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psychshalala · 3 years

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Ok i feel like i wanna share my thoughts on our little chapter 220. I read allot of different thoughts about it and i slept on it and i still have mixed feeling about it. I see the right in both sides and the wrong in both sides but one thing ik is that even if yu hon made Kouka great again he would have also been its downfall.

Yu hon was known to be cruel. To him he only cared about his family and his country and had absolutely no regards or mercy towards anyone out of these boundaries. His cruelty didnt run on just killing the enemy it went to extents of torture i can imagine and severing heads to make it memorable even though it was completely unnecessary. I most certainly believe that same cruelty would definitely go around and come right back to bite him in the 🍑. As we all know very well, karma is very charming. Doesn’t necessarily have to be him, it can be future generation as we have already seen with Xing which is the best example. and i also see that some in Kai have a grudges towards yu hon since that general mentioned him and it almost sounded like he was aiming towards “an eye for an eye” type of thing. U sever heads? Well how about we send ur people flying towards their death in front of u.

Someone said “a ruler has to be cruel.” “ a ruler has boundaries”. I disagree. That to me gives the ruler right to be a tyrant. Ur the kind of ruler u choose to be. A ruler can change laws to help his people if he so wishes, he has allot of power. How he uses that power is key. Now let me make something clear. Im not saying Il was in any way a better ruler, nop. Even he himself knows what a shitty ruler he is. Im saying that both of them were flawed and both of them would have in one way or another ruined the country. As both had no balance in their ways.

Now though i am a huge fan of hak which i established many times but far from that yet one of the reasons why i love him is that i truely believe that hak carries that balance. Yona carries allot of kindness and she still has allot to learn about war and being a ruler though she is not her father she does carry a part of him which is natural same as soo wan carries a part of yu hon. Again, how soo wan handled Xing was a great example. Though he had the chance to negotiate and avoid huge losses he still chose war and ignored their wish to make a deal until yona convinced him by her sheer will. Hak understands that a world without war is a pipe dream, and I quote. But he also would not fight unnecessary wars. He understands the cruelty of war but would go through huge lengths to save both sides. Hak sets examples and inspires strength as well as goodness in people.

The advisor might look down on hak and some might look down on him for saving an enemy, but that same action might be the reason this war shifts to Koukas favor. I believe that haks principle in life would be “why have enemies when we can have friends”. He fights when he has to and goes beyond to save those important to him. He understands when there are loses and morns for them. He fights with dignity and respect to both sides of the battle. He understands that innocent civilians shouldnt have to pay the price over two children fighting over milk. As well as weaponless soldiers Who raise the white flag should not be killed just cause they are enemy. Even in battle when u show respect it will be returned one way or the other. This same mentality along with his incredible strength and his influence on people i truly see that hak would become a great ruler. He would not only strengthen Koukas army but he would also strengthen Koukas relation to other countries. Not with fear or weakness but with a strong bond of friendship and respect. I truly see Hak and yona as a power couple cause they think the same but they also complete each other where the other person is lacking. Cant say the same for soo wan in the mix with yona he would only hold her back and dismiss her, which is the opposite when it comes to hak. We all know how much soo wan admires hak, he is soo wans goal and weakness. Thats why i would love it and I believe its only right that hak is the one that teaches soo wan that important lesson. Slap him in the face and show him where his father was lacking!

Yall have a good and blessed day. 🌻^///^

#akatsuki no yona #hak #son hak #yona of the dawn #hak son #akayona #thunder beast #hakyona #yona #soowon #hak x yona #hak x soowon #hakwon #king hak #think about it

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c4p7ch4 · 2 years

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Basta's got the disorganized attachement style!

-a small rant

soo...I've partaken in a course about attachement styles, and I've come to the conclusion, that Basta probably got the disorganized/anxious attachement style

so, here's some of the information I've learned on the disorganized attachement style + my personal headcanons on how it shows in his personality and his relationships/way of dealing with others

DISCLAIMER: English is not my first language, errors might arise, also, I'm no professional on the matter, feel free to correct me or add your own thoughts!

How does the disorganized/anxious attachment style form?

this attachement style forms, when a child experiences (mainly/solely) abuse and neglect by their primary caretaker (for example, when the parents/the mother suffer/s from mental ilness [anxiety, depression, dissoziative disorder, etc.] alcoholism, unprocessed grief or being abused themselves)

->so the child doesn't experience the kind of bond it should have with their caretaker, its craving/need for safety and relationship stays unfullfilled, instead it experiences hurt and trauma and is conditioned to believe that this is normal

while I've seen many headcanons imagining that Basta's trauma stems from his abusive father, I actually imagine his mother being at fault:

I imagine that her husband/Bastas father died [maybe he was a soldier and died in battle, that would explain Basta's craving for a father, because his own was always away] and she couldn't cope with it, which has driven her into alcoholism which (paired with the overwhelm of being a young mother) made her neglect her small child, at other times she'd be short tempered because of intoxication and beat him up because he wouldn't stop crying and bothering her

Basta's unfullfilled desire of being loved by his mother later turned into his obsession of being loved by a woman (as seen in him constantly hitting on the maids in Capricorn's village, relentlessly trying to be liked [e.g. starting to chew mint leaves so he won't have bad breath like this one girl once told him when he was being vulnerable and tried to kiss her- like??! can I have a turn if she's too sensitive??] his obsession with Roxane, etc)

I also imagine his mother suffering from anxiety and clinging to superstitious rituals (good luck charms, avoiding bad omens, etc), that's where Basta got his superstitiouns from

Symptoms/ways in which this attachement style shows

very characteristic for this attachement style is the fact, that the person craves intimate and loving relationships, but they're scared of them because they expect to be hurt and abandoned at some point (because that's what they've learned relationships are like), which is why they tend to sabotage the relationship themselves and end bonds prematurely- in order to avoid being hurt, they want to have the control

people with this attachement style also tend to distrust others by default, they prefer to keep a distance and won't let people get too close to them, again, they want to have the upper hand and need to control how vulnerable they are

if they do have some kind of relationship with another person, they always question their true feelings and doubt that they truly like/love them (even if the person shows no signs of dislike whatsoever)

also they tend to think that every action of another person is somehow related to them, they (mis-)interpret the behavioir of others and believe them to be hostile towards them (even some innocent accident can be seen as a personal attack)

there can also be signs of lowered cognitive functioning, problems concentrating, lowered tolerance to frustration and heightened stress levels

so, how does this fear of being hurt line up with Basta's obsessive relationship with Capricorn, even though the latter isn't being all to nice to him?

someone who is desperate for any kind of attention and bonding doesn't have high standards, so even negative attention is an improvement to not being seen and interacted with at all

my headcanon: after Basta's mother died [some totally preventable accident, like a fall to the head due to the intoxication], he was all alone on their little farm, left to fend for himself, until one day Capricorn's men came to scalvage, just that they barely found anything usable except for this starving child, which they put into their black bag and dragged before their master, who decided to make use of that small boy, the rest is history

soo, since Basta is craving for (female) attention, he's getting crushes pretty easily, but he couldn't word out why he likes this person - because he doesn't actually like them, he just sees what they could give him: the love and safety he never got from his mother, what he is liking is not the person, but the fact that they could fullfill his needs, the use they could be to him (ofc, this is only subconciously, what he believes to be love is actually his survival instincts, trying to fill out his social needs)

if one of the girls he's flirting with would actually engage, his inner warning bells would flare up, which would result in him distancing himself in no-time (and the girl being confused af)

or maybe he would even start getting closer to the girl, but his constant distrust and accusations against her (like accusing her of being unfaithful or claiming she's just pretending to like him to gain some kind of advantage) would really damage their relationship and result in driving her away

so yeah... it would take a lot of time, patience and energy for someone to get through to Basta to the point, that they can live in relative harmony

the following hcs have arisen in my AU, where I ship Basta with my OC Zera (she's trapped in the village like the maids, but her job isn't chores, she used to work as a paramedic, so she was chosen by Capricorn to be the village doctor, most days she doesn't do much but patch up some cuts and scratches)

when Basta starts to crush on her, she engages in his flirting because she hopes to get to a better position with more freedom by dating him BUT she didn't consider Basta's brain stopping to work when he experiences positive and friendly interaction for the first time

it's scaring him a lot, but he can't help but be curious, he's starting to make up excuses to see her, most of them being medical-related (like cutting himself on purpose, claiming it was an accident and having her patch him up [that sneaky bastard feeds on those soft and brief touches, when Zera is putting band aids or bandages on him, checks his skin tissue or cleans a wound] )

