Site clear!Kaveh/Hacker!Kaveh idea I wanted to whip out while the topic is still hot lol. I find it hilarious that Kaveh of all characters is the subject of this

Husband & dad headcanons dendro + pyro ver.

english isn’t my first language, sorry for mistakes

characters: al haitham + baizhu + kaveh + tighnari + diluc + thoma

tw: there's a headcanon in which the reader is pregnant, but the rest of it is completely neutral. you can skip that one if you want and imagine something else like adopting.

word count: 1.6k

Al haitham

how does he propose to you?

As much as he 'hates' Kaveh, he would ask him for help with this. And Kaveh being as original as he is would tell him to take you to all the important places you were together and then ask you in the highest area of Sumeru City. You can thank him.

where is the wedding taking place?

I have two options, the small island of Port Ormos or The Palace of Alcazaray. They are too beautiful locations not to use at a moment like this.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

My head tells me he's the kind of guy who wants to spend your entire honeymoon with you in restaurants and at the Liyue library. Take advantage of this and go right when the Lantern Rite Festival is taking place.

children before or after marriage?

Afterwards for sure. He would want to wait to have more time for you and his children, plus have a house just for you and not have to share one with Kaveh.

how many children does he want?

Maybe 2, but quite a few years apart I would venture to say. He would be busy enough to have multiple at the same time. "Let's get some rest for a while, those nine months and the ones we have left are already taken."

how is he during your pregnancy?

He definitely takes you to fancy restaurants and out for walks whenever he can, still being the cool guy and being able to show everyone how happy he is also with his favorite person and his future baby is a yes for him.

any memorable moment with his child?

Returning home after being outside and finding Al haitham with your child sitting on his lap and pointing out the words to him as he softly pronounces them for your baby to repeat after him.

Baizhu

how does he propose to you?

He would ask you to stay in the store during that day while he prepares everything to propose to you. A path with your favorite flowers when you leave the pharmacy and a smiling Baizhu waiting for you.

where is the wedding taking place?

On the outskirts of Qingce Village. I don't know your opinion about the scenery there, but it's beautiful, the area full of bamboo and the high mountain next to it. Any of the sites will do for him.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

Sumeru, I accept no other option. Maybe Spinedragon. But surely he would go to Sumeru with you to enjoy the new greener landscapes and he would learn a lot on the trip.

children before or after marriage?

He wouldn't care, if you have them before then it's fine with him, and if you'd rather wait until you're married Baizhu will be okay with that too.

how many children does he want?

Considering the relationship he has with Qiqi and how he cares for her, treating her like his own daughter, I feel the more the better. He is definitely good with children.

how is he during your pregnancy?

He knows exactly how to react to your every complaint, whether it's pain, emotional or a simple craving you have. He would do checkups on you and the baby from home. "Take a deep breath, I want to see if we can hear the baby's little heart now."

any memorable moment with his child?

He would make the child believe that he is drinking candy or some juice while giving him the medicine and maybe from time to time he would do it with you too. But just until the child would realize it and refuse to take it or tell you that it was medication.

Kaveh

how does he propose to you?

Kaveh would design a building for a 'client' but in reality it's just an excuse to take you there when it's already built and ask you in the most beautiful room, clear water fountains and plants around the vividly colored walls.

where is the wedding taking place?

In Sumeru City it is the first choice. After the wedding he would like to have a small celebration at Lambad's Tavern with his favorite people as a thank you for going to the ceremony and to spend more time with you in your wedding attire. To him you look gorgeous.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

Tell him a place, he will take you there. He will let you choose since he chose the wedding venue. He will be happy to see the different architecture and enjoy spoiling you during the whole trip.

children before or after marriage?

As much as he wants to have children with you, I think he also wants to spend as much time with you as possible, so he would prefer them later. "Can we wait a little longer? I still want us to remain each other's priority."

how many children does he want?

I can imagine him being a father of 2 babies. He would give them both all the love in the world, and they would probably end up spoiled because we already know Kaveh.

how is he during your pregnancy?

You would also be spoiled by him, buying you new clothes every time your belly grew. And of course giving you whatever treats you wanted.

any memorable moment with his child?

He would buy so many clothes when you didn't have the baby in your hands yet. You would end up with clothes that wouldn't even fit on the baby. Your children would be dressed in huge clothes because they saw them in the closet and liked them too much.

Tighnari

how does he propose to you?

I'm sure he'll take you on a walk through the rainforest, showing you plants and bird species you didn't know about and following a different route than the one you normally take so you'll be taken by surprise. I imagine a flower opening and the ring inside.

where is the wedding taking place?

