#empower widows' dependants

[widowsday]

Empower widows and their dependants to achieve economic independence.

To mark the United Nations’ International Widows’ Day 2023, the UK Parliament held an oral questions and answers on the measures to empower widows and their dependants to achieve economic independence

[revived-ophelia]

Disheartening to see social media pushing BDSM relationships/DDLG/bimbofication/sugar baby/stay-at-home girlfriend/"why did feminists fight for our rights, I want to just be cute little wifey boohoo" lifestyles because of alienation under capitalism and the general struggles of modern life. women and girls who think these lifestyles mean they'll be "taken care of" by a competent man who will handle the executive decisions and responsibilities so they can have "no thoughts, head empty" lives free of worry and rat-race stress.

Even if one was so "fortunate" to end up the fantasy perfect rich benevolent man, it's still a choice of willful de-skilling. I remember talking to a woman who kept a side-job as a home organizer, and she told me many of her clients were older, widowed women struggling to manage their homes and lives after their husbands' death because he was the one who handled "the important responsibilities" like insurance/bills/mortgage, and these women would be left with no understanding of how to manage their finances or property, minimal employment history or marketable skills, dependent on their adult children to take them in.

These relationships like to pose giving up agency to another person as a romantic expression of trust or vulnerability. I think that if a person actually cares about you, they would want you to be capable of caring for yourself if they can't be there or able to seek support outside of them.

All things are uncertain and the best strategy any of us have is knowledge and self-sufficiency. What is the "empowered bimbo" woman going to do when her "daddy" gets in a car accident and dies, or loses his job and house, or decides to dump her?

[sag-dab-sar]

Hi friend <3

I noticed your pfp is of a veiled person, and you frequently reblog images of veiled people tagged as (something like) "aesthetic." I was wondering if this is simply an aesthetically pleasing thing to you, or if you do veil in your real life. If you do veil, do you think you could speak on that a little bit?

Thank you (o:

Hello 🤍🤍🤍

The tag #aesthetic is technically for anything I associate with Gods or spirits... what gives off their ✨vibes✨, artwork that reminds me of them, or artwork of them.

Personal stuff so cut

🥀

The veiled lady, specifically the one whose veil is fully over her face (and especially if it is sheer) relates to ongoing UPG.

If I could veil with a sheer cover like a grieving Victorian widow... at this point I'd totally consider it. But that isn't exactly socially acceptable or familial acceptable so I'll just put that complete fantasy to the side. The UPG is why I have blogs/reblogs of it so often nowadays. But I'll keep the rest of all this UPG to myself for now...or forever...who knows.

As for veiling face in general that is actually used in society (i.e things like niqab) I don't know if current styles meet the ideal that is in my mind and heart— and again family acceptability is unfortunately very important.

🥀

As for head veiling, I don't right now but I did in the past for a few years. It was a combination of religious— primarily honoring Hestia as I was taught in a FB group—but also personal, related to bad agoraphobia w/ PTSD I experienced at the time; which had no religious connotations. It was simply empowering & comforting, this is my body you see what I want you to see. I felt naked without it. I wore niqab once (without family knowing) to see if it would help and it kind of did and kind of didn't so I only tried it once.

As for experiences, it can be frustrating to learn depending on style but once you do its no different than styling hair. I met quite a few Muslims who assumed I was Muslim at first but when I explained I wasn't they were fine with it and we usually had a conversation, I suggest learning the Islamic greeting. I did get harassed, someone on campus yelled at me as I tried to walk into a building to "go back to my own country," I was shaken up but had tunnel vision on getting an assignment in on time that my mind let me wait 10 minutes before freaking out— don't be surprised if you are harassed or face negativity if you choose to veil. I did in other moments that were less bold face.

🥀

Right now choosing to veil would be UPG based religious not historical. But I have been looking for any possible Mesopotamian traditions and want to read up more on Hellenic traditions.

[sarkariyojnaye-org]

Sarkari Yojana List 2024

Sarkari Yojnaye:All latest government schemes-Sarkari Yojana

The Government of India implements a wide range of Sarkari Yojana, or government schemes, to uplift the lives of its citizens. These yojanas cover various sectors, including healthcare, education, employment, and social welfare. In this article, we present a comprehensive list of Sarkari Yojana for 2024, empowering you with the knowledge to access these benefits and improve your well-being.

Sarkari Yojana List 2024:

Healthcare:

Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY): Provides health insurance coverage to economically weaker sections of society.

National Health Mission (NHM): Aims to improve healthcare infrastructure and provide essential health services.

Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY): Offers accidental death and disability insurance to bank account holders.

Education:

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA): Focuses on providing free and compulsory education to children aged 6-14 years.

Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Provides nutritious meals to schoolchildren to improve their health and attendance.

Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana: Aims to empower girls through education and reduce gender inequality.

Employment:

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS): Guarantees 100 days of employment per year to rural households.

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY): Provides skill training to unemployed youth to enhance their employability.

National Career Service (NCS): Offers career counseling, job placement, and skill development services.

Financial Assistance:

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY): Provides financial assistance for housing to economically weaker sections and low-income groups.

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN): Offers financial support to small and marginal farmers.

Mudra Yojana: Provides loans to micro and small businesses to promote self-employment.

Social Welfare:

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS): Offers a range of services for the holistic development of children under six years of age.

National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP): Provides social pensions to senior citizens, widows, and persons with disabilities.

Swachh Bharat Mission: Aims to improve sanitation and hygiene in rural and urban areas.

How to Apply for Sarkari Yojana:

The eligibility criteria and application process for Sarkari Yojana vary depending on the specific scheme. Generally, you can apply through:

Online portals: Many yojanas have dedicated websites where you can apply online.

Government offices: You can visit the relevant government office or department to obtain application forms and submit them in person.

Common Service Centers (CSCs): These centers provide assistance with online applications and other government services.

Conclusion:

The Sarkari Yojana List 2024 is a valuable resource for Indian citizens, providing access to essential services, financial assistance, and opportunities for empowerment. By understanding the different types of yojanas available and the application process, you can harness these benefits and improve your life and the lives of your loved ones.

Visit Us : https://sarkariyojnaye.org/

[seemabhatnagar]

"Empowering Women: Progressive Amendments to CCS Pension Rules 2021 for Enhanced Family Security"

A. Protecting the Financial Interests of Children:

The amendment may prioritize the financial well-being of children in cases of marital discord leading to divorce proceedings or legal cases under acts like the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, Dowry Prohibition Act, or the Indian Penal Code. This ensures that the children continue to receive family pension support even if there are legal disputes between the parents in precedence to the spouse.

B. Gender Equality and Empowerment:

The amendment may be seen as a step towards gender equality by allowing female government servants or pensioners the autonomy to decide the beneficiary of the family pension, particularly in situations involving marital disputes.

C. Autonomy for Female Government Servants/Pensioners:

The amendment empowers female government servants or pensioners by allowing them to nominate their eligible child/children for family pension after their demise, instead of the spouse. This provides autonomy in deciding the beneficiary based on family circumstances.

D. Vulnerability of the Women:

Recognizing the potential vulnerability of women in situations like divorce or domestic violence, the amendment may provide a mechanism for them to secure financial support for their children without being dependent on the husband.

E. Alignment with Gender Equality Policies:

The change aligns with the broader policies of gender equality, echoing initiatives like Permanent Commission to Women in the Armed Forces and the Women’s Reservation Amendment in Parliament.

F. Streamlined Process for Family Pension Distribution:

The female government servant or pensioner can make a written request to the Head of Office, specifying the preference for family pension distribution. This process provides clarity and a formalized mechanism for the nomination.

G. Consideration for Various Family Scenarios:

The notification outlines scenarios where a widower, children, or both may be eligible for family pension, taking into account the age and status of the children. It ensures that family pension is disbursed according to the family composition and circumstances.

H. Continued Support for Children:

The amendment ensures that even if the female government servant or pensioner passes away during divorce proceedings or legal cases, family pension will be disbursed according to the nomination made.

I. Additional Reforms in Women-Centric Policies:

Other reforms, including eligibility for family pension for a divorced daughter, expedited family pension for families of missing employees covered under NPS, and enhanced rates of family pension in specific cases.

J. Promoting Work-Life Balance for Women:

The Minister highlights efforts to increase the representation of women in Central Government jobs and introduces amendments related to Child Care Leave, Leave Travel Concession, Special Allowance, Special Leave provision for sexual harassment cases, and Special Maternity Leave.