-Zera sees right through him, no one can be this clumsy, at one point he comes to her daily, she let's it pass without calling him out on it, because at this point, she's already suspecting that he is just craving touch and company (that's when she slowly starts to actually care for him- she realizes that, as awful a person he may be, he's just a human [well, as human as a fictional character can be] with a lot of problems)

Basta starts to get extremly jealous whenever Zera is giving attention to anyone but him (even though they're nothing official [yet])

he's also mocking everyone, who comes to see Zera for treatment, for being 'sensitive' (but heaven forbid if anyone calls him out on his daily visits to have his band aid renewed or his sore neck checked out)

there's stuff happening in between, but at one point later in the story, one of the blackjackets stirs things up by telling Basta that Zera's just being nice to him to get herself an easier life, Basta confronts her and she does admit that, in the beginning she was leading him on for selfish reasons, but that she's grown to know and like him

-but Basta doesn't even properly listen to that last part, he gets furious and almost hurts her in his rage, but he retreats and stays out of her way from this point on, all attempts to get him to talk and listen to her fail

until Basta and some other blackjackets have to deal with some rebelling local famers and get caught in the crossfire

Basta gets shot in the arm and Zera has to treat him (but not without a fuss, even in this state, he is putting up a fight, she's deescalating the situation by retreating with him to a seperate room while the other maids take care of any other injured men)

that's when Basta has to expose his burnt arms (the shot wound itself isn't that bad, but the fact that he has to reveal his horribly scarred arms while he's been trying to hide them all these years is traumatizing)

and Zera can sense how uncomfortable he is, so she's not making much fuzz about it and just focuses on treating the wound while making the situation as comfortable as possible for him (locking the door so no one barges in, working under a cover, getting him to talk and making stupid jokes [not that Basta is in a mood for a laugh, but it helps lighten the mood])

after she is finished with treating him (and after she managed all the other blackjackets too), she insists on staying with him in his house for the night, in case he's getting worse or anything

she settles down on an armchair across his bed after she tucked him in, and in the cover of the darkness, they have a real heart-to-heart and Zera can convince him that she does in fact love him and that she doesn't care about his scars (which she proves by kissing down the lenghth of his bare arms

and after that, they develop a somewhat stable relationship, sure, Zera still has to reassure him a lot and treat him like the attention starved baby he is (someone on here stated it before: Basta needs all the five love languages), but they start to grow together and learn to manage each other

#these two idiots #they kill me #inkheart basta #basta x oc #basta #my hcs #might be out of character #i still love these #also I don't know tumblr or tags

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boundinparchment · 2 years

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Tell Me Who You Wanna Be {And I Will Set You Free} - II

“You threw me down a fucking cliff just to see if my Vision would reignite?” “As if you had any better ideas on how to reclaim your power. You refuse to touch a Delusion.” The last thing either of them wanted was to be stuck in a safe house with the other. In the middle of a snowstorm in Snezhnaya. Il Dottore x Original Female Character. Will be explicit in later chapters that will solely be posted on AO3.

The Harbinger watched the Warden a moment longer before he turned his attention back to the device in his hands. If he could just get a signal in this storm…

If only he’d sent a Segment in his place after all. What a waste of time.

It was one thing to deal with his colleagues’ (such as they were) verbal sparring. Such nonsense was tedious but manageable. Pressing each other’s buttons was part of the game. They were vying to prove their prowess, that they had more to offer than their rank suggested. That they were powerful not just in strength but their willingness to do what needed to be done; to act as a god in all but name.

He didn’t much care for godhood, metaphorical or literal. The Gods had done nothing for him. Except for the Tsaritsa, of course, but She knew the reality of this world, and its cruelty.

Gods were nothing to him. They could be manufactured quite easily.

But when it came to others serving Her Majesty, the Warden was a different story. Ever since he first observed her when she arrived in the Land of Cryo, he found himself curious as to how one managed to be disconnected from Celestia but still tethered to that cursed floating island. If her Vision was powerless and truly useless to her, it would be clear, void of an elemental marking. Potential existed, but potential for what remained unclear. He would uncover it, in the end; he always did.

She was a challenge to navigate, to understand. Anyone else in her position would have long since touched a Delusion or given up entirely. She clung to what she had, like a wolfhook seed deadset on its perch, sticking no matter how hard one tried to shake it off. She would survive out of sheer spite some days, it seemed.

A sentiment he couldn’t argue with, one that resulted in a disgusting tugging sensation in his chest.

True to her word, she’d given her drive to the Fatui, to the Tsaritsa, even if she hadn’t been the one who bargained with her life.

Dottore had long since dismantled the Segment responsible for the incident that untethered her career and position. The memories existed somewhere, archived for future access.

She didn’t need to know that, though. The Warden was making progress in moving forward, at least in part, and the last thing he wanted was to give her the impression he was merciful.

That he cared for anything other than his work.

Dottore’s crimson eyes rose from the metal in his hands to the figure across the room. Her breathing pattern was steady, regular, but too slow; she was trying to sleep and failing. If he watched closely, he could see small tremors in her shoulders. Over the crackling of the hearth, he could hear the soft chatter of teeth.

Spite and purpose worked well enough but even he knew there was a limit when managing one’s safety and health.

Stupid chevalier.

Dottore clicked his tongue softly, mentally chiding himself as he put the Akasha terminal down and stood, stretching slightly to alleviate the stiffness in his neck and spine. When they finally reached Fontaine, he was going to pester that ridiculous banker into investing more in these safehouses; Dottore didn’t sleep much but some kind of furniture was better than a bare floor and basic cabinetry.

A frown tugged at his lips. It wasn’t even that cold in here, he reasoned. She could use a bit of exposure to the harshness of the climate here.

She curled up further and pulled her sleeves over her hands, as if it would do any good.

Pathetic.

Circumstance made her extraordinary but she was really nothing special.

He hated the way his chest tightened as he slipped his heavy cloak off of his shoulders and draped it over her.

#OC: Karina Alexandre #genshin impact oc #genshin impact original character #fanfiction #fanfic #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin oc #il dottore #il dottore x oc #dottore

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thecrownrp · 3 years

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THE KINGDOM OF HEARTS PRESENTS . . .

one of the FIRST CLASS KNIGHTS, JEONG RYUN: a 21 YEAR OLD born on OCTOBER 10TH, 1999. some may know them already but with a face like that, it’s hard not to admit they look a little like YOO YONGHA. curious to know more? apparently, these are words they live by: “mediocrity is like a spot on a shirt-it never comes off.” intriguing, aren’t they? only time will tell if they’re suited for knighthood or not.

LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER . . .

THE BEGINNING, pt. 1.

sometimes ryun likes to pretend that he’s next in line for the throne of an imaginary kingdom.

there’s not a chance in the world, considering the circumstances—mom and dad’s hands are rough on his shoulders, calloused with the exhaustion of the lower-middle class. he isn’t qualified to compete, but in his young age, things like qualifications and reality don’t matter. it’s the dreaming that he likes, the fantasizing. laughing with his older brother about who’d make the better ruler and why while they stock fresh produce in the shop, dropping apples and lentils on the floor, hiding the bruises and the lost leaves in a way that suggests it’s instantaneous, thoughtless. second nature.

it is second nature. this is their reality, after all—the produce boys, sweet and well-mannered, softer than that sharp-edged father of theirs (though ryun inherits his iron spine), much more talkative than their composed mother (though il is just as prone to secrecy) & when they’re old enough to fully take the shop into their hands, it’s guaranteed to be a good day for everybody. after all, ryun’s always dishing out discounts to his favorite customers and sometimes il gives back too much change (“personally, i think my parents are charging too much!”), and it’s endearing to hear the brothers chat away without a care in the world about who might be listening in on their daydreams—

but all things come to an end, and in 2010, il decides that he’s going to try his hand at becoming a knight. it’s a good thing, ryun supposes—a rise in social status for the family if he succeeds, if nothing else. but it still makes him sad.

“why? since when have you wanted to be a knight? we’ve never talked about that before.” “it’s not like i tell you everything.” “well, fine. but that doesn’t answer my question.” “i just want to.” a pause, then, “dad wants me to.”

right. dad with all of his quiet anger, tough love and conviction—it’s impossible to say no to dad. two years later, it’s ryun’s turn. only thirteen and dad considers it a given that he’ll be trying his hand, too: if il can do it, surely ryun’s just as capable.

“i don’t want to be a knight,” he admits. one single try at backing out.

“sure you do. you always have. i’ve heard you and your brother talking about it for years.”

no, i haven’t, he thinks with his shoulders pulled back and his lips anchored, overwhelmingly stubborn in his silence. i wanted to be king.

