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thesylleblossom · 5 months

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Echoes: Eijiro Kirishima x Reader

Summary: Sure, you may have dreamt of being a world famous hero duo with your childhood best friend Eijiro Kirishima, but those dreams are long gone. Now, you're settled into your life as a lowly office worker - not exactly glamourous, but not dangerous, either. At least, it wasn't, until a villain attack brings Kirishima back into your life. It's not enough to have to deal with decades long suppressed emotions, but the villains don't seem to want to leave you alone...

Tags/Warnings: Aged up, pro-hero AU, fem AFAB reader, neglectful parents, eventual smut (minors and ageless blogs please DNI).

Read on AO3

You could hear the explosions in the distance, but they were nothing compared to the roar of excitement that bloomed throughout the tiny cafe. Within moments of the first detonation, your routine coffee and pastry-of-the-day were the only things grounding you amongst the commotion. The trio of teenage girls you saw every morning were running to the coffee bar, demanding the barista put on the news - though if it was out of fear of being involved in the attack or the excitement of potential heroes, you weren’t entirely sure. Several other regulars nodded in agreement, and you briefly wondered whether you were better served staying in one place or risking the run back to your apartment. You clutched the warm white mug in front of you and inhaled. You stayed where you were - surely that would mean less of a chance of seeing him.

The girls squealed, grabbing your attention, and your stomach sunk. Though they drowned out any chance of hearing what the newscaster had to say, he looked entirely too cheerful in front of video footage of the battle between the villain and three heroes. Dynamight shot through the air like a bullet, his own explosions causing a smoke screen that hid the villain from view, but Chargebolt and Red Riot were visible supporting him from the ground. Debris fell from a nearby building, and the entire cafe watched in horror as it nearly took out Chargebolt, but Red Riot was there in an instant, hardening his body to act as a shield for his ally. What should have been boulders splintered against Red Riot’s quirk and shattered into pebbles, falling harmlessly around the two of them.

Pride swelled in your chest though you fought to squash it back down. He had become such a worthy and loved hero since you’d last seen him, and you had become… well, nothing of note, if you were being honest with yourself.. You had both held lofty dreams of becoming a famous heroic duo in your youth, and while he was actually making it happen - with Dynamight instead of you - you were slowly boring yourself to death in accounts payable for an overseas oil company who couldn’t even be bothered to give you recognition for a task you’d completed, let alone help with your goals for fame and fortune.

Another explosion boomed outside, closer this time.

Shit, no, go the other way, you silently pleaded. Still they came closer, and fear spiked in your gut.

If you were going to leave, you needed to do it now.

As you stood to make a break for it, the glass windows around you shattered, screams sounding from the girls behind you. A man stood outside, a smirk on his face the only thing visible under the cliche black ski mask as he stared intently at you, and you realized in horror that you were the closest person to him in the cafe.

“Hello, beautiful,” he sneered as he stepped through the window panes toward you. Glass crunched under your feet as you realized you had instinctively taken a step backwards, and you braced yourself to run, feet spinning beneath you, but he was too quick. His hand gripped your forearm in a crushing hold, pulling you backwards, and you fell onto your bottom hard on the ground. Pain seared through your other hand as glass shards cut through the skin. “Gotcha,” he sneered, his breath hot on the back of your neck. Goosebumps broke out across your skin, and you struggled to break free from his hold.

“Let her go,” a deep voice said from behind you, and you felt your body spinning before what was happening registered in your brain. Within moments, you were face to face with your past.

“Y/N,” Eijiro said quietly. He stared wide-eyed at you, and for a moment you forgot the predicament you were in. Your mouth gaped open, wanting to say something but unable to find the words.

“Oh, goodie. You know her? Glad I picked the right hostage.” You could hear the smile in the man’s voice behind you, and the villain pulled you backwards into his body, securing his arm around your throat. “Walk away, hero, or she gets it.”

You felt a blade slide lightly across your skin, though you hadn’t noticed any weapon with him. His quirk, you assumed.

Eijiro seemed to snap back from his shock, and raised his arms as if in surrender.

“Not very manly to take a hostage,” he goaded the villain, “Are you not strong enough to fight me on your own without some collateral?”

The blade against your throat pressed in slightly. Not enough to cut, but just enough to know Eijiro had hit a nerve.

“I’m not stupid. I’m not letting her go.”

The villain took a step backwards, dragging you with him. Eijiro moved one foot forward, and as if on instinct the villain moved the blade from you and aimed it towards the hero.

Eijiro lunged forward, one arm braced and ready to pin the villain’s blade-covered arm to the ground and away from you. With his other hand, he pulled you away from the man and shoved you behind himself, before throwing the man to the floor and pinning him there with a knee in the back.

Footsteps sounded behind you, and you feared that the villain may have had backup, but instead Chargebolt’s grinning face pulled up in front of you.

“Are you hurt at all?” He asked you, and your breath left your body as he aimed that megawatt smile in your direction.

You shook your head. “No, no, I’m okay.”

