#several empresses committed suicide there

[wangsejabin]

Chapter 112

These words instantly made Pan'er wake up with a jolt.

   What, is he planning to appoint a crown prince?

   When the emperor ascends to the throne, apart from sealing the palace, one of the most important things he should consider is the creation of a crown prince.

   After all, the crown prince is the foundation of the state, and most people who become emperor are not young, and most of them have already had sons, and more than one. It is a common belief that many sons are a blessing, but if you look at the royal family, you can see that sometimes this is not always true.

   As the sons grow older, they are surrounded by more and more subordinates, tangible and intangible, subconscious and subconscious, and everyone is betting on them. Can the family prosper for another hundred years? Who doesn't want to last forever?

   In her previous life, at first she never dared to think that Zong Yue could sit in the emperor's seat, after all, the crown prince's position was as secure as a mountain. It was only later, when there was a hint of it, and she found out that Zong Yue also had that kind of mind, that she gradually moved her mind.

But before that, that is, before Zong Cong mentioned it, she had not thought about it at all, and probably subconsciously felt that many things had changed in this life, so she did not think about it. She thought that Zong Yue was still young and did not need to think about this for the time being, but at this moment, Zong Cong's words made her wake up at once.

   How to answer?

   Although she and he were now getting to know each other better, and there was a little bit of heart-to-heart between them, and he was willing to talk to her about things that bothered her, these trivial matters were not the same as setting up a crown prince.

   The crown prince was too sensitive, especially as she had given birth to the second son, Zong Yue.

So she turned over in his arms and said, "Your Majesty, that's a strange question to ask, I've never been a crown prince, how do I know whether it's good or bad to be one? This should be asked of Your Majesty, weren't you the Crown Prince before?"

   "I used to be the crown prince, but a long time ago, I actually didn't want to be the crown prince."

Pan'er fell silent, and Zong Cong did not speak either, falling into memory.

Everyone thought that the crown prince was above all others, the future Emperor, and that he must have been a great success and highly valued. But they did not know that all this was a shackle, an existence that made them walk on thin ice.

The memories of the past, which Zong Cong never wanted to recall, were the days when he carried his mother and himself on his back, the days when he studied hard behind the scenes but pretended to be light-hearted on the surface, the days when he pretended to be generous even when he was angry, the days when he laughed in the face even when he knew that he was up to no good, the days when he had to tense his nerves every day, the days when he forced himself to be thorough and never missed a beat, and the days when he was not able to be a good friend. ......

Therefore, when he saw that Zong Duo seemed to be following his old path, Zong Cong's feelings were very complicated.

   If he was in good health, he might have been relieved in his complexity, but he was not in good health and had to compete with Zong Yue.

   But he could not blame the child, accuse him of not working too hard, and as for Zong Yue, he was even more innocent, was it a fault that he was smart and good at reading and had a competitive spirit?

Zong Cong could foresee that when the dust had settled, the court would definitely start a heated debate on the crown prince.

   What should we do when the time comes?

"Brother Cong you'd better not think too much about it, after all those things have passed, you're now the emperor, I remember you told me before that you had a lot of things to do? You still have so many important big things to do, so why do you need to think about these small things."

   Yes, he still had a lot of big things to do.

It must be said that Pan'er was still quite good at comforting, no, diverting, and Zong Cong's attention was soon diverted to his government affairs.

   He was lost in thought, his hand stroking her back with one hand, while Pan'er breathed a soft sigh of relief.

   --

   It was clearly a cold day, but Empress Chen was very active, asking daily about the progress of the Ning Shou Palace's repairs.

   It was the first year of the new emperor's ascension to the throne, so it was particularly significant that the Ning Shou Palace had not been repaired, and Empress Fu could not move out of the Kun Ning Palace.

   Two snowstorms in a row meant that repairs had to be suspended.

   Empress Chen was anxious but could not say anything on the surface. At the same time, Zong Duo fell ill again and although he was only coughing, he was still not well for half a month, which added fuel to the fire.

This was to be followed by the ceremony of the enthronement of the Empress and the investiture of all the concubines in the Eastern Palace.

After this, they have all become official and rightful ladies, although not yet moved to the palace, but several lower ranking concubines would not be able to be the master of a palace and instead would live under the supervision of a more senior concubine.

Kunning Palace and Jingren Palace is naturally out of the question, one is the empress residence, one is Su Guifei's residence. Su Guifei has always been solitary, and no one was allowed close, she's just favoured like that, it is not possible to get a person to their own palace to share favor. The only thing that remains is the palace of Consort Hu Shufei Zhou Xianfei and others.

At first, when Hu Shufei saw the frequent visits of Qian Guiren and others, she was a little surprised at what they were doing there. But she was always a meat and potatoes kind of person, and she was also a big fan of watching the fun, so she met them.

   The two of them were sent away in a rare outburst of anger.

   Qian Qiao and the two of them were still a bit aggrieved, so if they didn't want to, why did they have to get so angry? When the concubine Li found out about this, she even went to laugh at them.

   "If you don't go to Concubine Su's place and run to Concubine Hu's, you're clearly saying that she's not in favour and needs your help?"

Qian Qiao and the two of them realized that they still had no choice but to go there, otherwise each of the six eastern palaces would be dominated, what if none of them wanted them or if they were given to concubine Li by the Empress?

   They went back to Consort Xu, who was very decisive and refused on the grounds that the Fifth Prince had recently been unwell and it was inappropriate for someone to visit him.

After these two incidents, Consort De was not stupid either, so the Sixth County Princess were also a little uncomfortable.

   So there were only two concubines left, Li and Zhao.

   At this point, concubine Li was so pleased with herself that you didn't want to live in my palace because you didn't like me, so what are you doing here? The door was closed, and the concubine Zhao's place had been very busy lately.

These are all things that Pan'er heard from the people below her, just like listening to a book, and after listening to it,

After hearing this she poured cold water on the situation: "Even the Empress has not moved her palace, where else would the others want to move?

In fact, Pan'er's words proved true, and it was only a few days before the New Year's Eve that Empress Chen finally realised in despair that she would not be able to move this year and would have to stay in the Eastern Palace.

   There was no need to think about the congratulations of the first wife, or about being worshipped on the phoenix throne.

On New Year's Eve, Zong Cong hosted a family banquet at Qianqing Palace. There were many people there, including princes and their families, some close relatives, the Grand Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager, several imperial concubines and the ladies of the Eastern Palace.

   The atmosphere was very cordial and, although it may have been somewhat of an illusion, at least it proved that the majority of the people had come to terms with the reality of the new emperor's accession to the throne.

After the family feast, Zong Cong led the crowd to the Hall of the Nurtured Heart to visit the emperor.

This New Year's Eve, the Hall of the Nurtured Heart is probably the only place in the entire Forbidden City where there is no festive atmosphere, as the emperor has to recuperate from his illness and naturally needs quiet, especially since the emperor has been ill and cannot speak, his temper is getting worse every day, and the servants are all cautious and downcast as they wait on the sidelines.

   The crowd of people dressed in auspicious clothes visiting the Emperor looked particularly sarcastic.

   After all, it was not easy for the new emperor to think of the emperor at this point in his life, and even if he did, he was still being filial.

It was the emperor who seemed unusually unsettled, his mouth ahhhhh and not knowing what he was saying, but no one paid any attention to this.

The only one who took advantage of the Emperor's performance was the Prince of Qi, who made a fuss, reprimanding his lackeys for not serving him well, and saying that Zong Cong was treating the Emperor with apparent filial piety, but in fact he was secretly having people sparring with him, otherwise the Emperor would have behaved like this?

   But no one believed him, not to mention the fact that so many imperial concubines were present and had to queue up every day to attend to their illnesses. It was Pan'er's idea for Zong Cong to attend to his illness, but it was a lie to avoid suspicion. The Prince of Qi is being unreasonable, and at the same time, he is at the end of his rope.

After all, if he really had a solution for Zong Cong, why would he make a fuss over such a trivial matter? There were many clansmen present, and they all had their own opinions.

On the first day of the first month, the new emperor paid homage to his ancestors at the Imperial Temple, and announced the change of the reign name to Jianying.

   At the same time, the Kunning Palace was also bustling with activity.

   The Empress Dowager Fu was in the centre, Empress Chen was on the lower left, and the concubines of the new emperor, including Pan'er, were standing on either side.

   They were all dressed in gorgeous gowns, and it was difficult for the Home Office to rush so many gowns, but the momentum was really something like a new year.

But it's not a new year, since the fifth day of the first month, Zong Cong opened the seal, Zong Cong was all kinds of big action.

The first thing he did was to tell Empress Chen that her father had been made a marquis.

   This is a distinction that only imperial relatives can have, and it is usually added to the shade of the mother's family when the empress is crowned, but it is a lower rank than in the previous life, when it was a dukedom.

   Empress Chen was so happy and pleased that when Pan'er went to pay her respects, she could see the joy on her face.

   But as a result, Empress Chen was even more anxious to move the palace, and after the first month was over, she was concerned about the repair of the Ning Shou Palace.

   In the meantime, the six eastern palaces were also undergoing simple renovations, the only major one being the Jingren Palace, the residence of the princesses and the three southern houses where the imperial sons lived.

   In time for March, Zong Duo and Zong Yue moved to the South Third House, and Pan'er made several trips there to see the new paint, new doors and windows, new furniture and furnishings, and she also opened a special storehouse and added a lot of furnishings and other things for Zong Yue.

   In April, the Ning Shou Palace was finally repaired.

   Empress Chen personally supervised the decoration and furnishings inside, and waited for half a month after everything was finished before carefully mentioning that the Ning Shou Palace had been repaired when she went to the Kun Ning Palace to pay her respects.

Pan'er was present at the time, and now that she is a consort of the new emperor, she naturally cannot be as lazy as before.

The Empress Court was not the only one, but there was still the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, so she could not wait around for the concubines to come to pay their respects, so she gathered at Kunning Palace and paid her respects to Empress Dowager Fu, and then went to Cining Palace to pay her respects to the Grand Empress Dowager at her discretion.

