#advocates stronger ties

[marwahstudios]

Sandeep Marwah Advocates Stronger Indo-US Business Ties at 20th Indo US Economic Summit

New Delhi: The prestigious 20th Indo US Economic Summit commenced with an inaugural address by His Excellency Eric Garcetti, the United States Ambassador to India, held at Hotel Lalit and organized by the Indo American Chamber of Commerce (IACC). The summit convened distinguished leaders and business influencers to further strengthen economic ties between India and the United States.

Dr. Upasana Arora, Regional President of IACC and Managing Director of Yashoda Super Specialty Hospitals, delivered a warm welcome address, setting the tone for the summit. Following this, Dr. Lalit Bhasin, National President and Summit Chair, highlighted the longstanding relationship and growing collaborations between India and the USA, emphasizing the pivotal role the US has played in India’s growth trajectory.

H.E. Eric Garcetti, in his address, commended the efforts of the IACC and extended congratulations to India for its successful hosting of the G20 summit in New Delhi. He stressed the United States’ eagerness to foster robust business ties with India and invited prospective businesses to engage with the US in various platforms.

Dr. Sandeep Marwah, Chair for the Media and Entertainment Committee of the Indo American Chamber of Commerce, shared his insights during a press interaction, underlining the significance of such summits in facilitating open dialogue and fostering strong connections with diverse business associations.

Arun Karna, Regional Vice President of IACC and Managing Director of AT&T Global Network Services India P Ltd, delivered the concluding address. Jonathan Heimer, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, was also present, adding to the eminent gathering.

The 20th Indo US Economic Summit stands as a testament to the commitment of both nations in fortifying their economic relations and exploring new avenues for collaboration across sectors. The event showcased a dynamic exchange of ideas and initiatives, aiming to elevate bilateral business associations and open doors for mutual growth and prosperity.

#Sandeep Marwah Advocates Stronger Indo US Business Ties at 20th IACC Summit #Dr. Sandeep Marwah President of AAFT

[vspin]

Astarion should have had a post-Araj conversation (that doesn’t lock in the romance) AND the unprompted confession 

You might have noticed that Patch 3 changed Astarion’s romance progression a bit. Previously, if you had entered Moonrise and had high enough approval with Astarion, he would approach the MC at a long rest and confess his manipulations and growing feelings towards the player character.  It’s such a beautiful scene and is so well acted. Now that confession is tied to after you kill Yurgir and if you haven’t talked to Araj in Moonrise. 

I actually kind of like his confession being tied to progressing his personal quest, and if you think about it an early admission in Act 2 does seem kind of quick based on his past/struggles. 

Buuut, I am disappointed that if you talk to Araj early-on you can lock in the romance then and you won’t get the unprompted confession later on, because I think that scene is much stronger from a ROMANCE and partnership perspective. 

Araj Conversation

The post-Araj conversation is an amazing moment for Astarion’s development and arc. His realization that he never stopped acting like a slave. His decision to stand up for himself and advocate for what he wants. It’s so powerful. It’s a critical moment for Astarion and his journey to be free from Cazador.

Honestly, I think tying it to the romance really cheapens it and creates an initially one-sided dynamic for his romance.  

These are the dialogue options after he thanks you:

The first 3 options lead to him opening up more about his feelings and this line: 

After this, if you want to progress the romance you tell him you care for him and it leads to the hug scene/whatever option you want. 

BUT HE NEVER MENTIONS MANIPULATING YOU and that he's developed feelings. Hello Astarion!? I feel like that's kinda important to the dynamic here! With these options, poor Tav is left in the dark because it doesn’t come up again really.

Now, if you pick the last option: Why sleep with me?

You get these lines: 

(His face lmao, smug little bastard)

His line delivery here is interesting. He’s very matter-of-fact about it. He’s like “duh! I was using you and it was easy”. 

Depending on how you're RPing your MC this pretty rough lol. A naive and good-hearted Tav may have actually thought there was something there. 

And these are the dialogue options to respond to it. That’s it. No pushback from Tav. They can end things, just be friends, or progress the relationship. Idk it’s just not my favorite. 

Unprompted Confession

Compare that to the unprompted confession. 

He approaches Tav. He confesses the manipulation and what I think is super important he is THINKING about Tav’s feelings: “You deserve something real.” 

And what I love is that Tav can choose to immediately confess their feelings or push back a little here: 

I think this is a much better dynamic between potential partners. Options 2 + 3 really give more context to his feelings and also allows Astarion to reiterate his positive feelings towards MC. 

Up until this point in the relationship, the MC has given a lot to Astarion, and Astarion hasn’t given much back beyond sex. Tav has listened to Astarion open up about Cazador, protected him from the monster hunter, helped with his scars, the mirror conversation, let him drink from them (potentially), and supported the endeavor with Raphael. 

I think this conversation is Astarion acknowledging all that and him giving something back in return by being honest with his feelings, even if there is a chance he’ll get nothing out of it. 

I think this why people love the Durge x Astarion romance so much because it offers more give and take between the two, and depending on which confession scene you get with Tav it is a very one-sided dynamic in comparison.

The second scene a MUCH better foundation for something to develop between the two in my opinion.

Final Thoughts

I think the Araj scene should happen regardless but with the romance portion omitted. Of course, I think Astarion should still break up with MC if they made him drink, force him to have sex, or give Tav an option to end it as well if this isn't something they want to involve themselves in. 

Then, I think you should get the actual confession after defeating Yurgir. I think it makes sense that after Tav has advocated for Astarion’s autonomy and helped with his scars he realizes his feelings. 

Big thanks to these Youtube channels here and here for the screenshots. My saves are a mess and I didnt want to fight with it.

#astarion #bg3 spoilers #bg3 #astarion romance #astarion x tav #astarion x mc #astarion ancunin #astarion x dark urge #bg3 astarion #bg3 mine

[this-is-a-podcast-fanblog]

Sister Cities: Night Vale (Welcome to Vermillion Falls)

A friendly desert community where the sun is bright, the stars have forsaken us, and the moon is a lie. Welcome to Night Vale.

Good evening, Vermillion Falls! Wow, it's been so long since I last spoke to all of you. I think it was... 2014? 2015, maybe? And I don't know when the last time before then would have been. What a wonderful time it is that we get to participate in this tradition once again. Well anyway, for those of you hearing me for the first time, my name is Cecil Gerswhin Palmer, and I am the community radio host of the beautiful town of Night Vale! In case you didn't know, we are your sister city! You'll never meet us, and we'll never meet you if you know what's good for you, but we are united nonetheless by the ties of family. And what could be stronger than that?

Speaking of family, Vermillion Falls, I'm sure you all remember the guy I was telling you about last time I was on the air - Carlos the Scientist. He is a beautiful man with beautiful hair and an oaky voice, who conducts scientific experiments in his lab by Big Rico's Pizza, and he is utterly perfect in every single imperfect way. The last time I spoke to you, Carlos was my boyfriend, and he had recently returned from being trapped in a desert otherworld. Well - then, Carlos and I have gotten *married*! Isn't that the most wonderful news? Isn't that the most fascinating piece of journalism ever to cross your ears? We had our ceremony on the 15th of December, in 2016, at -

Oh, hang on, Vermillion Falls. I've just been handed a press release by my newest intern, Safa. Safa, should I even be reading Night Vale news, if the people of my community aren't going to hear it? Oh well. I guess it can't hurt. More about my husband soon.

But first, a message from the Night Vale Interfaith Crochet Club and Political Activism Coalition. As many of you know, this group advocates for the recognition of crochet into popular culture, as both an artform and a really cool hobby. "We want everyone to know that regardless of what you believe in, we can all get behind making cool stuff out of yarn" said Robin, who is one of the coalition's organizers, and also a priest at the Temple of Hekate out in the sand wastes. "First, you chain to the desired length. Then, you either go back into the second loop from the hook, or you chain extra and yarn over. Then, you repeat your actions to make various stitches. It's great." The Night Vale Interfaith Crochet Club and Political Activism Coalition would like to invite you to their meetings. You can find them every other Wednesday night from 5:01 to 6:07:32, with locations announced every week on their Instagram page. Crochet materials and political pamphlets will be provided. When asked by a member of the press whether knitters would be welcome at the coalition's meetings, Robin hissed, then threw down zir skein of yarn, then vanished into a puff of vapor. So maybe don't attend the meetings if you like to knit.

This has been: a press release.

Okay, listeners, back to talking about my husband. So, Carlos and I had our ceremony on the 15th of December in 2016, and it's honestly hard to believe that that was almost seven years ago already. It feels like yesterday that my beautiful Carlos walked down the aisle towards me, his face all alight with the love we share as we wed in front of our entire town! And now, we have a beautiful baby boy who we adopted. Although I guess he isn't really a baby anymore, since he's about to turn six. Our sweet Esteban is the joy of our lives, and he takes so well after both his fathers. He started talking at eighteen months, but not in the usual baby-babble way. His first word was "I", followed by the words "desire destruction should follow in my wake, and also I would like another Gerber pouch, please." Carlos and I were so proud of him. How many children have a complete sentence at the same time as their first word? Do you know any children like that, Vermillion Falls? Of course not. My Esteban is a truly remarkable child, completely one of a kind. He loves giraffes and other animals, and he also loves to throw tantrums where he hurls his toys around the room and screams at the sky. When that happens, Carlos has to pick him up and rock him back and forth singing "Valjean's Soliloquy" from Les Miserables until he calms down. And it works every time. I'm so happy with my family. I was texting your radio host, Frank Luna, in our town voice group chat, and I sent him so many pictures of my husband. Like this one, where -

Ughhhh, another press release? Safa, I'm doing extremely important work here. I know this is only your first day, but usually press releases are supposed to be spaced out more, and I just did one! No, I totally did. Um, you might think I've been rambling about my family for a really long time, but time is subjective, and I am the station manager here. Okay, fine. Let's see what we've got.

The Night Vale Board of Education would like to announce an update to all their dictionaries. Effective immediately, they will be changing science curriculums to include "guilt" as a step in the scientific method. "Just take a moment to ponder what you're doing," said Director of Emergency Press Conferences Pamela Winchell, who wore a Jurassic Park Hoodie. "And think about whether it's really worth it, whatever 'it' is that you're about to do. Scientifically, I mean. This makes sense to me. Any questions? Yes, you with the clipboard." Several journalists with clipboards began speaking at the same time. "Leann with the clipboard," Pamela clarified. Leann asked her question, which was not picked up by the mics, but which Pamela helpfully repeated back verbatim. "Is our decision impacted by the recent works of Doctor J-" Here Pamela paused and made a face as if she had just bit into the sourest of lemons. "By Doctor Jan-" Pamela paused again and shakily took a sip of water. "I'm going to pretend you said by 'that woman' because that's more tolerable to me. Yes, it is. Anyone else? No? Alright, bye then." With that, Pamela hastily climbed into a car and drove away. Well, listeners, I must say, I completely agree with this decision. Mostly because I texted my husband to ask him what he thought, and he said he agrees too. So there you have it.

And now for traffic.

A car lies alone in a quiet ditch and the driver is still alive. On the back bumper, there is an array of colorful stickers, all pastel and candy-hued. One sticker says "Night Vale Community College Honor Student", a declaration of personal achievement that would be pretentious, were it not so admirable. There is a sticker that says "Save the Bees" and a sticker that says "Shop local" with a little cartoon farmer. There is a pride flag sticker, a nautical delta flag sticker, a sticker of the US flag on fire. The tires of the car are also on fire. Just the front ones. The left side door is dented inward, and already flowers are growing through the rust hole in the open passenger door. It squeaks on its hinges, still swaying, while dandelions and nightshade poke up through the metal. In the rearview mirror, lights twinkle red and blue. The pieces of metal scattered all around catch this light, and reflect it, dancing all over the quiet ditch and the empty road, a dazzling, shimmery display. A moth lands on the windshield, which resembles a disco ball, if disco balls were vaguely rectangular. The lights are getting closer now, and the moth flits away into the night. A car lies alone in a quiet ditch, and the driver is still alive.

This has been traffic.

Alright, so back to my family. Carlos, Esteban, and I live on Ourobourus Road, in the nicest house on our street. We have a backyard where Esteban plays on his jungle gym, and where we can walk our dog, Aubergine. Safa, what is it now? Oh, right. The weather. I guess I have extended the broadcast a little bit too much. Well, Vermillion Falls, let's go to the weather.

Welcome back, Vermillion Falls.

While we were in the weather, I asked my new intern, Safa, to go over the next few media reports to see if they could just kind of condense them down a little bit for me. I did go a little bit over the time limit, but can you blame me? I haven't talked to you all for years! I really wanted to give you updates about Carlos! Anyway, Safa was reading the reports while they poured themself a glass of water from the sink, but accidentally dropped them in. And when they reached to pick up the soggy papers, Safa's arm sank deep underwater. Much deeper than the half-inch of water pooled into the sink. Their entire body pitched forward, and Safa splashed into the sink. They tried to swim back up, to climb back out of the sink and into Night Vale, but instead, Safa resurfaced in the middle of a lake, in the town of Vermillion Falls!

I know this because Frank just texted our group chat. And according to him, no one who's entered Vermillion Falls through that lake has ever left. It's pretty difficult to find Night Vale, anyways, so it's safe to say that Safa will be there with you guys for a while. Perhaps indefinitely. So, please welcome Safa to your town! I'm sure they'll have a great time. At least, I hope so.

And to the family and loved ones of Intern Safa, they weren't that great of an intern, and they kept interrupting me, but they aren't technically dead, so I can speak as ill of them as I'd like. I'm sure they will call you soon. Just probably from a different time zone.

Alright, back to my broadcast about my husband. That's what this was supposed to be, after all, and I think it's fair enough that I can continue it without any more interruptions. So, settle in, Vermillion Falls! I have a lot to catch you up on. So anyway, Carlos's skin is beautiful and smooth, since he uses an incredible skincare routine made up of two toners and a revitalizing serum, and his cologne...

Broadcast continues for three hours.

#cecil palmer #wtnv #carlos the scientist #this was fun to write hope you guys like it #my fic #welcome to night vale #wtnv spoilers #vermillion falls #frank luna #my fanfic #my writing

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Lula speaks about a strong “global south” before African leaders

Brazilian President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva said on Sunday that his country has a historic debt with Africa and advocated for stronger ties among “Global South” nations during his appearance as a guest at the 37th African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Agencia Brasil reported.

The South American leader attended the event as pro tempore president of the G20, to which the 54-member AU was admitted last year, and will therefore be attending this year's summit in Rio de Janeiro.

“Brazil doesn't have everything, but everything Brazil has, we want to share with the African continent. We want to give back to them, in the form of possibilities and development, what they gave us as a workforce for 350 years,” said Lula, referring to the period during which slavery lasted in Brazil. The count goes from the arrival of the first enslaved blacks in Recife in 1538 until the signing of the Golden Law in 1888.

Lula called for Brazil to have a preferential relationship with the African continent and for strategic partnerships to be developed involving the energy transition, low-carbon agriculture, and other issues regarding the climate question. “Not only because Africa is part of our history, our culture, our color, and our way of being, speaking, and singing. But also because the African continent is an extraordinary space of the future for those who believe that the global south will be the new thing of the 21st century in the world economy,” he said.

Continue reading.

#brazil #brazilian politics #politics #luiz inacio lula da silva #foreign policy #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

[mbti-notes]

Hey, hope you are doing well ! I had a question concerning one issue i’m dealing with.

I’m a 19yo ENFJ. In the ENFJ ego development article, i recognize myself when it’s say « you imagining being criticized ». I’ve noticed that when i’m sharing an opinion, when i’m expressing my feelings, or when i let someone know that i didn’t like something they did to me, i imagine them saying like the worst things to me and i get angry, defensive, as if they really did. Lately it has gotten a little better because when it starts, i’m able to tell myself that it is all in my mind, that i can’t tell that they will react like this, that it won’t help to assume the worse, that those people would never do me like that. But it’s still is really stressful and overwhelming. Any tips to manage it and understand it better ?

You seem to be referring to underlying self-esteem and self-worth issues that are common for FJs, so I suggest you read past posts. As explained in the Type Dev guide, the key to personality development lies in the auxiliary function. It provides introverted balance to extraverts (as well as extraverted balance to introverts).