“Good. Stay back, an ambulance is on the way to take a look at you just to be on the safe side.”

While Chargebolt had had you momentarily distracted, Eijiro had managed to completely subdue the villain, and now held his hands firmly behind his back. For a moment it looked like he was holding the man up by his arms with one hand, but surely he wasn’t that strong, right? His quirk was hardening, not super strength… and he surely couldn’t be that strong on his own, could he?

You didn’t even realize you were staring until he glanced over at you and smiled. You had thought Chargebolt was handsome, but the moment Eijiro showed you that sharp grin you’d loved so many years ago, your heart soared… before it plummeted to the pits of your stomach. Your chest constricted, a painful squeeze that brought tears to your eyes.

Eijiro’s smile fell quickly, which seemed to tip off Chargebolt. One moment you’d been staring at your old friend, the next the blond was in your face, examining you for injuries.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?’ He asked, but you couldn’t muster up the words to explain.

“What did he do?” He asked gently.

Eijiro looked between you and the villain still struggling in his grip.

“Charge, take him, I’ve got this,” he said, and Chargebolt looked between the two of you, confused, for a moment, before nodding and trading you for the villain.. You watched just long enough to see Chargebolt lead the villain towards the front door before Eijiro was in your face, his brows knit together as he studied you.

You shook your head. “Nothing,” you managed to say.

Unsatisfied, he brushed a stray hair out of your face and tucked it behind your ear, then seemed to realize what he had done after the fact. A blush crept across his cheeks, and he quickly pulled his hand away from you, instead rubbing at the back of his neck awkwardly.

“I - uh,” he started, looking everywhere except your eyes.

You shook your head. There was no reason he needed to continue this conversation, he did his job and could now move on. Both of you could move on.

“Thank you,” you said, mustering the coldest tone you could manage. An attempt to end this incredibly awkward encounter so you could go back to your life without Kirishima Eijiro.

“No problem,” he grinned. The blush on his cheeks seemed to redden. “Would you uh, want to get a coffee sometime?” He asked sheepishly. “For old time’s sake.”

You shook your head. “It’s just really bad timing, work and everything.” You were a terrible liar, and you both knew it. His eyes shot downward, his brows scrunched as the hurt flashed across his face, and your own heart jolted in sympathy. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no, I understand,” he smiled, though it failed to reach his eyes. “Maybe next time.”

“Yeah, next time.”

You stared awkwardly at each other for a moment, before he allowed himself to be pulled away by the gaggle of teenagers from before, who were all too excited to see the big strong heroes in person. You noticed Chargebolt had been similarly swarmed by your fellow civilians, though the few stragglers who had been around him had left in favour of running towards Dynamight who was marching angrily towards the scene.

“Back off,” he shouted, brushing past the few people who had managed to reach him, and instead stomped towards Eijiro, who greeted him entirely too warmly for someone with the kind of scowl the blond was sporting.

You didn't have to pretend to ignore them for long, as you turned around to see two paramedics rushing towards you. They examined you and asked the same questions over and over again, and by the time you had assured them that you were unharmed - physically, at least - the heroes were already gone.

You tossed and turned in bed that night, stealing moments of unrestful sleep where you dreamt of being stuck inside of a burning building. You couldn't remember how it ended, even after waking up the third time that night from the nightmare, but a flash of bright red tugged at the corners of your memory.

You didn't have to guess to know who had come to your rescue.

By five AM, you'd given up on sleep entirely and instead got up to get ready for the day. The benefits of working for an overseas company meant you didn’t actually have to go into an office, and because of the time difference, it didn’t really matter when you did your work. At least, most of the time - meetings were generally held at two AM your time, and unfortunately management had decided that a town hall meeting was required at least once a week, which meant your sleep schedule was completely messed up, and it didn’t help that while most of the in office staff handled the phone calls, you occasionally did have to wake up at ungodly hours for a call to follow up on a cheque.

You turned on your laptop and checked your work calendar - town hall was tonight, which meant this was going to be an extra long day. You groaned as you pulled on a hoodie that was draped across the back of your chair and started your daily tasks. Maybe if you finished them early you could sneak in a nap before you inhaled caffeine like your livelihood depended on it, because it kind of did.

An instant message chat box flashed in the corner of your screen, alerting you to a new message from Helaina, your boss and best work friend, if only because she was one of the few people in the company you actually spoke to.

From Helaina:

Well hello to our very own international woman of mystery, her message said, complete with a winking emoji.

From Y/N:

Woman of mystery?

In lieu of a written response, she sent you a link to a news article. Splashed across the front page was a picture of you and Eijiro, his hand on your cheek. Big block letters at the top read out Japanese Heartthrob Hero Red Riot Spotted with a Mystery Woman. Your heart sunk - you were only pictured in profile, but enough of your face was visible to clearly tell it was you. You skimmed the article quickly, words like “caress” and “tenderness” sticking out like sore thumbs and causing your blood pressure to skyrocket.