It is not that Empress Dowager Fu is not willing to go, but the Empress Dowager also knows that she is old, every day tossing and turning disgusting, a month only on the first fifteen to come to ask for peace she will not say anything, other times to come to her are too noisy, and over time to go gradually less and less.

   Although Empress Chen had already been very particular about the way she spoke, and did not open the door to the princesses, but made a reference to the courtyard where they lived, Pan'er still saw Empress Fu and Nianqiu beside her glance at each other.

   The gesture was a little more meaningful.

   So the Empress was no ordinary person, Pan'er sighed once more.

   It wasn't that Empress Dowager Fu had tasted the hardships of being an empress before, and now she had to pick on Empress Chen. You think that the palace is so big, some of Empress Chen's actions will not fall on deaf ears, watching the repair process of Ning Shou Palace, at best filial obedience, at worst is eager to let Empress Fu move out of Kun Ning Palace.

But it's also true that she, the empress, wants to move into the Kunning Palace in a hurry.

   So the hearts of the people are like this, no one is wrong, but it is inadvertently in everyday life that countless conflicts are gathered.

   Fortunately, this had nothing to do with her, and Pan'er was sincerely grateful.

   Empress Fu didn't delay much and ordered her minions to pack up the next day. She had been Empress for many years and had lived in Kunning Palace for decades, so there was as much stuff as one could imagine.

When Zong Cong heard about this, he even made a special trip, saying that the Ning Shou Palace had just been repaired and that it would be better to wait for the paint inside to dissipate for a while before moving it, as there was no rush anyway.

   The Empress Dowager didn't say anything, she just said to move the things over slowly first.

When Zong Cong came out, Nianci told him what had happened yesterday.

He asked Pan'er why she knew.

It was because it happened that she had been recruited to go to Qianqing Palace that day, and Zong Cong had a rare moment of anger in front of her, demonstrating his displeasure with Empress Chen.

   He was becoming less and less shy of Pan'er, but Pan'er was anxious. You say he said something bad about the Empress in front of her, should she, as a favoured concubine, to advise, or not advise?

[ancientcharm]

The enigmatic emperor Caracalla. Lucius Septimius Bassianus, renamed Marcus Aurelius Antoninus at age 7, was born on April 4, 188 in Lugdunum, Gaul (Lyon, France). Like 'Caligula', he's known by a nickname rather than his name.

His father, Septimius Severus, became the first Roman emperor of North African origin in 192; His mother, Julia Domna, was a noble lady of Arab origin born in Emesa (Homs, Syria)

Publius Septimius Geta was born in Rome, 11 months after his brother 'Caracalla'. All historical sources claim that they never had a brotherly relationship. According to historians, Geta was more appreciated by the Senate and the people than his brother. Herodian wrote that they constantly fought for any reason and "it was impossible to hide the rivalry between the brothers, although the emperor Septimius tried in vain to keep this from being known".

An unusual empress

Busts of Julia Domna. Photos :Bibi Saint-Pol, and Daderot (CC)

Julia Domna always accompanied her husband in all the campaigns, the reign of Septimius Severus was extremely militarized. She received the title Mater Castrorum (Mother of the legionary camps). She made political decisions directly, something unprecedented in Rome for a woman. After the death of Septimius, Julia Domna was granted the titles: Mater Senatus and Mater Patriae (Mother of the Senate, Mother of the Nation), which implied that she, who was now empress mother, continued with her husband's attributes. She was a scholar in Philosophy, and had a notable influence on that subject. She was involved in several architectural projects including the famous Caracalla Baths, enormous work planning by her husband and completed by her son. She was highly respected by the Senate throughout her reign (192-217). After her death, the Senate deified her.

"Let there be peace among you both, pay the army well and forget the rest". -Septimius Severus to his children on his deathbed

'Geta Dying in his Mother's Arms' by Jacques Pajou

Britannia, February of 211: The emperor died of natural causes, accompanied by his family. Caracalla and Geta, aged 22 and 21 were already co-emperors with their father since childhood, but in 211 they had to deal with this alone. As expected, this shared reign did not last even a year.

According to contemporary historian of that period, Herodian : "The co-emperors constantly quarreled and feared that one of them would poison the other, so they did not eat at the same table."

Rome, December 27 of 211: 'Caracalla' ordered the execution of Geta, claiming to have discovered that his brother was plotting to assassinate him. The execution carried out by two centurions was in the presence of Julia Domna. Following this he also ordered the execution of all of Geta's supporters, who numbered in the thousands. Among those people were Marcus Aurelius's only surviving daughter, Cornificia, who committed suicide, and Marcus Aurelius's only grandson, son of Lucilla and Pompeianus.

The curious thing is that empress didn't leave her son, and while he was on campaigns, almost all the time, she was busy with political and administrative issues that Caracalla considered "mundane" since for him the most important thing were military matters.

It doesn't matter your ethnicity nor hometown; If you were born in Roman territory so you're a Roman.

In 212 he decreed a revolutionary edict that granted Roman citizenship to every free man and woman living in Roman territory, and from then on every free child born in the Roman Empire was Roman. This was criticized by historians contemporary with him saying it was "to collect more taxes", but modern historians agree that he simply understood what the Roman elite refused to understand. For them, Rome was a city-state and the other territories were the property of Rome; Only those born in the city were Romans, those from southern Italy, and certain privileged people who obtained citizenship. 'Caracalla' was living proof that the Roman elite had an anachronistic vision; being emperor of Rome he was a descendant of Arabs and Berbers, and born in Gaul; Evidently it was no longer the city-estate of the Romans but the capital of a multiethnic world called Rome.

An awesome site

Baths of Caracalla. 3D reconstruction made by team of 'History in 3D'

The Caldarium (sauna) was built in the Pantheon style and the vestibule was in basilica style; Just two simple parts of a baths building were something magnificent in themselves. It was an immense complex that, in addition to the typical cold, warm, and hot baths, dressing room, massage and beauty salons, included two libraries, gym, impressive swimming pools, a stadium with stands, vast gardens, a small museum with exhibitions of works of art, and a shopping center with a wide variety of businesses, from jewelry and clothing stores, restaurants and hair salons.

The Alexandria Massacre

After a trip through the eastern provinces, in December 215 he arrived in Alexandria. The Alexandrians, outraged by the death of emperor Geta, who was more beloved than Caracalla, began to public perform plays of satire mocking Caracalla and in which they called empress mother "Jocasta." According to the famous legend, Jocasta was the mother of Oedipus who, after killing his father, had married his own mother. Upon discovering this his wrath was such that ordered a massive executions. Caracalla attacked the city with his troops for several days, in a kind of personal war against Alexandria.

Unexpected death

Gold medal bust of Caracalla with the shield of Alexander the Great. By Sailko /CC BY 3.0 /wikimedia commons.

In 216 he offered King Artabanus IV of Parthia to marry his daughter, but the king rejected the offer. Caracalla took advantage of this "snub" to start a campaign against the Parthian empire. He began attacking the countryside east of the Tigris. In early 217 he was in Edessa (modern Şanlıurfa,Turkey) preparing to restart the campaign.

On April 8, 217, four days after his 29th birthday, he was traveling to a temple near Carras (Harran, southern Turkey) and when he stopped to urinate, the praetorian soldier Martialis stabbed him to death. According to historical sources, the Prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Macrinus commissioned him to assassination. Martialis was executed immediately after Caracalla's death, and three days later Macrinus proclaimed himself emperor.

Empress Julia Domna was in Antioch, upon learning of the assassination decided to take her own life.

This seems like the end of The Severan dynasty, however it wasn't. Julia Maesa, older sister of Julia Domna, was a strong lady.

In her hometown, Emessa, where Macrino had forced her to return, she took advantage of the fact that it was a place with an important military base. She organized with the legions a war against the usurper Macrinus. She placed his grandson Elagabalus on the throne on May of 218. Macrinus, who had fled to Cappadocia, was executed two months later. After Elagabalus, Alexander Severus would reign until the year 235.

"I know that none of you like what I do, that's why I have weapons and troops: so that at no time do I have to worry about what you say about me." -Caracalla to the Senate

Emperor Caracalla. Marble. Acquired from Rome, Italy, in 1875. Altes Museum, Berlin. Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP (Glasg) CC BY-SA 4.0- Wikimedia Commons

He is known as 'Caracalla' because that is what the Romans called a Gallic garment with a hood that they say this emperor didn't take off even to sleep.

[nesiacha]

Mini Portraits of Three Revolutionary Women from Overseas Territories

French womens revolutionaries from mainland France are largely forgotten in France. But those from the Overseas Territories and Haiti are even more overlooked.

Victoria Montou aka Aunt Toya (presumed portrait)

(? – 1805)

A former slave working for the colonist Henri Duclos, she would be considered a second mother by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the future Lieutenant General under Toussaint Louverture, who briefly allied with General Leclerc as a strategic move before fighting against him again and becoming Emperor of Haiti. It is believed that she taught Dessalines about African culture and some combat skills while they were enslaved. Duclos saw their association as dangerous and decided to get rid of them by selling them to different slave owners, ensuring their separation.

On her new estate, where she was exploited again , Dr. Jean-Baptiste Mirambeau, who would later become the Emperor’s physician, noted, "Her commands are identical to those of a general." This observation would prove accurate as events unfolded. Toya led a group of slaves she was affiliated with, and together they took up arms, fighting against a regiment. According to Mirambeau, "This small group of rebels, under Toya's command, was quickly surrounded and captured by the regiment. During the struggle, Toya fled, pursued by two soldiers; a hand-to-hand combat ensued, and Toya severely wounded one of them. The other, with the help of additional soldiers who arrived in time, captured Toya."

Upon the proclamation of independence in January 1804 and Dessalines’ coronation as Emperor, he made Victoria Montou an imperial duchess. However, she fell gravely ill in 1805. Jean-Jacques Dessalines tried to heal her, saying, "This woman is my aunt; treat her as you would have treated me. She endured, alongside me, all the hardships and emotions while we were condemned to work the fields together." She died on June 12, 1805. She was given a grand funeral; her funeral procession was carried by eight brigadiers of the imperial guard and led by Empress Marie-Claire Bonheur.

