#art has attained said dream and wants to give it up

[tuesdaygray]

thinking about. the consistent thread in challengers (2024) of wanting your life to be about more than "hitting a ball with a racket."

how tashi is the first character to bring this up and whether or not she means it (she's really only planning to do a year of college) she knows inherently that being well rounded is practical. that she's not from the same place as the country club, tennis academy, daddy's money kids. this should be an unattainable dream for most, but it's hers and she has it and it's terribly ingrained into her life but "what if this doesn't work out?" and then it doesn't. she gets injured and she gets stuck in this loop of the past, in her own potential, in what could have been. when it feels like everyone is counting on you to do and succeed at one thing ("she's going to make her family millionaires"), the one thing that is the framework and catalyst for everything you know, how do you come back from that? her life could now, realistically, become about something else because she actually can't have her dream anymore, but she becomes obsessed, holding on with white knuckles and performing alterations because she can't let it go, until she admits sardonically in a mostly abandoned applebees that her life really has only been about one thing.

and patrick. who challenges tashi's original statement. who has no problem devoting his life to tennis because it's a "good way to avoid having a job." who never had any dreams beyond playing the sport he's always had a knack for, coasting by on natural talent, never having to try. realizing too late that what really made it worth it was tennis as a relationship, not the selfish ego stroke it had been when he was good enough to win tashi's number. and he's stuck in arrested development, just like her. he never grew up, he never let go of the past, of what it felt like to play doubles with his best friend, of what it felt like to watch tashi at the top of her game. but he's painfully aware. he's made his bed and he's tangled in the sheets and he loves it and he hates it and above all else, he misses the way it used to be.

then there's art. whose decision to go to stanford is never questioned because it's unspoken general knowledge that he couldn't have gone pro right away. he never expected to be this big time professional player, he was always just concerned with doing a "really good job." and because of this, art's life is the one that probably should have been about more, the foundation was laid for it. but he's stuck too, a passive actor in a life he chose and was probably never meant to have. the holder of and heir to tashi's and patrick's unrealized dreams. (was it ever his dream?) and after eight years, after attaining it and living it without a real passion for it, he's ready to give it up because, out of the three of them, he wants his life to be about more than "hitting a ball with a racket" because it's "embarrassing to be doing this shit when you're 40." but he's the one who bears the weight of success, alone at the top, where the people he loves can only dream of knocking him off. so shouldn't he be grateful for it?

[yukidragon]

Could we learn more about Alice? Like what does Alice like to do, how did they react with other, any job other than Yogurt place, would they be friends with other sunshines?

Ahhhh, I’m so happy you like Alice enough to want to know more about her! I’m happy to give you some random facts.

First of all, I can think of many other sunshines that Alice would get along with. She’s a bit shy when she first meets people, but she tries her best to be friendly and approachable. Ironically, working such an embarrassing food service job helped her learn how to talk with strangers more easily, though she does get anxious easily if they get a little too personal too fast. Once she gets more relaxed around a person as they become closer as friends, she can get pretty silly and playful.

Popov’s Big Top Yogurtopia wasn’t exactly her first choice for a job (can you blame her?) When Alice was younger, she had a lot of different dreams, but her biggest one was to create a cartoon series for young adults. Think something similar to the Owl House or Gravity Falls, something with an overarching story to it and lightly spooky at times, but with characters who support each other and try to get to the bottom of the fantastical mystery they’ve been thrust into. She actually has a good number of notebooks with ideas as well as a lot of sketchbooks.

Alice is a pretty good artist, but she’s very sensitive to criticism. Sadly, art teachers who were unfairly biased towards real life photo realistic art critiqued her more stylized and fantastical works without really communicating how she might improve. Sometimes you come across some art teachers like this who see only one way of doing art, or they get jealous of a young student’s talents when they abandoned their own dreams long ago.

That’s not even touching on the bullying from her peers and online that Alice faced when she was a kid. She wound up deleting all the art and her social media after it got to be too much. It was several years before she posted anything online again, but it was under a whole new online identity distanced from her old one.

Fortunately, it seems Alice safely buried her dark past. No one will remember her shameful youth of cringe ships and Mary Sue power fantasies. No one will ever know... as long as Ian doesn’t say anything or share the copies he’s saved, and he better not if he knows what’s good for him!

Alice did learn how to draw more realistic art as well, and even took a couple art classes when bouncing around between degrees during college, but by that point she was heavily discouraged from pursuing her dream of creating cartoons.

Being an actor was a dream that was nurtured by Ian. Because Alice spent a lot of time helping him with his dream, rehearsing and learning how to act alongside him, she got better at it as well and found it to be another fun thing to do with her partner. That’s why at the start of college she disregarded her biggest dream to go after another dream that was still really fun and had the added fulfilment of doing it with the person she loved most.

Then, as I’ve said a couple times in past headcanon posts, the teacher in the acting class pulled Alice aside after class one day to give her the harsh truth that chubby actors get pigeonholed into degrading roles. With how sensitive she is about how people perceive her, the teacher was genuinely concerned about what the entertainment industry would do to her spirit. Plenty of actors suffer from eating disorders to maintain an unhealthy beauty standard, among other things, and the teacher didn’t want her to suffer from something like that.

After that, Alice tried different career paths, trying to find a new, more attainable dream to follow for her future. This led to a lot of dead ends - sometimes she found things she was good at but hated, and other times it was something she liked but a career in it seemed unfeasible. A lot of dreams died along the way as she tried many things until she ultimately graduated with a degree in computer science.

Alice has worked a few part-time jobs since she was a teenager until she got a full time position at Yogurtopia. It was a job she found within walking distance of her new apartment after she moved out of the place she used to live with Ian. It might be a cringe job, but at least she doesn’t have to waste money on gas to drive there.

After the disillusionment that came from having so many dreams crushed during high school and college, with the biggest one being a happy future with Ian, Alice was left very, very tired. She’s doing the bare minimum to take care of herself, often times forgetting to eat meals. She suffers from depression, but can’t afford to see a medical professional for it, as treatment for a chronic medical condition she suffers from eats a chunk out of her budget as it is. Trying to find a better paying job is difficult, especially when she has to work long hours most days of the week and is left with little time or energy to do more than to treat herself and try to feel better.

Alice is the oldest child in a pretty big family. Although her family is very loving and supportive, she feels pressure to make it on her own. There are so many siblings in her family home, and one of her younger sisters has more severe health problems than she does, which eats through her family’s funds. When she was younger, she caused a lot of issues due to her health problems until doctors were finally able to diagnose and treat her for it. She would have moved back to her family home after the breakup if she wasn’t so against being a financial or emotional burden on her family when things are already rough as it is for them.

Despite having such a caring family, Alice feels that she can’t burden them or anyone else with her problems. She has to handle them on her own, so she stubbornly is living in a crappy cheap apartment, working far too many hours for not enough pay, and struggling to care about herself more.

The illness Alice has is something that can’t be cured, and I would rather not pick any real life condition. It is, however, treatable through pills that she takes daily. It allows her to go through life without symptoms keeping her from living her life. It can flare up despite treatment, but they’re rare nowadays, and she has a high tolerance for pain as a result.

When Alice does have time to herself to do something fun and relaxing, she tends to watch TV, play video games, doodle in one of her many sketchbooks, or even make small RPG Maker horror games for fun. She’s just barely active enough on social media to keep up with the handful of friends she has, occasionally posting her art there for little to no attention outside of her friends circle. She’s overall a pretty introverted person and finds social engagement exhausting.

If Alice is feeling particularly good, especially on a nice crisp autumn day with a relaxing atmosphere, she sometimes goes out to the park near her home to draw in her sketchbook. Sometimes she sketches people passing by or the scenery, but most often she draws more stylistically. Although her dream of making a cartoon series is pretty much dead, she still draws little comics for her own fun, and has a fair amount of lore written up about different stories she’s made. Even if she can’t animate the scenes she imagines in her head, she can still enjoy the worlds she’s made just for herself.

Although, admittedly, the stories Alice plays with currently are all brand new characters and ideas since she’s moved to the new place. It’s been hard for her to touch the older works she held dear, especially those she’s had since childhood. Those ideas and characters were among the many things she shared with Ian, and he left his thumbprint on them, offering encouragement and ideas of his own. When they were together, it helped nurture these stories and characters she made, but after their breakup, it’s hard for her to look at them without thinking of him and feeling the pain of love that turned into something so very toxic.

Alice is trying to move on. She’s trying to start fresh with pretty much everything in her life that Ian touched. The tattoo on her back symbolizes her “rebirth” into a new person, one who doesn’t need to be loved romantically to not only live, but thrive. She’s always wanted a tattoo, but couldn’t afford it after the breakup when all her savings had to be used to rebuild her life. Fortunately, her younger sister Barbie insisted on paying for one as a birthday gift to her.

It’s not in color in this drawing, but in color it’s a pair of phoenix wings, intense bright blue near the center leading into fiery red, and eventually transitioning to glowing yellow embers that come off similar to feathers. (Yes, the subtle blue/yellow/red nod is intentional here too in her design.) It creates a heart in the empty space between them. It’s intended as a representation of her strength. Even though old dreams died, particularly what she thought was true love, she can still rise from the ashes and live on, shining bright.

Alice designed the tattoo herself, and she’s posted the drawing of it on her socials when she got it done, but she’s too intimidated to post any photos of her bare back online. Only members of her family, the tattoo artist, and a couple doctors have actually seen what it looks like on her.

Although the tattoo is in a hard to see place, it makes Alice feel empowered just having it. She doesn’t like to look at herself in the mirror anyway if she doesn’t have to. Still, she does make it a point to look at the tattoo sometimes to remind herself that she is strong enough to keep going, no matter how hard things might feel at times.

I think I’ll end the post here on that uplifting note. Thank you again for asking about Alice. I’m so glad you like her. If you’re interested in hearing more about her, feel free to ask me. I’ll be more than happy to go on another ramble about her, her relationships with the other Sunny Day Jack Characters, and the story of Sunshine in Hell in general. Thanks for reading! 💖

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore

[cancerjupiter]

🌱earth moons🌱

Those with earthy Moons react in a very grounded, matter-of-fact way. The reaction may be so self-contained in those with Taurus or Capricorn Moon, in fact, that others may wonder if there has been any reaction. Those with Virgo Moon, on the other hand, react rather quickly, mentally, and sometimes nervously to any stimulus in a way obvious to everyone, even if the person is trying to contain his or her emotional reaction. Just like the earth itself, those with an Earth Moon have a crust over their emotional reactions; and they prefer to present a certain form to the public rather than to reveal their vulnerabilities.

taurus moon

The Moon is extraordinarily happy in the comfortable, stable sign of Taurus, for the emotions are steady and the person has little self-doubt. Those with the Moon in Taurus are not easily perturbed, even by powerful attacks or shocking events that would strongly affect others. They are in fact amazingly resilient, bouncing back from any defeat, disappointment, or trauma. Perfect examples are politicians Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, and celebrities Demi Lovato and Lindsay Lohan; who, despite unmerciful attacks, still manage to have their shit together and maintain at least some degree of popularity.

The poise with which Taurus Moon people face life’s demands and unpredictability is remarkable, and they therefore have a steadying influence on others, who appreciatively value their reliability. Note that I said “reliability,” not necessarily readiness! This sign is known for being the slowest in the zodiac, moving actively only when they are good and ready and insisting on their own pace in everything they do in life. Their inner contentment and resistance to change can thus make them frustrating to deal with if their considerable stubbornness causes them to dig in their heels to resist what you want. The other side of the coin is their remarkable persistence when they are focused on attaining a certain goal.

Those with Taurus Moon are attuned to the rhythms of nature and the earth, and this gives them their particular pace of life and much of their strength. They are notably physical and sensual, and have a great need for the “pleasures of life.” And they insist on taking the time to enjoy them. This unique attunement leads to a trust in earthly life that enables them to accept others with few demands and to take life as it comes. They are pleased with life (generally) and rather pleased with themselves. This can of course result in smugness, conceited self-satisfaction, and self-indulgent laziness. As Grant Lewi wrote, the key to improving oneself for Taurus Moon is to “turn self-satisfaction into active self-confidence”.

Emotionally, those with this Moon sign are not at all cold, but neither do they readily reveal their feelings. They are good listeners and are usually warmly responsive and solidly supportive, but not gushingly effusive. They really prefer not to allow anything to affect them. Some comments from questionnaire responses add additional perspectives to this lunar type:

1. “Seems very positive, giving men good relationships with women. It also appears to give talent in crafts such as cooking and other home arts.”

2. “ … sensual, heightened sense of material/physical aesthetics (e.g., clothing, home, colors, etc.), wonderful sense of humor, stubborn, and sometimes impervious to what’s going on beneath the surface of things.”

People with the Moon in Taurus like to be touched, especially to be hugged. Also, I’ve noticed a certain resistance to change. This resistance ranges (in different people) between a reluctance to accept the moods of another and a reluctance to allow any out-of-the-ordinary spontaneity to enter their life (usually hate surprises).

virgo moon

Those with Virgo Moon need a sense of order in their own minds and in the environment to feel comfortable and secure. This leads to their instinctive analytical reaction to all life experience, sorting their perceptions and thoughts into categories and discriminating between them according to their personal principles or prejudices. This need for order also motivates their obsession with neatness and cleanliness. They likewise feel more secure by making definite improvements in their environment, in their scientific, artistic, or intellectual pursuits, or—something not always appreciated with this sign—in other people. In fact, as one woman wrote in a questionnaire, “Sometimes they can be busybodies, putting others’ lives in order with advice—usually not so tactful. They’re so busy organizing friends’ lives that they forget about their own”. This “workaholic” tendency can also manifest as a broad range of criticism from afar directed even at total strangers who, evidently, just don’t measure up to the Virgo level of perfection.

Being helpful makes them feel better about themselves and aids them in overcoming their habitual self-doubt and sense of personal imperfection. In fact, “perfectionism” is a keyword for Virgo, and their unavoidable awareness of their own imperfections leads often to excessive self-consciousness, sometimes of a type so severe as to render them unable to use their genuine gifts with any confidence. Their tendency to notice the imperfections of others, and to voice those observations far too often, frequently makes the other person feel uncomfortably and unproductively self-conscious. Those with Virgo Moon would do better to heed their deep need to serve and to help others or improve things in the outer world. By doing so, they can eventually gain a sense of having improved themselves—at least in the modest way they will allow themselves to acknowledge. Virgo is the most modest sign in the zodiac—one of the few, in fact. Virgo Moon people can seem shy and reserved.

Habitually nervous types with a tendency to worry, Virgo Moon people often find their personal tranquility and self-validation in work and compulsive “busyness.” Work also provides an escape from the unpleasant emotions or depressing feelings of guilt or worthlessness that so often afflict those with this Moon position. But, because emotions interfere with productivity, as Donna Cunningham points out in Moon Signs, they are conveniently put aside or suppressed in the routine of daily life. Hence, Virgo Moons are among the few people who love all kinds of petty, boring activities — even housework. A friend with this placement even admitted to dreaming about being a mother/grandmother, so she could do chores and serve her family all day (of course, she’s also a Cancer Rising).

Doubt and skepticism pervade their mode of thinking and reacting, and of course there is always something to criticize in any person, place, thing, or concept. The infinitely small is always available as a target! This constant mental tension and the sensitivity of their nervous system, and their hyper-attunement to hygiene and purity, make these folks fascinated by and eager for involvement in the areas of nutrition, biological sciences, natural therapies, the healing arts, and/or the medical professions. This natural affinity also, however, bends them toward hypochondria, at its worst, or at least to a sensitive digestive and/or intestinal system. The quality of the food they eat is of utmost importance, since it directly affects their nerves and mental state, not just their digestion.

Their talent for detailed work is without equal (except for those with certain other planets in Virgo), and they often get great satisfaction from employing their natural craftsmanship in the practical or fine arts. Because their mind can always find something wrong with any idea or plan, indecision often afflicts those with this Moon placement. Moral indecision as well is often observed, as their perfectionist and puritanical tendencies battle with their more practical or sensual needs.

capricorn moon

Those with Capricorn Moon, as is also the case when other major planets or the Ascendant are in Capricorn, seem unnaturally old and serious when they are young, but they can lighten up as they grow older. In their youth, they are unusually capable, disciplined, and conservative, taking the well-trodden path to their goals of worldly achievement or to follow a vocation. Their real confidence is late-blooming, as their sense of inner security develops over time and they feel that their age at least, if not their accomplishments, has earned them some respect they have always craved. Capricorn Moon people eventually learn to relax somewhat and to trust life and other people to a greater extent. The aura of melancholy that those with Capricorn attunement so often carry around with them can also slowly dissipate over time, sometimes helped by a more and more adventurous—but dry—sense of humor.

The fluctuating, responsive, emotional Moon is not at all naturally comfortable in a sign that is often rigid and distant, and prides itself on not revealing any sign of vulnerability or personal need. People with Capricorn Moon have instinctive reactions to life that are characterized by self-control and caution, and sometimes by a defensiveness or negativity that is almost shocking. They feel that they need to manipulate and control the world (and their feelings) in order to attain the power, authority, and recognition that they deeply desire. In fact, they are most secure within themselves when their identity is confirmed by a social role, title, specific duty, or mantle of authority. Even at an early age, Capricorn Moon people are comfortable assuming responsibility and feel perfectly at home in the role of provider, protector, or organizer. They are most relaxed and truly themselves when they are carrying some weight, or when others have to depend on them! Very hardworking, these folks share with Virgo first place on the list of people who absolutely love to work, which often ultimately results in professional success. They may not always be fun, but they will often get the job done.

Perhaps the most oppressive thing about this group occurs in those who become too obsessed with being recognized as important and having authority; sometimes, there is a persistent “one-upmanship” that pervades their personal and professional lives. The constant drive to be “on top” can cripple their capacity for any human intimacy and eliciting automatic distrust from others. As psychologist-astrologer Glenn Perry, Ph.D., wrote,

“The tight controlled responses often lead to loneliness and despair as it prevents the individual from flowing and responding to the changing mood of others. Moon in Capricorn nurtures by taking charge and giving orders. This dry mechanical approach to feelings is not sympathetic and tends to imply that the other is incompetent. Unable to respond directly to emotional needs, Moon in Capricorn gives the impression of being callous, hardened and unaffected by the tender side of life. (Aspects magazine, Fall 1981)”

If the emotional suppression and denial become chronically extreme and rigid, the result can be a person who others may respect but not love. However, from another view (from the inside, so to speak) of this Moon sign’s emotional nature, I quote here from an interview with a Capricorn Moon young woman who characterized herself to me as having “a seriousness about the emotional life, an interest in getting down to bare bones, an impatience with small talk, and a need to get to the core emotionally.” She continues:

“All Capricorn Moons I know (there have been a lot) have a certain gravity to them, an ability to take the emotional life seriously. The women especially are almost never giggly or flirty — we’re too serious to flirt much. The women are kind of ‘masculine’ I guess, sort of businesslike in their manner (men too actually… it’s not a placement I ever see that is friends with everyone and instantly, openly affectionate). I think ‘a few serious, long-term friendships’ sums up all the Capricorn Moons I know.”

A questionnaire reply from another woman also emphasized that women with this capable, ambitious orientation are liable to feel “ambivalent about their sexual identity,” although they have strong physical needs, and that women with Capricorn Moon have “a great need for appreciation to develop their self-worth”. Two other questionnaires confirmed the self-disclosure quoted above regarding the practical agenda underlying emotional commitments. The words they used were “cool in affections and looks out for self” and “very calculating—not necessarily bad—just a lot of planning, no spur-of-the-moment reactions.” Another quite thorough questionnaire reply from an experienced practitioner of astrology included the following:

“this Moon placement shows marked proficiency in handling the self in the material world, or at least a lot of concern over and attunement to material affairs. They are very shrewd in taking care of their financial needs. Very often they are involved in some secure structure, like working for the government, etc. They like a secure financial position. For all, they take things very seriously; they approach many things cautiously. This is also a very sexual placement in laid-back ways.”

In conclusion, the Capricorn demeanor of slowness, caution, and hesitation should never mislead you. They may be conservative in most attitudes, but they are actually very progressive and results-oriented in action. They just don’t like to make mistakes.

[hyrule-kingdom-updates]

🌼 any of them

Whoops, wrote a fic

Describe one of your OC’s worst nightmares.

An optimist would look at the world of divination with wonder. The universe is a but a magnificent hall of tapestries, beautiful pieces of art woven into anything you could imagine. Tapestries where you are a hero, tapestries where you are royalty, tapestries where your people live with riches, tapestries depicting your eternal victory over your enemies. The universe is endless and bountiful, for in the future, all futures are possible.

This is how Astor usually can depict the good fortune tellers from the worse.

If they’re an optimist, they’re most likely a faker.

