#over 200 years of fighting the same battle

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

If Chase Yuong and the First Ninja start a fight, who will win in your opinion? Either way, it's going to be epic.

anon ANON thank you. I've been dying to think more about those two in the same context, ever since i realized the similarities of these two idiots i like (greenish hair? martial artist? magical? kinda lived long???) But i've shoved those crossover-ish ideas away since i am busy with other stuff lol. but this gives me an excuse >;)

Ok, if we do NOT take canons in consideration (because lets be truthful, cartoons rarely can give a full scope of a character to our satisfactions lol) so I have 2-3 vague scenarios in which they clash (IMO either of them can win??? (because i like them both, even if i am more of First fan, so I cant decide who of them winning would be more entertaining lol)):

If First Ninja in his prime (sometime after imprisoning Sorcerer but before the Ultimate Lesson) clashed with 700 yo Chase Young (since this fucker is canonically 1500 yo) who would probably try to defeat First in order to make him part of his Jungle Cats harem:

Chase is ridiculously, stupidly overpowered but one could argue that at 700 he hasn't yet reached the height of all his powers, so First would certainly have a fighting chance. First is supposedly uniquely trained since (probably) his birth by his Ninja Clan and continuous battles with the Sorcerer (and most likely other creatures, like Sorceress and Tengu and etc.) throughout his teenage-young adult life to take on enemies like Chase - overpowered magical beings/soulless monsters - with the help of Ninja Mask and all its powers.

Admittingly, in this case the win will most likely go to Chase, if only because of his experience and overwhelming array of powers at his disposal. Though considering we do not know the full scope of Ninja Mask's powers, First has like maybe 15-25% chance to win (and at least 30-45% in my mind if i consider my own hc about the mask lol), but not 0%.

If First Ninja's 800 yo. spirit somehow was released from/embodied by Ninjanomicon to clash with 1500 yo Chase Young in the Modern Present:

Here a lot of my hc come in play. I fully believe that if First - with all the developed abilities, experiences, memories, power (and possibly spirits) acquired during his stay/merge within the Ninjanomicon and from over like 200 people who ever used the mask over 800 years - fought 1500 yo Chase - who spent at least a century or 2 or 3?? hidden away in his Fortress, growing just a bit complacent, since he clearly became too strong and thus bored of the world when it couldn't offer him decent opponents anymore, at least not until current Monks - the fight could go either way.

Chase is still stupidly OP, but its clear that he was deprived of good opponents for a loooooong time, since he resorted to fight against/taunt teenagers and Omi, who is basically a kid still. And they frequently managed to outmanoeuvre him in their confrontations, if not in an actual hand-to-hand fight then at least in common sense lol.

Meanwhile First trained and learned with his each of his successors years in and out, and while we dont know exactly what sort of things happened, we can say for sure that the fighting was continuous. Ninja barely had any rest, for the Sorcerer probably attracted chaos inclined allies and minions and thus a never ending stream of enemies for Ninja to battle.

If basic bitches clash aka OG Good Chase and First Ninja before he was First Ninja:

This is just for fun and because I fully believe that pre-Ninja Mask First will trounce Good Chase. xD

We do not know Chase's past, and there are various headcanons on how he came to be a Xiaolin Monk, but let's just say that judging by his apperance and XS voice, he is probably a very young adult-ish before he drunk his Soup, so he most likely was a Monk since at least his pre-teen/teen years. He appears to be insecure in his Monk-ness and in his abilities to become the greatest warrior despite his competence, since he was swayed/manipulated/convinced? to sell his soul to a demon for more power and freedom from Monk values.

If we judge First's appearance and voice, he would be perhaps a slight bit older than Chase when he became The Ninja, and not to mention since he was born into the Ninja Clan, he was likely trained since he was very young. His personality appears to be very studious and there is certainly a great deal of strength in his character since he not only managed to continue on with his duty even after loosing his brothers but also not succumbing to the overwhelming Power of the Mask that can corrupt those of weak belief and hold the title of the Ninja longer than anyone else.

(Not to mention I am of very biased opinion that Ninjas are cooler than Monks. lol. Also we can assume they all have magic of some sort. Like think Naruto like Ninjas and Xiaolin Elemental Dragons/Monks.)

ALSO in case 1, obviously if they fought with the agreement that if Chase wins he would ABSOLUTELY add First into his Jungle Cat harem. First will most likely add/request a stipulation that Ninja Mask was not taken with First and I can see Chase honoring that agreement, so the Ninja legacy will continue on and Chase still gets an incredible warrior to his ranks, and perhaps more warriors if the future ex-Ninjas would decide to try and fight him later on. ;)

(first's animal form would be either a leopard or iriomote cat (both native to Japan) or a crow because tengu connection/associations ;D )

And if First wins, he certainly would figure out how to contain Chase, (perhaps even in the Ninjanomicon itself hohoho) since he somehow managed to contain a sorcerer that controls chaos with some binding, magic from a mythical beast and in a deep hole that perhaps connected to some dark realm, like??

;)

#que? #rc9gn first ninja #first ninja #chase young #xiaolin showdown #rc9gn #crossover #ninja showdown #long post #i am so sorry for the length but i got so passionate about this i think im creating an au in my head now lol #also i think i accidentally mentally added gay tension between those two im going INSANE #im sick and i keep giggling about it so now my throat is sore and i probably have a fever but alkfa;skd

[sunlightmurdock]

Nerves of Steel || Bradley Bradshaw x Seresin!Reader || 18+

Synopsis: You're Hangman's younger sister, Steel. By default of the Seresin family code, Jake fights your battles and you fight his. After taking it a little too far during training one day, Rooster puts you in your place.

Warnings: Soft dom vibes from rooster, unprotected sex, oral (m&f), edging, getting caught, this one is longgg

**Minors pls DNI!!**

...

"Jesus, Steel, watch it!" You rolled your eyes. You checked your watch. Not even 40 seconds into the exercise, and Rooster is already on your back, complaining once again. You had met Rooster a while after Jake had; they had been in flight school together, you were eight years younger.

However, you and Rooster had been in Top Gun together four years ago. You got there earlier in your career than he did, and Jake was over the moon when he found out. Jake was a very supportive big brother, he loved it when you succeeded - half because you were from potentially the most competitive family on the planet, half just because.

Jake and Rooster had developed their odd rivalry during flight school, you had later become a third party to it during Top Gun. You weren't even sure why -- you actually thought Rooster was a pretty fun guy to be around. But, like you and Phoenix had joked about on many occasions, it was hilarious when he got so mad that that vein in his neck popped out. Well, it had been hilarious. Until you had that dream three weeks ago. You were posted on a mission for four weeks, and on the second to last night, you had had an X-rated dream about Fightertown's very own Bradley Bradshaw. It had truly come out of nowhere, you hadn't ever looked at him like that before. Now you couldn't stop looking at him. Especially at that vein on his throat when he was cussing you out.

Today was no different. Rooster was particularly irritated on this occasion. He made that extremely clear as the two of you completed your 200 push-ups out on the tarmac. It was ninety degrees, your flight suits felt like they weighed a tonne, and Rooster's glare felt like it was burning a hole in the side of your head.

Okay, maybe it was your fault that you guys had failed. You were doing solo exercises with Maverick, he was your wingman. You had gotten a little carried away going after the kill-shot on the older pilot, leaving Rooster open as Maverick 'got' him. Only for Maverick to do another of his insane rolling manoeuvres and secure a missile lock on you just moments later.

"Alright, two-hundred," Hondo confirmed, shaking his head slightly. His arms were folded over his chest as he leaned against the side of Rooster's F-18. He had been watching for the past ten minutes as Rooster glared at you across the tarmac, whilst you silently did your push-ups and pretended not to notice. "You can head inside." You rolled your shoulders in circles as you stood up, stiff from a hard day of flying and flipping off Rooster as you flew past him at the speed of sound. "Heard you almost got him, Steel." You looked up, grinning back at Coyote as he and your older brother crossed the runway towards you. You poked your tongue out just a little, "You know it!" Rooster rolled his eyes, stomping away down the tarmac.

"Jeez, what's got his panties in a bunch?" Hangman teased, loud enough for Rooster to hear, shooting a wink at you as he turned back. "Your sister, as per usual." Coyote answered, instantly wiping the smug look off of Jake's face.

Jake made a disgusted grimace, shaking his head and taking off his sunglasses just so that Coyote knew he was especially serious, "Don't be gross, dude." When you and Jake had begun working together, you had formulated rules. You were not to sleep with any pilots that you both worked with, and he was not allowed to flirt with your friends. Jake took the no pilots rule very seriously. "Whatever," You laughed Coyote's comment off, bumping the bottom of your fist against the top of Coyote's, then did the same thing with Jake, "Give him hell for me." You left the two of them to it, pulling your hair down from its neatly styled, Navy mandated, bun as you made your way to the showers. It was more hairspray than hair after that style, you winced as you attempted to comb your fingers through it. Walking through the door, you were momentarily startled, stopping in place. Rooster was standing in front of his locker, hair damp and spikey, the chain of his dog tags backwards and resting between his shoulder blades. His white towel was wrapped a little too loosely around his waist, beads of water running slowly down his tanned back. You hadn't noticed that your lips had parted in surprise until he turned and looked at you over your shoulder and a subconscious part of your brain pressed them shut again. "Look, if you're here to brag about that dumbass shit you pulled up there," He was already shaking his head, turning back to whatever he was messing with in his locker. You weren't even sure he was speaking English at first - too busy watching the way the muscles in his back flexed as he reached up and placed his boots on top of the lockers. "I don't wanna hear it." You blinked, shaking your head quickly and crossing the room to your own locker. Damn the Navy for making its locker room facilities unisex. "Just here to shower." You put your hands up, mock defensively, before spinning your code into the padlock and clicking it open. You debated it for a moment. He was already pretty mad. He didn't need provoking further. Yet, "I'm surprised you're done already actually. Didn't know you were capable of going that fast.", you did anyway. You felt his eyes on the back of your head, smiling to yourself slightly at the reaction. You pretended not to notice, gathering your towel and shower supplies. Pleased with his silence - rendering a person silent in the Seresin family meant that the argument had been won - you turned, ready to head toward the showers. Alarmed to find yourself now mere centimetres from him, you stumbled back and hit the locker, eyes widening as you craned your neck back to look at him. You swallowed. "That attitude's gonna get you in trouble." He warned, his hand resting on the locker beside your hip. You furrowed your eyebrows, scoffing as you slid past him, "What are you? - My mom?"

You turned and walked toward the showers, eyes still wide as you tried to process what had just happened and how you were going to explain it to Phoenix at your weekly sleepover later. A naked Bradley Bradshaw had just pinned you to a locker and warned you not to fuck with him.

She wasn't going to believe you in a million years. You stepped into the shower stall, undressing slowly and putting your clothes onto the shelf just outside of the shower, still reeling. The warm water made things all the more confusing. You couldn't stop thinking about it. Although, you did give props to whichever part of your brain controlled your dreams because, as it turned out, reality wasn't so far fetched. He was in fact capable of putting his foot on the gas a little. In your dream, he had more than tapped the gas. Your core throbbed at the thought.

"Alright,”

You yelped, broken from your sordid daydream by the very face you had been envisioning. Rooster had nudged back the shower curtain and half stepped in, his towel still around his waist.

His lips quirked slightly as you rushed to cover yourself, almost slipping on the tile as you covered your chest and the rest of yourself with the other.

"Hey, where'd those nerves of steel go?" He teased, calling back to how you had acquired your callsign. Your eyes widened even more. What the fuck was going on? You pressed your back against the shower wall, totally bewildered.

"What the fuck?"

"Look, I know you want to fuck me." Rooster shrugged his shoulders, watching you as your eyes fell down to his chest again. He had been dubious at first, but this wasn't the first time he had seen you staring now.

"Wha - who said - I-I do not!"

Rooster smirked slightly, "Hey. I don't get it either. But, I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about fucking you until you finally learned your damn lesson."

Your knees almost went weak. You honestly weren't 100% sure that you weren't dreaming again.

"So?" Rooster hooked his thumb under the edge of the towel, raising his eyebrows expectantly. Your mouth went dry suddenly as you allowed your eyes to watch his hand.

You had thought of Rooster naked many times since your dream about him. Now, as your eyes focused on the silhouette under the towel, you realised you had been severely undermining him.

You dropped your hands, stepping forward and grabbing either side of his jaw, tugging him forward and pressing your lips to his. His hands instinctively found your hips, pushing you back until your skin of your back touched the cold tile. He dropped the towel, moving his body against yours, pressing you firmly into the tile. You hummed softly against his lips, glancing down as you felt him press against your hip bone. You trailed your fingertips along his tanned, toned torso until they rested against his half hard dick, wrapping your palm around him and stroking him lazily. "You have a really nice cock." You murmured, wetting your lips with your tongue as he moved his head, pressing his lips to your throat. "I know." He acknowledged, giving you a taste of your own medicine. You hadn't ever heard Rooster be smug before, you liked it.

