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pillage-and-lute · 3 years

Note

Hi, this is a Monday Evening Prompt: How about Jaskier coming to Kaer Morhen and bringing little presents for all the wolves? Could be his first visit or not. Have a nice evening!

Hi Petrificustotaluss! I really did some worldbuilding here.

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Geralt could smell the anxiety rolling off of Jaskier in waves all the way up to Kaer Morhen. The bard was practically vibrating out of his travel cloak. On the few stops on their way up the mountain he didn’t sing, choosing instead to pluck repetitive tunes on his lute.

Their last stop before the keep was in a cave, long used by witchers returning home. This last haven before home always brought out something deep and maybe even proud in Geralt’s chest.

The cave was not large, but deep enough that the weather didn’t permeate. Geralt lead Roach to the back, where centuries of hooves had worn a groove, and threw her blanket over her. Jaskier rubbed her nose affectionately, looking around in wonder, despite the fading light.

Geralt began setting a fire in the ring of stones left behind by one of his brothers. Two slashes were carved into the side of a larger stone. Lambert then, a sign left for whichever of his brothers cam behind.

Fire flared and Jaskier gasped. Every witcher who had stayed in the cave, since its presence had been discovered, had carved their name into the wall. Jaskier stepped immediately to the back of the cave, tracing names almost worn away with trembling hands.

Geralt took his hand and guided his fingertips and his feet closer to the mouth of the cave. Jaskier brushed his thumb over the V in Vesemir.

“Your name...?”

Geralt found it for him.

“I couldn’t read yet,” he whispered, when he found the marks he sought. “You know how the letters switch in my mind. Eskel told me what to carve.”

The names were right next to one another and Jaskier pressed one hand against them, as if he was trying to reach into the past.

“Lambert’s is here,” Geralt said, voice almost a whisper. It felt appropriate here.

Jaskier traced it gently, too.

They sat down to eat without much talking, unusual for the bard, but this much history could be oppressive for anyone. There were drawings among the names and Jaskier kept glancing at them.

After dinner they huddled together, backs against one of the walls.

“That one,” Geralt said, pointing to the back of the cave, “That’s the first version of the wolf on my medallion.” He had smelled the anxiety rising on Jaskier’s scent again, and hoped talking could keep it at bay.

“There,” he pointed again. “That’s Gawain of Ymlac’s name, almost faded. He’s famous, bards wrote about his fight with a knight, Bertilak the Green.”

“I know the story,” Jaskier said, eyes wide. “But the way it’s always told, Gawain is a knight.”

Geralt shook his head. “Gawain was considered one of the best of us, but he was no knight. Bertilak visited here too, but he could not write, few could in those days.”

“So his name isn’t here?” Jaskier sounded disappointed.

“It is, the rough carving of the tree, beneath Gawain’s name, is his. It was the sigil on his shield.”

Jaskier’s eyes were so round he looked like a child at Yuletide.

“There,” Geralt pointed, “is the name of another famous visitor. I wonder if you know him.”

Jaskier stood and walked over. “Here?” he asked. “Taliesin, I’ve never heard the name, was he from another witcher school?”

“No,” Geralt said, walking to Jaskier’s side. “A sorceror and a bard. I think you would know him better by another name.” He couldn’t resist the dramatic pause. Jaskier looked up at him, hanging on his words.

“I believe they call him...” Jaskier leaned in. “Merlin.”

“Never!” Jaskier cried, hopping back. “Geralt you’re pulling my leg!”

“I am not,” Geralt said. “He wrote notes in some of the books in the library.”

Jaskier was no longer nervous, hopping about in excitement.

“Which ones? Do you know? I have to read them all. Geralt can you think of the stories!”

Geralt chuckled.

“This one,” he said. “Is Aiden’s signature.” It was hard to read, the rock was soft, but carving was still difficult work.

“Lambert’s friend?”

Geralt nodded. “From the cat school. I think you’ll like him.” The pair of them would probably manage to burn the keep down.

Jaskier looked around him with a stunned grin. Geralt pulled out the heavy work knife he kept at his thigh and offered it to Jaskier, hilt first.

“What?”

“Well you need to carve your name, don’t you?”

Jaskier’s eyes filled. “Really?”

“Of course, someday someone will point out the name of Jaskier, the Continent’s famous bard.”

Jaskier grinned bashfully. He sat at the wall of the cave and scratched out his name. It was slow going for a human, without magic or mutant strength, but he did. Then he began a new carving.

Geralt didn’t ask yet, but restocked the fire and waited.

At last Jaskier pulled back, there was the carving from Geralt’s medallion, a lark, and a flower.

Geralt felt his chest tighten, but in a warm way.

That night, beside eachother in their bedrolls, Jaskier tossed and turned.

“Stop,” Geralt said. “Sleep, it will be alright.”

“The ground is hard,” Jaskier said.

“They’ll like you,” Geralt said. “You’re my-” friend, he wanted to finish. The word couldn’t seem to break from between his lips.

“Bard,” he finished lamely. “They know that, they’ll respect it.”

Jaskier gave a little twitch that was maybe a shrug under the layers of fabric.

“They’ll see what I see,” Geralt said.

“A fillingless pie?” Jaskier said jokingly. Some of the anxiety had gone, though.

Geralt huffed. “Everyone knows the crust is the best part, anyway.”

He rolled over and went to sleep.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

They arrived at the gates of Kaer Morhen midmorning the next day. Jaskier was looking around in awe, taking in the crumbling architecture.

“It’s beautiful,” he whispered.

Geralt was about to respond but was tackled into a snowdrift by his younger brother.

Geralt laughed and tossed Lambert off him, only for Eskel to join the fray, the three of them scrapping and laughing, rolling about the courtyard.

Vesemir pulled them apart by their collars. Then he nuzzled Geralt before gruffly ruffling his hair. “Welcome back, lad,” he said.

Jaskier was looking on wide-eyed, but Geralt didn’t have time to explain the odd greeting because Eskel was next.

His brother gave him a rib shaking hug and roughly grated his cheek along Geralt’s, snuffling a little as he took in his brother’s scent.

Lambert, still a pup, didn’t wait his turn and butted his cheek agains Geralt’s other one, then delivered a bit of a nip to Geralt’s ear. He pulled back looking a little embarrassed, but the brother’s understood, sometimes the wolf instinct was a little strong.

“Um,” Jaskier said. Four pairs of golden eyes turned to look at him.

“I’m Jaskier, Geralt’s bard...should I greet you like a wolf or....?” He stuck out his hand awkwardly.

“A handshake is fine, lad,” Vesemir said, taking the bard’s offered hand. Geralt watched Jaskier almost not wince as his fingers were, accidentally, ground together. “The wolf is just a little stonger in winter for my boys.”

Geralt noticed that Vesemir’s nostrils still flared as he took in Jaskier’s unfamiliar scent, but didn’t say anything.

Eskel and Lambert both somewhat sheepishly shook the bard’s hand. Then the little party unloaded Roach and continued into the great hall.

Jaskier gratefully warmed his hands at the fire before sitting at the table with the rest of the witchers. He began digging in his pack.

“I, uh, I brought gifts,” he said, pulling out packages. “Since I’m your guest and all.”

Vesemir huffed good naturedly “still put you to work, guest or no,” he said.

“Of course,” Jaskier said. He looked around. “I have one for Aiden too? Is he here?”

“Eavesdropping,” Lambert said. A witcher slunk around a doorway and sat next to him, not even bothering to look ashamed. He was of a leaner build than the wolves, more wiry.

Aiden extended a hand to Jaskier, who took it politely.

“I’ve heard good things,” he purred.

“Thank you.”

“Heard you’ve tamed Pretty Boy.”

Geralt snarled, mostly playfully.

Jaskier smiled. “I get him to take a bath once in a while, I’m not sure it counts as tame.” It got a chuckle from Aiden, and Geralt felt his sanity slipping away already as he pictured their friendship.

“Um,” Jaskier said, proffering a package to Vesemir. The old wolf took it with a nod and pulled at the rough twine.

“Candles,” Vesmir said, looking at the slightly misshapen lumps in front of him. Four of them, in waxed paper, and an odd color, a pale, pale green. Geralt realised it first, but Vesemir said the name before him.

“Strydwen wax,” he said approvingly. “Burns without smoke or heat. Never goes out or melts away. Thank you.”

The ‘thank you’ was said with a resonance that Geralt had never been able to master. It sort of took up place in your chest and stayed there. Jaskier fairly glowed with it.

“For Eskel,” he said, handing another package over.

Eskel smiled at him and pulled apart the wrapping to reveal a large, leatherbound book.

“Poetry,” Eskel said delightedly.

“Newly published by a former professor of mine,” Jaskier confirmed. Eskel examined the cover.

“You studied under Rumi?” Eskel looked impressed.

“Six semesters,” Jaskier said ruefully. “He isn’t an easygoing grader.”

The final two gifts were dispensed at the same time, and Lambert and Aiden tore into their packages to find twin daggers, balanced for combat, not throwing.

Lambert admired the round stone set into the end. Geralt, trained in the same school, figured he was picturing bludgeoning someone with it.

“Twist it,” Jaskier suggested. Lambert gave it a go.

The stone on Aiden’s dagger glowed faintly.

Aiden twisted his and Lamber’s glowed, both fading after a few seconds.

“To communicate?” Aiden asked.

Jaskier nodded shyly. “I thought...for when you separate on the Path.”

Lambert grinned at him, his smile all teeth. “It’s perfect, I’ll annoy him with it constantly.”

The table descended into cheerful bickering and Jaskier sat back, smiling. He looked at Geralt and a furrow laid itself on his brow.

“I should have given you a gift.”

Geralt looked at his cheerful family, thought of a song that made witchers’ lives easier like a magic spell, a companion. He thought of a cave full of stories, with his and Jaskier’s carved together.

“You have.”

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Some history notes! Because I’m a nerd! Gawain of of Ymlac and Bertilak the Green are of course a reference to the Arthurian legend of Gawain and the Green Knight.