From Y/N:

Not enough news back home, they’ve got to dig up stories from Japan for clickbait?

From Helaina:

Emphasis on Heartthrob. He’s gorgeous, and we like to look. And it looks like you have some explaining to do.

She was never going to believe you.

From Y/N:

There was a villain attack. He rescued me. He was just checking me out for injuries, you know, like a hero is supposed to do. Nothing newsworthy, I promise.

Three little dots appeared and disappeared a few times before her reply came through. You knew her well enough to know she didn’t believe you, and was just trying to decide if she would call you out on your lie or not.

From Helaina:

Ooh I bet he was checking you out.

From Y/N: I would block you if I could.

From Helaina:But you can’t. If you ever need to be rescued again, I want details.

With that, she left you alone, though the sinking feeling in your gut told you this would not be the end. Not by a long shot.

Your fears were quickly confirmed. By the end of your workday, you'd received texts from almost everyone you knew, and some you didn't. Someone had seen the photograph on a news site and commented that they thought it was you - and gods help you, when you found out who Keroberos13 was, there would be hell to pay. You had seventeen unread messages from newspapers and TV stations asking for interviews, and you were thankful you had already set your social media to private, because the number of message requests were insane, you could only imagine if more than just a "send message" button was visible.

You were painfully aware however that you happen to be looking off to the side in your profile picture, turning your face in the exact same angle as the image of you with Eijiro. It was painfully obvious it was you, it would be next to impossible to deny it now.

You dropped your head into your hands, and rubbed aggressively at your forehead, trying to will the budding headache away. You had long since given up your dreams of fame and fortune, and instead settled into your quiet life. While you may have basked in the attention a few years ago, you were dreading even leaving your house now.

Your phone buzzed on the table in front of you, another unknown number on the screen. You briefly considered dropping your phone in the toilet. You watched it ring, the people pleasing part of you not wanting to let them know you were ignoring the call by sending it prematurely to voicemail. The voicemail that you already knew was full of what you imagined were more messages asking for an interview from Red Riot's newest rumoured love interest. You scoffed to yourself at the idea. Why couldn't it have been Chargebolt or Dynamight who had rescued you? Chargebolt was such a ladies man that no one would have batted an eye at another supposed paramour, and Dynamight was such a private recluse with an attitude that scared any loose tongues away. But Eijiro... everyone loved him. Everyone loved to talk about him. He wasn't the most famous of the heroes - though he wasn't far off, sitting pretty at number 6 in the hero charts, and he was easily known as the sweetest of the top ten. He had had his fair share of rumoured romances, but he'd always brushed them off. You however, were not used to the attention.

A muscle ticked in your eyelid. This was not what you had had in mind when you and Eijiro made your plans to be a famous duo as kids. You didn't even want the fame and fortune anymore. You just wanted to live your life in peace and quiet, even if you weren't entirely happy with how it was playing out lately.

You wished you had more supports to lean on. After your parents left, Eijiro and his moms became your family, at least they had until you'd had to leave. Your aunt who had taken over custody of you lived in North America, and you'd had to leave everything you knew behind to start over there. You hated your parents for leaving. You hated your aunt for taking you away. You hated -

You were getting away from yourself again. You unfurled your fists and stretched the tension out of your fingers, shaking the energy out of your limbs. The only part of your past that mattered right now was the part that brought you into this predicament: your old friendship with Eijiro. If you hadn't known him as kids, he never would have had that reaction to you, and you could be living your daily life as you usually did. Equally miserable, but for different reasons. Instead, you were stuck in a rumour mill with your face plastered all over the world apparently. You wouldn’t have had any idea of how to get out of this situation on a good day, but when it had happened so quickly? You felt like your whole world was spinning.

Your phone buzzed again - the same number was calling. You let it go to voicemail again, but the same number dialed back immediately after. You grabbed your phone, anxiety and irritation coiling in your belly.

“What?” you asked when you answered, your tone a bit more harsh than you’d intended.

“It’s me,” Eijiro’s voice came through, “I’m sorry, I figured you might be screening your calls but your voicemail is full.”

“Yeah, I know,” you admitted. You could feel your cheeks heating at your embarrassment - you wouldn’t have barked your pathetic excuse for a greeting at him when you’d answered if you knew it was him.

“Sorry,” you said sheepishly.

“No need. Look, at the cafe, someone saw us together and they’ve already figured out who you are, I’m sorry. They think you’re my -” He stopped himself short, as if he didn’t quite know how to say what people thought you were to him.

“I know,” you said, saving him from having to say it out loud. “I’ve had a few people asking already.”

“Eijiro, it’s fine. You were saving me, that’s all. Making sure I was okay. You were just doing your job, regardless of who I am.”

You could hear papers shuffling on his end, and he cleared his throat. “Look, I’m really sorry. I was just excited to see you again, I wasn’t thinking about the effect it would have.”

“Yeah but -”

“No buts. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

He huffed out a laugh, and you couldn’t help but smile. “I know, but it’s my fault you’re being bombarded enough that you need to screen your calls.”