To be an "immature" ENFJ basically means Fe+Se often run away into extremes because there is no introverted counterbalancing force. Such ENFJs only know to define people's identity or measure their worth through external appearances. As long as you can maintain the appearance of being a good person through obtaining momentary praise from others, then you're really a good person? As long as you can maintain the appearance of harmony by submitting to others and denying the disharmony you feel within, then your relationships are really strong? Proper auxiliary Ni development should help counter this superficial way of thinking.

Do you live your life as though you're always performing? Is the way you behave in front of others the entirety of who you are? Is there nothing inside you that exists independently from how others perceive you? If you're constantly allowing others to define and measure you, you will suffer from insecurity, since your feelings about yourself will shift with every little change in the social winds.

Developing introverted functions involves forming a stronger sense of self with a solid personal boundary, and possessing inner substance that others don't always see and can't touch. As such, your opinion about yourself should matter just as much, if not more than outside opinions. An important aspect of ego development is learning how to be an independent individual, to stand on your own two feet and stand up for yourself as necessary. Of course, you can learn to advocate for yourself in a way that produces as little harm to others as possible, e.g., by improving your communication skills or conflict resolution skills.

The purpose of Ni+Ti development is to connect with the whole truth. It sounds like the root of your problem is that you don't operate on truth but merely on insecurity. The consequence of caring more about surface appearances than underlying truth is that you won't know the truth of who you are, and your naivete makes you gullible and susceptible to any and every attempt by others to influence you (for good or bad). But when you value the truth above all else and know how to connect to the whole truth of who you are, the words of others will only matter to you to the extent that they are truthful.

#enfj #auxiliary ni #se loop #criticism #self esteem #self worth #independence #ask

[scp-10000]

I’m playing Pokemon Emerald cause I was never able to play a Pokemon game when I was younger.  It’s going great aside from me randomly naming my Pokemon after Minecraft Youtubers and starting an au.

Here’s the most current screenshot of my team, and now I shall share some of the thoughts about the au I accidentally made that I’m also using for my in game lore where I basically don’t really exist, but that’s another thing.

Tis a bit long.

How the team formed.

Tango first met Skizz on Route 102, and after basically knocking the crap out of each other, they laughed it off and became friends.

They later found Impulse and Etho in the forest before Rustburo.  Impy and Etho were basically just chasing each other around a tree, and thought the duo were cute and asked them to join.

They found Joker in the cave on Dewford Island, but it took a while to even talk to him cause Joker just kept on poking Skizz and making dumb comments replaying to him and running away.

They finally find Zedaph in the desert on Route 111 fighting a Glalie and a poacher all on his own after the Glalie knocked out all the Vibrava and Flygon.

And now for some random facts about them.

They built a tandem bike.  Skizz handles the front pedals, and Tango handles the back ones.  Joker sits on the front handle bars holding the Pokenav so they all have a vague idea where to go.  Zed sits on the back handle bars so if someone tries to attack them close range, Zed can hold him out and have him chomp them.  Etho and Impy sit in a baby bike trailer in the back.

Tango will not stop raising the bar.  Like he’s highest level, and every time he steps up to give the others a break from battling, he only gets stronger and raises the bar even higher.

Etho’s natural eye color is blue, very out of the norm for Poochyeans/Mightyenas, however his left eye is red, and he has a scar over it.  Most people who first meet him think he got that scar in a cool way.  Impulse will tell you that Etho tripped and hurt his eye on a sharp rock, and he had to take Etho to the Pokemon Center.

A lot of people think Etho’s a lot more intimidate than he is.  He’s not.

After joining the team, Skizz saved him once, twice, 5 times, at least 10 times.  Etho is waiting for an opportunity to save Skizz once.

When Skizz evolved into a Lombre, a patch of blue stayed around his right eye.  Most of the younger Lotads he’s run across think it’s the coolest thing ever.

Impulse is wary of Sevipers because one named Helsknight decided to use him as basically a poison tail paddle ball.  Impy’s shed skin helped him from being physically hurt too bad, but the mental and emotional hurt hit full force.

The usual red and blue sections on Impy’s wings, and his eyes are purple.

Joker used to steal stuff from campers back when he lived in the cave.  It’s how he got his jester hat.  He stopped after joining the team.

He also has a section of the cave full of stolen tripods, and he forgot where it was when he left home.

Zedaph stubbornly refuses to evolve stating he does not want to gain a 4x weakness to ice.  The only reason he might consider it is if Groudon, Kyoger, AND Raquaza were all fighting, and there was no other way to stop them.

Despite refusing to evolve, he has these little pink bumps on his back.  Etho teases him by saying they’re his little wing bumps.

Zed’s eyes are basically what I’m calling Dragon Type Purple.

Tango is the only one who can fully speak the human language, and as such has taken it upon himself to not only shop but advocate for all his friends.

Joker and Zed can partially speak human, and they have been taking lessons from Tango.

#pokemon #hermitcraft #mcyt #tango tek #pokemon blaziken #impulseSV #pokemon beautifly #ethoslab #pokemon mightyena #skizzleman #pokemon lombre #misterjokertv #pokemon sableye #zedaph #pokemon trapinch

[efigeniax]

a gift for @alvcro in this hell home location: the Necromanteion's lowest level when: before avery showed up for this b-lister task

Secluded in the bowels of the Necromanteion, the Advocate stood silently. Familial bonds had been severed further, a cutthroat demand for power that she so ruthlessly wantoned for. The Necronomicon's influence was a double-edged sword and she could feel it's tenebrous influence clouding her judgement the moment she allowed it's complete influence over her life. She'd been voracious before, a witch who hungered for that which could not be sustained until all the pieces of the book were back in order. Circumstances of her life had changed over a hundred years, family ties had been created, a coven had been upholstered by her influence as Watcher; but still she craved that which was forbidden. She would never be hindered by cowardice and though the sight of Raffaele and Jian being minced to pieces and tossed into the belly of the book had been difficult, the Advocate grit her teeth, silenced her tongue, and focused on the task at hand.

She paused her polishing of the altar, the severing of a limb when she felt Alvaro's presence grow stronger. "There's work to be done, Alvaro," cold and calloused she couldn't bear to look at him, lest she fall apart at what she allowed to transpire.

#alvaro #c. #e: the end #a silent starter is so personal but im not that evil

[nolongerapileofashprobably]

I feel like Zelda’s arc in BOTW would have been stronger if she had found a way to save the day with her knowledge of technology instead of her powers or at the very least tie her interests in with her powers awakening. As it is, it feels like the narrative never really refuted Rhoam’s suppression of her interests. Zelda spends the game thinking, “My self worth is only dictated by how well i can fulfill my birthright and destiny. but if things could be different...." and the narrative is like "No, you were right about the first half.” And in TOTK, her powers once again end up being the only aspect of her character that matter. She never finds any sense of self worth outside of self-sacrifice across both games. It’s pretty depressing.

I do understand this opinion in part! I have thought really long and hard about this. Because I see the appeal; I understand it completely! Trust me, your opinion and thoughts are completely valid!! Below are my thoughts on her story (and I feel like atp I’m known to be an advocate for botw/totk Zelda and her story lmao). Basically, I don’t think the story, all its layers, and her character are depressing at all! It’s just a matter of really looking into her character and development to see that she overcomes her father’s repression of who she is and the leader she wanted to be through her own maturity and choices!

Zelda’s narrative was centered around the acceptance of her destiny, making her OWN decisions on who she wants to be as a leader (in ToTK), and maturing as a person. She’s so insanely relatable and has such a strong internal struggle with despising her inability to use magic and coping through something she knows she is good at (analysis) that it’s hard to imagine NOT having her embrace her magic and ACCEPTING that it’s (basically) gone after she and Link seal away Calamity Ganon.

I think the idea of Zelda’s destiny and her own intellectual personality being opposites where only the use of one can be used to evaluate her self worth is the mindset Zelda is challenged with her entire life. But part of Zelda’s narrative in Botw was about ACCEPTING her destiny, she despised her fate and the fact that her technological analysis was not appreciated. She cursed the spirits and the Goddess, she thought the whole time her self worth was tied to her magic.

I do genuinely believe Zelda managed to balance her role as a Princess, an analyst, and a self assured, mature woman. I think the best part of Zelda’s story was her development as a person in BoTW and then as a leader in ToTK. From a superficial level, yes Zelda succeeded in the fight against Ganon(dorf) through her magic. But the layers beneath that contain a huge amount of personality and development that for me, itches every narrative itch I had for her character.

And perhaps I sounds like a shipper (spoiler, I am) but Zelda awakening her powers through her love for Link spoke far more volumes to me than anything else. She fell in love with the one person who she originally did not like because of his ROLE and loved him because he supported her, saw her worth, and understood her as a person and as someone who has their life decided for them by some old prophecy. And for someone who resented and hated her magic, awakening it through love and acceptance was extremely powerful.

Ultimately, looking at Zelda and only thinking of magic versus technology to measure her character’s narrative ignores the details and development Zelda went through as a person and leader in both these games. Zelda did not ignore her analytical passion in either game, and the highlight on her magic powers is compelling because for once in the Zelda series we have a Princess who DESPISES her magic. Tetra had complex feelings about it too, don’t get me wrong, but Zelda was UNABLE to be the magical princess. She didn’t have her magic handed to her suddenly or able to access it after years of training.

She awakened it after everyone failed, and through the love she held for Link.

Her journey of self acceptance, maturity, and genuine compassion is what compels her character’s narrative. And that is what negates Rhoam’s repression of who she is. Because at the beginning of the story, Zelda is insecure, despises her inability to access her magic, and misunderstood. At the end, she is self assured, accepts her inability to use magic, and understood.

Not to mention she does not stop being an absolute nerd and by creating a research team she helped Link by creating a community that strived to research the Zonai and other mysteries in Hyrule! This helped to uncover the fifth sage and it also helped the Sheikah create new tech that wasn’t corrupted by Ganon!

Of course we could of had a game where she uses Sheikah tech to defeat Ganon but we would get people bashing on botw even more than it was for being even more of a non-traditional Zelda game LOL

The Legend of Zelda series is known for its usage of light and dark magic, good versus evil, and having Zelda aid Link in his journey through her role as the Princess of the Royal Family. Zelda’s story in botw&totk is the strongest of ALL the princesses and stands very well as is. It’s a story of Zelda accepting herself, her magic, her duty as Hyrule’s leader, her passions, and her destiny.

Just remember your opinion on this is completely valid and everything I described above is not meant to sway you from thinking different! It’s just me appreciating the heartbreaking, heartwarming, and bittersweet story from Zelda’s character we got in Botw and totk. All the love for you in submitting this ask <3

#I feel like I’m a broken record every time I talk about botw/totk Zelda but I love her so much I can talk about her for days #more like years HAHA #loz zelda #loz botw #loz botw zelda #botw Zelda #totk Zelda #totk spoilers #the legend of zelda #zelink #botw #zelda botw #loz botw zelink #botw zelink #totk zelink #the legend of zelda breath of the wild #the legend of zelda tears of the kingdom #zelda totk

[lightlycareless]

First, it hurts— Chapter XXVI

Naoya Zen’in x Fem!Reader

While arranged marriages are not uncommon in the jujutsu community, it was strange to receive a proposal from none other than the Zen’in’s, nonetheless your clan accepted and before you knew it, you were married off to Naoya.

Your new purpose was clear: to serve and submit, to be seen and not heard. To forget any sense of individuality in favor of obeying your husband.

Will this marriage ever flourish into something else? Will it change…for better or for worse?

Chapter warnings: the overwhelming sensation of despair, slight mentions of abuse, allot of secrecy between relatives, confrontations 💀 and that seems to be all of it!

A/N: Hi!! It feels good to only have to post one part haha that's what I get for writing long chapters x.x anyways, still a pleasure to write them haha!

Without any further ado, happy reading! 🥰

Masterlist ➸ Chapter 27

Ao3 link.

Hinata was pleased to admit that her meeting with Gojo hadn’t been as uneventful as she initially anticipated. 

Sure, the man was known to be powerful and all knowing, thanks to the countless resources placed to his disposal via the Gojo clan, as well as through his own merit..

Perfect in every sense of the word, and a powerful ally anyone would be honored to have, more to ask favors from .

And yet… she continuously feared that this encounter would’ve been nothing more than a bunch of diplomatic excuses to avoid the situation all together, because as much as he was highly regarded as the best sorcerer of this generation, he was still an irresponsible young man with a lot of things to learn.

“I can’t barge in and cancel your sister’s marriage without getting any of us in trouble, many would think it to be incredibly convenient that I’ve decided to step in now, eh?” she imagined Satoru complaining. “And that would also cause friction between the two families, and who wants to deal with that??”

However, all her worries (or the vast majority of them) would’ve turned obsolete in time once she realized that even if Gojo genuinely found himself with his hands tied when it came to actually pulling out from that wretched house, he was still all about advocating against the elders. 

So, with what little he could afford to do, he gave Hinata all of the resources he thought adequate to aid her help—while keeping his name out of the equation—, but not without ending in a disquieting tone that only deepened her sour aftertaste.

“Why don’t you contact the Kamo clan? ” He’d considered as the two made their way towards the nearest train station. Satoru had previously attempted to offer Hinata a ride back home in a more private and comfortable setting, that being his car. But your sister, who was already risking too much by being with him, decided to fall into the tranquility of mundanity and take the public transport to avoid getting caught with him.

Also, if she was to successfully complete your rescue mission, she needed to keep her mind as clear as possible, and a change of scenario might just do the work.

“You already have a stronger connection to them thanks to the young heir, Noritoshi-kun” He continued on “He’s 9 already years old! Can you believe that?—or was it ten? Eh, who knows, I’m not that good with birthdays anyways”

Hinata gave her best to ignore his words and to continue walking onto her destination, or she fears she would’ve laughed right there and then.

It was so incredulous, so out of touch… but well matching with his nature.

Had he been there to see how her distant cousin was treated throughout her “relationship” with the Kamo clan leader, and subsequently discarded once she gave birth to the future heir, he would’ve never dared to say that in her face.

It was absolutely foul to see how the elders attempted to justify the Kamo clan’s actions, citing that this had been the arrangement from the beginning, and even if it wasn’t, surely nobody was expecting the mistress to stay at the estate while the wife was still alive! Even if the latter had no leverage on her defense after failing tremendously on the one responsibility she had as the lady of the house.

Infuriating, but not shocking. They have always been unruly when it came to treating their family, your parents being the earliest example Hinata could think of—in that, she could assess them to be fair.

What rattled her the most out of this situation, after her distant relative’s treatment, was the reaction of the legitimate wife. 

Your sister could understand her animosity towards the idea of having her husband’s mistress lingering around the estate, but instead of considering this to be a cruel political game to pit both women against each other, a symptom of the patriarchal disease plaguing the jujutsu community, she decided to take this as a personal attack and shamelessly join the barbarous inquisition against your distant cousin—dumping her onto the street without offering her a way to fend herself, even after all that she seemingly sacrificed for the clan, as well as giving her a bad reputation that would follow her all the way back to the L/N estate, earning her another dosage of mistreatment, this time, from your family.

She was the reason why Noritoshi wasn’t permitted to see his mother ever again after she left, the reason why the young child felt pressured to accept a role he never wanted in hopes of reconnecting with her in the future, as well as treating him as nothing but a bastard , instead of recognizing the victim that he ultimately was—effectively robbing him from any semblance of a normal life and family. 

It wasn’t the elders, nor the husband, responsible for the mother’s mistreatment—although they were willing bystanders—but the wife .

This soon turned out to be too much for the poor woman to handle on her own, and as expected, she eventually left the estate and cut ties with everyone, never to be seen again.

These were all things that you and your siblings were unable to comprehend or stop at the moment due to their young age, and the adults weren’t of much help either, simply delegating these successions as difficult family affairs whenever either dared to ask, their constant refusal eventually leading their curiosity to die out with time.

So no, she was not going to ask for their help—they were cut from a similar fabric as the Zen’in’s, although of a different color. Might as well ask them to hand you over directly!

Either way, this recollection of the past is something that remained well imprinted in your sister’s mind, a burning memory that only grew stronger and painful the more she knew of the society she was to serve, which soon turned into one of the many encouragements to do what was right. 

Do what she should with the image she represented: ensure a safe environment for the people under her protection, so that none of these things would happen again.

… But now, it’s a thought that makes her feel stupid.

To begin, she’s supposed to be the golden child of her clan: The one carrying the invaluable inherited technique of the L/N, one that held great historical worth alongside power, but had unfortunately been absent from the world for many, many years.

