#while also having an unforunate existence

[lyricalchrysanthemum]

I believe in friends and laughter and the wonders love can do~

[lockedtombbrainworms]

Patriarchy and the Nine Houses

I've been mulling this one over in my brain on long drives recently, and as I'm currently at home resting up after an insanely busy few days and also some sort of illness flareup, I want to put some of what I've come up with into writing. These are coming from the perspective of a somewhat masculine-presenting queer trans woman with some degree of familiarity with anarcha-feminism, a lot more familiarity with anarchism in general, but not really much academic feminist background. I'm also white, which may well impact what I'm taking away from this here.

Something else that might influence what I've written here are the frankly insane doses of decongestants I'm currently on, but here goes.

So firstly, I don't think 'Patriarchy' as common feminist discourse uses the term exists within the Houses.

In terms of "Evidence Against", for one, there is seemingly no gendered violence in the Nine Houses - I've seen more than one post about how at no point does Gideon Nav feel like she's in any sort of danger of sexual assault or anything like that from the men she interacts with - she's quite happy to walk into Silas and Colum's room, and at no point does the narrative mention her being concerned about sexual violence while she, a teenage butch lesbian, is trapped in a room with an older man whose intentions towards her are unknown. She gets worried, sure, but mostly about swords or necromancy, not sexual assault. Our Griddle may be a bit sheltered, sure, but she's read a lot of adult-oriented comics, which in my experience tend to be fairly lurid about any and every fucked up thing that happens in the society that produced them, and none of those, nor anything she's been told by Aiglamene or witnessed on the Ninth, seem to have instilled any fear of patriarchal sexual violence in her.

The houses also don't seem to have a concept of homophobia or particularly rigid gender roles - at absolutely no point does anyone take issue with Gideon's sexuality and gender presentation, despite various other characters being absolute shits to her in various other ways throughout the book - Crux, Naberius, Silas, the Reverend Parents - at no point is it even hinted at that any of them were homophobic or shitty about gender-non-conformity. I don't really think you can get rid of any of those things entirely without also at least taking a big chunk out of patriarchy, if not eliminating it - they're all too tightly linked together.

I honestly don't think you can describe, for instance, Palamedes or Silas or Naberius as benefitting from "male privilege" in the context of the books without getting into some weird gender-essentialist bollocks about how being male Just Does That For You, at which point you may well be sliding into terf shit and I don't really think we have much of a common ground to discuss this from. The fandom's treatment of gender (and race, while we're at it) is another matter, but in the context of the books, I genuinely don't see "male privilege" or "patriarchy" existing within the wider society of the Nine Houses. You can look at the necro/cav dynamic as a sort of metaphor for gender, and I do consider them through that lense in some cases, but it's not a 1:1 map for gender and I don't think it's trying to be.

You could argue there's some weird patriarchal ideas of manhood in Mortus' treatment of Ortus - the guy very clearly abused his son to try to "toughen him up" and make him into a warrior when Ortus wanted nothing more than to write poetry, but while that's arguably written with a patriarchal bent to it from a doylist perspective, at no point does anyone actually tell Ortus he's less of a man in the text. What they do tell him is that he's less of a cavalier, which is why I actually view that dynamic as much more of an exploration of cavalier-hood as a metaphor for gender - 'toxic cavalierhood' rather than toxic masculinity, albeit via a dynamic that's unforunately very familiar to a lot of us.

The big flaw in my argument is that, unfortunately, in the literal sense of the word, the Nine Houses very much are a capital-P Patriarchy. They're run by an immortal God-Emperor dude with some fairly intense catholic shit going on! John actually was raised in a patriarchal society, and while his experiences as a he remembers it, and while he seems to have done an OK job of not passing homophobia, misogyny or strict gender roles onto the society he built after literally fucking nuking the one he grew up in, I don't know if someone in his position of power is really in a position to unlearn anything more at this point. To a lesser extent we see it with Augustine as well - the Saint of Patience definitely reads as a misogynist at times during the text (telling Mercymorn "you have made yourself unlovable" and his whole thing about Ianthe chosing to be broken spring to mind), and while he may not remember the pre-resurrection world, it still shaped him (and his brother, who is as much a part of the man we meet in HtN as the original Augustine who was resurrected).

Also none of this is to say the society of the Nine Houses is perfect - far from it! There's all sorts of fucked up abuse dynamics present, and the entire thing has been a fucked-up expansionist empire since it found someone to do expansionist imperialism on about five millennia before the story takes place, before which it was still a fucked-up death cult living on the reanimated wreckage of a dead solar system. If anything, the lack of misogyny, homophobia, rigid gender roles and the like are a parable - it doesn't matter how inclusive and egalitarian the society of the imperial core is when it perpetuates brutal violence on the imperial periphery.

