#that people could derive so many different interpretations of someone's eyes without words

[eorzeashan]

Eight's big detriment is whenever he's in business mode/around unfamiliar people he wears the flattest expression ever and makes no effort to improve his 'image' as well as talking either very little or not at all, so this usually gives people the wrong impression...or they have to make an interpretation up for him because it's like looking at a wall.

[sun-to-my-luna]

-𝓛𝓲𝓪𝓻 -  

Her fiance at the beginning begins to explain how he can’t believe he found his missing piece. That person that has “a one of a kind beauty with a glow that makes the moon look like a sad chipped tooth”

Followed afterwards  her fiance in this scene is going to give Camila  a necklace because they’re apparently (based on context clues) celebrating their recent “engagement.” 

This is where the symbolism begins.  As he cheekily describes the type of person he found himself with Camila takes a huge gulp of wine.  A sign that shows she’s uncomfortable with what he’s saying or feeling guilty about something.

The bus boy “accidentally” spills a drink onto Camila’s fiance and gets his expensive suit dirty. The fiance begins to yell at the bus boy. Camila becomes fascinated putting all her attention onto the bus boy.

A.

She falls in love with the bus boy at first sight and  then he leaves a note on the table for Camila.

Since the “Liar” cover art  has to do with cupid. The heart that forms after the buss boy cleans the drink he spilled on the table represents “falling in love at first sight.” In other words the drink that the bus boy spilled was cupid’s arrow. 

 B.

The buss boy already knew Camila. He spilled the drink on purpose because he knew that she was  in love with  him and not Reese. He knew she was making a mistake. Therefore was trying to prevent her from marrying a guy she’s not interested in.

In this situation Camila is shocked and nervous because of her fiance’s reaction  but she was smiling at the buss boy while he was yelling. That meant that  she liked what he did for her.   

“Oh no, there you go, you're making me a liar I kinda like it though.”

After meeting with the buss boy she can’t say that she “loves”  the necklace her fiance gave her. Why? because that would be lying. She’s chocking because her  body is literally preventing her from spilling out lies, and wants to speak out the truth. 

“Oh no, there you go, you're making me a liar Got me begging you for more.”

Then she wakes up in her mansion next to her fiance to find the television turned on.

Parodying what ALL tabloids do every time celebrities are rumored to be together.  In a sense think of her fiance as a “PR” partnership.  Her character is in love with someone else and she’s not with Reese Witherspoon because she loves him.  She looks at the note that the buss boy left behind because she can’t stop thinking about them. The other thing that’s important to pay attention to is the fact that she’s “living” inside a mansion.

 So, she wakes up and she remembers that the buss boy gave her a note at the table while he spilled the drink. At this point I’m going to assume that the buss boy had already known Camila before she got with Reese because she sneaks out of the room as if she was keeping a secret away from him.

We further on can see her actually running away from Reese in circles around the house, looking at the note, but pushing it away. Proving that she is keeping a secret from him. The secret being her relationship with the buss boy that she’s having behind his back in secrecy. This next scene is extremely important, and brings me back to why I said her living in a mansion is something you should pay attention to.

Camila is caught cleaning the mansion, she lives in, herself with her normal regular comfortable sleeping gown instead of the cleaning staff. If this was a normal everyday situation there wouldn’t have been a reason for her to be shocked if he caught her cleaning.  However at this point I gathered one of two things.

A.

Wealth, Money and Fame.

Reese Witherspoon symbolizes wealth, money and fame itself. He bought her all those materialistic items. He has all these maids, cooking staff, and butlers. He has this big ass mansion and he expects her to dress the part and act accordingly so to her new rich lifestyle. That’s why he bought her what to wear and the necklace at the beginning of the music video. Going back to the reporters in the music video. At the beginning when he was describing her I felt like in itself was mimicking or mocking fake love and affection because what he said was cheesy and she wasn’t interested in it.   (Kind of like her posts about Shawn, and Matthew.)

B. 

She doesn’t care about money, wealth, or fame.

That fact that in this scene she just smiles and looks at him and feels comfortable wearing what she’s got on while she’s cleaning shows that she just wants to be herself. She doesn’t want to wear what he buys her to show off. She just wants to be herself.  Therefore in that moment at the start of the MV when he asked her what she thought.. she was making a decision between Real Love or Wealth, Money, and Fame.

Then we get a flashback to where we started except this time she comes to a realization. She tries to change the outcome but  it’s the same. The heart on the table still appears and the buss boy is still there. “I said I won’t get too close but I can’t stop it.” She starts to crack and let’s out a bit of the truth and as she does she feels relief. Things start to get better. The truth starts to spread, and people bring out their real colors.

Reese gets confused about her rejection, but  Buss Boy has hearts in his eyes meaning that he appreciates her courage to be honest.

BUT then she gets crushed by an elephant. She didn’t say the full honest truth and this is an idiom for “there’s still an elephant in the room.” 

She once again wakes up except this time it’s not just with a note. She wakes up with both men in her bed. The buss boy she’s actually in love with never leaves her mind and wakes up with her while Reese ( her wealth, money and fame) lays next to her fast asleep. The more people talk about them the more anxiety Camila seems to have every time she sees the news reports.

She gets terrified of the fact that Reese could wake up and see him being with her in the same bed and starts running away from her thoughts and problems again. With the note in her hand.  This could very well be interpreted in many ways.

Considering that Reese represents fame she’s scared that her real relationship that’s a secret will be discovered so she runs away from it but she can’t stop thinking about them. That’s why she’s continuously running around in circles in Reese’s mansion. 

“But what if he kissed and what if I like it?”

Changes the lyrics to “she” in this part and the meaning changes, but in the music video it stays the same because the Buss Boy is her secret relationship.  I know a lot of people before me already pointed out that Flamingos = Gay... so I’m going to point you in a different direction. She is among a flock of  Flamingos, and they are believed to be a powerful spirit animal.

  Reference: “Spiritually, if this spirit animal comes up– you need to listen to your heart and follow what it says in all that you do. This is because it will assist you in choosing the true path of life. In case, you consider this bird to be your spirit animal, then you should let out your emotions. It is necessary to vent out your feelings & expressions to the entire world without any modifications. You should also allow these feelings to help you lead to your life path. Listening to your heart will allow you to derive proper solutions to overcome all problems in life. If you find it tough to come up with a decision, then you should allow your heart to take over. This spirit animal teaches you to follow sincerely your heart to enable you to derive the best results.”

Again, she’s looking at the note, trying to follow her heart and making a choice between Real Love and Wealth. (Which follows the same pattern in Shameless, and another song.)

He comes out showing off his butlers and staff and again the stupid thing he bought her to wear. Then we go once again back to the start of mv where she’s thinking about things and coming into realizations.  She spews out even more truth, but doesn’t get hit by the elephant again. However she does get hit by people riding their bikes.

It seems like no matter how hard she tries or wants to say the truth she can’t. That’s why she’s getting attacked by elephants and drones, and people because when she does they stop her from continuing to live by the truth. The more she resists saying the truth though  the more the truth haunts her.

It’s interesting to me that this scene is included with the whole, “trouble in paradise.” The whole world is watching her fake relationship crumble because she doesn’t want to be in it anymore and she just wants to choose who she really loves.  I think that this song is ultimately aimed at Roger or her team who make her seem like she’s a “Liar.”

We have her here once again laying next to Reese (wealth), but she’s surrounded by thoughts of the person she really loves so she’s trying to burn the love she has for the other person she shouldn’t love. 

While in that process she actually ends up burning herself, and running away from the situation.  The “Truth Police” actually end up catching her and want to know why she did what she did.  The truth police mention in my opinion could be someone that intervenes with her life. Someone close to her.

Anyways, Wealth and Fame starts investigating  and questioning her. She starts getting really nervous that they’re going to find out the truth as to why she went insane and burned down the mansion. Even though they probably already know as she looks over at the Buss Boy who is pretending to read the note he obviously didn’t give to her himself.

She won’t tell them  the truth so she starts screaming at the Buss Boy, and blames him for giving her the feelings that she’s feeling, but the Buss Boy stands his ground and acts as if saying, “is that so?” 

Reese is surprised and presumably seems as if he’s asking what’s going on. The Buss Boy and Camila are arguing back and forth, but they start dancing and get really close.

At that point the truth was discovered and Reese was devastated and angry. The lie detector showed that she really loves the Buss Boy, “her real love” and not Reese. The person she was pretending to be in a relationship with. The person that bought her fame and wealthy things.

In the end she wakes up in her normal house, with her normal clothes, and inside her normal bed. Without pretending to be someone else or in love with somebody that she’s not in love with. She loves Disney, and the bird to me says that’s her real fairy tale ending.

In the end she chose her real love over everything and will always choose love over everything.  But also remember how I kept saying she can’t stop thinking about the person she really loves?  That’s what the note is about. She only thinks about the person she actually is in love with. Not the person she shows she’s with.

“All I do the whole day through is dream of you.”

[galacticnova3]

Ok I had thoughts in the shower that are kinda serious/about something mature and I felt compelled to share. CW for discussion of prosh/pp/ng. If you do that and somehow found this, not sorry, this post isn’t for you, also stop doing that and get help. Won’t tolerate any clowning either.

I think the main reason “proshippers” get away with That a lot is because in many cases they’re warping actual fair arguments. Like, yes, there is not necessarily something majorly wrong with portraying unhealthy relationships, because they exist in real life, and ultimately all art reflects aspects of real life. It’s in the same boat as the fact that it’s not bad to portray bad people or horrific events. However, all of that hinges on whether or not these things are being shown for what they are; if you keep saying/implying a character is good or cool or “relatable” and that character is in a situation like that– victim or perpetrator– you are automatically glorifying that thing. You can’t write it off as “just a character flaw” if it is not being portrayed as a flaw; that’s how character flaws work, because ultimately the vast majority of flaws can also be virtues under the right conditions, and vise versa.

Then people make the argument “well authors/artists/etc don’t have to spoon feed what is and isn’t ok to their audience”, and while that is true on some level, that does not mean they have no responsibility at all. Not just to people consuming that content, but to themselves. If you write something terrible and put it in a good light, or what can be reasonably interpreted as a good light, you can’t get mad if people assume you are supporting that thing. In that situation you have not given any true evidence that you don’t; “I’m not x” isn’t enough, because people can lie. Generally, most murderers don’t answer honestly if someone asks them if they killed someone or not. Actions speak louder than words, and if your action is writing, you are responsible for what that writing reflects on you and your views. If people come after you for it, that’s a sign that you should reflect on what you’ve written, and what message it is sending. Even if you had good intentions, people don’t see your intentions, they see what you produced, and sometimes the two don’t line up. Cancel culture is a pain in the ass, but so is the fact that the proship movement allows legitimately disgusting people to thrive under the cover of plausible deniability.

In the case of fan content, there’s the simple fact that not all franchises are safe mediums for making that stuff. It’s not censorship for someone to tell you not to make that content if you’re making it with the characters/the universe of a children’s franchise. Because ultimately, that franchise is going to be majorly consumed by children. It doesn’t matter how well you tag things or how many warnings you put on it, because ultimately the internet is going to put that thing in front of eyes that can be harmed by it. I am saying this as someone who’s first exposure to porn, before I was even in highschool, was Kirby fanart on Google images, despite having safe search on. In the grand scheme of the Internet, the only control you really have is whether you put something on it or not, and where you put that thing, and this is a situation where that is an incredibly important decision. Do you post it on social media where it could very easily be exposed to people who should not be exposed to that, whether because of algorithms or others being less responsible? Do you post it privately in a place where you know(or assume) the other people there are responsible and not going to circulate it? Or, do you keep that content to yourself?

That is not you being asked to be a “second parent”, this is not a “think of the children!” argument. Or, rather, it is a case of the latter, but one that is justified. If you’re making that content with original characters, or characters from a mature franchise, thinking of the children isn’t a priority because the children aren’t supposed to be there, just like you’re not responsible if you’ve been made to share a house with a kid that ends up finding your stash of Mature Things. Whether it was them snooping around without permission or you told them to stay away from that drawer and they didn’t listen, that’s the kid’s fault either way, and thus you bear basically no responsibility. However, if you make that content in a franchise that is consistently, obviously, and intentionally made to be consumed by children, even if it can also be enjoyed by adults? That’s different. That’s like walking into a playground with a porn magazine; it doesn’t matter if people your age can enjoy some of the things there, like the swings or basketball court. You need, and are expected, to take into account that kids are not only likely going to be there, but are encouraged to be there. You walking in with that magazine is you willingly choosing to expose or risk exposing minors to content they should not be exposed to, no matter how you spin it. You could read that magazine anywhere else, and you chose the area with kids in it.

Lastly, while I could make the argument of what reasoning there may be for wanting to make That Stuff with characters from a children’s series and then share it online in the first place, that’s been done by plenty of other people. Besides, I have a better argument: there is nothing stopping you from making that content with different characters anyways, be they your own or just from a franchise with a mature audience. You are not forced or limited to only portray a certain dynamic with certain specific characters. If the setting/universe is a factor, just make your own version with the relevant things in common, maybe change some terms and names, and there, problem solved. It’s not plagiarism if it is going to be utilized in a vastly different way, and as long as it does not just flat out copy every single aspect of the original. Something something a lot of fiction is derivative. Doing this could also allow a place for others to make similar content in what could eventually be your own “series”, without nearly the same level of risk of harm. If it is truly a case of just wanting to explore the dynamic, you can do so without having it be inherently tied to content made for young audiences, and if you have the skills and critical thinking necessary to understand both what makes it “special” with those characters, you should also be able to recreate the same thing in a safer environment.

I know I kinda focused a lot on “kid’s franchises” with this but the same things apply with other content. I.E. don’t make content that depicts mentally ill folks as dangerous where it could hurt/offend real mentally ill people and misinform those who don’t know the reality of mental illness. “Common sense” isn’t real; all “common sense” is learned, and not everyone has learned the same things you have at any given point. How else would ridiculous rumors and such spread, if everyone knew the truth?

TLDR:

-The issue isn’t you making the content, it’s you glorifying the content. Whether you intended to or not isn’t the point.

-You don’t have to spoon feed morals to your audience, but if people reasonably interpret unhealthy things shown in a light that isn’t explicitly or implicitly negative as your quiet support, that’s on you. You need to be sure that the message your content actually sends/how it reflects your views lines up with the message you intended to send and the views you actually have. Don’t blame others if you were the one who failed to communicate effectively.

-In the case of franchises specifically aimed at children, you posting that content is you saying you value sharing that content over the well-being of those likely to see that content. You had the choice to keep the risk of harm at 0%, but decided not to.

-That fact is not a “think of the children” argument, it is simply making the same point as someone telling you not to bring pornography into a kid’s playground, even if that playground has facilities others your age also enjoy. You are bringing adult content into a kid-oriented area, you cannot act like it is the fault of a kid for finding it when in some cases they weren’t even looking.

-There is ultimately no excuse for making that content within a children’s franchise, because there is nothing forcing you to remain in that setting and use those characters; if the dynamic is something you really want to explore, you can recreate it without ties that could lead minors to it.

-Though I used kid’s franchises as my main focus, this applies to any groups that your content could potentially harm or misinform. “It’s just common sense” is not a defense for the latter, because “common sense” has to be learned, and not everyone learns everything at the same time or by the same age.

[ramon-balaguer]

As reflect on my recent prayer post from a married friend on the download or closeted homosexual or bisexual if you will… praying against his homosexual temptations and thoughts to be a true husband and father to their children…

I believe more needs to be discussed, revealed and taught on sexual sins. Not just for their benefit but for ours, as The Church to extend love, grace and mercy.

And though this is focused on same sex stuff like lesbians and homosexuals, it really can be applied to ANY sexual sin, even in the heterosexual sphere, so let’s dig in and see what God has to say, that unfortunately so many see as Hate talk or speech:

 What Does the Bible Say about Homosexuality?

Few subjects are more controversial today in the church than this: What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

If one regards the Bible as God-breathed and authoritative, then one must respect whatever the Lord says about every topic.

What we say and think about the LGBT+ (#LHBTTABCDFIGMPPQZ) community should be derived from Scripture, including the ways in which we are to treat one another.

 Bible Verses about Homosexuality

Christians must always start with the Bible in order to hear God’s Word on any subject. His commands are not optional, and he states clearly, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22).

Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error (Romans 1:26).

