#this time forms were chosen based almost purely on vibes

[chloefraazers]

horizon + animorphs dossier [ battle morph || bird of prey || personal ]

— Horizon Forbidden West PC | part 1

[blueprint-han]

a musical encounter.

pairing: music major senior!han x music major junior!reader

genre: university (?? idk) au; fluff.

⇥ warnings: very terribly™ written by a person who has a -8.9 knowledge in music, also the singing parts are not very well described and this may seem incomplete because i’m trying to force teach myself to write short, but oh well 🤧 I wanna write a longer fic based on this in the future hhhhhhhh. me after writing this fic: wow i really clowned myself at “short fic” didn’t I 🤡 also not proofread so be mindful of errors and google autocorrect <//3

word count: 1.7 K 🤡

⇥ disclaimer: this writing does not aim to represent the activities of the real Han Jisung, nor does it represent JYPE in any form. Events are pure fiction. ♡

type: blurb drabble 😭 (why can I never write sh0rt hmph >:( )

network tag: @stayverse @districtninewriters @inkidz + @sunoo-luvs

part of: the url drabble game; requested by @missinghan :’’) (requests for this are closed now!)

!!; song y/n is imagined to sing here is ‘Freedom 90, the Pitch Perfect Version (of course, with pre added acappella). You may find the song here, if you wanna listen to it. hhhhhh this is based on my rusty research about music equipment (which may be wrong) so if this is not what it’s supposed to mean please go easy on me. 😂

↯ note: hhhhh okay so this one has no direct mention or relation to your url but I rather picked it up from your url ~vibes~ (since the only idea that was dropping into my head was making han go missing ufhurg) so I hope you don’t mind ! Hope you like it uwu 💓 Happy reading. <3 Again this will not compare to your writing queen, but I tried. 😔 ⇥ dawn.☀️

“Gosh, this is a music recording, not a date — what’s there to be scared about?” Your friend chided, setting up the mic and the filter as you panicked behind the glass. “You’re a music major! Isn’t this supposed to be what you do?”

“You’re saying that like you aren’t one, and you totally didn’t freak out two days ago, Sana.”

Sana huffed, shaking her head before moving to connect all the wires in place. “Yeah. but…” Her voice came out low when she crouched down to fix all the wires. “The nerves shake off eventually. You’ve nothing to worry. Did you hydrate?”

“I’ve been sipping on this water bottle for the past half an hour!” You sighed, walking inside the booth to stand next to your friend. “And what do you mean ‘shake off’ — you mean that time you ‘accidentally’ broke the headphones when you wear putting them on?” A bite of your lip to stifle your laugh, and Sana’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.

“Wow, you’re gonna-” She slapped your arm after getting up. “-bring that up even though we had an agreement that we’re gonna keep it a secret?”

“Okay, ouch that hurts!” You chortled. “There’s no one here though, I still kept my promise.”

“Yeah right, in a rented schoolroom studio, with cameras everywhere.”

“They still wouldn’t be able to hear me, right?” You pointed out, bursting into a fit of giggles, nervousness be damned when Sana pouted in defeat.

“Fine, now help me set this up. Come onnnnn…” Your friend shook your arm violently to kick you out of your laughter. You shook your head, crouching over again to fix the wires while your friend set up all the equipment outside the booth.

“All set?”

“Yeah…” You took a deep breath fixing your dress up a bit before reaching your hand out, fitting the headphones snug over your ears. Your eyes caught on something black lying on the tables, and you pointed it out.

“Whose headphones are those?” You pointed out, and Sana looked to the direction. “Eh,” she brushed it off. “Probably the person who’d received this room to record before, they’ll take care of it.” You tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear, nodding. “Now come on, let’s start. We have to submit this tomorrow and I have a movie date, so it can’t get later than this.”

“Alright,” You chimed, clearing your throat once, twice before inhaling deeply. You were surely nervous before, but somehow singing always helped you disconnect from your surroundings, it was your escape — one of the main reason you’d chosen music technology in a heartbeat when you found out it was an option for your major.

“Ready? And, go.”

Sana hit a button, causing soft music to play through the headphones, a melody she’d carefully crafted over nights of 3 am coffee and many, many texts to you — most of them saying “I wanna sleeeepppppp waaaaa”. You’d obviously heard it before but you realised why it took her so long (nearly a week), because it was near perfection.

“Heaven knows I was just a young boy~”

The song went pretty smoothly on the most part, with Sana stopping you in between verses and and going over parts she wanted you to repeat, which you gladly complied. She was the senior, of course.

When it cam down to the last verse, about half an hour had passed — and you felt pretty good about it. your vocals were shining pretty well and blended with the music perfectly, which put you at ease.

“Okay, let’s finish this.” Sana said, focused on changing up the settings, before giving you a countdown, hitting play. You closed your eyes, taking a deep breath as you waited for the beat drop to end, leading to your high note. That again. went pretty well, along with the rest of the song, finishing it up with an exhale.

When you removed the headphones and got out of the booth — you met the eyes of someone you did not expect to see standing there.

“O-Oh, hello Han-ssi.” You bowed down in gratitude, overly surprised of his presence.

Han was, just like Sana, your senior. He was one of the best students in your academy — of course, scoring the highest grade in all of his tests. Many would say otherwise because of his tsundere nature, but you could tell that he had a burning passion for music under those eyes. You’d listened to his tracks in various events your university hosted — and safe to say you were in love with his music. He had a way of making his tracks sound so… real? And natural — the kind that you wouldn’t get bored of no matter how many times you heard it.

Han bowed back and mumbled a silent “hello~” back to you before extending hia hand past you to grab the headphones placed on the table. Ohhh, so that’s why they were familiar. You’d noticed them hanging around his neck multiple times on campus.

Once he’d chatted with Sana and you for a bit (more Sana than you) and bowed before he left, you grabbed Sana’s arm before pulling her towards yourself.

“How long was he here for?” You whispered, a pout on your face.

“Umm, I think throughout the last verse?” Sana shrugged.

“What?” Your shoulders slumped. “Didn’t he come to pick up his headphones?”

“Are you seriously getting flustered right now?” Your friend narrowed her eyes playfully, making a teasing noise as she pushed at your shoulder.

“Ah,” You rolled your eyes. “Stop being so teasing, I’m just a little shy of anyone else hearing my singing.” You flapped your hand to brush her statement away — before she could say something or point it out how evidently flustered you’d grown of the fact that your role model — the Han Jisung — had listened to your music.

“Well, you’re a music major, kid. Get used to it.”

And with that, Sana bid her goodbye to you, helping you wrap up the place before hopping down the stairs, earphones plugged into her ears as she hummed a tune all the way.

You silently stood in front of the elevator, playing with the hem of your sleeves as you waited for it to arrive. Curse at your studios for being on the last floor of the building, waiting for the elevator seemed like an eternity.

You also didn’t notice the random person that stood beside you. it was getting late anyways, the sun was almost close to setting by the time you were done, so it was only obvious that the remaining students would go home.

“So, you sing?” A very familiar sounding voice echoed in your ears, and you flipped your head to the side, once again meeting the eyes of someone you didn’t expect to meet right now.

And of course, if was Han Jisung.

Now that you weren’t freaking out (but you were close to), you could focus on him a little more properly, and you immediately noticed the headphones hanging around his neck, again. He had a large black hoodie on, his hands were shoved into his pockets and his hair was neatly combed and parted. If you had to describe him in three words, it’d be “messy but clean”.

“Oh, h-hello again.” You bowed.

“Hi!” He reciprocated your actions, looking at you. “My question?”

“W-what?” Your eyes widened as you fiddled with the edge of your shirt.

“You sing?”

“I-” You started. “I do, I’ve loved singing since I was six.”

“Oh.” Jisung nodded, letting his words trail of for a second. “You sing really well. I listened to that last part of the song — really well done.”

Tensing up, a smile tugged at your lips. “R-really?”

“Yeah,” Jisung chuckled. “You have a pretty voice, Y/N. And that’s a genuine compliment.”

“O-oh.” You felt yourself grow bashful of his presence all of a sudden, your cheeks feeling hot as the heat spread to your cheeks. “Thank you.” You mumbled, diverting your gaze from your eyes as you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. “That’s so sweet of you to say.”

