#I cannot even begin to imagine how the nations would handle that

[pedantic-coffee]

I still can't get over that so many of the Hetalia nations canonically look like twinks. Not that I'm against this part of canon. I love it. It's insane.

Imagine being thousands of years old, a veteran of several wars, probably killed by your own government at some point for refusing orders, have uncanny abilities tied to the very land you stand on that even you can't quite explain... And people keep asking you what college you attend.

I would, in fact, go apeshit.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

I already know this is going to be such a wild ask and I sincerely apologize but omg I’ve been a huge enjoyer of your blog and writing for awhile now (Thank you so much for posting all of your hard work!!🥺) and I just wanted to let you know that you are hands down the reason why I enjoy Suguru as much as I do! I never disliked him, I always thought he was interesting as a character and villain, not to mention v v pretty😳 but no matter what I could never find myself fully invested in him as a character by himself! In the past any interest I had was if it were an interaction between himself and Gojo but now????? After reading your writing??? I find myself getting mush brain anytime I think about Sugu, and it’s all because of how you write for him!!🥺

I’m no expert in writing or describing why certain things meld so well by any stretch of imagination, and I can’t even begin to coherently try to explain why your version of him works so well, I can just say that he feels so genuine and real! Even in his most twisted, wild, and angsty moments he is Suguru Geto, and I am experiencing this character as he was meant to be seen, read, and loved!

And ofc your writing lends itself wonderfully for everyone you write for! I found you first through your Gojo writing (All of which is still yummy and tasty and I always come back when I’m in need of comfort!🥺), but I will never forget reading your best friend! and Childhood friend! Sugu for the first time I was??? Floored from start to finish! To me at the very least, your writing is very tender but oh so unapologetic. The way you handle fluff and angst separately is impeccable, and when you bring them both together? Divine! I will rant and rave over all of your Gojo writing but there’s just SOMETHING in how the angst and quiet sweetness works so well for your Suguru that leaves me just?? So happy that I came to truly love and appreciate this character through your writing! I can feel how much you adore Sugu in everything you do and I am just??? So happy to love him as much as I do now!🥺

SPEAKING OF SUGU😳 I’ve read talk of a merman! AU and can I just say I am!!!! Fully on board😳 I cannot speak for everyone but when May/Summer comes around a button in my gnoggin gets pressed and suddenly all I can think about is Mermay and merfolk! There’s so much potential for the trope and the diverse ways in which characters can meet and learn about each other and themselves and so much else it’s just?? SO GOOD😳 It is curiosity and kindness at its core and I just!!! Go bonkers for that shit oml if you do decide to go through with writing for this Merman! idea please know it will slay so hard I fear we will never recover😌

(I wanted to talk about stsg with an aroace! reader as well but this ask is too long as is so all I will say is! That entire idea really hits close to home and it truly means a lot, it’s a very nice thought to think about and I enjoy seeing yours and others takes and ideas on the topic! <:))

I just want to apologize for letting this ask become such a behemoth, i knew i had a lot to say but I didn’t think it would be this much, i hope it doesn’t clog up your inbox or overwhelm you! ^^; but I hope it can at least meet you at a good time! I hope you have an amazing rest of your day/night, and please don’t feel pressured to respond if you’d rather not! <:)

anon………………………….

I CRIEDDDDDD I CRIED REAL TEARS YOU ARE SUCH A SWEETHEART???????? this ask made me SO happy pls never apologize for making it long….. i love long asks more than anything and this was just so heartfelt n kind ??? T—T have been feeling slightly burnt out lately so it rlly cheered me up!! tysm……… BUT AAAA we have sm to talk abt ….

FIRST OF ALLLLL ANON MY ANGEL??? i genuinely can’t express how overjoyed i am that i could convert u into a sugu stan LMAO like that’s??? the highest form of praise to me???? knowing my silly lil sugu fics could make u appreciate him as a character???? :’3 I’M SO HAPPY sugu nation could always use more followers….. we’re kind of a cult i think HE’S LOVELY ISN’T HE??? likeeee i love gojo just as much don’t get me wrong but i do also think sugu is the best jjk character. like. objectively. nothing beats him.

no but i really am so giddy that u enjoy my sugu fics!!! :’3 and the gojo fics too!!!! they’re my special little guys and i feel so lucky that i’m able to share my love for them w everyone else <33 and aaaaa …. anon i feel very overwhelmed rn BUT ONLY IN A GOOD WAY i’m just so touched by ur kind words!!! T—T knowing my sugu feels genuine and real to u means the world to me, i try my best to stay true to my own perception of his character while writing (whether it’s fluff or angst)… so i feel so relieved knowing it resonates w u :’3

To me at the very least, your writing is very tender but oh so unapologetic.

also…. anon……. you’re far too kind 😭😭😭 THIS IS SUCH A HEARTFELT COMPLIMENT IT MADE ME SWOON tysm …….. i think that i want my writing to feel tender above all else !!! so this is also so affirming to hear phdjdvz…….. ily. T_T

AND AND ANDDDD MER!SUGU!!!!! ohhh anon i’m so glad you’ve been enjoying my discussions abt him, i adore them sm !! 😭😭 it really feels like me and my anons have been building him up together and i’m so excited to write the fic and bring him to life!!! I HOPE IT WON’T DISAPPOINT i also love mermaids a whole bunch and i agree sm when u say the trope is just kindness at its core, the idea of a human and a mermaid loving each other when their worlds are so far apart… just. appreciating each other as individuals yk?? i’m planning to make that a very central theme of the fic, i’m not gonna spoil u but !! i have a lot of thoughts abt mer!sugu and people he might have met.. how they shaped the way he views humans and himself….. how much one little act of kindness can mean to a person. yeahhh that concept always makes me emotional i’m kinda tearing up…… u get it anon…………. T—T

ANDDDDDD AROACE!READER TOO………… i hope this isn’t too personal to ask but anon are u on the spectrum 👀👀👀 i’m assuming u are hehe, it’s always so heartwarming to talk to other aroace jjk fans!!!!! i think that especially in a fandom w so much smut it’s nice to be able to create a lil corner w/o it…… no hate towards smut obviously phsjdhd it’s just usually not to my taste so i’m very content to be running a sfw blog :33 and obv aroace!reader means a whole bunch to me, i’m so happy the concept is comforting to others too!! i firmly believe stsg would be great w an aroace!reader <333 (and i hc them both as being on the spectrum too)…. if u ever wanna talk abt them then feel free to send an ask in, i’d be more than happy to!!!!

but!!!! with all that being said!!!!! thank you so, so much for all your kind words 🥺🥺😥 this ask rlly did find me at the perfect time, you’re a sweetheart and i’m honoured that my fics can mean something to you <333 i’m hugging u tightly anon !! i hope you have a lovely day or night 🫂🫂 always remember that suguru geto loves u

[sandrasoutlook]

As I understand the economy slightly more, I recognize the obvious pivots we do as a country.

Less imports/trade, more self-production of food, more going green, not being wasteful etc. amerikkka will literally crash if we had to adapt to ways and minimal usages of another country. We can’t even handle temporary breaks on things like gas during a black out much less 2020 food shortages. The amount of people stating how homelessness and hunger increased during that time is wild.

Our country will ultimately fail us if they can’t get a grip. We as people are too selfish to sacrifice enough to rebalance ourselves. We Can’t even wear masks. Whether it truly be for our protection or not, consensus aside, we cannot be lead. Only advised at this point & there are those who will and do take advantage of that.

In order to begin a rebalance we will need to go through pain like inflation. There will be a rise in homelessness due to things like inflation and higher costs of living. Once a price goes up it’s hard to bring down.

Gas at $1.19 is a ridiculousness that feels great in the moment but is truly unsustainable.

Money cut one place will either come back LATER or ELSEWHERE. Right now, we are experiencing the LATER.

Before we felt the elsewhere.

I imagine another change after next presidency.

Who is even running besides T r u m p ?

Who I heard today (16th) isn’t even running but we’ll see if that’s true.

Would they allow a convicted felon to be part of the presidential race once again?

Media would have a field day .

I mean fireworks daily .

Another question if he’s so found guilty, does he only pay fines or go to jail or what because I’ve seen no mugshots and as of three days ago (13) he made a speech at his Trump national golf park in NJ.

According to the a Google.

Ron Desantis is up.

He’s been beefing with Disney apparently.

I just saw TODAY Disney’s CFO is stepping down.

Always something shady as Disney.

I saw a headline for an article something like “why don’t Disney movies have MOMs in them”. Honestly, it IS always like that !

Moms are probably their biggest purchasers.

Well of course, I have my theories.

[bailey-writes]

So You Want Your OC to be Jewish

So you’re writing a story and you want to make a Jewish character—great! I’m here to help. I always want more Jewish representation but I want good Jewish representation, so this is my attempt to make a guide to making a Jewish character. What are my credentials? I’m Jewish and have been my whole life. Obligatory disclaimer that this is by no means comprehensive, I don’t know everything, all Jews are different, and this is based on my experiences as an American Jew so I have no idea, what, if any, of this applies to non-American Jews. 

If there’s anything you want me to make a post going more into detail about or if there’s anything I didn’t mention but you want to know please ask me! I hope this is helpful :) Warning, this is long.

Jew PSA

If you are Jewish you can use the word Jew(s), e.g. “She’s dating a Jew.” If you are not Jewish you cannot use the word Jew(s). This is not up for debate. Non-Jews calling us Jews has a negative connotation at best. Don’t do it and don’t have your characters do it.

Basics, Plus My Random Thoughts that Didn’t Fit Anywhere Else

A confusing enduring issue is, what is Judaism? It’s a religion, but some Jews aren’t religious; is it a race? A nationality? A culture? A heritage? The only constant is that we are seen as “other.” There’s a lot of debate, which makes it confusing to be Jewish and as such it’s common for Jews to struggle with their Jewish Identity. However many people agree that Jews are an ethnoreligious group, aka Judaism is a religion and an ethnicity.

Temple/Synagogue/Shul = Jewish place of worship. Shul is usually used for Orthodox synagogues.

Keeping kosher = following Jewish dietary rules: meat and dairy can’t be eaten together and you can’t eat pork or shellfish. Fish and eggs are pareve (aka neutral) and can be eaten with meat or dairy (but again not both at the same time.) When eating meat it has to be kosher meat (e.g. kosher Jews are allowed to eat chicken, but not all chicken is kosher. I know it’s kinda confusing I’m sorry.) Kosher products in stores will have symbols on them to identify them as kosher. If someone is kosher they’ll probably have separate sets of utensils/plates/cookware/etc. for meat and dairy

Shabbat/Shabbos/Sabbath = holy day of the week, day of rest, lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Depending on observance Jews might have Shabbat dinner, attend Shabbat services, or observe the day of rest in its entirety (making them shomer Shabbat)

Someone who is shomer Shabbat will refrain from any of the prohibited activities. These can easily be looked up but include: working, writing, handling money, cooking, and using technology.

Bat/Bar/B’nai Mitvzah = tradition where a Jewish boy/girl becomes a man/woman. Celebrated at 13-years-old for boys, 12- or 13-years-old for girls. Girls have Bat Mitzvahs (bat means daughter in Hebrew), boys have Bar Mitzvahs (bar means son in Hebrew) and twins or two or more people having one together have a B’nai Mitzvah. They will study for this for months and then help lead services and, depending on observance level, read from the Torah. The ceremony is often attended by family and friends and followed with a celebration of sorts (in America usually this means a brunch and/or party.)

Goy/gentile = non-Jew. These words are not slurs, they are literally just words. Plural of goy is goyim and is a Yiddish word, plural of gentile is gentiles.

Jewish holidays follow the Hebrew calendar, meaning that according to the current solar/Gregorian calendar the dates of our holidays are different each year.

Jewish law recognizes matrilineal inheritance. This means that Jewish law states your mother has to be Jewish for you to be Jewish. This is because of reasons from biblical times that I can explain if you wanna come ask, but as you can imagine is a bit outdated. While Orthodox Jews might embrace this idea and only consider someone Jewish if their mom is Jewish, many Jews are more flexible on the idea (and yes, this does cause tension between Orthodox Jews and other Jews at times.)

Judaism =/= Christianity

Some people think Judaism is just Christianity without Jesus (some people don’t even realize we don’t believe in/celebrate Jesus so newsflash, we don’t) and that’s just wrong. Yes both religions share the Old Testament, so they also share some history and beliefs, but the entire ideologies of the religions are different. In brief, they are similar in some ways but are not the same.

What seems to me to be the biggest difference is that Christianity (from what I understand) has a heavy focus on sins, more specifically repenting for/gaining forgiveness for your sins. In Christianity you are born tainted by original sin. In Judaism we believe everyone is born pure and free from sin and everyone is made in God’s image. Judaism has some concept of sin, but doesn’t focus on them and instead focuses on performing Mitzvot (plural, singular form is mitzvah. Direct translation is “commandment” but basically means good deed or act of kindness. It also relates to the commandments, so following the commandments is also performing mitzvot.) Examples of mitzvot include anything from saying a prayer or lighting Shabbat candles to helping a stranger or donating to charity (called tzedakah). One of the main tenets of Judaism is tikkun olam, which directly translates to “repair the world” and means exactly what it says on the tin. Instead of focusing on being forgiven for doing bad Judaism focuses on doing good. The only day we focus on past wrongdoings is Yom Kippur, one of our most holy holidays, discussed below.

Holidays

Rosh Hashanah – The Jewish New Year, occurs around September and lasts for two days, though Reform Jews often only celebrate the first day. Day of happiness and joy, celebrated by eating sweet things for a “sweet new year” (often apples dipped in honey) and circular challah to represent the end of one year and beginning of another. Also celebrated with services and blowing the shofar (rams horn.) Some spend the day in prayer and/or silent meditation. Possible greetings: chag sameach (happy holiday; can be said on almost any holiday), Shana Tovah, or happy new year (which is what Shana Tovah means, some people just say it in English.)

Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement. Occurs ten days after the start of Rosh Hashanah. One of if not the most solemn day for Jews, but also the most holy. The day is spent reflecting on yourself and any past wrongdoings and atoning. The day (sundown the night before to sundown the day of) is spent fasting, a physical way of atoning. We do this in hopes of being “written in the Book of Life” and starting the year with a clean slate. The shofar is blown at the end of the holiday. Most Jews will end the fast with a grand meal with family and friends. Most common greeting is “have an easy fast,” but happy new year is still appropriate.

Sukkot – Celebrates the harvest, occurs on the fifth day after Yom Kippur and lasts seven days. Celebrated by building a temporary hut outdoors called a sukkah and having meals inside it, as well as shaking palm fronds tied together (called a lulav) and holding a citrus called an etrog. Very fun and festive holiday. Possible greetings include chag sameach or Happy Sukkot.

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah – Some Jews (mostly Reform Jews and Jews living in Israel) combine both holidays into one day while some celebrate them as two separate days. Either way they occur immediately after Sukkot. Shemini Atzeret is similar but separate from Sukkot and features a prayer for rain; Sukkot is not mentioned in prayers and the lulav isn’t shaken but you do eat in the sukkah. Simchat Torah celebrates finishing reading the Torah, which we will then begin again the next day. It’s a festive holiday with dancing and fun. Some Temples will roll the entire Torah out and the children will run under it. Appropriate greeting for both would be chag sameach.

Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah are referred to as the High Holidays.

Chanukah – We all know about Chanukah, celebrating the reclaiming of the Second Temple and the miracle of the oil lasting eight days. The most represented Jewish Holiday there is. Unfortunately it’s one of the least significant holidays for us. Occurs around November or December and lasts eight days and nights. Celebrated by lighting candles in the Menorah each night with a prayer and kids usually get gifts each night. Also celebrated with spinning tops called dreidels, fried foods like doughnuts (sufganiyot in Hebrew; usually the jelly filled ones) and potato pancakes called latkes. Greetings: happy Chanukah or chag sameach.

Tu B’Shevat – Birthday of the trees, basically Jewish Arbor Day. Minor but fun holiday, sometimes celebrated by planting trees. Occurs around January or February.

Purim – Celebrates how Queen Esther of Persia defeated Haman and saved her people, the Jews. Occurs in Spring. Festive holiday traditionally celebrated by dressing in costumes, eating sweets, and giving tzedakah (it’s also technically commanded you get drunk so woohoo!) Whenever Haman’s name is mentioned you make a lot of noise, booing and using noisemakers called groggers. Greetings: happy Purim, chag Purim, or chag sameach.

Passover/Pesach – Celebrates the Jews being freed from slavery in Egypt. Occurs in Spring and lasts eight days. The first two nights (some only celebrate the first night) are celebrated with seder, a ritual meal with certain foods, practices, prayers, and readings from a book called the Haggadah and often attended by family and friends. Most famous prayer/song of the holiday is the four questions, which ask why that night is different from all other nights and is traditionally sung by the youngest child at the seder. The entire holiday is spent not eating certain foods, mostly grain or flour (the food restrictions are complicated and differ based on denomination so look it up or ask a Jew.) We eat a lot of matzah during Pesach, which is like a cracker kinda. I personally hate it but some people actually like it. Greetings: happy Passover, chag pesach, or chag sameach.

Tisha B’Av – Anniversary of the destruction of the Temple. Occurs in Summer. Very sad, solemn day. Some celebrate by fasting from sunrise to sunset. Not the most widely celebrated holiday. Some also commemorate the Holocaust (also called the Shoah) on this day as it was the destruction of a figurative temple.

Denominations

There are a bunch of denominations in Judaism, we’ll go into it briefly.

Religious denominations:

Reform/Reformed: This is the least religiously observant level. Often Reform Jews don’t keep kosher or observe Shabbat, their services on Shabbat will use instruments. Reform Jews probably attend services for the high holidays at the very least and probably had a Bat/Bar Mitzvah. Might say they consider themselves more culturally Jewish. Their Temple/Synagogue will be the most “liberal”—aka have more female/diverse Rabbis and a more diverse congregation. I’m Reform and my Temple’s lead Rabbi is a woman and we used to have a Rabbi who’s a queer single mother.

Conservative: More religiously observant and more generally traditional. Might keep kosher or observe Shabbat, but not necessarily. Services likely won’t use instruments (not supposed to play instruments on Shabbat). Most likely had a Bat/Bar Mitzvah, but girls might not read from the Torah, though this depends on the congregation. They do allow female Rabbis, but in my experience it’s less common.

Modern Orthodox: Very religiously observant but also embrace modern society. Will keep kosher and observe Shabbat. Men will wear kippot (singular=kippah) and tzitzit under their shirts. Women will cover their hair (if they’re married), most likely with a wig, and wear modest clothing (only wear skirts that are at least past their knees and long sleeves). Emphasis on continued study of Torah/Talmud. Parents will likely have jobs. Might have larger families (aka more children) but might not. Services will be segregated by gender, girls won’t read from the Torah publicly, and female Rabbis are very rare. Children will most likely attend a religious school. Will attend shul services every Shabbat and for holidays.

note: there are some people who fall somewhere between modern Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox, or between any two denominations really. as you can imagine people don’t all practice the exact same way.

Ultra-Orthodox: Very religiously observant and not necessarily modern. Will keep kosher and observe Shabbat. Men will wear kippot or other head coverings and tzitzit under their shirts, and are also often seen wearing suits. Women will cover their hair (if they’re married) with a wig or scarf and wear modest clothing (only wear skirts that are at least past their knees and long sleeves). Emphasis on continued study of Torah/Talmud. Men might have jobs but might instead focus on Jewish studies, while women most often focus on housework and child-rearing. Don’t believe in contraception (but this is kinda nuanced and depends). Will often have very large families because having children is a commandment and helps continue the Jewish people. Might be shomer negiah which means not touching members of the opposite sex aside from their spouse and some close family members. Services will be segregated by gender, girls won’t read from the Torah publicly, and there won’t be female Rabbis. Children will attend a religious school. Will attend shul services every Shabbat and for holidays.

Ethnic denominations (the different denominations do have some differences in practices and such but tbh I don’t know much about that so this is just the basics):

Ashkenazi: Jews that originate from Central/Eastern Europe. Yiddish, a combination of Hebrew and German, originated from and was spoken by Ashkenazim and while it’s a dying language it’s spoken among many Orthodox Jews and many Jews of all levels know/speak some Yiddish words and phrases. Majority of Jews worldwide are Ashkenazi.

Sephardi/Sephardic: Jews that originate from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and southeastern Europe. Ladino, a combination of Old Spanish and Hebrew, originated from and was spoken by Sephardim. It is also a dying language but is still spoken by some Sephardim. After Ashkenazi most of the world’s Jews are Sephardic.

Mizrahi: Jews that originate from the Middle East and North Africa.

Ethiopian Jews: Community of Jews that lived in Ethiopia for over 1,000 years, though most have immigrated to Israel by now.

Stereotypes/Tropes/Controversies/Etc.

There are so many Jewish stereotypes and shit and I ask you to please be mindful of them. Stereotypes do exist for a reason, so some people will fit stereotypes. This means your character might fit one or two; don’t make them fit all of them. Please. Stereotypes to keep in mind (and steer away from) include:

All Jews are rich.

All Jews are greedy.

All Jews are cheap/frugal.

All Jews are [insert job here]. We’ll go into this more below.

All Jews hate Christians/Muslims/etc.

All Jews are white. 

First of all Ethiopian and Mizrahi Jews exist, many Sephardi are Hispanic, and today with intermarriage and everything this just isn’t true.

All Jews have the same physical features: large and/or hooked nose, beady eyes, droopy eyelids, red hair (this is an old stereotype I didn’t really know existed), curly hair.

Many Jews do have somewhat large noses and curly hair. I’m not saying you can’t give these features to your characters, but I am saying to be careful and don’t go overboard. And don’t give all of your Jewish characters these features. As a side note, it is common at least among American Jews that girls get nose jobs. Not all, but some.

Jews are secretly world elite/control the world/are lizard people/new world order/ any of this stuff. 

STAY AWAY FROM. DO NOT DO THIS OR ANYTHING LIKE THIS. If you have a character that’s part lizard, do not make them Jewish. If you have a character that’s part of a secret group that controls the entire world, do not make them Jewish.

Jews have horns. If you have characters with horns please don’t make them Jewish.

Jews killed Jesus.

The blood libel. Ew. No.

The blood libel is an antisemitic accusation/idea/concept that back in the day Jews would murder Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals and sometimes even for consumption (did I mention gross?) Not only did this just not happen, but it’s actually against Jewish law to murder, sacrifice, or consume blood. Yes these accusations really happened and it became a main reason for persecution of Jews. And some people still believe this shit.

Jews caused The Plague.

The reason this conspiracy exists is because many Jews didn’t get The Plague and the goyim thought that meant it was because the Jews caused it/cursed them. The real reason Jews didn’t get it is because ritual hand-washing and good hygiene kept them from getting it. Sorry that we bathe.

Jewish mother stereotype.

Ok, listen. I know stereotypes are mostly a bad thing but I have to admit the Jewish mother stereotype is not far off. Jewish moms do tend to be chatty and a little nagging, are often very involved in their children’s lives, and they are often trying to feed everyone (although they don’t all cook, my mom hates cooking.) They also tend to be big worriers, mostly worrying about their family/loved ones. They also tend to know everyone somehow. A twenty minute trip to the grocery store can turn into an hour or two long trip because she’ll chat with all the people she runs into.

Jewish-American Princess (JAP) ((I know calling Japanese people Japs is offensive. Jews will call girls JAPs, but with a completely different meaning. If that’s still offensive I am sorry, but just know it happens.))

This is the stereotype that portrays Jewish girls/women as spoiled brats basically. They will be pampered and materialistic. Do these girls exist? Definitely. I still recommend steering away from this stereotype.

Names

Listen. Listen. There are some names that Jews just won’t have. I won’t speak in definites because there are always exceptions but you’ll rarely find a Jew named Trinity or Grace or Faith or any form of Chris/Christopher/Christina etc. Biblical names from the Old Testament? Absolutely Jews will have those names they’re actually very common.

I’m in a Jewish Sorority. My pledge class of ~70 girls had five Rebeccas and four Sarahs. Surprisingly only one Rachel though.

When it comes to last names I have two thoughts that might seem contradictory but hear me out: a) give your Jewish OC’s Jewish surnames, b) don’t give your Jewish OC’s the most Jewish surname to ever exist.

By this I mean I would much rather see a character named Sarah Cohen or Aaron Levine than Rachel Smith. Just that little bit of recognition makes a happy exclamation point appear over my head, plus it can be a good way to hint to readers that your OC is Jewish.

On the other hand, please don’t use the most stereotypical Jewish names you’ve ever heard. If you have five Jewish OCs and one of them is Isaac Goldstein then fine. If Isaac Goldstein is your only Jewish OC I might get a little peeved. There are tons of common Jewish surnames that are recognizable and easy to look up, so don’t revert to the first three that come to mind. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it yucky, for lack of a better word.

Jobs

We all know there are certain jobs that are stereotypical for Jews to have. We’re talking lawyer, dentist, doctor, banker type stuff. To an extent these stereotypes exist for a reason, many Jews go into those careers. Do not make these the only careers your Jewish OCs have. Stereotypes might have reasoning behind them but it doesn’t mean they aren’t harmful. If you have multiple Jewish OCs some of them can have these careers, but not all of them. I do know a lot of Jewish lawyers, dentists, and doctors. I also know accountants, people involved in businesses (“mom, what does Brad do?” “he’s a businessman” sometimes there just aren’t more specific words), people involved in real estate. I don’t actually know any bankers personally, and with money and stuff being one of the most common and harmful Jewish stereotypes I would suggest steering away from that.

These are common fields for Jews, but Jews can have literally any job. Please feel free to get creative. And if you have more than one Jewish OC you can think about making one of them a Rabbi, but DON’T do this if they’re the only Jewish OC. Please.

Yiddish

So I mentioned Yiddish earlier. Like I already said, it’s not a very widely used language anymore but there are some words and phrases that are still used by a lot of Jews (in America at least.) Here’s a list that is absolutely not comprehensive:

Oy vey = oh no

Shvitzing = sweating (but not just a little bit. Shvitzing is like SWEATING)

Kvetch/kvetching = whine/whining or complain/complaining

Mazel tov = congratulations; this is the same in Yiddish and Hebrew

Chutzpah = nerve or gall (e.g. “He’s got a lot of chutzpah for breaking up over text like that”)

Kismet = fate; I just learned this is Yiddish

Bubbe and Zayde = grandma and grandpa

Schelp/schlepping = drag/dragging, can also mean carry or move (e.g. “I had to schlep the bag all around town” doesn’t mean they literally dragged it)

Schmutz = dirt or something dirty (e.g. “you have schmutz on your face”)

Schmatta = literally means rag but can be used to refer to ratty blankets or clothes

Plotz = collapse (usually used in the sense of “I’m so tired I might plotz” or “she’s gonna be so excited she’s gonna plotz”)

Schmuck/shmendrick = both mean more or less the same, a jerk or obnoxious person

Shtick = gimmick, routine, or act (can be used like (“I don’t like that comedian’s shtick” or “he always makes himself the center of attention it’s his shtick”)

Spiel = long speech, story, or rant

There’s so many more so look them up and think about using them, but don’t overdo it. A Jewish person isn’t gonna use a Yiddish word in every sentence (or even every day or every few days.)

Israel

In my community at least it’s very common that by the time your college-aged that you’ll have been to Israel at least once.

Israel is a controversial topic within the Jewish community and in the world. It’s sensitive and complex. I really, really suggest not getting into it. Just don’t bring it up because no matter what you say someone will be unhappy. Just don’t do it.

Ashkenazi Disorders

Ashkenazi Jews have some sucky genes (I’m Ashkenazi so I can say this, you cannot.) These sucky genes cause certain disorders to be more prevalent for us. Children only get the disorder if both parents are carriers of the disorder, so Jews usually get genetic testing done before having children. If both parents are carriers the risk of the child getting the disorder is high, so parents might reconsider or have some indecisiveness/fear. Some of these are:

Tay-Sachs

Cystic Fibrosis

Canavan Disease

Familial Dysautonomia

Gaucher Disease

Spinal Muscular Atrophy  

Fanconi Anemia

Mucolipidosis IV

Niemann-Pick Disease

Torsion Dystonia

Bloom Syndrome

Ashkenazi Jews also have a high prevalence of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer in women and increase the risk of breast and prostate cancer in men.

Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Lactose Intolerance are also very prevalent

In a dorm of like 40 Jews, six of them had Crohn’s.

Ways to Show Your OC is Jewish

Wears Jewish jewelry, e.g. Star of David (also called Jewish Star and Magen David), Chai symbol (means life), jewelry with Sh’ma prayer, or hamsa (but beware this symbol is used outside of Judaism).

Mentions their temple, their Rabbi, having a Bat/Bar Mitzvah, going to Hebrew School, Shabbat, or a holiday coming up.

Have someone ask them a question about Judaism.

Have someone notice they have a mezuzah on their door. 

Most Jews will have a mezuzah on the doorframe of the front door of their house/apartment, but they could even have one for their dorm room or whatever. It’s traditional to kiss your hand then touch the mezuzah when walking through the door, but most Jews don’t do this every time, at least not most Reform or Conservative Jews.

Have them call out antisemitism if you’re feeling spicy

The end! I hope this helped and if you have any questions my ask box is always open!

[nix-movingout]

New Beginings

A list of things that was wildly new to me when I started researching for my masters, needed help with and many things useful for kids applying for colleges as well:

· There are colleges with more study options than we regularly hear about and some of them are even wildly exciting. Although not every parent would agree with your options, KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO STUDY. Don’t let anyone else make that decision for you.

· As controversial as evening colleges, gap years and underrated subjects are, don’t hesitate to choose for yourself if that is what you need. Not everyone needs to have a degree in a STEM subject before choosing a masters of their choice or choosing a completely different career path.

· Research scholarships and grants. There are more than we can imagine, and numerous organizations other than mainstream that fund for you co-scholastic skills as well or depending on your nationality, ethnicity or religion-caste.

· Marks aren’t everything. Not every college demands that their students have top grades, but also to possess different skills, interests, hobbies and qualities. However, this DOES NOT mean that really bad grades get you accepted. Unless the colleges are, in rare circumstances, greedy and accept students with extra fees, basic acceptable grades are required in almost every college.