Taliesin is also a reference to Arthurian legend, being a famous 6th century Welsh bard, one of the first bards we know of who told the tales of Arthur (although many of the stories are based in pagan sun god myth). Over centuries, the name Taliesin sometimes appears in Arthurian legend as another sorcerer, a wise sage, a poet, a demi-godly figure, or another name for Merlin. I picture Jaskier’s story sometime much later becoming something like Taliesin’s on the Continent.

Jaskier’s former professor is Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, a 13th century Persian poet.

Also, I couldn’t resist having our wolves greet eachother as such. It’s too cute and I’m taking this headcanon as canon. Permanently.

#I'm a nerd your honor #the witcher #geralt #jaskier #vesemir #eskel #lambert #aiden #lambert x aiden #geralt x jaskier #could be platonic ig #i think they wanna kiss tho

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wanderingchocolateeclair · 3 years

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So since you were asking for agnst or working on that stuff and you also asked for ideas

How about the rest of the top five comforting Shinya after his sister may have died and its just been a really rough week for him and he’s thrown himself into his work

(Kamui and Mount Lady headcanons with that is welcome too)

Oooohh thank you for the angsty suggestion!! You always have great ideas for me to ramble about! This was gonna be a short one but, unsurprisingly, turned out rather long, and I may have thrown a bit of edgejeanist in there as well(also I hope you don’t mind me shoving my own OCs in there)

I made it a bit too long so imma shove it under the cut :)

Warning: mention of death and everything that goes with it - rather angsty.

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“She’s dead.”

That’s all Shinya heard as he stood in the kitchen, phone pressed against his cheek. It was dark outside, the wind smashing against the window, when he was woken up by his phone buzzing violently across the bedside table. He didn’t particularly want to answer it at 2:00am but being a hero he had no choice - it could be an emergency - so he glanced to his side to make sure the lanky figure beside him was still asleep and slid out of bed, taking the phone down into the kitchen where he couldn’t disturb anyone.

As he answered the phone, he was greeted by a shaky voice. He was confused, this wasn’t someone he was familiar with and suddenly his instincts were screaming at him that nothing good was going to come out of this conversation. But he pressed on, listening to what this mysterious voice had to say. It was only when they mentioned Hana’s name that alarm bells started going off in his head.

‘What happened to her? Where is she? Where is my sister?’ His head was racing at this point. He had a bad feeling but he was hoping, praying that it wasn’t right. But it was, as usual, and yet again he felt his world collapse around him. She had been severely injured by a villain in her nightly patrol, and died shortly after, before Shinya could even be notified. He couldn’t believe it. It was exactly like what happened all those years ago, except that this time he wasn’t there. This time he couldn’t even get close to helping...and to him that felt somewhat worse than the feeling of watching his own mother die in front of him. Maybe it was how long it had been since then, who knows, but he didn’t care at that point. His sister was dead and he couldn’t save her.

After putting the phone down, Shinya gazed over to the window beside him and watched as a few raindrops started to dance their way down the cold glass. He smiled gently. It reminded him of a time when he was a kid, watching as his family danced through the streets of his village, hand in hand. He remembered how Hana would race him to the riverside and use her quirk to create beautiful illusions that lead to a big tree that stood in the middle of the forest. They called it their special little “secret hideout”...they were fond memories, but the remnants of them stung a little too much when he was reminded of the real time that he currently stood in.

As his mind came back to reality, his head was spinning, his balance faltered and he felt the ground get closer. But he didn’t do anything to stop it, he just prepared himself for the harsh embrace of the cold kitchen floor that lay beneath him. However, it didn’t happen, and he was confused at this - surely he should of hit the ground by now... so why hadn’t he? His mind was put at ease when he felt a pair of thin arms winding around him, guiding him gently to the floor. Shinya looked up to see Tsunagu looking down at him in return, eyes weary but gentle, reassuring him that he is safe and that nothing is going to happen to them in that moment.

Shinya scrambled to find words to tell the other what had happened, needing to let it all out, but the words were all caught in his throat. “She’s...I can’t...Tsu-”

“I know. It’s okay, I know.” Tsunagu reassured the shivering figure that he held in his arms, “I heard you wake up, and you were longer than usual so I decided to see if everything was okay but once I got here I realised that, well, you know...” he trailed off. He knew exactly what Shinya was thinking in that moment and knew that all he needed was to not be alone. So they stayed there, huddled in each others arms on the kitchen floor, spending the early hours in a deeply solemn mood.

A few days had passed, and the others had heard about what happened. Shinya had fully absorbed himself into his work and allowed himself to spend endless nights on patrol as a distraction from his grief, some nights not even coming home. During daily hero work, he ended up taking on the majority of the main work while he left Kamui and Mt. Lady with barely anything to do. Normally, they would do everything to prevent this from happening but they knew that in this situation, it’s the only thing that he needed. So they just had to tag along, and watch as the older man worked himself to the bone.

Telling Hana’s friends about it was the hardest part for him. Seeing the shattered look on Mao’s face when she hears that the bashful little fairy she loved to joke around with would no longer be there to walk with her to her apartment. Or watching as her students came to the realisation that their teacher would no longer be there every morning with her classic bubbly smile. All of her friends, breaking down when they hear that someone they cared for had died...and I guess that was the difference this time. People cared, and they were there to grieve alongside him. It all felt so strangely odd to him, since the last time something like this had happened, they were simply ignored by everyone around them.

He walked through his old village, making his way to the place where his family lay resting. Kneeling before the ground that held Hana’s fallen sister, he cried, apologising for everything - for not being there to protect her. He let all of his grieving words be carried to the hearts of his family and all those that had cared for them, resting in front of him, feeling them surrounding him in comfort. He knew deep down there was nothing he could’ve done but he still had to apologise to all those that had tasked him with taking care of her. Her sister, his mother, the kind old lady that had taken them in. All of them were there for them when they were alive, and so he knew that revealing his thoughts to them would allow his mind to be more at ease.

Everyday Hawks would swing by Shinya’s office, bringing snacks and drinks and checking if there’s anything he needs. Rumi offered - no - insisted on taking care of some of his patrol areas, allowing him to stay closer to his main area and not have to put his mind to getting to those places. Enji took care of some of the bigger assignments that he had been tasked, not saying much about it but just doing so to ease the other’s conscious off of those things. Tsunagu had already made sure to take care of Shinya’s massive pile of paperwork and put his own work on hold to help the other cope with what he was going through.

They all worked so hard together to make sure that Shinya knew that he wasn’t going through it alone, because unlike all those years ago, he had people who were there for him...and he was more than grateful for that.

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And that’s all!! Sorry it was originally supposed to be a short list of headcanons but I couldn’t resist the urge to ramble in the form of endless writing... I really enjoyed writing this - it has gotten me in a great angsty mood to continue with my angsty drawing!

Thank you again for the wonderful ask @ohpleaseiwillendyou!

Anyone feel free to send me asks, questions and suggestions about my favourite ships and characters and anything really!! I’m more than happy to answer most things so if you have any please swing them my way, I’m off of college currently and have got quite a lot of time to answer things!!

~Eclair ❤️

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princekirijo · 3 years

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Sorry for a random message but you seem to love gushing about things you enjoy so would I be able to ask for some fic recs? For P3-5? I really don't have any preferences i.e any ships, fluff or angst or whatever, canon compliant or au etc. Just kinda go crazy, I love seeing people really passionate about stuff like this. And most importantly: I hope you have a fantastic day

Hi!!! Sorry this took me forever but I have read a lot of great fics so it took me a while to narrow down the list! I’ve been thinking about this message all day it was so sweet thank you 🥺. I love that people like my passion/gushing and I hope you have a fantastic day too! Now for the list (which I’ll put under a read more):

So heads up before I start it’s mostly P3 and P5 and a lot of it is predictably yukamitsu... They are also normally one shots because I personally find it easier to read them (ADHD </3) but there are some longer ones in there!

OK first we have: In Coming to Understand One Another. This is possibly my favorite fic ever because it’s basically the yukamitsu bible. It does a really good job of looking at their relationship and how it changes throughout the game which is unfortunately rare for a yukamitsu fic (it’s the only solid one I’ve read that looks at their relationship from like before the slap and that). There is a bit of spice towards the end but god it is worth the read.

Next is deep in her eyes i think i see the future which is a yukamitsu wedding fic and god it makes me cry like a baby every time I read it (the follow up and onward is also very good - Yukari wants a baby basically, and if you know anything about my AU which I never shut up about then you’ll know why I like that one too). There’s also Akishinji in here too and it’s just loads of happy feels and good tears :’)

And OK last Yukamitsu one is I didn’t come here just to dance. It’s really sweet and kinda fluffy and honestly they’re both gay messes and it’s all around a fun read.

The best Persona 3 fic I’ve ever read though is Faded Away (Persona 3 Sibling AU). It’s basically a P3 protagonist twin AU and just everything about it is amazing. The characterization, the way they tell the story, the interactions between characters, just everything. It’s not complete at the moment but it is fairly active and it’s currently just finishing up the Midsummer Knight’s Dream Arc (it follows the movies see). Also it does have yukamitsu which is a massive win for me and also Akiham!

OK now for two Akimina fics (Akihiko/Minato): Half-Remembered Anxiety and Please.... Both very angsty (because I am a sucker for angst) and the latter was written by my friend @/ravenoftheskyes!

Those are the main P3 ones I love (I could have added like 6 more Yukamitsu ones but the list is pretty long already so moving on). So for P5 the first I absolutely have to mention is the Your Heart series by my bro @/arc-el-ion which I actually beta for! There’s currently two fics in the series, one’s finished and one is still updating and they are both amazing. Arc is such a talented writer and it truly is an honor to beta for her (love you bro <3). It’s a Shuake post-Royal story and that’s all I’ll say without spoiling anything.

There’s a bunch of fics I’d like to rec from my friend @/wildcard-rumi who is such a talented writer. My personal favorite is P5R Chat Fic I Guess? It’s really funny and is like one of the few chat fics I’ve read that has a good story going on? And also the interactions between the characters is so good and it feels so real, like I’m playing P5 myself. And the nicknames for the different characters are just spot on ( AmamiyaHereWeGoAgain - Ren and ComeGetYallJuice - Maruki are my personal favorites).