[deathbirby]

For that last anon saying the Nabateans were striving for coexistence and all that, just remember that what the stans are saying is literally just made up. It's the version of the game they want to be correct to fit their agenda for the version of Edelgard they created within their own space together. It's definitely frustrating, but no matter how pro-Edelgard and anti-Nabatean they are, what they said in those comments is just objectively not true.

I guess this is the result of people twisting the context of a story for so long, and/or just being so bias that they let it color over what the story is actually saying because they WANT to see it a certain way. That or they just use that as their "owning the haters" go to arguments, and they've used them for so long that they believe that those arguments are actually within the confines of the game.

It's like how if someone tells themselves something is true long enough, they actually start to believe it. Maybe at first they did know full well none of that was true (if they didn't they're just fucking dumbasses plain and simple), but they argued it so long to "own the haters" that just forgot it wasn't canon and started to really believe it.

They use their obsession over Edelgard to color things entirely in her favor, even if it didn't actually happen. Instead of liking/loving Edelgard and agreeing with her, still seeing Rhea as bad and evil and needing to be killed and still giving in-game reasons for their views, they just make entire backstories and bullshit up. They do that to Dimitri too. Anyone who opposes Edelgard they just fabricate their role in the story to make them as horrific as possible so that Edelgard looks just and heroic. They create things out of thin air because they've run out of their in-game arguments that haven't already been run over frontwards and backwards by an 18 wheeler.

None of what they say is even based in canon at this point. It's definitely frustrating (and also because of how MANY of them believe this stuff within their hivemind), but at this point they don't even like the same game as us. In their minds they've played something completely different. Let them stew by themselves in their made up bullshit in their hivemind that they circle jerk over while we have fun enjoying the game we were given with the actual context that actually exists.

Also, just because not everyone in that server agreed with the downright Nazi logic that mod person gave doesn't mean they don't literally think the same way. They ALL believe in the Nabatean genocide and want that because Edelgard does. It doesn't matter the exact logic that leads them to that conclusion - at the end of the day, they're still advocating for genocide and using completely bonkers and fake excuses for it to be "the right thing". And why do they do all this? Because their pixel waifu wants it, so they do too and they will justify anything she does no matter how horrific (but you can bet your entire neighborhood that if a man did anything she does, they'd condemn it).

Says a lot about who they are as people. Imo leave them to rot in their corner together. Either real life will give them a wake up call one day or they'll just continue to rot.

Canon does disprove just about everything that they're saying, which makes it double weird how they came to that conclusion.

Honestly, anon, you've got such a giant ask here that I'm afraid of even touching it with my own comments haha.

But yes, it does seem to be a case of "Edelgard has to be good. She can't ally with bad people, so bad people need to be good. That means the enemy of bad people are now bad people who deserved the awful things that happened to them."

Still, I don't think everyone in that server believes in pro-genocide rhetoric. Some people have actively spoken out against it. You either get bullied into submission or banned.

Unforunately, we did try to just enjoy our canon material... only to get block evaded by some guy with no life.

[i-did-this-for-her]

Nadia’s appreciation week 👀

Day 1: Bath 💦

Unlike any other day, the Palace was quite peaceful.

Of course, you could hear chatter, doors being opened here, doors being slammed there. But as the evening came, as the sun died little by little, so did the clamor.

It was well after dinner time and our little servant was still working in the hall fraught with grand windows. More exactly, she had to wipe clean the glass until it gave the illusion that the windows are non existent.

It was hard labor to do so, no matter what part of the Palace it was. It’s almost impossible when you’re struck by “luck” to be assigned to take care of the Countess’ wing. Who was the lucky one this month? Curly. One of the youngest member of the staff but she was also among one of the most hardworking ones. The brunette was hired not too long ago and it did not take much time for her to be assigned to take care of her ladyship’s wing alongside Portia.

They became friends very quickly, maybe due to the fact that they had lots of things in common. Both curly haired, kind, loving and more importantly... both have a special place into their ruler’s heart. Tough only Portia is aware of it. Her and Nadia go way back, a beautiful friendship has blossomed between them.

Curly wasn’t aware of how much she means to their ruler but she knew she has been observed by the Countess.