“I mean it.” The boy said, frowning. at the sight in front of him — your eyes drifting from place to place and the way you shifted from one foot to other — you seemed to be uncomfortable, but in reality you just didn’t know how to respond. “You okay?”

“A-ah, I am, it’s just.” Moving your hands around, you tried to put your thoughts into words, only to fail miserably, before you sighed and collected yourself. “I just really like your music a lot, and I…” You trailed off, rubbing at your shoulder. “Kinda look up to you, so hearing you say that, it just means a lot to me. Thank you”

The boy standing beside you beamed like sunshine at your response, gently poking at your shoulder as he eyes you mischievously.

“You look up to me, huh?” He giggled when you stumbled over your words, bringing a hand to rake through his hair. “You’re adorable, I’ll tell you that too.”

“Oh my god stop, do you want me to combust?” You laughed, the nervousness laced throughout your statement.

“Okay fine,” Jisung nodded, attaching his headphones to the audio jack of his phone, rummaging through his playlist. “You wanna come to my studio once?”

“What?” Your head snapped in his direction, eyes widening as you took in what he said, excitement filling your veins? Han Jisung’s studio? Seeing him make music in front of your eyes? Is this a fucking dream?

“I mean, only if you want to, of course. I was just asking because you seemed like you’d like to see my music making process. You don’t have to say yes though.”

“Oh gosh, no, I’d love to!” You yelped, stopping him in his tracks. He smiled gently, nodding at you as he scratched his chin in thought.

“So, tomorrow morning is fine?” He looked at you with almost, almost pleading eyes, and you felt like your heart melted into a puddle on the spot. He was cute.

You smiled, shyly nodding as you quickly went through your schedule in your head. “I can work with that.”

“See you tomorrow morning then.” The elevator chimed, the doors sliding open as the both of you got in, giggling at each other.

You couldn’t wait for tomorrow morning, that was for sure.

*silently puts on clown hat and leaves*

↯ note: 🕯️ ignore me this is just a small prayer that tumblr doesn’t make me battle the tags yet again 🕯️ may the tumblr gods be in my favor atleast this once ;-; 🕯️ ⇥ dawn.☀️

[tuiyla]

So I finally watched The Owl House

I wish I’d do this with every show I watch but it seems like only a lucky few get the She-Ra style rant of love treatment. Well, I finally watched The Owl House after my dash having been flooded for the past couple of weeks and I have some thoughts. Slight spoilers below.

First off, I love the whole vibe. I had a faint idea that this show would be about magic but I didn’t know much before watching - except for one thing, we’ll get back to that. The way it builds its world and deals with magic, though, is so refreshing. And I just have to mention here that I laughed out loud at all the Harry Potter jabs, they were hilarious. I expect we’ll learn much more about magic and its users as the show goes on but as far as the first season goes the introduction was really solid. It strikes the right balance between leaving things to the imagination but being more than “wave wand and magic happens”. It’s colourful, it’s creative, and I even like the ovens and school tracks, despite knowing that the story is about not conforming to those. It makes the Boiling Isles unique and make me want to learn more about the world even beyond the characters and the main plot.

TOH also presents a world that’s much more macabre than I was expecting from the Disney Channel, not that that’s a bad thing. I found myself thinking of Adventure Time at certain points and pondering, at scary moments, how kids would react. I think kids love this, though, and besides, nothing can be more scarring than Courage the Cowardly Dog was. It’s not that terrifying, of course, just daring enough to stand out. Overall the show has what I would classify as more of a Cartoon Network vibe than a Disney Channel one, but I admittedly haven’t really been following many Disney shows. In any case, I dig it. I dig the weird creatures and the beautiful backgrounds and I appreciate how alive the Boiling Isles feel. It doesn’t take long for TOH to immerse you in its world so I’m for one am hooked.

I make a big deal of loving the world itself because rarely does it happen that world-building stands out to me so soon in a series. I do love carefully constructed fantasy worlds but for the most part I’m more interested in the characters themselves. Here, I’d say it’s close to being a 50-50, which is something that even Avatar can’t say with its elemental masterclass in world-building (which is mostly because the character depth there is unrivaled but still). So yeah, kudos to The Owl House for achieving this. From Luz’s glyph magic to the covens and the titans, I’m excited to explore this world more.

Now, the characters. The real meat of any story. Starting with Luz, I have seen some criticism that she’s a generic hero so far, the “I’m a weirdo”, heart of gold, upbeat variety. I don’t think this makes her bland, though I do admit that being told over and over again that she’s weird makes me less engaged, even she’s also shown to be weird. I like the message of her arc and that the chosen one trope was deconstructed almost right away. I like that she’s relentlessly enthusiastic and kind to people and I like that she doesn’t have to get more bitter in order to get development. Instead, she learns from her mistakes but keeps being herself and brings her unique spirit to the Boiling Isles. We need protagonists like Luz, not just because she’s latina and bisexual but because her learning process doesn’t involve cynicism. Sure, there is a lot she needs to learn but her heart is presented as an asset and a sort of source of magic. I’m excited to see where her story goes, for sure.

I’m gonna write briefly about the other characters before I get to my favourite one. Eda is super cool and I quickly got over the fact that she’s not Beatrice Horseman, lol. She embodies such a youthful energy but the show also allows her to be a middle-aged woman comfortable in her own body - well, owl curse notwithstanding. Also, her relationship with Lilith is one of my favourite parts of the whole show. Eda subverts so many of the mentor’s traditional tropes and I’m here for it. I kinda thought she was the villain based on her design and when I didn’t know anything about the show but hey, happy she’s not.

I don’t think I’d even seen a picture of King before starting to watch the series and at first I thought I’d get tired of him real quick. He’s the type of character who can get really annoying instead of endearing really fast if he’s not given any depth or charm, both by way of writing and voice acting. Luckily, I ended up liking King and his antics. His design is indeed adorable and Alex Hirsch is a genius. The only time I felt like he went too far was, perhaps surprisingly, in the book writing episode, “Sense and Insensitivity”, but even there going too far was the point. So yeah, King’s also great, there’s much potential in his backstory and general character.

Alright so really quickly, other characters: Willow and Gus are generic best friend characters and though they already have other things going on, I expect more development as the series progresses. I like that Willow is actually super powerful, just not in the way people expected her to and Gus is clearly also talented despite being younger. I’d be happy to see more of the other kids, get more familiar with Hexside. Edric and Emira are fun characters but they were really shitty in their first episode so I was kind of surprised they weren’t more of a nuisance to Amity later on. I’m all for supportive siblings so I wouldn’t mind a good relationship between the three but I feel like it’s more complicated than that with the Blights.

Finally, I also have to mention that Hooty is... well, quite something, isn’t he. Much like with King, I thought he’d be much more annoying but somehow the show is self-aware enough that it makes Hooty tolerable. I’m almost always torn between feeling sorry for him and being thoroughly weirded out, and I think that’s the intention? It’s fitting that he’s the titular character as he embodies the tone of The Owl House well in my eyes. He’s there for the comedy but there’s just enough there to hint at something more. Very bizarre, strong CN vibes, here for it.

Now that I’ve written a paragraph more about Hooty than I expected to, let’s talk about Amity. Listen, no other character stood a chance to be my favourite as soon as I learned Mae Whitman voiced Amity. That woman gave me Katara so now I have a quasi Pavlovian response to her voice. I’d also say that I knew more about Amity going into the show than I did about any other aspect of TOH. I heard somewhere that she started out as an antagonist, I knew her parents were abusive, and the reason the show blew up on my dash and my general online bubble is the Grom episode. Lucikly I only saw stills of Lumity beneath the crescent moon but the pure Sapphic energy of that was enough to gay migrate me to this show. I’d like to note it here though that The Owl House is a good show in and of itself, the queer rep is just a nice extra. I’m gonna spend the next couple hundred words going on about Amity and her crush on Luz but I don’t value only that. The Gay Migration is great and rep is great but I’m also grateful to have a solid show behind it. That being said.