You couldn’t argue with that, so you stayed silent.

“My agency has a publicist, she can put out a statement, but she wants to get your okay with any information we release. Can you come down to the agency this afternoon, and we’ll figure out what to say?”

“I uh, I thought of that too. Rin says we’ll include that in the statement too, if we have to. She says we can tell people it was related to follow up from the attack. That we needed some information from you or something like that.”

Anxiety bubbled inside of you. “What if someone sees me there?” You ask before you even realize you’ve spoken.

You had a sneaking suspicion there would be no getting out of this. Better to get it over with, you thought. The sooner they released a statement that cleared you of any ties to the hero, the better.

“Yeah, I can be there.”

“Great, I’ll text you the address.”

“Thanks. And Eijiro, just out of curiosity, how did you get my number?”

#kirishima x reader #bnha x reader #thesyllewrites #kirishima eijiro x reader

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athenawasamerf · 2 years

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This is so fringe for tumblr but it’s also completely hilarious so I’m gonna share with the group.

Background: Basically how marriage works in islam (and therefore in Islamic/Muslim majority countries) is that the groom and his family pay for everything, the house, the furnishings, the wedding, even the bride’s clothes. As in, pjs and underwear and outfits for different seasons, as well as giving the bride a monetary gift (Mahr). This is all well and good, but unrealistic for impoverished North African countries. So what Egyptians do instead is that these costs are split between the bride and groom (and their families). The groom acquires an apartment, and depending on which area of Egypt they’re in there’s a cultural knowledge of what furnishings fall to the groom vs the bride. Mostly things like actual furniture and the bulk of electronic items falls to the groom, while things like curtains and carpets and bedspreads and towels and cutlery falls to the bride, along with a few electronics like TVs, microwaves and, recently, dishwashers. The details are hashed out privately.

Now, the house is in the groom’s name and men started doing this thing where they divorce women and take all the shit the women had bought for the house. Which is like, a lot. To keep our rights protected, because lord knows the state won’t do shit to protect us, women started doing this thing where they write extremely detailed lists of all the things they bought for the marital home and how much it costs. A couple of witnesses and the groom would then sign this ‘list of purchases’ as proof that it’s debt payable to the bride in case of divorce (or death, if the late husband’s family tries to defraud her out of her things during the handling of the inheritance). Men, of course, have been opposed to this concept for decades and have launched multiple campaigns against it, the last of which went viral just a few days ago.

Egyptian women, fed up with the bs we’ve been taking from the least useful men on earth, kinda just went… okay then, buy everything your own damn selves, and started a social media campaign of memes about men rushing to stores for bargains on pots and pans, and arguing with their mothers about the number of towels they need to get to ‘not be seen as lesser than my cousin’. It’s very much an inversion of the humiliating bullshit women go through to get married in this country, but nothing on earth will be funnier to me than Egyptian men going ‘we wont sign lists of purchase anymore’ and this new generation of Egyptian women going ‘okay then we ain’t buying shit. Have fun arguing with the seamstress about the price of fabric per meter for living room curtains.’

PS: men came back with ‘we’ll do the absolute bare minimum of furnishings and you’ll have to just accept that and live with it’ in hopes of deterring women from not sharing in marriage costs, and women were just like ‘no, actually, Islam says marriage is for he who can afford it, if you cant afford it just fast like islam tells you to :)))))’

Men: ‘you’ll all become spinsters’

Women: ‘we’ll just start marrying foreign men’

Egyptian social media has been hilarious the last few days and i wish y’all spoke Arabic so i could share it with you

#the best part is how many men were just. shocked to hell #insert shook pikachu meme #like yes we are fed up after decades of dehumanisation #many Egyptian women are now opting to live single and adopt baby girls #so its this double whammy of we wont marry you and we cant adopt boys bc its haram to live with them after puberty so well adopt girls #and just be single #10/10 queen behaviour all around

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nu-metal-tournament-completed · 1 year

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#nu metal #nu metal tournament #p.o.d.#payable on death #limp bizkit #round 2 #group 2

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crushcandles · 4 days

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rec: there will come soft rains by ray bradbury

I love stories about afters. After the breakup, after death, after everything. This is an after everything story, about the futility of endurance and service. The deftness with which it tells years of a story through one day in the life of a house is stunning. After everything, the house tries, and fails, to keep on living. It's a wonderful way to explore what might happen after we're gone.

"Today is August 4, 2026," said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, "in the city of Allendale, California." It repeated the date three times for memory's sake. "Today is Mr. Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills." Somewhere in the walls, relays clicked, memory tapes glided under electric eyes.

#crushcandles' weekly post

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uptoolateart · 10 months

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When your day job merges with your obsession....

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Dear Gabriel

Overview / Inheritance and Succession Planning

Further to our recent meeting at the mansion, you were referred to me for advice in relation to setting up a suitable plan for passing on your inheritance as well as ensuring that your son Adrien (14) is looked after, following your death, where you have confirmed that you only have a few weeks left to live.