Countess Nadia Satrinava is... she is everything. From appearance to character, she was divine. Of course, nothing is ever perfect, she did have her flaws. But we can say that she is the nearest person to perfection. There isn’t one thing that Curly doesn’t like or anything she wouldn’t want to touch. ‘If only-‘

Her thoughts were cut short with the slam of a door. The sound was followed by the oh-too-familiar click-clack of heels.

“oh boy” Curly muttered.

She tried to resume back to her work, she really did but her body did not respond to her brain’s commands.

It was not the first time that her Excellence had this effect on the brunette. We all know that Nadia can be very... intimidating. But there’s also something else that draws the poor girl near her.. some strange aura from whose claws you won’t escape. Ever. It was wrong. It was so very wrong. Her breath became erratic and she could not help it. The only thing she was able to do was to grasp the little woodeb cross that rested on her sternum and ask for forgiveness.

Even if her chambers were close to where the young servant was cleaning, it felt like forever for the Countess to appear in the girl’s sight. And when she did...Lord have mercy.

“Curly.” came her suave voice. It was enough to quicken one’s heartbeat.

When you think about Countess Nadia, her fancy dresses often come to mind first. Always elegant, always flowing around her.

That day it was different. She was not wearing any gown. Not even her riding outfit. As simple as it seems, her Excellence was wearing only a see-through robe. But here’s the catch: it’s fancy and it left little room for imagination.

With her ears burning and dried out throat, the brunette managed to murmur her greetings along with a short bow.

“Good evening, Milady!”

‘Keep it together. Don’t mess it up’ she thought.

“Have you by any chance seen Portia? I can’t seem to find her anywhere.”

A pang of jealousy hit the girl at the thought that others may have seen her like this. So vulnerable and bare.

She could only shake her head as a response, avoiding the risk of letting a curse slip from between her lips.

Why was she feeling like this? She had no right to be jealous. The Countess was allowed to do whatever with whoever she wants.They are not lovers. If only they would be-

“Are you done?”

‘Did I just say that out loud?’

“Pardon?”

An exasperated sigh came from the Countess.

“Have you finished your work here?”

‘No’

“Yes, Milady.”

“Follow me.” It wasn’t a question or a request. It was an order.

Curly scurried after her, trying to keep the pace. It was a bit hard due to the fact that Nadia had longer legs and, well, the view from behind was mesmerizing.

Curly came to an abrupt halt, almost running into her.They stopped in front of two grand beautiful doors. Her chambers’ doors. One could only dream of being in there with her.

Nadia entered, as gracious as ever. heading straight to the bath doors.

“Portia was supposed to help me with my bath. I guess you could do so too.” she said, a small smile plastered on her face.

Brown eyes got bigger and bigger. Curly could not believe her ears. Helping the Countess have a bath? Her? She stood there, pietrified. It took curly a bit to process the whole situation. Unforunately, Nadia is not one to wait especially after a long tiring day. She turned around and let the robe slip down to her elbows.

With one last glance over her shoulder she adressed the girl.

“Hurry up” and she let the robe fall and pool at her feet. Swaying her hips, she descended into the steamy water. The sight from behind was really something and Curly was very convinced of the fact that she wouldn’t have survived if she would’ve seen the front.

While waiting for further instructions, the young servant enjoyed the view in front of her. The candle lights accentuated Nadia’s features. From her jawline, neck and all the way down to her lower back.

She turns around slowly and gracefully, boring her crimson eyes into a pair of brown ones, waiting. Waiting to receive what she needed. Atenttion.

“Ahem.” her Excellence cleared her throat.

“F-forgive me.” the brunette bowed and proceeded to scoop up the robe and place it on a nearby chair.

She then got near to the edge of the bath, waiting for instructions.

“I uh.. I don’t know what I shou-“

“Take off your clothes,”

For a second, panic quickly raised within the girl.

“It would be easier for you to move around.”

And just like that, under her imperious gaze, poor Curly stripped out of her worn out clothes, leaving on only a pair of shorts and a ragged tank top. Then, she proceeded to descend into the water only to be startled by the Countess’ “Hurry.” The girl slipped and fell into the water, splashing water around.

All the fuss did not delight her but the panic with which the young servant came to the surface and all her apologies did amuse Nadia. Although she was not in the mood for such childish behaviour, she was tempted to play with Curly’s fragile feelings.

Usually, she would start with her hair. But the curiosity of the girl’s next move was too much to bear, so she ordered to have her back washed. The servant executed just as she was told.

Without any other additions, Nadia went to the edge of the bath, resting her head on her hands, raising to the surface, back straight, legs barely seen from above, her body in a weird but revealing position.

Curly had an easier acces to her back, that’s true but also due to that position she could see, well, everything. She could clearly see where her legs start but could not see their ends.

