#genealogy with a school setting

[soulcluster-moved]

the more I understand genealogy of the holy war, the more I understand that three houses is just genealogy-lite

[thechanelmuse]

Kendrick, Drake, and Ethnic/Cultural Identity

One of the most discussed topics during this exchange between the two is if Drake is a culture vulture. In short, yes. He's always been. It boils down to inherited cultural identity and respected history, not the upholding of a social construct of “race.” 

Race is a goofy non-biological caste system that operates in various countries and it’s a dumbass global push to get people to embrace a superior to inferior hierarchy in classifying the globe into 5 broad groups solely based on perceived skull sizes, hues of skin color, and perceived traits and phenotypic features via the teachings of François Bernier, Johann Blumenbach, Carl Linnaeus, and them other hoes. Get race tf outta here.

I’m gonna make this concise as possible, but fleshed out a bit for full understanding.

Kendrick Lamar is Black American on both sides with his roots most likely coming out of Mississippi and/or Alabama to Chicago to Cali by way of the Great Migration. (He may even descend from Duckworths from Louisiana). I haven’t done his genealogy, but now I may out of curiosity.

Black American is a double ethnicity. We’re citizens of America (nationality = US Citizen), and our ethnic group (Black) was created & descends from this land (ethnicity = American) through ethnogensis. It has nothing to do with one’s brown skin color or how the cops see us 🙃, but everything to do with the lineage of one’s parents and their parents, etc. (For info on lineage tracing, refer to my post here.) 

Black Americans are an ethnic group (the largest from this land and largest in this country after Germans), while “white Americans” are a self-identification race to remove ethnic identity and conflate numbers. I can break this down further in another post if y’all want since American history is complex and will explain why Black Americans have been reclassified seven times by the US government 🙃. 

Now.

Culture is largely passed down through your mother, and her mother, and her mother, and so forth for Black Americans (and I’m sure other ethnic groups). No matter if it’s a two-parent or single-parent household, she’s your ultimate teacher in setting the foundation of your cultural upbringing. It’s the same if one is raised by their grandparents. It largely stems from the grandmother. If one’s father is their main parent, that’s a different case of course. 

Drake falls in line with this as someone from a single-parent household. He is half Ashkenazi of Latvian and Russian descent (ethnicity) through his mother and of half Black American descent (ethnicity) through his father. He is a dual citizen of Canada and America (nationality), who was raised in Canada with his Ashkenazi Jewish mother and Ashkenazi relatives with an Ashkenazi upbringing. He went to a Jewish day school and was engulfed in all aspects at home. 

Kendrick is ethnically and culturally Black American. Drake is ethnically and culturally Ashkenazi. He is also ethnically Black American (through lineage), but not culturally Black American. Does that make Drake a culture vulture? No. He just didn’t have the cultural upbringing but could always immerse himself in learning, appreciating, and respecting the other half of his history and culture.

What makes him one is how he operates as an outsider. He participates in an aspect of Black American culture (Hip-Hop) for his monetary gain, adopts a manufactured image for his perception of believability, and disrespects the people of this culture. “…run to America to imitate culture.” It’s like a jacket to him. He takes it off to try on another (like a Jamaican accent) and swaps for another, etc. 

A few examples that’s been touched on: He blackened his face to depict blackface while wearing a Jim Crow t-shirt… That’s specific disrespect towards Black Americans, mocking our history and our ancestors. “Whipped and chained you like American slaves.” That’s specific disrespect towards Black Americans, mocking our history and our ancestors. “[You] always rappin' like you 'bout to get the slaves freed.” Do I even need to explain this? Hopefully it’s understood.

The muthafucka is not like us.

[octuscle]

Chronivac Support!

Just used the Genealogy function of the Chronivac, bro. Um, it basically meant I can edit the family tree. I got the smartass idea to check what would happen if I was the fruit of another tree.

So I targeted the biggest jock bully in high school. He's the single son of that family, and I was just going to be his brother for a day or so. So I moved myself from my family tree to his tree as brothers, but I forgot to set a timer!

In this new reality I didn't get the Chronivac so I can't undo! Help! Fuck, I feel like slowly becoming this jock version of me, bros with my bro.

Dude, what are you complaining about? It happened exactly what you wanted. Your dad's a shift supervisor at the steel mill. A brick wall of a man. Your big role model. And that of your older brother. You came after each other pretty quickly. Your brother is just 10 months older than you. Many people today think you are twins.

At home, you have raw manners. Since your mother died, your father runs the household like his employees. You have learned that nothing works without discipline. And that you will perish as a weakling. And that you can only succeed as a team with your family. That's why you joined the wrestling team with your brother. At the same time, you fight together as a team, but also against each other. That's what welded you together. And that made you strong.

Yes, you are both known as bullies at school. Your coach has had to call you to order more than once. But you just can't help it, wrestling is your life. So sometimes you get rough. And you two are the stronger ones, so you can hurt others unintentionally.

A wrestling summer camp like this is great. Wrestling on the beach. Just your thing! Why did you text me again? You don't have a Chronivac account, but I'll do a favor for hot wrestlers… Bigger dick? More muscles? Less brain? Just get in touch!

Great pic of you two found @buddeez

[kairologia]

Houses in traditional astrology.

Instead of making separate posts for each house, I thought it’d be more judicious & practical to compile everything into one singular post for concision’s sake.

Some necessary contextualization before we get to the point:

— Most houses don’t represent personality traits or characteristics. They represent experiences & areas of your life. Your self in the more rudimentary sense of the term is the 1st house. Other houses can be other people, places, or experiences.

— The ascendant/1st house is you, not a “mask”, your “basic self”, a “facade” or a “superficial persona” it’s for the major part everything modern astrology believes the sun to be.

— The ascendant/1H representing you does not mean other placements cannot be relevant or resonant (as explained here), that’s an oversimplification and nothing in life is ever that simple. All elements in a chart matter, but to believe everything is a “me” indicators is far too reductive. This is especially relevant wrt appearance. While the 1H has higher than average chances of coming through when it comes to the visual aspect, there are other things that come into play — namely genetics, the Moon, the 2nd house, the IC, & the Ascendant Lord.

— There are 12 houses and 7 traditional planets. You will most certainly have empty houses — though inactive they are not. Even if there are no planets in a house, there will always be a planet ruling it and its themes will still hold significance to you & your life experiences, there just won’t be as much focus on them as there would be with houses containing planets.

— Signs don’t “naturally” rule houses. Aries does NOT signify the 1H unless you’re an Aries rising. In fact, “rulership” is something only planets can do. Not signs, not houses, just planets! The signs are a celestial system that shows HOW a planet’s energy expresses itself, whereas houses are a terrestial system that shows WHERE that energy is expressed (areas of life). You can read ABC house system debunks online, or wait for me to write one!