You confirmed that you have tried all forms of medical intervention, even time travel. However, this only worsened your condition.

I want to thank you for taking me into your confidence, as your circumstances are highly delicate. This letter will now summarise the key points of our discussion.

Background

You are 45 and widowed, your only child being Adrien. You work as a fashion designer and head the internationally successful Gabriel brand, in addition to your recent business ventures with Tomoe Tsurugi, including the smart ring / personal assistant device Alliance.

Your main residence is fully unencumbered and valued at c €40m, while your net worth is estimated at around €11 bn.

You have few liabilities, aside from business costs, although you noted that you recently spent €100m constructing sensory deprivation rooms in London for Adrien and Tomoe’s daughter Kagami, to ‘keep them out of harm’s way’ as you initiate your final business enterprise.

We agreed it was ‘not worth your time’ to undertake a full income and expenditure analysis. Suffice to say, you generate substantial surplus income each and every month to fund your lifestyle.

You are in the process of drafting a new will, leaving a portion to Tomoe, nominal amounts to your staff including Adrien’s bodyguard, and the remaining estate to Adrien.

As Adrien is a minor, his inheritance will be placed into trust until he attains age 18. Previously, you willed guardianship of Adrien to your assistant, Nathalie Sancoeur. However, due to personal differences, as well as her own failing health, you will now determine a new guardian, potentially your sister-in-law Amelie, who resides in London, although you are not on good terms and you are concerned that your nephew Felix is a ‘bad influence’.

You will also nominate someone to take over the Gabriel brand, as Adrien has expressed that he does not wish to continue in the fashion industry, having resigned as a model.

On a more personal note, you play piano, you are a keen fencer, and you recently took up cooking – thank you for the pancakes! You also enjoy the occasional game of golf.

Objectives

These are all very short-term, due to your unfortunate terminal illness:

Obtain the ladybug and cat miraculous

Bring your wife Emilie back from the dead

Ensure Adrien is looked after

Ensure Adrien marries the girl you have selected for him – namely, Kagami

Remove Marinette Dupain-Cheng from Adrien’s life ‘permanently’

Minimise the level of inheritance tax that will be payable by Adrien upon your passing, wherever possible

Arrange life cover for Adrien, to ensure the estate is not lost should someone wish to ‘make him disappear’

Ensure the miracle box and associated kwamis are passed on to a new guardian, after your passing – potentially to Adrien, although this would involve a difficult conversation with him, to spare him learning your secrets posthumously

Protect your secret identity as Hawk Moth / Shadow Moth / Monarch after your passing – this will entail some costs, as you will need to dismantle the missile security system in ‘the dome’ and seal off the underground lair in the secret basement

Should you not succeed in reviving Emilie, you will need to relocate her body, to ensure she can remain in suspended animation – you also wish to ensure that your mission for revival is picked up by a successor, namely Tomoe

Ensure the security of the ring that controls Adrien

Totally random - Keep reading at Ao3

#ml fanfic #ml fic #ml gabriel #Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting #ml adrien #adrien agreste #ml kagami #ml felix #ml representation #crack fic #crack treated seriously

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mortgagelead-blog · 1 year

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7 Funeral Planning Tips Anyone Can Use

Funeral Planning is not something anyone would look forward to. Nevertheless, you will have to deal with this, at some point in your life since death is inevitable.

By planning your own funeral, you will only be making it easier for your family members to handle things when you are gone. If you don’t want to add to their financial stress, you can even buy a final expense plan. There are many insurance companies that sell such plans. You can get in touch with them through final expense leads.

Here are a few things that can help you plan your funeral, while you are still alive:

Understand the Process

Every funeral service involves four aspects – visitation, a funeral ceremony, a committal service, and the funeral reception.

For the visitation, the corpse will have to be prepared and kept in a casket, so that the guests can pay their respects.

The funeral ceremony could be held at a church, graveyard side, or a funeral home. This service will involve some music, singing of hymns, saying a eulogy prayer, and even some reading of religious or literary passages.

If the family plans a committal service they may want to take the corpse to the cemetery, in a vehicle procession, for burial or cremation.

The funeral reception refers to a post-service gathering where people gather to share some memories of the deceased, and support the grieving family.

Now that you know the entire process, you can make your own funeral planning checklist and make some decisions as to how you want your family to bid the final farewell to you.

Make Plans in Advance

Most funeral homes today sell funeral packages, promising better rates if you buy them in advance. You can plan which package you want to buy; but make sure you don’t pay anything in advance.

There is no saying how the situation might change after you pay for your funeral and till your death date. You may be at a far-off place at the time of your death. In such a case there may not be any option to transfer your prepaid funeral plan to another funeral home. Also, in case the funeral home you paid for, closes down before your death, there is no chance of your family getting that money back. Your money would be safer in a bank and might even collect some interest.