The young servant was too embarassed by now. If she was staring too much, why was she staring? And if she did not stare, why wasn’t she?

She rubbed the other woman’s shoulder blades so slow and careful as if Nadia’s chocolate skin would rip with the slightest scratch. Curly did not want to scratch the masterpiece... unless she was asked to do so.

As she went on, she was lost in Nadia’s back hollow following the course of her body from her neck all the way down to where her rear started, thinking that Nadia was already relaxed enough not to notice. But she forgot to stop.

The young girl’s hand went lower and lower as her eyes could only see forbidden scenes both scandalously erotic and embarassing sensual.

Curly loved Nadia like a goddess but desired her like a whore.

The Countess was not oblivious to the touch, she knew where those hands were headed to. And when she felt that her right buttock was shamefully kneaded she knew where the brunette’s mind was heading too.

“That would suffice.” came a somewhat ferm command. Scary.

Curly knew she fucked up but it was expected due to the fact that she accepted to enter the baths with her bare ruler.

“Is it the water?” asked Nadia.

Curly just blinked, visibly confused .

“Your redness. Is the water too hot?”

“N-not the water.”

Quite an inappropiate dialogue due to the context.

“Portia was a bit more rough.”

“P-pardon?”

“With the washcloth. Harder”

She knew what effect she had on the young servant. She took advantage of it to the fullest.

“Then I.. I will rub harder-“

“That won’t be necessary.” said Nadia as she started to comb her hair with her fingers. And just like that, Curly was back to square one.

The woman has hair. Lots of it. It’s not only it’s length that’s impressive, there is lots of it and it is very very soft. It was hard to wash it all.

By the time the brunette reached the Countess’s scalp, her arms were ready to yield at any moment.

Altough the uncomfortable moments have apoarently passed, due to the exhaustion Curly’s hands put a lot more pression as she massaged the ruler’s scalp earning a devilish moan in response. Was it from the relaxation? Frustration? Or was it because of the smaller hand that descended to her shoulder?

From there, there was only one step to be taken and two possible scenarios. She would either be hanged or she would experience a shameful sensation that will warm her up when remembered.

The young girl’s hand started to travel down, from the shoulder to her forearm, all the way down to her wrists. Nadia did not flinch, did not scream and it did not seem she would do it soon.

Curly was affraid of the moment when her trance will disappear and she will have to face the desecration of the Countess’ sublime body.

Slowly, she proceeded to pull away but was not succesful as her own wrist was caught.

“F-forgive me, Milady! There isn’t room for the shame..”

“Are you only apologizing because that’s polite or because you really are sorry?”

Curly processed the question and when she realized that her wrist was still held firmly, she stated:

“Because that’s polite. I will never regret what I’ve seen and felt tonight, Countess. And if I won’t be forgiven for my acts, then I shall let the sin be fulfilled.”

“Then so be it. All of us, we will be punished for our actions. Let’s sleep well the night before the judgement day.”

The brunette did not even hear the rest of the sentence as Nadia’s hands cupped her face and pulled her head into one of the wrongest moment of her life.

Both their lips did not leave room for air and their bodies for regret.

It could’ve gotten far, but it didn’t. Those minutes, hours, seconds or whatever where filled with hungry kisses and warm looks.

The desire was clearly present but none of them seemed to rush.

Their bodies were either to take advantage or to rot while waiting for their turn.

The only moment their lips parted was was when the Countess whispered into the brunette’s ear devilishly:

“Brace yourself to face the consequences, dear.”

And even if she was afraid, her head low, her being full of shame she managed to murmur

“Can this be considered a sin?”.

Pulling away, there was room for only a gesture. Curly placed a small kiss on Nadia’s bare shoulder.

The Countess seemed to float alongside the steam, getting out of the bath, putting on that cursed robe and before she closed the door, she looked over the very shoulder that was kissed.

“It will be our sin.”

And just like that, the young servant was left there, lost into the steam trying to guess if the next day she will be exiled or if her deepest fantasy will start to blossom.