I’m a total dyke for Amity Blight. I was very biased before even being introduced to her character but I genuinely find her to be fascinating and she has great potential. She’s developing quite quickly, like much of The Owl House, but an arc not being stretched out for several seasons before getting a rushed conclusion is refreshing. The progress hits all the beats and the only note I have is that I want more. She starts out as a generic bully but the opportunity to be more is there from the beginning. We find out early on that she used to be friends with Willow, we see that she works hard and values honest work. When she becomes Luz’s rival, it doesn’t last long before Amity shows that she’s open to new perspectives. That’s not to defend or even justify her earlier and nastier moments, Amity was rude to both Luz and Willow. But through all that, she becomes a complex character who does bad things but isn’t a bad person and grows when she gets the space to. I think that’s neat.

Luz’s decision to befriend her might be cartoon logic but as someone who subscribes to the “kill them with kindness” ideology, I can totally relate. Amity’s softer side doesn’t take long to show and “Lost in Language” is such a great episode to show how complex people can be. Again, I was already biased when it came to Amity but she’s consistently shown to be capable of self-reflection and growth when others give her the chance. I think her past and potential future friendship with Willow is a great way to explore many different topics and I’m trusting the show to do it justice. I also can’t wait to meet the rest of the Blights, if only to get me some angst and further develop Amity. I half expected Grom to take the form of her parents. Too dark for Disney? Well, we don’t know Amity’s dynamic with her parents, exactly, but there’s so much subtext and potential. I love what we’ve already seen from her but I’d also say that she has one of the greatest potentials in the show.

Another way in which this potential manifests is Lumity, of course. Again, they’re developing quite quickly but that doesn’t mean it’s rushed. I’d love to explore Amity’s crush more and what Luz means to her. The Grom episode surpassed all expectations, still and gifs don’t do the stunning dance sequence justice. The animation is so smooth, the colours are amazing, the music is on point and the Sapphic vibes complete the picture. Poetic cinema, truly. Molly Ostertag and Noelle Stevenson are really out there giving wlw animation fans everything we ever wanted, huh. It also warms my heart that the crush is made very clear, not just by Luz’s name being on the note but by the delightful gay disaster that is Amity in “Wing It Like Witches”. I never thought I’d ever see such a relatable useless lesbian in animation so kudos to Dana Terrace and the whole crew. Wow, how far we’ve come.

So yeah, Amity is a funky little lesbian and I’m a 100% here for her gay disaster moments, but I also love where Lumity is going thematically. They’re great as foils and I’m hoping that they won’t get together at the very end. Look, I love me some Bubbline, Korrasami and Catradora, but it’s time a wlw relationship had the chance to exist onscreen and not only in the last episode. The Owl House has a great chance to do that. I know the creators don’t want romance to be the main focus and I respect that, I think the world they created deserves to showcased and explored to its full potential. Lumity could be a great subplot though, as representation on the one hand and as a thematically interesting dynamic on the other. Plus, Luz and Amity are just cute and sometimes, it’s as simple as that. Oh, and also the whole Little Miss Perfect thing? One of the best fandom discoveries I’ve made in a long while. Not only is the song truly perfect for Amity, I love that Joriah Kwamé went on to write Ordinary as well. This right here is why fandom is beautiful.

I think that’s about it for season 1 initial thoughts. The moral can be a bit on the nose at times, especially in the early episodes but the show is ultimately for kids and I appreciate its message. Interesting world and magic system, good characters, great potential for later seasons, just a well put together show that I’m really glad I started watching. I’m kind of sorry I didn’t keep up with season 1 as it was coming out but I would not have been able to wait between episodes. The pacing is good overall, deffo moves fast but I wouldn’t call it rushed, and the “filler” episodes still add something to the story. I’m not sure if I would still feel like the show moves at a fast pace if I hadn’t binged it but in any case it isn’t rushed, the necessary beats are all there and have time to sit. I’m going to watch as it comes out from now on so hopefully season 2 will arrive early next year.

Oh, and: I’m very new to the fandom, barely just found out about Little Miss Perfect, so any and all tidbits, fun facts, and fic recommendations are welcome. Also if you just want to chat my inbox is always open!

[sebastianshaw]

@themusespace- So I did World of Darkness versions for Rhia, and a shorter one for Catwoman! I’ve had it going little by little for awhile and finally got it done tonight! Under the cut for length:

RHIA So, you brought up Gangrel as a choice for Rhia and that’s a good one. Since you’ve already got that, I’ll cover some other options---Toreador, Brujah, and Banu Haqim. Toreador because, well, you can find a reason that a Torrie would Embrace ANYONE, really. Maybe hippie chic was really in one year and they selected Rhia as their new Bohemian muse, or any number of possibilities, really. In any case, I see as a Toreador who takes a less conventional route with what she finds artistic and beautiful, finding more aesthetic glory in the natural world than man’s creation. Perhaps she’s stuck in an ever-fruitless quest to try to capture said beauty in some form, going from one artistic medium to the next--painting, sculpture, even music---to try to convey in creativity what she finds in nature, or maybe she’s content to merely be enraptured by the natural world as it is without trying to emulate it. Either way, she’s surely at a great risk for getting caught in the sunrise! The Brujah option is because they’re as passionate as the Toreador, but with an emphasis that’s typically on freedom, justice, and rebellion. Theoretically, a Brujah can be passionate about anything (or nothing and just a rebel without a cause) so long as they’re radicals about it, but I find they’re most often pushing back against the status quo rather than zealously enforcing it, and that seems to have Rhia vibes to be. So if her style is more than skin-deep, I could see her having been Embraced by a Brujah who appreciated such views. If you wanted to go darker, there is, finally, the Banu Haqim aka the Assamites. I know it seems an odd pick but hear me out. I had NO interest in these guys for the longest time because I just knew them as the assassins of the vampire world. That was it, just “they kill people real good and really like diablerie” and that was just not interesting to me. Being able to be the best guy at murder/fighting/power/etc whatever in the room has never been an interesting character trait for me, and I figured they were just for RPers who wanted a heavy combat focus and to be the Most Badass for bragging points, so I was just...meh about them and regularly forgot that they existed.  Then, recently, I learned a bit more about them. The Children of Haqim are the judges of Kindred society, meting out punishments to vampires who deserve it, and more than that, are often asked by other vampires to act as impartial judges due to their unaligned nature. They have a great passion for justice, and are drawn to feed from those deserving punishment. This passion takes the form of the Clan Compulsion of Judgment, compelling them to punish anyone seen to transgress against their personal creed, taking their blood as just vengeance for the crime. Whether that person is friend or foe, they have to struggle against this urge greatly if they wish not to act on it. And they’re far more dangerous to other vampires than to humans---one of their laws is to protect mortals from vampires (though it is still acceptable to use them as a food source) and to treat humans with honor (though again, feeding is okay), and their clan flaw is an addiction to the blood of other vampires. This addiction, coupled with their laws about humans and their compulsion to punish those who transgress their codes of justice, makes it hard for them to fit into vampire society at large, but in recent nights, they’re become one of the Camarilla clans. Also in recent nights, they’ve started Embracing women and people who are not of Middle Eastern origin, which previously they did not. Speaking of who they Embrace, Assamites typically try to Embrace someone who will be "useful" to the clan as a whole. This most often means someone who be willing to fight and die for the clan's (or at least their sire's) goals. However, during the long period that the clan labored under the Tremere blood curse, people may also have been Embraced for knowledge in a specific (often obscure) area. Typically this had something to do with sorcery or medical research involving blood, but may also have included more obscure areas of research as well. Assamites typically choose people with somewhat obsessive personalities for the Embrace. As they are typically involved with either hunting down miscreants or conducting obscure research, they tend to be highly motivated individuals. This often results in Assamites picking individuals who are fanatically devoted to a cause, religion, theory, or activity. The various caste flaws and the training they undergo after the Embrace tends to accentuate this even more. Thus Assamites can be said to select childer that will be eager to chase down their prey no matter how long it takes or how far they must go. That prey may be a physical target, an obscure piece of knowledge, or even pursuing the perfection of an art form. So if Rhia is particularly driven regarding something that could be of interest to the Assamites/Banu Haqim, then that combined with a sense of justice and honor, if she could become devout and ruthless enough to kill for it, could make her a candidate for an Embrace. It would not be my first pick for her, but it’s a possibility if you wanted to go darker and edgier.  In addition to the Warrior caste that most people are familiar with, there is also the Sorcerer and Vizier castes, who play a greater focus on mental attributes. Viziers and Sorcerers are less focused on the physical skills of their childer, and thus more likely to Embrace women. The number of women Embraced waxed and waned based on the overall attitude towards educating women. In periods where women were rarely taught to read or write they naturally took fewer women. However, even in periods where few people were educated, a Vizier might take someone for their skill with art or social acumen, even if they were a total illiterate. Similarly, a Sorcerer might Embrace someone who showed some innate knack for magic, even if they could not write their own name. As for what they do, Sorcerers are pretty self-explanatory, being practioners of the clan’s version of Blood Magic.  Originally this magic was based off ancient Mesopotamian priestly rituals and the Persian cult of Mithras, but modern Sorcerers now incorporate the ecstatic Hindu devotion to Kali and Shiva, Chinese feng shui, and Islamic alchemy and astrology as well. Sorcerers usually need to send themselves into some sort of altered state of consciousness in order to focus their magics. This may involve consuming drugs, whirling themselves into a trance, ritually wounding themselves, or even more stranger methods. The Viziers are the scholars of the clan and are rather like the Toreadors, lusting after  knowledge or artistic perfection instead of magic, pursuing their chosen lore or art with the tenacity of a pit bull. While the Toreadors sink into hypnotized contemplation, the Viziers frenzy with their creative compulsion. So if either of those sound up Rhia’s alley---I don’t know if there’s a particular art or subject she’s passionate about, or if she’s magically inclined, but she seems like the type of person who COULD be--these seem likelier options than the Warrior caste. I would still go with Gangrel or Toreador first for her, and also they’re easier to understand, have less special hierarchy and history and other shit to keep up, etc.  Her tribe as a Garou (werewolf) is easy---Children of Gaia, one of my favorites, OR the Fianna.  The Children of Gaia are the most peaceful of the Garou, and work for understanding between the tribes in hopes of defeating the Wyrm through a unified front. Defending Gaia is far too important to lose sight of in constant skirmishes over differences! During the War of Rage, when other Garou were trying to wipe out all the non-wolf Changing Breeds, the Children of Gaia tried to stop their brethren from this and initially refused to fight their fellow Fera (wereanimals) and even accepted refugees who came to them seeking shelter. However, when the Fera started exploiting this by sending in agents who were in fact there to slaughter their would-be protectors, some Children of Gaia joined the other Garou in masacring the other Changing Breeds. Similiarly, when Europeans began to colonize the New World and the European Garou learned of the “Pure Tribes” in the Americas, the Children of Gaia advocated for an alliance with them, rather than mimicking the human colonizers by taking what these American Garou had from them or attacking them. They’ve also worked to try to ensure that the attrocities of WWI and WWII never repeat, and have historically been advocates of causes in the human world  such as free speech, civil rights, and women's rights, which reflects how their own culture as werewolves is FAR more egalitarian than almost any other tribe except perhaps the Bone Gnawers.  One major example of this egalitarianism is that the Children treat their metis well and in fact will take in the metis from other tribes who don’t want them. A metis is offspring of two Garou. It’s part of The Litany---which is Garou law---that Garou shall not mate with Garou, and instead must take their mates from among humans or wolves and hope that one of the offspring will be a Garou. The reason is because while the offspring of two werewolves will indeed always be a werewolf, they will also always be sterile, deformed, and stuck in Crinos form (wolfman/hybrid form) until they achieve their First Change (usually around puberty) and thus must be raised in secret away from human eyes. Metis, as living proof that two Garou have broken the Litany, are often looked down and shunned in other Packs, and have to struggle to prove their worth. The Children, however, believe that the child should not be judged for the sins of their parents, and will raise the metis of other tribes as their own. It’s also very common for Black Furies, who are all female, to give their male children to the Children of Gaia. Hence how they stay all female! As a note, having a lot of baby metis around also helps them discourage Garou/Garou matings--- any pup who's been looking too longingly at a packmate (same or opposite sex, it doesn't matter) often finds themselves babysitting a whirling, shrieking ball of claws and fur to teach them just what they’re in for if they give in to such incestuous (as it is seen in their culture) desires.  While the Children’s values are based around peace, mercy, and unity above all else, this doesn’t make them pushovers as some think. They may be pacifists, but they’re still werewolves, and they still have the Wyrm to fight, so they’re not absolute paficists, they’re WARRIOR pacifists. And when their Rage is roused, it is just as terrifying as that of any other Garou---perhaps more so because they keep it so pent up. A lot of people think that hippie werewolves are a stupid concept, but I disagree---real wolves aren’t inherently violent creatures and, like the Children, are only going to fuck up something, whether it’s prey or an intruder, if it’s a necessary thing. And SOMEBODY needs to provide a softer counterbalance to the numerous other extremely war-like tribes. The Fianna are a tribe of Celtic origins. Some come from Spain or France or the Balkans, but they’re most associated with places like Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. And there are plenty in the USA, having come there with Irish immigrants during the Great Potato Famine. The Fianna believe themselves to have originated from the union of a passionate Gaillard (I’ll explain what those are after I talk about the Fianna) and Danu, an aspect of Gaia which they see as the mother to both the Fianna and the Tuatha de Danaan, and they celebrate many Celtic Pagan religious holidays such as Beltane. They aided their Irish Kin against Cromwell, and many supported and even aided the IRA.  The Fianna are known as great partiers and great warriors both. They’re one of the most extroverted tribes, rarely turning down an invitation to let their hair down and indulge in their favorite pleasures. Creativity through music or craft is encouraged and prized among the Fianna, and they have created some of the most beautiful and fantastic treasures of the Garou. The Fianna are also hopeless romantics, always falling for humans and their fellow Garou alike. The latter creates metis, of course, but ironically the Fianna are particularly hard on metis as they view their deformed bodies to be a sign that their spirits are also twisted. The Fianna desire to live life freely, but that includes the desire to be free of flaws, and thus they reject those that are different or “flawed” like the poor metis. I’m not saying Rhia would have to think like that---especially since I see her a Lost Cub, which I’ll get too soon too---but that’s just their general culture.    So, each Garou has an Auspice. It’s what their role is, and defines a lot of who they are. Their Auspice is determined by the moon phase they were born under. So like the zodiac, but objectively very real. I think Rhia would be either a Theurge or a Galliard. Theurges were born under a crescent moon, and are the shamans and mystics of the Garou. All werewolves are part spirit and part flesh, but the Theurge in particular are attuned to the Umbra (spirit world) and have many Gifts and Rituals that only they can do, as well as being able to craft fetishes (as in magical objects and talismans, not sexual kinks) They emphasize wisdom, and in a battle, they are more likely to serve as support compared to other Garou, but it is worth noting that even the coolest, calmest Theurges are still Garou, and burn with Rage deep within. The Galliards, also called Moon Dancers, were born when the moon is gibbous, and they are the bards and lore-keepers of the Garou, serving as their keepers of oral history and performance artists. Besides acting as lorekeepers, historians, and prophets, they are also depended upon to act as a source of inspiration in times of desperate need, or for celebration in those rare and wonderful times of fortune. Given her being a bit of a rebel, from what I clean, she might also be a Ragabash. Ragabash are born under the new moon, and their role is to be a trickster and the questioner of the old ways, the wise fools who play the contrarian, always asking “but why is it this way?” and questioning tradition to ensure that it can still stand up as useful and just in the current times. act as a voice of dissent or devil's advocate with far less fear of punishment than the Garou of other Auspices. In a society as traditional and conservative as that of the Garou Nation, a free-thinking individual with the right to speak his or her mind is absolutely important, whether to encourage change or to reaffirm the current position through the challenges he or she provides. They have the least amount of Rage and thus are often cooler-headed than their packmates, but unlike the mystic Theurges, they show this by being playful, playing pranks not to be nuisance (though many are thought of as such) but impart lessons. Those of the new moon are often skilled scouts or assassins, as the "hidden moon" is associated with stealth and secrecy, and use this to help their packmates find their quarry, or to elude their pursuers. They may also use humor to lighten the mood or break up arguments, often acting as an "omega" to turn hostilities toward themselves. I think Rhia works well as a Homid and Lost Cub. A Homid is a Garou born in human form to a human mother or a Garou mother in her human form (as opposed to a Lupus, born in wolf form to a wolf mother or a Garou mother in her wolf form) and will grow up as human until their First Change. So, how is it that a human (or wolf) has a Garou child? Either one parent was a Garou, or one of their parents was a Kinfolk. Kinfolk are humans or wolves who have Garou blood. They are the USUAL result when a Garou has a child with a human or a wolf; they only get a Garou if they’re luckily. So like, maybe one Garou out of a litter or one Garou out of all the kids they have, if even that. The rest? Kinfolk. And the Kinfolk’s children (or pups) will be Kinfolk too, and so will their children, and so on. Most Garou keep careful track of their Kin, since mating with a Kinfolk produces a higher chance of a Garou child, but all too often, the family lines get lost, and you can get a bloodline of Kinfolk with no idea they’re Kinfolk, and then randomly one of their kids gets born a Garou, and they will also not know this until their First Chance. These are called Lost Cubs. So I could see Rhia as such, either a Lost Cub born to a family that has long forgotten a werewolf is a real thing, hence getting raised by her very strictly religious Grandmother.  ( You’ll notice I keep referring to Rage with a capital R. Rage  mystical wellspring of primal anger granted to the Garou and some of the other Changing Breeds by Luna, the moon spirit.  It allows them to move at great speed, shrug off mighty wounds, and change forms quickly, as well as powers some of their Gifts, which are basically like magic spells or extra abilities. A Garou without Rage cannot change shapes. But it’s a double-edged sword, as they also must beware their Rage overaking them in Frenzy, a violent and bloodthirsty uncontrollable outburst.) Finally, for her type as another Fera (Changing Breed, other wereanimals) I’d go with the Pumonca, the cougar Bastet (werecats) of the Americas. Most are Native American, but that’s a general trend, not a rule at all. The Pumonca, also called Stormwalkers,  are restless wanderers and guardians of the land, constantly on the move to protect their sacred home. They spend their entire lives traveling from place to place, looking for signs of Wyrm taint in the spaces in between. It is their task to meander, to take their time, and to notice the world around them. However, this is only restricted to the Americas, because no Pumonca would ever leave her continent---and it fact, they CAN’T. Each Bastet has three Yava, three secrets about their type, which can often be used against them by anyone who learns it. The Yava of the werepumas are: -A Pumonca is one with her land; if she leaves it for more than a full moon cycle, she will die. -The essence of poisoned land (toxic waste, radiation, sewage) is deadly to a puma. Immerse him in its toxins and he will quickly perish. -All beasts fear the puma. No horse will bear her, no dog will follow her. The great cats are her Kin and they befriend her, but no other animal can approach without terror. Due to their history with the Wars of Rage, in which the Garou tried to wipe out all non-wolf wereanimals,  many modern Pumonca are bitter, confused, and angry, and most are looking for a way to serve Gaia that lets them keep their pride and dignity intact. The lucky ones forge ties with other groups, but most just wander aimlessly, fighting the Banes of the Wyrm however they can so long as no one wounds their pride too terribly. Pumonca have a penchant for spreading stories and lore wherever they go. In the past, these were typically tales of great deeds, whether of Garou or Pumonca or anyone else who tickled their fancy that were shared at the camp fires with those who where interested. Nowadays, however, these stories are often bitter tales, because of the aforementioned history, and their anger can make them difficult for some to work with. As independent nomads, they have no organization as a group either. I can see Rhia as a wanderer with a sad ancestral history who is just trying to do her best with what she has left and also take in all the beauty and wonder that the continent has to offer. 