Marthe Rose-Toto (1762? – December 2, 1802)

Marthe Rose-Toto was born around 1762 on the island of Saint Lucia, which became free following the abolition of slavery in Guadeloupe in 1794. According to some sources, she became a close companion of Louis Delgrès, an officer and fervent republican revolutionary, so much so that he was called a "Sans Culotte" by Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse ( I've already discussed Louis Delgrès here: https://www.tumblr.com/nesiacha/751677840407330816/on-this-day-die-louis-delgres-freedom-fighter?source=share) . However, in 1802, Bonaparte sought to reinstate slavery and sent General Richepance. Louis Delgrès and many others took up arms. It is noteworthy that women were as present as men in this struggle to maintain their freedom and dignity. When all was lost, Louis Delgrès and 300 volunteers chose to commit suicide by explosives, shouting the revolutionary cry "Live free or die," after ensuring the evacuation of the estate for those who were not willing. The repression was brutal.

According to historian Auguste Lacour, during the evacuation, Marthe Rose-Toto broke her leg and was brought to the tribunal on a stretcher. She was accused of inciting Louis Delgrès' resistance and inciting the murder of white prisoners. It should be noted that these accusations were generally false, intended to legitimize death sentences. She was hanged, and according to Lacour, her last words were, "Men, after killing their king, left their country to come to ours to bring trouble and confusion: may God judge them!" In any case, Marthe Rose-Toto is considered one of the most important women in the fight against the reinstatement of slavery, alongside Rosalie, also known as Solitude. Their struggles and sacrifices should not be forgotten, and they were not in vain, as slavery was once again abolished in 1848.

Flore Bois Gaillard

Flore Bois Gaillard was a former slave and also a leader. She was reportedly one of the leaders of the "Brigands" revolt on the island of Saint Lucia during the French Revolution. Little is known about her as a former slave, only that she lived in the colony of Saint Lucia. Local historian Thomas Ferguson says of Flore Bois Gaillard, "A woman named Flore Bois Gaillard—a name that evokes intrepidity—was among the main leaders of the revolutionary party," and that during the French Revolution, she was "a central figure in this turbulent group that would be defeated by the military strategies of Colonel Drummond in 1797."

The group that included Flore Bois Gaillard consisted of former slaves, French revolutionaries, soldiers, and English deserters. They were determined to fight against the English regiments, notably through guerrilla strategies. This group won a notable battle, the Battle of Rabot in 1795, with the help of Governor Victor Hugues and, according to some, also with the help of Louis Delgrès and Pelage. However, this group was ultimately defeated by the British, who retook the island in 1797. At this point, Flore Bois Gaillard’s trace is lost. Writer Édouard Glissant imagines in his book that she was executed by the British after the island was retaken in 1797. Nevertheless, she remains a symbol in this struggle and a national heroine. The example of Flore Bois Gaillard is also interesting because it clearly shows us once again that the French Revolution was also taking place in the overseas departments and that slaves or former slaves played a crucial role there in order to make her revolution triumph and were in all the battles.

[wealmostaneckbeard]

Signalis: Unsubstantiated History Lesson

In the beginning there was the Empress, who had Bioresonant powers and used them to unite humanity. These powers were studied and reverse engineered to create technology that allowed humanities expansion beyond Vineta.

Telepathy industrialized became the production of Replikas. Telekinesis industrialized became artificial gravity. Conjuration industrialized became Klimaforming.

There was a great flourishing of art and culture. Studies of natural sciences and technologies struggled to catch up to the achievements of Bioresonance. Mysticism and esoteric rituals became widely practiced. Every world and several moons within the Sol system were colonized.

...And then the Empress committed suicide.

Why?

Perhaps she realized that she wasn't changing the universe to accommodate humanity. That she was changing humanity according to the whims of an incomprehensible terrifyingly sentient universe.

Perhaps she realized that humanity would never be free as long as she was alive. That the survival of the human species was pointless if every person's individuality was lost due to bioresonant subjugation.

Perhaps She wanted no part to play in the coming future but was trapped by her own supernatural powers in a position of political authority. Unable to retire to a quiet life and finally rest she had no choice but the deadly alternative.

Without the Empress, her empire fell slowly into chaos. Politicians, Corporate Executives, and Bioresonant Cultists formed a new aristocracy while collectively maintaining the veneer of a unified empire. These leaders were mere mortals, their longevity and power was inferior to the Empress. Their cruel incompetence begat competent revolutionaries. So those allegedly in control formed military and police forces to maintain their grip over their subjects.

Then a cult on Heimat successfully cloned the object of their worship, ironically an achievement of practical science. She was raised to do what the Empress would not. She would want to live forever, have absolute authority, and redundantly, even have an heiress.

When she was revealed to the worlds, The War started. The Eusan Empire was fighting for their freedom and the interests of their nobility. The nascent Eusan Nation fought for a future ruled by the Great Revolutionary. It should be spelled out that both sides were hypocrites in this apocalyptic interplanetary conflict.

Humanity was spread too far out and so their re-subjugation beneath a godlike figure was never going to be recreated.

As the war stagnated, The Great Revolutionary became concerned about threats from within her Nation. The cult that had created her could create her replacement if she did not obey them. In the interest of her own survival, she had them and any means of creating a challenger purged from existence. Even with her power, this was not easily done due to the cults integration with the Nation and the vast size of both organizations.

Cultists would purge themselves from the records and continue living under new identities. More intense law enforcement tactics were required to catch them. The Nation's war against an external foe shifted to face an enemy within.

Human suffering continues, and yet in these dark times two women fall in love with each other aboard the low-cost scout ship Penrose-512...

[whitecatlegend]

Chapter 89 (You're still alive)

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Master post

What did I promise you last time?.. Ah, yes.

The Bozhou massacre

After Li Chong's death, Qiu Shenji arrived to Bozhou. According to the chronicles, the citizens came out in submission, wearing white mourning clothes, but Qiu Shenji still killed them, destroying a thousand households, and claimed the achievements for himself, getting awarded the title of General-in-Chief of the Left of the Imperial Insignia Guard.

After Li Chong's rebellion was suppressed and his father also defeated, Empress Wu ordered one of the secret police officers (those who've seen the 2nd season of the donghua will be familiar with Zhou Xing) to investigate further. As a result, several other members of the Li family were forced to commit suicide and those who remained alive were stripped of their surname and titles.

If you have some ideas on the next historical background installments, please tell me (maybe you'd like to hear more about some of the stuff from the donghua, for example - I don't think manhua has stuff on general Qiu's father, for example, so I can put that wherever). For now I think I'll keep the next long explanation to about chapter 95-96 when it will be time to talk about the Secret Police and Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen's roles in it.

[haledamage]

World Building Whenever - Nessy Bennett

I finally took a little while to load up the Saints Row reboot, and am immediately smitten. and since I rebooted my girl Nessy for the new Saints, it's high time she got one of these 💖

GENERAL

name: Vanessa Bennett

alias(es): Ness, Nessy, Van, Boss (briefly, in another world, Madam President)

gender: non-binary woman (she/they). she would describe herself as “culturally female, but non-practicing”

age: 26 (at the start of the reboot/beginning of Saints Row 1)

place of birth: Stilwater, Michigan 

spoken languages: English, Spanish, enough Korean to carry a conversation

sexual orientation: pansexual

occupation: leader of the Saints (in the original Saints Row series, was also President of the United States and Empress of the Galaxy for a little while)

APPEARANCE

eye colour: hazel

hair colour: purple (naturally, dark blonde)

height: 5’8”

scars: incision scars on right knee from surgery (in original series, they also have a fair amount of stab and bullet scars, but in the reboot she hasn’t got those yet)

burns: in the reboot, none yet; in the original series, a large collection of burns over her left thigh, hip, side, and shoulder blade

overweight: nope

underweight: nope

FAVOURITE

colour: purple, lime green

music genre: rock, pop, pop-punk, electronica, whatever Kevin’s playing

movie genre: action. Also, romance

tv show: unironically, Great British Bake-Off. also, Stranger Things

pastime: dancing, pool, mayhem

food: whatever Kevin’s cooking. besides that, salt and vinegar chips and cherry pop tarts

drink: cherry coke

book: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

HAVE THEY

passed university: yes! She studied dance and music theory

had sex: yes

had sex in public: yes

gotten pregnant: no

kissed a boy: yes

kissed a girl: yes

gotten tattoos: yes

had a broken heart: yes

been in love: yes

stayed up for longer than 24 hours: yes

ARE THEY

a virgin: no

a cuddler: BIG TIME, platonically and romantically

a kisser: yes, also platonically and romantically

scared easily: very no

jealous easily: also very no

trustworthy: depends on who you are. her people know they can trust her completely, but otherwise... flip a coin, tbh

dominant: yes. tends to take the lead even when they shouldn’t

submissive: rarely, but for the right person she can make an exception

in love: in the reboot: currently, no; in the original series: she carries a pretty big torch for Gat pretty much from the moment they meet (and everyone knows it but him 😔)

single: yeeeeep

RANDOM QUESTIONS

have they harmed themselves: not deliberately, but she’s reckless and prone to causing mayhem, which has certainly resulted in harming herself

thought of suicide: no

attempted suicide: not in her mind, but to an outside perspective some of the things she does make it look like she has a death wish

Wanted to kill someone: ooooooh yes. very yes. all the time

rode a horse: nope

have / had a job: she runs a business with her friends! that business is a criminal empire, but y’know, semantics. at least they can be their own boss

have any fears: abandonment, but also commitment (with a few select exceptions). She’s also claustrophobic

FAMILY

sibling(s): none by blood, several by choice. (in the reboot, she’d list Eli, Neenah, and Kevin. In the original series, Johnny, Shaundi, and Pierce, and maybe Kinzie and Matt on a good day. also Carlos, Lin, and Aisha, but she doesn’t talk about them much)

parents: Helen and Steve Bennett, but only on holidays

children: none

pets: an orange tabby named Snickerdoodle. she’s the Saints mascot, and probably the real boss of the operation

[deusexlachina]

STEMquisition Part 11: Solve racism with emotional blackmail and also regular blackmail

In which I win favour by robbing the aristocracy blind, manage to elude the world's most easily-eluded deathtrap, and solve a murder mystery.