He wanted to compliment you too, but he wasn't going to add any more fuel to the fire that was your ego.

He pushed his knee between yours, resting his forehead against yours, just watching you as you stroked him. "Get on your knees for me." He demanded gently, pressing his lips to your temple in a perfect Bradley Bradshaw type juxtaposition. You looked at him, mouth open, ready to make a snarky comment. Then paused. He quirked an eyebrow expectantly at you. Just daring you to go ahead and say it. You smiled slightly, sweetly, like you were never about to say anything at all, "Yessir." He smirked just a little as you sank to your knees before him, pushing your damp hair back off of your face.

"Get to it, Lieutenant." He leaned his forearm against the wall, cornering you against it. You allowed yourself to look at him unashamedly. From his broad, strong shoulders, his toned chest, his firm arms, to his thick, tanned thighs - you couldn't lie and say that he wasn't exactly what you had hoped and more.

You grinned, sticking your tongue out flat for him, pressing it against the underside of his cock, dragging it all the way to the tip, then wrapping your lips around him. Rooster jolted slightly as your hand came up and cupped his balls. Excitement ran through you at the realisation.

He watched you smirk around his dick, his breath catching in his throat just slightly — what a sight. So, he was sensitive down there, you hummed softly, massaging them delicately, keeping that information tucked away for later use.

Rooster leaned his head back against tile, eyes closed as he pushed his hips out further, groaning gently. You moaned around him, squeezing your thighs together at the sight before you. You regretted not dropping to your knees for him sooner.

You pulled your mouth almost completely off of him, swirling your tongue around his pink tip, pulling a soft groan from his lips. You then pulled back completely, wrapping your hand around his length, stroking him as you nuzzled your head just a little further between his legs. Rooster's fingers curled against your scalp, collecting a fistful of hair as your tongue pressed against his testicles.

You giggled softly at his reaction, humming delightedly as your nose brushed his thigh whilst you nipped, kissed, and oh-so-gently sucked at the sensitive skin.

He slid both hand down to the base of your skull, meeting your gaze. You nodded a little, bobbing your head down his length once more, bracing your hand against his thigh. Rooster let out a heavy breath, grunting softly as he guided your mouth further down on him. You blinked up at him through those pretty lashes of yours.

Whatever he wanted to do, you could take. He was gentle as he fucked your mouth, just barely letting himself in far enough to graze your throat. He saw the amusement in your eyes, just knowing that if your mouth wasn't preoccupied, you'd have something to say.

He pushed his hips forward, holding your head still as he rocked his hips back and forth, resting his palm against the wall behind you for leverage. You blinked back tears as he stroked the back of your throat, stroking his thigh sweetly to let him know you were alright.

“You like that?” Rooster breathed, slowing his hips only a little, stroking a tear back off of your cheek. You forced yourself to look up at him again, nodding for him.

He took his lip between his teeth, holding back a smile, “If I’d known this would shut you up I would’ve done it a while ago." As good as you were, he refused to compliment your technique. You'd only hold it over his head later. Plus, he was good too.

Rooster moved his hands, lifting your chin to admire his view one last time before jerking his head, motioning for you to get up. You wiped the corners of your mouth with your thumb as you stood up, biting your cheek as he pressed your body back against the wall. He lowered his head, pressing open mouthed kisses along your bare chest until he came to your breast.

You shivered as you felt his hand move between your legs, he used swiped your ankles further apart with his own and slid two fingers along your core. He met your gaze. The look on his face said it all.

You were soaking: you knew it, he clearly knew it - your lips parted as you received a taste of your own medicine. He didn't have to say a word for you to know that he had plenty that he simply could say. You swallowed, catching him smirk slightly as he dragged his lips back down across your sternum.

He brushed the knuckle of his middle finger over your clit, just barely grazing it, enough to make you think that it may have just been an accident. You immediately began to doubt his abilities, grounded suddenly as his index and middle finger stroked delicate patterns against the sensitive nerves.

You moaned softly as he took your nipple into his mouth, bringing his hand up to brush his thumb across the other, feeling it harden against his digit.

He moved to his knees before you, the warm spray of the shower hitting his chest as he guided one of your thighs over his shoulder, pressing his mouth against your skin as he left a trail of open-mouthed kisses across your legs.

"Hurry up." You groaned, pushing your fingers into his hair. His eyes met yours, glinting with amusement - like he knew something you didn't.

He still obliged, moving his mouth between your legs finally. Just as his fingers had, his tongue found your clit quickly, just flicking against it tauntingly. You whined, jutting your hips out toward him.

He pushed those two fingers into you, curling them expertly against your walls, coaxing a desperate moan from your lips as excitement pooled in your belly.

Your fingers raked through his sandy curls, eyes closed, moaning quietly for him as your high built up.

Rooster listened to what your body was telling him. He watched your chest rise and fall, your fingertips begin to tremble against his scalp, your pussy clench around his fingers and throb against him tongue. And then he stopped.

"Oh, fuck you." You were onto him immediately. You whined softly as he let you high fade away, pressing delicate kisses everywhere except where you needed him most. You felt him smirk against your thigh. "I'm sorry, Steel. Were you close?"

You groaned, closing your eyes as his lips pressed against your core once more. He yanked you closer to him, making you almost lose your footing on the wet tile. You forgot all about that as his tongue pressed against your pussy, his grip on your hips tightening as he sucked and flicked his tongue against your clit.

You honestly wondered for a moment what would happen if he let go of you right now... there was a real possibility that you might just hit the floor.

His fingers were inside of you again, he was building you up this time even faster than before. You whimpered, steadying yourself against the wall. All for him to just stop again.

"Fuck!" You exclaimed, gritting your teeth and planting both feet firmly on the ground, glaring at him. His lips curved upward, amused. You fidgeted on your feet, frustrated.

Bradley straightened back up, grabbing your jaw and pulling you in for a kiss, letting you taste yourself on his tongue. His hand slipped between your legs once more.

"Tell me why I'm upset with you." He spoke softly, nosing at your cheek as he circled your all too sensitive clit. You whimpered, resting your forehead against his chest.

"Because I made us fail the exercise." You answered begrudgingly. Bradley's fingers stilled, he clicked his tongue, shaking his head slowly and pressing a kiss below your ear.

"No, that's not it, honey." He teased, fingers still resting against your clit, unmoving. You growled in frustration, sighing heavily as you met his gaze. He kissed the corner of your mouth sweetly, "C'mon. You know why."

You huffed. "Because I didn't listen to you."

He smiled against your cheek, slipping his two fingers into you, working over your clit with the pad of his thumb, "There you go. Now tell me how sorry you are."

"I'm sorry." You pushed your hips desperately against his hand, panting as he curled his fingers inside of you so expertly. He stilled once more. You were going to scream if he did that one more time. Bradley knew that. "Please, Rooster, I said I'm fucking sorry! - I'll listen. I'm sorry, just - please."

He slipped his tongue into your mouth, finally deciding you had made up for your behaviour. You grasped desperately at his shoulders, whimpering into the crook of his neck as he brought you up to the edge once again. You pressed your fingernails into the back of his neck, muffling the sounds of your orgasm against his skin as he finally let you release.

"God, you're an asshole." You breathed, blinking hard as you tried to make the white spots in your vision go away. Even with the white spots, you could see the shit-eating grin on his face. He hummed in agreement, his hand sliding up to rest around your throat as his lips found yours.

His thumbs stroked your hips softly as he turned you around, pressing his chest to your back, sandwiching you between him and the tile. You whined softly, pushing your hips back against his.

"Fuck..." You breathed, gasping as he pushed himself into you, pulling your hips back against his. He left open-mouthed kisses across the backs of your shoulders, making up for the fact that he was painfully hard and not really planning on giving you time to adjust.

"You feel so fucking good." Rooster gave in, complementing you as he pulled out almost entirely and drove back into you again.

You moaned out, burying your head in the crook of your arm as he pounded you against the tile, protecting your hips from taking the worst of the damage by wrapping an arm around your waist.

He moved you, bending you over a little more for a better angle, grabbing the back of your neck and holding you down as he fucked into you.

“Holy shit…” you moaned out, rutting your hips back against his desperately, digging your fingernails into his toned thigh. His soft grunts into the crook of your neck were driving you crazy, especially after all of his teasing, you were feeling close again already.

You both freeze at the sound of the door to the locker room opening.

Before you could even really register the danger, Rooster turned you around, hoisting you up, guiding your legs around his waist. You furrowed your eyebrows, following his gaze down to the floor and connecting with his logic.

His ankles were now the only ones visible under the bottom of the shower curtain.

Always one to tease, your eyes remained on him as you grabbed his cock and guided it between your legs once more. Rooster pressed your back to the wall, eyebrows furrowed as he sank back into you. You whined softly, almost in relief.

"For an old guy, he really knows his shit."

Both of your eyes widened at the same time in horrified realisation. Rooster shifted you into one arm, his palm pressing over your mouth tightly. Jake, oblivious, took his time messing around with his locker. You prayed silently that he just decided to shower at home today.

"Can't believe you told him he can drink on us," Coyote chimed in, making you wince. You and Rooster stared at each other, him biting his cheek to keep from laughing. "Old guys can drink, Jake."

"Got us out of the push-ups, didn't I?"

One more look at Rooster, and you found yourself confused by the glint in his eye.

"Be quiet." He mouthed the words, not bothering to let you respond as he moved his hips, finding a slow pace that couldn't be heard over the sound of the shower. You half wanted to protest, but the other, weaker, half of you knew that if you were denied one more fucking orgasm today - you were going to lose it.

Oddly, it was surprising what the feeling did to you. His cock filling you over and over, his lips dragging across your throat, his palm pressed firmly over your mouth.

"Rooster, you in here, man?" Rooster watched your eyes widen, snickering to himself quietly. He removed his hand from your mouth, shooting you a look. They had just spotted that his locker was still open, that was all.

"Yeah. What's up, Coyote?"

You gritted your teeth, your head lulled back against the tile as he fucked you.

"Everyone's headed to Penny's. We're buying." Coyote shot a look at Jake begrudgingly about the last part. Rooster bit his lip, stifling a laugh.

"Stop, I'm gonna cum. I can't be quiet." You whispered desperately, as quietly as you could. Rooster couldn't have looked more amused if he tried.

"Yeah, go ahead," Rooster called back to Coyote, "I'll catch up."

"Alright, see you there!"

"Huh," Hangman furrowed his eyebrows as he picked up the set of keys left on the bench. He examined them and looked around. "Y/N left her car keys."

Coyote shrugged, "Probably caught a ride with Phoenix."

Hangman nodded. That made sense. He figured he would bring the keys anyway and make fun of your dumb ass for forgetting to lock them away safely.

You hadn't heard the last part of the conversation. You were to busy clawing the shit out of Rooster's back, desperately trying not to cum and not to make any noise. You sighed in relief as you heard the door close and their footsteps trail away.

Rooster pressed his lips to yours again desperately as he fucked you through your orgasm, relishing in the string of your nails on his shoulders. His thrusts became more erratic, barely bottoming out, just pounding into you again and again until he's coming undone himself, spilling inside of you.

...

"D'you think Rooster was getting some in the locker room?" Coyote asked, eyebrows furrowed as he looked over at Hangman. Hangman scoffed from the driver's seat, shaking his head.

"You're kidding right?" He practically laughed at the idea. "He was probably just crying about Mav whooping his ass in training again." Then, he did laugh. It was ridiculous to him. There was no way in hell.

Coyote shook his head, still not convinced, "I dunno, man. He sounded a little too... happy. He found somethin' funny. I mean - what's funny about getting invited to Penny's?"

Hangman rolled his eyes, "Look, if it was someone else - maybe. But it's Rooster!" He swung his car into a space and turned off the ignition, laughing again as he got out of the car.

As expected, Phoenix was already at The Hard Deck when Coyote and Hangman arrived. First, they had to make good on their promise of buying and drinking a round with Maverick.

After that round was finished, Hangman sauntered up to the bar and stood beside the stool that Phoenix was perched on as she talked to Penny across the bar.

"Hey, Birdbrain, where's my sister?" Hangman teased, draping an arm around his colleague's shoulder, his signature smug smile playing on his lips. Phoenix's first point of call was to shrug him off. Then, she turned to him and shrugged,

"She was taking a shower last I heard. Let me know if you see her, though - she's supposed to stay with me tonight."