“and it’ll be good for our social status, so why not?”

INTERLUDE.

he’s stronger than he looks.

mentally and physically, at that—he lasts longer in training than anybody had assumed he would, chin tilted upwards and chest puffed every time he’s the subject of disbelief. disinterest doesn’t mean that he’s going to do a slack job: he was raised better than that, raised to do his best in everything, no matter how hard or boring it is. that’s just life, he’s heard time and time again. once a sentence that pulled eye-rolls from him, but after the harder days of training, it becomes the thread he hangs by.

the issue with him is that he’s timid. at least that’s what he’s told by the second-class knights that he shadows, eyes wide and attentive—“really? i don’t think i’m timid,” he declares, but it’s less about his actual demeanor and more about his energy. the lack of certainty and trust in himself. he doesn’t do his assignments with the outcome in mind, he does them seeking recognition.

“a knight should be able to put their best foot forward even when nobody’s looking, ryun—you’re more than capable, but you’re just not there yet.”

not there yet. sure, he’s just not there yet. he’ll take that as the reason that after his rite of passage, he’s given the lowest ranking. it’s not like he looks down on second-class knights (certainly not after they’ve made his training so much easier), but surely he’d deemed himself worthy of more than this, no?

he tries not to think too much about his brother, how he’d become an elite knight right after training. about how, imaginary fight for the throne aside, maybe he’d started to truly view him as competition amidst all the jokes and elbow-jabs.

THE BEGINNING, pt. 2.

twenty-one years old and a first-class knight—while it’s not the biggest advancement in the world, it gives new meaning to the ‘opportunities for promotion’ promise that had once felt like a cheap way to dull the hurt; besides, being a knight’s not so bad now that he’s proved himself worthy. it’s different when he’s actually doing the work instead of simply learning about it, easier somehow. or maybe it’s just the kind of thing that he’d been meant to do.

in fact, even that nearly six-year wish for advancement has deteriorated. it would be nice to be the best (and he’d be a fool to not dream of being number one), but there are days in which he misses his old rank. patrolling common grounds and making smalltalk with passersby had become charming, in its own way. less of a bruise, more of a badge. but he’s learned all the ways of keeping himself entertained, even when the job ceases to be fun. life is one long balancing act, and jeong ryun has finally found the perfect mixture of chivalry and mischief.

(yeah, being a knight’s not so bad—and it’s good for social status.)

#cwnfollow #cwn kingdom: hearts #cwn rank: knight

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leechonspeeddial · 3 years

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Midnight Shift: Singer's Blood

Summary: Something wicked might have come to the Burger King. Either that, or someone really needs deodorant

wc: 1.7k

Read on ao3

"And just like that? I'm in your game?"

"Eh, 'just like that' is like not it, Gucci, but basically. Yeah, dude," I watched as sprite mini-me walked all over the map — a pixelated version of East Laddle's last remaining Burger King, complete with a rat king decomposing in the parking lot and Not Kevin's monster of a car covering an old blood stain.

"Call me Gucci again and I'll burn down your secret edibles stash"

"Nah, dude. The invitation for your family's gala was written in gold, and the card was imported from France. I think I'm entitled, yeah?" I rolled my eyes and cursed as the date to Alice's stupid party drew to a close. Two more days before the humans unknowingly walked into a vampire lair.

It was cliché to say that I just wanted to be a normal kid, and there was a part of me that would be happy to explain everything I felt with the cliché. But I knew that wasn't it — spending a decade in high school made you realize how stifling normal could be. What I truly wanted was to be left alone; I was fed up of Alice treating my like one of her dolls and everyone enabling her. I was tired of having no thought that was truly for myself and Edward violating my privacy on a whim. It hurt to see Rosalie go from a doting mother to a distant figure when I no longer looked like a child, much like it hurt to see Bella see me as an extension of her beloved husband.

Being able to hear all of them have sex only made everything much worse.

"Whatever. Just show me my final boss form. You said your roommate was hardcore into Junji Ito"

"Alright, but we only have the concept art for it, though. Abby got super pissed at us for smoking her artisanal weed, so she's not like making the sprite until we get her more, 'kay?" Straight Kevin minimized the game and navigated through his discord server. I left him to his search so I could refill my mello yello; it was always a good shift when Gay Kevin and Not Kevin were away from the store. They were objectively entertaining men, but they also got a little too intense about work here. Neither would let us blow off work in favour of our personal projects.

Not since Wrestlemania Condimentalooza.

I slurped at my drink and absentmindedly wiped at the counter. Straight Kevin had his phone hooked to our sound system and he was blasting his playlist. His taste in music was…was one would call eclectic if one was feeling charitable – and boy, did I feel like I was making a million dollar donation. In the past hour alone, we had listened to swedish rap, some Nancy Sinatra, Blackpink, Tibetan throat singing, quebecois death metal, and Maroon 5.

Fucking Maroon 5.

But none of that compared to the song that was currently playing. It was less of an auditory experience, less of a musical treat, and more like being forcefully turned into a robot that was in the middle of short circuiting. Not only could you feel the beat, but you could see it too. It looked like flashing lights, and I was certain in that moment, that if it continued I would soon be able to taste sound.

And it was during that assault of my senses that I smelled it. Something unlike anything I had ever smelled before and an immeasurable sense of dread washed over me. The pit in my stomach felt like a black hole as I stood ramrod straight and saw a man I had never seen before enter the building alongside Jeremiah.

Nothing about him particularly stood out. He looked like any other white guy that just got out of the office. He was tall though, taller than anyone else here. Not unnaturally tall, mind you, but...something about his aura felt dangerous. I was on edge and no longer breathing, was this how it felt to be near il tuo cantante?

I made eye contact with the man and tried to place the smell, the flavour of it. It didn't taste enticing, if anything the rat king out back called to me more than the man did. But if this was what Bella smelled like when she was human, I had many questions for Edward.

"How's it hanging, Carrot top? Still working on that game, I see Shaggy," Jerimiah appeared oblivious of my behavior. Then again, glaring to our customers wasn't uncommon for me.

I looked away from the man and I saw Jerimiah set up a chess game on his table. Oh no.

"My man C.J. here is buying me lunch, so you can tell your anxious manager not to have a panic attack over more 'non-paying customers'"

"Nah, it's all cool, dude. Kev and Not Kev are on a supply run. Another of our suppliers dropped us like a hot potato"

"Cello beach, that's what they say, no?" Jeremiah shrugged and the man tilted his head.

"C'est la vie?" He questioned using a register of voice I had not expected. I hated it.

"Languages were never my thing. Math, now that's my jam," he dropped onto his chair and I decided I needed to clear my airways. I needed to get out of here.

Now.

"Kev, take their order. I'm going to deal with the raccoons"

I didn't even wait for a response before I hauled ass out of there. Luckily, I had enough self control to not vampire yeet myself.

Once outside I took a deep breath.

It was a deeply offensive smell, but at least it was a familiar one. Trash, raccoons, and decay, baby.

Though, on second breath. Way less raccoons than last week. Significantly less. Maybe Gay Kevin had finally bested them, which shame if true.

I leaned on the dumpster and tried to focus. It was important for me to figure out what the hell was going on, because damn if some paper pusher was the reason we left East Laddle. The Cullens would jump at the opportunity to decrease my autonomy if I ate some guy.

Which, yeah. Murder shouldn't be taken lightly, but I'd never be able to have as much freedom as I did now.

God, it'd be fucked. They'd make me go back to school and somehow rationalize that decision as a good one. Somehow surrounding me with hundreds of humans after murdering one would make sense because they'd be there to keep an eye on me...

I was getting sidetracked again, back to the matter at hand.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, that man stank. Second, there was a part of me – and I didn’t know how potent that part might be – that wanted to murder him in cold blood. And third, I was deeply and irrationally terrified of him.

A trash can fell over with a loud clang and a empty jug of bleach rolled pass my feet. My eyes widened in realization – Jake had once told me that to him, the smell of vampires made his nose burn. It was an unpleasant odor that clung to everything a vampire touched. Similarly, Alice had gone on at length at how much she didn't like how the shifters smelled like.

The man didn't smell like a shifter, which only served to make me more uneasy. He clearly wasn't a vampire, his eyes were bright blue and I heard his heart beat, but my nose felt like burning back there.

The more I stood in our nearly empty garbage zone, the more questions I had. The last time I felt this level of terror, the freaking Volturi had crossed the Atlantic to personally execute me. It was horrifying.