@nadia-appreciation-week-2019

[ivanshatov]

explaining liaisons or my main oc thing whatever 💅

tw; terrorism, war, bombs and stuff

this is europe edition asia and africa edition coming soon to a tumblr near you

some things u need to know in advances

africa avoids serious colonialism but colonialism still happens elsewhere

sykes-picot doesnt happen so arabia is still a singular country really

austria instigated world war 2, because

germany never existed as a unified country and stayed split into kingdoms like it was before the 19th century

romania is a monarchy 💅

russia got nuked in the early 2000s by themselves and everything east of moscow is basically toxic and the gvmt is in shambles

in 2007, northern ireland recedes from the UK into ireland. the UK is lenient abt this and is just yeah yeah whatever you do you ig and no one dies. however scotland tries to declare independence about a month later and the UK immediately backtracks on what they said previously and goes to war with scotland to keep them from leaving. during this time, the monarch, a young dumbass prince, usurps the prime minister’s seat and dissolves parliament (albeit illegally) and declares martial law. he makes a lot of military decisions that a lot of english citizens feel are unnecessary, and they are kind of tired of the whole monarchy in the 21st century thing.

so in early 2010 the war ends with england winning and annexing scotland back but only after 3 major cities are completely destroyed. the english citizens the scottish the irish and the eu and basically everyone in the world ever thinks this was a really bad take so in mid 2010 a former MP named ben hunter leads a miltia mostly formed from other mps and angry citizens and essentially kills the dumbass prince and his military henchmen and then exiles the royal family. the EU, who originally supported mr. hunter is like “wait, no, don’t do THAT,” because as we all know monarchy states essentially run the show and they don’t like their whole divine right being threatened. so all the monarchy states in the EU, after some protests start up demanding an end to 21st century royalty, secede together on a single day (december 18th, 2010) and declare war on england and france. yes, another war.

the war lasts around 9 years and doesn’t really pass europe aside from some debates and revaluing of ideas in africa and asia. the war ends in a draw, with the republics creating their own union, the REU, and the monarchies creating their own union, the CMS. a handful of european states declare themselves independent from both and act as buffers (macedonia, moldova, estonia, finland, iceland, kosovo, cyprus). things are awfully tense for a while between the two especially considering they kept trying to murder each other’s leaders. things cool down after a while, until 2027, when the very gentle balance keeping the two sides from war slowly begins to crumble.

it starts when a monarch in monaco attempts to expand territory into france and italy then threatens war, obviously the madman is subdued and it doesnt happen but the REU is on edge. in late 2027, the belgian monarch and prime minister are killed by the deputy pm, ms. amelie de warlencourt, after she discovers that the two of them are having an affair. fortunately the independents are able to manage the situation so it doesn’t turn into another whole out war. unforunately the damage has already been done, the REU has gained another member state, and the CMS swears that if aggressed again they will go to war with the REU. in 2028 an REU prime minister, mr. fedya vranchev of bulgaria, goes into independent territory (macedonia) and commits a mass assassination, nearly killing the macedonian prime minister and killing his entire cabinet of 18 people. the CMS then accuses the mass murder as an act of unwarranted aggression from the REU and is tempted to declare war but is stopped by the UN assembly general.

but only three months after the murder, the serbian capital of belgrade gets totally bombed out, killing most of parliament except for like 10 people and prime minister ms. svetlana arsic and her entire cabinet, except for her finance minister/personal accountant cvetko rajkovic. cvetko is unqualified as heck but ends up getting elected in a panicked snap election facilitated by the REU. he really doesn’t want this. why? he may or may not be having a gay affair with his country’s worstest enemy, the president of kosovo. also, while the balkans are almost on the verge of another war the slovakian prime minister ms klara kollarova may or may not know about a plot to take over the continent by her hungarian and polish neighbors but refuses to tell anyone out of fear for the life of her girlfriend best friend ms. pavla klimesova the prime minister of czechia. oh, and former pm of england mr. ben hunter and his dpm lloyd fowler & former president of france ms. liv guillot-akoma and her vp angeline toussaint may or may not have started a secret surveillance agency that they didn’t tell anyone about.

so that’s liaisons (part 1: bitches in europe) and i hope it was a wild ride from start to finish. don’t worry i’ll make a character masterlist to go w this post.

[capracornia]

let’s just recap these two episodes (aka big spoiler and lots of mini theories)

There’s a lot of racism towards monsters, and it shows through. They even seemed to test the waters on police brutality by having the “cops” of Mewni try and take the monsters away while rewarding the Mewmans (and others) for doing the exact same thing.

Eclipsa likely had two children. One with “a mewman king” (stated in her poem she was wed to one, and must have produced at least one heir with the Butterfly Family traits since they were carried on not through Heinous), and one with a monster.

That monster child is Heinous, or rather, Meteora.

Guys. All those Heinous daughter/Eclipsa’s lovechild theories are PROVEN to have that one singular fact.

Meteora does not remember her childhood. Whether from the results of that magic–sucking machine thing or repression or injury or magic, she did not remember who her mother was and who she was until she went down into her old nursery.