 Some Christians suggest that a progressive God would overturn his own commands in a certain social climate, but God does not progress in his thinking; his thoughts and commandments are always right.

We know that God does not change his mind. That he is always the same; and this is foundational to our hope and our faith in his Kingdom purposes.

God was, is, and always will be against sexual sin in all of its forms, which include lust for a person who is not one’s spouse, sexual affairs, and even emotional affairs.

One must not single out someone who identifies as gay or transgender as a “sinner” but instead look inward. Ignoring one’s own sin by way of deflection does not fool God.

 Modern Arguments about Etymology

There is an argument that Scripture does not contain the word “homosexuality” and that God is not opposed to men or women having sex with consenting members of the same sex. The word “zakar” in Hebrew can refer to any male, including human and animal, but also to boys.

But Strong’s concordance indicates that “zakar,” as used in Leviticus 18:22 above, refers to sodomy, a term not reserved for acts of child sexual abuse or rape but also consensual acts between adults.

“Arsenokoitai” is Greek for “men having sex with other men. And there is no real other interpretation that makes the best sense of the evidence both in the early Christian literature and especially in the Old Testament.”

Kevin DeYoung explains that Paul, a scholar and former Pharisee, coined the term. If Paul had been referring to men forcing boys to have sex, then he could have used the word “biazó” for “violent force” to denote a difference between consensual and non-consensual sex. He did not.

 Positive Commands about Sex

Sex is a gift. “Before the fall — before sin — sex was part of the created order. It was good — VERY GOOD,” wrote Paul Carter. “In fact, contrary to cultural ideas about sex propounded during the first century AD, “Christianity taught that sex within a marriage should be free, generous and reciprocal.”

But God never depicted coital relationships between two men or two women in a positive way. When God made Eve, Adam said “this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman” (Genesis 23).

Marriage is represented frequently in Scripture. We have the examples of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, and Rebekah, Ruth and Boaz; Mary and Joseph; and several more. None of these couples was perfect, but each is an example of heterosexual marriage.

 Jesus' Relationships

When it comes to how society treats individuals who engage in homosexual relationships, Jesus’ attitude is the benchmark. The gospels illustrate how Jesus wants us to treat a person who has been marginalized by society on the basis of gender by highlighting several encounters Jesus had with women.

He called out their sin but offered something better. He allowed Mary Magdalene to serve him by washing his feet with her hair. The Messiah saved an adulterous woman from stoning. The Samaritan woman depicted in John 4 had been married five times and was with a sixth man.

He sat and talked with her when the rest of her community shunned the woman. Each of these women was guilty, but so were the Pharisees and other members of society who scorned or condemned them, and the men who used them.

Instead of judging these women, Jesus invited them to be part of his mission. The Samaritan woman was one of his first apostles. Mary was among his devoted followers.

Jesus gave these women a new identity so that they could freely choose to follow him, relieved of shame, and make him the focus of their lives. Everyone needs God’s mercy, but 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 is often taken out of context so that the emphasis lands on homosexuality.

This narrow-mindedness overlooks thievery, greed, drunkenness, abuse, and fraud which are also listed. Paul does not exclude anyone, even classifying himself as the chief of sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15)

 Intimacy, Identity, and Culture

You may have heard of the famous South Carolinian Gospel singer, actor and Minister of the Gospel Donald “Donnie” Andrew McClurkin, Jr. I greatly admire him for his many gifts and talent, but especially his complete uncompromised commitment to our God despite his struggle with his sinful fleshly and worldly desires of homosexuality that started with being sexually abused by two uncles and ended being ostracized and blacklisted by Barack Hussein Obama for his opposing views on Same-Sex Marriage… Likewise Sam Allberry, a same-sex pastor from England, confronts the pain of being alone, even by choice, on the grounds of obedience to God. Celibacy is made more difficult by the elevation of marital intimacy to a lofty position above all other forms, including friendship.

Allberry’s fear is that “if someone’s only choice in life seems to be either unbiblical intimacy or no intimacy, they’re going to end up choosing unbiblical intimacy. And if that’s the case, I think the wider church shares responsibility for that.”

As Allberry asserts, people within the LGBT+ (#LHBTTABCDFIGMPPQZ) and the entire #SinSickSocialistLyingLeftistLiberal community are being denied access to this kind of intimacy, so even those who are keen to follow God’s commands and to please Him by their faithful obedience are drawn to other sources for belonging and acceptance.

Jesus never taught his disciples to deny friendship and familial love to anyone. “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50).

He also promoted mutually uplifting, godly friendship. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The word friend, philos in the Greek, means “beloved” or “dear.” “I have called you friends,” Jesus said to his disciples (John 15:15).

Not everyone accepts forgiveness through Jesus; but he offers dignity, love, and truth to everyone. When a Gospel-Believing person highlights Sin in a person’s life, the purpose should always be to point that person to Jesus and His Saving grace and mercies.

Admitting and repenting of Sin, turning to Christ for Salvation, restores a person to peace and wholeness with God. Many so-called Christians, however, point fingers and exalt themselves by knocking down anyone whose lifestyle does not line up with their own.

 A Merciful Love

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1-2).

A big problem in the church right now is the attitude that because someone identifies as homosexual, lesbian (or gay as they now prefer to be called), transgender, pedophile, etc., that they should not be welcomed into the church.

This is wrong for a few reasons:

1. We are all sinners. To suggest otherwise is to ignore the plank sticking out of one’s eye while examining the speck in someone else’s (Matthew 7:3-5).

2. We are commanded not to judge others. If we treat other people as though they are not as valuable to God as we are, then we risk incurring his judgment on ourselves (Matthew 7:1-2).

3. Jesus hung out with everyone. He ate with sinners. That’s why the Pharisees were so scandalized. He offered the gift of his presence and the offer of salvation without prejudice.

4. Jesus says, “Come to me all you who are weary.” This is not an invitation to particular individuals who qualify on the basis of their behavior or lifestyle but to anyone who is tired (Matthew 11:28).

Given the obstacles and even dangers the LGBQT+ community faces, added to the ordinary strains of life in general, one might imagine they are very weary, indeed.

 What’s Next for the Church

Everyone was made in God’s image, but not all people embrace Christ’s message of Hope, Peace, Love, Holiness, Grace, Mercy, and Justice.

One reason for this is religious arrogance (Not much has changed in over 2,000 years, sadly) — Christians who act as though they are in a position to condemn or pardon.

But if churches shut their doors to those who defy God’s commands about sexual intimacy, the doors would be shut to everyone. The duty and privilege of Christ’s disciples are to offer all who will listen to the message of salvation and the promise of a love greater than anything.

His Love and Justice go together, but all who call on Christ’s name for Salvation are covered by His Blood. Believe it or not, that includes same-sex folks and all the rest… Each of us is a work in progress.

We can teach His inerrant Word but must always do so without judging or persecuting anyone, and with love and kindness.

If churches shut their doors to those who defy God’s commands about sexual intimacy, the doors would be shut to everyone. The smokers and drunkards, the liars and gossipers, the thieves and robbers, the cheaters and beaters…

The duty and privilege of Christ’s disciples are to offer all who will listen to the message of Salvation, Restoration and the promise of a love greater than anything.

 I have way too many friends and family who’ve dibbled and dabbled or live out any of these lifestyles the same way others do with alcohol, marijuana, porn or other addictive drugs… but I Love them all and would support and do anything for them that I’d do for anyone else within the Word of God. :) #REBTD

 My God and Father, how great is Your Love and Mercy… Thank You for Saving me from me and my poor choices in this life. Thank You for Saving my wife, sons and Godsons and so many family and friends from the Devil’s deceptions that lead to addictive behaviors. My Lord, bless and increase their Faith and Hope in You to continually walk with You that they won’t lose the precious Gift of Salvation from when they first Believed. Last but not least, let the lost find You and takeaway any thought or desire to sin and come to You with a repentant heart to give themselves to You. In Jesus’ Saving name, Amen.

[hollywooduniversityalumnus]

6. with a little dignity

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

“If you expect to ever have a career anything like mine . . . which, let’s be real, you shouldn’t . . . You’ll have to handle Hollywood’s high-pressure environment with the grace and aplomb of a seasoned veteran. You must be prepared for anything,” he’d warned them in class, less than twenty-four hours before he made a complete fool of himself in front of his students.

In all his years as a professor at Hollywood University, Thomas had never been successfully pranked on April Fools Day, and he fully intended to keep that record. His students weren’t known for their ingenuity, so the tactics they employed were often derivative and predictable, like the slimy paint bucket drop that his Thesis Lab students rigged above his office door every year like it was tradition. He took pride in seeing through every attempt, and in recent years made it a habit to try and thwart the plan while it was in action, by either getting someone else afflicted by the prank or halting it in its tracks.

(And, while he despised April Fools Day, the memory of tricking Hiromitsu into activating the “watercolour paint balloon bot” brought a smile to his face every time he thought of it.)

But, of course, Miss Schuyler and some of her entourage (which included Bianca Stone for once, which admittedly surprised him) had to take a shot at the king. He honestly would’ve been disappointed if they hadn’t planned at least one go. They had been so transparent from the get-go; it was almost laughable.

But it wasn’t he who had the last laugh.

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

He had confronted the pranksters by the now-shattered skylight on the quad, slow clapping their efforts and crowing about how he’d been steps ahead the whole time. He took pleasure in their dejection, even brandishing the silver key he’d stolen from Margot during his heroic lunge to save her from the toppling bookshelf. And then he declared the prank over, that “he has never successfully been pranked, nor would he ever be.”

Hopes dashed, Bianca Stone, Lisa Valentine, and Ethan Blake slowly maneuvered past the gaping hole edged by broken glass. He watched them scurry to his side, relishing their devastation.

And then Margot spoke.

“Oh, darn. We really didn’t expect our plan to fall through.”

Ethan, who had paused by Thomas’s side, cocked his head to the side.

On Thomas’s other side, Lisa’s eyes flitted to Margot’s for a moment before turning her attention to him, her blindingly glossy lips pulling into a pout.

“Yeah, Professor Hunt, you sure caught us in the act!” She faked a sniffle.

He rolled his eyes at Lisa’s theatrics. “Stop moping around and come along. You lost! Accept defeat with a little dignity.”

He began to turn, but Margot spoke once again.

“Sorry, Professor,” she said, as if she meant it. “We’re coming.”

And, so quickly that he had no time to comprehend it, Margot began to maneuver around the skylight towards him when she slipped and disappeared through it, vanishing into the smoke slowly billowing out from below. Her scream, so sharp and shrill, chilled his blood, and he couldn’t hold back his shout of anguish.

“Margot!”

She didn’t respond.

He rushed to the skylight and tried to squint through the smoke, but it was useless. The fog machine he’d installed to thwart their plan was a powerful one. Its haze obscured the screening room below, and as it leaked out to the quad, made it nearly impossible to see through the broken skylight for any signs of Margot.

His heart felt frozen in place.

“Margot!” he called again, unable to keep the desperation out of his voice. In that moment, surrounded by her shocked friends, staring into the abyss, he felt painfully helpless.

Ethan placed a hand on Thomas’s shoulder. “Professor . . .” His mouth was turned downward, a deep frown that the typically professional agent never wore upon his face.

Thomas turned his head to look at the agent. “Quickly, Ethan, downstairs! We have to get-”

Ethan shook his head. “Professor. Listen. It’s too late.”

Lisa’s voice trembled, on the verge of tears. “There’s no way she could have survived that . . .”

Even Bianca, being Bianca, seemed downcast. “She’s gone.”

He stepped back from the skylight and threaded his fingers in his hair, disheveling the neatly combed and gelled locks he so carefully cultivated every day. His heart was now at a racehorse gallop beneath his suit. He felt as though the floor would meet his face shortly.

“I . . . I never told Margot . . .”

That he knew it was her at the charity masquerade.

That he was proud of her and her achievements in such a short time.

That he felt something too.

He raked his fingers over his face in frustration. He hadn’t felt such a mix of emotions in years. A conflicting cocktail brewed in his stomach, twisting it with anger and guilt. He didn’t know if he would cry or throw up. Didn’t know if-

“Tell me what, Professor?”

At the sound of her voice, he whipped around.

Just outside the library doors, Margot stood, hands on her hips, flanked by Spencer “Crash” Yamaguchi and his entourage. The smile on her face was smug in a way he didn’t like, but he was happy – though shell-shocked - to see her anyway.

“How?” he forced out weakly.

At his words – well, word – the three students by his side instantly burst into cheers, joined quickly by Spencer and his equally self-destructively daring crew.

Margot simply raised an eyebrow. “Did I just successfully prank the Thomas Hunt? Mr. ‘I-Will-Never-Be-Pranked-Successfully’ himself?”

“I believe you have,” Ethan snickered. “Is this the proudest moment of my life? Yeah. Yeah, it is.” He pulled out his cell phone and began furiously tapping away. “So many people owe me money now.”

Spencer and his friends whooped and descended onto the quad, doing quick jumps and flips over benches and potted plants. One ran onto the grassy knoll and began beating on his chest with his fists like an ape man, causing a small gathering of birds in the nearby tree to take flight.

Thomas clenched his jaw as Lisa and Bianca began circling him like dodos, chanting their victory cry inharmoniously. “We pranked Hunt! We pranked Hunt! We! Pranked! Hunt!”

In all the cacophony, he stared Margot down as if he’d never seen her before. She had managed to do what many failed at. As much as he wanted to contest their words, say that he never actually thought she was gone, he knew already it was futile. From the commotion her friends were stirring, and how fast some of them were typing on their phones, it would be common knowledge by his next class with them that he had been had. No point in trying to dispute it.

How had she done it? he wondered. Was Spencer and his friends waiting mere feet below the skylight, ready to catch her? Had they maneuvered a trampoline or curtain to break her fall?

At the latter thought, he scowled. They better not have torn down the projector screen.

Margot came closer.

“Miss Schuyler,” he said, moving to meet her in the middle, and thus breaking free from Lisa and Bianca’s strange dance. “I-”

“Accept defeat with a little dignity, Professor.”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

The Hollywood 101 class he taught the next day was almost intolerable.

Ethan and the other witnesses of the “prank to end all pranks” (as someone not-so-aptly put it) spread the news at an astonishing pace. They were all reaping the benefits of the successful trick, with Ethan collecting small wads of cash from students who had deeply believed that the attempt would fall apart like all the others, Bianca trying to claim the entire prank as her sole idea, and Lisa chanting that discordant cheer when Spencer and his crew regaled their side of the story.

All the while, Margot sat a little further away from the crowd, talking animatedly to Addison Sinclair with wild gesticulation that Thomas was unsure of how to go about interpreting. It didn’t seem like she was discussing the prank, though she was the main executor of the successful portion of it, and when he looked again, he was surprised to see Miss Sinclair close to tears.

Another roar of laughter came from the more crowded area in the lecture theatre, and Thomas shuffled a stack of papers rather aggressively against the angled wooden lectern. The loud laugher quickly sputtered into low giggles, then stopped once the students saw the icy expression on his face.

“Nothing on your desks except a pencil.” He picked up a stack of Scantron sheets and held them aloft, eliciting a groan from the crowd. “I hope you spent just as much time doing the required readings for this week as you did plotting juvenile – and unsuccessful – pranks.”

“Not all were unsuccessful,” a student stage-whispered, triggering another ripple of low laughter quickly squashed behind palms and sleeves. Lance Sergio tried to disguise his as a coughing fit, but, as he was a model major and not an acting major, failed miserably.

Thomas resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Stepping out from behind the lectern, he divided the Scantrons into smaller stacks and handed them to the students in the front row.

“Take one, pass it back, you know the drill,” he said flatly. “You’ll have an hour, and not a second longer. You’re all free to leave-” me alone, he thought, “-once you have finished. Tests and Scantrons without names and student numbers will receive automatic zeroes.”

Then he retrieved the thicker stack of papers, the quiz booklets, and began handing them out at random. He recently made the decision to administer different versions of his exams with different questions and answer keys.

Although it generated a lot of extra work for him, it seemed to thwart attempts at his students cheating off one another, which ultimately reflected well on him and poorly on the students who hoped to coast through the class with minimal effort.

Once the tests had been distributed, he set a timer to be displayed on the projector screen and sat down at his desk to catch up on some grade recording.