And exciting. This was something new and unheard of, a break from the monotony of the past 15 years. I needed to solve this mystery and I needed to do it stat. Not only because this was potentially life threatening – and I didn't mean just the vampires, whatever that man was could be a danger to the whole town – but also because the moment the Cullens found out about it, we'd be out the Minnesota, nay, the States, before I could even think to protest.

I was so not letting the Cullens ruin this for me. This could be my Riverdale moment; Betty who? Resentment Cannibal was on the case.

...

Ok. That was a bit cringe, but fuck it. I walked back in to the building with a mission in mind. I also washed by hands with our heavy duty soap for at least 20 seconds.

"–that incident he got kicked from kitchen duties. Which sucked, cuz CJ has some wicked knife skills," Jeremiah's voice carried to the back of the kitchen and I mentally prepared myself to go back to ground zero.

"How didn't you notice the taste? Catfish smell so bad when you rupture their guts"

I walked to our registers just in time to see the man shrug. The chess game was still on going and they had pushed another table besides Jeremiah's to make space for the food. There was only one meal on the tray.

"You should have seen Tammy's face. She wanted to blow up so bad, but she couldn't because Susan was there," Jeremiah pitched his voice up and put on the worst British accent I had heard in my life, "'Oh, it's fine Mr. Singer. No big deal. Not a problem. Honest mistake. Happens to everyone!'"

He took a bite from his burger before continuing. "That woman is so gone on CJ it makes her look stupid."

The man made a face while Straight Kevin laughed.

"She isn't 'gone' on me"

"'Oh Mr. Singer, is that a new coat? Did you do something new with you hair, it looks spiffing! What a nice strong man you are,'" Straight Kevin dissolved into giggles while Jeremiah kept up his imitation. "You have to tell her your taken, man. For all of our sakes"

I stepped forward to join the conversation, when my phone blew up, vibrating as if its life depended on it. I would have ignore it, but the notifications just kept coming. The three men looked back at me.

Fuck.

I fumbled as I took the phone out from my pocket and I checked the messages, all of the Cullens had send me a text and they all said the same thing.

Family emergency. Alice had a vision. Come home.

Double fuck.

#twilight #twilight saga #twilight renaissance #my writing #midnight shift #renesmee cullen #twilight fanfiction

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aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

Squid Game’s Scathing Critique of Capitalism

https://ift.tt/3kOEMpF

This Squid Game article contains MAJOR spoilers.

From the very first game of ddakji out in the real world with Train to Busan actor Gong Yoo, Squid Game poses the question: how far would you go for money? How much of your body, your life, would you trade to keep the wolves at bay and to get to live the life you’ve always dreamed? Once you start, could you stop, even if you wanted to? And in the end, would it even be worth it? While Squid Game depicts an attempt to answer these questions taken to the extreme, they are the same essential questions posed to everyone living under capitalism: What kind of job, what terrible hours, what back-breaking labor, what level of abuse, what work/life imbalance will we tolerate in exchange for what we need or want to live? Unlike many examples of this genre, Squid Game is set in our contemporary reality, which makes its scathing critique of capitalism less of a metaphor for the world we live in and more of a literal depiction of life under capitalism.

Squid Game’s Workers

At the most basic level, the entire competition within Squid Game would not exist without extreme financial distress creating a ready pool of players. It’s no coincidence that Gi-hun’s hard times started when he lost his job, followed by violence against the workers who went on strike. Strike-breakers and physical violence against striking workers may feel like an antiquated idea to an American audience. South Korea, however, has something of an anti-labor reputation, with only 10% of its workers in unions and laws limiting unions to negotiating pay, among other restrictions. In the US, the anti-labor fight is alive and well, though transformed, where it takes the shape of the deceptively named “Right to Work” laws, which benefit corporations and make it harder for unions to operate.

As noted in our review, (most of) the players choose to leave and then willingly return to the arena, which separates Squid Game from other entries in the genre like the Hunger Games series and Escape Room. This element of volition contributes to the series’ primary critical goal. As Mi-nyeo and others brought up early on, they’re getting killed in the real world too, but at least inside they might actually get something for their troubles.

As an anti-capitalist parable, the only ways to fight back or upend the game in some small way are through acts of solidarity or by turning down the allure of the cash. The final clause in the game’s consent form states that the game can end if a majority of players agree to do so. After the brutal Red Light, Green Light massacre in the first, they do exactly that. The election might as well be a union vote. It’s shocking that the contract for the game included an escape clause at all, but it seems the host and his ilk enjoy at least allowing the illusion of free will if nothing else. The players who didn’t return after the first vote to leave the game, though unseen in this narrative, are perhaps the wisest of all.

Squid Game’s Most Heartbreaking Hour is Also Its Best

By Kayti Burt

Squid Game Ending Explained

By Kayti Burt

During tug of war, Gi-hun’s team surprises everyone by winning. Their teamwork, unity of purpose, and superior strategy help them defeat a stronger adversary, which is a basic principle of labor organizing, albeit usually not at the expense of the lives of other workers. Player 1 (Il-nam) and Player 240 (Ji-yeong) each find their own way to beat the game by essentially backing out of the competition during marbles. In exchange for friendship and choosing the circumstances of their own deaths, Ji-yeong and Il-nam each make their own, ethically sound choice under this miserable system. Il-nam gets an asterisk since he was never going to die, but he still found a choice beyond merely “kill” or “be killed” by teaching his Gganbu one “last” lesson and helping him continue on in the game.

In the end, Gi-hun confounds the VIPs and the Front Man by coming to the precipice of victory and simply walking away. Under capitalism, this group of incredibly rich men simply could not understand how someone could come so close to claiming their prize, and choose not to. But for Gi-hun, human life always had greater value. Gi-hun followed (Player 67) Sae-byeok’s advice and stayed true to himself, refusing to actively take anyone’s life, especially not the life of his friend.

Squid Game’s Ruling Class

Since the competition only exists because of the worst aspects of capitalism, it’s not surprising that in the end, it is itself a capitalist endeavor. Ultra-wealthy VIPs, who mostly seem to be white, Western men, spectate for a price and bet on the game. In their luxury accommodations, they lounge on silent human “furniture” and mistreat service staff. In one notable example, a VIP threatens to kill a server (who the audience knows to be undercover cop Hwang Jun-ho) if he doesn’t remove his mask, even though the VIP knows it would cost the server his life.

Perhaps most enraging of all is what Player 1, who turns out to actually be the Host, has to say to Gi-hun a year after the game ends. It all circles back to the game’s existential connection to economics; on the one hand, there is the unshakeable link to a population in which a significant portion of people suffer from dire financial woes. On the other hand, there is the Host and his cronies, the ultra-rich who are so bored from their megarich lives that they decided to bet on deadly human bloodsport for fun just so they could feel something again, as though they were betting on horses.

In spite of the enormous gulf between the two, the Host attempts to draw comparisons between the ultra-wealthy and the extreme poor, saying both are miserable. His little joke denies the reality of hunger, early death, trauma, and many other ways that being poor is actively harmful, both physically and mentally. It’s the kind of slow death that makes risking a quick one in the arena seem reasonable. He and his buddies were just kind of bored. Moreover, the Host denies the role of economic coercion in players taking part in the game, insisting that everyone was there of their own free will. But what free will can there be for people who owe millions, with families at home to care for and creditors at their back, when someone comes along and offers a solution, even a dangerous one? Anyone who has taken a dodgy job offer to get away from a worse one, or because they’re unemployed and the rent and college loans are due, knows that there is a limit to how truly free our choices can be when we need money, especially if there’s little to no safety net.

Why Are Squid Game’s English-Language Actors So Bad?

By Kayti Burt

Best Squid Game Doll Sightings

By Kayti Burt

Throughout the series, it is clear that someone had to be funding Squid Game at a high level. Unlike science fiction or fantasy takes, the show is grounded in our current reality, so the large-scale, high-tech obstacles and the island locale must have cost a pretty penny. Of course for any who see it as unrealistic, consider the example of Jeffrey Epstein, a man who bought an island from the US government and ran a sexual abuse and human trafficking ring not entirely disimilar (though far more pedestrian in its purpose) from this one.

The Host is able to pay for everything because he works in – you guessed it – banking. It’s a profession where he gained wealth by moving capital around. Given the Korean debt crisis – South Korea has the highest household debt in the world, both in size and growth – his profession makes him a worthy villain, in the same way the Lehman Brothers were after the 2008 crash. The bank executive calls in Gi-hun to offer him investment products and services, because of course someone with 45 billion won can accrue significantly more money passively, and who wouldn’t want that? Gi-hun’s decision to walk away is a callback to his earlier attempt to walk away from Squid Game when millions of dollars was within his grasp.

