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ponyam · 3 years

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Heyyyyyy! I can’t express how much I love your writing honestly and I really want to request something if your still taking them. Could you do a Zhongli x reader? Zhongli takes reader on a date to propose to them and could you include the wedding too if that’s too much to ask? I would really appreciate it :)❤️❤️

thank you so much! and sorry this took so long omg

devout

zhongli x reader [gender neutral]

synopsis: zhongli takes you on a proposal-date and sweeps you of ur mfkn feet <3

cw: slightly suggestive towards the end, mentions of a [food] coma, i'm a sap

The light of the morning sun shone brightly, yet the air was brisk as it nipped at your cheeks. The crisp smell of sea air wafted in from the docks, while the rhythmic chime of ship’s bells echoed off the walls of buildings, indicating that sailors had risen to greet the day and the unruly tide that awaited them.

Your hand was pocketed with his, keeping your grip warm and secure as you walked closely together through the awakening streets of Liyue. At the brink of dawn, your lover began persistently nudging you awake, peppering your face in sweet kisses while promising you with an even sweeter meal as a form of bargain. How lucky he was that it appeared to have worked.

Mornings like this weren’t totally uncommon with Zhongli, however this seemingly newfound fervor for planning a whole day trip like this was a little out of the ordinary. When you asked him what the occasion was— out of slight concern that you might’ve forgotten it— he denied that there ever was one; he simply wanted to express his “love and adoration through a little quality time together.”

Before you could press any further, something had caught your lover’s attention, as you were suddenly being ushered in another direction. He escorted you to sit at one of the tables at the Wanmin Restaurant and, once you were settled, excused himself to order food, planting a quick peck to your cheek in the process. Looking around you noticed that the area wasn’t too crowded at this time of day; there was a certain peacefulness that had settled over the atmosphere that contrasted heavily with the normally bustling streets of the harbor. Perhaps that was what he intended by waking you up so damn early.

Breakfast was delicious, as promised. It also served to ease some of the bitterness you felt towards being jostled awake at the crack of dawn. Zhongli didn’t hold back, either. Anything and everything that you might like was placed on the table in front of you, and you weren’t sure how he was able to afford it, nor if you’d manage to finish it all without going into a coma.

On top of all that, your lover seemed to have brought his own food from home, though it was neatly wrapped and sat underneath the small table. Again, when you asked him about it— not having ever recalled him making it— his reply was as vague as ever; “oh it’s just a little something for later.”

After boxing all the leftovers from the meal that Chef Mao so kindly put together despite the large request, Zhongli offered to take you to visit Dihua Marsh to show you a few of his favorite sights, and maybe even enlighten you with some of the history as well.

There was something so enchanting about the way he spoke; his deep, honeyed voice coating over his words as he recounted tales of his many years of living. He exuded the calm and sophisticated aura of a scholar, which he practically was whether or not he chose to admit it, yet his occasional naivety and silliness were equally charming qualities of his.

You failed to realize how quickly you were drowning in his presence until he directed a question at you, which you had to embarrassingly ask him to repeat. Fortunately, Zhongli wasn’t irritated that you hadn’t been paying attention, in fact he found the dumbfounded expression you wore to be quite endearing.

“I said,” he began as he reached out, gently lifting your chin with his thumb and forefinger while tucking a few stray hairs and a glaze lily that he must’ve picked earlier, gently behind your ear.

He then leaned in, arms snaking around and pulling you towards him by the waist as his breath danced along the side of your neck, lips ghosting over your skin.

“...would you allow me to take you to see a few ruins with me? There is still so much that I wish to show you…”

A sudden tingle shot down your spine as Zhongli’s lips moved to decorate your neck in soft, delicate kisses that seemed to leave a burning imprint in their wake, leaving you slightly flushed. It was truly astonishing how easily he could leave you breathless, even with such little strenuous activity. His affectionate demeanor was slightly peculiar, too, but you were hardly in the position to complain about it.

“Then show me,” you replied, managing to tame the swarm of butterflies that had almost completely consumed you.

Letting out a deep chuckle, Zhongli withdrew his kisses while his hand moved to cup your cheek. He hummed in satisfaction, admiring you with his glowing amber gaze for a moment before speaking.

“Gladly.”

That afternoon was spent with Zhongli as your tour guide as you traversed the various decaying stone structures throughout the Guili Plains, Luhua Pool, and finally, Jueyun Karst, where Zhongli recalled some of his early memories of the adepti with a fond smile adorning his face. You quickly discovered him to be quite the archaeological expert, not that you ever doubted it of course, but he seemed to have quite the knack for uncovering intricate little mechanisms that had been hidden away and preserved in stone over the course of the last few millennia.

He was also very adamant about showing you many of Liyue’s great sights, and was not afraid to express this by taking you to every available vantage point, regardless of how far or out-of-reach it seemed. Even if you claimed to be exhausted, Zhongli would simply carry you the rest of the way because you were going to see this view. And what a view it was. From up high it was easy to take in almost the entirety of Liyue in all of its golden splendor, which was the original intention in bringing you here. This was something that he spent years constructing and cultivating, something he took great pride in and fought hard to protect. It was his world, and you were his crowned jewel.

As the sun was beginning to set, Zhongli escorted you back to the harbor before excusing himself to quickly go and “check something,” sending you off once again with a sweet kiss, and asking you to meet him at the peak of Mt. Tianheng in about twenty or so minutes. You smiled to yourself as you waved goodbye, curious as to what he had in mind and slightly amused by his frantic behavior. You thought back to your earlier denied inquiries regarding what was so special about today.

Perhaps now you would get some answers.

When you arrived at the rendezvous point, well, least to say you were taken aback. Laid out before you was a spread of a variety of your favorite foods, including desserts and a tea set, accompanied by an array of flickering candles that illuminated the small picnic blanket as well as the single glaze lily that grew nearby. Just past it stood the man that you had fallen in love with, his back turned as he watched the sun sink beneath the clouds.

“What’s all this?”

Immediately you caught his attention.

“Ah, there you are, my dear,” he said, turning slightly to face you. “Come here. I have something I’ve been meaning to show you.”

He extended his hand out towards you, a gesture for you to stand beside him. You approached him hesitantly in an attempt to not disturb the lovely display he had assembled for you, while letting his arm gently drape itself across your shoulders.

Your breath caught in your throat. By the Archons, the view was stunning. Sure, you had been sight-seeing all day and this could hardly be any different from the last dozen places you trekked to watch the skyline, but there was something about the way in which the glowing aura of the evening sky reflected off of Liyue and the twinkling sea of its harbor that left you in completely awestruck.

Had you not been quite as transfixed as you were in that moment, perhaps you would’ve caught sight of the distant, far-away look in your lover's eyes. Maybe you would have noticed the way he was fidgeting slightly, or the way his eyes were no longer trained on the view, but on something far more radiant.

“It’s beautiful,” you said, snapping him out of his trance.

Zhongli smiled, enjoying watching the awe and wonder twinkle in your irises.

“Indeed it is.”

You felt his arm lift away from your shoulders.

“But I think I have found something far more precious.”

You felt his hand slip into yours.

“Oh really? And what’s tha—”

When you turned, Zhongli, Rex Lapis, the former Geo Archon, was kneeling before you, regarding you with such an adoring gaze as if you were the deity to be revered, answering your question without needing to utter a single syllable: ‘You’

“(Y/N),” he began, giving your hands a light squeeze. “There is much I’ve been meaning to say to you, but I fear that I have such little time,” he sighed. “When I first gave up my gnosis, I found myself wandering aimlessly, unsure of my place in this world now that I was no longer Rex Lapis. I am now just a mortal man, with no duty to my people. It was a… foreign concept to me, at first. I wasn’t sure how to lead a carefree life, with a clear and resolute heart, until I met you.

“I never anticipated to meet someone quite like yourself, nor did I intend to fall in love as deeply as I have, but I hold no regrets. You have shown me true happiness, and for that I must thank you.”

Zhongli pressed a kiss to your knuckles as you felt your eyes begin to well up with tears.

“Each day spent with you is as valuable as gold to me. Our time together is boundless. I knew not my place in this world before, but I now realize that it has always been right here with you.”

He let out a shaky breath.

“(Y/N), my love, I cannot imagine a world without you in it, and I wish to form a new contract with you from here on out, so please…”

Reaching into his pocket, Zhongli produced a small, black box. Inside was a beautiful jade ring, crested and adorned with gold.

“...will you marry me?”

—

It was a warm summer’s night, and the moon rose full, its light ricocheting off of crystalline streams of water as they cascaded down the high cliffs which surrounded you. The air was humid, but somehow the combination of mist and the gentle night’s breeze made each inhale feel more rejuvenating than the last.

Fireflies were out tonight. They were dancing about you and your fiancé as you stood together side by side adorned in matching hanfu, rapidly beating hearts synchronizing to the same rhythm. It was a relatively quiet ceremony. There weren’t too many guests, and the venue was fairly secluded, making the process feel much more intimate.

After lighting the altar candles and paying respects, a tea ceremony was held, followed by the exchanging of vows. A few adepti were present, as well as some close friends and family members. Seldom did you release each other’s hand, regardless of what you were doing or who was looking. It provided a sense of security for the both of you, a silent reminder to one another that ‘yes, I’m still here, and yes, this is real.’

Although Zhongli is known for being a very composed gentleman, he still found it difficult to restrain himself from sweeping you off your feet and twirling you around while kissing you all over; he was overjoyed, though he was not the easiest person to read.

Instead of performing such an extravagant display of affection, Zhongli opted for a single, chaste kiss once you completed in saying your vows. It was extremely tempting to turn that one kiss into many, much more passionate kisses, but Zhongli was still quite aware of his audience, giving him reason to hold back.

After the wedding reception was held and you had just sent off the very last guest, your husband pulled you aside, albeit a little harsher than intended. You let out a small yelp as you collided with him, surprised by his sudden brazenness.

“You look divine,” he spoke softly, admiring you as you were bathed in moonlight.

A hand then moved to brush some of the hair away from your face, while his other remained gently clasped with yours. Soft lips moved to caress your forehead, and then your temples.

“I have been waiting for this moment for a long time,” he continued.

His lips then moved to your cheek, then jaw, lingering there for a moment while his hand cradled your face.

“Longer than you can imagine,” his voice was deep, sultry, and right in your ear.

He moved to repeat the same process on the other side of your face.

“So forgive me if I’m a little selfish tonight.”

He kissed the tip of your nose before moving his lips to hover over yours, warm breath mingling with your own.

“I must make up for the lost time, after all.”

Zhongli sealed his promise with a kiss that was deep and devouring, conveying all the emotions he had ever felt for you as well as one last, simple message:

'I am utterly and wholly devoted to you.'

#i have summoned the zhongli simps #genshin impact x reader #zhongli x reader #zhongli fluff #rex lapis x reader #reader insert #gender neutral reader #genshin #zhongli x you

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chipchopclipclop · 2 years

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If you don't mind, could you tell us about Isaac and his husband and daughter? They're soooooooooooo cute

I CAN ACTUALLY LMAO my scrimbly bimblos.....

isaac (my old man of a ripe 52) is a disgraced wizard scholar who practices magic without a license undercover (read: with fake documents) after he accidentally blew up a wing of his old university practicing some weird unstable evocation magic like 5 years ago. he then ran away with his family from the wizard police and has been on the run with them since. he also runs off now and then from their now established home for stretches of time, to make money doing weird adventurer bullshit to provide for his hubby and daughter.

speaking of, his hubby is named nir (short for voginir) and is a demon king he married 20 years ago, who is now a stay at home househusband (his true form is alot taller huge and intimidating than his dilf one) he’s a perfectionist who takes pride in his domestic chores and spends time splitting firewood with his claw hand and knitting. his few remaining demonic subordinates often comment fatherhood very much suits him, especially considering his lifelong soft spot for children. able to change his disguised form at will, he actively ages his more human looking one alongside isaac as he ages so they can ‘grow old together’ in a sense (getting nauseous as i type this out)

their daughter’s named aranea (isaac calls her arty) shes 8, upbeat, giggly, curious and loves attention. she often gets nir and isaac to cave to her demands by making big 🥺 faces at them. with a demon lord and a wizard felon for parents it makes sense where the confidence behind many of her outlandish actions comes from.

as to how nir and isaac met, during his university scholar days, isaac stumbled upon nir’s evil lair (cool evil mansion with some dungeons) on a lone man investigation of a nearby island (floating island, everythings on floating islands in this universe lmao) in his thirties and ended up getting kidnapped and thrown into his dungeon.

nir at this point is a headstrong brute (still is tbh) though he wasn't without his own personal code of honour, hating liars and cheats and ambushes more than anything else. he had broke away from his previous warmongering demon group due to how often he’d butt heads with superiors and has been striking it out alone making a name for himself as an ominous threat on some mostly uninhabited island in the sky. he loves himself a bloodthirsty quest for conquest though and has been capturing randoms, fighting to the death, torturing maiming killing and just having a great time (as a self described demon lord is want to do)

he planned to just that with newly captured isaac but isaac seemed to be immediately intrigued by the situation and his new surroundings as opposed to terrified or unnerved, throwing a spanner in the works of nir’s usual routine. isaac would talk nonstop, asking questions about anything within his view to better understand their function (as well as about nir’s heritage and wow your claws are incredible, and what a handsome demon skull you have, were your parents also this large-)

nir for some reason found this endearing (why...? who knows) and decided against killing him, he released him, no longer desiring to do the whole song and dance as usual simply deflating and going, well okay little man on your way now. isaac however stuck around (like a freak) eager to learn everything about the place as well as the man who supposedly conquered it.

this led to that and after suddenly receiving this weird new roomate and causing a bunch of romcom hijinks, nir thought to himself "i want to have this guy's kids i think" (this is how all relationships normally progress right). they soon become a lovey dovey couple as isaac was basically smitten at first sight. isaac then remembers however that he actually has a life and a job and whatnot and is like he should probably get back to that.

nir however now (strangely) attached to isaac, decides to simply go along with him back to where he lived, finding being near him much more interesting than the murder and maiming he’s doing for a couple hundred years straight now. to not unnerve people they decided to have nir change into a sort of Regular Guy Form 95% of the time now that looked more human, the typical cover for his looks is he’s simply got a bit of dragon blood in him.

when they returned they were soon wed after, isaac excitedly inviting all his colleagues who were all still reeling from his sudden long disappearance to the function (they all reasoned after with one another that it was all probably just some romantic rendezvous…)

#chitter chatter #anonymous #isaac's a pc for a dnd game that ended up not happening so thats why ive got so much written on him lol #MY CITY NOW.JPEG #i state again for the record that my buddy jona designed nir; thank you king #may we create more gay old men together in the future #SO MANY PARAGRAPHS

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lairofsentinel · 4 years

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Talking about the smidgens we saw of Gale, the wizard of Waterdeep.

[Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access Spoilers]

Updated, AGAIN, because the hell of new aspects we saw when some bugs were sorted out. Warning: all this analysis was done for game versions 4.1.83 and 4.1.84

Well, I had to rewrite all this because the explorations of dialogue options and the bugs being, somehow, solved, allowed me to see small details from Gale that stand out or end up being more than curious to me. I'll list his main features to make things short (hopefully), and useful for... eventual fics:

Gale is a char who approves any good treatment to animals (and creatures in general). He has a cat, a Library, and writes poetry sometimes.

He doesn't like gratuitous murdering which is implied in the anecdote he told us about how he stopped a massacre in a Waterdeep city inn just by buying a round to everyone. It is also implied in his approval in most situations; even in the one with the ogres having sex.

He gives you disapproval most of the time if you use violence and intimidation as your first approach in solving a situation. He prefers eloquence, diplomacy, and negotiation. However, he is flexible enough to approve a performance-intimidation in front of goblins to avoid bloodshed. Point (2) is primary. So... he truly is a pragmatic char. It's not white and black: “never use intimidation/lie” or that kind of over-simplistic view.

He likes logical and reasonable conversations. An action that earned his disapproval can be undone if the main char (MC) talks to him and explains their reasons. You can disagree with him without having approval penalties most of the time. You can question many situations and, as long as it remains a mental exercise, there are no penalties. That surprised me a lot. Most characters disapprove you if you wonder about a potential situation, but Gale no. He is the scholar, he will allow a safe space to think around things without being too judgemental. We will see if this attitude lasts in the full game. No wonder some players see in him “the Teacher” archetype. Quite so.

He was an Arch wizard while being Mystra's Chosen One, and fell from grace when she put him aside. What is hard for me to grasp is if he remained Chosen One and therefore able to cast silver-fire during that intermediate period when he stopped having Mystra's whispers and his folly with the netherese taint. We know that in that moment Mystra removed herself from his life completely. But before, she has only stopped whispering and sleeping with him. So far I understand, being her Chosen One doesn't imply sleeping with her, most of the time.