· Personal research is essential. Sure someone else can choose and decide for you, but as a young adult it is completely necessary for you to research what kind of colleges are in your vicinity, the subjects you want study, their curriculums, evaluate costs and many more things.

· Knowledge of finances is something we all have to learn and keep up to. Most households have a tendency to keep kids, and sometimes, girls out of money matters. Knowing more will only help us manage better, organize and make an efficient plan.

· Have experience with basic legal matters. Like getting a driver’s license, having a passport, going to the bank for transactions, how to pay taxes, knowledge of loans and credit cards, how to rent an apartment, how to get your vehicle fixed, etc.

· Confidence in yourself that you can do it. Honestly, the first thing I built myself on is that I can handle this and decide to plan it methodically. I cannot imagine doing everything and then not having the nerve while taking the big step to move out to study or otherwise. I’ve had a friend freak out because it all happened too fast and I saw them struggle alone.

· Find a friend or a senior or anyone who has done this before. Hearing out their experience makes it better for you as a confidence booster and helps you plan more neatly. Try getting to someone who’s studied the same field as you. I had enough trouble to find a humanities graduate to tell me how they did it all, as I grew up in a community full of people always pursuing STEM subjects.

· Keep in track of the deadlines for the applications and map out what you want to get done by when. Pushing the planning and execution of the whole process to the end only makes it more stressful and causes a time crunch. Some people plan it for years, while some for at least an year to be prepared sufficiently. I started out a rough plan years ago, but I’m only getting into the details months in advance. I’d have done it earlier if not for the situation I was in.

· Know how to speak the local language, at least the basics, when going to a different place to study. Interacting with the locals and finding your community would make your experience infinitely better and more memorable.

[thetpot]

Hello and happy ffwf! What is a fic you have been wanting to write for a long time that you haven't had the chance to start? What's an idea for a scene or dialogue that you want to include in it? Feel free to jot down a little snippet or just describe your thoughts! 💕💕

ooh, this question only has one answer. i want to write another long-form zukaang fic with a side of roku/sozin, that deals with aang and zuko finding a chamber under the caldera that sozin built specifically for himself and roku. it's a heavy fic idea that would bring aang intimately in contact with sozin's most private journals during the time he was planning and leading the genocide against the airbenders. so aside from the eternally interesting question of how do zuko and aang resolve the complexities of the fire nation's legacy to find their way to one another, it would also deal with sozin's relationship with roku, how it began as friendship, morphed into love, and as roku moved against him, twisted into possession and obsession. i want to write something for roku and sozin that fits within the canon timeline and doesn't change the outcome of anything, so i envision it as an extremely passionate, life-ruining kind of love that offers an alternative explanation for why roku handled sozin the way he did. this fic idea was singlehandedly birthed by the episode 'the avatar and the firelord', and the possibilities have lived rent-free in my mind ever since. the PARALLELS, the inherent drama, i live for it.

the reason i haven't started this fic yet in earnest is because i know it's going to be a VERY long boi and i simply don't have the energy, time and patience for it. i also want to be careful about how i center the fire nation characters in this story, because writing about aang, his pain and his loss is central to this story. tbh, the zukaang elements might end up being the least important part of the whole story. it's something that'll require a fair bit of research and empathy to execute. for all that after the flame, a pause deals with the impacts of politics+history on zuko and aang's relationship, it is nothing compared in scope to what i envision for this fic.

i had about 30k words of this fic written before i realized the scope of it and ended up splitting it into after the flame, a pause. this is one of the scenes from the original draft when after the flame, a pause was just a baby fic inside this larger one. 

Zuko looked at Aang and Aang looked back at him, his mouth open as if he was just about to speak. At that moment, he would have been glad for the earth to start rumbling around them, for the volcano they were in the heart of to start erupting - anything, really, to move them from this moment to the next. But nothing came and they both turned to stare at the statue again.

"Is that who I think it is?" Aang said weakly, a question and somehow also a statement.

"Roku and Sozin," Zuko said, just to make sure he wasn't the only one seeing it.

Aang laughed strangely. "I was hoping you saw someone different."

"Yeah," Zuko said simply, because he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"I should talk to Roku."

"And say what?" Zuko said with a weak laugh. "This is weird."

Out of the corner of his eye, Aang threw him a nervous glance. "Which part?"

"The part where there's a sculpture of my great-grandfathers kissing. Roku is your past life," Zuko said and then shook his head hard at the words he was speaking. "This is weird."

Aang made a sound that could barely pass as a laugh. "I feel like we shouldn't be looking at this. I mean, they're naked and all."

"I think that's the least objectionable part of all of this, but you're right," Zuko said.

Aang airbended the sheet back onto the sculpture and Zuko took several steps away, rubbing at his eyes. The low shelves running through half the length of the room were piled with scrolls. There wasn't a single empty spot in sight. If they'd been looking for secrets, they'd certainly found them but this was something else. Sozin had outlawed homosexuality in his time and it was a policy Zuko had dismantled in his time, but only in name. It took a lot more than just a law to change one hundred years of Sozin's legacy. To find a sculpture like this, kept deliberately secret, surrounded by scrolls full of who knew what, Zuko couldn't begin to imagine the implications. If this depicted some truth.

Even years later, he remembered the words Sozin had written in his last will and testament. Close to death, he'd written only about Roku. And what he'd done to him to ensure the Fire Nation's expansion.

Aang was still staring at the base of the covered sculpture, a frown on his face. "It's dated 27 years before the war began. And it has Sozin's name on it."

Zuko took a moment to count. "Sozin was 55 then."

"But they're much younger than 55 here."

"Maybe it's… artistic interpretation of a memory," Zuko said, feeling ridiculous even as he said it.

A sheepish look returned to Aang's face. "I can't ask Roku about this."

"You don't have to. I'm sure there's something here that's worse than this," Zuko said, trying to keep his tone light but the words fell flat into the space between them.

There were crates neatly stacked against the walls in this corner and a long marble tabletop, also covered by a sheet. Aang edged away from it and closer to Zuko. "Maybe we should take a look at some of the scrolls instead."

Zuko nodded and surveyed the rest of the room. This place had been set aside like a tomb and yet, it felt so lived in, so meticulously designed with an eye to both form and function that it felt alive. It wasn't like the tunnels outside and above, where the earth pressed in close and sound vanished as soon as it was uttered. It was like a room plucked from the Palace and nestled deep into the earth. And yet, locked behind a series of doors only an Avatar could unlock. But which one had Sozin meant it for?

Aang moved over to the living area and Zuko stuck close by, eyeing everything around them. There was a beautifully constructed bed here, next to two comfortable chairs and a low table. On the table, there was an arrangement of writing implements and in the center, next to a stack of blank paper, a bound and sealed scroll.

Aang stared at the scroll, his face progressing through a complicated series of expressions, giving the overall effect of a horrible stomach ache. Zuko reached over to pick it up but before he could grab it, Aang had already snatched it up and ripped it open. He began to read aloud, his voice pinched and rushed.

As death draws closer, I leave this chamber standing, not by choice but out of necessity. It seemed a grand idea when Roku and I first conceived of it, in the those bright few months we shared together, a place entirely and solely our own. But I see now the error I made in nestling our memories so close to home, in a place where only Roku could remove them from under the earth without bringing the catacombs crashing down on it, and the city too, eventually.

These scrolls and trophies, I leave for you to find, whoever you are. If you are the Avatar, as I hope, then I bid you welcome. I failed in my mission to find you and if I am to speak the truth I've never spoken to Azulon, if I did not succeed, he also will not. What mettle his descendants have, I cannot say from this vantage in time. If you are the Avatar, then we have lost, although defeat is also hard to conceive of. But I've lived a long life and I have seen plenty I once thought impossible.

I could have burned all of this in my final days in this realm, but consider it a gift. You will find plenty here that is close to your heart and familiar to your spirit. 

And if you are not the Avatar, then count it my final mistake leaving such treasures undefended.

[scarletlich]

Ancient Chinese Morality and the Lan Sect

Mostly in the context of Mo Dao Zu Shi, although you could apply this to other wuxia/xianxia as well.

I’ve seen a lot of people pointing out the so-called “hypocrisy” of the Lan Sect, with two main examples: Lan Wangji’s punishment, and allowing the destruction of the Wen Sect. I would argue that by ancient Chinese morality standards, the Lan Sect remained perfectly righteous throughout. Just as you should not apply modern morality to a medieval fantasy story (I don’t know or remember GOT very well but imagine getting mad at Ned Stark for being a murderer), you should not apply modern Western morality to a wuxia/xianxia/xuanhuan story.

Let’s start with Lan Wangji’s punishment, since that’s somewhat easier to address. First of all, recall that Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren specifically selected thirty-three elders who had watched Lan Wangji grow up and cared about him. Even with his ridiculous cultivation level, there is no way that Lan Wangji could severely injure thirty-three elders who were actually out to get him -- even by sheer numbers they would overwhelm him. Clearly they were unwilling to hurt him.

Now you might think this is a bit self-contradictory. After all, they did hurt him by punishing him! Quite badly! Recall that plenty of people saw Lan Wangji drag Wei Wuxian off, postponing the latter’s death by three months. The other sects simply let the Lan Sect handle the matter internally, trusting in them to see justice done. The Lan Sect couldn’t do nothing -- they had to give the other sects some kind of exchange.

In other stories of this genre, (and often on characters without the protagonist halo) characters could be executed or kicked out of the sect for injuring an elder (let alone thirty-three, and after helping a mass murderer escape punishment). And when someone is kicked out of the sect, they are erased from the family records and have their cultivation base destroyed so they cannot use the skills the sect taught them to continue to do evil (that would be bad for the sect’s reputation also). So the thirty-three strikes from the discipline whip are enough to keep the other sects from complaining that the punishment was too light and Gusu Lan is protecting its own over enacting justice, while at the same time causing minimal harm to Lan Wangji and his reputation. The three years of seclusion further assisted in this -- rumors die down when the subject isn’t around, and Lan Wangji already has two decades of impeccable reputation behind him. Three years gave him and the cultivation world time to heal, so that everyone could more or less forget about what happened. In addition, while seclusion sucks from a mental health perspective, I would argue it would be worse for Lan Wangji to be out in the world constantly hearing about how much Wei Wuxian was hated and how glad everyone was about his death. Three years later, everything had more or less blown over, and gossipers had moved on to more recent topics.

(Sidenote: The Lan Sect was also VERY kind to Su She, and look how he repaid them... by using their cultivation methods to do evil.)

Now let’s talk about the Lan Sect’s response to the situation with the Wen remnants.

There’s a saying that comes from a book describing propriety (《礼记》, specifically 《礼记·曲礼上第一》) that explains attitudes toward revenge.

父之讎，弗与共戴天；兄弟之讎，不反兵；交游之讎，不同国。

With the murderer of your father, you should not exist under the same sky; with the murderer of your brother, you should not return to grab a weapon; with the murderer of your friend, you should not exist in the same nation (without trying to kill them).

Wen Ruohan killed Nie Mingjue’s father, so Nie Mingjue did everything in his power to kill Wen Ruohan. But on his way to take revenge, he also killed many Wens, some of whom most definitely had sons. Nie Mingjue is allowed to get his revenge, and so are they. This can create a cycle of grudges, until many generations down the line two major families have deep grievances between them, and yet no one remembers the origin. The cycle only ends when one side is completely destroyed, and no one remains to take revenge. So taking out all the Wens at the beginning could be argued as the best method, since it minimizes casualties. By cutting off the cycle at the start, the least number of people suffer and die. (Yes, this is a bit counterintuitive.) How were the Jin or the Lan to know that the Wen remnants didn’t plan on taking revenge? By all rights they should be honor-bound to. Perhaps they should have eliminated them in a less cruel way, but if anything that makes Wei Wuxian the worst offender since he definitely went quite far in killing Wen Chao, and did far worse than the Jins did to the Wen remnants.

In this way, the Lans were still quite righteous. They did not participate much in the elimination of the Wen remnants, but for the reasons I described they could hardly argue against such an action.

(Sidenote: You may remember Xue Yang’s extermination of the Chang Clan. Xiao Xingchen is generally considered one of the most just and kind characters in the series, with the least war crimes (by modern Western standards) under his belt. Yet even he said, if Chang Ci’an cut off your finger, then you should cut off his finger! Or if you are still angry, cut off his arm! Or kill him! But why did you kill his entire family? So there’s an in-canon example of revenge for you.)

Let’s take another angle. One of the most severe punishments the Emperor could carry out in ancient China was called 株连九族, I think this is translated as “nine exterminations”. It’s only been carried out a few times in history, and is usually as a consequence of treason or plotting treason. The perpetrator, their entire extended family (so this includes servants), their teachers and students, and sometimes even neighbors are executed. I think upwards of three thousand people can be executed.

(Sidenote: this is why there’s a saying that accepting students 收徒 or studying under a master 拜师 are not casual decisions -- if you choose incorrectly you could lose your head!) 

By contrast, the allied sects were quite lenient on the Wens -- they really only went after the main family. And while what the Wens did isn’t really “treason”, I would argue it’s worse than a single traitor trying to kill the Emperor. But the assembled sects didn’t even go after their servants, the minor sects that were their “co-conspirators”, or any of the huge multitude of people who were affiliated with the Wens. By Ancient Chinese standards, they were quite lenient (which is, again, odd to think about).

My main point is, most people who complain about how “hypocritical” the Lan Sect are miss the point. “Righteousness” by modern Western standards is not the same as “righteousness” by ancient Chinese fantasy standards. I hope that Western fans can consider that, just as you do not judge works such as Lord of the Rings by modern morality standards, you should not judge Mo Dao Zu Shi by modern Western morality standards.

[mrlnsfrt]

Elijah and The Widow

This post is part two of our Becoming Elijah series. You can read and listen to part 1 here.

Brief Review

If you were simply reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation in order the first time you would become aware of Elijah would be in 1 Kings 17. He bursts into the story unannounced with a message of judgment from God. This message was also a direct challenge to Baal, the god many were beginning to worship who supposedly brought rain.

Elijah faithfully delivers the short message and God tells him to run and hide by a brook. We do not know how long Elijah was hiding but during that time he was fed by ravens twice a day and drank water from the brook. As time goes by, days, weeks, months, years perhaps, the water level at the brook continually drops, making it increasingly difficult for Elijah to drink from it. Eventually, the brook dries up because there has been no rain in the land.

Emotional Impact

I invite you to place yourself in the shoes of Elijah for a moment. Imagine being faithful to God and doing exactly as you’re told, only to have life continually become more and more difficult. Elijah finds himself hiding in the wilderness, in isolation because he is a wanted man. We do not know how long he was living by the brook or how comfortable his accommodations were. I imagine they were not the most comfortable he had ever experienced in his life. Life was hard. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be isolated for long periods of time. I know it is good to spend time alone in nature, but I have to admit I do not find it easy to do.