Jake's eyebrows furrowed. He cocked his head, shaking it at this new information as he pulled your keys from his pocket. "Well, I just left the locker rooms. She wasn't in there and she left her keys."

Phoenix shrugged again.

It was at that moment that the door to Penny's opened. The bell above the door rang, and Hangman and Coyote's attention both turned towards the door at the same time. In time to see you and Rooster heading through the door together.

There was nothing suggestive about the way you entered, nothing unprofessional about either of you as you made your way into the bar.

Only, both Hangman and Coyote now thought back to their conversation in the car. Jake turned his head, watching you and Rooster split up and shoot off in different directions like magnets being repelled from each other. His lips parted.

Coyote glanced between you and Jake, making the same connection at the same time. Phoenix slapped a hand over her mouth as she made the same connection just a moment later.

Telling Rooster about your little dream had clearly been the right move.

"Oh my fucking god, no way!" She exclaimed as you reached her.

You glanced between her and your horrified older brother, "What? W-What is it?"

Jake pushed his beer into Phoenix's hands and your eyes widened. You looked down at your keys in his hand. He looked down at the distinct teeth marks on your collarbone. You knew he knew.

"Jake, don't."

...

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#bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley bradshaw #bradley bradshaw smut #rooster x you #miles teller #rooster bradshaw imagine #top gun smut

[matan4il]

Memo to the 'Experts': Stop Comparing Israel's War in Gaza to Anything. It Has No Precedent | by John Spencer

Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has inevitably drawn comparisons to other battles or wars, both modern and from the past. These comparisons are mostly used to make the case that Israel's operations in Gaza are the most destructive in history, or the deadliest in history.

Yet while the use of historical analogy may be tempting for armchair pundits, in the case of Israel's current war, the comparisons are often poorly cited, the data used inaccurate, and crucial context left out. Given the scale and context of an enemy purposely entrenched in densely populated urban areas, as well as the presence of tunnels, hostages, rockets, attackers that follow the laws of war while defenders purposely do not, and proximity between the frontlines and the home front, there is basically no historical comparison for this war.

Let's start with the context: After Hamas crossed into Israel on Oct. 7, murdering over 1,200 Israelis in brutal ways that included mutilation and sexual assaults as well as taking over 200 hostages back into Gaza, Israel formally declared a defensive war against Hamas in Gaza in accordance with international law and the United Nations charter. Since, the IDF estimates it has killed 10,000 Hamas operatives, while Hamas claims that the total number of casualties is 24,000 (Hamas does not distinguish civilian deaths from militant deaths).

Hamas' strategy is to use Palestinian civilians as human shields, because their goal is not to defeat Israel's military or to hold terrain; it is far more sinister and medieval—to use the death and suffering of Palestinian civilians to rally international support to their cause and demand that Israel halt their war.

Meanwhile, Israel's war aims were more traditional: returning Israeli hostages, dismantling Hamas military capability, and securing their border to prevent another October 7 attack.

These goals required not one major urban battle but multiple. While Gaza is not the densest populated urban region on earth as many claim, it features over 20 densely-populated cities. And while the Israeli Defense Forces are engaged in fighting, Hamas has continued to launch over 12,000 rockets on nearly every day of the war from the combat area toward civilian-populated areas in Israel, literally over the heads of the attacking IDF, who it bears mentioning are fighting just a few miles from their homeland and the homes of their soldiers.

Put all of this together, this war is simply without precedent. Certainly, it cannot be compared to the host of other wars that have been used for comparison sake to paint Israel in an unflattering light.

Some have compared Israel to Russia, yet there is simply no comparison. In the 2022 Battle of Mariupol, estimates of the number of civilians killed range up to 25,000, including 600 civilians killed in a single bombing of a theater with the word "children" written in giant letters around it. This is the same Russia that killed over 50,000 civilians (5 percent) of a 1.1 million pre-war population of Chechnya in 20 months of combat in the late 1990s in multiple major urban battles such as Grozny.

Or take Syria. Over 300,00 civilians have been killed in the Syrian war; an average of 84 civilians were killed every day from 2013 to 2023.

Others have compared the battles in Gaza to World War II air campaigns like the UK bombing of the German city of Dresden in 1945 that killed an estimated 25,000 civilians. But here, too, memory is selective: These same people discount air campaign cases such as the U.S. firebombing of Tokyo the same year that killed over 300,000 civilians, to include 80,000 to 100,000 civilians in a single night, causing more death and destruction than Dresden, Hiroshima, or Nagaski.

A battle that does bear a resemblance to Israel's war against Hamas is the 1945 Battle of Manila—the largest urban struggle of World War II, with more civilian casualties incurred than even the Battle of Stalingrad. The city had a population of 1.1 million residents as well as over 1,000 American prisoners of war being held in the city. It took the U.S. military 35,000 forces and a whole month to defeat 17,000 Japanese Navy defenders in and around the city.

Like in Gaza, the defenders used the city's sewer and tunnel systems for offensive and defensive purposes. And there were over 100,000 civilian deaths from the battle—one of the major factors of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which stipulated the laws of armed conflict to further protect civilians and prevent civilian deaths.

Most experts compare the Gaza war to the recent urban battles against ISIS involving United States forces, including the 2016-17 Battle of Mosul. In that battle, over 100,000 Iraqi Security Forces, backed by American advisors and U.S. and coalition air power, took nine months to clear a city of 3,000 to 5,000 lightly armed ISIS fighters. The battle resulted in over 10,000 civilian deaths, 138,000 houses destroyed or damaged and 58,000 damaged with 40,000 homes destroyed outright in just Western Mosul. Iraqi Security Forces suffered 10,000 casualties. There were very limited, shallow, house-to-house tunnels, but no tunnel networks, no hostages, no rockets.

In April of 2004, the U.S. military was directed to arrest the perpetrators of an attack that caused the death of four American civilians and deny insurgents sanctuary in the densely populated city of Fallujah, Iraq, a city of 300,000 residents. The battle that ensued was later dubbed the First Battle of Fallujah. Because of international condemnation and political instability fueled by international media over a perceived indiscriminate use of force and civilian casualties, the U.S. forces were ordered by the U.S. Central Command Commander to stop the battle six days into it.

Estimates of the total civilian deaths from the battle range from 220 to 600. Six months later, in November 2004, the U.S. military initiated the Second Battle of Fallujah. It took 13,000-15,000 U.S., UK, and Iraqi forces six weeks to clear the city of 3,000 insurgents. There were some 800 civilian deaths even though the city's residents had largely evacuated before the battle. Over sixty percent the city's buildings were damaged or destroyed. But there, too, the enemy defenders did not have access to tunnels.

Ultimately, comparisons with both past and modern cases highlight the fact that there is almost no way to defeat an entrenched enemy defender without destruction, even while implementing all feasible precautions and limits on the use of force required by the laws of war.

Let's put away our military history books. There is no comparison to what Israel has faced in Gaza—certainly none by which Israel comes out looking the worse.

John Spencer is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point, codirector of MWI's Urban Warfare Project and host of the "Urban Warfare Project Podcast." He served for 25 years as an infantry soldier, which included two combat tours in Iraq. He is the author of the book Connected Soldiers: Life, Leadership, and Social Connection in Modern War and co-author of Understanding Urban Warfare.

#israel #antisemitism #israeli #israel news #israel under attack #israel under fire #terrorism #anti terrorism #hamas #antisemitic #antisemites #jews #jew #judaism #jumblr #frumblr #jewish #israelunderattack #resources #civilian casualties

[bidisastersanji]

The Old Guard x One piece AU got my brain going brrr and i'm gonna make it your problem now. Center of the matter is I want Zoro and Sanji to meet kind of like Nicki and Joe did (discovering their immortality by fighting on opposite sides and killing each other over and over and then becoming eternal lovers) so I went and did some research for the entire Straw hat crew. Main thing is I wanted to link them to historical events that will give them the right motivations and backgrounds! so here we GOOO

Sanji and Zoro: Because Japan has an isolationist past, the only battle I could find that would work is the Cagayan battles of 1582 in Jakarta between Spanish-Philippine forces vs Japanese pirates (a.k.a Wokou, which are basically pirate ronin) Sanji would thus be a reluctant "Rodelero" sent to South East Asia by his noble family (jokes on them he loves being in the middle of the spice trade and he hates being part of a noble family funding the conquistadores) who one day finds himself fighting a mysterious Wokou samurai Zoro. They're partly isolated from their respective camps when they first kill each other, and again, and again, until they realise they should by all means be dead but they keep healing. After a couple decades of -against all odds- running into each other everywhere, they reluctantly decide to try and figure out what the heck's happened to them together- struggling to communicate at first, then learning each others' language over the following decade, then falling in love and becoming inseparable. This makes Zoro and Sanji both over 400 years old, and they are the same age. Zoro learns about so many sword techniques and Sanji about different cuisines/ leg-centric fighting styles during this time.

all the other straw hats and their historical periods under the cut!

Robin as an Egyptian scholar who died during the burning of the Library of Alexandria in 48 BC/ was killed for researching something forbidden during the declining years of the Roman Period (early 200s) and found out she was immortal this way, making her around 2 millennia old. She spends her time recording history and traveling the world and encountering new cultures. Her long time enemy is religious obscurantism, and the Catholic church spends a lot of resources trying to kill her. (they have conspiracy boards about this immortal witch in the Vatican)

Brook: so ancient he doesn't remember much, other that he came from Kerma culture (2500 BC), loved music, and that his entire village had died from an illness, but he came back. His memory isn't great but if there's one thing he's loved in his Millennia of existence is discovering and learning how to play all the instruments that he could find. He mostly hangs in Vienna nowadays as a music teacher.

Jinbei is a Samoan chieftain from around 1000 BC who one day died during a battle with a Fijian chieftain. When he came back from death he assumed Tagaloa chose him. He loves navigating, sailing, exploring and going on voyages with his people. In more recent times (post european contact) he was forced to ally with the US Navy to protect his people.

Nami: Irish lass from around 800 who's coastal, tiny village was about to be raided by Vikings from Sweden. She made a deal with their chieftain Arlong to go with them and map out the British isles for them to help their raids be more effective and targeted, in exchange for not killing people in her village, and that she would make back the plunder they did not get from this town for them. She started to join their raids to try and make this money, but she died in battle. She came back and they believed her to be some kind of Valkyrie or Einherjer brought back to midgard. She took over the raider's leadership- also Norsemen always had women handle money, which works great here. During her time as an immortal she travels, seeks treasure, double crosses people etc.

Usopp a young double agent/CIA spy from the Cold War who died on a mission. He tragically could not return to his love Kaya because he was afraid of putting her in danger by revealing he was alive to the spies that killed him. He relocates and starts anew constantly, his entire life a web of lies. He's a great marksman/sniper.

Chopper died young of the Bubonic plague in medieval Europe. He resuscitated, tragically his father is infected as well and he's unable to save him- motivating him to get to the bottom of this disease, he decides to become a doctor. Looking like a 15 year old for centuries doesn't make this task easy and he has to hide a lot.

Franky is an American veteran of WWI who was heavily disfigured first, and died later (which is why he's not fully healed and needs prosthetics). He's heavily anti-government from having been sent to fight in such a meaningless war that sacrificed young men like cannon fodder. He learned to fix himself up and make prosthetics and masks for veterans, got into making tech stuff

Luffy is a modern, 21st century 20 something year old from Brazil's favelas. He dies in a gun violence incident (maybe linked to a drug war/gang war where he's been trying to protect his neighbourhood) and comes back, experiencing visions of others like him. He's resolute to find them and make a crew, thinking that with all of them together, maybe they can help liberate the world from opressors and inequality

#it's one am #but i couldnt stop #did all the research i could to match each straw hat with a nice historic period #one piece au #zosan au #zosan fic idea #one piece fic idea #zoro x sanji #i just want the star crossed immortal lovers with lots of lore and cool adventures as #new immortal luffy just goes around collecting these people who have no idea there's others like them #and them going around liberating people #like the scariest undying ten people army that they are #the old guard one piece au #the old guard au #immortal straw hats #straw hat crew #zosan

[ficbrish]

WIP Wednesday

[31Jan2024]

This is from a one shot that's part of my Kinktober collection

"A Tumble"

Non-Dark Urge Vistri, Eary Act II, After deciding to "be real", but before his actual 'didn't drink the potion' lock-in

[cw - Injury, gore, grief, panic, magic first aid, food]

It wasn’t the first time Astarion saw her fall. She was a sorcerer; her type only ever brought some cloth and the raw, unlimited fury of the weave to battle.

“Vistri!” he’d shouted her name so sweetly the other night, and now it crawled out of his mouth as something misshapen and wretched. He sent a fiery arrow after the shadows and dropped to his knees beside her. The others finished the fight as he reached into his pack with trembling hands. Too many scrolls. So many fucking scrolls! There was one for poison, another for grease traps—for gods damned spiderwebs!