Something obviously caused Meteora to not be “imprisoned” like her mother. They took Eclipsa away without second thought, why didn’t they do the same for a monster–child like Meteora, who was magic as a Butterfly? There has to be a reason and, possibly, an episode delving deeper into Meteroa’s history.

METEORA HAS NO RIGHT TO THE THRONE. I’ve seen that going around. While she is a Butterfly, there are various reasons why she cannot be queen. One of them is she simply that she probably wasn’t the first in line heir to the throne. Like above, Eclipsa’s poem states she was wed to a mewman king and, since Meteora never became queen in the first place, another person would have had to come to the throne. This person being a daughter of Eclipsa, likely from the mewman king (full mewman siblings don’t seem to exist for princesses ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), since they do still call Eclipsa Star’s great–great–something–or–other. If the entire Butterfly family died then, yeah, she’d be queen, but it is Star is the rightful heir to the throne because Star is Moon’s daughter, and Moon is the current queen, as well as daughter of all the queens who had been since Eclipsa’s time. Speaking of Eclipsa, she, technically, abandoned her people to love a monster. That is considered traitorous and stripped her of her queen status, at least socially, and royalty would have been passed to her daughter or mewman husband. Of course she still had her magic and the ability to make deals (and she still calls herself queen) but the reality is that once she leaves the throne, neither she nor her ilegitimate child could ever take it back.

Butterfly family has a thing for monsters pass it on.

Tom was done dirty in that episode they lowkey portrayed him as a horny sack of crap who didn’t care about the huge political stretch Star was attempting to make.

Though I did find the line “I’m not really into politics” amusing.

Hekapoo is not heckin happy.

Now for the good stuff: MARCO HAS CHEEKMARKS HE HASCHEEKMARKS

At least when performing magic.

He also very explicitly said (to himself) that it was “like [his and Star’s] souls are connected”. That obvious references back to the Blood Moon Ball. Additionally, Marco’s cheekmarks are two crescent moons, one flipped so they open up towards each other. His wand has an interesting design as well, which I feel ties a bit back to Hekapoo’s episode.

His wand was not what I expected it to be. It’s badass, with a cool color scheme and black wings and the compass–like base (not to mention that quite pointy tip). Everything about that screams opposite of Marco Diaz, safe kid extraordinaire. But if we go back to the previous episode, we’re reminded this isn’t entirely true. Marco loves to go on adventures, which was the reason he befriended Star in the first place. He likes fighting bad guys and punching them and protecting his friends. It’s who he is, not always who he displays, and that shows through in his personal wand.

The wand really reminds me of an inverted compass. In its center is the small North–South–East–West arrangement, and sticking out is Southeast and so on. Compasses symbolize guidance, pointing one in the right direction, and also can signify a traveler, which Marco obviously is. This kid’s been to more dimensions than maybe even Star herself (not counting Butterfly dreaming mode), since helping Hekapoo and his initial crazy dimension journey with her. It’s safe to say he’s been to the most as a human. He’s constantly traveling because of Star, always following her, the compass always “pointing” in her direction.

Truthfully I could try and analyze his wand all day I’m in love.

Marco’s ability to use magic is definitely going to come back in the future, especially since it’s Star’s wand. He did a spell with no previous knowledge of it, no previous use of magic, and no Glossaryck to tell him how to hold his wand. This guy used his instincts, or rather, Star’s ability that is shared with him through their soul connection. Even Star can’t usually pick up a spell that quickly, addressed in an episode long ago where she refused to listen to Glossaryck until realizing he was unfortunately right about how to use her wand.

MARCO TOUCHED THE SPELL. There is a key difference when they’re using the spying spell, which not only has to do with their power level gap, but also with authenticity. When Marco touched the spying spell, it collapsed, and probably set his room on fire (maybe “exploding” in the process). When Star touched the spell, she was able to stretch it (and only then did her cheekmarks glow), and even break through it to the other side. It’s obvious she’s much more powerful as a magic user, but we also have to remember Marco’s technically just a human, whereas Star comes from a long line of magical queens. No matter what, Marco is probably not going to reach that level since he doesn’t have his own magic. It’s Star’s.

Tl;dr is Heinous is Eclipsa’s daughter Meteora, there’s a large gap between races that unforunately may never be closed, Marco is able to use Star’s wand with his own cheekmarks and design, Star can transform in and out of “Butterfly” form.

[dyernews]

Money at 30: Aspiration Online-Only Bank Review

There was once a time when I thought perhaps I had too many bank accounts. Yet, since then, I’ve only found more attractive accounts to open. One of the latest additions to my roster is Aspiration, where I opened up an account at the end of last year.