He was a teacher (not surprising, since his over-explanation vices and details such as the pronunciation of “Trashj” make us suspect it), and had some students that he could not keep longer since their ineptitudes irked him.

Unlike the stereotypical “scholar” type, he knows how to cook, since he has been doing stews for the party in the camp. He also loves baths. A bit siding with the stereotypical “scholar” type, but a nice change for a “standard adventurer” type, in which most of the time it is implied that they are stinky with “animalistic” scents and uglier descriptors. No, Gale likes his lavender-scented baths. Good.

He is an over-thinker strategist. And also a char who takes responsibility for his own mistakes to the point that, when he dies for the first time, a programmed image is activated to help anyone to revive him. Despite the fact that he is dead and can give a shit about that, he is still responsible of the catastrophe that may happen if that weird magic orb stuck in his chest erupts.

He is also forcing me to check the dictionary like no other game has done in a while... the fucker uses uncommon words a lot of the time. Smidges? really? Gale is a hard char for a non native English speaker.

We can assume that during his teenage time, he was a pretty prideful peacock to the point to be blind at the reality (well, yeah, he romanced a goddess; if that doesn't give you a hell of a ego boost...) He remembers his young self's pride with a thick level of regret. He is now a mature scholar that, for a change, does not patronise you or thinks of himself better than anyone. Sure, he over-explains a lot, but that's something that most scholars/teachers do when they are worried that, maybe, they won't be understood.

He is confident in his years of study (for that reason he is a capable wizard despite having lost Mystra's favours), but he acknowledges his limits. Which is a nice change to see in the “scholar” archetype, the typical know-it-all. He knows a lot, he knows that he knows (it would be ridiculous to hide his knowledge), but he is human, and like he says: “humans are fallible”. However, it’s more than obvious that he has a big ego for everything he does, which makes sense since he follows a motto in his life: “try to excel at everything”. High accomplished scholar lifestyle, indeed.

If you don't share the Weave with him, he will state that nights are lonesome. It seems he truly is looking for some connection with a keen fellow mind. Probably it's this loneliness which triggers his urge to see Mystra's face during the night. We also know he, in general, lives in constant fear due to the Netherese taint in his chest. So, very lonely, and very scared.

I don't know if this is his poet side unable to be switched-off or it's another implication of how he sees sexual encounters: he never says sex (at least in my many runs, he never did it). He always gets around the word: love-making, art of the body, intimacy. For a scholar who is so prone to use the technical word for everything, and has already stated he is not coy at all, the use of these metaphors make me wonder if it's because he always conceives sex as something more than mere physical pleasure. For him, it seems to come with a more emotional connection (which makes sense if we think he will only sleep with those who connected to him through the Weave). Another small detail that may confirm this is when he asks the MC if the “other night” was wonderful. If MC claims it was “fun”, Gale shows a certain degree of uneasiness by that word choice, making us infer that he certainly doesn’t see sex as “fun” but as something else, deeper.

His tadpole dreams are about Mystra (rather obvious). His most desperate desire is forgiveness. Mystra's forgiveness.

Mystra was his first love. The affair did not last long. And since soon after her abandonment he looked for the Primal Weave book and was infested by it; one could assume he has been focused on solving his problem for the rest of his life than putting some energy in romance, especially if we think about (13). It's hard to say with certainty (especially with banters like these), but since he is a char that you can only sleep with if you share a mind-connection through the Weave, it seems less plausible that he could encourage into casual relationships during all this period of his life looking for a solution to the Netherese orb. If he got previous relationships, they may have been meaningful, but clearly not enough to win over the goddess’ and his urges to see her, lol.

He did not mind Mystra having many other lovers besides him. It seems to be the same with the MC, since he will insist in sleeping with them even after the party and even after the MC slept with someone else (however, that only occurs if the romantic connection through the Weave happened.) This fact combined with (13) and (15) make me wonder if he certainly wants to be with the MC too badly, even in an open relationship. We need to see the rest of his romance to be sure.

Since he looks for forgiveness so desperately, he is a char who will forgive most mistakes made by the MC if they acknowledge them.

He is a char who knows how grey and complex situations can be. This is inferred by the way he speaks of the tiefling girl who tried to steal the idol in the Grove: “She is not innocent, but that doesn't mean she is guilty.” (of course there is a lot of self projection there). This is also implied in his (surprising) approval of raising Mayrina's husband and giving her the control wand to search for a solution in Neverwinter. That shows that he can accept the fuckest weirdest situations, recognising that “sometimes we can’t choose situations but we can try to do our best, not always having the best results”. Also self-projection.

He appreciates his privacy to the point to leave the MC if the abuse of the tadpole power continues. However, and honouring (4), you can abuse of these powers and convince him with reasons: if you don't lie to him and explain that you have a responsibility with the group to know what happens with his secret, he will understand, and despite disapproving the MC actions, will remain without major troubles.

Certainly, as long as you give him reasons and logical concepts, he can almost understand everything with no disapproval or at least little one.

Consent and negotiation are vital to him, apparently. However, this aspect reaches a flaw. He was too angry with Nettie when she almost killed the MC, and he made a short speech about how nobody has the right to decide your options for you. Yet, in his romance scene, we see that he deliberately hid his true relationship with Mystra and his bomb-condition in order to sleep with the MC. In fact, during the party, if the MC tells him that doubts if he is the one they want, Gale will drop a curious argument: “That’s because you’ve yet to find out what your’re missing” (implying that he himself is what you need), followed by his most curious “Doubt is a spoilsport. Cast it aside”. That coming from a scholar is rotten, lol. He tries every convincing argument to sleep with the MC (if they shared the moment of the Weave, of course)

This happens in every variation of the path: whether the MC sleeps with him in the party, or afterwards, Gale will always wait for sharing a night with the MC before speaking the truth. It's hard to read this aspect since, he is a char who, apparently, needs a mind-connection with his partner for intimacy (see (12) and (13)); so this terrible strategy is like his way of trying to guarantee that the MC will not abandon him. I guess there is something along those line, specially if we keep in mind the book he explained: a book which is not only about the art of the body and the night and sex, but of other things such as conversation, exploration, and acceptance of oneself and the other. He is expecting with this night to reach the MC to a certain degree of intimacy in which, despite the raw truth, the acceptance will prevail. Remembering (16), he truly wants to sleep with the MC, baaaadly. And somehow everything feels like he wants to push things in a subtle way to a certain degree of commitment. Following the concept in (12), I think he has been alone for too long, and desperately needs someone in his lonesome nights and in helping him to deal with his burden. Finding someone who connected to him through the Weave (such a personal experience for him as it is) made him a bit desperate or eager. We know his emotion for the MC may have grown over those days since the connection with the Weave. In two occasions he or the MC can ask if both of them think about that moment. Gale says yes with such enthusiasm, that it may imply...that maybe, he has been thinking about that more times than he truly wants to tell the MC. The Weave moment had such a strong effect on Gale that, if the MC spent the night with another companion and rejects Gale’s proposition later, he will trail off a sentence that implies he was convinced that the MC and he were heading into something serious and deep.

Of course, once he sleeps with the MC, he confesses the truth right afterwards, accepting--without approval penalties--the harshest responses that the MC can give. He clearly knows that such manoeuvre was truly disloyal, especially contrasting it with all his speech of consent and rights to know about the true situation one is in. In the next morning, he acknowledges it was a rotten thing to do and apologies. But this shows that his principles can be bend and even be broken when it comes to emotions. I'm still a bit wary of his emotional stability, what can I say.

Mystra is more than an ex-lover for him, it’s magic. And Magic is everything for him, even more than life. I wonder if, given the opportunity, Mystra forgives him and asks him to return to her side, would he accept it without second thoughts leaving the romanced MC? It's true he also acknowledges that all that fascination he had with the goddess was a product of his youth; he knows he was a plaything in her hands. But I don't see he got over with it. He still idealises her, as such a good poet does. Idealisation, especially when a Goddess is involved, is a terrible thing to fight against for the next partner. No matter what speech of loyalties and consent he states during the whole game, the MC knows that magic and Mystra are Gale's Achilles’ heel, and factors in which they can’t predict his behaviour.

We also know that, because his bomb-condition, he tries to take all the opportunities to enjoy the little things of life that make him human.

Gale is a straightforward and honest (mostly, let's say) char. But we can see that he prefers to be honest in most situations, except in his Achille’s heel. Even when he wanted to hide all the stuff about the bomb in his chest, he did it by explicitly warning us that he was hiding something he did not want to talk about. Which is an honest approach considering the hardcore burden he carries and the immediate rejection it can mean if the truth unfolds too quickly among strangers.

When it comes to concepts, Gale has the symbol of the storm attached to him. So far, we see he talks comparing things with storms or storm elements: his lack of knowledge to explain why they are not Mind Flayers yet: the silence before the storm; the fear that rushes into his body when the Weave orb asks him for magic to consume: the thunder of a storm reverberating in his soul, the day it will erupt: the lightning striking, the consumption of magic: water running through a sore throat, Life itself: a tempest. When he asked the player if they were a wizard, he explains that he needs an Arch wizard and compares them with a Tempest. If we see the main image of Baldur's gate 3, it's clear that his main element is electricity/storm... so... full witch-bolt-guy here.

[updated later] The Weave moment is important to romance Gale. Leaving the moment in ambiguity will give the MC another opportunity to make their intentions clear during the scene of the Loss. However, remaining vague will lock Gale into a friendship path. What happens during this scene may suggest that the ambiguity in the Weave was enough to keep Gale thinking about the romantic possibility, but he will not engage into it by his own, which confirms (15). Unless the opportunity presents itself clearly before him, he will not pursue the MC. Further details [here].

Last moment detail: Gale says “I cherish you” when he explains he will await death alone if the Netherese orb goes out of control. I was not sure if that meant something more or less than love or like (I can’t not overlook the subtle meaning of the words coming from Gale’s mouth, he is a poet and his word choices matter). Checking the dictionary I found that “cherish” (in a relationship) is defined as to hold or to treat as dear, to feel love for and to care for someone deeply and tenderly. This man went straight into a commitment relationship without thinking it twice, and without (I believe) the MC knowing it either xD.

Let's see how these characteristics shift or develop deeper once the full game is out there. Now we have to wait a lot :(

To see videos where all this stuff is inferred or explicitly said, you can check [here]

More videos added later [here] and [here]

More content of bg3 in general [here]

#baldurs gate 3 #gale #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 spoilers #bg3 spoilers #baldurs gate

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tawakkull · 3 years

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ISLAM 101: Spirituality in Islam: Part 130

Istighraq (Immersion)

Literally meaning absorption, diving into, becoming deeply involved in, istighraq (immersion) denotes transportation by joy, oblivion of the world, the cleansing of the heart from worldly worries enabling one to turn to God whole-heartedly, and, in consequence, going into such deep ecstasies that one becomes unaware of even oneself and one is filled with wonder. Those who have acquired love and friendship of God and who have been honored with His special nearness and compliments, travel between love and witnessing the truths that pertain to Him. They throw away whatever exists in their hearts other than Him, fixing their eyes on Him only, becoming absorbed in the observation of His beauties.

Initiates in this state, with the inner perceptions and feelings that come from self-annihilation in God, see everything annihilated in God also. Those who are enraptured with the pleasure arising from such a state cannot help but utter sayings such as “I am the true one” or “Glory be to me, how exalted my being is!” Although such sayings issue from mouths under the influence of the spiritual state and pleasure that pervades the being, they have sometimes been taken to be true. It sometimes occurs that initiates cannot distinguish between what is substantial and what is apparent and, confusing their drop-like being with the infinite ocean of Divine Existence, utter unbecoming words of pride that are incompatible with the rules of Shari’a and irreconcilable with the self-possession that one must have before God. Even if every initiate cannot experience such a depth of self-annihilation and the pleasure that issues from it, most of them feel and experience this state. Some of them are regarded as being directly taught by God or the Prophet, without needing another teacher or guide; this is called “the way of Uways al-Qarani.”[1] Muallim Naji[2] refers to this way as follows:

See, what kind of immersion you have caused me to experience; My eyes see you as if you were the tears which they shed.

Immersion has three degrees:

The first degree is that in the beginning, an initiate acquires knowledge of some truths, but not being able to experience what is known, he/she is not perfectly conscious of the truth of it. Knowledge is different from experience. Any knowledge concerning the Divine truths is usually theoretical until belief, love and spiritual pleasure become second nature for the initiate. When an initiate feels and experiences these in the very center of the conscience, then knowledge has been absorbed in the spiritual state. This knowledge absorbed and lost in the conscience is the knowledge of a Prophet. We call it knowledge only because at the beginning it is knowledge. At the end of the journey, where this knowledge is completely absorbed and lost in the conscience inciting the initiates to and guiding them in action, it becomes the spiritual state and a station in which the initiates finds peace. With respect to Prophethood, the best description of the initial degree of immersion is in the verse (37:103): When both (Abraham and Ishmael) submitted (to God) wholly, Abraham laid Ishmael down on his face (to sacrifice). The last, perfect degree of this Prophetic knowledge, which has become the Prophetic state, is impossible for us to perceive.

Those whose knowledge has become their state have always been examples to be followed by people. It is difficult to de-scribe such people, even with comparisons and parables. On the other hand, there are others who are described in the Qur’an as, like an ass carrying books (62:5). A scholar unaware of the knowledge he or she has and whose knowledge has not become his or her state is no different from an ass who merely carries the books. Any state which is not based on knowledge is tantamount to heresy, while knowledge which has not become a state is ignorance and heedlessness. Straightforwardness through knowledge means rising to a heavenly point on the wings of the state based on knowledge.

Initiates who have attained the second degree in immersion and in whose spirit the truth concerning the Essence of the Divine Being has developed, rise to the rank in which the One Who freely bestows gifts favors them with special gifts. At this rank the spirit severs its relation with all other than the Almighty and turns to the horizon that the appreciative heart has indicated. In the eyes of initiates honored with such a favor, the variations between the manifestations of the Divine Names disappear and everything seems to them immersed in the light of the Divine Essence and veiled by His Attributes. Seekers after the Truth who, until they have attained to this rank, mention the Eternal One Who freely bestows gifts with His Names, such as the All-Beautiful, the All-Majestic, the All-Subtle, and the All-Overwhelming, take themselves into a life intoxicated with gifts that come directly from the Divine Being Himself, Who is the All-Light. They do not think to make any distinction between the Essence of the Divine Being and His manifestations.

To describe this state, Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, the most advanced one in intoxication, says:

O Muslims! I am unaware of myself: what means do you offer? I am neither of the world, nor of the other world, nor of Paradise nor of Hell; Neither am I of Adam nor of Eve, nor of the highest abode of Paradise. I am from nowhere and nowhere has no signs with which to make me known. I am divested of both body and soul, being in the royal tent of the Beloved. I have thrown away both my eyes, seeing the two worlds together, and I know Him Who is the One, mention the One, search for the One, read the One. O Shams al-Tabrizi! I am so intoxicated in this world that Nothing but intoxication can be a cure for me in this abode.

The third degree is that an initiate may attain to the point beyond the sphere of the manifestations of the Divine Attributes and become immersed in the most sacred manifestation of the Essence of the Divine Being, Who is known as the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward. This state is also viewed as a return to the station where the initiate’s heart recognizes the Almighty as a Hidden Treasure, or as a return to the uncondi-tioned realm where everything pertaining to the created realm vanishes. A spirit which gets into this state usually expresses itself by saying: “There was God without there being anything that existed with Him. Now He is as He was before.”[3] It addresses itself to its confidants:

The place where I am has developed into no-space; his body of mine has wholly become a soul; God’s Sight has manifested Itself to me; and I have seen myself intoxicated with His meeting. (Nasimi)

It is very difficult to express more beautifully than in that stanza the relationship and difference between the Existence of the Self-Existent One and the portion of all other beings, whose existence is totally dependent on Him. However, the following verses of ‘Abd al-Rahman Khalis are also truly beautiful:

O Muslims! What is this state in which I am and which bewilders me? Sometimes I am a crazy lover, sometimes a wretched, insane one. Sometimes I am a poor one having no place, and sometimes the king of time. For I am intoxicated with the wine of love, knowing nothing else. I am one who pays no attention to the cap of austerity. All praise and gratitude be to God that I have drunk the wine of love; I am speaking in the land of Oneness the words of Him Who is One, Not worried that the King of Time may do anything to me, And having no fear of those who wear coarse robes.

I have omitted the words that were uttered in the state of total intoxication as against the Book and the Sunna of the Messenger. Even though not to utter such words is a self-contradiction for the friends of God who are under the overwhelming influence of the spiritual state, the same action would mean straying from the path for those who are sober and can make a distinction between the Creator in His Transcendence and the created. It is especially heresy for common people to utter such words in mere imitation of those who have been overwhelmed by the spiritual state.

[1] Uways al-Qarani (d. 656) is regarded by some as the greatest Muslim saint of the first Islamic century.