“Get up! Gods damn you!” he cried out, still searching through his pack. There was blood on her neck, but it was wrong. It wasn’t from him; the shadows did that to her. The dark in these woods was a different kind. It was thick and overbearing, like the moment after something horrible. The air around them clung to their throats, coating it with a heavy sort of gravity. It was hard to get used to and threw off all their senses, even as a Vampire and a Drow.

A ragged draw of breath stopped Astarion’s heart mid-beat. Her stillness had been deceiving. Quickly, he stuffed the scrolls back in and pulled out a potion. Gingerly, he lifted her head into his lap and dabbed a bit of its serum onto her lips, coaxing her to drink the rest. Magic and dragon blood closed her wounds. A bit of color came back to her periwinkle cheeks.

Vistri coughed, “Hello dear.”

He sighed into the sight of her living eyes and bent down to kiss her. Their lips were upside down. She laughed and kissed him back as if she weren’t just ripped open and unconscious.

Astarion felt something creep behind him and unsheathed a knife from his thigh, “Wait here a moment, love.”

He set her aside gently and stood up with a twirl. His blade stuck deep into the gut of a shadow cursed Harper, leaving him staring into the blank rotten eyes of a corpse. Astarion hadn’t seen himself once these past two hundred years, and wondered in that moment whether he had those same dead eyes. One look back at Vistri relieved him of that fear.

“Come back to my side at once,” she pouted.

Rushing, he stabbed the undead creature through its skull, and as it collapsed on its own weight, it toppled over on him. Astarion regained his balance and pushed it off, “Eugh!” Then he slid over to Vistri on his knees.

“You blasted,” he kissed her about a million times, grumpily and gratefully, “Hag!”

“Hey!”

“Stop dying, then!”

“I didn’t die, exactly. I just fell over.”

“You almost died. Not that I care anything about it.”

She smirked, “There’s something so dashing about the way you pout.”

He tried his best to frown instead, “Don’t try to flatter your way out of my concern.”

“Thought you didn’t care.”

“I don’t!” he scoffed.

Wyll and Karlach strutted towards them out of the dark, obviously smug about felling the last of their enemies.

“Oy! Children!” Karlach called out, addressing them, “Lend a hand next time, will ya?”

“I’m no child! I am over 200 years old!”

“Act like it then,” she winked cheekily.

He was ready to fight until Vistri squeezed his hand—They weren’t children. Karlach only teased them out of respect—Astarion dropped his shoulders.

“You hear that, my dear?” he quipped instead, “Karlach thinks we should act more adult.”

He scooped Vistri up by her waist and had his way with her tongue.

“Ah, love,” Wyll commented dreamily.

“Don’ know if I’d call that love,” Karlach groaned, “More like bragging.”

“What is love if not life’s greatest braggart?”

“Should write that down, mate.”

“Really? You think so.”

Karlach winked, “I’d say you were a poet and didn’t even know it.”

Astarion couldn’t really hear either of them. He could only taste her, savor her existence after how close she’d been to disappearing. Her lips were warm. They were so warm.

Wyll cleared his throat, “Um, guys? Can we go now?”

Vistri hummed dreamily as she tore herself away, “If I can stand on two feet.”

“If you can’t, I’m sure prince charming down there would be happy to carry you.”

Karlach laughed as if the idea were absolutely hysterical, “As if!”

Astarion stood up in offense, “As if?!”

“Come on, Fangs! Be real about it. Carry someone? All the way back to the inn?”

Before she knew what was happening, Vistri found herself swept up and thrown over Astarion’s shoulder like a heavy sack. She squealed in a mixture of terror and delight.

“I’m not as useless as I may seem!” Astarion grumbled, tossing Vistri a bit to adjust his hold. Neither Karlach nor Wyll argued, but they did raise their brows.

Shrieking was common in the Shadow Curse lands, but the way Vistri did it was startlingly out of place. It had laughter and happy shock in it, “Your face is right by my bum!”

“Is that a bad thing, darling?”

“But what if I fart?!”

“Don’t you dare!”

“Quit tossing me about so much then!”

Wyll led the way, leaning into Karlach to comment, “Aren’t they sweet?” To which she snickered back.

Astarion actually managed to carry Vistri the whole way. She might have cast herself with Feather, making his feat a little less impressive, but neither of them cared. Astarion was determined to brag about it and change everyone’s mind regarding his strength, and Vistri was smiling the whole way over. She bounced awkwardly, but she liked the warmth of his back, and the feel of his hands on the back of her thighs. She also managed not to fart.

There was a sense of regret when he let her down, as if they’d lost something. They just stood there after, looking at each other as if they had no idea what to do now that they were apart.

“Well, thank you,” she said.

“For saving your life, or carrying you?”

“Oh, there’s a list?” she chuckled.

His smirk was equal parts mischievous and self-satisfied, “You’ve been incurring a lot of debts, my dear.”

Vistri pretended to be startled, “Have I? Oh my! How should I endeavor pay them?”

He lifted a playful finger to his chin, “Hmmm, what a dilemma!”

His mood was so drastically shifted from before, during the fight. Looking at him now, you’d never think that face held any worry. In little flashes, he was brand new. No more heaviness. Vistri may have grown up with a sorcerer’s might, but she never felt more magical.

“How about I think on it a while? The two of us are exhausted! Best not to make any rash decisions.”

She giggled, even though her bones felt hollow, and her muscles were near useless, “Take your time to think, but make it go—”

Her stomach growled loudly.

“Oh, dear,” Astarion said, “We should fix that, shouldn’t we?”

He was being uncharacteristically servient and sweet, telling her to sit by the fire as he fetched her a bowl of something hot. He even brought a blanket over to throw over their legs and sat there with her as she ate.

Vistri looked at him, startled, when he sat down and settled the blanket over them.

“What?” he asked.

She shook her head to clear it, “Nothing.” Then started eating.

It was a very plain stew with fish and beans, but it was everything on a night like this. Or was it even night? There was no sense of time in the Shadow Curse lands.

Astarion dipped her finger in his bowl and licked it.

“Hey!”

“Just wanted a taste.”

#vistarion #tav x astarion #astarion x tav #wip wednesday #baldurs gate 3 #bg3 #BrishFics #astarion #astarion ancunin #angst #tumble fic

[jackoshadows]

There’s been discussions on the role of soft power in the world of asoiaf and while a lot has been said about the brutal conquests by the old Kings in the North, the Stark’s use of soft power through alliances by marriage is also interesting.

And while most of that is in the North, whereby there is a normalization of Stark culture and traditions as being that of the North (The Starks shaped the preferences of the North over centuries to co-opt their cultural and political values and relationships with other kingdoms, with a few exceptions), before Robert’s rebellion, we also hear of Rickard Stark’s southron ambitions which included betrothing Brandon to Catelyn Tully and fostering Ned in the Vale.  

Marriage alliances or marriage diplomacy is an important political tool and several players in asoiaf use soft power to exert influence and political change - for ex. Daenerys marrying Hizdahr to sue for peace.

Jon Snow’s brokering of the marriage between Alys Karstark and the Magnar of Thenn is a political act of much significance and a clear example of how soft power can be used to great advantage.

By marrying into the Karstarks, the Thenns - a tribe of Free Folk - obtain land this side of the wall, land that is farmed and harvested.

Note: This land was originally given to Karlon Stark as reward for defeating a rebel lord. The Karhold Starks eventually became Karstarks. It’s interesting that Jon has now in effect ‘given’ Karhold to Styr, the Magnar of Thenn

In fact there is an interesting mirror here to Manderly saying ‘The North Remembers’ when talking about Northern loyalty to house Stark, with Alys Karstark telling Jon Snow that ‘Karhold Remembers’ when he asks for aid. Jon Snow is slowly building his own support base in the North.

The newly created House Thenn and tribe of Free Folk will live on these lands, farm and grow crops and eventually, I would guess, be subsumed into the North and adopt some of their customs. In return, Alys and the other remaining Northerners at Karhold will receive protection from the 200 Thenn warriors.

It’s interesting that Alys and Sigorn are married in the traditions of R'hllor, a God primarily of Essos. We are seeing the melding of 3 cultures here. Northern culture, Freefolk culture and what is primarily an Essosi God, part of Essosi culture. The new Sigil is representative of this melding of cultures - Bronze disc (Thenns), Sunburst (Karstark) and red flames (R’hllor of Essos). With Stannis and Melisandre in the North and them forcefully converting many of the Freefolk to the Lord of Light, I wonder if we will see the introduction of R’hllor into the North, just like it happened with the Faith of the Seven (Catelyn brought the Faith into Winterfell through marriage and the Manderlys coming from the Reach).

Similarly once the Northern houses supporting the Starks see the Thenns in battle protecting and defending Karhold and it’s people against the Bolton/Frey/Lannister alliance, that is going to help advance Jon’s argument that they are all one and of the same realm and that the Freefolk deserve a chance this side of the wall.

And yes, there is no quick fix to an 8000 year old feud and it’s certain that some of the houses like the Umbers will hold onto their long standing grudges against the Freefolk. However considering that Jon will be arguing for unity in the face of the threat of the Others/army of the dead, I think the Thenns fighting for the Starks will go a long way in convincing at the least some of the houses to put aside their grievances. We already see glimpses of this with the Mountain clan chiefs, drinking and toasting to the wedding of a Thenn to a Northern maiden in a R’hllor ceremony.

As an aside, the GreatJon is a still a prisoner at the Twins, Crowsfood fighting with Stannis may soon be dead in TWoW and Whoresbane is pretending to be on Roose Boltons’s side. With many of the great Northern houses decimated in terms of armies and men - Alys mentions crops rotting in the field because there are no men to bring in the harvest - I do think that the Umbers will set aside their grudge against the Freefolk for now.

The marriage of Alys Karstark and Styr, Magnar of Thenn is therefore some good realpolitik from Jon Snow, with him using marriage diplomacy and soft power to achieve his endgame goals. The marriage will have long term consequences for the North with a long overdue removal of barriers and boundaries between two groups of people.

#Jon Snow #Northern politics #asoiaf

[honest-moth-of-silver-grove]

Hello!! i hope you’re having a good day!! I would like to ask for a BG3 matchup, please!! To make it easier for you, I’ve added anything that might be necessary here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-9dv4INxKsRYGLfZR22P7dUNY6gNqXnzEklxj_uxbhw/edit

A/N: Lol, I feel you w/ the undercut thing. If I let all my natural hair grow out, it would be its own situation every morning lol. Because you didn’t specify gender preference, I picked one male and female companion for you. 

For you, Google Doc Anon, I think you’d match best with Astarion (Male) and Lae'zel (Female)!

➶ Astarion is an independent person as well. Before he was turned he was a magistrate, a corrupt independent player who was very influential in getting what he wanted done. Of course, after being changed by Cazador, he lost all of his influence but managed to retain his aloofness and ambition. After getting a taste of freedom following 200 years of servitude, he’s insanely stubborn, and very vocal when it comes to voicing his displeasure about doing things. He makes it clear that he’s capable, but his capability is very intertwined with how much he wants to do something, similar to you. He finds such behavior to make sense and has absolutely no problems defending your thought process to anyone who complains. 

Granted, due to your shorter stature, he may not take you seriously upon first meeting you (he does make a fair amount of gnome jokes in game), but once he gets to know you, that all changes. He actually really likes your height difference because it makes him feel all the more  (dominant lol) in charge for once. And he loves, loves, loves your hair! He can’t see his hair in the mirror, but he likes to imagine it looks as cool as yours. He might even ask for your help dying his hair- of course, you’d have to try the colors first so he could see how they’d look on you before he’d dare try putting them on him, but that’s half the fun, right? 

Astarion enjoys the arts. Back as a magistrate, he’d frequent the theater and art shows, get the best-tailored clothes with the fanciest embroidery- anything that crossed art over with luxury, oh boy was he down. He wouldn’t ask you outright, he has his pride, but please please study him and draw him. He hasn’t seen his appearance in so long, and being able to see it through your gifted eyes would be such a marvelous treat. He trusts your craftsmanship 100%. 

And he understands your need for alone time. He, despite putting on a good show for everyone, is very drained after a day of ‘performing’. He needs time alone with you, just the two of you being quiet in order to recharge. He also tends to get a bit snippy when overwhelmed emotionally- which makes sense given his history. So don’t fret, he won’t take it personally if you yell or snap at him because you’re feeling overwhelmed so long as you don’t hold it against him when he occasionally does the same. 

And while he may be pompous at times, in most cases, it’s because he does have the skills to back it up. All the other times however, it’s good he has you to knock him down a peg, and get him to come back down to reality. You let him know he doesn't have to put on a show for you, he doesn't have to pretend. You love him just as he is. And he loves you just as you are. 