🪞 1st House 🪞

— Angular house

— Mercury’s joy

— “The Helm”

— Eastern horizon

— Horoskopos (hour marker)

— Inceptions

— Beginnings

— Life

— Body

— Appearance

— Personality

— Self & Identity

— Self Expression

— Vitality & Health

💰 2nd House 💰

— Succedent house

— “The Gate of Hades”

— Livelihood

— Prospects

— Desires

— Money & assets

— Physical posessions

— End of youth

— Financial affairs

— Time

— Value

— Materiality

— Ownership

— Sustenance

📜 3rd House 📜

— Cadent House

— The Moon’s joy

— “Goddess”

— Siblings

— Extended Relatives

— Short Distance Travel

— Religious sites & rites

— Places of worship

— Neighborhoods

— Small communities

— Communication & Writing

— School

— Learning

— Education

— Everyday life, routines

🪦 4th House 🪦

— Angular house

— Lowest angle of the chart

— “Subterranean”

— Family

— Parents

— Land

— Home & Property

— Privacy

— Secrets

— Roots & lineage

— Ancestry & genealogy

— Place(s) of Origin

— Inheritance

— The “past”

— Generational trauma

— Hidden treasures

— End of life

— Death & rituals surrounding it

— Endings

— Graveyards

— The Underground

🌹 5th House 🌹

— Succedent house

— Venus’ joy

— “Good Fortune”

— Romance

— Relationships

— Desire & Pleasure

— Praise & Worship

— Sexuality/Sex

— Creativity & Creation

— Art & artistic expression

— Children

— Charity

— Diplomacy & diplomats

— Pleasant pursuits & joy

— Gambling

🩸 6th House 🩸

— Cadent house

— Mars’ joy

— “Bad Fortune”

— Illness & Injury

— Health & Sickness

— Servitude

— Employees & subordinates

— Labor

— Work

— Sports

— Fighting

— Physical Harm

— Medical Professionals

— Herbalism & medicine

— Small animals & pets

⚖️ 7th House ⚖️

— Angular house

— “Setting” angle

— Marriage

— Spouse

— Partnerships

— Open enemies

— the “Other” (≠ of the self, the 1H)

— Commitments& agreements

— Confrontation

— Lawsuits

— Legal disputes

— Contracts

— Business

💸 8th House 💸

— Succedent house

— “Idle Place”

— Death & Endings

— Other people’s money & assets

— Debt

— Taxes

— Legacies

— Inheritance

— Grief

— Trauma

— Psychology & shadow work

— Shared resources & belongings

— Stagnation

— Fears

— Secrets

🔮 9th House 🔮

— Cadent house

— Joy of the Sun

— “God”

— Higher education & academic pursuits

— Pursuit of knowledge

— Teachers & professors

— Occult pursuits & faculties

— Religion

— Foreign places

— Long distance travel

— Pilgrimage

— Divination & Astrology

— Philosophy

— Dreams

— Prophecies

💼 10th House 💼

— Angular house

— “Midheaven”

— Highest angle of the chart

— Vocation

— Career

— Mother

— Fame

— Ambition & aspiration

— Recognition

— Influence

— The future

— Goals

— Social status

— Achievements

— Profession

— Public affairs

— Reputation

— Authority figures & leaders

— Government

— Social aspirations

🎉 11th House 🎉

— Succedent house

— Jupiter’s joy

— “Good Spirit”

— Friends

— Alliances

— Trust

— Emancipation

— Community

— Network

— Supporters & patrons

— Organizations

— Groups

— Mutual aid & support

🏥 12th House 🏥

— Cadent house

— Saturn’s joy

— ”Bad Spirit”

— Prior to birth: mother's labor

— Isolation

— Retreat

— Large animals

— Exile

— Rumors

— Misfortunes

— Envy

— Hidden enemies

— Betrayal

— (of Self or otherwise) Sabotage

— Mental health

— Restrictions

— Hospitals

— Incarceration

[travelingthief]

Zeus Devotions and Offerings

Learn About:

Clouds (what’s their part in the water cycle? How do you tell the difference between types of clouds?)

Weather (predominantly rain, wind, & thunder and lightning) (What causes these phenomena scientifically?)

The justice system

Eagles, hawks, and other birds

His myths and genealogy (there’s a lot there!)

His Roman counterpart, Jupiter

Political history in your country (or any country of interest)

Climate change and how you can help reduce it

Storms/Rain

Collect rainwater as an offering or for use in spells

(Safely) Watch a storm (I like to do so in my car)

If you can, safely offer shelter to those during storms (travelers, unhoused folks, or even stray cats/dogs!)

Participate in storm clean-ups

Splash in puddles/Dance in the rain

Thank Him for the rain and acknowledge how helpful it is for providing life to all of us

Take proper storm precautions, like buying enough food, having flashlights/candles on hand, and having non-electric ways to keep warm

Keep a rainy day fund

Spend rainy days with your [chosen] family

Meditate/fall asleep to rain sounds

Learn how to respond in the event someone is struck by lightning

Sky

Go cloud-gazing (try making up stories for the shapes you find!)

Go parasailing

Travel on planes

Hot air balloon rides

Ask Him to bless your flights and travels

Go birdwatching

Ride a zipline

Fly kites

Learn cloud divination

Order and Justice

Keep up-to-date with local political happenings

Participate in your city/school council

Attend protests and advocate for equality  

Vote in local, state, and nationwide elections

Take breaks for yourself when learning about politics! That shit can be overwhelming!

Learn de-escalation methods

Join a debate team

Keep your schedule in order

Maintain a clean and orderly environment

Advocate for a greener future

Visit your state house

Leadership and Protection

Trust yourself to take on leadership roles

Build your self-confidence 

Be assertive in your boundaries 

(If you're able to) Work out and build muscle

Take proper measures to protect your home (locking the door and windows or a protection spell/jar!)

Take self-defense classes/martial arts/wrestling etc.

Make your own self-love affirmations 

Do things that make you feel powerful!

Understand your power. So many people are afraid of power because of negative connotations, but power can be used for good as well

Carry yourself with pride

Speak with conviction

Misc.

Support small businesses

Check the weather and dress appropriately (or pack emergency backup clothes if the fit is too good)

Carry an umbrella on you! And a spare if you can, to pass out to someone in need!

Wear grays and sky blues

Travel and see the world!

(Safely and sanitarily) collect bird feathers. Make sure you’re aware of which bird feathers are restricted from being collected

Show Him things you’re proud of!

Set attainable goals and make a plan to achieve them

Offer hospitality to every guest, even if you’re not thrilled to see them

Be a pleasant guest, even if you’re not thrilled to be there

Offerings

Feathers

Bull/swan/eagle imagery

Rainwater/snow water

Representation of lightning/storms (Paintings, trinkets, drawings, etc.)

Imagery of Scales of Justice

Voting stickers/Absentee ballot envelopes

Political mail for causes you support

Homework you put a good effort into and are proud of

Pictures of the sky/clouds

Bird figurines

Crown imagery/figurines

Lastly, it’s undeniable that Zeus has a long history of assaulting and mistreating women. Everyone has their beliefs on the matter and I think it is entirely possible to worship/work with a god while fully acknowledging the messy past. Furthermore, as I dive deeper into the history surrounding the myths I gain a better understanding of the factors surrounding Zeus’s philandering, like the synchronization of Gods and Goddesses across religions and how Zeus likely assimilated past male deities and the people of the time created the stories of his many affairs to explain this merging.

There’s no way to justify the raping by our human standards. That being said, I don’t think it’s cause to completely shut Him out. He is the King of the Gods, the Bringer of Life! Surely that is something to celebrate. 

With all that, some final acts that support women:

Believing victims

Donating/volunteering at women's shelters

Learning the signs of domestic abuse

Learning and acknowledging red flags in a partner

Talking to friends about any major red flags you’re concerned about with their partner

Advocating for women’s rights 

Learning about domestic abuse/rape/abortion services in your area

Hoping this is helpful to someone! I see very few posts for Zeus on here.

[constantlymisspelled]

23 - Discrimination (Yeah I went there)

[Text in image is as below]

i) Species;

a) All Sentient Species recognised by Mandalorian Law are completely within right to be adopted, adopt, and live within Mandalore, and Mandalorian Society. b) If a Species wishes to be added to the data base, a General Notice for Recognition can be applied for through the Mandalorian Archive of Galactic Sentients. The Mandalorian Archive of Galactic Sentients will also keep in check genealogy to take notice of the rare cases of possible gene modification and cloning. The Mandalorian Archive of Galactic Sentients is the official government and information authority for all occasions regarding inter-species law in Mandalorian Space. c) Sentient Species cannot be outlawed from sectors or systems – Mandalorian Law stresses the difference between a Species, and its local Governments. For example, a fleeing Zygerrian is not guilty of the crimes of the Zygerrian Empire. d) Sentient Species cannot be barred entry into clubs, pubs or venues due to their species. e) Sentient Species cannot be required or told by schools, family, or others to physically alter traits and physical features that do not cause harm. For example, a Zabracki shall not be demanded to wear a headdress to attend classes for the safety of other students.