The only true divinator that he had met that was even a bit of an optimist was his mother, and even then, he had always had the sinking feeling that she hid a deeper sorrow behind her simple shoes of colorful flames and shining moon and starlight. No, it was quite hard to stick to true, unfiltered optimism in this field, as while it was true that all futures and choices were possible, that freewill ran its course through all who walked the vast possibilities of the universe, the issue came in the fact that you could not travel it to and fro.

There are futures where you live, there are futures where you achieve your wildest dreams, timelines where your childhood is happier, and timelines where you find true love and satisfaction.

But you aren’t in those timelines. The future you have is this one, and it is set in stone.

Walk all the roads you want, say all the words, read all the stories, but when a seer analyzed exactly what world we live in, exactly what end is destined for this string of the universe, there will be no holding back. There is only the unfiltered, raw, typically pessimistic truth of the end. Savor it.

“In truth, Elane, I hate my job. Fear it, even,” Astor set his teacup down, looking out the balcony towards the inky, midnight view. “I fear one day I will find the prediction—the true, ultimate glimpse into the night, that seals in the fact that we’re doomed.”

The Queen only cocked her head with a smile. “Well, I’m flattered that there’s still a ‘we’ in this scenario. Good to know I’ll be joining you in the lockup when my mother find our contraband cucco nuggets—“

“I’m serious, Elane.”

She only laughed quietly, before leaning back in her chair, and gazing out into the pleasant evening. “I know...”

There was a quiet between them, not quite awkward or stiffening, but quiet in the way that you might hold your breath after someone embraces you warmly. Quiet in acceptance, quiet to make room for the sounds of something rare and fickle.

“I swear, I might retire early,” Astor finally said. “Quit while I’m ahead. Head off to Hateno or Mabe and bury my head in the sand.”

“You might want to try Gerudo then, if sand is what you’re searching for. I’m sure Urbosa would be thrilled.”

“Tsk. I am inclined to disagree.”

Elane chuckled again, and she let the quiet embrace her for a moment.

“Eternal doom aside, for a moment, I would posit that there’s hardly anything to fear. You’ve foreseen my daughter’s growth, analyzed the future livelihood of the kingdom, and predicted our victory over Ganon. I’d say it’s hard to bargain with that.”

“Maybe, but I could be wrong.” Astor circled his finger on the lip of his cup. “It happens, people make a prediction, but miss one star, or slip up one word...or perhaps one cow suddenly dies, or one ember quickly fades, and suddenly we’re actually in an entirely different timeline than predicted.”

“Didymos Astor? Wrong about something? Oh my, I never thought I’d see the day...” Elane smiled to herself again as she lifted her cup for another sip.

Astor clicked his tongue. “Well. You should hope I’m not wrong about anything. If someone of my skill makes an incorrect prediction, it would probably be disastrous for everyone.”

Elane winked as she set down her cup. “Well, good thing you’re a prodigy, then.”

“Good thing, indeed.”

Quiet keep their third company once again. Astor still had not sipped from his cup, but Elane was already heading for her fourth refill, no doubt begging for any energy after tucking her daughter to bed. A young toddler with enough energy to power a Guardian army, Elane has always found it quite odd that she used up a lot of her energy to annoy the Royal Seer. It was charming to see him get put off by a Mallory’s boundless curious aura, but mostly relieving in the sense that the Queen could get a moments rest and trust little Zelda would be alright.

Elane looked back inside through the half open door, and smiled at a bundled sleeping figure, surrounded by an army of stuffed animals. She then turned back and finally noticed Astor’s continued silence on the next refill.

She sighed. “Although I would be saddened to see you leave,” she began, “If a retirement would make you happy, Astor, I would loathe to do anything to stand in your way.”

He looked up at her, analyzing her body language and expression. She was genuine, of course, as she always was in these sorts of talks. Astor finally let himself exhale in peace, as he smiled and shook his head.

“Unfortunately I don’t think it would do me much good, anyways. Location won’t let me escape my own thoughts and visions.” He took a sip of his tea—a bit citrusy this evening, a hint of apple—and relaxed. “I’d imagine His Majesty would miss me dearly, and I simply wouldn’t want to leave him in distress.”

“Ha! Oh yes of course, Rhoam would be crying tears if you left us...” she replied, sarcastically. “Tears of deep, deep sorrow.”

Astor looked out into the night in silence again, not touching his cup.

“But I’ll tell you what Astor,” Elane began again. “If you ever receive that world dooming prediction, whatever may happen that may instigate your view of the deepest hells,” she raised her cup. “You come find me, and we’ll have a drink.”

He raised an eyebrow. “A drink? What sort of drink?”

She shrugged. “Whatever you like. Tea, wine, beer, water or juice if it’s your fancy. Whatever will keep your spirits high.”

Astor smirked, solemnly. “I don’t think you understand just how severe and dreadful certain predictions can be. When we say ‘all futures are possible,’ we do mean all possibilities.”

“And I understand, dear seer. I truly do.” She tilted her head as she kept her cup in the air. “But the way I see it, is that with divination or not, doom and hell come into people’s lives one way or the other. But it hasn’t really stopped the majority from loving their lives now, has it?” Her eyes twinkled like starlight. “Dearest Astor, if our destined doom is predicted one day, I command you to at least smile through our tea party.”

Quiet.

He finally sighed, the corners of his lips perking. His protests drowning in her expression.

“I suppose if you’re the one pouring, it’d be difficult to refuse.” He raised his cup and clinked it with hers.

She was dead eight days later.

With her death came the final factor. The final star.

“Your daughter is destined to fail us,” he said again. “The Calamity shall rise and consume us all, and she won’t stop it in time.”

Rhoam slammed his fists on the desk, but the seer did not flinch. “We’ll train her hard, we’ll start now, even! I’ll get those clerics from the temple to teach her the starting prayers!” he yelled.

“It won’t work.” Astor replied, simply. “Perhaps she might attain them down the line, but she most certainly won’t awaken her powers by Ganon’s rise. It’s over.”

“You told me we could do this!” Rhoam pointed a finger, accusingly. “You saw our prosperity, our victory!”

“That was what I initially saw, yes. But unfortunately we live in world where the Queen of Hyrule is dead, and thus the threads of our future weave accordingly.”

“You’re a liar!” Rhoam bellowed again. “You saw her death, saw our end and lied to us since the beginning, haven’t you?!!”

“Don’t you think that if I knew Elane would die, I would say something?! That I would give ample time for her to say goodbye to you and her daughter??” Astor finally raised his voice, met with equal silence. “I failed to correctly analyze our timeline the first time around, and for that I am sorry. But I can not control what pieces of the future fate allows me to see. It’s not an open novel for you to give me a bad book report grade on. It’s a museum of endless tapestries, of which I am task with analyzing one stroke at a time to identify which is woven to a singular man, and the fact that I have given you a complete enough answer now is a gift within itself, so don’t even try to accuse me forgery and lies.”

The two men clenched their jaws, staring angrily at each other.

Astor finally whispered. “Overtime I might gather more specifics, but overall—this is over.”

Rhoam balles his hand into a fist. “We’ll start a new schedule for Zelda first thing in the morning—“

“It won’t work, it’s futile—“

“We’ll make it work—“

“This is set in stone, this is the world you live in—“

“Well what if you’re wrong again?”

“I’m not.”

“But what if you are?”

“I’m. Not. I’ve read the signs again and again and again, in fact I’ve been reaching the same conclusions repeatedly for the last four weeks. It. Is set. In stone.” He tapped his finger on the wood with each syllable to emphasize. “Perhaps the futures of prosperity are accurate for the Rhoams and Mallorys that live in a different time, but unfortunately for us, we live in one where Elane is dead. This is our reality and you’re doing no good denying as such.”

Silence.

Rhoam made his way towards the door. “You’re a liar.” The seer scoffed. “You’re a liar and you don’t know what you’re saying! Borderline treason if I’m being honest! You’re pathetic, and a rotten fake—“

“If it pleases His Majesty to confirm the integrity of his humble subject,” Astor cut in, sarcastically, “It might be good to know that also I’ve predicted you won’t imprison me, or exile me, or execute me, given you’re still ever reliant on my uncontested skills for more personal matters. That, and you wish to try and keep me around to hopefully prove me wrong, in which you can then tell yourself you’d be in the right to truly punish me.” He stared the regent dead in the eyes. “But don’t worry, you won’t.”

Rhoam slammed the door shut as he stomped off.

That night, Astor has another dream. Or perhaps it was a vision, he wasn’t sure, as the details were so surreal and horrific and captivating that it would have surely been a blessing to chalk it up entirely to vivid imagination.

There were screams and the sound of rocks crumbling. Bones were cracking and monsters were squealing and shrieking. And be felt his arms burn, and he felt his soul drain, and he looked down to see his skin peeling into dark flakes, his muscles, sludge. And in the distance, a young woman with golden hair laughed at him, but her eyes were hollow and gold. And she laughed and laughed as his body was slowly broken to pieces, bones torn asunder, skin burned to smoldering malice, senses vivid until the final moment when he woke.

But the good thing about nightmares, was that...that was it. There was no where else to go. There was nothing left to offer. No more pain to fear.

It made sense of course. Of course, of course. He never went to the funeral, he never offered his sympathies. There was no longer anything to mourn, as he allowed himself to view the world in its true, disgusting form. The people were doomed, and the dead, well...perhaps they might have deserved it. Yes, that was the only way this all made sense, of course. He even stopped trying to warn other folk after a few too many dozen harsh rejections to his character. No, now in complete isolation and resignation of his path, there was nothing else that could possibly drag him back to—

“How do I die?” Zelda Mallory Hyrule asked, one day.

At first, he was confused, and he turned in his chair. “What?”

She was seven at the time, and it was truly an odd and concerning thing to be coming from a seven year old girl’s mouth. Or perhaps it wasn’t, given the circumstances.

“How do I die?” she said again. She was laying down on his worn carpet, fiddling with the frilled edge.

Was she truly that bored? Already out of other questions? Hmph, he had always warned her to stay away, as a seer’s office wasn’t really meant for childish entertainment. Yet still she always came and asked to hide away from her father, and, well...anything to spite that man...

“Why do you ask?” he finally replied. Had someone said something to her? A threat? He clenched his jaw. I swear, if that fool tried to force her powers by—

“You’re always going on about how I’m wasting my time with praying and stuff...but father says I still gotta to stop the Calamity or else we could all die.” She didn’t look up from the bits of carpet string she was playing with (and contemplating on popping in her mouth), “So I figured if you tell me how I die we can settle the debate for good!”

Astor just sighed. “Well, of course you d—“

He stopped himself, but not for the reasons a more put together person, might. Not because of the generally frowned upon action of telling a child how she dies, no, that was not exactly beyond him. No, Astor cut off his sentence simply because it had crossed his mind that—

“...I’m not entirely sure...” he whispered.

He suddenly stood. Walking towards the other end of his office, carefully stepping over the child. “E-Excuse me a moment.”

Why had he never considered this? Of course, he had seen the signs clearly enough, the visions, the stars. A girl cries over a corpse, a light vanishes in the night. Malice plagued the sky and dooms the day. But did the Calamity actually kill her? Does she drown in rubble and malice like the others? Slain by a demon or monster perhaps? Or if not, then, would that mean...?

The princess soon forgot about the question by the next day, and the next, and the next, and the next, and the next.

Astor spent nearly eight sleepless nights into finding an answer.

But he never truly did.

These things happened more times than one may think, when it came to predictions. Vagueness was commonplace, but specificities and straightforward answers were about as rare as a green sunset. Of course, he knew she would die, goddess blood or not, she lived the life of a mortal. But how? When? While it certainly wasn’t impossible to predict a person’s death, but whatever the circumstances of Mallory’s was made the process was infuriatingly impossible.

It was possible she would die of malice or suffocation under rubble, even circumstances where she dies at the Ganon’s hand himself. But then there were clear visions of her living, walking through a grassy field, ruins in the distance covered in leaves and moss, her turning and calling to a friend to keep up with her pace.

But no, nonono. She would die during the Calamity’s rise, that was the majority of what the futures offered to her were. That was the probable outcome.

But the factors and visions and signs and alignments were so fine and minuscule in difference, that Astor truly couldn’t a true statement, a true prediction, a true answer to the question. What timeline did we live in?

It taunted him.

Maybe it was better if the question was put to rest, did it even matter?

“Mallory?” he asked. “That’s a stupid name.”

“What?! No it’s not!” Elane laughed and shoved his shoulder. “Please, YOU’RE not one to talk.”

“Well as a victim of stupid first names, I think I’m qualified to speak accurately on the subject.”

“Aha! But it’s not technically a first name.” Elane tapped his head. “It’s a middle name, her first name would be ‘Zelda,’ of course.”

“Yes, and that is also a s—“

The queen shoved his shoulder into the wall before he even finished the sentence. “Oh would you shut up...”

He laughed, unconventionally carefree. Her Majesty’s happiness these days truly was contagious. Or perhaps that was a side effect of pregnancy? Did all expecting mother’s give off this aura?

“I think it’s a wonderful name.” Elane said. “Reminds me of a cute little duck, like a mallard!” She tucked her arms and flapped her elbows to imitate as such. “Quack, quack!”

“This is further adding to my argument actually”

“Hmph! Ok then Mr. Overseer of all names” She tapped a finger to his chest. “If it’s such a stupid name, then when she starts getting bullied for it around the castle, I shall expect you to take care of her in full.”

He scoffed. “Oh, I’ll be sure to do so. She’ll definitely need it.”

Elane pecked his head with a kiss.

“Good! I grant you my blessing lovingly tease her, as well. And I expect the best from you, Astor!”

His face suddenly warmed for some reason, and he couldn’t form words.

“What?”

“.....W...”

He was suddenly whack in the head with a rolled up piece of paper. Astor sprang awake from his desk. “...W...What...?”

“Morning, Mr. Astor!!” Princess Zelda-Mallory beamed. “And happy birthday!!! Sorry I woke you up early, but I needed to give this to you before the winter solstice festival later and—“

She continued to ramble on and on, but Astor simply opened the rolled up paper she had handed to him. It was simply filled with dozens and dozens, arguably hundreds, of hand drawn stars. In the corner was written, “You always look at the same stars so here’s some new ones!” in crude purple crayon. At the time, he failed to notice the accompanying note on the back that read “One for each year of how old you are!” Thankfully he was too busy looking through the different stars, with varying degrees of sparkles and smiley faces.

He finally looked back at the princess, who was still rambling on and on about her day, and her father’s day, and her newest stuffy dress, and her latest adventures with her stuffed toys, and—

“Why are you always here, Zelda?” Astor finally said. She stopped talking, looking at him, quizzically. “I mean...” he grumbled, “You know I don’t really like you, right?

“Eh, I don’t care. I think you’re neat!!” She held out her arms as she zoomed around his circular office. “Your room is so cool! And you got fun books!”

“Necromancy isn’t necessarily what I would consider ‘fun’ reading material—“

“Plus your outfits are cool, and you’re super smart, like my mom.”

He blinked.

“Plus, you’re the only one that’s not mean to me about my dumb powers. But really that’s just a chair on the top!”

“Do you mean cherry on top?”

“No! I meant chair! Watch me!! I’m gonna do a backflip off of this—“

“NO.” Astor immediately stood up, and snatched the girl off of the wooden chair. “NO. No backflips.” He set her down on the rug and pointed to a side of the room which held a broken table, stool, and a few old chairs—the victims of the princess’ previous acrobatic attempts.

She crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue. “You’re no fun!”

“I’m running out of furniture, is what I am.”

“But I’ll let this slide since it’s your birthday! Hmph.”

She started pulling at the loose threads of the carpet. “Don’t know why you had to stop my birthday backflip! Who cares if I get a little scratch?”

“I do—“

“YOU DO?!” Mallory was immediately up and clinging to his robes.

Astor sputtered, instinctively waving his arms to free himself from the child’s grip. But then he finally processed her question, and...

“I...” He looked at her starlight eyes. She had that stupid, naive grin that he always remembered from her mother. A stupid, pathetic, horrible, terrible, optimistic smile.

He finally scoffed. “I just can’t have you getting hurt on my watch, as otherwise, I’d probably be a dead man. That’s all.”

The princess lifted her hands in a “hooray!” fashion, and yelled the exclamation, accordingly. She then resumed her zipping and zooming around the room, much to Astor’s unexpected relief.

That night, he visited the question again.

Why? He didn’t really know.

The question wouldn’t offer him anything, it wouldn’t relieve him of anything—in fact it really did just the opposite. If he found that died miserably, it would be another scream in the nightmare, another nail in the comforting coffin of despair. But if he someone found that she lived, that there was a day after the Calamity, where even a child such as her could possibly prosper...

Having hope and seeing it fail anyway would probably be the most torturous of all.

Again, he had a dream, of a world tainted by blood and malice. But this time he was floating. He was floating and watching the end of it all.

Castle Town was nothing but ruins and ash, and no colors existed but red, black, and grey.

He couldn’t hear anything but a shrill hum in his ears, but he knew there was screaming. He looked to his hand, expecting to see malice or blackened skin, but instead found a strange floating device in his palm. It spin slowly, pink constellations drifting across its surface.

The hum in his ears turned into a groan, and then a whisper. It said something familiar, but he was sure he had never heard it before.

It is time.

The next night he had a dream of a girl standing in a green field, calling out to her friends somewhere behind her. She rested under the ruins of a collapsed pillar, and ate a homemade sandwich with a memorable smile.

Astor reached a conclusion.

In most futures, the girl dies horribly. He wrote in his journal. To be expected, I would assume the rise of the Calamity isn’t exactly easy to survive from.

But what I have discovered is a very specific set of circumstances that lead to a more favorable outcome, at least for her.

I have no way of knowing if it accurately depicts the comings of our time, or another. There are too many variables and specifics. Too long I have spent trying to discern our fate, but the probabilities and possibilities for doom are so interchangeable that it really go either way. The only truth I know is that she lives if—

He paused, tapping the dry quill to the desk again in thought. He dipped it once more.

I’ve decided that if I ever find myself in the scenario where I can solidify her a more favorable destiny, I will take it. I can only hope dare to alter my existing nightmare into something different, there’s really nothing left to lose, is there?

Astor leaned in his chair for a moment, savoring the silence of his office. He looked out the window and took in the night. The stars were gorgeous this evening.

Although if it fails I hope it kills me.

Call it arrogance, but I don’t think I can handle being wrong again.

The seer sighed, then suddenly flipped to the next blank page, angrily.

If I had never met her it would have been fine. If I had just minded my own damn business and continued to work in being resigned to our fate, at least then I could have—

There was a soft knock at his door.

He knew who it was.

Astor pinched the bridge of his nose as he opened it. “It’s past 2am, Princess, what could you possibly have to tell me?”

She looked down and shuffled her feet. “I had a nightmare...”

“Yes, people do have those sometimes.” He immediately closed the door.

Another knock.

After a moment, Astor opened it again. “Don’t you have guards outside your room, how did you sneak up here?”

“Secret tunnel!” She grinned, proudly, as she replied with a sort of sing-song tone.

“That’s nice.”

The door slammed shut again.

She knocked once more. There was the longest pause.

“FFFFFFine!” The world was out of his lips before he even fully swung open the door, and Mallory happily scrambled inside. “But no touching anything, I’m working.”

“It’s ok, I just wanna stay up all night and read your books!” She was already scrambling for the necromancy section, again.

Astor sighed, and went to slump back into his desk. The princess was already sprawled across the floor, distracting herself with another stack of wondrous, ill-recommended book. He didn’t really care.

I don’t really care. He wrote once again. I know there are futures where I dedicate myself to the Calamity, and she dies anyway. I know it doesn’t really matter, I know it’s hopeless to care, and that’s why I don’t.

He looked back at Zelda, he saw her slowly blink back her tiredness. He knew in a few hours or so, he’d have to drop her sleepy figure back off to those useless guards, and berate then for letting her wander off again, as it always was.

If I do this and it’s all for nothing, he began, I fear it will be worse than if I had just stood to the side and perished. It’s already doomed, and this pathetic, foolish optimism might cause me to turn this nightmare into something even worse.

He sighed, and the hours passed as he just sat with his thoughts.

Zelda was using and open book as a pillow.

Astor opened the door, and went to pick her up.

I’m not living through another nightmare. He thought, as he descended the stairs from the observatory. The girl’s breathing was steady as she wrapped an arm by his shoulder.

If it fails I hope it kills me before I see it. He repeated again.

I can’t handle being wrong again.

[rpmemesbyarat]

RP meme from "Chapter Two: The Kithain" in Changeling: The Dreaming (20th anniversary edition) Part One of Two

"Humans define themselves by more than just species. They identify with certain races and cultures, separate themselves by generation or ideology, and express individuality while simultaneously looking for ways to connect with others like them. How they look, who they love, where they live, what they believe — these are all building blocks of identity."