The future I saw showed that part of Corypheus' plan was to destabilize Orlais by assassinating Empress Celene, so we need to make him not do that by finding the assassin. Unfortunately, the Orlesians are racist. They are not impressed by my prestigious education or my shiny horns.

To make a good impression, I need to do menial tasks to impress random assholes with thick accents. Fortunately, I grew accustomed to this, because I went to the University of Orlais.

Leliana derides the Empress for believing in ridiculous notions like speaking with the dead or foreseeing the future, evidently forgetting that she's already encountered several speaking dead people, and we're here precisely because we foresaw the future. I may be a scientist, but if the supernatural boot fits, it fits, and my dear Leliana we live in a fantasy world.

Because of these objectively true beliefs, Empress Celene hired a magical advisor, Morrigan. Morrigan is a scientist of the magical sort, so I look up to her almost as much as she looks up to me because I am a Qunari.

Morrigan gives me a key to the Servant's Quarters, where I find a bunch of murdered people and Briala, who was Celene's girlfriend until she ruined the vibe by slaughtering her people for really, really stupid reasons. Nonetheless, Briala doesn't want Celene dead because she's the prime suspect, and the Orlesians would kill even more elves than they already do.

So Briala helps me solve the murder mystery while I go sneaking off to find cheap blackmail material. I find a locket of Briala that Celene kept all these years...in the Grand Apartments, mind you. Not her room.

I talk to Celene's Ladies in Waiting about this. Unlike Briala and Gaspard, you can't talk directly to Celene - you have to talk to her through her servants. Anyway, I show the servants the locket and suddenly she wants to talk to me. The threat of her being assassinated, you can talk to the servants. A romantic locket? That's important business of state.

She says she regrets failing Briala by not daring more. Specifically, by not daring to not set fire to thousands of her people.

I then show the locket to Briala, who remarks on how scandalous this locket is. She realizes that Celene is a crass sentimentalist who will commit political suicide for pussy still loves her.

I then go to stop the murder, but Grand Duchess Florianne, Gaspard's shitty sister, leads me into a trap. To prevent me from interfering with Corypheus' plans, she presents me with an unstoppable obstacle: a fade rift with two waves of demons.

Unfortunately for her, I have the ability to close fade rifts. Actually, it's what I'm most famous for. But critical thinking is for scientists, not minions of Corypheus.

Anyway, here's how The Trap can still win. She doesn't need to kill me. She just needs me away from the Grand Ballroom while she kills Celene. This would be a fairly solid plan if she didn't personally show up in the trap to reveal she's planning to assassinate the Empress on behalf of Corypheus instead of...you know...assassinating the Empress on behalf of Corypheus. Having blackmailed half the court, all the racists suddenly approve of me enough to listen when I tell everyone about her incredibly poorly-constructed trap. It's so embarrassing I can't even look at her.

I share the credit for this, and all the fun blackmail I got on shitty cousin Gaspard, with my pal Briala. I tell Celene that Briala did this all for her sake, rather than the more accurate version that she did it to avoid getting blamed.

Realizing that Briala is an effective spymaster who can destroy anyone who gets in her way still loves her, Celene reunites with her and promotes her to Marquis of the Dales.

That's the power of true love for ya.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 7.15 (before 1900)

484 BC – Dedication of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in ancient Rome 70 – First Jewish–Roman War: Titus and his armies breach the walls of Jerusalem. (17th of Tammuz in the Hebrew calendar). 756 – An Lushan Rebellion: Emperor Xuanzong of Tang is ordered by his Imperial Guards to execute chancellor Yang Guozhong by forcing him to commit suicide or face a mutiny. General An Lushan has other members of the emperor's family killed. 1099 – First Crusade: Christian soldiers take the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem after the final assault of a difficult siege. 1149 – The reconstructed Church of the Holy Sepulchre is consecrated in Jerusalem. 1207 – King John of England expels Canterbury monks for supporting Archbishop Stephen Langton. 1240 – Swedish–Novgorodian Wars: A Novgorodian army led by Alexander Nevsky defeats the Swedes in the Battle of the Neva. 1381 – John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hanged, drawn and quartered in the presence of King Richard II of England. 1410 – Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War: Battle of Grunwald: The allied forces of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeat the army of the Teutonic Order. 1482 – Muhammad XII is crowned the twenty-second and last Nasrid king of Granada. 1640 – The first university of Finland, the Royal Academy of Turku, is inaugurated in Turku. 1738 – Baruch Laibov and Alexander Voznitzin are burned alive in St. Petersburg, Russia. Vonitzin had converted to Judaism with Laibov's help, with the consent of Empress Anna Ivanovna. 1741 – Aleksei Chirikov sights land in Southeast Alaska. He sends men ashore in a longboat, making them the first Europeans to visit Alaska. 1789 – French Revolution: Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, is named by acclamation Colonel General of the new National Guard of Paris. 1799 – The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta by French Captain Pierre-François Bouchard during Napoleon's Egyptian Campaign. 1806 – Pike Expedition: United States Army Lieutenant Zebulon Pike begins an expedition from Fort Bellefontaine near St. Louis, Missouri, to explore the west. 1815 – Napoleonic Wars: Napoleon Bonaparte surrenders aboard HMS Bellerophon. 1823 – A fire destroys the ancient Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, Italy. 1834 – The Spanish Inquisition is officially disbanded after nearly 356 years. 1838 – Ralph Waldo Emerson delivers the Divinity School Address at Harvard Divinity School, discounting Biblical miracles and declaring Jesus a great man, but not God. The Protestant community reacts with outrage. 1849 – The first air raid in history occurs; Austria launches pilotless balloons against the city of Venice. 1862 – American Civil War: The CSS Arkansas, the most effective ironclad on the Mississippi River, battles with Union Navy ships commanded by Admiral David Farragut, severely damaging three ships and sustaining heavy damage herself. 1870 – Reconstruction Era of the United States: Georgia becomes the last of the former Confederate states to be readmitted to the Union. 1870 – Canadian Confederation: Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory are transferred to Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company, and the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are established from these vast territories. 1888 – The stratovolcano Mount Bandai erupts, killing approximately 500 people in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.

[craftercat]

How domineering was Empress dowager Feng over emperor xiaowen?

She was noted in records to often make decisions without consulting Emperor Xiaowen first, and even when Xiaowen was an adult, she continued to be very influential.

At one point, likely in the early 480s, she became worried about Xiaowen's capabilities and imprisoned Xiaowen for three days, planning to depose him in favour of his brother Yuan Xi, however the chancellors stopped her from carrying this out.

In 469, Emperor Xiaowen was created crown prince. His mother Consort Li died in the same year, and it is likely she was forced to commit suicide as per tradition. Empress Dowager Feng never told Emperor Xiaowen of his birth mother, and later would have most of the Li clan executed, seeing them as a threat.

As well, it is mentioned that if her eunuch favourites would say something bad about him to Empress Dowager Feng, she would have him beaten several dozen times.

These acts clearly show Empress Dowager Feng to have been domineering over Emperor Xiaowen.

[giorno-plays-piano]

Martyr

Part II

Pairing: knight!Todoroki Shoto x lady!reader

Warnings: yandere, obsession, bullying, depression, heavy angst, murder, poisoning, suicide, resurrection.

Words: 2.7k

Summary: A woman with a severe depression, you wake up in a world foreign to you only to discover you took place of a miserable second-rate villainess who is detested by everyone, even her own parents and fiancé. With nobody by your side except for your knight, you think this life isn't worth living.

Part I

P.S. Attention, this is a pretty dark fic! I wrote it after stumbling upon very depressive villainess manhwas 🥲

_________

As you opened your eyes wider, you realized you were inside the temple where the priests prayed, and the blue light surrounding you turned out to be a magical circle inside which you lay on a granite slab. You could feel your knight's fingers brushing against an ugly scar on your neck, and the thought you had committed suicide horrified you.

Did you really do it to yourself? If you did, why were you still alive in this world? Why weren't you home? Why did it feel too real to be a dream now? Why was Shoto standing here in front of you when he was supposed to be in Idris or somewhere far away if he had already opened the letter?

"I brought you back," your knight said, and you thought it was the first time he sounded so agonised, so utterly desperate it pained you to listen to his voice.

You didn't know an emotionless man like Shoto could wear such an exhausted, morbid expression.

"Why?" You whispered, struggling to speak. "I will die again anyway."

Huh, how did he manage to bring you back? You remembered the main heroine being brought back with the main priest using some ancient relic after she was poisoned by the Empress, but you weren't the main heroine. You were just a second-rate villainess, nothing more. Apparently, the relic was used because of some prophesy or something like that, you didn’t quite remember the plot as it was getting more and more ridiculous towards the end of the story, but after being brought back from the dead the duke's sweetheart was supposed to be turned into someone like a saint. You thought the ending felt really cheesy and cheap.

"You won't die. I'll kill them all if I have to, but you'll live."

As you looked into his face, Shoto's dark, empty eyes scared you. You had never seen him like this before. Something in his face was making you shiver.

"You don't understand. It's my role. My destiny," you kept saying despite growing pain, "unless I kill myself, you will have to behead me under the crown prince's order."

"I will behead the crown prince instead then."

You forced a smile while the man was looming over you as you finally managed to lift your hand to bring it to his face. You had always wanted to touch him like this, but you never dared to, knowing Shoto didn't enjoy your presence much, less alone your touches.

He didn't flinch, though, when you brushed your fingers against his warm cheek.

"No. You've got to live. My death is meaningless if it won't change your fate."

Suddenly, as you kept your hand on his cheek, you realized he was trembling slightly, and the next moment he carefully caught your hand in his own, intertwining your fingers with his. He had never been this affectionate before. Why was he touching you like that? You thought he didn't like when people were too close to him.