However, Elijah is not the first or the last person God called or caused to spend some time in a wilderness. Moses fled from Egypt and spend 40 years caring for sheep (Acts 7:23-30, Exodus 3:1). David spent years in the wilderness as well, caring for sheep (1 Samuel 16:11-13; 17:15, 20); and avoiding King Saul (1 Samuel 22:1-2, 23:14; 24:1, etc.). In the New Testament, we have Jesus being led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1). Apparently, God uses wilderness experiences to equip His servants for service. The question then becomes are we willing to go through that training. When God sends us to the wilderness, do we spend time there learning what God wants to teach us, or do we give up and walk away?

How often are we in a hurry to do something great for God and in that hurry we fail to be properly equipped for the task He is calling us to do? Could we be struggling today because we avoided the wilderness experience, or perhaps are we currently living our wilderness experience?

Maybe COVID has caused you to feel like you’re all alone, so even though you may be living in a city, in your own home, you feel alone, isolated, and abandoned by God?

Is God trying to teach you something? Can God bring some good out of this situation? What can we learn from our wilderness experience? Instead of becoming bitter and angry towards God, what if we take this moment to reconnect with God and more intentionally seek His will?

Spending time in the wilderness is not comfortable, but it can be very beneficial for our souls. Taking a break, slowing down, having to deal with the discomfort and challenges, and hardships that accompany being in the wilderness can be a blessing in the life lessons we learn and the insights we gain about God and life. Our time in the wilderness can be a time of learning and growth even if it seems like a waste of time.

But how long do we have to stay in the wilderness? God lets us know.

The Word of the LORD came

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” - 1 Kings 17:8-9 NKJV

We are tempted to believe that God is either not paying attention or that He does not have a plan simply because He does not make all the details of His plan available to us from the very beginning. God told Elijah to go hide by the Brook Cherith and Elijah obeyed. But God did not tell Elijah how long he was supposed to stay there. Maybe Eliah thought he would be there the whole time, maybe Elijah did not expect the drought to last as long as it had. Perhaps Elijah was tempted to believe God had forgotten about him, except he knew that God remembered because his food was provided twice a day every day. How would you have felt if you were in a similar situation? On the one hand, there is a clear sign that God is providing for your needs, in Elijah’s case the ravens bringing him food each day. On the other hand, there is a problem you see looming on the horizon, and you feel like God is not doing anything about it. In Elijah’s case the water level of the brook continues to drop, every day it gets more difficult for him to drink from the brook until it’s dry.

Only then the word of the LORD comes to Elijah.

You could argue that God didn’t tell Elijah anything earlier because it was not like Elijah could do anything about it anyway. But are we comfortable with that? Can our faith handle not knowing all the details? Can our faith survive waiting until the last minute before God reveals to us what the next step should be? Can we trust in God solely based on what He has already done for us, based on what He is doing for us? Is our faith strong enough to survive not knowing everything?

I am not talking about blind faith. I am talking about an informed faith, but a faith that does not have all the details concerning everything. Personally, I find it challenging. It is humbling when I get asked questions and I have to say that I don’t know, that it’s unclear, or that the Bible is silent on it. But I still find this healthier than coming up with personal theories and reading them into the biblical text or even into the will of God. By this I mean I would rather say I don’t know than to say that my personal theory is what God is going to do, or is doing when God has not made it clear. I hope we can all learn from Elijah’s story so far that sometimes we don’t know the details until it’s time to act on them. Until God makes things clearer we continue to faithfully follow what He has revealed. We should be very careful about making prophetic proclamations about end-time events, especially when we share personal views as if they were biblical truths.

Also, if you ever talk with me and I agree that your scenario is a possibility, please don’t tell others that I agree with your view, I only agree that it is a possibility, but there are many possible ways that the future will take place. Instead of focusing on that the next step will be one day in the future, how about we focus on what God has called us to do today, this week, this year?

Elijah remained at the brook until God told him to leave.

Zarephath

Zarephath was a small town in Phoenicia, located between Tyre and Sidon. Interestingly, the text mentions that Zeraphath belonged to Sidon, this is significant because Jezebel was a Sidonian princess (1 Kgs 16:31) which means that her father was the ruler of the territory where Zarephath was located. So God told Elijah, who was running away from Jezebel, to go hide in her home country, a land under the control of her father, a land where its inhabitants officially worshipped Baal.

I imagine Elijah feeling relief that God was finally revealing to him His plans and what he should do next. I also imagine Elijah wondering if it would be better to hang out by the dry brook for a bit longer. How does the expression go, out of the frying pan and into the fire? That might have been how Elijah felt at first. But don’t worry, it gets worse.

A Widow

Not only is God telling Elijah to travel to a gentile land where Baal worship is the official religion, but God is also telling Elijah that a widow will provide for him. Widows constituted some of the poorest most helpless people in society. Most of the time widows were not able to earn a respectable living with begging and prostitution generally being their only source of livelihood.

Another detail that caught my attention is the fact that God knew the widows who lived outside the borders of Israel. If God had commanded this widow living in Zarephath to provide for Elijah could this be evidence that God cares for everyone? I would not have expected God to use a poor widow from a pagan nation to provide for one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament. I imagine this widow must have been seeking God, and God revealed Himself to her in some way and now God was sending her a prophet. I love how God takes this person that most would have considered forsaken and cursed by God and uses her to provide for His prophet.

I love how God uses people who don’t have it all together, people who are struggling and makes them a part of His plan to save the world.

Elijah Obeys

So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” - 1 Kings 17:10 NKJV

I am amazed by Elijah’s faithful obedience. Elijah does not question God or complain even though his life keeps getting more difficult at each step. It seems to me that all Elijah has been getting for his faithfulness is more challenges. But he simply obeys God and sure enough as he comes to the gate of the city he sees a widow. I am not sure about Elijah, but maybe many of us would expect this to be a wealthy widow, maybe she has a nice house with a view, a pool, a well-watered garden with lots of fruits and veggies growing. Maybe after roughing it by the brook Elijah had earned a well-deserved vacation. Now he will likely get to finally sleep in a bed and have a roof over his head and he eat something that was not brought by birds. I would be excited to join civilization again, or I would have been if it had been a city that belonged to Sidon. I would have been constantly worried if anyone had figured out that I was the prophet that queen Jezebel wanted dead. What if a neighbor decided to collect on a possible bounty that could have been set for me? Or what if someone simply wanted to get on the good side of the king by helping his daughter?

I don’t really know what Elijah was thinking, but I like to place myself in his shoes and try to imagine how difficult this could have been for him. What I do know is that Elijah calls to the widow and asks for water, which I imagine must have been really valuable at this time. I bet people were being very careful with their water usage during this drought.

Bread, please!

And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” - 1 Kings 17:11 NKJV

I can imagine Elijah asking a widow for water, she does not say a word but goes to get the water, then he interrupts her to ask for bread. I don’t know about you, but I struggle a bit with asking for help. I don’t mind asking for help to help someone else. If someone needs help I don’t mind asking others to join me in helping someone else. But when it comes to asking for myself, I hate it, many times I would rather go without than bother someone else with my needs. I believe this probably stems from pride, and God has been helping me with this by repeatedly placing me in situations where I need to ask others for help. But still, I struggle with the idea of asking a poor widow not just for water but also for bread. Especially in the middle of a terrible drought. Everyone is struggling. Brooks are drying up, crops are failing, animals are dying, how could I ask a poor widow for water and bread?

No Bread

So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” - 1 Kings 17:11-12 NKJV

The widow humbly informs Elijah of her plans for the future which consist of baking one last meal for herself and her son and slowly starving to death. If she was lucky she would not have to witness the death of her son, but on the other hand, would she really want her son to have to watch her die? This is just a terrible situation regardless of how you look at it.

I imagine Elijah saying, “Sorry, never mind. I must have confused you with someone else. Is there another widow in this town, someone with a big house, perhaps a pool and lots of delicious food?

On a more serious note, why would God ask a widow who does not have enough even for herself to provide for His prophet? After all, is it not God’s job to provide for His servants?

I believe the lesson here is that God prefers to work through us to bless each other and He can use anyone, even the poorest among us. Even the person who barely has enough to survive can be used by God to bless others. We are blessed as we go out of our way to help others. This blessing is not only for the wealthy, it is not only for those who have access to more resources. We are all called to do something. Don’t count yourself out simply because you don’t have as much as someone else. You can also help. When God calls on you to help He will bless you in order for you to be a blessing to others.

Do not fear

And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ” - 1 Kings 17:13-14 NKJV

The widow has legitimate reasons to be concerned, but Elijah tells her to not fear, she is to obey God and trust Him to provide for all her needs. If he makes God a priority in her life, she does not have to be afraid. When we find ourselves in God’s will, we have nothing to fear. We minister not because we have an abundance but rather because God calls us to. We step out in faith to bless those around us, trusting that as we do the will of God, He will take care of our needs.

He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. - Matthew 10:39 NKJV

Jesus makes it clear, we find life by giving it up. I don’t think He means reckless living or suicide, but rather a life where the focus has shifted from self to other. A life where obeying God is more important than my selfish desires. This is not an easy life, but it is the only life worth living.

If I truly believe that God is my provider, that He not only created me but also redeemed me. If I believe that God loves me beyond anything I could ever hope to comprehend, and if I believe that God calls me to bless those around me, why should I be afraid of stepping out in faith? If God is calling me to help others learn about Him why should I be afraid?

Trust

So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah. - 1 Kings 17:15-16NKV

"While Jezebel feeds the prophets of Baal in Israel (1 Kgs 18:19), the Zarepthathite widow feeds Elijah, the prophet of Yahweh, in Sidon (1 Kgs 17:13–16)"  -- The Lexham Bible Dictionary.

We need to make sure we are following the will of God and not the will of humans, our own, or our spiritual leaders’. Spend time in prayer, read the Bible, but once you become convinced of what God is calling you to do, go for it trusting God to provide for you. Trust in God and live out your faith in service for those around you. Do not be afraid of ministry. Do not be afraid of helping others. Do not be afraid of sharing the love of God. Trust in God, don’t be afraid, and do what He is calling you to do.

Let your love for God guide your life, not fear. Do not focus on the problems, and reasons for you to not get involved, look to God, claim His promises, do not be afraid, trust in God, and get involved in service for the benefit of those around you.

God is faithful.

You do not have to be afraid.

[aristocraticvision]

Chapter 218: The Support of the Crown

Thomas Crawford, the Ninth Earl of Howerton, waited patiently in the great hall of Winterglen Palace. He was accustomed to Prince Stephen’s tardiness, and had long ago stopped complaining about his royal highness’ inability to maintain a schedule. Since his complaints had continually fallen on deaf ears, Howerton had finally accepted Stephen’s poor form and learned to use the time to his advantage.

Today, he sat reading a copy of “The Hero’s Storm,” a book by Weston’s own Thomas Collier – a former special forces commander – that his son, Langston, had recently given him for his 64th birthday. Yet, despite the gripping tale that Collier had spun, Howerton was distracted. His last few meetings with Prince Stephen had been strained, at best, so he was unsure of how receptive the prince might be to the request he planned to make today.

Even now, Howerton was somewhat mystified by the evolution of his relationship with Prince Stephen over the past decade. Once one of the prince’s staunchest critics, Howerton had softened significantly after the death of Princess Elizabeth. Watching a crushed Stephen withdraw from his government and people in grief, Howerton had, without even realizing, moved quickly from opponent to ally, becoming a surprising source of support for his sovereign.

“I’m sorry, Lord Howerton,” Bixby said, approaching from the direction of Stephen’s study.

Howerton rose quickly and turned to face Stephen’s aide.

“Prince Stephen is somewhat … indisposed, I’m afraid,” Bixby continued. “He won’t be able to meet with you today.”

Howerton had always admired Bixby’s tactful handling of every situation. While, as head of the royal household, Bixby did not necessarily approve of Prince Stephen’s behavior, he was also fiercely protective, and found ways to make even the prince’s worst faux pas acceptable in the eyes of his subjects.

“I understand,” Howerton replied, carefully placing his book on the side table. “Perhaps it would be best to reschedule?”

“It would,” Bixby replied, nodding. “I assume you wish to continue your conversation about Lord Buckland’s proposal?”

“I do,” Howerton replied. “While the proposal hasn’t gained much traction in the National Assembly at this time, I think Prince Stephen’s support would likely provide some much-needed momentum.”

“Agreed,” Bixby said. “I am, however, somewhat surprised at your support of the legislation, Lord Howerton. I’ve always considered you a traditionalist, politically, and this particular measure is rather progressive in nature.”

Howerton grinned.

“As always, you are quite astute, Bixby,” he replied. “However, you may not be aware that my wife and I were unable to have a child of our own. Our son, Langston, is adopted, and has made us quite proud. I’d like to see him able to inherit not only my wealth, but my title, after me. Which is why I am supporting Lord Buckland in his efforts to recognize adopted children in family lines of succession.”

Bixby nodded.

“I was not aware, milord,” he said. “But I can certainly understand your interest in the matter. I cannot imagine that Prince Stephen would actively oppose the measure. However, I also doubt that he would actively support it, given that it would require him to appear before the National Assembly.”

“I know, I know,” Howerton said, shaking his head. “But I feel compelled to ask, at least. I’m hoping that, between my appeal and that of Lord Buckland, he might consider it. A single appearance would go far toward the measure’s passage.”

“Agreed,” Bixby replied, bowing formally. “I promise, sir, to do what I can.”

“Then I leave it in your capable hands,” Howerton replied.

BEGINNING | PREV | NEXT

Continent of Oceana | History of Weston | History of Corwyn | History of Torenth | History of Allycia

[almondbiscotti]

LET'S BE RATIONAL ABOUT THIS

Been seeing some comments about how fans are worried about Taemin serving his mandatory military service right now and that they're worried about his mental health because a fellow soldier shared that Taemin doesn't talk much and does what he's told and he does it well.

I actually have quite a lot of thoughts about this and I think I'm rambling a little so I'm gonna put it under a cut. In consideration of people who do not wish to see a long field of text and wish to easily scroll this by. :)

Disclaimer, this is 200% my own thoughts and opinions. I adore Shinee and only wish good things for them. And I'm also not Korean (hello from sunny Singapore) so I'm not speaking for S.Korea. Hell, I'm not even male so I've never served in the military. But I had quite a good conversation with my boyfriend who has done his mandatory military service as a Singaporean and got some of his thoughts on this too. But 300%, just my own thoughts and opinions.

I can understand that there are fans who miss him and wish he didn't have to be away for 18 months, I can understand that fans worry about his health and wellbeing because military service is not meant to be walk in the park but I really don't understand the extrapolation from Taemin doesn't say much and does what he's told (well) to TAEMIN IS SUFFERING AND HE IS MISSING HIS SUPPORT SYSTEM AND TAKE HIM OUT TAKE HIM OUT PLEASE. O.o

Dude. What. Like... what do you know? Like really, WHAT. do you know? What did you think this enlistment was supposed to be? A party? He's a soldier now, not a fucking entertainer.

The worst are the ones who are pissed off at the fucking S.Korean government for enforcing mandatory military national service for all fit-for-service Korean males. I seriously cannot understand this. Like really, do you not understand that the 2 Koreas are LITERALLY still at war. Do you REALLY think that this is just a bunch of men in suits going LET'S JUST ROUND UP OUR YOUNG HEALTHY MALES FOR 2 YEARS OF THEIR LIVES AND MESS AROUND WITH THEM COS IT'S SO FUN LET'S MAKE ALL THE KPOP IDOLS' FANS SUFFERRRRRRRRR.