Speaking of Maruki I can’t mention Rui’s writing without mentioning the Takuto is Ren’s dad AU series. God it’s so good and it made me adore Maurki as a character, Rui is the QUEEN of writing him honestly. The fics in the series range from aw sweet to ouch ouch my heart has just been torn to shreds and left in a gutter... And the spin off series Buried Memories is very much in the latter category but god it’s good.

And then a quick mention of some other fics I liked from her would be Family, I’ve got your back (possibly my second favorite after the chat fic), Welcome Home, For You and A happy little family. All brilliant fics, she’s an incredibly talented writer!!!

Then probably the last one I’ll rec for now is @/cantfoolajoker’s hauntober prompt series! As the name suggests it was for hauntober last year and there’s some really nice ficlets in there (lots of good senpai squad interactions, akishinji and was actually the series that got me really liking pegoban (akiren/yu)!). They’re fairly short and very fun to read!

And that’s all the ones I can think of right now. Honestly I could do a separate yukamitsu list at some stage if anyone would be interested, I basically live in that tag and there’s some very good fics out there that I didn’t mention here (I have a very weird ability of being able to guess the name and author of a yukamitsu fic based on a plot detail alone 😔). But yeah! Also definitely go check out all of the people I mentioned because they all are very talented writers! And if anyone has anything they want to add to this feel free to. And I know I’m forgetting so many but if I remember anymore I’ll come back and add to it!

#asks #anonymous #persona 3 #persona 5 #anon this was such a sweet ask thank you #i'm so sorry it took me forever to answer #but like i've literally been thinking about this all day #hope you enjoyed these!!!#and also shout to everyone i mentioned they're all very sexy and talented <3

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dadzawa-adopt-dabi · 4 years

Text

secret baby ch5

(sorry for the long wait. i rember someone said that they were missing hawks so i tried to put him back in. unfourtanatly he cant really really be here yet, it just dosent fit. suggestions ideas are welcome.)

The first month Dabi is in his apartment is full of doctors appointments and getting used to the silence of living alone.

“Almost 6 months along now, how are you feeling?” Nurse Joy asks him at one of his appointments. She’s spreading a cold gel on him for another ultrasound. This one Dabi gets to take home and put on his fridge. He’s going to have to order some sort of cute stork magnets to hold it on there.

“Tired mostly, I’m also noticing like a tickle? Is that normal? Is she just kicking? I thought that wasn’t supposed to start yet.”Dabi stands up and stretches as best as he can.

“She may be hiccuping! Sometimes that happens as your baby is starting to practice breathing and may be accidently swallowing fluid, it’s fine!” She brings over the wand and starts trying to find his baby girl.

“Wai- holy shit! Are those wings!?” Dabi gasps as the image of his daughter comes up and has 2 small bumps on her back.

“Maybe, if the other father had extra limps then it often carries over to the baby, you might want to consider a cancerian section if those stay.” She continues to move the wand around until she’s satisfied his baby is fine.

“Have you picked out a name yet?”

“Miyako.” Todoroki is a name he doesn’t ever want to hear again or associated with his innocent baby girl.

He has been going to the public library and reading everything about pregnancy and new parents that he can. The neighbors fight and while its not on the level his house was on he still tenses. Waits for the smack sound of the hitting each other or for something to go too far. But they never get too loud and they never throw objects or kick each other out. He hates that he’s waiting for something he knows isn’t normal.

The TV is on a lot to drown them out with white noise, turned on to the news. He’s too tense to focus on anything else. He never does get reported missing.

During his 2nd month in the apartment Dabi starts seeing the doctors more frequently, constantly monitoring his health and his baby girl’s development.

“Are you stressed Dabi? Your blood pressure has been high the last couple of visits” Joy asks while she takes his vitals.

“My apartment has thin walls and my neighbors are noisy. It’s keeping me awake and I’m a little jumpy these days. Is it going to affect miyako? Is there a way I can lower my blood pressure?” Dabi twists his fingers in his shirt and scowls when he notices what he’s doing. There’s no reason to be nervous, nurse Joy is just making small talk. He’s starting to doubt he can do this. He’s tired all the time and dreads leaving his apartment to go to his appointments. He’s started decorating and wishes he could show off how far he’s come.

“Try buying something that reminds you of someone close to you! You’re on your own for this right? It’s probably just stress. Having something that reminds you will probably bring it down and allow you to sleep easier. High blood pressure can cause some problems but it’s not that high yet, we just want to nip this in the bud if we can.” Joy gives Dabi a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, I’m on my own. The other father doesn’t know.” They continue to make small talk and Joy suggests that Dabi start taking prenatal vitamins before declaring him fine and sending them home.

Dabi promises on his way out the door to find a way to lower his stress levels.

He falls asleep almost as soon as he gets home.

Hawks wakes up easily, he knows it and always brushes it off as his feathers are sensitive.

Touya is thrashing around in his sleep, it must be what woke him up. Hawks’ own nightmare has nothing to do with it.

Faint distressed omega scent comes off of him and Hawks tries to mellow his own out before he wakes him. Touya is full on whimpering and giving small aborted growls in his sleep as he starts to smoke. Mumbled words pass his lips but he’s still too quiet to hear what he’s trying to say.

He gently shakes Touya and catches the fist that comes at him as Touya jumps awake.

“Touya, Touya it’s okay, babe.”

Hawks watches him as he wakes up and stretches his wings into Touya’s view. They call a lot of people down when he flies rescue missions but all it seems to do for his omega is send him deeper into a panic. Scent growing more distressed and the blocker fading away so he’s hit with how strong Touya’s distress really is.

“Babe, I need you to call down for breathing pretty fast.”

“Try-trying, can’t.”

Fuck, its not working.

Hawks unlocks his phone and dials Rumi, belatedly hoping she has a night shift tonight and is awake anyways.

“Hey Rumi my omeg- boyfr- you know what? My omega friend who slept over is having a panic attack and I don’t know what to do.” He practically squeaks into the phone as he tries to get Touya to breath in sync with him.

“Jesus fuck, what did you do to the poor guy? Try giving him your coat. It should smell enough like you that he will automatically calm down. Especially if he’s over enough for you to be calling him your boyfriend.”

“Thanks Rumi, I’ll talk to you tomorrow morning.” Hawks hangs up the phone before she can attempt to tease him anymore. He sends a feather for the coat and shoves it in Touya’s face.

Touya inhales the scent and starts to slow his breathing as Hawks continues to try and get him to match his breathing.

“You can’t just shove your wings in my face after a nightmare dude.” Touya sits up still holding onto the blanket.

He lets go of Hawks arm. A embarrassed blush on his cheeks.

“Well, they usually comfort people,” Hawks mutters. He gets up to make breakfast for them, it doesn’t happen often but sometimes it does. When him or Touya can’t go back to sleep.

Touya steps into the shower and when he exits he’s wearing just the coat. Hawks sputters and gasps when he sees him but eats breakfast with Touya before he leaves for hero training. He leaves Touya a key and asks to talk when he comes home.

In the dream when Hawks comes home Touya is still wearing just his coat and boxers. Touya moves in with Hawks and Hawks is overjoyed at being a dad to his baby girl.

It’s a nice dream all in all.

Dabi wakes up and for a moment he wishes that the dream was real. He wishes that he had seduced Hawks back to bed like in the dream. That he had told Hawks in person he was pregnant and that Hawks had been overjoyed. He wishes he hadn’t left the key Hawks gave him on the counter. Hadn’t gone home and blocked his number.

Dabi lets himself spend a few more minutes laying in bed and wishing things had gone differently before he decides it pointless to go back to sleep. He checks his phone, 4am, the store doesn’t open for 3 more hours and he has time to kill.

He rearranges his room and cleans. Buys more baby clothes online and a stroller with birds on it. It’s funny and cute even if her other father will never see it. It’s not weak to want him in her life as long as he doesn’t give in to the urge. One hour until the store opens, he does some light exercises and goes through the motions to get ready.

Dabi goes out, browses the omega and baby section. He does it almost every morning and it’s part of his routine at this point. He looks through baby blankets and swaddles. Dabi ends up buying a blanket made from suede. It’s close enough to Hawks hero jacket, as close as he could find in the store anyways. He didn’t mean to go for something that reminded him of his alpha but before he knew what he was doing he was carrying the blanket up to the register. It reminds him of his dream, what prompted him to leave the house today.

He buys the blanket and adds an extra lock to his cart to help him sleep better.

Dreams don’t grant Dabi security and all he can do is add locks to protect his apartment and watch the news for a missing person report.

Hawks had never knocked anything around before. In fact he had always taken extra care not to startle Dabi after the first time he did so and got a bunch of his feathers accidently set on fire.

Maybe he had just been worked up, tired from Hero training and the interview? Dabi knew he could be snappy and growly after training.

He doesn’t want to make excuses for that behavior though, he won’t.

Shit, how can he miss an alpha he barely knew?

@ruelukas22

#secretbabyfic #dabihawks #Dabi #hawks #takami keigo #todoroki touya #dabi is touya #thedarkonewrites #omegaverse #omegadabi #alphakeigo

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wishingupontheskyandstars · 4 years

Text

For Reylo Week 2020

Day 1: Favorite Song Lyric or Quote

Fanfic inspired by Quote:

"Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along.”

– Rumi

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23871826/chapters/57382366

Title: Together Always

Summary: In a new world and new life, Rey and Ben Solo, attend the same University and same class. They are drawn towards one another for reasons unknown... Until they happen to touch, revealing a part of themselves, from another life, another galaxy...

Part I

Ben Solo couldn’t explain it, but there was something about her that was familiar. He observed her unique triple bun hairstyle that made him happy for a reason he didn't know.

The syllabus had just been thoroughly discussed and everyone was separated into small critique groups for their creative writing course at Coruscant University, in the heart of New Republic City. After a minute of awkward stares, making sure their desks were in a small circle, and wondering who should start first, she spoke.

"My name is Rey," she began. She went into a rhythm of tapping her fingers on her binder and making a fist as she spoke. She was nervous, Ben could tell. "I'm a first-year, major undecided, and—" She briefly looked at Ben and gave him a curious look before she looked away. "—I look forward to working with all of you this semester." She finished with a small grin and looked down at her clasped hands.