"I have never wanted you to die, my lady."

He brought your hand to his lips and kissed your knuckles when you wondered if you were dreaming inside a dream. It couldn't have been happening, could it?

His voice sounded broken when he spoke, "Why did you do this? Why didn't you tell me anything?"

"I felt... you would have objected if I told you the truth," you forced the words out of your mouth despite the pain.

"Of course, I would!" He screamed all out of sudden, making you wince. "I have always been by your side, but you still made me look at your corpse after all the time I served you like your loyal dog!"

You wanted to say you were sorry, but it was harder and harder to pronounce anything with your wound threatening to open again, and your knight laid his hand on your mouth, prohibiting you to speak.

"I'm not blaming you, my lady," he struggled to talk, shivering from anger. "They all mistreated you. For years I've watched them treating you like an animal, hurting you for their own amusement. I didn’t stop you from getting revenge on all these people because they all deserved it. I was happy when you hurt them."

What was he saying? How could he be saying that? Your knight wouldn't care what you did to others and what others did to you. Of all people, he wasn't the one to take pleasure in those wicked things your heroine did.

"But it had gone too far. You took your own life because you couldn't take it any longer, and I did nothing to help you."

Oh. Strangely, seeing his distress, the next moment you wondered if the knight secretly loved your heroine. It wasn't in the novel, but it was the only explanation you had, wasn't it? That was probably the reason why he chose such a violent path after killing her with his own hands, deciding to go against the enemies of his lady. This man loved his miserable, wretched woman, and the death of those who wronged her was the only comfort he could find after beheading her by the prince's order.

Poor Shoto. He didn't know you took the place of his lady so long ago, still loving her even when she was gone. Should you have told him you weren't the woman he cared about? It you told him from the very start, it might have turned out differently. You didn't deserve his kindness, and it was sad he waisted the relic on you when it had to serve the main heroine instead.

It's a shame you couldn't save him, you thought. His fate was far more unfortunate than your heroine's, wasn't it? In the end, murdering a person he loved so dearly turned Shoto into a lunatic, ready to give up on his life if he could take your enemies with him.

"She killed herself three months ago, did you know?" He started to speak faster, and you could see his eyes were shining dangerously.

Three months? Has it been three months already?

No, no, it could be. Your body would long rot after three months, regardless how carefully they stored it. The relic would be useless by this time, of course. And why was he talking about you in the third person?

Who was he talking about?

"One night a maid came to wake me up because she saw a scary green light coming from my lady's room. It was magic, of course, I could tell this much. But by the time I came, the light was almost gone, and my lady was laying in her bed just like always. If not her suicide note, I would've thought nothing was wrong."

You could see the tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Who could have thought you would ever see your knight crying in front of you.

"Do you know what she wrote? She asked everyone to forgive her and hoped the one she gave her body to would be more courageous and strong than she was," he wiped his tears with visible irritation, probably upset he couldn't hide his true face now. "I didn't know what to do. I wanted to wake her parents, but what would I tell them? They'd say both me and their daughter gone mad, so I kept quiet, waiting for my lady to wake up before I decided how to act. I don't know what I expected. I thought, if it would no longer be her when she opens her eyes, it would be a sorceress, a demon, or a strong-willed heroine who could live the tough life of my lady and then find a way to bring her back later. But she... she gave her body to you. A martyr."

Tears were now streaming down his cheeks freely, and he took a step back, wiping them angrily with his shaking hand. Despite him turning away from you, you could tell he was trembling as if he had a strong fever, his whole body shuddering.

So, he knew you were an imposter from the start, then? He was aware you weren't his lady but still said nothing and kept serving you as your knight? You couldn't understanding why he would do it. He loved your heroine, not you, right?

But something else troubled you too. Why did Shoto called you a martyr? You realized you asked him this question out loud only when he started answering it.

"How else should I have called you?" He let out a laugh, but it wasn’t heartfelt. "When you looked at all those maids who badmouthed you behind your back as if they did nothing wrong. You didn't fight back when that lady poured her tea on your dress. The servants in the mansion didn't even light fire in your room, and yet you went to give them your golden coins in return for them treating you like that. Who would do it if not a martyr?"

He stopped talking when he saw your expression, coming closer to you again as he pressed his handkerchief to your cold, wet face, mumbling an apology for speaking too harshly. He didn't want to upset you, someone who had been constantly abused for the sins of other person and yet didn't fight back, silently taking the punishment you didn't deserve.

It took him some time before he could speak again.

"You looked so sick it scared me. Whenever I watched you, you would stare back at me with your empty eyes and smile even if somebody just burnt your skin with hot tea. Isn't it because your body matters so little to you, am I right?"

Your body mattered very little to you even in reality, you thought as you remembered your father scolding you for not brushing your hair even once in a whole week.

"I don't know where you come from, my lady, but in this world people like you are called martyrs."

Forcing a smile, you felt like your throat was being slit with a red-hot dagger - it hurt so much you could feel tears streaming down your temples again as you laid on the granite slab, utterly helpless until the priests would finish resurrecting you.

What could you tell him? That you were nothing more than an ordinary woman suffering from a severe depression? He wouldn't know what it meant, of course. Determined you were some saint, he wouldn't believe you, anyway.

For some reason, this miserable thought left you oddly satisfied.

"Wouldn't a martyr write this?" He squeezed a piece of paper in his hand, and you recognized a letter you gave him before his departure. "Asking me for forgiveness after I failed to protect you... Giving me money so I could run away before the marquis caught me. And now you're telling me you even took your own life so that I could change my fate? Do you even know what it feels like to get a second suicide note from a lady who I swore to save this time?"

No, you didn't. You could hardly imagine what he felt like when he got the first one, seeing his mistress leaving him because she could no longer endure her torture and being unable to stop her. He must have felt so helpless then, silently watching her go.

But what could you do? It wasn't a decision you could take. The story would still be finished as it was supposed to, and if you wanted to help your dear wretched knight, you still had to kill yourself. Would he turn mad, nonetheless? You thought doing this yourself would make it a little better since you couldn't even imagine how it felt beheading the one you loved, but, looking at your knight now...

It felt like his sanity was already long gone.

"How did you manage to bring me back?" You asked him quietly as the priests started praying louder, meaning they were closer to finish the ritual. "I thought you didn't know about the relic."

"I thought my lady didn't know about it either," he tilted his head to the side, tears finally drying on his pale cheeks. "But, I guess, some martyrs can really see the future just like the high priest said. As for your question, my lady, I brought you to the temple to ask the head priest to allow to bury you properly. Those who commited suicide don't have the right to be buried on the graveyard."

True, it was considered a great sin by the local church, and the heroine's parents wouldn't even bother to bury their daughter's body properly out of pity for her since they had none. But Shoto, the knight who was in love with his mistress, certainly cared, you thought as you caressed his palm with your thumb.

"I took your corpse secretly and brought it to the temple. When the priest asked me about you, I told him the truth, all about my lady leaving her body and bringing a martyr to take her place... I didn’t think he'd believe me, but when he asked the high priest to look at you, he... he said it was true. You were a soul locked in my lady's body."

Oh, could the high priest really see your soul? You thought you remembered something like that from the novel when he declared the main heroine's soul was pure and innocent. But to think he could actually discover you weren't from this fictional world...

It started to feel more and more real, and you didn't like it. You wanted to wake up from this weird dream as soon as you could.

"When I've told him about all the things you had to endure before you killed yourself for the sake of others, he said a martyr shouldn't have died like that. He said he would bring you back because you were the saint he was waiting for, a woman who gave her all to the people who despised her," suddenly kneeling in front of the granite slab where you laid, he brought your hand to his forehead, your knuckles brushing against his damp skin as he was breaking into a cold sweat, shaking lightly. "It was a miracle, you see. I have never thought something like this is possible. I wonder, my lady must have chosen you because she knew you would make it to the end... because you could survive both her torment and even death."

You didn't know why you were still crying, but you were, nonetheless. Although you were constantly pitying yourself in both reality and here, it didn't feel the same when the man you thought had always been indifferent to you did, in fact, had so much compassion for his lady. Getting his recognition for going through all these hardships felt so... selfishly satisfying.

Was your heroine right when she chose you to inhabit her body? A martyr turned into a saint, now you were going to take the lead instead of a main heroine. Besides, if she took the poison given to her by the Empress, she would be no longer able to get back from the dead... Did it mean she would be gone soon? But what about the happy end for the main heroes, then?

"But I can't stay for long in this place," you whispered to him through tears as he watched you, concerned. "I have my own world to return to. This story will end soon whether we want it or not..."

There was something maniacal in his eyes when he spoke, "You can't return, don't you see? If you couldn't go back even after you died, it means you can't leave this world. You have to stay here."

Wait, how could it be? Wasn't it just your own sick mind creating this scary, cruel world for you? Wasn't it all just a dream?

A very realistic dream you couldn't wake up from.

"You have to stay here with me."

[shijiujun]

ANOTHER REC from the author who wrote The Wife is First 妻为上! I’ve actually read like six of her novels so far (will do a compilation soon heh) and 绿野千鹤 (the author) is very fond of transmigration, going back in time, reincarnation, revival and everything, and she’s also very fond of historical settings where men can marry men, in varying degrees, and this is one of them!!!! This is a very feel good novel, just like The Wife if First - considered a sweet, not complex novel. 

(And for those asking about reading difficulty levels, this is actually not very complicated, so if y’all wanna read in Chinese, you can actually try this!)

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary:

At his deathbed in his 20s, emperor Yu Jin Tang tells his male empress Song Xiao to die with him right before he passes away from a severe injury sustained from war. Devastated and also willing to die with him, Song Xiao is about slit his own throat when Jin Ling, Jin Tang’s younger brother who’s next in line for the throne, reads out the imperial decree to have Song Xiao be given a wangye title and assist Jin Lin in his rule, a decree that Jin Tang made before he died, of course not expecting Song Xiao to die with him.