Firstly, nobody gives a shit about fans. I assure you it's not in ANY consideration how the idols' fans feel. Secondly, can you even begin to fathom the opportunity cost of mandatory military service requirements and THEY STILL ENFORCE IT ANYWAY. Even if you cannot, surely there must be a reason why SO many countries enforce mandatory military service for able bodied males.

Like. What. The. Fuck. I seriously find it hard to understand how can anyone see only SUCH a tiny part of the whole picture.

And how do you think these comments reflect upon Taemin? I mean, the whole concept of soldier unity and loyalty can be encapsulated in one question: "Will I fight in the war together with this soldier?" And you would want everybody to wholeheartedly declare YES I WILL. That sense of loyalty and trust is what's gonna keep them alive in war times. (This is literally a matter of life and death. LITERALLY.) So if I was a platoon mate of Taemin's and I'm seeing these comments speculating about Taemin's mental health, I'm gonna be worried the fuck out man. Like dude, is this guy fit for service? Should he be handling guns and grenades and all other weapons that could literally kill us all if mishandled? Will he suddenly abandon ship if we're called to fight for our country? Do I trust this guy? Oh Lord, SHOULD I trust this guy?

Also, side point. If Taemin really wasn't fit for service, like physically, he has some challenges, or mentally, he has certain conditions. Pretty damn sure he would have declared it and concessions would have been made. Because it is in NOBODY'S favour to put somebody unfit for service through service.

I can understand that fans worry. I really do. You care for the little fucker, you want him to be happy, to be healthy, to be well. But there are much bigger concepts at stake here. Loyalty to country, to your homeland, to your fellow countrymen, to your family. Trust between comrades etc.

Lastly, I have also seen fans who are upset because they think that Taemin has served his time because of the great artistic output he has contributed to the Kpop music scene. No doubt. Absolutely, the boy has done some amazing things. He is very talented and he has also worked extremely hard. But imagine if war descended on S.Korean, like the North went berserk and made good on their nuclear warfare threats. Do you think it would even remotely matter how well he can dance to Move or Advice or Press Your Number? Like dude, LIFE AND DEATH HERE. PLEASE PICK UP THE RIFLE, FALL IN LINE AND LET'S GO PROTECT OUR LOVED ONES. Like what? He gets a free pass to just chill and watch his countrymen fight (and possibly die) because he dances really well...????

My point is, there are many types of service to your country. Artistic contributions, literary contributions, economic contributions, advancement in medical technologies, etc. Everybody contributes in their own way. But military service sits above all of that. And it doesn't matter how much you have contributed in other aspects, the physical protection of your country in times of need is still everybody's expected duty. (Partially why I think the BTS law thing is kinda silly but it's about delaying service not eliminating it altogether so I guess it's still okay? But okay, topic for another day. This is my personal opinion, Armys please don't burn my house down.) I think this is why treason in any country is the biggest crime you could possibly commit.

All in all, CALM THE FUCK DOWN JESUS. Taemin is a healthy, able bodied, GROWN ADULT MAN. He ain't some small baby no matter how much your brain is unable to accept the tiny bowl cut kid you first met in 2008 is now fucking 28 years old. He can handle it. Just let him go. Miss him, binge watch his MVs on loop for like 312842 hours (not recommended but you do you.), blast his music at 100 decibels, clutch his pictures, curl up in a ball and cry, whatever, YOU DO YOU. But really, pretending he is less capable of what's expected of him, getting angry at the "System" for "enslaving" him, bemoaning the entire concept of loyalty and service to country, is ridiculous, narrow minded and honestly, kinda pathetic.

How the fuck did I manage to write an entire essay on a Kpop Idol's fan's reaction to his enlistment is beyond me. But okay. That's all. I'm gonna stare at pictures of Onew now. Bye!

[jacksgreysays]

Hail to the Queen, Shikako, Uzushio remix?

it could have gone like this:

"Not it!" Tatsuma shouts, such an abrupt and loud interjection to their otherwise calm conversation that Shikako startles.

Hiki and Yose, quick to follow, exchange a glance before putting their index fingers to the tips of their noses, also declaring, "Not it!"

In a bewildering cascade, the other department heads do the same. Some more graceful than others, but no less swift, until at the end of it Shikako is the only one left in the room who hasn't disavowed... whatever is going on.

Kairyu, the ancient and wizened head of the summoning department, gives Shikako a wide and alarmingly sadistic smile. "Congratulations, Uzukage-sama," he says.

"What." Shikako looks around, trying to find the context clues that will make that statement understandable. The other department heads smile back at her with varying levels of glee. They don't look like Kairyu has said anything bizarre such as declaring her, an outsider, Uzukage. "What, no."

They continue to smile at her, some of them going so far as to similarly congratulate her for becoming Uzukage.

"Nooooooo," she says, drawing the word out. "No, this can't be how--no, this doesn't make any..." Shikako looks down at the sheaf of papers in front of her, the reports from each of the heads summarizing their respective departments' latest research and achievements.

In the past few years since Shikako has settled in this world--and, more specifically, in Uzushio--she's had to adjust to their way of life. The society built around innovation and creativity, the common and almost casual use of fuinjutsu to break and remake reality was easy. Less so was their sense of humor. 

The village has accepted her with aplomb, generous and encompassing, and Shikako thinks if she cannot go home, then this is a satisfactory second place. She could maybe do with a little less pranking, but that's apparently just how communication and affection is done in Uzu culture.

Incredulous, she looks back up at them. "This can't possibly be how you choose the Uzukage."

Kairyu strokes his chin; despite his age, his beard still has hints of red in it, a sign of the famous Uzumaki vitality. "It used to follow a bloodline and it was a life term sort of thing."

Shikako nods, because that at least makes sense; that's how Sand and Stone do it, at least.

"But we decided that wasn't fair..." he continues, and Shikako nods at that, too. Monarchies aren't known for being a government of equal and just representation.

"... because what if they wanted to go into academia and were forced instead into leadership? For life? Can you imagine the inventions trapped and forever denied to us because they were busy with diplomacy or war? Just imagine the advancements we could have lost! So we decided a five year term was long enough for stability, but short enough that the Uzukage wouldn't stagnate too much in their chosen field."

Shikako does not nod at this. This is a bonkers way to choose a leader. Then again, Uzushio is weird enough that this might not actually be a joke. "... and the deciding process?"

Hiki and Yose pat her shoulders in a commiserating manner. "The mathematics department thanks you for your service, Uzukage-sama," Hiki says.

"The music department is a wretched hive of near constant activity," Yose adds, fondly disparaging her own department. "I can't even imagine handing it over to my deputy for five whole years just to run the village."

Tatsuma shakes his head solemnly, "I'm sure you'll be faster next time, Uzukage-sama."

---

it should have gone like this:

Later, when she and Naruto are trying to figure out how it all happened, the two of them in the neutral--or, perhaps more accurately, mutually claimed--territory of Land of Wave it will be Tsunami who provides an explanation.

"It's an Oath of the Ocean," she says simply, a gentle smile on her face. Shikako wonders if she feels at all weird that the Hokage and Uzukage use her house as a meeting spot or if she just sees them both as the twelve year olds she met all those years ago.

Naruto crinkles his nose in confusion while Shikako wracks her brain desperately for any memory of that phrase. Nothing is coming up, but she's only been Uzukage for a few months and there have been a lot of higher priority matters to deal with. They look at her beseechingly and her cheek dimples with amusement: that's a point for the twelve year olds.

Tsunami joins them at her dining table and two of the most powerful people in the Elemental Nations eagerly defer to her. "It's something my mother used to tell me stories of when I was a little girl," she begins while Shikako pours her tea, the steam of it wafting up and adding to the ambiance. "Daring tales of adventure and camaraderie, the power of loyalty and devotion and promises..." 

While entertaining, the stories for the most part followed a similar train of heroism, sacrifice, and the sort of happily ever afters that could only exist in a shinobi society. They did involve two or more heroes, at least, which somewhat matched their current situation, but otherwise the tales were so disparate that Shikako couldn't see the common thread.

"... I believe she said that ninja of the Hidden Leaf had a similar thing--something to do with fire, I think?" Tsunami concluded, taking a sip of her tea.

"The Will of Fire?" Naruto asks, glancing from Tsunami to Shikako in confirmation.

"Hm, yes, that sounds like it," Tsunami says. "But it was so long ago."

Shikako hums, considering. The Will of Fire is an actual phenomenon, even if it's been largely couched in PR terms that obfuscate the science behind it. The other villages have their own sort of strange skills--like the Hero's Water of Hidden Waterfall or the Desert Scions of Sand--so perhaps that's what the Oath of the Ocean is as well.

Although how it can do so much with so little is baffling:

Naruto needed to be present at the Chuunin Exams in Cloud as Hokage. Jokingly, he had said to Shikako, "Look after my village while I'm gone."

Shikako had responded with a fond roll of her eyes, "Your home is my home."

And when a gaggle of administrative nin carrying a ludicrous number of scrolls amongst them entered his office, Naruto grinned slyly. "And my people, your people," he said, clapping a hand on her shoulder before fleeing like the absolute coward any Hokage becomes when faced with paperwork.

That should have been it. 

Except a few days into her temporary regency, news came in of a grand fleet of ships that had made landfall in the ruins of Uzushio. And another few days after that, a pair of messengers with bright red hair introduced themselves as representatives of the Uzu Flotilla seeking their Uzukage.

Gamely, Shikako explained that their, well, princess was in another castle so to speak. And, also, already Hokage.

"The name Naruto Uzumaki is a good Uzukage name," one of the messengers, Nagare, says with a shrug.

"Very traditional," the other messenger, Mancho, pipes in agreement. "Also, very famous!"

"And that is why the elders considered bringing the flotilla back earlier. We heard tell of him even on our journey," Nagare continues, "But he's not our Uzukage."

Nodding, Mancho adds, "We'd know."

Desperately trying to hide her confusion, Shikako nods in return.

"We didn't sense them until, what, six maybe seven days ago?" Nagare asks, turning to Mancho.

"Eight, I think. Although those first few days there was a lot of partying so my count might be wrong, too."

Shikako deliberately does not think of the number of days since Naruto left Konoha. "So do you need help finding whoever is your new Uzukage?" she asks, hopefully.

Nagare and Mancho turn to her, both of them bemused. "Nooooo," Mancho says slowly.

Nagare answers, "We've already found her."

---

but it actually went like this:

When everything is over, the world in relative peace, Shikako requests herself for a mission. A training trip, she'd assured everyone, much like the one she took to the Fire Temple all those years ago.

Except this time it would be to the ruins of Uzushio.

The Hokage doesn't tell her no. This is the first thing she's wanted that had nothing to do with preventing the end of the world. And so she goes.

Nothing much happens on that first trip. It's largely exploring the area, carefully mapping out or weatherproofing the places she finds. Some buildings are relatively well preserved enough that she knows she can leave it for another time, others are so reduced to rubble that she can only mark the location and hope if anything is left there to salvage it will survive a while longer.

Before too long, her month is up and she goes back to Konoha vowing to return.

Progress is slow going, really. The second, third, and fourth trips are much the same. At this point her friends consider it more a personal vacation than sabbatical, akin to taking time off to go camping and enjoying the ocean air. They're not entirely wrong, but there is an unshakeable, lingering air of solemnity through it all.

The fifth trip she makes a D-rank so she can bring her students along without things going to hell in a hand basket. Thankfully, it works. And while there still isn't much in the way of fuinjutsu discoveries, it is a good trip.

The following trips, Shikako and her team clear and collect more and more to the point where now they have to spend more time collating and archiving than continuing their explorations. When she brings this up at a kunochi club meeting, Shiho's eyes brighten.

"And there's no danger?" Shiho asks, eager but still anxious.

"There's no danger," Shikako assures. "But even if there was, I will handle it. Everyone is under my protection." Shikako herself is still uneasy saying such things, but if it brings comfort to others, she'll let them use her reputation as a shield. 

With a gaggle of intel nin sorting through their findings, Shikako and her team are freed up again to explore. More progress is made in that trip than before, and while nothing particularly inspiring is found there are some techniques which improve existing practices or tweak them enough to cause vigorous discussion when Shikako returns to the RnD with notes.

It continues like this for a while, a fairly small operation.

Shikako has no idea how Kankurou finds out about it.

"I'm just going where the Kazekage sends me," Kankurou says, his own gaggle of intel nin clustered behind him. "It's not like your movements are exactly secret, and the old nags in Suna are making noises about Leaf expanding their territory."

Before she can protest, he continues, "I know that's not what it is, Gaara knows that's not what it is, but we still have to do something to keep them quiet. So hey, here's some of our nerds if you want to put them to work. That one in particular is good with reversing the effects of erosion." Kankurou points to one of the Sand nin who meeps and ducks his head. "They're your responsibility now. Have fun."

"And what are you going to do?" Shikako asks, eying him skeptically.

"Whatever I want? There's sand and there's sun. So it's kind of like home, except no one is bugging me to do anything," he answers.

Famous last words. Shikako does put him to work, using the puppets to go into areas where it's not structurally sound enough for humans. Although that has more to do with the fact that after three days of doing nothing he keeps distracting her genin out of boredom that, really, he was asking for it.

They discover so much.

The ball is rolling by that point. Other villages send representatives of their own, mostly researchers with one or two guards but even those guards join in the efforts. Soon the villages collectively decide to build an international outpost there to be maintained and staffed throughout the year. When her team are promoted to chuunin, Shikako spends more of her time supervising the outpost than in Konoha, though they are frequent visitors and researchers as well.

It's not the same, she knows. It's not a whole village thriving and growing, but it's people eager to learn and discover and create for the sake of knowledge and that, Shikako thinks, is close enough in spirit than what Uzushio has had for a long, long time.

And when she walks the land, she can feel that lingering air of solemnity has finally been lifted and replaced with something new.

~

A/N: .... ooOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!! Oh no, anon!!! You know how emotionally compromised I am by Uzushio!!! I am so immediately overwhelmed by my feels!!! I can't do this justice, I love my impossible, ideal Uzushio too much I can never convey it, but I tried, anon, I tried.

For the Could/Should/Actually Fic Ask Box Event!

[scribbling-stiks]

Puppets - XXIII - Returning

Once the sun begins to rise, so do Texas and Louisiana, who poke their heads out of the tent and start packing up their bags. Massachusetts joins them soon after, due to the noise Texas is making if Russia had to guess. Russia douses the fire and packs his remaining belongings into his bag, keeping the tomahawk within arms reach. When he exits the tent, he sees Ute and Canada are also up and about. Canada is helping the states pack their bags, and Ute is beginning to dismantle tepees.

It took only around 30 minutes to deconstruct the camp fully and pack it up. Though, Russia could've sworn there was far more to carry than what Ute has on his back. 'How many Americans have magic?' Russia thinks, baffled. He shook off the train of thought when Ute begins walking, and he hurries to keep up. Russia walks at the back of their group, but the states are trying to include him in their conversations, which he thought was sweet. He also had to admit some of the stories they tell are hilarious.

"Remember when Tex shot a flare in the house and broke a window?" Louisiana says nonchalantly.

"LOUISIANA!" Texas exclaims, his face reddening.

