in the first mercenaries who take up the job. Let me hire people from my old troupe. They know me, and they're loyal to me. They won't turn on this village."

Ib could see the calculation going on behind Magdalena's eyes. No doubt she was thinking about the fact that he was Ajra's consort, and that Ajra had once conquered the village. And he had first come to the village with every intention of helping her conquer even more. But he had found a home here, had saved the entire place despite knowing there would be no reward in doing so. He hoped that was enough for her to trust him.

"...Alright," she said slowly. "Bring your mercenaries."

#rockbreaker lore #long post

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lazyheretic-blog · 6 years ago

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Be yourself, until you bleed

Lucifer burst through a wall, wincing as his skinned knuckles complained, and spluttering indelicately through the cloud of plaster dust. She was hot on his heels, the detective, swimming in his slipstream, brandishing a pistol in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

Ahead of them a door slammed. In the dark warehouse - if there had been any observers but the rats scampering away - it would have been relatively easy to see what the stumbling man ahead had been fleeing from.

Two points of red light in a pale face, framed by darkness, and an aura of barely contained existential fury.

The detective caught up to him and put a placating hand on his arm.

'A cupboard,' she said in a low voice, jerking her chin to indicate the door ahead of them. 'No point tearing the door down, he's got nowhere to go.'

Electrical cupboard

Warning: 10,000v

Risk of death

Lucifer narrowed his eyes, and his lips curved in an unpleasant smile. 'Right you are, detective. No point rushing this when we can have a little fun with our... miscreant.'

She rolled her eyes and huffed. 'Get behind me, Lucifer. And no staring at my ass, I need you to focus.'

He looked at her, and paused for a split second longer than necessary. Then he licked his lips and complied with a slight mocking bow.

She raised the gun. The world exploded.

....

Elaine found that the universe ran itself, mostly. The omniscience thing was really too much trouble. Why bother, if one isn't going to change anything anyway? The previous incumbent had his Plan so foresight was a given. She and Lucifer (mostly Lucifer) had blithely derailed the Plan completely, so calculating all possible actions and interactions of everything everywhere in order to see ahead more than a few minutes just seemed utterly pointless, and a massive headache. Oh, now and then she was goaded into deflecting a few asteroids away from inhabited planets and occasionally teased nebulae into amusing shapes, but nothing serious. Nothing too interfere-y. She spent much of the time in a state of dispersal, cozily intertwined with every atom in existence, experiencing and connected as though in a dream.

A tricky state to maintain, as an ex-sixteen year old schoolgirl, without losing one's sense of self. It was far too tempting to look for her old friends, her tribe, focus in on the details of their lives and want to make things right for them, but such a bad idea in every way. Dispersing for a while helped to ease the urges, until the temptation was gone, at some un-predetermined time in the future. Until they were... dead.

Ouch. A heavy obligation that Lucifer had demanded from her, when he'd taught her all about universes and such. When he'd haughtily declined his father's will that he inherit it all, and passed it over to his naive young niece in favour of quitting existence. Or just this universe. She was a bit hazy on the details.

She had, as a concession of sorts, attached a sort of thread to each person. Sort of a tracker. Not really like either of those things, but if something dire were to happen to anyone she personally cared about (as Elaine Belloc - as God she obviously cared about everyone) it would sort of tug at the back of her mind and she might go and have a quick look. Just to be certain.

Out of all of them one was on her mind the most, probably, even more than her father. She could have made another Lucifer, or another Michael, with extreme ease but it wouldn't have felt right. Disrespectful to the point of being sacreligious, even. Being God didn't change that.

Elaine shifted on the sun lounger, currently inhabiting a bubble dimension in a sunny garden in Islington, London. Around her, hazy and silent but for birdsong, three young children threw a softball for a yellow puppy that sniffed curiously then completely avoided an apparently empty patch of air in the middle of their garden. To spoil the effect, and give Elaine a slight metaphysical headache, two of the children immediately ran straight through her.

She winced again as a thread gave a sharp tweak.

She sighted along the line. It was unfamiliar, and the soul at the end of it was fizzling and spitting, like a candle flame guttering out. Had she placed it wrong? Had she, Elaine wondered with a strong twinge of guilt, forgotten someone? Whoever it was was on a pretty fast track to the afterlife.

She snatched them as they pinged past her, and set them - him - down gently on a second wooden chair, hastily stuffed with cushions.

Perhaps she had got this one wrong after all. He strongly resembled someone, if she squinted and ignored the hair, eyes, stubble and tan. There was some kind of power present, a faint angelic aura, so perhaps he had been like her - a mix of human and angel. Nice suit, too.

His eyelids fluttered, and he brought a hand up to rub at them. He stared at her blearily through smudged black eyeliner.

'Tea?' She asked brightly. Damn, the resemblance tugged at her heart. But surely Lucifer had been utterly disinclined, even violently opposed, to the idea of procreation. He didn't even have the right bits, apparently. So she'd heard.

'You're British,' he said accusingly, after a pause for some kind of mental readjustment.

She gave him an impish smile. 'Did the accent give me away?'

'No,' he said, still frowning. 'The tea. Haven't had a decent cup in yonks. They all insist on microwaving it with the bag in.'

She poured him out a cup, suppressing an un-Godlike shudder. 'Barbaric.'

He nodded, and took the cup from her delicately. The fragrant bergamot appeared to help him find some centre of calm, and he inhaled deeply several times before finally turning to face her directly.

Elaine preempted him. 'I'll be honest,' she said. 'I'm not sure who you are, exactly. You remind me of someone I used to know-'

'Lucifer Morningstar,' he interrupted her. 'Delighted, at your service, et cetera, thank you ever so much for the tea, but I have a pressing matter to attend to and I'm afraid I really can't stick around to chin wag...' he trailed off. 'What? Is there something on my face?'

Lucifer?

In utter shock, she reached for him with her metaphysical fingers and rifled through his being for the truth.

Several short years' worth of memories tangled up in tatters of powers ancient and unkind; a vast, dark, yawning trench. Peering closer, she winced at glimpses of ugly obscenities wreathed in chains, snarling and struggling as they faded in and out of sight. A gleaming mote of light brushed against her as it ascended to the surface; a tiny iota of compassion, forged in that vast, inhuman depth. There were others, too, so small but so important, rising to join the thin atmosphere of light at the surface.

'If you've quite finished fingering me?' he cut in abruptly. His eyes were a shocking red, flashing with indignation as Elaine pulled back.

So... not human, not in the slightest. Demons had no souls, so. Angel, then. Could he really be...?

He didn't remember her. Had no more than a handful of years of memories, almost no power, and a vast, yawning chasm in his soul. What in the actual Hell, excuse her French?

'Who in Dad's bloody name do you think you are?' he demanded. Clenched his fists and glared.

Damn, those micro expressions, so painfully human-seeming she could cry. Her uncle Lucifer had a repertoire of maybe three facial expressions; stone cold, haughty, and furious, but his motives and intentions were unchanging and eternal. This man, wearing his heart raw on his tailored sleeve, was a stranger. Unreadable even as he was highly expressive.

Wait... Dad?

How was this hollow angel be unaware that his creator was gone?

'I apologise,' she said with genuine remorse. 'I didn't think you would notice if I took a quick look. It was wrong of me. We're in a bubble outside time, so if you don't mind I have a few questions?'

He seemed mollified, and inclined his head in gracious acquiescence.

'I knew Lucifer Morningstar,' she began, 'some time ago. He rescued me from a... bad situation.' Understatement of the millennia. 'He had blond hair and golden eyes, and all the emotional depth of a puddle. But his piano playing could break your heart.'

He cocked his head quizzically. 'Thank you, I think.'

'And he had enough power to will the universe out of existence. He hijacked Naglfar from Valhalla to bring my friends to save me. He was offered his Father's job and refused. Please don't take offense, but there's something very odd here. Lucifer was my uncle, and although I would love for him to come back, I think he's dead.'

Her last sentence seemed to echo in the silence. He rubbed a hand through his hair and looked away. He didn't look surprised, only sad and a little tired.

'Please,' he said quietly, 'don't tell me any more.

'I'm sure it's all true. I know a very few things because Maze told me - I swore her to secrecy about the rest. I didn't remember that Dad - that he's gone. If you tell me any more I might lose everything. Please just let me go back.'