💥 Lae’zel is a great match for you because both of you are pragmatic, and disciplined people who do what it takes to accomplish their goals. As you said, you’re an INTP. INTPs tend to search for truth and accuracy, checking situations from multiple logical angles before proceeding. This is very much in tune with several Githyanki principles. However, unlike people who do not take you seriously due to your appearance, Lae’zel takes you as you are, at face value, so long as you’ve proven yourself worthy in your fields, your outer appearance is of no importance to her. 

She is much more focused on battle- the art of fighting. So she is very new to many of the artistic expressions you introduce her to. But if you put a lot of time and effort into your work, she appreciates it, not necessarily for how it turns out, but for the dedication you put into it. She also appreciates how instinctively smart you are. Intelligence is a sign of a worthy ally. 

She too, is not a fan of large groups, preferring to work by herself or with a few she really trusts. You, of course, are someone she trusts explicitly, so to have you around her doesn’t irritate her the way strangers do. In fact, she seeks out your company as a way to destress from the strife working with strangers causes her. 

She understands the need to separate work and social life now that she’s started developing a social life of her own. She respects your boundaries when you ask for time alone to work and does not worry about your loyalty or intentions. 

You are hers. You have said as much. And she is yours. She has said as much. No amount of time spent apart could possibly change that.

#baldurs gate imagine #baldurs gate x reader #bg3 x reader #bg3 imagine #baldurs gate matchups #bg3 imagines #bg3 astarion x reader #bg3 lae'zel x reader #lae'zel imagine #lae'zel x reader #astarion imagine #astarion x reader #bg3 #bg3 matchups #matchups

[0x1lovebot]

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞.

prologue | one | two | three

0.6k words. [663]

warnings; mentions of war, parental death, grief.

about 200 years ago, there was a war. a great, horrific war that brought devastation and bloodshed to the kingdom. that war was called the war of the Thunderous, a brutal 50 year battle between the Thunderous and the Strikers, fighting over who rightfully held claim to the land of the kingdom. thousands of people died, homes were destroyed, the land was starved of its resources. the Strikers had turned the once beautiful kingdom of the Thunderous into a barren, desolate wasteland. but from that despair and destruction, a man named Bang Gosang rose to power.

this man was at the front lines of the war. this man led every single attack against the Strikers. this man was the very first ruler of the Bang Dynasty. during his time as king, Gosang rebuilt the kingdom of the Thunderous to be even more prosperous and beautiful than before. he was a fair and just ruler, a kind man who was well-loved by his people. on the day that he died, every single person in the kingdom planted a seed in the ground and prayed, hoping that his soul would bless them with prosperity, the same prosperity that he brought back to the kingdom of the thunderous. this is what made gardens so important to the people of the Thunderous. they represent the growth and prosperity of the kingdom that was achieved by the Bang Dynasty, they represent the beauty of the thunderous. even now, generations later, people would still plant seeds in the ground when a woman gives birth to wish the new child a long and beautiful life that would flourish and prosper.

that’s what y/n’s mother would tell her when she was younger. they would sit in the palace gardens together and while y/n’s mother would gently pack dirt around one of the flower bushes, young 7-year-old y/n would always ask

“mommy why are gardens so important here?”

a warm smile would always spread across her mother’s face as she would again explain why gardens were so important to the people of the thunderous. it made her happy to see how curious her daughter was about gardens and what each flower represented. it reminded her of when she was younger and she would ask her own mother the same thing. the love and connection to flowers and gardens seemed to run in y/n’s blood, her mother was practically raised in the palace gardens as well. her mother and her grandmother before her were also the palace gardener at one point.

sadly y/n ended up assuming the role of palace gardener rather early in life. her mother had died of a deadly illness when y/n was only 15 years old. that day was a very sad day in the kingdom. especially for the royal family. for the king had grown up with y/n's mother and the two young princes had been basically raised by her. but it was exceptionally harder on y/n.

for a time everything around her was dull and drained. the sky seemed to be a swirl of gloomy grays and the world seemed to be a beige mess to her. even the gardens seemed to mirror her feelings, the stems were drooping and unstable and the petals became pale and withered. during that time in y/n's life, the only times when the world seemed to be filled with color was when she was with the crown prince, chan.

whenever he came to visit her in the gardens it felt like a weight was lifted off of her shoulders. the air around her felt fresher, the sunlight felt warmer, all the colors looked brighter. whenever they talked y/n felt like she could be free, she felt like she could say anything to chan.

however now that y/n was 24, she's realized that there were just some things she couldn't admit to him, not without possibly embarrassing or disgracing herself anyways.

masterlist.

© 2023 copyright. all rights reserved. @0x1lovebot.

#bang chan x reader #stray kids bang chan #skz chan x reader #skz leader #skz bang chan x reader #bang chan fluff #bang chan angst #skz bang chan #skz fanfic #skz fluff #skz angst #skz fanfiction #stray kids #stray kids fluff #stray kids x reader #skz x reader #skz imagines #faithwrites🌱 #the garden!🌺

[pjohoo-reclists]

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare Fic Recs

insomniacs plus skatepark dates by blackpercy

G | 200 words | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Percy Jackson & Rachel Elizabeth Dare

it's a date at a skatepark. but it's 2 am. and they're best friends.

I’d Stay In Your Arms Forever If I Could by robindrake93

T | 500 words | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Fluff, Light Angst, Implied Sexual Content

Rachel and Percy spend the night in Paul’s car.

Not Your Missing Half by lyssq

G | 700 words | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase

Alternate Universe, Soulmates, Soul Identifying Marks

Despite the summer heat, Percy Jackson was wearing a hoodie over his camp t-shirt. Rachel Elizabeth Dare was the only one who knew why.

obligatory underwater kiss by newrome

G | 700 words | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Underwater kiss, Camp Half Blood, Canon Universe

it's an obligatory underwater perachel kiss, exactly what it says

at least the moon is the same for both of us by lilllac

G | 900 words | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Percy Jackson & Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Fluff, Romantic Friendship, they're both troublemakers and I love them

Rachel was a reminder that there was a good reason - a mortal as well as a divine one - to still be giving so much of himself in that war, even though Percy sometimes felt that he was handing over more parts of his soul than he would have remaining, in the end. (could be read as either platonic or romantic, it's up to you).

it's a demigod thing by newrome

G | 1.2k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Canon Compliant, Goode High School, Post The Battle of the Labyrinth

“Imagine being some normal kid in Roberts’ Pre-Calc class and looking at the Percy Jackson and not knowing he’s some superhero who bends spit.” “Don’t forget toilets,” I joked. “That’s my specialty.”

You’re gonna hear me roar by voices_in_my_head

G | 1.3k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

First Kiss, Book 5: The Last Olympian

"“I’m sorry, that was stupid of me. You don’t have to kiss me if you don’t want to, of course,” Rachel was babbling. (...) “No, I want to,” he interrupted her, not even sure what she had been saying but to be fair, he thought that Rachel herself didn’t know anymore what she’d been going on about, just trying to fill the silence with words." Set during the beginning of "The Last Olympian." What if Beckendorf had arrived a few minutes later to take Percy to war?

Broken Nose by robindrake93

T | 1.6k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Percy Jackson has Nightmares, Sharing a Bed, Established Relationship

Percy has nightmares that make him lash out in his sleep.

and i know that we're headstrong, and our heart's gone, and the timing's never right by shayvanburen

T | 1.6k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Alternate Universe - College/University, Art Galleries, Canon Divergence

five years after his fight with kronos, percy bumps into rachel one wintry day in new york.

Cover Up by robindrake93

T | 1.7k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Tattoo Artist Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Established Relationship, Future Fic

Percy asks Rachel to cover up his SPQR tattoo. Rachel agrees.

Red and Blue Make Violet by Takara_Phoenix

T | 2.0k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase

Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Family Fluff, Future Fic

After the wars, Rachel passed the spirit of the oracle on, because she had only taken it to help. Now, she wants other things in life. Ten years later and she has everything she ever wanted.

Paper & Trust by robindrake93 

T | 2.0k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Future Fic, Romantic Fluff, Falling in Love

Rachel and Percy have always been in love.

A harbor from my storm by dcninja 

G | 2.0k | Complete

Percy Jackson & Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Friendship/Love, Slow burn, Percy Jackson Needs a Hug

At some point he realizes it’s something he’s always done, from the first moment he met her at Hoover Dam. He uses Rachel’s mortality and the clarity of her sight as a shield from the world he lives in, from all the gods and monsters and prophesies that try to do him harm.

Lighting Candles by robindrake93

T | 2.1k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Romantic Fluff, Established Relationship, Kissing

Percy goes to Rachel's cave and they make candles together to liven the place up.

It's a Goode Reunion by Kingdom_Melody

T | 2.1k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

High School Reunion, Post The Trials of Apollo, Percy is Old

Percy and Rachel return to Goode High School for their year's 10 year reunion. Where they run into some old "Friends"

send me your location. by LovelyVerisimilitude

T | 2.2k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Established Relationship, Arguing, Long Distance Relationship, Fluff

“I think we need to talk,” Rachel says, unhurried. “About the other day.” Percy’s grip stiffens, and his throat almost closes up when he says, “What’s there to talk about?” “I just feel like―like we’re drifting apart.” She turns to him, her mouth physically frowning, her brows crinkled in concentration. “And I hate that.” (MODERN AU ― Rachel’s been away, Percy’s been stuck at home, and somehow, neither of them seem to get along like they used to.)

Look Out To The Horizon (To Infinity) by ashilrak 

T | 3.0k | Complete

Percy Jackson/Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Deity Percy Jackson, Established Relationship, Bittersweet

“Apollo’s watching us, me, you,” Rachel said, seemingly out of nowhere. “Keep an eye out on him.” He blinked, confused. “What’s that got to do with anything?” “You’ll see.” Her smile was sad. “But he’ll be with us along the way, and you need to be prepared for that.” Of course he would be. Apollo was close to the Oracle of Delphi. As far as Percy knew, that’d been true for much of history, though the relationship took different forms. Rachel was different though, someone Apollo considered something of a friend. “I love you,” she said. “Don’t ever forget that.” — Or: Percy lives as a new God, never leaving Rachel's side. As the years go by, Rachel grows older and Percy, well, doesn't. Percy deals with what it means to love a mortal and Demigod dreams that never went away. Apollo waits.

#percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #ao3 #rec list #rick riodan #rrverse #heroes of olympus #hoo #rachel elizabeth dare #percy x rachel #percy jackson x rachel elizabeth dare #perachel #apollo #oracle #percy & rachel

[runabout-river]

The Mechanisms of Gojo's Defeat

It's been over a week since the formerly Strongest sorcerer got cut in two but how exactly did that happen? The fight Gojo vs Sukuna had been full of technicalities and showcased JJK's power system in all its glory but it wasn't exactly easy to understand even if you paid good attention while reading the manga.

First, Sukuna's vast knowledge of Jujutsu and cursed techniques. He correctly deduced that Yorozu would fall back on her constructed metal to perform an ultimate attack because her CE consumption is unbelievably high. Still, with one month of preparation and Kenjaku on his side, Sukuna was not able to think of an effective way to deal with Infinity.

He fell back on: the sure-hit of a Domain Expansion, the cool-down period of CTs after an expansion and Domain Amplification. The sure-hit was cancelled by Gojo's sure-hit, the cool-down period was drastically shortened with brain destruction, and DA, while effective in nullifying Infinity, did not leave room for aggressive attacks.

With all of this considered, Sukuna put his fight plan against Gojo on 1) winning a Domain Battle 2) Mahoraga 3) learning an effective attack against Gojo from Mahoraga. In the end, he needed this 3-fold plan to win but from what we know, he could've chosen a different path as well.

Mahoraga's adaptation works by starting after an enemy hit. When the wheel turns, the adaptation is in so much complete that Maho can now nullify or become immune to the enemy's CT. The process of the adaptation never truly stops though, as long as the enemy isn't defeated.

Mahoraga finds more and more ways to circumvent the CT it adapted to by evolving the adaptation. This process gets sped up the more it gets in contact with that same CT. At the end, Maho used 2 different ways to deal with Infinity.

By changing the properties of its Cursed Energy. This adaptation is not something that Sukuna can emulate

By evolving Sukuna's long-range attack. Instead of infusing that attack with the changed CE, Mahoraga expanded the target of the attack.

The second adaptation was the one that Sukuna - barely - was able to learn and use on his own.