No  matter their approach, no child seemed to be born with this technique that essentially kept them on the map, and the fear of fading into the past became more of a reality by each passing day.

That is, until Hinata was born.

When her arrival was announced, she was quickly revered as the L/N’s savior, the one that ensured a bright future for as long as they played their cards right.

And yet, she wasn’t able to save you .

To be revered as salvation itself was nothing more than a formality, for she held no influence nor relevance when the elders decided to sell you to the Zen’in as soon as her engagement to the Gojo heir turned obsolete. 

She wasn’t able to stop your father from agreeing and organizing that sham of a celebration from happening, nor Naoya from hurting you and mocking her.

And all of this… happening right under her nose.

She wants to stay angry at your father. She wants to stay angry at Naoya, at the elders, the whole world if she could! 

But she can’t. Because it’s unproductive… as well as having another emotion taking its space in turn, that being, Satoru’s chilling allusion:

The possibility of you falling in love with Naoya.

Hinata might’ve made fun of your preferences back in the day, just to get a reaction out of you. It was all of a humorous nature, of course, for she knew very well that your standards couldn’t possibly be that mediocre. A comforting thought that stopped her from slapping the idea out of Satoru’s face—in fact, she wishes she’d done so before hopping on the train…

Because now she can’t remove the possibility of… what if… 

What if you did?

What if you somehow… god forbid, ended up growing fond of Naoya throughout the time you’re there? 

What if… during the time she’s secluded from you… you somehow come to the conclusion that staying with the Zen’in was for your benefit? However that might come to be?

Hinata sighs, and in this moment of heedlessness, her mind takes her back to the last time she saw you.

The sorrowful sight of the bruises on your body was perhaps the only thing she could remember from her encounter with you, asides from your equally frightening plea for help in the form of your homesick tears. Images that make her stomach drop, her blood run cold, and sleepless at night.

More so for the implication behind them.

Your bruises weren’t ones that she’d categorize as normal. Normal, as in relatable to an active sorcerer: 

These weren’t bruises that came from a dangerous mission, or a friendly training session—No, none of these things matched your reality.

These injuries were made out of pure perversion, filling  a narcissistic need to mark you as his property, break your autonomy, mock her presence, and insult your family. 

As if to show that he had authority over you , and no matter what your sister did, you’ll stay right where he wants you.

What kind of husband purposely hurts their wife to inflate their ego?!

Naoya was—and Hinata was on her way to prove him wrong. After all, she already held a victory over him, and she’s damn sure she can do it again.

But God, this was turning out to be her hardest task yet…

Well, before she’s able to do as much as continue with her mission, she first wants to check how everything was faring back at home.

Ren had agreed to keep a close eye on their clan whilst she goes out and does what needs to be done, such as going up to meet Satoru—an event that was kept a secret from them to begin with, hidden underneath the excuse that she was simply going out to get some new clothes after her payroll came in. 

It seemed to work, at least for now, for no one asked any more questions outside what store she was planning to visit before leaving her alone.. 

Neither could run the risk of revealing she’d gone to see Satoru, for it would only get their unwanted attention all over her business. They’d grow suspicious, start asking questions, and eventually… they’d get an air of what she’s been planning to do: get you out of that sick marriage with the Zen’in heir.

Because why else would your sister show her face to the Gojo heir, after the humiliation she’d put her family and his through after ending their engagement, if it wasn’t to ask for a favor?

Thinking of your family’s crystal-clear preference for those in power, it makes it almost impossible to not see why your marriage went through in the first place. Guess she was just surprised for how fast they were to fold for the next biggest fish in the pond, and how your father seemingly didn’t put up a fight.

Had their mother been alive, she would’ve nev—

Hinata shakes the thought of her mother out of her head before it sprouts any bigger.

She’d gone through great efforts to get her mind steady and clear to perform her duties as efficiently as possible, thus she had to be careful not to get distracted on unnecessary details. Especially those that were written in stone… intertwined with excruciating pain.

But if she had to put a label on what she’d thought her mother’s feelings would be… disappointment would only be the tip of the iceberg.

Well, there’s no use in voicing the words of a person who is no longer around to speak for herself, not when her memory just prompted another layer of frustration to Hinata’s already tangled mind.

For now, she must focus on what’s happening in her home, to know if her actions had remained under the radar from the disingenuous elders, and maybe… just maybe… news from you.  

“I’m home” Is what Hinata says as soon as she crosses the wooden gates of her home. She forces a smile out of her lips upon observing a wave of servants rushing to greet her amicably, barraging her with all kinds of courtesies—from hanging her bag, getting her something to eat or drink, to even preparing her a bath. A suitable welcome for the heir of the L/N clan.

But one that would be shut down delicately, for as appetizing as getting a bath sounded like after a long day of urbanity, it’s something it’ll have to wait until she knows how Ren and Sumire have been—a statement that prompted the servants to disperse, more so after the presence of said older brother became apparent just behind them.

“Welcome back” Ren greets, now just a few feet away from his sister. Sumire tags along just a few seconds after.

“You’re back, Hinata-san!” Sumire sang as she ran towards her, bumping into her and bringing her into an embrace.

Your sister didn’t need to go beyond her gesture to understand that while coming from a place of concern for her personal well-being, was more of an outburst of anxiety at the prospect of new information regarding you—either way, she took no offense to her demonstration and returned said affection with a hug of her own.

“How was your… day out?” Ren cautions through a carefully selected wording he presumes would pass undetected through the ears of those that lingered around. Because even after his younger sister dismissed them, he has no doubt that those whose loyalty inclined more towards the elders took her request more as a recommendation.

“Good—quick. A nice change of scenery after all the work I’ve done” Quick to catch his scheme, Hinata plays along with a group of corny sentences that she believes will dissolve any suspicion. “I got some cute sweaters for this upcoming winter, but since I didn’t want to carry them back home, I asked for my items to be delivered here”

“I’m glad! You always seem to be taking the roughest missions, you deserve to relax once in a while” Ren continues on as he glances one more time towards the wall he senses a servant to be.

His keen perception has him attentive to a noise likened to roaming footsteps, undoubtedly representing the departure of those that stayed behind in hopes to catch something to inform the elders—a tactic that became somewhat common ever since you were taken out of the picture: whether to see how your siblings were faring with this undesirable predicament, or because they were already suspicious of something happening behind the scenes, he has yet to decide.

Anticipating how these ordeals often go down, Ren signals Hinata and Sumire to hold their thoughts for a bit longer, at least until the bystanders' footsteps disappear and are effectively out of earshot.

Once he assesses them to finally be out of their midst, Ren is finally able to go back to Hinata to speak what they’re truly interested in.

“How did it go?” He whispers, low, barely hearable by the alarmed ears of Sumire (who kept an eye out for any fellow staff member that might’ve stayed behind without Ren noticing), but loud enough for a focused Hinata whose determination never left her mind.

“…Not here” she advises back in the same tone as she gently shakes her head. 

Sumire and Ren then glance at each other for a quick second before nodding and gesturing to Hinata to follow them into a room they had anticipatedly prepared for such an occasion—away from the servants, the elders, and all those in between.

A place that had been long abandoned, for there was never a necessary use behind it, aside from a few occasions here and there, subsequently redecorated as a guest room after the owner passed away—your mother’s private chambers.

Once safely inside the confines of their new rendezvous point, and after double checking they haven’t been followed, or lost anyone that might’ve thought themselves undetectable, Hinata promptly begins.

“It was… beneficial, much more than what I expected” she informs while heading towards the middle of the room where a small wooden table was to be found. Hinata reaches for a nearby brown pillow to sit on, patting it a few times before finally taking a seat, an action soon replicated by Sumire and Ren.

Once on the floor, she couldn't help but sigh, alleviating with it the burden of her fatigue which she’s kept at bay for the past few hours.

Hinata was no stranger to being outside her home, hometown even, for long hours, without rest and under stressful circumstances—all thanks to the career path that she selected.

However, the emotional burden she was carrying was bound to take a toll on her body one way or another, and considering that it had been far heavier than anything she had endured before, it was no surprise that everyday instances had now become far more difficult.

No amount of training would have given her the necessary tools to deal with her emotional turmoil, outside of laying on her futon and disconnecting from the world for a few minutes.

Now that she thought about it, when was the last time she was able to get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep?

Between missions, meetings, and you… she hasn’t been able to do much more than getting quick naps here and there—perhaps 4 hours of sleep, if she somehow really tired herself out . Hinata can’t help but feel like a dog with that silly comparison… before whiplashing into a wistful thought.

Were you having better luck than her? Were you able to sleep at night? Rest?

…

Knowing the horrors that haunted that family, she dreadfully presumes not.

Hinata can’t wait for the moment you’re finally back home, with the people that love and care for you.

But until then, she’ll power through her difficulties—one way or another, like she’d always have.

“Is he going to help us?” Sumire’s optimistic question snaps her out of her spiraling thoughts and back to the present. Hinata blinks, readjusting her blank vision before focusing on Sumire’s face.

There was something swirling in her eyes that your sister couldn’t identify as anything else but hope as she intently looked back at her in awe.

Your best friend really had no intention of being in this meeting. And it’s not because she wasn’t welcomed—far from that. They knew just how important she was to you and vice versa, however, this was a fight that she would undeniably lose if she ever finds herself in the crossfires. Something that both Ren and Hinata wanted to avoid as much as possible, even if it meant keeping her in the dark.

Nonetheless, Sumire made it her life mission to be there with your siblings and offer support wherever she can, even with her great disadvantage. And for that, Hinata and Ren are greatly appreciative of.

So you could only imagine how distraught Hinata must’ve felt when she relayed her answer through the subtle shake of her head in denial, worsening once she caught a glimpse of Sumire’s hopeful eyes quickly switching into ones of desolation.

“ What? ” Ren is the first to speak up, a scowl on his face as he grits his teeth—your sister doesn’t know if it’s towards Satoru, or the addition of another obstacle in the race to get you back. Either way, he was not pleased. “Then how is that to our advantage, sister?”

“He’s not going to help, at least not personally… nor directly” Your sister explains “But he did give me suggestions to go through… And you guys wouldn’t believe the number of things he told me today”

“What did he say?” Ren raises an eyebrow. 

Your brother was… one of the many people that weren’t that fond of Satoru, in fact, he could probably count with one hand just the amount of people that did like him.

However, as time passed, he had grown to be somewhat understanding of him due to his relationship with his family, as well as the upbringing he was unfortunate to have. Leading him to see Gojo as… well, an obnoxious younger brother, rather than his abhorrent brother-in-law . “What stupidity did he come up with today so he wouldn’t help us?”

That didn’t mean he couldn’t hold a bit of skepticism towards him, though. 

If there’s something that Ren dislikes the most about the sorcery community, it’s the deafness people in power seem to have when approaching subjects that affect others. They always seem to be so…above others, simply because they were fortunate enough to grow into privileges others might never experience in their life, as if they didn’t have the power to change that!

And Satoru was no exception, until in recent years that is, when he finally decided to take his role in the world of jujutsu as something serious with endless opportunities to enact positive change.

But even then, he has yet to fully grasp the weight of his actions. It’s what led Ren to believe that Hinata’s suggestion of seeking help through Satoru might not be as beneficial as she thought in the first place. 

Even if he knew that he cared for his sisters… he could never know what he might come up with—more often than not, taking this situation with the same level of maturity he always did, in other words, not earnestly: and if that had been the case, Ren might just have to give him a visit as well…

Thankfully, your sister is quick to come to the rescue by injecting leniency into the conversation, just before Ren is able storm out of the room and head towards the Gojo estate.

“…He’s guarding the current holder of the Ten Shadows Technique” she confesses “in other words, the next heir of the Zen’in clan”

Sumire blinks, unable to understand the meaning or depth of the just mentioned technique, and how that relates to you, remaining silent and somewhat serious as she darts glances between your sister and your brother in hopes of obtaining the semblance of an answer. 

Sure, she’s heard of techniques before, mainly through you, but never in great detail. 

First, these were topics that were ruled out as confidential for anyone outside the main branch—such as herself— only knowing of your ability, your siblings’, and a few mission debriefs here and there, due to her close relationship to them, but never more than that.

Secondly, because even if you were willing to share information the elders didn’t seem necessary for a staff member to know with her, you often avoided these topics in favor of doing something far more entertaining than work—jujutsu could be very tedious when it came down to it, and you didn’t wish to bore your best friend to death in the short time you were allowed to see her.

Ren, on the other hand, could not have understood the significance of her words and the shocking revelation that tied you to this statement any better. He’d been in the game long enough to understand how politics work in this realm, perhaps more than he would’ve liked to know, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s able to piece the pieces together as soon as Hinata confined her findings, evident by the way his mouth falls agape and his eyes widen, which only brings a far more confused reaction out of Sumire.

“That’s—Do you know what that means?” Ren urges, and Hinata nods. “That means that their marriage isn’t of any use anymore! It can be annulled!”

“Wait, wait! I don’t understand” Sumire frets, beginning to feel as if she were falling out of the loop… as if she hadn’t felt like that ever since your marriage was announced. “How is that going to help Y/N-chan get back home?”

“This is just assuming if the marriage was constructed under those pretenses…” Hinata resentfully whispers, a sentiment that your brother opts to ignore with the aim of clinging onto the small ray of hope that appeared in the dark horizon of your absence.  

“We still have to give it a shot” Ren responds before turning to Sumire and offering her the explanation she so desperately desired. “Marriages in the jujutsu community are often done under the objective of creating strong children: regardless of the curse, as long as the kid has high amounts of energy and is talented , the marriage is considered successful.

However, the rules change when the 3 main families are involved. There is a thing called inherited techniques in most families, something like a heirloom that’s passed through generations—these are most powerful when it comes from them though”

“Just like my technique” Hinata adds and Sumire hums.

“Because of their power, these are often taken as the definers of the next head of the clan,  so it’s unsurprising these are highly sought after” Ren continues on “But here’s the catch: they only appear once every few years, and there’s never two users at the same time. Some people might try to change this, just as my family intended with Hinata and Satoru, but there has never been a record of a successful attempt. So, taking this into consideration, as well as the existence of user of the Zen’in’s technique…”

“That means… there’s no reason for Y/N to be married anymore!” Sumire’s beams, her face lightening up once she sees what they did “That’s—That’s wonderful, Hinata-san! Can’t you see? We can finally save Y/N-chan!” 

But your sister remains contrastingly motionless, somber. Almost as if she hadn’t heard any of the words they said… or more likely, knew more to the story than they did.

“What’s wrong?” Ren murmured; throat strained and face furrowed as the prospect of something… terrible begins to settle in the back of his mind. He swallows when her silence eventually confirms his assumptions. “There is something else… isn’t it?”

“…Satoru implied the clan already knew of their existence… specifically Naobito, their leader. He allegedly attempted to buy the user out of their family but the transaction never went through” She says, and the implication behind her words has Ren silently dwelling in incredulity “But if we consider what you just said, and the fact that Y/N is yet to return home… All I can think of is that this marriage was struck for other conditions, and thus, this information is… irrelevant”

At the climax of his anger, all that Ren can do is scoff.

He should’ve known .

He should’ve known this would happen the very moment everything began to go their way.

It was just too easy, wasn't it? Too simple for a solution to suddenly appear before them when all hope seemed to vanish. 

No, because fate never worked that way. Because things were never that effortless when it came to doing the right thing, of course.

The Zen’in truly did an exceptional job covering their asses—if only they applied such resolution in treating you well.

“Then what?” Ren cursed; frustration apparent in the tight clench of his hands against his palm and the crescent moons forming beneath them. “ What now? ”

“That’s where Satoru helped me” Hinata reveals “With the ongoing crisis, sorcerers have been required to essentially make a record of every movement they make—all I have to do is check Naoya’s records at the Kyoto school to get an idea of his whereabouts before the wedding, assuming what that everything my father said was somewhat true” 

It’s a solution, one that Hinata sets down in attempts of easing his brother’s and Sumire’s rising concern… coincidentally, the one that would also take the longest to complete. Achieving the exact opposite of what she wanted.

But even when boiling in anger, Ren is capable enough to keep his cool and analyze her words and the following actions to take.