'Lucifer,' she tried again gently, 'you were on the way to the Silver City. I don't know how but I think you died.'

He sat very still, his face ashen. Elaine could feel the darkness roiling inside him, threatening to eclipse those tiny points of light, thrashing taut chains against his self control. Was he worth breaking her code of honour for? The only authority she compelled herself to answer to: do not meddle.

Yes, he was. Sod it, she wasn't going to let him end like this. Buck up, girl.

'I'll make a deal with you,' she said, choosing her words carefully. 'Whatever happened, I'll fix it. Within reason. In return, tell me as much as you can.'

He pretended to mull, but it was obvious that he was desperate to accept. 'There's a human,' he said. 'She has to be alright after this. Whatever happens to me, make sure she's bloody alright.'

He was prepared to give up salvation for a human woman?

'I'll fix this for both of you, on your promise that you tell me everything and - I can't emphasize this enough - tell her nothing. You know, afterwards.'

He leaned forward, earnest and intense. 'You have my word.'

And just like that, his demons were leashed. Could she, this unknown woman, sense that darkness just under the surface waiting for a provocation to swallow him up?

'I pieced some of this together,' he started, 'after Mazikeen apprised me of the details I sanctioned.

I awoke on the shore of Los Angeles several years ago, without any memories, and a lot more missing besides. That power you mentioned - I can feel the void where it's supposed to be, but I don't know where I put it. I was a wreck, back then,' he said baldly. 'Tried to fill the void with various hobbies that I'd prefer not to extrapolate on. Turns out I already owned the perfect venue for vice, and I could play every instrument in the place. I could make a crowd of humans do and feel whatever I wanted them to.

'But I still felt numb, like a useless lump of ice. Couldn't get maudlin drunk, couldn't get a euphoric high, couldn't get any emotion out of a shag other than a touch of job satisfaction.'

So much for not sharing the gory details. Thanks, uncle.

'I tried to go down the satisfaction route with fulfilling favours. Tad cliché for my liking but diligently chasing that dragon worked for a while, to a certain extent. Making dreams come true and so on. Then a couple of years ago, poof, breakthrough. Not in a way I'm proud of, but one of my favour-clients was murdered in front of me and I felt...' he trailed off, evidently reflecting. 'I'm pretty sure it was sorrow. Not just for me, that was the big thing. Sorrow on behalf of someone else. So I changed tack.

'I was going to get justice for her sake. Because some pissant knuckle-dragging window-licker took a trinket in return for stealing her life and leaving her in the gutter. She died in my arms!' he snarled, and he really seemed to be reliving the experience as his eyes blazed.

'That led me to her. To the detective. Around her, I'm vulnerable. I can be shot, I can feel pain, get drunk, get high. Everything a human can do, I can do better!'

God damn.

Lucifer had given up everything that made him who he was, to become one of the creatures he held in contempt. The creatures he waged war on Heaven to protest. The free will that was theirs alone, the tapestry of emotion that only a species shaped by suffering, by holding back the darkness can ever need to experience.

He'd disappeared in search of something he hadn't found in all his geological ages of existence, and concluded that what he was missing was internal?

No wonder he was reluctant to remember. He didn't want to be that person anymore, the implacable angel so filled with power there was no room for anything else.

He was gazing at her expectantly.

'Thank you,' she murmured. 'At least I know what happened to you. To him.' It sounded, even to her own ears, as if she was unhappy. A selfish, childish, human desire for the world not to change, for people to stay as she remembered them. Little wonder he had cautioned against it. She took a breath.

'I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I am happy for you, uncle. It isn't the future I thought you would find, but it's so much better.' Why did she always have to tear up at times like these? Stupid habit.

'Uncle,' he repeated, trying out the word in his mouth as if for the first time. 'Am I that to you?'

She nodded. 'It's a long story. Part of your story, so perhaps...'

'Thank you. I'll ask if I need to know. Now I do hate to skip out on a date, but do you think you could click those delightful heels of yours and convey me back to Kansas as promised?'

She threw him a comb. 'Make yourself presentable then. One more favour, for me?'

He looked at her askance. 'Mmm?'

'I want to visit you. Check up on my last living relative occasionally.'

He still looked infuriatingly doubtful, as if she were an overbearing aunt rather than a niece who'd just saved his life.

'I'll take Maze out drinking.' She waved the carrot of distraction and gave what she hoped was a reassuring grin.

'Fine.'

....

Humans don't last forever. His final lesson, and its consequences. Chains snapped like brittle elastic bands, and the creatures of the deep broke free.

Lucifer, Archangel of Light, Will of the Demiurge and erstwhile Lord of Hell, filled the universe he had created. He filled it with his entire being the way he had filled it before his fall, aware of each tiny sun in the vast, echoing spaces of his mind and eternal body. Instinct had him reaching beyond the boundaries for Heaven, for the Silver City and he recoiled violently, pummeled by recollection.

The war to end all wars. Brother against brother. Ignited by fury, by injustice, fighting for his very existence, his right to think and feel and decide.

But as he held his hand still outstretched in freshly remembered horror, he felt warm fingers touch his, pad to pad.

He was toppling again, and she caught him.

Be yourself, until you bleed.

#lucifer #fanfiction

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cappuccinosweets · 7 years ago

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Marry Me at the Space Station

Here you go, Anon~ Hope you like it :)-Phoebe

Okay, so here’s the thing--a wedding at the space station? Very difficult to plan and nearly impossible to make a reality.

It broke your heart to have to tell Saeyoung that. You tried to make it lighthearted.

Saeyoung had his head in your lap, practically bawling.

“Sweetie, we can just go to Mars for our Honeymoon.”

“Yeah,” Saeran quipped from the background, “so you can make little Martians without disturbing anyone’s peace.”

You gave him a glare and Saeran scuttled away.

From your lap Saeyoung sighed, “It’s alright--I knew it was far fetched.”

He looked up at you, golden eyes shining with earnest, “It still counts even if we get married at a church, right?”

“It’s a little sacreligious,” You smiled, “but hey, we can make it work.”

So the two of you planned for a church wedding.

Saeyoung even picked out the place.

It was this tiny little chapel, that seemed to have come out from an old fairytale book.

It was nestled in the woods, faded and old. You almost expected fairies to start zooming out of the flower blossoms.

The ceremony was small and intimate comprising of your closest friends and family.

You walked down the aisle feeling like you were floating every step of the way.

The love of your life was standing at the end of the trail of flowers, his smile the brightest thing in the room.

You stood side by side professing your vows to the most important people in your lives.

There was not a dry eye in the room.

The reception was held outside of the church. Food was spread out on the tables and everyone of your guests sat down under twinkling lights.

You had the honor of sharing a dance with your father and of course the men of the RFA.

“Keep him happy,” Saeran grunted when it was his turn to dance with you, “God knows you’re the only one who can do that now.”

You laughed and Saeran blushed, telling you to shut up.

He twirled you around one last time before sending you off to the arms of your husband.

“We did it!” Saeyoung hugged you, “We finally tied the knot!”

“And you didn’t run away!” you joked, “I’m so proud of you.”

“You do realize that you’re stuck with me, right?”

“Legally, yes” you winked, “but it’s okay. I chose to be with you and I don’t ever plan on leaving.”

“Big words,” Saeyoung narrowed his eyes, “you be sure to keep them Mrs. Choi.”

“Of course,” you leaned in for a kiss and Saeyoung met you halfway drawing it out for as long as the two of you could bare.

“Hey,” he said breaking off the kiss, “can you come with me for a second?”

“Sure,” you said suspicious at your husband’s sudden seriousness.

“No turning back now,” he chuckled guiding you into the forest.

The light from the party dimly lit a path for you both but you mostly relied in Seayoung to keep you from stumbling over.

You walked a good 15 minutes in silence just walking through the woods.

“Alright,” Saeyoung said stopping at a tree, “this time I need you to close your eyes.”

“Okay? Can I know why?”

“Well that would ruin the surprise.”

You squinted at your husband, unsure.

“It’s for effect,” Saeyoung assured you, “don’t be scared, I’m here.”

“I should be scared because you’re here.” you answered but still closed your eyes.

The last thing you heard was your husband’s low chuckle.