"I remember," Massachusetts comments, "Dad was soo f***ing mad."

"What was it that Alabama and Mississippi did that ended with the wall in pieces?" Canada prompts from in front of the states.

Texas answers, "oh yeah. Montana dared Alabama to make a human cannon. In all honesty, Idaho should've stopped them, but once 'Bama has an idea-"

"No matter how stupid," Massachusetts interjects.

"He'll follow through. He ain't the smartest of us, but he'll be damned if he's called a quitter," Texas finishes, smirking slightly.

"How does anyone do anything in that house?" Russia asks, exasperated.

"I don't know. We usually only get together on holidays. So right now is weird as it is. Even with all that, Dad and New York can get stuff done, most of the time," Massachusetts says, shaking his head fondly.

"Even if no one is purposefully causing chaos, just talking gets to insane volumes," Louisiana says.

"I have heard," Russia says, smiling.

Suddenly, Massachusetts goes pale.

"What's wrong?" Russia asks, concerned.

"New York is going to f***ing kill us," Massachusetts says, running a hand through his hair.

Texas' face falls, "he's probably worried sick. Darn, we shoulda given him more warning."

Canada sighs sympathetically and says, "We should call him as soon as we get service." Russia agrees, and feels a pang of sympathy for New York. 'He probably thinks he lost his siblings and uncle like he lost America,' Russia thinks.

"You should," Ute says, snapping Russia out of his reverie, "according to Utah and Colorado, he's panicking and trying desperately trying to contact you five."

Russia pulls out his phone to see if he has service and stops in his tracks.

"How long were we gone?" he asks, horrified.

"A day if I had to guess," Canada replies.

"According to the date, we've been gone for more than a week," Russia replies shakily, looking up to see the group had stopped.

"WHAT? Lemme see that!" Texas exclaims, rushing over to Russia.

"How?!" Massachusetts demands.

"Oh no," Louisiana mutters quietly.

Canada just stares back, frozen. Texas nearly snatches Russia's phone out of his hands, and slumps over, defeated when Russia's words are verified.

"We should keep moving. The sooner we get back to the road, the sooner you will have signal," Ute says, urging them forward again.

The once happy mood became sullen, and Russia can faintly hear Texas mumbling about "stupid magic" and "a whole week lost." Russia agrees with the sentiment, and can't imagine the chaos that must be the house of the remaining states. His pace becomes quicker, and the others do the same. The image of New York the day America was captured flashes in Russia's mind. Tomahawk in his hand, swinging at his side, he treks forward.

He briefly wonders about how his father is handling his disappearance. 'Probably not well,' Russia muses.

The sun is high in the sky, and his shadow is nearly invisible by the time they approach the road. Russia sees the rails above them, but he doesn't see a way to climb up. "Back up," Ute says, holding a wooden staff that Russia had not seen before, and Canada backs up with the states.

Ute slams the wooden staff into the dirt twice, and the ground shifts. Slabs of dirt and stone rise to create steps. Russia stares up at the stairs, and when he turns back to Ute, the staff he had been holding is gone.

"This is where I must say goodbye," Ute says, "I cannot go any further with you. The monsters here have been significantly more active, and I need to be here to control it."

"Okay, so long, partner! Thanks for the help," Texas says with a wave, ascending the stairs.

"Bye, Ute!" Louisiana says happily.

"Goodbye!" Massachusetts calls.

"Thank you for your help. Wouldn't have made it without you, eh?" Canada says with a grin.

"Thank you for your help. We are very grateful," Russia says with a slight tip of his head. He then turns and climbs the stairs, following the others. He turns around from the road to wave goodbye, only to see the steps no longer existed, and Ute was nowhere to be seen.

His hand lowers, and he turns to follow the others. They walk up the road for 20 minutes until Texas spots the car and takes off into a sprint. Russia runs with him.

Russia pulls out the keys and unlocks the doors. The states hop in, and Texas falls into a seat with an audible sigh. "Yay, a comfortable seat," he says, his eyes closed.

Massachusetts laughs. Russia helps gather bags and throw them into the back of the car and he sits back in the seat. The moment he sits down and starts the car, his phone begins ringing. Turning the phone over, he sees that it's his father. He answers immediately.

"Hello?" Russia answers.

"Russia! You're okay! What happened to you? The states contacted me and told me you were missing for 9 days!" his father yells into his phone.

"I am okay. Everyone is okay. There was some magic time thing that caused it. We thought only a day had passed," Russia says.

Soviet sighs and Russia catches something ding in the background. He hears his father groan into his hands. "You will tell me everything. For now, I am being called into a UN meeting. I will talk with you soon. Goodbye," Soviet says with a tone of finality.

"Goodbye, Papa," Russia replies before hanging up.

Opening his phone, he sees dozens of missed calls and texts from New York, and later his father, demanding to know if they were alright and where he was. He sighs and calls New York, putting the call through the Bluetooth speakers in the car. The call is picked up immediately.

"Hello? This better not be a motherf***ing joke," New York says aggressively.

"Hi, New York!" Massachusetts calls from the backseat, waving sarcastically.

"Massachusetts?! Is everyone there?" New York demands frantically.

"Yes, you can calm down now," Canada replies, trying to pacify New York. Russia winces when he hears New York choke slightly. He hears the state sniffle for a moment before pulling himself together.

"Thank f***," New York mumbles, "I thought you were gone. You're okay."

The relief in his tone is thick, and Russia tries to remedy it. "Yes. We are sorry for the lack of communication," he says.

"It ain't our fault that the cave entrance collapsed," Texas chimes from his seat.

"What?! What happened?" New York asks.

"Well, something tried to trap us in a cave with a spider monster. Then we fell off a cliff," Massachusetts says flippantly.

"There were also cameras everywhere, and some guy was watching us for entertainment," Louisiana says in disgust.

"Jesus Christ. Now I know how Dad feels," New York mumbles and asks, "how did you survive?"

"Colorado's friend Ute saved us. He also helped us find the car," Texas answers.

"I guess that pot-head does have some good ideas," New York mumbles. "Dixie would want to know about this, but he was just pulled into a nations' meeting. And there is a lot of yelling. I may have to go in there and help. I'll be calling you again later, and you betta answer!" New York says before hanging up.

Russia chuckles and sits back in relief. He is certain something else is going on behind the scenes but decides that he'll figure it out another day, probably with the help of the states and his father. For now, he'll focus on driving them to their next hotel.

~

Next

Previous

Table of Contents

[tsukihoshino]

Super long Sasori post

I’m going to begin this by saying everyone is entitled to their view on Sasori and how to characterize him within the parameters set up by canon or whatever AU/Bent Timeline a person has inserted him into but I do believe there are certain things about him that remain the same no matter what situation you put him in-- otherwise he’s just no longer Sasori (IMO.) So much of his character is about hyper analyzing his words and actions, and what others have said about him through a microscope because the fact of the matter is for such an interesting character he really had such little time.

I was originally not going to bring shipping into this but as I was writing Sasosaku kinda slipped in there, mostly because it felt like it provided a good contrast to what we get of Sasori in canon and how it can translate into fanon.

(All of these opinions are based on the Manga and the Akatsuki formation because OP cannot be assed with novels and filler for the most part...Making an exception for Komushi.)

1. He’s highly manipulative. He’s a puppet master and he has a spy ring. He gathers information so he can use it against people, he manipulates the corpses of what used to be people--or things that LOOK, very often like people. That says a lot about who he is as a person.

And when you first see his real face, when he reveals himself to Chiyo this is the face you get; 

I don’t get the impression that he’s actually happy to see her given the events that follow, its largely about trying to put his grandmother off center and BOTHER her. Sasori is perfectly capable of acting to get to a desired result--which makes a lot of sense to me because while Bunraku is largely about the Narrator's words there is also the performance element to it via the puppets.

2. He’s all about control. Control of himself, of others, of events. It's really an offshoot of manipulation but I don’t think Sasori blinks without putting thought into the action. ( I mean technically, lmao given his unique anatomy in canon that might be 100% accurate.)

3. He’s not only an artist. The guy is the very definition of being a mad scientist. He sits at a place where Art and Science meet and become something more. It's not one or the other when it comes to Sasori, there is something almost Frankenstein like in the way that he creates his human puppets, the 3rd and himself. Think about the knowledge that had to go into that from basic human anatomy to the chakra system as a whole. I mean we never get a play by play on HOW he did it but we know he’s the only one who ever did and then repeated a similar, much more complicated process on himself.

Then there is his poison, we know he’s primarily relied on the infamous one because it was sooo effective (until it wasn’t, thanks Sakura.) But we have to assume given how he is Sasori makes ART out of deadly concoctions and methods of murder.

To him synthesizing that poison was probably no different than an artist trying to get that perfect shade of red.

The weird thing about Sasori ( and I guess it's just ONE of the many weird things) Is that for an Artist he is very...clinical. When we think about people in the arts we often imagine passionate people like Deidara--bombastic and flamboyant free spirits. 

4. Logical and likely to the extreme.

He’s not a sore loser. When he loses and it's fair he accepts it. He's not bitter about the end of his fight with Sakura and Chiyo, he’s not pissy with Konan--he respects it because to Sasori the weak die and the strong survive, losers don’t have a right to complain when they shoulda got gud to begin with.

I don’t doubt that in Sasori’s logical mind he came to the conclusion that his parents died because they were weak. Ergo unlike Chiyo he’s just completely unaffected by seeing Kakashi, the world just followed its natural order in the death of his parents.

He’s got a reptile brain and he just sort of views people as animals because it's probably simpler--except for himself. He thinks he’s above that, to himself he is a god.

The thing with Komushi...I perceive it as largely an accident but in Sasori’s “perfectly” logical mind he was just like well: it’s sort of Komushi’s own fault and never let a tragedy go to waste because again, hyper logical. Not only that but he was BEGGED to do something for Komushi and there really was nothing to be done for him at that point other than make something useful out of his death.

The problem with being TOO logical is that it is just as detrimental as being too emotional. If we all just went around doing what was logical we’d be no different than animals or machines. Logic dictates we do whatever it takes to survive and come out on top even at the expense of others but because we are balanced by emotion most people don’t live like that.

On the flipside because he’s logical he can be convinced by compelling arguments without ego getting in the way. In this same vein he finds it very difficult to feel sorry about things he’s done in the past but when able to recognize it was wrong he can accept it and simply resolve not to do it in the future--he doesn’t have the capacity to agonize over feelings of guilt.

5. He hates being lied to and he’s impatient. Sasori will lie to everyone around him and even to himself if he can manage it but if he finds out He’s the one being lied to? Intense hate. See points 1&2.

6. He’s blunt and often rude when acting as his natural self. I don’t find the need to explain this one much.

7. Sasori is largely self-focused. He thinks he has a perfect handle on himself and understands exactly why he is the way he is--but it couldn’t be further from the truth. He really doesn’t understand his own feelings much less those of others and what he does understand he often doesn’t care about. This can be changed if a person is able to get through to him.

This is the guy who thought that by removing his concious from a human body and sticking it into what's basically a decorative vase all his problems would MAGICALLY vanish. Because as smart as he is, he was also desperate to escape his own feelings not realizing that when you pour the water in one glass into another glass the contents remain the same.

No matter how hard he tries he cannot escape the problem plaguing him; himself.

8. Sasori does not value life, not his own and certainly not others. Unless you are like that ONE person who is able to get through to him. He has what I would call a “Very narrow heart.”  which simply does not have a lot of space for people. To him it's probably Sasori and “That Person” VS the world.

9. He likes things that last, sculptures and paintings, classical music and literature, things that have been around for ages and withstood the trials of time.

10. He does not do well on his own. He thinks he does but he really doesn’t, when he is by himself he is destructive. When he feels alone he is at his most dangerous. Sasori is very much a person who NEEDS someone to essentially be his emotional center otherwise we get him turning himself into a puppet in what amounted to a one longass theatrical suicide.

11. Sasori was probably always a little...different even as a kid but environment and events certainly played a role. His parents died at an early age and he was essentially lied to and given false hope. (hence the impatience and hatred of lies.) Throw into that an intellect seldom seen in a time of war where child soldiers are the norm. He killed his first person at 8, he earned himself a title denoting that he was so good at killing he soaked the sands in blood. Imagine what that's like at 8, getting a pat on the head everytime you kill someone?

Of course you would become conditioned to believe that killing is right and good when you’re being congratulated and rewarded for being proficient at it.

Its assumption on my part but I do believe Sasori lays somewhere on the Antisocial Personality Disorder spectrum.

12. He’s vain AF. Look at him. He made sure to replicate himself in his prime to perfect detail in the places that were most visible, his face and his hands. He could have made himself look like anything but in the end he still chose that form.

13. When he wants something he makes a plan and gets it done. Doesn’t matter how long or what he has to do to get to point A to point B he’s going to do it.

14. He has three main expressions; blank, smug and insane.

15: His power levels are again, insane. He is a master of multiple trades. The guy ganked a Kage at 15 the strongest one Sand ever had by that point, ( Orochimaru was waay older and came out way more damaged as far as we know when he fought Sarutobi.) toppled a nation, made himself a new body with mysterious methods.

It's time for the Sasosaku bit:

Part of the reason why I think the two of them fit so well together is that they are opposites and yet complimentary. Sakura is an antidote and Sasori is the poison, but sometimes a medicine can become a poison and a poison can be used as medicine. Sakura is a close range combatant and Sasori is long but they have this odd intersection of skill sets and interest. They both deal in the human body and the manipulation of it, Sakura’s focus is to maintain it as it is and improve its condition if needed and Sasori’s is to both destroy and create it anew all at once.

If they weren’t trying to kill one another in canon they would have had tons to talk about.

Ultimately Sakura gets gut stabbed not because he was aiming for her but because she got LITERALLY in the way of a family feud. He was going for Chiyo and you can assume that's because he thought his grandma was the bigger threat or because he was still bitter about the past on some subconscious level and was gunning for her--i mean he goes in for Chiyo a second time after he disconnects from the arm Sakura was death gripping. But Sakura’s selfless action is something that viscerally shocks him: 

And it only gets worse when Chiyo starts feeding her life force into Sakura--a second selfless act on the part of someone he hates and feels wronged by.

Sakura values life and Sasori doesn’t because he doesn’t understand it. He was raised his whole life to think that people like them--Shinobi had no value other than to kill or to be killed. He’s visibly shocked when she starts yelling after socking him in the face about Human lives and family bonds. Like no one had ever mentioned that to him before and forget about risking your life to save someone else's, that goes against his logical lizard brain.

At that point he’s already beaten, he’s already impressed with her. It’s right after her punching him that Sasori gives what amounts to an odd marriage proposal IMO. It was completely pointless of him to even bring it up but you can tell by the “Glint” in his eye that he meant it.

Sasori: Want to become like me? You’ll get what I mean. An undecaying body, Unfettered by a mortal lifespan, capable of being rebuilt over and over again. ( if you were immortal would you offer immortality to someone you had no interest in? Not me. I wouldn’t want to have them around for virtually “forever” in any shape or form. And Sasori is not talking about making Sakura into just some controllable puppet, he’s talking about being JUST like him, sentient thought and movement.)