“That’s dangerous” Ren is quick to note after a second of consideration. “You’re going dangerously close to their territory, and if they somehow get word that you’re investigating Naoya…”

“I know, I know” she groans, pressing her fingers against her forehead in an attempt to ease the headache slowly starting to form in her head. “I’ve already considered everything, the dangers, the expenses… everything”

“I wish I could help” Sumire laments “…I’m just here… unable to do anything for Y/N-chan except clean her room… ”

“You’ve done enough for us, Sumire” Hinata comforts, giving her a smile “I’m sure she’ll appreciate you keeping her things in order”

“… I just want her to be back” she adds “I want to help”

“We know” Ren sighs, patting Sumire’s back as to ease her nerves before looking back to Hinata. “Then… that’s what you’re going to do?”

“Yeah. I plan to get a basic idea of where he's been, if he’s been near our properties, or if someone saw him do anything suspicious… I also asked Satoru about it and he said he hasn’t heard anything—whatever they did, whoever they hired, if that was the case, they did a good job keeping everything away from the sun”

“Guess it’s a necessary skill to sustain themselves for as long as they have” Ren concludes “A clan doesn’t get to live that long without committing atrocities here and there. It’s was only natural that they’d learn how to keep it a secret from the rest of the world”

Just as your family had done. Perhaps to a lesser extent than the Zen’in, but the L/N clan had also earned its fair share of crimes throughout their existence, and had long since learned how to sleep at night after betraying their own relatives. 

Unfortunately, a skill that would probably never go out of fashion: As long as there is corruption in the hearts of humanity, abuse will prevail. And that’s something that will end with her .

“Well, that’s what I managed to get on my part” Hinata concludes, moving onto the next subject “What about… you? How are things in the estate? With your… girlfriend?”

“Oh, I don’t want you to worry about that right now, but if you must know… we’re ok” Ren says, crossing his arms and resting them on the table “we managed to postpone a lot of things without having to lose our deposit, so there’s that”

Ren considers himself lucky to have such a supporting partner, especially when the prospect of losing great amounts of money just to postpone their wedding and honeymoon still lingered over their heads.

However, his girlfriend understood all too well the situation and agreed to wait a little longer until things were better with his future in-laws—besides, what kind of wedding would it be if you weren’t even there? 

After that, Ren promised himself to make it up to her after everything was dealt with, starting by retiring from the jujutsu world and taking on all of the household responsibilities so she could completely focus on her career.

It’s only necessary if he wants to raise a family with her.

But until then, he shall continue to play his part on the urgent mission at hand.

“As for the estate… I fear I was not as efficient as you. Everyone has been rather… silent, evasive even, right?” He looks over at Sumire, and she nods “Yet, there have been moments where I believed to have seen some kind of… vacillation coming from certain members of the staff, and elders for that matter, whenever I was around. Take that however you want”

“I’d too be nervous if I had something to hide” Hinata accuses, rolling her eyes “…and if I was as intimidating as you are”

“You are intimidating” Ren corrects, reflecting on the actual reason as to why they’ve been so cautious around him ever since this whole charade started..

Far from his own merit, it had been Hinata’s all along.

Your sister has been haunting the L/N estate like some kind of yurei from the very moment she’d returned to the estate after visiting the Zen’in. 

A spirit that radiated vengeance with each step she took, no one was free of the her antagonizing glances, to the point that even the staff that was closest to her, those who were more likely to carry guilt-free consciences, began to set a healthy amount of distance to avoid being in the receiving end of her ire, and subsequently, him. 

Because what one sibling did, the other often replicated.

It was never in Hinata’s intentions to blame the innocent members of her clan, unfortunately, she no longer found herself in a position where she could trust anybody outside of those present in the room. Not even Eiichi, your father, was part of that leniency.

And with good reason—with all things accounted, he was perhaps the guiltiest of them all. The one that allowed everything to happen in the first place, the one that signed the wedding certificate as a witness and pushed you into the wretched claws of that disgusting family, giving a congratulatory cheer while at it.

His actions are what incited her the most to obtain the determination she needed to save you, the one she used as fuel to search every inch, nook and cranny around the estate for anything that could serve her purpose from those that failed you: the smallest slip-up when doing their chores, a stammer while in a casual conversation, a drop of sweat sliding down their temples as they sat for tea, or the lightest twitch from their fingers as they killed time with a senseless game, regardless of its reasoning, anything that might indicate the slightest semblance of a guilty conscience, and exploit it against them.

But just as it was stated, a clan as old as your family doesn’t get to survive for that long without having gone through immeasurable amounts of shady businesses in order to ensure its existence in the future, and subsequently, had long stopped caring for the morality behind it the more they performed so.

Your siblings just wished some of them had grown overconfident enough to become sloppy in their actions—but it seems that not even that was to be on their advantage.

“Not intimidating enough to get them talking” Hinata scoffs, and Sumire scrunches her face out of anguish.

“I… wish to say that in time you’ll find what you need but… I fear that Y/N-chan might not have that much time” Sumire whimpered and Hinata pressed her eyebrows. Neither wanted to admit it, but she was right. There was only so much time before things began to worsen to the point she would no longer be able to save you.

The wrong pregnancy is quick to flash across her mind’s eye, before shaking it off and going back to comforting your frightened friend.

“There’s no use in fretting, Sumire” Hinata eases, giving her a smile that would not only help her cool down, but her as well. “They might not offer much, but I already got a lead somewhere else. Besides, as long as we keep trying, we’re getting closer to bringing her back”

“I guess so…” Sumire responded dejectedly with a sigh. “Will you… go to Kyoto then?”

“I have no other option—it’s the long route, sure, but I still have faith that it’ll give me what I need”

“Then I’ll support it” Ren adds. “I’m not too keen with you getting so close to the lion’s den, but at the same time, I don’t think you’ll find much without getting near them”

“I know… and as much as I would’ve preferred to get my information somewhere else, I don’t really have that many leads to follow”

“Does it worry you that they might have some undercover agent to inform them about anyone snooping in on their records?” Sumire frets, and a wave of uneasiness she thought quenched returns to wash over Hinata.

She had already considered all possible outcomes while making her way back to the estate after Satoru suggested such an idea: from witnesses unwilling to speak, to whistleblowers informing of her actions towards those she is digging dirt on, these were all things that could happen if fate decided to play that way.

However, even with the prospect of facing the devious nature of various individuals working against her, she was comforted by her belief in the genuineness and fairness of the jujutsu system when it came to neutrality amongst sorcerers. 

All the information regarding to a sorcerers activities, such as license number, active missions, completed missions, and if they’re active or not, was available for public record; in other words, she would be available to essentially waltz into the school, request Naoya’s information, and get what she needs out of it without any repercussions.

This was already in the works, even way before Geto catapulted this ongoing crisis. 

It was a solution to promote transparency between members of the community, and a way to dissolve unethical practices between fellow members and civilians to wash the blood that plagued their history, all while in agreement to their service to the community. 

That he had been the final push to enact this change was another story.

Thus, Hinata didn’t concern herself too much when it came to the Zen’in having someone under cover to alert them of a possible onlooker—they couldn’t just go and tell people they were investigated on, because that could incite some form of retribution and that would go against the same ethics of neutrality and safety the jujutsu community was slowly trying to adopt, or at least to court.

In other words, there was nothing to worry about.

“I have thought about it” Hinata affirms. “But if anything, I’m more concerned about not finding anything to help Y/N… but that’s a risk I’m willing to take”

“The Zen’in might have an idea that you’re trying to do something anyways” Ren ponders, justifying his sister’s somewhat… reckless idea, at least in his point of view, and she agrees with a nod. “So it’s pointless to waste energy on something that’s probably already happening”

“Maybe, maybe not. But I sure hope they know I’m keeping a close eye on them, maybe that way they’ll know not to mess up with me and my family! They better be sleeping with an eye open…” Hinata threatens and Ren can’t help but smile at her somber resolve.

“I’m pretty sure some of the people here already do so” Ren snickers and Hinata rolls her eyes once more before chuckling. “That’s why I know you’ll be fine when you’re out there in Kyoto doing what you have to do”

“Thank you” Hinata smiles, and the cold wave of uneasiness is soon washed away by a warm wave of support from his brother. One she always knew she could get from him… regardless of the situation. “Then… if there’s nothing more to add… I think that’s all we have to say”

“Let me take you to your room, you need to rest” Ren suggests as he stands up, followed by helping Sumire stand up by offering his hand for her to take. Your sister initially wanted to reproach his suggestion, but before she’s able to do much as opening her mouth, he interjects. “I can see it in your tired eyes you haven’t been getting any sleep, have you?”

“Can you blame me? All I think of is my sister, even when I close my eyes, all I see is Y/N and those…. Disgusting bruises on her body”

Ren goes eerily silent, but his mind is nothing but a turmoil on the inside.

He’s been holding back the urge to storm his way out of the estate and onto the Zen’in’s and beat the shit out of Naoya just by the clench of his fists and the gritting of his teeth. 

Your brother was equally disgusted, if not more so than your sister, upon knowing of her findings at the Zen’in estate that one day she was deceitfully invited to their premises.

It had taken all of him to stand on the sidelines and let Hinata do what she needed to do in order to ensure your safe return—but if that weren’t a problem, you can bet that Ren would’ve destroyed the whole Zen’in estate long ago. 

But he couldn’t. And not because he didn’t want to, or lacked the physical force to do so. If anything, he had enough strength to spare (and with countless missions to attest to that) but he couldn’t just do what he impulsively wanted—any miscalculation could eventually lead you to be further secluded from their life, as well as spoil Hinata’s progress, and they were already having a tough time as it is…

His patience and tolerance was being undeniably tested, but for now, he’ll keep quiet, silently supporting his sister from afar, playing the role of obedient, responsible sorcerer by completing the load of dangerous missions HQ seems to be dumping on him day after day, almost as if they knew your siblings were trying to do something under the table, while keeping a close eye on the inside to ensure the secrecy and accomplishment of this difficult yet essential rescue mission.

“I know this may not be of much consolation but…” Sumire’s soft voice cuts through the tense silence, forcing Hinata’s and Ren’s eyes to land on her as she slides the shoji door open, stepping aside to invite your siblings to go first. 

Ren shakes his head, suggesting she go ahead first, to which she complies without putting up much of a fight. 

“I like to think that Y/N-chan is well. After all, bad news are often the first ones to circulate and if something… bad … had already happened to her, we would’ve known by now” 

Hinata is appreciative of the fact that even with all the shit you and your family were suddenly dumped with when the Zen’in became intertwined in their lives, there was still someone they knew you could trust in, someone that kept a positive outlook in this somber testament.

And she smiles.

“It’s… very comforting, actually” Hinata says as the group begins to make their way towards the living quarters, her room in mind. “Even with all the things that have been happening to her… I always try to reassure myself by keeping hope, thinking that this could definitely be infinitely worse… although I sometimes believe that we’re already past that point”

“Try not to think about that, Hinata” Ren responds, gently palming her back “try to get some rest, catch on those shows you paused, or visit the stables—it’s been a while since someone visited the horses, I’m sure they would appreciate a familiar face around. You’ve already done what you could today, take it easy”

“I know… I know” Hinata sighs, a pout eventually pursing her lips as she crosses her arms before looking up to him “However, there’s one this one last thing that I need to check with Sumire before I can do all that” your sisters then turns over to your best friend, and the young woman, caught by surprise by her sudden exposure to the spotlight, can’t do much by stare back at her as her mind tries to find out the small detail she might’ve forgotten to bring up during their previous conversation “My correspondence ”

“ Oh, yes!” Sumire gasps, thoughts taking her back to her private quarters and onto the small box she specifically set aside to keep Hinata’s letters away and secure from the prying eyes of the rest of the staff members who have yet to prove their trustworthiness, until she returns.

Just to show that she didn’t forget about this, she was just… too enthralled on getting news on Y/N’s rescue, that she didn’t deem it necessary to bring it up right then and there… or maybe it did slip up her mind. Stress can often do that.

“I just want you to know I didn’t forget them, I was just… waiting for the right moment!” Sumire blurted as she began to head towards her bedroom, an explanation which Hinata dismissed as nothing to worry that much while mouthing a quiet it’s ok “Wait for me in your room, I’ll bring them to you!”

And with the swift work of her feet, Sumire moved on to scurry onto the general direction of the staff’s quarters, the sound of her footsteps beginning to subside into thin air as Hinata and Ren continued walking towards the former’s room.

It was a silent trip up to the arrival of the familiar bedroom door, one which remained decorated with the sunflower stickers across the frame she placed on long ago when she was nothing more than a child, keeping them simply  for nostalgia’s sake. 

Without a second to waste, Hinata gently takes hold of the door and slides it open, the sight of a tidy and organized room welcoming her back. 

Everything seemed to be in place, completely different to how she left it before she left—one might even think she never left at all. Which was a gross understatement, for as of recent events, she’s only been able to stay at her house for short instances, simply returning to check on her family and any important announcements from work.

Taking this into consideration, any returning resident would’ve found relief in not having to worry about cleaning their room, being able to simply go ahead and change into more comfortable clothes before jumping into bed and call it a day.

However, the diligent work of her staff was not to give her the peace and tranquility Ren hoped she would achieve, more so when her serious face began to contort into one of uneasy eyes and furrowed brow once in the solace of each other's company: giving him the impression that there was something else she had yet to discuss with anyone else outside the inner voice in her head, and so, he’s prompted to talk.

“There’s something else bothering you, isn’t it?” Ren guesses, and Hinata, understanding she’s been read like an open book, relents with a sigh.

“Yes… it’s… perhaps the thing that disturbed me the most” she confides, pinching the spot just between her eyebrows to alleviate the pain she feels to be the beginning of a migraine from worsening, serving as an example of how disquieting this tormenting thought was.

“I’m all ears” he says as he gestures to her inside the room, closing the door behind him once both inside.

“You… you’re probably going to think it’s something stupid, after all, it came from Satoru but… I don’t know, it rubbed me the wrong way anyways” she goes on as she takes another seat on his futon, this time, completing laying her body back onto it and focusing on nothing more than the wooden ceiling. 

“Well then, it’s very rare for you to not be able to brush off something the idiot Satoru said” Ren raises an eyebrow while mentally prepares himself to lose some brain cells at whatever additional stupidity he concocted that day as he joins his sister’s side—completely oblivious of the shock he’s about to receive. “What did he say?”

“…What if the reason I can’t bring Y/N back home is…. Because… she doesn’t want to?” she whispers, as if the words were heavy, impossible for her to pronounce, or more like she didn’t want to voice them out loud, because by doing so it meant she had to relieve her disbelief yet again. 

“I don’t follow” Or more like he doesn't want to follow, because why would he want to think of the worst possible scenario becoming a reality when it comes to saving their sister? And such skepticism is what immediately leads him to frown and snap his gaze down onto his sister. 

He’s hoping to find any kind of indication that might signal this as a joke of bad taste, but all that he can find is nothing more than a shade of fright Hinata never allows anyone to see but the closest to her.

“…Because she wants to stay with Naoya?” Hinata is pushed by Ren’s intense stare to continue, but before she’s able to add anything more, Ren speaks.

“I hope you’re joking” the oldest of the L/N sibling’s spats, but Hinata’s silent rebuttal, as well as the flicker of her gaze back to the ceiling, proved him otherwise. “I seriously hope he didn’t just fucking imply that”

“He did. I’m telling you it’s something stupid, usual silliness from him, but… even if I think of it that way, I just can’t help but to wonder… what if?” Hinata frets “What if Y/N and Naoya somehow get to know each other better and she… she decides she doesn’t want to be here anymore? I’m already damn sure my visit was just a ruse to cover his ass, but what if… what if the next time I see her it’s not a ruse anymore? What if she means it?”

“When did you start doubting our sister, Hinata?” Ren asks, and Hinata is suddenly invaded by the sensation that her words have been a… Well, a gross misconception. And a grosser stupidity for implying such a thing for seemingly no reason. 

“I… never have… I just… well, he made… a point that I hoped wouldn’t come true, that’s all. Because if it did… I don’t know what I’ll do” she shuddered. 

But her worries didn’t come from doubting you, no. Far from it. She knew you too well to ever think of this becoming a reality.

They came from her own uncertainty.

She’d always been the one to come to the rescue of everyone that needed it, the one that everyone knew they could rely on if there’s something to be done.

There had never been a moment where Hinata couldn’t overcome an obstacle in the past. She always knew what to do, what to say, and that led her to be the figure of guidance and protection that others always expected her to be.

But on the occasion that she finds herself needing help, and struggling to find so… It led her to doubt her ability to comply with the expectations of everyone around her, as well as her own abilities.