The first chair screeched against the floor twenty minutes later. In that time, he had finished the files he needed to update and had begun drafting an email to the headhunter he had contacted a few weeks earlier. He’d also set up the two metal baskets in which they were to hand in their test papers.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a small hand tipped with light blue nail polish precariously drop the papers into the appropriate baskets.

Before the student had even stepped away from the desk, Thomas reached for the baskets and took the papers from it, glancing at the sheets to make sure they were completed.

The Scantron was neatly filled in appropriately. The booklet was similarly appropriately filled. But she’d also included in the quiz booklet . . .

“What is this, Miss Schuyler?” he asked lowly, trying his best not to alert the other students.

At his question, she froze in place. Though she immediately feigned a nonchalant expression, he instantly saw through it.

“What is what?” she whispered back.

He dropped the papers back into the baskets and leaned forward.

“My office. Noon.”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

He found her waiting in a stiff metal folding chair in the hallway, a whole ten minutes before she was due to meet him there. She followed him warily into his office and immediately sunk into the seat facing his desk, like a lamb to the slaughter. He took his sweet time adjusting the angled wooden doorstop to keep the office door cracked at fifty-five degrees, removing his suit jacket and hanging it on a foam hanger that hung by the hooks near the door, removing his cuff links and rolling up his sleeves, and logging into his office computer.

Once he was situated and had no more delays, he looked her straight in the eye and brandished her yet-to-be-marked test papers before them.

“What is this, Miss Schuyler?” he asked again.

She crossed her arms over her stomach, trying not to look at him.

“I asked you a question. Twice now. I do not like repeating myself.”

Biting her lip, she leaned forward and flipped the booklet open, turning to the blank lined pages and sifting through them until she came to a stop.

Not all the back pages were blank, and he saw it right away.

“Explain yourself.” He straightened up in his seat, quietly savouring the feeling of his luxurious, buttery leather office chair after having sat in the lecture theatre’s wooden monstrosity while waiting for the last few students to finish their tests. “What did you hope to accomplish with this?”

“Did you even read it?” Miss Schuyler’s voice was quiet, her demeanour the opposite of the smug, smirking young woman from the day before.

He frowned.

She turned the booklet around and slid it across the desk. He glanced down, then turned his gaze back to her.

“It’s an apology,” she said, to fill the air around them with something that wasn’t silent staring. “For yesterday.”

Silence.

He made no move to read it.

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Why . . . are you apologizing?”

Her face twisted in confusion. “I upset you. I – I broke your record. My friends have been running amok since it happened, telling people. I humiliated you.”

His shoulder rose and fell in one swift motion. “You did.”

“You’re not mad about it?” she asked incredulously.

He let out a short, sharp huff.

“I’m mad about it,” he said. “But I don’t understand why you’re apologizing.” He leaned back in his seat and sighed. “I hate to admit it, but I have to; I did not see it coming.”

“It wasn’t planned,” she admitted, and leaned forward a little in her seat. “You seemed so sure that our prank was over, and Crash and his friends were already in the screening room looking for us. And you were just so – so smug, it was driving me mad! So, I saw an opportunity and I took it.”

And then her and Miss Valentine’s words echoed back to him.

“We really didn’t expect our plan to fall through.”

“You sure caught us in the act!”

In hindsight, God, it was so painfully obvious.

He squeezed his eyes shut and massaged his temples. “How did I not see that? Hear that?” he muttered to himself.

She smiled, a fraction of the mocking one he’d seen in the quad the day before. “Too busy gloating in your short-lived victory.”

“Right.” He nodded curtly. “Well done.”

She nodded towards her test booklet. “Is that all I’ve been called in here for?”

“No.”

He stood, then walked around his desk until he was by her left side. He looked down at her, studying the curious expression on her face, committing it to memory.

“I didn’t get a chance to say it before your friends went buck wild. But listen here. You may have won that day, Margot.” He leaned against the desk, appearing casual even with his deepening frown. “But mark my words . . . I always have the last word.”

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Later, when Thomas had returned home and began his usual tedious task of marking up the tests for the day, he saved Margot’s for last. And, after he was armed with his third glass of vintage merlot, he flipped to the not-blank page at the end of the booklet.

Professor, Thomas, Professor, Professor Hunt,

I’m sorry for pranking you and making you worry about me yesterday. I know there were better ways to go about it. I hope the other students and faculty go easy on you about it; it really was a last-minute decision and could have very easily gone wrong, so I understand your concern and justified anger.

Honestly, it was nice to see that you were worried. Makes me feel seen. Matter. Like I could disappear, and someone will actually care enough to look for me.

Anyway.

Sorry.

x Margot

P.S. Sorry about the projection screen, too.

P.P.S. Sorry about the skylight, too.

P.P.P.S. If you were just faking being knocked out by the shelf, does that mean you felt me trying to slap you awake?

P.P.P.P.S. Sorry for slapping you.

[astrologysvt]

Chan’s Ideal Type - Natal Chart Reading

Happy Birthday Chan~ 🎉 Thank you for inventing kpop 💛posted early cuz i managed to get it done in time for when it’s actually his bday in korea!

For ideal types, I’m not going to be doing specific placements of their ideal partner. Instead, I’m gonna be listing personality traits I think would mesh well with them, as well as focus on their needs and the kind of person who could meet them. what this reading cannot account for is the compromising the members would do on their end for their s/o. so just keep in mind this is only half of the whole picture!

someone very smart.

he’s a very communicative person. 

he wants to discuss and have an exchange of knowledge and passion thanks to that aqua sun and mercury. 

with a sag influence there is a desire to surround himself with knowledge, and i think he’d be very attracted to someone who could be considered a professional/expert in their field. 

he’d not only really respect it, but it’d feel exciting to know and communicate with someone who is so deeply involved in a career/lifestyle different from his. 

he’d love to pick their brain, and it would generally make him feel like his life is being enriched. 

sag also adds a desire for travel as it expands ones perspective.

so derived from that, he may want to be with someone who is both not in the entertainment biz as well as someone potentially from a different country/culture. 

chan is a really interesting mix being of very knowledgable and curious (aqua/sag), passionate and active (sag), dedicated and stubborn (aqua/scorpio), mixed with this very thoughtful and emotional influence (pisces/scorpio). 

he has a very well-rounded chart (potentially tunnel visioned) but he’s a very sincere guy. 

he’s present on almost all fronts, and isn’t very afraid of emotions or emotional intensity.

so he wants someone with a great deal of intelligence, as well as  emotional intelligence. 

he’s also very honest, and with this brings a very low tolerance for people who may be overly concerned with appearances.

this is due to his aquarius influence valuing individuality over conformity, as well as his scorpio mars that gives him a very keen eye for shallowness. 

it’s not that he wouldn’t like someone who looked/dressed a certain way, but if he felt as though there was something blocking him from gaining his s/o’s full attention, or something preventing them from leveling with him -- that’d really frustrate him. 

so with this kind of “truth-seeking” attitude about life, he’s going to want someone very upfront, honest, and unapologetic in how they carried themselves/acted with him. 

not even in a sense of them being rebellious or super eccentric, he just wants someone who doesn’t feel the need to put up any fronts around him or has a perception of what they should be together vs. to others. 

if he feels like there is a wall, he’s not going to have a lot of patience in trying to accommodate that in his daily life. 

this is also emphasized by his pisces influence, but not necessarily in a discerning “ur being fake” sense.

he is incredibly intuitive in relationships because of his pisces venus, and this makes him conscious of other people’s energies. 

so he’s very hyperaware if he feels like there is this wall, as it’d feel like there is this connection error to him. he’s very quick to notice if their energies are being withheld/directed elsewhere. 

layers, on the other hand, are very different from walls.

his scorpio mars loves people with depth, both emotionally and intellectually. 

his s/o should be very complex & have a bunch of different sides to them as he loves feeling like he’s delving deeper and seeing parts of his s/o only he can see. 

his s/o should be very open to deep and philosophical conversations. 

they should also be different enough from him that there is a feeling of discovery as they get to know each other, as well as a decent amount of friction/push back as this is very rewarding to a scorpio/aqua influence. 

but with this sense of difference/friction. 

it’s interesting because with a well-rounded chart like his, he’s obviously able to get along with people similar to him, while also having this ability to communicate and empathize with people much different from him as well. 

and so, personally, i think there are a bunch of factors in dino’s chart that point towards him being attracted to those very different.

one of them being, with his rising in aries, this puts his descendent in libra.

i’ve been talking a lot about descendants but i haven’t really gotten too much into what they mean. 

so your rising sign is very highly linked not only to your identity, but to your perspective and to your approach on life/people. 

it’s the energy you excert. 

with aries in his rising this makes him a very straightforward, ambitious, energetic, and excitable person. 

his approach to life is very hands-on. 

and so if you think about your rising as a kind of magnetic pole, on the exact opposite side of it is an energy that is intrinsically attracted to your rising sign in order to balance it out.  

so on the opposite side of his rising you have this very diplomatic, intellectual, and easygoing presence through libra. 

this is the descendent, which is also the cusp for the 7th house which is the house of love, marriage, and partnership. 

so having libra in his descendent/7th house signifies an incorporation of external energies to the self through partnership. 

to me, there are a bunch of different interpretations/applications of it in a reading, but i generally tend to read it as compromise.

i see it as what this individual most likely needs to take into account when sharing their life with someone else. 

for chan, this manifests as him learning to be more diplomatic and thoughtful than he initially feels inclined to be. 

it’d be about thinking “other” when he’s more focused on thinking “me.”

so what this means for an ideal type can kind of go in a bunch of different ways, but i think the most simplest reading would be that he’d more than likely be drawn/destined to be with someone who is going to force him to think. 

he’s going to want to be with someone who forces him to stop before acting, and to take into account the general group as opposed to his own agenda. 

teaching him to think more broadly than simply what he can immediately affect.

and this more or less loops in his pisces venus. 

his pisces venus is a very gentle, loving influence to have in relationships. 

he’s an ultra empath, generally really impressionable and easily swayed as he’s super inclined to try and understand others.

this is an influence that can kind of throw his truth-seeking scorpio through a loop, as his pisces can be easily swayed by romance and emotion. 

this danger is especially relevant considering the idealist/optimist that his sag moon is that makes him maybe not the most discerning of negative intent if someone is charismatic enough. 

so this is an influence that both needs to be reeled in as well as embraced. 

his s/o should be as equally emotionally open and very privy to non-verbal communication through affection and that emotional intelligence. 

he wants a relationship where they’re able to understand what the other needs without putting it in so many words. 

they should also able to understand when each other needs space. 

but with that, he’d also really benefit being with someone who is grounded/realistic enough in their perspective to ensure that he doesn’t get lost in this super compassionate/sensitive part of him without him needing to shut it off entirely. 

i also think this stabilizing influence in a s/o other is really important for him with this pisces venus as he may have a tendency to get lost in thoughts/emotions. 

he is such an individualistic person thanks to this aqua/sag/scorpio, but his pisces may come in and create a sense of disillusion where he can lose his grasp on what that means for him especially in relationships.

so someone who really and genuinely loves him for him, who isn’t going to incorporate a sense of self-doubt/consciousness in how emotional he is, while also truly encouraging him to go out there and do his thing. 

they should allow him to be all the things that come easily to him, may it be passion or emotion, while teaching him balance and stability. 

his s/o other should reinforce his sense of self, not dilute it. 

and now that i’m writing this i want to make a point in perspective. 

in relationships, no one should ever feel “diluted” or that they need to compromise on what being themselves means.  

but for dino, since his perspective is so individualistic, there are certain circumstances that he may view as restrictive that to others will not. 

lets say for a cancer influence, these people really like security, company, and are pretty comfortable with the idea of being someone else’s person as this gives them a sense of belonging/purpose. these “restrictions” add to their sense of self

for an aquarius influence, this may seem a bit off-putting as they want the space/freedom to continue to pursue being their authentic self in whatever way that may mean to them. for this influence, these definitely feel more like restrictions. 

i think it’s also really interesting doing this reading because i really get the sense he wants to look to his s/o other for strength, guidance, and knowledge. 

and for that reason i can see him wanting to be with someone older. 

as much as he wants to offer these energies to someone else, he may find it much more exciting to discover rather than impart. 

i also think this is shown in his rising/descendent. 

with his rising being in aries, the first sign of the astrological cycle, this gives him a very young perspective. 

then you go to his descendent in libra, and there is a sense of maturing in relationships that i think is very indicative of that “older” influence.  

“older” in quotations mainly because i don’t think it indicates a large age gap but rather more so just a dynamic.  

but overall, chan is just a super kind guy. 

he wants a relationship filled with compassion and intellectual understanding. 

communication is an absolute pillar and his s/o should agree on that. 

there’s a desire in him for stability, and this could be implemented through push-back, discussion, and contrast. 

and i think if i had to narrow it down to one specific thing he desires in a relationship, that’d be variety. 

he wants to learn and grow in relationships, and for his world to be ultimately broadened. 

[kryptsune]

In this world, it is hunt or be hunted~ 

(I apologize for the pic quality so I will write what they are saying this was a response to the, What do you think about Fellswap question from before.) 

C: “I am sorry did you happen to mention us? But of course, she had a soft spot for us. We are Fells you know~”  G: “Kitten’s been workin on our debut, ya can call me Grimm.” 

C: “A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Crimson~.” 

🌼Ok! Here we go! A few people asked me about Fellswap or SwapFell which understandably so I think by now everyone here knows my love for anything with Fell tacked onto the back of it. Secret discussion though that I adore Fellswap Papyrus and Sans so I had to make my own! As always I have rewritten the entire verse to have my own personal touch to it! I will just describe the main ideas and maybe some key character details in the process! Hope you all enjoy and if you would like to see more of these boys let me know! 

The Surface: 

I want to talk about the humans on the surface first to kind of set the stage for what this AU is going to be based upon. The surface has been overrun by corrupt leaders. It is very much the concept of big brother. If you are seen as a threat you will be immediately thrown into “prison” without a trial. They hold occasional public trials in the guise of being fair. Just as WTU claims, the very concept of magic is a threat to them so those that have it are quickly disposed of but leaders don’t always do the dirty work themselves. No. In fact, they use another source by means of execution...the monsters. 

More accurately it is very similar to the idea of throwing your enemies into a kind of gladiatorial arena. It is not technically considered an execution if circumstances lead to death. The humans are not stupid they know what is going on. Some believe in rebellion against the state and some wonder if the monsters could fix their corrupt world. Either way, the corruption continues and they are not above tossing innocents into “the pit” if it suits their agenda.  “The Pit” (aka the Underworld/Underground): 

The underworld is broken up into different factions by location. The only location without a faction or any type of ruler is The Ruins, because of its size and its isolation this is where humans try to reach for some form of Salvation. Asgore, the caretaker, has made it into an encampment for those that have fallen (the innocent ones). It is almost like a refugee camp only unfortunately very few make it to Asgore’s safe haven. He does his best. Poor goat dad. He is not like canon Toriel however as he will use violence if necessary as he knows that the humans are simply using them as tools to get rid of who they deem criminal. There are signs of old campfires, broken tents, and habitation. 

Before The Ruins is, of course, the main factions. I know a lot of creators tend to swap location names and since Snowdin is the beginning and my boy Crimson is one of the most powerful in the Underworld I am going to as well. Here is the list. Snowdin=Magmire, Waterfall=Windyspires, Hotland=Tundra. The Underworld is also backward to some extent. The humans end up trapped in The Capital instead and they have to make their way to The Ruins to escape. So it would go like this: The Capital -> Tundra ->Windyspires ->Magmire. The closer the faction to the capital the higher the rank in other words because both Grimm and Crimson live in Tundra and he is the lord of it he is one of the most notorious. 

“It’s Hunt or be Hunted”: 

The modo of this verse. Why? Well after so many centuries of humans being disposed of by monsters they become horribly bored. It also adds fuel to Queen Toriel’s fire that one of the humans that fell down the first time killed her son (;~; RIP my precious boy). That is when they realized that humans weren’t just falling into the Underworld they were not only throwing them down to them but also throwing the worst of the worst. 

At first, they just capture them hold them in the Capitals network of catacombs but then some began to escape causing damage across their “new home” Toriel wouldn’t allow it. Very much later it turns into a game of cat and mouse. The humans are detained and released and the monsters hunt them down. It used to be a protection thing but now it’s become a sick twisted death game. The forests of Tundra are littered with traps and deadly pitfalls along with the rest of the locations. 