He squeezed your hand and tugged you gently, slowly guiding you to walk again. Your heels started to clatter along wooden floors, you noted. Where was he taking you?

When you stopped, Saeyoung’s voice was right in your ear, “Okay, you can look now.”

Your eyes fluttered open and you couldn’t help but gasp.

You looked around and saw that you were standing on a wooden platform right in the middle of a lake.

The trees lined the body of water perfectly like silent guards, swaying in the night air.

The water sparkled in the moonlight, every surface dotted with tiny orbs of light. You looked up to see the exact same ocean of stars spread out across the horizon.

You felt like you were floating in space...

“How--how did you find this place?”

“I have my ways,” Saeyoung answered smugly, “pretty amazing, huh?”

You were still at lost for words so you just nodded, dumbly.

Saeyoung smiled softly at you. He took your hands in his and intertwined his fingers in between the spaces in yours.

“I’ve always wanted to take you somewhere special--somewhere out of this world.” you looked at him when he said this, the expression on his face worth more than all the stars combined.

“I thought that because, I know that it was impossible that someone like you could exist in this world--my world. You’re an angel sent from above, a star from heaven. If you would allow it, I will promise to make you the happiest here on earth and everywhere else our adventure may bring us.”

Tears were rolling down your face, probably ruining your makeup but you didn’t care. You sobbed freely as Saeyoung kissed your knuckles.

“MC, in the witness of all these stars and all the deities that may exist above and below us--be my wife, be with me until the rest of my days.”

“We’re already married, you idiot,” you cried even harder and Saeyoung brought you to his chest, laughing.

“I know but this wedding is the one that counts the most,”

READ MORE OF MY WORKS HERE (X)

#Requested #Mystic Messenger #Mysme #Saeyoung Choi #Saeyoung X MC #Luciel Choi #Luciel #Seven #707 #phoebe writes

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xexiliaspersonal · 4 years ago

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I have OCD and PTSD; Intrusive Thoughts are perfectly described above. They are always something you find henious and beyond upsetting; Someone who is devotedly religious, for example, will have Intrusive Thoughts that are sacreligious.

These are actually a symptom of OCD and a few other disorders; Because of the nature of these thoughts, the MAJORITY of sufferers NEVER GET THE HELP THEY NEED, THAT IS OUT THERE, THAT 100% WORKS. Like some of the other posters in this thread, people assume this is some hidden urge or desire despite how much it disgusts them, that they are evil, bad people, going to, wanting to, or planning on doing bad things. Afraid that people without these won’t understand, they don’t seek help.

Did you know that Intrusive Thoughts are considered the most COMMON symptom of OCD? That the theory is if they gathered everyone who has them together, they would make up the world’s FOURTH largest population? Is it any surprise that OCD is also one of the most common mental illnesses, once you know that?

Talk to a therapist; Consider a psychiatrist, too, though make sure to find a GOOD one (If the doctor diagnoses you 20 min. into a first ever visit and clearly wasn’t listening? You found a bad one—and there’s a lot more of them than good ones.) Personally, I tell every therapist or psychiatrist they first have to earn my trust and any doctor who tries to add a diagnosis in a first visit, I never see again (And some will—often a diagnosis they have themselves, so it’s sort of confirmation bias, which I have some of myself but have noticed in a LOT of doctors.) Also beware the ones who arrive at a diagnosis super fast, and refuse to rethink it. It took 8 weeks of sessions with a therapist for one of my diagnosises; A psychiatrist I’d been with for two years identified OCD. The only sudden diagnosis I got that I trusted was PTSD, as the symptoms ALL made sense (And I’d been suffering with them for several years. In a fun turn of the events, the OCD and PTSD feed each other! It’s a match made in hell!)

For the record, I found the following helpful;

Medication. Be aware that certain antidepressants are known to aggravate conditions like OCD, so before you start them, ask friends and family to be on the look out for more aggressive or manic. I personally have had this happen with so many of them, I prefer to take St. John’s Wort and about 30 min. of exersize a day.

Diet. Caffine is NO FRIEND to anxiety issues. Green tea—especially matcha—is shown to help with anxiety (And has a mild amount of caffine if you can’t quit cold turkey. Black tea also has the same benefits, but more caffine, so be aware.) A healthy diet of organic vegetables, fruit, meat, and so on is also very helpful.

Meditation. It’s scientifically proven to help. I personally am a fan of mindfulness and guided meditation (There are oodles on YouTube for every kind of situation!)

Exersize at least 30. min. a day. It helps with depression.

Watch your posture; It sucks to adjust, but makes a big improvement in mood.

I also found Jordan Peterson’s book, 12 Rules to Life, to be very helpful.

Intrusive Thoughts are unwanted thoughts or images that you find distressing and/or disturbing.

more information on what intrusive thoughts are!

what intrusive thoughts are: https://moodsmith.com/intrusive-thoughts/

how to cope with them: https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/how-to/how-to-stop-intrusive-thoughts-and-live-your-life/

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shirlleycoyle · 4 years ago

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That Time John McAfee Developed One of the First Social Networks

A version of this post originally appeared on Tedium, a twice-weekly newsletter that hunts for the end of the long tail.

Let it be said that we must live in particularly interesting times when John McAfee, one of the most controversial people the world of technology has ever produced, can get arrested in a foreign country for tax evasion … and people barely even notice.

But that’s what happened earlier this month—and as a result, McAfee is sitting in a Spanish jail, waiting to be extradited.

A lot has been written about him over the years, but I’d like to focus on one part of his life that has perhaps been overshadowed by his unusual existence over the past decade: The fact that, in the late 1990s, he was a social media innovator.

That innovation? A chat app called PowWow that, despite a certain McAfee imprint, was well ahead of its time. Here’s why you probably don’t remember it.

1994

The year John McAfee resigned from McAfee Associates, the company he founded in the 1980s that became a major distributor of antivirus software. The company, a multibillion-dollar giant today, nearly sold to Symantec years before it hit its later peaks, but McAfee was talked out of selling his namesake firm by a low-level analyst at a venture capital firm that realized the fundamentals of the company were quite good. While he later left, he did so with a lot more money than he would have had previously.

Image: Steven Weeks/Unsplash

How John McAfee turned a Winnebago sabbatical into his second startup

Everyone has likely heard the story of how Jeff Bezos quit his job in the financial industry and came up with the business plan for Amazon while on a cross-country trip to what would become his new home in Seattle. (Bezos, of course, didn’t drive as he hashed out this plan; his then-wife, MacKenzie, was behind the wheel.)

Less heralded, but perhaps more interesting, is the trip that John McAfee took throughout the Western U.S. after he quit his leadership role with his namesake antivirus company.

Like Bezos, McAfee’s excursion led to the launch of a new company. Unlike Bezos, this was McAfee’s second round in the Winnebago, which is where the antiviral legend got his start when he was first trying to pinpoint computer viruses sometime in the late 1980s.

As recounted in a 1997 article in the legendary tech business magazine Red Herring, McAfee’s second encounter with a Winnebago came after he had a minor heart attack, which led him to sell his company and go on an extended trip to the Rockies, where he encountered various Native American tribes. Those tribes directly inspired his follow-up company—and its inevitable location in the relatively tiny Woodland Park, Colorado, near Pikes Peak.

When McAfee gave away his antivirus software in the 1980s, he did so because of a New Age philosophical approach that suggested that software shouldn’t be sold. Likewise, he found inspiration in the Native American tribes he visited during this mid-’90s journey. Per Red Herring:

There’s an entrepreneur living in the shadow of Pikes Peak, Colorado, who thinks software is a living tree and can’t be sold. So in his last venture he gave it away. He sees the Internet as the physical manifestation of what Indian shamans call “the golden thread,” and his latest project, Tribal Voice, is an attempt to capitalize on this mystical vision.

And where did that mystical vision lead him? It led him to multimedia chat software that was years ahead of the instant messaging trend that would eventually take hold thanks to AOL, ICQ, and later Skype.

An example of the PowWow chat software, which was also an early example of instant messaging.

The software Tribal Voice created, PowWow, may have been one of the first social networks, thanks to its focus on “tribes” as an organizational strategy. It was a great spot to converse—if you could look past the website.