At the Pardis Dhyai. Tighnari likes that place so much that I can't imagine you getting married anywhere else. He is always there when he is not at the villa and the greenhouse is beautiful.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

You may go to the desert for a few days, most likely to the oases to refresh yourselves. Then you would go to another destination, maybe he wants to go back to Mondstadt or take the opportunity of the opening of Inazuma's borders to visit it with you.

children before or after marriage?

My instinct tells me you would have them before. Maybe because I can't picture Tighnari getting married so early, you know how he is, challenging the academy and in the process also the rest of humanity.

how many children does he want?

Sorry about this but according to my google researches I'm forced to say 2 to 5. Army of mini foxes all over your house? Yes.

how is he during your pregnancy?

Home remedies with herbs that he knows will relieve any pain and colic. Mostly super protective of you when he knows that in addition to you he is taking care of your children at the same time. "Are you in pain? Come, let me massage you with this, I promise it will relieve it."

any memorable moment with his child?

He would show them every poisonous plant in the surroundings so they wouldn't go near any of them. I can also imagine him helping the older ones with the bow.

Diluc

how does he propose to you?

He will probably give you little hints for a month until finally proposing marriage, straight and blunt that time. There would be no middle ground, either he asks you after a romantic dinner or he asks you one quiet day when you go to see him at the tavern.

where is the wedding taking place?

At the Dawn Winery for sure. Have you seen how beautiful it is on the outside? I can just imagine a wedding arch between all the vineyards and a big walkway made of wooden planks so you don't stain your wedding clothes.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

Literally anywhere you want, he has enough money left over to even take you to each of the nations for a week and spend more than a month on this trip.

children before or after marriage?

Probably after the wedding, he would want to have everything secured before finally having children with you.

how many children does he want?

Between 1 and 2 the perfect amount for him, 1 better than 2 if you ask him. But if you want a lot I would say 3 is all he can give you (and bear).

how is he during your pregnancy?

He would always keep an eye on you just in case you do something he considers bad for you or the baby. Normally he would give you a lot of freedom but if he feels it like necessary he will entrust one of the maids to take care of you.

any memorable moment with his child?

The day he caught your 3-year-old child about to drink a bottle of wine he had reserved for you and him. You certainly never saw another bottle in some unlocked place again. "Dear, are you finished with that? I'm going to put it back in the cabinet."

Thoma

how does he propose to you?

He would ask Ayaka or Ayato for help, all super planned and probably on some important Inazuma holiday or on some important date in your relationship. At night and with a romantic atmosphere, he would get down on one knee 100%.

where is the wedding taking place?

Thoma is originally from mondstadt so I like to imagine that he would take you there for the ceremony and meet his family.

where are you going on your honeymoon?

Mondstadt, Mondstadt, Mondstadt. He would stay there with you and even introduce you to cousins he didn't even know he had. He would probably take you to see everything, Dragonspine included.

children before or after marriage?

I feel like he would prefer to have them after the wedding but really wouldn't mind if for whatever reason it ends up being before.

how many children does he want?

He would take your opinion very seriously, but have you seen him? I mean, at the very least he would want 3, maximum he doesn't have (my best friend told me that up to 30-).

how is he during your pregnancy?

If he normally does all the household chores, while you are pregnant with his children he won't let you touch even a simple mop. "You're already busy taking care of our baby 24 hours a day, leave the rest to me."

any memorable moment with his child?

The whole family got into the kitchen, your children wearing little chef's hats and aprons while Thoma gave them instructions on how to make 'the best surprise birthday cake for mommy/daddy/term you use'.

Boysband AU headcanons (4ggravate) 2

Friendly reminder that English is not my first language. You can check my Masterlists both in English and Polish here.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, 4ggravate is the Sumeru guys who started a boyband. It comes from the same series as the widely known in the fandom 4nemo.

Working with idol groups involves trends changing like in a kaleidoscope. When 4ggravate entered the scene, it quickly became clear that they would conquer the world. Your label, after the huge success of 4nemo, decided to take another boys under their wing. You didn't know then how much work you would have to put into promoting them on the market...

Kaveh

✧ The most expressive member of the group. You'd even say it makes up for everyone else in this regard.

✧ Always there if you need to record additional video or behind-the-scenes content. This is what his fans see most often and he is the most into social media.

✧ It also has its downsides. Kaveh can be dramatic to the point where it's annoying. If he feels like it, he will walk out of the meeting with the film crew, complaining and slamming the door. Unfortunately, it will often be up to you to bring him back to finish the ad.