Song Xiao slits his own throat anyway after killing the man who dealt his husband with the fatal blow, and wakes up in 16 year-old Song Xiao’s body in the modern world. He’s in the hospital after an accident, and is entirely confused with this world. He also wonders where Jin Tang is, if he also travelled to this world after his death, but Song Xiao first has to get used to the modern world, to his father, who is the CEO of an entertainment company, unofficial stepmother (who is an actress under the company and had an affair with Song Xiao’s father) and stepsister.

After recovery, Song Xiao gets to school and becomes tablemates with someone who looks exactly like Jin Tang, called Yu Tang, who is the heir to the wealthy Yu family.

Cue Yu Tang and Song Xiao trying to test each other out to see if they really transmigrated to this world and have memories of their past life, navigate their families and find other transmigrated people from that dynasty in their current timeline. Yu Tang and Song Xiao also reaffirm their love for each other after clearing up the misunderstanding that led Yu Jin Tang to go off to war suddenly that year, which inadvertently led to his death after.

Read:

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Not Available | Novel Translations | Manhua 

Characters:

1. 宋箫 Song Xiao - In his past life he was a scholar who first met YJT at a palace feast, and YJT fell in love with him at first sight and was adamant on marrying him as his empress. The previous emperor caught wind of this and wanted to execute Song Xiao, but his grandfather begged the emperor to spare his grandson in exchange for his life. He loves YJT but in his past life was always carrying the burden of the empress title and was never close to YJT in public, and in private, he repeatedly refused to sleep with YJT because he was scared of the pain, but also did not tell YJT that this was the reason for his rejection, leading to YJT thinking that Song Xiao must really hate him/not love him. 

After he commits suicide and transmigrates to the modern world, he’s the 16-year old son of the CEO of a huge entertainment company, and lives with his father, stepmother and stepsister. Before he transmigrated, the current him was diagnosed with autism and he was non-verbal, until his stepmother/stepsister hurt him and led to him being in a coma. He wakes up from the coma having transmigrated after, and is so confused at all the nurses, plus he has all his ancient traditional habits - the way he talks, his hand gestures etc. He was caught calling his stepmother a concubine LMAO in public, and only has two months to get used to the modern world before he’s tossed into school, where he meets YJT again. And as expected he forgets himself frequently and ends up greeting people traditionally like this LOL:

Considered to be a real pretty boy HAHAHAHA as expected, but before he transmigrated he was often the subject of bullying. He ends up rooming with YJT, and they start second-guessing whether each other has transmigrated. It’s hilarious because even before confirming that he is indeed YJT, Song Xiao is so used to things like feeding YJT chicken wings, helping him with his clothes etc. from back in his days as empress, and YJT in modern world is also like used to it and then when they realize their actions they’re like ???? hold on, are you...

Totally doesn’t get Math (like all of us), but luckily he’s so smart and picks up all his academic material quickly. 

2. 虞锦堂/虞堂 Yu Jin Tang/Yu Tang - Went against laws and his father in his past life to marry Song Xiao, and really, really loves him. He always doubts that Song Xiao loves him back, however, because of the way he basically forced Song Xiao to marry him, and did not take in any concubines etc. in the year they spent together before he died. They argued over this, which led to him going to war in anger, and to his eventual death. On his deathbed, out of spite and anger at his impending demise, he asks Song Xiao to die with him, but does not mean it, having already planned Song Xiao’s future for him.

He wakes up in his new body as an 11 year-old named Yu Tang, 5 years before Song Xiao transmigrates despite their deaths being minutes apart. At some point he goes to read historical books and is furious and devastated when he reads that Song Xiao killed himself after he died, and wonders if it’s because Jin Lin didn’t tell Song Xiao about the decree.

He’s been waiting for Song Xiao to turn up, and when he does, Yu Tang finds himself testing Song Xiao to see if he really has his memories or not, and even plots for Song Xiao to room with him because Yu Tang gets pissed at the thought of someone else seeing Song Xiao’s body as he comes out of the bath everyday HAHAHA. 

In this modern world, he no longer has to deal with the burden of country etc., and one of the possible heirs to the Yu fortune and empire, he now only has to deal with greedy relatives and a grandfather who may oppose same-sex relationships, but smart Yu Tang knows what he’s doing and is more than familiar with fighting for the throne in his past life, and now in this life. Because he lost so much in the previous life, he’s now plotting to keep everything, including Song Xiao.

3. 虞锦麟 Yu Jin Lin - YJT’s younger brother, who also transmigrated to the modern world the year Song Xiao does, but in his past life he dies much later than his brother and Song Xiao did out of natural causes. He is reborn as Yu Tang’s baby brother, and this baby has ALL THEM MEMORIES.

4. 独孤暗 Du Gu An - Yu Tang’s current same-age bodyguard, was picked up from the streets by Yu Tang when they were both younger. He was the head of YJT’s secret army in his past life, who transmigrated over.

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

In private, Yu Tang and Song Xiao refer to each other frequently as emperor and empress, but they’re conscious to not say it in public because they know people will wonder if they’re insane hahaha

Yu Tang ran for President of the Student’s Club, won, and then changed all the names of the different committees in school (cleaning committee, disciplinary committee etc.) into historical ministry names like, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Justice etc. hahaha

They acknowledge each other quite early on in the book and it’s so sweet from then on! Technically even though they’re 16 year-olds here in spirit they’re like... they’ve lived another lifetime together, so Yu Tang refers to Song Xiao as his wife and empress, and keeps stealing kisses etc.

The man who killed YJT in his past life was reborn as Yu Tang’s literal dog in the modern world, and a lot of characters transmigrated/were reborn as well, including YJT’s eunuch gonggong, who is actually a high-ranking butler now in the main Yu family branch and who has also been waiting for YJT to turn up in the modern world. When Song Xiao first meets him, his eyes automatically go to the butler’s crotch LMAOOO

YJT’s sister was also reborn as his sister, and because he wasn’t able to protect her in his past life, he’s very thankful that he can do so now

It’s really cute because there’s even an overseas academic exchange part. Outside of school they also try to navigate their relationships with their families, and it’s impressive to see how Song Xiao and Yu Tang deal with their pesky relatives, work etc.

Song Xiao has to defend himself (with the help of Yu Tang) against his stepmother, and another woman that his Dad had another affair with etc., but all these tactics are elementary to him as he recalls how his siblings in his past life were much more merciless and scheming than this towards him LOL

[engelspolitics]

Boxer Rebellion

https://www.grunge.com/240379/the-tragic-true-story-of-the-boxer-rebellion/

Boxer Rebellion (Yihetuan Movement) was an anti-Western patriotic peasant uprising that was later supported by the Qing government à eventually led to the disintegration of China's last dynasty

· Distrust for Westerners as imperialist powers sought greater influence in China

· Modernising attempts like railroads was seen as imperialist imposition

· Droughts were attributed to the gods’ wrath in response to the harm that was being inflicted on China's land; railroads hurt the "dragon's vein" and mining in the mountains had let out "the precious breath," which now tarnished the harmony between nature and man

o Violence across China by 1900; Boxer rebellion led to Boxer Protocol, which ironically expanded presence and power of imperialists

Since 1840s, the British, Americans, French, Dutch, German, Japanese, and Spanish started to take control of parts of the Chinese Empire through various treaties.

· Relations between foreigners and Chinese were increasingly strained

· Foreign missionaries were source of agitation due to to day to day involvement in the Empire

o Things kicked off with Juye Incident in 1897 à two German missionaries were murdered in the middle of the night at a missionary residence

o Kaiser Wilhelm then occupied Jiaozhou Bay; in turn Russian, British, Japanese, and French occupations of various regions in the Chinese Empire

Yihetuan, or Boxers, arose out of a Chinese secret whose name translates to "The Righteous and Harmonious Fists;" engaged in martial arts with the belief that it would make them invulnerable

name "Boxers" was given to the group by English-speaking missionaries as this was the only word they had for martial artists.

· Initially Yihetuan were against the Qing dynasty; however in 1898 anti-foreign conservatives gained control of the Chinese government and convinced the Yihetuan to join the Qing in opposition against the foreigners.

· Yihetuan also supported by Empress Dowager Cixi, who returned the Hundred Days of Reform of her son and had conservative officials institute a coup to put her in power

o In 1900 she had the Imperial Court legalise civilian militias and she publicly spoke against foreigners and in support of Yihetuan

o However the Imperial Court was divided; some saw Yihetuan as mere rioters, others were against or in favour of them

§ Some politicians in time executed for anti-Yihetuan sentiments; Xu Jingcheng and five others sent a petition urging to diplomacy to the Parliament, for which Cixi decided the ministers should be put to death

In response to the Yihetuan Movement the imperialist foreign powers banded together to create the Eight-Nation Alliance and dispatched their troops to subdue the uprising.

· In June 1900, 2,000 marines under the command of British Admiral Edward Seymour were dispatched toward Beijing; however the Yihetuan pushed back and the mission failed with 350 casualties

Seymour's defeat raised status of the Boxers in addition and strengthened the determination of the Imperial Court in their resistance to imperialism

· Cixi ordered all foreigners, incl. diplomats, to leave Beijing under escort by the Chinese army.

· On same day German minister was killed in the streets after he murdered a Chinese boy; in response to the minister's death, foreign officials declared that they remained in Beijing until the troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance arrived in Beijing

· Cixi was furious and made an official declaration of war + allowed Yihetuan to run rampant

· Chinese Christians and foreigners in Beijing fled to the Legation Quarter, which the Yihetuan unsuccessfully tried to infiltrate

o During the siege against the Legation Quarter, the Yihetuan and Chinese army’s attempts at burning out the Christians led to firespreading into the buildings of the Hanlin Yuan Academy net door; a university comprised of a series of courtyards and buildings, which also included a library that housed "the quintessence of Chinese scholarship ... the oldest and richest library in the world."

o Legation tried to extinguish the fire but still almost everything was destroyed; as there were no records of what was inside so unsure what was lost

From 1899 to 1901, the Yihetuan Movement killed as many as 100,000 people, mostly in the summer of 1900 when violence spiked

· Level of violence depended on how sympathetic local authorities were toward Yihetuan

· Many unaffiliated citizens also caught in the violence

· Chinese women said to have committed suicide to escape capture and rape by foreigners, spurring on the Yihetuan and other Chinese to remove the foreigners

Many of the Chinese Christians who died during the Yihetuan Movement became known as the Martyr Saints of China when they were canonized by the Catholic Church.