"This desperate aversion to moving on does have its own consequences."

"Though the wisdom to temper the idea is sometimes there, the sheer excitement can sweep anyone off their feet quickly enough to disregard it."

"While these impulses aren’t usually much of a problem, it’s easy to forget that not every dream is a sweet one — nightmares can come to life, too."

"Every teddy bear protector is there to fight something,

after all."

"These things can be distracting at any age, especially for someone working in a dreary office or in a highly repetitive job."

"With little care for consequences or thinking through the details, they don’t consider the harm that will come to others, intentionally or unintentionally, in their pursuits."

"While they don’t have an inherently negative outlook, they are more likely to put their personal interests over those of others."

"Becoming jaded and unwilling to take risks is the death of childhood."

"Something may captivate them for a time, but once all the mystery is gone from it, they’ll just as easily drop one pursuit for another that still has questions to answer."

"Wonder lies in the discovery of a new species or an unexplored biome, and beauty in chemical bonds or lines of code."

"Repetition can quickly become a rut, and make even the most wondrous work commonplace and mundane."

"Whether they fight to preserve or subvert the ruling class as it stands, they all long to make their mark in one way or another."

"Even when caught, they are unlikely apologize for their actions, and instead have a dozen ways to justify them."

"Some enjoy collecting art and creating galleries to inspire others, or amass vast libraries of literature or music to the same purpose."

"They have an innate knack of deciphering relationships and picking up “overheard” tidbits of information."

"They explore the world with wonder in their eyes and will talk to anyone who will sit still long enough to listen and put up with the incessant questions."

"Their reputation for being consummate craftspeople is well learned."

"This does not apply to a sworn enemy."

"Rowdy fools, the lot of them."

"Rowdy fools, the lot of them. Still, they can be quite entertaining. . .so long as you keep them from breaking the china."

"They make wonderful guests and tell the most delightful tales, but they never stay for long."

"Pay heed to their stories and you may learn something."

"Their obsessions tend to make them boring conversationalists."

"Never leave them alone in a room if you want to be able to find anything afterward."

"They are quite entertaining at parties, but never stick around to help clean up."

"Foul mouthed and rude beasties, they are."

"Be careful how much wine you offer them. They can become quite. . . err. . .enthusiastic."

"No place on land, no friendship, and not even love can hold them."

"A selkie’s heart belongs to the sea and to the sea they will always return."

"They still understand the old ways but they do not always understand our ways."

"Things have changed and they are going to need to learn to adapt."

"It seems that they value little other than honor and duty."

"They are strong, yes, but they are more than simple brutes."

"They don’t lie outright, but they do love to tell a tall tale, often embellishing the story for the sake of humor or to build excitement."

"A good donnybrook clears the air, breaks the tension, and reveals hidden passions and personality traits."

"Nothing wrong with cutting loose a bit now and then!"

"Don’t leave them alone with your prize possessions; you’ll never know what’ll come up missing."

"They don’t understand limits — their own or anyone else’s."

"What a bunch of bullies!"

"Don’t underestimate them."

"Graceful, beautiful, mysterious, and always just beyond reach."

"They stayed by us and fought. That’s worth something."

"What we do today will live long after us, carried in the stories told by our children and our children’s children."

"Nothing new to learn here."

"Anger and foul language doesn’t make for a very good tale."

"There’s joy to be found in their revels, but take care!"

"They think themselves the kings and queens of this world, but they’ve never walked its many paths."

"How can they rule what they don’t understand and have never really valued?"

" I’ve heard it said that the real hero is the one who stays."

"I know I know. . .I’ve worked on the damned thing all week and it’s still not right."

"Maybe if you stop breathing down my neck, or better yet, just leave me the fuck alone and I’ll get it done."

"When they are forced to have social contact they are eminently sarcastic with everyone around them, and blazingly critical of anyone in charge."

"Artists, builders, crafters, and even writers all know the torment of “knowing” that their work is not good enough, that it will never be understood."

"People are mercurial, have feelings that can be easily hurt, and once broken they cannot be repaired in the same way as a tool or device."

"They are willing to take chances in order to come up with the newest and most fantastic design, often resulting in catastrophic (and sometimes humorous) failures."

"Rather than seeking the newest and most innovative designs, they have a deep desire for perfection — which, much to their chagrin, they can never attain."

"Sometimes all it takes is a kick and a few harsh words to scare a machine into working again."

"They’re fast, so they’re either cheap or good, too. You don’t get all three."

"Drunks and power tools don’t mix."

"Sorry, was that insensitive? Bite me."

"They just don’t know when to shut up."

"Sometimes they have something important to say, but you have to sift through the meandering drivel to find anything useful."

"Unruly and reckless children."

"Useless furballs!"

"Dangerous folk, but sometimes useful, especially if you want to dispose of some unwanted evid. . .err. . .garbage."

"Hedonistic freaks, the lot of ‘em."

"Don’t fall in love with one."

"Damn dusty in here."

"They think they’re hot stuff, but they don’t understand this world and its workings as we do."

"They want to rule, and who are we to say no."

"They pay well and I’ll happily take their commissions."

"Buncha creepy a-holes, if you ask me."

"Skulking around, up to no good, I’m sure of it."

"They are the strongest and toughest of us all, but their hearts can be surprisingly tender."

"I don’t know how it found its way into my pocket. Of course you can have it back. . .unless you don’t need it right now. I’d be happy to hang onto it for you until you do."

"I can’t imagine being tied down like that."

"We’ll wander many paths together, but in the end, they are who they are, and we never really are anything quite that specific."

"What is truth, but something we all agree upon? So, if we all agree upon a lie, isn’t it then truth?"

"Anything they say is likely to be peppered with lies, half-truths, and misinformation."

"Humans have always dreamed of a better, more carefree life."

"Lazy and reckless. And they keep all of the cake to themselves!"

"Drunken reprobates, every last one of them."

"Not exactly the most even tempered folks. Playing pranks on them can be a lot of fun though."

"It must be wonderful to always be at the center of every political intrigue."

"They start the shit that we have to finish."

"Just don’t get them started on how they’re royalty or some crap."

"You want to pound back a drink or wild out on the town, they’re the place to be."

"Mmm, seafood."

"You’d think such pretty folks would be easy to intimidate, but make that mistake and you’ll bite off more than even you can chew."

"Those nearby may experience a brief frisson of pure lust."

"How can such a simple life be a truly satisfying one?"

"A fight’s only as good as the kissing and making up after."

"So sweet and innocent. Cover their eyes before they see something naughty."

"Their passions are too dark and frightening."

"Someone so beautiful should never want for passion."

"I will return. . .one day. . .I promise."

"The sea gives and the sea takes away."

"A person’s secrets should be their own."

"Sharks that walk on two legs. Trust them at your own peril."

"They too are gifted with great beauty, but they wield their allure like a weapon."

"You think nobility a privilege, and you envy and resent us for it, but you cannot see that it is also a burden few would truly wish to bear."

"They must learn that respect must first be given in order to be received."

"Tremendously useful and occasionally even trustworthy, but beware what you allow them to slip into their pockets. You may never see it again."

"Who are these strange creatures?"

"What they know is invaluable, but can you really be certain they are sharing their knowledge with you alone?"

[kirishwima]

Could I get a Mysmes Highschool AU please? Including Jihyun and Saeran if you don't mind  (◍•ᴗ•◍)♡ ✧*。

yes!! this is such a cute idea~ for the sake of it let’s assume all of the mysme gang go to the same high school :D

YOOSUNG:

* He’s the kid that’s always friendly and bright when you approach him, but he’ll never come up to you first; he’ll always shout out a ‘good morning!’ when coming into the class each day, and he’ll have his own little raggedy friend group (that majorly consists of guys-he’s just too shy around girls!)

*People always say he’s nice and sweet but…that’s pretty much it. No one knows his favorite colour, what he wants to be when he grows up, if he gets along with his family…

*Well, MC decides to approach him-they’d always been friendly with him but at a distance, and something in his eye makes them want to bridge this gap between them.

*Turns out, he’s actually an absoloute sweetheart like everyone says, but he’s also so much more than that! He’s funny and bright, but beats himself up a lot-he’s a good student but lazy, and without someone to cheer him on and push him to keep up a scedhule he gets lost.

*So MC takes it upon themselves to convince him to have weekly study dates with him, rewarding themselves with cold sweet milkshakes after a job-well done; neither of them would admit it, but they’re absoloutely falling for eachother with each meeting.

*Yoosung would NEVER confess so-he’s so scared! All his friends at school tease him and ‘threaten’ to tell MC themselves if he doesn’t, but he just grumbles an excuse and leaves when they do-how could he possibly ruin this thing he has with MC because of his stupid feelings?

*Well, someone eventually spills the beans to MC because duh, it’s a high school, word gets around faster than you can say ‘pop quiz’-so MC takes it upon themselves to confess in their next study date.

*They don’t become the cutest couple at school or anything, but their friends are all very happy for them-and even teachers turn a blind eye if they catch Yoosung giving a quick kiss to MC during breaks, because well, that’s young love for ‘ya.

ZEN:

*Yes, yes, he’s the hottest guy in school (for this AU let’s say he never dropped out but he did leave his home, so he’s living on his own and works part time jobs and gets whatever acting gig he can whenever possible).

*He’s a bit of a…semi-deliquent? He’s the guy you’ll find smoking under the bleachers, be it cigarettes or weed, but he’s not a junkie nor a bully-he’s actually a very gentle and caring guy, smart too-he doesn’t study much but when exam season rolls around he tries his best to at least get semi-decent grades so he can have a good CV when looking for jobs later on.

*No one knows about his family situation-he’s kind yes, but he keeps everyone at a distance, scared of letting them get too close. 

*Jumin does know about Zen, mainly because Zen’s friends with V who’s the type of guy people just tell everything to-and Jumin tries to help Zen, often just by shoving money to Zen’s face which…really doesn’t help.

*Well, MC meets Zen once outside of school when they start working at the convinience store he also works at! They’d never talked to him at school-girls would constantly flock around him and fawn and whilst MC thought he’s attractive sure, they just never made the effort to talk to him.

*Turns out, he’s actually a hilarious guy with a temper-do NOT get him started on how much he hates ‘capitalist-loving pigs’ as he so calls them, and the curses he throws out whenever their manager isn’t looking are enough to make MC snort with laughter.

*They become fast friends, and whenever Zen sees MC at school he’ll wave and come their way to talk to them-which gets them both a lot of weird stares and glares. It’s not like anyone will come and bully MC for talking with Zen or anything, this isn’t the movies, but people are constantly asking how they know Zen, which they never grace with an answer-their extra-curricular activities are not something everyone should be privy to.

*One night they both work later than their shift ends, busy stocking up and running the monthly checks, and by the time they’re done it’s well past midnight-and they have school tomorrow.

*Zen offers MC to stay at his place for the night-he lives a five minute walk away from the store, and he’d hate to leave his friend alone to walk back home when there’s fewer buses and trains at this hour.

*So this is how MC discovers Zen lives alone-they don’t pry, but he tells them everything anyway, finally giving in and letting himself trust MC-and this is also how the two get together. 

*One minute they’re on Zen’s couch laughing over one thing or the other, the next they’re kissing, Zen’s hand cradling MC’s cheek.

*The next morning when they both go to school, MC wearing one of Zen’s t-shirts as an undershirt to their school uniform…well, let’s just say there’s a LOT of jealous people around lmao 

*(But still, no one dares say anything to MC-Zen is NOT known for his patience, and if anyone hurts his beloved then one glare from Zen is enough to send them to an early grave really)

JAEHEE:

*She’s the quiet kid-you know the one. She’s always buried in her books, sits in the front of the class (not by choice, not really-she just has bad eyesight lmao), her hair’s short because she thinks long hair’s a hassle, and has one or two superficial friends but that’s pretty much it.

*Well, one day she comes into class during a break only to find MC holding back tears as they look down at a book on their desk.

*Jaehee cautiously approaches and notices MC’s struggling with a math equation-one of the ones their teacher had assigned as homework, she reckons.

*With a soft smile she asks MC if they’d like Jaehee to sit with them-no ‘i can teach you’ or anything, she merely wants to sit beside them and cheer them on, and only offers her help if asked.

*And that’s how the two become friends. Jaehee’s not used to the affection MC shows them, how they’ll sit with them during breaks and bring them their favorite drink or snack from the cantine, how they’ll often invite them out after classes and wrap their hand around Jaehee’s shoudlers-she’ll never admit it but she was fast to develop a crush on MC, and her feelings terrify her.

*One day they’re at a park by MC’s place, sitting on the swings talking about their future. MC talks with bright eyes about all the plans they have after graduating, some completely absurd, others attainable with hard enough work and dedication.

* “What about you Jaehee? What do you want to do after graduating?” MC asks, their focus on Jaehee as they snap her out of her trance.

*What Jahee wants…? She thinks of her dream, the little coffee house with music and laughter, the smell of fresh grinded coffee beans and her behind the counter with an apron on and her hair long and tied into braids, how she’ll have regular customers she knows by name, how she’ll have someone she loves beside her-someone like MC-

* “I’ll just be an office worker I guess” she shrugs, avoiding MC’s bright gaze. That makes MC pout, getting off of the swing to sit in front of Jaehee on their knees, their hands on Jaehee’s lap, holding her own palms tight.

*MC tells Jaehee to think of what she truly wants, how she should never settle when she has dreams to follow and work on, how she owes her future to no one but herself-and maybe MC had more to say, but Jaehee will never know; for in that moment a surge of courage pushed them forward, leaning in and kissing MC mid-speech.

*They seperated quick enough, Jahee’s eyes wide, her mouth agape-would MC hate her now? Would they get up and leave? Would they-

* “That was wonderful” MC said with a grin, “but that doesn’t mean you’re excused from this conversation.”

*Anyway this is a long winded way of saying the two become the sweetest freaking couple their school has ever seen lmao

JUMIN:

*He’s…also a popular guy, but for all the opossite reasons than Zen.

*People say he’s cool and mysterious, handsome to boot and richer than the queen of england. There’s all sorts of rumors surrounding him that he never adresses, which only add fuel to the fire.

*Some girls even start calling him ‘Mr.Grey’ after *that* film comes out, which makes him really confused. He doesn’t even like the colour…? Has he ever worn a grey tie he doesn’t remember?

*Anyway, he’s secluded yes, and quiet, his only friend that’s by his side at all times being V, who’s honestly equal parts mysterious as he is handsome.

*The two emit an aura that makes them unapproachable, so people just…don’t try to get close to them, and that’s that.

*MC’s one of those people, until one day, their art teacher splits them into groups of three people to create a photography project-something about light or whatever, MC wasn’t really paying attention. They’d already turned their head towards their friends with a smile and a wink, knowing they’d spend their ‘study time’ playing and gossiping…

*….until their teacher announced they’d be seperating people into groups themselves. And lo and behold-MC had ended up in a group with Jumin-yes, just Jumin since their class was an odd number. Their teacher said they’d have more time than the others since they were only two, but there was no changing groups, that was their definite rule.

*So after class ended, MC timidly approached Jumin-who was…way more polite than they’d thought. He greeted them with a handshake of all things, and told them to meet him at his home that very same day in the afternoon to discuss their ‘plan of action’ as he called it.

*He was odd, that much was sure, but there was a sort of cuteness to his actions, like a child trying to imitate an adult.

*Well, going to his home was…an experience. It’s everything you see in the movies and more, from a massive gateway to bodyguards taking MC up to Jumin’s study hall, to a maid coming by to ask what the two would like to drink and eat.

*Jumin’s nice enough, albeit cold and distant, but there’s something about this whole situation that kept bothering MC. With a small frown they quietly asked “Jumin, are your parents home?”

*He seemed taken aback by the question, his facade fading momentarily before he schooled himself back into a neutral expression. “I only have a father, and no, he’s not home at the moment.”

*MC nodded. “You think he’ll be home soon?” they asked. Jumin seemed…irk at the question, his lips tugging downwards.

* “I’m not sure. He’s a busy man, it might be a few days before he returns home. Why do you ask?”

*Their next words shocked Jumin to hsi core, his eyes wide as he looked to the timid person across of him. 

* “It’s nothing I just…I’m worried you seem lonely.”

*Jumin never adressed the comment, merely carried on working on their plan for their art project, but it stuck with him-and it was in fact, the reason he allowed MC to slowly get closer to him.

*When they decided on what their project would be-the different ways sunlight hits trees from morning until evening, they set out on a camping trip that very same weekend, which showed MC a whole new side to Jumin-the man beneath the suits, the teenager who wore jeans and shirts, who knew how to light a fire with sticks, who was awed when he learnt what smore were and ate so many he gave himself a stomachache.

*That night in the forest as they awaited sunrise to take more pictures, Jumin poured his heart out to MC-his fears, his relationship with his father, how he worries he’ll grow up to be just like him, how he values family in a way his father doesn’t seem to share-and before he knew it he was resting his head on MC’s shoulder, their fingers intertwined just as their lives had become.

*His life would never be the same after meeting this person with their keen eyes and gentle heart.

SEVEN/SAEYOUNG/LUCIEL:

*Again, for the sake of this HC, we’ll assume Seven lives with Saeran and his mom who neglects them, and goes to the same high school as the rest of the RFA-he knows about hacking and does it as a part-time job to gather money, but he’s not an agent (yet..?)

*He’s a very weird guy-one moment he’s bright and cheerful and the next he’s solemn and cold, which doesn’t leave him with many friends, and even less people who actually care and want to find out what’s wrong, if he’s okay or needs any help.

*He’s often seen huddled with his twin-the two are practically inseperable, even though they’re in different classrooms, it’s rare to spot them away from each other druing break times, and they always seem to linger when school’s over, as if they dread going back home.

*Well, MC isn’t the type of person who’ll leave someone like that on their own. They’re concerned, no, more than that, they’re worried and need to know if Saeyoung’s alright, if he needs any help-there’s something about him that just puts them on edge, and they want to figure it out more than anything else.

*Well, trying to get close to Saeyoung is about as hard as Hercules’s trials; he’s friendly enough sure, sharing memes and joking about, but the moment a conversation becomes more serious he vanishes, finding some flimsy excuse to disappear before he needs to open up about anything. 

*But MC is relentless, and the more they learn about Saeyoung, every little bit of himself that he dares share-from his favorite colour (orange, he says, like the sunset), to his little quirks and habits (he bites his nails, he speaks so fast he stumbles over words, he’s genius to a fault but has a hard time reading-words seem to get jumbled up-), all the little things that make Saeyoung himself just swell up and fill MC’s heart and before they knew it-they’re in love.

*Saeyoung’s no fool, he knows MC likes him-and that makes him push them away all the more. Saeran notices his brothers conflicting emotions but says nothing, worried he’ll only make things worse.

*One day he snaps. MC confessed to him, and rather than saying ‘I don’t like you back’, he said ‘I can’t do this’, prodding a myriad of questions from MC.

* “Why? What is it you can’t do-Saeyoung, what are you hiding-”

* “Everything!” he yells-his hands are balled into fists, his back trembles, his eyes swell with tears; this person in front of him, the one he loves back, that’s so close yet so far-how can he drag them down into his own hell? “My family’s a fucking mess, my dad would rather have me dead, I’m barely surviving and-I’ve been doing fine, I’ve been coping but then you came along and put everything into your own unique chaos and-and I should push you away, I should I should but I can’t-”

*MC held him as he broke down in the empty school courtyard, his head resitng on their chest as he cried himself into fatigue. MC protected him from stray gazes of students finishing their EC activities, glared at whoever tried to approach them.

*They kissed his forehead, running their hands through his hair as he sighed at the action. “I’ll protect you Sae. Both you and Saeran, I promise-I’ll do everything I can to help you. No one will ever hurt you two. No one.”

SAERAN:

*Similar to Saeyoung, he’s a weird character, and one few people dare approach. He seems cold and distant, and unlike his brother doesn’t joke around even for pretense’s sake. He’s rumored to have beat up people more than once, some even saying he’s a hired mercenary, although that’s a fat stretch of a lie at best, and a malicious intent to spread gossip about Saeran at most.

*In truth-he’s none of those things. MC knows, because his gentle eyes had caught their attention since day one, and they’ve been noticing the little bits and pieces that make him the Saeran they bid as kind and gentle-how they’ll cower their head at loud noises, how he’ll trail his fingers over leaves and petals of the courtyards’ plants as he walks by-they even saw him watering them once, but were pretty sure he’s not in the gardening club-they were the head of that club after all.

*With that in mind, MC had eventually gathered up their courage and approached Saeran, who seemed frazzled at their sudden approach to his desk. They introduced themselves as the head of the gardening club and asked if he’d be interested in joining them with a bright grin.

*Saeran was wide eyed and tense, but never graced them with an answer-at that moment his twin brother Saeyoung came to the classroom’s door and called out to Saeran, who graciously took the chance to hop out of his seat and leave before MC could utter another word.