Seema Bhatnagar

[scrumptiouskiddefendor]

N Chandrababu Naidu’s Remarkable Gruhini Scheme For Women's Welfare In AP

The Gruhini Scheme, a flagship initiative launched by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government in Andhra Pradesh, India, has been a pivotal TDP contribution to the welfare and empowerment of women in the state. Introduced in 2014 under the leadership of Former Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, this scheme aims to provide essential financial assistance to women who serve as the sole breadwinners in their families. It is an exemplary endeavour towards bridging the gender gap in financial matters and bolstering the self-sufficiency of women. This TDP scheme is open to all women in Andhra Pradesh who fulfil certain eligibility criteria. To qualify, applicants must be permanent residents of the state, above 18 years of age, and have no other source of income. Widows, divorced women, and those abandoned by their husbands are also eligible to apply. The necessary documents for application include proof of residence (Voter ID card, ration card, or Aadhaar card), an income certificate from the Village Revenue Officer (VRO), and specific certificates depending on the applicant's status, such as a death certificate for widows or a divorce certificate for divorced women.

The Gruhini Scheme offers a range of substantial benefits to women in Andhra Pradesh. Firstly, it provides financial assistance, empowering women to kickstart small businesses or invest in their existing ventures. The TDP scheme does not stop at providing funds; it also focuses on skill development. It conducts training and workshops to equip women with the necessary knowledge and abilities to efficiently run their businesses. Moreover, these TDP policies promote networking opportunities, allowing women to connect with other successful businesswomen and learn from their experiences. Access to loans from banks and financial institutions is another advantage for scheme beneficiaries, facilitating business expansion and growth. Ultimately, the TDP agenda through the Gruhini Scheme aims to enhance the livelihood of women by enabling self-sufficiency, making it one of the most remarkable TDP achievements of the former TDP government and Nara Chandrababu Naidu. The Women and Child Development Department in Andhra Pradesh oversees the implementation of the Gruhini Scheme. Interested women can apply through the official department website, and they can also attend workshops and training sessions to improve their entrepreneurial skills.

This TDP development has garnered a positive response, with many women achieving self-sufficiency and business success, thanks to the commitment of the TDP party-led government to allocate the necessary funds and ensure that the Political scheme's benefits reach the intended recipients. In conclusion, the Gruhini Scheme, initiated by N Chandrababu Naidu’s government in Andhra Pradesh, stands as a commendable stride towards the upliftment of women in the state. By providing essential financial support and facilitating skill development, networking, and access to loans, the scheme empowers women to become self-sufficient and secure improved livelihoods. N Chandrababu Naidu’s and TDP leaders' dedication to this initiative ensures its impact reaches the deserving women of Andhra Pradesh, making it a landmark achievement in their governance. Follow the live updates and TDP news for the TDP manifesto and contributions of the TDP party in Andhra Pradesh.

[iacharity]

Syrian Orphans

Charity For Orphans: Providing A Brighter Future For Children In Need

In a world where basic necessities, such as food, shelter, and clothing, are not always easily accessible, it's especially difficult for orphans to survive.

What happens to these children with no family to depend on and everyone else too busy with their own problems? How do they cope and thrive, despite their difficult circumstances? The answer lies in Orphans charity. 

With the help of generous donations, charitable organizations, and volunteers, these children can find hope and a better future. In this article, we will discuss some challenges that orphans face, how charity can help orphans, and why supporting these vulnerable children is essential.

1) The Challenges Faced by Orphans:

Syrian orphans face various challenges affecting their physical, mental, and emotional health. These challenges include poverty, lack of access to education, healthcare, and social isolation.

Children in orphanages often suffer from a lack of nurturing and support, which can lead to delayed development and mental health issues.

2) How Charity Can Help Orphans:

i. Education

One of the main challenges for orphaned children is access to education. Many of them lack the financial resources to get an education, often leading them into early marriages, child labor, or even trafficking.

Through charity, orphaned children can access scholarships, school supplies, and even vocational training to empower them to become independent and self-sustainable.

ii. Health care

Many orphanages lack the funding to provide adequate health care for the children in their care. In addition, the healthcare needs of orphaned children often go beyond just physical needs.

They often need counseling, mental health support, and emotional help. Charitable organizations can help provide these children access to medical care and counseling services.

iii. Basic needs

Charity can also help provide the basic needs of orphaned children. This includes food, clothing, shelter, and other essential supplies.

By supporting these basic needs, charitable organizations can help improve the quality of life for these disadvantaged children.

iv. Foster care and adoption

Charity organizations can also help advocate for the rights of orphaned children and connect them with loving foster families or adoptive homes. This can provide them with a sense of belonging and stability.

v. Empowerment

Empowering orphaned children to become independent and successful in life is essential. By providing them with the necessary tools and resources, including education, health care, basic needs, and opportunities, charity organizations can help orphaned children create a brighter future for themselves and their communities.

Conclusion

Charity for Syrian orphans is essential in providing these vulnerable children with the means to overcome their struggles and create a brighter future. Charitable organizations can help provide access to education, health care, basic needs, and other resources that can empower these children to become independent and successful adults.

By supporting orphaned children, we can make a difference in their lives and improve the quality of life for their communities. Even the smallest donation can make a significant difference in the life of an orphaned child. 

International Aid Charity (IAC) assists with providing education, healthcare, emotional support for widows and orphans, and vocational training. With your help, IAC empowers people to create their own future.

Click this site to get more information about How Much Zakat To Pay.

[sageglobalresponse]

Eleven exceptional Nigerian women have been recognized by the media for their remarkable contributions to society.

The event was organized by Sabistation and is set to become an annual celebration.

The women were selected for their significant contributions to their respective fields and for breaking barriers and paving the way for future generations.

The webinar featured breakout sessions and Q&A sessions that allowed attendees to network and connect with the panelists.

The 11 Nigerian women being recognized for their outstanding contributions are BizGrant’s Stella Adebay, TheMrsOnline’s Olufunke Olubukola Samuel; Adaobi Sandra Ijoma, Founder of Nutrifix Naturals; Glory Ndidi Umerah, PRP Deputy Governor Candidate; Ololade Adenekan, founder

Mrs Aviation Nigeria; Uyouyou Bamgbelu, GM of Zee Media Services; Ngozi Mercy Onuoha, entrepreneur/Development Coach; Sesi Toyin, the Emotional Wellness Coach; Anne Ekperi Eke, Beads Entrepreneur; Andrea Ekpenyong, Marriage Nurturer’s and Millicent Oare, founder of Delphi Foods and Lux Organic Farms.

Stella Adebay was recognized for her achievement in using technology to connect and enlighten over 5000 entrepreneurs and business owners in Nigeria and Ghana.

Through her efforts, she helped over 500 entrepreneurs to legally register their businesses, open business bank accounts, separate their personal and business finances, and achieve audacious sales targets.

Olufunke Olubukola Samuel was honored for her involvement in the Project Success Scoops initiative, which aims to gift one million Nigerian women with a communal high-powered gift for International Women’s Day celebrations.

Adaobi Sandra Ijoma was recognized for founding Nutrifix Naturals Advanced Product Range, which provides affordable products that help to restore and renew the body systems of men and women across Nigeria.

Bishop Glory Ndidi Umerah, the Deputy Governorship candidate for the Peoples Redemption Party in Delta State for the 2023 general election, was recognized for her numerous deeds for the widows and the girl child project.

Ololade Adenekan was recognized for her commitment to empowering young women in the aviation industry through the Miss Aviation Nigeria platform and promoting excellence and good service culture through her company, The Bankable Ollar.

Ngozi Mercy Onuoha, a successful entrepreneur and resource person, was acknowledged for her passion for teaching and empowering youths.

Andrea Ekpenyong, the founder of Marriage Nurturer, emphasizes the importance of dependence in relationships, as a way for couples to thrive in love.

According to her, people recognize that relationships require mutual dependence to achieve the main goal of being together.

As a certified coach, she offers various professional courses such as Premarital Counselling, Marriage Checklist, and Unlearning and Relearning Love. Uyouyou A. Bamgbelu is the General Manager of Zee Media Services Limited, and a highly successful career woman with a proven track record of driving growth and profitability in the media industry.

She was born and raised in Lagos, and after completing her Masters degree from Liverpool University, she began her career at Zee Media Services Limited, where she quickly climbed the ranks. Uyouyou Bamgbelu is committed to quality, innovation, and community involvement, and has earned numerous accolades. She is also an avid reader and a devoted wife.