Throughout the series, the people running the game actively pit the players against one another in much the same way capitalism pits workers against one another. Whether they’re giving the players less food to encourage a fight overnight, the daily influx of cash every time another player dies, or giving them knives for the evening, the mysterious people pulling the strings want the players to fight each other like crabs in a barrel so they can’t work together to figure out what’s going on or take on the guys in red jumpsuits. Though there are notable examples of the players working together to succeed, it is always within the rules of the system. It is never treated as a viable or likely option for the players to team up and take the blood money literally hanging over their heads or to prevent death, merely to redirect it or choose how they will die. No, to win that, they must play the Squid Game’s rules.

In our society, this kind of worker-vs-worker rhetoric takes the form of employers telling workers their workload is harder or they can’t go on vacation or get a raise because of fellow employees who leave or go on maternity leave.. In reality, these are all normal aspects of managing a business that employers should plan for, and their failure to do so is not the fault of their workers. Much like in Squid Game, it benefits managers and owners if workers are too busy being mad at each other to have time or energy to fight the system and those who make unjust rules in the first place.

Squid Game’s Managers

The Front Man insists the game is fair, gruesomely hanging the dead bodies of those involved in the organ harvesting scheme because they traded medical knowledge for advanced intel on the game. However, like capitalism, there are many ways that the system is clearly rigged, no matter what the people at the top insist. There’s the obvious corruption in the organ harvesting ring, but even at its “purest” form, the game is not equitable. Sometimes the managers and soldiers in red jumpsuits stand by when unfair things happen, like Deok-su and his cronies stealing food. At other times, the people in charge intervene in player squabbles, like enforcing nonviolence during marbles and elections but encouraging violence at other times. They especially set things up to their own advantage, such as cutting the lights so the players couldn’t see the glass in the penultimate game, or the way they set up the election. Everyone knew how everyone else voted, they shared the total amount of money immediately beforehand, in an attempt to sway votes, calling to mind Amazon’s scare tactics before the recent unionization vote.

Culture

Squid Game Competitions, As Played By BTS

By Kayti Burt

Movies

Squid Game: Best Deadly Competition TV Shows & Movies to Watch Next

By Kayti Burt and 3 others

Ultimately, much like any manager/employer, the Front Man’s insistence on fairness has nothing to do with the actual value of equality, but rather the capitalist need to ensure betters are happy with the stakes and their chance at a favorable outcome.

Even the workers, soldiers and managers in red jumpsuits, who seem to be in charge, are ultimately only in power (and alive) so long as they serve the needs of the system. Like so many low-level managers, many wield their tiny amount of power ruthlessly, shooting players with impunity or running their organ harvesting side gig. It soon becomes clear that they’re as expendable as players, if not moreso, and the Front Man shoots them without hesitating. A player asks (and it’s too bad we never learned) what “they” did to the people in red jumpsuits to get them to run this game, but it’s not too hard to guess. They seem to be very young men, who likely needed money and wouldn’t be missed if they never returned.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The biggest trick capitalism ever pulled was convincing workers it’s a zero-sum game, that anything we want but don’t have is the fault of someone else who “took it” from us. Within the game, that means every player was a living obstacle to the money, and that Gi-hun should kill his childhood friend to succeed and celebrate when he’s done. But as we see after he “wins,” even without taking Sang-woo’s life himself, the money isn’t worth it. The greater success would have been both men walking out of the arena alive.

The post Squid Game’s Scathing Critique of Capitalism appeared first on Den of Geek.

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

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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kaito-is-baby · 4 years

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If it would be okay with you, could I please request Akane, Tenko, Korekiyo, Teruteru, and Kirumi finding out that their female s/o is struggling with anorexia? I love your writing by the way!

Aw thank you so much! And of course it is okay with me, I will write it with a lot of love! But keep in mind that I don't know a lot about anorexia so if I get something wrong please write me about it and i will change it right away! Said this, hope you like it!

Akane, Tenko, Korekiyo, Teruteru and Kirumi with an S/O who has anorexia

By the way, I'm not a big fan of any of those characters but Tenko? Tenko is my personal queen!

Akane Owari

• She found out easily because she always takes you to restaurants and other places to eat for dates

• I mean, she loves food almost as much as she loves you

• And she noticed you hadn’t eaten anyting of what you had ordered

• She asked if something was wrong or if you didn’t like it

• But you excused yourself saying that you has already ate at home or something like it

• And you assured her that you would eat it anyway, just slower than her

• You were always doing that

• You pretended to eat it but never actually did it

• You talked about how tasty it was and gave her almost all of your food just so she could taste it too

• And then say that, as you love food as much as her, you had already eaten too much before and you can’t finish the dish

• And she is the one to finish the dish in your place

• She just loves food so much that she can’t notice what is wrong if she gets to eat more

• And you are kinda a bad person for taking advantage of that

• This worked for very long, poor girl, she noticed something was wrong with you but her love for food blinded her

• Why would you don’t eat? food is the biggest pleasure this world has gave us!

• She did some research and asked her friends

• And it was actually Mikan who noticed the problem and explained it to her

• So she was concious that you wouldn’t admit it if she just talked to you about it

• And she also knew that it was a problem of low self-steem

• So she started to, discretely, make you eat

• Giving you her food to taste it and making sure you actually eat it

• Worshipping even more her favourite dishes to try and make you hungry

• And giving you hundred of compliments about your body

• And even some while you eat, like pointing out that you look very cute ith food in your mouth or that she adores to see her to favourite thing (food and you) together

• She’s trying her best okay?!

Tenko Chabashira

• Tenko can’t understand it either

• But not because she find food too good to stop eating

• She didn’t understand it because she found your body too perfect!

• Actually, all women are perfect

• But you? You are a goddess!

• She can’t understand why you can’t see it

• And she is so sad, not only you don’t see how amazing you are, you are also illing to starve yourself to change, that’s horrible!

• She tries to make you understand that she loves you and your body but that if you want to change it she is more than happy to trian Aikido with you

• That will make your body look more athletic if that’s what you want

• You agree to train with her if that makes her chill out and stop following you around

• You two start to train and you actually love it

• She always tries to make you eat after the training

• Maybe if you are tired she can make you eat

• But no, she doesn’t

• So she decides to try something different

• She on’t train with you unless you eat at least what she cooks you

• And you accept

• She knows you feel bad if you eat unhealthy food or too much quantity

• So she makes small rations with the food that she knows will keep you healthy and with enough calories, suggar, energy... and all of those things you need to eat

Korekiyo Shinguji

• He finds anorexia amazing

• He finds all mental illness amazing

• Afterall she is the ultimate Aikido master so she knows how to keep a good diet

• How can the human brain get sick at its own? truly amazing, marvelous better said, how the human body can be

• But it isn’t that marvelous when it’s his S/O who is suffering from it

• He noticed you had anorexia rather quikly

• He knows a lot about every illness you can think of, and that includes anorexia

• So he notices quite fast what you are doing

• And he tries to talk to you about it

• But you deny it and get a little agressive

• So he can’t really do anything to stop you

• Until you are too weak and one day, in a date, pass out

• He takes you to the hospital and there you understand that either you eat or you die

• You are still having troubles with your food, it’s a mental ilness and it doesn’t disapear just by wanting to change

• But you do admit that you may have a problem

• And Kiyo is worshiping you for it

• How can humans be so amazing?! You have accepted it and are now willing to change! Humanity is incredible! You are incredible!

Teruteru Hanamura

•It was hard to date the ultimate chef while trying not to eat anything

• Because he was always asking you to taste the dishes he had prepared

• ALL-OF-THEM

• And you tried to make it ook like you did

• But you never did actually eat them

• And he noticed it soon

• He is always looking at you while eating, he wants to see your expressions while tasting it too see your first reaction or to see if you really liked it by checking how much you did actually eat

• And that’s how he found out

• You never actually finished his plates

• Not a single time

• You barely ate anything

• And he though it was because you hated his cooking

• So he bringst it up

• Crying a lot because he really belives you hate his cooking

• So you admit to have a problem and explain it to him

• You just can’t bear to see him in that state

• But now he is even worse, he prefered you hating his cooking than starving yourself to death

• He won’t say it because he doesn’t think it will help you at all

• He does ask you to, at least, eat what he prepares you

• “Come on, S/O, it’s the only thing I’m good at, if you, the one person I love, doesn’t enjoy it then what am I worth for?“

• You accept because your boyfriend is clearly playing the victim but it makes you too sad to not accept

• You keep trying to not eat it

• But he always catches you and cries to you until you eat it

• And you just have to

• He knows that it would be better to get you some professional help

• But he doesn’t know how to convince you

• So he is trying to buy some time until he finds a better way to help you

Kirumi Tojo

• Oh poor Kirumi

• She usually cooks for you

• But unlike Teruteru she doesn’t realize you aren’t eating

• She’s just too busy taking care of everyone else

• So you keep going with your anorexia for a long time without anyone noticing it

• Until one day you just pass out

• And she feels horrible

• You are the person she loves, how could she has never noticed something was wrong with you?