*Only then did MC notice they had caught the attention of the entire classroom, only when the twins left and the chatter returned in the room had they realised how quiet everyone had fallen when MC approached Saeran.

*That evening at the gardening club, MC was restless, their hands fiddling with the water hose they’d been using to water the trees around the garden. Had they been too straight-forward? Too intense? They only wanted to befriend the guy, not scare the heebie jeebies out of him….

*They were shaken out of their thoughts when a timid knock came to the door, a familiar pair of golden eyes looking to them with a furious blush on pale cheeks.

*Saeran stood there, his fists trembling. “Um-I’d-I want to join…?”

*MC hates to admit it, but they were so shocked they forgot they were holding an open wate hose-so they turned with such force and excitement they ended up losing control of the hose, dousing themselves with tons of water before a giggling club member turned it off and took it from their hands.

*Even soaking wet and cold, they merely shook water off of their hair as they waltzed to the door, extending a hand towards Saeran.

* “Welcome to the gardening club!” they cheered, and just like that-Saeran graced them with a small little smile that was enough to melt glaciers off of the North Pole.

V/JIHYUN:

*V is the epitomy of ‘gentle and handsome’. He’s the president of the class, firm yet gentle, his smile hiding a menace, each word calculated and cool.

*MC…they didn’t know how, but they knew this was a facade. They knew it. He was nice enough, never giving them a reason to think he’s not who he seems, but there was something twisting in their gut whenevr Jihyun smiled at them, something that said not all is as it seems.

*In the next class elections-Jihyun had been elected president once again, and surprisingly, MC had been elected vice president, which meant they’d be working closely with Jihyun, having to frequently meet him after class to discuss plans and class budgets.

*For their first meeting, he suggested MC comes to his place, since it was the closest one from school, and he had the necessary materials there already since he’d been class president plenty times before already.

*Seeing Jihyun outside of school, at home-seeing him greet his father with cold hard eyes, that gave MC the confirmation they needed-that Jihyun isn’t all that he seems to be.

*As they silently worked on the class budget, MC saw something in the numbers that made them frown.

* “Um, Jihyun-don’t you think our budget for art supplies is really low? Surely we can increase it a bit no?” they asked.

*Jihyun looked up from his papers with wide eyes, his facade cracking before he laughed, rubbing at his eyes as MC stared on in confusion.

* “I’m sorry, it was mean of me to laugh-but increase the budget for art? It’s such a useless thing-there’s no need for it. Besides, no one’s complained about it before.”

* That only made MC’s confusion grow, their frown deepening. Jihyun must’ve caught on as he moved his hand across the table to gently rest over MC’s knuckles.

* “Don’t worry too much about it-if we see there’s an increased demand for it, wihch I doubt, we’ll cut a bit from the rest of the supplies and icrease that. Okay?”

* MC nodded, but remained cautious. The way he looked down on the arts-was he always like this? Something felt…off. They knew deep in their bones that Jihyun couldn’t-wasn’t a bad person, but there was something tying them back, a grudge, or so it seemed…and they were determined to find out.

-this got very out of hand and the final stories almost developed into full fledged fics lol, I’m sorry for the sharp ending! If you’d like to see more, or individualised fics for each character-you can send in another prompt, or consider comissioning me for a lengthier fic (rules/info here)

-Send me a mystic messenger headcanon for character reactions!-

[crimsonhcadache]

      - ̗̀ NOW INTRODUCING:  IVES ❝ IVY ❞ SERRANO !

( DANNA PAOLA, CISFEMALE, SHE/HER, SCORPIO, 24 ) I just spotted IVES “IVY” SERRANO at the beach today. Don’t you know them? They live down by the TOWERS and usually hang out with the RICH KIDS & MUSICIANS cliques. From what I’ve heard, they can be DECEITFUL, but they’re also ADAPTIVE. I always think of them when i hear LAST LAUGH - FLETCHER and tend to associate them with STRAWBERRY CHAMPAGNE, A FRESH SET OF STILETTO NAILS, AND RED LINGERIE. ( tay, she/her, 22, est )

full name: natalie rose serrano ives serrano nicknames: ivy, poison ivy faceclaim: danna paola voiceclaim: lana del rey birthday: november 1st, 1996  zodiac: scorpio sun, aries moon, gemini rising sexuality: bisexual occupation: influencer, instagram model, musician, scammer / thief positive traits: effervescent, bold, creative, charismatic, coquettish, intuitive, ambitious, alluring, adventurous, perceptive  negative traits: cantankerous, deceitful, envious, manipulative, dramatic, stubborn, narcissistic, materialistic, reckless, quick-tempered character inspos: maddy perez euphoria, jackie burkhart that 70’s show, blair waldorf gossip girl, margo hanson the magicians, every lana del rey song ever, lucrecia montesinos and cayetana pando elite, rosa diaz brooklyn nine nine, the entire rose family schitts creek, jen harding dead to me

- ̗̀♡ — › background !

the main thing u need to know about ivy is that she is lying ! always !! her real name isn’t even actually ivy smh

she was born NATALIE ROSE SERRANO, to two working class parents in new york city. she knew from a young age that she was just supposed to be rich and famous, and that something had gotten mixed up somewhere and she was put in the wrong life.

in high school she got a scholarship to a fancy private catholic school, and that’s where she started to hone her craft of manipulating rich people. she would befriend all of the richest bitches at school and take advantage of everything that came along with it: vacations to far away places, stays in the family’s cabins and lake houses, even designer clothes that her friends no longer wanted and would gift to her, thinking it was their idea all along

as she grew up and got better at getting what she wanted out of people, her entitled attitude only got worse, driving a wedge between her and her parents, who kept waiting for her to develop a work ethic and kept being disappointed. a few months after she graduated high school, on her 18th birthday, her parents kicked her out of the house and cut her off, hoping that it would force her to grow up and take on any responsibility

but that plan backfired for them, her parents underestimating how truly stubborn natalie was. the day after her 18th, she wandered into a local strip club and got a job, figuring it’d be the easiest and quickest way to get some cash, and she took to it naturally and actually really enjoyed stripping

she started to embody an entirely new persona that she had created for herself, dancing under the name POISON IVY and telling everyone she was a trust fund baby that had been cut off from her rich parents, needing to dance to supplement her income, and her lies just continued to spiral out of control until she almost started to believe it herself. she had never told anyone at the club her real name, not even the other strippers, just going by “ivy” for a while.

she had learned to weaponize the power she had over people by being pretty and charming, using her looks for absolute evil and doing whatever it took to get money—from straight up pickpocketing, to making men buy her expensive gifts, to blackmailing, to sugar babying, to getting patrons wasted and manipulating them into tipping her absurd amounts… she did it all, very quickly earning enough to live the life she had always dreamed of, that she felt she deserved for whatever twisted reason.

she started posting on instagram with the name poison ivy generally just flaunting her carefree, extravagant life, often exaggerating or down right lying just to really dazzle her quickly growing audience

as she started to go down the influencer route, she realized she needed to do something to hide the skeletons in her closet ( the fact that she didn’t actually come from money and was making far more than was normal for even the best of dancers, a couple of small possession / shoplifting charges, and just generally anything that could lead people to her real identity ) so she started to tell people her name was ives, fully taking on the new identity. she even went so far as to make some of the people that had been closest to her sign NDAs about her real identity, making sure that no one could sell info about her should her plan of being famous work out

she also moved out to california to run away from everyone in the city that was starting to catch on to what she was doing, basically doing all the same shit but now in a New Place.. this was about 3-4 years ago, so she’s been in sunhollow for a while now doing the whole influencer thing !!

and it did work out !! at first she was definitely buying followers/likes to boost her likelihood of brand sponsorships, but eventually she faked it until she made it and actually attained influencer status. she then used her newfound internet fame ( and some classic blackmailing ) to get herself a record deal 

she also started sleeping around with pretty much any famous person she could, having very public relationships and breakups and scandals to keep her name in the press, which ultimately lead to more exposure/people following her, if only to see what she did next, which lead to even more sponsorships

eventually she stopped dancing and just focused on her influencing and more recently ( like... less than 6 months ago recently ) her music career. but she never stopped sugar babying and scamming rich stupid men, still very much using that as a means to keep up her lifestyle. she’s also done a few modeling things, but it’s mostly just like catalog work or being the face of a trendy campaign bc she’s way too short for the runway

she also recently made an only fans account bc she was bored one night and was mostly planning on posting once as a joke but then she made a bunch of money / got a bunch of subscribers and was like oh word ? i can do that ! so she will post on there from time to time but she’s not like… super serious about it ya know ? also her music label is big mad at her for it bc they’re like bUt yOuR rEpUtAtIoN and she’s like yeah.. but my bank account ? also it’s no secret she used to be a stripper so she rly just.. doesn’t give a fuck ! 

so basically she’s jus here making money being pretty and pulling a long ass scam on… everyone

- ̗̀♡ — › personality / headcannons !

she’s a real two faced bitch… she has perfected the art of becoming whoever she thinks other people want her to be, quickly adapting her personality to get whatever she wants

she’s usually pretty friendly actually, really charming and outgoing and just trying to have a good time

she has a pretty short temper tho and holds grudges like you wouldn’t believe, so once you’re on her bad side… good luck lol she is so ruthless

she’s like… deeply, deeply selfish and will always put herself first, but she’s so manipulative that she can make people do things that they think are their idea, but it’s really just something she planted in their head so it’s not always obvious

also very spoiled and will throw a mf fit if she doesn’t get her way or u say no to her

always going out !! always doing the most !! she’s the type to show up randomly at ur door at 8pm on a tuesday with a bottle of tequila and make u party with her whether u like it or not

she’s a lot smarter than she lets on sometimes, like she knows people expect her to be stupid and ditzy and shallow and she’ll let them underestimate her when it’s beneficial

always looks perfectly put together— her nails are always meticulously manicured, usually w stiletto shaped acrylics, and you’ll literally never see her outside her house without makeup and a perfectly composed outfit. it’s also a rare occasion that she’s not wearing at least six inch heels, trying to make up for bein so mf short ( she’s 5’3 )

she talks A Lot but is really good at saying a lot of words without actually saying anything, like you can be best friends with her for months and then just be like “i don’t actually know a single thing about her”

always up to no good and sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong !! she’s always got some sort of scheme going or getting in to some kind of drama

v much a hoe and v much proud of it, will sleep w just about anyone especially if she can get something out of it

also a serial dater !! she’s always hoping in and out of relationships and being rumored to be with a dozen people at once

most definitely calls paparazzi on herself, especially when she’s around other famous ppl but will never admit it

compulsive liar, she will literally lie about the dumbest things like she doesn’t even need a reason to lie she jus.. does

she has a luxury two bedroom apartment that she lives alone in ( one room is kinda a guest room but also mostly just a giant closet ) in the towers and the gag is she doesn’t even know how much her rent is bc one of her random sugar daddies pays her rent.. her power tbh 

- ̗̀♡ — › wanted connections !

hookups / flings / one night stands / fwbs all that shit !!

exes on bad terms … gimme drama pls

enemies / ppl she’s stolen from maybe… she would definitely deny it and say they’re jus jealous of her or smth stupid but that could make the feud worse

party pals !! like i said she goes out a lot and always somehow manages to make new friends and drag them into her shenanigans

on again / off again exes… i want the Angst so bad..

shallow friendships / influencer friends like they play it up a lot for insta bc they both have a pretty big following but they dont really... like each other that much ?? like they definitely seem to be a lot closer than they really are

pr relationships this could be past or present !! in the same vein as the last one except they pretend to date ( or maybe just act like they’re gonna date but never actually do ?? like to fuel rumors ) 

unlikely friends !! like ppl who are nice and sweet and Pure, she could use a lil good energy in her life

situationship / flirtationship like they’re super flirty and maybe hook up a couple times but everyone assumes they’re dating or like gonna date but they’re jus vibing. bonus points if one or both of them actually has feelings but can’t tell if they’re just friends / casually hooking up or if it could turn into something more.. im a slut for some mutual pining !!

neighbors … mb they hate her for always being loud n throwing mini parties OR maybe they join in

mean girl rivalries !!

someone she’s taking advantage of / stealing from without them knowing .. oof

partner in crime !!!

one sided crushes or like someone she’s stringing along smh

sugar daddies mb 😇

someone to put her in her mf place JDKDKD like they call her out on her bs and are like “i see what ur doing bitch stay away from my friends” type thing

idk anything really !! gimme all the messy plots ok :~)

[vajranam]

Milarepa

The story of how Jetsun Milarepa followed Marpa of Lhodrak.

In the region of Ngari Gungthang, there lived a rich man by the name of Mila Sherab Gyaltsen. This man had a son and a daughter, and it was the son, whose name was Mila Thopa-ga, "Mila Joy to Hear," who was to become Jetsun Milarepa. When the two children were still small, their father died. Their uncle, whose name was Yungdrung Gyaltsen, appropriated all their wealth and possessions. The two children and their mother, left with neither food nor money, were forced to undergo many hardships. Mila learned the arts of casting spells and making hailstorms from the magicians Yungton Throgyal of Tsang and Lharje Nupchung, and brought about the death of his uncle's son and daughter-in-law together with thirty-three other people by making the house collapse. When all the local people turned angrily against him, he caused such a hailstorm that the hail lay on, the ground as deep as three courses of a clay wall (about 3 meters).

Afterwards, repenting his misdeeds, he decided to practise Dharma. Taking the advice of Lama Yungton, he went to see an adept of the Great Perfection by the name of Rongton Lhaga, and asked him for instruction.

"The Dharma I teach," the Lama replied, "is the Great Perfection. Its root is the conquest of the beginning, its summit the conquest of attainment and its fruit; the conquest of yoga. If one meditates on it during the day, one can become Buddha that same day; if one meditates on it during the night, one can become Buddha that very night. Fortunate beings whose past actions have created suitable conditions do not even need to meditate; they will be liberated simply by hearing it. Since it is a Dharma for those of eminently superior faculties, I will teach it to you.”

After receiving the empowerments and instructions, Mila thought to himself, "It took me two weeks to obtain the main signs of success at casting spells. Seven days were enough for making hail. Now here is teaching even easier than spells and hail-if you meditate by day you become a Buddha that day; if you meditate by night you become a Buddha that night-and if your past actions have created suitable conditions, you don't even need to meditate at all! Seeing how I met this teaching, I obviously must be one of the ones with good past actions."

So he stayed in bed without meditating, and thus the practitioner and the teaching parted company.

“It is true what you told me," the lama said to him after a few days. “You really are a great sinner, and I have praised my teaching a little too highly. So now I will not guide you. You should go to the hermitage of Trowolung in Lhodrak, where there is a direct disciple of the Indian siddha Naropa himself. He is that most excellent of teachers, the king of translators, Marpa. He is a siddha of the New Mantra Tradition, and is without rival throughout the three worlds. Since you and he have a link stemming from actions in former lives, go and see him!"

The sound of Marpa the Translator's name alone was enough to suffuse Mila's mind with inexpressible joy. He was charged with such bliss that every pore on his body tingled, and immense devotion swept over him, filling his eyes with tears. He set off, wondering when he would meet his teacher face to face. Now, Marpa and his wife had both had many extraordinary dreams, and Marpa knew that Jetsun Mila was on his way.

He went down the valley to await his arrival, pretending to be just ploughing a field. Mila first met Marpa's son, Tarma Dode, who was tending the cattle. Continuing a little further, he saw Marpa, who was ploughing. The moment Mila caught sight of him, he experienced tremendous, inexpressible joy and bliss; for an instant, all his ordinary thoughts stopped. Nonetheless, he did not realize that this was the lama in person, and explained to him that he had come to meet Marpa.

“I’ll introduce you to him myself," Marpa answered him. "Plough this field for me." Leaving him a jug of beer, he went off. Mita, draining the jug to the last drop, set to work. When he had finished, the lama's son came to call him and they set off together.

When Mila was brought into the lama's presence, he placed the soles of Marpa's feet upon the crown of his head and cried out, "Oh, Master! I am a great sinner from the west! I offer you my body, speech and mind. Please feed and clothe me and teach me the Dharma. Give me the way to become Buddha in this life!"

"It's not my fault that you reckon you're such a bad man," Marpa replied."I didn't ask you to pile up evil deeds on my account! What is all this wrong you have done?" Mila told him the whole story in detail.

"Very well," Marpa acquiesced, "in any case, to offer your body, speech and mind is a good thing. As to food, clothing and Dharma, however, you cannot have all three. Either I give you food and clothing and you look for Dharma elsewhere, or you get your Dharma from me and look for the rest somewhere else. Make up your mind. And if it's the Dharma you choose, whether or not you attain Buddhahood in this lifetime will depend on your own perseverance.”

"If that is the case," said Mila, "since I came for the Dharma, I will look for provisions and clothing elsewhere.”

He stayed a few days and went out begging through the whole of upper and lower Lhodrak, which brought him twenty-one measures of barley. He used fourteen of them to buy a four-handled copper pot. Placing six measures in a sack, he went back to offer that and the pot to Marpa. When he set the barley down, it made the room shake. Marpa got up.

"You're a strong little monk, aren't you?" he said."Are you trying to kill us all by making the house fall down with your bare hands? Get that sack of barley out of here!" He gave the sack a kick, and Mila had to take it outside. Later on he gave Marpa the empty pot.

One day Marpa said to him: "The men of Yamdrok Taklung and Lingpa are attacking many of my faithful disciples who come to visit me from U and Tsang, and stealing their provisions and offerings. Bring hailstorms down on them! Since that is a kind of Dharma too, I will give you the instructions afterwards."

Mila caused devastating hailstorms to fall on both these regions and then went to ask for the teachings.

“You think I'm going to give you the teachings I brought back from India at such great cost in exchange for three or four hailstones? If you really want the Dharma, cast a spell on the hill-folk of Lhodrak. They attack my disciples from Nyaloro and are always treating me with downright contempt. When there is a sign that your spell has worked, I shall give you Naropa's oral instructions, which lead to Buddhahood in a single lifetime and body."

When the signs of the success of the evil spell appeared, Mila asked for the Dharma.

"Huh! Is it perhaps to pay honour to your accumulation of evil deeds that you are claiming to want these oral instructions that I had to search for, never considering the risk to my own body and life-these instructions still warm with the breath of the dakinis? I suppose you must be joking, but I find this a bit too much. Anyone else but me would kill you! Now, bring those hill people back to life and return to the people of Yamdrok their harvest. You'll get the teachings if you do-otherwise, don't hang around me anymore!"

Mila, utterly shattered by these reprimands, sat and wept bitter tears. The next morning, Marpa came to see him. "I was a bit rough with you last night," he said."Don't be sad. I will' give you the instructions little by little. Just be patient! Since you're a good worker, I'd like you to build me a house to give to Tarma Dode. When you've finished, I'll give you the instructions, and provide you with food and clothing as well.”

"But what will I do if I die in the meantime, without the Dharma?” Mila asked. “I’ll take the responsibility of making sure that doesn't happen," Marpa said. "My teachings are not just idle boasting, and since you obviously have extraordinary perseverance, when you put my instructions into practice we will see if you can attain Buddhahood in a single lifetime." After further encouragement in the same vein, he had Mila build three houses one after the other: a circular one at the foot of the eastern hill, a semicircular one in the west and a triangular one in the north. But each time, as soon as the house was half finished, Marpa would berate Mila furiously, and make him demolish whatever he had built and take all the earth and stones he had used back to where he had found them. An open sore appeared on Mila's back, but he thought, "If I show it to the Master, he will only scold me again. I could show it to his wife but that would just be making a fuss." So, weeping, but not showing his wounds, he implored Marpa's wife to help him request the teachings.

She asked Marpa to teach him, and Marpa replied, "Give him a good meal and bring him here!" He gave Mila the transmission and vows of refuge.

"All this," he said, "is what is called the basic Dharma. If you want the extraordinary instructions of the Secret Mantrayana, the sort of thing you'll to have to go through is this... "and he recounted a brief version of the life and trials of Naropa. "It'll be difficult for you to do the same," he concluded.

At these words Mila felt such intense devotion that his tears flowed freely, and with fierce determination he vowed to do whatever his teacher asked of him. A few days later, Marpa went for a walk and took Mila with him as his attendant. He went south-east and, coming to a favorably situated piece of ground, he said, "Make me a grey, square tower here, nine storeys’ high. With a pinnacle on top, making ten. You won't have to take this building down, and when you've finished I'll give you the instructions. I'll also give you provisions when you go into retreat to practise.”

Mila had already dug the foundations and started building when three of his teacher's more advanced pupils came by. For fun, they rolled up a huge stone for him and Mila incorporated it in the foundations. When he had finished the first• two storeys, Marpa came to see him and asked him where the stone in question had come from. Mila told him what had happened. "My disciples practising the yoga of the two phases shouldn't be your servants!" Marpa yelled. "Get that stone out of there and put it back where it came from!"