Sesi Toyin is an emotional wellness coach who uses a unique approach that combines recreational activities with therapeutic practices to help high-achieving individuals attain emotional wellness.

Her approach has proven effective in achieving emotional resilience and bliss. Recently, she organized a ‘Paint and Sip’ therapy session that provided participants with guided meditation, peace, and calmness. She is being recognized for her outstanding contributions to mental health in Nigeria.

Millicent Oare is a public administrator and mushroom farmer who has discovered the medicinal properties of Pleurotus tuber-regium, a mushroom that can be cultivated easily.

Oare is promoting the mushroom on social media and aims to receive government support for farmers to buy seedlings. She plans to patent the mushroom or the growing process, emphasizing the potential of utilizing local resources and entrepreneurship to create sustainable livelihoods in the healthcare and food industries.

Anne Ekperi Eke is the founder of Dinsomniac Beads and Jaka By Agu1, which create beaded fashion accessories for men and women, including bracelets, necklaces, and bags.

Anne’s passion for beading began as a form of therapy and has since inspired others to use the craft for their emotional and mental wellness. She has established a successful business with her unique approach and dedication to helping people find their therapeutic solution through beading.

The media event was designed to inspire and empower the next generation of female leaders and was an exciting and informative occasion.

[seakclauswinkler]

The good thing with painting in rotation zen like with a non outcome depend mindset, you can just do right. Painting focused, good, painting at times although unfocused without growth depth, although good. Feeling good, being in a non stoic beta in my feelings mindset, good. I can just take a work in progress painting, and just start painting. Like journaling, getting all unbearable light footed sissy first world feelings, moods, digestions, out of my chest, filtered clear, in to, on to the painting. Ahhh relief. I started these two sided painted paper paintings with 2010. All s3x, and or illicited substance culture conotations, are on purpose. It’s my fuck it rebelloious streak with in me meeting my inner empathymonster giving you that integrated inner shadow energy. To be honest, seeing how the world, regarding hook up culture, substance abuse, inflated female modern 304 you go girl feminism, hyper inflated female tinder porsche hypergamy endangering society, facicst religion, female narcissism, Lgbtq being split undermined by victim narcissists, a alpha widow postwall eternal single cat lady tsunami on the horizon, etc, i feel I got to make switch. Maybe I should make my art with the aim, to make the world better, instead of empowering the decadency should described. I think with every move I make, the world with in rapport with me pacing me,is getting sicker, non healthy, interpreting my work, my energy in decadent self destructive perverted way. Being honest, I thought for decades, let’s pace the wrongest with in society, behind there social personnas too. Like for example a number, like the ‘ 11 ‘ being the 11 inches she, the woman wants, while 11 cm soft, 13 / 14 / 15 / x cm are enough. Nope. In my mind ( iam average size), I thought, let’s cater to that decadent, above essential energy. In away like the the devil. Knowing that her lifestyle will bite her in the foot in the long run. #SEAK #ClausWinkler #SEAKClausWinkler #ultracontemporary #ultracontemporaryart #ultracontemporaryart #ultracontemporaryartist #wetpainting #figurativeart #figurativepaintings #abstractfigurative #abstractfigurativepainting #luxuryhome #luxurylifestyle #watchlist #vintagecars (hier: Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/CjqLdVRIF08/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[zoobus]

I wish I were more talkative or at least would think to cross post my recs and reviews from discord to here right away. I don't like how I recommended Tale of Shim Cheong but I don't feel like I can combat the seemingly permanent brain fog to write something better. I don't like how my words come out anymore. Everything feels like so much effort for little reward. My analysis abilities keep dropping.

Tale of Shim Cheong excelled at exposing how ridiculous it is to think oneself as smarter than or immune to bigotry, to blame it on individuals choosing to have lesser morals. Female characters, even those typically associated with the empowered , self-made, non-dependant archetype make callous assumptions about other women that parallel more overtly malevolent male characters. Mothers lovingly give advice to daughters that will absolutely harm them. Our princess gf keeps pushing the idea that being beautiful, docile, and submissive is how a woman protects herself, despite it never working, ever, and you know what? You understand why she's is incapable of learning this lesson.

You have to be a cog in this machine because you absolutely are not girl powering your way out of Confucian ideals of widow suicide or the Buddhist concept of women as incomplete entities that must cultivate enough virtue before they can be reborn as a man and reach enlightenment. Not enough stories grasp the systemic part of systemic oppression.

[heliosthegriffin]

Insurance

Part of this Au

Ruby: Huh,

Weiss:...

Ruby: Hhhhuuuuuhhh,

Weiss:...

Ruby:Hhhhuuuuu-

Weiss: What!?

Ruby: Did you know? * holds up a magazine* That we have a 25% mortality rate?

Weiss: Yes.

Ruby: And you didn’t tell me?!

Weiss: This is something that you should already know.

Ruby: Really?

Weiss: Yes, Huntress have some of the highest mortality right out of any profession. That’s why widowers and families of said Huntress or Huntsmen, are taken care of for life, and why Hunters have such a large pension from the Academies.

Ruby: Wait, does that mean I’ll be right when I retire?!

Weiss: If you survive that long, not that I have too worry about Lien.

Ruby: Oh, I wonder what kind of upgrades I put on Crescent Rose then... Wait, there’s a job with a higher mortality rate, 39% rate?!

Weiss: Let me see.

Weiss: Oh, Bureau Officers, they’re just inferior hunters, kingdom drones, it’s unfortunate, but they tend to drop like flies whenever any real danger emerges.

Officer Jaune: Thank you for your kind observation, Ms. Schnee.

Ruby: Jaune!

Jaune: Hey, Ruby.

Weiss: Oh, my apologies, Officer.

Ruby: What are you doing here, Jaune?

Jaune: None, taken Ms. Schnee. Firsthand I’ve seen my fellow officers almost off themselves on the daily, huuuh *Sighs heavily, turns to Ruby* I’m on break, saw you, and strolled over to say hi. *Looks around suspiciously* Yang and her partner aren’t here, are they?

Weiss: We’re-

Ruby: Yangs back at the dorm, hey why do die so much?

Weiss: RUBY!

Ruby: Sorry, I meant why do your buddies die so much?

Weiss: RUBY!!

Ruby: Double sorry! I’m just curious! I mean are you guys just that bad?

Weiss: RUBY ROSE!!!

Jaune: No offense taken, *Sighs again and sits down at they’re table* Ruby, you know what our job is right?

Ruby: Uh.

Weiss: You apprehend Non-hunter based Criminals with Aura.

Ruby: That.

Jaune: Exactly, well that and paperwork, so much Dust and Darkness damned paperwork. Can’t even pursue a known criminal without righting damn thesis.

Weiss: *Chuckles*

Jaune: Anyway, as your partner said earlier, we are effectively lesser Hunters, we have Aura and we have our weapons, and we have training, but we aren’t exactly the one-woman armies you two are, we can’t exactly handle Huntsman level combat.

If I got good shot in on you two, with *Pulls out his Thunderer, sets the safety on, and puts it on the table* It might stun you for a few seconds, or even knock you out, but that’s entirely dependent on your own skill with Aura and conditioning as a huntress, but it’s also not meant for Hunter level combat, it’s good for knocking out a your regular Empowered gangbanger though. Even, If I set it to max power, there’s good chance you would dodge and I’d be out of power in two to four shots, and - *Notices Ruby is ogling his gun, and Weiss is looking at the dust canister.*

Jaune: Please don’t touch my gun, it’s aura-locked. *Ruby stops reaching for the gun*

Ruby: Oh.

Jaune: It would release a pulse of electricity that would, probably, burn your hand, nothing you couldn’t handle, but it would hurt and leave me with less power later.

Weiss: *Stares at the canister* That’s the lowest premium grade dust, Grade Three, correct?

Jaune: Yes, it is. It can hold up to 3000 MegaWatts, and passively absorb electricity out of the air, if slowly, deplete it and I couldn’t use it for almost a month.

Weiss: As to be expect from any premium grade Dust, passive elemental absorption is to be expected. Who did you procure your Dust from, if you know and are at liberty to say?

Jaune: The Bureau buys all the dust in bulk from a wholesaler from a various in kingdom supplier, sorry, but we don’t buy out of Kingdom, and unfortunately it’s highly illegal to modify Kingdom supplied equipment, so I couldn’t change it even if I wanted too.