You can always save some money in a payable-on-death account, which can be used for your funeral. This way you won’t have to worry even if the funeral package cost goes up at the time of your death. All that you need to do is designate your beneficiary, who will be receiving the amount after your death. There is no minimum amount stipulation for a POD account. At any point of time, you can change your beneficiary or even close your POD account while you are alive.

Alternatively, you can purchase a final expense plan. This would be similar to a whole life insurance plan; but a less expensive one as the death benefit is lower. Also known as burial or funeral insurance, a final expense plan can be bought by anyone who is 50 or older. Apart from your funeral costs, the final expense plan proceeds can be used to cover your medical bills (if any) or pay back the debts you leave behind.

Keep Track of Funeral Costs

In order to save money for your funeral, it becomes important to estimate the average funeral costs. Funeral costs include a lot of things such as:

· Funeral home rental fees

· Viewing charges or funeral service fees

· Transportation charges

· Burial expenses

· Cemetery Fees

· Embalming costs

· Cremation costs

· Miscellaneous expenses like flowers, music, etc.

The cremation costs may vary from state to state. You can make an itemized list of these funeral costs and calculate the amount of money needed for your funeral.

Select the Best Funeral Home

There might be many funeral homes to choose from, when planning a funeral service. Check out a few of these before you make your selection. Get quotes and compare them. Some may not reveal the prices right away; but you can insist.

Choose your Funeral Package

See if the funeral homes you visit offer any packages. Find out what all are included in them. If you don’t need some of these items that come with the standard package, you can ask for a customized package. Make sure you know the prices of each and every item that they provide.

For instance, you may not want to buy a casket from the funeral home if it is too expensive. Or you may find it cheaper to buy flowers from your local florist than get them from the funeral home. Find out more ways like this to save money and reduce the burden on your family members.

Join a Memorial Society

Memorial Societies are nonprofit organizations that provide the necessary guidance to plan a funeral. They also have price surveys of various funeral homes situated in the area. If you become a member of one of these, you can even get some discount at your local funeral home. You may have to pay a one-time membership fee; but it will be a nominal amount.

Discuss and Document Your Funeral Plan

Have a discussion with your family members on what type of funeral you may want to have. You may want to write these things down, in case they forget. They may not be able to follow all your instructions to the T; but they will get a fair idea of the kind of funeral you would want. And even if they do miss out on a few things here or there, you sure won’t mind as you won’t be there in person, to monitor them.

The Conclusion

Preplanning your funeral is not something that might excite you. However, it is one thing you do to reduce the financial burden on your family members after you pass away. A clearly documented funeral plan will give them the exact guidelines they need to follow, to bid you the final farewell as per your wish.

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greatwyrmgold · 1 year

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Seeing as how like, Katana Man’s grandfather was basically Denji’s boss, I honestly think a rather interesting au would be if he actually knew Denji as a Teenager when Denji first got the debt laid on him and gradually started warming up to him, seeing him as a younger brother or something despite what his grandfather is doing, and things drastically take a turn during the Zombie Devil thing. Idk, this idea just came to me, it’s probably not a good one but I figured I’d share.

Not sure why you wanted to share it on my blog, but yeah, that does sound like a cool AU idea!

It's a shame that we don't know what he was like before his grandfather's death. But that just means the writer has lots of freedom in plotting the hypothetical fanfic. And it's not like we know nothing about pre-Katana-Devil Katana Man.

(It would be nice if we knew his name...I'll call him Ken, which means "sword" in Japanese, and also sounds like an amusingly Western name for such a yakuza's yakuza.)

Ken isn't just any yakuza goon, and he's not just the oyabun's* grandson. He's internalized the yakuza's ideology and accepted its violence, to the point that he idolizes his grandpa for only killing a few women and children. Not for limiting violence in general, or even a consistent code against killing the "innocent," but just not killing them as much as he could have.

*We don't actually know the old man's rank, but it felt weird just calling him a yakuza boss. It would be like calling Vito Corleone a Mafia kuromaku. Or at least it feels that way.

Ken also has a strong sense of right and wrong. He knows that killing is wrong, even if he accepts the yakuza's justifications for it; he feels this so strongly that he feels guilt over killing zombies. If Chainsaw Man was instead Katana Man, Ken (or whatever his actual name is) might have a character arc where his guilt over killing people lead to him questioning some of his other principles. His blind trust in authority, for instance, which fits well with a certain devil (whose involvement is a big spoiler for anime-onlies, let's not name it).

But at the same time, Ken probably inherited a certain privileged mindset. He doesn't get much of a chance to talk about his beliefs, but it's hard to see him tell off Denji for killing his grandpa in self-defense and not conclude that Ken thinks some lives are more valuable than others.

Beyond that...it's a really obvious conflict between young Denji and young Ken, isn't it? Ken was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, especially compared to Denji. Denji inherited his dad's accounts payable, Ken stands to inherit his grandpa's accounts receivable. (Better than calling both of them "debt".)