Hinata always exhorted assistance with an unparalleled talent, regardless of the level of graveness, or if she even knew the person or not.

So… why can’t she do the same with her own sister?

Perhaps her mind granted far more credibility to this thought than what it actually needed in an excuse to ease some of her tensions, because if that was the case, then Hinata could easily say there was nothing else to—

“That won’t happen” Ren reassures her upon sensing the mental gymnastics happening inside her mind.

But Hinata, far from feeling reassured by his words and too deep into her own despair, can’t help but inwardly dispute on how he could know so confidently.

And as if he was able to read minds, although it was more of being attentive to the right cues, he continues “Because there is no way she’d ever care for someone as wretched as Naoya—she either lost her mind, or Naoya did. And I’m leaning towards none”

Hinata remains quiet, analyzing his words for a few seconds before releasing a sigh.

“…If you put it that way… I guess you’re right, Ren” Hinata eventually relented, her moment to now look up at him. 

His gaze remained fixed on her, as if to show how attentively he was listening to all that she had to say, however, even with the stern look on his eyes, seemingly offended by Satoru’s suggestion, Hinata was still able to uncover an underlying emotion behind them: something… likened to pain and irritation.

Pain, for the mere thought of you being away from them through your own volition was enough to induce him into disgust—because he knew, deep inside him, that could never come to reality, at least consensually. It entailed another layer of inscrutability he doesn’t dare to explore for his sanity’s sake.

And on that note, we pass onto irritation . 

Far from being irritated at Hinata for bringing up the sentence that silently tormented her, these feelings were directed towards Satoru. He was used to his frequent occasional stupidity, but this was just on a whole ‘nother level, leading him to admit that perhaps his life could’ve done better without knowing this.

Yet, this was to remain a secret between his conscience and himself, not wanting his sister to feel any more responsible than she already did.

“Don’t worry about anything anymore—you’ve done enough, if you keep stressing about it you’ll just waste your energy” Ren says, attempting to move onto a different, less sour topic of conversation, because who wants to think of their younger sister staying in the horror house of their common enemy? While consoling her hard work. Oh, how he wishes he could take all of her responsibilities so as to make her workload easier to manage… “I can read your correspondence if you’d like, and give you the rundown after you’ve gotten some rest. I can also let the servants know not to disturb you and to prepare your meal later”

“Ah, you don’t have to do that Ren” she shakes her head, shifting to her side to take a better look at him, using her arms as support for her head. “I thank you for your attention, but… well, I’d like to indulge in these small things I missed while away, get the whole home experience, you know? Besides, I already know what’s awaiting me on those letters, probably a thousand more missions so I don’t really mind getting them myself” she groans.

“Hinata-san!” A voice calling from the other side of the door interrupts their conversation, followed by a set of gentle knocks. Neither of the siblings need to inquire any further to rightfully assume it’s Sumire.

“Talking about the devil…” Ren chuckles as he sits down, now glancing at the door. “Come in!”

The door is swiftly open, and an exasperated Sumire steps into the picture—seems like the poor girl can never catch a break.

“I got them, here they are…” She breathes, making her way towards your sister, who also sat down to appropriately receive her correspondence through a small wooden box. “All of your letters—up to today! I didn’t open any of them, I just arranged them by sender”

“Thank you, Sumire” Hinata smiles as she takes the bundle from her hands and lifts the cover, her smile dropping once realizing the incalculable number of letters inside it—she doesn’t believe she’s been out of her home for that long, but the items before her dare to prove otherwise.

Well, such trivialities are bound to happen during an ongoing crisis… considering that she was also the heiress of a somewhat important clan, with a talent that many described as primordial for the smooth development and safety of the jujutsu community.

With that in mind, Hinata mitigates her shocked through as she begins to go through each and every envelope, setting aside those she thought important, urgent, and finally, those that were nothing more than junk—the vast majority coming from some newsletter she wasn’t aware she subscribed to, presumably when she finally got the courage to shop online. 

She doesn’t even have that much time to spend on your rescue, what made them think she had time to go through the season’s specials?

Outside of that, everything else was just as she anticipated: nothing more than a bunch of newly assigned missions and announcements from jujutsu HQ regarding the current situation. 

However, one of them holds a heavier weight than the others judging by the confidential label on the envelope, and it’s only when she reads it’s contents that her stomach drops: she’s to be an examiner on the upcoming grade 1 exam that’s to be hosted in the Tokyo school.

If her recently added missions weren’t a bid enough of a delay to her much needed trip to Kyoto, this would certainly be. It truly could not have come at a worse time.

Hinata holds back her newfound frustration as she continues through the rest of her correspondence, which is somewhat pacified, that is, upon noticing she was approaching the final letters.

She doesn't know where this thought came from, considering it had been proven useless time and time again to even consider this futile circumstance, but whether for her own reassurance, or simple curiosity, there’s something inside her that tells her to take a chance: even if there’s a slight, almost non-existent possibility of this coming out as positive, it does not hurt to ask the question that kept her hopeful throughout this moment.

“…Has there been… anything… from my sister?” Hinata cautiously pondered before looking back at Sumire’s mournful eyes. 

Her gaze flickered from the letters on your sister’s hands, to her gaze, before squeezing a quick glance towards Ren —who replicated the same expectant worry on his dark eyes— before ending on your sister’s letters again.

Her reaction gave the understanding that she was hoping a letter of your writing would magically appear before them… as to avoid the shame of admitting to what Hinata already figured out just by the look on her face.

So, to not keep toying with their feelings, Sumire eventually relegates herself to voice out the dreaded answer.

“No” She reveals as she lowers her head. Her voice is quiet, but regretful, almost as if she felt responsible for your seeming lack of communication, hating that she was to be the one to deliver the terrible news. “…Nothing from her part yet”

“Are you sure?” Hinata is quick to counter. Her mind isn’t too keen on letting this idea go that easily… not when she knew you weren’t one to give up so easily… and there were yet scenarios to go through.

Her family had proven countless times before to have a hidden agenda: they could’ve easily interjected any signs of communication between the two families just to ensure the perpetuation of this marriage.

Fortunately, Sumire was already two steps ahead and had prepared herself accordingly to avoid this situation, such as being the first person the mailman was to see when delivering packages to the estate.

Unfortunately… your absence wasn’t to be the work of your family’s or your husband’s clan. All evidence pointing to the simple fact that you… just haven't been writing to your family.

“Yes… I’m sure” Sumire reaffirms and your sibling’s heart stings with pain and disappointment.

“I see… thank you” is all that Hinata says before placing her letters away on a nearby table, deciding to go through the details of her temporary role as examiner on another occasion. “That’s all from me… I guess”

“Sleep for now” Ren says as he now makes his way to the door.

Sumire, regretfully understanding that her presence was no longer necessary bows before the two and makes her way out the room, retreating onto her next responsibilities just in time before the staff notices her lengthy absence. “…I’m sure Y/N has done whatever she can to let you know she’s ok. Besides, there’s been a rising number of cases regarding mail theft, remember? Even our nearest post office reported a incident, so that might be it”

“Wish letters from HQ would get lost…” Hinata scowls “Why does my sister’s mail need to get lost or stolen?”

“Let’s just assume they have a better private service—while Y/N doesn’t… as well as having an entire family against her”

“I know I shouldn't feel this way, but…” your sister grumbles, looking away from your brother. “I just…”

“Do you feel she hasn’t attempted to contact you at all?”

“…Maybe. I don’t know—I know Sumire is trying hard to keep up with the staff here too, and Y/N’s situation isn’t any better, but… I just can’t shake this frustration inside me, that no matter what we do, there’s always someone out there outsmarting us”

“There might be, there’s always a possibility. But I assure you that she and I have been doing our best to keep our movements concealed, so you have nothing to worry about that” he says, gently placing his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to his chest whilst resting his chin on her head “And I’m sure Y/N has done whatever she can to let you know she’s fine. Don’t worry about it, little sister. Rest for now, you’ve done all that you could”

“…Thank you” she smiles, turning to his direction and wrapping her arms around him for an embrace. She keeps there, allowing herself to be comforted by the warmth and care she feels as nothing but necessary to keep surviving; remembering that the last time they hugged was during your wedding, just before you left for your honeymoon. 

Thus, a long time coming, yet bittersweet, gesture.

She eventually pulls away from him. Ren gently patted her head and bid her a good rest, as well as a reminder of his availability if she needed anything, before making his way out of her room.

Hinata sees him off, only receding back inside after he disappears around the corner. 

Once alone, she promptly changes out of her clothes— your sweater— neatly folding them and placing them onto the nearby table before reaching into her closet for a more comfortable attire to rest in, finally throwing herself over the futon after doing so.

Hinata doesn’t even bother to go under the covers to go to sleep. She’s too tired, too beaten up to do anything else than indulge in the few moments of silence she’s been provided with after a long day out in the city.

And silence was to be an understatement, for her mind was all but quiet in these moments. You were running through her mind every second of the day—whenever she was eating, working, resting, or doing absolutely nothing , her mind always brought her back to you, wondering… if you were ok, if you were safe . 

If you were even able to enjoy anything anymore at the lion’s den. Making her realize that even with all the built up stress she was carrying, it was nothing compared to your position.

But like all things in life, your presence in her mind's eye eventually tires her out, and in the middle of reaching out for a quick distraction via the book she had abandoned in favor of her work, she falls asleep.

Hinata gets roughly around… 2 hours of sleep before she’s woken up by the uncomfortable pain of her sore throat and the void of the stomach aching to get something to eat…

As well as the thundering sound of her heart beating against her chest, followed by a thin layer of sweat coating her skin.

The first two occurrences didn’t bother her much for the following reasons: instead of taking up on one of the many invitations from the servants to get a refreshment of a snack, she went straight to bed. Thus, it was only a matter of hours before her body began to cry for sustenance.

It’s the latter that she can’t wrap her head around. 

Was it a nightmare? Maybe. Hinata has never been one to sleepwalk, or remember what she dreamt of soon after waking up, so she couldn’t even fathom what it was that had her so distressed.

However, judging by the amount of pressure that she’d subjected her body to these past few days, she doesn't need to go any further to assume it had been your situation that had her in shackles.

Hinata sighs.

She tries not to think much of it, keep her head cool—but as it was stated before, your visage had seemed to haunt her ever since you were stripped away from your home, tormented as she remembers that by each passing day, your suffering only worsens.

«At least I didn’t wake up with a headache» Hinata consoles as she begins to take deep breaths, exercises to calm down her tense heart. 

Once she feels herself to be in a better condition, she glances over to the window to get an idea of the time.

It’s already dark at this early hour, as expected of the season. As well as unreasonably cold, reminded by the shiver traversing her spine after a gust of wind makes its way through the window.

Hinata silently regrets and berates herself for not lying underneath the covers from the very beginning as she proceeds to sit herself up—it had been highly responsible of her to do such a thing, no matter how desperate she was to lay down and sleep, she shouldn’t risk getting sick, because that would only her work, although she could use it as an excuse to avoid being an examiner….

No, that’s not right. So, determined to stop this foolishness before it worsens any better, she decides to take care of body’s needs.

Her body, having remained in the same position for far too long, ached to be given that refreshing stretch before moving onto her new goal—with her admitting that she was also looking forward to it.

But before she’s able to do as much as push herself up from the futon, a sharp sensation strikes her lower back, prompting a hiss from her while anchoring her on the post.

A reminder that even if she “slept” she didn’t necessarily rest .

Just to show, yet again, that peace wasn’t something that she’s going to achieve whilst in her home… or everywhere else for that matter.

This doesn’t sway her to stay back in bed though, and instead, Hinata simply waits for the pain to dissipate before finally getting up from her bed and making way towards the window and shutting it. 

Once that’s done, she heads over to her closet and reaches out for another hoodie to prevent more shivers from disturbing her, just as they did as she received another gust of wind whilst closing the window. 

But even with this extra layer, she finds herself seeking more warmth, thus, she makes a mental note of bringing an additional blanket after returning from getting something to drink and a snack.

Nostalgia suddenly hits her as the topic of blankets is brought up—it might be silly, annoying even, but not for those with a broken heart. 

It’s not her fault, she couldn’t help it: blankets have essentially become a symbol of your persona and that’s all she could think of right now.

For as long as she could remember, you always had the tendency of running cold at night: your hands and feet freezing even underneath the covers—even alongside layers and layers of clothing—which you might’ve mischievously used as weapons against her and your brother in the limited occasions you had to share a bed with them…

Such was your animosity towards winter, that you’d rather be weighed down in place over your own futon than to suffer the slightest of shivers throughout the night. 

Some even judged the way you often wrapped yourself with a blanket, dressed up with hoodies over hoodies, and basically hung around the estate like that for the rest of the day—instead of just wearing something warmer.

Well, you didn’t care, if others were willing to suffer throughout the winter just so they wouldn’t be labeled as silly , then so be it.  As long as you had your thousands of blankets and garments to accompany you, you’d be happy.

Hinata chuckles at the silliness of the memory, before her face suddenly drops.

There is no way for her to understand the kind of care that goes on inside the Zen’in estate, but she hopes that Naoya is at least decent enough to keep you warm and prepared for the upcoming winter, the one that’s yet to be the coldest one yet according to some forecasts. 

That’s the bare minimum he could do as your husband : keep his wife well attended throughout her stay there… or was that too much for the heir of the prestigious Zen’in clan?

And unexpectedly, it's at this moment when she realizes this is going to be the first holiday they’re not going to spend without you…

Even when you were quarantined away at school in Tokyo, she still found a way to keep contact with you and your family…

But this time… she’s not so sure she can achieve so. 

There are many things to consider, so many things invading her mind at the same time, that she doesn’t even know where to start: she needs to act fast, she needs to take the right steps to ensure that you’ll be back before Christmas is here, she needs to protect her family is the Zen’in truly did something as abhorrent as his father implied…

But she doesn’t know how.

She’s so unsure, so… indecisive. 

Hinata feels like she’s drowning in her own thoughts, without being able to turn to someone for help and pull her away from the waves that seem to be pushing her deeper and deeper into the void of her worries.

How was she expected to do anything when she feels like she doesn’t know what’s going on? As if she were nothing more than a child?

And with that realization, her mind finds clarity.

If Hinata felt like a child, then the only way to get out of this predicament is to approach it with a similar mentality.

And what would a child usually do in the situations where they feel lost?

Reach out for their parents.

Thus, your sister decides to do what has always helped her when she needed guidance: visit her father.

Once Hinata changes into something far warmer, she exits through the bedroom door and makes way deeper through the living quarters and onto her parent’s bedroom—now Eiichi’s room.

For as long as she could remember, Eiichi had always been an attentive and caring father when it comes to supporting his children; however, this type of bond seemed to be a bit  stronger with her, since they could relate more to one another as leader and heiress of the clan respectively.

He’s always been her go-to person when she faces uncertainty in her life, and he always tries to be there for her, whether for personal or professional matters, it holds no relevance to him, as long as he’s able to help.

But then, when your mother, Minako, passed away… something inside him changed and he began to distance himself from everyone.

Perhaps there was a chance of reconciliation: in fact, many would’ve thought that your situation was to bring your family closer…

Unfortunately, this only served to further rupture whatever relationship was left, more so when it was known that he’d been somewhat of a willing player in this scheme—to make matters worse, he always doted on you the most… which only made his betrayal ever more heart wrenching.

But even after all that happened, all the pain her family had been inflicted with, Eiichi is still their father, and she still loved him.

So as Hinata stands before his door, she mentally prepares herself to push their differences aside for a moment, and just… be there for one another.

“Who is it?” She hears Eiichi call from the other side upon hearing the soft knock on his door. 

“It’s me” Hinata responds, and she hears a soft gasp coming from inside of the room as well as a shuffle she was quick to identify as someone scurrying to pick himself up. Footsteps make way towards her direction before the door finally slides wide open, revealing the sight of a somewhat distraught father, but relatively healthy.

“Hinata!” Eiichi gasps, eyes wide and mouth agape as he stares at the heartwarming sight of his eldest daughter back home “You’re… you’re back! I’m so glad to see you!”

“I am” she says, and judging by his reaction, she can only assume that either the servants didn’t bother to inform him of his return, or he had, and forgot about it because he’d been drinking.

She would have informed him so personally… but too enthralled in having an urgent conversation with her brother and your best friend, and yet to deal with the inner turmoil she had towards her father… lead her to decide against it.