• She blames herself for not having been enough support to you for her maid duties

• And she doesn’t even know what happens

• Until the medical staff explains to her hat happens to you

• And as you are already on a hospital a whole therapy starts

• And you can’t go out until you gain some weight

• She stays with you all the time

• She even joins the cooking staff of the hospital to be able to cook you your favourite meals

• She can do it, right? She’s the prime minister afterall

• So she has decided, she will be all day taking care of you

• She won’t attend anyone else

• From no until you recover she will be your personal maid.

Okay, once finished the request I have to say that this characters where amazingly good for the idea of the anorexic SO, great ideas anon!

Also, Kiyo’s one is horrible, I know, I just run out of ideas for him, sorry

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autistocracy · 3 years

Text

(Left: flag of the Principality of Albenga; Right: flag of the Colony of San Cassiano)

Il Principato di Albenga was founded in 1298 as the Signoria di Albenga for Nicolò Doria, of the famous Genovese Doria family. Initially, it was little more than a feudal holding of a powerful family, but as the years turned to centuries, the Albenga branch of the Doria family, known today as Doria-Albenga, became more and more independent of the main family. In 1488, it was elevated from a simple Signoria to a Principality, and the Prince of Albenga continued to amass more power. Eventually, the Prince was sovereign of much of the surrounding area (what corresponds to the real world Italian province of Imperia).

By the time the conquest of the New World truly began in the mid-16th century, Albenga was a nation fully independent of the Republic of Genoa. The Prince from 1603 to 1631, Emanuele Raffaele Doria-Albenga, along with several other Albenganesi nobles (namely the Signoro of Dolceacqua), funded an expedition for the New World, landing on the island of San Cassiano, named this because it was discovered on August 13, feast day of Saint Cassian (San Cassiano is known in the real world as Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands). Upon arrival back in Albenga, the expedition was sent out once again to establish the island as a colony of Albenga. When they returned to San Cassiano, they did thus, and also explored the nearby island of San Vitale (discovered on April 28; St. John in the real world), expanding the colony there as well.

Emanuele Raffaele Doria-Albenga appointed his brother, Mariano Eraldo, as the first governor of the so-called Colonia de San Cassiano, the colony of San Cassiano. Mariano Eraldo was an established sailor and cartographer, and his first job upon reaching San Cassiano in the summer of 1616 was to begin mapping the islands of San Cassiano and San Vitale. Initially, the colony was worth little, but in 1618, sugar was imported and several plantations, owned by the families who had bankrolled the initial expedition, were established. On plantation in particular, belonging to the brother of the Lord of Dolceacqua, became well-known for the rum produced from the sugar grown on their plantation.

For the next century, the population of both Albenga and San Cassiano continued to grow, and so did the wealth of the principality. The Prince of Albenga from 1669 to 1691, Constantino Franco, ordered the construction of a palace in Albenga, as well as the construction of a large church on the island of San Cassiano. Prince Constantino was also the first Prince of Albenga to visit the colony, arriving on the in San Cassiano to much fanfare. The visit, however, would be his undoing, as his ship wrecked on its way back to Europe, killing everyone onboard.

Prince Constantino’s son and successor, Jacopo II, not being deterred by his father’s death, made many trip to San Cassiano during his reign, and some critics of his referred to him as the Prince of San Cassiano instead of Prince of Albenga because of how much time he spent in the colony. Prince Constantino was also known for being a great patron of the arts, and commissioned many art pieces and sculptures. However, he is more well-known for his construction projects. The total number of buildings he commissioned is currently unknown, but it ranges from 200 on the end most people accept to over 1,000 on the high end. Many of his construction projects were churches, and he had a new church built in nearly every town and village in his country. Many of his buildings are still around today, particularly the Principal Manor, home of the Princes and their families since it finished construction in 1719.

After Prince Jacopo II came his son, Emanuele II. Emanuele II had the longest reign of any of the Princes of Albenga, and one of the least interesting. A great many things happened outside of his country during this time period, but not too much went on within its borders. He continued some of his father’s building ambitions, though he only issued the construction of a few buildings himself. He died in 1770, leaving the throne to his nephew, Jacopo III.

Where Emanuele II’s reign had been boring, Jacopo III’s was anything but. During his reign, 13 of Britain’s colonies revolted and established their independence. Not long after, France faced its own revolts. Albenga, which borders France, faced some problems with this, particularly when Napoleone took over France. France invaded the rest of Italy through Albenga, establishing the Ligurian Republic, which would last until 1805, 4 years after the death of Prince Jacopo III, after which time the area was incorporated into France proper. After Jacopo III came his son, Emilio II. Prince Emilio II had a great deal on his plate, inheriting the throne of a nation that hardly existed. He pledged his forces and people to the forces fighting Napoleon, and in the end, Napoleon was defeated, and Emilio II returned to Albenga victorious. The date of his return to the city of Albenga, August 11, 1814, is celebrated to this day as Victory day.

After this victory, Prince Emilio II would commit the rest of his reign to strengthening the borders and army of his small principality, especially with the neighbouring threat of Savoy, who were constantly attempting to encroach on Albenganese territory. The Prince ordered the construction of 11 forts along the borders of his country and 2 in the colony of San Cassiano, as well as a national armoury in Albenga to manufacture guns for the army. By the time he died in 1831, Albenga had one of the most well-equipped militaries of Europe at the time.

Prince Emilio II was succeeded by his son, Umberto I. Umberto shared his father’s passion for the military, and continued to build up the defences of his nation. However, disaster would strike in 1848, as all of Europe fell into a blazing region of revolution. Prince Umberto I was assassinated by revolutionary forces, and his brother Valerio ascended to the throne, albeit briefly, as he was likewise assassinated by foreign revolutionaries later that year. After Prince Valerio came his cousin, Umberto II. Prince Umberto II managed to quell the revolutionary storm, at least for a time. He ruled for a decade before he resigned after suffering a mental breakdown from stress. After him came Valentino, who lasted less time than Umberto II. In 1861, the majority of Italian states unified as the Kingdom of Italy, and Valentino, like Umberto II, had a mental breakdown, causing him to abdicate two years later. His brother, Aurelio took over the throne, and proved to be more mentally sound and capable than his two predecessors.

Prince Aurelio led Albenga through the storm of Italian unification and managed to keep his principality independent. In 1866, war broke out between Austria and Italy, and Albenga joined the Austrian forces after they called for aid. The war, in the end, ended in an Italian victory over Austria, but Albenga was able to assert its independence nonetheless. In 1870, a small war broke out between Italy and Albenga, and Albenga was again victorious. After this war, Italy wouldn’t try to take Albenga again until World War One. Also of note about Prince Aurelio’s reign, is that slavery was outlawed in the colony of San Cassiano.

In 1875, just before the death of Prince Aurelio, Albenga established a colony on the island of Girba, off the coast of Tunisia. Later that year, Prince Aurelio died of dysentery and was succeeded by his son, Jacopo IV. Prince Jacopo IV was responsible for many great things for Albenga. He established a colony next to the African country of Liberia, calling it San Pietro, after the name the Portuguese explorer Soeiro da Costa had given it in the 15th century. He also established a colony around the villages of Mtwara and Lindi, north of Portuguese Mozambique, the colony being named Lindi. Aside from his colonial efforts, he was also a great patron of arts and inventions, and established a small photography studio and art colony in Albenga. It wasn’t as famous as its fellow European counterparts, but is well-respected in the modern day nonetheless. He was also a great patron of the military, and invited several renowned firearms designers to design guns for his principality. Albenga was one of the first European nations to have modern bolt-action rifles and early repeating pistols. Prince Jacopo IV was also responsible for introducing electricity to Albenga, and his Principal Manor was the first building in the country to be lit with electric lighting. He also introduced the constitution to Albenga, penning it himself.