Sasori: I can make as many people as I want out of puppets….-Looks dead at Sakura- If I want them...but my collection isn’t just about quantity. Quality is important too.

That whole conversation is like A CREEPY FLIRTATION from him because we know what he considers “True beauty” to be. Eternal.

And then it comes to a head where he gives her a “sentimental reward” in the information she wanted. Now I’m not saying Sakura was interested or anything but it seems like he was in some shape or form.

In my opinion when you put someone like Sakura--who is brilliant and logical but also heavily swayed by her emotions with someone like Sasori, brilliant, logical and emotionally repressed. A person who values life with someone who neither values their own life or others what you get is agitation.

Agitation is not a bad thing, it breaks stagnation--which is what, imo drives Sasori to his death. It is the lack of change, he’s made it so he cannot feel physically and he has tried his hardest and for the most part succeeded in numbing his inner feelings.

Part of me is convinced that what ultimately kills him is complacency. He gets so used to being at the top that when he is confronted with someone who neutralizes his life’s work and destroys his collection and keeps confronting and beating him with all the qualities he deems useless and pointless it just drives home the point that everything he has ever done or thought was in vain and on some level wrong. There is no point in winning against them because everything is already destroyed. There is no going back to what he was before, therefore death is preferable.

Through Sakura, in Au’s or alt timelines, or w/e she is able to reach him through their similarities but change him due to the fundamental differences in their nature. 

As to what Sakura gets from Sasori; Someone who clearly respects her skills and understands her interests because his own align--and therefore would be supportive and present. The two of them actually have things in common and therefore shit to talk about.

 In that same vein Sasori seems like the type of person who if he were to fall in love it is to the point of obsession, for someone who was repressed and held themselves apart from others I see him in a lot of ways as almost touch, and certainly affection starved. It becomes addictive to him. (Which is probably why when I write him he’s handsy.) 

We know how Sakura likes to take care of people--we see it with Naruto, Sasuke and Sai. In some of these cases it is often to the detriment of her own well being and Sasori, the selfish person that he is, can reign that in and pull it back so that it isn’t so all consuming. (mostly because the only person she should be worried about is herself and him.)

In the end, If Sasori is the logic and Sakura is the emotion, what you end up with is something more balanced. In the same way that if you were to mix a Poison with an Antidote you would end up with a neutralization.

These are just my personal opinions and thoughts on the matter.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also I headcanon that Sasori is basically Sakura-sexual so -cough- there. I guess that's a topic for another time...

Look at all these conceited Sasori faces: 

[iwillgetridofyourangerforyou]

The Good Doctor Kuseno

More questions than answers Possible Spoilers ahead!!

@gofancyninjaworld​ has a few excellent posts about this already please read them if you’re interested. These posts are well researched and provide a different perspective than my own. I recommend that everyone consume different perspectives to help inform and diversify their own. I also reference a few of them in my post here.

https://gofancyninjaworld.tumblr.com/post/612670463398772736/when-cancel-isnt-an-option 

https://gofancyninjaworld.tumblr.com/post/612685729355759616/what-about-if-the-mad-cyborg-was-created-by

https://gofancyninjaworld.tumblr.com/post/190986677872/the-nysh-forward-the-following-meta-has-been

https://gofancyninjaworld.tumblr.com/post/187738207032/so-conflicts-of-interest-with-whowhat-else#notes

https://gofancyninjaworld.tumblr.com/post/184129389540/how-to-grow-old-and-stay-mad

What do we actually know about the good doctor?

As Fancy Ninja noted: 

He claims to have been chasing ‘that cyborg’ for longer than Genos has been.

He used to be angry over some injustice.

He’s not afraid to take up arms in person.

He’s a skilled scientist/engineer, specifically he “likes to dabble with mechanical engineering”

He’s deeply invested in Genos. Seemingly in both the literal and figurative sense.

Additionally and significantly, He’s not a monster.

Why is 6 important? I mean, if Garou teaches us anything it’s that the lines between Human, hero, and monster are not as clear as we may have initially assumed. And yet, Monsters truly exist in this universe and their existence is significant. (It's also notable here that we have seen a few instances where monsters appeared as the humans they were before they consumed monster cells only to reveal their identity later, but for the moment this seems to be unlikely of Kuseno.) One of the possible interpretations of this fact is that despite his past anger and continued obsession with hunting this cyborg he still has something within him that keeps him human. I’m not sure exactly what that is in this case because if I’m honest, I’m not super certain what makes humanity human in general, in OPM or otherwise. Aside from that, we know fairly little about the good doctor. We know almost nothing about his past.

What he tells us: 

“When I and Genos first met, we didn’t have a single ally. It was as if the pair of us were lost and alone fumbling in the darkness… I dived into research with all I could, trying to come up with some way to fight back at the forces of evil... and yet our troubles were just beginning, because me and my boy-”

vs  THis: 

What does Kuseno have to gain from all his tireless effort into Genos?

Despite my reservations about Dr. Kuseno I’d be remiss to fail to admire his work on Genos. Kuseno has done an incredible job with Genos’ upgrades. The aesthetic and humanizing touches he’s given Genos are so, and I cannot emphasize this enough, important. He has a human looking face and hair. Kuseno has even been aging Genos appropriately over time, he can even eat food normally. (And we all know he’s been keeping Geno damn hot in the process) The things that he’s done to humanize Genos is sincerely one of the most compelling arguments that Dr. Kuseno is a truly good bean. But he’s not off the hook yet. 

When he says that seeing Genos reminded him of his youth when he was righteous and feared nothing always charging in without thought of consequences and I have to wonder, what consequences did Dr. Kuseno experience in his life that changed him? If he’s experienced so much in his life why is he still walking the path of vengeance and promoting that path for Genos? Even if he’s not promoting the path for Genos but merely ‘supporting’ Genos on his path wouldn’t you think someone who was so similar in their youth know better than to fuel a revenge mission? But I’m not particularly apt to believe Dr. Kuseno is merely going along with ‘pushy’ Genos. He definitely has his own motives here and we’re not very clear what those are yet. For this I recommend reading Ninja’s conflicts of interest post to get some different perspectives on his varied motives. One possibility is that he’s effectively living through Genos. There is a scene in Season 2 of the anime where Dr. Kuseno is standing in a beam of light talking about his quest for justice in his youth and Genos stands under Kuseno obscured in shadow. That image made me shudder. Now the care and attention Kuseno gives Genos feels much creepier, like a doll to be dressed up and played with. I hope that’s not the case.  

Who is this Dr. Kuseno and what is his relationship with Genos? Fatherly? Or Patronizing? And what are the ethics and implications of allowing Genos such extreme body modifications.

I love a found family as much as the next person, but I find it slightly suspicious that a doctor that just happens to be an expert in cybernetics arrives in time to save Genos’ life after his village was destroyed by a CYBORG. So, we’ve learned that Kuseno was chasing the mad cyborg before Genos was so maybe that explains the convenient meeting but that makes me wonder, when and how did the Cyborg’s trail go so cold that neither Kuseno or Genos seem to know where it is at the moment (or maybe Kuseno knows something more about this and is hiding it from Genos)? We’ve also since learned that even though cybernetic components are relatively commonplace in this world modifications over 30% are extremely rare. ‘Enhancements’ as extensive as Genos’ are almost unheard of and extremely risky, including a risk of madness. How did Dr. Kuseno become such an excellent doctor of cybernetics? I couldn’t have just been overnight? Learning takes trial and error and mistakes. God knows Genos has given that man more than enough trial and error for a lifetime but what about before Genos?  

Ninja noted that in all of the lab frames Dr. Kuseno stands a fair distance away from Genos. I immediately think of the anime Dororo from 2019 and the way Jukai handles Hyakkimaru, who is likely not less dangerous than Genos in context. Jukai is genuinely fatherly and close, only teaching Hyakkimaru to fight once it became clear the boy would not walk a different path. In the lab Kuseno is cold and distant and the atmosphere is draped in shadow. The contrast between Dr. Kuseno’s behavior toward Genos in public verses in the lab is notable. I don’t really know what specifically to note about it, except that it reinforces for me that the two men barely know each other, which is disturbing given that Genos has known Dr. Kuseno probably longer than he’s known anyone and Kuseno was effectively Genos’ guardian. How much does Genos really know about the man who holds his life in his hands if Genos didn’t even know Dr. Kuseno had a battle suit? What else is Kuseno hiding or omitting? At the same time Dr. Kuseno notes seeing a new side of Genos at Saitama’s apartment. Does Dr. Kuseno know Genos as well as he thinks he does when he says things like “you remind me of myself in my youth.” ? 

Genos believes he isn’t good enough and never will be good enough. Intentionally or unintentionally Dr. Kuseno feeds into this insecurity. Does that mean he’s responsible for Genos’ insecurities? No. But it is a piece of the troubling looking puzzle connecting the two of them. Unfortunately, when Genos goes to see Kuseno it’s often in defeat so he didn’t get much meaningful encouragement from the doctor. Even in victory, after G4, Dr. Kuseno doesn’t give Genos much encouragement. “There are still areas where we can improve you” even after getting a completely new upgrade neither Dr. Kuseno nor Genos seem to be satisfied. We consistently see Kuseno chiding Genos for being reckless and begging him to be more careful and to stay alive at the very least. Perhaps Kuseno is more concerned about losing his investment than the psychological health of his charge? Kuseno is more of a scientist than anything else and it's difficult to fault him for his excellent skills but can you imagine how actually damaging it is for a growing human to literally be a never fished project in the eyes of the person who should be loving you unconditionally. We all need to grow and change constantly, but there is a difference between acknowledging a person’s strengths and weaknesses and only acknowledging (in any meaningful way) a person’s failures. It’s a habit Genos has made for himself but unfortunately, even if not intentionally, Dr. Kuseno may have helped build that habit. Ever since Genos’ family died everything in his life seems to be reinforcing the ‘not good enough’ narrative. Not good enough to save his family, not strong enough to protect anyone. Every victory is shallow and meaningless in his mind because his eyes were set only on the final goal of defeating Mad Cyborg. Which is, likely as not, unattainable. 

Genos may see Saitama as his mentor but he is dependent on Kuseno for his growth making Kuseno far more practically his ‘mentor’. There is an important part of a typical hero’s journey story when a hero must move past the teaching of their mentor and grow on their own. This is a fundamentally important stage to help the hero see that they are ‘good enough’ they have the tools they need to succeed. Sometimes this transition is painful, think back to Iroh refusing to speak to Zuko while they were in the fire nation or when Jukai refused to help Hyakkimaru anymore. Both Zuko and Hyakkimaru were angry and devastated, but it was in the end a vital part of their progress. I fear a mentor who is either not willing or not able to allow them to surpass them. 

Whether through compliance or malice the system created by the relationship between Genos and Dr. Kuseno is one where Genos relies heavily on Dr. Kuseno. If Genos is compromised he could put Dr. Kuseno at risk but the battle suit indicates that Dr. Kuseno may be more prepared to deal with risk than an average scientist. But if Dr. Kuseno is compromised that could put Genos in an early grave. Regardless of the scientists intentions Dr. Kuseno is holding Genos back. Since Genos’ latest upgrade in the anime we’ve learned that Genos used to have safety restrictions on his parts but when we first meet Genos he is about to self-destruct his own core. So what were the safety restrictions for? The practically seem more about preserving an investment than protecting the human being. Garou’s story seems to indicate there is an important part of the path for one to push their limiter is possibly to get to the brink of death itself (probably not the only way) but possibly Genos’ safety restrictions have been holding him well below his limiter for ages. Maybe he can’t break his limiter because of his cybernetic body but I honestly don’t think it’s so cut and dry. (Also I find it sad and notable that when Genos is about to self-destruct he apologizes to Dr. Kuseno for letting him down. Genos wants to live badly, but he’s so deeply self-destructive just the tip of the iceberg of emotional issues Genos is battling. When he apologizes to Dr. K, even though he’s the one who would lose his life! It’s like he’s so afraid of failing the Dr.’s expectations again he’d rather die.) Genos needs to be able to repair himself. I’m desperately afraid that the practicality of complete cybernetic repair will render Genos dependent on someone forever. 

We already know that Genos would do anything to get stronger but what has ‘doing anything’ looked like for him? What does it mean for him? I don’t really know how you can take one look at this guy and deny he’s already made painful sacrifices to get stronger. It looks like he’s willing to sacrifice his dignity, youth, life, respect, independence, joy, all sensual pleasures, and much much more for his goal to be stronger. That goal servers a purpose and that purpose was given to him by Dr. Kuseno when his village was destroyed ‘defeat Mad Cyborg’. But what will his goal for ultimate strength be without the purpose that will almost definitely be taken away from him. Even if it isn’t and he accomplishes it what will he do then? Will the sacrifices be worth it in the end? Will he be able to rebuild a new purpose and a new life for himself?

[slightly-nerdy-rambles]

Robstar Week Day 3: A New Life (Prompt: Tamaran)

And now we come to this year’s Royal Family Verse prompt! For those of you unfamiliar with it, this is a special story ‘verse that I set one Robstar Week story in each year; not exactly an AU, but a bit of an unusual interpretation of events that happen post-Tokyo. You’ll see what those events are in this fic (It’s set right at the beginning of the overarching story), but if you’d like to see a bit more, just take a look at the “Royal Family Verse” tag on my blog.

I’d really been hoping for a prompt that would allow me to write something set around the beginning of this storyline, and “Tamaran” ended up being perfect. The following scene is something that had been floating around in my head for quite some time, and it feels good to finally have it set down in the official ‘verse!

A New Life

It was not supposed to end this way.

Galfore was a good ruler. He had spent most of his life in the capital, and he had been one of Emperor Myand’r’s closest confidants. He had taught Starfire – Princess Koriand’r, back then – and her siblings almost everything they knew about guiding, aiding, and defending their people. He was intelligent, thoughtful, loyal, and dedicated, and in the short time since he’d been declared Grand Ruler, he had dismantled the seeds of corruption that had allowed Blackfire to take a stranglehold on Tamaran and brought to it an age of peace and security that the planet had not seen since before the Gordanian invasion.

What he lacked – directly, at least – was an heir.

Starfire had received the news two days ago: Galfore had been attacked by an assassin, and though he’d avoided serious injury, a poisoned blade had managed to cut deep into his thigh. The poison had been discovered and treated immediately, but it was potent, and at the time it was unknown whether he would even survive. The uncertainty of it all was almost worse than the news itself, and she had a lot to think about while she waited for an update. The other Titans had respected her space in this time, while still giving her what comfort and encouragement they could.

Now, though, it was time to talk to them. And she started, had to start, with Robin.

The two of them sat facing each other cross-legged on the floor of his bedroom. Robin watched her patiently, waiting until she was ready to speak. Starfire’s knee bounced a little with nervous energy, and she found herself looking almost anywhere in the room but him.

Finally, she let out a low sigh. “I received another transmission from Tamaran this morning.”

Robin nodded. “I heard. Is… Is Galfore going to be all right?”

Starfire bit her lip, still looking a little to the side. “He is… for the most part. He is alive, stable and fully expected to recover, but the poison has already done some irreparable damage. He will never have full use of his leg again.”

Robin winced – he knew how much value Tamaraneans put on physical strength. “I’m glad he’s… mostly okay, but that still has to be hard. I’m sorry.”