CATWOMAN So, my first thought for her is Ravnos, and that’s unfortunate because the Ravnos have some very problematic origins that I can’t get past. The Ravnos are tricksters, traveling hucksters and charalatans who specialize in deception and theft, with their clan’s trademark discipline being Chimerstry , the creation of illusions. Their clan weakness is that every Ravnos is a criminal, every one has some kind of vice they can’t resist when the opportunity is presented, which could be being a jewel thief for Catwoman. Since being a thief is Catwoman’s primary trait, the sole consistent thing across all her incarnations, of course she should be a member of the clan who is all about thievery. The reason I say the Ravnos are problematic is that they’re also meant to be of Roma origin. So, yeah, White Wolf based an entire clan on all the shittiest stereotypes about Roma people as being thieves and criminals. I think that later editions have fixed them---the company sincerely has been trying to clean up the shitty stuff of previous decades, from what I understand---and cut the Roma association entirely from them, at least I hope they have, but the Ravnos beginning as walking racial stereotypes just personally leaves such a bad taste in my mouth I personally avoid them altogether. But just because I would never make one, does not mean it doesn’t fit Selina, it absolutely does. Especially since one of their other clan disciplines is Animalism, which lets her keep the cat theme too, she could have a whole army of kitty accomplices doing her bidding! And that is pretty cool, I can’t deny. If I were going to find an alternative to being a Ravnos for her, I think a Toreador would be a wonderful fit. Anything can be an art, including thievery, and Selina’s particular brand of cat burglary is DEFINITELY an art. Like she’s not a common thief, she goes after extremely valuable, extremely well-protected gems and jewelry, often with a feline theme, there’s beauty in what she targets and artfulness in how she manages to do it---which is always with STYLE. Her obsession with jewels and cats both work for a Toreador who admires beautiful things, and her graceful, acrobatic style works well with the Toreador discipline of Celerity, which grants a vampire supernatural speed and reflexes; heck, even just the lowest level gives her something appropriately called “Cat’s Grace”  that lets her  automatically keep her balance. And being a Toreador could also be why her on again off again romance with Batman, her attraction to the dangerous Dark Knight despite being on opposite sides of the law, etc. That kind of dramatic, conflicted love story sounds like total Torrie bait to me. She logically should be SOME kind of Bastet, I just can’t specifically think of what!

[sirenfromthelostcity]

The Most Pt. 1

A/N: Okay so this is my first ever John Wick fic! In a nutshell, it’s basically like a mentor X student AU. I don’t know why but i couldn’t get that idea out of my head and i really wanted to write it, so here! It’s called The Most bc it reminds me of the song with the same title from Miley Cryrus’s new EP. I wouldn’t say the fic is inspired by the song, not entirely at least, but idk to me it just vibes with it (if that makes any sense? i feel like once the second part is out it might make more sense?). This fic is intended to have a second part so that shall also be posted shortly as i have another mini John Wick fic i wanna start and i also want to write the second part to my short Spider-Man fic. I’m so excited about this story y’all! I hope you all enjoy it! As always, feedback is always appreciated. Without further ado, enjoy! :))))

Words: 2.7k+

Today marks the fourth and a half year that you’ve been under John Wick’s tutelage. Only six more months left and John will have had completed his marker. Initially, John was rather reluctant to be your instructor but the marker held by your father gave him no other choice but to abide by your father’s request to turn you into a formidable assassin. Who better to teach you than the infamous John Wick himself?

In the beginning of your training journey, John didn’t bother to hide his reluctance in your father’s request. This made things rather difficult until one day you decided to confront him about his behavior. He was in his study, probably searching for a way to get out of having to train you, when you knocked to let your presence be known then proceeded to enter.

“Evening, Mr. Wick, call me crazy, but I’m getting an inkling that you don’t want to train me.”

He scoffed.

“Believe me, I get it. I bet you’d really rather not have me intercepting with your lonesome peace and quiet but the bottom line is that I have to do this too and I have to learn it all to be as good as you. Maybe not exactly as good as you, but good enough to have me not die immediately as that would be, despite your current opinion of me, quite upsetting.”

He silently glared at you for a long minute, still not very much pleased with his current situation, “Why do you want to do this?”

“Want, who said anything about want? You may be bound by a marker, Mr. Wick, but I’m bound by my family to learn and master everything that there is to know about how to thrive in this lifestyle to survive in it.”

The room remained uncomfortably silent for sometime but you still didn’t falter in your stance.

“Before me who did you train with?” he asked.

“Well I was being trained in Krav Maga by Gabriel Avdeyev for some time but he and my family had a falling out and-–”

“I heard,” he sighed. “.... Based on the results of your initial assessment you have a lot to improve on. For starters, the way you initiate your attacks are okay but they will need to be refined or you will be killed. Get some rest. Tomorrow at dawn we will continue your training.”