Rey heard her fellow students, Rose and Jacen, give their introductions, and for some reason, her chest quickened when she finally heard his voice. "I'm Ben—Political Science Major. This is my final year and I always wanted to take a writing course...So here I am," he finished with a shrug. Rey saw he made a fist like her and knew he must have been nervous as well. She stared at his almost shoulder-length dark wavy hair; she wanted to run her hands through it. Her daze was interrupted when Ben stared back at her, his look in curiosity as if he was trying to place her. The thing was, Rey was puzzled as she felt she saw this man before...Maybe in a dream? She shook looked away.

"Well, I suggest we get each other's email addresses so we can send each other our first short stories," Rose said, pulling a piece of paper and handing it to Jacen first.

As Jacen wrote, he mentioned, "I could send my story first. I've been wanting to get some feedback." He handed the paper to Rey.

"I'll go after you!" Rose exclaimed. She gave everybody a warm smile, making everybody in their group feel at ease.

Rey slid the paper across from her, towards Ben. They stared at one another until he looked away, taking the paper and writing his e-mail address. She looked around at her classmates and said, "I'll go after you, Rose."

"Awesome!" Rose said enthusiastically. She pointed at Ben. "That makes you..."

"Last--yup, I'm good." Ben nodded, looking at Rey and found she was staring at him, again. This time they smiled at each other before looking away.

Rose, seeing their exchange smiled as she said, "Also, I must say Rey, I love your hairstyle. It's so cute!"

"Oh," Rey touched her buns and gave a small shrug. "Thank you. It's something I've always done since I can remember."

"That's sweet," Rose said, nodding. "My sister Paige and I have these matching medallions from our hometown, Hays Minor. We've had them ever since we can remember too." Rose and Rey smiled at each other, in understanding. Rose nodded as Rey gently touched the medallion.

"It's beautiful." She took her hand away and saw both Jacen and Ben were staring at them. "Sorry, guess we got carried away there," Rey said.

Jacen shook his head. "No, it's cool." He gave them both a grin. "I also have a necklace from my hometown of Lothal, a town not far from here."

"I know that area...My father and I would go camping in the mountains; it's a beautiful area," Ben said as he ran his fingers through his hair. He moved his mouth back and forth.

Jacen nodded knowingly. "Right, every summer my parents and I go camping and explore. There's always a new area to discover."

Rey loved that the group was getting along. She had a good feeling about this.

Later, after a quick-write assignment, their professor dismissed them early, reminding them to upload their critiques of the first story online before attending class next week.

Rey put her desk back in line, behind another desk. She heard the room become louder with chatter as everybody was moving their desks back in place and leaving. She picked up her binder, accidentally knocking her pen to the ground. "Shoot," she whispered, as she quickly put her binder in her backpack.

"Here," Ben whispered as he waited for Rey to acknowledge him.

Her head immediately went up hearing his voice. "Thanks, Ben!" She smiled as she retrieved it. Their fingers barely touched as in one flash of a second she saw something like a vision or a memory of Ben smiling at her, his eyes closed. She looked at him quizzically then shook her head as she smiled at him again before turning away from him and walking towards the door. What was that she wondered.

Ben looked at Rey as she left the room. He looked down at his fingertips. He wondered if she saw what he saw, a glance of Rey smiling at him, but she looked tired and she had blood on the right side of her forehead. He didn't know what to make of it as he packed his things and left the classroom.

He walked outside the building and smelled Night-blooming jasmine. He closed his eyes, taking in the fragrance, reminding him of home. A subtle wind moved his hair as he opened his eyes and continued to walk.

He walked a block away from the University toward his favorite 24 Hour Coffee House, Green Milk. He opened the door and welcomed the dim lighting from Christmas lights displayed all around the walls, creating a comfy ambiance. The smell of coffee, tea, baked goods, and sandwiches made him sigh in relief as he waited in line to order. He looked around, trying to spot a free table until his eyes landed on Rey sitting at a small table reading a book.

Rey's shift at Green Milk started at 9:45. She was grateful that her last class of the week ended an hour early as she got started on her history reading. A few minutes into her reading she heard faint footsteps and then the voice that made her feel butterflies in her stomach. "Hi again, Rey," Ben said. He moved his mouth back and forth. "I was wondering if I could sit here? Other tables have been taken."

Rey looked around and saw the coffee house was indeed crowded. She looked back at Ben and said, "Of course." She moved her backpack from the chair and put it near her feet. She saw him remove his jacket, revealing the same black sweater he wore in class, fitting him quite nicely she thought. She moved her cup filled with tea near her as he sat across from her. Without him noticing, she looked as he took out his laptop from his sleek messenger bag. It was less than an hour and she still wondered what that image of Ben meant.

Ben noticed Rey stare past his shoulder with a determined look. "You okay there?"

Rey shook her head, freeing herself from that image. "Yes, just a long day. I don't know if this was smart of me, but I arranged it so that I have all my classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays." She shrugged.

"Well, I did the same thing."

"Really?" Rey raised a brow.

Ben nodded and took a bite of his blueberry muffin. "I have two early classes back to back then two evening courses, one on Tuesday and ours." He took a sip from his hot cocoa.

Rey sighed. "Good, then I must be on the right track."

"How has your first week been?"

Rey shrugged, opening her mouth then closing it, making Ben chuckle.

"That bad?" He asked.

"It's just overwhelming," she sighed.

Ben ran his fingers through his hair. "That's how I felt and as the semesters passed, I just fell into a rhythm. You'll find your rhythm soon enough."

"I hope so."

They both smiled at each other then looked down at their reading materials. Ben took another sip of his drink before asking, "Are you from the city?"

Rey shook her head. "Jakku."

Ben's brows furrowed. "That's in the middle of—"

"Nowhere," she finished. She rolled her eyes. "I know."

"I can understand why you wanted to attend University in the city now."

"I love it here. There's much to do and it's so lively." She closed her history book and put her shoulders on the table leaning towards Ben. "I never want to leave."

Ben nodded. "I'm sure your family misses you."

"They won't," she said with ease.

Ben furrowed his brows again and regretted his words. "Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"I never knew my parents." Rey looked down at her tea before looking up and staring into Ben's eyes. She felt she could trust him with this part of herself that she usually never revealed to anyone. "I remember being in an orphanage until I was about six." She smiled fondly at the small floral bouquet in the middle of the table. "An older man named Ben Kenobi adopted me. He had a wife and child once but lost them the same night when their child was born. Years later, he moved to Jakku from another isolated town to become the town's Reverend." She smiled and fidgeted with her hands, not staring at Ben but wondered how he was looking at her. She looked up and saw a genuine look of compassion and she was touched by it.

"What happened to him?" He asked in a soft tone.

"He passed away a year ago, yesterday," she revealed with a somber look. "He was the only parent I needed and I'm grateful we were a family." Rey smiled and felt a single teardrop on her left cheek. She wiped at it with a hand. "Didn't mean to get so emotional there."

Ben had his chin on top of his clasped hands. "It's okay, you're not alone in feeling those emotions."

Rey sniffled and drank more tea before she responded with a single word, "Good."

Ben was moved by her story. He took another drink from his cup when he heard her question. "Are you from here or...?"

Ben half-smiled before he responded. "I'm from Chandrila."

Rey's mouth formed an O. "Oh, I want to visit one day. It looks like a lovely area."

Bon nodded. "It is," he confirmed. "There are stunning beaches and the water is always calm; there are beautiful views of the hills."

Rey sighed as she drank more tea. "Sounds breathtaking."

"I also lived in Naboo, where my grandparents are."

Rey's eyes enlarged. "Another lovely area, wow, you're so lucky."

Ben half-smiled again. "I think my grandmother and mother love peaceful areas. They both were surprised that I wanted to study in the city rather at one of the Universities over there."

"They're very expensive."

"Yeah, but my grandfather lived in this city and my father too, for a time, and I just I don't know, wanted to start my adulthood here as well."

"I understand," Rey said. She crinkled her nose. "Chandrila and Naboo..."

"I hope you visit both one day." He stared at her in interest.

"Me too," she met his stare, wanting to talk more—She looked at her phone and saw it was almost time to get ready for her shift. "Well, it's time for me to get ready for work."

Ben gave her a quizzical look. "At this time?"

Rey laughed. "Don't worry. I work here."

"Oh," He gave a dry chuckle. "Do you usually work this late?"

"Just Thursday nights. I work normal hours tomorrow, Saturdays and Sundays."

"I see," Ben said as he saw Rey packing her things in her backpack.

She zipped it up and threw her backpack over one shoulder. She had her cup of tea in one hand and raised her other hand towards Ben. "I'm glad to know you better, Ben."

"Same here, Rey." He gave her a full smile as he reached to touch her hand with his. When they touched something electric passed through both of them, they both felt it as they saw different images, again.

Rey saw a snow-filled forest and Ben was staring at her in shock and awe, his hair disheveled. He was wearing a long black costume, covering his neck.

Ben saw a wintry forest, with snow falling, and Rey staring at him with confusion but also determination, wearing a sand-colored costume and arm wraps. In her hands was something he couldn't decipher until a blue hue appeared like a laser sword.

They released each other's hands at the same time and looked at each other in surprise and confusion. They both didn't know how to bring up what they saw and the momentary silence ended once Rey said, "Well, good night, Ben. See you next week." She smiled quickly before leaving and hearing his response.

"Night," Ben whispered staring where Rey was just seconds ago. He looked back and saw her going to the back of the coffee house. He turned back, feeling himself breath faster as he muttered, "What the fuck was that?"