“PowWow lacks the robust business-oriented features of packages such as WebPhone, but if you’re looking to specialize in a chat-room atmosphere and don’t mind enduring the ham-radio quality of the conversations, PowWow might be just the ticket.”

— A passage from a 1996 review of PowWow in PC Magazine, which noted that the application’s big strength was the size and reach of its community. Not so hot? The voice chat, which didn’t work so well on the modems of the era, at least at the time of testing.

Tribal Voice, as it appeared in 1996 and 1997. Image: Internet Archive

Tribal Voice’s initial marketing strategy appropriated Native culture—with a huge side of cringe

The software was good, but Tribal Voice had branding that very much reflected its unusual founder. It had a website (at tribal.com, of course), that was in many ways pure cringe … that seemed to almost make a mockery of the Native American culture that inspired the company.

On one early version of the Tribal Voice site, the about page included a photo of McAfee and company, under the banner “The Outlaw Geeks,” brandishing various types of guns. (Given what we know about McAfee now, it checks out.) And another page featured a “Tribal Voice Yuppie Catalog” which makes one wonder what exactly McAfee learned from his time visiting Native tribes.

A staff shot from the Tribal Voice website, circa 1997. So yeah, that happened. Image: Internet Archive

The company’s active borrowing of Native American imagery and wording drew the ire of an early online Native American activist, Paula Giese, who called the material on the site “sacreligious.”

“Our Sacred Pipe, sweat lodge, cedar, tobacco, all of our most important symbols, ceremonies, objects, places are not just exploited but desecrated, trashed, by this Tribal Voice corporation, which spent hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing its commercial site, but has advertised itself all over the web as ‘Native Culture,’” Giese wrote.

Giese, who died in 1997, had a notably tense online interaction with McAfee, which is saved on the Internet Archive for all to see. (McAfee’s defense? “This is probably not an appropriate site for teenagers. We are focused on adult issues,” he wrote.)

It also did no favors from a PR standpoint. Gary Flood, a reporter for Computer Business Review who was doing a profile on McAfee, recalled being weirded out by the site’s many inside jokes and garish color scheme. His thoughts:

Initial impressions: geek city, lots and lots of feathers and cosmic colors, man, a major section of the site being devoted to the self-admittedly crazy ramblings of an escapee from the Pikes Peak Mental Facility who is obviously some loon one of the programmers thinks is cool, and what seems way too much stuff about ‘adult’ web sites and marijuana.

Nonetheless, despite the somewhat disturbing web branding scheme (which Flood had been told was likely going away at the time of his early 1998 interview), the software’s community-building mentality, something of a combination of IRC and Skype, found a lot of early success. Despite the cringey way the site showed its inspiration, the tribes concept did lead McAfee and company in the direction of social media years before most people cared.

An early Tribal.com page dating to 1997 pinpoints more than 700,000 separate users on its “white pages,” which were pages that people could sign up for to find people to chat with. (Unlike, say, Twitter, you actually had to look people up as if you were using a phone book.) PowWow, says McAfee, attracted numerous walks of life.

“We let people set up whatever tribe they want. We have, for example, a gay Hispanic tribe,” McAfee told Red Herring. “Our biggest tribe, believe it or not, is an Icelandic tribe. We also have an enthusiastic user community in Rio de Janeiro.”

Forgotten today, PowWow was a nice little success at the time—especially after it ditched the weird website. On the way to making things more professional, they even brought in a new CEO, Joseph Esposito (who, true story, once pushed back on a story of ours that discussed his prior employer, Encyclopaedia Britannica). And McAfee, still just a few years off from leaving a hugely successful company that he created, had no trouble attracting investors, unusual site or not.

But the PowWow software attracted a major enemy that would eventually land a body blow: AOL.

$10M

The amount McAfee made from selling half of Tribal Voice in 1997. McAfee would later cash out entirely, selling the company to a dot-com incubator, CMGI, in 1999, for $17 million. (Not a bad payday.) In a 2010 piece on McAfee in Fast Company, Tribal Voice employee Jim Zoromski implied that McAfee was actually scared off by the company’s success—just as he was with McAfee Associates years earlier. “When John was at Tribal Voice, the growth rate was incredible,” Zoromski said. “But when it got to be too popular, it started to feel too much like work, and John wasn’t interested.”

PowWow supported AOL Instant Messenger. AOL didn’t like that.

How AOL took a bite out of Tribal Voice

With Tribal Voice, John McAfee and his rag-tag crew of programmers in small-town Colorado were early to one of the most important early trends in technology during that period—instant messaging.

But the fact that PowWow is basically forgotten while its most high-profile competitor, AOL Instant Messenger, is fondly remembered today, may not exactly be an accident.

By 1998 or so, McAfee’s follow-up company was seeing real success in one of the hottest areas of the early internet—in part because McAfee knew a lot about both building communities and selling technology to the public.

(McAfee, infamously, helped to hype up the craze around the Michelangelo virus in 1992 … which helped to boost the profile of his antivirus app.)

He could also sell technology to companies: Shockingly, given the photo I just shared with you above, Tribal Voice scored a partnership with friggin’ AT&T, with PowWow helping to power the instant messaging capabilities of the telecom giant’s WorldNet service.

Part of what attracted WorldNet to PowWow comes down to its ability to work on multiple networks, including AOL and MSN Messenger. This gave PowWow—and AT&T—a competitive advantage, as it could work across networks with ease.

This wasn’t something, however, that AOL liked. In fact, AOL didn’t like anyone encroaching on its instant-messaging turf and took steps to protect it at all costs: It outright purchased ICQ, attempted to block competitors from using similar terminology to AOL Instant Messenger (a fight it fortunately failed at), and took steps to block Microsoft’s MSN Messenger from its users.

Smaller IM services during the period were trying to make a case for interoperability, so that users of one network could reach friends on any of them. For a time, AOL offered guides that described how this was done to allow for the development of Unix-based clients for AIM. The problem was that its competitors read those posts as well, and PowWow found itself pulled into a messy battle as it attempted to raise up its own application by adding AIM support, and admitting it was doing so without any approval from AOL.

Tribal Voice created a mortal enemy with this move, and it likely hastened the demise of the PowWow tool, which found itself at the center of a high-profile battle with AOL that worked to make the case for interoperability between instant messaging clients. It was a game of chicken for a while; PowWow would add functionality to enable AIM support, AOL would shut it down.

At one point—which should be noted, came after McAfee had left the company—Tribal Voice and other clients found itself making this case in front of the FCC.

According to a New York Times article from the era, new CEO Ross Bagully evoked Ronald Reagan: “Mr. Case, on behalf of the IM industry and users everywhere, tear down this wall!”

But ultimately, the cause of encouraging open IM support came at the cost of the original weird Native American-inspired thing that McAfee built. The new owner lost interest in PowWow entirely, and shut the app down at the beginning of 2001 … while claiming continued interest in IM technology as a whole.

“After careful review of CMGion’s business objectives and strategic direction by its new management team CMGion feels that the PowWow technology is not an integral part of CMGion’s mission,” an FAQ from the shutdown stated.

One has to wonder, if McAfee stayed with the company he started instead of leaning on the easy payout, where it might have gone. After all, he waited with McAfee Associates … and look where that company is now.

It’s so bizarre to think about this product in retrospect.

PowWow was a genuinely innovative product, one that predicted the success of about half a dozen apps that followed it. But even folks that did use it only have faded memories of it. I’m sure I used this program in 1996, but I completely forgot about its existence until I started writing this and went, “Ohhhhh.”

It might come down to the fact that it was simply too early.

Image: a PowWow Facebook fan page

Jason Pontin, then the editor of the MIT Technology Review, argued in 2005 that one of the reasons that PowWow didn’t see the level of success that McAfee’s antivirus suite did, despite also being sold for free, was that the market wasn’t ready for his inventions. He was a first-mover in a second-mover market—something that was not true of his first startup, which innovated most effectively thanks to its business model.

“Tribal Voice was the innovator in two emerging markets, now much in the news, whose dynamics are still only partially known. The first is multiprotocol IM. The second is social networking,” Pontin wrote. “Today, thriving companies like Cerulean Studios and LinkedIn can be found in both markets. But John McAfee was there first, even if he didn’t know how to make money from Tribal Voice.”