Despite knowing John couldn’t actually purposely hurt or kill you, he was still very intimidating and the confrontation was rather hard to execute. But, it paid off.

Training with the notorious John Wick also meant living with him and sometimes that involved taking care of each other. Along with being a good fighter and shooter, John also stressed that one needs to know how to properly patch themselves up. He’s given you medical lessons before but to really teach you, one night he decided to not go to his usually doctor for a patch up but to go directly to you instead and see what you’ve retained from your lessons. When that great idea struck him it was in the middle of the night and he gave you quite a fright when he went into your room all bloody. You almost shot him with the gun you had hidden under your pillow if it weren’t for his quick reflexes which actually made you feel really impressed considering he was critically injured.

“Are you serious, John?” you asked, rather irked at being abruptly awoken at three in the morning.

“No, I’m bleeding. Now get up, this is part of your training. Time to see how much you’ve retained from those medical lessons,” he grunted as another pang of pain struck his lower abdomen.

You promptly threw your covers over your body and got out of bed before leading him to the bathroom where the first aid kit was kept. After finding the source of his bleeding you unbuttoned his shirt and got to work. Under the circumstances, seeing John shirtless wasn’t at all awkward. However, ogling his exposed chest was the last thing on you mind considering how he was bleeding an awful lot from his lower abdomen.

“Jesus what did they nick you with? This looks really bad,” you comment as you inspect the wound.

“Broken bottle of champagne. Try to avoid those in the future, they can be pretty tricky to fix.”

“Yeah, no shit,” you proceeded to clean the wound and remove any stray traces of glass, subconsciously taking quick glances at him whenever he winced. “Do you need anything for the pain?”

“Do you happen to have bourbon in any of these cabinets?”

“No, but I wouldn’t really recommend that considering how alcohol consumption can actually thin your blood out and make you bleed more.”

“But it does help with the pain.”

“Mmmmm, I’d still wager more on the pills designed specifically for that.”

John huffed. At this point you’re finally starting to stitch up his wound but his pained grunts make it a little difficult to focus.

“Are you okay?”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing I’m not used to.”

“That’s so sad, John,” you paused to briefly glance at him. “Also super broody. We get it, you’re a badass.”

“A bad ass? That seems rude,” he sarcastically replied.

“Oh, my god, you’re actually joking with me for the second time this night. Don’t think I missed that dad joke earlier with the ‘No, I’m bleeding,’” you imitated his gruff voice and lightly laughed. “Good one, John.”

The small smile subconsciously remained on your face for a few seconds longer and John couldn’t help but admire how nicely it adorned your face. You caught him vaguely looking at you but simply assumed blood loss had something to do with the way he was looking at you. He turned away before you could even question your hypothesis.

“Well, we’re all done now. With the abdomen wound at least,” you noticed he’s also bleeding from his head and move to inspect it but his hands reached out and gently grabbed your wrists.

“It’s alright, (Y/N), I can take care of the rest, you’ve done good with the ugliest of them.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, John, I’m here now and I’ve got this for you.”

Never one to waste words, John remained silent which you took as a go ahead.

Thankfully the injuries on his head were nothing more than a few small cuts. At least on that night they were. Some nights John would come back with much rougher cuts, clearly showing that whoever he had fought had certainly put up a good fight but not quite good enough to best John Wick. Still, not only did cleaning his injuries provide you with insights to his battles, it helped you both establish a sense of trust between you two.  

After that night, rather than go to his usual doctor John began going straight to you for his patch ups. Could he have chosen to start going to you simply because it’s quicker than stopping by The Continental first and then home? Possibly. The reason for him basically appointing you as his patch up doc never really came up but you didn’t really care. By then your affection and attachment to John was beginning to grow so you didn’t mind being the one to help him feel better after a difficult job. Not to mention that tending to his wounds meant having a good excuse to touch him. Not while overstepping your boundaries, of course, but sometimes it was just nice to be able to be able to grab his hands without it being weird. Tending to the cuts on his face was something you always saved for last. It was your chance to really admire his facial features up close while simultaneously healing it. Sometimes you were so gentle with him that he actually managed to doze off and you were able to tell when it happened because he’d look so relaxed and serene. When you had to wake him up, although you didn’t want to but you knew he’d sleep much more comfortably in his bed than in a stiff chair, he’d always apologize for falling asleep which in effect often lead you both to joke about it. However, you swear that you caught him blushing the first few times it happened and when it did it just felt so, human…

You and John have really come a long way in terms of tolerating each other and actually bonding together. You both truly did. Because John is your instructor and you are over a decade younger than him, your relationship with him was purely professional. However, after about two years of training with him, your feelings for him continued to evolve into a much more stronger and different kind of admiration.

Are you in love with The Baba Yaga?

The answer to that would be a very strong perhaps. When you and John were briefed on the deal of the marker, you were supposed to learn about weapons training, fighting forms, assassination techniques, melee weapons training, etc. You were to learn how to become a proficient and deadly assassin, such as John, not about love or anything else that might be considered a weakness.

You hardly ever give yourself the chance to ponder on your feelings for John, much less at the possibility that he could possess the same feelings of affection towards you. It’s not as if you believe that the less you think or talk about it the less real it is, you aren’t that naive. You’ve simply decided long ago that you’re not going to act on your feelings for John. Love or anything remotely close to that is just not in the cards for people like you and John. At least that’s what you keep repeating to yourself.

Still, with your training nearing to an end you’ve been feeling really glum about it. Training with the notorious John Wick hasn’t been easy but living with and falling in love with the real man behind the legend was so foolishly easy. John is an extremely proficient killer, that much is true, but he is also a man. John is a man with dry humor, a latent love for the simpler things in life, a fun penchant for stunt driving and cars, kind and gentle eyes, and, surprisingly but also not really, a man of a very chivalrous nature. Despite the initial turbulence in your mentor-student relationship, you and John inevitably became good friends which really allowed you to see him under a different light. He often took you out to nice dinners claiming that he wanted a change of scenery from an uneventful day or simply because you did very well while training. Either way you enjoyed your outings with him and also simply appreciated being in an entirely different place, not being reminded of the person you’re supposed to become. However whenever you got injured while training to become that person, John would actually help patch you up. Although he’s taught you how to do so yourself, John would claim the medical lessons were mainly for when you are by yourself and have no one to help you and he’d remind you that he’s there with you now. Which is pretty similar to what you’ve told him the first time you helped patch him up now that you think of it. For an assassin who’s extremely well known for his brutal techniques and merciless takedowns, it astounded you to learn that the same man can also be so gentle. You’re not even officially leaving yet but you already know just how badly you’re going to miss John Wick.

In spite of yourself choosing to not focus on a particular set of feelings held for a particular person, today your brain can’t help but do the exact opposite. Today, John decided to focus more on Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. Little to your knowledge, John actually enjoys training you in this fighting form because these techniques allow a weaker or smaller attacker to successfully overpower a stronger opponent by manipulating the human body and redirecting it’s force. Therefore, if you do it right, you could use the opponent's strength against them and take them down. Usually you do very well in this form of martial arts but today John is able to tell you’re not fully there with him. Although John is very good at Brazilian Jui-Jitsu you’re level of skill is practically on par with his as well and you’re current struggle to beat him is alerting him.

Currently, John has you in locked in a rear choke hold on the ground, with one arm wrapped around your neck, his other arm around your free arm, and one leg wrapped around your other arm preventing you from breaking free. You struggle for a few seconds, realizing there’s no use, he’s already one this match, and grunt in frustration. John loosens his grip around you but doesn’t fully release you yet, he brings his lips close to your ear, “What’s wrong?”

The feel of his breath on your skin sends shivers down your spine, yet you quickly and physically swat those thoughts to the side and shake your head, “Right now you have me in a choke hold and I can’t get out of it, John. I don’t know about you but this seems like a pretty big issue for me.”

John instantly releases his grip on you and rises up, he’s about to lend you a hand to get up as well but you’ve already beaten him to that.

“That’s not what I meant, (Y/N). Tell me, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” you insist. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”

“For starters, I’ve been kicking your ass in this all day when I know I’ve taught you better than that. And for another, you just seem very distracted today.”  

John is as perceptive as he is deadly, which is why you don’t bother lying to him again and instead insist on continuing to train.