[Text in images is as below]

ii) Sex;

a) Mandalorian Law recognises separate biological sexes for all documented species under the Mandalorian Archive of Galactic Sentients. b) Mandalore recognises the separate sexes, sub-sexes, and individual genders within the Species Codex held by the Bounty Hunter Guild Associations. c) Mandalore retains its right to utilise the genderless and sexless terms and wordings in day-to-day use. d) Medical Professionals, and those whose services require said information are the only beings within Mandalore allowed to require a response to request of an individual’s sex, species, and gender information. e) Job applications and education shall not require confirmation of sex or gender for acceptance or application. f) Mandalore and the Mandalorian Sector practices the use of a multitude of private and communal refreshers – schools in the Mandalorian sector will tend to have two segregated bathrooms for the two more common humanoid sexes, a disabled bathroom, a unisex bathroom, and the communal bathrooms utilised in most military settings. Individual sectors can offer a differing, or greater range of choices – for example, Ordo Minor, which has the selection of disabled bathrooms, individual bathrooms, and the communal bathrooms with no segregation of any sort. g) Married Mandalorians are not required to inform anyone of their or their spouse’s gender or sex. h) Sex work in Mandalore falls under the Fair Work Acts, and is acceptable under strict and heavily monitored conditions. A Mando’ade who worked in this sector of business is permitted to apply to other forms of employment. Attempts to block applications and transfers of employment is both discriminatory to the Mando’ade’s financial freedoms and their sexual freedoms.

iii) Religious Interpretation;

 a) Incomplete

[Text in image is as below]

iv) Language;

a) Mando’a’s multitude of accepted forms are not to be excluded, impeded or banned in any way within Mandalorian Space. b) Mando’a is to be taught at every school in Mandalorian Space in the sector’s most common forms. c) No Mando’ade should be barred in any way from learning Mando’a. d) Speaking a Freed language is a protected right, and those found guilty of excluding or discriminating those speaking or who have spoken Freed language fall under Sentient Discrimination and can face charges at both Mandalorian and Galactic Courts. e) Speaking Basic is not banned in any way, but it is not a specific requirement to graduate, educate, be credited or to have a job. f) Basic cannot be a prerequisite in jobs that do not have any relevance to the speaking of the language. For example, a mechanic does not need to speak fluid Basic to practice on Ordo Prime or Manda’yaim. g) Learning to speak, read and write is a Right, not a privilege, and those barring students for financial reasons either in low or high levels of education will be held to account under Mandalorian Law. Learning languages in Mandalore is a Protected Right, and not to be interfered with by external pressures. h) Clan Foundlings wishing to continue to learn their pre-adoption language is a protected right under Mandalorian Law. Foundlings will not be punished for use of their pre-adoption languages.

[Text in image is as below]

v) Ability;

a) All Clan members, regardless of their capacity or ability to fight, are crucial to Clan Welfare. b) Clan members, or Mando’ade who are visually or verbally impaired should have allocations made for their comfort and to ease participation in day-to-day life. This includes species that routinely have these impairments, for example, nocturnal species being allowed to be as active as they require at their biologically required hours. c) Clan members, Mando’ade or warriors who have been injured to the point of being removed from combat have completed a great service for their Clan and their community, and any discrimination or exclusion of these Mando’ade is punishable by law. d) Mando’ade born with non-life-threatening defects are to be treated as ordinary Mando’ade under Mandalorian Law. e) Mando’ade born with life-threatening birth defects are catered for under the Public Health Acts, and can even be served at external hospitals around the galaxy under the Mandalorian Resources and Children Protectorate. Parents can make direct calls for assistance to the Mandalorian Protectors, and can expect near immediate response and support in the occasion of life-threatening illness or injury. This is a right under Mandalorian Law. f) Mandalorians with movement impairments, mental impairment and illness, and other neurological discrepancies are protected under Mandalorian Law. In the event of a Neurological Unsound Mando’ade hurting a child, the Mano’ade risks becoming institutionalised. g) Those of impaired, separated, different nature or disposition, and disability are completely able to be charged with serious offences. However, much like criminal justice, intent must be proved for charges such as ‘murder,’ or the charge will simply be held as high degree grievous assault and manslaughter. Ability Impaired Mandalorians will still face a firing squad if found guilty of War Crimes, Child Abuse, or Sexual Assault. h) Mando’ade that cannot live by themselves can either select, or have a carer selected for them out of their Clan or Community that passes Health and Carer Training and Psychological Evaluations. The selection will take place after their diagnosis with impairment. If a Clan member has already been acting as the Mando’ade’s carer, provisioning will be made for that Clan member to have access to appropriate resources and training without separating the Carer from their charge.

[Again, if anyone has any criticism, I am open to any form of assistance you can provide. Sections like this are close to my heart, as I have members of my family who cannot give informed consent, or have a disability that stops them from being able to hold a job. When the time comes, I'm hoping to link a master post for disability and medical beskar'gam symbols to this post so that disabled verde can colour and pattern their armour appropiately, and have it understood.]

[back to main Codex]

[princessmacedon]

{ happy anniversary!

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is. Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together. Template courtesy of Neffi! 💕

Name: Red, more commonly nicknamed Reddo

Pronouns: they/them preferred, she/he OK!

Birthday (no year): December 28th

Where are you from? What is your time zone? moved to kentucky when I was young, and for sake of ease i use EST (TOAST)! i live near a timezone line, so i get to be flexible like that >vo)v HAHA

How long is your roleplay experience? with a few on and off breaks, roughly 15 years? i forgot about a period of my life where i 'moderated' (read: was the most active user on) a warrior cats RP site; my first foray into rp proper was in pokemon rp on tumblr, my first muse was lyra but i didnt have an internet name until i picked up and settled into writing (you'll never guess who)

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? kind of half answered this above oops, but with warrior cats i genuinely dont remember? i probably just googled warrior cats and wound up there HAHA. for pokemon...... honestly probably the same thing

How were you introduced to TOA? key had mentioned it to me in passing a few times, so i knew she was there, but it wasn't until my friend zyra mentioned it to me and suggested we write macedon siblings together again that i actually joined, hahaha

Do you have any pets? i do! i adopted a ?? year old dog from the shelter about six years ago, so now he's x+6 years old :] pretty sure he's some kind of border collie mix, but not certain! his name is tobin, but he'll answer as long as you say 'ob'. he's a sillyhead

What is your favorite time of year and why? (Season, holiday, general period) it used to be winter because i love the snow! but as i get older and more harrowed by weather conditions, i appreciate how normal and not-trying-to-kill-me autum is HAHA

What is your IRL occupation? (finger guns) figuring it out

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? drawing was my first love! i like reading, especially comics, and writing; i like video games and immersing myself in stories, and have passing interests in things that i don't commit to trying out (like resin, charms, etc etc)

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? FFXIV, mainly; genshin impact and hsr; various farming-ish sims (story of seasons + old harvest moon, stardew valley, rune factory, currently fields of mistria); to a lesser extent dragon age, ace attorney, various VNs / otome / rhythm games, pokemon until roughly scarlet/violet era and then my wallet couldnt keep up with it HSDFSGVSD

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: as a kid it waffled between fire / dark, but not sure i have a dead set favorite type anymore. favorite pokemon still lucario and appletun for sure though!