[2] Muallim Naji (1850-1893).

[3] Al-Bukhari, “Tawhid,” 1; Ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 4:431.

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lifeofresulullah · 3 years

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The Life of The Prophet Muhammad(pbuh): The Battle of Badr and Afterwards

Munafiqs Appear

When the Prophet honored Makkah, there were mainly Muslim Arabs, Polytheistic Arabs and Jewish people there; there were also some Christians but not many.

After the Messenger of Allah settled in Madinah, Islam became more common in Madinah. People of Madinah embraced Islam in groups. Meanwhile, the Prophet established a political and administrative organization for Muslims.

Meanwhile, another group appeared: A group of munafiqs (hypocrites) that did not believe heartily but seemed to be believers.

The tribes of Aws and Khazraj, which had been tired of the internal clashes and fights that lasted for years between them, made an agreement and decided to appoint Abdullah b. Ubay b. Salul as their ruler just before the Prophet came to Madinah. They even ordered the crown that he would put on.

However, the dream of Abdullah b. Ubay to be the leader came to naught when the Messenger of Allah honored Madinah because almost all of the members of Aws and Khazraj had become Muslims; they all gathered around the Prophet as a necessity of their belief.

This situation offended Abdullah b. Ubay b. Salul, whose dream of being the ruler ended, a lot. When he saw that there were not many people around him, he seemingly became a Muslim.

He himself said that he had become a Muslim seemingly due to the psychological pressure of the people around him. During the Expedition of Muraysi, he worked hard to set Muhajirs against Ansar and overstepped the mark by saying, “Once we return to Madinah, the strong ones will definitely drive out the weak ones.” Thereupon, the chapter of al-Munafiqun was sent down about munafiqs.

After the chapter was sent down, some people said to Abdullah b. Ubay, “O Abu Hu¬bab! Very severe verses were sent down about you. Go to the Messenger of Allah and tell him to ask for forgiveness from Allah for you!” He said,

“You ordered me to believe and I did. You ordered me to pay zakah and I did. There is nothing but to prostrate before Muhammad now.”

The following event also shows clearly how grieved and sad Abdullah b. Ubay was due to losing the hope of becoming the ruler:

Once, the Prophet was going to the house of Sa’d b. Ubada, who was ill, to visit him. On the way, when the Prophet saw that some Muslims, polytheistic Arabs and Jews were sitting in the shade of the house of Abdullah b. Ubay, he greeted them and sat next to them. He recited a passage from the Quran to them; he gave them the glad tiding that good deeds would lead them to Paradise and warned them that bad deeds would take them to Hell.

When the Prophet finished his words, Abdullah b. Ubay said, “O Speaker! If what you say is true, there can be nothing better than them. However, You should stay in your house and tell them to the people that come to your house. Do not go to the meetings of the people who do not like what you say and do not disturb them!”

The Prophet was offended by what he said. He left that place and went to Sa’d b. Ubada’s house. When he told Sa’d b. Ubada why he was sorry, Sa’d said, “O Messenger of Allah! Forgive the mistakes of Ibn Ubay. I swear by Allah, who sent the Quran to you, that the will of Allah became manifest by giving you the prophethood. However, the people of this city had prepared to make him put on the crown and be their ruler. When Allah gave you the prophethood, his expectation came to nothing and Ibn Ubay became very sorry and got offended by your prophethood; he treated you badly because of it.

The leader of the munafiqs was Abdullah b. Ubay. There were many accomplices around him. Besides, there were many people who followed him blindly due to reasons like kinship, being allies. It is not possible to give a definite number about them. However, the number of people that left the Battle of Uhud by following Abdullah b. Ubay was about three hundred. That is, it was about one third of the Islamic army. It was not a number to despise. It shows that they had an influence on the political life of Madinah.

When the Messenger of Allah returned from the Battle of Badr as victorious, the religion of Islam became stronger. The enemies were intimidated. Thereupon, some Jews in Madinah believed in Islam by saying, “That is the person whose attributes are mentioned in the Torah! No one can resist him from now on. He will always be victorious!” Some of them pretended to be Muslims. Thus, munafiqs appeared among Jews, too. Most of the Jewish munafiqs were among Jewish scholars. They were fiendishly clever. They were more mischievous and dishonest than the others. They worked hard to humiliate Islam, to demoralize Muslims and to prevent the polytheists from being converted to Islam. They asked many complicated questions in order to keep the Prophet busy and to trouble him.

We learn from the Quran that there were munafiqs among the desert Arabs called ‘Bedouins’: “Certain of the desert Arabs round about you are Hypocrites, as well as (desert Arabs) among the Madinah folk: they are obstinate in hypocrisy: thou knowest them not: We know them.”

Although the social levels, lifestyles and races of munafiqs were different, they all had the same attributes: Their first attribute was “saying with their lips what was not in their hearts.” That is, they seemed to be believers although they did not believe heartily. They talked to Muslims, traveled with them by seeming to be Muslims and asked them questions that would make them doubt. Thus, they wanted to weaken the trust of Muslims about one another, to drive a wedge among them and to set them against one another.

Their aim was to put forward views that will cause mischief and separation among Muslims and to humiliate the Prophet in the eyes of Muslims by lies and slanders. They did everything to realize their inauspicious aim; they regarded everything as fair to realize their aim. There was no meanness and fraud that they would resort to in order to realize their aim.

The attitude and the policy of the Prophet toward them was thought-provoking and exemplary. The Messenger of Allah was informed about their activities aiming to shake Islam a few times. The Messenger of Allah summoned those people at once and questioned them whenever he was informed. However, they always said that they did not carry out any harmful activities and that they were innocent each time. Then, they uttered kalima ash-shahada and repeated that they were believers and Muslims. As a matter of fact, when Hazrat Zayd b. Arqam told the Prophet that Abdullah b. Ubay said, “Once we return to Madinah, the strong ones will definitely drive out the weak ones”, the Prophet summoned Ibn Ubay and asked him, “Did you utter the words that I was informed?”

Abdullah b. Ubay responded as follows:

“No! I swear by Allah, who sent you the book, that I did not utter any of those words. Zayd is definitely a liar!”

The Quran points out to those attitudes of the munafiqs as follows:

“When the Hypocrites come to thee, they say, "We bear witness that thou art indeed the Messenger of Allah." Yea, Allah knoweth that thou art indeed His Messenger, and Allah beareth witness that the Hypocrites are indeed liars!”

The revelation that was sent down while they were denying their crimes told the Prophet that they committed those crimes and that they were denying them by telling lies. However, the Messenger of Allah showed patience and tolerance toward them and forgave them.

As we have mentioned above, when the Prophet read a passage from the Quran and preached Abdullah b. Ubay and the people who were together with him, Abdullah b. Ubay could not bear it said to the Prophet, “Go and tell these things to the people who come to visit you. Do not disturb us!”

The Prophet was offended by his words. He mentioned Sa’d b. Ubada, whom he visited about what he had said; When Sa’d b. Ubada said, “O Messenger of Allah! Forgive his mistake”, the Prophet forgave him.

Another attribute of the munafiqs was to act hypocritically and fawn on Muslims when they met them and to say, ‘We believe’ but when they are alone with their evil ones they say: ‘We are really with you we (were) only jesting.’ They took pride in this hypocrisy and immoral act.

An example to show this attitude of the munafiqs clearly is the act of Abdullah b. Ubay, their leader. Once, he was outside with his accomplices. He saw that some Companions were coming. He said to his men, “Look how I will get rid of them.” When they approached, he held Hazrat Abu Bakr’s hand and said, “Hello, O Master of Banu Tamim! The friend of the Messenger of Allah in the cave! The loyal one who sacrificed his self and property willingly for the sake of the Prophet!” Then he held Hazrat Umar’s hand and said, “Hello, O Master of Banu Adiyy! Hazrat Faruq, who is strong in his religion and who sacrificed his self and property for the sake of the Messenger of Allah!”

Hazrat Ali could not put with this hypocrisy and said “Abdullah! Fear Allah, do not be a hypocrite because the munafiqs are the most evil creatures of Allah.”

Thereupon, Ibn Ubay said, “O Abul Hasan! Do you say this about me? By Allah, our belief is like your belief; our confirmation is like your confirmation” and left them.

Then, Abdullah b. Ubay turned to his friends and said, “Have you seen what I did? Do as I did when you see them!”

According to a narration, the 14th verse of the chapter al-Baqara was sent down after this event.

Munafiqs took part in the prayers and other kinds of worshipping seemingly but they tried to do things secretly against Muslims. It is remarkable that they tried not to show the things that are related to unbelief and that they were not expelled from the Islamic community because they seemed Muslims. Therefore, it was more important to maintain the solidarity and security against those internal enemies rather than the unbelievers and polytheists because the harm caused by the internal enemies is always greater. The internal enemies disperse the strength and decrease the courage; the external enemies increase the solidarity and strength. Therefore, the Quran mentions the munafiqs a lot. Muslims are warned by the Quran to be always alert against them and not to be deceived by their tricks.

The Prophet knew them because God Almighty informed him about them; and then he informed some Companions about them. However, he did not reveal their names publicly. He did not taunt them.

This attitude was better for the interest of Islam and Muslims. Besides, there was another important reason why the Prophet treated them like that. It was the possibility of their giving up the evil deeds and the activities of mischief and sedition gradually because it is possible that an evil deed is abandoned in time if it is not revealed; however, if it is revealed, it will arouse the fury of its doer and will increase his evil deeds.

Due to those reasons, it can be said that the Prophet took into consideration the following issues when he did not reveal the munafiqs, treated them like Muslims in the world and did not exclude them from the Islamic community in compliance with the Quran:

1) To make it possible for their children that will grow up in the Islamic community be good Muslims.

2) To make them face the spiritual trouble when they seemingly practice the divine decrees that they did not believe in their hearts and to enable them to become real believers feeling repentance.

The munafiqs resorted to many ways to humiliate the Prophet in the eyes of the believers and tried to use every opportunity. Many events regarding the issue took place.

The arrogance of Mirba b. Qayziyy can be given as an example.

When the Messenger of Allah was going to Uhud with his army, this ferocious munafiq did not want to let the Messenger of Allah pass through his truck farm and said, “O Muhammad! If you are a prophet, it is not permissible for you to tread on my farm.” Then, he picked a handful of soil and said, “By Allah, if I knew it would not disturb others, I would throw this soil at you!”

Some Muslims, who could not put with that arrogant act of that munafiq, wanted to kill him; however, the Prophet said, “Leave him! He is blind! His heart is blind; the eye of his heart is blind.”

Before the intervention of the Prophet, Said b. Zayd hit this ferocious munafiq.

Another example to the similar acts of the munafiqs is what happened in the expedition of Tabuk.

During a stopover, the camel of the Prophet got lost. Despite all searches, it could not be found. The munafiqs took action and started to say, “If Muhammad were really a prophet, he would know where his camel was!”

When the Prophet heard what they said, he said, “Yes... By Allah, I can only know what Allah informs me. Now, He has shown me where my camel is. My camel is in such and such a valley; its halter is attached to a tree. Go and get it.”

They found the camel in the valley, attached to a tree, just like the Prophet described.

The most remarkable harmful act of the munafiqs during the period of the Prophet was to abandon Muslims in the most critical moments. Thus, they wanted to weaken them in number and demoralize them. A clear example of it took place when they left the Islamic army during the Battle of Uhud. The number of the munafiqs who left the Islamic army under the leadership of the ferocious was three hundred; that is, one third of the Islamic army. By doing so, the munafiqs decreased the number of the Muslims and demoralized the mujahids. Due to their act, some Muslims felt uneasy and even wanted to return. However, they changed their minds due to the sagacity of the Prophet and the help of God Almighty.

Similarly, in the most critical moment of the Battle of Khandaq, the munafiqs said to the Prophet, “Let us go to our houses because our houses are defenseless.”

Meanwhile, Sa’d b. Muadh came to the presence of the Prophet and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Do not let them. By Allah, whenever we are exposed to a misfortune or we face a difficult situation, they always act like that.”

As it can be understood from the statements above, the munafiqs tried to abandon the Islamic army in the most critical moments in order to leave the Messenger of Allah and Muslims in the lurch.

They did the same thing during the expedition of Tabuk. While the Muslims were getting ready for the expedition, some of the munafiqs said to them, “Do not set out in this scorching heat!”, trying to demoralize the Muslims; they also applied to the prophet and asked for permission for not joining the expedition. About eighty of them were given the permission. The Quran mentions their situation as follows:

“Those who were left behind (in the Tabuk expedition) rejoiced in their inaction behind the back of the Messenger of Allah: they hated to strive and fight with their goods and their persons, in the Cause of Allah: they said, "Go not forth in the heat. Say, "The fire of Hell is fiercer in heat." If only they could understand! Let them laugh a little: much will they weep: a recompense for the (evil) that they do.!”

In the same expedition, Abdullah b. Ubay, the munafiqs and his Jewish allies joined the Islamic army and went as far as Thaniyya al-Wada; they settled there. However, he decided not to go with the Islamic army and returned with the people who were together with him. He not only returned with the munafiqs who were subject to him and his Jewish allies but he also spoke as follows in order to weaken the enthusiasm of jihad of the mujahids:

“Muhammad is in a difficult situation; he will fight against Banu Asfar (Byzantines) in the scorching heat and in distant places. He thinks it is a game to fight against Banu Asfar. By Allah, I virtually see his friends tied by ropes in twos one morning!”

Despite those destructive and mischievous attitudes of the munafiqs that aimed to set Muslims against one another and harmful acts, the Prophet treated them differently from the polytheists and Jews. He usually invited Abdullah b. Ubay to meetings and consulted him.

His attitude toward them almost always included forgiveness and tolerance. However, he always acted cautiously despite his forgiveness and tolerance. He always checked and followed their acts and attitudes secretly.

When Abdullah b. Ubay, the leader of the munafiqs, spoke insultingly about the Messenger of Allah and Muslims in the expedition of Banu Mustaliq, Hazrat Umar could not put up with it and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Let me kill Abdullah b. Ubay!” The Messenger of Allah responded as follows:

“No! O Umar! What will happen when those who do not know the issue will say, ‘Muhammad kills his friends’?”

In another narration, the Messenger of Allah is reported to have said the following:

“If I order my Companions to kill him, they will kill him. However, there will be a lot of turmoil in Yathrib (Madinah) soon!”

As it can be understood from those statements, the Prophet always took into consideration the possibility that the munafiqs, whose number was quite a lot, could cause an internal fight among Muslims. Therefore, he always showed patience against what they did.

Again, during the expedition of Banu Mustaliq, the son of Ibn Ubay, Hazrat Abdullah, who was a sincere Muslim, went to the presence of the Messenger of Allah and said, “O Messenger of Allah! I heard that you were going to kill my father. If you really want to do it, let me kill him!” The Messenger of Allah responded as follows:

“No... Treat him leniently. As long as he is with us, we will treat him well.”

In fact, the Messenger of Allah always treated him tolerantly and appreciatively until he died. Even when he died, he did him a favor; he gave his shirt to be used as a shroud for Ibn Ubay. The Prophet led his janazah prayer in spite of the opposition of some Companions, primarily Hazrat Umar. The Messenger of Allah obtained good results for the policy of forgiving, tolerance and doing favors toward Abdullah b. Ubay and the other munafiqs. When the Prophet led the janazah prayer of Ibn Ubay, about one thousand munafiqs who saw it became sincere Muslims.

The Prophet left the munafiqs free in the community but he never neglected to keep them under psychological pressure. When he was informed about the plots that they attempted, he immediately told them what they were planning to do; thus, they had the fear that all of their acts were observed and followed.

Once, the Prophet saw that a group of munafiqs gathered and started to talk secretly; he approached them and said, “You came together in order to do this and that; and you said this and that. Come on! Ask forgiveness from Allah. I am asking for forgiveness from Allah, too.”

Therefore, they were always in fear that God Almighty would inform His beloved Messenger about their tricks. They were living in such worry and fear that when they heard a small noise in the army, they thought it was something against them. The Quran informs us about their situation as follows:

“When thou lookest at them, their exteriors please thee; and when they speak, thou listenest to their words. They are as (worthless as hollow) pieces of timber propped up, (unable to stand on their own). They think that every cry is against them.”

Another attitude of the Prophet against them was to prevent them from coming together separately no matter where they were. The aim of this attitude was to prevent them from developing common ideas.

Demolishing the Mosque of Dirar was a good example of it. They built that mosque in order to develop some ideas against Islam and to make their plans freely not in order to worship there. The Messenger of Allah knew what their aim was; so he ordered the Companions to demolish that mosque. His order was fulfilled at once.

To sum up, it can be said that the Prophet obtained the results of his policy, which was based on tolerance and caution, against the group of munafiqs. Thanks to his attitude, he prevented them from leaving the Islamic community and joining the ranks of polytheists. He maintained the unity of Muslims. He prevented them from getting organized and rebelling against Muslims.