#reylo week 2020 #reylo #reylo fanfic #fanfic #ao3 #rey #ben solo #rey x ben #prompt and quote inspired this fanfic so hopefully it's okay :)

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ryuutchi · 4 years

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Dearest Yulegoat [Mirrored Yuletide Letter]

[General]

To start with, if you're writing fic for me, I love you. I'm going to be happy just to be able to share my fandom love with someone. You'll notice I throw a lot of ideas out-- feel free to take one, take many, take none. I know how hard it can be to settle on an idea once the assignments come in. So I'm offering a bunch of options that I will enjoy. None of these suggestions are hard and fast requirements. They're here to give you an idea of what's going on in my head and what my preferences look like. My current blog is ryuutchi, over on Tumblr. I can't promise it will be helpful, but in the interest of helping with the stalking process, feel free to check me out over there. I like: Plot, adventures, banter and dry humor, happy endings, over the top AUs (steampunk, noir, organized crime, rum-runners, harems...), casual physical intimacy, emotional interdependency, bad decisions and poor coping mechanisms, hurt/comfort and whump-with-comfort, loyalty and morality confusion, worldbuilding, identity porn, questionable healthy attachments, seeking out physical affection, accidentally caught feelings, power-play, porn, gen, slash, femslash, het, any rating you feel comfortable with (for violence and/or sex), bittersweet things that are heavy on the sweet, Happily Ever After/Happily For Now endings I don't like: Deathfic, gratuitous angst, character-bashing, introspective character pieces, five times fics, mommy/daddy kink, A/B/O universes, contemporary social issues as the main focus/issuefic, sad or hopeless endings. (Also the standard DNWs: scat, watersports, necro, mpreg, homophobia, transphobia, etc) No Game No Life - Kamiya Yuu: Sora, Shiro The Series: They are both NEETs and Hikikomoris… but on the internet, the genius gamer siblings Sora and Shiro are known as the undefeatable “__” (blank). Sora and Shiro’s talents and skills are so abnormally good they are considered as urban legend. One day, they are challenged by the god of games to chess and are victorious. As a result, the god summons them to Disboard, a reality which revolves around games. Intent on maintaining their reputation as the undefeated gamers, Sora and Shiro plan to conquer the sixteen ruling species and to usurp the god of games... NGNL is a series of light novels, of which 6 have been translated (PDFs can be found here, or bought legally at any online bookstore). The No Game No Life anime can be found on Crunchyroll here. Request: The fact that Shiro and Sora literally cannot be separated from each other is one of the dynamics that I like about the series. I really enjoy codependent siblings as a Thing. So I would be happy if you played with that dynamic. Plotty gen for this series would be great-- it's always fun when one of them is much better than the other or they have to separate and execute plans while relying solely on the intuition of what their sibling will do. Alternately, someone kidnapping Sora and Shiro having to play a game to get him back while they both battle their inability to get anything done alone... I'd love background on them, where they tried to separate or were forced to separate and failed to function, or where one or the other tried to interact with other people (maybe a gamer who tracked them down) but were either terrible at it, the other one quietly sabotaged the budding relationship, or the third person got way too freaked out by the way Sora and Shiro act around each other. Future fic would also be great-- King/Queen Blank or even the Gods Blank, after they've beaten Tet. What does that look like? What kind of world are they making for themselves and each other? I ship them, but do not expect other people to, so if you want to write shippy fic (with aged up Shiro!!!) for them, I will be surprised but happy. I will happily admit to wanting kinky sex games. Extra Details: For reference, I've read through volume 8 of the light novel, watched the anime and the movie. I am not precious about spoilers for this series, so feel free to use later information. I know this series isn't everyone's cup of tea, with the sheer amount of fanservice and Sora's utterly otaku personality and the pseudo-incest thing with the 12 year old. Personally, as is probably obvious from the request, I'm less interested in the fanservicey characters, and much more about the dynamics of Shiro and Sora's relationship. I love the way they know exactly what the other is capable of and trust each other completely and whole-heartedly. Whether you write something small and domestic or big and plotty, for me the core of NGNL is that they love, care and respect each other in a way that is beautiful but also extremely unhealthy. If you want to go the shippy route, again, Shiro needs to be aged up appropriately-- it's always been interesting to me that Sora understands that it is inappropriate to sexualize his underage adopted sister, while Shiro goes out of her way to help sexualize other women for Sora's entertainment. There's a part of me that wonders if she's planning ahead for when she is old enough to be an "appropriate" (in age, if nothing else) sexual partner and is trying to get Sora to lose his virginity ahead of time. selector infected WIXOSS: Aoi Akira, Igarashi Rumi | UlithThe Series: WIXOSS is a popular trading card game in which players battle against each other with fighters known as LRIGs, using cards to support them. Certain LRIGs are able to communicate with their owners, and the girls chosen to wield them are known as "Selectors". Selectors are given the chance to have any wish granted by winning battles against other Selectors, but should they lose three times, their wish will be reversed into a curse instead. The main series, selector infected WIXOSS, follows a girl named Ruko Kominato, who becomes a Selector after receiving an LRIG that she names Tama. As she and various other Selectors battle it out for the sake of their wish, Ruko finds herself drawn into the dark, sinister world of WIXOSS, discovering that, win or lose, there is always a price to pay. The anime can be found on Funimation here Request: So, you know how in my "general likes" I said I don't like "gratuitous angst"? In this fandom, there is no such thing as "gratuitous". Darkfic is absolutely welcome here. The thing I am most interested in here is the manipulative, awful relationship that Akira has with Ulith-as-Iona. Like, I love them all, and for some reason in this fandom, that comes out to "please break them". Exploring their adult lives and how their relationships and the Wixoss game affected them in the future would be amazing. What else happened to them? What are their careers like? What are their home lives like? Are they... living together? Does some sort of magic continue to be a theme in their lives? Feel free to write in-universe plot or no-powers universe, or some horrible Madoka or Yurikuma Arashi or other magical girl thing, where they can all be horribly manipulative lesbians together because that's magical and wonderful. OTOH, if you want to write codependent-but-vaguely-functional adult Akira and Iona/Ulith being horrible assholes and having adventures of some sort (magic, detectives, idk) that is ALSO A+. I mean, I like happy endings, and if you can come up with something heartwarming (or "heartwarming") I'm not going to complain. Extra Details: Evil lesbians are Problematic, I know. But Akira was one of my favorite characters from the word go and (if you're paying attention to my fandoms as a whole) I really really like codependent or unhealthy relationships. I love her love/hate relationship with Iona and with Ulith, and the way those two characters sort of get mixed up for Akira specifically. If you want to play with Iona and Ulith's personalities and interactions as well, that would also be pretty fun. I'm also down for other types of AUs, like they have to get their shit together and track down someone who is killing Selectors, or they become selectors as adults and not girls. I know they're young, but given that this is a super-fucking dark canon, I am totally cool with dubiously consensual sex either on or off-screen. FANDOM: Yoroiden Samurai Troopers | Ronin Warriors (Shuu Rei Fuan | Kento Rei Fang, Mouri Shin | Cye Mouri) The Series: Ronin Warriors, known in Japan as Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (lit. "Legendary Armor Samurai Troopers"), is a Japanese anime series and manga adaptation created by Hajime Yatate. It's the story of five teenage boys, given mystical armor to protect the world from the evil Arago. 1000 years ago, Arago nearly succeeded in taking over the human world when Kaosu managed to defeat him. Although Arago's soul is banished to the demon world, his armor is left intact. Kaosu divided the armor into nine separate armor suits. Each armor will choose its bearer, and together they will fight Arago. At least that was the original intent... Although Arago manages to corrupt four sets of the armor, the last five remain safe. It's a bit like Power Rangers, only grounded in more serious traditional Japanese cultural trappings. Being created in the 80s, the art style is a little wonky, but it's an enjoyable thriller and is somewhat more focused and serious than a lot of sentai shows. The anime can be found on Crunchyroll here Request: I love Shuu/Shin with Shin being snarktastic and Shuu being smug and solid and dependable. I used to frequent the Minkland archive back when this fandom still kinda existed, and was forever disappointed that the skinny pretty boys got tons and tons of fic and Shuu was just sort of there in the background. (If you used to read Mink and Jink's fic, I will be so happy I could cry if I got that sort of cracked-out porny fic with Shuu, okay. Due to that formative influence, if you want to GO FOR THE AU, GO FOR IT WITH GUSTO. I've always wanted nanshoku/samurai AU. Or, you know, hooker fic, or dark!troopers fic, or harem fic or something like that. I also like found-family fic, gen-ish mysteries and adventures-- more fighting Massive Cosmic Evil, and curtainfic. Futurefic is also awesome, where they get on with their lives, maybe together or maybe trying to keep their friendships intact when there's no massive Cosmic Evil to keep them close. Extra Details: If you used to read Mink and Jink's fic, I will be so happy I could cry if I got that sort of cracked-out porny, possibly AU fic with Shuu, okay Fics I especially enjoyed from that archive: The Grand One The Clit Club Chronicles The Harem Vinyl Wagashi Cherry Zima Threesome Theater of Magic Due to that formative influence, if you want to GO FOR THE AU, GO FOR IT WITH GUSTO. I've always wanted nanshoku/samurai AU (see this image). Or, you know, hooker fic, or dark!troopers fic, or harem fic or something like that. My usual ships are Shin/Shuu, Shin/Ryo, Touma/Seiji and Ryo/Nasuti. But I multiship and am willing to run with anything-- I'm a Sex With All Teammates sort of person, so fivesomes and alternate pairings are not a problem for me. Dragon Prince Trilogy - Melanie Rawn: Ianthe of Princemarch, Sioned of River Run The Series: To blatantly steal someone else's review on Amazon: "Melanie Rawn created a world and a people that gives everything you could possibly want in a fantasy world. It gives love, hate, peace, war, magic, royalty, commoners, children to take over the next generation and best of all; dragons." I want to say "if this wasn't the matched fandom you should go out and read them right the fuck now', because I have read these books So Many Times. They're high fantasy novels about politics and the prince of a desert and magical people who communicate via sunlight and can conjure fire. AND DRAGONS. Also a lot of interpersonal and romantic maneuverings. It's a high fantasy politics and romance romp of somewhere ~550 pages. If that sounds interesting to you, pretty much every used bookstore I have ever been to has at least one copy of these books. I think they spawn on bookshelves or something. The books are also available in ebook form here (Kindle) and here (Nook) for 3 bucks. Please read them. (TW for rape in the first book) The Request: I love everything this series chooses to be. It's fun and cheesy and fantasy, which the best thing in the world. I've always thought that Ianthe had a serious hate-crush on Sioned and part of the reason she was so vicious and fucked up was that whole "you must marry a guy and expand the empire or your useless" thing when maybe she didn't want to do that. Ianthe's always been one of my favorite characters because she's brilliant and ruthless and clearly takes joy in clever plans that go well. Of course, being the villain in a cheesy fantasy, she got no depth whatsoever, aside from that whole sexually liberated, taking male consorts thing (which is AWESOME, okay.) Sioned is also awesome and brilliant and kick ass. Her hesitance in the first book while she decided what she really wanted to do was pretty great, as was the fact that she promptly made friends with Tobin and pretty much every character not designated "villain". It seems like up through Ianthe's death, they're playing a game of brinkmanship. (Which isn't to say I don't like Sioned and Rohan together. They're bookTP and totally awesome.) As for prompts, I normally prefer plotty fic to introspection. I feel like the whole sunrunner thing lends itself well to espionage, so political thriller, or murder mysteries or something would be great. If you want to do plot-what-plot involving these two-- either sex or just the sort of dancing around/pigtail pulling that would be great. Threesomes with Rohan-- also acceptable! Hell, if you want to do an AU where they end up together instead of Sioned marrying Rohan-- or alternately, an AU end to the trilogy, where Ianthe never died in the fire and ends up taking over as High Princess and making the Desert monarchs' lives hell and discovering her powers. Or something where she knew about her powers all along. Or Sioned, I don't know, realizing she kind of did think Ianthe was attractive. I also really enjoy Pandsala, but I didn't find her dynamic with Sioned and Rohan quite as engaging, even though she also did some bad-ass stuff in the long run. Her weird push and pull backstabby, politicized sisterly thing was interesting, though. Extra Details: Okay, like I said, I think this series is the cheesiest fantasy series in the WORLD and in a lot of ways it's one of my first nostalgia fandoms. If you haven't read them, they are kind of ridiculously long (Like, GRR Martin-long), but they're quick reads despite that and rather less depressing than a lot of high fantasy. It's silly in the way that "adult fantasy" that takes itself way too seriously can be. A lot of the main protagonists actively enjoy each others' company and that's as much integral to the book as the politics and dragon-slaying. That said, I kinda asked for a semi-serious plotty story. But if you want to run with the "it's cheesy fantasy" and want to write about Ianthe rescuing princesses or Sioned running away to be a knight and abducting Ianthe away from her toxic father, or something silly, I say get down with your nerd self and run with it. I've only read parts of the second trilogy, and the second generation aren't really very interesting to me. If you want to write future-fic, I would prefer that it continues to focus on the original generation (no matter how much I love Andry, Pol just seems like kind of a jerk).