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! (Optional bonus challenge: if you filled this out last year, try not to repeat what you said back then!) - i love christmas and thinking about gift giving! when i was in school my christmas spreadsheet hit like, 50 names HAHA nooooo way do i have that energy anymore, though - i'm reasonably fond of baking and also reasonably terrible at it! something always goes wrong but usually (usually) stuff comes out pretty tasty in the end. except for that time i set my oven on fire

How did you get into Fire Emblem? my friends were talking about how much fun they were having with the new game at the time, awakening! it looked fun so i decided to try it out

What Fire Emblem games have you played? - Beaten: Genealogy, Blazing Blade (FE7 if youre like me and still cant remember which one is which), Shadow Dragon & New Mystery, Awakening, Fates (Conquest + Birthright), Three Houses (Blue Lions) - Started: Binding Blade (FE6), Sacred Stones, Path of Radiance (FE9), Fates (Revelation), Shadows of Valentia, Three Houses (Black Eagles & Golden Deer), Engage

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games: Awakening -- still Awakening! possibly tied with 3H, though. i really enjoy games where i can peacefully level grind

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! vaguely ordered, it's: Wolf, Maria, Cordelia, Seliph, Katarina...? if you think you're seeing a trend you're probably right, hahaha ^^ writing a character is an expression of love for me, so inevitably my muses climb higher and higher on my list over time

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! the clearest one i can remember is wolf, because when i was playing fe11 i was passively using him because he was pretty, and then he got 7 crits in a row and i was like :pika:

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳i'm weak toward green haired women AHSJASFDSF but actual game crushes, hmm... not sure!

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: chrom -> still chrom! - Fates: takumi -> hmm... silas or flora? - Three Houses: dimitri -> still dimitri, except now he's duking it out with yuri - Engage: i have the ring in my pocket as we speak, suffering from the burden of choice... probably diamant though?

Favorite Fire Emblem class? whatever class my blorbos thrive in

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? in all likelihood i'm a villager with just absolutely baffling AI. not entirely stupid, but you cant in good conscience say it's smart either HAHA as a playable unit though, i might be a recruit-type? i could do well if you help me grow, otherwise i'm just this scruffy shitty thing tucked into your pocket. middling-high skill growth, paper defense, and you wish you knew what my speed growth was because i don't (probably fast as a mage but realistically NOT as anything physical)

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? (Black Eagles, Blue Lions, Golden Deer, Church of Seiros, Those Who Slither in the Dark, unaffiliated civilian, other - for example Almyran) my heart says blue lions, but if i'm just some guy (unaffiliated civilian) i won't be surprised

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent? - Boons: Reason - Banes: Authority, Gauntlets - Budding Talent: Flying

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? (Firene, the Kingdom of Abundance; Brodia, the Kingdom of Might; Elusia, the Kingdom of Knowledge; Solm, the Queendom of Freedom; Lythos, the holy land of the Divine Dragon; Gradlon, the desolate land of the Fell Dragon) hmm... probably either Firene or Lythos! i'm too much of a weenie to be from brodia HAHA

How do you pronounce TOA? 🤔(separate letters, to-ah, other?) toah, like noah! to all my xiv gamers out there this definitely applies to job shorthands too. durg. dirk. whum blum sidge. rurpur and rogg...

Current TOA muses: Maria & Katarina

Past TOA muses? Cordelia my beloved

Who was your first TOA muse? If you no longer have them, can you see yourself picking them up again? Maria! unless something unprecedented happens, i don't see that changing. writing her, her want and determination to love and find wonder in the world, to spread and be joy -- it just puts me in a good place! it's really, genuinely helped me a lot, even if her extroversion is exhausting to my introvert ass sometimes HAHA

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) uhhh... i definitely tend toward characters who are in some regard defined by a form of love or strong emotion, romantic though it need not be -- people who have some sort of powerful, aching tenderness in their heart. i've not really done as much as i've wanted in terms of bringing that out of them, but it's definitely something that draws me in to a character in the first place!

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? ooh, there are lots of characters i like who have a brusque edge or manner, who might be harsh or cold... i wish i could do that! i'd like to try, i think. and also the funny, energetic, boisterous types -- i love to see them and be around them, but i definitely can't pull it off hahaha

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? (If you filled this out last year, has this changed in any way?) it's been a while since i've gone all in on this kind of scene, but i love emotional scenes and heart-to-hearts -- the sort of thing where you're communicating your feelings with everything you have and trying to reach someone else! i usually rein myself in well shy of that though, hahaha. i worry a lot about getting too lost in the sauce and derailing a conversation/thread, or making it all about what my muse/what they want to communicate.

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? for katarina, i'd love for her to make some friends! she's her own worst enemy in this regard, separating herself from friends/friendships whether consciously or subconsciously. for maria... well, i'd love for her to have a real heart to heart with someone!

Favorite TOA-related memories? to this day i miss and adore annie's frederick! his dynamic with my cordelia at the time was so much fun to write and to talk about and we had such thoughts for how their relationship would evolve -- it's one of the most interesting and endearing relationships i've had the pleasure of writing! on a sillier note, i often think about leif hauling ass after kanoesa's lewyn HAHA

Present or past tense? it used to be past tense, but i think toa's successfully converted me to defaulting to present hahaha ^^;; consciously at least, i try to match whatever my partner does!

Normal size text, small text, no preference? it doesn't matter to me, but i do hate fighting tumblr to keep all of the small text small.

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉 the wolf app/blog i've been refining on and off for the better part of three years is no secret HAHA, but i've seriously contemplated writing a few other characters! radd and boucheron, to name a couple. i get super attached to my characters though, so it's a bit tricky

[deathsdue]

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing! Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together. template credit: thanks neffi!!

Name: Lailah

Pronouns: She/Her, They/Them

Birthday (no year): 9/12

Where are you from? What is your time zone? West Coast, USA

How long is your roleplay experience? Almost 20 years

How were you introduced to roleplaying as a whole? My first RP experience was in high school where we had a binder we passed around in the hallway between class lol I went on to forums, docs, email, mmos, and at some point tumblr and discord.

How were you introduced to TOA? I'd been missing the Tumblr RP experience and decided to search for an FE group and bam

Do you have any pets? I do! My black kitty, my baby boy who drools and meows a lot, Binx

What is your favorite time of year and why? Autumn when it's cooler but not too freezing and the leaves are pretty

What is your IRL occupation? QA tester for a video game company

Some interests and things you like/enjoy? Besides writing, playing games, reading, occasionally drawing, music, comics, collecting figures and such

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? Tales of, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Zelda, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Persona, Harvest Moon, farm sims in general, Metal Gear Solid, the list honestly just goes on and on and on

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon? ahahaha ok the list doesn't actually go that far. I didn't get that into pokemon. I do think they're cute but I just didn't get into the franchise. That said, I have plushies of chimchar, vulpix, and eevee so that probably says something

Tell us some funfacts and trivia about yourself! - When I worked at a dental office, I almost set the place on fire. The dentist was really nice about it tho and eventually he even wanted me to stay and get trained as a dental assistant - I have a low spicy tolerance but I'm really good with cajun spices (likely from growing up in Texas) - I'm in the credits of games that you've heard about (I won't say what) - I have a horrible sense of smell

How did you get into Fire Emblem? My friend was actually really into PoR but I didn't get into it until Awakening came out.

What Fire Emblem games have you played? (Note: I have not beaten all of these) Genealogy, Sacred Stones, Awakening, Fates, Three Houses, Engage, TMS, Heroes

First & Favorite Fire Emblem games? Awakening & Sacred Stones

List your 5 favorite Fire Emblem characters across the series! Frederick, Eirika, Ephraim, Gerome, Seteth

Who was the first character ever to make you go “ooh I like this one in particular” and why? Can be any context and reason! Frederick lol I'm such a Frederick simp. I love how caring and protective he is, that he knits, isn't afraid of showing affection, just generally wholesome imo

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 Frederick 😳

If you’ve played (or are familiar with) the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Frederick (are you noticing a trend) and still Frederick - Fates: Yukimura, but probably Shura if I did it again - Three Houses: Hanneman haha I'd try a different one if I went back but Hanneman is my favorite - Engage: Mauvier, and still him

Favorite Fire Emblem class? rogues!