In 1901, Prince Jacopo IV died at the age of 63. His son, Alberto, succeeded him. Alberto had big shoes to fill, but historians agree he did a pretty good job of filling them. Under Alberto, Albenga continued to flourish. Though he wasn’t as great a patron as his father, he continued to support the arts and the military. He spent a great deal of his personal wealth modernising many of the defences around his country, including the forts that had been created only a century before by Prince Emilio II. In 1914, just before WWI would begin, Prince Alberto died after a short bout with disease. His son, Giancarlo, succeeded to the throne.

Prince Giancarlo had been raised as a military man, and his lifelong education would come in handy almost immediately upon his accension to the throne. A month after he was coronated in Albenga, the Arch-Duke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Serbia, and Europe was quickly overcome with war. Prince Giancarlo quickly dispatched the military to the borders of Albenga, intending to keep his country neutral, but heavily protected. His foresight would prove useful, for in 1915, Italy invaded Albenga, hoping to finally take the last little country that had refused to join in unification 40 years before.

Albenganese forces were able to rebuff any Italian encroachment into sovereign territory during the duration of the Italian involvement with the Central powers, though Albenga remained otherwise neutral. After the war, relations between Italy and Albenga would continue to be strained until Marcurio Salvetti, of the Partito Fascista, seized the office of the Prime Minister in a bloodless coup. Prince Giancarlo was initially amicable with the Fascist cause, though officially he was opposed to it, so he offered only symbolic resistance to Salvetti. Though Salvetti was indeed a Fascist after the Italian fashion, and improved relations with the country of Italy under Mussolini, he still sought to remain independent. However, in 1938, as things were beginning to heat up in Europe, Prince Giancarlo stepped in and ousted the Prime Minister after he attempted to introduce several measures to reduce the title of Prince to a mere figurehead office, likely at the behest of Mussolini. Not long after this, however, Prince Giancarlo would die of natural causes, being replaced by his son, Jacopo V Lorenzo.

Jacopo was not the pure military man his father was, and was raised more by tacticians and scholars than by the military officers his father had been instructed by. He saw war brewing in Europe, and made efforts to defend his country should something happen, much like his father had done in 1914. In 1939, war again broke out, and again Albenga remained officially neutral, though the government and Prince did officially condemn the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland. In 1940, Italy declared war on Albenga. In spite of the country’s smaller numbers, they managed to bring the Italian invasion to a standstill, but were unfortunately unable to push them out of their borders entirely over the following 3 years, until Mussolini and his Fascist government were overthrown by Partisans in 1943, after which Italian forces were forced to leave Albenganese sovereign borders.

While the war was ongoing, Jacopo opened ports in both Albenga and San Cassiano to be used by Allied forces, in return receiving arms to fight against the Italians, as well as funnelling those arms to Partisans in Italy. In addition to this, Prince Jacopo opened the country’s borders to refugees from persecution in German occupied territories, many of whom remained even after the war ended and they were allowed to return home.

After the war ended in 1945, Prince Jacopo dedicated the rest of his reign to maintaining neutrality, refusing any aid from the Americans, and rebuilding the damaged territories of his country. With his assistance, industry flourished, and Albenga was an early centre for the booming field of electronics by end of the 50s. Unlike neighbouring Italy, which suffered from the Years of Lead during that period, and other such unrest, Albenga was mostly unaffected, for the most part. In 1965, after 3 years of investigation, the Prime Minister, Adriano Fanelli of the Unione Albenganese party, was convicted of a multitude of crimes, including corruption, embezzlement, solicitation, and other crimes, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Prince’s godson, Gustavo III, the Count of Seborga, was made interim Prime Minister, serving the rest of Fanelli’s 10 year term until 1970.

In 1976, Prince Jacopo V died after a battle with cancer, and was succeeded by his son, Filippo. Filippo, unlike his two predecessors, wasn’t heavily educated in military affairs, instead receiving instruction in management, business, and so forth. Like the later years of his father’s reign, he would devote himself to maintaining his country’s booming industries, and as the country had been a centre for electronics two decades earlier, Albenga was now a leader in the burgeoning field of computers, and would continue to be until the mid 90s, when most Albenganese computers manufacturers were purchased by foreign (namely, American) companies.

While its territory in Europe was going through all of this, some in the colony of San Cassiano were feeling neglected and forgotten, though the economy there was no slouch itself, being a premier destination for tourism, known for being a small piece of Italian culture in the middle of the Caribbean, as well as having a healthy sugar and rum industry. To address this, the Partito Communista Sancassinese, one of the oldest parties in the country, launched a campaign to have a referendum of independence. In 1980, the “No” side won the campaign, with a vote of 75% against independence, 23% in favour, and 2% indifferent. Their overwhelming defeat in the campaign led to the demise of the PCSC two years later.

In response to the support the Prince was shown in the referendum, he acknowledged that he had, and his predecessors had, indeed been rather neglectful towards the colony, and apologise, pointing out though, that his father and grandfather had had to contend with wars and invasions of the home country, but that he had no such excuse, and promised to help the Colony of San Cassiano. To that end, he established a government run cruise line, using some of his personal finances and donations from other nobles of the realm to fund the purchase of a top-of-the-line cruise ship that would operate from the Colony. Prince Filippo would do other things besides this to strengthen the Colony, but the fact that he had used some of his own money to fund the cruise ship greatly ingratiated him to the populace.

In 1983, Prince Filippo tried to launch a native Albenganese car brand, but unfortunately this venture would not see the end of the decade, only producing around 4,000 cars by the time FAA (Fabbrica Albenganese Automobili) ceased production of native-designed cars in 1991. Since then, the FAA factory has produced badge-engineered FIAT and Peugeot vehicles for the local market. Beginning in 1993, with the acquisition of Albetec, one of the top three technology brands in Albenga, by American corporation IBM, the tech industry has been largely dominated by foreign firms, though in recent years, the local industry has begun to rebound. Albenga, like Switzerland, is noted for its high standards of online privacy.

In spite of its position in Europe, the country has continuously refused to join the EU and NATO, and only reluctantly joined the UN in 1998. The country has continued to be neutral, not being involved with any global conflict since WWII ended in 1945, with the exception of some anti-piracy missions in the Indian Ocean.

‘’

List of Princes of Albenga from Emanuele Raffaele to present

Prince Emanuele I Raffaele Doria-Albenga, 1603-1631

Prince Marcantonio Jacopo, son of Emanuele, 1631-1636

Prince Emilio I Laureano, son of Emanuele, 1636-1649

Prince Jacopo I Luciano, son of Emilio, 1649-1669

Prince Constantino Franco, son of Jacopo, 1669-1691

Prince Jacopo II Emanuele, son of Constantino, 1691-1722

Prince Emanuele II Luciano, son of Jacopo II, 1722-1770

Prince Jacopo III Vincentio, nephew of Emanuele II, 1770-1801

Prince Emilio II Raffaele, son of Jacopo III, 1801-1831

Prince Umberto I Riccardo, son of Emilio II, 1831-1848*

Prince Valerio Pasquale, son of Emilio II, April 11, 1848-August 28 1848*

Prince Umberto II Franco, cousin of Valerio, 1848-1858*

Prince Valentino Marcurio, cousin of Umberto II, 1858-1863*

Prince Aurelio Emanuele, brother of Valentino, 1863-1875

Prince Jacopo IV Riccardo, son of Aurelio, 1875-1901

Prince Alberto Emanuele, son of Jacopo IV, 1901-1914

Prince Giancarlo Vincentio, son of Jacopo IV, 1914-1938

Prince Jacopo V Lorenzo, son of Giancarlo, 1938-1976

Prince Filippo Ernesto, son of Jacopo V, 1976-2002

Prince Emanuele III Maurizio, son of Filippo, 2002-current

Hereditary Prince Massimo Durante, son of Emanuele III, born January 3, 1994

*During 1848, Europe was embroiled in great revolutions, and several Albenganese Princes were either executed by revolutionaries or forced to abdicate. This continued after 1848 in Italy, as the unification wars began.