Each faction has a lord or lady that rules over it. The ones loyal to Toriel’s (As a side note she is known as the ice queen) regime and their supposed way of life. This also means the closest ones receive the most benefits. Tundra is the one with the most prestige and of course other monsters are trying to stip that title from its current holder, The Crimson Lord. Due to Crimson’s loyalty, he is almost exempt from any wrongdoing in the Queens' eyes which means he can do pretty much anything he wants. Which is dangerous and I will explain why in a bit.

I have a faction ruler list sitting here so I am going to add that to this as well. They are as follows, of course, this does not account for potential power struggles during the story:  Tundra -> Lord: Crimson, Lady: N/A

Windyspires -> Lord? (I mean she wouldn’t want to be called a lady SHE IS TOO TOUGH FOR THAT!): Alphys, Lady: Undyne

Magmire->Lord: Grillby, Lady: Muffet

Some of the lords or ladies will keep humans as servants and things of that nature if they are able to be on their captor's good side. Some live good lives but others just become slaves essentially. It’s not a common occurrence in this I just wanted to make a note of it. 

The Brothers Grimm: 

Let’s get to the main event here. The two boys this post is showing. My Fellswap Sans and Paprus. Now I honestly was not planning to do them but I just. I love the puppy boi and I adore @cocofinny , @bis-cvit , @skesgo , @imjustalazycat and so many other interpretations of him. This... is mine. Sans name is Crimson, or the Crimson Lord and Papyrus is Grimm. I chose those names because originally I wanted a vampire and werewolf dynamic between the two and I think that still shines through. (I ain’t changin it~) Crim is the regal sophisticated seducer and Grimm is the wild possessive flirty type. 

Let’s talk about Grimm. Grimm is the wilder of the two brothers and is very much a predator type. His name is derived from the mythos of the Grimm or Black dog. I wanted to keep that dark omen symbology in both his name and design. He slinks around in the shadows so that the black dog aspect is not far off. He also loves watching from trees so if you see a shadow over you, whoops.  He enjoys the catching and hunting aspect of his job and even plays around with his “toys” (I know how that sounds) when he finds them. He will specifically call anyone “chew toy” in a mocking kind of way. That does not mean though that he will not spare you if he catches you. He is naturally curious by things. Fun fact he has a little skele tail too. Unlike his brother, Grimm doesn’t really have an ego he just finds his job fun. HE IS A GIANT PUPPY BOI WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?

He admires his brother but he is not bound to his brother. In other words no master, dog nonsense. He is, however, the more accepting of the two. If he is asked to do something he doesn’t like then he most likely won’t. Also just because he has the whole puppy thing going on doesn’t mean he isn’t smart and cunning. Again he likes to play around with those he finds sometimes not even dragging them back to his brother for a while. If you are a threat he will kill you but if you’re not you can probably get on his good side. If he thinks you are cute he will probably flirt with you too. He is not beyond that. He plays the part of the dog quite well though well all know that there is more to him then that as is any Sans archetype. 

Crimson is more sophisticated. He doesn’t go out on “hunts” himself often as he has a faction to rule over but those brought to him will see first hand that he is an insufferable flirt. He also has a bad habit of keeping mementos from those he deems worthy (what those are... you don’t want to know). He is stern with his brother and seems very outwardly cold to most unless he is playing up his charm. He is not someone you want to make angry as Toriel considers him to also be the Bloody Lord. His weapon of choice is a scythe so if that doesn’t give the executioner vibe then I have no idea what will. His drinks of choice are red wine and champagne specifically the pink kind. Have to keep up that pink/ red aesthetic. Crimson’s incisor teeth also have that vampire point to them. They are longer than the rest of them (You can’t see it here since I decided to edit this prior to writing this up). There is far more to Crimson than just this as their backstories dictate but I wanted to give a general feel for what they are both like. 

Is there a story? 

Yes, there is. I will make it relatively short since this post is already massive in size. In my version, there are two siblings that fall into this world both twins. One is Frisk and the other is Chara. Since this is a swap, Frisk is more aggressive of the two and highly protective of her sister. Chara is the sweet and kind one that will abstain from any violence at all. Now Frisk in this is not the usual Chara swap because I want them to find their place amongst the world. Frisk has no problem using violence as a means of protection and self-defense but she won’t actively look for a fight. 

Why are they here you ask? Well, sadly they have magic within their souls hence the soul traits. They both also have the same soul outwardly, Determination, however, there is one other trait that is housed within their soul that makes them very different. Frisk’s is perseverance and Chara’s is kindness. As usual, the leaders of the Ebott Empire are threatened by their potential for magical abilities and as such are sentenced to be executed. Thus they become part of the hunt. 

Guess who runs into them? Frisk is the first to be captured by none other than Crimson and Chara is found by Grimm. It is strange that Crimson is not his usual self in their circumstances as he can tell, unlike so many others that they have captured in the past, that they are very different. Grimm can’t bring himself to harm Chara due to her innocence and Crimson enjoys Frisks headstrong and sassy attitude. In other words *slaps hands on table* you get a two for one. One Papyrus X Chara and one Frisk X Sans. They are adults by the way. 

Eventually much to Crimson’s reluctance they decide to help them escape as unlike most of the AU the monsters have no problem staying this way. Not all of them agree but the Lords certainly love their titles and don’t want to give up that power...that is until Frisk mentions that all those horrible corrupted humans on the surface could be like one giant... hunt. In which case Crimson is alll for so is Grimm but he is not dying to get to the surface. 

They make it to Asgore (who has all the souls btw the barrier is in The Ruins) who tries to get them to stay instead of sacrificing one of them for their freedom. It’s obvious that the brothers actually don’t want either of them to die. 

As Crimson says: “What is another century or two? We have all the time in the world.”  

Frisk and Chara become integrated into the Underworld and though Grimm continues his hunting he doesn’t want Chara to witness it. Crimson just has Frisk as his little huntress. It is unclear if they will make it out of the Underworld in this AU. It really depends upon how I feel the story would make the most sense and I think having the two sisters happy with and accepted into their lives is all they really wanted. They were considered “monsters” on the surface so why return there? (unless to watch it burn... of course). 

I have a lot more for this AU so feel free to drop any questions you may have in my ask box! I know this is a huge post so I really appreciate you all sticking with me if you made it this far! I really have enjoyed making my own FS for what I am now tagging Friskys multiverse! Have a great Tuesday everyone! 

DO NOT REPOST MY WORK WITHOUT MY PERMISSION IT IS NOT FOR YOUR USE. IF YOU LIKE MY WORK PLEASE REBLOG INSTEAD! It helps me so much! It makes such a difference.💙

[kyberled]

Send “📂“ for a random yet completely useless headcanon I have || ACCEPTING

@reawakcn​ asked:

📂📂📂!

📂 If he gestures with his saber at you, you can figure out whether or not he thinks you’re a threat pretty easily. If he thinks you’re a threat, he’ll gesture with the blade emitter facing you. If he doesn’t think it’s a threat, he’ll flip it around and gesture at you with the pommel.

It’s worth noting that ‘not a threat’ doesn’t mean he trusts you. It might just mean that he doesn’t think he’ll need to fight you, or, if he does, he won’t need a lightsaber to win.

📂 He likes sitting in laps. This is mostly caused by the fact that when he was little, he spent a lot of his time in laps. He’s managed to accumulate a plethora of adults who would put baby Braig in their lap to give him snacks, read him stories, let him play with star charts, or just hold the little one. Also, a lot of the people in his life he’s close to are big enough for him to sit on. He’s very small. If you are someone he feels safe with - not just trusts, not just comfortable with - and you’re big enough (and comfortable with it), he’ll probably sit on your lap, or at least use it as a pillow. If you’re smaller than him, he’ll either lean on you or you have free reign to sit in his lap. If you stroll up to the 212th’s camp during missions, don’t be surprised if you see a tiny padawan snoozing in their marshal commander’s or general’s lap.

There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, as I said, it stems from his childhood, but it also makes him feel safe. Given that the war leaves him with a considerable amount of trauma, feeling safe is big for him. On bad nights, being close to someone he finds comfort in is the only way he can get a full night’s sleep. So, while they’re definitely not  the only ones, that’s why his dads are probably the first two to come to mind. He knows he’s safe with them, so he feels alright shutting his eyes for a bit.

It’s also because he’s a healer. Hear me out: Being trained as a Force Healer means he’s deeply keyed into the Living Force. This is, in part, why  the sheer number of deaths at once during the Great Jedi Purge leaves him with actual chronic pain, and, from what I’ve read in the Book of Sith, he’s extremely lucky it didn’t just kill him outright. If he doesn’t  keep his shields up 24/7, the amount of overload he can get from people around him is borderline ludicrous. And he’s a Jedi, and people hate Jedi. And it’s a war, and it’s terrible for everyone. Not only that, but the Clone Wars was, as short as it was, memorable in part because of how many Jedi lives it took, even before the Purge. In short, the Force - especially outside the Temple - didn’t always feel great. Being close to people who he cares about is like a detox for him. It allows him to feel a familiar, trusted presence without having to lower his shields much, and to just relax for a bit.

Also, Braig’s just an affectionate person who knows he can get away with it. And he also knows there are other things he can get away with through this: Mostly, it’s just that he knows Cody won’t stand up unless it’s an emergency if his padawan looks comfortable, so Braig uses it to make Tall Dad rest for a change. Bonus points if he can get him to eat, but he knows that sometimes, you take what you can get.

📂 Let’s Talk Etymology, because I’ve already talked about this with Sam and Rodi and it’s still funny for me. So, for those who haven’t heard, Braig’s recently gone through a name change. Not his first name, just middle and surname. The long and short of it is, I picked that name four + years ago, and upon finally coming back to my son, realized I don’t really like it, and it doesn’t really fit the universe. So I figured I’d dick around with one of the millions of Star Wars name generators out there until I found some I like. So, his full name is Braig Cassir Claermoore (at least, until he changes it late into his teenage years).

Now, Braig is a name that was first used in Star Wars for the character of Braig Farool, whose first appearance came in 1992. If I’m being completely candid, I got it from Kingdom Hearts, but I’ve written about that before and I don’t need to out myself as a teenage weeblet any more than I already have. The very interesting thing is that it has some real world connotations, too.

The first one I came across is an archaic Scottish term ‘braig-knyfe’. That means, somewhat loosely translated, butcher’s knife, carver’s knife, or flesher’s knife. The second meaning comes from the ancient Norman Braggi, which, like many words at the time, had different spellings, including Bragg, Brag, Bragge, Braggs, et cetera. This one means ‘lively, active, happy’, or ‘a hero’ and/or ‘a man of great accomplishment’. The final meaning, I have to give credit to @wanmins​ for. Erika was the one who pointed out to me that it’s also similar to the ancient Norse god, Bragi. Bragi was interpreted by some to be a fallen hero rather than a god-god, but, either way, functioned as a wise and learned bard who recorded and told the stories of the gods.

I thought these three meanings were not only cool, but fit my boy pretty well, since how he’ll turn out is a pretty serious story thread for him, especially after Order 66. Will he continue to try to do what’s right, will he fall to a more cruel way of living, or will he be content to simply keep his journal and preserve a record of times gone by? Generally, if I had to ascribe one meaning to it, though, I’d probably pick ‘hero’, since that’s the one that his parents probably would’ve wanted, going by their ideals, but, yes, any could potentially fit.

I’m going to skip over his middle name right now, because that’s the funny one. It deserves to go last. His surname, Claermoore, is, from what I can tell, taken from two different words in two different languages: The middle Dutch ‘Claer’ and the Irish ‘Mordha’. ‘Claer’ means ‘bright’ or ‘light’, and ‘Mordha’ means ‘stately nobleman’. It fits pretty well for a Jedi, I think.

His middle name is not so fitting.

If you spell it with a K, Kassir means ‘road’ or ‘path’ in German. But here’s the thing: The generator I found spelled it with a C, and I’ve decided I like how it looks spelled with a C. If you spell it with a C, according to the research I’ve done, it actually changes not only its meaning, but the entire root language, being derived from the Greek ‘Cassandra’.

Cassandra means ‘tempter of men’.

Put together, his name means ‘the bright, noble hero who keeps flirting with dudes’.

Given that he has the romantic inclinations of a rather shy tooth brush, it’s a whole other reason as to why he stops using his name.

[tthael]

Hi, english is not my first language so if I don't make any sense you know why. I'm sorry if i gave you the wrong impression with my ask.I've never read the book so "the shape" of these characters for me personally comes from the movie where Richie is gay. I've recently found out that people that read the book consider him bi. That's why when i read a fic where it's not explicitly stated i always wonder. I saw that you have a tumblr so i was like why not ask.

Hi nonny! Thank you for coming back to clarify, I’m sorry for the defensive tone of my response. Thank you very much for reading my stuff. Nothing about the phrasing of your question was what made me respond that way, just the topic, because I know it’s a hot button issue in fandom at the moment. Nobody wants to be responsible for erasing a sexual minority or a canonical sexual identity--and while in the book Richie’s sexuality is only coded, I’ve been told that André Muschietti explicitly stated that the film portrayal of Richie is gay. So of course, I think that film!Richie is portrayed as gay, and if I were to write Richie based on the film alone, I most likely would write him as gay.

The thing is, I don’t really write exclusively film!Richie. I think that there’s a very rich vein of characterization to be found in the book, which is of course door-stoppingly long, and compared to the limited amount of screentime the movies could spend on each of the Losers, not to mention the changes to their backgrounds the films made (looking at you, tween!Ben who suddenly morphs into adult!Mike), I like to pull from the greatest evidence pool available. That’s why I like to include the teenage werewolf, I like to include Stan’s bird book of North America, I like to include Eddie’s fascination with cars and trains and other mechanical transportation, I like to include Bev’s mother as having been alive during Bev’s childhood, I like to include Ben’s outrunning the track team out of spite, I like to include Bill’s uncanny charisma and his compelling nature, and I like to include Mike with a kinder more curious childhood than he’s allowed in the film. Also, I studied literature in college and I’m just more comfortable with analyzing that than I am analyzing film.

I also really liked the film casting for the adult Losers! It’s very shallow of me but I like how they look, I think they’re all very attractive, and I’m more interested in writing with their physicalities in mind than I am in, say, the actors for the 1990s miniseries. This is a personal preference, just because I myself do not enjoy Bill’s ponytail or Richie’s mustache or Bev as a brunette. I’ve also only ever seen clips of the miniseries. And honestly, I like Bill Hader as Richie in glasses, despite book!Richie wanting to wear contacts as an adult; I find without glasses I have difficulty perceiving him as the character. So I can’t claim to be a book purist--I like writing about the 2016 setting and those are mostly the faces of the Losers I see in my head. I tweak them sometimes--I don’t think I’ve written Richie with blue eyes yet, for example.

So I blend the canons when I decide what to draw on for the fic. That means that, for me, unless it’s explicitly stated, I probably don’t have an intention one way or the other when I write Richie’s sexuality. So far I’ve always written him as a man who loves men, and always as involved and in love with Eddie. I know that for some people that won’t be good enough, that for some people it’s very important to them to see their characters explicitly identify as one label or the other, but I’m afraid that just isn’t a priority for me in my portrayals.

This is informed by 2 things: 1) I like to write the Losers as 40-year-old adults in 2016, and we know that Richie produces a host of problematic content in his career. This of course shouldn’t mean that my portrayal of Richie /should/ be problematic and that’s not my intention--instead, I’m suggesting that when I write Richie, I write a lot about self-loathing and internalized homophobia, and so I focus a lot more on his attraction to men, which in my fic he’s usually not comfortable with, than any potential/past attraction to women. Of course I don’t feel that self-loathing is the necessary response to same-sex attraction, but I also think of the Losers as adults of a certain age who might not always be accurate or thoughtful in discussing the changing world of sexual identities (finding words for them specifically, filling the lexical gap).

I wrote a scene in Things That Happen After Eddie Lives where Richie runs across a gender non-conforming person and initially reads them as female, but then during the conversation remembers that isn’t always the case these days and switch to trying to avoid pronouns for them or trying to refer to them with gender neutral pronouns. But Richie and Eddie still call Jordan and Sarah lesbians, without asking whether they’re a romantic pairing of two bisexual people, or without considering that Jordan might be a man. Richie even wonders if “girlfriend” is being used romantically or platonically the way that women of previous generations do. I have a bead on Jordan’s and Sarah’s identity--but only because Jordan’s me! I think that, as a man born in 1976, growing up extremely closeted, and never engaging in the wider discussion around LGBTQ culture in a constructive way, Richie might be prone to simplification. This, of course, doesn’t mean I’m opposed to a Richie who openly identifies as strictly gay or strictly bi!