Weiss: A shame, I could offer you grade deal, up to premium grade two, seems like a sore point, though. Your seems quite worn also.

Jaune sourly: It is, and I’d love to take you up on the offer, but Bureau does not like it when Officer’s go around modifying equipment, because it’s technically theirs, the last time I asked, the Man at Arms nearly through out the fifth story window.

Yeah, I’ve been using this particular dust for since I join five years ago, the Bureau expects you to use every bit of dust until it’s depleted.

Anyway, while not official policy, the Bureau does not like the idea of they’re officers having Huntsman grade weapons.

Ruby: Why? Aren’t you the good guys?

Jaune:.... Kinda.

Ruby looks to Weiss.

Weiss: Atlas doesn’t have a Bureau, everything in this regard has been folded into the Military Academy.

Jaune: Ruby, you should know this, Officers have no jurisdictions over Academy and they’re Hunters. We’re not to get involved with them barring the most severe situation, and we’d die in droves if we did. We’re not worth it, is putting it kindly, even if we had huntsman grade weapons-, give me a second.

Ruby and Weiss wait patiently.

Jaune: My job involves following and monitoring suspected Empowered, if they are not registered, they could have unlocked they’re aura yesterday or ten years ago, I have no idea how actually skilled they are, this is why I build a report and a case, to form a picture. If I make a good picture and I’m correct, then I’ll know how dangerous they are before confronting them, if I’m wrong, I die, because like Ms. Schnee said, we are inferior Hunters.

*Pulls his collar slightly down, revealing a grizzly, scar an inch below his collar bone, a depression in the skin formed by knotted flesh, to Weiss and Ruby’s disgust and horror*

We don’t get trained as hard.

We don’t train as hard.

We don’t have the time.

We get six months to train, then we’re on the force.

We get second or third-hand gear, and expected to serve.

Any improvement afterwards is entirely on the officer, I’m one of the most skilled officer and I’m only alive due to having more Aura than average. If you two came at me with intent to kill, I die.

If I make mistake in judgement, I could take on someone who’s trained they’re whole life outside the view of the Kingdoms, armed with Aura and killing intent, and who knows what semblance.

And that’s not even covering so scared kid who woke up one day with the ability to take all the oxygen out of the room, we’re men and women against the unknown and the unknown often win.

The only advantage we have is numbers, they’re roughly ten Officers to each Hunters, and that’s still not a lot, that’s around a hundred though officers across an entire Kingdom.

And that doesn’t cut it.

That’s why we don’t have mechashift, super dust weapons, Ruby. If we die, that millions down the drain, and somebody else has that super-weapon to sow havoc with.

It’s better to arm us with the minimum because it mostly works.

Weiss and Ruby stare at him silently.

Jaune sighs: Sorry, I don’t mean to make it sound like I’m going to die, or to have gone and made it so heavy.

Weiss: Why try then?

Ruby: Why would anyone ever join then?

Jaune: Despite what I said, it pays well and has good benefits, and sometimes you kinda get forced in.

Ruby: What?

Jaune: Actually, ignore that. I joined because I wanted to do some good, and others join because of the power of the position. We might be ‘lesser hunters’, but we are still Aura Empowered and given weapons that could dissolve a man into sludge or punch wholes through a concrete wall. We might as well be untouchable compared to most people. That’s a lot of power, with little supervision.

Weiss: That’s disconcerting.

Jaune: It is, I do my best, * A strained smile appears as his fingers briefly tighten around his Thunderer, but quickly let go* But, I can’t be everywhere at once. I wouldn’t hold it against you two if you ever took out one of my more violent colleagues.

Weiss: ... I’ll keep that in mind.

Jaune: And others, they do it for the paycheck, they just have to have an aura, and it’s easy money, just drive around all day, keep a watch in the area, and maybe punch a guy or two.

Ruby: That’s not heroic.

Jaune: We’re not heroes, I’m not a hero, we’re at best kinda helpful...

Most of the times our reports are useless too, more often than not, the police will tip us off about a crime, we’ll cross compare it to our notes on any individual in the area, investigate them, and two hours later some Hunter caught them in a crime... By the way, we do appreciate that, I don’t mean to come off ungrateful.

It’s just frustrating, and that’s without all the wrong arrests, and agh.

*Jaune stands up*

Jaune smiles kindly at Weiss and Ruby.

Jaune: Alright, I need to stop complaining. You two are the real heroes by the way, never let anybody tell you otherwise.

*Walks off*

Ruby frowns: Things shouldn’t have to be that way.

Weiss: It shouldn’t... but, sometimes it is.

Ruby: I don’t want things to be that way.

Weiss: Ruby.

Ruby: I’m going to do my best Weiss, to make things better, for everybody, or die trying.

Weiss nods, then chuckles: Well, there’s a 25% of that happening.

Ruby: But, that means a 75% of success!

Weiss smiles: I suppose so.

[softredrobin]

So for anyone who’s seen this post by @themonotonysyndrome​ (which I reblogged awhile ago but promptly did nothing with). I had some Thoughts TM and I am here to share them. And yes, this was why I asked about lore things regarding different magical races. A warning that this is not super organized and a decent part of it is me rambling. There’s some art of my OC for this AU though!

Firstly I came up with some listener names because I crave them:

Precious (i like this one especially because like,,, after a reveal that they were a shade, and therefore were dead at one point, I think it would hit double)

Buttercup (this is just cute. cute cute cute. makes my heart go squee)

Honey (a classic.)

Treasure (also one I like, similar to precious in a way)

Beloved (this one i think would really depend on the character saying it, because it definitely has a certain Vibe that the character would need to match. but I think a Seer could pull it off)

Beautiful (basic but nice!)

Personally I like Precious the best.

I’ve got some thoughts on their introduction but really don’t know, they’re all pretty flimsy. I think the best one would involve CloseKnit, which means I need to go relisten to The Balance playlist. More to come on that later.

Pre-death they were a sonal energetic (also, I can’t believe its sonal and not sonar or sono, I had to check the merch store bc I really could not remember which one it was and that was the fastest way for me to find it lmaooo). Then, they were a shade. They aren’t anymore, by some happenstance involving them absorbing enough life force to....be alive again. Anyway they have some death-related powers, which are mostly passive, like was mentioned in the tagged post, including the ability to sense death within a certain radius. Maybe even like a death-aura, as in they feel super off and most empowered folks but especially Vampires (as undead) can just tell something is wrong and are Not A Fan of that. The death-powers are kinda related to why I want them to be a sonal energetic originally, because hear me out: Banshee. It works even better if you make one of their parents a seer. Then we’ve got the foresight aspect, and the sound aspect, and then combine their status as formerly dead and you’ve got, in my opinion, the perfect recipe for a new Redactedverse take on a supernatural race. (I don’t really have that part fleshed out well but yknow. It is what it is)

Moving on! There’s a white streak at the front of their hair (like at the widow’s peak), and their hands are stained black starting from the fingers. The white streak can be played off, either as bleached or just something they were born with (which, they don’t really think it is but hey, if it sounds plausible it works). They wear gloves to cover their fingers because even though they don’t know why, they have this feeling that they shouldn’t let anyone see them. They’ve got purple eyes but they turn dark gray/black when their passive death powers are in use and then when they figure out how to actively use them, the death powers make their eyes completely black with a purple glow. I didn’t explain that well but I have it in one of the pictures!!

Anyhow, the amnesia thing. I think they know just enough about themselves and the world to function for a decent while as long as they don’t get too close to anyone. They also probably don’t really think about how much of their memory is missing, like there’s some kind of block that prevents them from realizing anything is wrong until someone asks them a question about themselves and/or their past and they just don’t know the answer even though they know they should. I think they also probably have vivid dreams that are actually parts of their memories, but they don’t remember them that well. They also get some horrid nightmares about their death (not that they know that they actually died and that’s what they’re seeing).

Also I think that as their powers grow and as they gain more memories the physical holdovers of being a shade (the hair streak and the stained hands) probably grow and get gradually harder to hide. Anyway I’ve talked enough so I’m going to throw my drawings of my OC for this AU down here at the end. Thanks for sticking through my rambles if you got this far :-)

(Also, her shirt in this is a reference to the Last Unicorn, it’s the symbol that shows where Amalthea’s horn should be when she’s human. I think Precious probably really relates to the whole feeling out-of-place in your body thing Amalthea’s got going on there.)