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ionfusionpunk · 3 years

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Sith, Grey Jedi, and Jedi: What They Teach Us About the Force pt 3

All right. We have rather exhaustively examined the black-and-white beliefs of more well-known factions within the Star Wars universe. They are not, however, the only factions. We hear of the Guardians of the Whills, people who guard the Temple of Kyber on the planet Jedha. Besides being guardians, they are also scholars of the Force; they even have their own sort of Code, though I will not go into that. There are also several factions of Dark practitioners - most notably the Nightsisters of the planet Dathomir. And in between them all are the Grey Jedi.

As I mentioned in the very beginning, the definition for ‘Grey Jedi’ varies on the individual, the era, and the practices of the time. Very broadly, a Grey Jedi is an individual who does not believe in a Light and Dark; to them, there is only the Force, and it is the intent of the individual that determines whether the action is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ - not what side the Force user may have drawn from (because there are no sides). Each Grey Jedi has essentially adopted their own Code - their own moral compass - to guide them, and as such there are several Grey Jedi Codes. For the sake of my own patience and sanity, I only chose the five which vary most in possible interpretation. The shortest of the examples I have chosen is also, somewhat ironically, the closest in structure to the Sith Code, so I would like to start there.

There is no light without the dark.

Through passion, I gain focus.

Through knowledge, I gain power.

Through serenity, I gain strength.

Through victory, I gain harmony.

There is only the Force.

This particular variation seems to strike a rather balanced dichotomy between the Sith and Jedi Codes.

“There is no light without the dark.” This seems to be very straight forward and even obvious. Light creates shadows, and the brighter the light, the darker the shadows. In the Dhammapada, the text Buddhism is based upon, there is a concept that may give us further insight. It is first important to understand, however, that in Buddhism, their very first belief - given, in fact, in the first verse - is that all that we are is made of all that we have thought. The second verse of the first chapter, the title of which is translated aptly as (The) Pairs, boils down to: if you think “pure” thoughts, happiness will follow you like a shadow. In other words, to think only of the Light will make you of the Light, and your happiness will forever be out of reach. From this we devise that the Jedi, as focused on the Light as they are, might find fulfillment in their work but never true happiness. In the black-and-white morals the Sith and Jedi often perceive the universe to be made of, ‘happiness’ is the carnal pleasures, the love, the simple worldly joys found in everyday life - the pleasure and joys the monastic Jedi eschew; these joys are their shadows, the things they leave behind but that haunt them even without their knowing as they strive to look only forward towards the Light. The Sith, on the other hand, thrive in that shadow but by their very nature twist the simplistic and perhaps innocent joys into darker wraiths, contorting and distorting that which the Jedi leave behind. What the Sith have is not happiness but lust and greed, sloth and envy, wrath and gluttony and hubris - the shadows of the shadows, the weapons of their own destruction.

“Through passion, I gain focus.” Instead of using your passion to propel you forward, you use your passion to help you stay on your chosen path. Your passion, logically, guides you. For example, if your chosen passion is art, then you would not be able to helpfully apply that passion to, say, a job as a data analyst.

“Through knowledge, I gain power.” Understanding of the situation, of the circumstances, of yourself, give you power over those things. Knowledge is power, essentially, and a Grey Jedi uses this to their advantage. Instead of viewing knowledge as enlightenment, the Grey Jedi see knowledge as a vital tool in their journey whatever it may be.

“Through serenity, I gain strength.” The danger with drawing strength from passion as the Sith do is this: passion is strong; if left unchecked, if unguided by the knowledge to utilize it as a magnifying glass focuses sunlight, passion can overpower reason. We see this with Anakin Skywalker himself in Revenge of the Sith. His passion in regard to Padme - his need to protect her, his love for her - overwhelms him when Sidious exploits the fears attached to those passions, and it results in Anakin basically going insane. He allowed his stronger emotions - not his lesser loyalty to the Order, not his platonic love for Obi-Wan as a teacher and brother - to control him, and thus is the Fall of a Jedi and the Rise of a Sith. A Grey Jedi, however, draws their strength from their serenity - the serenity that allows them to step back and review the situation, that keeps them from falling prey to their darker emotions and desires, that allows them to control themselves. The Grey Jedi accept that Darkness exists only inasmuch as their Light creates it; they counteract this by finding a way to balance themselves between the two, of welcoming emotion, of harnessing their passions, of using their knowledge, while refusing to allow their emotions to weaken their defenses, their passions to control them, and their knowledge of becoming a poisonous pride. This is demonstrated in “The Art of Happiness,” a book written by the 14th Dalai Lama, which is about ‘divorcing’ yourself from the hate and the anger - the darker emotions - so that they do not become a part of you; this is a HUGE concept in Buddhism.

“Through victory, I gain harmony.” Now, this Code does not explicitly state what they are gaining a victory over, but if we continue in the vein that the philosophies of the Grey Jedi follow more closely those found in the Dhammapada as opposed to those found in the Bhagavad Gita, then we can look to Buddhism, where control of the self is crucial. This means, then, that the Grey Jedi seek victory over themselves so that a balance might be struck within themselves. If we are the result of what we think, then harmony within ourselves will result in harmony around us. The Dhammapada likewise teaches that all things must be in moderation so that our senses may be controlled, and that balance located.

“There is only the Force.” This echoes the first tenet somewhat but emphasizes that there is no true ‘good’ or ‘bad’ except what we make of them ourselves. Where the Bhagavad Gita preaches dharma, the Dhammapada teaches us that, as Qui-Gon Jinn - considered by many of the Jedi Order of the time to be somewhat of a Grey Jedi - our focus determines our reality. Albert Einstein expresses something remarkably similar when he says, “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” The Force and only the Force is the truth, the end, and the beginning, and where they go in the meantime. Actually, we had a conversation about this in my Philosophy of Eastern Religions class. When asked what the truth is, our professor said that “Truth is a pathless land.” In all ways this is true. If the Force is the truth, then being an impartial non-entity, it has no direction. The point of all this is that it is up to us to determine what we believe, what our truth is, and what path we take in this friendless wilderness.

And the Grey Jedi embody this. By walking their own paths, by each one choosing their own Code to follow, they are adhering to their beliefs as the Jedi and Sith never could. The Grey Jedi do not deny the existence of the darkness within themselves - but technically neither do the Jedi. However, instead of allowing that darkness to control them like the Sith or entirely leaving the darkness behind like the Jedi, they accept that darkness as a part of themselves and all living things. In Buddhism there is something known as the Four Noble Truths - the basis of Buddhism, in fact. The First Truth is that all life is suffering. The Second Truth is that this suffering comes from selfishness. The Third Truth is that this selfishness can be overcome. And the Fourth Truth is that only through the Eightfold Path can that selfishness be overcome. The Eightfold Path can be broken down to: Right view; right intention; right speech; right action; right livelihood; right effort; right mindfulness; and right concentration. As discussed, however, “Truth is a pathless land.” We forge our own paths, so the Fourth Truth essentially says that as long as we follow the path of our own making while still attempting to just be decent people, we will be okay.

There is so much that can be gleaned from these comparisons. The Sith view the Force as a tool and starting point and are, by their very nature, more susceptible to losing control of their own passions even as their Code reflects the natural state of humanity. The Jedi view the Force as a deity and ultimate destination while their Code is an ideal for humanity to reach for. The Grey Jedi view the Force as Truth, the name of whatever path they choose to walk on their way to self-mastery, and the one Code interpreted here strikes a pretty equilibrium between acknowledging the darkness of humanity but also the hope of something better – and attainable. The Jedi may be a monastic order, but their ideals are, frankly, ultimately unreachable at best and incomprehensible at worst. The Sith are corrupted by themselves even if their Code seems logically attainable. Of the three factions, only the Grey Jedi manage to walk the path any mortal can, the path of compromise, of control, of peace; only the Grey Jedi walk a path where their Light does not create more Darkness and their Darkness does not swallow the Light.

There is no true ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ here. Reality is what we make of it – what we make of ourselves. If we believe our emotions are our strengths, then we must be aware of how easily manipulated we will be. Should we follow the tenets of a faith that lauds a higher power and encourages self-sacrifice, we must be aware of the things we will be expected to leave in our wake. But as long as we choose to walk our own path, to know ourselves better than those that would control us or blind us with their faith intentionally or not, as long as our Truth resonates, then we will never have to give up enough of ourselves to compromise whatever peace we seek to obtain.

(Part One) (Part Two)

#star wars #the force #force theory #philosophy #jedi philosophy #sith philosophy #grey jedi philosophy #sith #grey jedi #jedi #welcome to my ted talk #this is part three #meta #sw meta #force meta

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dimitrippy · 6 years

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Pride month may be over, but it is also important to retain some sense of it. So here are some book reviews. If you've read these books, you might not like what I have to say. If you haven't, you may find that you don't want to. Or maybe you're so intrigued by what I've said, you'll want to read them anyway. The books I've chosen to read and review are (in order): This Book is Gay by James Dawson (2014), Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (2003), and Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager (2017).

Note: I am an independent person with no affiliations and I am doing this for fun, I am by no means a professional book reviewer.

This Book is Gay by James Dawson

I'm gonna start right off the bat and say that this book is... out-dated. Published in 2014, this book is a crash course on all things gay... but that's it. Despite many a disclaimer within the book itself, I found the writing to focus almost exclusively on homosexuality, with very little focus on bisexuality or being transgender. 'Well' you may say 'the book is GAY.' And right, it is, but the author, James Dawson, touted it as a guide to all things LGBT, which it wasn't. I understand the lack of nonbinary genders being mentioned, as the term did not really become widespread until very recently, but many trans people will find themselves unhappy when their eyes flick to the words 'transsexual' and 'transvestite'. Not to mention, in a later chapter about sex (skipping this chapter is an option, Dawson makes that clear) diagrams that equate genitals to gender. Overall, incredibly cisnormative. I'm not going to lie, Tumblr may have made me overly bias to any sort of queer literature created by a cis, gay man, but a good LGBT book should really spread out the attention between all of the letters.

I also found the writing style to be, for lack of a better word, trite. And I guess another good word would be condescending. Don't believe me? Dawson refers to sex as 'sexyfuntimes' at least 3 times, if not more. I understand that this book was written to appeal to young adolescents who might be questioning their sexuality or gender, but the word sex was already being used. Why change it to sexyfuntimes? Anyone reading the book should KNOW what sexyfuntimes means. Once was funny, but to keep using it to refer to consensual bedroom business made me feel like the author didn't care about his target audience. Speaking somewhat from experience, an adult talking down to me always made me feel like shit. Teenagers aren't stupid. Us adults need to start acting like it. ( that's not to say that teens can't be stupid, but generally when consuming content that is meant for them, it can be alienating.)

Then the author wrote a chapter on religion that I felt was written from a Christian-centric point of view. The author himself said he had limited knowledge about certain religions but went ahead and wrote about them anyway, assuming knowledge. This is a book that contained interviews with other queer people, you couldn't have found queer people of faith to interview? That just seems lazy to me.

Another big BIG problem that I had with the book was the chapter called 'Gay Saints'... or something to that effect. I had to return the book and I'm writing a lot of this from memory, which is quite good but can't always remember everything...

Anyway, I'm sorry, but however they may have felt while functioning as a boy-band, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are NOT gay icons. They're nothing more than two young men that over-zealous straight girls wish would get together. Sure, they may support the queer community which is all well in good but to refer to 'Larry Stylison' as a gay icon just... left a bad taste in my mouth. Also, Dawson referred to Macklemore as handsome which is just... not correct.

Honestly it felt like a lot of these 'icons' were straight people. And of course gay people have been idolizing straight people for basically forever (look up Friends of Dorothy) but one moment of activism does not a gay icon make.

Not to mention that leaving out Billie Joe Armstrong out of a list like that is criminal, considering he's been an open bisexual and supporting LGBT punk bands since Green Day became popular.

… Also a crime to leave out Prince but there are some battles you can't win...

Still, it would be remiss of me to not mention that this book was meant to be read by EVERYONE, not just by LGBT kids. I definitely understand the need for a book like this, but the queer community has become so fast paced and new terminology is updated and accepted on a near- daily basis. And I, personally, would not recommend this book to my friends (unless my friends want to know the book i'm slamming – LOL ). Perhaps a companion book titled “This Book is Trans” or “This Book is Queer”? Or maybe keep the title and come out with a second, more inclusive edition.

I would, however, recommend it to young, questioning kids and their parents – should said parents be aware of their kid's situation. I also recommend it to straight people who have very little interaction with LGBT people but who want to understand us a little better. I know I said the writing was condescending at times, but it is a good resource for people who aren't gay or who aren't sure what they are yet, especially if they don't wanna dig through Google, trying to find non-homophobic sources.

My overall opinion in a nutshell: Mediocre and non-inclusive

Score: 4/10

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

I'm not going to lie, if I had read this book in middle school or high school, I probably would have LOVED it. Pretentious teen romance was probably my favorite genre. (Something I don't talk about very much because everyone on Tumblr has a boner for hating the king of pretentious teen romance novels, John Green, and I rather like him.) Now, however, it is... to be honest it's uninteresting drivel.

The story focuses on local gay high schooler, Paul. Paul has ALWAYS known he was gay and everyone in his small, shockingly liberal town (shocking because it's so small) doesn't really care, except for the parents' of his friend, Tony, another gay high schooler. (only Tony's parents are homophobes and they have to lie about stuff just to get him out of the house)

We have other great characters! Such as Kyle, the bisexual who won't call himself bisexual because he doesn't like labels, also Paul's ex. Infinite Darlene, a trans girl who Paul does not call trans, only drag queen. She is homecoming queen and captain of the football team and also the other drag queens in school (???) don't like her because she's too masculine. Cis drag queens hating trans women, what else is new?

We also have Noah, the pretentious artist new kid and Paul's crush. And Joni, who was Paul's best friend but dumped him for her crappy boyfriend.

Right? The sheer amount of characters made my head spin too. And the drama with everyone was... too much. The only redeeming moment was when Tony finally stood up to his parents. Which he did so in, again, an unrealistic way.

And I'm not even going to mention the motorcycle cheerleaders.

So by the end of it, I was pretty disappointed.

Until I read the author's note. 10 years after it's original publication, David Levithan answers some questions about the book and gave a myriad of reasons as to why he wrote the book the way he did. He explained that he knew how unrealistic some parts of the story were, and that that's why they were there. Because as unrealistic as it was, it is something that he wants to one day be a reality. And that while we're far from that reality, it's something we should always, always be working towards.

There's something very brave about that. It's definitely true that there are far, far too many tragic stories featuring LGBTQA+ characters, but this is nothing short of a very happy story published in a time when stories like that simply didn't exist. A jaded queer person (such as myself) might brush off the pie in the sky life that Paul leads, but ultimately there really is nothing wrong with writing happy endings for people like you.

Should you choose to read this book, I recommend the new edition that comes with the author's note. It puts the entire novel in a much better perspective. It also has a short story featuring Infinite Darlene.

My overall opinion in a nutshell: Pretentious but well meaning

Score: 6/10 (points taken away were re-added after reading the author's not

Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager

As an avid history nerd who doesn't read nearly as much historic shit as they should, I loved this book. Clear, concise, and with a detailed bibliography in the back, Queer, There, and Everywhere gives us undeniable proof that people like us – queer people – have always existed.

Starting in ancient Rome, through the civil rights movement and up the the present, Prager makes the context easy to understand by using modern language and beginning each chapter with a brief flashback to each figure's time. While many scholars look at things from a cishet lens and use the language to match, Prager does pretty much the opposite, making a disclaimer at the beginning of each chapter any time modern terminology or certain pronouns usage needs to be used for clarity.

This book doesn't just cover cis, gay people over the course of history, it has something for everyone across the spectrum of gender and sexuality – trans and nonbinary people, lesbian pioneers (no, not 1800s pioneers),George Takei, and much, much more.

While queer history can be a touchy subject, Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World makes it so that our history can not, should not, and will not be erased.

My overall opinion in a nutshell: Fantastic and a necessary must for any person who needs a brief course in queer history.

Score: 8/10 (some of the historic figures she picked struck me as far-fetched, plus use of the outdated terms transsexual and transvestite)

#books #literature #reading #lgbtqa+#lgbt books #queer literature #queer books #lgbt literature #book reviews #james dawson #david levithan #sarah prager #long post

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wisdomrays · 6 years

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KEY CONCEPTS OF SPIRITUALITY IN ISLAM : Istighraq (Immersion)

Initiates in this state, with the inner perceptions and feelings that come from self-annihilation in God, see everything annihilated in God also. Those who are enraptured with the pleasure arising from such a state cannot help but utter sayings such as "I am the true one" or "Glory be to me, how exalted my being is!" Although such sayings issue from mouths under the influence of the spiritual state and pleasure that pervades the being, they have sometimes been taken to be true. It sometimes occurs that initiates cannot distinguish between what is substantial and what is apparent and, confusing their drop-like being with the infinite ocean of Divine Existence, utter unbecoming words of pride that are incompatible with the rules of Shari'a and irreconcilable with the self-possession that one must have before God. Even if every initiate cannot experience such a depth of self-annihilation and the pleasure that issues from it, most of them feel and experience this state. Some of them are regarded as being directly taught by God or the Prophet, without needing another teacher or guide; this is called "the way of Uways al-Qarani." Muallim Naji refers to this way as follows:

See, what kind of immersion you have caused me to experience; My eyes see you as if you were the tears which they shed.