Mila demolished the whole tower, starting from the top. He pulled out the big foundation stone and took it back to where it had come from. Then Marpa told him, "Now bring it here again and put it back in. " So Mila hauled it back to the site and put it in just as before. He went on building until he had finished the seventh storey, by which time he had an open sore on his hip.

"Now leave off building that tower," Marpa said, "and instead build me a temple, with a twelve-pillared hall and a raised sanctuary.”

So Mila built the temple, and by the time he had finished, a sore had broken out on his lower back.

At that time, Meton Tsonpo of Tsangrong asked Marpa for the empowerment of Samvara, and Tsurton Wange of Dol asked for the empowerment of Guhyasamaja. On both occasions, Mila, hoping that his building work had earned him the right to empowerment, took his place in the assembly, but all he received from Marpa were blows and rebukes and he was thrown out both times. His back was now one huge sore with blood and pus running from three places. Nevertheless, he continued working, carrying the baskets of earth in front of him instead.

When Ngokton Chodor of Shung came to ask for the Hevajra empowerment, Marpa's wife gave Mila a large turquoise from her own personal inheritance. Using it as his offering for the empowerment, Mila placed himself among row of candidates but, as before, the teacher scolded him and gave him a thrashing, and he did not receive the empowerment. This time he felt that there was no further doubt: he would never receive any teachings. He wandered off in no particular direction.

A family in Lhodrak Khok hired him to read the Transcendent Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses. He came to the story of Sadaprarudita, and that made him think. He realized that, for the sake of the Dharma, he must accept all hardships and please his teacher by doing whatever he ordered.

So he returned, but again Marpa only welcomed him with abuse and blows. Mila was so desperate that Marpa's wife sent him to Lama Ngokpa, who gave him some instructions. But when he meditated nothing came of it, since he had not received his teacher's consent. Marpa ordered him to go back with Lama Ngokpa, and then to return. One day, during a feast offering, Marpa severely reprimanded Lama Ngokpa and some other disciples and was about to start beating them. Mila thought to himself, "With my evil karma, not only do l myself suffer because of my heavy faults and dense obscurations, but now I am also bringing difficulties on Lama Ngokpa and my Guru's consort. Since I am just piling up more and more harmful actions without receiving any teaching, it would be best if I did away with myself."

He prepared to commit suicide. Lama Ngokpa was trying to stop him when Marpa calmed down and summoned them both. He accepted Mila as a disciple, gave him much good advice and named him Mila Dorje Gyaltsen, "Mila Adamantine Victory Banner."As he gave him the empowerment of Samvara; he made the mandala of its sixty-two deities clearly appear. Mila then received the secret name of Shepa Dorje, "Adamantine Laughter," and Marpa conferred all the empowerments and instructions on him just like the contents of one pot being poured into another. Afterwards, Mila practised in the hardest of conditions, and attained all the common and supreme accomplishments.

The trials that Milarepa had to undergo before receiving the teachings from Marpa, as well as being a purification of past Karma, an accumulation of merit and a psychological preparation, also had a bearing on the future of his lineage, each detail having a symbolic significance which, by the principle of interdependence would affect Milarepa’s own future and that of his disciples.

~H.H. Patrul Rinpoche from the text Words of My Perfect Teacher.

[stargazersastronomy]

Tarot of the Divine 5 Card Spread

4 of swords (reversed) -- The Binding of Fenrir 

The Hanged Man (reversed) -- Sleeping Beauty

The Moon (reversed) -- The Tale of Princess Kaguya (aka The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter)

The Star -- Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka

Temperance -- Avalokiteshvara (Buddhist Bodhisattva)

This post will discuss elements of religion in a neutral non-sectarian, non-devotional way. I am not trying to convert anyone, but just do to the cards in this spread I need to mention aspects of Buddhism and the widespread nature of Christianity.

At first glance, one notices the themes of rest, recuperation, moving on, and balance. How I remember what the 4, 9, and 10 0f swords represent is by remember are Floor Jansen’s songs from her former band ReVamp. These cards are the songs ‘Anatomy of a Nervous Breakdown: ‘On the Sideline’, ‘Limbic System’, and ‘Neurasthenia.’ When reversed,  these Sword cards say “You should have listened to that inner voice long ago. You should’ve rested and reflected on these issues long ago.”

Fenrir (a wolf) was the son of Loki, and it was prophesized that Fenrir would devour Odin during Ragnarök. So the gods teamed up to have Fenrir chained and hidden away. Obviously, this would not last forever but for now they can relax.

Fenrir grew at an alarming rate, however, and soon the gods decided that his stay in Asgard had to be temporary. Knowing well how much devastation he would cause if he were allowed to roam free, the gods attempted to bind him with various chains. They were able to gain the wolf’s consent by telling him that these fetters were tests of his strength, and clapping and cheering when, with each new chain they presented him, he broke free.

The fettered beast was then transported to some suitably lonely and desolate place. The chain was tied to a boulder and a sword was placed in the wolf’s jaws to hold them open. As he howled wildly and ceaselessly, a foamy river called “Expectation” (Old Norse Ván) flowed from his drooling mouth. And there, in that sordid state, he remained – until Ragnarok. (Source: Norse Mythology)

“The king handed her out of the chariot, and she approved everything he had done, but as she had very great foresight, she thought when the princess should awake she might not know what to do with herself, being all alone in this old palace; and this was what she did: she touched with her wand everything in the palace (except the king and queen) -- governesses, maids of honor, ladies of the bedchamber, gentlemen, officers, stewards, cooks, undercooks, scullions, guards, with their beefeaters, pages, footmen; she likewise touched all the horses which were in the stables, pads as well as others, the great dogs in the outward court and pretty little Mopsey too, the princess's little spaniel, which lay by her on the bed.Immediately upon her touching them they all fell asleep, that they might not awake before their mistress and that they might be ready to wait upon her when she wanted them. 

The very spits at the fire, as full as they could hold of partridges and pheasants, did fall asleep also. All this was done in a moment. Fairies are not long in doing their business.And now the king and the queen, having kissed their dear child without waking her, went out of the palace and put forth a proclamation that nobody should dare to come near it.

This, however, was not necessary, for in a quarter of an hour's time there grew up all round about the park such a vast number of trees, great and small, bushes and brambles, twining one within another, that neither man nor beast could pass through; so that nothing could be seen but the very top of the towers of the palace; and that, too, not unless it was a good way off. Nobody; doubted but the fairy gave herein a very extraordinary sample of her art, that the princess, while she continued sleeping, might have nothing to fear from any curious people.” (Sources: The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods)

The Hanged Man is all about seeing something from another perspective, it is also about sacrifice. Reversed it is about martyrdom, or about “waking up” and continuing the journey after you’ve rested.

“At this time her foster-parents noticed that night after night the Princess would sit on her balcony and gaze for hours at the moon, in a spirit of the deepest dejection, ending always in a burst of tears. One night the old man found her thus weeping as if her heart were broken, and he besought her to tell him the reason of her sorrow.

With many tears she told him that he had guessed rightly when he supposed her not to belong to this world—that she had in truth come from the moon, and that her time on earth would soon be over. On the fifteenth day of that very month of August her friends from the moon would come to fetch her, and she would have to return. [...]‘The time has come,’ he said, ‘for Princess Moonlight to return to the moon from whence she came. She committed a grave fault, and as a punishment was sent to live down here for a time. We know what good care you have taken of the Princess, and we have rewarded you for this and have sent you wealth and prosperity. We put the gold in the bamboos for you to find.’ ‘I have brought up this Princess for twenty years and never once has she done a wrong thing, therefore the lady you are seeking cannot be this one,’ said the old man. ‘I pray you to look elsewhere.’” (Sources: THE BAMBOO-CUTTER AND THE MOON-CHILD)

The moon is the grey area between illusions and reality, the shadowy realm, the cinema you go to for 2 hours of escapism. It is that moment when you wake up, and you aren’t sure who you are, what and where you are, and you stay in a bed a few minutes longer to sort yourself out. (No wonder the moon and 8 of cups/chalices are ruled by pisces.)

In the folktale, it’s unknown what sparks kaguya’s revelation and return, but it wasn’t the emperor hugging her without her consent. He is lovelorn but not a creep in the folktale. When the moon is reversed it means you have broken through the deceit/dream realm/etc. ultimately, it is illumination.

The star (Aquarius) means hope. It means to never give up because the light will come. In the Russian tale, Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka, the siblings flee from their witch step-mother. As each day passes Alyonushka needs to stop her brother from drinking from the river waters they pass or else he’ll turn into a wild beast. On the third day, weak from thirst, Ivanushka gives in and the water turns him into a deer. Upon hearing her anguished cries, a king marries Alyonushka but when her stepmother discovers she is alive, she seeks to kill her stepdaughter. At each hardship, there is relief/light to guide the girl through and her brother’s pleas eventually bring Alyonushka back to life, and he regains human form.

It is much cheerier than Heart of a Dog.

“The Buddha said to Bodhisattva Inexhaustible Intent: “Good man, if there are living beings in the land who need someone in the body of a Buddha in order to be saved, Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds immediately manifests himself in a Buddha body and preaches the Law for them. If they need someone in a pratyekabuddha’s body in order to be saved, immediately he manifests a pratyekabuddha’s body and preaches the Law to them. If the need a voice-hearer to be saved, immediately he becomes a voice-hearer and preaches the Law for them. If they need King Brahma to be saved, immediately he becomes King Brahma and preaches the Law for them. If they need the lord Shakra to be saved, immediately he becomes the lord Shakra and preaches the Law for them. If they need the heavenly being Freedom to be saved, immediately he becomes the heavenly being Freedom and preaches the Law for them. If they need a great general of heaven to be saved, immediately he becomes a great general of heaven and preaches the Law for them. If they need Vaishravana to be saved, immediately he becomes Vaishravana and preaches the Law for them. If they need a petty king to be saved, immediately he becomes a petty king and preaches the law for them.”

(Sources: Learn Religions, Buddha Weekly, and the Buddhist Door)

Boddhistavas are similar to Hindu avatars, but the difference is that these Buddhas-to-be’s have already attained enlightenment and forgo nirvana to help others attain peace.

This spread is about finding rest. 

[thran-duils]

Watch Me Burn (P.4)

Title: Watch Me Burn (Part Four) Summary: Fem!Reader x AU!Cas. Fem!Reader x AU!Sam. This fic was inspired by both parts of “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem & Rihanna. Castiel and the reader are toxic for each other and keep falling back together until the reader moved away. It’s been years and now she is back home, waltzing back into Castiel’s life. She is determined to do better this time, to make them work, but outside forces as well as the scars the two have left on each other weave their way into their reconciliation. Will they be able to overcome the past and new threats to their sustainability? Words: 1,984 Warnings (for the fic in entirety): Extreme angst, domestic violence, smut, unprotected sex, dom/sub dynamics, BDSM trust breaking, fluff, language, alcohol abuse, !!! eventual !!! happiness Author’s Note: Italics are the past!

Chap 3 || Chap 5 || Masterpost (mobile) || Fic masterpost

Sighing loudly, you pushed yourself away from the bathroom sink. Luckily, you had been able to sneak into the bathroom before anyone intercepted you when you walked into the office and were able to apply your makeup. You had woken up late and could not miss the incoming bus, otherwise you would have been late to your job. And you could also not afford to lose this job; it was a huge opportunity for you, especially without having a graduate degree.

Makeup tucked into your purse again, you left the bathroom ready to go to your desk now.

Turning the corner, to walk through the door into your office, you came to an abrupt stop seeing Sam, a junior partner of the company, standing there. He had been over your shoulder from the moment you had walked into the office months ago. He was not subtle about his advancements towards you and you had found ways to politely ignore them. It had not proven successful in deterring him yet though. You were on the fence about jumping into something so soon after moving here and especially with a coworker. He was handsome, yes, and had money. But there was something… off.

He blocked your way, his hand planted on the door and his arm barring you from going forward. You were forced to look up at him and he smiled down at you in response.

“So… how are you today, Y/N?”

You felt pressured to answer his question. “Tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Hmm, couldn’t tell by looking at you,” he told you. You felt blush coming to your cheeks. “You found your gym yet you were looking for?”

Small talk.

Nodding, you said, “Yes. On Guadalupe Street. I got the membership a couple weeks ago, but I haven’t managed to get there yet.” He raised his eyebrows expectantly and you explained, “I’ve been busy. The deadline is tomorrow for my project.”

“Ah, that does dig into your personal time. Hopefully you’ll be able to get some rest after that is done and submitted.”

You nodded again, smiling softly. Highly doubtful considering the rat race this place had set you in but you could hope.

Sam’s eyes fell to your dress. “Valentino?” He questioned.

You forced a smile, “No. No. Can’t quite afford that.”

Sam reached out, touching the fabric at your elbow and traced his fingers down. Your breath hitched, uncomfortable that he felt the permission to cross that boundary but… simultaneously, your eyes locking with his made your stomach flutter. His eyes were alight, taking you in and when they met yours, his lips curled up into a small, satisfied smirk.

“Well, wherever you got it, it looks the part.”

You would not dare tell him you picked it up at Goodwill.

“You seem to have an eye for the fashionable and expensive…” He leaned in closer. “If you play your cards right, you may always be able to afford both.”

His gaze was piercing, his lips parted slightly, watching you to see how you reacted. It was a game to him, seeing what the key would be to getting you open up to him. You did not want to insinuate that the door would be closed forever, leave a sliver of hope.

With a little laugh, you said, “Let’s hope I am that smart.”

<>  <> <>

“It is quite a different atmosphere.”

Charlie reached across the table to grab the salt back from you. Mouth full, she asked, “What was it like there in Austin, then?”

Exhaling, you told her, “Stifling.” You picked up your fork and took a bite of your lunch.

Charlie snorted, “The heat or the misogyny?” You shot her a look of surprise and she outright laughed this time. “Oh, Y/N. I’ve visited the office. I know how the men are down there. And trust me, they all think they have the right dick to ‘turn me straight’.”

“O-oh,” you stammered, balking at her comment.

She laughed again, waving you off. “Sorry, I’m too candid sometimes with my feelings. But that has been my experience down there. And I would be damned if they ever asked me to transfer. I much prefer it here and I am not ashamed to say because Tara is my boss, and she doesn’t feel the need to try to hit on me. Granted, she is married to a wonderful woman so that might have something to do with it, but I digress.”

“No. No, I know what you mean…” you trailed off, staring down at your plate. You had dreamt about Sam again last night and had woken up feeling sick. You simply told Castiel you had a nightmare and he had rubbed your back before getting up to make you some eggs while you showered.

“That why you left? If you don’t mind me asking.”

You slipped back, memory flashing.

The night was warm, humid. You had dressed accordingly, wearing a maxi, wrap dress.

You were sitting next to Sam, a few drinks in. You had inched closer and closer to him as the night wore on. He was a gravity – sinking into him was a weight, not an anchor. But it was still luring you in, coaxing you to descend. You had always been attracted to the depths and god forbid you would go against your nature now.

Sam leaned in, his mouth close to your ear, sending shivers through you. “Mind getting us a refill? I feel like these shenanigans are going to go on for a while.”

He was, of course, referring to the ultimately boring stories being shared between other coworkers.

You turned your head, your face unbearably close to his. Your lips were merely inches apart. His cologne encompassed you, forcing you to focus all more clearly on his hazel eyes boring into you, waiting expectantly for you to respond.

“Of course,” you whispered.

His lips curled into a smile. “That’s a team player.”

Refraining from letting out a laugh, trying to let go of the sexual tension that had just coiled itself tightly deep inside, you finished what was left of your drink. Standing up, you meant to turn around to hold your hand out for his glass but were stilled. You felt a hand at your ass, gripping ever so slightly and ghosting the rest of the way. You turned back now, looking back down at Sam still sitting there.

He merely returned your pointed look with a wink and a sultry smile as he brought the glass to his mouth, finishing it in one gulp. He reached up, holding it to you, to fetch him another drink.

“Y/N?”

You snapped back to reality.

Charlie was looking at you expectantly and you quickly remembered she had asked you a question.

“Oh, right. Yes. Um, partially? I also wanted to be home.”

“With your man?” She teased, taking another bite of her burrito.

“That wasn’t a set-in stone thing.”

“But it seems to have worked out.”

“It has so far…”

“Anything you want to talk about? You seemed lost when I asked you about the shit there.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… me talking about the rampant sexism and you agreeing but then dodging the question. And floating off into space for a couple moments, lost to your thoughts, like I said.”

“Oh… well… you know…”

Charlie shrugged, “I mean, I do. But I also know from a different perspective. They knew they were not going to realistically bed me. They could imagine it and dream for it – I am quite dreamy – but it was not going to happen. But you… you, Y/N. You were attainable. I can’t imagine the difference in treatment.”

“It wasn’t anything I haven’t dealt with before. It was tiresome at times but I got through it.” You cleared your throat and asked, changing the subject, “Would you like to come to the bar? Hang out with us?”

Slapping her hand on the table, Charlie exclaimed dramatically, “I have been dying for you to ask, Y/N.” You laughed at her theatrics. “You don’t know how hard it is to make friends in this city. Especially being a transplant. Yes. Of course, I will.”

<> <> <>

“He’s cute!” Charlie told you over the game blaring over the loudspeakers in the bar.

She had gotten more and more outspoken about how much she adored you and Castiel together the more she drank. Not that you minded really, you welcomed the validation. Proving you had made one right choice so far in your life despite all the missteps you and Castiel had had before.

“I thought you didn’t like men,” you teased.

She gave you a light shove and took another sip of her drink. “Oh, come off it. You know I can still appreciate human beauty. Plus, he looks like a rock star. And that’s got to be fun to be riding.”

“Oh, seriously?” you gasped, shooting her an incredulous look.

“He can’t keep his eyes off of you.”

“That’s nothing new.”

“Full of ourselves, are we?”

“Always.”

Her eyes traveled around the bar, taking in the décor. Castiel had an eclectic taste but that is what made his bar his bar. You had helped him pick out a lot of the wall art and it had warmed you when you had come back that he had not taken them down out of spite or mourning.

“He’s owned this place for a while then?”

“Yeah. Before we even met.”

“You mean, you willingly gave this place up? I mean it, Y/N. You got this bar and then an apartment above. You can get drunk as you want and then escape to your bed so close. Plus, you’ve got him.”

Castiel smiled at you from across the bar, giving you a little wave that you returned. Your attention fell to the hallway where the locked door was leading up to the stairs to his place. Yes, you could escape up there whenever you wanted to, imbibe as much as you wanted without worrying about getting home.

Or sneak back down here to indulge…

“What do you mean you don’t want me to go back downstairs?” Castiel’s voice echoed, scornfully.

You reached out, grabbing his arm, “Cas, don’t. You’ll have to replace the alcohol!”

Castiel yanked his arm away and argued, “It’s just going to be one drink!”

“That’ll turn into five!”

“Stop being such a fucking buzzkill, Y/N.”

“You would stop me too. Come on, don’t be a fucking idiot, Cas.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Castiel snapped, shoving you away from him and turning to go back towards the bedroom.

You sucked your teeth, pissed off he had laid hands on you, yet again. But, if it stopped him from going to indulge more on his own stock downstairs… and god knows he had stopped you from doing the same countless times too.

“You love him.” It was a statement, not a question and it drew you from the past. Charlie was smirking at you knowingly, a bright light in her eyes. She nodded when she saw your tight smile and no rebuttal to her point. “You do. Or otherwise you would not have risked coming back here, without any concrete plans.”

Swallowing sharply, you chanced looking up over at the bar again without trying to look desperate for his attention, watching Castiel interact with the customers. His smile was wide, and you wished you could kiss the corners of his mouth, slowly coming to envelope him to you.

“Yes,” you breathed, knowing that Charlie would catch it. She was listening intently. “Yes, I do.”

“Then I for one, am happy for you,” she declared. “And I’m glad you came back up here too. Come, raise your glass.” You amused her, and she held up hers in return, beaming. “Cheers!”