[insanityclause]

Ok so to understand the female gaze, one has to first understand the male gaze. The male gaze suggests a sexualized way of looking that is empowering men whilst objectifying women. Women are "objects" where their emotional/physical/sexual drives are positioned in accordance to the men around them. The female character is dependent upon the male character - not always in the physical sense ("I need your help I'm so weak"), but that the female character would have no plot without the "man." P. 1

Take Loki shirtless, that is the female gaze in an almost "traditional" flip of the male gaze. But it moves beyond that too. The women in the series are not dependent upon Loki/Mobious to move their storylines. In fact, the women fight back, and take charge, physically eliminating the men at one point or another. Sylvie pushes Loki away after HE professes vulnerability because it's not part of HER plan. It doesn't make Loki weak, or emasculate him, it's just the female gaze at play... P.2

And from an aesthetic perspective, the costumes alone speak of the female gaze. Everyone is in tactical wear. Practical, not right, FUNCTIONAL outfits for the roles they play. No one is in a catsuit with thigh high boots. Look at how Black Widow is depicted in her film (female director) vs. in any other film she’s in. P.3

[ladiesoftheages]

Honestly AUs where Henry's wife at the time is widowed earlier than irl always fascinated me, so could you discuss the first 5 queens being a widow if possible?

Ooh alright

So I’m assuming, absolutely everything else is the same—the only difference is that Henry dies? Okay.

Um...with Catherine of Aragon, let’s say he doesn’t die until after her last pregnancy but before the Great Matter...so let’s say 1523-24? Obviously Mary would become Queen, there’s really no other alternative. And only being about 7-8, of course she’d need a regent or a regency council. It probably would’ve been Catherine herself plus a few others like maybe Norfolk and Suffolk and Wolsey. Would Catherine have re-married? Unlikely. I’m sure she would’ve wanted to dedicate herself entirely to the regency and Mary’s upbringing.

Anne Boleyn — Let’s say he dies in that 1536 jousting accident. And since we’re keeping everything the same, Anne still miscarries her baby. Then Elizabeth would become Queen and I think Anne would be made regent. Or, if we’re going for a whole regency council situation rather than just a single regent then Anne + George Boleyn, Thomas Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell...maybe even Edward Seymour? As with Catherine, I think it’s unlikely Anne would re-marry. Not only because she would want to focus on Elizabeth but also, on a more personal level I think she considered Henry to be the love of her life.

Jane Seymour — So, role reversal, Henry dies and Jane doesn’t. Let’s just say he dies in like early 1538. Edward becomes King but I don’t think Henry would make Jane regent. Unlike with Catherine and Anne, Henry really didn’t have any expectations for Jane to be political at all. Not to mention, he didn’t respect her like he respected Catherine and Anne. I think basically the same people who were appointed to Edward’s regency council in real life would also be appointed in this situation. Maybe with a few differences. What’s interesting is, I’m sure Jane would’ve tried to fight to have Edward raised as a Catholic but ultimately I think she would’ve lost that battle. Would she have re-married? Depends. If we think she genuinely loved Henry then probably not. If we think she only married Henry for power then it wouldn’t really make a lot of sense for her to re-marry because then she could potentially lose any power she had as the King’s mother. If we think that she was forced to marry Henry against her will then maybe? Maybe being the mother of the King would make her feel empowered enough to make her own choices and not let her family control her anymore.

Anna of Cleves — So Henry dies at some point during their marriage. I wonder how generous he would be to her as Dowager Queen? I mean, he was generous in the divorce settlement but that was because she didn’t fight it like Catherine had. But if Henry dies while they’re still married, he probably still dislikes her quite a lot. I wonder if she would just go back to Cleves? I mean, she’d really have no reason to stay. Like Mary Tudor went back to England after Louis XII died. Mary Stuart went back to Scotland after Francis died. So yeah...usually if a woman goes to a foreign country to marry but her husband dies without them having any children, then the woman just goes back to her home country. Her brother would probably arrange another marriage for her and that would be that.

Katheryn Howard — Let’s say Henry dies before he gets any suspicion of her affair (although Henry dying while she’s imprisoned could be an interesting concept). So if Henry dies while their marriage is still good, I’m sure he’d be very generous to her in his will. She’d probably get the same treatment as Kathryn Parr. If she’s allowed to re-marry, honestly I think she’d marry Culpepper since they’d already been planning/talking about getting married before Katheryn married Henry. I don’t want her to marry Culpepper because I think that marriage would be a disaster for her. But, realistically, I just think that’s what would happen. Although, silver lining, if Culpepper tries to take advantage of her position as Dowager Queen and get himself involved in politics then it’s possible he could be executed. Other than the Culpepper marriage, I think Katheryn would have quite a nice, comfortable life.

Of course, if you were writing a fan fiction, you could fill in all the details however you like. These are just my basic thoughts.

[destiniesfic]

132 Hours, Chapter 3:

“Let me step on your back,” I say abruptly.

Previous

Read chapter 3 on AO3, or read below:

“Sherlock Holmes.”

I barely have to think about it. “Sherlock Holmes was an omega.”

“No.” Cardan sounds totally affronted. “No way. How can you even say that?”

For lack of anything better to do, we have been playing this game for nearly an hour. Mostly fictional characters, but some historical figures, too, who are up for debate. As much as alphas would love to lay claim to every known conqueror, it just isn’t realistic. Cardan and I have already gone back and forth on Alexander the Great and Ivan the Terrible and Ghengis Khan. Designations live in a kind of middle space between gender and sexual orientation, so people make assumptions based on the way you present in society, but also whether you’re an alpha, an omega, or a mythical beta is, technically, no one’s business but yours. So, especially in older stories, these things go unsaid or are discreetly left for the reader to surmise.

“Why would he be an alpha?” I challenge.

Cardan is sitting in his corner, one leg propped up, elbow on knee, same as before. He shrugs. “I mean, he feels empowered to take charge in crime scene investigations, he’s assertive—”

“You’re thinking of the BBC reboot,” I scoff. “The way Conan Doyle wrote his Holmes wasn’t like that. He was an expert, yes, and knew it, but he admitted it when someone bested him, and he went out of his way to help vulnerable people. People who had been scammed, or… single women.”

As bad as it seems for omegas and women—especially omega women—now, it would have been even worse in the stratified Victorian era. We still have our strata, but they were more codified then:

Alpha men

Alpha women/omega men (depending on the situation)

Omega women

And, of course, it was all way worse when race and class got thrown in. The point is that someone like Violet Smith of “The Solitary Cyclist”—a woman, assumed omega, and poor—would have been in real trouble without Holmes’ help.

“So he’s an omega because he’s nice to widows?” Cardan asks, with a glare.

“No, he’s an omega because he pays attention,” I reply. “Alphas don’t need to pay attention the way Sherlock Holmes does. You just waltz in and traipse all over whatever or whoever and always get your way. Who cares about the details when you’re an alpha? But Sherlock Holmes looks hard at the little things. You don’t do that if you don’t have to, if you’re not used to walking into a room and assessing threats, figuring out the balance of power. All the time. Because it’s exhausting, but you have to do it.”

Cardan is quiet for a beat too long, and I realize I may have actually said more about myself than about Sherlock Holmes. But he spares me by saying, “Surely we’re not all that bad.”

I make a noncommittal sound.

“Your dad’s an alpha, right?” he continues. “He took you and Taryn in after your parents died. He didn’t have to do that.”

I have to keep myself from snorting. No one who’s met Madoc would ever describe him as particularly nice or even giving. “Did you know Vivi has a pet conspiracy theory that he killed our parents in the first place?”

“What?”

“Not himself, obviously. That he hired someone to sabotage the car we were in.” I don’t know why I tell him. The second it leaves my mouth it feels like a family secret, or an in-joke I’m not supposed to share. But I can’t stop talking. “I mean, it was just luck we weren’t killed, Taryn and Vivi and I. But my parents’ car was new. The brakes shouldn’t have given out like they did. Anyway, Vivi thinks he took us in because he felt guilty.”

“I mean, that’s… crazy to think your dad was involved.” But Cardan says it too slowly, and hastens to add, “He isn’t a supervillain.”

“Yeah, I know. Just with everything that happened after, the way he swooped in, she was always suspicious.” I feel my mouth twitch, but I don’t know whether I want to smile or scowl. “I think she wanted us to be like The Boxcar Children and run away to live in the woods.”