Today, McAfee is a colorful figure, one of tech’s most interesting and controversial. But despite his success in antivirus software, there’s a strong case to be made that he also should be celebrated as a social media pioneer.

Well, if you can look past the photo.

That Time John McAfee Developed One of the First Social Networks syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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daengerous-af · 7 years ago

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QUESTIONS TAG

Tagged by @lamptastical & @anxious-and-sentimental, Thanks for tagging meeeee

rules: answer these 85 statements

THE LAST

1. drink: coke :^) 2. phone call: work to call in sick 🤧🤧 3. text message: my mom 4. song you listened to: hunt - day6 5. time you cried: tuesday 6. dated someone twice: nope 7. kissed someone and regretted it: no 8. been cheated on: uhhhhh kind of but not ??? idkk it was a weird situation lmao 9. lost someone special: yep 10. been depressed: oh yeahh 11. gotten drunk and thrown up: nahh

3 FAVORITE COLORS

12. green 13. purple 14. light pink

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU

15. made new friends: yeppo 16. fallen out of love: nope 17. laughed until you cried: yesss 18. found out someone was talking about you: yes 19. met someone who changed you: yessssssssssss 20. found out who your friends are: yeahh 21. kissed someone on your facebook list: nope

GENERAL

22. how many of your facebook friends do you know in real life: 98% 23. do you have any pets: a cattttt 24. do you want to change your name: nahh 25. what did you do for your last birthday: stayed home, ate food I like, and screamed at idols in my tags. 26. what time did you wake up: I woke up at 4am, but then woke up again at 7am then again at like 9pm. idkkkkkkkkk it’s a mess 27. what were you doing at midnight last night: sleeping lmaoooo i went to bed at like 10:30 😂😂😂 28. name something you can’t wait for: the day i go to work and don’t feel incompetent or ya know sweet retirement lmao 29. when was the last time you saw your mom: a second ago lol 31. what are you listening to right now: goodbye winter - day6 i’m listening to my day6 playlist ok- 32. have you ever talked to a person named tom: i mean probably 33. something that is getting on your nerves: work and the futuuuuure. also myself tbh lol 34. most visited website: siiiggghhhh it’s this goddamn site right here 35. hair colour: dark brown 36. long or short hair: medium ???? 37. do you have a crush on someone: lmao i wish it’s been like 2 years 38. what do you like about yourself: i know i’ll work hard enough to get things done and meet my goals even if it takes like years to get there 40. blood type: no idea (same) 41. nickname: i go by mander on tumblr, my dad and a few friends call me mandy sometimes(I haaaaaaaaate), and my guy friend insists upon pandamanda idek 42. relationship status: single but like not looking 43. zodiac: a very typical cancer 44. pronouns: she/her 45. favourite tv show: uhhhhh the office ??? idkkk 46. tattoos: none 47. right or left handed: right handed

48. surgery: hopefully nooo 50. sport: i used to like volleyball but like ... it’s been awhile lol 51. vacation: japan maybe ?? 52. pair of trainers: i have this grey pair of high top vans that i love so much they’re so comfortableeeee

MORE GENERAL

53. eating: bugles 54. drinking: nothing rn but honestly i want another glass of coke lmao 55. I’m about to: do another tag probably idk 56. waiting for: the day6 tickets to go on saaaaaaaaaale 57. want: to fall in love, but mutuallyyyyy 58. get married: probably not but you never knoww 59. career: just got my first therapist job :^)

WHICH IS BETTER

60. hugs or kisses: depends on who’s offering (same lmao) 61. lips or eyes: eyes 62. shorter or taller: taller 63. older or younger: older 64. nice arms or nice stomach: arms 65. hook up or relationship: relationship 66. troublemaker or hesitant: hesitantttt, but not to the point of like ... it ruining their life or mine ya know. idek.

HAVE YOU EVER

67. kissed a stranger: nope 68. drank hard liquor: yes, but mixed with other stuff ? does that still count or- 69. lost glasses/contact lenses: many a times 70. turned someone down: yeppp 71. sex on the first date: lmaoooooooo that’s so funny. no 72. broken someone’s heart: yeahhh 73. had your heart broken: yep 74. been arrested: lmaoooooo oh yes uh huh like 8 times ;) 75. cried when someone died: um yeah lmao 76. fallen for a friend: yep

DO YOU BELIEVE IN

77. yourself: depends on the context idk 78. miracles: kind of 79. love at first sight: nah 80. santa claus: no 81. kiss on the first date: i mean it depends 82. angels: not really sacreligious for a daesung blog i know

OTHER

84. eye colour: brown 85. favourite movie: anastasia or matilda but also the master of disguise idk leave me aloneeee

Tagging: @sweetana92, @neyliiiink, @taeyang-ish, & @starlightingly. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to.

#tags

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tornrose24 · 8 years ago

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Only a Voice part 3 (A Moana fan fic AU loosely inspired by the Little Mermaid)

In which Maui has to sacrifice a lot of things if he wants to go back to being a mortal, Tamatoa almost gets to sing when he traps Maui in a deal, and Moana has no clue what she’s about to get herself into.

Then the writer must pay for committing a terrible crime.

This fan fic can also be read under my alternate name HolyMaiden24 at fan fiction.net

First part: http://tornrose24.tumblr.com/post/155221003377/only-a-voice-a-moana-au-fan-fic-loosely-inspired

Second Part: http://tornrose24.tumblr.com/post/155315044717/only-a-voice-part-2-a-moana-au-fan-fic-inspired

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Oh boy.... trust me when I say ‘loosely inspired by the Little Mermaid’ but when I realized what I had to do to Maui in order for this AU to work, I had to look into something important. I like the uniqueness of Maui’s character design, and I admit that I didn’t want to do this to him. I tried my best to look into the history of tattoos in Polynesian culture to see if deliberately removing tattoos or burning them is considered highly offensive, a sign of bad luck, or sacreligious in any way. I still have not found out anything in regards to this, other than it is not acceptable to make your own tattoo identical to another’s. As I may have said before, I want to try to respect the cultures that were represented in the original film because I am aware of how important it is to accurately depict another culture or religion without making a big mistake. Most of Maui’s tattoos are a pretty big give away to his identity and while you can predict what is going to happen with this note in mind, I only want to do this with the knowledge that I am not commiting a serious offense. Please let me know and I can try to find a way to work around this if what happens is not acceptable in the Polynesian culture.