You look down for a second before looking up, making sure to avoid his concerned gaze, “Look, John, do you mind if we just call it in for the day?”

“Something is wrong,” he states.

“John,” you impatiently groan.   

“Why won’t you just tell me what the issue is?”

“Because there’s nothing you can do about it!” you snap and instantly regret it, rubbing at your temples. “Okay, I did not mean to say it like that. I’m sorry. I just need to cool off right now, John…”

This time you don’t wait for permission and simply walk away, however, John doesn’t try to stop you either. Not because he doesn’t care, quite the contrary in fact. Concerned and confused, John intently watches you head towards your room. He begins to trail after you but halts in his steps deciding that right now the  best option would be to give you your space. Still, John can’t help but wonder about what could possibly be troubling your mind so much and why you refuse to speak of it.

He glances one last time in the direction you previously walked in before heading towards the kitchen and serving himself a shot of bourbon.

“You can’t do anything about it!” your words replay in his mind.

“She’ll tell me when she’s ready,” he mentally tells himself. “We’ll figure it out then.”

John downs two more shots, currently finding it difficult to dwindle his concern and thoughts of you, before taking off in the direction of his room. He encounters the door to your bedroom on his way and halts at the entrance. He balls his hand into a fist and raises it to knock on your door but slowly brings it down and proceeds to head to his room. After finally entering his room, he gives your door one last glance before closing his door and retreating to his room for the remainder of the day.

[madamlaydebug]

My Visions of New Earth Hello My Wonderful Readers and Supporters~ Last night, after experiencing more (groan) ascension symptoms of body aches and pains and emotional blockage in my heart chakra, I spent some time in quiet, hot buddies on my body, shiatsu massager on my back, and did some necessary purging. After that, I felt that I either received downloads (are those still coming??) or activated whatever downloads I had already received. Either way, I received some insights, and coupled with insights and visions I have had throughout the past 10 years, I was able to put some things together and thus, present to you my visions of new earth, what is going on right now, what is important to focus on and what we can let go of. Again, these are just insights from my own Inner and Higher Selves. Please use your own guidance and discernment. To begin with, even though my awakening began in my mid 20’s, my knowledge of New Earth/5D Earth did not come into my heart and consciousness until Fall 2012. Prior to 2012, I had a vision around the years 2006/2007, which I have shared in a previous Daily Notes post or two and will share again briefly. In the vision, I was with a group of Beings. We were tall and had an interesting form. While there was a physical mass (torso, arms, legs, head, etc.) we also seemed very “light” – almost as if we were floating. Illuminated is a good word to describe how we were. We were standing in a circle around a tree. I felt ~ blissful. Serene. Completely at home and totally in the moment. While I didn’t “see” with my mind’s eye what came next, I felt something unexpected happened and our civilization ended. Since then I have concluded and intuited this was Lemuria I had seen. This was the last earthly time we (humans and Gaia and all life) have lived in complete harmony, at the higher vibrational frequencies. During this time period in which I had this vision, I also had a dream where I was in this beautiful wooden house. It was a big structure with a strong presence. Rather odd for a house, I thought. But there I was ~ at first on the outside deck, watching a group of children around the age of 6-8 running around, interestingly enough all in overalls. Next scene, I’m in the kitchen, the kids all gathered around this long counter, hungry for peanut butter sandwiches. I had no children at the time, but in the dream I knew one of them was mine, likely a girl. “Hmm, peanut butter sandwiches,” I thought. Suddenly, a jar of peanut butter, butter knife and loaf of white bread appeared. Cool, I thought. I have the ability to manifest instantly! I then look outside over the property. The scenery was beautiful. Peaceful. The skies were brilliant blue (NO CHEMTRAILS!!), the trees vibrant. Where am I, I thought. I didn’t sense a lot of people around. I sensed my mate in the garden. The feeling of pure contentment was palpable, having not experienced that very often in my waking life. It was a wonderful feeling! Upon waking I concluded I was on another planet, definitely earth-like. I promptly forgot about the dream. I didn’t share it with anyone, not even my mate. That is until he had the same dream a couple of years later. The house, the children in overalls, knowing one was ours, the garden, the feel of the planet ~ all the same. Since that time my spouse has had several dreams of the town. He’s the explorer in the family, so no surprise there. I have had a dream of the town. I was playing the piano in a small diner for the locals. I explored the street – beautiful majestic mountains, small shops, roads made of paved dirt (no ugh asphalt – yay!!) and interestingly enough, no cars (flying ships!). Woo hoo! In my meditations, I have gone back to the house several times, outfitting it with furnishings, hangings and other things I wish to have in it. I had another dream of the house last fall where I was standing in front of it, looking up at it. It’s such a massive structure (compared to where I have lived throughout my adult life) – it takes my breath away. Again the feeling of home and absolute contentment were palpable. This house is mine. It is a powerful, wonderful feeling. No threat of some greedy landlord or bank to take it away. It was and is mine – until I decide it isn’t. In the dream it was winter, a bit of snow on the ground. I had on my winter coat and these white snow boots I didn’t have at the time so they were not recognizable. That is until I saw the very boots online last December and bought them (of course I did!). When the boots arrived, I put them on and announced “Ok house and new earth I AM READY!” Ah if only it were so simple. And yet in a way, this is part of it. For you see, in buying these boots, and in intending this house and how I wish for it to look in my meditations, I so deeply believe I am creating this house. I am making it so. As I said, the terms “5D” and “New Earth” didn’t enter my mind until 2012. A neighbor shared with me some of her visions and it was then that I remembered the dream I had where I was in this house on a planet that looked so much like earth, only it felt different. That’s when she said shared with me her belief in New Earth and 5D. Completely resonated. It is my belief 5D Earth, 5D Gaia is already “in place”. It’s simply a timeline issue. (And of course since coming to that conclusion, I am seeing videos and articles on “timelines”. Love that beautiful Universal Synchronicity!) This is so important: We are all creating our timelines now, based on our thoughts and beliefs. Believe the world is in chaos and going to hell? That will be your experience, your timeline. Believe that while there is chaos “out there”, there is another reality we can choose. That will be your timeline experience. The possibilities, I am now seeing, are, perhaps, endless. I received strong confirmation on this timeline creation experience last night. Before I went to sleep, I did my usual intentions/meditations, only this time I “saw” an actual scene I had had earlier in the evening, a conversation with my neighbors. Only this time, I could see this energy wall between us. It looked like a wall of bubbly water. I knew if I were to speak, or they were to speak, it would sound like one does when one speaks with their hands over their ears. What I was seeing was a separation of the timelines that I am creating. Powerful vision. So…. I suggest being specific in your intentions. Don’t like what you are seeing and believing? Believe and intend to see something different that’s in alignment with Who You Are and Who You Want to Be. I do not believe we need to be perfectly “healed” to ascend to New Earth. Intention, an authentic heart/will are all that is necessary. I have read far too many pieces that state “you must be healed of all your stuff if you wish to ascend.” Nonsense, especially for those who have had seemingly endless incarnation cycles in this lower vibrational frequency. As I said in a previous piece, that is a lot of lifetimes of pain and trauma, and given most of it is not available to our conscious memories, we are in need of some help with this healing. I believe we will be receiving that help upon our arrival to 5D. We will have help from our mentors, likely those of our Soul Group who have chosen to be here now, outside of the Reincarnation Cycle of 3D earth, in order to help out with this Ascension process. It is also my belief we are not here to “master” this 3d matrix as some are saying before we ascend. Speaking just for myself here: I have no desire nor intention in mastering all of this dark, controlling system crap. Zero. Nor does this make me more (or less) Spiritually “Mature” or ready to Ascend. I see it for what it is. It can “have its way”. I am choosing Different. I also do not believe I needed to experience suffering and trauma/pain and darkness in order to know love and freedom. Why? To begin with, I am Divine and thus it is my Vibrational Nature to BE Love and Freedom. Second, where I believe I came from, my time in Lemuria, was an experience OF love and freedom so I was well aware of this way of Being/Living and certainly did not need to experience the polar opposite in order to KNOW. Again, nonsense. Which is why I have continued to return here lifetime after lifetime in order to Remember all of this, to Remember the experiences of living in Lemuria, in order to RETURN to this way of Being and LIving… …which is why, I believe, so many of us are feeling “I want to go home.” We ARE going home. And naturally we want to! Who wouldn’t want to? Now I believe not all have continued on with the reincarnation cycle. I believe some have opted to be in other dimensions, on other planets, in order to help with the perfect alignment of energies in order for Gaia and Us to ascend at this time period. I have had the feeling a few times that I have had an incarnation on another planet. Perhaps I have. This time around, I believe we will all be Ascending in our own time period, when we are ready, hence the explanation above of how we are creating our own experience, our own timeline. It’s a CHOICE. I also do not believe Source or any other Being of Love would say “you have until this date to get it straight or else you will stay behind and continue to suffer.” Nope. The Divine doesn’t operate on that frequency bandwidth. I ain’t buying it. Or feeling it. That is duality with the energy vibe of a threat. While I believe there will be a lower vibrational earth frequency for those choosing, consciously or not, to remain in this energy space, I do believe the days of the archon control are over. Because we had our way of living stolen from us by these dark archons, who then set up a false energy grid to keep us enslaved, to keep us in this reincarnation trap, many of us have “chosen” to return again and again on this planet in order to make it to this point in history. I use the term “chosen” in quotes because while we have made the soulful and conscious choice to return to this 3D earth, there wasn’t much freedom or free will in that choice, certainly not in their most authentic of definitions. Let me say is this way: We were part of a horrible hostile takeover. And because we cared so much for not only one another but for our Gaia, our Home, we have returned time and time again to ensure we bring Her and Us back HOME. This has not been about lessons. This has not been about karma. This has been a mission of undying Love to make the Loving Choice – to provide and return Sovereignty and Freedom for All Lives. Period. And I can attest I have read many who have proclaimed they are not coming back to this cycle again. I am one of them. And we say this because we’re not going to have to. We have experienced darkness in a way that has been shocking, traumatic and beyond our level of comprehension. As such, we will not be fooled again. We can remain Loving and Powerful while also now being aware of what darkness is capable of it. I realize this is a long piece with a lot of information. I just felt this need to put it together, as jumbled as it may appear, and set it loose to you to provide some comfort (in case you are feeling fear that you aren’t doing it “right”) as well as to play a role, serve my Purpose, which is something I have been rather shy at in claiming – that I have a purpose in this Ascension process. One of my readers lovingly sensed this in me and shared with me that she believed I wasn’t aware how important I am in this Ascension mission at this time. Certainly I don’t have the following of many other Ascension websites and don’t receive channeled messages or have one of those science-based linear minds that talk of the science behind energy, dna and the like. But my intention has, since the onset of this website last fall, been to share my Truth as I see and feel it at the time. It has been a work of Love. And I deeply thank you, my readers, for believing in me and showing me your support in your own ways. I hope to see many of you in New Earth. What a grand party it will be! With Love~ Victoria New Earth Goddess