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class and stats? Would you be playable? Some kind of archer probably

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? Golden Deer all the way!

If you were an Officers Academy student, what would be your boons, banes and potential budding talent?

If you were an Engage character, which nation would you originate from? Firene probably

How do you pronounce TOA? To-ah

Current TOA muses? Gerome & Mikoto!

Past TOA muses? none right now

Who was your first TOA muse? Best boy Gerome

Do you believe you have a type of character you gravitate towards writing? It seems like…tsundere types tend to get me, or the ones that have lived a long time and have complicated pasts. but I have others that don't fit those trends too

Do you have characters or types of characters you don’t think you can handle writing, but wish you could? tbh my indie has a wide range of character types and I try to not write characters that are too similar. However, I guess I tend to not write types that are Too extroverted

What kind of scenes, situations etc do you believe you enjoy writing the most? I enjoy all types but I suppose very emotional scenes are fun for me, whether it's angst or positive emotions

Do you have any scenario in mind for your muse(s) that gets you thinking “man I hope I get to write this one day”? for Mikoto, I just want to write her with her children and also, tbh, finding a new love haha I'm in no rush for it but it'd fun if it happened. I'd also love to see her on the battlefield protecting others

Favorite TOA-related memories? Happyland was a blast to write with everyone and I adore the connections it brought so much. I can't wait to throw Mikoto into an event, she deserves it

Present or past tense? I think my habit is past but I try to match others so I go for present. if you see my flipping tenses I'm so sorry haha

Normal size text, small text, no preference? I default to small text but I'll match my writing partner, or use regular in case I'm concerned about readability for others

Got any potential muse delusions to share? 😉  ahahaha uhmmmmm if I can, Eirika, but if not then probably Peony or maybe even Rhys or Mozu. I write so many FE characters that I will never run out of ones to pick lol I've also written all of these characters at some point so I love to see how others write them too

[greentrickster]

So, what's Nathalie up to in this setting while Gabriel & Co. are off trying to liberate the world, since he's apparently lonely and the only adult in this revolution?

Well, to put it plainly, she's avoiding the revolution, Hesperia, and the Miraculous like the plague. Because if she doesn't know, then she can't spill the beans, which will help keep Emilie's husband and son safe. She's also the one who picks up any potential slack on the business side of things- no, actually, changing tracks a bit here, she's not just picking up the slack, Gabriel was super busy and wealthy even before Emilie died, and after he started his redemption arc he realized that there simply aren't enough hours in the day.

So he took a page out of Tony Stark's book and now Nathalie's in charge of his company and he's just ('just') the lead designer (it's an exciting situation where he technically owns it, but she officially runs it, fun times). This is also when Adrien got retired as the face of the teen line for the Gabriel brand, with the explanation that with a death in the family, they both felt the need to step back from the public eye to a certain extent. Adrien still does the odd photo shoot here and there, but his schedule's relatively free outside of mandatory education tutors and a few extracurriculars that he decided to keep. He almost certainly would have been given permission to start school if he'd asked, but he didn't and Gabriel didn't want to throw him into something like that when he was already so shaken from his mother's death.

So now Nathalie's both running a company and through hoops to avoid finding out more than absolutely necessary about what her sorta-employer/friend/sorta-romantic-rival/potential-love-interest is getting up to in his free time, and also avoid finding out what Adrien's getting up to because apparently like father like son is very applicable in this instance! Gabriel had better appreciate what she's doing and also display some intense gratitude when he's finished off whatever he's up to, because she's "I do not perceive"-ing so hard that she's gotten surprisingly good at fainting on demand. The board thinks she might have a medical condition. Adrien is #Concerned. The things she does to help these idiot boys (and hopefully eventually everyone else under the Supreme's control).

(And, to be clear, Nathalie absolutely Knows about the Miraculous - she's the one who got kamikoed to help Emilie and Gabriel have Adrien, giving her the world's most unique inclusion on that boy's genealogy chart.)

[revelations-mp3]

Tagged by @lvagirl thx bestie

1. Are you named after anyone? Yes I’m named after an actress who was famous in the 1960s because my dad liked the name :/

2. When was the last time you cried? Probably earlier this month a few weeks ago? Idk it’s been a while. But according to my mood tracker the last time I mentioned crying was April 29 at 8:36pm sooo slay?

3. Do you have kids? No

4. What sport do you play / have played? I’ve never played a sport in like an actual competitive team setting, only ever like during recess when I was a kid lmao. Lots of kickball and dodgeball

5. Do you use sarcasm? Yes

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people? Ummm idk maybe their hair or nails or outfit 🧍🏻‍♀️

7. What’s your eye color? Brown

8. Scary movies or happy endings? Honestly depends on my mood and also nuance cuz like what kind of scary are we talking about . But I think generally speaking I normally go for happy endings..

9. Any talents? Hmmm Not really

10. Do you have any pets? Yes a kitty !

11. Where were you born? USA

12. What are your hobbies? I rly enjoy genealogy research and building my family tree and learning about the people that came before me. It’s been a minute since I’ve taken a deep dive just cuz I’ve kinda hit a brick wall with basically every side of my family and I’ve just been busy !

13. How tall are you? 5’5” according to the medical assistant that measured me last Tuesday 😵‍💫

14. Favorite subject in school? English because it was the one class I excelled at mostly effortlessly

15. Dream job? Trying to figure this out still

Tagging @komawo @lushbysnailmail @everythingmatters @unheavenlybody @yellowwperil @hazystars @lovepin @anxeious @thismustbetheplace1983 @apathyisboring @beornoth 👾‼️

[geminiagentgreen]

Finally finished my analysis of the sermon! Picking apart sermons is something I’ve done for fun before but this is my first time doing it on my own, and it was really fun! I wanted to make sure I had the correct impression of what he meant by stuff so I listened to the first part of the series as well, and it only solidified my impressions.

I immediately have red flags with the fact that he puts his full title (Rev. Dr.) in the title and that he feels the need to give us the credentials for the people he quotes, because people can be very solid theologically even without any sort of degree. Where you went to school just doesn’t matter.

Aside from that he starts off with a pretty solid topic, presence and absence. I’ll give some grace and say that he’s probably not trying to imply that God isn’t omnipresent. I also don’t have an issue with starting off referencing a book because that is a good way to do the little introduction period.

He is using teaching from women to teach the entire church, which is a clear violation of scripture already (I can link where I learned about that but it is a LONG study, the summary alone was 11 hours long).

I’m not sure why hearing the voices of women/women of color is important, because leadership should already be hearing from the men and women of the church and listening to them. For example in my church the leadership welcomes us coming up and correcting them if we think they misstepped on something, and have corrected themselves in the past (before that was our home church) because of people bringing up issues.

We should know what I’m looking for in a sermon and a pastor, because that’s important. I’m looking for the answers to

What does the Bible say?

What does the Bible mean?

How do we apply it?

1) Do they tell us what the Bible says? Absolutely not. He COMPLETELY skips over Ruth’s marriage and skips to where Naomi is centered in verse 14. He’s accurate on the facts of Ruth being transferred from the status of slave woman to wife, and that it’s a patriarchal society, and that there is a genealogy.

Congratulations, you did a surface level reading of the text. But he delivers it wrong. He draws attention to the facts of slavery and patriarchy without explaining what that means. Without explaining the fact that she wasn’t treated like scum even with a slave woman status. Without drawing attention to how this “patriarchy” isn’t actually all that bad or the reasons it would be bad (sin. Sin is the reason. Not the fact that men are in charge).

He also completely misses why genealogies are written out the way they are. Do you really think it’s because they think the men are more valuable? More important? They had the text in Genesis telling them that men and women are equals. Not equivalent in functions for society, but one is not more important than the other. Overall he obviously reads the text in a very biased manner.

2) Do they tell us what the Bible means? Not in the slightest, it’s more of a storytime with terrible reading comprehension.