“Well, you’re getting the one-room, no-running-water experience now.”

I catch myself smiling—he’s funny—and force my mouth into a frown, scouring our little room again for anything useful. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Even the socket that would hold a bare lightbulb is empty. Finally, my eyes settle on the one tiny window, set close to the ceiling, letting in a meager amount of natural light that does seem to have grown brighter as we talked.

“Let me step on your back,” I say abruptly.

“You want to what?”

“Step on your back,” I repeat, exasperated. “Are you tall enough to reach that window without a stool?”

“No?”

“Well, neither am I.” I fold my arms. “So I’m going to need you to give me a boost.”

He arches a critical eyebrow. “Why don’t you just sit on my shoulders?”

I blink at him. “Because… I thought you wouldn’t want to put your head anywhere near my crotch? Given how I reek and all.”

“But you thought I’d want to be stepped on? Jesus.” Cardan rubs a hand over his face. “What do you think I’m into? Look, I’ll crouch down, you get on my shoulders and look out the window. It’s not like I’m putting my face in your vag.” I shudder, and he adds, “We’ll never have to talk about it again. Okay?”

“Sounds great to me,” I say.

He nods and crouches down. I am not prepared for the way my heart thumps in my chest at the sight of the guy who made my life miserable since I was in seventh grade, who pushed me during gym, who whispered vile things in my ear whenever he could, who empowered other kids to do the same or worse waiting for me to climb onto his shoulders with his head bowed. It’s not real power, it’s just temporary, but it is intoxicating.

Then Cardan says, “Taking your time, huh?” and I snap out of it.

“Why the rush?” I ask. “Got somewhere to be?”

“I was thinking anywhere but here would be great.” He looks up at me. “Whenever you’re ready.”

I swing my legs over him and let him hoist me up on his shoulders. I haven’t exactly been invited to participate in a ton of games of chicken fight in the pool, so it’s been some time since anyone carried me like this. Maybe not since Taryn and I were very small, just after our parents died, when Madoc would help us get things from high kitchen shelves. I gasp when I’m lifted. Cardan is strong enough that it seems effortless, but I also hear him let out a small grunt.

“Not a word,” I say, dreading the jab he might make about my weight. “Move me closer to the window.”

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Cardan mutters, but he obliges.

I am extremely conscious of his hands on my bare thighs, the way his muscles shift under my shoulders. Some alphas, like the guy who tried to grab me at the party, are kind of muscle-bound in an unattractive way. Not Cardan. Cardan has just the right amount to be fit and lean, with the bare minimum amount of body fat, but not so much muscle that he tips over into ungraceful. He’s a sports car of a person, lithe and elegant. It’s no mystery why his shirtless TikToks get so many views.

I get my hands on the windowsill so he’s not bearing my full weight, and then I groan. “Bad news.”

“What?”

“Well, I definitely can’t fit through here. I can kind of see the sky, so I would guess it’s maybe ten a.m. Otherwise there’s just a window well. Plastic and dirt. I can’t make out our surroundings at all.” I sigh. “We’re in a basement.”

There’s an awkward pause, and then Cardan says, “At least we know for sure.”

“Yeah. Put me down?”

He does, and we go back to our respective seats, mentally reviewing what we know. The only door is, of course, locked from outside. The floor is bare concrete, the ceiling exposed insulation and tubing, so we might be in a storeroom of some kind, or an unfinished basement in an older house. Our kidnappers left us with absolutely nothing, so no phones. Even my keychain, with the Swiss army knife Madoc gave me before my first summer at sleep-away camp, is gone.

We are growing hungrier and more sullen with each passing minute when there is a knock at the door.

Cardan and I glance at each other from our opposite sides of the room. “Um,” I say. Are kidnappers supposed to be polite?

Cardan shrugs one shoulder, then straightens up, lifting his chin in a decidedly imperious way. Trying to summon some air of command, some macho alpha-ness that will help us out of this. It could work—it is half working on me, I begrudgingly admit to myself, because my stupid brain is wired that way—if we weren’t both grimy from sitting on the floor and still a little woozy from the drugs.

“Come in,” he calls.

The door is opened slightly, and the first thing to poke through it is the barrel of a pistol. A 9mm, by the looks of it. Cardan’s Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows.

“You kids willing to behave?” comes a voice. It’s a man’s voice, strangely melodious. I was expecting the sandpapery roughness of an old-school gangster. I know it’s stereotypical, but I’ve never been kidnapped before, and it’s not like they make a manual.

Cardan and I glance at each other again. I’m not sure what we’re looking to find in each other’s faces.

“Yeah,” I say. “We’re good.”

“Oh, good. I’d hate to shoot you.” The man pushes the door open the rest of the way, and I have to press my lips shut to keep from gasping. There are disfiguring scars that cut across his cheeks, down his jaw, even one across the bridge of his nose. I’m not even sure what makes scars like that, jagged and rough-edged. If it was a knife, it wasn’t clean work. Someone was making a point.

I am immediately relieved, though, because his resonant voice had made me think we could be dealing with a real alpha, someone whose words hold command. This man is of average height, average build. If not for the scars, for the obviously broken nose, he would be totally unremarkable.

“Who are you?” Cardan asks. I am reluctantly impressed that he manages to sound haughty in this situation. He’s sitting up straight with his back against the wall, one leg outstretched, the other bent, his foot planted on the floor. He’s resting his elbow on that knee, like it’s all effortless.

“Breakfast service,” replies the man, still pointing the pistol at us. He tosses a McDonald’s bag into the room, then he and the gun retreat, and the door shuts behind him. We hear the click of a lock and then, to my horror, the sound of a deadbolt sliding into place.

Cardan exhales and reaches for the bag.

“Don’t!” I exclaim. “Seriously, it might be drugged.”

“It—what?” he asks. “Now you decide to care about whether the food is drugged? This isn’t Flowers in the Attic, Jude. We’re hostages. They want to ransom us. They’re not going to poison us.”

I blink at him. “Flowers in the Attic? You’ve read a book?”

He rolls his eyes and reaches for the bag. “Well, if you’re not going to eat it, I will.”

When he opens the bag, the smell of sausage grease and egg hit me like a truck. My stomach growls. I am suddenly very aware that the last time I ate was before the party, and my nerves had kept me from eating much then. “What… is it?”

“Two McMuffins.” He looks up at me. “See? They don’t want to starve us. They’re keeping us alive.”

“They could still tamper with them. Sedatives or something. Keep us complacent, keep us from doing what we’re going to do, which is try to escape.”

Cardan arches an eyebrow. “Has anyone ever told you you’re unbelievably paranoid?”

I think of Taryn and purse my lips. “Did you know it wouldn’t kill you to take something seriously?”

He holds up one hand, fingers spread wide. “Okay. How about this. I eat a McMuffin because I am fucking starving, and if they put anything in it it’ll get me and work through my system faster. You can stay up scheming or whatever. If nothing happens after like fifteen minutes, you get to eat yours. Or if you decide to be stubborn, I’ll eat it. Deal?”

“It’ll be cold and gross.” I cross my arms. “But fine.”

“Good.” Cardan takes a McMuffin out of the bag—his hands are so big that it barely looks like enough food for him—and devours it in what must be record time. I turn my head away.

“Where’s the nearest McDonald’s, do you think?” I ask

“Huh?”

“We were in East Hampton. They don’t have one there.”

“Uh-huh. That’s a good point.” I look back to see Cardan sucking grease off his thumb. “Dunno. Closer to the middle of the island, maybe?”

“Maybe,” I echo quietly. Without knowing how long we were out, it seems impossible to figure out where they could have taken us. “You’re right. We couldn’t be in the city.”

Cardan shakes his head. “Nah, don’t think so. Too quiet, and like you said, that’s definitely daylight, so people’d be out and about.”

“Yeah,” I say, looking up at the window.

He looks at the window, too, but doesn’t say anything, and we lapse into silence. It’s strange, to be sharing space with him, to be quiet. I could never have imagined anything like it, not with our fraught history. There’s no world in which Cardan Greenbriar and I could be friends, but, at least temporarily, we are not enemies.

“Did you like it?” I asked at last, when the silence stops being neutral and begins to make me feel anew how tired and tense I am.

“Like what?”

“Flowers in the Attic.”

“Oh.” He blinks twice, his dark eyelashes fluttering. “I read it a few years ago, but, yeah. I did. You know, it was nice to read about a family that was more fucked up than mine.” He raises his eyebrows. “Spicy, too.”