Whatever the reason, Hinata still hopes that he hasn't been indulging in alcohol anymore.

For his sake, she really hopes that wasn’t the case…

However, one quick sniff as well as a scan throughout what little floor she could see through the gap in his door, is all that it takes for her to realize that he’s been sober at least for today. 

God knows what he’s been doing to keep his demons at bay, but she can at least rest knowing it wasn’t through alcohol.

“Are you… cold?” Eiichi asks, his tremulous voice snapping her back to reality as well as filling the awkward void of silence that had begun to grow between the two. 

There's the slightest hesitation on his part on approaching your sister and hugging her, but after catching the brief glance she made into her bedroom, he’s given the understanding that he’s still not in her good graces, and decides against it.

Completely unaware that perhaps… this would’ve been just what they needed to finally make amends.

“Have you eaten already? If not, I can make something—”

“A bit, but I’m fine for now” she responds. Her hunger, thirst and cold had magically disappeared once she decided she needed to see her dad first. Or more like she couldn’t focus on anything else until she completes this small detour and receives some peace of mind. “I just… wanted to see you first”

“…O—oh… I see” he blinks before stepping aside and gesturing with his head “…Want to come in?”

“Yeah, thank you” Hinata nods and walks into the room. She didn’t intend to judge him anymore than she already did moments prior, but due to a past experience, her eyes, yet again, darted to take another quick scan of her surroundings.

The first thing to notice is the absence of bottles of alcohol—she was first able to assume so due to her past approach, nonetheless, she soon remembered that their father had sneakily brought in bottles to his room and attempted to hide them whenever one of them visited him, so it was only natural that her mind urged her to double check.

Fortunately, she was proven wrong. And she was glad that she was wrong.  However, when it isn’t one thing to worry her, it’s another, and Hinata finds that in the lack of overall organization in his room.

One would think that this room had been essentially abandoned by the staff members, but that’s nothing more than a fallacy for she knows that they would never dare to not do their job when it comes to tending the master of the clan.

Instead, she assumed that this had been nothing more than his own doing.

His futon was undone, covers roughly tossed over the mattress while the pillow laid feet away from its usual position. From there, all kinds of garments were to be found scattered all over the room: from pants, yukatas, socks…. on the floor, on the nearby table, on the bed, and ironically, just outside the closet… it had been a surprise they hadn't found their way to the ceiling yet.

However none of these things worried her as much as the following did.

Secluded from the previously detailed cluster, and just beside his bed, alongside a few books, rests a small vinyl record player, with countless vinyl albums, CD’s to accompany it… and a photo album.

Items that after a quick second of glancing over them, she eventually recognized as items previously sorted as missing… memoirs from her beloved mother.

And it doesn’t take any longer from there for Hinata to deduce what has kept him occupied ever since he abandoned drinking: He’s drowning his demons, not with alcohol, but rather, with the nostalgia and pain of when things were right.

In any other occasion, this sight would’ve also brought her the emotions she imagines her father to be experiencing, as well as the urge to take a break and sit down to look back on the things she missed from when her mother was still alive.

But there’s something about observing these items in his room that… confuses her, disturbs her… if not angers her.

It almost seems that their father was… running away from his reality, from facing the repercussions of his actions, in favor of plunging into the safeness the memory of his wife provided… and they’ve been deprived of it for selfish reasons.

Hinata then feels he is undeserving of even being near these things, for after all that he’d committed against them, robbing them of their mother’s items to keep for himself, and subsequently betraying you, he’d only be defiling what they represented….

And the necessity of his counseling begins to slowly drift away as an old wound reopens.

Upon noticing the heavy shift on the air, alongside his daughter’s glued gaze on his wife’s property, Eiichi could assume Hinata was wondering why these items were there in the first place. 

He’s never been one to fret about the inquiries about his children… at least not to this level, but the passion that seems to be etched on her face is enough to grow nervous, anxiously prompting him to offer an explanation.

“I was just… taking care of them, removing the dirt that has begun to settle on them” he says, fidgeting with his hands as his eyes remain fixed on said items. “and… remembering your mother. But don’t worry about that, let’s just focus on—”

“Is that all that you’ve been doing?” she says immediately after, head snapping into his direction. The suddenness of her action provoked a flinch from him, as well as the settlement of remorse on the back of his mind. “Have you been doing anything else, at all? ”

If there was any semblance of her wanting to have a normal conversation with him, one that would help her calm down the agitation in her mind and possibly bring them closer once and for all, the incredulity in her voice informs it was long gone.

“I… I’m working…” he stammers on, tensely gathering enough courage to finally confront his daughter’s heavy gaze “I know I don’t have many responsibilities after you started to step up for the role… but there are still some things I have to personally oversee and, well, I’m doing my best with everything that happened”

“Is it?” she scowls “And is there any chance of these things being related to Y/N, hm?” and it’s now that Eiichi feels himself to have been effectively cornered.

His silence, however, far from maintaining a veil of uncertainty, is to be nothing more than confirmation to her assumptions, leading another wave of disbelief to hit her, followed by the mentally scolding of herself for being stupid enough to trust one of the people that essentially sold you to the highest bidder.

“No” he eventually responds, low, almost like a whimper, enough to demonstrate his shame. Perhaps in attempts to gain her empathy, but to an angered Hinata, this is nothing more than a pathetic struggle of victimization “I… I presume you… have?”

“You know I can’t tell you that. In fact, I can’t tell you anything , because you’ve deemed yourself untrustworthy—to think I actually came to you for guidance…” she sneers.

At the additional rupture of the damaged trust Eiichi feels his heart squeeze in pain, a need to patch things between the two arises to the occasion.

“I… I never meant to hurt you, Ren, or your sister!” He cries “You know… you know family is the most important thing to me, above anything else! And I’m always willing to help with whatever I can! But this… this is out of my hands, and you know that. You know I would’ve never done this if there wasn’t any other option!”

“And yet, here we are, with you locked in your room with all of mom’s things, which you’ve deprived us for a long time now, sinking deeper and deeper into this pathetic state, as if you’d been the one wronged, while my sister is out there suffering the most horrible things I don’t even want to think of!” she refutes “All while cowering behind the elders, under the fact that you can’t say anything because whatever accord you made with the Zen’in will be broken instantaneously! As if that were more important than your own goddamn family!”

“That’s not—don’t say that, Hinata!” Eiichi yelps, a guilty conscience prohibiting him from denying or affirming her statement, because deep inside his troubled mind, he knew very well she was telling nothing but the truth.

“Then what?” she dared, “Do you want me to say that everything is fine, that everything was just as you expected it to be—whatever that might be— if not better! And to not worry about it?”

“No, of course not but—”

“I know Ren is far more understanding when it comes to approaching you, and I can even… somewhat forgive what you’d kept away from us regarding mom—but that stops with Y/N.” Hinata breathes, tears now forming in the corner of her eyes. “I…. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that you’re… you’re able to do this, as if nothing ever happened! You’re able to lay in bed while I can’t even close my eyes without seeing her!! Do you even know what I saw that time I went to the estate?! What were Naoya's intentions for that visit all along? The empty promises he made of keeping communication between the two families?! It’s been weeks since I last saw Y/N and I have yet to know anything about her! And I can’t seem to get help from HQ either, because I’m dumped with more and more work each day!”

“I—I didn’t know—I don’t know what to do, Hinata! I want to save her myself but I—”

“You can't” Hinata murmurs hotly. “Because that’s too much , isn’t that right, father ? 

…

Eiichi remains quiet, unable to speak as the shame he carries simply for his insignificant presence steals all of his breath away.

“I’m…. I’m sorry ” is all that he can whimper past his trembling lips and the knot in his throat. There are hot tears pooling in his eyes, the vision of his angered daughter becoming blurrier by the second, something that he couldn’t be any more appreciative of for he couldn’t stand the disgrace he’d become to their family, and Minako’s absence.

“No” she shakes her head “I’m not the one you should be sorry to”

“I—I know… once she’s back, once I see Y/N again, I’ll… I’ll get on my knees and beg for her forgiveness. I've done so much wrong to her as her own father , but never more, I—I promise that I’ll make things right—!”

“No, father” Hinata reiterates, and Eiichi blinks, dumbfounded by her unforeseen response.

He expects to be reprimanded for not being active enough in your search, a big coward that doesn’t have the guts to stand up to the elders and do what’s right.

But all of this is nothing compared to what follows next.

If his heart was slowly rupturing with the pain of your absence, her words effectively crushed it.

“It’s mother you should apologize to”

And with that, she leaves.

#naoya zenin #naoya zen'in #naoya x reader #naoya zenin x reader #naoya zenin x your #jjk naoya #naoya zen'in x reader #series: first it hurts—

[mariaashby64]

(I meant to get started this post closer to when issue #2 dropped but I guess later is better than never) Anyway...!

Since that scene between Cassie and Cissie in the last yj dark crisis issue was clearly ripping off a scene from the original ‘98 run so I decided to dig around and compare them.

First of all here are the panels from the Dark Crisis run:

Now the team nagging Cissie about returning to archery is nothing new. Cissie reconciling with the bow was it’s own thing back in the ‘98 run. (Particularly in the arc where she went to the Olympics.)

I’d like to think this exchange in Dark Crisis is more the writer’s reminding the reader about the whole Cissie quitting, but still honing her bow skills. Or acting as a recap for new readers unfamiliar with Cissie’s storyline. However I’m not familiar with Cissie’s appearances beyond the ‘98 run so I’m not sure how accurate this characterisation is post N52.

The scene from ‘98 starts similarly.

For context, the reason for Cassie’s visit here is because they’re being called to help out in a big galactic war going on. (This is post the Olympics arc)

Now, Cissie’s argument in the ‘98 run is more of a personal one: Reaffirming her position on Arrowette despite the global need for her skills. Keyword here is personal. Cissie is a character that carries a lot of themes and veiwpoints (I rambled about this in another post) but it’s tied so closely to her character and identity that you couldn’t change these viewpoints without fundamentally changing her character.

Later, Cissie tricks Cassie into bailing after firing an arrow at her (Which I think is nicely contrasted with Cassie catching the arrows in the Dark Crisis issue) Cissie gives her this remark.

It’s got a lot to do with the title of Arrowette being a symbol, and how she’s become a tainted symbol due to Cissie’s actions and mistakes.But I think you get the point. This convo is all about Cissie.

In the Dark Crisis run Cassie is obviously talking to Cissie about finding the boys.

This is where the conversation changes from Cissie’s personal story to a critique on the 98′ run.

Now it’s been a while since I’ve read the run, so I don’t remember every villain. There were definitely villains that were misunderstood. Heck the boys’ very first villain was a kid who just wanted to play ‘nintendo’. They’ve also fought some very comically simple, evil, villains. (The baseball arc is a good example.)

But also, like, they fought Darkside. That was the climax of their series. Not to mention they also fought the people to kept Greta captive and freed a bunch of her friends from them as well.

Anyway,Cassie acts at the defence argument:

The line about the Boys is obviously there cause that is Cassie’s goal in this moment (To find them) but it also sets up this retort from Cissie:

Now the toxicity line is technically true. Cissie did have a toxic relationship with Arrowette, driven mainly by her mother and generational trauma. The next line is where cracks in the writing start to show. While it’s true that Cassie is the only one who stayed on with Tim, Bart, and Kon, (post YJ‘98). During the time that the run was still happening, Greta, Anita, and Slobo were all still major players within the team. (And might I remind you this writing is specifically a critique of the 90s run. Not the stuff that came after.) This could have been interesting if Cissie were to advocate for Greta and the others who were forgotten.That it’s not fair that the boys continued to get so much attention over them.

Instead Cissie is used to throw more shade at the boys.

It’s a shame the meta commentary comes off so heavy handed. I think Cissie’s point here could have been made a lot stronger if the writers had shown she’d kept in touch with Greta and Anita and really highlighted the fact that Cassie had disconnected with the friend group through her heroism. It would have grounded the argument within characterisation, rather than using Cissie as a prop to talk so directly about how the female characters were treated.

By the way this her stance in the ‘98 run: (Note the similar pose)

(Again, personal character motive)

The way these scene’s wrap up seem similar at first but there’s some key differences.

In Dark Crisis Cissie relents and agrees to help Cassie. Very begrudgingly, but she does.

And again giving her this attitude towards helping Cassie find their friends just makes her come off as cold and unlikable. Especially with all the meta talk about not wanting to sit in the same comic about three privileged white guys. These guys are her friends, and she’d never let them down like that, nor even pretend to not care

In ‘98 it’s all about her and Arrowette again. But here she doubles down on her stance and refuses to join.

This causes Cassie to leave without her and the conversation ends. In Dark Crisis, Cissie is the one to have the last word.

She acts really cold and refuses to be of much help later in the comic. She complains about her uselessness as an ordinary human.

But here’s the real kicker.

In ‘98, CISSIE STILL TURNS UP TO HELP THE TEAM AT THE END.

The whole set up is about her finding a way to help people outside of being Arrowette. It validates he character’s position on the matter while finding a loophole that allows her to still be part of the comic and team dynamic. Even if she is just a girl with a bow, when the cards come down to it, She Cares.

I kinda wish the convo in Dark Crisis was able to get a few more pages. The ‘98 scene was able to show this entire scene in about 5 pages whereas Dark Crisis had to over the same thing in only two (Talk about scraping for attention). I also respect it’s hard to write both characterisation and commentary on those characters, when said characters haven’t interacted in a comic for who knows how long. Plus ‘98 had the advantage of being in the middle of an ongoing run with ongoing character arcs.

I think the Dark Crisis scene could have been better if there was more focus on the loss of connection between Cassie and rest of the leftover ‘98 cast. It could have given readers more sympathy for the characters rather than the meta commentary. Even if they somehow manage to pull a “Ahah! Cassie was in a fake world the whole time too!” twist, it would have connected us more with Cassie and given her character more to reflect on personally. And you could have still related it to the meta critique, it just would have put character first.

I don’t envy the writers. They clearly want to give some commentary on the 1998 run, but are having a hard time portraying the characters... as characters, and not just mouthpieces for their viewpoints. If they really did use this scene from ‘98 as a reference, they did a poor job of understanding why that scene worked within it’s issue/run and clearly struggled to distil it into the two pages they had available.

There’s more I could talk about but I think I’ll leave it there. This post is long enough. I’m disappointed but curious to see if this series if going to be able to pick these characters up again.

#young justice #yj #young just us #dark crisis #cissie king jones #arrowette #cassie sandsmark #wonder girl #long post #meta #text post

[mariacallous]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long prided himself on being both “Mr. Security” and “Mr. Economy.” As Mr. Security, Netanyahu (and many, if not most, Israelis) believed he was the only one who would ensure that Israel remained militarily strong and could bring about a historic rapprochement with the Arab world; as Mr. Economy, Netanyahu was widely credited with presiding over a period of sustained economic growth and a blossoming high-tech industry.

No one doubts that Mr. Security was among the casualties of the Oct. 7 massacre carried out by Hamas, but so was Mr. Economy. And in both cases, the losses are unlikely to be limited exclusively to Netanyahu the man. The fallout will affect Israel as a country and a society, perhaps for years to come.

During the Netanyahu era, Israel had come to see itself—not entirely without justification—as a world-class military, political, and technological power. The three were closely interlinked. Israel’s high-tech industry was the engine of economic growth that enriched the country. Its tech prowess opened doors to stronger ties with China and India, and it played a key role in normalization with Arab powers seeking access to Israeli innovation. Technology enabled Israel to multiply its military and intelligence capabilities far in excess of what its population or other resources would normally give it. Many Israelis acquired their tech skills in elite army units.

The Gaza border on the eve of Oct. 7 exemplified the military-technology nexus. The border region was lightly manned by troops; instead, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had developed an array of highly sophisticated tools to monitor Hamas activities inside the enclave and to prevent incursions. The latter featured an underground reinforced concrete wall with sensors to detect tunnels, a 20-foot-high steel fence, a network of radar arrays and sensors, and remote-controlled weaponry.

Hamas brought down the entire system with little more than off-the-shelf drones. Tractors then came in to tear gaps through the fence. The planning that went into the operation was done without the IDF intelligence gurus having a clue of what was in the works.