He asks the question “did Ruth actually have agency in this narrative?”and I don’t see why this is important. None of us should care whether or not we have agency because we belong to God. We have free will, great, but it doesn’t matter. Our will is transformed to God’s will, much like Ruth’s was when she said “let your God be my God”and so, in a way, our free will is taken away (it’s a complicated issue that is uncomfortable for many to think about and it sounds bad until you realize just how good God’s will is). So yeah, agency and power don’t really matter.

He calls this a story of hope for those who feel invisible or set aside, story of hope. No idea where this comes from, because when I read Ruth I see an example of how we are to follow Christ in Ruth, an important historical piece because she is in fact in the genealogy of Jesus (we’ll get to that), and a wonderful view of God’s provision. Not…whatever he was trying to squeeze out of it.

He makes the point that Jesus is impossible without Ruth. Correct-ish. God made it happen exactly the way he wanted it to happen.

He also rambles about the genealogy at the end and says “Lots of preachers don’t talk about the genealogies. I talk about them.” How prideful do you have to be to insert what you do better than others in the middle of a SERMON??? A sermon is not for bragging, it’s for uplifting and teaching the church.

He references the narrative of the story a lot, and I think this is a misuse of language. It’s not a narrative, it’s God’s word. This is blatant disregard for the fact that it was written perfectly, inspired by God. This is especially visible when he says “but somehow the message of the Hebrew and the Christian people…” it’s NOT THE MESSAGE OF THE PEOPLE. IT’S GOD’S WORD. FROM GOD’S MOUTH.

“Jesus has a nuanced sense of agency with the ever present possibility of being killed for speaking his truth to power” uh. What? His truth to power? It’s not his truth, it’s just truth. He is God. He’s hardly speaking it to power, the infinite God has no power ruling over him. The only reason he follows their rules is because he was the one who made them. This is an incredibly diminishing view of Christ and comes very close to denying his deity, and if you do that you no longer have even the gospel. Do you really think God can have a “nuanced sense of agency”? I think it played out exactly according to his will with no uncertainty, no possibilities for something else to happen. This is not to say that God controls people like puppets, but God could very easily have made everyone know exactly who Jesus was. But if he did that they wouldn’t kill Jesus and we wouldn’t have the gospel.

3) Do they tell us how to apply it? Nope! I didn’t actually catch where he taught how to apply any of it aside from a couple sentences at the end about “whatever we have done/not done for the least of these we have done for Christ” but that’s shoehorned in with no real explanation of how to do that.

Some additional miscellaneous points, he talks about a patriarchal society as though he’s reading a history book with pity for a people who are backwards and not a society that was, at least for the people in the story of Ruth, acting exactly as GOD directed them to act. There were times when Israel didn’t act as God wanted them to but those places very clearly frame it as bad. At the end there was no transition between the sermon and what seems to be advertising a book and his trip.

My biggest issues boil down to blatant disregard for the authority of scripture, misunderstanding of the character of Christ, and a complete failure to do his job of teaching the church how to correctly read, interpret, and apply scripture in our lives.

Overall score: 1/10, wildly inaccurate and complete garbage with one or two things that were kind of correct

Boy, when I was expecting a review, I did NOT have "totally eviscerated" in mind! 1/10, sweet sassafras!

Seriously, this was a very good read, I had wanted to get to it ASAP but work was not the place to do so but now I'm ready for bed and...whoo!

I don't have anything to defend, frankly I want your training in sermon review. I kinda had a curiosity with regards to what you said about using the teaching from women to teach ths entire church, but I can't really think of what it is I want to even ask, so this is really a moot point.

Thank you for taking the time to do this 🙏

[mirjam-writes]

My research process for Be Still My Soul

I was asked about my research for Be Still My Soul (GO human au fanfic set in Finnish history. It has also its own blog @be-still-my-soul-fanfic for extra notes and background info), and I was so excited for a reason to babble about my process! Thank you for asking <3

The question was this:

Can I ask what your research process is? How long you’re willing to spend on it and then separating things you’ve discovered while interesting might not be right for the story you’re telling

The quick answer to "how long you're willing to spend on it" is always "way too much", truly ridiculous amounts! But I was also building on a foundation of existing knowledge. I have no degrees on history, but we learned the basics of all this at school. I also loved to listen my grandparents stories of the olden times as a kid; not necessarily about the war, but farming, customs and architecture. My proper interest in the civil war period began in 2018, during the 100th anniversary year. There were a lot of events, articles and news about the war, so I decided to read some of them, including old classics, and visit some museums. When I stumbled upon a reference I didn't understand, I read more, and that was a whole rabbit hole... But! When I started outlining Be Still, I was able to base it on a lot of knowledge I already had, and was able to add the big beats of the love story to the real historical timeline.

Then I started writing. I took a scene or a short period I had outlined and started to ask myself questions. What needs to be shown for the reader to understand the next big beat. What do the characters know, what do they see, what do they think. I always started my research from something related to the outline BUT it definitely got off track and severely out of hand so often! I found new details I could add to the story, and a whole bunch of details I hyperfixated in, researched for days---and used only maybe in one offhand paragraph.

I left so much out, because it was, at heart, a love story and not a history lesson. And some things made no sense to be explained in the story because they were every-day stuff for the characters! So, from the very early on I realised I needed an outlet for all that extra info in order to not clutter the story, and that's how the blog was born.

My biggest tools for research during writing were

online newspaper archives (to figure out what people actually knew and discussed at any current day I was writing about, because nowadays we of course know a lot more about the stuff that happened, than the people knew when it was actually happening. I also used newspapers to search for important information like if Vaseline was already available in 1918 Finland)

national archive's online photo archive (to get visuals of locations, clothes, houses and other things, to be able to describe them better)

Wikipedia (especially for looking for right words; I searched for a spesific thing from Finnish Wikipedia, then opened the English article to see the English word for it, and to figure out if the word is what I'm looking for. And then I went to Discord to ask around on writer's channels if the words I was about to pick were actually general knowledge for English speakers)

census data (I've also done genealogy research for my family, so I still have a subscription to some neat archives. These I used to search for names and professions, and to count amount of servants in big houses, etc)

library (I'm sure our local library thinks I'm doing some important historical research :D I read several books about other people's research, and also fiction. But I have kinda ruined the fiction for myself because I can now spot all the mistakes, and also, in one case, when the author described a scene in vivid detail, I could tell exactly which museum archive photo they had used as a reference!)

Whenever I found something I got curious about, all my other research (and writing!) stopped and I started googling more and more information, which sometimes did end up into the story, but more often did not! But I'm the sort of history geek that likes these rabbit holes, so I didn't mind much.

(Unless it felt like I got no new words into the story for weeks!)

[goosegirl94]

Myslyvets Return to Nevermore

Chapter 5 I forgot to tell you

Enid heard three sets of foot steps coming closer to her door. Muffled conversations followed. Enid took out her phone quickly to make sure she looked good. Just a little tussle of her hair and she was ready. She drank in the scent of Wednesday, the mixed smells of soil and brimstone and- hold on- is that- cologne? She became familiar with Ainsley's scent and she remembered that Lurch didn't wear cologne. So... why was Wednesday wearing it?

"Why don't you knock on the door Wednesday?" Ainsley teased nudging Wednesdays arm with a grin.

"Why?"

"Because you're her roommate Wednesday and her friend."

"Very well." Wednesday knocks and opens the door to see a very happy Enid. It takes everything to stop a smile from forming.

"Welcome back to Ophelia Hall roomie!"

"Hello Enid."

Enid is ready to pounce herself at Wednesday for a hug but freezes unsure if Wednesday wants it. Ainsley clears her throat and looks at Wednesday, tilting her head to Enid. Wednesday walks to Enid, gradually bringing her arms up for a hug. Enid immediately lunges in. She hugs Wednesday tight and lifts her off the ground. Ainsley is in complete amazement. She has never seen anyone- anyone- hug Wednesday like that. Her jaw almost hit the floor. Lurch turns to Ainsley and smiles, nods, and puts Wednesday's things next to her bed. Ainsley smiles and nods back to him and waves goodbye. "Wednesday I look forward to our coffee date tomorrow. I'll let you get settled in. Enid, have a good day."