I scoff. “How can your family be so fucked up you’d read a gothic novel for catharsis?”

Cardan drums his fingers on his knee. “How much do you know about my family?”

“You’re old money. One of those alpha families that claims they’re pure alpha for generations.” Which is pretty much impossible, but everyone in that tier of society tells the same lie. Half the kids in my school claim to be pure alpha, and on paper both of their parents are alphas. But while alpha men and women can reproduce—they have the right gametes—it’s not easy. More likely omega egg donors, and, before that, omega surrogates who were well-paid. It’s no wonder they see us as breeders.

I start ticking off additional facts on my fingers. “Your great-grandfather was one of the great American magnates, but it was his alpha daughter, Mab Greenbriar, who really made something of his millions. Your dad was her only son, so he inherited the whole corporation. You have five older siblings: Balekin, Elowyn, Dain, Caelia, Rhyia—”

Cardan holds up both his hands. “Yeah, yeah. I get the point.”

“It’s all on Wikipedia.” I shrug, and to sound less like a weird stalker, I add, “And Vivi and Rhyia are like best friends.”

“You know, and I know you said it before, but I do forget Vivienne’s your sister. She’s so cool.”

I roll my eyes. “Thanks.”

I get it, though. He probably thinks Vivi’s cool because she’s an alpha, but she also gets points for being the family rebel. Her biological dad, Madoc, adopted us all after the car crash that killed our parents, but she never wanted to be the natural successor he hoped for. Now she plays rugby at an all-girls’ college, has three cartilage studs and a septum piercing, shaves half her head, and is defiantly, unapologetically queer. It’s a different path than I would take, but marching to the beat of your own drum is definitely something that appeals to people.

“By the way,” Cardan says, “it’s been a few minutes and I feel fine. Well, as fine as one can feel having eaten only one McMuffin. I don’t feel any worse.”

“Okay.” I hold out my hand. “Toss me the bag.”

The bag crinkles when he picks it up, then he looks inside. “I think I’m owed a poison taster’s fee.”

“Huh?”

Cardan takes my McMuffin out of the bag, takes a bite out of it, then drops it back in the bag, which he proceeds to lob at my head. I catch it, face wrinkling in disgust. “Ew!”

“What? I need the calories more.”

I shake the bag at him. “I am not eating this,” I huff.

“We split the water bottle. That didn’t kill you.” Cardan sits back against the wall and closes his eyes. “Besides, who knows when they’re going to decide to feed us again?”

“You’re all so gross,” I mutter as I open the bag and pull out my breakfast. He’s right, and I hate that he’s right. I also hate that my hunger is enough to overcome my revulsion, at both the stolen bite and the undeniable fact that my McMuffin is now cold. I stuff it in my mouth, devouring the rest of it in only a few bites.

“Who’s gross?” he asks. “Alphas? Boys?”

“Alpha boys,” I inform him, with my mouth full.

“Big words from somebody whose designation’s known for leaking fluids everywhere.”

I fold my arms over my chest. “We’re not the only designation that leaks,” I point out. “We’re just the only one that gets shit for it. We’re the ones who’re thought of as gross while you and your type get to go around ruling the world.”

“Oh, sure. That has nothing to do with the way you guys are totally incapacitated for three straight days if you don’t take your drugs.”

“If we don’t get out of here, you’ll be just as screwed as I am,” I snap. “Stuck in a room with me? You won’t have a chance. We’re both going to become brainless fuck machines if that happens, so… shut the hell up.”

He does, to my surprise. I do too. I wipe my greasy hands on the McDonald’s bag, then crumple it into a little ball and toss it into the corner of the room. My anger is a living thing, running through my veins like electricity, vibrating under my skin. It’s been there for so long, but I would never have dared to say that to his face before. The rest of our situation is so absurd, so dire, it feels like there are no consequences for mouthing off at him.

That’s dumb, of course. There are always consequences. But at least they won’t be coming anytime soon.

“‘Brainless fuck machines,’” Cardan whispers quietly, and then he snickers.

“You—shut up,” I say, feeling unlikely mirth bubbling at the corners of my mouth. Cardan lets out another huff of laughter, and then I am giggling, and he’s laughing outright, clutching at his stomach. It’s ridiculous, all of my nerves coming out like that, but he’s laughing and it feels like there’s nothing for me to do but laugh too.

“Oh, man,” he says, wiping at his eyes. “I didn’t know you were a poet.”

“I’m serious!” I squeal, my abs cramping from laughing and trying not to laugh harder all at once. “That’s what happens!”

“God.” Cardan lets his head fall softly into the corner. “We are so screwed.” He points one finger up in the air. “Metaphorically. So far.”

“Jesus.” I cover my face with both of my hands. “Jesus.”

“Jesus was an alpha.”

I peek at him through my fingers. “He was not. He literally said ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega.’”

“I’m just fucking with you.” Cardan grins, his hair flopping in his face, but then his cheer vanishes abruptly. “Wait, you’re not actually religious, are you?”

I shake my head. “Not really.” But I still know that common theology holds that Jesus—and angels, and any other holy beings I don’t know about—are not alphas or omegas, but they aren’t betas, either. They are all things and nothing. Must be a good life. I pull my hands down and squint at him. “Were you worried about offending me?”

“Me?” Cardan shakes his head to toss his hair out of his face. “Nah.”

“Well, good.” I cross my arms again. “Because you’ve never cared before, and it’d really freak me out if you started now. Then I’d know we were both losing it for real.”

“I just thought…” He shrugs. “I mean, it’d be nice if one of us believed in something. That praying could help. I’d like to believe that. Seems tidy.”

“Yeah.” I let my cheek fall against the cold wall, too, and blink away the memories of screaming at the night sky, demanding someone give me my parents back. I can’t fall into that pit. I will not.

I just say, “I stopped believing that anyone was listening a long time ago.”

Cardan scratches at the wall with his finger. “Me too, Duarte,” he said. “Me too.”

Next

[abbottikeler]

The Ikelers: A Family Chronicle, 1753-2018 (Part II)