House of M - New X-Men: Academy X: Any The Series: I'm surprised it took me so long to nominate and request this fandom. I love New X-Men and was GUTTED when Decimation forced them into killing off so many of the characters. If you've never read it, New X-Men: Academy X was an X-Man title in the mid-00's, focusing on entirely new students at Xavier's Academy, being taught by the more established characters. Some of the New X-Men have managed to escape and become general Marvel characters in their own rights (David Alleyne, for example), but for the most part, they were just teenagers at school who rarely got caught up in larger plots. 616 New X-Men were about teenagers fighting, and coming to grips with the fact that they're being raised and taught to go sacrifice themselves for a Greater Goal. They're all wonderfully, horribly traumatized teenagers with powers. The plots were fleshed out and realistic, and when they weren't they were still interesting or fun. This request isn't technically for that. It's for the House of M megacrossover from 2009. Wanda Maximoff, mutant reality shifter and sometimes-crazy-lady, decided that mutants should run the world. SO THEY DID. And suddenly the lives of our young students become very different. Half of them after still "New Mutants", working towards peace, and the others are "Hellions", SHIELD trainees in a violently anti-homo-sapien state system. I've always felt that House of M as a narrative concept has been dismissed too easily by Marvel fans, because there are so many pieces of worldbuilding left unbuilt. I'm most interested in seeing it from the eyes of younger participants who are being trained or have been trained for their places. What does that world look like? New X-Men: Academy X can be found online here: https://viewcomics.me/comic/new-x-men-2004. The House of M crossover runs for issues 16-19. The Request: There's a lot here to play with because the authors never really got to play in either the Academy X OR the House of M sandboxes long enough to do all of their ideas justice. So I'm going to lay out some of the stuff I liked most about NXM in general and HoM in particular. The nom is for HoM, but I think HoM is most interesting in conversation with the standard 616 universe, alongside having the fun YA action stuff and the complicated interpersonal relationships. For example: in 616 Josh joined the Reavers and pretended not to be a mutant until he was confronted with Laurie nearly dying. I can imagine a bunch of different scenarios for House of M that would lead to where we see Josh and Laurie in the HoM comics (Laurie undercover with the New Mutants, and Josh working as an interrogator alongside Kevin). Laurie's introversion in 616 juxtaposed against her brazen treachery and clear control over her skills in HoM. HoM shows Kevin in a full decontamination suit, but we know in 616 that his ability is blocked by wearing synthetic fibers (I imagined this to be a interrogator scare tactic, but it could be any number of other things). Kevin and Josh's relationship in 616 is fraught, especially with Josh's previous experiences with anti-mutant activists and the fact that Kevin killed his father when his powers manifested. But they seemed to work together well in HoM. And speaking of Kevin-- how did his powers manifesting actually pan out in a universe where mutants aren't seen as a threat? I have to wonder whether there's some concept of "acceptable casualties" because some peoples' powers clearly manifest first in dangerous situations. Alternatively: Fluffy Josh/Kevin with a backdrop of torture, murder and state violence. I ship mostly Josh/Kevin because rivals-to-lovers and boy-who-kills-anything-he-touches/boy-who-cannot-be-killed is Great For Me. I also love the abuse of powers and manipulation involved in being interrogators/torturers(/murderers?) for the House of Magneto. They work together, they hurt people together, but maybe they also... smooch? THAT SAID! Adding Laurie to that ship is always a great way to fuck up and destabilize them! Especially in HoM, where we know she's already keeping secrets and can and WILL use her pheromones to fuck with people. And David! OH, DAVID. The only real New Mutant in this request. Does he have previous relationships with Josh and/or Kevin? I don't mind David/Noriko, but I also ship David with Kevin and Josh, and also Tommy and Teddy from Young Avengers, if you feel like exploring other parts of the HoM world. I have never considered David/Laurie before, but if you want to give it a whirl, I'm down. As for David-- His responses to state violence (as evidenced by the Hellions and SHIELD) are clearly different from the rest of the requested characters, and it would be interesting to explore David and his experience of this universe. Are his powers still restrained the same way? I know he supposedly dies at the end of the HoM mini-arc, but we never see them die, so feel free to write David managing to crawl off and plan to take down everything and everyone. A specific DNW for this fandom is Josh/Rahne. I don't mind the relationship having existed and impacting the characters, but only as a past relationship.

Extra Details:

SENSORY DETAILS. When it comes to magic and meta powers-- especially ones that aren't battle-oriented-- is what they feel like. What does it MEAN for David to be able to know anything someone else knows? What does the emptiness and fullness of it do to him? Josh's powers are all tactile and his body actively changes after trauma (in 616, first by turning him gold, then by creating black spots on his skin after he kills someone for the first time). Does his power always alter him, but usually in unnoticeable ways? What can he know and feel from a touch? Same for Kevin-- does withering sate a hunger, or make him feel worse? What would it feel like if he touched Josh? And Laurie... I'd love both her thought-process and the sensory details of what she's doing. Can she smell her own pheromones? Do they ever affect her? What does she feel like when she's manipulating people so subtly that they barely notice a passing smell? If you want to bring in other 616 knowledge and see what it looks like in HoM, that's cool. So is bringing in other HoM storylines. There's a throw-away line in Luke Cage's HoM crossover that the Runaways are known as an organized crime group. Cage himself runs a resistence cell (and given the end of the NXM crossover, David seems like he'd be willing to throw in with that lot). Young Avengers, the other New X-Men who weren't given much screentime in the HoM crossover-- I'd love any of that. Young Justice (Comics): Match, Tim Drake