The door closes and Wednesday realises her hold on Enid and takes a step back, quickly misses her pups strong embrace.

"Wednesday! I missed you so much! How did you're brake go?"

The goth girl quietly winced, remembering that she barely talked to Enid with the phone Xavier gave her. In all honesty, Wednesday forgot that she had a phone during the three weeks off of school. How was Wednesday even going to tell Enid how she spent her time off? It was certainly not worth telling. If she wasn't tormenting her brother Pugsley with all sorts of wicked games, she was doing research on Seers and blood moon werewolves. But the worst of it was her visions. They were nothing like the ones she had before. They became painful and violent and not in the fun way. Like before, her visions would make her freeze, but they would also make her muscles constrict. Her body would heat up, causing her to sweat under the pressure. When she came back to reality, she would gasp for air. When she would ask her mother about her new violent visions, her mother told her to look through the family genealogy as these kinds of visions were hereditary. Unfortunately, since Seers were on both sides of Wednesdays family, this could be a phase or side effects like what Wednesday was experiencing. "My apologies, Enid. I got caught up with my family. Many of them came to visit."

"That's ok Wednesday. I figured you just didn't really know how to use your phone No hard feelings." Enid said finishing with a wink.

Wednesday was now hating herself. She knew she didn't have to lie to Enid. Enid was a very understanding person. She took a few steps closer to Enid. "I'm sorry Enid I- I lied. Over the semester break I was haunted by visions. They took a toll on me much more than my visions had before. It was a type of torcher that was not of my liking."

Before Wednesday could finish, Thing jumped from Wednesday's bag. "O! M! G!" Thing?!" Enid scoped Thing up and pressed her check against him. "It's so good to see you!"

"Enid, why don't I put away my things and give you two a chance to catch up? When I'm done, would you like to accompany me for a stroll through the forests?"

Enid nodded, "Yeah that sounds nice. I'd like to hear more about these visions to."

Wednesday nodded back and went to her things and unpacked. Enid and Thing caught each other up skin care, nail care and nail polish. Wednesday didn't take long to get her things organized but let Enid and Thing continue. She was happy to watch her pup be all excited about such trivial topics. It also gave her a chance to change into more casual comfortable clothes.

"Oh Wednesday. How long have you been finished?"

"Long enough to know what shades of your new nail polish will fit Thing best with his what you called, cool under tones. Now come, lets roam the woods before dinner is served."

Enid smiled and jumped to Wednesdays side. Wednesday opened the door for her. "After you."

[zahra-burch]

[enter, pursued by bear...]

zahra burch!

pinterest

quick facts

name: zahra marina burch

age: 27

birthday: february 1st

gender: cis woman

sexuality: bisexual

star sign: aquarius

place of birth: crescent city, california

occupation: manager of 'vintage vibe'

appearance

faceclaim: maddison jaizani

height: 5’3

build: slim

eye color: dark brown

hair color: dark brown

piercings: none

tattoos: several

short history

zahra's family moved to town the summer before first grade, so while they're not technically locals, they've certainly been here long enough to feel settled (or as settled as her and her mother could ever feel)

zahra's mother began waitressing at a local coffee shop and breakfast spot, 'brewty and the treat', and eventually became the manager there. the shop wasn't far from campus, and was a common hot spot for students, so it wasn't uncommon for zahra's classmates to be familiar with her mother and vice versa

her 'father', meanwhile, was an emt who worked long hours in the next town over

zahra attended st marys (class of 2015!) on an arts scholarship, although her grades were to the point of just skating by in most of her other classes

zahra would often be described as eccentric, showing up in bright and mismatched outfits, over the top makeup, rather out-there hairstyles, and always an odd thing or two to say to those passing by

spent the majority of her time in school backstage in the theater, painting sets and props…never finishing until the last possible second, but managing to pull it off after a few all nighters

while working on a project for history class junior year, she took a dna test and spent time at the local library researching her genealogy with the help of their records. the genealogy test came back that her father was not her biological father, and that she had a brother who went to st marys. she matches the birthday to chris, and is convinced that he's her long lost, secret sibling.

zahra spends the next few months preparing to approach chris at graduation, excited to finally have a sibling and fantasizing about a close relationship. she attend the party, before leaving early to finish up a set for an upcoming performance. she falls asleep in the theate and wakes up to hear that her brother has gone missing after the end of the year party, she's heartbroken. heartbroken and looking for someone to blame…

although zahra used to be close with her 'father' when she was really young, they drifted apart as she got older and he worked longer hours. once she realized that he wasn't her biological father and that he had been lying to her (never mind that her mother was also doing that…mom can do no wrong!) the relationship deteriorated even further, and she eventually gets it into her head that he's somehow responsible for chris' disappearance

senior year is a struggle, and although she's able to scrape together her portfolio in between assisting with the search efforts, even after receiving an internship with the potential for further training and work, zahra's unable to bring herself to leave where chris went missing.

so she stays, and the next ten years are spent growing more convinced of her 'father's' role in chris' disappearance, jumping around from odd job to odd job, until she finally settles into the role of manager of an 'upscale' thrift/secondhand/vintage store in town.

zahra never actually left after chris' disappearance, too caught up in the event and the fact that it meant she didn't have a chance to actually tell him what she'd found out and have a close, sibling relationship like she'd fantasized about. so when the im comes, she's ready to attend.

wanted connections

( just a few ideas, but i'm up for anything! just shoot me a message!)

enemies (girl can hold a grudge)

lowkey obsessive crush (‘guilty as sin’ vibes)

best friend

co-workers/former co-workers (she truly did bop around after high school, so it could have been anything local!)

theater/art friends

someone who was/is a regular at the coffee shop her mom worked at!

ex-friends

hookups

exes (any gender)

[bakaity-poetry]

Alain Badiou on Gilles Deleuze, Pocket Pantheon, page 113 - 118

How is it that, even more so than ten years ago, he is our contemporary? And how is it that he is still out of step with the times, so out of step as to be that rarity: a future contemporary? He is certainly not 'modern' in the eyes of the academics who write the balance sheet of the twentieth century as though its spirit had always resided in the discussion, which now triumphs in our classrooms, between pious phenomenologists and democratic grammarians. Speaking of phenomenology, Eric Alliez is quite right to say that Deleuze's most constant - and most difficult - project was to prove that we can escape it. And that we must do so because it had, as he put it, 'blessed too many things'. As for analytic philosophy and the 'linguistic turn', he hated them with a vengeance, and took the view that a sort of Viennese commando had, at least in university philosophy departments, turned the rich American thought of the Emersons, the Thoreaus and the Jameses into a desert. As for democracy, it cannot be said too often, given that it is such a courageous and correct declaration, that one of the major characteristics of philosophy according to Deleuze is that it positively loathes the very notion of 'debate'.

But that does not necessarily mean that Deleuze completed the Heideggerian programme of modernity - that interminable 'end of metaphysics' that also goes by the name of the work of deconstruction. He liked to say that he had no problem with metaphysics. It is not easy to insert Deleuze into the usual genealogies. Of course he held that our times began with Nietzsche, as do so many others, and credited him - though this is not, in my view, his most powerful inspiration with having introduced into philosophy the notion of meaning, as opposed to that of truth, which had been killed by conformisms. And yet this Nietzsche, whose ancestor is a Spinoza baptized the 'Christ of philosophy' and whose French brother is Bergson, would surprise a lot of people. Truth to tell, Deleuze constructed a very unusual history of 'interesting' doctrines ('interesting' was a word he liked) that was meant only for himself: the Stoics and Lucretius, Duns Scotus, Spinoza and Leibniz, Nietzsche, Bergson, Whitehead ... It is not easy to generalize this panorama, or to make it the stigma of a shared 'modernity'.