· Many fled for their lives or hid in the home of their local priest; e.g. Father Mitrophan Tsi-Chung, who was burned alive when Yihetuan caught him and others

· Father Mitrophan was the first Orthodox Chinese priest to be martyred and was canonised in 1902 by the Orthodox Church and by the Catholic Church in 2000, which China condemned

Eight-Nation Alliance to reached Beijing mid-August and soon broke through the walls; entered Beijing and the forbidden city with 20.000 troops

· Since the United States already had Manila as a main army base, the U.S. was able to quickly dispatch multiple battalions for the various attacks

· Upon lifting the siege, the Eight-Nation Alliance looted and killed in Beijing as much as the Yihetuan had been doing

Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxi fled the city; as they were gone, remaining top Qing officials signed the Boxer Protocol in September 1901

· The Boxer Protocol stated that the government had to pay 450,000,000 taels of silver as war reparations + execution ten high-ranking leaders who had supported the Yihetuan

· Russian forces occupied Manchuria, an act that led to the Russo-Japanese War in 1904

Although Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Beijing in 1901 with the intention of modernizing China and making social reforms, it was too little, too late; Qing Dynasty had been severely weakened by the Imperial government's defeat, and in 10 years, it was overthrown.

[thegreymoon]

Ever Night

How does she always make the worst decisions 😑

I am trying SO HARD to stan but she makes it so difficult 😒

***

These people are the only ones I stand behind on this show. The rest are all getting on my very last nerve. 

I am so sick of the Tang Emperor, he has no spine and no common sense and this pitiful attempt to give the Empress a story arc of her own was beyond underwhelming. Like, choose your position and stick to it, ffs!

***

LMAOOOO, weren’t you trying to murder her, like, 2 seconds ago? 

When will this show go back to being intelligent 😫

***

I mean, he’s not wrong, but who the hell wrote this script? 

=> the Elder sneaks in to murder the Emperor

=> the Elder tries to murder the Empress when she won’t aid him in killing the Emperor

=> the Elder gets the Emperor to agree to his terms with severe political, religious and military repercussions with no real leverage whatsoever except pointing a stick at the Empress

=> (the royal guard is somehow unbothered and nowhere to be seen)

=> the Elder is suddenly worried about the state of the royal marriage again and apparently concerned about Empress’ happiness after she unrepentantly abandoned their people in a frozen wasteland to live a life of luxury and he tried to murder her for it

=> the princess does the only logical thing there is to do when an assassin infiltrates the goddamn palace to threaten the lives of her royal father and his wife

=> (the captain of the royal guard appears and remains unbothered)

=> Emperor: “Tell my daughter to go away, nothing to see here, it’s not an assassination attempt, just a tiny squabble with my in-laws!”

=> the Elder points out the absurdity of this entire situation as if we’re now supposed to laugh off this whole debacle of a script and write off literal attempted regicide on a quip from a quirky old man who ~loves~ his daughter even though he just tried to kill her

Me: ................................................... 🙄🙄

***

LMAO, and since there was obviously no logical resolution to this whole damn ridiculous mess, the writers decided to conclude the entire shitty arc by having the Elder commit suicide for no good reason via terrible special effects 🤣🤣

I cannot with this nonsense 🤣🤣

***

I’m becoming more and more sympathetic to Li Yu. I mean, she’s insufferable and a brat, but her father is just so... worthless. He replaced her mother with his mistress (and could do it with no repercussions because he’s the most powerful man in the country), had her married off to a feral tribe when she voiced her objections and is now threatening to kill her. 

Yes, she’s cold-blooded, somewhat selfish and self-centred and has a massive blind spot when it comes to her sadistic idiot brother, but her father is a really shitty parent to all of his children. 

I feel like the narrative keeps trying to make the Emperor a sympathetic, honorable character but he’s just so self-serving, spineless and cowardly and all he does all day is angst about how hard his life is. Also, there is no honour to be found anywhere. It’s canon that he’s more than willing to let corruption go unchecked and his family to get away with murder, torture and a bunch of other bullshit, as long as it benefits him. Chao Xiaoshu was right to wash his hands of all his filth. 

***

Ha! Here we go! Finally, we get to the bottom of his age!

So, he was 8 yrs old when Xia Hou attempted to kill him, fifteen years passed from that point until his arrival in the capital, which made him 23 yrs old at the time, and at least a year has passed since then. That means he is at least 24 right now. 

@dangermousie​ I suppose they upped his age because they cut the transmigration part and there is zero chance a four-year-old is going to survive killing to stay alive and taking care of a baby at the same time. Even an eight-year-old is pushing it. 

***

Every single scene with that Mo woman is such pure nonsense. Elementary school villains trying to boost her relevance, nonsense all over the place. I am losing braincells by the moment. 

***

OMFG, this stupidity is never-ending 😑😑

It is really, really hard to be invested in the story when the stakes are this manufactured. 

***

When the writing is so bad, it literally gives you second hand embarrassment. 

***

All the hate 🤮

The fact that Sang Sang is waiting for him at home, thinking of him every minute of every day, and here he is, sowing his wild oats, just gets to me on a visceral level. Fuck this entire collection of (poorly written) tropes with a cactus. It absolutely ruins stories for me and this one is also very much ruined at this point. 

***

I am beyond pissed off. Crystal Yuan is now firmly on my no-watch list.

***

This is how this useless character is described on Wikipedia: Gentle and delicate, her pureness is reflected in her cultivation as well as her honest attitude toward love.

Nauseating 🤮🤮

***

Exactly! The note is for Sang Sang, not you!

Go fuck yourself.

***

“When will he write a little note just for me?”

Bitch, never! At least I hope. 

***

LMAOOO, “Do you know how many girls I have lining up for me?”

I very much doubt anyone is lining up for your stank rapist ass. 

***

LMAOOOO, he is such a mood 🤣🤣

This is my exact face when some moron starts rambling about Heaven and Hell, how the Devil is coming to bring about the end of the world and how we must kill all those who practice the same faith a bit differently because some old man proclaiming himself as an authority figure says so and claims it’s written in a book in an ancient language that I can’t personally read and have never even seen 🙄🙄

Come to your senses already, Ning Que! Is this sheltered fool really who you want to be in love with? Ask yourself, is she really wise, deep and intelligent, or is she just rich and conventionally attractive? 

Also, let’s not get into the idiocy of her old man shifu sending this stupid child into the wilderness in the middle of a war to look for the original copy of a holy book that every single power faction is also looking for and will definitely kill to obtain. And that is before we even get to the two of them travelling alone, her wearing a pristine white outfit, and apparently carrying no supplies with her. Like???????  

I want to go back to the first episodes when this show was still good 😭😭

[mcheang]

The employee

After seeing Feng Jiu worry about how Qingti is adjusting, Dong Hua can’t help but wonder what their relationship had been. He knows Feng Jiu went to the mortal realm for his sake, and had somehow caused the death of Qingti by her interference. She had then mourned him for all this time...gave up half her cultivation...

What was their relationship like?

Dong Hua demanded Si Ming give him the real scroll for his mortal trial.

As Dong Hua reads through it, his mortal memories begin to resurface, along with a mistrust of Qingti.

Oh, he still trusts Feng Jiu, after all she had done to be with him as a pet, and literally taking a dagger to her heart after she ran away from their wedding, he knows why she committed ‘suicide’, and it wasn’t because of Qingti!

Ok, so maybe Dong Hua is feeling a little insecure. He can still hear Feng Jiu crying out for Qingti before the tomb collapsed.

He reminds himself that Feng Jiu chose to marry him, she did everything for him, she only liked Qingti as a friend...

But Qingti liked Feng Jiu, had dared to steal her from his sworn brother and emperor in the most disrespectful way...yeah, he saved the emperor several times too. Why else would he still be alive right now, and not impaled with the Canghe blade?

Qingti’s memory may have been fuzzy, but he behaves so casually in front of Dong Hua’s empress.

Currently Dong Hua watched Qingti place a hand on Feng Jiu’s hair, pointing out a knot.

That’s it! Qingti has to go.

It was a simple matter, Dong Hua merely gave Siming a new employee. Considering how Siming lied to Dong Hua before; he accepted this with good nature and claimed he was lacking help to Feng Jiu.

Meanwhile, Dong Hua set about cuddling with his empress. He wanted her to be intimate with him only.

Feng Jiu: you need to learn tolerance.

Dong Hua: I disagree.

[k-corner]

Answer for the first question because it’s the easy one: I like Run Yu because he was a sweet and sympathetic character who was much more fleshed out than any of the others, and who had way too many bad things happen to him that he had to overcome which he did. I liked that he decided ‘nope – fuck you and everything that you’ve gotten away with up till now. I’m taking you out’ to the Heavenly Empress and Emperor and actually followed it through. Too often you have the good guys do the whole ‘oh but you’ll be just as bad as them’ crap. No, if they’re unchecked and still doing it – you need to fucking stop them and he did and he was awesome for it.

The second answer requires a much longer response. It could be easily summed up as – Run Yu is both the protagonist as well as the antagonist. The hero and the villain all in the same show.

This is because I would argue that Ashes of Love is a dual protagonist story. We have two distinct lines that we follow: Xu Feng the Fire Immortal, and Run Yu the Night Immortal. 

Where it goes wrong is that it forgets this, or didn’t mean to do that, prioritizes one story over the other (Run Yu’s) and then takes a side despite all evidence to the contrary to come in and try to make it a single-protag story (Xu Feng’s) and turns the other protag (Run Yu) into just the villain, which falls horribly/horrendously short.