List of Prime Ministers of Albenga

Count Alfonso II Marcurio de Seborga, Count of Seborga, 1745-1786

Count Jacopo I Emanuele de Seborga, Count of Seborga, 1786-1802

Lord Vincentio Ernesto Doria-Albenga-Terzorio, Lord of Terzorio, 1802-1831

Marquess Salvatore I Ottavio de Vallecrosia, Marquess of Vallecrosia, 1831-1834

Lord Angelo III Adriano de Pontedassio, Lord of Pontedassio, 1834-1846

Count Gustavo I Massimo de Seborga, Count of Seborga, 1846-1856

Marquess Luciano II Ernesto de Vallecrosia, Marquess of Vallecrosia, 1856-1866

Lord Ugo IV Lazzaro Doria-Albenga-Terzorio, Lord of Terzorio, 1866-1876

Count Piero II Giancarlo de Chiusavecchia, Count of Chiusavecchia, 1876-1886

Lord Jacopo IV Donato, Lord of Vallebona, 1886-1896

Ugo Marcello Petri, UA, 1896-1906 (first non-noble Prime Minister)

Alfonso Mariano Giambelli,PP, 1906-1916

Piero Amadeo Tauriello, PP, 1916-1920 (assassinated by anarchists)

Lord Jacopo V Eraldo Gagini, Lord of Vallebona, UA, 1920-1930

Marcurio Adriano Salvetti, PF, 1930-1938*

Domenico Enrico Vecchi, UA, 1938-1950

Filippo Arsenio Zamperini, PP, 1950-1960

Adriano Marcurio Fanelli, UA, 1960-1965**

Lord Gustavo III Enrico de Seborga, Count of Seborga, 1965-1970

Alfredo Donato Bacchetti, UA 1970-1980

Federico Maurizio Fanelli, PP, 1980-1982***

Lord Jacopo VII Valerio Gagini, Lord of Vallebona, UA, 1982-1990

Alfredo Donato Bacchetti, UA, 1990-2000 (second term)

Valerio Marcurio Gattilusio, UA, 2000-2010

Piero Riccardo Salvetti, UA, 2010-current (next election in November 2020)

*M. Salvetti was a member of the Partito Fascista which ran the partisan government from 1928 until it was ousted by Prince Giancarlo in 1938.

**A. Fanelli was charged with several crimes, including corruption, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Prince’s godson, Lord Gustavo III of Seborga, replaced him for the remainder of his term.

***F. Fanelli was A. Fanelli’s cousin. In 1982 he was convicted of smuggling drugs into Albenga on a government jet, as well as solicitation, and associating with the Mafia. He was replaced by Lord Jacopo VII of Vallebona for the remainder of his term.

PP: Partito del Popolo; UA: Unione Albenganese; PF: Partito Fascista

List of Governors of San Cassiano

Mariano Eraldo Doria-Albenga, 1616-1643

Vincentio Adriano Doria-Albenga, 1643-1672

Marcurio Riccardo Spinola, 1672-1681

Lord Amadeo I Gaetano Gagini, 1st Lord of Vallebona, 1681-1708

Lord Mariano I Luciano Gagini, 2nd Lord of Vallebona, 1708-1731

Lord Alberto II Marcurio Gattilusio, 2nd Lord of Bordighera, 1731-1764

Lord Amadeo I Valerio Cavanna, 2nd Lord of Soldano, 1764-1798

Lord Jacopo II Arsenio Gagini, 5th Lord of Vallebona, 1798-1824

Alfredo Aurelio Doria-Albenga, 1824-1848

Lord Jacopo III Riccardo, 6th Lord of Vallebona, 1848-1872

Vincentio Emanuele Doria-Albenga, 1872-1897

Piero Augustino Alessandri, PPSC, 1897-1902, first elected Governor

Giancarlo Marcurio Antonietti, PPSC, 1902-1907

Alberto Riccardo Pacelli, PPSC, 1907-1912

Martino Federico Vecchi, PCSC, 1912-1917

*I can't be bothered to make more names here yet

PPSC: Partito del Popolo Sancassinese; PCSC: Partito Communista Sancassinese

#this is the italian alternate history #i need to finish all the history that happened after ww1 lol

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shreddinkk · 3 years

Photo

Fun project I completed over the summer at Sk8_the_den in Oswego, IL Check out full video on YouTube, link in bio 🎥✅ This is the biggest painting I've tackled so far. Was very intimidating at first! But as it progressed, so did I. The Concept behind this work of art is the liberation of our spiritual energy. Also known as your kundalini energy; In Sanskrit, kundalini means “coiled snake". It is believed that divine energy was created at the base of the spine. Kundalini pulls the energy that lies dormant at the base our spine(root chakra) up to the crown of our heads(Crown chakra), creating an upward flow of energy and balancing our chakras and energetic bodies.🐍 Think & visualize it as a map towards our metaphysical self, which majority of society is suppressed to tap into by due to over consumption of toxic food, social media, and even work/ family environments. Its hard even for me to tap into your inner being when theirs always something to distract the mind from truly being in the present moment. And Its not about living like Christ or buddha, but to create a healthy balance so you can naturally harness your energy(Mentally & Psychically) that's within us all to manifest anything you desire into this reality. Practices such as fasting, meditation, exercise, healthy diet, and just being in nature are truly the best remedies to allow ones self to heal & truly tap into your non egoic self, and the divine energy that were all connected to.🕊☯ Thanks Stacey, Jeff, & The Den Staff for the awesome project & hospitality! . . . . . #art #artist #painting #artwork #mural #paint #timelapse #oswego (at Sk8_the_den) https://www.instagram.com/p/CR9iUCFHIta/?utm_medium=tumblr

#art #artist #painting #artwork #mural #paint #timelapse #oswego

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brightlightinadarkworld · 3 years

Text

Mental Health

Hi everyone…

I didn’t realize so many of you actually read these, so let me start by saying THANK YOU! Even if you don’t react to it, thank you for taking time to read my posts, ( and for those of you who tell me in person how much you enjoyed reading my blog, EXTRA THANK YOU , you have no idea how good that makes me feel )

When I decided to start writing, one of my friends told me ( and I think this is almost a direct quote) “ You are the kind of person that just wants to help people, so even if what your writing only helps one person you have accomplished your goal” and im not sure if he realizes this but THAT is why I finally decided to start writing blog posts because he was right, If I can help just one person my goal has been accomplished, and you just never really know how much a small gesture sticks with someone. ( like that conversation, it was just a conversation at work in passing and I am still thinking about it, Without that comment you may have never been able to read these encouraging words because I felt like I wasn’t good enough to encourage and help others)

With that being said, I know I haven’t been very active lately,

you see I haven’t exactly felt the most motivational lately,

I Have had a serious of unfortunate events happen ( but no where near as bad as what happened in the book series and this is not the highlight of this post so il spare you the details )

BUT I’ve decided I want to share with all of you the 5 words I have been repeating over and over ( and over and OVER) again to my Fiancé for the past two weeks ( even with tears in my eyes)

THINGS CANT STAY BAD FOREVER

And honestly without the bad things would we really truly deep down enjoy the good things?

If it never rained would we really enjoy Sunny days?or would it be just another HOT day?

If we never went through hard times what kind of testimony would that be?

Think about how many people you can impact with your story!

Sure while you are going through the storm dancing in the rain doesn’t seem like the most instagram worthy thing, But when you OVERCOME THOSE HARD TIMES ( and trust me when I say YOU WILL OVERCOME THOSE HARD TIMES, actually lets pause for a second… close your eyes, take a deep breath and say that out loud

I. WILL. OVERCOME. THIS. ,

claim it, believe it! Its about time you bet on yourself) That hurricane of a storm you were paddling out of will seem much more like a summer shower!

If I can give you one piece of advice ( besides the obvious of praying and reaching out to the one who can solve all problems in his timing )

Learn to find a positive in each day, Train your brain that instead of focusing on all that negative to focus on something good that happened. Which I know is easier said than done, but just try!

You guys your brain is SO POWERFUL its insane, if you are having a hard time doing this go on your website of choice ( YouTube, TIKTOK, Google, insert any other website that’s cool now that I don’t know about because im old and lame) and look up some Mantras , set aside 5 mins a day and close your eyes and truly believe the inspiration you are saying about yourself!

I may not know you but I can promise you this, you are WAY stronger than you are giving yourself credit for. You may not all be believers but I am and if I can tell you one thing that helps me get through tough times its this, if GOD brought you to it he will bring you Through it!

With May being mental health awareness month ( and the month we get to EXTRA celebrate our mothers, LOVE YOU MOM! )

I figured this was a great time to share this information

One of my good friends ( who is SO strong and I look up to ) posts this quote on her Facebook a lot

“ its not a bad life just a bad day “

and that is something I really thing more people should repeat out loud more often.

If you are feeling alone PLEASE don’t stay silent, reach out to someone! ( if you are a believer PRAY the power of prayer is stronger than you think!) even if your not, (Even if I do not know you) I would love to pray for you!

I am also more than willing to be a listening ear, but even beyond that I KNOW there is someone who loves you and wants to help!

Stay Positive and remember to always find JOY in the JOurneY

#joy #findjoy #mentalhealth #mom #sunshine #christian

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