Immersion has three degrees:

When both (Abraham and Ishmael) submitted (to God) wholly, Abraham laid Ishmael down on his face (to sacrifice).

The last, perfect degree of this Prophetic knowledge, which has become the Prophetic state, is impossible for us to perceive.

Those whose knowledge has become their state have always been examples to be followed by people. It is difficult to de-scribe such people, even with comparisons and parables. On the other hand, there are others who are described in the Qur'an as, like an ass carrying books (62:5). A scholar unaware of the knowledge he or she has and whose knowledge has not become his or her state is no different from an ass who merely carries the books. Any state which is not based on knowledge is tantamount to heresy, while knowledge which has not become a state is ignorance and heedlessness. Straightforwardness through knowledge means rising to a heavenly point on the wings of the state based on knowledge.

To describe this state, Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, the most advanced one in intoxication, says:

The third degree is that an initiate may attain to the point beyond the sphere of the manifestations of the Divine Attributes and become immersed in the most sacred manifestation of the Essence of the Divine Being, Who is known as the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward. This state is also viewed as a return to the station where the initiate's heart recognizes the Almighty as a Hidden Treasure, or as a return to the uncondi-tioned realm where everything pertaining to the created realm vanishes. A spirit which gets into this state usually expresses itself by saying:

"There was God without there being anything that existed with Him. Now He is as He was before."[ Al-Bukhari, "Tawhid," 1; Ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 4:431. ]

It addresses itself to its confidants:

The place where I am has developed into no-space; his body of mine has wholly become a soul; God's Sight has manifested Itself to me; and I have seen myself intoxicated with His meeting. (Nasimi)

O God! O One Who guides the astray, guide us to the Right Path, and peace and blessings be on him who is the most honorable of God's creation, Muhammad, and his family and Companions, who are the rightly guided. Amen, O All-Aiding!

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vixxscifiwritings · 6 years

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Samrajya (1/4)

Summary - In an attempt to consolidate his empire in new lands, Taekwoon proposes a marriage alliance between his brother and the princess of Magadha. But Jaehwan’s heart belongs to someone it shouldn’t belong to.

Story Masterpost

Part 1 - Maharaj Adhiraj

Hindi, n - king of kings

The sun was starting to set, the soldiers getting off their horses. The dust rose in the wind that blew through the tall grass. A red sandstone temple stood in the distance, its round dome coming into view as the army marched.

“We’ll make camp along the banks of the river, Your Majesty,” Wonshik told Taekwoon, riding up next to him. The horse bucked and halted messily, while Wonshik soothed the animal down.

“And how many days till we reach the capital?” Taekwon asked.

“It should be another four days to Pataliputra,” Wonshik recalled. He had been in discussion with other generals during the day. It would not be long till they were at the capital of Magadha.

“And how is Jaehwan doing? Has there been any improvement?” Taekwoon asked. He was worried about his brother and chief general who had been injured in the last fight.

“The medic we brought in from the village suggested we take him to the nearby settlement of Nalanda where the doctors might be able to help him better,” Wonshik told him.

“And do you trust this advice?” Taekwoon asked.

“It might be the only way to save him,” Wonshik said ruefully.

“And how long will the journey take? Will he survive it?” Taekwoon asked.

“He will, if we leave immediately Your Majesty,” Wonshik told him. The doctors had asked for quick action. A light garrison of soldiers would move much quicker than the army currently was. The Prince’s life could still be saved.

“Take a handful of soldiers and depart immediately,” Taekwoon ordered.

“As you wish, Your Majesty,” Wonshik said bowing before leaving.

“A wise decision, Your Majesty,” Hakyeon said, coming up to him. He was on foot, having unmounted a few moments earlier. “I was about to plead to you for the same.”

“I gather you’ve heard the entire conversation then,” Taekwoon summarised. Hakyeon nodded. Had it been any minister other than his closest and most trusted advisor then it would have been a crime tantamount to treason.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I am fortunate to inform you that we shall be at Pataliputra in two days, not four,” Hakyeon added. He held out his hand to assist the king. Taekwoon got down, dismissing the workers who were following him.

“Tell me more about the capital,” Taekwoon told him. Pataliputra was the pride of the Magadha empire, the scholars claimed. The seat of power and centre of the kingdom’s cultural prowess.

“Nothing you haven’t already heard. They say that the city is simple and that knowledge is their true wealth,” Hakyeon told him.

“And what do they think of me? Their new king?” Taekwoon asked.

“Nothing you would like to hear,” Hakyeon said.

“So it’s true then. They think of me as a savage barbarian who has come to loot them and nothing more,” Taekwoon summarised.

“Your Majesty…” Hakyeon hesitated. Taekwoon smiled at him before dismissing him, opting to look to the sun setting over the Ganga river at the horizon. Hakyeon bowed before leaving, knowing that the king had a lot on his mind.

-x-

“Shri Ram ki jai (Greetings to Lord Ram)” the greeting came. Princess Chitrangada looked to the guard who had entered the hall and said no more.

“What news do you bring?” Ananya, one of her handmaidens asked.

“The army has reached Deogarh. They will be in the capital in two days,” the soldier informed her. Chitrangada scoffed.

“There is more?” Ananya prompted, drawing attention away from the princess’ displeasure.

“The enemy prince -” the soldier started, only to stop himself.

“Our new prince,” he corrected himself. “He has been fatally injured and has been sent to Nalanda for treatment.”

“He is not our prince. He does not belong to the long line of suryavanshis who have ruled this land and he will never be our prince. Neither will his brother be our true king,” Chitrangada cried.

“Leave us,” Ananya ordered before turning to Chitrangada.

“Your Majesty, please compose yourself,” Ananya said, sitting down next to her when the soldier had left. “You are a princess and the true ruler now that..”

“Now that my father is dead?” Chitrangada spat. Ananya held her silence.

-x-

The sun rose over the river, spreading golden light across the land. The bells in the temples along the banks run in unison for the morning aarti. The citizens took dips in the holy water, offering prayers to the gods above. Chants of various religious hymns filled the air.

The conch shell rang at the gates, indicating that the army was at the gates to the city. The common folk parted, giving way to the procession of the soldiers that entered through the eastern gates. A runner ran in the front, carrying the flag of the foreign king.

“Bolo maharaj adhiraj ki jai! (Victory to the king!)”

The slogan was heard and repeated by the army that passed through the city. The common folk looked on in amazement, whispering to each other at the display of might.

The foot soldiers were followed by the cavalry and the elephants. Taekwoon sat on top of the foremost, accompanied by the mahout controlling the elephant. Hakyeon had advised him that the best way would be to look familiar to the people of Magadha. Hence he was dressed in a kurta of red and orange silk, donning strings of pearls around his neck.

He looked out of the carriage and onto the people below. They feared him but were in awe of his military might. This would serve him well for now.

The elephant climbed slowly but surely to the palatial compound. The red sandstone of the buildings and the bronze statues gleamed in the morning sun. The mornings had already begun to get hot, summer reaching its peak.

“Your Majesty,” Sanghyuk called out from below. Taekwoon leaned over and nodded, giving the general permission to speak.

“The palace has sent a messenger to inform us that they have prepared for your arrival. They would like to receive you in the main compound, Your Majesty,” Sanghyuk told him.

Taekwoon nodded, waving his hand to affirm his agreement and to dismiss Sanghyuk. He looked surprised when flowers fell on him as soon as he entered the compound. There were women, clad in colourful garb showering the procession with flowers. The procession stopped a few feet from the entrance to the palace, the mahout letting the elephant bend down gently so as to not upset the king.

Sanghyuk and Hakyeon helped him down, the cries from earlier resounding once more as he climbed up the stairs to the pillared entrance. There was an entourage of woman waiting for him with various large golden plates in their hands.

“Maharaj adhiraj ki jai (Victory to the king!)”” the women in the centre spoke first, greeting Taekwoon. There was a chorus of firm voices repeating the same. She picked flower petals from her large tray like plate, where Taekwoon recognised the small flame burning with the help of camphor that was often used in religious ceremonies.

“Greetings to Your Majesty,” she translated on her own once the voices had died down. She threw the petals on his head and Hakyeon shared a look with Sanghyuk. They weren’t aware of people being fluent in their tongue and had arranged for translators.

“To who do I owe the honour of this grand welcome?” Taekwoon asked.

“The Princess of Magadha would like to welcome you to Pataliputra and to her ancestral home of Kumrahar,” the woman told him. Taekwoon raised an eye at the wording of the greeting, unsure if it was intentional or not.

“I am honoured,” Taekwoon replied.

“The Princess is in mourning for her late father and hence cannot receive you in person according to our customs. She sends her apologies,” the woman added.

“Forgive me for asking, but who are you to stand in her stead?” Hakyeon asked her. Taekwoon had been wondering the same but the dishonour would have been greater if he had asked.

“I am merely her lady in waiting. My name is Ananya,” the woman answered, with a bow to the minister.

“Thank you for welcoming us to Kumrahar, Lady Ananya,” Taekwoon said. Ananya simply bowed. She raised the thali (plate) in her hand, looking to Taekwoon for confirmation so that she could approach him. Taekwoon nodded. Ananya pushed another piece of camphor in the flame before using it to circle him three times. She looked at him expectantly and then at Hakyeon. She signalled for a servant to hold the thaali.

“You’ll have to use your hands to take the blessings from the aarti,” she instructed as she demonstrated the action. Taekwoon copied the action unsurely but from the look of everyone’s faces it seemed enough. Ananya nodded in encouragement and then used her ring finger to dip into the turmeric and vermillion paste and applied it on his forehead.

“This way Your Majesty,” the woman said, moving so that the way to the entrance was visible. The crowd parted for the new king and his ministers and generals.

“You must forgive us for the state of the palace Your Majesty. Kumrahar is centuries old now, dating back all the way to the time of the great Mauryan dynasty,” Ananya apologised as she led him through the grand hall. Pillars stood, supporting the vast expanse.

“These halls have been the seat for many great kings. And now it is yours,” Ananya said, stopping at the throne that was situated in the middle.

“It is indeed,” Taekwoon said, observing the throne. Carved in silver and adorned with gemstones of different colours, it was lined with red velvet cushions.

“The tradition is to have a day long feast in honour of the new king. The music will continue into the night and the festivities will begin properly in the evening,” Ananya told them.

“Before I take the throne, I would like to pay my respects to the late king,” Taekwoon announced, turning to Ananya.

“Your Majesty, this is an auspicious occasion. You cannot visit a house where a funeral has taken place before your coronation,” Ananya panicked.

“It would be best to follow their customs Your Majesty,” Hakyeon advised.

“I cannot take the throne without paying respects to the late King and without the presence of the princess herself since the throne is rightfully hers by birth after her father,” Taekwoon replied.

“The crown passes to those who defeat the king in battle,” Ananya told him. “It is a rule of warfare. You are the rightful king now.”

“Even if the people don’t like it,” Taekwoon completed her sentence. Ananya held her silence.

“Perhaps, it would be better to pay your respects to the late king tomorrow,” Hakyeon added.

“Shri Ram ki jai. Maharaj ki jai. (Greetings to Lord Ram. Greetings to our king.)” a soldier said, walking into the hall. Everyone turned to the soldier who seem unfazed by the tension in the room.

“Kya khabar laye ho? (What news do you bring?)” Ananya asked the guard when she spotted the messenger who trailed behind him.

“Ananya devi, Nalanda se rajkumar ki sudharte sehat ki khabar aayi hai. Ved saahib ne kahaa hai ki Shri Ram ki kripa se woh do teen din mein ghar aa sakte hain. (Lady Ananya, we have news of the Prince’s recovery from Nalanda. The doctor says that by the grace of Lord Ram, he can come home in two to three days)” the messenger told her.

“Good news from Nalanda” Hakyeon translated for Taekwoon.

“How is Jaehwan?” Taekwoon asked anxiously.

“Recovering. He should be here in two or three days according to the doctors,” Hakyeon told him.

“Praise be to the almighty,” Taekwoon said, feeling relieved. “I shall look forward to the day he returns.”

“For your troubles,” Hakyeon said, handing the messenger and the guard some coins before dismissing them.

“The Prince is dear to your heart I gather,” Ananya observed.

“Jaehwan and I have a close bond,” Taekwoon agreed. “This is indeed very good news.”

He looked to the throne, covering the distance between it in a few strides of his long step and sat down. “Let the festivities continue till Jaehwan comes home. He shall be received with pomp and ceremony as well. For I sit on this throne because of him,” Taekwoon declared.

Ananya nodded before instructing the guard for the same. She also taught Hakyeon who was who so that the minister would be able to execute the King’s orders on his own.

“Now I humbly beg to be excused, My Emperor. I must assist the princess in her evening rituals of worship,” Ananya greeted, folding her hands and bowing.

“I’m not an emperor,” Taekwoon corrected her.

“Maharaj Adhiraj. A king of kings. The people call you an emperor in all but the word itself,” Ananya told him. Taekwoon frowned but said no more.

“Request the Princess for an audience tomorrow. I have things I wish to discuss with her,” he told her.

“As you wish Your Majesty,” Ananya replied before leaving the hall.

“Find out whatever you can about her,” Hakyeon instructed one of his guards quietly.

-x-

“Your Majesty, we have a message from Janaki Mahal. It's where the princess resides,” Hakyeon said, waiting by the king’s chambers.

Taekwoon had been pacing, awake but lost in thoughts. He gestured for Hakyeon to continue.

“She has asked you to come to Jal Mandir for the audience you requested. At the same time, you will be able to pay respects to the late king at the temple,” Hakyeon told him.

“Just as well, I have heard that the temple is beautiful,” Taekwoon mused.

“It is said so. A holy location I'm told,” Hakyeon agreed.

“Pardon me for being too bold Your Majesty. You have been lost in thought since yesterday. What are you thinking about?” he asked him.

“The princess. What sort of woman is she?” Taekwoon asked.

“Princess Chitrangada is rumoured to be a great beauty. She is claimed to be lively and a patron of arts. As is the royal tradition of the land, she is well versed with religious texts, politics, accountancy and poetry,” Hakyeon recited.

“And how much of that is owed to Lady Ananya?” Taekwoon asked. “You asked around about her, I presume.”

“They have a complicated relationship. Lady Ananya was said to be an illegitimate daughter of the late king. Her mother was a maid in the palace and her daughter was taken to be the handmaiden for the princess,” Hakyeon told him.

“And what do you think of her?” Taekwoon asked.

“She's sharp and influential. Even if she uses the princess's title and favour for it. She could be a great all or a dangerous foe,” Hakyeon warned.

“But her allegiance is to the princess? She will follow wherever Chitrangada goes?” he asked.

“It would seem so. However I do not know if the loyalty and affection goes both ways,” Hakyeon admitted truthfully.

“We shall find out in due time. For now, we must prepare for my departure to Jal Mandir,” Taekwoon instructed.

“I shall send for the servants, Your Majesty,” Hakyeon said with a bow.

-x-

“Shri Ram ki jai (Greetings to Lord Ram)” the guard greeted.

“Jai Shri Ram (Greetings to Lord Ram)” Chitrangada replied. The priest handed her the puja thali and she turned to the guard.

“Rajkumari, raja sahib aa chuke hain (Princess, the King has arrived)” the guard told her.

“Unhe kaho hamein shivling ke paas, mandir ke sidhiyo par milein (Ask him to meet us by the steps of the temple, near the idol of Lord Shiva)” Chitrangada ordered.

“Jaisi aap ki ichha rajkumari ji (As you wish Princess)” the guard said with a salute before leaving.

“Woh kuchh jaldi nahi aa gaye? Nyota to aaj subah hi nikla tha (Isn't he quite early? We sent the invite just this morning)” Ananya asked.

“Yeh mamla jitni jaldi nipat jaye, utna behtar hai (The quicker this gets resolved the better)” Chitrangada told her. Ananya nodded in agreement.

The two women made way through the central platform and to the end of the temple where the steps gave way to the holy Ganga. Chitrangada offered her prayers to the sun god and Ananya did the same, before standing to a side and waiting for the king. Two servants came forward to fan the princess while she waited.

“Aa gaye (They're here)” Ananya whispered under her breathe when Taekwoon came into the sight. He was followed by his minister, Hakyeon and his general and bodyguard Sanghyuk.