2) The second thing that informs the ambiguity of my portrayal of Richie’s sexuality is my own experience with my sexuality and gender. I am closeted in real life. In recent years I have tried a number of identities that, at the time, I believed to fit, but the labels were never clear-cut for me. I am coming to accept, slowly, that in the same way the physical body doesn’t grow to exact neat clean specifications, I might never be able to describe myself accurately and totally in one term. That’s all that I’m willing to share about my experience at this time. My personal philosophy is much like the one Eddie professes when he comes out in Indelicate: it doesn’t seem important to me that people know my preferences unless I’m a) sleeping with them or b) actively dating and trying to put myself out there.

Again, some people have completely different experiences! For some people being closeted is intolerable and having an identity--a word for what they are--really helps them self-actualize and live their truth! For some people, they’re very excited about their identity and participate in Pride events and take joy in asserting that this is who they are to the world! For some people, they never have the awareness that this or that idle feeling might mean they actually /don’t/ fit with how the world sees them. And while I’m a great advocate of self-exploration (comes of being vain as I am), some people don’t do that, and that’s fine!

I know that ambiguity is not a neutral answer when it comes to these questions. In the summer of 2019 when the Good Omens miniseries was released, many fans reached out to author Neil Gaiman asking for confirmation that the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley were gay. Gaiman said, “Theirs is a love story.” He said, “They’re not human and I can’t ascribe human sexual identity to them.” He said, “My coauthor is deceased and I can’t make such confirmations without him.” (These are not direct quotes and I don’t have sources, I’m sorry, it’s been a year.) This was not satisfactory to all parties. For some people explicit confirmation of that gender identity is important. And why shouldn’t it be? Their own is important to them.

But I’m from a school of literary analysis where I welcome different interpretations of my works, which are in this case of course derivative and dependent on evidence from the canons I draw on. I write Richie in love with Eddie, and that’s enough for me. If it’s not for the reader, either I feel there’s ample room to interpret my Richie the way they prefer--not just limited to gay or bi! After the first sex scene in TTHAEL Richie is stunned by how he enjoyed that far more than any other sexual encounter he’s ever had, and I think that’s welcome to interpretations of Richie with demisexuality /or/ Richie just finally having fulfilling sex with a man because he’s gay or bi /OR/ Richie has had good sex before but this was just WAY better because he likes sex better when he’s in love with his partner. And every portrayal of Richie I write is slightly different, so Richie from Indelicate might have different sexual attraction/orientation than Richie from Automatic - Mechanical - Pneumatic or Richie from TTHAEL. BUT I don’t want to say that my interpretation is the only valid one--just know that when I write Richie, I write him as a man in love with another man. If I were to write a story about Richie involved with someone other than Eddie, I would tag for it up front.

Again, I know this is a very long answer and probably not as concise or clear as you might like it to be. Thank you so much for coming back around to explain your logic, I apologize for my wariness the first time around, thank you for asking these questions in good faith. “Why not ask” is of course the simplest way to settle an issue and I don’t want to discourage anyone from asking me questions about my fic. If there are other things you have questions about, please don’t hesitate to ask, either here or by sending me a private message, I  don’t mind either way.

[basicsofislam]

ISLAM 101: Muslim Culture and Character: Embracing The World:

ISLAM – A RELIGION OF TOLERANCE

Islam is a word derived from the root words silm and salamah. It means surrendering, guiding to peace and contentment, and establishing security and accord.

Islam is a religion of security, safety, and peace. These principles permeate the lives of Muslims. When Muslims stand to pray, they cut their connection with this world, turning to their Lord in faith and obedience, and standing at attention in His presence. Completing the prayer, as if they were returning back to life, they greet those on their right and left by wishing peace: “Remain safe and in peace.” With a wish for safety and security, peace and contentment, they return to the ordinary world once again.

Greeting and wishing safety and security for others is considered one of the most beneficial acts in Islam. When asked which act in Islam is the most beneficial, the Prophet replied, “Feeding others and greeting those you know and those you do not know.”[1]

Accusing Islam of Terrorism

How unfortunate it is that Islam, which is based on this understanding and spirit, is shown by some circles to be synonymous with terrorism. This is a great historical mistake; wrapping a system based on safety and trust in a veil of terrorism just shows that the spirit of Islam remains unknown. If one were to seek the true face of Islam in its own sources, history, and true representatives, then one would discover that it contains no harshness, cruelty, or fanaticism. It is a religion of forgiveness, pardon, and tolerance, as such saints and princes of love and tolerance as Rumi, Yunus Emre, Ahmed Yesevi,[2] Bediüzzaman,[3] and many others have so beautifully expressed. They spent their lives preaching tolerance, and each became a legend in his own time as an embodiment of love and tolerance.

Jihad can be a matter of self-defense or of removing obstacles between God and human free choice. Our history is full of examples that show how this principle has been implemented in life.

Of course there are and should be occasions where war is unavoidable. However, the Qur’anic verses on jihad that were revealed for particular conditions have been generalized by some short-sighted individuals. Whereas in actual fact war is a matter of secondary importance, it has been given priority as an essential issue by these people. Such people do not understand the true meaning and spirit of Islam. Their failure to establish a proper balance between what is primary and what is secondary leads others to conclude that Islam advocates malice and hatred in the soul, whereas true Muslims are full of love and affection for all creation. Regarding this, how apt is the following couplet:

Muhammad was born out of love,

What can be born out of love without Muhammad?

Love Is the Essence of Creation

The Pride of Humanity was a man of love and affection. One of his names was Habibullah (the Beloved of God). In addition to meaning one who loves, habib means one who is loved, one who loves God, and one who is loved by God. Sufi masters like Imam Rabbani,[4] Mawlana Khalid,[5] and Shah Waliyyullah[6] state that love is the ultimate station of the spiritual journey.

God created the universe as a manifestation of His love for His creatures, in particular humanity, and Islam became the fabric woven out of this love. In the words of Bediüzzaman, love is the essence of creation. Just as a mother’s love and compassion compels her to allow a surgeon to operate on her sick child to save his or her life, jihad allows war, if needed, to preserve such fundamental human rights as the right to life and religious freedom. Jihad does not exclusively mean war.

Once a friend said to me: “Without exception and regardless of differences in faith, you meet with everyone, and this breaks the tension of Muslims toward probable opponents. But it is an Islamic principle to love those things or people who must be loved on the way of God and dislike those things or people who must be disliked on the way of God.” Actually this principle is often misunderstood, for in Islam all of creation is to be loved according to the rule of loving on God’s way.

“Disliking on the way of God” applies only to feelings, thoughts, and attributes. Thus, we should dislike such things as immorality, unbelief, and polytheism, not the people who engage in such activities. God created humanity as noble beings, and everyone, to a certain degree, has a share in this nobility. His Messenger once stood up out of respect for humanity as the funeral procession of a Jew passed by. When reminded that the deceased was a Jew, the Prophet replied: “But he is a human,” thereby showing the value Islam gives to human.

This action demonstrates how highly our Prophet respected every person. Given this, the involvement of some self-proclaimed Muslim individuals or institutions in terrorist activities can in no way be approved of by Islam. The reasons for this terrorism should be sought for in the actions themselves, in false interpretations of the faith, and in other factors and motives. Islam does not support terror, so how could a Muslim who truly understands Islam be a terrorist?

If we can spread the Islamic understanding of such heroes of love as Niyazi-i Misri,[7] Yunus Emre, and Rumi globally, if we can extend their messages of love, dialogue, and tolerance to those who thirst for this message, then everyone will run toward the embrace of love, peace, and tolerance that we represent.

The definition of tolerance in Islam is such that the Prophet even prohibited verbal abuse of unbelievers. For example, Abu Jahl died before embracing Islam, despite all the Prophet’s efforts. His unbelief and enmity toward the Prophet was such that he deserved the title Abu Jahl: Father of ignorance and impudence. His untiring opposition to Islam was a thorn in the side of the Muslims.

Despite such hostility, when in an assembly of Companions where Abu Jahl’s son Ikrimah was present, the Prophet one day admonished a Companion who had been heard insulting Abu Jahl: “Do not hurt others by criticizing their fathers.”[8] Another time, he said: “Cursing your mother and father is a great sin.” The Companions asked: “O Messenger of God, would anyone curse their parents?” The Prince of Prophets replied: “When someone curses another’s father and the other curses his father in return, or when someone curses another’s mother and the other does the same in return, they will have cursed their parents.”[9]

While the Prophet of Mercy was inordinately sensitive when it came to respecting others, some Muslims today justify unpleasant behavior on the basis of religion. This shows that they do not understand Islam, a religion in which there is no place for malice and hatred.

The Qur’an strongly urges forgiveness and tolerance. In one verse, it says of pious people:

They swallow their anger and forgive people. God loves those who do good. (Al-Imran 3:134)

In other words, Muslims should not retaliate when verbally abused or attacked. If possible, as Yunus says, they should act as if they had no hand or tongue with which to respond and no heart with which to resent. They must swallow their anger and close their eyes to the faults of others. The words selected in the verse are very meaningful. Kazm, translated as swallowing, literally means swallowing something like a thorn, an object that actually cannot be swallowed; thus it denotes swallowing one’s wrath, no matter how difficult. Another verse, while mentioning the characteristics of believers, says:

When they meet hollow words or unseemly behavior, they pass them by with dignity. (Al-Furqan 25:72)

When we look at the exalted life of God’s Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, we see that he always practiced the precepts presented in the Qur’an. For example, a Companion once repented of a sin and admitted: “I am guilty of fornication. Whatever my punishment is, give it and cleanse me.” The Prince of Prophets said: “Go back and repent, for God forgives all sins.”[10] This event was repeated three times. Another time, a Companion complained to the Prophet that someone had stolen his belongings. But as the punishment was about to be carried out the Companion said: “I have changed my mind and do not want to pursue my case. I forgive this individual.” The Prophet asked: “Why did you bring this matter to court? Why didn’t you forgive him from the outset?”[11]

When such examples are studied from their original sources, it is clear that the method of those who act with enmity and hatred, who view everyone else with anger, and who blacken others as infidels is non-Islamic, for Islam is a religion of love and tolerance. A Muslim is a person of love and affection who avoids every kind of terrorist activity and who has no malice or hatred for anyone or anything.

[1] Abu Dawud, Adab, 142.

[2] Ahmed Yesevi (d. 1166): Sufi poet and early Turkish spiritual leader who had a powerful influence on the development of mystical orders throughout the Turkish-speaking world.

[3] Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (1877-1960): An Islamic scholar of the highest standing with deep spirituality, a wide knowledge of modern science and the contemporary world. He believed that humanity could be saved from its crises and could achieve true progress and happiness only by knowing its true nature, and by recognizing and submitting to God. His Risale-i Nur (The Epistles of Light) deals with the Islamic essentials of faith, thought, worship, and morality and Qur’anic descriptions of Divine activity in the universe. Containing rational and logical proofs and explanations of all Qur’anic truths, it is his reply to those who deny them in the name of science. In his work, he reveals their many discrepancies and illogical statements.

[4] Imam Rabbani (Shaykh Ahmad al-Sirhindi) (1564?-1624): Indian Sufi and theologian who reasserted and revived the principles of Islamic faith and Sufi tradition in India against the syncretistic religious tendencies prevalent under the Mogul emperor Akbar. He was given the posthumous title: Mujaddid-i Alf-i Thani (Renovator of the Second [Islamic] Millennium).

[5] Mawlana Khalid al-Baghdadi (1778-1827): Naqshbandi master considered the mujaddid (reviver) of the thirteenth Islamic century. The Khalidi order, a new Naqshbandi branch, arose under his leadership and had acquired a large following by the end of the nineteenth century.

[6] Shah Waliyyullah Muhaddith of Delhi (1702-1762): A great scholar of the twelfth Islamic century. Some writers call him Khatam al-Muhadditheen (the last of the hadith scholars).

[7] Niyazi-i Misri (1618-1694). A Sufi poet and member of the Khalwati order.

[8] Hakim, al-Mustadrak, 3:241; Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-’Ummal, 13:540.

[9] Muslim, Iman, 145; Tirmidhi, Birr, 4.

[10] Muslim, Hudud, 17, 23; Bukhari, Hudud, 28.

[11] Abu Dawud, Hudud, 14(4394); Nasai, Sarik, 4 (8, 68); Muwatta, Hudud, 28, (2, 834).

[megahistorynut]

#BehindTheTruth #WorkingWithGov.

Part 3:

{The following morning, I got dressed and had some breakfast. I was looking over the papers I had. Something caught my eyes, it was the letter I had gotten from my mother. It was the one that detailed my father's death and how she was hidden when it had happened. It has been three years now that he was killed but I had not known who had done it. I had thought it was a gang never in a million years. I read the letter twice but the part of who really did it I read that part at least three or four times now. I couldn’t believe what I had read, I picked up the phone to call my mother to hear it from her but she didn't answer when I called.

My mother finally answers the phone and tells me she is outside of my door. I open the door and my mom Helena walks in. We sat and talked for hours about the letter I had and learned how my father was really killed. I couldn't believe that he was killed by a group of lesser whatever that is.

Later on that day I went to the Caldwell police station to file a report of the killing. Some of the police officers look at me as if I was crazy. I end up walking away from them till a man stops me to speak to me about what I was really doing to talk to these people. I learned his name is Mharcus and he will help me with my report. We left the station and headed to his place to talk, once we arrived we sat in his living room to talk.

I spent hours explaining to Mhacurs about what I knew about my father killing. Mhacrus looked at me as he was going to do something but stop. Mhacrus ends up offering me a job when I tell him all about the history stuff I know. I agree to his offer and work for him, it seemed like the best bet to work with him to get these people killed for what they did to my family.

After leaving Mhacrus place, the more likely one of his drivers took me home. My mother was still here when I told her about the job from this government agent. She was happy that I found someone to help her look into this. My mother and I spent hours on the information I had on vampires and what one of my colleagues had on them as well.

I had shown my mother the ancient symbol for the vampires, the Egyptian ankh. The look that my mother had told me something but I knew to not ask her till she was ready to tell me whatever it was on her own time. I knew that my mom knew what the symbol meant and I knew not to push her to tell me things. My mother was a symbology expert just as me and sometimes we work together. If this ankh was what my mother reminded me it could be, I still couldn't place this thing to them.

I wasn’t sure if this ankh was connected somehow to vampires. There had to be another way to prove this and I didn’t know how not yet anyway. The more I look at this ankh the more it looks like it was true. I went to my library to look for some books that I had gotten from my travels but these few books I had were written in some weird language which I still have not been able to figure out. I had even talked to my mother about them and she couldn't figure them out. I was thinking of either making a few copies and have one of my colleagues look them over to see if they knew of the language or not. I could tell it was old but whoever wrote it could use some kind of different way of writing.

I went over to my desk to see if I could remember where I had found these books. I was searching my papers when one of the papers caught my eye of ancient Babylonia that talked about one of its first demons that became a vampire. There was a legend of Lilith/Lilitu (and a type of spirit of the same name) originally arose from Sumer, where she was described as an infertile "beautiful maiden" and was believed to be a harlot and vampire who, after having chosen a lover, would never let him go. Lilitu (or the Lilitu spirits) was considered to be an anthropomorphic bird-footed, wind or night demon and was often described as a sexual predator who subsisted on the blood of babies and their mothers. Other Mesopotamian demons such as the Babylonian goddess Lamashtu, (Sumer's Dimme) and Gallu of the Uttuke group are mentioned as having vampiric natures.

Lamashtu is a historically older image that left a mark on the figure of Lilith. Many incantations invoke her as a malicious "Daughter of Heaven" or of Anu, and she is often depicted as a terrifying blood-sucking creature with a lion's head and the body of a donkey. Akin to Lilitu, Lamashtu primarily preyed on newborns and their mothers. She was said to watch pregnant women vigilantly, particularly when they went into labor.