✧ He and Alhaitham are constantly arguing, which was a shock to you because they've known each other the longest out of the team. You usually try not to take sides or take turns so that neither of the two will take offense at you.

✧ Kaveh will dance, play, sing... He will fill any role if need be and he will be good at it. However, he feels the best while playing instruments.

✧ He studied architecture and constantly reminds that he knows art. However, this is not idle talk. He happens to come up with brilliant ideas about clothes or scenery while shooting music videos.

✧ Drinks secretly outside the studio. He almost got busted once when someone from the management decided to come to the apartment to hand over the documents but you just arrived before them and managed to put the can in your purse at the last minute.

✧ He wanted to thank you somehow and gave you the keychain. He once bought some handmade ones. He gives them only to exceptional people in his opinion.

Cyno

✧ He as an innate sense of justice. You can be sure that if anyone sees someone hurt, it will definitely be Cyno. He never stands aside. He immediately confronts who he needs to, which often put his career on the line. He would probably be willing to sacrifice it for the greater good. For example, he points it out to the older employees if they use younger ones on the set. He does it even at the cost of unpleasantness towards him. He has earned a reputation as unapproachable and stickler among industry associates.

✧ He loves to play cards. He collects entire collections of them. His favorite card game is TCG Genius Invocation. It got you interested enough to get into it. He's very happy about that because being in 4ggravate has made it a bit difficult for him to find someone he can physically play with without spreading rumors. He loves to explain the new rules to you and show you what he has hunted for his collection.

✧ There was a time when, like Kaveh, he argued with Alhaitham. Whatever happened, one day he came back changed. Since then, they've at least respected each other and making your life a little easier.

✧ He is often given rap parts to sing. Mainly because of his low voice.

✧ Fans marvel at how different he can be. The media tried to create his image as quite dark. This is how new fans often see him. Meanwhile, when they spend a little time with him, they understand that this is not the case at all.

✧ A dedicated Cyno fan site was created to collect his jokes. They are very dry. Some people even send him their suggestions for him to tell on streams.

Alhaitham

✧ Alhaitham believes in peace and quiet. You asked him once why he stayed at 4ggravate then. He replied that in this way he would earn enough to have money for his dream life for a long time. He calculated it all. He even showed you the entire spreadsheet on the computer.

✧ You don't know how he does it but he's learning all the time. Be it from books or from various types of courses. Ask him anything, about everything. He will always have an answer.

✧ He writes the lyrics of the songs. With no exception. He has a gift for words. He always knows how to put them together to use rhymes or puns. Composing is not his strong point, so the worst moment is when he has to collaborate with Kaveh, who is better in this field. Not that he would ever admit it.

✧ If he could, he would avoid interviews and meetings with fans. He doesn't like any of these activities. He goes mostly because he has to. For this reason, he does not have as many fans as Kaveh, but he is not very interested in it. The people who choose him as their favorite are usually those who are deeply interested in his words and where he draws inspiration from. And they always get accurate and in-depth answers that make him their number one forever.

✧ He does not part with the headphones. So much so that it became his sign. One time Kaveh took it for fun when he wasn't looking and broke them. You didn't want them to fight again, so you took the blame and returned it to him after it was fixed. He immediately knew it wasn't you and made you promise not to take the blame on yourself again. Despite this, the next day, there were notes on your desk regarding the marketing strategy for the next quarter. Interestingly, better than you'd ever do yourself...

Tighnari

✧ Tighnari has a very sensitive musical ear. Thanks to this, he remembers songs extremely quickly, especially new ones and perfectly matches the rhythm by dancing. He is usually praised above all for his flawless choreography.

✧ The boy is vegan. He deeply believes in unity with nature. In his opinion, there is no need to use animals in this way. Half of his social media consists of this.

✧ Helped launch an eco-friendly line of stuffed animals called Aranara. He gave you one of his first pieces as a thank you for helping with their publicity campaign.

✧ He lives in the belief that being an idol will allow him to convey certain values to his fans. He attaches great importance to the educational aspect. He often comes up with themes for new albums and is able to cleverly combine them with previous or subsequent ones.

✧ Tighnari is known for his sarcastic statements, which is why interviewers love him. He skillfully sweeps them away and hits remarks back, making them borderline controversial. Their viewership is really high.

✧ Hates the heat. You used to shoot scenes for a music video in the desert. You remember that he was perfectly prepared then. That's not to say he didn't complain about the heat but he was one of the few members on set who didn't get sunstroke. He reminded you regularly to drink plenty of water and lent you his hat.