(For the last half year, I've been writing a jjk/fire force crossover and of course I've thought about FF characters fighting against Gojo and if they could win. My conclusion: both Shinra and Sho Kusakabe can circumvent Infinity with their 4th generation pyrokinetic ignition ability. Sho by stopping time and Shinra by reforming his molecules at the point of impact with Gojo's body)

In addition to learning this evolved technique, Sukuna also made a positive miscalculation in chapter 234. There, he said that another Hollow Purple attack will be the end of him. This tidbit fooled the readers into thinking that at the end of ch235, Gojo truly won.

But actually, Sukuna made an error in his assessment that we could've caught before the release of ch236.

The first HP that Sukuna survived was at 200% power. Sukuna however thought that it was at 120%. In other words, he overestimated Gojo's power and wrongfully thought that he won't survive a second one of that. That was why he was so panicked when Gojo shot Red at Blue.

In numbers: let's say that Gojo's base HP attack is 100 points. His assisted attack by Gramps and Utahime was 200p. Sukuna thought that the 200p were 120% of Gojo's power, so his base HP attack would've been an overestimated 167p. Sukuna expected the next HP to have 200p again but it was only 120p, 67% weaker.

We could've actually caught this disparity when Sukuna made his miscalculation. I remember thinking how Sukuna hadn't realised that Gojo had help in the beginning but I didn't put more thought into it because I didn't think that there would be more. Huge mistake there.

The very last part in Gojo's defeat is about Gojo not reinforcing his body.

We had already seen Gojo survive Sukuna's slashing attacks, either by normal CE reinforcement (with moderate damage that he had to heal constantly) or with Falling Blossom Emotion that reduced the damage to a minimum.

With Infinity active, Mahoraga dead and Sukuna looking like he was defeated, Gojo didn't bother with reinforcing his body at that point. What did he have to fear without Mahoraga? He probably even saw Sukuna's attack and maybe he would've dodged or activated FBE if the cut had been aimed at his throat.

He didn't do anything and now his guts have made a painting on the ground.

Still, with the way Gojo was characterized in ch236 and how ch237 has omitted any reaction others should've had on Gojo's supposed death, I'm still of the opinion that our favorite teacher will come back.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #gojo satoru #sukuna #meta

[thunderclaw100]

(Scene #5)

“Hmm….so this is where they keep you guys, huh? A display for all to see? Couldn’t pick a better death place for such rulers. It’s a wonder why the control brains want to swipe your memory from history.”

Viper had to jump through so many hoops and gather enough courage to get inside this forbidden room after hearing about three specific tallest that have been swept under the rug of the collective. He was curious as to why that is. Viper did ask around the base. Avoiding the higher ranks as to not draw suspicion for his actions. It eventually lead him to discover this secret on his own. Viper walked up to the first tank. It’s pink liquid bubbled upward but he can see the figure within it. He is aware that these are not the real bodies of the late tallest but fake genetic makeup that resemble them. The real ones were taken care of after their reign was over. Viper placed his hand on the cold surface of the tank for a minute. The glow from the static charger in between tanks are what keeps the liquid inside purified and the fake bodies at a stable position. Without it, they will dissolve into nothing. He touched the control panel.

“Let’s see….tallest Magnus. A ruler who became ruthless and unmerciful after the fall of his co-ruler. What ended his reign is himself. Magnus finally lost it. He won many battles. But when he loses one, it made him look weak in the eyes of his empire, so he took the fight to his enemy’s base. Many followed him to battle and are able to overthrow the leader there. Magnus held the head of his enemy and let out a victory scream. Returning home where there is to be a huge celebration in his honor. Tallest Magnus returned to his chambers. He did not show to the part so when his servants walked in, they’re in shock to find their leader dead. He sits in his throne, eyes blanked out and his chest slashed open in an odd shape. It was presumed that this was the battle wounds left unchecked by the medics. But in truth, Magnus did that to himself. The evidence was on his blade. The same blade that was given to him from Spectra when they were cadets. He used it to carve deep cuts in shape of a heart. The tallest let himself bleed out while he waits for death to take him….”

He scrolled downward and read everything about this guy. His story stops there. “He died for the sake of love?….there is a reason why our programming blocks such strong emotions like that. He was so young and strong. Magnus could have made the empire even more powerful if he’d stayed focused!”

Moving on to the next tank. It’s a female this time. He looked at her info form the control panel screen. Hers is a lot shorter than the other. Viper’s antenna flicked to the side. “This must be tallest Spectra. The partner to tallest Magnus. She’s a rare sight in the empire. She made three things happen. The start of the strategic ambush camouflage team. The new 3D update on the holo-visor and was able to tame a war beast. She named her voot cruiser after it.”

Viper looked up at the figure inside the tank. Puzzled and still curious about this leader. Spectra’s accomplishments should have been well known to the rest of irk society, so what made the control brains want to wipe her memory out of the collective? He scrolled further down the information.

“Tallest Spectra….died at 200 years old towards her reign. Cause of death….hmm? That’s strange.”

Viper reread that again. Tallest Spectra’s death was deemed a mystery to some irkens. Though when asked the control brains were asked, it was said that she died from an illness. One that was so bad that it infected her flesh vessel to the point that her pak claimed Spectra a virus and has automatically killed her itself. The technicians at the time knew what really happened to her and was ordered to keep their mouths shut or face execution for defiance against the control brains. This news has shattered tallest Magnus and has drove him into a pit of madness and despair. How he managed to rule another 200 years without breaking is beyond expectations.

“Two devastating stories linked into one.”

Viper moved along to the last tallest. Judging by the look at his attire, this one's been living spoiled. Checking the information from the screen, he learned that this is a leader who was lying in wait.

“What does that mean?”

Viper narrowed his eyes and read further into this one. Tallest Lux was once a cadet, moving to become a blacksmith. He already haves a person to mentor him but his time with him was cut short after being called in by the control brains to prepare him to become the next tallest. Viper tilt his head at this.

“Why would they pick him when there was already a tallest present? Lux didn’t get measured until….Tyne same day that Magnus died? The timing couldn’t be more suspicious than that! He was still so young.”

Tallest Lux ruled on a softer level than his predecessor. Though he was more than glad to help expand the empire across the galaxy, his approach on the matter wasn’t like anything else. Despite Lux feint given the title as tallest and the privilege that came with it. He was a bratty guy. His demands and orders are based off of what he wants for himself. He barely attended to most of his scheduled meetings. He visited the smeetery ONCE. Lux even ignored the summons of the control brains. That shook everyone.

“Damn he really was spoiled….”

This behavior could be the fact that tallest Lux was still a minor in the eyes of everyone else and has lost his sense of discipline after being given the power. “So his cause of death was….execution? Oh my glob. They tricked Lux into a room, where they locked him inside. It became a gas chamber….” Viper wanted to know how the this tallest’s death was covered up.

“This time it was the medics that claimed tallest Lux died from being poisoned by one of his own cooking staff. That said Irken was wrongfully blamed and put to death on the spot. In front of everyone.” Viper shook his head in disbelief. These are some very dark secrets that are kept away from the rest of irk. All in which the control brains were able to sugarcoat and make the other Irkens believe that these three leaders have died for their empire.

Viper stepped back a few steps, and to get a better view of the three tanks. Now he’s trying to figure out why these tallest die the way that they did and what’s the reason for keeping it secret. “Their existence is still noted down and known but why did the control brains wash over some of their story? Magnus was a brutal leader but he got the job done. Spectra has made achievements as well, but thre isn’t much to tell about what she did to deserve the death she got. Lux just stepped out of line but he too was contribute to the empire’s growth, so what was it?….”

Viper’s antenna’s perked at the sound of someone entering the room. He forgot about the maintenance crew have a shorter break time and are already coming back in. He had nowhere else to hide. Viler expected a bunch of short drones walking in, but to his fortunate luck, there was only one Irken present.

“What are you doing in here? This place of forbidden to everyone accept the maintenance team!”

“Ease your voice drone. I’m not here to bother. I just got a little lost, that’s all. I didn’t know about this room. I was looking for the storage unit.” Viper lied.

Now that the drone got a better look at him. He fixed his tone. “Head scientists, Viper! I didn’t recognize you for a moment. Please excuse my rudeness.”

A smirk crept onto Viper’s face. He loves this part of being na a high rank scientist. His promotion has moved him to work closer to the almighty tallest. He is in charge of the main research projects that will help move the empire forward. Anything that is made to increase the Irken’s reputation or something bio made that can be of greater use. The drone looked passed Viper and at one sight of the control panel screens, he grew suspicious. “What happened here?”

“Oh nothing. I got a little curious and took a look at the info monitor.” Viper didn’t have anything else to say as an excuse for his snooping. He shruged it off. The maintenance drone looked anxious now.

“You shouldn’t be in here. Not without permission. I’m afraid I have to ask you to leave this room.”

“Very well. I’ll leave to it then. Carry on soldier….”

Viper began to walk towards the door but heard the drone call him out again. “Whatever you read on those monitors are not all there. Only some of us know what really happened to these tallest but are too afraid for our own paks to speak up about it.”

“If you are worried that I’ll mention this, don’t. This is something I too will keep to myself.” Viper told him before he finally walked out that door. With this knee information at hand, there’s more that needs to be done around here before he can get back to work.

“The tallest will be leaving for space, on the massive soon. I’ll be joining them along with my team. Maybe I’ll get a chance to talk to them about my project.”

#Invader Zim #Fanart #OC #Irken #Viper #Tallest Magnus #Tallest Spectra #Tallest Lux

[aerie-stotle]

What if we saw a bit more of what happened during the war from forces? Like who it affected, and what distant future events can be traced back to it?

Silver the hedgehog is called to Casino Night Zone. Eggman's Army has reached the city, and silver is the closest member of the resistance who stands a chance. He shows up, beats eggman, problem solved, right?

Right. Totally.

Before the war there was a band touring. The best metal band on mobius. We only need to know one name, and that's the bass player. Her name is Bass. Creative, I know. During the war, they initially put a halt on their tour, but then they started again and extended it. The idea was to keep people's spirits up while the world crumbled to dust.

But that fateful evening, they were performing at Casino Night when Eggman and his Army attacked.

Bass was the only surviving member of the band.

She set out to find a way to bring her friends back. She thought "there are so many magical things in this world, at least one must be capable of returning life to the dead." And it wasn't a dumb thought, obviously. The time stones, the chaos emeralds, the phantom ruby, the warp topaz... There are a ton of magical stones. She just had to find the right one. So she researched the known stones that possess magical capabilities... And she found it. A black diamond that could loosely adapt to its users wishes, and the best part is that it took music to harness its power. Actually the best part was that the book she was reading said it was currently on display in a soundproof case in a museum. It even told her which museum.

When she returned to Casino Night with the gem, it had already adapted. It had turned into a green-teal color, like malachite. As she began to play the bassline to her favorite song (The song with four names a.k.a. Labyrinth kind of Love a.k.a. truth overboard a.k.a. water's red and rising), she could feel the diamond's energy reaching out to where he friends rested. She witnessed specks of dust gather into clouds. She watched those clouds condense into piles. She watched as those piles moulded themselves into the shapes of her friends, and finally... there they were.

When she spoke, however, each of them said the same thing at the same time. A wave of terror washed over her. She stepped back. They stepped back. The drummer stumbled on a tree branch, fell backwards, and disintegrated. Bass sat there in shock... or was it fear? Anger? Despair? Her friends remained expressionless.

"No. Those aren't my friends." She thought.

She got up and ran. She didn't look back. After that point, her life took to a downard spiral. The war was over and she remained miserable. She couldn't perform without her band. She couldn't be happy without her friends. She didn't get it, why did everyone else get a happy ending like that blue hedgehog?

Wait. The Hedgehog.

Silver.

It was all Silver's fault

He showed up to the battle. He was meant to be the hero. He made a big entrance, and then he fought Eggman. That's it. He fought Eggman - he PRIORITIZED fighting Eggman over saving her friends' lives. For that, she could never forgive him. For that, she would end his life.

So, with the help of a character who shall remain anonymous thanks to me having no clue who it would be, she enhanced herself to better be able to utilize the diamond. She had a chassis implanted into her chest with the diamond embedded inside. She had her arm - the one that picked the strings on her guitar - replaced by a robotic one, so that the power of the diamond could travel directly into the guitar and be stronger by the time of release.

By the end, she had control over all things dead. It was time to go through with her plan: to cause a future so catastrophic that silver would have to come back and fix it. She began using dead matter create towering abominations which had never lived in the first place and were almost impossible to kill without her power. She set them free to ravage the world.