Then there was more information in Ancient Greek mythology containing several precursors to modern vampires, though none were considered undead; these included the Empusa, Lamia, and striges (the strix of Ancient Roman mythology). Over time the first two terms became general words to describe witches and demons respectively. Empusa was the daughter of the goddess Hecate and was described as a demonic, bronze-footed creature. She feasted on blood by transforming into a young woman and seduced men as they slept before drinking their blood. Lamia was the daughter of King Belus and a secret lover of Zeus. However Zeus' wife Hera discovered this infidelity and killed all Lamia's offspring; Lamia swore vengeance and preyed on young children in their beds at night, sucking their blood.

Like Lamia, the striges feasted on children, but also preyed on adults. They were described as having the bodies of crows or birds in general, and were later incorporated into Roman mythology as strix, a kind of nocturnal bird that fed on human flesh and blood. The Romanian vampire breed named Strigoï has no direct relation to the Greek striges, but was derived from the Roman term strix, as is the name of the Albanian Shtriga and the Slavic Strzyga, though myths about these creatures are more similar to their Slavic equivalents. Greek vampiric entities are seen once again in Homer's epic Odyssey. In Homer's tale, the undead are too insubstantial to be heard by the living and cannot communicate with them without drinking blood first. In the epic, when Odysseus journeyed into Hades, he was made to sacrifice a black ram and a black ewe so that the shades there could drink its blood and communicate.

Then there was more in India, tales of vetalas, ghoul-like beings that inhabit corpses, are found in old Sanskrit folklore.The vetala is described as an undead creature who, like the bat associated with modern-day vampirism, hangs upside down on trees found on cremation grounds and cemeteries. Pishacha, the returned spirits of evil-doers or those who died insane, also bear vampiric attributes.

The Hebrew word "Alukah" (literal translation is "leech") is synonymous with vampirism or vampires, as is "Motetz Dam" (literally, "blood sucker").

Later vampire traditions appear among diaspora Jews in Central Europe, in particular the medieval interpretation of Lilith. In common with vampires, this version of Lilith was held to be able to transform herself into an animal, usually a cat, and charm her victims into believing that she is benevolent or irresistible.However, she and her daughters usually strangle rather than drain victims, and in the Kabbalah, she retains many attributes found in vampires. A late 17th- or early 18th-century Kabbalah document was found in one of the Ritman library's copies of Jean de Pauly's translation of the Zohar. The text contains two amulets, one for male (lazakhar), the other for female (lanekevah). The invocations on the amulets mention Adam, Eve, and Lilith, Chavah Rishonah and the angels—Sanoy, Sansinoy, Smangeluf, Shmari'el, and Hasdi'el. A few lines in Yiddish are shown as dialog between the prophet Elijah and Lilith, in which she has come with a host of demons to kill the mother, take her newborn and "to drink her blood, suck her bones and eat her flesh". She informs Elijah that she will lose power if someone uses her secret names, which she reveals at the end.

There was so many in Various regions of Africa have folkloric tales of beings with vampiric abilities: in West Africa the Ashanti people tell of the iron-toothed and tree-dwelling asanbosam, and the Ewe people of the adze, which can take the form of a firefly and hunts children. The Eastern Cape region of South Africa has the impundulu, which can take the form of a large taloned bird and can summon thunder and lightning, and the Betsileo people of Madagascar tell of the ramanga, an outlaw or living vampire who drinks the blood and eats the nail clippings of nobles.

The Loogaroo is an example of how a vampire belief can result from a combination of beliefs, a mixture of French and African Vodu or voodoo. The term Loogaroo possibly comes from the French loup-garou (meaning 'werewolf') and is common in the culture of Mauritius. However, the stories of the Loogaroo are widespread through the Caribbean Islands and Louisiana in the United States.[80] During the late 18th and 19th centuries, there was a widespread belief in vampires in parts of New England, particularly in Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut. There are many documented cases of families disinterring loved ones and removing their hearts in the belief that the deceased was a vampire who was responsible for sickness and death in the family, although the term "vampire" was never actually used to describe the deceased.

The deadly disease tuberculosis, or "consumption" as it was known at the time, was believed to be caused by nightly visitations on the part of a dead family member who had died of consumption themselves. The most famous, and most recently recorded, case of suspected vampirism is that of nineteen-year-old Mercy Brown, who died in Exeter, Rhode Island in 1892. Her father, assisted by the family physician, removed her from her tomb two months after her death and her heart was cut out and burnt to ashes.

Legends of female vampire-like beings who can detach parts of their upper body occur in the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia. There are two main vampire-like creatures in the Philippines: the Tagalog Mandurugo ("blood-sucker") and the Visayan manananggal ("self-segmenter"). The mandurugo is a variety of the aswang that takes the form of an attractive girl by day, and develops wings and a long, hollow, thread-like tongue by night. They use an elongated proboscis-like tongue to suck fetuses off pregnant women. They also prefer to eat entrails (specifically the heart and the liver) and the phlegm of sick people. The manananggal is described as being an older, beautiful woman capable of severing its upper torso in order to fly into the night with huge bat-like wings and prey on unsuspecting, sleeping pregnant women in their homes. The tongue is used to suck up blood from a sleeping victim.

I had so many books on vampires that I picked up on my travels around the world, on my last trip I was in Alexandria, Egypt. I went to the great library of Alexandria well now it is called the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which functions as a modern library and cultural center, commemorating the original Library of Alexandrina. When I was there that was where I found a lot of the books that I was able to bring home with me just as long as I would send them back home. That was till I had a talk to the president of Egypt about my research I was doing on the books and that I would be using some of the books in my classroom. I would also teach a class of ancient Egyptian mythology to any of the students from Egypt. That is how I have these books, well some of them. The mysterious books that I did find were not in Egypt's great library but in two libraries one in London and one in Italy. The more I learned of this town, I learned that it had a mix of many cultures, from other countries.

I came out of my thoughts when my phone ping with a text message, it was from Mhacrus that he was asking me to come to the police station. I texted him back asking him what it was really about? I waited for his response, which was that there was some strange symbol that he wanted me to help explain what it is and what it means. I told him that I was coming in to see it and see if I can help him.

#WorkingWithGov

[fangsmyth]

i’ve been meaning to analyze the shit out of his poem but..... i’m on break now so i have time

it’s prefaced as “ a poem written in free verse, based on something haunting me as of late reflecting on one of my most complicated and passionate past relationships ” so while i know for a fact i could derive MANY different meanings i’m focusing strictly on this intention

i’m normally really bad at analyzing poetry but..... for Him i will Try ( this is a lot of nonsense rambling please do not mind me i am a fucking idiot if anyone has any other onions i’d love to discuss! ....p-please do not steal;;; )

gaslighting and emotional abuse warning under the cut but who’s fucking surprised

What is the meaning of a memory? A question I oft ponder Intangible and untraceable by anything but the mind Yet so potent as to leaVe one sick As if poisoned or Wounded in a literal sense.

just kind of setting the stage i guess is the best way to call this part? his first fucking stanza is god damn terrible memories leave scars that no one can see i could’ve come up with this in my goth phase

And What meaning is there in regret and longing? Can my lamentations change the past? Will they moVe the future? Shall they amount to much more than What unmoors my here and noW?

p self explanatory imo? this goes into a bit of detail about how despite the relationship being over, he’s still thinking about it and he feels bad about what he did and how he treated them.

‘ Will they moVe the future? ’ implies that despite his regret, he doesn’t feel like he’ll learn from his mistakes since he’s made them so many times before. especially so with the next line ‘ Shall they amount to much more than What unmoors my here and noW? ’

he already feels insecure, and any future mistakes he makes are just going to contribute to that;;

If I restrict my World to that but Which is before my eyes To those Whom I may touch, to that Which I might alter; One Would no doubt conclude that thoughts of You are last among What I could consider to “matter”.

this a really interesting stanza, recognizing that the past and present don’t matter, much less any people in the past that hurt him. he knows he should be looking at the here and now, but he can’t help but feel anxious about what happened and what will happen in future relationships.

( also keep in mind that ‘You’ is capitalized, not as a part of lanque’s quirk despite how naturally it seems to fit with his quirk. i kind of ended up interpreting it how ‘You’ is capitalized like you would ‘God’ and ‘Lord’ implying lanque puts this person on an insanely high pedestal? )

it’s super interesting imo that he chooses to say ‘could’ instead of ‘should’, implying he sees it as an option to stop thinking about the other but not a necessity or, for that matter, the best option he has. 

it implies that he recognizes that he has the option to learn from his mistakes, but........

And still You haunt me yet, like a scar, like a disease uneager to abate. Who are You and Who am I, after so long Without You?

it kind of hit me at this point that despite the fact that it was something lanque was recently thinking about, it’s... possible that it wasn’t a recent relationship. he’s clearly fully submerging himself into the role of the victim in this horrible relationship with emotional abuse to the point of forced codependence.

i’m legit having a hard time telling whether this is a matter of lanque making himself out to be the victim ( as emotional vampires often do ) or the very real possibility that he honest to god was the victim of a horrible relationship that left him..... permanently scarred to the point he feels like all relationships are just SUPPOSED to be that way 

i’m gonna mainly use language that points towards the latter despite the fact that i honestly believe the more obscure and difficult to explain possibility that this is him trying to put himself in the shoes of someone he treated like garbage ( since idk i feel like he’s really good at recognizing and understanding peoples’ emotions, just not so much feeling them himself )

talking about it as if he were actually the victim just makes this a lot easier to analyze

i’m kind of...... getting ahead of myself though lemme lay down the next stanza

I knoW I don’t knoW I Won’t knoW; What do I knoW but What I knoW and What can it eVen mean to KNOW?

an allusion to gaslighting. i’m bad at writing out definitions i literally just know things my brain is huge and you’re all just jealous so to copy paste from the wikipedia google search result

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, making them question their own memory, perception, and sanity.

i *loudly gestures* i don’t feel like i need to explain much further! going between saying he knows and doesn’t know, literally talking in circles and questioning what the concept of keeping knowledge even means!! this relationship kind of fucked him up!!!!!!

knoW, knoW; No!

kind of redundant that this line is on its own, just implies getting fed up and ready to leave?

Agh, though it so Vexes me, Though so little I Valued it When it Was before me, a thing and a You I could touch and see and knoW and hate and Wonder. (reVile/Worship).

AH HERE’S THE GOD SHIT AGAIN I KNEW IT WAS HERE SOMEWHERE!!!

lanque didn’t see this person as such a central figure when he was in the relationship, or it’s possible that he simply didn’t realize how important they were to him. their godliness implies that this person was always above him, that it was a privilege to be graced with their presence alone.

this (reVile/Worship) shit in my mind reads very similar to one of the ten commandments saying ‘we must fear and love god’ or some shit like that, but it doesn’t quite fit. it’s highly probable that it just implies that the relationship walked on a very fine tightrope between kismesis and matesprit ugh i went so long without using homestuck terms i’m sad now.... anyways this is call back to that implication of choice i was talking about earlier that’s built on more immediately

NoW it, and You, are a traceless ghost, and I preoccupy myself With nothing but futile tasks of (RE)definition and (RE)interpretation and circuitous dWellings on that Which I understand eVen less noW.

SUPER obvious but the person in the relationship is gone and lanque doesn’t know what to do without them. goes over how it’s hard for him to tell whether this is a refining of his pre-existing personality or just a brand new one all together. again, a choice as to whether or not that’s how he wants to approach it

the path to this reinvention is brought about through a bunch of rebounds and new relationships, ‘circuitous dwellings’ implying he possibly stayed in some of them for too long and he honest to god has no idea why? like he wasn’t enjoying himself, he wasn’t really being reinvented. it solidifies that it was flat out a new definition as lanque is more or less going through the motions

than in the times When my Wonderings might’Ve been so easily ansWered With a question or a bite or a kiss, or eVen a single Word, spoken honestly.

STRANGE to me how this starts as if it continues the past sentence despite the fact that it DEFINITELY ends in a period i double checked 

anyways

he also finds himself having a MUCH easier time following the motions than trying to internalize and understand this relationship. ‘wonderings’ being... pretty obviously just anxiety thoughts like you know how your brain just says things that aren’t true

and figuring out if they were would’ve been easy if he just said something or did something!!

Pressed though I am to giVe color to our bond I look not to onyx nor ash but that Which pulses Within our Very Veins: that so blinding jade, hard as the stone for Which it is so named,

interesting that this sort of starts an outline towards giving the subject an actual identity?

like specifically saying “pulses within our very veins: that so blinding jade” OBVIOUSLY says that it’s another jade in the cloister that this is about?

usually i’d like to say that writers usually don’t do this without reason but despite the praises i constantly speak alone in my room about the endless array of implications in every other thing that comes out of lanque’s mouth i also know v is a fucking hack and a got damn terrible writer

some gremlin at 3am whispered in my ear in the middle of the night saying this is about a past relationship with bronya and i did have some points but bronya is too good so i’m going to tell that gremlin to go fuck himself

tWisted and pulled hammered and forged shaped, unnaturally as if a chain.

there were so many things they went through to try and get this to work, but it kind of just came up as an obviously fucked up mess. likely considering that it would’ve ended/ran its course a lot better if they didn’t even try getting together. 

i wish every stanza was this simple

A stricture Within scriptures; a certain so meaningful tincture.

calling back to that whole “easily answered with a question, or a bite, or a kiss, or a single word spoken honestly” and those whole religious undertones that i keep pushing this solidifies that i’m not fucking crazy

GOD there’s so much in this little piece the very fact that his object of affection’s voice and words alone leave him feeling that he literally has no room to speak. the stricture is like a noose around his neck if he talks out of turn, hence the frustration that he knows something his wrong but he simply isn’t allowed to say something.

until he gets his hand on that ‘meaningful tincture’. alcohol gives him the courage to speak up and defy that gospel, alluding to his dependence on drugs and why they’re so important to him! it’s a lifestyle he wouldn’t give up because he’d hate to be silenced again!

Resent You though I must, EnVy You though I may,

emphasizing that shit i was talking about earlier with could vs. should, lanque feels like the right thing to do is look back at this in scorn. he should despise this person he idolized so much and envy how easy it was for them to lock him in such a vulnerable position for so long yet here he is..... thinking about them again

NoW leagues and leagues stretch betWeen us And I make peace With not but What I say.

these lines are pretty transparent. this was never resolved, there was never a proper conclusion to this relationship. they kind of just drifted apart, but lanque can take solace in the truth and completion of this poem. he makes peace with the fact that he acknowledges all of the problems in the relationship, and chooses to make them a part of him rather than something to just scowl and scoff at

You are only that Which is Within me, my blood and my mind and that is at once nothing, and the most elementary definition of eVerything.

i’m tired man i wrote like what 5 google drive pages about it i feel like i’d be repeating myself since this is his equivalent of wrapping it up and tying it in a lil bow

just because it happened and ultimately doesn’t matter doesn’t mean he didn’t internalize it?

this sort of ended up defining the person he became since it just shook him that badly man

do i need to go into more depth than that i just want some fucking chicken

[xradinoxinterloperx]

Hazbin Hotel Oc: Vic

Character Information

Character: Vic

Tales:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mndxiHvwBfS7xiC8cdOmGPBKsqkWh71rZQVs5IMAvII/edit

Real Name:  Victor Herrera

Nicknames: Cobra, Snake, Victor, Vic, Scales / Escamas, Tough Guy (Vaggie), Mi'hijo (Zaza)

Nationality: Colombian

Date of Death: End of 1992

Cause of Death:  Bleeding after a shootout

Age: +30

Personality:  Of tough appearance and look, but not openly hostile with people . Continually mix Spanish words in sentences. Direct, serious and straight to the point when it comes to business. In more informal environments, he has a more relaxed, friendly and joking attitude. He does not usually get angry easily unless a friend or he is directly threatened and has the same attitude before resorting to violence. Although if he must resort to it, he will do so without hesitation and with the crudeness that he believes is necessary. He does not show fear of demons of greater hierarchy but  treats them with respect and will avoid getting into battles or making enemies that are at risk of not being able to deal with, preferring diplomacy. He is an honest and simple person who does not usually hide intentions behind his words. With his friends and loved ones he can be very protective and tolerant, regardless what they do or are.

Likes:  Latin Culture, Latin Music, Disco Music and Synth from the 80s, 90s, Latin Dances: Cumbia, Salsa, Samba, etc. Betting, Gambling, Games, Alcoholic beverages.

Dislike:  Vinnie (Vermin Mafia), his former self and his past, politics.