Starfire sighed again. Now came the hard part. “That is not all. If it was, I would have simply considered it a blessing for how much he will recover. Galfore is very resilient, and I know that he will handle the setback well. But not everybody is going to view it that way.”

For the first time, she let her gaze meet his. “My people are warriors, Robin, and the Grand Ruler is expected to defend the nation personally. That is why we allow physical challenges for the throne, such as you saw when I overthrew Blackfire. In his condition, Galfore will have no end of challenges, whether from people who view him as weak and unfit to rule or those who simply see a chance to take the crown for themselves. And though the Grand Ruler does not have to accept every challenge, denying too many of them will lose him the support of the council.

“Galfore is very strong and skilled, but he cannot risk a power-hungry fool taking advantage of an obvious weakness to overcome him. To prevent such a thing, he has chosen to abdicate his role as Grand Ruler… and appoint a successor in his place.”

Robin straightened up a fraction, his eyes widening slightly. “…And you’re the successor.” It was less a question than a statement of fact, a realization of just where this conversation had been leading him.

Starfire gave a shallow nod. “He intended to find another suitable candidate to name and train as his heir, but that would require time he no longer has. I am already trained and proven in the people’s eyes, and I am the only member of the previous dynasty still eligible and available. Tamaran has been through so much turmoil in the past several years… I cannot turn down the crown again.”

Again, she found herself unable to meet his eyes. Slowly, regretfully, she unhooked her communicator from her belt and placed it on the floor between them.

“I am sorry,” she said, her voice soft, “but I must leave for Tamaran soon. It seemed only right to tell you first, especially since… we cannot be together any longer.”

Robin didn’t say anything for several moments. From the corner of her eye, Starfire saw him reach for the communicator and grasp it in his own hand. He held it there for a few seconds, as if afraid to do anything more with it, and then he finally spoke up.

“Take me with you.”

Starfire jolted at that, wide eyes snapping up at him. “What?”

Robin’s own eyes seemed to have widened under the mask, and she got the sense that even he was a little surprised by what he’d just said. Taking a deep breath, he set her communicator back on the floor and went on.

“You’ve already had to leave behind the life you knew before. I… I know what that’s like, and I don’t want you to have to do it again alone. I want to go with you.”

Starfire couldn’t believe what she was hearing right now. “I… I will still have Galfore, and accepting the crown will be me returning to my old life. You are suggesting you move to an unfamiliar planet and leave everyone else you know behind for my sake, and I cannot accept that. What of the other Titans?”

Robin let out a hollow, humorless laugh. “They’ll already be losing you – the team’s going to have to rebuild itself either way. And even though you’re technically going back, you know it can never be the same as it was when you were a kid. You wouldn’t have been so openly upset about this if it could. If I have to leave someone I care about, at least let me do it on my own terms.”

Starfire shook her head and stood up. “Robin, you will be an outworlder. You would need to prove yourself on the testing grounds to be considered anything more than a guest who must stay under heavy guard anytime you are in the palace.” She began to pace the floor, running through the scenario in her head. “And you already know that Tamaraneans do not court for as long as humans of your country. If you come with me, my people will expect nothing less than marriage.”

“…Okay.”

Starfire froze in her tracks and turned to stare at him again. Robin’s face flushed red, and he stood up and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Look, I… You’re right, I do know how Tamaranean courting works. I know how hard it is for your species to give up a loved one and find a new partner. And I know that you’re going to need to get married and eventually… produce heirs of your own, and that you’d want to even if it wasn’t necessary.” The red in his face deepened. “And… I’ve been thinking about it a while, even before Galfore got attacked. It’s a little earlier than I was planning, but I already knew that was the direction we were headed. Both of us.”

Starfire searched his face as his thoughts spilled out in an increasing ramble. She could see no hint of uncertainty or false confidence in his expression, and she murmured a gentle, “Robin…”

With a deep breath, he went on. “I… I know I can’t really propose to the future empress of Tamaran, but if it’s what you want, then so do I. I just… don’t want to lose you.” With a nervous little laugh, he added, “Besides, I seem to remember you saying that Tamaraneans confessing their love to one another is practically how they get engaged, and we’ve already kind of done that.”

Starfire was speechless at first. Of all the responses she’d imagined him taking to her news, this was one of the few she had not dared seriously consider. A part of her, the part that had never lost its ties to her original culture, had been ready to marry since they first affirmed their love for one another a year ago in Tokyo. She desperately wanted to ask – no, beg him to marry her, to join her on Tamaran as consort and be with her always.

But she still wasn’t certain that he would not regret it.

“And… The other Titans?” she asked hesitantly, folding her arms tight against herself. “I know what you already said, but you are their leader, and together we make up nearly half of the team.”

Robin rubbed his arm. “I’ve thought about that too. After you found out about Galfore and I realized you might need to leave, I mean,” he admitted. “But honestly? The Titans have come a long way since our team first came together. I think Cyborg can take over as leader – though that’s up to him, Beast Boy and Raven – and if they need more help, I know a few honoraries are looking for a team to join full-time.”

So this had not been an impulsive decision. Robin had seriously thought about it, and had already made up his mind – and not in that stubborn and single-minded way he could get when chasing some villain he considered his specific responsibility to stop. Even so, some part of Starfire still thought she should say no, that this was her responsibility now and that he would be giving up too much just to stay with her.

But then she remembered when she first came to Earth, scared and alone and lashing out, and the boy who had risked life and limb to calm her down and help her. As a core member of the royal family, she was the one meant to aid and sacrifice for her people. It was one of the first times that someone had gone out of their way for her, not out of duty as a guard or another royal but just because they wanted to help.

She truly didn’t have to do this alone. Yes, the responsibilities of Grand Rulership would be hers to bear – the man she chose to marry would only be an emperor consort, after all – but she could still have someone by her side to support her all the way. And Robin had offered to be that someone. He wanted to.

Starfire didn’t realize she’d started crying until Robin stiffened in alarm. “Star!” he shouted, rushing to her and clasping her arms with a firm but gentle grip. “I-I’m sorry, I came on too strong and you’re already dealing with a lot, I shouldn’t have said anything yet, just forget I –”

But Starfire cut him off by throwing her arms around him and burying her head in his shoulder. Despite all the pain and uncertainty of the past few days, she found herself laughing, just a little, though the tears.

“Do not apologize,” she murmured into his shoulder. “I am… overwhelmed with emotion right now, but for the first time, some of that emotion is good.”

She could feel Robin’s muscles relax as he returned her embrace, and for several moments the two of them just stood there, clinging to each other like lifelines.

Finally, Starfire pulled back and let her forehead rest against his, giving him a watery smile.

“Robin…” she murmured. “…I love you. And in case you are uncertain, I do mean that in the full Tamaranean sense of the phrase.” Her smile broadened. “If you will have me, I believe you will make a wonderful emperor.”

Robin returned her smile with one of his own, and he answered her unspoken question by leaning forward and catching her lips with his own. And for the first time since Galfore’s injury, Princess Koriand’r of Tamaran felt that everything was going to be okay.

[ocular-intercourse]

every once in a while, i am remembered that i should probably nail down what exactly is in the realm of possibilities with the enhancements in the gyoverse

is the process government regulated, or more of a talent thing, the way anybody can learn how to draw with enough patience? I think it’s a mixture of both, people are not forbidden to gain certain abilities, you literally can’t keep it from happening, those are just things that can develop naturally when a person has the right mindset, but it’s also a dangerous process if certain levels are reached and things go wrong, so the government tries to keep certain levels.. I guess certified? At the very least registered. If you gain a certain amount of power you will be observed.

So there are two areas of use: personal & professional life.

In personal life a person can develop certain helpful abilities, imagine a fisherman training himself without trying to a point of being able to sense the location of fishes in the water. It’s very close to people in our world who just get very very skilled in their labor and get the ability to do specific things simply by experience (the way people in food stores can eyeball the weight of a specific item and be 100% right). Those are not particularly ‘powerful’ per se, more little every day helpers that might not even entirely get recognized as an enhancement. A lot of these abilities are inherited, but that might be less of a genetic thing and more grounded in the upbringing, environment, and education, one person teaching their skills and experiences to the next generation and them developing these enhancements themselves.

Then there’s professional life especially in jobs that are highly competitive, because everybody wants to be the best they can be in their field so naturally they would use any tools they can get their hands on. The biggest example of course is the army. The country with the strongest soldiers wins, so there have been raised standards and whoever cannot reach them loses by default. Hence the imperial army usually weeding out people with insufficient talent for the enhancements (thembo supreme raime being an exception). A whole nation selecting and breeding for the ultimate warriors at all times. There have been certain Levels established, a class of soldiers with Level A, Level B, Level C (those are not the actual names I’m still workshopping here), each with stronger abilities than the last. I imagine there are tests, either on set dates, or evaluations a person can apply for, to be moved to the next class (and get more pay and status). These Levels of evaluating a person’s capabilities can vary from job to job. A soldier with Level B would probably score lower in a scientific, research-based field, it’s all depending on how good you are at the enhancements that are useful for your job. (Army standard’s being pretty much universally accepted as the most powerful and useful skillsets and therefore valued the most)

Now this feels like a JRPG leveling system. My character’s skillset scores are Army Level C, Medicine Level A and Barter Level B+. (Now I’m picturing Trading Cards with your favorite Soldiers. Noor has one and every skill is at S cause propaganda. Gyo’s is a lot of S with worse scores in anything communicative, also S+ in immortality)

But what are the basic and less basic abilities a soldier can gain?

At base level are physical enhancements. More stamina, more strength, more agility, general healthiness (better immune system, faster gradual healing).

Followed by your base senses of smell, taste, sight, hearing and feeling. Later Levels of this ability include higher control, shutting down some senses or enhancing only one.

A little bit more difficult are things that need tighter control. The ability to influence your digestion, your blood flow, your oxygen intake. You can go longer on less food and air, you can slow your bleeding down, or trigger adrenaline rushes at will.

The next step is adding supernatural senses. The ability to feel the presence of other people, even at a distance and out of sight. The more trained you are in this area the better the feel is you get on the person and their intent. You cannot read minds, but you can certainly feel anger or admiration, general feelings or moods.

The next step is learning how to hide these things in yourself. These can cancel each other out depending on who is involved. A person that is good at hiding their intent can not hide it as well if the other person is better at seeing people’s intent than they are at hiding it.

The next step would be considered elemental magic by most standards. You can create a spark of flame, a bit of fluid, a gust of wind. These will most likely not be impressive flame thrower like attacks or anything, but can be practical here or there.

Also magical but more difficult, and mostly requires the student of this direction to split from developing other enhancements to concentrate solely on this area to be effective: healing magic. Gyo for example has mostly ignored healing magic, he can keep wounds shut enough to keep someone from losing blood but he cannot close them entirely, while Noor chose to stop their studies of techniques that would help in fights to focus on learning how to heal and nurture (it’s not only wounds, they can also relieve pain and control infections and other things). To be skilled in both is incredibly difficult and I don’t think it is currently seen. Something must be put on hold to learn other powerful things, so you have to pick and chose what you want to be proficient in. It is also an ability you can only use on others and not yourself, so most soldiers (at least those that get to this point and are therefore most likely power hungry in some way) chose to ignore it for something that helps themselves rather than others.

A similar direction but removed from regular healing magic because that focuses on healing other people while this is entirely self-focused: the next level of the control over your own body, the ability to sustain the body without meeting nutritional needs or rest. Beginners of this Level can go several days without sleep or rest, depending on a.. let’s say amount of ‘spiritual’ energy they have gathered before. They are, in that moment, basically feeding their body’s needs from this energy. The better you are at this, the longer you can go. This Level is only reached by those soldiers, that are willing to focus as much on their intellectual studies as they do on physical training. Many talented soldiers who exceed in fights get frustrated by these requirements. The ultimate Level of Control over your own body is the step Gyo has reached where he entirely halted all aging and is practically immortal, if not killed or dying of an illness. I imagine it has a lot to do with gathering such a vast amount of energy, that you can feed on it indefinitely, because you have learned to gain the energy quicker than you deplete it. There are earlier levels of this ability when you learn how to stretch less energy and slow down your aging instead of halting it completely. (many ppl in or out of the army will try to gain some bits of this ability to prolong their lives, everybody wants to squeeze a bit more out of it if they can) There are varying degrees of aging speed depending on the person’s skill level and energy intake.

The problem, aside from many people not having the mental or physical requirements to begin with, and the fortitude, discipline and patience to stick with it, is that said energy is also extremely volatile. People who begin gathering it often get overwhelmed by moodswings, the energy wanting to get out and presenting itself in any way that is currently available for it to be released by, whether that is physical or psychological. In higher concentrations the amount of energy can be literally corroding if your body and mind are not prepared to handle it. People carrying a large amount of energy can be caught in a bad moment and lose the ability to contain the energy, often with catastrophic consequences, definitely for the person themselves, sometimes for their surroundings too. People on Gyo’s Level are basically walking nukes, he could take out a small town if he ever lost it. Key to get to where Gyo is, is a strong enough anchor, a feeling or a motivation that drives you that is enough to sustain your willpower. (While in universe the idea is more philosophical, trained soldiers being told “think of something that motivates you”, this is more literal than they think. Gyo’s current anchor is wrath, that is why his sword which is known for its gruesome owners, attached itself to him. You could see the wrath as a fingerprint scan, if he did not have it, the sword would not work for him. A person’s anchor can also switch, which Gyo’s will, eventually, to his need to protect, and it will cause trouble with his sword and I assume some of the ways his other abilities have worked for him in the past)

The different Levels soldiers can be classified as are defined by a combination of these abilities, since each of them have multiple levels (from lesser to higher control over your body, stronger elemental magic and so on). So, to reach Level A you need Skill A Ability Score 1, Skill B Ability Score 1, Skill C Ability Score 1 while reaching a higher Level requirement might look more like Skill A Ability Score 2 Skill B Ability Score 3 Skill C Ability Score 6. So, a test that would allow you to reach the next Level would test how high your Ability Scores in each Skill are and see where that lands you. So even if your Levels are Skill A Ability Score 6 and Skill B Ability Score 6 if you do not have Ability Score 6 in Skill C you will not reach that higher Level. Gyo probably has all Skills maxed out (except healing but that one is counted separately since the army knows most soldiers will not reach high Ability Scores here).

But like I said, this Grade System is army specific. In another job field requirements might look more for skills that help you read and retain information faster, or specialize in reading other people and putting pleasant emotions out there to influence others.

This also explains Raime’s situation. While they are, from birth on, unable to gain these things that count as army recognized enhancements, they have an ability more on par with those private uses that develop naturally through talent and repetition. They DO technically have enhancements, but they are exclusively social, enhanced emotional intelligence if you will. The ability to read people, not the way the army enhancement works where it is basically a  supernatural sense you gain, but more through being able to instinctively read faces and voices and putting together what that means rather than sensing it. 

I don’t think this is entirely a class system based on your Level of enhancements, but typically people with enhancements are respected more, more so if they are high skilled in ‘popular’ fields (a soldier Level A will be more respected than a Scientist Level A). There is definitely a certain pressure to gain certain Levels, especially in higher society. If a first born noble does not gain high army Levels they are considered shameful.