In Xu Feng’s story – Xu Feng is an arrogant prince who has everything he ever wanted, who gets praise and awe and love just for the sheer point of existing and he falls in love with a woman that he can’t have so he sets forth to get her at any cost. In Xu Feng’s story, his is a tale about falling in love and then dealing with an usurper who caused the deaths of his parents and who has claim to the woman that he wants. His father is killed and his mother imprisoned (although technically the emperor did this although Run Yu will hold the blame later{a common thing to happen in this show}) until she commits suicide by his brother who takes the throne and his glory from him. In Xu Feng’s story – Run Yu is everything that is standing in his way. Run Yu is Xu Feng’s antagonist/villain because he’s the one who overthrew their parents, who took the throne, and who is the man engaged to the woman he loves who won’t back down and give her up to Xu Feng no matter how many times Xu Feng asks.

In Run Yu’s story – Run Yu is an abused and ostracized character who has been blamed and shamed for things beyond his control and yet who has still remained kind and gentle. He is forced to come to terms with what occurred in the past before he embarks on a journey of revenge/justice against the evil tyrants. In Run Yu’s story, his tale is a court intrigue/mystery/coming into oneself/learning to fight back tale. In Run Yu’s story, he has several antagonists/villains- the Heavenly Empress who is out to destroy him after millennia of torturing and terrorizing him who murdered his mother and his tribe just because her husband couldn’t keep it in his pants, the Heavenly Emperor who is evil incarnate who took advantage of his mother and destroyed her while also leading to the downfall of so many characters and is really just a horrible person who abuses his power and station and allows Tu Yao’s constant bullshit, and Xu Feng who is supposed to be his brother but who has decided that the woman that Run Yu loves and is engaged to should belong to him instead and constantly goes around Run Yu to hound her regardless of how Run Yu feels about it.

They both have negative qualities that can easily make them the villain: Xu Feng is self-righteous, supremely entitled and annoyingly arrogant, easily dismissing the damage and pain caused by his parents because it didn’t affect him personally and believing himself as the sole judge and jury and executioner of ‘what’s right’; and Run Yu is manipulative by necessity and undergoes a downward spiral of systematic and long-sustained abuse and abandonment that he finally cracks under and seeks to prevent anymore loss regardless of the cost.

Xu Feng’s story I would say is a Man vs Man/possibly Man vs Fate story wherein Run Yu’s is Man vs Society/Man vs Self/Man vs. Man.

In Xu Feng’s tale Run Yu’s type of villainy is summed up as: (types taken from here) The Corrupted – person who was once good or had good intentions but became corrupted or fell to the dark/bad side. The Disposed Son – Has been disposed of, rejected and often stays around the peripheral of the family. The Deperado – trapped in their horrible situation and are forced to do unscrupulous acts to survive. The Despot – gathers forces around them and conquering over the previous rulers to take over that power. The Lethal Plotter – always has a cunning plan. Is very patient and can wait for the exact time to put his plans into action.

In Run Yu’s tale his enemies fall in these categories: (combined to save space) Tu Yao: The Abusive Authority Figure/The Bully/The Career Criminal/The Matriarchal Oppressor Tai Wei: The Abusive Authority Figure/The Lethal Plotter Xu Feng: The Bully/The Dark Knight Jin Mi: The Victim (mostly later in the story)

I would argue that the story loses all of its credibility when it tries to blend two completely different arcs/stories together and makes a choice about which is the new protagonist and which is the new antagonist regardless of past information. Of the two, Run Yu’s story was stronger and his goal much more defined and satisfying whereas Xu Feng’s was not, yet somehow Xu Feng is considered the ‘true hero’ and Run Yu the ‘end villain’ after it’s all said and done.

So as to your original statement, I would disagree. 

I would say that Xu Feng is more of a villain in Ashes of Love than Run Yu ever was, but that the narrative was so far up his ass that it couldn’t see that. (That might stem from the story that it was based off of which was in Jin MI’s POV which shows with the whole ‘up Fire Immortal’s ass’ crap).

And that’s why I like Run Yu. The true and rightful protagonist of Ashes of Love.

[chaoticspacefam]

These are too much fun, I’m sorry if they’re annoying I love doing them sjkhgdyudgyud

I was tagged by @a-muirehen​ (thank you! :3)

And of course I’m doing Saarai first XD

*Disclaimer/reminder: that my ficverse is CANON-DIVERGENT, so while I’ve tried to stay as true and accurate as possible, the dates (and people involved) are not 100% the same as the official canon, particularly where the pre-Valkorion Empire and his takeover of it are involved. If this bothers you, my fic and my blog are not for you and I ask you to politely scroll past, thank youuuu :3

I forgot to write down a full timeline for myself (d’ooohhh Elven) so I’m still working on it, but I sat and worked out the math for the dates that are mentioned here so they shoouuullddd still be somewhat plausible - though they are still far off from the “canon”. I know. That’s why it’s marked canon-divergent :P

GENERAL name :  Saarai Ahaszaai alias(es) :  Rai to family, partners and close friends, Lord Rubrum (formerly), the Eternal Empress gender :  Female age :  Born Autumn, 3739 BBY (110 as of Onslaught in 3629 BBY) place of birth :  Medriaas, Wild Space spoken languages : High Sith, Sith, Basic, Huttese sexual orientation : Bisexual, polycurious occupation :   Sith Heiress → Sith Lord → Odd jobs/Single parent → Eternal Empress (in my ‘verse the Empress is not the DS option and the Alliance has both an Empress and a Commander, with a Council of trusted Advisors to help them agree on a final decision. Saarai (eventually after dealing with Arcann/Vaylin) controls the Throne and the Fleet whilst Vano, the Commander, manages recruitment and tactics among other things!)

APPEARANCE eye colour : Sulfur yellow hair colour : Dark scarlet height :  6′ 3″ / 192 cm scars :  A thin one across the bridge of her nose, and another cutting diagonally across her lip. Several claw-like gashes across her neck and collarbones (don’t ask how she got them, she won’t tell you. Don’t try and touch them, either.) burns :  Eventually gets a saber burn through her heart, in a confrontation with Tsâhis’ brother in the Zephyrverse AU (the wound itself very nearly killed her, now it’s just a reminder for her to be careful when she’s fighting), in the Subterfugeverse a smaller burn across her shoulder where Senya’s saber clips it during the confrontation before she and Arcann escape overweight :  Yes. But she’s just very bulky, it’s all muscle. Good luck trying to move her if she doesn’t wanna move lol underweight :  No

FAVOURITE colour :  Dark blue music genre :  Somewhat all over the place, she listens to a lot of things, though she’s quite selective on the content of said songs. Tends to like a lot of folk-y type music, as it’s the sort of thing she used to sing to Ty when he was a baby/toddler to calm him down when he got particularly upset.  Old Sith lullabies are another one, but those aren’t likely to be in the main music chain, she still remembers the ones her mother used to sing to her and her sister when they were hiding on Rishi movie genre :  Anything with a (found-)family-centric plotline, doesn’t mind the occasional thriller but tends to prefer movies with happy endings. Gal’s been through a lot, she don’t like anything too morbid. tv show :  Not a particular follower of any series or genre, but she does sit on the Imperial News networks a lot in the hopes of glimpsing some news on any of her family members, after the Alliance is formed and they’re reunited however she does take to watching documentaries (particularly on ancient Sith “culture”, architecture and artefacts) with Ni’kasi so they can gripe about how wrong it is, maybe the occasional romcom (though that’s a guilty pleasure and she’d never admit it XD) food :  Squill liver drink :   juri juice (tends to prefer a non-alcoholic variant of this one. partial to the one made with Rodian blood), sparkwine (though getting that all the way out on Rishi is near-impossible), tarul wine book :  Poetry anthologies, believe it or not. Also quite partial to ancient Sith texts, though those are hard to come by in her part of the galaxy (at least until she reunites with Ni’kasi)

HAVE THEY passed university :  No had sex :  Yes had sex in public :  No gotten pregnant :  Yes kissed a boy :  Yes kissed a girl :  Yes gotten tattoos :  No had a broken heart :  Yes been in love :  Yes stayed up for longer than 24 hours :  Yes

ARE THEY a virgin :  No a cuddler :  Only if she really trusts you, otherwise please do not try and touch her for anything other than a polite handshake. She will throw you across the room. a kisser :  Yes, though only to those she is in a committed relationship with scared easily :  No, only in very specific instances jealous easily :  Somewhat trustworthy :  Mostly, yes. dominant :  Mostly, yes submissive :  Generally, no. If she really trusts you not to hurt her, then she might be, but that’s very veeerryyy unlikely to happen in love :  Yes single :  No

RANDOM QUESTIONS have they harmed themselves :  Not directly, but thought about it once or twice thought of suicide :  Yes attempted suicide :  No (thankfully her sister was there for her) wanted to kill someone :  Yes (lookin’ at you, Arcann and Valkorion) rode a horse : Yes, or...one of the many horse-like things that can be found in Star Wars XD have / had a job :  Yes have any fears :  Yes. Particularly around losing those she cares about (her remaining family, her son, her partner(s)), or unexpected physical touch, particularly in certain places (the scars on her neck/collarbone, for one, any other sort of intimate touch with someone she doesn’t 100% trust)

FAMILY sibling(s) :  Twin sister, Ni’kasi (Darth Occulus, alive as of 3629 BBY) parents :  D’leah (Mother, killed by Inquisitors in 3689 BBY), Kissai (Father, killed by Tenebrae/Vitiate in 3729 BBY), Abaron and Vowrawn (adopted fathers, after the death of both her parents - Vowrawn is her biological uncle and for all intents and purposes adopted the twins after his sister’s death. Even if neither knew where the other was for many years.) children :  Tyûk (son), and in the Zephyrverse AU she and Sash have another daughter, Mait’essh pets :  No

and I shall tag (if you feel like it, no pressure! feel free to ignore if you don’t feel like it) @rainofaugustsith , @mercurypilgrim , @stratosara​ , @anchanted-one​ , @sunstriderlegacy​ and anybody else reading this that wants to do it!