The Series: Comics are confusing! This request is for the late-90s version of Young Justice by Peter David, which consisted of Robin, Impulse, Superboy, Arrowette, Secret, and Wonder Girl, along with others. It's very much a young-heroes-trying-to-make-their-way. Unlike the newer show, this Young Justice tended to be left on their own without much of a guiding hand. It was a very 90s comic, with very 90s fashion and a lot of nod-nod-wink-wink in-jokes. I love it because it's a series that always wore its humor on its sleeve. It's an affectionate look at young superheroes, and allowed them to react to teen problems alongside the more standard superhero tropes. There's the possibility for angst and darkness (and once they graduated to Teen Titans especially, that came up more), but they were allowed to be both hurt and upset AND fun and cheerful. The comics weren't available collected until last year (it took them TWENTY YEARS JFC), and it's well-worth buying from your local retailer, but you can also find them online here. The character I'm requesting first appeared in Superboy's solo series (starting in issue #35), which can be found here and again in the first volume of Young Justice: Sins of Youth. The Request: SO! I have always loved Match in the original YJ and Superboy comics, and the writers gave him really short shrift. We have a clone of Kon, who is as smart, if not smarter, can pretend to be Kon for extended periods of time— but every time he tries, people get hurt or die. I’ve always wondered how Tim felt that he literally couldn’t tell his best friend from an imposter. And then Match went and ran off and disappeared and no one ever seemed to consider what he was doing, after thousands of his/Kon’s siblings/clones were murdered essentially in front of him and the Agenda fell apart. (I’m not entirely surprised that Kon didn’t pay attention to all of those clones of him dying, but think about it from the standpoint of someone for whom those were supposed to be an army of his siblings. What a way to get survivor’s guilt.) Did Match go to Lex? It doesn’t seem like it, but given that as Kon’s clone, he’s technically Lex’s son too, it’s a possibility. Or alternately! He got himself out of the superhero game and did something else! What was it? I’d also love for a story about him wanting to be a super and have that family that Kon and Clark have, but being shut out of that world because he’s a “villain”. Or him getting that family after so long. Or him showing up at the Kents’ place because “fuck it, if Kon can have this, so can I” and it goes… well or poorly, depending on you. Or him finding his own family in a place that is separate from the who superhero thing, and Kon or Tim or Clark stumbling on him. Or Lex trying to use him— whether or not it works is up to you, although I’d love for it to touch on Match’s need to be part of something larger— after all, he was built and trained to be the vanguard for an army that was summarily murdered in front of him. Tim's refusal to even vaguely hint about his real identity during this time is fun too-- we have two boys who are both hiding their identities in different ways. It makes me wonder if Tim COULD have figured Match out, if the Sins of the Youth plotline didn't happen or was delayed somehow, because he seems to have all of the pieces of information. Or maybe Match-as-Kon was the only person Tim revealed part of his real name too, and has to deal with the ramifications of trust. Actually, Tim and the Issues Of Trust is the YA novel that I'd love to see Tim and Match (and Kon and the rest of YJ) star in. Bring back Mr Sarcastic (PLEASE bring back Mr Sarcastic) and Alvin Draper. Bring back the way that Tim hides by burrowing under identities and performances, and collects information on everyone he knows. I love detective stories and, out of all the Bats, Tim has always struck me as one of the best actual detectives, rather than crime-fighters. So Tim getting lost in a mystery will always make me happy. There's also something interesting about a group of young teens fighting for their own autonomy and identity. At this point in Tim's story, I think he was still thinking of the Robin thing as almost an extracurricular, and probably grappling with how hard it is on him physically, as well as mentally. So, I guess struggling for a coherent snse of self and agency are really interesting touchstones in this fandom. ALSO, MY DEEPLY HELD RARE PAIR FROM THE 90s: Tim/Match! See above, re: Match being present for Identity Crisis instead of Kon. I’d love Match to be trying to follow Kon’s footsteps re: Cassie, and being way more into Tim, which leads to Tim being confused and into Kon. Also any of the above prompts can include Tim (maybe Tim tries to help cushion a meeting between Match and Kon or Clark! Or maybe he just ends up Match’s sugar daddy. I’m down.) Although this request is ripe for dubious identity weirdness with Match pretending to be Kon, I'd really prefer that you focus on Match getting to be his own person, even if there's some pretending-to-be-Kon in there. Extra Details: This has been a lowkey love of mine for literally decades. My absolute favorite gift of all time was original pages from one of the Superboy issues where Match appears for the first time. And as I've grown older, my love for this rare, obscure character has deepened. Also, as I've grown older, I've begun to want more adult!Match, or growing up!Match just because the idea of growing up in the margins of superhero culture after everything that happened to him is really interesting. He was straight-up groomed and brainwashed, and then the Agenda was gone, so how did he cope? What is he doing now? What kind of adult does he make? This request is specifically for the mid-90s comic, so feel free to stick to that. But if you read the 2010-era Teen Titans and want to explore some later story choices-- like Match becoming Bizarro-like, Slade making him part of Titans East, or his fear that Jericho would hurt the Titans in his body, or save Match from Superboy-Prime, I'm not going to complain. (Personal headcanon time: I think Slade was trying to mind control Match with the same stuff he used on Rose, and it caused the Bizarro-like symptoms). I also love Elseworlds and mirror!verse stuff too. As I've said elsewhere in the letter, I really prefer Happily Ever After/Happily For Now stuff, and I prefer my bittersweet fics heavy on the sweetness. Please give Match the love and affection he's always deserved. But also, please feel free to make both Match and Tim HURT first.

#yuletide #dear yuletide author #no game no life #selector infected wixoss #wixoss #yoroiden samurai troopers #dragon prince #young justice #new xmen

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theotherpages · 3 years

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2021 NPM Number 29 - Yonatan Berg - Unity

You can listen to the podcast version of this series on Spotify, ITunes, Anchor, (https://anchor.fm/steve-spanoudis) Look for the podcast titled National Poetry Month at the Other Pages.

Here is the direct link to the audio for this podcast: https://anchor.fm/steve-spanoudis/episodes/2021-NPM-29-Yonatan-Berg-e106cpl

Welcome to National Poetry Month at The Other Pages. My name is Steve Spanoudis and I have been curating the series with help and contributions this year from Kashiana Singh and (Nelson) Howard Miller. I’m coming to you from Coral Springs, Florida, on the eastern edge of the Everglades.

Technically, National Poetry Month is over, but we didn’t quite get to thirty, so I thought I would squeeze a few more in.

Today’s poem is by Yonatan Berg, an Israeli poet I was not familiar with until I ran across an article in Lunch Ticket (https://lunchticket.org/two-poems/ - the second poem on the page) with two of his poems translated from Hebrew to English by Joanna Chen. If you go to the page, I ask you to read the translator’s notes at the bottom. They are brief, and very good. I included this poem purposely after yesterday’s, You Are Your Own State Department, by Naomi Shihab Nye, and while their families hail from different sides of the tracks, so to speak, in the Israeli / Palestinian situation, their views have very much in common.

This is an important thing for Americans in particular to understand, in an era when opportunists are still pitting one half of the country against the other, creating and inflaming tensions, instead of pushing for Unity, which is the title of today’s poem. Nye, with the perspective of a longer life, talks of incremental change - small acts of kindness for those who suffer. Berg is not as concrete, in fact he is entirely mystical. Unlike Nye, he does not offer up any way to change the reality we are in physically. Instead he describes us as common souls, sharing a journey through darkness. And the recognition of that shared experience is his call for unity.

I think that Joanna Chen’s translation is excellent. As a separate point, I would like to say that yesterday’s poem reminds me of my good friend Hani Silwani, originally from Jerusalem. Today’s reminds me of another good friend, one who has lived through many dark journeys, Yair Alon from Holon, Israel, whose ambulance-driving was, in part, inspiration for one of my own stories, Tethered to the Sky.

Berg begins with:

We travel the silk road of evening,

tobacco and desire flickering

between our hands. We are warm travelers,

our eyes unfurled, traveling in psalms,

in Rumi, in the sayings of the man from the Galilee.

I would like you to note the phrase “our eyes unfurled,” suggesting they open, uncovered and uncloaked, to see and experience everything. There are religious and cultural references of all types, open and agnostic, following the metaphor of the open eyes. Later in the poem:

We travel with the rest of the world,

with its atrocities, its piles of ruins, scars of barbed wire,

traveling with ardor in our loins, with the cry of birth.

It is a common journey, with all of its sorrows and joys shared. As an ending, Berg returns to the first metaphor of evening, with:

We travel

through the eagles of death, dilution of earth in rivers,

in eulogies, through marble we travel, through the silk

of evening, our hearts like bonfires in the dark.

The last line, I think, is beautifully put, and says without saying why it is so important for us to try for Unity - we are all we have, points of light against the darkness.

Thank you for Listening. If you’re enjoying these commentaries, and the poem selections, please share them - either the text versions or the podcasts - on social media.

Once again this is Steve Spanoudis at theotherpages.org. You can find more there, at The Other Pages on Facebook or Tumblr. The full text of this poem is available at Lunch Ticket, (https://lunchticket.org/two-poems/). It is the second poem, but the first one, After a Night in the Alley of Worshippers, though a harrowing image, is worth a read.

#yonatan #berg #yonatan berg #israeli #unity #mystical #journey #poem #poems #pot #poets #poetry #national poetry month #napowrimo #2021 #the other pages #theotherpages.org

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mdashfakfaysal-blog · 4 years

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Proceeding To Islam!

Religion

WElCOME TO ISLAM!

In this very 21st century, any intelligent person would suggest that religion implies some absurd rules, talks about subjugating women, snatching vocal freedom, etc. But let us ponder upon the statistics, shall we? Of the total population of the world, which is about 7.7 billion in total, about 7.1 billion follow any of the concurrent religions. The four major religions – Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism hold these 7.1 billion populations. Even majority of the atheistic or agnostic people of the World do not wish that their children would be given education by the so-called modern lecturers of the world, rather they also try to stick to the education given by the religious institutions because the western world has realized after the breakdown of their family system that the religious teachings, the Word of God is the only solution to their problems. But why are there so many religions in this world then? Does God’s Word change with time? The answer is clearly NO. As the great mystical poet, Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi states, “The lamps are different, but the light is the same.” And thus, the main reason for being so many religions is the ignorance of people. As they weren’t ready to accept the truth and tried to follow their predecessors. The renowned George Bernard Shaw says, “There is only one religion though there are many versions of it.” And we, the Muslims believe and know hereby that Islam is the latest version of the religions to have ever come to this world.

Islam: The complete code of life

What does Islam mean? Now stop thinking about Osama Bin Laden or ISIS and watch the video given:

Let us go to the deeper discussion taking the word 'Islam' into consideration. The word Islam, according to Wikipedia is a verbal noun originating from the trilateral root S-L-M which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness, and peace. Wait Wait Wait, Am I mad or something? PEACE! They are TERRORISTS man! To the real fact, they are not. In fact, Islam is the only religion to clearly declare terrorism being Haram. As Allah says in the Holy Quran,

“Because of that, We decreed upon the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption [done] in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one - it is as if he had saved mankind entirely. And our messengers had certainly come to them with clear proofs. Then indeed many of them, [even] after that, throughout the land, were transgressors.” (Surah Mayeeda:32)

In this very ayah, Allah makes it clear that terrorism is completely forbidden in the light of Islam. Now for those who claim Islam to be a terrorist religion should go through the Quran first before judging Islam by ISIS or Osama. In fact, Islam is such a religion where God gives the first commandment about acquiring knowledge saying, “Iqra Bismi Rabbi Kal Lazi Khalaq” Meaning: Read (Proclaim) in the name of your Lord, Who Created.

Who invented Islam?

Medinah - The City of Prophet Muhammad

Actually, Islam was there from the very beginning of civilization as the basic message of all the prophets was the same. They all thought about Tawhid (Monotheism), which is the basic foundation of Islam. It can be said that Allah fulfilled Islam through the last and best prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Sm.) by revealing Al-Quran to him (Sm.). Allah says in Surah Mayeda, Verse no. 03,

“This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion.”

Hazrat Muhammad (Sm.) preached Islam throughout 23 years of his (Sm.) life. It was his (Sm.) magical character that turned half of the world in the shade of Islam. It was him who brought into existence billions of Muslims all over the world today!