Arguably, this was an isolated failure of a military-technology nexus that has many credits to its name. But given the human cost of the debacle, reinforced by the gruesome images available online, the confidence that Israel had in itself and its technological capabilities has been quickly recast in the public mind as hubris, akin to Israel’s last big military debacle, the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

Netanyahu, of course, had no personal hand in the technological failures and will no doubt try to place the blame on the defense establishment for the failure. But as prime minister, he cannot escape responsibility any more than then-Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir could in the aftermath of the 1973 war. Just days after this month’s massacre, while people were still digesting the depth of the tragedy and in any ordinary crisis would be backing the country’s leader, a poll showed that only 21 percent of respondents thought that Netanyahu should stay on as prime minister after the war ends. If elections were held today, his Likud party would lose 40 percent of its Knesset seats.

He will inevitably be linked to the policy failure that allowed the massacre to occur because the tech-based approach to fighting Hamas reflected the defense-oriented policy advocated by Netanyahu, which was designed to contain Hamas rather than vanquish it. “We abandoned the residents of the Gaza border to the high-tech nation and forgot that we were in the Middle East,” one reserve officer told Haaretz.

There were some good reasons for that approach, but they were informed mainly by Netanyahu’s purely political strategy of keeping Hamas alive and kicking and ruling in Gaza. That way, there would be two Palestinian leaderships. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank might aspire to a diplomatic solution, but it could never claim to speak for the Palestinian people or deliver peace so long as Hamas was in control of Gaza and pursuing its policy of violent resistance. Israel could thus justifiably say that it had no peace partner.

Objectively speaking, Israel’s capabilities and its capacity for innovation remain unchanged, but its reputation as the so-called start-up nation will almost certainly be diminished, and that is important. The idea that Israelis could do anything—from developing the Iron Dome air defense network or a next-generation laser-based missile-defense system to its pioneering role in navigation apps and lab-grown meat—will almost certainly now face a more critical attitude on the part of entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate partners.

Unfortunately, this is coming at an inopportune time. Globally, advanced technology is in the midst of a slump that is hindering the ability of Israeli start-ups to raise capital. The competition is intense for the money that is available. Meanwhile, the army’s call-up of more than 360,000 reservists, many of whom may be serving for an extended period, will disrupt an industry whose workforce is overwhelmingly young and male. The judicial reform that the Netanyahu government had been pursuing had already caused many newly formed companies to register abroad, an expression of how doubtful they were about their future in Israel even prior to Oct. 7.

Unless the war ends unexpectedly quickly and Israel avoids a two-front confrontation with Hamas and Hezbollah, the rest of the economy is also headed for a rough patch. Over and above the burden of so many workers in the reserves, Israel may very well face a period of frequent rocket attacks. The risk is strong that rising unrest in the West Bank will disrupt economic activity. Business and consumer confidence will fall. The government, which has been running a bigger-than-budgeted fiscal deficit, will be saddled with steep defense costs that will have to be covered by higher taxes or more borrowing at high interest rates in the absence of a massive infusion of economic aid.

Netanyahu’s reputation as Mr. Economy is largely undeserved. While he undertook important steps toward shrinking the public sector while working as finance minister two decades ago, he has since largely ignored economic policy. The economy grew on its own momentum, with little help from a series of ineffective and weak finance ministers.

The current officeholder may be the worst of the lot. Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the far-right Religious Zionist Party, is more interested in his other role as a minister in the Defense Ministry, promoting the interests of Israeli settlers, than he is in economic policy.

Smotrich is not the kind of politician with the ability or dedication to deal with the economic challenges of wartime. Combined with soaring world energy prices, the 1973 Arab-Israeli military debacle pushed the Israeli economy into a long period of economic stagnation. The war undermined the self-confidence that had been engendered by Israel’s great victory in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Labor Party establishment that had led Israel since its founding and the quasi-socialist economy it had created never recovered from the blow. A scenario along the same lines may easily play out in the Israel of the 2020s—economic stagnation, sagging confidence, and rejection of the political leadership.

Netanyahu is not constitutionally built to extricate himself or the country from this sort of crisis. He is regarded as a great communicator, but his effectiveness has always been in explaining strategic challenges. Today, he is faced with a national tragedy, the likes of which Israel has not seen in half a century. His three speeches to the public since the conflict began have been received coldly (the last one even set off a short panic because he took the unusual step of broadcasting it on the Sabbath, leaving the impression that he would have something important to say, when in fact he didn’t).

Netanyahu has visited the conflict zone just once since the massacre and took a week before meeting with the families of the dead and kidnapped. It took him five days to form an emergency government, reportedly out of concern over sharing credit for any victories in the war against Hamas.

What will follow is difficult to say. Israelis are just beginning to deal with the trauma, and the death and suffering may continue for some time if the fighting drags on. If there is a “victory” in the end, in the sense of eliminating Hamas, it will be too pyrrhic to offset the wounds.

It would be nice to think that the events of Oct. 7 will cause Israel’s drift to the right to be reversed as its verities and leaders fall into disrepute.

Fifty years ago, the Arab-Israeli War discredited the elites and led to the rise of the right wing and settlement movement, accelerating a trend toward greater religiosity that had begun after 1967.

This time, counterrevolution doesn’t seem to be in the cards: The trauma is likely to strengthen the sense that the country is surrounded by implacable enemies bent on its destruction, and the notion that it is not the time for peace processes or dissent. The left offers no answers; the center is too squishy and pragmatic. When the war is finally over, Netanyahu will almost certainly depart from the scene, but Israel’s right is here to stay.

[asquared-ohgodnotthehorrors]

I feel real down rn so I’m just gonna ramble about this DND 5e world I wanna run some day to make me feel better.

Basically, the main premise is that every Spellcasting class is restricted to “one” race (the quotation marks will be explained later), and that had a big influence on the history, world building, and culture of the world. The exceptions are Sorcerers and Warlocks because the origin of those magics are inherently different and externally caused.

Wizards are exclusive to Elves. This is because High Elves are mechanically more strongly connected to Wizardry, Elves live longer so they have more time to study, learn, and improve their magic like a Wizard, Bladesinging, and Wizard magic in this world is inherently elven, and elves are the only race with the right magical connection to tap into that. This caused many ripples in worldbuilding. It reinforced the elven stereotype of them being isolationists, hiding away from the rest of the world to study magic as they do. However, one particular detail I like is the schism elves had on the topic of Necromancy. The Drow were initially banished to the Underdark due to advocation of Necromancy, however in recent times many sects of High Elves have begun to re-embrace Necromancy as a practical and useful school of magic, investing in it and reconnecting with the Drow. Meanwhile, Wood Elves see Necromancy as Sacrilegious, causing a schism between Wood and High elves.

Druids are exclusive to Dragonborn and Kobolds, aka Dragonkin. Dragons are inherently elemental beings, with the ability to control the elements, weather, plants and animals, and even turn into beasts. It would make sense then that Dragons would be the original Druids, and Dragonkin would learn from them, replicating their magic and using their Draconic Ancestry to perform Druidic Magic. Plus, almost every Druid Circle is connected to a type of Dragon. Circle of Wildfire connects to most Fire dragons, Spore Druids connect to Deep dragons who have Fungal Abilities and Topaz Dragons who invest in Necromancy, Stars Druids connect with Crystal and Amethyst dragons who are avid Astronomers and Cosmologists, Dreams Druids connect with Moonstone & Fey Dragons, Moon Druids connect with any Dragon that can shapeshift, and Land can apply to most any dragon. However, since most Dragons tend to be vain, and since a Druid must be a disciple of a Dragon or another Draconic Druid in order to learn most of the time, Draconic Druids tend to inherit some of that vanity. And since this kind of wisdom and magic makes for good leadership, many Dragonborn collectives tend to be quite imperialistic, performing the same conquering of territory and hoards their namesakes do. Kobolds also do this, albeit to mixed degrees of success in comparison. Druids also cannot wear metal still, as Dragonkin feel it is horrible to wear such valuable material for a Dragon Hoard as armor.

Clerics were an odd one. Religion could apply to any humanoid, since religion is inherent to many societies and humanoids tend to have society. However, if there is any race that tends to be a paragon of society in media, it’s Humans. So Clerics are restricted to humans. Granted, gods can grant powers to other races through their messengers (Celestial Warlocks) or grant them inherent power (Divine Soul Sorcerers), but these boons become independent of the god once granted, and can potentially be used against the gods’ goals. Humans are different. They were built to herald the divine will of the gods, and thus were required to be joined at the hip, as Clerics, and as stronger more direct channels of a god’s power. Of course, gods aren’t the only things that can grant them divine power. Devil worshipping is what resulted in the creation of Tieflings. Some gods even used the empty vessels of humans to change them permanently, as Serpent God Worshippers did unholy rituals to create Yuan-Ti. The list goes on. As such vessels for divine magic, some Humans believe themselves to be better than other races, as they are the righteous hands of divine will, and must lead other species to salvation using their god given gifts. Other races tend to believe human gods were more akin to Helicopter Parents than actual gods, as their divinity had faith in their independence. Regardless, Humanity used their divine gifts as excuses to do many horrible things.

Artificers are restricted to Gnomes. Not much logic behind it other than Gnomes are the magic item maker and tinkerer race.

Bards are restricted to Dwarves. Dwarves are very cultural people, with strong focus on their history, ancestry, and stories. As such, Bards would be a good fit for them. But most fantasy media tends to make Dwarves very insular, and Bards are meant to be well traveled jacks of all trades. So instead of changing the stigma of the class, like with Druids and Dragonborn, we change the stigma of the Dwarves, turning them into passionate artisans who hold their culture close yet value the idea of combining and gaining new ideas from others slightly above that. Things only grow stronger when repaired, and as such their culture is ironclad with the amount of times Dwarves have broken and rebuilt it. This also annoys the more uptight spellcasters of other races, as Dwarves always find ways to replicate their unique Magical Secrets, though it is often seen as mere mockeries of their crafts rather than the real deal.

Rangers are restricted to orcs. Certain media representations have portrayed orcs as very tribal groups of people, and as such Ranger is granted to them in order to reinforce that tribal theme as well as give them a theme as natural wardens. Horizon Walkers guard portals to other planes, Fey Wanderers protect the Feywild, Drakewardens protect Dragons or use Dragons to protect other things, Gloom Stalkers protect Underdark entrances, etc. This sort of flips the roles of Druids and Rangers, as normally Druids protect and work with nature while Rangers conquer and use nature. Here however, Rangers lack excessive natural magic to work with nature and take no more than necessary, while Druids use excessive nature magic to act as tyrants that bend it to their will. This also makes Orcs more of a neutral or good race, valuing the protection of nature and their ancestral homes. This comes into conflict with Dragonborn and Humans, however, as their natural magics make them feel obligated to have nature more often than not, leading to many conflicts between these races.

Finally, Paladins. I chose to restrict Paladins to Goblinoids (that being Bugbears, Hobgoblins, and of course regular Goblins). In the history of this world however, it wasn’t always like this. A majority of the worlds’ history had Goblins as standard archetypical goblins, as raiders, conquerers, and sloths. However, only 1 century and a half before present had the first Paladin been created, as a long Goblin swore an oath to protect their people and was granted Divine Power unlike any seen before. Since then, Paladins had begun to spring up as the news spread. Hobgoblins that had risen the ranks in their armies took oaths of Conquest to conquer more and foster power, or Oaths of Crown or Redemption to change their ways and foster a better nation with their resources. Bugbears took upon Oaths of Ancients to protect what they cared about, whether that be beloved homes and people or rampant hedonism. Goblins as a whole took the chance to change themselves, and change their perception of the world. A majority started to form nations, become stoic and disciplined people, become paladins to serve as warriors and ambassadors alike, and to change for the better. Suddenly, Goblinoids had went from pests and threats to a race of people that must be regarded as equals. Other races mostly saw political threats and opportunities, but Humans were personally offended. They were meant to be the bastions of Religion, why should Goblins wield power almost identical to theirs? Some humans passed it off, claiming it to be a fluke or another form of magic more similar to Wizardry or Druidcraft. The kinder humans welcomed Goblinoids in with open arms, with the more opportunistic looking for opportunities to convert. But in the shadows, cults and sects began to form focusing on the eradication of Paladins, of Heretics, bringing tension and conflict between races.

Of course there are races that gain no unique magics. Halflings tend to be happy as is without magic, in their own individual villiages scattered across the world. Meanwhile, Goliath Giantkin resided in small groups, following powerful giants who gifted Giant Magics to their most devout. Firbolg often resided near or in the Feywild, making Warlock deals with all kinds of natural and Fey things, like trees, groves, ancient plants and animals, and whatever else. Half Races, such as Half Elves, Half Orcs, and even Tieflings, Aasimar, and Yuan-Ti, had the ability to draw on the magic of any or both of their original heritages, with some famous Half Orcs becoming renowned Hunters with some divine Knacks and Half Elves becoming ambassadors of the elven gods of magic, and whatever else. But the main spellcasting races are those who have the most dominance over the world.

And that’s about it… I don’t know how to end this post.

#dnd #dnd5e #dnd stuff #dnd campaign #dungeons & dragons #dungeons and dragons

[calliecopper]

I am absolutely appalled by the amount of TERFS and anti-trans sentiments surrounding topics such as menstruation and pregnancy. I'll be searching through Tumblr or Reddit for tips and memes about periods, then I'll just get slapped in the face with anti-trans messaging.

Things like "dni if trans" "men don't menstrate" and other similar comments have completely turned me away from any of those communities, because it is such a toxic and hateful mindset. You claim to provide support for those who menstrate, yet you'll exclude and entire part of that demographic because of a misplaced sense of feminism? You can be a feminist and also not be an asshole. You can be a feminisit and an advocate for trans rights.

It genuinely disgusts me to see transphobia so closely tied to an already taboo and untouched subject. Why try to gatekeep censor an already under-discussed topic when you can allow more conversation and a stronger sense of community? Are you protective of your right to suffer as a woman?

This is a trans-friendly blog and will always be a trans friendly blog. That goes for any gender-queer folk who follow me. If any of my followers have an issue with that then I highly encourage you to ask yourself why.

#i hc that these two are women and not trans or nb just pure wlw women #this is coming from a cis woman #and a feminist #and an advocate for trans rights #people also do this with wlw ships where theyll passive aggressively be like #like ok sure but dont be an asshole about it #dont act like its an issue for people to hc gender queerness #terfs suck ass #trans solidarity #periods #tw transfobia #tw transphobes #tw transphobia #cw transphobes #cw transphobia

[mysticdragon3md3]

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6:14 AM 4/26/2023

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I still like to read El's fatal flaw as her unrelenting Resolve. The same ideal that's advocated by so much Shonen Manga and anime in general, shows off it's negative, flip side in FE3H through her. As I've said before, she never doubts herself, but that also means she never checks herself. She is always moving forward, unquestioning her path. In my opinion, it's also why she neither seriously considers changing her overall strategy, nor questioning the costs/"ends justifying the means". She laments the costs of her path, but she never lets it change her---which I think is the big difference between Dimitri's past of "villainous deeds" vs her past/present of villainy. (She's the villain of 3 out of 4 routes, the character designers put horns on her head and dressed her all in red like a devil, and then named her house "black" like darkness even though her house color is clearly red. FE3H did a lot to hint she's the villain. But that doesn't mean she still can't be the hero of her own story, and I think the FE3H devs honestly wanted that too.) I think it's symbolic that at the end of Azure Moon, she tries to kill Dimitri with the dagger that he had given her once in their childhood, which she says encouraged her to move forward, and a second time as adults, while Dimitri told her to use it to cut her own path. At the end of Azure Moon, El is defeated and Dimitri offers her a truce. But she is so myopically focused on her predetermined path, that she brings out the dagger that symbolizes her moving forward with her plans, no matter who/what she has to cut through or at what costs. And she uses it to try to kill Dimitri, because she honestly thinks she can still win. She can't see any other path for herself, besides the one where she wins thru force and conquest. But as admirable as Determination and Resolve are, in and of themselves, she demonstrates their tragic aspects by not even considering the alternate path of cooperation and drastically changing her strategy.