The Second Generation: from Eichler to Ikeler and Agler

    The second generation, Hieronymus’ three sons and the younger Wilhelm, his brother’s only child, naturally divide into two half-generations, since the older boys were born ten years or more before their younger brother and first cousin.  Though all of them must have spoken more fluent English than their parents, the personalities of the older two were primarily influenced by the trauma of displacement from German culture and the even greater trauma of indenture in their childhood, while the younger two grew up free-born, in a rising tide of political rebellion and open warfare.     One sign of the difference is in their choice of wives: the older two married the daughters of fellow German immigrants—in Conrad’s case, a girl with the same Christian name as his uncle’s wife—while the younger boys chose daughters of English settlers.  Moreover, Conrad and the elder Wilhelm reached manhood and sired their first children under relatively secure British rule in 1770, whereas Jerome and his young cousin Wilhelm attained their majority under an entirely new, indigenous government.  The disparity of influences is manifest particularly in the behavior of Wilhelm and his much younger brother Jerome: the former sided with the English during the war and was locally known as “William the Loyalist,” while Jerome caught the nomadic spirit of the restless new nation, migrating briefly to Pennsylvania and then pushing westward into the frontier, eventually settling in what is now Iowa.     Here, another caveat.  Since, of the four children of Hieronymus and his brother Conrad, I am descended from the elder Wilhelm, I have not undertaken any extensive research into the other three lines.  Suffice it to say that since Wilhelm’s elder brother had only daughters, all born in New Jersey with their maiden surname changed to Ikeler, pursuit of his descendants, though difficult, would have to begin there.  The descendants of his cousin Wilhelm (all eight of his children born with the surname Agler) might be more difficult to trace since I can provide no information beyond their names, their dates of birth, and their wives’ names.  Jerome’s descendants, which I’ve included in the accompanying tree down to his grandson James, would probably be the easiest for someone in that branch of the Agler line to research.     Even for Wilhelm’s elder and younger brothers, I have only the sketchiest additional evidence.  Conrad was apparently widowed in New Jersey sometime after the war and, according to Pennsylvania tax records from 1805 and 1808, spent his last years on 100 acres of land offered him by Wilhelm on adjacent land in Columbia County—dying, most probably, at 57 or 58 in 1806.  Jerome also spent some time near his brother Wilhelm in Pennsylvania, where his wife Rebecca gave birth to their first child, Daniel, in 1802.  Shortly thereafter they picked up stakes and traveled further west, settling eventually on the far side of the Mississippi.       To be clear, for the rest of this narrative, I’ll be focusing exclusively on Wilhelm and the direct line of his descendants that leads to my own and my brother’s immediate family.       The most important question to ask about this second generation of German-Americans is why each of the four men, born with the surname “Eichler,” chose to change it, either to “Ikeler” or “Agler.”  The answer to that question lies with Hieronymus’ second son, Wilhelm, and to a lesser extent, Wilhelm’s uncle Conrad.     As early as 1773, Wilhelm, being a second son, moved away from his parents and his elder brother to his own farm in Sussex County, a day’s ride north and closer to Belvidere and the Delaware River.  He appears in a contemporary census as “Wm Ekler,” a resident of Oxford Township.  More important perhaps, he joined a different Lutheran congregation and baptized his remaining children there—in the St. James or Straw Church near modern day Phillipsburg.  Many members of that church, both English and German, were fiercely committed to British rule—a marked difference from the Oldwick congregation whose pastors in the immediate pre-war period agitated openly for the revolutionary cause.  Once war commenced, perhaps emboldened by an uncle in the British infantry, Wilhelm openly declared himself a loyalist.  Even for a simple citizen farmer like Wilhelm, such a political stance quickly became untenable.  In 1778, the New Jersey revolutionary authorities empowered themselves to seize the property of all loyalists and their dependents, effectively bankrupting them and driving them underground or out of the colony.   In a newspaper notice published on 10 December 1778, “William Eikler” is included in a list of 63 loyalists whose properties are to be seized immediately following the first of March, 1779.  The notice is signed by William Bond and George Warne, Commissioners for the County of Sussex.  At this point in their lives, Wilhelm and his wife, Maria Elisabeth (nee Bengert), had three living children—Andrew, 6; Barnabus, 4; William, 1, and another on the way.       What did they do?  Where did they go?     With currently available information, it’s impossible to settle those questions definitively, but a review of circumstantial evidence suggests the likeliest answers.  Public record of the Wilhelm Eichler family disappears entirely for the next 13 years, returning first with notice of the marriage of Wilhelm’s first and third sons in New Jersey in the early and mid-1790s; then with the marriage of his only daughter, Elizabeth, to William Welliver in Jerseytown, Pennsylvania in 1797; and finally with the reappearance of Wilhelm himself (now William Ikeler) on the list of members of the Derry Episcopal and Lutheran Church in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1798.  Thereafter, until his death in 1808, William and all four of his children appear in numerous tax records and deeds of sale as land owners in Greenwood Township and neighboring Mt. Pleasant, several miles north of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.       Whatever happened to Wilhelm in the intervening years, it appears his wife and children remained in New Jersey at least until the mid-1790s, probably with Elizabeth’s parents or with Hieronymus and Wilhelm’s older brother, Conrad, on the original family farm.  Wilhelm’s younger brother, uneasy with a sibling declared persona non gratia and an uncle serving in the British army, apparently decided it prudent to reach his majority under the surname “Agler”--quite distinct from the suddenly notorious “Eichler”—an improvisation his young cousin Wilhelm adopted as well.     But what of the fugitive, bankrupt Wilhelm?  There is no evidence he escaped to Canada either during or after the war—only that 19 years after his worldly goods in New Jersey were confiscated he resurfaced as a modest farmer with a local church affiliation not far from Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania in 1798.    Fortunately, there is a weight of circumstantial evidence to suggest a plausible answer to his whereabouts in the interim.  Among his contemporaries in the congregation of the St. James “Straw” Church in New Jersey was one Daniel Welliver, recently returned from three years on the Pennsylvania frontier.  He had ventured into that unsettled territory in 1775 to reconnoiter the land granted his grandfather by William Penn, and deeded to him and his cousin in 1749.  After three years, and much tension with the local native-Americans, he heeded the warning of a friendly tribe to get out before things turned violent.  He returned to New Jersey in 1778. A short time later the Whitmayer family, who had been his near neighbors on the frontier, was indeed attacked, most of them murdered and the rest kidnapped.     Daniel was undaunted, however.  He had been impressed by the fertility of the land, the proximity of fresh creeks for irrigation and fishing, and a large navigable waterway nearby (the upper Susquehanna).  Once a treaty had been negotiated in 1780, pacifying the local native-Americans, he brought his young family back to that promising country some 100 miles west northwest of Sussex County.       Where he and his cousin Adam established their farms came to be known as Jerseytown, since most of those who settled there were his neighbors and friends from the New Jersey colony.  William Baillie, in a recent study of modern day Madison Township, PA, which includes Jerseytown, describes its early inhabitants as a mix of English and Germans, many of them loyalists who were tolerated by their neighbors and felt relatively safe, on the frontier, from pursuit by the revolutionary authorities.       The coincidence of Wilhelm’s looming fugitive status in 1779 and Daniel’s fortuitous return to the same congregation with news of a promising new place to settle, suggests an escape to the Pennsylvania frontier may have been discussed between them.  Further, the fact that Daniel married his eldest son, William, to Wilhelm’s only daughter in that very place 18 years later—thus confirming close ties between the men—allows us to posit a likely answer to Wilhelm’s whereabouts during the missing years.     Moreover, if we presume Wilhelm left for what would become Jerseytown either in 1779 or 1780 and worked as a paid laborer on Daniel’s farm until it was safe in the late 1790s to resurface as an independent land owner and acknowledged church member, it would explain a number of puzzling phenomena in the last half of his life.     Question: Why did his wife give birth to no more children after 1779 though she was still in her late twenties when her daughter was born?  Answer: As in the cases of indentured service a generation before, she and her husband were almost certainly apart—she in New Jersey and he in Pennsylvania for a period of at least 15 years.      Q. Why in the late 90s did he belong to a congregation that was a half-day’s buggy ride away from his Greenwood farm?  A. Because it was near Jerseytown where he had been living and working since 1780.     Q.  Why does he resurface as “William Ikeler” in all documents after 1797?  A. Because he wished to evade identification as the loyalist Wilhelm Eichler, but, feeling relatively safe from detection in another state, he also wanted to keep the English pronunciation of his surname as close to the German as possible.     Q. How was it possible for him to afford a 300-acre farm and a large “log house and barn” in Greenwood according to the 1802 tax records?  A. He purchased it with a fraction of his saved wages from working for Daniel Welliver.     Q.  How was it possible for him to own an additional 350 acres and distribute that land among his two married sons, Andrew and William, and his older brother Conrad—according to the 1805 tax records?   A. He purchased that land with “450 pieces of gold or silver” from John Hubley, another Greenwood farmer, on May 15, 1804, according to a deed held by his great grandson, I.B. Ikeler, and published in the Bloomsburg newspaper on December 6, 1908.     Q. But how did he come to have such a store of hard currency?  A. It was probably the remainder of his hoarded, 15-plus years of wages earned on the Welliver farm and earmarked as a nest egg for his wife and children when it was safe for them to join him in Pennsylvania.     Q. What other evidence is there, besides their membership in the same New Jersey church and the marriage of his daughter to Daniel’s son, of a close, mutually beneficial relationship between Wilhelm Eichler and Daniel Welliver?   A. When Wilhelm’s estate was divided in November, 1810, the largest portion of land was given not to his sons or his wife, but to his son-in-law, William Welliver.   Daniel’s son (already with a sizable holding from his own father) received an additional 245 acres of Ikeler land, but the 1811 tax records show Wilhelm’s own dependents got much less:     Andrew (son): 130 acres plus log cabin     Barnabus (son): 35 acres     William (son): 180 acres plus log cabin     Elizabeth (his widow): 60 acres, plus log house and barn A further indication of the tight friendship between the Ikelers and the Wellivers from the 1780s onward is the note, both in the will and the tax records, of their farm properties abutting each other on several sides.     So it seems that like his father, who had to start over twice to establish his independence (from tenant farming in Germany and indentured service in the British colonies), Wilhelm had to make two new beginnings of his own: first as a second son and small farmer in colonial New Jersey, and once again, after financial ruin and years of enforced separation from his wife and family, as a U.S. citizen on the frontier of rural America.       Did he curse the fate that had robbed him of his own land and compelled him for so long to till another man’s fields?  Or did Wilhelm, through those years away from his loved ones, and always fearful of discovery by government agents, steel himself with an old German adage: aller Anfang ist schwer—every beginning is hard?