Chapter 3: A devil in all his splendor

“Well for starters I’d like to know why you decided to stalk me like an unwanted fan.” Maui demanded as he tightened his grip on his fish hook. This earned him the rather enjoyable sight of Tamatoa flinching back in shocked offense. The crab quickly recovered as he rolled his his eyes and moved forward. “Oh please, like I’d want to do that when I got other things to look into that are more important.” “If you’re just here to torment me, I’ll let you know that its working on a scale of how annoying it is.” Maui slowly raised up the fish hook and began tapping it against the palm of his free hand. “So why don’t you go back to Lalotai and leave before I’m tempted to do something we’ll both regret.” “Well if the hero of mortals isn’t the same as he used to be and he’s acting like he’s about to turn his back on the people he adores, then of course I’d be curious!” The giant crab scoffed. “The way you were going, it’s like you want to renounce your status as a demi-god and–” Tamatoa stoped at this as a thought struck him. “Wait... wait a minute...” A smile was slowly creeping up on his face. “You want to stop helping the humans–” He was trying his hardest to supress a laugh– “and go back to being one?! Is that it?!” When Maui did not deny this in any way and took too long to do so (a big mistake in itself), the crab let out a “Pffft- HA!” and proceeded to let out a series of roaring laughs. “AH, HA, HA, HA, HA!” He was struggling to breathe and lowered himself as he tried to hold onto something but failed and ended up pounding one of his claws against the sand. Each pound sent a tremor through the ground as well as send sand flying up and Maui could barely keep his footing on the ground. Each pound felt like he was about to topple over at any moment if he couldn’t keep still. “AH, HA, HA, HA, HA! OH G- HA, HA, HA, HA! THAT HAS TO BE THE FUNNIEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD! OH GODS, I CAN’T BREATHE!” Tamatoa was already during a dark shade of red and purple as he struggled to get his breath. “HA, HA- ah ha, ah haaaaaaaahhhh!” The last laugh was drawn out as a cross between a laugh and a wheeze. An uncomfortable Maui waited patiently for the crab to recover and once that happened, Tamatoa was still trying to get some air and he looked like he was about to cry because he had laughed that hard. “No seriously, you actually want to go back to being like the ones you tossed you into the ocean like a rock?! The very same things that you’ve tried so hard to win the love of that you can’t get enough of?!” He snorted. “Maybe you did hit your head on a rock.” Maui wanted to deny it and yet he couldn’t after being put on the spot like this. Worse yet, Tamatoa could see what his answer was through the long silence alone and he had a way with tearing into one’s insecuriities that Maui was not fond of. “You know it’s words like those that caused me to lash out and take that leg off.” Maui growled. “I miss the old days, but you had to keep getting into people’s heads and making them feel like they were nothing!” This caused all humor to vanish from Tamatoa’s features as his eyes narrowed at Maui. “At least I’m not the one who could risk going to extremes just to win everyone’s approval!” The crab growled in a low voice as his head moved towards Maui and his crooked teeth were bared out. “Whose to say that the next thing you try to do for them will either end in you dying or the whole world collapsing in on itself?!” The two stared each other down and there was no telling who would make the first strike. Finally Tamatoa moved back as his voice raised back to its natural pitch. “Funny thing is that I do know a way to turn someone into a mortal.” He casually smirked like he wasn’t angry at Maui just mere seconds ago. “Of course it’ll cost you, but hey, why keep up this hero act if it causes you so much emotional damage? And who knows what you’ll do to try to earn proper adoration from someone who won’t die in under one hundred years?” He made to turn away and head back into the sea before adding something as an after thought. “I mean it’d probably be much easier to find what you seek as a mortal. Besides, isn’t watching all those precious mortal children who adore you die off from old age getting to be a bit too much for your mental health?” Tamatoa then turned back to the sea. “You know where to find me when you made up your mind, Maui.” He almost sang as he crawled into the waters and sank into its dark depths. Maui stared at the spot where Tamatoa had been before he sighed and sat back down. He felt Mini Maui try to catch his attention and when he looked down he could see the tattoo was shaking his head with a worried frown on his face. “You don’t think I should take up his offer?” He asked. The tattoo pointed to the people that were also on his skin as well as the monsters. He was trying to remind his host of his responsibilities but it wasn’t working. “Yeah, I know, but someone will have to eventually replace me, right?” He asked as he let out another sigh and held his face in his hands. “I hate to admit this, but he’s right; I can’t keep doing this forever. And I don’t want to put the ocean in jeporady if I try to make every mortal immortal. I’d totally do it, you know.” He warned. “That would be the ultimate gift I could ever give to humanity.” He weighed his options carefully; whatever he would chose would have some sort of consequence in the future. He didn’t trust Tamatoa, but the selfish part of him that he tried to supress for the sake of everyone else was giving into temptation. It took him a few hours to think things over for a bit until finally he came to a decision. Without so much as looking back, he headed to the ocean where he transformed into a shark and headed to Lalotai.