Anyways. Ken respects Denji's hard work and obedience., but he doesn't understand Denji. Denji doesn't have a choice. Ken is obedient because he believes in his grandfather and wants to work for him; Denji is obedient because the other option is death. When he turns on the yakuza, it's at least in part because not turning on them is deadlier than doing so. (Also because the yakuza abused him and Denji's a petty dick sometimes.)

So we have two youths who assume they have a lot in common, only to realize that beneath the surface they're nothing alike. Denji would probably catch on first, both because this kind of thing is more visible from below and because Denji's specific circumstances mean he needs to act like the kind of person Ken thinks he is. Ken might not realize Denji is anything but another loyal soldier (just a private instead of a lieutenant) until he starts killing ex-yakuza and bails. (Or however the Zombie Devil incident goes.)

Anyways, I've rambled on long enough. There's another Chainsaw Man fanfic I'm halfway started on writing, I'm not going to pick up this prompt. Hopefully someone else does, though!

#chainsaw man #au #katana man #fanfic ideas #chainsaw man fanfiction

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90363462 · 1 year

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These Black Witches Are More Magical Than Halloween Myths Would Have You Believe

Source: Sergey Mironov / Getty

Black magic originated as a term to describe magic by Black folks. Over time “black magic” has been equated to darkness, demons, and evil. This was intentional propaganda by white supremacy to separate Black folks from our ancestral magic. MADAMENOIRE spoke with five modern-day Black witches to separate the truth from myths surrounding black magic and witchcraft. For the purpose of this article witchcraft is a catch-all term to describe nature-based spiritual practices and a witch is someone who participates in these practices.

Black Witch

Black Witch is a non denominational Pagan who grew up in a Christian household. At 15, after listening to the band of Christians P.O.D—short for Payable on Death—she started questioning Chrisitanity and realized that she didn’t believe most of what she was taught. She happened across Paganism after reading a book called Where to Park Your Broomstick by Lauren Manoy and felt more at home with a nature and metaphysics based belief.

Dianté Vance-Jewett

Dianté is a Black queer witch. Although he wasraised in an open-minded Christian household,he found some of the teachings of the Church demeaning. He sought a spirituality that didn’t view him as an abomination. With his Rags to Witches podcast co-host Fiona, he wasintroduced to crystals and tarot reading in college and learned he was a witch.

Frankie Nicholson

Frankie is a Puerto Rican and Black Pagan witch. After watching The Craft with his aunt at five years old, he realized he was a witchbecause he could do the same thing the characters did. From there, he learned more about being a witch. Although he grew up in a Catholic household, as he got older, he realized that there was santeria and rootwork present in his family’s faith.

Juju

Juju, the host of A Little Juju podcast, is a Hoodoo and Orisha devotee. She was baptized Catholic and switched to many different Christian denominations. In 2016, through online circles and community conversation, she learned that Hoodoo has always been a part of her life as a Black American even if she didn’t have the language for it. It was after watching Beyonce’s Lemonade visuals, that she sought out more information about Orishas and found a house and a godparent.

Keon

Keon, known online as Millennial Soul Food, is a Hoodoo who’s initiated into Ifa Isese. They were introduced to Hoodoo through their grandma who was a Seer, and in 2014, they joined a Hoodoo coven in Chicago. After a series of random synchronicities while living in New Orleans, they received a reading from a woman who later became their godmother when they were initiated into Ifa Isese.

MN: Thank y’all for agreeing to speak with Madame Noire. What do you think the media gets wrong about witchcraft and Black magic?

Dianté: In the media, you never really see the races mixed together. It’s not showing that witches are inclusive. It’s still showing that we’re kind of segregated.

Black Witch: It’s more than some random White girl chanting bad rhymes over a candle and it isn’t some stereotypical voodoo queen with wild hair. Men can be witches. A witch is a person, not a species. Folk magick is built into culture, not some weird outlier in opposition to science and medicine. And there certainly is a rhyme and reason in magic but new age and pop culture heavily erodes and ignores that, which is both aggravating and insulting.

Frankie: It’s like, “Let’s get this money. Let’s be beautiful.” They make it more about the outer when it’s about the inner. I noticed on social media, especially with younger people, everybody wants to do a hex. Everybody wants to do a love spell. Everybody wants to get somebody back. That’s not what it really is about.

Juju: It can do all of those bad things that y’all show, but that’s not the full story. The scale is uneven when showing the negative impacts of witchcraft and not the healing aspects of what it is.

Keon: In a lot of occult arts there’s left hand and right hand paths. Left hand is cursing and the right hand is uplifting. The media misconstrues a lot of primary focuses of witches and occultists. Most of the time it’s about figuring out your own limitations and using your spiritual practices or magic to fill in the gaps or find out more about yourself.

So, witchcraft is not demonic. It’s not a consumable good and it’s not all about curses. Why do you think the media focuses so heavily on these things?

Juju: Why would you want someone to know who they are if you’re trying to enslave them and you are enslaving them? Why would you want them to have faith? Why would you want them to feel that they have power? Why would you want them to conjure a new reality? You wouldn’t. I think that’s a partial reason as to why [the media says] “We’re gonna show the evilness and demonic nature of these traditions because we don’t want you to know that we actually are very afraid of them because we know what they can do, and we don’t want y’all to do that.”