You smiled in return, clinking yours to hers. “Cheers.”

~~~

CASTIEL FOREVER TAGS: @willowing-love @perseusandmedusa @greenappleeyes @afanofmanystuffs @earthtokace @shikaros-blog @marisayouass @splendidcas

[soulbodycure]

How do you manifest using the Law of Attraction?

The Complete Law of Attraction Guide: How To Manifest Your Dream Life.

The art of manifestation may be simple for some people. But, when they start their journey to manifest something they desire, they find it hard to make it possible. Get all the info you need here.

Every individual has reasons why he or she wants to manifest what they like for his or her own life.

But, how can you master the art of manifestation? What are the things that you need to consider? Why do you need to manifest something?

There are different approaches that you may take for consideration when making manifestations. These approaches may vary depending on how the person handles the situation.

But, before everything else, you have to know what manifestation means before you take any necessary steps. You also have to know the abilities required for you to make successful manifestation. This is because there are things that may assist you while you are applying the steps to manifest anything.

So, what are really the secrets to successful manifestation and why do you need to master it? Is it a requirement in this life?

Or, is it another way for you be successful in life? The answer is simple and it depends on the person.

The Ultimate Guide To Manifesting Effectively

You’ll get a beautifully illustrated guide that teaches you to shape and control your destiny, accompanied with 5 separate audio modules, that uses the power of hypnosis to rewire your brain, using a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity, but on the quantum level with your subconscious.

WHY THE LAW OF ATTRACTION WORKS FOR SOME PEOPLE BUT NOT YOU

Many people don’t seem to manifest effectively because they let their negative attitudes reign. They fear facing reality and don’t want to take the challenge because they think that it would be risky for them to face the truth and go with the flow of reality.

Also, they think that reality sucks and their life would be much easier if they ignore reality. Since not all people are the same, they have different approaches to every situation. Some manifest by playing it safe while others manifest without knowing the behind the scene facts of the situation.

This is because some are open-minded about the situation while others just concentrate for their own good and they want to make sure that they will get success in life.

Manifesting or co-creating your dreams or wants in life is not easy for everyone. It is a crucial process with various steps and it may take some time for others to master it. Apart from fears, there are other reasons why some people don’t seem to manifest successfully.

One of these reasons is that many don’t want to accept the change. There are a number of individuals that don’t want to take a step to accept the change because they think that it would be just a waste of time and they have a high level of belief in their old ways.

Some even don’t like to experience change as this could just ruin their overall plan and feel it is just useless if they take any steps to embrace change.

But, what others really don’t know is that manifesting is about accepting the reality and letting go of their negative attitudes that keep them from manifesting.

If you are one of the persons that have these negative things in life, you will never succeed in manifesting.

So, if you want to achieve your dreams in life and want to be successful with your business or personal life, then taking away such negative factors in your life could be your first step.

Once you have done this successfully, you will never have those tough times and it will be a lot easier for you to proceed to the next level of manifestation.

If you have experienced any hard times while you are in the process, don’t give up and keep improving your courage because once you pay attention to the bad things, you will not be effective in manifesting and will keep failing. 

If this happens, just remember your goals, why you’re doing it and keep positive vibes so you can master manifestation without encountering tough times.

Law of Attraction: Why does it take so long for my dreams to come true?

People react too much when their dreams take a long time to manifest because they think that there is no point of making any manifestation if it would take a lengthy period of time. For them, it is just a waste of time.

If you want to reach something, you have to wait for the right time. You can’t just pick the time and make your dreams come true in a snap. 

Everything happens in the right time. Whether you believe it or not, this is the nature of life. So, you have to deal with it no matter what.

How to React If Your Dreams Take a Long Time to Manifest

Lack of patience is the thing that makes some annoyed while waiting for dreams to manifest. The majority of people who want to achieve a particular goal in their life want it to come true in a hurry.

Manifestation is also a journey and there are processes included which only means that it may take time for you to manifest your dreams. 

If you want to know how to react in the situation, you have to be open-minded and figure out why you can’t manifest your goals. There are several things that may affect the process of manifestation. 

It could be anything, but whatever it is, you should try to determine how to remove it on your way so that you can easily achieve your goals.

Another way to react in the situation is by facing it calmly. No matter how tough the situation is, anger is not the best solution. 

This will just make the situation much worse and might not help you manifest anything that you want to attain. 

Facing the situation with anger may give you relief, but it won’t solve any issue. That is why you need to respond in a positive manner.

This may be difficult if the situation is tough, but if you have done this in an optimistic way, you will be able to address your situation without any problems.

Making Manifestation a Permanent Habit

Whether you want to reach your goals or make money effectively, making manifestation a permanent habit is essential. 

It may be hard for some people to do it, but if you know the dos and don’ts about manifestation and you know how to unblock yourself from the said blockages, you will manifest effectively.

Co-creating things that you want takes time and sometimes, you need to undergo a crucial process before you learn everything about the law of attraction and art of manifestation.

For you to stay on the right path, you need to adapt all the lessons you have learned in life and be open to whatever may come. Preparedness is also another important thing that you should not forget. 

Be prepared all the time because challenges may strike you anytime to test your emotional capabilities and strength to face such problems.

Also, do not expect too much about the outcome because you might get the opposite result of the stuff that you need to do for you to get the secret of successful manifestation. 

If the world offers you challenges, embrace them and try to seek some ways that would help you get rid of them. And, do not make failure your habit. Instead, make manifestation your permanent habit and improve your lifestyle.

Don’t think that you can’t make manifestation a permanent habit because everything can be done easily as long as you have faith and will to do it. Thus, get what you want in life and live in a better way.

You’ll get a beautifully illustrated guide that teaches you to shape and control your destiny, accompanied with 5 separate audio modules, that uses the power of hypnosis to rewire your brain, using a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity, but on the quantum level with your subconscious.

Your Soul Reading Reveals The Path That Your Soul Is On At This Point In Your Life

Get Your FREE Soul Reading

[aion-rsa]

Celebrating Black Voices in Anime with Funimation

https://ift.tt/2Zl6eQ9

This virtual panel is presented in partnership with Funimation.

The anime industry only continues to grow larger and more mainstream with each passing year. It’s remarkable to see the growth, whether it’s through the wider prevalence and variety of dubbed content or the number of anime-based streaming services. Anime has alway been on the fringe of pop culture’s interests, but part of what makes it such an exciting form of art is that it doesn’t just entertain audiences in unpredictable ways, but it often excels with its inclusion of underrepresented groups. This has helped anime become such a universal product that doesn’t just speak to everyone, but specifically highlights those that may get overlooked elsewhere. 

Dani Chambers (The Ancient Magus Bride, Ace Attorney, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising) and Lee George (Appare-Ranman!, Listeners, Smile Down the Runway) are two talented voice actors from Funimation who have taken some time to discuss and spotlight Blackrepresentation in the anime industry, the connection that they’ve had with anime throughout their lives, and the power that anime has to empower certain communities. 

You can watch the full panel below or read on for the Q&A transcript!

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DEN OF GEEK: Lee, Dani, thank you both for your time today to talk about this and to begin with, did you have any kind of relationship with anime before working in it? Were you two fans before you were a part of the industry?

DANI CHAMBERS: Yeah, I grew up on anime, like Sailor Moon, Tenchi Muyo!, you know, all kinds of anime that I feel like everybody was into, but I just loved it. It was always a part of me and growing up, I loved doing theater and acting. So it was like one day I knew that I wanted to do that, but I never knew what it was. Iit’s always been a part of my life and it’s amazing that I can be a part of it like this now.

LEE GEORGE: And likewise, you could always find me on the playground, charging up a Kamehameha hot blast, or trying to instant transmit somewhere. And it was definitely a big part of my social circle growing up, which was nice to find that kind of camaraderie.

Those are definitely the shows that I gravitated to as well when I was growing up. And what do you think the initial allure was about those programs? Was it fulfilling something that wasn’t getting satisfied in other kinds of shows?

DANI CHAMBERS: I think that’s possible, yeah. When I first watched Sailor Moon, for example, I was like, “Dude, they’re cute anime girls who can kick butt with hearts and rainbows and stuff. What?” Growing up it was always seen that that kind of stuff was too girly, but it’s like now they were kicking butt with it. They destroy these weird, scary looking aliens, but with the power of love and friendship. So that was very cool to me and it helped me appreciate friendship–well I always appreciate friendship–but it made me appreciate camaraderie a bit more with my friends that I shared this with. I loved it and it allowed me to just be comfortable in it without having to be feared or judged by other people about it.

LEE GEORGE: Yeah, I think there was, too. There’s a rawness to anime that you don’t find in more traditional cartoons. Characters feel so strongly about something that they’ll explode, or power up, or release tension in some kind of emotionally powerful way. The depth of a lot of what you see in anime is very mirrored in real life, even though it’s a little extreme. So I think that was really cool to have at your fingertips as a young adult.

Absolutely. It’s such an exaggerated form of media, regardless of whether it’s the action, or the comedy, or the friendship. And there is a real sense of unity, not even in the programs themselves, but like the fandom around them. Fandom itself, I think has grown into a very huge thing. But in anime, in particular, there’s a very intense kind of fandom. Have you had much experience with anime fandom, whether it’s been at conventions or on social media?

LEE GEORGE: I’ve never done a convention before. I mean, I’ve gotten to do Funimation’s virtual con that they did in the middle of last year, which was incredible, but I’ve never been to an in-person convention. However, I think a cool thing that’s come out of doing voice acting is I’ve gotten a lot of messages on Instagram and Twitter from young aspiring voice actors and young anime fans, whether they be Black or what have you, just appreciating the art form, which is really cool. And it’s something I’m still not used to, but it’s incredible to see and experience.

DANI CHAMBERS: So I’ve done like two conventions at most, but I’ve had one person come up to me, which really resonated with me. They loved my performance of a character and they didn’t say that it necessarily changed their life, but it kind of like helped evaluate the situation that they were going through at the time. That’s what I want to do. I want to help. Like Lee, I’ve also had messages sent to me from, you know, other POC aspiring voice actors who want to do this. And they’re like, “Thank you for helping and inspiring me to go do this.” And that’s why I wanted to be doing this. Just to see others go after their dreams and actually do the thing that they said they wanted to do is so heartwarming. So seeing that in the community just fills my heart up with so much joy and I’m glad it’s happening.

That’s amazing. I think it’s so important when children see themselves represented in something and it must be so validating to be a part of that and to give those kids that experience, especially when you’ve gone through that same thing yourselves.

LEE GEORGE: Absolutely. Recently I was talking to a friend about this and how there’s a difference between wishing for something and hoping for something. So when you don’t see yourself in the things that you enjoy and doing them later in life, it feels more like a wish than a hope. You hope for attainable things, but you wish for, you know, the ability to fly or to do a Kamehameha one day. So being a part of that transformation of turning voice acting as a wish into a hope just brings a smile to my face all the time.

I think anime has the ability to tell some very creative stories that couldn’t be done anywhere else, but it also examines such a wide spectrum of characters that aren’t necessarily human, or can even feel beyond race at times. Has that made a difference at all when it comes to representation and casting or the variety of characters that you’re able to play in anime versus other mediums?

LEE GEORGE: Yes, that’s definitely true that anime is full of the wildest creations. I don’t know that I’ve played many non-human characters, but we’re talking about a medium where they don’t necessarily have our same racial context that we kind of place on ourselves and the world around us. So being able to voice a character who is fair-skinned, but has naturally blue hair and can summon a soul sword feels as different as voicing a dragon creature. It’s easier to detach my self-identity as a Black man to who this character is even though I’m the one voicing it.

DANI CHAMBERS: Lee pretty much took the words right out of my mouth. I come from a theater background where you kind of have to fit the mold of what the play calls for. So jumping from where my options are limited to a medium where I can pretty much be anything was a huge realization. I can be a depressed anime girl with red hair and magic powers. That’s amazing. It was truly like a shock jumping into this industry, but it made me aware that I shouldn’t have to be limited in this industry. It was just a very important wake up call for me.

It’s interesting to see how anime has also gained such a presence in the rap and hip hop community. Why do you think there’s been that response or that synergy between those particular markets?

LEE GEORGE: It’s easy to reduce an anime plot into something that mirrors the Black experience. My Hero Academia for example, is about an unpowered youth in a world, surrounded by people with powers and privileges. Midoriya’s perception in that world is that he wishes for the opportunity and finally gets the chance to show that he deserves that same respect and ability. And that he can do great things with that kind of power. So I think that since rap is all about expression and breaking through molds that we or the world put ourselves into. They kind of go hand-in-hand, in a way.

Read more

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DANI CHAMBERS: Yeah, I definitely agree with that. It breaks the mold of what people expect us to be in. Everybody has their own box of what they think people should be looking like or sounding like. Anime kind of broke that and just went in a way where it doesn’t have to follow what the world deems and it can be whatever it wants. Being in this culture kind of opened their eyes and realized that, “Oh my God, these stories are like ours!” And they are stories that can help us change, not only ourselves, but our communities around us. And I think that helps inspire other people to make change, too. 

The people who are influenced by it in that culture and have influence over their communities can help spread that same message of what the anime was saying. It helps people to change their behaviors and negative mindsets, which is helpful to all cultures and communities. When there are influential people who take up a stand like that and explain why they think that it’s cool then it can read to really positive change.

There have also been changes going on in the voice acting industry over the past year to kind of show effort towards better representation being reflected. There was the recasting of roles in Big Mouth and Central Park. Do you think actions like that are helping move the industry in a more positive direction and getting things in what’s perhaps a better place?

DANI CHAMBERS: For me, with people stepping down from those roles, I personally don’t think they really needed to do that. I think that what we’re trying to get at is the opportunity to audition and to be a part of it, not just a pity cast because we need this person. We don’t want to get cast just because we’re the only POC people available for this role. We want every opportunity to audition for whatever role there is. Not just because we fit this mold of what they want. Obviously there’s a difference with things like historical pieces that require it. But when it comes to anything that’s fantasy it should go beyond being limited to play just the minority characters. We should have access to everything just like how everybody else does. So it’s a matter of opportunity rather than requirement, if that makes sense.

LEE GEORGE: I 100% agree with that. However, to also play devil’s advocate because I think it’s worth it with this discussion, I also come from a theater background and as an actor you’re expected to play outside of yourself. That’s a main argument for why I shouldn’t have to be confined to my own racial identity when it comes to acting in any form or medium. I think in certain arenas, as they are right now, the majority have a large claim on a lot of opportunities as Dani was pointing out, and opportunities are a thing that we want.

If the argument is that you should be able to act outside of yourself so that you can play these roles that are written as people of color, then what’s happening is that there’s a disregard that a marginalized group is saying that we’re having a hard time even playing ourselves in these roles. Some people are worried about expanding beyond their range and we’re just trying to get the representation that’s written for us in certain media. So, absolutely, it’s all about opportunity and we have to reach a point where there is enough intake of people of color roles so it even moves beyond opportunity and it’s not about racial casting or stereotyping when it comes to those roles.

Dani, I suppose the inverse of that can be seen with how you voice Ironheart in Marvel Avenger Academy. It must be exciting to see these new versions of these iconic characters happening now that would have seemed impossible not that long ago.

DANI CHAMBERS: Yeah, it’s really cool. When I got that audition I was excited, but then when I booked it I just freaked out. It’s an incredible opportunity for something like that where it’s a Black superhero who is also female. You want to cast somebody–a Black female–for that role because of representation, but to have the opportunity to do that was amazing. It was just a few lines for a mobile game, but it’s still had a huge impact on me. A lot of people have been like, “Oh my God, I loved your Ironheart in Marvel Avenger Academy. You inspired me. I wanted to go voice anything too.” That’s so important to help people realize that they can voice anybody that they want. It was really a dream come true.

Amazing. Both of you have played very diverse characters that have gone all over the spectrum. But are there any kinds of roles that you haven’t gotten to tackle yet that you’d like to be able to explore at some point?

LEE GEORGE: I’d love to play someone that’s just really eccentric and out there. I have the tonal variety of a robot, so it’s often sullen characters and maybe emotionally unavailable individuals, which I totally understand. But I’d love a chance to just really get weird. I don’t know why. The actor in me is like, “Oh that’d be fun. That’d be really cool.”

DANI CHAMBERS: I think for me it’s kind of the opposite. I play a lot of eccentric characters, like little girls or the childhood best friend who’s just always happy. Like my first role was a very monotone, very depressed character. So that was fun, but I think I’d want to try maybe like a hero or somebody who is very committed to their mission. A very mission-centered person who wants to accomplish whatever they need to, but then gets betrayed in the end and just kind of Hulks out. I’d love to do that.

With all of this talk on representation, are there any anime series that have made you feel especially seen or a program that excels in that area? 

DANI CHAMBERS: Well I’m not in it, but Lee is. Appare-Ranman! Is a good one. It has a whole cast of fun characters with different accents and there’s a lot of diversity, even with the voice actors. It’s so good and it’s just a lot of fun to watch. It’s a big race and you just get to enjoy the characters. They all have culture-specific problems and it’s so interesting how everything collides together, yet they can still work together through the chaos. 

LEE GEORGE: That’s too sweet. Well I’ll also say to look out for Horimiya, which is new and looks incredible. The cast is just all heavy hitters and very diverse. I’ve been told that it’s a hidden rom-com in the making. So if that’s your cup of tea then definitely check out Horimiya. 

Great picks, and Dani, what you said about Appare-Ranman! and its dubbing is so true. Other series like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure will also experiment with regional dialects in dubs and I think it allows the dubs to get even better than the original version in some cases. It’s fun to see that come together.

DANI CHAMBERS: It’s great. Actually, Appare-Ranman! and Horimiya are both directed by Caitlin Glass and she cares a lot about casting diversity and making sure that everyone gets an opportunity. She’s a phenomenal director and it’s great that she’s a big part of this. I’m grateful to her so much.

LEE GEORGE: Likewise.

The post Celebrating Black Voices in Anime with Funimation appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3rYi4fo

[shashidubeyguruji]

Lord Krishna, the modern-day Management Guru

Lord Krishna and the Bhagavad Gita have intrigued and compelled the Indian mind for centuries. Today it continues to inspire millions of people across the world. For readers of this blog, the Bhagavad Gita, or simply, the ‘Gita,’ is one of the most important religious texts of Hinduism. It has three major themes of knowledge, action, and love.

This sacred text, containing seven hundred verses, is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and warrior Arjuna in the epic battle of Mahabharata around 3100 B.C.E. Lord Krishna imparts profound knowledge to a confused and disturbed Arjuna who faces the moral and ethical dilemma of choosing to fight for righteousness and battle his own. All Arjuna could see on the battlefield was his uncles, grandfathers, teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, sons, grandsons, and comrades. Seeing fathers-in-law, all those kinsmen, and other dear ones standing in the ranks of the two armies, this upset and confused him greatly.

In essence, the Bhagavad Gita imparts the knowledge of the Self and answers some fundamental questions of life. 

Recently, one of my students asked me for advice when his business was forced to shut down during COVID-19. Luckily, it gave him an opportunity to reflect on his business operations and management of staff. He wanted to use this time to become a better leader and strategist. His priority areas were efficiency, effectiveness and effortlessness. I simply advised him to read the Bhagavad Gita. He looked at me puzzled!

 I explained to him that Lord Krishna resides in the heart of all living beings. He is a charismatic leader, a manager, teacher a loyal friend and a philosopher. He taught the lessons of Bhakti (devotion), good Karma (fruit of one’s actions), compassion and courage. Krishna’s lessons are still relevant to the modern man’s thoughts and needs. The Gita ticks every box of the “modern day survival guide.” Although the script may be old, it is contemporary in its essence. Lord Krishna is the master of finesse.

 I used excerpts of the Bhagavad Gita to mentor top international executives and CEOs, which I shared with my student. To me the answer is simple – we must correctly identify the principles laid out in the text and apply them appropriately to the corporate setting. Top management and business schools use it as an educational tool to inspire executives and increase productivity, confidence, motivation, and fearlessness. It expands their thoughts and brings meaningful change. These traits are necessary for successful leaders, managers, entrepreneurs, and politicians alike.

 My student was intrigued and wondered how the Bhagavad Gita Model is relevant to today’s business and economic context. I smiled and quoted this excerpt:

“karmaṇy-evādhikāras te mā phaleṣhu kadāchana

mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stvakarmaṇi”,

“You have the right to perform your prescribed duties, but they do not entitle you to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the result of your activities, nor be attached to inaction” (BG:2.47).

 Nearly every school child in India is taught this well-known verse of the Gita. It teaches from a young age, the proper spirit of work or Karm Yog (art of action). It offers four distinct instructions regarding the science of work: 1) Do your duty, but do not concern yourself with the results, 2) The fruit of your actions are not for your enjoyment, 3) Even while working, give up the pride of doership and 4) Do not be attached to inaction.

 The following are some management strategies, principles, and skills that Lord Krishna shared with warrior arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