Shall we say, then, that he is, as transatlantic classifications tend to see him, one of the postmodern (or post-postmodern?) representatives of continental, and especially French, thought of the 1960s? If we do, we forget that, at the time, he was swimming against the current. He spoke very eloquently about structuralism, about non-meaning as the cause of meaning, and about the theory of the 'empty set'. He shared certain of Blanchot's analyses of death and writing, but he also rectified them. But he did not belong to that school, and still less does he belong to it ten years later. His polemic against Lacan was violent, and he challenged him - in vain - with his schizoanalysis. His 'Marxism', fraternally woven together with Guattari, was the complete antithesis of Althusser's. Which leaves, obviously, the deep friendship that governs his tributes to Foucault. Although I do not have time to prove it here, I insist that their creative friendship must not conceal the fact that it changes completely as their central idea of what a concrete singularity itself is changes.

So how can we evoke him for our times? Why is it so obvious that he is by our side, even in the ironic distance of his perpetual retreat from the frontline where we were fighting against reactive infamy? I will disseminate this evidence in five major motifs, which are all bound up with the realization that something has been exhausted (another word he liked). He was often 'exhausted', and felt at such times that he was a brother to many of his heroes, such as Melville or Beckett.

1. Deleuze contrasted all thought of 'ends' (the end of metaphysics, the end of ideologies, the end of grand narratives, the end of revolutions . . .) with the conviction that nothing was 'interesting' unless it was affirmative. Critique, impotencies, ends, modesties . . . none of that is as valuable as a single real affirmation.

2. The motifs of unity, gatherings, 'consensus' and shared values are nothing more than thought's tiresome moment of fatigue. What does have value is certainly synthetic, as is all creativity, but in the form of separation, disjunction. Disjunctive synthesis: that is the real operation of anyone who is 'forced' to think (for we do not think 'freely', we think under pressure, we think as 'spiritual automata').

3. We have to stop speculating about time, its precariousness, and its subjective ubiquity. For what matters is eternity or, to be more specific, the temporal atemporality that has received the name 'event'. The great and unique 'throw of the dice' on which life wagers both its chance occurrence and its eternal return.

4. We have to get away from the obsession with language. Speech is of vital importance, but it is caught up in its multiform correlation with the integrality of affirmative experience, and has no constituent syntactic power. To confuse philosophy with grammar or with an inventory of rules is aberrational. Let us abandon, like an old corpse, the idea that the natural form of thought is judgement. And above all, do not judge: that is a good axiom for thought. Replace judgement with personal experience, with becoming 'caught up in our milieu'.

5. The dialectic is exhausted. We must rise up against the negative. In accordance with the 'Return' method, this brings us back to point 1: finding the integral affirmation of the improbable and doing so ascetically, which means of course without any negation of any kind, trusting - involuntarily - in becomings.

I would happily say that what sums up all these precious lessons - both for him and for me, even though I agree with neither the details nor the argument - can be summed up in one negative prescription: fight the spirit of finitude, fight the false innocence, the morality of defeat and resignation implicit in the word 'finitude' and tiresome 'modest' proclamations about the finite destiny of the human creature; and in one affirmative prescription: trust only in the infinite. For Deleuze, the concept is the trajectory of its real components 'at infinite speed'. And thought is nothing more than a burning to a chaotic infinity, to the 'Chaosmos'. Yes, that is the frontline I was talking about earlier, the frontline where he stands alongside us, and by doing so proves himself to be a very important contemporary: let thought be faithful to the infinity on which it depends. Let it concede nothing to the hateful spirit of finitude. In the one life we have been granted, and caring nothing for the limits that conformism assigns us, we will attempt at all cost to live, as the Ancients used to say, 'as immortals'. Which means: exposing within us, so far as we can, the human animal to that which exceeds it.

[the-bio-ska]

Conduction on Tour(Tentative Title)

This should have been Lenox’s dream job. A big paying job that carried with it a lot of clout that could really help build up her reputation. A massive step up from fighting in underground cage matches and bouncer gigs in order to help provide for her two younger siblings, where she obtained the horrible nickname the Flying Bear. 

Lenox Xing-Balam is a cambion, a humanoid who has genealogy with demons of the Ars Goetia. Her lineage, as her last name suggested, was that of Balam. The bear part of the implication, giving her bear ears, or at least orange hairy human ears to match her hair. Cambion have a tendency to be villainized due to having demonic origins. Something Lenox sorely recalls after she mutated during the grazing bang. Due to her lineage and being so young when the mutation occurred, she grew fast and by the time she was a teenager she was the height of some adult men.

The job Lenox has now is guarding the pop star Brittany DeBoin, a starlet who despite being around for less than 3 years was already approaching a level of fame it would have taken her predecessors years to achieve. Her music was described by music critics as the odd whimsy of Kate Bush, the chunky layered production of Arca and the pop sensibilities of Kylie Mignoa. To her fans, she was an eclectic, dynamic performer who had not tried to hide from her being influenced by these artists. 

Others saw her as a hodgepodge, with too many ideas and influences muddling her style down. Brittany came from money as well. Not helped that she threw her allegiance behind Cernunos, a god who has had a storied past of sexual deviance.

In other words, she was polarizing.

Not only that, during this trip her two siblings would be staying at a highly regarded and most importantly, highly guarded, boarding school that was all expense paid and had the resources to help her brother Garcia, who has physical disabilities. Helped that she knew one of the seniors at the Academy who would keep an eye on her siblings for her. The cambion could at least guarantee that her siblings would be ok.

Everything should be flawless.

“Lenny!” A high, haughty voice cut through Lenox’s concentration. Not helped by the voice calling her by a nickname she does not like.

“Yes Ms. DeBoin.” Patient and proper. Not unlike a butler that the other voice seemed to think Lenox is.

A tall woman struts up to the woman before her. She is a pale, slim thing with white hair that went to her neck. Wearing jeans and a long sleeve blouse that left her navel exposed, showing her toned stomach. While she was taller than most normal people, Lenox still managed to dwarf her by at least a head’s height. On her face are rectangular sunglasses, meant to provide some kind of mystique. On the backs of her hands were two tattoos of roses. One blue on her right, and a red on her left.

She lowers the sunglasses, so her eyes can be seen by the cambion. Brittany has striking golden eyes with green scales under her eyelids. “Rooms are already set up. You are good to sleep on the sofa. You will have to carry some of my bags down when we leave in two days.”

Lenox furrows her brow. This kind of work is beneath her, guarding the envoy of Cernunnos is already a stressful task. “Why can’t you have the hotel staff bring them down?” Lenox folds her arms and shoots Brittany a look of impatience.

Focusing on her bodyguard’s muscular arms, a smug smile forms. She is sizing her up, thinking of the next way to test her patience. “Some of the staff dropped a few of my bags on the way up here. Some of my fragile things dad bought me.”

Her father, Alfred DeBoin is the pioneering bio-organic surgeon, who has mastered the ability to surgically alter people who were altered after the grazing bang altered their bodies. Being an early follower of the goddess Apolly, the guardian of the god whose body is mined for the material needed, helped immensely. This also put a target on Brittany’s head.

“I will help with 1, maybe 2 bags. Beyond that, the hotel staff will need to help you. I need to make sure I am ready in the chance someone tries to hurt you.”

An expression of realization is plastered on the diva’s face. “Talk about killing my joke. Well, if you want to get out with help with luggage, I guess I will just allow you to resume your duty as my personal magic proof shield.”

Lenox made sure to not dignify that with a response. Remember how she handled her baby sister Lana when she was eight: if you ignore the teasing, it will stop being fun. This proved effective almost immediately, the musician sighed and walks away, losing her source of fun. For now.