Biological Information

Species: Human (formally), Black Cobra Demon

Physical Description:  Similar to Sir Pentious in its snake form but with a cobra crest that always stands tall. Maintaining dark colors without eyes or light spots, and somewhat lower / shorter than Pentious. Serious face with greenish yellow eyes, scar crossing left eye. He wears a long open jacket and dark gloves. He carries  a large knife similar to a Machete .

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Skills:

Very agile and elastic, resistant

Expert in hand-to-hand combat

Expert in weapons of almost all types of weapons

Knowledge Drugs and narcotics

Barista

Dancer (with the rhythm that a serpentine body may have)

Poisonous Bite

Crawling as a snake, constriction with his body.

Excellent swimmer.

Professional Status

Occupation:

Sicario Soldier of a Narco cartel (formally in life) 

Assassin of the "Hell Freaks" (formally)

Patreon at  the bar "Los Condenados"

Weapons and Exotic Products Smuggler

  Relationships

Family: In life:  unknown Mother and brothers, unknown younger sister

In Hell: Zaza (Adoptive Mother)

Friends: 

Francis (partner / friend / victim), Husk, Maria (co-worker / friend) Ohio, Zaza.

 Others: 

Madelaine (friend, formally her client and lover)

Vaggie (Friend / Romantic Interest), Vinnie (client / enemy)

Background

Mainly known in certain circles for being a smuggler in hell, Vic is a reserved man, but true to his word in business and recognized for risking his neck to get things that others cannot. Previously, he was a hitman in a band of rather ruthless murderers, so the ones that remember him from those days use to have some fear or resentment of him. Those who know him as a friend, or a drinker / Sponsor of the Latino bar “Los Condenados” may have a very different look from him, being friendly, funny and protective of his buddies.

Early Life and more background: 

He grew up in poverty and was natural to lean to a path of crime and drugs from an early age, joining a drug cartel in life. He doesn't seem to have ended a good relationship with his family because of this. His death seems to have led to a very violent act, while trying to save someone. Only Zaza and Francis seem to know what it was like in life. And in hell, before meeting Zaza he was a very different person.

   Relationship with the Characters:

Alastor

Vic knows about his reputation well, so he knows that he is not someone to directly mess with. Although he would not be intimidated by him or  coerced to do his bidings. His personality seems exaggerated and too narcissistic. Before the hotel, he only saw it rarely, in companny of Husk.

Angel Dust

Knowing his family on business, Angel's figure and personality seem contrasting. He knows his reputation as a porn actor and drag, but coming from where he comes from, he seems to be someone with much more personality and willpower than one would think to have followed that different way of life. He prefers to keep his distance and ignore his jokes or sexual advances. But if they talked normally, they would probably enjoy some of their humor and personality as long as their attitudes are no reason to bother Vaggie.

Charlie

The lovely princess of hell may look like someone too idealistic, but he appreciates her gentle heart. No doubt, just hearing about her from Vaggie, he already likes her. Her overflowing energy may seem even childish, but Charlie seems like a reasonable and friendly person, with whom he can appreciate things without having to be on guard. Deep down, she supports her relationship with Vaggie and thinks she is a better option than him in every way.

Francis (OC)

Francis and Vic are usually business partners. While Vic is more a provider of merchandise and services, Francis is more a mediator and deal maker, full of contacts but worthless alone. Francis met Vic alive and they seemed to have a similar relationship back then. Knowing each other for so long makes one and  other understand each other, and although they may sometimes be on opposite sides for business, they try not to confront each other and meet at the end of the day at the bar as friends.

Husk

Drinking and gambling companions, he likes the badly spoken cat very much. Although they do not have much of a relationship  outside the games and cards, the bitter personality of Husk amuses Vic,  and both are good drinkers. Like Alastor, he usually calls him with many nicknames, such as "Husky" or instead of "Husker" "Oscar" making fun of how his name sounds for someone of Spanish language. The Bully seems to return sympathy, even if it is also insulting him in between  the words and has  Vic as a drinker almost at his level. And at least a worthy rival in the cards. Husk was about to beat Vic, Francis and another group of friends  in the poker game when Alastor kidnapped him by transporting him to the Hotel.

Madelaine(OC of Jlaiyon)

Vic was Madelaine's client and lover, frequenting the nightclub where she worked and sometimes taking her to the bar “ Los Condenados” with his friends. They had a semi-stable informal relationship for a while, where from the beginning Vic assumed that she only wanted him for his money. Having a good time with a girl with a crazy but sweet attitude, he doesn't care too much about being left with empty and ragged pockets. Like most demons, Madelaine cared little about the dirty works Vic did, so after a particularly hard day of work, and even smelling of victims' blood she would receive it, smelling of sex and cupcakes, to help relax with her body, voice and drugs. Both appreciated the other not to be smokers and to be great dancers (although Vic has no feets). Vic was especially in love with her singing and even accompanied her to a couple of auditions. Zaza remembers Madelaine with more misgivings, because Vic had spent entire days just drugging and just laying down with her, risking falling into her old vices and a more violent and mindless personality. That and that if any of her whims were not fulfilled or after any small discussion, the little one could end up poisoning him and his acquaintances. Dispite  of all this, the relationship with Vic did not end badly, seeing her little but even considering her a “friend”, that being said, he did not re-hire her services or eat her cupcakes, only watching her shows very occasionally.

Maria (OC)

Maria is the last member to join the bar, with her focused and calm personality, in addition to her physical strength and ability, it immediately seemed a good idea to put her in charge of the Bar Security. She and Vic may not be as intimate   friends with each other as they are with Zaza, but they respect  and appreciate each other as friends and fighters. More than once  they trained together. Vic appreciates that she is not only size and muscle, she seems to be a reserved, witty and intelligent woman, so he tries to behave and make others behave with her.

 Ohio (OC derived from the interpretation of a client of Helluva Boss) 

Derral, nicknamed "Ohio" by everyone at the bar, is a truck driver and playmate and drink buddy of Vic. Sometimes knowingly or not, he ends up helping to transport some of the products that Vic trades. Vic see him  like a crazy, silly, loud redneck, but he also knows how to have fun with him, so he has learned to appreciate hum. For all the uneducated and ill-spoken that Ohio is, he appreciates that he seems to be loyal to his friends, and respects the atmosphere and the owners of the bar "Los Condenados" without creating problems very often. More than once he has had to put it in place when he has his tantrums.

Vaggie

Vaggie is Vic's main romantic interest. He knew her casually for her hotel project. Although when they met face to face at first she rejects him when he tries to approach, he immediately thought it was someone worth defending and knowing about. Her personality, appearance and ability, everything seemed to get his attention right away. Perhaps deep inside, Vaggie's initial hostility and the need to be defensive reminds him of himself a little bit. Although Vaggie has not told him about her past, he would also bet that they have similar issues as he feels their past lives and origins  can relate, more so with both of them  being Latinos. Beyond that, Vaggie is already different from other demons because of the cause that is involved. Although Vic wonders how much Vaggie believes in her cause for herself and not for following Charlie's dreams. In any case, she seems admirable and appreciates the friendship and trust that she gradually provides. While his feelings for her grow even he always prioritizes wanting to see her happy, he doesn't feel up to her next to Charlie's love.

Vinnie Vermin (OC)

Vincent is the nephew of the Godfather of the Mafia Vermin, Vic's client. Although Vinnie appreciates his skill and the one deal negotiated with Victor through Francis, the insane and aggressive attitude of the young man who tries to demonstrate authority, make Vic treats it with special mistrust, seeing that a false step can get him into trouble.

 Zaza (OC)

Zaza is the closest person to Vic in hell and his confidant. They have complete trust in each other, and even a dynamic almost of mother and son, although Vic does not treat her openly as such. As the owner of the bar “Los Condenados”, Vic acts as Sponsor of the bar, financing, frequenting and helping as much as possible. Since he is usually always on the move for his work, he does not have his own home, but he has a room where he rests in  Zaza’s bar as the closest thing. He Consider the bar and its  people his family in hell. Vic lived his years in hell before Zaza arrived, but knowing her seems to have saved him somehow and without her he would possibly feel lost. Zaza knows all the secrets of Vic, and can usually read  what he feels  perfectly. In the same way Vic knows almost everything about her.

[sisterofiris]

Reflecting on humanity in the Ancient Near East

Philosophy is a well-known field of study. What is less well-known, however, is the fact that the Ancient Greeks didn’t invent it. Okay, modern methodology does effectively come from them - but reflecting on ourselves, and on the world around us, can be traced back to the literary epics and prayers of the Ancient Near East (Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the Levant), 1500 years before Classical Greece. Unfortunately, unlike Plato and Aristotle, these texts are not part of our popular cultural background. As a result, many people assume pre-Greek thought was crude and unsophisticated. Not so!

In other words: move along, Kant, it’s time to learn about Kantuzili.

In this post, I’ll focus on one topic in particular: Ancient Near Eastern reflections on humanity. The Oxford Dictionary defines “humanity” as both “the state of being human” and “the quality of being humane”. The question we’ll be exploring is thus: what makes us human/humane, and why?

Being human

Our first interpretation of humanity comes from The Death of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian poem written as long ago as 2100 BC:

You must have been told that the defilement of being human would bring you this. You must have been told that the cutting of your umbilical cord would bring you this. The dark day of humanity has reached you. The lonely place of humanity has reached you. The wave that cannot be withstood has reached you. The battle that cannot be escaped has reached you. The skirmish that cannot be equal has reached you. The fight from which you cannot escape has reached you.** (The Death of Gilgamesh E 17-24)

In this text, the meaning of humanity is clear: inevitably, we all die. This puts us in opposition to the Gods, whose existence is eternal (even when they do “die”, like Innana in her descent to the Underworld, they don’t perish forever). Being human, then, is having a set amount of time on Earth.

Another Sumerian text, Utu the Hero (c. 1800 BC), expands on this idea:

The life of a human is the blink of an eye. If a human lived forever and always, a bitter force, a painful thing could happen, but it would not be painful for the human. Life is tied to long death, but life is not equal to death. A god can count the days of life, but he cannot count the days of death. (Utu the Hero 46-51)

Here, due to the association between life and death, we have an explanation for human suffering. Note that it’s also possible for bad things to happen to eternal beings; however, eternal life compensates for any harm, so they don’t suffer. On the other hand, since humans have a limited lifespan, we are bound to suffer.

It’s worth mentioning that this worldview is shared by the Ancient Greeks, especially during the Archaic Era. The Homeric epics consistently depict the Gods as being able to experience pain (by being wounded, for example), but always in a fleeting manner. To quote the Iliad:

Such is the fate that the Gods spun for wretched mortals, to live grieving, while they themselves are without care. (Iliad 24.525-526)

The passage from Utu the Hero was later adapted by the Hittite prince Kantuzili (c. 1400 BC), whose choice of words gives it a more intimate spin:

For me life is tied to death. For me death is tied to life. A child of humanity does not live forever. The days of his life are counted. If a child of humanity could live forever, even if human ills and sickness arose, they would not be a grievance to him. (Prayer of Kantuzili 20’-23’)

Kantuzili suffered from some kind of chronic illness, and he spends most of his prayer begging his personal God to heal him. Instead of simply musing on the state of being human, he uses it as an argument: if his life was endless, his chronic illness wouldn’t matter, but since he is human, he should be healed.

Of course, no discussion about Ancient Near Eastern concepts of humanity would be complete without the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh. The epic revolves around two main themes: the love between Gilgamesh and Enkidu, and Gilgamesh’s subsequent quest for immortality. Again, this ties into the definition of being human, as the Sippar tablet (c. 1800 BC) shows:

My friend whom I loved so much, who went with me through every hardship, Enkidu whom I loved so much, who went with me through every hardship, he went to the fate of humanity. (Sippar tablet ii 0’-4’)

Like previous texts, the epic’s lesson is that death is inevitable for humans, but it also brings up a new point: just like death is tied to life, suffering is tied to love. What prompts Gilgamesh’s desire to escape his lot isn’t pride, but the loss of his beloved. In short, we’re human because we die, because we die we suffer, and we suffer because we love.

Being humane

Beyond the meaning of humanity, the people of the Ancient Near East also asked themselves what it means to be a good human. Hittite texts are particularly talkative on this topic. In his testament, the founder of the Hittite kingdom, Ḫattušili I (c. 1600 BC), states that he is disowning his son because

He did not cry, he did not have mercy… He is cold and merciless. (Testament of Ḫattušili 6-7)

To the Hittites, being a good human - generally a good king, though the concept also seems to apply to common people - meant being merciful. The Hittite word for mercy, genzu-, overlaps with the concepts of love and benevolence. Etymologically it derives from genu-, “knee” or “lap”; thus what makes someone humane is their ability to (figuratively) take someone onto their lap.

The Telepinu Proclamation (c. 1500 BC) is particularly concerned with why we should be humane. When Telepinu came to power, most of his predecessors for the last hundred years had murdered each other to get the throne, but Telepinu insists on a different approach:

Do not kill anyone from the royal family. That is not good. Furthermore, whoever becomes king and seeks to harm a brother or sister, you are his council. Tell him clearly: ‘Read this story of bloodshed from the tablet. Once, bloodshed was common in Ḫattuša, and the Gods placed it on the royal family for you.’ (Telepinu Proclamation 29)

According to Telepinu, the Gods condemn bloodshed, whereas they reward harmony with prosperity. Being merciful, then - he also insists that his family’s murderers “harmed me, but I will not harm them” (idem, 23) - is good, because it restores the good order of things. The parallel between Telepinu’s throne name and the God Telepinu, who restores peace and harmony to a broken world in myth, is not a coincidence.

But what happens when our own humanity is not humane? This question is at the heart of Muršili II’s prayers (c. 1300 BC). To judge by his own account, Muršili is a good human, concerned with showing kindness and mercy; but he is confronted with the fact that the Gods have allotted suffering to him anyway:

I only punished her in this one way, that I banished her from the palace and discharged her from the office of priestess for the Gods. This was my only punishment for her. Gods, put this case down in front of you and investigate it. Has her life become bad now? Because she is alive, she sees the Sungod of Heaven with her eyes. She is still eating the bread of life. My punishment is the death of my wife. Has that become better? Because she killed her, throughout the days of my life my soul goes down into the dark earth. Did she spare me? She bereaved me. Gods, don’t you recognise whose is the punishment? (Prayer about the Misdeeds of the Tawananna A ii 17’-26’ and iii 1-4)

Muršili is pitting one side of humanity against the other: he questions the state of being human, suffering and death, because of the quality of being humane, mercy. If Muršili showed mercy, why would he be punished anyway? As far as I’m aware, this is the first instance we have in Hittite literature, and one of the first in Ancient Near Eastern texts overall, of someone doubting the Gods’ justice. Kantuzili, in all his pain, only ever asked: “What did I do to my God?” Muršili, however, protests: “Gods, what is this that you have done?”

This questioning is the result of a long history of reflections on what we are and why we are, and it doesn’t end with Muršili. Much of Greek philosophy deals with the same issues as Ancient Near Eastern texts, and it’s likely there was some influence (whether direct or indirect). But even without taking later Greek ideas into account, it’s clear that complex self-reflection was already well developed in the Ancient Near East.

As long as we’ve been human, we’ve wondered what that means.

**All translations are my own.

[charlotteroseessex-blog]

Is banter dead?

Banter. It’s an everyday occurrence for most of us. A chance to let whoever we are with know how hilarious we actually are. Some may say it’s an admirable trait to be able to make jokes about touchy subjects, others might describe it as a necessity for a successful relationship, ‘cos after all, no one likes a stiff upper lipper with no bants.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 10 years, banter is ‘in’. I’ve struggled to provide an intellectual answer with what banter actually is, as I don’t think mine covers it entirely, so I’ll refer to the ever reliable Urban Dictionary as a source to back me up.

So as suggested by the definition provided by the UD, banter is something you either have or you don’t. Despite banter being a new construct created by the specific use of language, it’s often found that each culture and environment depicts its own rules and regulations surrounding how and when the ‘playful’ jokes should be used. Banter or not, the reaction of the audience deters the success of your comment. It may have been funny yes, and it may have received some laughs, but there’s always that one stern and politically correct individual who thinks they’re just too good and suggests that your banter insinuated more than just comedy, it was an insult in disguise. These people might otherwise be described to have ‘dead banter’.

Banter, a couples thing.