 Master the Mind and you Master the World

“One must elevate – and not degrade oneself by one’s own mind. The mind is one’s friend and one’s enemy. The mind is the friend of those who have control over it, and the mind acts like an enemy for those who do not control it” (BG:6.05-06).

 Here, Lord Krishna is sharing the importance of mastering one’s mind to the great warrior Arjuna. Our biggest enemy in the world is an uncontrolled mind. We can achieve a lot if we use wisdom and intellect to progress ourselves. James Allen, a philosopher said, “Self-control is strength, right thought is mastery, and calmness is power.” Only when the mind is mastered, a manager or leader can provide right direction with firm determination.

 Focus the Mind

 “Therefore, fix your mind on Me and let your intellect concentrate upon Me alone through meditation and contemplation. Thereafter, you shall certainly attain Me” (BG:12.08).

 The dialogue demonstrates further the importance of a focused mind that Lord Krishna tries to instill onto Arjuna. Swami Vivekananda once said, “The powers of the mind are like the rays of the sun. When they are concentrated, they illuminate.” When the mind is focused, it can achieve what a disturbed mind cannot accomplish due to disturbance and noise. A focused mind has high problem-solving abilities and decision-making skills. In a business setting, it is highly beneficial for a manager to have a focused mind to achieve organizational objectives effectively and efficiently.

 Distribute Profits to Employees and Contribute towards Society

 “The righteous who eat after sharing with others are freed from all sins, but the impious who cook food only for themselves (without offering it first to God or sharing with others), in truth, eat sin” (BG:3.13).

 Lord Krishna is suggesting the importance of the habit of sharing with society. Most businesses and corporations consume the resources of the society. We must therefore heighten our awareness to contribute back for the welfare of all. An offering made by a millionaire and a poor man is considered the same, if it is done with humility. It is suggested that business profits must be distributed to employees to give them a sense of being valued, worthy and appreciated.

 Be a Leader and Provide Right Motivation

 “The wise should not unsettle the minds of the ignorant who are attached to the fruits of work but should inspire others by performing their duty efficiently with dedication and without selfish attachment” (BG:3.26).

 There is a direct correlation between an employees’ level of motivation and productivity. Employees need motivating factors to remain committed and productive. At times, they need to be managed, advised and guided in the right direction. Lord Krishna showed the great warrior Arjuna the right direction, in the scenario above. As it is famously quoted by Mahatma Gandhi, “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Similarly, a manager should ensure that they are the leader, motivator and guide for the workforce to achieve objectives of the organization.

 Be Action Oriented

 “O warrior Arjuna, there is nothing in the three worlds – heaven, earth, and the lower regions – that should be done by Me, nor there is anything unobtained that I should obtain, yet I engage in action” (BG: 3.22).

 Here, Lord Krishna is highlighting the significance of being action oriented. I often say that your actions become your habits, habits become your values, and values become your destiny. This means that our actions have a direct impact on shaping our destiny. To achieve the desired result, we must combine our knowledge with the necessary action to attain those results. One should always let actions speak louder than words, for actions are worthier.

 Hold Firm and be Strong even in Adversity

 “Considering also your duty as a warrior, you should not waver because there is nothing more auspicious than one’s personal duty in life” (BG:2.31).

 Here, the importance of facing adverse situations with firmness and determination is communicated to warrior Arjuna. We face both turbulent and smooth periods in our lives. Similarly, in business one must remain focused in both favourable and unfavourable situations.  A manager should make a suitable strategy to prepare for any eventualities. Currently we face unprecedented challenges. If we apply the principles that Lord Krishna has shared with the world, a manager or leader can face even the most arduous times with firmness. Nothing can stop them from achieving organizational objectives even during adversity.

 Act with Conviction

 “Whatever is done without faith – whether it is sacrifice, charity, austerity, or any other act – is useless. It has no value here or hereafter, O Warrior Arjuna” (BG: 17.28).

 Lord Krishna is emphasizing action with truthful conviction and the significance of belief in everything we do. Leaders must believe in an action before undertaking them. Half-hearted attempts will not get us the desired result. Therefore, it is necessary for managers to give their best so that their team members can make meaningful contributions.

 Achieve your Dream

 “That resolve is in the mode of ignorance by which a dull person does not give up sleep, fear, grief, despair and false pride, O Warrior Arjuna” (BG: 18.35).

 Lord Krishna is explaining here the meaning of having dreams. All individuals have aspirations that come from dreams. Former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Sir, once said, “Dream is not that which you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep.” The beauty in dreams make life beautiful and worth living. They motivate us to achieve life goals.

 Finally, As you can see, the Bhagavad Gita contains words of wisdom through practical teaching that can be easily applied to present-day situations to solve any problem. This sacred text crosses all boundaries of religion and race, containing divine wisdom and direction for all of us.

 Lord Krishna’s life is a model that people have applied for many centuries. I believe it will be used for many generations to come. His teachings go beyond infinity.

[rpmemesbyarat]

RP Meme from "Chapter Four: Flowers and Seeds" in the Children of Gaia Tribebook from "Werewolf: The Apocalypse"

Some offer quarter to enemies that seem repentant, willing to take the risk of betrayal in the hopes of redeeming a soul that all others would consider lost.

It’s not an easy task.

Hey, stupid, that light is green!

At least your mother tried to keep you

You’re contrary, but not as a joke; you legitimately believe that playing devil’s advocate is a good and necessary part of any important decision.

When you creatively misinterpret things that you see or that people say and do, allow them to misinterpret you and your ideas; fair is fair.

Act contrary about half the time, and refuse to be predictable; always keep them thinking about what you’re saying.

Anyone can laugh at you, but they should feel a little bit uneasy at the same time.

No one save yourself really knows when you’re mad (or do you?)

Let’s party!

The peace and love stuff was pretty good, but what you really liked was the permissive attitude toward lovemaking and altered states of consciousness.

Your teenage years were quite a ride.

To this date, you’ve been able to keep yourself from thinking about your dead tormentor’s face.

You’re a high school stoner turned apprentice ritemaster, expert in the ritual use of teacher plants, drugs and alcohol.

You like having a good time; drink, weed, sex and dancing. Some spirits like to possess you in return for giving you knowledge or using their powers while they are embodied in you.

This life is a trip, but you are beginning to see some problems.

You aren’t really certain what to do about this, and you’re becoming more and more nervous about the situation.

You need to get control soon, but you don’t know if you’ll have the strength to do it.

Fate is not always fair, but she’s real.

Now, pick a number, high or low.

You were an avid game-player even as a kid, loving any chance to beat someone else, any way to win.

You couldn’t explain the strange itch within you, but friendly competition seemed to salve it somewhat.

How often you lost and how much wasn’t important.

One day, gang members came looking for their money, and you discovered that you were a lot tougher in a fight than you had thought.

You’re a recovering gambling addict who’s trying to learn the purer ideas behind games of chance and skill.

Your fascination with all the arts of the game makes you a model arbitrator for challenges of that sort, although you like staredown and combat challenges much less.

Games of chance are your specialty, although you’re learning that games of pure mental acumen such as chess and go are a much better test of wits; but card games, matching luck with cleverness and people skills, are your favorite.

Research the odds before a confrontation; you don’t want to lose.

Act cool and secretive, hiding any advantage that you may have.

You were one of the lucky ones.

You enjoy teaching like nothing else.

Telling stories about the natural world, about wolf packs or other animals, watching your audience learn before your eyes — it’s exhilarating.

Luckily your work allows you to travel, besides providing income.

If you have a fault, it’s that your idyllic upbringing has somewhat sheltered you from the pain and blood of your people’s war — but who knows what the future will bring?

You wouldn’t have made it if a kindly person hadn’t taken you in as a pet.

Their desire to take you alive hampered them, and you killed two, much to their fury.

You want to become a better warrior but recognize that dancing is a valuable outlet for you.

Your undocumented status as an “immigrant” may cause problems at some point, as you have no identification at all.

Speak little, do rather than say, and be at your most eloquent as a dancer.

Savor combat as a chance to express your warrior’s soul through the medium of merciful discipline.

The pursuit of peace is neither easy nor safe.

It was, among other things, a poor time to be a woman. Women mostly kept to their assigned place as wives and mothers, aiding husbands in daily work but getting little or no thanks or praise in return.

The land belonged to those who could use it best.

Who needs me more than they? And they may listen.

Trees walking, rivers running uphill and fatal wounds healed were only the start.

They said we couldn’t do this.

Cops! Look out!

The crowd was breaking up, screams of fright as the cops showed up with shields and clubs to impose “order.”

Secure the area. Secure the area.

Rage, and they’ll all die.

Fuckin’ anarchists!

One cop or two?

Blood but no marks, no scars.

I won’t hurt you, dude.

They don’t know if this will work. . they asked me if I even wanted to try.

What about the guy who eats the shit?

That’s where I belong.

They need me, I know that.

Just as you must have dark in order for there to be light, peace must exist for there to be violence.

A chronicle that intends to focus on peace should also be something of an ongoing debate with many questions asked.

To begin with, what is Peace? Not just the literal definition, but what is the ideal, really?

Is there some deeper spiritual requirement for true peace to be achieved?

One person’s peace may be another’s prison.

Exactly who has the right to enforce peace?

Is even enforcing peace an oxymoron?

Medieval feudal lords maintained their personal “peace,” (the origin of the charge of “disturbing the peace,” a legal concept still in use) but their right to do so was backed by the not so peaceful concept of “might is right.”

By what means or what right do they keep the peace?

Is it even possible to create a lasting peace among humans?

Of course, even assuming that anyone thinks they know what peace is, exactly how are they meant to achieve it?

The real question here is whether peace should be a means

or an end.

Is a peace bought with war tarnished by the blood spilt to purchase it?

Or is peace so important that its long-term attainment

should be sought at any cost?

They refuse all violence.

A few others believe in the “break an egg to make an omelet” philosophy.

Most view peace as an eternal struggle that lies somewhere in the middle

Why bother?

Of course, peace is a never-ending struggle, but people can dream, can’t they?

Issues I’ve worked on include women’s reproductive rights, gay civil rights, recycling, organic gardening and farming, and police brutality.

There are many other worthwhile causes, and I’d urge you to consider working for or donating to them.

[internetbynight]

𝙊𝙣 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙇𝙞𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙀𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖-𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚

In some remote corner of the universe, poured out and glittering in innumerable solar systems, there once was a star on which clever animals invented knowledge. That was the highest and most mendacious minute of "world history"—yet only a minute. After nature had drawn a few breaths the star grew cold, and the clever animals had to die.

One might invent such a fable and still not have illustrated sufficiently how wretched, how shadowy and flighty, how aimless and arbitrary, the human intellect appears in nature. There have been eternities when it did not exist; and when it is done for again, nothing will have happened. For this intellect has no further mission that would lead beyond human life. It is human, rather, and only its owner and producer gives it such importance, as if the world pivoted around it. But if we could communicate with the mosquito, then we would learn that he floats through the air with the same self-importance, feeling within itself the flying center of the world. There is nothing in nature so despicable or insignificant that it cannot immediately be blown up like a bag by a slight breath of this power of knowledge; and just as every porter wants an admirer, the proudest human being, the philosopher, thinks that he sees on the eyes of the universe telescopically focused from all sides on his actions and thoughts.

It is strange that this should be the effect of the intellect, for after all it was given only as an aid to the most unfortunate, most delicate, most evanescent beings in order to hold them for a minute in existence, from which otherwise, without this gift, they would have every reason to flee as quickly as Lessing's son. [In a famous letter to Johann Joachim Eschenburg (December 31, 1778), Lessing relates the death of his infant son, who "understood the world so well that he left it at the first opportunity."] That haughtiness which goes with knowledge and feeling, which shrouds the eyes and senses of man in a blinding fog, therefore deceives him about the value of existence by carrying in itself the most flattering evaluation of knowledge itself. Its most universal effect is deception; but even its most particular effects have something of the same character.

The intellect, as a means for the preservation of the individual, unfolds its chief powers in simulation; for this is the means by which the weaker, less robust individuals preserve themselves, since they are denied the chance of waging the struggle for existence with horns or the fangs of beasts of prey. In man this art of simulation reaches its peak: here deception, flattering, lying and cheating, talking behind the back, posing, living in borrowed splendor, being masked, the disguise of convention, acting a role before others and before oneself—in short, the constant fluttering around the single flame of vanity is so much the rule and the law that almost nothing is more incomprehensible than how an honest and pure urge for truth could make its appearance among men. They are deeply immersed in illusions and dream images; their eye glides only over the surface of things and sees "forms"; their feeling nowhere lead into truth, but contents itself with the reception of stimuli, playing, as it were, a game of blindman's buff on the backs of things. Moreover, man permits himself to be lied to at night, his life long, when he dreams, and his moral sense never even tries to prevent this—although men have been said to have overcome snoring by sheer will power.

What, indeed, does man know of himself! Can he even once perceive himself completely, laid out as if in an illuminated glass case? Does not nature keep much the most from him, even about his body, to spellbind and confine him in a proud, deceptive consciousness, far from the coils of the intestines, the quick current of the blood stream, and the involved tremors of the fibers? She threw away the key; and woe to the calamitous curiosity which might peer just once through a crack in the chamber of consciousness and look down, and sense that man rests upon the merciless, the greedy, the insatiable, the murderous, in the indifference of his ignorance—hanging in dreams, as it were, upon the back of a tiger. In view of this, whence in all the world comes the urge for truth?

Insofar as the individual wants to preserve himself against other individuals, in a natural state of affairs he employs the intellect mostly for simulation alone. But because man, out of need and boredom, wants to exist socially, herd-fashion, he requires a peace pact and he endeavors to banish at least the very crudest bellum omni contra omnes [war of all against all] from his world. This peace pact brings with it something that looks like the first step toward the attainment of this enigmatic urge for truth. For now that is fixed which henceforth shall be "truth"; that is, a regularly valid and obligatory designation of things is invented, and this linguistic legislation also furnishes the first laws of truth: for it is here that the contrast between truth and lie first originates. The liar uses the valid designations, the words, to make the unreal appear as real; he says, for example, "I am rich," when the word "poor" would be the correct designation of his situation. He abuses the fixed conventions by arbitrary changes or even by reversals of the names. When he does this in a self-serving way damaging to others, then society will no longer trust him but exclude him. Thereby men do not flee from being deceived as much as from being damaged by deception: what they hate at this stage is basically not the deception but the bad, hostile consequences of certain kinds of deceptions. In a similarly limited way man wants the truth: he desires the agreeable life-preserving consequences of truth, but he is indifferent to pure knowledge, which has no consequences; he is even hostile to possibly damaging and destructive truths. And, moreover, what about these conventions of language? Are they really the products of knowledge, of the sense of truth? Do the designations and the things coincide? Is language the adequate expression of all realities?

Only through forgetfulness can man ever achieve the illusion of possessing a "truth" in the sense just designated. If he does not wish to be satisfied with truth in the form of a tautology—that is, with empty shells—then he will forever buy illusions for truths. What is a word? The image of a nerve stimulus in sounds. But to infer from the nerve stimulus, a cause outside us, that is already the result of a false and unjustified application of the principle of reason. If truth alone had been the deciding factor in the genesis of language, and if the standpoint of certainty had been decisive for designations, then how could we still dare to say "the stone is hard," as if "hard" were something otherwise familiar to us, and not merely a totally subjective stimulation! We separate things according to gender, designating the tree as masculine and the plant as feminine. What arbitrary assignments! How far this oversteps the canons of certainty! We speak of a "snake": this designation touches only upon its ability to twist itself and could therefore also fit a worm. What arbitrary differentiations! What one-sided preferences, first for this, then for that property of a thing! The different languages, set side by side, show that what matters with words is never the truth, never an adequate expression; else there would not be so many languages. The "thing in itself" (for that is what pure truth, without consequences, would be) is quite incomprehensible to the creators of language and not at all worth aiming for. One designates only the relations of things to man, and to express them one calls on the boldest metaphors. A nerve stimulus, first transposed into an image—first metaphor. The image, in turn, imitated by a sound—second metaphor. And each time there is a complete overleaping of one sphere, right into the middle of an entirely new and different one. One can imagine a man who is totally deaf and has never had a sensation of sound and music. Perhaps such a person will gaze with astonishment at Chladni's sound figures; perhaps he will discover their causes in the vibrations of the string and will now swear that he must know what men mean by "sound." It is this way with all of us concerning language; we believe that we know something about the things themselves when we speak of trees, colors, snow, and flowers; and yet we possess nothing but metaphors for things—metaphors which correspond in no way to the original entities. In the same way that the sound appears as a sand figure, so the mysterious X of the thing in itself first appears as a nerve stimulus, then as an image, and finally as a sound. Thus the genesis of language does not proceed logically in any case, and all the material within and with which the man of truth, the scientist, and the philosopher later work and build, if not derived from never-never land, is a least not derived from the essence of things.

Let us still give special consideration to the formation of concepts. Every word immediately becomes a concept, inasmuch as it is not intended to serve as a reminder of the unique and wholly individualized original experience to which it owes its birth, but must at the same time fit innumerable, more or less similar cases—which means, strictly speaking, never equal—in other words, a lot of unequal cases. Every concept originates through our equating what is unequal. No leaf ever wholly equals another, and the concept "leaf" is formed through an arbitrary abstraction from these individual differences, through forgetting the distinctions; and now it gives rise to the idea that in nature there might be something besides the leaves which would be "leaf"—some kind of original form after which all leaves have been woven, marked, copied, colored, curled, and painted, but by unskilled hands, so that no copy turned out to be a correct, reliable, and faithful image of the original form. We call a person "honest." Why did he act so honestly today? we ask. Our answer usually sounds like this: because of his honesty. Honesty! That is to say again: the leaf is the cause of the leaves. After all, we know nothing of an essence-like quality named "honesty"; we know only numerous individualized, and thus unequal actions, which we equate by omitting the unequal and by then calling them honest actions. In the end, we distill from them a qualitas occulta [hidden quality] with the name of "honesty." We obtain the concept, as we do the form, by overlooking what is individual and actual; whereas nature is acquainted with no forms and no concepts, and likewise with no species, but only with an X which remains inaccessible and undefinable for us. For even our contrast between individual and species is something anthropomorphic and does not originate in the essence of things; although we should not presume to claim that this contrast does not correspond o the essence of things: that would of course be a dogmatic assertion and, as such, would be just as indemonstrable as its opposite.

What, then, is truth? A mobile army of metaphors, metonyms, and anthropomorphisms—in short, a sum of human relations which have been enhanced, transposed, and embellished poetically and rhetorically, and which after long use seem firm, canonical, and obligatory to a people: truths are illusions about which one has forgotten that this is what they are; metaphors which are worn out and without sensuous power; coins which have lost their pictures and now matter only as metal, no longer as coins.

We still do not know where the urge for truth comes from; for as yet we have heard only of the obligation imposed by society that it should exist: to be truthful means using the customary metaphors—in moral terms: the obligation to lie according to a fixed convention, to lie herd-like in a style obligatory for all. Now man of course forgets that this is the way things stand for him. Thus he lies in the manner indicated, unconsciously and in accordance with habits which are centuries' old; and precisely by means of this unconsciousness and forgetfulness he arrives at his sense of truth. From the sense that one is obliged to designate one thing as red, another as cold, and a third as mute, there arises a moral impulse in regard to truth. The venerability, reliability, and utility of truth is something which a person demonstrates for himself from the contrast with the liar, whom no one trusts and everyone excludes. As a rational being, he now places his behavior under the control of abstractions. He will no longer tolerate being carried away by sudden impressions, by intuitions. First he universalizes all these impressions into less colorful, cooler concepts, so that he can entrust the guidance of his life and conduct to them. Everything which distinguishes man from the animals depends upon this ability to volatilize perceptual metaphors in a schema, and thus to dissolve an image into a concept. For something is possible in the realm of these schemata which could never be achieved with the vivid first impressions: the construction of a pyramidal order according to castes and degrees, the creation of a new world of laws, privileges, subordinations, and clearly marked boundaries—a new world, one which now confronts that other vivid world of first impressions as more solid, more universal, better known, and more human than the immediately perceived world, and thus as the regulative and imperative world. Whereas each perceptual metaphor is individual and without equals and is therefore able to elude all classification, the great edifice of concepts displays the rigid regularity of a Roman columbarium and exhales in logic that strength and coolness which is characteristic of mathematics. Anyone who has felt this cool breath [of logic] will hardly believe that even the concept—which is as bony, foursquare, and transposable as a die—is nevertheless merely the residue of a metaphor, and that the illusion which is involved in the artistic transference of a nerve stimulus into images is, if not the mother, then the grandmother of every single concept. But in this conceptual crap game "truth" means using every die in the designated manner, counting its spots accurately, fashioning the right categories, and never violating the order of caste and class rank. Just as the Romans and Etruscans cut up the heavens with rigid mathematical lines and confined a god within each of the spaces thereby delimited, as within a templum, so every people has a similarly mathematically divided conceptual heaven above themselves and henceforth thinks that truth demands that each conceptual god be sought only within his own sphere. Here one may certainly admire man as a mighty genius of construction, who succeeds in piling an infinitely complicated dome of concepts upon an unstable foundation, and, as it were, on running water. Of course, in order to be supported by such a foundation, his construction must be like one constructed of spiders' webs: delicate enough to be carried along by the waves, strong enough not to be blown apart by every wind. As a genius of construction man raises himself far above the bee in the following way: whereas the bee builds with wax that he gathers from nature, man builds with the far more delicate conceptual material which he first has to manufacture from himself. In this he is greatly to be admired, but not on account of his drive for truth or for pure knowledge of things. When someone hides something behind a bush and looks for it again in the same place and finds it there as well, there is not much to praise in such seeking and finding. Yet this is how matters stand regarding seeking and finding "truth" within the realm of reason. If I make up the definition of a mammal, and then, after inspecting a camel, declare "look, a mammal" I have indeed brought a truth to light in this way, but it is a truth of limited value. That is to say, it is a thoroughly anthropomorphic truth which contains not a single point which would be "true in itself" or really and universally valid apart from man. At bottom, what the investigator of such truths is seeking is only the metamorphosis of the world into man. He strives to understand the world as something analogous to man, and at best he achieves by his struggles the feeling of assimilation. Similar to the way in which astrologers considered the stars to be in man 's service and connected with his happiness and sorrow, such an investigator considers the entire universe in connection with man: the entire universe as the infinitely fractured echo of one original sound-man; the entire universe as the infinitely multiplied copy of one original picture-man. His method is to treat man as the measure of all things, but in doing so he again proceeds from the error of believing that he has these things [which he intends to measure] immediately before him as mere objects. He forgets that the original perceptual metaphors are metaphors and takes them to be the things themselves.