“So you actually came.” Tamatoa smirked as he turned around. “I’m almost suprised at you Maui, but hey i’s your choice and lifestyle, not mine.” He looked down at the demi-god who had entered his large (and beautiful) home in Lalotai and who only momentarily eyed the treasures within. Tamatoa’s possessive nature over his treasures almost took over when he saw this and was about to give out a warning before Maui glanced back at the crab. “Let’s just get this over with before I realize what I’m doing.” Maui began as he walked towards the crab with his hook over his shoulder. Tamatoa was secretly delighted; he knew that this plan would work in his favor either way, but if there was a way to get back at Maui or even humiliate him in the process, then it was even better. “I admit that in the past that I’ve been a nasty,” Tamatoa’s voice changed as it sounded like he was about to sing. “What with insulting you and giving you some heck, but as a favor to a friend, and a hand-er-claw to lend, I can-” “Please no singing.” Maui grimaced. The last thing he needed was to turn this ordeal into some ridiculous musical number, which, no thank you, by the way. No really, he did not want any singing involved. Tamatoa frowned in annoyance. “And suppose there is someone out there who wants to hear me-” “NO SINGING!” Maui yelled in frusteration as he pointed his hook at the crab. “I swear I’m going to head right back if you do!” “WELL FINE!” Tamatoa snapped right back as he sighed, went to get what he was going to use, and began to grumble. “Stupid... ugh... doesn’t like my singing...” He found the huge oyster shell and set it on the ground near Maui. The shell itself was tall enough to almost reach the demi-god’s knees. “His loss.” Tamatoa scowled as he grabbed a few strange things like seaweed, some sort of bone, bright blue fragments of a rare type of coral, and a few other things that Maui did not want to recognize, before tossing them in the shell. Maui almost flinched when the giant crab started crushing them up with the end of his giant claw before reaching over to grab a rare species of eel that was alive and thrashing for its life in his grip. When Tamatoa held it over the shell, Maui closed his eyes before he could actually see the crab snapping the thing in two and did who knew what else to it before tossing that all in too. “Ok, now here’s how this will work.” Tamatoa said in an almost too eager tone. Maui opened his eyes to see the crab giving him another toothy grin as he rested against the ground behind the large shell and he himself cautiously approached it as he rested his hook over his shoulder again. “So as you are already aware, you will lose your immortality and your enhanced strength when you get turned into a mortal.” Tamatoa started. “Now this dosage will be just enough to turn you into a mortal but its only going to last for about three weeks at most.” “But–” He smirked and stopped Maui before he could ask any questions “–in order for you to become fully human and make the change permanent, you have to prove that you would be welcomed as one and have a place in the world of mortals. You have to find and make a good connection with a mortal who appreciates you for who you are rather than what you are. Basically being like a hero or a Chief would mean ziltch, so status alone isn’t going to make the cut. Yeah, good luck with that one.” The crab quietly scoffed that last one to himself before continuing. “Anyway this one mortal must not only have to want you as part of their life, but they have to actually say something along those lines or show a gesture that proves just as much before the sun sets on the last day. And they actually have to mean it with all their heart.” He added. “It can’t be some sort of on the fly thing or out of infatuation. And again, they have to appreciate you for who you are and not what you are, so that’s going to be important too.” “That’s not going to be difficult.” Maui couldn’t help but smirk. “What, it couldn’t be to get someone to kiss me or find someone to get married to? It’s not that hard to get someone to like me, you know.” Maui immediately regretted saying this when he saw the look on Tamatoa’s face. It was the look of someone who knew something that he didn’t and it was not going to be pleasant for the listener. “Well, maybe it would, but I didn’t say it was going to be easy, mon ami.” Tamatoa gave him another grin as he waved a claw in the air. “And this is where I’m interested in getting involved in this matter.” “What, you want something like this?” Maui smugly pulled the necklace off one of the binds that was attatched to the leaves that he wore and he held it up. The crab eyed the necklace hungrily but he shook his head with that grin still on his face. “Oh no, payment in treasure isn’t the problem but I’ll gladly accept it as the entrance fee.” Maui took that as the cue to just throw the necklace to the side since he no longer had any use for it. “No, you have to give up three more things during this trial period because they also make up a part of what you are to the mortals. First,” Tamatoa tapped a claw against the ground “You can’t use your magical fish hook to transform, nor would you be able to use it if you tried. Second,” He tapped the ground again “You have to give up almost all those tattoos that the gods gave to you.” “WHAT?!” Maui dropped his hook as his eyes widdened in shock at this requirement. He felt almost every inch of his body crawling and sqwirming as all the tattoos protested against this. He couldn’t even dare bring himself to look down and see how offended or betrayed they would be at this news. “Those precious tattoos make up a part of your current identity, Maui.” Tamatoa merely shrugged. “Someone would immediately figure you out if those stayed on you. This will help you out with that, but I can’t guarantee its going to be as comfortable as when you got them in the first place.” Maui was very concerned about that part. “You don’t think the gods would take offense to that, do you?” He asked nervously. “I wouldn’t just be throwing their gifts away like an unsatisified kid who didn’t get what he wanted.” “Well you didn’t have much control over which ones you got, did you Maui?” Tamatoa countered. “Including the one on your back that you always try to hide? The one of ‘dear ol’ mum’ tossing you into the ocean?” That struck a nerve in Maui; that was the one tattoo he would be willing to get rid of, but was he willing to go even further with this? What could be worse than losing the tattoos? “Ok, fair enough.” Maui admitted with a nonchalant shrug as he tried to hide his discomfort. “Now what’s the final thing I got to give up?” And please don’t say something like my hair. He mentally added. “Oh, nothing much, just one simple thing.” Tamatoa waved his claw in the air as if this wasn’t a big deal. “You have to give up your voice.” That made Maui hesitate. Did he hear Tamatoa correctly? “Wait a minute, what was that again?” “You, give me, your voice.” “Ok, first off,” Maui held his hands up in protest “That’s going to make things way too difficult for me! How the heck can I make a connection with a mortal if I can’t talk to them?! Second- why do you need my voice?! What, are you finally getting tired of listening to your own?!” Tamatoa’s eyes started twitching as he fought the urge to just kill Maui. “My voice is far superior to many other voices in the world, thank you very much!” He hissed. “And I’ll give it back if by some miracle you manage to succeed since I don’t have a use for it!” “Besides, it’s not as beautiful as mine, of course.” He added in a vain tone as he relaxed somewhat. “Plus I’m sure you won’t need it too much. You got other ways to impress someone, right? Or have you been so dependant on all those things to make them your entire identity? Are you really Maui if you don’t have your hook on you?” Now caught up by the challenge and because he himself was not one to turn down said challenge, Maui pointed at the crab and snapped “I bet I could, crab cakes! I’ll brefriend someone, get my voice back from you, prove you wrong, and I’ll laugh about it for days when its all over!” Tamatoa chuckled. “You’re really that confident about this, Maui?” He turned around to look at his treasures before finding something and picked it up with his claw. “Ok, then I’ll add something to counter your funny little bet. If you win, you get your voice back and maybe more depending on how things go. If I win,” Tamatoa held up what looked like a necklace made with abolone shell fragments, pearls, and a dark purple sea shell at the very end that had flecks of gold embedded onto its surface “I get to take something of yours that you hold dear.” He warned in that sinister tone of voice that he took on when the mood suited him and for one moment it sounded as if he sang those exact words. “And I will be thinking about it the whole time you are up there doing who knows what.” As Maui stood there in silence, Tamatoa noticed that the concotion in the shell was starting to smoke. “Oh, look at that!” His voice took on an abrupt cheerful tone as if he didn’t sound like he was threatening Maui to begin with. “Looks like you’d better drink it before it goes sour!” Maui shut his eyes as he felt his tattoos try one last time to plead to him to not do this. It was now or never and there would probably never be another chance to try this out again. Except he would need to win the challenge if Tamatoa was going to steal any part of him that could be a danger if used incorrectly. Could he be able to do this if he was robbed of most of his identity? His voice? “Go ahead, make your choice.” Oh gods, was Tamatoa singing? He didn’t care anymore. Don’t do this! He could almost hear the tattoos plead. Who will protect the humans if you can’t?” “I’m a pretty busy person and I haven’t got all day!” His mind flashed back to that little girl who had been afraid of going blind but was still able to function with a smile despite the terror she had to go through. She was able to deal with the kakamora without her sight for a brief time and met him without knowing it before she got her sight back, so perhaps he could be the same as her. “If you want to cross a bridge my friend, you got to pay the toll!” Only without a voice. He proceeded to go up to the shell (against the protests of the tattoos), knelt beside it, and quickly scooped up his hands into the liquid within. Even though it was burning his hands, Maui didn’t stop as he quickly brought the liquid to his mouth and took a big drink of the foul tasting stuff. He continued to try to drink as much of the concoction as he could against the protests within and outside of his body until finally it was like something was thrashing inside his stomach. Then it felt like something was trying to force it’s way out of his innards by stabing him repeatedly from within. He let out a strangled sound and he grabbed his mouth with one hand as he crawled away from the shell. Something was steadily rising up inside him and then began to attack his throat; he almost wanted to cry as he felt himself choking on whatever was inside his throat but he dared not until he finally let out a scream that died out before it could even come when he heaved and vomited up a small, pale green orb that shone like a pearl. As Maui panted to try to catch his breath and try to clear his head while his stomach still felt like it was being attacked, the orb was carefully scooped up into the opened shell of the necklace in a delighted Tamatoa’s grasp. “Huh, I guess that made you the oyster then.” Tamatoa couldn’t help but comment. “Got to love the symbolism going on here.” “Oh, and the transaction is almost complete.” Tamatoa hissed and his grin widdened as he carefully closed up the shell with one claw while the other carefully held onto the necklace so that nothing would break. After carefully putting the necklace on his shell, he grabbed the shell on the ground and procceded to splash the rest of it’s contents over Maui before setting it back down. Maui’s panting became louder as he looked up at Tamatoa with pained eyes as parts of his flesh began to feel itchy from the neck down. He opened his mouth in an attempt to give the creature a few choice words before he felt as if he was begining to burn up as the heat inside him went up. Then the sensation got so intense that it felt as if he had been tossed into the heart of the fire that he once stole for the sake of men and it changed from his skin itching to outright burning in agony. It was so unbearable that he collapsed to the ground and couldn’t help but writhe on the ground as he let out screams that never came out. He felt himself already regretting the choice he had made. He had no clue what was happening to him right now, but he couldn’t think straight. He even began to tear his own fingernails through his flesh in protest against the fire that wasn’t there and yet felt as if it was there to begin with. Certain parts of his body were being spared from this unbearable illusion but even that wasn’t a relief as he felt a weariness take over and drain him of his strength as well as his will power. There were very few times where he wished he could just die and this was one of those times. He was almost convinced that he got his wish as his eyes gazed at the top of the lair and the hole where the water was right above them all and his world darkened to sweet oblivion. His last thought was a prayer to be tossed into the water and for this invisible fire to stop hurting him.

That... that was not a sight he wanted to see ever again. Yes, he could have a sadistic side now and then, but what he just saw happened to his former friend was not as enjoyable as he initially thought it would be. Maui–the legendary hero in all of the southern seas– was laying face up in the sands of his home and was now trapped in the body of a mortal man. A body that was missing almost all the original tattoos except for some that had been altered to the point of being unrecognizeable. Some were on part of the left side of his chest and most of his left shoulder and upper arm. There were some noticeable tattoos on his legs that also appeared to have been changed as well, but not to the extent as the ones that were left on his upper body. The rest of the body, however, had quite a few nasty looking scars or patches of red, irratated flesh, as if he had been burnt on the places where some of the tattoos used to be. No, it was more like most of those tattoos had been burned away. It even looked like that was what had happened when Tamatoa was watching the change and it was not a pleasant sight to behold. Perhaps that was the punishment that Maui worried about. In removing the tattoos given to him by the gods, they were replaced with scars that served as proof of what he had done. It was probably going to be another hinderance in his attempt to stay mortal since it didn’t make him look that attractive to the eye. Oh well, his loss. “You poor unfortunate soul.” Tamatoa picked up Maui and he could feel just how mortal he really was. One strong squeeze would be all that he would need to just kill him, but there was no fun in that. “You’re going to regret what you did, old friend.” Tamatoa smirked at the still asleep demi-god who was now currently a mortal. “You are lucky I don’t want to kill you right now.” Before he knew it, he felt something come splashing down upon his face. He flinched back with a startled cry and let go of Maui before backing away as far as he could and shook his head. “What the–?!” He looked up in time to see a pillar of water come out of the hole in his home. It came down upon Maui and sucked him up right into it before taking him out of the cave and up into the ocean above. Tamatoa was transfixed by the sight until the water rose back up and completely vanished from the cave. “What was–?” He tried to comprehend what just happened until he realized something he didn’t consider. “Oh.” He gulped as a feeling of dread came over him; the ocean was said to be alive, which meant that if it was not aware what had just transpired, then someone else had to have known about it. If one of the gods knew what happened, he was probably going to get in as much hot water as Maui would, if not worse. “Then again, they can’t really do anything about it since its already too late.” He shook the concern off as he turned to the abandoned fish hook. “I’m not trying to do anything that’ll cause harm to the world and besides,” He picked up the fish hook in one claw and he grabbed the purple shelled necklace that contained Maui’s voice off his back in his other claw “I’d like to see if Maui thinks he can get away with pretending to be a mortal before something happens to him.” His grin was so horrific that it would give one nightmares. “There’s no telling what could happen.” He added as he examined both objects. And anyway, even if Maui didn’t have to worry about the consequences of his actions or the enemies he had made as a demi-god, then who in all of the southern seas could even come close to tolerating him as he was now?