200 years in the future, Silver wakes up to a ruined city, a dust storm, and a kaiju-sized silhouette on the horizon. Behind him is a portal.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic oc #sonic au #silver the hedgehog #sonic fandom #sonic forces #I spent too long writing this to not attach a metric shit ton of tags #sonic fangame #I wanted to give silver the hedgehog his own game lmao #sega #i spent too much time on this #god help me #sonic 06 #eggman #sth #sth fanart #sth oc #sth au

[mariacallous]

Communities in Israel’s south were hit hard by Hamas’s terror attack on Oct. 7, during which more than 1,400 people were slaughtered and over 200 kidnapped. Many in those communities have lost loved ones in recent weeks and are fighting for the return of their family members held hostage in Gaza, but how do they view Israel’s retaliatory airstrikes in Gaza, which have killed thousands? And what will it take for residents to move back to places they once called home?

While his personal story of survival has been documented, Foreign Policy spoke to Haaretz journalist and Nahal Oz resident Amir Tibon about how he views the Netanyahu government in the aftermath of the attack, his community’s response to the destruction in Gaza, and what he would consider a successful outcome to the Israel-Hamas war.

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Foreign Policy: Amir, describe your community of Nahal Oz.

Amir Tibon: Nahal Oz is one of approximately 20 small, tight-knit communities that are situated along the border and mark the place where the state of Israel begins and ends. Most of these communities have a more liberal, left-leaning political tendency.

The residents of these communities have said for years that if we want to have a better future, Gaza needs to have a better future. That’s a big part of the tragedy of what happened on Oct. 7. The communities that were attacked are the same communities that advocated to build new industrial zones on the Gaza border, to bring workers from Gaza into Israel, to bring international investment into Gaza. Now we are at a loss of words after what happened to us.

FP: Did southern communities like Nahal Oz feel that the government had neglected them before Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7?

AT: There is a clear difference between how Israeli governments over the years have dealt with attacks on our communities and attacks on larger, more populated areas in Israel. For many years, Hamas or the Islamic Jihad fired rockets toward our communities and the government responded in a very tactical, limited way. Whereas if they shot a missile toward Tel Aviv, that garnered a much tougher response. It’s absurd because a missile launched at Tel Aviv is less dangerous than a missile shot toward our community, because Tel Aviv is protected by the Iron Dome, which could block the rocket in most cases. The communities on the border are not covered by Iron Dome because we’re too close to Gaza. An attack on our community was always treated as not that strategic or worth it in terms of a military response.

Hamas used that in a very smart way, because in the weeks leading up to the Oct. 7 attack, they kept testing the Israeli military along the border fence with nightly demonstrations in which they would rattle the fence and try to cut parts of it, and the military did not respond in a very forceful way. It allowed it to happen.

FP: Would you have ever imagined that this was possible?

AT: When we first moved to Nahal Oz, the biggest threat was the cross-border tunnels that Hamas had dug underground in order to enter Israeli territory and attack military bases. When we first moved, there was always a group of 20 combat soldiers stationed inside the kibbutz. That gave us peace of mind because we knew if a group of Hamas fighters popped out of the ground, there would be a battle, and they would not be able to overtake the community.

The biggest mistake that successive governments led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made was to spend billions constructing an underground wall to block the tunnel threat, and then removing the soldiers out of those communities, saying they were no longer necessary since there was a wall. There was opposition to it from the southern communities. We wanted those soldiers present in case the wall didn’t function properly.

We never imagined Hamas militants would just take a tractor and SUVs and run over the border fence. Had there been 20 soldiers inside each community, it would have been a completely different scenario, because wherever Hamas was met with an armed and prepared Israeli force, they failed to cause massive damage. The places where they caused massive damage are the places where they were met with no opposition. That’s where they managed to kill dozens or hundreds of people in some cases. It was a terrible mistake to remove the soldiers from the communities as a result of an overreliance on this magic underground wall.

FP: How is your community holding up right now?

AT: Since Oct. 7, while government and state institutions have collapsed, there has been an amazing revival of civil society. Nahal Oz, a community of 500 people, is being hosted by a kibbutz in north-central Israel called Mishmar HaEmek, close to Haifa. They opened the door and their hearts to us. They emptied a boarding school on their property, and that’s where we have been sleeping. They are operating a dining room with three meals a day, a kindergarten for our children, and they’re now working on putting our older kids into the regional school. I’m not wearing my own clothes right now. These are clothes that I received from people who donated clothing.

FP: Comparisons have been made to the Holocaust. What is the trauma like within your community right now?

AT: Fifteen people out of a community of 500 were killed by Hamas terrorists. Approximately 10 people are still missing. Some of them will probably end up being announced dead, and some of them are kidnapped in Gaza.

We are in a constant state of mourning. Every day, someone else is announced dead. We are living from funeral to funeral. We’re trying to support the children more than anything else and to keep them happy and safe and create a normal life for them in this completely abnormal situation. The founding generation of our community who came in the 1950s to live in this kibbutz have spent their entire lives building up this community on the border out of a strong belief that this is the right thing to do. They are now living through the darkest hour of this community with 15 dead and many others missing, or injured, and the uncertainty of whether or not we can come back home.

FP: Would you ever actually want to move back?

AT: We want to go back already, but there are certain conditions that must be met. First of all, we need to have a real sense of security. We need to see the military presence again in our area and not have forces removed for other missions. We need to have our ability to protect ourselves and not only rely on the military. Members of our security team must obtain weapons permits, and we need them to be trained and armed and ready for response. We need an investment in fortifying some of the institutions in the community, including the children’s kindergarten.

More than anything else, we need a leadership that we can trust. In the 10 months leading up to this disaster, the current government ignited an internal civil  , instead of preparing Israel for war with its enemies.

FP: Israel’s leaders have called for Hamas to be wiped off the face of the earth. How do the people within your kibbutz view that desire?

AT: There are different views within the community, but broadly speaking we’re not interested in revenge. What’s important is creating security. Hamas is not going to be part of any security framework that we can live with. The need to eradicate Hamas is not because we want to avenge the deaths of our neighbors and friends. It’s because they tried to kill each and every one of us, and given an opportunity, they will probably try again.

There is a great sense of betrayal because our community and other border communities supported initiatives by successive Israeli governments to bring workers into Israel and allow them to work in agriculture, construction, and other industries. Within our communities, we had workers from Gaza coming in every day to work in the kibbutz to provide money for their families. Some of these workers had nothing to do with the attack on Oct. 7, but others contributed intelligence. They took pictures of our homes. They wrote down details about who lives where, the likelihood of a weapon in the home, how many children, etc. Nobody in Israel is going to support this kind of initiative after what happened. Hamas caused immense damage to any prospect of a normal future between Israel and Gaza.

FP: How are people looking at the immense destruction and dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza?

AT: It’s heartbreaking. It’s sad. We don’t want innocent people to die, but it’s a war. Hamas opened war against Israel and chose a deliberate kind of war in attacking and kidnapping civilians. That has nothing to do with military combat.

Hamas knew what they were bringing upon the people of Gaza. They knew that the second they did all of those things, they sealed the fate of thousands of people in Gaza, because Israel cannot accept and must respond in the most forceful way. There is a clear understanding that Hamas is waging a war of destruction against our country. A big part of the tragedy of what Hamas did is that it opened the door to a terrible reality for the people of Gaza.

FP: How are you thinking about conflict opening up on the northern border?

AT: Without U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to get personally involved, come to Israel to meet with Netanyahu and the war cabinet, to send the aircraft carriers and deter Hezbollah, we could have had a regional war on multiple fronts, not just an Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. That regional war would have meant total destruction of countries like Lebanon and maybe Syria. It could have spread to Iran, and it would have led to massive damages in Israel, and it would have led to a crazy outbreak of violence in the occupied West Bank. By coming here and stopping that from happening, President Biden has saved the lives of tens of thousands of people.

FP: What would you consider a successful outcome in this war?

AT: It doesn’t matter how many Hamas militants we kill in Gaza, or the damage we will have caused to their military infrastructure. If, a year from today, I cannot put my daughters in the kindergarten in Nahal Oz and drive to work in Tel Aviv with peace of mind, we have lost the war.

If these communities are flourishing again and people are able to raise their children there, Hamas will have lost and Israel will have won.

FP: Can you imagine a scenario where Netanyahu is able to rehabilitate himself after this and remain the leader of Israel?

AT: We will not allow that to happen. The people of the Gaza border area will never forgive the failed, corrupt, dysfunctional government of Benjamin Netanyahu for what they did to us, for how they abandoned us at our time of need. Not just on that morning, but in the weeks that followed in which we’ve seen the complete collapse of the country.

If he had even a shred of integrity, he would have already resigned. He’s Israel’s Neville Chamberlain, who signed agreements with Nazi Germany thinking that he could buy time and bring peace. Benjamin Netanyahu did the same thing for years. He strengthened Hamas, allowing Qatar to bring them millions of dollars.

[rabbitcruiser]

Mexican Independence Day

Mexico is the best place to be on September 16, Mexican Independence Day. This fiesta-friendly holiday celebrates Mexico’s declaration of independence from Spain in 1810, and it’s filled with national pride, colorful parades, mariachi concerts, and food, food, and more Sabrosa food.

People of Mexican heritage all over the world commemorate this important event in their country’s history when a brave priest in the village of Dolores rang his church bell and delivered a powerful speech that set the War of Independence from Spain in motion. Even the President of Mexico participates by ringing that same bell — now over 200 years old — live on TV the night before the big celebration.

When is Mexican Independence Day 2023?

Get festive and celebrate Mexican heritage on Mexican Independence Day on September 16.

History of Mexican Independence Day

Mexico, once known as New Spain, was a colony harshly ruled by the kingdom of Spain for over 300 years. The native population was oppressed, farmland and personal wealth were confiscated and only Spaniards were allowed to hold political posts. The oppression became too much and a Catholic priest in the town of Dolores named Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla had enough.

On September 16, 1810, he rang his church’s bell and delivered a speech now known as the Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores), demanding the end of Spanish rule. This started the brutal Mexican War of Independence, which lasted over a decade. On August 24, 1821, Spain withdrew and officially recognized Mexico as an independent country.  Today, Father Hidalgo is known as the Father of Mexican Independence. Mexican Independence Day has been celebrated every year since that momentous day on September 16, 1810. To promote education among Hispanic students many organizations and companies have established scholarships for Hispanic students, as another way of supporting Mexican independence.

Mexican Independence Day has developed into a huge nationwide celebration over the past 200-plus years. The country’s leaders were inspired by our own July 4 Independence Day festivities, so fireworks fill the skies at night and the day is filled with patriotic speeches, flag-waving, parades, live music, and home-cooked feasts. Red, white and green — the colors of the Mexican flag — are seen everywhere across Mexico and even cities in the U.S. with large Mexican populations.

One of the most popular events connected to Mexican Independence Day is when the President of Mexico rings the 200-year-old bell Father Hidalgo used in 1810 and recites the Grito de Dolores speech in front of 500,000 people. This event is broadcast live to millions via Mexican TV and radio on the evening of September 15.

Many people outside of Mexico think that Mexican Independence Day and Cinco de Mayo are the same things. Cinco de Mayo celebrates another victory when the outnumbered Mexican army defeated the powerful French militia in 1862 during the Battle of Puebla.

Mexican Independence Day timeline

April 21, 1519

300 Years of Spanish Rule

Spanish commander Hernán Cortés and his soldiers anchor off the Mexican coast, and the conquest and destruction of the mighty Aztec Empire begins.

September 16, 1810

El Grito de Dolores (The Cry of Dolores)

Father Hidalgo delivers his legendary speech, spurring the population to revolt against Spanish rule.

July 1811

Father Hidalgo is Executed by Spanish Forces.

His army, made up of loyal revolutionaries, continued to fight in his honor.

August 24, 1821

Mexico is Declared an Independent Country

Spain signs The Treaty of Cordoba, ending the War of Independence, declaring Mexico a free country.

Traditions of the Day

Mexican Independence Day is celebrated with festive fireworks, fiestas or parties, and lots of good food and music. The colors for the day are of the Mexican flag — red, white, and green — which are seen everywhere in public areas along with flowers and other decorations. Mexicans jubilantly blow whistles and horns and throw confetti, and crowds chant “Viva la independencia nacional!” and “Viva Mexico!” in the streets. 

Traditional mariachi music spices up the events with lively dancing. Of course, food is one of the most important aspects of Independence Day celebrations — restaurants and street vendors sell traditional Mexican food. Others prepare feasts at home to serve at parties. This includes fruit punch, candies like marzipan, ‘pozole’ — a soup made from hominy and pork, beef stew known as ‘Menudo,’ roast lamb, ‘Queso Fundido’ — a Mexican cheese fondue, and chips with guacamole and salsa. Popular beverages for parties are Mexican beer, sangria, or tequila.

By The Numbers 

127.6 million – the population of Mexico.

$1.269 trillion – the gross domestic product of Mexico.

50 – the number of indigenous languages spoken in Mexico.