The Islamic Shariah

Iman, Salat, Sawm, Zakat, Hajj

Islam has obviously some basic rules and it is the most practicing religion in this whole world. It is based on five pillars – Iman, Salah, Sawm, Hajj, Zakat. Among these, the first one is based on the mind completely, the next two are dependent on the body and the last two require a necessary amount of wealth. Iman is the basic foundation of Islam which implies giving testimony that “La Ilaha Illallahu Muhammadur Rasulullah” meaning “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad (Sm.) is His messenger”. The Salah is one of the most magnificent exercise one can ever workout. Regarding Saum (Fasting), it increases our endurance. Hajj is a reunion and Zakat is the end of the poverty of the poor people if paid properly.

Besides these pillars, Islam also has some must-to-do things and well-to-do things which are regarded as Farz, Wajib, Sunnat, Mustahab, etc. Islam also tells us what is permitted (Halal) and what is forbidden (Haram). Basically, this chapter is very vast so I need to discuss it further in single posts and I will do that Inshallah!

How can one convert to Islam?

Muhammad Ali (Convert)

The Kalima Tayyiba is the main base of Islam and when you give testimony to it, it becomes Kalima-e-Shahadat which says: “Ash Hadu Allah Ilaha Illallahu Wah Dahu La Sharika Lahu Wa Ash Hadu Anna Muhammadan Abduhu Wa Rasuluhu” Meaning: I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except for Allah, the One alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

By uttering the above-mentioned verse, you can revert back to Islam because we believe as our prophet (Sm.) said that all the babies are born Muslims. When he/she grows up, the surroundings force him/her to be what they are. So, basically what you need to do is uttering Kalima Shahadah and performing deeds according to the Islamic Shariah. Then Alhamdulillah! You became one of the vast 1.8 billion.

Remains

We all know that there have been many misconceptions regarding Islam till this 21st century which took a new turn after 9/11. Inshallah I will talk about that topic too if God wishes. By this time, I will continue to give you all Dawa’ah (Invitation) to the way of Truth through a logical approach. If you got any queries about religion, feel free to ask us. The Email address is given above. May Allah guide us to the path of salvation. AMEN!

For knowing Islam correctly, You can check out the book: Towards Understanding Islam. Also check out The Bible, The Quran, and the Science.

Catch my new post here.

#islam #muslim #allah #quran #religion

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jaeame-blog · 7 years

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Have Beyonce and Jay | Beyonce Twins

So when this photo was posted on a Facebook page called "BeyoncÃ© Up" many went crazy thinking it was the newborns, but we hate to break it to you, it's not them. It looks like Beyonce might have dropped a big clue as to the names of her newborn twins, though in a stealth way. The two named their littlest loves Rumi Carter and Sir Carter, E! News has learned. According to TMZ, the Carter twins are reportedly named Rumi and Sir.

It seems like Jay-Z and her wife Beyonce have settled on names for their new born twins. Jay-Z once famously rapped "I'm not a businessman; I'm a business, man," and that's becoming increasingly easier to see, as news has surfaced that Jay and his wife BeyoncÃ© have reportedly trademarked the names of their new twin babies. At long last, the names of BeyoncÃ© and Jay Z's twins may finally be here.The names of BeyoncÃ© and Jay-Z's twins have been revealed. Jay-Z and Beyonce have not commented on the twins' names or even confirmed their birth, but Beyonce's father acknowledged the arrivals with a post on Twitter last month.

According to TMZ, the happy couple have named the newest additions to their family Rumi and Sir Carter. Are these Beyonce's new twins?! We hate to break it to you, they're not.Rapper Jay Z let his music do the talking with his new album "4:44" on Friday as he addressed cheating on his wife Beyonce, the birth of his twins and this year's Oscars best picture. The couple, who are already parents to 5-year-old Blue Ivy, welcomed their second daughter and first son on June 12.

#Beyonce Twins

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shontaviajesq · 7 years

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Digital Legacy Planning Tips for Parents, Courtesy of Beyoncé and JAY-Z

Unless you're living under a rock or in one of the thirteen countries without internet access, you probably know that the Knowles/Carter family has been making headlines for all kinds of reasons lately. In May of this year, Forbes announced that Beyoncé and JAY-Z are officially worth a billion dollars. JAY-Z's 13th studio album, 4:44, was released with much fanfare and praise just a few days ago on the last day of June. A couple of weeks prior to this, he and Beyoncé also welcomed their new twins into the world (at least according to Matthew Knowles - the only member of the family who apparently can't keep his mouth shut).

They're here!#beyonce #twins #jayz #happybirthday pic.twitter.com/woFRKoL7eO

— Mathew Knowles (@MathewKnowles) June 18, 2017

I think we can all agree that the Knowles/Carter family seems to be having a great year.

Of course, questions remain for the curious public. What IS Tidal gonna do, fly or flop? Is this whole cheating thing for real or a brilliant business strategy, since apparently Beyoncé and JAY-Z made an estimated $200 million off of the rumors in 2016? And, for the love of all that is good and holy, what are the twins names??

At least regarding the last question, there may be some answers. According to TMZ, the new heirs to the throne are named Rumi Carter and Sir Carter. The celebrity news website deduced this information from three new trademark applications filed by Beyoncé's trademark holding company, BGK Trademark Holdings LLC, for RUMI CARTER and SIR CARTER.

The company actually owns nearly forty trademark applications and registered trademarks on Queen Bey's behalf:

People are assuming that Rumi and Sir must be the baby's names given the trademark applications' timing (a few days after their alleged birth), categories of products listed in the applications (baby items, among other things), and history (they did the same with BLUE IVY CARTER after their first daughter was born).

Probably an accurate assumption. Welcome to the world, Rumi and Sir!

Beyoncé and JAY-Z have proven time and time again to be savvy business professionals. Clearly they are hoping to leave a legacy to their kids through these kinds of moves.

Are there lessons the rest of us can take from all of this, even if we aren't (yet) billionaires? OF COURSE. Especially when it comes to digital legacy planning for your current and/or future kiddos. Here are three suggestions, based on what I imagine Beyoncé and JAY-Z have done given recent news reports:

#1. SET UP AN EMAIL ADDRESS WITH YOUR CHILD'S NAME

This is pretty much a no-brainer for me. Perhaps by the time today's babies are our age, email will have gone the way of the dinosaur and we will have moved on to holograms and eye scanning and who knows what. But, in the event that email will still have some legitimacy, it makes sense to go ahead and make an account for your child. It is free (today) and only takes moments to set up.

Why do this? Well, for starters, you can begin emailing your child as soon as you've determined what their name and/or email address will be. Perhaps there are funny stories during pregnancy that you'd like to share. Maybe you want to send a hilarious photo from their twelfth day of third grade that will otherwise get lost in your poorly-organized iCloud or Dropbox accounts. You might also ask grandma and grandpa to send your child emails or audio messages now while they are still alive and capable of doing so. Once your child is old enough to read them (which could be years from now), they will probably appreciate the notes about event that might otherwise be lost to time and memory.

For tips on how to do this safely, check out Google's Family Link early access program for kids under 13. There are some additional suggestions from mommy blogger Julia Masson in the article How to create a safe and secure Gmail account for your child.

#2 CONSIDER PURCHASING THE DOMAIN NAME(S) BASED ON YOUR CHILD'S NAME

I know, I know. You might scoff at this suggestion. But, many internet experts suggest that everyone should own the digital asset that is a personal domain name.

In the case of Beyonce and JAY-Z, they actually ended up having problems with this after their first child, Blue Ivy Carter, was born. They announced her name to the world one day after she was born on January 8, 2012. Some enterprising individual registered the domain name www.blueivycarter.com on that same day, before her parents could. As attorney Patrice Perkins points out on her website, Beyonce and JAY-Z should have registered as many domain names as they could possibly think of before announcing her name.

The rest of the parents in the world may not have these kinds of considerations, but buying a domain name based on your child's name is worth thinking about. For reasons why this is generally important for everyone, check out Luvvie Ajayi's article, Why You Should Own Your Name's Custom URL and How to Buy It. College experts have also suggested that today's college students should own their own website. This advice will probably only become more critical with time.

If you've ever tried to purchase a domain name, you know that sometimes the good stuff is already taken. Imagine how many more domain names will be taken by the time your child needs one?? Purchasing their domain name now will probably cost you about $15 per year, at least as of 2017. This is a small price to pay to ensure that your child has access to a good domain name if/when they need it. And if they don't, you've made a minor investment.

#3 THINK ABOUT THEIR FUTURE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

So, this may be where most parents diverge from Beyoncé and JAY-Z when it comes to digital legacy planning (in addition to the m/billion dollar bank accounts) . The purpose of trademark law is to distinguish people and companies from competitors selling stuff in the marketplace. For example, a white shoe may be indistinguishable without the word Adidas or Nike on it. It is understandable that celebrities wouldn't want others to trade off of the names of their kids.

Beyonce and JAY-Z have filed trademark applications for their own names and their children's names. Interestingly, the Carters have actually had some legal hurdles in this regard because a few other companies used the words BLUE IVY as trademarks before little Miss Carter's birth.

In the United States, you can only file a federal trademark application in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) if you are already using the trademark or have an intent to use the trademark in the future. You can't just place a trademark on reserve like you can with domain names. So, unless you're planning to sell stuff with your kid's name on it, you probably don't have trademark-related considerations.

BUT, if you are planning to use your child's name to sell products of services, think about filing an application with the USPTO. Especially if you think they will become very popular. You may end up with the most popular baby in the world, and you don't want anyone beating you to the punch and capitalizing on the success of the name before you do. This may sound ridiculous but the internet makes all things possible.

Case and point: Asahd Khaled, the eight-month old son of DJ Khaled. Asahd makes regular appearances on his dad's Snapchat account, boasts 1 million followers on Instagram, has been on Live with Kelly & Ryan, and performed at the 2017 BET Awards.

But, Asahd's parents have not applied to trademark his name yet. Though he's only eight months old, I imagine deals and endorsements are in the works if they haven't already been inked. While the USPTO does have some protections in place to keep any-old-body from trademarking a person's name, the lines can get blurry quickly. It is worth it to beat others to the punch to protect against expensive potential conflicts.

In closing, I know that all of my suggestions may not apply to you. And, of course, privacy concerns abound when talking about memorializing your child's name and identity online. But, parents should think about how they are preparing for their child's digital future. You might save them from future headaches.

And, somebody tell DJ Khaled to call me. #ProtectAsahd

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