As luck would have it, before I had a chance to test all of the features of Aspiration, they made some sizeable changes. So were these changes for the better? And how do Aspiration’s other features stack up against various Internet banking offerings? Let’s take a closer look at what Aspiration has to offer customers and what makes them stand out in the increasingly crowded field of online-only banks.

What is Aspiration?

Aspiration is an online bank with some high, well, aspirations. With taglines such as “Do Well. Do Good.” and “Save Money, Save the Planet,” the company puts as much of an emphasis on charity and ecological impact as it does on personal finance health. In fact humanitarian and Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DeCaprio is among Aspiration’s investors.

There are many areas where Aspiration’s Earth-saving endeavors shine through, such as their Redwood Fund and Redwood IRA products that promote sustainable investing. Additionally the bank donates to various causes and makes it easy for its customers to do the same. However, for the rest of this review, we’ll be looking specifically at Aspiration’s banking features and how they compare to other offerings.

Recent changes

Earlier this year, Aspiration announced it was changing a few things about their accounts. For one, instead of a single account they dubbed “Aspiration Summit,” the bank created Aspiration Spend and Aspiration Save accounts. The biggest positive to this change was that the bank doubled its APY from 1% to 2%. However, to earn this interest, funds would first need to be placed into the Save account. Additionally customers must deposit at least $1 a month into any of their Aspiration accounts (or have a balance of at least $10,000 or higher for a minimum of one day per month) in order to earn to that 2% APY. Failing to do so will, sadly, result in a 0% interest rate for the month.

To their credit, Aspiration has been very accommodating with this change. For example current users like myself were able to keep their current debit cards. Also, realizing that some users may not have been aware that they needed to move funds to their Save account to earn interest, Aspiration actually gave users 1% on their Spend balance in addition to the 2% on Save funds. Presumably this was a one-time thing but it was certainly a nice gesture. I also appreciate that Aspiration has sent reminder e-mails nudging me to make my monthly transfer and score that 2% APY.

What’s Good About Aspiration

FDIC-insured

Before we go any further, rest assured that deposits to Aspiration are FDIC insured up to $250,000 per depositor just like any other bank. Enough said.

“Pay What is Fair”

Aspiration doesn’t charge many of the fees that traditional banks do. There’s no minimum balance fee, overdraft fees, maintenance fees, etc. Instead the bank asks its customers to sustain them by paying a monthly fee of their choosing — even if that amount is $0. Overall this is a good system that has the potential to save you money versus many brick-and-mortar banks.

Cash back on debit card purchases

Incidentally this is a feature of Aspiration I have yet to use but is definitely worth discussing. Along with the other recent changes to Aspiration accounts, debit card purchases now yield cardholders cash back. That’s already exciting but the way they determine your level of cash back is pretty fascinating.

The bank has developed its Aspiration Impact Measurement (AIM) that evaluates “how a business treats People (employees, customers and community) and the Planet (environment).” If you use your debit card to make a purchase at an establishment with a high AIM score, you’ll earn 1% cash back. In the event the business has a lower AIM score or has yet to be evaluated by Aspiration, you’ll earn 0.5% cash back on your purchase. From what I can find, it’s unclear what constitutes a high or a low score and, like I said, I have yet to experience this myself. Nevertheless cash back is always a good thing.

High APYs

As mentioned earlier, Aspiration recently doubled the amount of interest it pays and is now offering 2% APY on savings. That may not be the highest you can find but it’s still strong. Interest is paid on account balances monthly, allowing some of that sweet, sweet compounding to occur. Considering I joined Aspiration for the combination of 1% APY and the next feature we’re going to discuss, having that interest rate double to 2% makes this banking option even better.

ATM fee reimbursement — even international

Last but not least, Aspiration boasts that it allows its customers to use any ATM in the world for free. No, this isn’t the result of some massive partnerships that span the globe. Instead it just means that the company will reimburse any fees you may incur for using an ATM domestically or abroad.

On my recent trip to Hong Kong I got to try out Aspiration’s ATM fee refund first hand. I have to say I was a bit worried as I approached the Bank of China ATM at the Hong Kong Airport, Aspiration card in hand. Truth be told, I was depending on the card to work as I required cash to take a cab to my hotel. Thankfully, after entering my card, typing my pin, and opting into any fees I might incur (and that Aspiration would hopefully cover), I was able to walk away with $200HKD in hand.