The three men took their sandals off before stepping into the temple. The priest, overjoyed at the presence of the esteemed guests offered them prasad and applied the tikka to their foreheads, singing praises of their glory. Hakyeon thanked him politely and the priest gave way for the darshan of the idol. Taekwoon folded his hands and closed his eyes, offering a short prayer to the god Shri Ram whose idol stood in the centre of the main hall of the temple.

Ananya waited for their prayers and offerings to be done before guiding the new king to where the princess stood.

“It is indeed a beautiful sight,” Taekwoon said, taking in the view of the river and the sun that was slowly climbing to its zenith above it.

“Aap yahaan aaye, humein khushi hui (I'm happy to see you here)” Chitrangada said. She looked to Ananya who translated for her.

“It is me who should say thank you for welcoming me here. I am sorry for your loss,” Taekwoon replied. Ananya translated the same and Chitrangada’s jaw set. She nodded before speaking.

“The Princess thanks you for your kind words,” Ananya translated.

“I trust you have been well, Your Highness?” Taekwoon inquired politely.

“Sab itna kushal mangal hai ki jaise mano hamaari pitah ki hatya hi nahi hui (I'm so happy as if my own father has just not been murdered)” Chitrangada replied. Hakyeon and Ananya started, understanding the venom in her sweet tone. Taekwoon raised an eyebrow at Ananya who hesitated before translating.

“The Princess is mourning the loss of her father, Your Majesty. But she draws solace in being at her ancestral home. She has been well looked after,” Ananya said, smoothing over the words. Taekwoon nodded, knowing something was off but not wanting to be cruel himself.

“It is your father and the future of the kingdom I wish to discuss with you, Lady Chitrangada,” Taekwoon said. This time Hakyeon translated and Chitrangada turned her sharp gaze to him.

“I understand that your fathers and brothers were killed in the war. But there is no reason for your future in this empire to be uncertain,” Taekwoon assured her.

“You have something in mind Your Majesty?” Ananya asked before Chitrangada herself voiced the words.

“I do. The princess is well aware that I have a brother I am sure. I wish to propose a marriage alliance between my people and Magadha. A marriage between the Princess and my brother and chief general,” Taekwoon proposed.

“Yeh shaadi kabhi nahi ho sakti (This marriage can never take place)” Chitrangada declared in shock. She turned to Ananya, filled with rage. How could the very person who had killed her family expect her to happily join his?

“A marriage is a serious offer, Your Majesty. And an auspicious one. The Princess cannot accept or deny till the period of mourning has passed,” Ananya said hurriedly before Hakyeon would give it away. Though from Taekwoon’s look she could tell he had already understood the Princess’ reply.

“How long till the mourning passes?” he asked Ananya directly.

“A month. Custom dictates a month. And a marriage date can only be set on an auspicious date by the royal priest so that might take longer,” Ananya replied, holding on to Chitrangada’s hand. The rituals only lasted fifteen days after the death of the patriarch, but she knew she needed more time for the Princess.

“The Princess has time till the next full moon. In a month’s time she must give her reply,” Taekwoon said. His strict tone told everyone involved that the Princess had no choice but to reply in the positive if she wished to survive. He couldn’t afford a loose cannon in the form of a leader who the rebels might rally behind.

“You are quite understanding and generous Your Majesty. Thank you for your kindness,” Ananya replied. She bowed and Chitrangada too bowed her head. Taekwoon took his leave, his entourage trailing behind him.

-x-

“I had no indication that you had arrived brother,” Taekwoon said as soon as the guards who announced him stepped away.

“I thought a silent affair would be prudent,” Jaehwan replied, standing up to greet his brother and king. However, his chest still hurt and he clutched at it, leaning against the chair for support.

“Do sit down. You should move carefully while you are still recovering,” Taekwoon admonished. Jaehwan offered him a weak smile before walking over to the verandah and sitting down on one of the couches there. The verandah had a nice view of the western end of the Kumrahar compound and the river beyond it. He quite enjoyed the view.

“What did the doctors say?” Taekwoon asked, sitting across him.

“The poison has been removed thankfully. The wound was deep and will take time,” Jaehwan told him.

“Why didn’t you stay at Nalanda longer for a full recovery?”

“I did not wish to leave you alone in a strange land brother. Also, Nalanda is a land of scholars. A military presence had put many at unease,” Jaehwan explained.

“Were the scholars impressive? I heard you brought quite a few of them back with you to Kumrahar,” Taekwoon said, reciting what Hakyeon had asked him a few days ago.

“They are for your benefit more than mine. I wished to be acquainted with the people and their traditions more. One of the scholars, Bhuvan Gupta, is quite adept at military strategy too,” Jaehwan told him.

“Consider it my coronation gift to you,” he added with a grin on his face.

“I too have a proposal for you,” Taekwoon said.

“A marriage proposal. To the fair princess of Magadha. I have been informed of the peace treaty you proposed,” Jaehwan beat him to it.

“And what do you think of it?”

“That the Princess would never accept it. She is quite a traditionalist in her views and would never marry a foreigner to her land. If she has accepted it then it would mean that you left her no choice but to say yes. Not a good position to be in either,” Jaehwan mused.

“We need her on her side. A large number of the people are loyal to her. This can work to our advantage,” Taekwoon argued.

“Then we must proceed carefully and prepare for the consequences of her saying no,” Jaehwan said, saying no more as his chest began to ache yet again.

“She has asked for time before giving her reply. I have given her one month to finish mourning over her father and then decide,” Taekwoon told him. “Perhaps when it is appropriate, you might wish to meet the princess in person. Princess Chitrangada is as beautiful as the rumours say.”

-x-

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#story: samrajya

13 notes · View notes

scurvgirl · 6 years

Text

The Dragon and the Princess Grew Close

More Fairy Tale AU!

Part One, Part Two, Part Three

Meanwhile, Part One

Worldbuilding

Tagging @feynites for characters, but won’t say who to keep it at least a little interesting ;)

After the day at the waterfall, Adannar starts taking Serahlin places.

It’s only every few days since there is work to be done for her to survive sufficiently on her own. It is a goal he supports, even if he knows that she may choose to not spend as much time with him afterwards. She deserves her independence, she’s worked for it, and he doesn’t want to forcefully spend time with her anyways. Her choice makes the time better.

He takes her to a great tree, first. The Great Tree, to be exact. An old spirit of Content possessed it a millennium ago, and it has remained here ever since, growing to a gargantuan size. An old hollowed voice rings from it, greeting Adannar in an equally old tongue. Serahlin doesn’t realize what it says is a greeting, but she marvels at it all the same. She touches its bark with respectful reverence, more polite than even some of the scholars Adannar knew hundreds of years ago.

“Content, perhaps you could show our guest your view?” He requests.

In the old tongue, Content replies, “Has she not ridden upon your back yet? Oh, you have not told her. Very well, I will show her.” A thick branch slowly lowers to in front of Serahlin.

She glances back at him for reassurance. He smiles and gestures for her to climb onto the branch. Adannar joins her, and slowly they are lifted up to another branch. Content guides them to the canopy in this manor, having them climb aboard semi-mobile branches until they sit perched atop the tree, looking out around them.

The sun is low in the sky, painting the sky in hues of pink and orange and blue. The tops of the trees all stop below Content, their leaves soft and pliant as the cool air of the afternoon swirls around them. Serahlin’s hair loosens from its tie and sways with the wind, but she does not seem to mind as she leans her head back, eyes closed, and smiling in enjoyment. It is an entrancing image of her, leaning back and enjoying the natural magic of the forest. She is entrancing.

His heart clenches. There is no beauty like hers, no heart, no person whose eyes shine so brightly when discovering something new. And there is nothing more natural for him at this point to love her, even in secret, even if she does not return the sentiment. He loves her, and he is happy to even know that. To know her.

He wants to tell her, but fear holds him back still. She isn’t ready to know quite yet. He wants her to know him before…before potentially running from him. It is selfish, he knows, but he can’t bring himself to change course.

He takes her home after the sun sets. He takes her hands in his at the door to the cottage. She is looking up at him with a soft expression that makes his heart melt and oh, how he loves her. He lifts her hands up to his lips, kissing her knuckles before wishing her a good night. He steps away but does not hear the door close, and when he turns around, he sees her watching him, her cheeks almost as pink as her eyes.

Adannar lifts his hand in the air, waving goodnight as he slips into the forest. His nocturnal creations skitter through the night, joining him as he heads back to his home.

There are other places he can take her to, like the meadow and he can even see about showing her some of the crystal caves in the mountains. He wants her to enjoy living her and to know that even though she is far from her home court and palace, she is still surrounded by beauty.

He goes through more of his storage, finding more beautiful clothing to give her. The breeches he had given her earlier were fairly basic, mostly in beiges and browns, along with white shirts. But now he finds the more colorful garments – pinks, greens, blues, even a few reds that he think she will look splendid in. He packages them in a case and the next morning presents them to her.

“Adannar! You don’t need to,” she says even as she fawns over the prettier clothes.

“Do you like them?” He asks in earnest. She looks up and smiles, then cups his face.

“I adore them, thank you.” He leans into her touch just for a moment before straightening his back.

“Wonderful!”

He means to take her to the meadow today, but there is work that needs to be done and they end up spending the day working around the cottage. The chickens need tending to, as does the garden they’ve created in the past weeks. The roof of the cottage also needs a repair, it’s been leaking, and then by the time everything’s completed, the sun is low in the sky and there is no time to take her anywhere special. But they do have enough time to cook and eat dinner together. Well, a dinner for her. Adannar will need to do some night hunting to fill up.

Serahlin lets her hair out, spilling down her shoulders, making her look like the princess he first saw in the Dreaming. But now she is smiling and happy as she eats her stew and makes conversation with him.

“In Eletharan, it is customary to have small meals throughout the day. Consuming large meals at once is seen as bad for health,” she says, even as she breaks a bread roll to sop up some stew.

“But I can’t say I have felt any different with this regimen. Sometimes I think half of the things the nobility did was simply because they could and it set them, us, apart from everyone else. How often you ate became a symbol of wealth. I would eat eight small meals a day, my sister ate ten. I knew of merchants who would stretch their food to last six meals a day.”

Adannar tries to contemplate that. He knows that she came from a world of wealth and excess, but this seemed…much. He knows that her meals were made for her, judging by how she has not exactly been that great in the kitchen. He is not judging her for any of it, of course, she was born into this and she did what she could to survive the environment.

“The company was horrid most of the time,” she says, “All these people just…watching, waiting for me to be imperfect.” Her eyes move down to her food and his brow furrows in concern.

“I find perfection boring, to be honest,” Adannar says, “It is fleeting, and flaws are what make people unique. There is no true beauty in perfection. I am not perfect, you are not perfect, but it does not make you lesser.”

Serahlin blinks and her lips part on a silent “oh.” She tucks her hair behind her ear in a gesture he has come to know as a sign of nervous flattery.

“I…thank you.” She speaks in the way of someone unused to compliments, but perhaps it is not the compliment that is throwing her, but the sincerity. Those at court must be so…blind, he thinks, to lack the ability to see how much Serahlin truly deserves compliments. She is kind and funny and beautiful, even if she is imperfect with her distrustful nature and stubbornness.

They finish dinner and he helps her clean up before it is time for him to leave her to her nightly routine. But before he leaves, she takes his hand.

He turns to her, heart beating, expectant.

Serahlin opens her mouth to say something then shuts it. His heart falls but she takes a step towards him and lifts her free hand to his face. She caresses his cheek and while the silence stretches before them, it feels like she is saying a thousand words, and he is replying in kind.

She pulls back after a moment and straightens her clothes. The normal Serahlin with her stoicism and pleasantries. More and more, however, that Serahlin gives way to a softer version of herself. A version of herself that smiles easily and enjoys his jokes and the simple comforts of the forest.

Adannar leaves that night with his heart in his throat and a great desire to sweep her off her feet.

It takes a few more days of completing chores, but eventually they find the day where the work can wait. On that day, Adannar guides her through a young part of the forest. Small critters scurry from their path. Serahlin holds onto Adannar’s arm as they stride through the brush and it sends little electric flares through him.

They are both dressed in flowing fabrics, her in a pink tunic and him in one of his brighter blue robes.

“It shouldn’t be too much further,” he tells her.

She smiles up at him, “Even if it was, I would not mind. I am enjoying our walk.” He returns the smile and feels his heart do a little pitter patter.

“Have I told you that you look lovely today?” He asks and she nods.

“It was one of the first things you said, but I do not tire of hearing it.” She leans into him, grinning playfully.

“Well, you look lovely still…even with the leaves in your hair,” he points out, to her playful horror.

“Oh no!” She bats at her hair and he calms her, reaching carefully and extracting the few leaves.

“There, no worse for wear.”

He steps over a root, then down a small knoll. Light filters in from where the trees end and the meadow begins. With this time of year, the meadow should be filled with wild flowers – and potentially even some frolicking spirits of the forest. He shifts their positions so that he is holding her hand, leading her through the brush. Excitement fills the air as they reach the boundary of trees.

They emerge from the forest and into the meadow. Serahlin gasps in awe, filling Adannar with a relieved sense of pride. It is a tad hilly for a meadow, but the flowers carpet it all the same, reaching up to the sun in brilliant hues of yellow, cream, pink, and blue. Spirits swirl in brilliant displays of light, shooting up fallen petals into little petal dust devils.

Adannar turns, smiling, to see Serahlin with a near devious expression on her face.

“Serahlin?”

She lets go of his hand and dashes into the meadow, “Catch me!” She calls back, running headlong into the field of flowers. Adannar laughs and does as she commands, letting himself go and feel free as he chases her.

The spirits turn their attentions to them, initial alarm turning to gleeful mischief. They are harmless and Serahlin shows no fear of them as she laughs and darts through the flowers. Adannar lets his inhibitions go as he runs after her.

It was a spur of the moment decision to dart off, enticing Adannar to chase her. But she had been so inspired by the beauty of the meadow. All she wanted to do was to run and feel free and happy. And this meadow is so…it is from her dreams it is so beautiful. Maybe she has seen this place in her dreams, her spirit drifting from her sleeping body, drawn to this magical place.

Now she runs through a field of flowers, past bright spirits as a former spirit chases her. His laughter, so pure and joyful, is music to her ears. It sets a rhythm to them running. She turns and laughs with him, cresting over a hill. They revel in the sunlight, and she has not felt so far and free from the court as she does now.

Serahlin spins, her eyes closing at the wonder of it all. Her arms are outstretched, palms up feeling the warmth of the sun. She used to walk the gardens at the palace, enamored with the flowers. But she had always been bedecked in fashion, a smile plastered on her face as a thousand eyes watched her every move. The fashion she loved, the eyes she wanted gone. But here, there are flowers and sun, and the only eyes are Adannar’s. And his eyes are so kind, so beautiful.

He reaches the knoll she is slowly spinning on and rounds on her. His arm slides around her waist and pulls in her close. She travels with his moment, her arms quickly wrapping around his shoulders for stability. They spin together, laughing, until he stumbles and falls back into the lush grass. She lands on top of him, hair flying free from its loose bun.

“Oof!” She says, splayed on top of him, the long grass curving over them. She can feel his chest rising and falling with his labored breaths, and the warmth radiating from his body.

Adannar leans his head back and laughs, only leaning back up to cup her face. His laughter dissipates but his face remains blissful and soft. His hands are rough from work, but she does not mind them as he brushes a thumb over her cheek.

“Serahlin, you are a wonder,” he whispers full sincerity and warmth. Her heart stutters and breath hitches. Through all this time, Adannar has seen her at her worst, broken down, dirty, ugly, and starving. He has seen her struggle with everything she has learned, and not once has he shamed her, or looked at her like she is useless or bad. He has been kind and patient, caring and thoughtful. He hasn’t babied her, but respected her and where she has come from. Not in all her life has she ever met someone like him, and she doubts there is anyone else quite like him either. There is an undeniable goodness to him, a light within him that makes her want to be better.

She shifts up his body and brushes her fingers across his cheek. He sighs and leans into her touch, yellow eyes growing hooded. He is beautiful, she sees. A beauty unlike those at court, natural and striking, full of softness.

Boldness and fondness in equal measure take over her. She leans down and presses her lips to his. He startles for only a second before responding. He leans into her, kissing her back, lips moving under hers. She angles her head and sucks his bottom lip into her mouth, earning her a gasp, borderline moan. It thrills and warms her both to feel his reaction to her.

His hands trail down her body, holding her waist, running up into her hair. It feels so, so good, she leans into him, arching her back. He is the first to pull away, lips pink and breath labored.

“Serahlin, I…do you…” he breathes. She isn’t sure exactly what he is asking, but she feels like she has an answer all the same. She strokes his cheek and her expression remains soft.

“You amaze me,” she murmurs before leaning down to kiss him again.