13th – the ranking of Mexico as the largest country in terms of land. 

52 – the international dialing code for Mexico.

Mexican Independence Day FAQs

Can you watch the President of Mexico reenact the The Cry of Dolores in person?

Yes. If you travel to Mexico City and go to the National Palace on September 15 around 11 p.m., you can be among the 500,000 people watching the President ring the bell of Hidalgo and recite The Cry of Dolores in person.

Why is Mexican Independence Day not as popular a holiday as Cinco de Mayo is in the U.S.?

Some experts in international relations think that Cinco de Mayo is more popular in the USA because it celebrates Mexican culture overall and does not celebrate the start of a war in another country, which Mexican Independence Day does.

What is the Cinco de Mayo?

The Cinco de Mayo is a celebration commemorating the victory of the Mexicans over the French at the Battle of Puebla.

Where exactly is the town of Dolores in Mexico?

Dolores, the charming colonial town where Father Hidalgo gave his famous Cry of Dolores speech, is located in central Mexico. The church where Hidalgo gave his famous speech still stands and there is a museum dedicated to his life in town as well as affordable hotels in the area.

Is Mexico a third world country?

Although technically recognized as a 3rd world country, Mexico has a thriving economy, an incredibly developed infrastructure, and low infant mortality rates compared with most other counties of the world.

How to Observe Mexican Independence Day

Grab a table at your local Mexican restaurant: You don’t have to be Mexican to celebrate Mexican Independence Day. Enjoy the festivities while you enjoy a hearty, flavorful meal and an ice cold cerveza.

Fly the Mexican flag: No matter where you live, celebrate Mexico’s independence by displaying the country’s distinctive green, white, and red flag. The vertical stripes represent — in order — independence, Roman Catholicism, and unity.

Watch or listen to the live broadcast of El Grito de Dolores reenactment: Settle down in front of your TV or radio when the President of Mexico delivers El Grito de Dolores, complete with bell ringing, at 11 p.m. on September 15. Then let the party begin!

5 Cool Facts About Mexican Independence Day

Eat the colors of the Mexican flag: Chiles En Nogada (poblano chiles stuffed with savory meat) features the three colors of the Mexican flag: green (fresh parsley), white (walnut cream sauce), and red (pomegranate seeds).

A Mexican household favorite: Beans are a staple of Mexican cooking, so buy some fresh pinto or black beans and whip up a hearty Mexican meal of Frijoles de la Olla (beans in a pot), which is basically a pot of simmered beans mixed with onion and garlic and topped with fresh sour cream.

Wash it down: Skip commonplace beverages like beer and margaritas and offer something different, like a traditional Mexican ponche (fruit punch) made from sugarcane, oranges, pears, guavas, raisins, and apples seasoned with cinnamon and clove.

Que es Queso?: Queso is the Spanish word for cheese, and the only thing cheesier than an overdramatic Mexican telenovela is Queso Fundido, a traditional Mexican fondue of melted white cheese simmered with lime juice, hot sauce and garlic.

Hangover Cure: Menudo, a rich, hearty stew made from stew beef, hominy (corn kernels), tripe (cow stomach lining) that’s cooked with onion, garlic, lime, and cilantro, is considered to be a traditional hangover cure for those who imbibe a few too many cervezas on September 16.

Why Mexican Independence Day is Important

It celebrates freedom: Just like July 4 in America or Bastille Day in France, Mexican Independence Day celebrates freedom. And we think there is nothing sweeter than freedom, unless you count Mazapán, a sweet peanut flavored Mexican candy.

It's a two day fiesta: Even though the official day of celebration is September 16, when banks, schools, and businesses are closed, many folks start gearing up on September 15, climaxing with the President’s reading of El Grito de Dolores live on TV at 11p.m.

It’s a day for Mexican cuisine: It’s probably one of the best days of the year to sample Mexican food! There will be an excess supply of it so get your taste buds ready for the feast.

Source

#Mexican Independence Day #16 September 1810 #anniversary #Mexican history #travel #original photography #vacation #tourist attraction #landmark #architecture #cityscape #landscape #countryside #Caribbean Sea #Chichén Itzá #Yucatán #summer 2013 #Maya #Día de Independencia #Great Ball Court #Venus Platform #Columnate Oeste #Playa del Carmen #Kukulkan Pyramid

[megashadowdragon]

Game Theory: The True Identity of Traum's Sengoku Archer!?

source : www . reddit . com/r/grandorder/comments/16ankiz/game_theory_the_true_identity_of_traums_sengoku/

reddit comments Commentary:

No, I’m not talking about Detective Ikeda Sen from Return to Shironaga Island.

This is my own little theory as to who the unnamed but still important enough to get a unique portrait Archer in Traum is. Namely, that it’s Nagayoshi’s IRL waifu!

She’s been mentioned on here before in the FGO community by u/10gn and u/wep_wawet in these posts.

The big “clues” are that she’s a riflewoman from the Sengoku period, which given how Fate will throw a genderbend curveball every now and then might not mean much, and that she’s apparently a Buddhist nun. Both criteria fit Ikeda Sen very nicely.

Ikeda Sen was born around 1563 to the Ikeda Clan. She was educated to a high standard and trained in martial arts.

Unusually for a woman at the time, she also became well-versed with firearms, particularly the “Tanegashima” arquebus which was highly favored by teppogumi (gun units).

Sen would eventually lead a Teppō unit of her own consisting of 200 female musketeers.

When precisely she was married to Mori Nagayoshi isn’t clear, but it had to have happened sometime between 1574 (assuming everyone involved waited for at least one of them to turn 16, the average marrying age during the Sengoku period) and 1584.

There’s even less to go on in regards to the state of their union, but Nagayoshi was on good enough terms with the Ikedas (Sen’s father didn’t like him though) to be a frequent ally to them during campaigns.

Ikeda Sen and many of her family members have the distinction of filling out the Great Uniter bingo card of the Sengoku Era, as they fought for and against each of the major administrations associated with Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu (if not the men themselves).

Sen might have fought to avenge Oda Nobunaga under the banner of Toyotomi Hideyoshi during the Battle of Yamazaki against Akechi Mitsuhide’s forces. This is somewhat in dispute, but there are anecdotes claiming she did, and some evidence that she at least tried to volunteer for that army.

Ikeda Sen’s next major theater of combat was the Battle of Shizugatake between Hideyoshi and Shibata Katsuie, wherein the Ikedas sided with the former and lay siege to Gifu Castle.

The Battle of Komaki and Nagakute was next, the historic clash between Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu (well, technically Oda Nobukatsu). With the Ikeda Clan fighting for Hideyoshi once again, Sen’s father Tsuneoki devised a plan to outflank the Tokugawa forces to attack Ieyasu’s stronghold at Okazaki Castle directly.

Unfortunately for the Ikedas, the movements of their 6000-strong would-be siege force did not go unnoticed, and they were eventually boxed in by pursuing Tokugawa armies.

By the time the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute ended in a peace agreement between the two lords after much back-and-forth in military advantage over several months, both Sen’s father Tsuneoki and her husband Nagayoshi had fallen in battle.

Nagayohsi and Sen had no children.

Eventually, Sen remarried. This time to Toyotomi daimyo Nakamura Kazuuji. They had two children together, including the future first lord of Yonago Domain.

Kazuuji would leave Sen as a widow once more upon his death in the August of 1600.

Afterwards, the now 37(?)-year old Sen became a Buddhist nun.

This peaceful transition did not last as the Battle of Sekigahara flared up just a couple of months afterwards in October of that same year.

There are possibly apocryphal sources that claim Sen picked up her old gear and entered the fray alongside the rest of the Ikeda Clan, this time fighting for the Tokugawa faction.

I really want this to be true, because the image of her being approached to come out of retirement to fight in this battle, only for her to say “no” before deciding to say “yes” and reassembling her old squad is just Hollywood in the best way possible to me.

This might seem unlikely, given that Ieyasu’s armies killed both Sen’s father and first husband for what was ultimately an interim conflict with dubious gains.

On the other hand, Ishida Mitsunari had a bad habit of burning the bridges his regent had built and alienating allies on his side of the shore. So the Ikedas ditching him out of spite is rather probable.

There were records of Sen’s life written as late as 1640, making it likely that she lived for more than 80 years.

As to the reality and fantasy of Ikeda Sen’s military career and the 200 other gunwomen at her side, there is a strong article of evidence that indicates that at least some of it happened: rice.

“Rice Wages” (or koku) to be exact, an estimate based on the total economic yield of a person’s land. By the reckoning of 1650 Japan, the country was assessed at 26 million koku.

For her various exploits both in combat and politics, Sen was awarded 10,000 koku on record. Not an astronomical sum (the Shogun directly controlled 4.2 million koku and a person of interest being given over a 100,000 koku wasn’t unheard of), but it was approximately the amount a castellan or even a daimyo would possess.

Now this rifle-toting lady could be, if she’s supposed to be anyone, Tachibana Ginchiyo, Yoshioka Myorin-ni, or Enkyū Myōgetsu, Women in the Sengoku period who fit the criteria (a strong association with firearms and Buddhism).

She also doesn’t show up in Nagayoshi’s GUDAGUDA chronicle chapter. So who knows?

I just thought it’d be cute if it was Sen. She and Nagayoshi could form a nice comedic (if not romantic) couple in Chaldea. They’re both auburn-headed, they both got them psycho gold eyes, that rugged charm, the big chests, and they’d have a classic melee/far-range complimentary skill set.

She could even show preferential treatment to Ranmaru just to annoy Nagayoshi when she’s feeling cross with him.

Maybe it’s just the hopeless romantic in me.

But hey! That’s just a theory. A Game Theory (minus the NFT-parsing and milk machine smell).

#fgo #orojuice #fgo fancomic #fgo comic #fate/grand order

[beardedmrbean]

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Shayara Bano heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday at the enactment of a law banning polygamy in her small Indian state, the culmination of a years-long effort including her own case before the nation's Supreme Court.

"I can now say that my battle against age-old Islamic rules on marriage and divorce has been won," said Bano, a Muslim woman whose husband chose to have two wives and divorced her by uttering "talaq" three times.

"Islam's allowance for men to have two or more wives at the same time had to end," she told Reuters.

But Sadaf Jafar did not cheer the new law, which abolishes practices such as polygamy and instant divorce, even though she has been waging her own court fight against her husband for marrying another woman without her consent.

"Polygamy is permissible in Islam under strict rules and regulations but it is misused, said Jafar, who is seeking alimony to support their two children. She says she did not consult Islamic scholars as she hoped Indian courts would provide justice.

The adoption of the Uniform Civil Code in the state of Uttarakhand has opened a chasm between women in India's largest religious minority, even among some whose lives were turned upside-down when their husbands entered multiple marriages.

Some, like activist Bano, 49, celebrate the new provisions as the overdue assertion of secular law over parallel sharia rulings on marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and succession. For others like Jafar, Muslim politicians and Islamic scholars, it is an unwelcome stunt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party.

Adoption of the code in Uttarakhand is expected to pave the way for other states ruled by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to follow suit, over the angry opposition from some leaders of the 200 million Muslims who make India the world's third-biggest Muslim country.

RIGHTS IN MULTI-RELIGIOUS SOCIETY

BJP leaders said the new code is a major reform, rooted in India's 1950 constitution, that aims to modernise the country's Muslim personal laws and guarantee complete equality for women.

A 2013 survey found 91.7% of Muslim women nationwide saying a Muslim man should not be allowed to have another wife while married to the first.

Still, many Muslims accuse Modi's party of pursuing a Hindu agenda that discriminates against them and imposes laws interfering with Islam. Sharia permits Muslim men to have up to four wives and it has no stringent rules to prohibit the marriage of minors.

Jafar, who has run for office with the main opposition Congress party, calls the passage of the code a tactic of Modi's government to showcase Islam in a bad light and divert attention from pressing issues like improving the livelihood of Muslims.

The Supreme Court in 2017 found the Islamic instant divorce unconstitutional, but the order did not ban polygamy or some other practices that critics say violate equal rights for women.

In addition to the polygamy ban, the new code sets a minimum marriageable age for both genders and guarantees equal shares in ancestral property to adopted children, those born out of wedlock and those conceived through surrogate births.

While BJP leaders and women's rights activists say the code aims to end regressive practices, some Muslim politicians say it violates the fundamental right to practice religion.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board called the code impractical and a direct threat to a multi-religious Indian society.

"Banning polygamy makes little sense because data shows very few Muslim men have more than one wife in India," said board official S.Q.R. Ilyas, adding that the government has no right to question sharia law.

Jafar, who lives with her two children in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, said, "Islam has enough provisions to provide a life of dignity. We don't need (the code) but what we need is swift justice for women fighting for their dignity."

#nunyas news