With the population of active online users continually growing, the content available has now assuredly accommodated for all types of humour, political opinion and other unique preferences personal to us. Banter, on the other hand, is supposed to be a universal concept which is recognised by all in certain forms of situations whereby a comment is made from something that wouldn't originally be found as funny. Remarks involving banter also, more often than not, requires one or more people to display a back and forth exchange of witty comments at the expense of one another.  Having said this, the process to embark on a banterful session of quick wit and intelligence, requires the understanding of metalanguage and thick skin of the opposing person and occurs when the response of the receiver provides a platform for banter - otherwise it’s just you being mean.

People taking banter the wrong way and people being offended with almost everything could easily be mistaken for one another, as people these days just don’t take the time or consideration to think of the bigger picture. Was this actually a hurtful comment targeting you? Or was this an innocent remark projected onto public platforms for educative or entertainment purposes? You see, it all comes down to the individual and whether or not they choose to deny the obvious innocence for sly digs. Controversial topics, still present in the media, consume huge attention for the potential slip ups and mishaps from their actions by people choosing to interpret their innocence or mistakes as deliberately harmful and offensive. Racism and sexism are just a few examples of negative impoliteness still circulating in the media today.

Banter (or not) in Parliament.

Take Amber Rudd for example. A Tory MP who recently stole the limelight with her clumsy comments regarding the race of colleague, Diane Abbott, of whom she initially attempted to encourage support of. In her live BBC Radio 2 interview, Rudd was asked about the abuse that female colleagues received and responded by outlining the overall struggles of being a woman in such a high profile job. She stated that "it's worst of all if you're a coloured woman. I know that Diane Abbott gets a huge amount of abuse." Now reading this on the surface, Rudd seems to provide a personal account for her experiences and answers by defining that the worst struggles are endured by her black colleagues. The answer seems to be pretty innocent right? By innocent I mean there’s no spite; no racist remarks or metadiscourse implying a hidden agenda which would make a mockery of anyone. But the outdated use of the term ‘coloured’, instead of black, caused outrage and disgust and Rudd was publicly shamed for this by none other than Diane Abbott herself. From an outsider, it seems that Rudd was trying to depict nothing but admiration for a black woman being so successful in her career, but through her clumsily chosen vocabulary, the overall message was burdened by the perceived racism and rudeness of her remark by Diane. This example suggests that no matter what your intentions are with a comment, whether you’re an MP, local van driver, whatever, the interpretation once delivered is only successful once in the hands of the beholder.

Humour or Hugely Offensive? 

From badly executed compliments to genuine acts of negative impoliteness, the creation of banter takes on much to be desired. It derives from a language progression opportunistic in most daily scenarios in order to produce a funny or light hearted joke at someone else’s expense. From this progression, banter has slowly begun to blur the line between humour and being just darn’ right rude. From the sensitivity provoked from this matter, many people on the receiving end of banter decide to use the platform given by, sometimes, controversial comments to capitalise on innocent comments and scrutinise the ‘banterful one’ to be just a rude person masking their offensiveness with humour. We often hear comments responding to badly delivered banter like, ‘it was supposed to be funny’ or ‘it was just banter’. 

So does this mean that banter is dead? Well I think to uncover that, we will need to enter the realms of social media. The digital world that encourages self-expression, growth and the freedom of speech. Well, 2 out of 3 might be true but when was the last time you felt free to publicly post something to all of your followers that had been eating away at your brain? The freedom of speech aspect on all social media platforms, more often than not, always receives unwanted attention from people who A) simply can’t take a joke or B) decide to take offence at anything other individuals may say, regardless if it affects them or not. Online banter is hard to articulate. Not only are you dependent on the person, or people, receiving the message in the correct manner, but your choice of delivery is just as vital in successfully creating the intentional humour. It’s a dangerous time to be living in to say the least.

Banter: 1 of your 5 a day.

So why can’t people just take a joke these days? Well I think the answer is embedded in our skin, we are simply all just peaches. Easily bruised and fruitfully delicate in how we are treated. The progression in banterful chats point suggestively towards the rise in controversy prevalent in the media. It could be assumed that since the rise in banter, people have become thin skinned, more sensitive in what others say and are actively searching for opportunities so they can take offence and play the victim. In this sense, one may conclude that banter is only successful if you know the person well enough to pick on them, or the person knows you well enough to understand your humour to be ‘just banter’ rather than a public display of socially accepted bullying. The importance of metalanguage contexts, more specifically the relationships between the people demonstrating banter, is crucial in determining the flow of slurs. When observing banter, you are generally able to notice the difference between positive and negative impoliteness:

Negative Impoliteness is obvious when the conversational tone develops a growing level of aggression, often including insults, criticism or preloaded words to achieve nasty and vicious blows to the opponent. It’s more like a verbal knockout in the ring of banter.

Positive Impoliteness infers more of a demonstration of mutual understanding in a playful tone and monitors the impact on the opponent so to avoid offence if the banter starts to get too personal.

In adjunct to this, does banter mean that social media has taken away our rights to express a freedom of speech? Putting controversial comments out in the public is dangerous enough without the concept of then having that, otherwise innocent, remark reported and pursued by an irrelevant external individual choosing to take offence to something that wasn’t targeted at them. See. We are all peaches, easily bruised and easily offended - but all with just no banter.

Choosing funny over friendship - is banter ever okay?

Let me just return to the concept of being online again. Social media sells itself to be a platform for everyone to create and follow content suitable for them and document images and opinions desirable to be shared with their online communities. Now let's introduce the element of social media accepting freedom of speech, meaning that we can comment and share whatever videos, photos and statuses we so wish...

…Okay, now imagine you’re scrolling through Instagram of an evening and discover that your best friend has posted a somewhat questionable selfie. I mean good for her, self love and all that because you’re down for a bit of positivity, but really? I mean she could’ve at least wiped last nights makeup off from around her eyes and picked up those dirty pants off the floor before taking the photo. Didn’t she see them lying there in full view, like they’re right there, fully featuring main stage in the background? So, as the supportive best friend that you are, you have two ways to approach demonstrating your online appreciation, as reluctant as you may feel about doing it:

Comment option 1: ‘Selfie Queen *carefully selected choice of emojis to imply admiration further*’ 

This way you get to support your friend in all of her choices, genuine or not, whilst also paying close attention to the fact that you aren’t complimenting her in the photo in question - it’s rather a nod to the fact she always posts selfies.

Comment option 2: ‘Great knicker choice babe. I personally find those ones cover your bum just the right amount.’

Funny. Banterful. Witty. All the things people would describe you in life, but also potentially a comment that might sabotage the friendship if she was to decide you were being rude. Key word here - decide. The power, as Paddy McGuinness famously says, is in her hands. Despite how much you actually hate this selfie and the fact that option 2 (if remarked in person) would be just banter, you simply can’t imagine being fake and saying how amazing she looks, would you truthfully decide to comment this - visible to all of her followers - over option 1 that supports and boosts her confidence? I think not. We simply are all too nice for our own goods.

Banter vs. Your Freedom of Speech.

The freedom of speech prevalent on social media platforms still proceeds to hold restrictive ties over each and every one of us. The expectations attached to certain uploads by friends and family demand support whether you like it or not. It’s almost like an unwritten rule of being online. We all like and comment on posts by our strong ties even if they are a slightly distorted version of how we actually feel. This ability to artificially construct our online personas have enabled us to portray the most admirable versions of ourselves who appear supportive and in admiration of our friends, however far this may be from the truth. To introduce banter online would probably be like pressing the self destruct button on ourselves, painful with no coming back from. 

Who’s to say the banter I find funny is the same as the next person? And who’s to say my level of tolerance in the banter I endure is as high as the next persons? Everyone is different meaning that no two people share the same sense of humour. So, to post a comment fuelled with banter and for you to expect the same satisfied reaction you felt when you wrote it, would be to deprive someone else of their freedom of speech if they wanted to reply by expressing their dissatisfaction of your comment. And yet the ability to post an opinion or comment (with or without banter) is still a freedom of speech and is regarded equally as valid as every replier, agreeing with you or otherwise.  

So, is banter dead?

Banter is slowly morphing into a forbidden feature on social media. The rise in prevention methods from allowing users to access or view your account has made the sensitivity of users reach an all time high. People are now more aware of the posts they share and the comments they make in order to maintain their following and avoid upsetting them with banter gone wrong. Online banter can provoke a strengthening of relationships if the users are close friends and aware of each others metalanguage so to avoid miscommunication and hatred. However the dangers of being banterful online may also conjure some negative attention from those unwilling to accept any explanation for your comment, other than the assumed offense.

So unless you know your audience, I advise you to put a lid on that canon of quick wit and wisecrack or else you might receive some unwanted attention from people with a banter deficiency. 

[hollowedrpg]

CONGRATULATIONS, ELLE! — You’ve been accepted for the role of Lily Potter. When I wrote Lily’s bio, I was truly terrified people respond well to the way she’s portrayed in this roleplay (a widow, a struggling mother stuck in the midst of a war) but you truly captured who she is. She’s kind but not soft, stubborn but not unwilling to change. The war has thrown her curveball after curveball, and she hasn’t been able to catch them all, and you beautifully conveyed how it has affected her. I’m so excited to see where you take her character. 

Thank you so much for applying. Please create your account and send in the link, track the right tags, and follow everyone on the follow list. Welcome to Hollowed Souls!

ooc.

name: elle

age: 27

preferred pronouns: she/her

timezone: gmt

activity: 6/10. i do keep a full-time job and am currently studying a course in data privacy as well hence the 6/10 on activity. however, even if i have a few must’s in life i would keep it as a priority to keep updated on the group and what was going on the dash. for me, it’s important to keep up and post a reply at least every 3rd day.

are you applying for more than one character?: (if so, list your preference in order) not this time. i think.

how do you feel about your character dying?: (in a roleplay centered on war, death is always a possibility. as an admin, it’s best to know ahead of time which players are comfortable with playing it out.)  if it furthers the plot i’m all for it.

anything else?: (questions, concerns, etc.) only that this is a very beautiful and well-made group. i love the innovative thinking!

ic details.

full name: lily magdalene evans potter

few know that lily didn’t let go of her maiden name, that she only added potter at the end. most only assumed, automatically calling her lily potter and barely noting that if she signed something it’d be in lily evans potter. it was a small homage to her muggle heritage, a memory she didn’t want to eradicate and forget. a tiny act of defiance and a finger towards a society that assumes that the woman takes the man’s surname upon marriage.

date of birth: 30 Jan. 1958 ( aquarius )

former hogwarts house: gryffindor

sexuality: bisexual

gender/pronouns: cis-female, she/her

face claim change: no way josé. i’m keeping laura harrier, should i get chosen.

more.

how do you interpret this character’s personality? how will you play them? include two weaknesses & two strengths.

PERSONALITY. kind but honest, it shows itself in her ability to dare questioning people for their belief, but only after she has listened to their concerns. & when she questions its with softness in her voice and wide eyes filled with a will to understand BUT only insofar that there is no offensive words or a string of slurs –– then she bites back, hard. straightforward and honest, lies has always been something lily finds difficult unless they are important, necessary even, and even if she is kind she won’t be able to lie for someone’s feelings not to be hurt. hand in hand with this goes the fact that she cannot stand when people lies to her. she needs the truth, otherwise she doesn’t know if she can trust or what she should believe. this is also where lily can be judgmental. especially when she was younger and didn’t understand why people lied, or rather –– didn’t want to understand why people lied. with age came understanding, however, but only for whitelies. lies with meaning. lily was always smart, quick-witted, and at hogwarts, people believed her top grades came from a gift and whereas lily is intelligent her grades came from hard work. many hours spent in the library with her hair in a messy bun and mascara only put on one pair of eyelashes rather than both.

( + ) kind, honest, hard-working, loyal, brave, quick-witted, resourceful     ( - ) judgmental, stubborn, detached, rigid, defiant

how has the war affected this character, emotionally and otherwise?

before. the war was always there, staring into her eyes & waiting to snap its fangs around her neck. being muggleborn, lily never had the luxury to ignore the divide in society and the cruelty it brought simply because she was the very thing the other side hated. back then, she tried to reason ( she did up until that day )  and understand where their hatred for her & her kind came from but once slurs left their lips she would become fire, scorching earth with her tongue. to be hated simply for what you were born causes anger within, even if lily didn’t let it consume her the flames licked her veins always present, never far. this is where the anger came from when james hadn’t told her of the order. even if the reason was evident ( protection ) she was hardly someone to sit idly by. lily wanted to be part of something, a resistance, and the fact that he had lied ( kept something from her ) hurt. as the war carried on, lily kept her hope that some on voldemort’s side could be reasoned with even if her friend’s would protest. she kept that hope up until it all changes.

after. every night when she goes to bed lily sees him. those eyes that could see through the act of bravery she held up. the last moments she had with him play on repeat in her mind keeping her up at night. in a sense james had been what kept her her even in the midst of war, and with him g o n e she has become more detached from the people around her. not even marlene is here to keep her steady now, to drag her back when her mind spins away or when her edges become too sharp. less smiles are seen on lily’s features and the hair that used to be flowing down her shoulders is most often tied up in a bun. these days she, instead of heated discussions, listens in on the order meetings. suddenly the girl who always had something to say has become quiet. it’s not that she doesn’t have anything to say but she doesn’t have the strength, doesn’t see the point. now she needs to put her son first, and it wouldn’t do him good if she snapped at people sneering at her or putting herself in danger. but underneath the calm surface there is something brewing, a red hot anger that never truly left.

where does this character currently stand? with those who wish to hide in godric’s hollow until the war ends, with those who wish to rebuild the order and continue fighting the war, or on neither side? why?

lily stands on neither side, simply because she currently cannot muster up the strength to continue fighting whole-heartedly nor can she let herself hide in godric’s hollow until the war is over. she has never been a by-stander, even if she is acting like one as she reels from the loss of her husband & marlene, and she knows she can’t be one because she needs to fight for her son & those she’s lost. thus, with harry in her arms she will attend order meetings and listen in, but she won’t speak up ( not yet ). by instinct she does what she believes is best for harry, as any mother would do, and currently it is to remain calm, even if the fire within her shouts for a different solution. there is an anger growing within her, waiting to get out, and for each day the fires roar more loudly –– soon she won’t be able to contain them.

extra.

here you can list or add any extras you created to get a sense of this character. that can include graphics, writing samples, mock blogs, etc. apps that have extras won’t have an advantage over apps that don’t, although it can help me further understand your grasp of the character.

style.

hogwarts. dr martens peeked out under her robes and on days where the uniform was not required she’d be seen in highwaisted denims shorts, fishnet tights and a band t-shirt. sometimes she’d wear highwaisted jeans and a t-shirt. a leather jacket thrown over her shoulders. a camera in her shoulder bag always ready to be taken out and capture a moment. she was never seen without that camera.

now. highwaisted jeans with wide legs.  still dr martens on her feet. white or black t-shirt and a leather jacket. sometimes one of james’ old shirts thrown over her shoulders and tied at the waist. never seen without the golden ring with a ruby stone in it that she was given by marlene on their graduation. it hangs from a golden chain around her neck. on her wedding finger she still wears the wedding bands. not even taking it off when she showers.

tag.

here.

what’s in a name?

( L i l y |flower ) ; the name derives from a flower, which is a symbol for purity. lilies are also linked to the greek goddess hera. lily’s parents named both their daughters after flowers – indicating their view of the purity in them both.

( M a g d a l e n e | cleaned of evil spirits ) ; a pastor, her father, wished to give his daughter a godly name. thus, Magdalene, sprung to his mind. she was to be cleaned of evil spirits, the sun in his eyes.

( E v a n s | young warrior / god is gracious & merciful) ; welsh or gnglish surname deriving from the name evan meaning “young warrior”; it can also mean “god is gracious and merciful” if one follows the interpretation of evans being a form of the name John.

How is Lily coping with being a new mother in the midst of a war?

she’s not. the truth is there in the details, how she gives harry to anyone ( she trusts ) to hold him if they so much as offers and how she sometimes doesn’t hear his cries in the night until they have reached a higher pitch. it’s not as much that she is neglectful as she is tired. lily would never intentionally neglect her son but sometimes when she looks at him she sees how much like him harry is, that she needs to look away because the wound from the loss is still too raw. on the other hand, there is nothing lily wouldn’t do for harry. he is the reason why she leaves her bed in the morning and he is the reason why they are here. there is nothing she wouldn’t do for him, even if she currently needs time to settle into their new circumstances.