The days following the kisses in the field turn into a new pace. Adannar still arrives at the same time in the morning and leaves the same time at night, but he kisses her hello and goodbye. He is even more free with his affections, holding her waist, and pulling her to him. She enjoys it all, holding him and kissing him back as much as she pleases. There is no worry that they will be caught. He is not a dalliance someone at court is waiting to use to blackmail her. The result is Serahlin being free with her affections in return.

On an evening where the sunset is turning blue and purple from the magic in the sky, she turns to him.

“We have grown so close, and I feel like I am…not being entirely truthful with you,” she explains.

Adannar looks down from the sunset to her, expression curious but sweet, “How so?”

She swallows, “I never told you what I was doing in the cottage that first day you found me.”

“You were running from a political monster of some sort.”

Serahlin nods slowly, “Yes. But that is…a great over simplification.” She wrings her hands and averts her gaze. Adannar reaches over and settles his much larger hand over her nervous ones.

“You do not have to tell me,” he whispers, his tone far more understanding than she has a right to ask for.

Serahlin shakes her head, “No, I do because I left a terrible mess behind. I fear I will have to return to it at some point. I can’t always run, some day we all have to face what chases us.” She takes a deep breath, and begins.

“I was born Serahlin Felise Elethari, to Queen Felena Elethari of the kingdom Eletharan to the west of this forest. I am the eldest, and by rights, that makes me in line to succeed the throne if my mother should die. My younger sister, Elvara is also a princess, and she has been named heir apparent due to my…inability to secure diplomatic relations with the kingdom to the east, Elvhenan.” She goes slow, giving herself time to pause and assess. Adannar remains quiet, listening to her story.

“They wanted to create a tie that will unite the kingdoms in custom and spirit. Which meant an arranged marriage between me, and the High Knight family’s chosen. After visiting their court, the younger son, Dirthamen was chosen for my betrothal. It could have been worse, the eldest son spurned the idea of me, the younger son was by far better. Not a man I could fall in love with, but a man I could at least be happy with. But unfortunately, as the envoy passed through this forest, he went missing.

“With the alliance in jeopardy, a new knight was chosen from his brother’s honor guard somehow. A man greatly indebted to the family, so loyal he could never betray them. His name is Ser Darris, Slayer of Mighty Tor’el, a dragon to the east.” Adannar nodded and swallowed, his face stony and solemn.

Serahlin continued, her voice only wavering slightly, “They arrived at the palace and explained the situation. My mother foolishly allowed the switch, saying that this alliance was still the best option for the kingdom. But my former betrothed and I had been exchanging letters – in Eletharan, it is customary to know your intended for at least a year before marriage. The switch meant that Darris would have to wait a year, and in that year, we would have to spend a lot of time together.” She takes a deep breath and steadies herself.

“It only took a month before things began to become suspect. Darris is an intensely charismatic man, and he charmed my mother and sister instantly. But I was more hesitant. He was not the man I had spent the last three years getting to know. I had resigned myself to a loveless marriage, but a marriage of respect and decency nonetheless. I didn’t know Darris, and I was expected to…marry him in so little time. A year is nothing! I was reluctant, and it showed. But I was also curious – what had happened to my betrothed? His brother was still at the palace, making life difficult. He is possibly the worst person I have ever met in my life, cruel, arrogant, and stupid.”

“He sounds terrible,” Adannar says softly, his expression still inscrutable. Serahlin nods, then bites her lip.

“I never found what happened, because while I was distracted and distant, Elvara was seizing the opportunity. She went to our mother and said she would be a better candidate for marriage with Darris. She should be made heir over me. And mother agreed.” Her voice trembles and she fumbles with her hair, biting back tears.

“When I was told, I was horrified. Relieved I did not have to marry Darris, but my baby sister, she…I protected her from court, I did everything in my power to protect her, that is the only reason she was where she was, and she used that position to stab me in the back. I was distraught, I wanted to be alone. When Falon’din found me, I was in no mood to be played. He grabbed me, demanded I look at him – which I did, as I backhanded him.”

Adannar’s eyes widen, “I know that was a very dangerous thing for you to do, but I would have liked to have seen that.”

She shakes her head, unable to hold back tears any longer, “He said terrible things, hitting me back. And after my inability to play nice with Darris…he convinced my mother I would serve the alliance better as a sacrifice. And my mother…agreed.” Her voice breaks and her tears begin to flow freely as she cries. Adannar takes her into his harms.

“No, no, no, I cannot believe…what kind of mother…no,” his horror is palpable and strangely welcome. It is the horror she wanted more to feel around her, what she had expected her own mother to feel when Falon’din had suggested it, even when Elvara had suggested supplanting her.

“I was locked away and-and only loyal guards and spies came to my rescue. My queen-mother was content to let me die, my sister…my memae had long been dead, and I was alone. They stuck me on a horse, and I ran.” Her voice breaks and disappears as she succumbs to her sobs, leaning into Adannar. He holds her tight and runs his hand through her hair in comfort while whispering sweet nothings to her.

She collapses into him, and it feels right to let him lift her completely into his lap. She gives him all her sorrow and heartbreak, her terror and horror that her own family would betray her like that. She gives him her gratitude and her amazement, the burgeoning love for him she is beginning to feel.

He holds her through it all, making her feel more loved here than she ever felt back home, surrounded by people who should have cared. Memae had cared, but Memae had also died. Ironic that when she felt more alone in a palace, constantly surrounded by people, than she does in the forest with only Adannar and his strange mechanical creatures to keep her company.

She stays in his arms for a long time, even after she stops crying. Adannar is warm, and he doesn’t seem to mind simply holding her even after the main tumult of her emotions pass. Eventually, Serahlin sighs and looks up at him. She guides his face to hers and kisses him sweetly, thanking him for listening to her.

He leans his forehead against hers and sighs, his grip tightening just slightly, “You deserve love and trust,” he whispers. There is an emotion in his voice she cannot quite place, but it almost feels like heartbreak.

Adannar stays late that night, holding her in her bed, stroking her hair. It soothes her into a sweet sleep, and when she wakes, he is gone.

Serahlin goes about her normal morning routine – dressing, collecting eggs from the coop, and tidying up a bit. Normally, Adannar arrives while she is tending to the chickens, but he must be running late today. Perhaps he slept in to make up for staying so late at the cottage? Should she have told him he was welcomed to stay? Because he was, and she hates to think he endangered himself by leaving so late at night.

It’s probably nothing, she tells herself, and continues with her day. She has a breakfast of eggs and toast then heads out to tend to her garden. It is midday when she begins to worry. Was it wrong of her to tell him why she is hiding in the forest? Or that she is likely to leave at some point? Is this her doing?

It’s hard to believe that Adannar would abandon her now, after everything he has done. By that logic, she fears something has happened to him.

Concerned, Serahlin heads back inside and dresses in her thickest leather breeches and boots and dons a tunic that feels like it has an old protective enchantment on it. She pulls her hair back and under a hat before heading outside.

Huirin, the mechanical deer that likes to linger around the cottage, is sniffing around the chicken coop, its eyes darting in curiosity to the chickens and then to Serahlin.

“Huirin,” she calls. It lifts its head up, ears forward in attention.

“I need you to take me to Adannar,” she tells it. Strange enough, it bobs its head, similar to a nod and turns to walk into the forest. It looks back at her, waiting to see if she will follow. She saddles and mounts her horse, then follows Huirin into the forest.

Without Adannar by her side, the forest takes on a more sinister feeling. She feels eyes upon her, watching her every movement, like the spirits and animals of the forest know that without one of their one with her, she is fair game. But she rides tall, and follows Huirin, keeping her eye out for Adannar. He could be lying in the dirt, needing assistance. While she has gotten stronger, she is unsure if she would be able to lift him onto Velini, her horse. But she will try and she will help him in any way she can – it’s the least she can do after everything he has done for her.

It is not long until they reach his waterfall. This is the farthest into the forest she has gone, and Adannar’s words from the first night echo in her head.

“Do not go past the waterfall to the west.”

But Huirin is moving past it, and she knows that whatever is to come, she must face it with a brave face and a braver heart. Adannar may need her.

She urges Velini forward and follows Huirin deeper into the Forest.

#scurvysays #cliffhanger warning #dun dun DUN #fair tale au #fic #serahlin #adannar #serannar

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keptin-indy · 6 years

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7th Sea: The New World 9

Last time, Lady Gwen was finally reunited with Timoun in the underworld, but started losing her mind the longer she was there. The group successfully petitioned for Timoun to come back to the real world to take down an ATC smuggling ring supplying weapons used in the slave trade and Gwen revealed that she was half sidhe. On their way to the smugglers’ base, Brandt attempted to call up a water sprite to speed their way but instead got Gwen’s mother, a powerful unseelie fae, who demanded that her daughter return home after her quest was completed.

Previous installments

The gun crews in the bay’s fort looked nervously on at the foreign ship towed by evil magic, and a heavily armed escort ship with soldiers and priests came out to meet the Dream, demanding to know who they were and what business they had there. Tamara said they wanted to help against the ATC, but the other ship wanted to inspect them for “witches”. Tamara asked how they defined witches, but one of the priests said they would only explain once on board and also they wanted to know what the horses were. Brandt told him they were sidhe, but that meant nothing to the priest and he had to further explain that they were spirits native to Avalon, which made more sense to the priest, but didn’t do anything to assuage their fears of malicious witchcraft. Tamara let the armed delegation aboard but explained that she and some of the others were sorcerers, the cook was a troll, etc, etc, but the priests seemed to be looking for a specific local kind of magic. Mariandl hastily cleaned up her workshop to a degree that was suspicious to those who knew her, but the priests had no basis for comparison. They were concerned by Timoun, as apparently the Ruhuri afterlife traditions on Jaragua had been suppressed by the colonial government for generations. The priests didn’t seem to find what they were looking for and the soldiers obviously didn’t find evidence of ATC connections, but they were only allowed to dock once word came from the administration that the boat’s name was recognized from a letter of recommendation from one of their agents. Once docked, they were directed to the Provisional Oligarchy through a city of mostly Montaigne architecture but very few other Thean people. At the administrative offices, they blithely asked to talk to the head of their intelligence, which was predictly denied. During this discussion, their former “guide” Khofi ran inside, having heard their ship was in port. He warned them that the new country’s intelligence service wasn’t very big, but Brandt told him Timoun had information about illegal artifact trafficking by the ATC under their noses. Gwen introduced Timoun to a shamefaced Khofi, the man who had originally been hired to find him but who had only been using Gwen to return to the Atabean incognito. Khofi took it upon himself to get the group lodging and information for having treated his betrayal so magnanimously. He told them that after the slaves had risen up against the ATC colonists, the Ruhuri on the northern half of the island had kicked out all the former Ifrian slaves and declared themselves a sovereign nation. Now the conflict was less of a civil war and more a dispute about where the border was. Khofi put them up in the former governor’s palace, now slightly ransacked and defaced. The city around them seemed impoverished but triumphant, with general sharing of resources and pride that they finally controlled their own destinies; all in all, life looked better here than it did for Montaigne peasants in Theah. The group was assigned minders who were supposed to secretly follow the Theans around town, which the group took to with varying amounts of grace (Misha got his drunk and made friends, Etienne slipped his and began counter-following, causing the poor man to later ask him for stealth tips). Mariandl went to the local Vaticine cathedral and was shocked to find it filled it both Vaticine and local Lwa imagery. A priest explained that the slaves were forbidden from practicing their own religions, so they had sort of mixed them up with the Church in order to hide their worship. Really, he argued, they were all just different ways of looking at Theus, so he didn’t mind. Mariandl was interested in this point of view, but not personally swayed by it. An older priest agreed with her and had nothing but contempt for the people who had “ruined” his church with their idolatry. Eventually the Theans were summoned by their minders to the office of the Jaraguan chief of intelligence, who turned out to be a pleasant-looking young man of mixed Ruhuri and Ifrian heritage named Kehinde, who was incongruously always surrounded by various local animals. Kehinde apologized for Khofi’s deception and asked what information they had about ATC movements on the island. Timoun explained what he knew and Kehinde suggested the House of Sorrows as a potential base for the ATC operations; an old prison complex atop a system of unmapped caves that seemed an ideal location for a defensible black market to be run out of. Possibly related, there were an alarming number of ghouls in the mountains between Jaragua and Mariana. Ansgar offered to map the prison as they went, Brandt gave Kehinde some of the messenger frogs to re-introduce to the island, and Etienne non-specifically offered to open lines of communication to other intelligence networks that would be sympathetic to Jaragua’s cause. Tamara asked about how their government was set up (largely run by three very overworked people, of which Kehinde was one) and Brandt wondered if some of the Castillian scholars he had rescued from the Inquisition might find a new home there. Kehinde offered a small finders fee for any artifacts they recovered. Khofi secretly paid Misha’s (already extensive) bar tab out of guilt.

The Thean party trekked up to Gallows Cliff, finding a compound surrounded by high walls on the sides that weren’t a sheer drop. The two stories aboveground were largely burned down, but the basement levels proved to be a hideous maze of prison cells and torture chambers, all thankfully abandoned after the revolution. Ansgar used his engineering knowledge to find hidden vaults that were likely used to store property stolen from the prisoners, but these too were empty. Mariandl sorted through the papers in an administrative office and found cargo manifests for shipments from the prison to someone called “K” in the “Buried Laboratory”, dated right before the revolution began. Eventually the basement hallways turned into unmodified natural caves, some with old-looking Ruhuri art and writing on the walls. This proved to be a huge series of caverns, which Ansgar dutifully mapped as they went. Several tunnels led to disused entrances to the surface, some with the names of ancestors carved into them, indicating that they used to or could be made into entrances to Soryana. Timoun assured the Theans that they couldn’t accidentally wander into the underworld...except sometimes at sea. The caves proved too large to map with their little expedition, possibly extending under the entire island, so the group returned to Kehinde and reported what little they had found. Ansgar turned over copies of his maps and told him they hadn’t found anything dangerous down there, so it was probably safe to send others to explore the rest. Kehinde offered them pack animals and some soldiers as an escort should they investigate the ghouls in the mountains. He led them across the hall to General Taiyewo - incidentally his twin sister - who agreed to find some volunteers to accompany them if they went away and stopped wasting her time.

The expedition set out north for the mountains, with Mariandl directing them toward spots she thought would be good ghoul habitats (a skill which the group chalked up to her Eisen heritage). Soon she found a cave entrance that smelled strongly of rotting flesh. Ansgar agreed to go in first, with his heavy lantern lighting the way, and found that the small entrance was a cover for a much larger chamber with multiple blocked-off passages. Disturbed ghouls came out to fight them, but the disorganized creatures were no match for a band of trained duelists. With the monsters cleared, the group found a large, solid door that had been locked or barred from the inside. Tamara knocked and heard movement from the other side, so Brandt disassembled the lock and what proved to be a poison needle trap with his clockwork tools. Inside were forty more ghouls and four horrible monstrosities stitched into mockeries of angels. Gwen changed into her battle-form, more terrifying than even the corpses, and charged forward, showing no fear.

Note: This was the last session in which Lady Gwen was being played by someone. After this, she reverts back to being a true NPC controlled by the GM. Subsequently, she gets mentioned a lot less often since she doesn’t have nearly as much personal agency.

#7th sea #7th Sea: The New World #actual play #livejournal replacement #game

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archivesdiveronarpg · 7 years

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In fair Verona, our tale begins with CASSIAN KUN HEE, who is TWENTY-EIGHT years old. He is often called CASSIUS by the SPADES and works as their EMISSARY.

It’s like you’re carved out of fucking stone, a collegiate girlfriend had said once, curled on the opposite side of a bench as her tears fell in the January night air in a morse code that would spell out coming years of emotional damage tied to this moment. And indeed, Cassian Kun Hee had had enough experience with marble statues to identify as one: his childhood had been a reverie of white busts and dusty libraries, pristinely-clipped grass, deep red wine and hallways with echoes; and he became the mirror within which all of it cracked and refracted. His father was a dead man in that his choice of passion and career had seen its expiration arrive centuries prior: without Achilles of heroes or monsters of men to fasten ideals upon, the philosophizing of man and his mortality had greatly lost its importance amongst the world. Not quite a phoenix rising amongst the ashes but at least a hawk shaking cinder from its wings, Lucien Kun Hee was a grand thinker that would be identified and immortalized as an even greater philosopher. Though his name was not passed around red carpets or booming theatres, there were several books, lectures, interviews, and even a handful of grainy television specials; there was not an intellectual circle in the world that did not have respect and intrigue for the Korean-American philosopher that had revolutionized modern thinking.