Fairly soon after this transaction, I could see it pending on my account — except it was converted to the sum of $25.53. That’s actually what Google says the conversion should be, so it didn’t seem as though any fee had been applied. Nevertheless, a few days later, a $4.00 credit for “Int’l ATM Fee Rebate” appeared in my account. At first I thought this $4 credit was just a note reversing a separate fee I hadn’t seen but, running the math, it would seem that it actually added $4 to my account. I used ATMs twice more while in Hong Kong, netting similar results.

Looking into this further, I found that Aspiration’s help center notes “International ATM fees are reimbursed at a flat rate of $4.00 per transaction.” They add that, if you’re charged more than $4, you can submit a photo of your receipt to receive full reimbursement. However, in my case, evidence would suggest I was never actually charged an ATM fee and, instead, earned $4 just for taking out money. Now, I have to say that this was not my intention nor do I condone taking advantage of the apparent loophole… but there it is. In any case, my overseas ATM experience — one of the main reasons I was attracted to Aspiration — was quite a success.

The Downsides of Aspiration

About that monthly fee

In the “What’s Good About Aspiration” section, I explained the institution’s Pay What is Fair fee policy. While it’s true that you can elect to set this fee to $0, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Heck, I felt bad enough reducing their initial $5 a month fee recommendation to the $1 I landed on. But here’s the thing: there are other online banks that offer near what Aspiration does that don’t charge any fees and don’t even ask for voluntary payment. I suspect I’m not the only one paying a higher fee to Aspiration than they otherwise would just because of guilt, making this a slight negative to the service. Then again, Aspiration does gives 10% of these fees to charity, so now I’m back to feeling bad that I even wrote this!

P.S. — whether you’re feeling more generous or decide it’s time to lower your fee, you can always do so by going into Settings > Fee Settings and adjusting from there.

Slow transfers

I’m not sure if I’m just impatient but it seems that external transfers to Aspiration take a bit longer than normal. Perhaps that’s because they don’t even display as pending in your account (you’ll have to hit the “transfers” tab to see it, assuming you initiated the transfer from Aspiration itself). This has led to a couple of times where I worried that something was wrong. Of course this fear was only compounded when I got an e-mail from the bank saying one of the transfers I launched had failed. It turns out that was just a glitch that affected a few customers around the time of the big Save and Spend split, but it only made this speed issue more evident.

Few balance details 

Earlier I noted that I wasn’t sure if the $4 ATM fee credits I was receiving were extra money or just leveling me out from a charge I didn’t see. Well part of the reason for the confusion is that Aspiration doesn’t display all of the balance data that other banks would. As far as I can tell, there’s no way to view a running total of how transactions affected your balance. Because of this, I simply had to go all the way back in my transactions, total them up one by one, and see if my math mirrored my current balance (it did, which is how I know those $4 credits were extra money). Eventually I did find where you can download a monthly account statement in Settings, although this wasn’t terribly helpful either.

Quite honestly, since I’m using Aspiration more as a place to stash extra cash and really only use the debit card for ATM access, these quirks aren’t a huge deal. However I could easily see this being a problem for those who intend on using their accounts full time.

No joint accounts

When I opened my Aspiration account, my intent was to make it a joint account by adding my wife. Unforunately it seems no such options exists. Lest you think that adding a  “Trusted Contact” will do the trick, the bank advises it is not a beneficiary but, instead, a “person we will contact in the event you are unreachable when action must be taken on your account.” What’s really odd is that, in account info, there’s a section that says “Account Owners” — yes, there’s a plural!

Poking around online, it seems that Aspiration is working to introduce joint accounts. That said it also appears that they’ve been declaring that for a while. Their latest timeline according to replies on Twitter in March 2019 is “Definitely not longer than a year!”

Final Thoughts on Aspiration

There’s clearly a good reason why Aspiration has been getting so much publicity as of late. In addition to their unique business model and humanitarian efforts, they also offer a number of banking features that can help customers save money. Personally the 2% APY on savings coupled with free ATM access anywhere in the world is enough for me to sing its praises.

At the same time I do wish a little more attentional to detail went into Aspiration’s interface. Their stripped down balance and transaction dashboard could be frustrating for those looking for a blow by blow recap, while slow transfers can cause anxiety when you’re chasing that 2% interest. I’m also still waiting for the day when I can finally add my wife to the account, making it easier for her to contribute as well.

Overall what Aspiration offers is more than enough for me to maintain my account alongside my Discover Bank account and others. Furthermore I suspect that those looking to really make an impact with their money will flock to the online alternative to the “too big to fail” banks. For all of those reasons, I’d say it’s definitely worth setting your sights on Aspiration.

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