“You seem distracted.” “Huh?” Moana looked up from weaving the basket to look at her mother who was giving her a patient smile as she also worked on a basket alongside a few women and girls. “The pattern doesn’t look that well bounded together.” She pointed to the basket Moana was working on. Moana looked down and saw that at some point her weaving became quite uneven and there were a few holes that were too big to make the appearance of the basket look visually appealing or even passable as a proper basket. “Oh,” Moana sighed in disapointment as she stopped and examined the basket. “I suppose I did.” “Perhaps you need to clear your mind for a bit.” Sina suggested. “Its possible to get too lost in thought during a task.” “Maybe I shouldn’t.” Moana frowned as she examined her mother’s own basket. Sina started the basket at the beggining of the day and already everyone else was about to finish their own, while her’s was about half way done. Sina also looked a little worn out for some strange reason, as if she did not get enough sleep the night before. “I don’t want to abandon you when I’m not even done yet.” “It’s fine, Moana.” Sina shook her head. “You’ll be very busy soon, so take a moment to enjoy some time off.” “You won’t be able to finish before the sun reaches the highest point in the sky. Are you sure you don’t–?” “I appreciate your concern, but please go and have some time to yourself.” Sina politely declined before looking up at the sky. “And please behave yourself!” She reminded the glowing orb up in the sky as she pointed a finger at it. “Didn’t you learn your lesson the last time?!” Moana laughed as she set her basket aside and walked away. Pua noticed that she was leaving and, believing that she was done, he followed her. Moana hummed a song as she walked away from the village and checked her surroundings while Pua trotted beside her. She picked up a stick and pretended that the kakamora (she learned what sort of creatures they were from Grandma Tala) were about ready to tackle her but she swated them away as swiftly as she could. True, she still needed to work on her accuracy, but she was convinced that she was getting better. When she had gotten so far away from the village that no one would have seen her, Mona realized something when she looked at her surroundings. “I’m alone!” She grinned. No one had known exactly where she had gone off to and now she could head towards the ocean. She quickly picked up Pua and hurried off towards one of the many shorelines, where she dared not make a sound until she knew that she was completely alone. With a delighted laugh, she set Pua on the ground and began to sing as she ran ankle deep through the water to her heart’s content when she got close enough. Fulfilling the urge to enjoy this forbidden delight felt more satisfying than anything she could imagine. She bent over to place her hands in the water and felt it surge between her fingers as she also ran through it. She was proud to be next in line as the Cheif of her people, and she adored her village and its people, but if Moana would be able to have the ocean in her life, then she was sure that her life could be completely content. When she saw an abandoned fishing canoe that was not so far away, she let out a delighted gasp and hurried towards it. “Oh my gosh!” She knelt beside it and ran her hands across it’s surface and enjoyed the slightly worn down texture of the wood against her fingertips. She pressed her nose against it and she could smell the salty sea infused within the wood. “I am going to ride something like you one of these days!” Moana told the boat. It wasn’t as marvelous as the other boat she had once found some time ago, but this one was still a good looking boat. “Or maybe I’ll take you out today?” Moana grinned mischievously. As she thought about this, Pua noticed that Heihei had somehow gotten this far away from the village as well. In fact, the rooster was pecking at something on top of a small cliff in the distance before walking forward and falling right off it with a loud cry. He let out a snort; the bird creeped him out sometimes, but his stupidness balanced it out in a weird way. Still he had to make sure that Heihei didn’t finally snap his neck in half so he headed on over as fast as he could while his human friend admired the boat. Pua slowed his pace when he made it to the cliffside and walked around to find a spot of sand and stones and Heihei, who had miraculously survived. In fact he was already pecking at a head with dark hair that was so wild looking that would put many other heads to shame. Wait a minute. A head of dark hair? Pua looked again and realized that Heihei was pecking at the head of a man who was laying on his stomache in the sand. A large bodied man (bigger than any human Pua had ever seen) who looked unconcious but was clearly breathing. He quickly shot off and let out a loud series of squeals to alert Moana. Moana herself had managed to get the boat into the water, get on it, and just as she was about to grab the oar, she heard Pua squealing. She turned around to see him call to her and she could sense that something was wrong by the way he was frantically running around in circles. Alarmed by this, Moana jumped off the boat and was almost knee deep in water, but she ignored how wet her skirt got from this as she ran towards Pua, who lead her towards the small cliffside. “Pua?! Pua what’s wrong?!” She called. Unknown to her, the ocean itself was carefully watching what she was doing. It had watched many people before the young child, including her own grandmother who loved to dance in it. It had been watching this girl for as long as she first swam in it and due to certain circumstances it had been watching her ever since. Watching her try so desperately to go back to it, talk to it, and forced to sacrifice her chances to go to it, whether it be for a family reason or out of compassion for others. The ocean was able to do one thing for the girl this time, even though it would come at a serious risk for her and her people. No matter how much either of them changed over the years (quite drastically in one case), it was time for Moana to finally see the face of the one who had saved her life those many years ago.

I’m a jerk and so is Tamatoa. It’s fun to be a sadistic jerk through characters like Tamatoa, isn’t it? :D No seriously, its fun to write someone who can be really mean once in awhile. That’s one of the things that makes writing enjoyable. I thought he could be just antagonistic instead of outright evil, but we will see how things go and if that can even be possible. I was nervous about the removal of the tattoos, since- well, you proably saw my note at the beginning, didn’t you? Granted, I don’t think all of them would come off or leave scars behind. What was left behind was drastically altered on purpose because I heard that you can’t copy another’s tattoo in the Polynesian culture for your own (and I admit I was a little inspired by Dwayne Johnson’s tattoos, but its not going to be exactly like his for that same reason). I also did it because... well, if you look at the Art of Moana book and see how many tattoos are actually on Maui’s legs, you also see how far they extend upward... Uh, yeah let’s just leave it at that. I think I did Maui a big favor by not getting rid of those tattoos. “But will this be permanent?” you ask in concern? Uh.... I can’t spoil anything right now. I gave Maui three weeks to be fair instead of three days. (Three days just to get someone to kiss you through true love, Disney? Yeah, THAT’S the kind of message you want to send to kids *sarcasm*.) And as you can tell, I made it so that it is possible to make it so that a platonic relationship can be used to make the spell permanent (IF it happens, of course) instead of ‘Oh just kiss her/get him to marry you.’ Oh.... uh, about the Poor Unfortunate Soul bit not working out... I couldn’t think up any decent lyrics beyond what I gave you and it was hard to come up with good rhymes for it. That’s why I had to cut it short and-

“YOU WHAT?!” The writer looked up from her laptop to see one large and very angry (and very sparkly) crusteacean in front of her. “Wh-?” The writer’s jaw dropped. “What–?! WHAT?!” She threw her hands out at the crab. “HOW?! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?!” “I DEMAND YOU GO BACK AND FIX THAT!” Tamatoa yelled almost right in her face. “DO I LOOK LIKE I’M HOWARD ASHMAN OR LIN MANUEL MIRANDA TO YOU?!” The writer yelled back. “AND HOW IN THE HECK DID YOU BREAK THE FOURTH WALL?! I THOUGHT I LEFT THAT GAG BEHIND IN MY ZELDA FAN FICS!” “Watch it, sweetheart.” Tamatoa growled. “I’ve heard that some pretty nasty things had happened to you whenever you made cameos in your own stories. You really want to tempt that?” The writer went silent for a moment. “Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me!” She pressed a button on her laptop. One of the pirate ships from the Peter Pan ride at Disney Land appeared and she quickly got on it (with laptop in hand). “LATERS!” She yelled as the ship sped off. “GET BACK HERE!” “NOT WHEN YOU’RE THREATENING TO KILL ME, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!”

#disney's moana #moana fan fic #little mermaid au #moana #maui #tamatoa #tamatoa tried to sing 'poor unfortunate souls'#he gets stopped #poor unfortunate souls #possible trigger for someone getting burned #its not shown but its implied to be similar

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