In the way that all children are shaped by their parents, the glass ball that was young Cassian’s life was smudged with the imprints of his forebearers. From his father came the gift of the most lauded minds across the globe: playmates were the stiff-necked sons of academics and the strong-spined daughters of expats and revolutionaries. At the age of nine he sat at a dinner party with Ivy League professors and writers whose own leagues were entirely unquantifiable, so pale and thin he seemed to be quivering. There was no fear, only boredom. He joined the discourse on advanced physicals and moral dilemmas, never once spilled the chestnut bisque on his fine suit. His mother was as formidable a woman as the man she wed; a politically-minded and honest woman that would eventually become New York City’s first female senator, and a nurturing if not strict source in her son’s life. He grew into a teenager with the confident composure of one knows they’re the smartest person in the room - which perhaps wouldn’t have been so damning, if the rooms Cassian was entering weren’t filled with the world’s most brilliant scholars and political leaders. He had a slick quietness borne not of shyness but an arrogant unwillingness to speak when it would be wasted, coming from a mouth too refined to sneer or open when he felt others unworthy (of course, it’s not the lips you must look for on a wolf: it’s the teeth). His distaste was much more subtle, and in that, all the more penetrating - a subtle cant of his head, half-twitch of a smile, sharp dullness in his eyes: the geography of his face was full and terrifying, a reprimand in features for being not quite enough.

But philosophy had no marrow for Cassian, no viscera worth sucking between his teeth - while the mating of his parents had produced a savagely brilliant offspring, it was too much. Even as a child, nothing had ever been enough for him; his brain was never quite occupied enough to allow it to rest in contentedness, and instead it wallowed in apathy, immorality, the wicked desire to know just how much he could get away with. The pursuit of law became the selection for his future, and like all aspects of his life, it had been a thing meticulously dissected and put back together in order to properly identify its bloody advantages beating at its center. More terrifying than a beast is the wolf in repose, as the sight of a monster groomed and calm is all the more horrific when you know its true nature. This was the way Cassian was held in law school, where even amongst notoriously predatory men, he was feared. As he tore through studies with ferocious sufficiency, he posed a threat at once latent and identifiable; through his composure and charm would at times flash through sudden brutality, and that sudden crack in the mask, that slip of cruelness struck like a blow to the ribs, something vicious and unexpected. When it was not abrupt it was lingering, and even those beguiled by Cassian’s handsomeness and drive were left with a feeling of slight uncomfortability, like they knew in some guttural, fairytale part of them that they should be afraid of something in the room, but what escaped them.

Shortly after his graduation, the Kun Hee family was hit with the first blow to their honoured name, and it struck them right at the knees: Cassian’s mother, re-elected to her second term, had been slandered and libelled with allegations of improper solicitation of funds, bribery, and other illicit behaviour that would have seen her expelled or censured. The evidence, though fabricated, had been believable and damning. It was Cassian’s triumph when he became his mother’s champion and systematically disproved all accusations to the court and the public, winning the family (and especially himself) ever-growing favour. -- And it was only natural, of course, that Cassian had been of capable enough mind to free his mother of guilt - when one constructs and anonymously sends in the information to begin with, it becomes all the easier to dismantle it.

A lauded hero of righteousness in America, he traversed to Italy as an attorney shortly after, his shoes polished shining by the hot sighs of all the adulations he had left behind. To most it seemed an unexpected move, but to Cassian it was a strategy long in the making: kingdoms can be taken one by one, but the easiest for taking is the empire already in disarray.

Ajax Delgado: War Dog. What a bloody, mindless thing this boy is. He thinks himself a worthwhile villain, all dressed in the viscera of his enemies as he so often is, but only feral beasts go straight for the jugular - it takes a more refined monster to haunt in other ways. Yet cunning as Cassian is - and as condescendingly as he views Ajax - it’s in his own best interest to keep the vicious man content in order to keep his loyalty. Ajax’s role for him is all the physical enactments that Cassian is too refined to engage in himself: spy, bodyguard, hitman. Their arrangement is well hidden from the Spades (and all of Verona), playing in the shadows they are both so adept in. Call them Verona’s own Hades and Cerebus.

Faron Vasiliev: Boss. Against the hierarchy of nature, Cassian has never been interested in being the alpha -- not on the visible level, at least. Such an obvious position of power leads to obvious danger, and Cassian would prefer to be the neck rather than the head of the operation - that which moves what is apparently in control. Throughout his life he has played at being a carefully removed yet powerful bystander, a leader that those gravitated towards due to inclination rather than force. Cassian’s joining of the Spades had been at his own clever ministrations - the most cunning part of all being that no one would suspect as much, allowing others to believe he’d been recruited - but the longer he spends under Faron’s control, the more manic his frustration becomes. Signing his allegiance with the Spades had been for a bid of general power, but his pride is too great, and his hatred swelling as he must bend the knee for another man. Perhaps he does not want to be the King of Verona, but he can’t stand to see anyone else operate this position either. A revolution is coming, and it hides beneath his pale skin.

Lillian Wen: Fiancée. A painting, hung and framed just above the mantlepiece, shares the fate of the stars: bound to constant admiration, but doomed to forever watch on, never participating. And that’s what Lillian is to Cassian: the most beautiful thing in any room, but with limited use. He read of her return to Verona with rabid interest, and before even having met her planned to make her his wife - a romantic sentiment, if it had been done with an ounce of emotion rather than calculation. Her image (and by extension the furthering of his own) is all he’s ever been after, and he has no care for his fiancée’s evident dislike of him, nor does he have any particular feeling for her. In his ever-present boredom she’s become one of his favourite games, seeing as this is one pawn that has seen more of him than any before her. He teases her often and thinks on the merits of pursuing her into the marital bed to claim his husbandly duties, but it’s nothing more than amusement.

Cassian is portrayed by LEE SOOHYUK. He is currently TAKEN.

#lsrpg #lee soohyuk fc #lsrp #lsbio #mob rp #m #sp #e #c: cassius #t #tm #redo

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tawakkull · 3 years

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ISLAM 101: Spirituality in Islam: Part 114

Istighraq (Immersion)

See, what kind of immersion you have caused me to experience; My eyes see you as if you were the tears which they shed.

Immersion has three degrees:

To describe this state, Jalal al-Din al-Rumi, the most advanced one in intoxication, says:

The place where I am has developed into no-space; his body of mine has wholly become a soul; God’s Sight has manifested Itself to me; and I have seen myself intoxicated with His meeting. (Nasimi)

O God! O One Who guides the astray, guide us to the Right Path, and peace and blessings be on him who is the most honorable of God’s creation, Muhammad, and his family and Companions, who are the rightly guided. Amen, O All-Aiding! [1] Uways al-Qarani (d. 656) is regarded by some as the greatest Muslim saint of the first Islamic century. [2] Muallim Naji (1850-1893). A famous Turkish poet whose views of literature and education has affected many. He defended the classical Turkish poetry. Istilahat-i Adabiya (“The Terms of Literature”) is his most famous work. [3] Al-Bukhari, “Tawhid,” 1; Ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 4:431.

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lifeofresulullah · 4 years

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The Life of The Prophet Muhammad: The Battle of Badr and Afterwards

Munafiqs Appear: Part 1

When the Prophet honored Makkah, there were mainly Muslim Arabs, Polytheistic Arabs and Jewish people there; there were also some Christians but not many.

Meanwhile, another group appeared: A group of munafiqs (hypocrites) that did not believe heartily but seemed to be believers.

This situation offended Abdullah b. Ubay b. Salul, whose dream of being the ruler ended, a lot. When he saw that there were not many people around him, he seemingly became a Muslim.

“You ordered me to believe and I did. You ordered me to pay zakah and I did. There is nothing but to prostrate before Muhammad now.”

The following event also shows clearly how grieved and sad Abdullah b. Ubay was due to losing the hope of becoming the ruler:

Although the social levels, lifestyles and races of munafiqs were different, they all had the same attributes: Their first attribute was “saying with their lips what was not in their hearts.” (8) That is, they seemed to be believers although they did not believe heartily. They talked to Muslims, traveled with them by seeming to be Muslims and asked them questions that would make them doubt. Thus, they wanted to weaken the trust of Muslims about one another, to drive a wedge among them and to set them against one another.

Abdullah b. Ubay responded as follows:

“No! I swear by Allah, who sent you the book, that I did not utter any of those words. Zayd is definitely a liar!”

The Quran points out to those attitudes of the munafiqs as follows:

Hazrat Ali could not put with this hypocrisy and said “Abdullah! Fear Allah, do not be a hypocrite because the munafiqs are the most evil creatures of Allah.”

Thereupon, Ibn Ubay said, “O Abul Hasan! Do you say this about me? By Allah, our belief is like your belief; our confirmation is like your confirmation” and left them.

Then, Abdullah b. Ubay turned to his friends and said, “Have you seen what I did? Do as I did when you see them!”

According to a narration, the 14th verse of the chapter al-Baqara was sent down after this event.

The Prophet knew them because God Almighty informed him about them; and then he informed some Companions about them. However, he did not reveal their names publicly. He did not taunt them.

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quranreadalong · 6 years

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#52, Surah 7

THE QURAN READ-ALONG: DAY 52

It’s time for some more Moses, and this time a lot of it is copied and pasted from the second surah, with the same Jews Suck commentary. Try to contain your excitement.

When we left our Hebrew Heroes, we had just finished the Ten Commandments/Idol Calf incident. There is still some tension in HebrewLand as our story resumes in 7:159. Some of Moses’ people are fine, and Allah divides them into twelve tribes and Moses does the twelve springs from a rock thing that we saw in surah 2 already. Mohammed seems to have conflated two separate incidents here, one the water-from-a-rock miracle and two the twelve regular, non-miraculous springs. But anyway, Allah lets the Jews stay in a town to rest up if they say a prayer, again as we’ve already seen. Sure, neutral. But then the dastardly Jews have to spit in Allah’s face by...! By...?

But those of them who did wrong changed the word which had been told them for another saying, and We sent down upon them wrath from heaven for their wrongdoing.

By... uh, saying the prayer wrong (involving wordplay shenanigans, apparently).

they were commanded to say “hittah” [there is no deity except Allah; or as in the other meaning: forgive our sins] but instead said “hintah” [wheat]

That’s just one explanation for what’s going on here; others have them saying “hibba” (seed) or something else. All the stories come down to the same theme, though, which is that the Jews made a game of it instead of praising Allah. So he smote them. Bad. Always recite your prayers properly, kids! I can’t find this in any Jewish or Christian sources, so idk if it’s from a lost text or if Mohammed made it up himself. It very well might be the latter, since he did accuse (Arab) Jews of wordplay games more than once.

Then Allah pulls some more bullshit, reminiscent of the whole sending furry animals to people on pilgrimage in Mecca thing. This starts in 7:163 and is the backstory of the “Jews turned into apes/pigs” thing that we’ve seen many times thus far. It is even dumber than you are imagining. (This whole part seems to assume that Jews are listening to him talk, which has prompted some scholars to say these verses came from the Medina days, and they were just stuck here because they naturally followed the other Wrongdoing Jewz story.)

While the Jews are in the seaside town, Allah sends fish right to the top of the water on the Sabbath day, when they can’t fish. Then on the other days, when they can fish, he takes the fish away.

Ask them (O Muhammad) of the township that was by the sea, how they did break the Sabbath, how their big fish came unto them visibly upon their Sabbath day and on a day when they did not keep Sabbath came they not unto them. Thus did We try them for that they were evil-livers.

Lo! Starvation is indeed a trial from your Lord. Stop being a bad dick, Allah. (Again, this is not in any Jewish sources I can find. It may have been some tradition lost to history, or something Mohammed pulled out of his ass.)

The Jews, tired of Allah’s weird-ass mind games, fish on the Sabbath. They are warned by the more pious Jews that Allah will now destroy them. A third group of Jews asks the pious ones what the point of this is, exactly: “Why preach ye to a folk whom Allah is about to destroy or punish with an awful doom”?

The answer was “to make ourselves feel less guilty bout the ass whoopin they bout to get LOL”, apparently. Is this... neutral? I have no idea. But 7:165 is bad and concludes this little vignette:

We rescued those who forbade wrong, and visited those who did wrong with dreadful punishment because they were evil-livers. So when they took pride in that which they had been forbidden, We said unto them: Be ye apes despised and loathed!

The Sabbath-breaking Jews are turned into apes. Again, this is meant literally. What happened to the poor things is a matter of debate; some tafsir authors say they lived for three days, unable to eat or drink, before perishing. Jesus. Others say they survived and had kids, so modern-day Jews are descended from animals. Pretty fucking terrible either way!

Then we get the following curious ayah, which is also bad but hmm-esque:

And (remember) when thy Lord proclaimed that He would raise against them till the Day of Resurrection those who would lay on them a cruel torment. Lo! verily thy Lord is swift in prosecution and lo! verily He is Forgiving, Merciful.

Allah will send people to torment the Jews forever because some Hebrews fished on a Saturday. Lo! How forgiving of him. Hey, if this part is from the Medina days, I wonder if Mohammed considered himself one such tormentor. (His followers did.)

Moving on! In 7:168, Allah talks about how he scattered the twelve tribes of Israel, some of which were good and some of which are not, and “tried them with good things and evil things that haply they might return” to the true religion (Islam). But they didn’t; in fact, the descendants of the scattered Jews were mostly greedy and bad people, though there were some good ones who kept to the Torah.

All that besides the last one is bad. I will do a very long post about this topic in surah nine, but please remember for now that after leaving Mecca, Mohammed was genuinely shocked by the Jews of Medina refusing to convert to Islam. Cannot imagine why they weren’t impressed by his revelations!

Back to the Biblical stories. Allah picks up a mountain and sticks it over the heads of the Jews. They are understandably terrified of being crushed to death, but Allah is just doing it to demonstrate a point and doesn’t actually kill them so it’s neutral I guess. That Allah, such a joker.

Then we have this in 7:172:

And (remember) when thy Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their reins, their seed, and made them testify of themselves, (saying): Am I not your Lord? They said: Yea, verily. We testify. (That was) lest ye should say at the Day of Resurrection: Lo! of this we were unaware

Mohammed elaborated upon this in a hadith:

Allah created Adam, then passed His right hand over his back, and brought forth from it his offspring, saying: I have these for Paradise and these will do the deeds of those who go to Paradise. He then passed His hand over his back and brought forth from it his offspring, saying: I have created these for Hell, and they will do the deeds of those who go to Hell. ... When Allah creates a servant for Paradise, He employs him in doing the deeds of those who will go to Paradise, so that his final action before death is one of the deeds of those who go to Paradise, for which He will bring him into Paradise. But when He creates a servant for Hell, He employs him in doing the deeds of those who will go to Hell, so that his final action before death is one of the deeds of those who go to Hell, for which He will bring him into Hell.

So Allah dragged people out of Adam, decided their fates, and made them declare him god. But who, exactly, is Allah forcing to declare him their god? Adam and Eve’s kids... before they were born? All human beings to ever exist, briefly granted form/consciousness solely for this reason before being put back in the Soul Box in the sky? The latter interpretation is the most common one, believe it or not. Mainstream Islamic thought teaches that all people declared their belief in Allah and Islam at this point, so everyone is already Muslim the second they’re born, which is why converts to Islam are called “reverts”. Yeah.......

I’ll say it’s neutral just due to the vagueness of it all, but from a legal point of view, “you said you believed in the right religion when you didn’t even exist yet, so you have no excuse to be a disbeliever, even if you were just following your ancestors’ religions!” does not seem like a strong argument. There are also serious free will issues in that hadith, but o well...

The next ayah is similarly mysterious and no one knows who Mohammed was talking about. Take your pick of any of the people mentioned in that tafsir. But the most common version is that Allah gave a non-Jewish guy in Moses’ time named Balaam some prophetic knowledge, but he was a disbeliever anyway. The Quran doesn’t actually mention this Balaam individual, but the “histories” say he cursed Moses and the Hebrews, so Allah made his tongue fall out. This ayah gets a bad label due to the last two sentences:

Therefore his likeness is as the likeness of a dog: if thou attackest him he panteth with his tongue out, and if thou leavest him he panteth with his tongue out. Such is the likeness of the people who deny Our revelations. Evil as an example are the folk who denied Our revelations, and were wont to wrong themselves.

That isn’t a Biblical story, by the way, and al-Tabari offers several different versions of Balaam’s fate. All end with his tongue falling out, though.

We end the day with some oldies but bad goodies: Allah leads people astray and created disbelieving people (who are like cows...?) so they could go to hell. Hey, there’s our first kuffar hell counter (1) entry in a long-ass while! Also, don’t sit near people who are blaspheming. Allah will deal with them later. I’ll put that one as neutral just to be nice.

Lots of weird stories this section, but we’re almost done.

NEXT TIME: Surah seven ends, praise Allah.

The Quran Read-Along: Day 52

Ayat: 22

Good: 0

Neutral: 11 (7:159-61, 7:164, 7:170-75, 7:180)

Bad: 11 (7:162-63, 7:165-69, 7:176-79)

Kuffar hell counter: 1 (7:178-79)

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#quranreadalong #surah 7 #al araf

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