Only by forgetting this primitive world of metaphor can one live with any repose, security, and consistency: only by means of the petrification and coagulation of a mass of images which originally streamed from the primal faculty of human imagination like a fiery liquid, only in the invincible faith that this sun, this window, this table is a truth in itself, in short, only by forgetting that he himself is an artistically creating subject, does man live with any repose, security, and consistency. If but for an instant he could escape from the prison walls of this faith, his "self consciousness" would be immediately destroyed. It is even a difficult thing for him to admit to himself that the insect or the bird perceives an entirely different world from the one that man does, and that the question of which of these perceptions of the world is the more correct one is quite meaningless, for this would have to have been decided previously in accordance with the criterion of the correct perception, which means, in accordance with a criterion which is not available. But in any case it seems to me that the correct perception—which would mean the adequate expression of an object in the subject—is a contradictory impossibility. For between two absolutely different spheres, as between subject and object, there is no causality, no correctness, and no expression; there is, at most, an aesthetic relation: I mean, a suggestive transference, a stammering translation into a completely foreign tongue—for which I there is required, in any case, a freely inventive intermediate sphere and mediating force. "Appearance" is a word that contains many temptations, which is why I avoid it as much as possible. For it is not true that the essence of things "appears" in the empirical world. A painter without hands who wished to express in song the picture before his mind would, by means of this substitution of spheres, still reveal more about the essence of things than does the empirical world. Even the relationship of a nerve stimulus to the generated image is not a necessary one. But when the same image has been generated millions of times and has been handed down for many generations and finally appears on the same occasion every time for all mankind, then it acquires at last the same meaning for men it would have if it were the sole necessary image and if the relationship of the original nerve stimulus to the generated image were a strictly causal one. In the same manner, an eternally repeated dream would certainly be felt and judged to be reality. But the hardening and congealing of a metaphor guarantees absolutely nothing concerning its necessity and exclusive justification.

Every person who is familiar with such considerations has no doubt felt a deep mistrust of all idealism of this sort: just as often as he has quite early convinced himself of the eternal consistency, omnipresence, and fallibility of the laws of nature. He has concluded that so far as we can penetrate here—from the telescopic heights to the microscopic depths—everything is secure, complete, infinite, regular, and without any gaps. Science will be able to dig successfully in this shaft forever, and the things that are discovered will harmonize with and not contradict each other. How little does this resemble a product of the imagination, for if it were such, there should be some place where the illusion and reality can be divined. Against this, the following must be said: if each us had a different kind of sense perception—if we could only perceive things now as a bird, now as a worm, now as a plant, or if one of us saw a stimulus as red, another as blue, while a third even heard the same stimulus as a sound—then no one would speak of such a regularity of nature, rather, nature would be grasped only as a creation which is subjective in the highest degree. After all, what is a law of nature as such for us? We are not acquainted with it in itself, but only with its effects, which means in its relation to other laws of nature—which, in turn, are known to us only as sums of relations. Therefore all these relations always refer again to others and are thoroughly incomprehensible to us in their essence. All that we actually know about these laws of nature is what we ourselves bring to them—time and space, and therefore relationships of succession and number. But everything marvelous about the laws of nature, everything that quite astonishes us therein and seems to demand explanation, everything that might lead us to distrust idealism: all this is completely and solely contained within the mathematical strictness and inviolability of our representations of time and space. But we produce these representations in and from ourselves with the same necessity with which the spider spins. If we are forced to comprehend all things only under these forms, then it ceases to be amazing that in all things we actually comprehend nothing but these forms. For they must all bear within themselves the laws of number, and it is precisely number which is most astonishing in things. All that conformity to law, which impresses us so much in the movement of the stars and in chemical processes, coincides at bottom with those properties which we bring to things. Thus it is we who impress ourselves in this way. In conjunction with this, it of course follows that the artistic process of metaphor formation with which every sensation begins in us already presupposes these forms and thus occurs within them. The only way in which the possibility of subsequently constructing a new conceptual edifice from metaphors themselves can be explained is by the firm persistence of these original forms That is to say, this conceptual edifice is an imitation of temporal, spatial, and numerical relationships in the domain of metaphor.

We have seen how it is originally language which works on the construction of concepts, a labor taken over in later ages by science. Just as the bee simultaneously constructs cells and fills them with honey, so science works unceasingly on this great columbarium of concepts, the graveyard of perceptions. It is always building new, higher stories and shoring up, cleaning, and renovating the old cells; above all, it takes pains to fill up this monstrously towering framework and to arrange therein the entire empirical world, which is to say, the anthropomorphic world. Whereas the man of action binds his life to reason and its concepts so that he will not be swept away and lost, the scientific investigator builds his hut right next to the tower of science so that he will be able to work on it and to find shelter for himself beneath those bulwarks which presently exist. And he requires shelter, for there are frightful powers which continuously break in upon him, powers which oppose scientific truth with completely different kinds of "truths" which bear on their shields the most varied sorts of emblems.

The drive toward the formation of metaphors is the fundamental human drive, which one cannot for a single instant dispense with in thought, for one would thereby dispense with man himself. This drive is not truly vanquished and scarcely subdued by the fact that a regular and rigid new world is constructed as its prison from its own ephemeral products, the concepts. It seeks a new realm and another channel for its activity, and it finds this in myth and in art generally. This drive continually confuses the conceptual categories and cells by bringing forward new transferences, metaphors, and metonymies. It continually manifests an ardent desire to refashion the world which presents itself to waking man, so that it will be as colorful, irregular, lacking in results and coherence, charming, and eternally new as the world of dreams. Indeed, it is only by means of the rigid and regular web of concepts that the waking man clearly sees that he is awake; and it is precisely because of this that he sometimes thinks that he must be dreaming when this web of concepts is torn by art. Pascal is right in maintaining that if the same dream came to us every night we would be just as occupied with it as we are with the things that we see every day. "If a workman were sure to dream for twelve straight hours every night that he was king," said Pascal, "I believe that he would be just as happy as a king who dreamt for twelve hours every night that he was a workman." In fact, because of the way that myth takes it for granted that miracles are always happening, the waking life of a mythically inspired people—the ancient Greeks, for instance—more closely resembles a dream than it does the waking world of a scientifically disenchanted thinker. When every tree can suddenly speak as a nymph, when a god in the shape of a bull can drag away maidens, when even the goddess Athena herself is suddenly seen in the company of Peisastratus driving through the market place of Athens with a beautiful team of horses—and this is what the honest Athenian believed—then, as in a dream, anything is possible at each moment, and all of nature swarms around man as if it were nothing but a masquerade of the gods, who were merely amusing themselves by deceiving men in all these shapes.

But man has an invincible inclination to allow himself to be deceived and is, as it were, enchanted with happiness when the rhapsodist tells him epic fables as if they were true, or when the actor in the theater acts more royally than any real king. So long as it is able to deceive without injuring, that master of deception, the intellect, is free; it is released from its former slavery and celebrates its Saturnalia. It is never more luxuriant, richer, prouder, more clever and more daring. With creative pleasure it throws metaphors into confusion and displaces the boundary stones of abstractions, so that, for example, it designates the stream as "the moving path which carries man where he would otherwise walk." The intellect has now thrown the token of bondage from itself. At other times it endeavors, with gloomy officiousness, to show the way and to demonstrate the tools to a poor individual who covets existence; it is like a servant who goes in search of booty and prey for his master. But now it has become the master and it dares to wipe from its face the expression of indigence. In comparison with its previous conduct, everything that it now does bears the mark of dissimulation, just as that previous conduct did of distortion. The free intellect copies human life, but it considers this life to be something good and seems to be quite satisfied with it. That immense framework and planking of concepts to which the needy man clings his whole life long in order to preserve himself is nothing but a scaffolding and toy for the most audacious feats of the liberated intellect. And when it smashes this framework to pieces, throws it into confusion, and puts it back together in an ironic fashion, pairing the most alien things and separating the closest, it is demonstrating that it has no need of these makeshifts of indigence and that it will now be guided by intuitions rather than by concepts. There is no regular path which leads from these intuitions into the land of ghostly schemata, the land of abstractions. There exists no word for these intuitions; when man sees them he grows dumb, or else he speaks only in forbidden metaphors and in unheard-of combinations of concepts. He does this so that by shattering and mocking the old conceptual barriers he may at least correspond creatively to the impression of the powerful present intuition.

There are ages in which the rational man and the intuitive man stand side by side, the one in fear of intuition, the other with scorn for abstraction. The latter is just as irrational as the former is inartistic. They both desire to rule over life: the former, by knowing how to meet his principle needs by means of foresight, prudence, and regularity; the latter, by disregarding these needs and, as an "overjoyed hero," counting as real only that life which has been disguised as illusion and beauty. Whenever, as was perhaps the case in ancient Greece, the intuitive man handles his weapons more authoritatively and victoriously than his opponent, then, under favorable circumstances, a culture can take shape and art's mastery over life can be established. All the manifestations of such a life will be accompanied by this dissimulation, this disavowal of indigence, this glitter of metaphorical intuitions, and, in general, this immediacy of deception: neither the house, nor the gait, nor the clothes, nor the clay jugs give evidence of having been invented because of a pressing need. It seems as if they were all intended to express an exalted happiness, an Olympian cloudlessness, and, as it were, a playing with seriousness. The man who is guided by concepts and abstractions only succeeds by such means in warding off misfortune, without ever gaining any happiness for himself from these abstractions. And while he aims for the greatest possible freedom from pain, the intuitive man, standing in the midst of a culture, already reaps from his intuition a harvest of continually inflowing illumination, cheer, and redemption—in addition to obtaining a defense against misfortune. To be sure, he suffers more intensely, when he suffers; he even suffers more frequently, since he does not understand how to learn from experience and keeps falling over and over again into the same ditch. He is then just as irrational in sorrow as he is in happiness: he cries aloud and will not be consoled. How differently the stoical man who learns from experience and governs himself by concepts is affected by the same misfortunes! This man, who at other times seeks nothing but sincerity, truth, freedom from deception, and protection against ensnaring surprise attacks, now executes a masterpiece of deception: he executes his masterpiece of deception in misfortune, as the other type of man executes his in times of happiness. He wears no quivering and changeable human face, but, as it were, a mask with dignified, symmetrical features. He does not cry; he does not even alter his voice. When a real storm cloud thunders above him, he wraps himself in his cloak, and with slow steps he walks from beneath it.

Frederich Nietzsche

[inescapcble]

This isn’t really an intro as much as an UPDATE featuring a biography and some changes I’ve realised as I’ve gotten to know Leah’s character better, but given that I’d still recommend y’all give this a once over. Thanks to everyone for getting involved with her and my other characters, and I’m excited to do so much more with her. <3

BASIC INFO ;

Name: Leontine Artemisia Morgan

Nicknames: Leah (by select friends & family only), Madam Prez (slang)

Gender & Pronouns: cis female, she/her pronouns

Age & DOB: Forty | 14 February, 1980 | Anchorage, Kentucky

Zodiac Sign: Aquarius

Orientations: Bisexual / biromantic (with a lean towards women)

Relationship Status: In a ( secret ; open ) relationship with Princess Ivana of the Netherlands ( @ofivana​ )

Nationality: American

Religion: Agnostic

Neuroses: Undiagnosed Asperger’s syndrome (note: I, the mun, have diagnosed Asperger’s!)

FAMILIAL ;

Hometown: Anchorage, Kentucky

Father: Kenneth Morgan, CEO of Morgan Financial

Mother: Candace Morgan (d. 2019)

Siblings: Bocephus ( @hxll-0​ ) and Elise ( @ofchampagnetears​ ) Morgan (b. 1992)

OTHER ;

Languages Spoken: English, Latin, French, Italian, German (incl. Swiss, Austrian and Bavarian German), Spanish, Portuguese

Educational Background: Institut Le Rosey, Harvard University, John Hopkins University

Occupational History:

1. Intern / Political Assistant at Capitol Hill (2002-06)

2. Representative for Maryland’s 2nd District (2006 special election — 2010)

3. Junior Senator for Maryland (2010-2016)

4. 45th President of the United States of America (20th January, 2017—)

Achievements: Youngest and first female president of the United States; shortest initiation in Society history. If I listed her political achievements we’d be here a while, folks.

THE SOCIETY ;

Codename: Adrasteia 

Meaning: Adrasteia means “the inescapable,” which I chose as her label. It’s another name for Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution, which i found quite fitting because she’s always managed to rise above people and attain what she wants, even if it is through using her parents’ money and power to her advantage at least in part. And now she’s the defender of the free world, in the most powerful office in the world — don’t make an enemy of the inescapable, for the inescapable will always get you.

Traditionalist or Reformist: Leah struggles to shoe-horn herself into either camp, but she supposes in general due to her own ideas that she’s some kind of reformist, even if that reform doesn’t include party islands and hedonistic displays. She prefers more power for women within the Society; more space for non-established families and for people to get in on their talent alone.

Goals In The Society: Her own advancement. To make her rowdy siblings see their own potential, and perhaps find a bond with them that feels less like she’s that cousin you don’t see often and don’t know very well. Ultimately, to be the Grand Archon, where she can make the most positive change. To use the Society to get rid of the Twenty-Second Amendment so she has more time to create further equally positive change for America. 

Opinion On The Society: It’s something she was always meant to be part of, but something that needs to be tweaked to fit the time that it’s in. Some people’s definition of ‘tweak’ is too far, but ultimately the most important thing is that she’s in it. Certainly she values it as an honour.

PERSONALITY ;

MBTI: ENTJ-A

Enneagram: Eight, with a Seven wing

Temperament: Choleric

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Inspirations: Birgitte Nyborg (Borgen) | Kidz & SOS (Take That songs, inverse) | Peggy Carter (Marvel Cinematic Universe) | Official Secrets (film)

Tropes: The Ace, Armour-Piercing Question, America Saves The Day, The Chessmaster, Contemplative Boss, Married To The Job, Workaholic, Badass In Charge, Brainy Brunette, Deadpan Snarker, Iron Lady

YOUR MUSE AS ;

A piece of art: The Kiss by Gustav Klimt

A song: Under The Ladder by Mélovin

A book: How To Use Your Enemies by Baltasar Gracián

A movie: Official Secrets

A TV show: Borgen

A historical era: Ancient Greece if she had to choose one, but she’s more one to look to the future than the past.

A historical figure: Artemisia of Caria

A colour: Royal blue

An animal: Lioness (she’s got the name for a reason.)

YOUR MUSE’S DREAM ;

JOB: She’s sat in the Oval Office, folks, she’s doing it.

VACATION: Leontine doesn’t have time for vacations, especially not if she’s attending Society events, but if she did, she’d like to go to the Acropolis.

DAY: One day where Bo and Elise are calm; getting to go on a real date with Ivy and be proud of it.

AS A CHILD: To be President of the United States.

LAST NIGHT: I can’t tell you, because she didn’t sleep long enough to reach the appropriate stage and dream.

THAT THEY GAVE UP ON: She’s never given up on a dream. Never once, not unless she realises it was wrong in the first place. She’s not someone who gives up.

THAT THEY HAVE RIGHT NOW: Constitutional change; getting her siblings into the Society

BIOGRAPHY ;

TWELVE years — that was how long Leontine Artemisia was the sole daughter of Kenneth and Candace Morgan, but also how long it took them to forget why. Through generations of the Morgan bloodline the same issue had persisted; a work-ethic that was either partly or entirely based upon an unattainable ideal of perfection. 

Which, in itself, led to relationships like the parents’ own. Lacking in healthy emotional expression ( particularly on the side of the born Morgan, less so in his softer-hearted wife ) and with at least some business element regarding a ‘practical’ or ‘advantageous’ match. It wasn’t an arranged marriage, not quite, as they had found each other — mostly — alone, but neither could it be said to be a ‘love match’ the likes of which fill the daydreams of any hopeless romantic. 

And then, from there, they hadn’t realised how it would impact any child of theirs until it was too-little, too-late to do anything about it. When the nifty Morgan motto had already taken hold, dug itself into the young girl, going deeper with every comment Kenneth made about how she could be ‘better,’ or ‘how do you expect to be like me or your grandfather?’ 

It became Candace’s — being the far more empathetic parent, the one who was there when Leah fell and who had attached herself to her first-born in a way she would not attach quite the same with inevitable additions — goal to get her as far away from her husband’s influence as possible, so that she might have half a chance at coming fully into her own. Except, prior to achieving that goal, the terrors ( I’m sorry, the twins, but they were, and are, terrors ) came into the trio’s lives, and Leah was both no longer alone, and more alone than ever.

Which suited her fine, or at least she said it did. After all, she was still her mother’s favourite, anyone could see it. Could feel it, where Kenneth had turned his attention to the young babes to see which child would offer him the legacy he craved; because Leah’s goal — politics; the highest seat in the land, even then, regardless if she had to claw her way up there with her nails or not — didn’t particularly interest him at the time ( Morgan Financial needed an heir, and he was consistently frustrated at his eldest daughter’s disinterest ) and would interest him even less after she came back with European ideas from her next destination: the Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland, where she would meet a whole host of future A-Listers and members of the Society, including one Étienne de Polignac.

When she returned from Le Rosey at the age of eighteen, her next destination was already settled: the famed Harvard University, to study political science. Of course, she could be nothing but the hardest worker, something she would not let her university boyfriend — as much as she loved him at the time — get in the way of; it was clear Kenneth’s message had gotten through to her ( too well, as she would never feel good enough, always striving to impress him, when it was impossible ) when she chose career over her love life upon graduation. 

Because from a young age she had set her eyes upon the White House desk, organised her life around that ultimate dream; pursued law and civics, and abandoned the healthy social lives of others her age. While other members of her family could have been considered high-society socialites, all she knew was her own ambition. Quickly Leah herself became the pedestal for her siblings to follow — except, not her politics, as Kenneth would indicate by sending the twins to Phillips Exeter rather than Le Rosey — and was a point of pride when her parents decided she ought to go to public events; after all, she had to learn how to relate to people, didn’t she? Her first motto, and a tattoo she has that’s always hidden by her clothing, is: change your stars, if you try, you’ll succeed.

Leontine moved to Maryland after Harvard, where she worked as a political advisor at Capitol Hill for one of the Democratic representatives ( whilst balancing a second degree, in international relations, at Johns Hopkins University due to its proximity to Capitol Hill ) until she was of constitutional age to stand for election in the House. She won Maryland’s second district — rather than standing in her birth / home state of Kentucky — and then, upon turning thirty, became the junior senator for the state; however, these early political years were all overshadowed by one event: the war in Iraq, with which she vehemently disagreed, and which has continued to influence her strong anti-war stance throughout the rest of her political career.

‘The rest’ of her political career including her run for President in the 2016 election, resulting in the thirty-six year old defeating Republican nominee Donald Trump in the most resounding fashion since the Nixon landslide. And even then the opponent managed to win Massachusetts; not so here. 

She grew up privileged, of course she did, and she’s found her balance between being at peace with and being very aware of what led her to where she is today: the Oval Office, the young trailblazer wherever she went. Leah Morgan’s ‘brand’ is record-breaking, perhaps ( after all, she very quickly charmed people to her favour to admit her into the society as a 25-year-old initiate, a Societal record that still to this day stands. ) 

Leah’s mother Candace, however, was killed in a ‘car crash’ last Thanksgiving, a tragedy which she has not processed; she hasn’t any understanding of how to deal with grief — none of the Morgans do — so, at some point, it’s all going to come back to her.

But she was raised on ‘this is good, but you can always do better,’ and that shows more than anything in this woman with a lot of dreams and even more ambition.