It's kind of ironic that she is so tied to her predetermined path of solving all of Foldan's problems through conquest, even if that path was determined by herself. Because she has so many moments where she almost sighs forlornly up at the sky, like at Gronder, and simply moves forward saying "And so we fight on", as if she's so sad about fighting all her old classmates, but helpless to stop it---or worse, willing to push down and ignore those feelings of dissonance and compassion, in order to make their deaths acceptable costs. And that latter is supposed to be "strength"??? El demonstrates a lot of good questions that the writers probably want us to ask, but blindly following her like she "did nothing wrong" deprives people from those productive questions. As I understand it, she has many moments throughout her route, of feeling bad for what she "must" do. But for all her "strength" in following her Determination and Resolve, she seems more helpless against it and powerless because of it. The ironic thing being that it is within her own power at any time to stop the war, cooperate instead, and/or pinpoint her attacks onto specific problematic authority figures (whether Rhea, the Agarthans, or those Faerghus nobility she mentioned, I think in 3Hopes, who were too tied to the Church). But instead, she is helpless against a predetermined path of her own making…knowingly, because she thinks it gives her strength.

(Not to bring up Sengoku Basara 2009-2011 again, but… This is just like Toyotomi Hideyoshi, thinking he has to prove his Resolve to himself, and thus his commitment to becoming "stronger" or his Resolve in being "strong", by killing the person he loved the most. As if killing those you care about are proof to yourself that you can achieve Resolve and walk a path towards "strength". But is it really Strength when you're killing off your compassion towards others? Making calculations weighing some lives as worth the nebulous "better future world" you're still speculating to make?)

Anyway, another thing I thought interesting was how each of the 3 main lords seem to represent different paths by contrasting each other.

People often say they don't understand the point of the Golden Deer, as if Claude's route seems too unrelated to the personal drama between Dimitri and El. But I think Claude was a vital contrast to El. Not only was he someone who was shown in his Supports to question himself, when confronted with being wrong, immediately pivoted to fix his flaws, but also when confronted with his blind spots, he took them in earnestly and head on. He is not someone who only finds Strength in rigid Resolve, but also in flexibility and adaptability. He also constantly reminds us that there are better ways than war to get even the dirty jobs done. I find it so strange that we have one lord, El, who acts like war/conquest is the only solution, while we have a prominent lord character, frequently reminding us that poisoning, subterfuge, and manipulation ARE A THING. To paraphrase an old ninja saying, a general killed in his bed in his sleep, is just as dead, as if you had sent hundreds of your soldiers to die on the battlefield, trying to take the general down. It is continuously ironic to me that El worked with subterfuge practitioners like Hubert and the Agarthans, and yet she is too set in her ways to consider making full use of such tactics.

The 3 main lords tell 3 different types of stories, which are made more interesting in how they clash and contrast with each other. El is on the anti-hero path in her route and the villain path in 3 other routes. She is in a tragedy story, because she refuses to acknowledge or change her flaws; she does not change/Grow. Dimitri is on a more typical hero or anti-hero route. He has a fall and does a lot of terrible things for a long time, but we witness his journey through that, towards repentance and redemption. He CHANGES and is the one forever bringing up his commitment to change and repentance. Claude on the other hand is on more a paragon story. He has already done almost all his Growth before the main story even starts. By the time he reaches Fodlan, he has already settled into an ideal of turning his tragic experiences into fuel for constructive change in himself and compassion extended outward to others, while not letting his past bog him down into sadness or obsession. And his plans to extend his compassion outward, also takes into consideration, respecting others' differences and accepting the hard work it would take to persuade dissenters without always resorting to violent force. He is already mature enough to not be looking at only himself and his past trauma, unlike the other 2 main lords. Meanwhile, we experience with Dimitri, his obsession with his past trauma, his reconciliation with his past trauma, and his eventual mature state of mind, focusing his efforts more on others than on his revenge, just like Claude. Meanwhile, El uses it as motivation for all her actions, which could be said to be pretty much revenge against the Church, the Agarthans, her past, the systems of Adrestia, and the whole world. She does all this self-focused mindset and actions, while refusing to acknowledge how she's centering everything in her world around her trauma and in a non-constructive manner towards others, thus still actually making everything about herself and her trauma. Meanwhile, Claude has already looked past his trauma and focuses more on others, and Dimitri's entire story is about his process of working to look past his trauma, to focus on others instead. As someone mentioned once, the majority of Claude's Supports are him offering help to the Golden Deer and solving their problems. Similarly, Dimitri takes on the mantel of king as a responsibility to serve his people, taking it as even more important than whether it's a position he deserves or if his past crimes can ever be redeemed.

I once said of Sengoku Basara 2009-2011's Date Masamune that his infinite Strength came from his heart being externalized outward. He seemed invincible because the thing he cared about most, wasn't obsessing over his past trauma or his own selfish wants---which he demonstrated in episode 1 he was willing to forgo for the sake of others. The thing he cared about the most, were his soldiers, the normal people of Sendai, the normal people of his entire country, who just wanted to live peaceful lives. There are only 2 times in that series when he actually puts his hand to his eyepatch, as if his traumatic lost eye was actually painful to him: When he worried about endangering the lives of his soldiers. A warrior of Strength and maturity, extends their concerns outwards, not centered on themselves. A general, waging wars to prove their own "strength" to themselves, to become "stronger", to avenge their past traumas, all while ignoring how it effects the normal people, who shouldn't have to be soldiers, is not a good leader. Whether Toyotomi Hideyoshi or El.

But since El is all about "the ends justify the means", why not interpret this by her own terms. She's doing all this horror, in order to establish a system that will supposedly be more beneficial for all. And that's where I think the contrast with the other main lords becomes interesting again. Claude is repeatedly said, within the canon text, to have the same goals and interests as El. Yet they contrast in their methods to achieve those goals. In a war story like Fire Emblem, it would be very easy, and often is the case of such stories, to just assume war as the only option. It's how the plot happens for the expected genre. But it's very interesting that we have a 3rd lord like Claude, who comes in to remind us that not only can conflicts be resolved through negotiation, but he is often spoken of (and in 3Hopes, shown) to be actually doing the hard work of negotiation with other authority figures, until he can convince them to his side. The best part being that Claude is flexable enough that we can trust him to be open to compromise, rather than rigid stubbornness in his positions. We've seen him admit mistakes and blind spots in his Support conversations. He knows how to meet conflict with a laugh, then actual practical argument points (see his Support with Lorenz), as well as pivot to integrate what he can learn from those that he has had conflict with. Even with people he conflicts with, Claude is always smoothing things over and encouraging cooperation. (Not just in his Lorenz support, but also in his Fire Emblem Heroes conversations with El. He is always luring her in with agreement, but then sliding in a contradictory point to consider, with the least amount of intimidation, until he moves the conversation the way he wants it to go.) Claude demonstrates that El's methods are unnecessary and methods more true to Compassion can achieve the same goals.

(And anyway, as the video essay "Edelgard Will Always Lose" by BOOFIRE191 noted, she is essentially creating the same system and similar problems as Rhea. A pure meritocracy always sounds nice, until you realize it's ignoring needed equity, for twisted versions of equality, while pretending external misfortunes don't exist, as if everyone in misfortune deserves it for not "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps". Or as Dimitri said, "It is the path of the strong, so it can only benefit the strong.")

Anyway, that was too much rambling about my problems with El. I guess I had stuff to get off my chest for a long time. As someone mentioned, Claude's flaw was being too secretive and still having a little more Growth to go, towards being as open to forging bonds with other people, as would have ideally better facilitated cooperation. Maybe some people wouldn't have felt the need to start wars if they were earlier and better made to feel they could collaborate with and trust others. Who knows? And Dimitri's flaw was his obsession with his revenge. We know that; we saw his entire Growth through his story. But that's as even as I'm willing to get about the 3 lords' flaws. I still have more problems with the Emperor, than the other 2 lords.

#lrb~lrt #rambling #random thoughts #contrasts #I don't know why I stayed up writing this after an all nighter #this is a jumbled mess #please ignore my idiocy #please don’t pick a fight over this as i don’t have the emotional resiliency to deal with internet fights #fe3hfuukasetsugetsu #elredeaglescrit

[rabbitcruiser]

National Cat Day

Felis Silvestrus Catus is a small furry ball of cute that will utterly destroy any human being’s ability to act like a mature adult – a phenomenon which has been shown to become stronger with proximity. Intelligence of the subject seems to be inversely proportional to the distance between it and the nearest member of this species.

People who love cats know what they’re like. They rule human lives as furry little gods, and have been cherished members of the family since long before the days of the Pyramids.

National Cat Day is just the right time to learn about, embrace and celebrate everything to do with cats. Although most cats, if they could talk, would probably say that humans should have this attitude every day of the year and not just on National Cat Day!

History of National Cat Day

National Cat Day was first created by Colleen Paige, who has been a strong animal welfare advocate over the years. She created the day to bring attention to the plight of the domestic cat, particularly those who don’t live in happy homes. Paige is also responsible for creating other important animal related days, such as National Dog Day in October 2004, and National Puppy Day in March 2006.

Cats are closely tied to humans, whether as pets or as feral animals ranging about throughout the cities and towns of almost every continent on the planet. As pets, these feline creatures are dearly loved and have brought joy and laughter to millions of people around the world. Not only that, but they have also been the source of some of the most ridiculous memes on the internet!

National Cat Day was first celebrated in 2005. Shortly after its inception, National Cat Day was adopted by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, an organization also centered on getting people to adopt pets into forever families. The organization works hard to bring attention to the number of animals that have to be rescued each year and particularly to the growing problem and possible solutions to feral cat colonies.

National Cat Day Timeline

1233 Black cats are considered bad luck

An official church document, called the Vox in Rama, is released by Pope Gregory IX stating that black cats are declared an incarnation of Satan.

1600s Public image of cats rallies

Often considered to be connected with demonic activities, eventually the superstition around cats diminishes and cats begin to take their cherished place in society again.

1888 Cat tombs are found in Egypt

In an unexpected turn of events, archaeologists discover at least 80,000 mummified cats and kittens dating back as far as 2000 BC in a place called Beni Hassan.

1969 First Morris the Cat commercial airs

An icon in American pop culture, Morris the Cat is featured in 9 Lives cat food commercials for 9 years, starring in 58 commercials, and making one of the most successful advertising campaigns in television history.

1973 Burt Reynolds shares the screen with a Cat

During his golden years, Morris the Cat finds himself on the silver screen playing the role of a feral cat who hangs out with private detective McCoy in the movie Shamus.

How to Celebrate National Cat Day

Hug and pet your furry overlord if you have one, that’s the easiest way to start your celebration of National Cat Day. Other ideas for enjoying and observing the day might include some of these:

Adopt a Cat

If you don’t have one (or hey! Don’t have enough) then go out and get a new fuzzy little cat to dominate your family and home with their cuteness. Of course, pets are for life, so be sure when bringing it home that it is a good fit–to keep from perpetuating the cycle of cats and kittens without homes.

If it becomes clear that it is time to get yourself a new feline loveball in your life, make sure to go down to the local shelter to adopt a cat. Remember, kittens are easy to get adopted, so go for an older cat or one who doesn’t have a perfect health markup if possible. These cats can be adoring and loving partners, they just aren’t always the prettiest or simplest to care for, but this kind of activity will help to reduce the number of homeless felines in the world.

Learn and Share Some Facts About Cats

This is the perfect day to not only learn a few things about the plight of cats, but also to let others know as well. Start with some of these important pieces of information:

More than 3 million cats are given to animal shelters each year in the US alone.

It is estimated that at least 58 million homeless cats can be found roaming the cities, towns and countryside in America.

Each year, approximately 530,000 cats in animal shelters in the United States are euthanized.

Approximately 2.1 million cats each year are adopted each year from US animal shelters.

Take Care of Your Cat

Take your cat out to get a professional grooming or just used this day as a reminder to schedule a trip to the veterinarian if it’s been a while. Of course, there’s no such thing as taking TOO good care of a pet. Maybe this means buying that cat a new scratching post, upgrading his or her pet food or simply offering a little extra scratching behind the ears. Let National Cat Day be an important reminder of whatever your particular cat likes or needs in order to be well cared for.

Make a Donation to a Pet Shelter or Charity

For those who don’t have a cat, or who want to take things a step further and broaden their reach, making a donation to a local or national charity that helps cats can be a nice way to feel good about the activities of the day. In addition to your local pet shelter, here are some of the top cat charities to consider:

Alley Cat Allies. This nonprofit group works throughout the globe to advocate for the humane treatment of cats and protect their lives. The have a strong focus on Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) programs.

EveryCat Health Foundation. This worldwide charitable organization is the only one that is specifically about feline medicine and research, making sure cats are healthy and happy.

National Cat Protection Society. For more than 50 years, this society has been taking care of cats through shelters, advocacy and educational resources.

International Cat Care. This worldwide nonprofit organization works to offer tons of different resources and help for cat owners and those who are trying to protect them. They initiate many campaigns on behalf of their feline friends.

Watch a Movie About a Cat

Sure, cats can be illusive. But as much as they may try to stay out of the limelight, cats have often been the topics of stories in books and movies. This is the perfect day to curl up on the couch with your cat and watching one of these interesting cat stories:

A Street Cat Named Bob (2016). Based on a true story, this biographical British film was based on a book of the same name, authored by James Bowen. The most important “actor” in the story is the cat, Bob, who plays himself who, sadly, died in June 2020.

Cats (2019). Featured as the longest running musical show (18 years) in Broadway’s history, this show is mostly about the music and costumes. After its final New York performance in 2018, a film was made starring Idris Elba and Dame Judi Dench.

Puss in Boots (2011). Based on an Italian fairy tale character originating as far back as the 1500s, this film retelling is a computer animated comedy and is a prequel spinoff of the Shrek franchise.

Kedi (2016). While thousands of cats roam freely in the ancient Turkish city of Istanbul, this unique documentary film showcases the story of seven different cats and received wide critical acclaim and was listed as one of the Top Ten Films of 2017 by Time Magazine.

Help Take Care of Feral Cats

Finally, celebrating National Cat Day might just be the motivation needed to start an important community program. Help to organize a Trap-Neuter-Release program in your area, which helps to reduce the number of homeless cats by capturing cats and removing their ability to make new colonies. Many times these kinds of drives can be organized in conjunction with local pet shelters or veterinarians who will volunteer their services as a good deed for the community and the feline population.

Spaying and neutering helps to slowly reduce the number of homeless cats while still letting them live out their full lives. Too many feral cats go to shelters only to be euthanized when they don’t get adopted, so this reduction in population is a super start to help eliminate the problem.

Volunteer at a Pet Shelter

One great way to share an ongoing love of cats and make a difference all throughout the year, and not just on National Cat Day, is by volunteering to help at a local pet shelter. Whether filling out paperwork, cleaning, feeding pets, or assisting with the rehabilitation of traumatized animals, important tasks are waiting to be accomplished.

Some shelters require an ongoing commitment of two to four hours per month of volunteer time. Typically, there is a small training process to be accomplished before beginning as a volunteer. But it’s a kindness that the animals will appreciate, even if they can’t thank you personally.

National Cat Day FAQs

How long do cats live?

While domestic cats can live for up to twenty years, the typical lifespan of a house cat is around 10-15 years.

How long are cats pregnant?

Expecting some little kitties?! Cats have a relatively short gestational period and pregnancies last approximately around two months, or 63-65 days.

How often do you take a cat to the vet?

It is best to take a cat to the vet at least one time per year, or more often for those who are older or who have health problems.

Do cats have 9 lives?

Just like all other mortals, cats have just one life. This rumor of cats having nine lives has roots in Ancient Egyptian beliefs that were attached to a god called Atum-Ra who was said to take the form of a cat.

Should cats play with lasers?

If used properly, cats can find a great deal of enjoyment from lasers, as long as they are not overworked and they are allowed to “catch” them occasionally. Of course, never shine the laser directly in the cat’s eyes.

Source

#Asiatic lion #Zoo Zürich #Sweden #Switzerland #Schweiz #animals #travel #cat #Amur leopard #Bronx Zoo #my favorite zoo #New York City #vacation #original photography #summer 2018 #2019 #NationalCatDay #29 October #National Cat Day #I'm a dog person #tiger #lion #cheetah #outdoors

[warriorsbutnotreally]

I advocate for cats who actually acknowledge their kin and adopted kin and kin relations of the sort

honestly same tbh

we've been getting bits of it here and there

and I do like that Nightheart is having a positive relationship with his foster family, even if they were only temporarily fosters

we also had a bit of it from Thunder's relationship with his adopted siblings, Acorn Fur and Lightning Tail

but I really, really wish we had more of it overall

I've also been liking the idea of, for the sake of avoiding confusing family trees, Clans offering to care for orphaned / abandoned kits until they're old enough to no longer need a foster and returning them to their birth Clan

giving the Clans stronger ties between each other

#warriors #warrior cats