And what can witchcraft do?

Juju: It is a healing tradition. It’s accountability. It helps you ground yourself in identity. Black folks are always striving to understand more about ourselves, who we are, and who we come from—whether that is a continent or whether that is South Carolina. Knowing those roots and being able to pinpoint some family history or personality traits or even the generational traumas and generational joys.

Keon: A big part of witchcraft is working with your shadow, and to become a more powerful witch you have to understand your own shadow and vulnerabilities. Understanding my own intergenerational trauma has really helped inform my magic and also mentorship with people. Witchcraft is also about returning to nature and getting in alignment with practices that are hundreds of years old.

Frankie: Setting intentions, being consistent with your prayers, doing the work, and then watching it manifest. That’s the real magic. Because if you don’t do the work, you can sit on the couch all day and nothing’s gonna change.

It seems like being a witch is about discipline, consistency, and healing. How has being a witch changed your day to day life?

Frankie: I’m blessed. As a child, you think you know what spirituality is. You think you know what prayer is. You think you know what faith is, but now that I’m an adult, I realize I know what it is now.

Juju: I know I’m able to wake up and ground myself in a practice, and I have ritual to rely on. I truly believe that ritual can change your life. Whatever you decide to practice regularly and internalize can completely shift your day and shift your experiences and your outlook on life. These traditions, particularly ancestral veneration and talking to my dead people shift my outlook all the time. I’m able to have a level of accountability that I didn’t have before because I can consult spirits. I can talk to people who see so much farther than I see. I think that in itself just impacts everything else.

Black Witch: I’m happier in it far, far more than I would have been in Christianity. I have hardships like everyone else but at least I feel like I can handle them better. Plus I like polytheism, it works for me since I feel like it helps me understand the world around me better.

Dianté: Witchcraft has helped me dive deeper into myself. Ever since I discovered I was a witch, I’ve been focusing on healing myself. That’s helped because for a long time I was such a people pleaser. Discovering that I’m a witch means I don’t have to go through this. I can manifest my own destiny.

Keon: With Ifa, it helped give me a blueprint for my spirituality. It helped me learn more about my spiritual gifts. It’s really helped me ground myself. With Ifa, specifically, there’s a set of character principles and then if you’re initiated you get taboos to help with structuring your life. It’s helped me understand more about my spiritual boundaries, my approach to relationships, and different mantras I need to focus on for my own spiritual path.

Do y’all have any advice for Black people who are interested in magic?

Frankie: Black people, know your roots. Before the slave trade, what were our ancestors practicing? Who were they praying to? What were they worshiping?

Juju: It’s important to know that there are things that exist that want us free because we see so many lies and tales about the things that don’t want us free, but imagine if we ground ourselves in the things that people have used that even got them free.

Black Witch: It isn’t a magic cure but it does help to become more comfortable in the self. Black culture already has things like ancestor worship built into it, folk remedies like ginger for a bad stomach, and ideas such as “speaking something into existence.” In a way, it is kind of already woven into the culture already.

So a lot of Black people already practice witchcraft?

Frankie: When people pray to God, you’re setting an intention, and you’re praying for something to happen. When you light up that candle and you look at it, and you blow that candle out for your birthday, you did a spell. When you sit there and you go to the cathedral and get that holy water, you bought a potion. When you take a shower after a hard day at work, you’re washing off old energy.

Since it’s Halloween, I’m curious as to why it’s such a big event for witches?

Keon: In the Northern hemisphere, specifically, we see the weather go from warm to cold as a time where a lot of spiritualists, pagans, and witches see the veil as becoming thinner because we see death occur more in nature. That’s why we see people celebrating Halloween because that’s the harvest of the seeds the ancestors have helped us sow.

The concept of liminality is also important because in nature, we see the trees change colors, the leaves change colors as they go through the liminal phase between living and death. That is a central concept to Halloween and the Day of the Dead as to why you see people giving more offerings to ancestors like Brujería in Mexico, Fèt Gede with the Haitian Vodou people, and Halloween with witches. It’s more about remembering and honoring the harvest and honoring the cyclical transitions in nature.

Thank you. I’ve never made that connection before. Final thoughts?

Frankie: Just better yourself. Try to do as best as you can because the world is going crazy. We have a pandemic. We have a lot of deaths going on which is weird. We have a lot of people saying their opinions on the Internet that don’t pay no one else’s bills, but everybody’s got to be heard. It’s too much going on. Just focus on yourself, focus on your spirits, focus on being your best self, because I’d rather go out smiling than being angry in my heart. I’d rather go out smiling.

The practice of witchcraft is self-love, self-respect, and honoring yourself. It is a lot of magic to it and it is weird, but it’s very real.

RELATED CONTENT: Hoodoo Heritage Month: Conjuring, Culture, And Community

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