[peachhplum]

The perfect sleep retreat with Marks & Spencer

Call me crazy but when Marks & Spencer first invited me to a sleep retreat at the beautifully quirky Artist Residence Hotel in London, I almost said no. Not because I don't love M&S and not because I wasn't curious to get a glimpse of the uniquely designed rooms that I'd previously only had a chance to swoon over on Instagram, but because I don't find London particularly restful or retreat-like. Day or night, there's probably more people in Euston station than live in my entire village. I'm a country mouse. London's often a touch too fast-paced for me. I pop there for work now and again but rarely stay over. I prefer my nights peppered with the sounds of birds and the occasional car as opposed to full on traffic and revellers. Yep, I'm officially a bit boring, you can say it. However, curiosity got the better of me. As you probably know, sleep (or lack of) has been a hot topic in my house since October 2010 (wouldn't you know it, the same month my eldest was born) and I seem to be on a permanent quest for better bedding ... it's almost a hobby. With the first set of bedding I purchased for myself coming from M&S (a white duvet cover with embroidered daisies), I couldn't turn down the opportunity to learn more and experience a rare full night's sleep without cries of 'mama, mama, MAMA!' echoing down the hallway.

I arrived at Artist Residence with just enough time to drop my bag off in room 8, tucked away in the eaves on the third floor, have a quick look around, run my hand over the incredibly cosy M&S Dawson Check brushed cotton bedding, get changed and then spend five minutes in a bewildered state as to why no young children were shouting for snacks or whining that their brother was breathing too loudly. I no longer know what to do with myself when surrounded by silence. Is this true for all parents? It's very disorienting.

Dinner was served downstairs in The Club Room, and in keeping with the sleep theme, the menu was designed by nutritional therapist, Amelia Freer, with ingredients chosen specifically to aid a good night's sleep. I've long been aware of foods and drinks to avoid before going to bed, but I hadn't realised that certain things can actually encourage sleepy vibes. Healthy fats from olive oil, nuts and seeds, protein from fish and vegetables, and minimal refined sugar help support sleep and stop our blood sugar fluctuating during the night. Magnesium, found in fish such as haddock as well as nuts and seeds, helps to calm our minds so we can drift off. And melatonin, a hormone that sends signals to our brain telling it to go to sleep, as well as being naturally produced by our bodies, can also be found in foods such a sour cherries. Obviously, they're going to form a very large part of my children's diet from here on in!

M&S Sleep Retreat Menu designed by nutritional therapist Amelia Freer

WARM AUTUMN SALAD Heritage beetroot salad with goats cheese - OVEN BAKED HADDOCK Haddock with a spinach 'pesto' puree with butternut squash - MELATONIN TART Morello cherry frangipane tart - CHAI Warm chai with cashew milk

During dinner, Certified Sleep Coach Max Kirsten spoke to us about how to get a better night's sleep. With a table full of bloggers and Instagrammers who possibly spend a touch more time on their phones than an average person, he was quick to mention sensory overload and the glare from our screens being the main culprits when it comes to keeping us awake at night.  How many of us use our phones late at night and then as an alarm clock to wake us up in the morning? Max warns against this if you're struggling with sleep. The blue light emitted by our phones encourages our brains to stay alert. The yellow glow if you switch to 'night mode' is not quite as bad but phones are best left in another room and an old fashioned analog alarm clock a better investment to get good shut-eye. Something else I didn't know was quite how long coffee stays in your system. I never drink it late at night but Max suggests not having a cup after midday to avoid it having an impact on your sleep patterns. I always have a bit of a lull around 3pm that has me reaching for ALL the caffeine. I obviously need to find an alternative! And finally, Max mentioned something that had me shaking my head at not thinking about it sooner. To encourage the boys to sleep, they have a warm bath every night - our temperature reduces slightly in the evening which signals to our brain that it's time to sleep ... a warm bath helps this process - and then we lower the lights in their rooms to help them wind down. But do I do this for myself? No, I do not! To be honest, I rarely struggle to get to sleep but this sounds way more relaxing than running around doing EVERYTHING so that I'm basically exhausted come 10pm. Instead, I'm going to stop doing ALL the things at 9pm and spend an hour gradually winding down with a soak in the tub surrounded by ambient lighting rather than ultimately collapsing in heap on my bed.

After dinner, a few glasses of white wine and a highly unskilled game of ping pong with Dee Campling, I retired to my Egyptian cotton and Hungarian goose heaven. And despite being in London, my noise-fears were unfounded and I had an amazing night's sleep. Some might raise a quizzical eyebrow and suggest it was down to the wine but I think the secret might lie with Amelia's delicious menu, the This Works products kindly left in our rooms, and the incredibly soft and cloud-like M&S bedding.

I've always been a fan of M&S bedding ... well, of their homeware, in general, to be honest - they've always been able to tempt me with cushions that I never knew I needed ... the popcorn beauties on my bed are my latest crush. And this autumn, M&S bedding is having an upgrade ... one largely based on feedback from customers. The range is going to be 61 percent bigger with extended choice in colours, textures and fabrications. AND for you parents out there, get this, coming up from Spring Summer 2018 are innovative 'stay clean' duvets and pillows which promise to repel liquids. In your face, spilt drinks. I can't wait to put them to the test.

If you fancy creating your very own sleep retreat or stylish sanctuary, there are some amazing hints and tips on the M&S website. Take a look and let me know which is your favourite room. I think I like Kate's white washed waffle bedding the best!

This post was written in collaboration with M&S. Photos by Sam Mellish.