✧ At the beginning of his career, he received a headband with rabbit ears from his younger friend Collei. When they were younger, they attended several survival camps organized by their school together. To this day, she is his biggest fan. Tighnari only pulls out these ears on special occasions.

Isekai Kaveh Au HC's (◕‿◕✿)

I'm writing a HKV fic rn about Kaveh being a transmigrator into Genshin Impact and I just wanted to talk about some of the silliest headcannons I added into it because I don't get to fully explain them in there. (¬‿¬)

Nobody in Teyvat is "allowed" to curse except for transmigrators, meaning that no one really thinks about saying fuck or shit except for them. They just replace what you would use those words for with like "by the Archons" or something like that.

Besides in their own homes, the characters genuinely wear their in-game outfits like uniforms, you know the detailed ass fits Genshin characters wear? Imagine them wearing that every day when they go out. Nothing else. Just that.

Similar to the first one, the transmigrators sometimes slip up and say God or Jesus Christ instead of Archons (Inspired by Kaveh's "Thank you, oh my god thank you" voiceline)

Kaveh one hundred percent makes internet references to things absolutely no NPC or character would get so they just think he's the tiniest bit off every time he says something.

Literally canon but Kaveh won't shut the fuck up after he starts complaining about Alhaitham, like literally once he gets started he won't stop.

MEHRAK BEING USED AS TRANSPORTATION SUBWAY SURFERS STYLE I AM SO EXCITED TO WRITE IT IN BROOO

This man totally gets lost walking throught Sumeru City, I don't make the rules, he just does.

DELETION HACK. SITE CLEAR. IM FORCING IT INTO THE STORY IDK WHERE IM PUTTING IT IN YET BUT GOD STRIKE ME DOWN IF I DONT

go go genshin gun

Fic Tags - Alhaitham/Kaveh, Kaveh (Genshin Impact), Alhaitham (Genshin Impact), Mehrak (Genshin Impact), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Transmigration into Genshin impact, Comedy, Kaveh had a Crush on Alhaitham (Genshin Impact), Kaveh-centric (Genshin Impact), System Mehrak, Abuse of the Fuck Word, Fluff and Angst, Kaveh is a Transmigrator, Rating May Change, Kaveh is Not Okay (Genshin Impact), No Beta We Die Like Kaveh's Dad

the permanent deletion of objects in your world by griefers sucks but I’m glad we can at least find the humor in kaveh going “site clear! >:)” and blipping shit out of existence. Creepypasta behavior

perse’s fave reads of may 2023

may is officially over! so here is the may 2023 compilation of my favourite reads this month. these are in no clear order nor ranking, i just thoroughly enjoyed reading these this month.

♡ abyssal love by @calxide — fem!reader

this scaramouche college!au socialmedia!au had me giggling, kicking my feet, gasping and begging for a different ending than what i was thinking of (bonus points, it was a different ending than what i was thinking!) infamously, yes i did prolong releasing one of my own works because i got hooked reading this socmed!au lol.

♡ midnight clemency by @papiliotao — gn!reader

midnight clemency is hurt/comfort headcanons for alhaitham, diluc, kaeya & zhongli that healed my heart a little. it regards established relationships having an argument with positive endings (not clickbait!) so for simps with ✨trauma✨ like myself, i highly recommend reading midnight clemency and crying over how perfect fictional men are.

♡ i like you so much, you’ll know it! by @shanieveh — gn!reader

this set of fluff imagines consists of kaveh, zhongli, kaeya, alhaitham, scaramouche & diluc and it’s literally just a pleasure to read. very sweet and has you kicking your legs i swear ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

♡ fake it till we make it by @kazumist — fem!reader

this scaramouche socialmedia!au is actually ongoing but i think that it definitely deserves a spot on this list (and probably on june’s list too.) it’s a college!au where scaramouche and reader fake date to deal with scara’s fans and it’s a bad idea hehe. i also love all the twt bios they have!

♡ mr. oblivious by @ventismacchiato — gn!reader

i read this on my other account at the start of may and i love it so much so here’s a mention! this is a scaramouche modern teacher!au where their colleagues are lowkey trying to hook em up but they’re actually already married. it has my whole heart. there’s a lot of scaramouche on this list, huh?

i’ll admit this list is fairly short because i got the idea towards the end of this month (and i didn’t want to backtrack through my liked posts) so hopefully next month i’ll be able to praise many more writers on this site during my monthly top reads <3

© https-heizou 2023.

Tumblr sucks so much. You literally posted kaveh fingering haitham and haitham gaping but kaveh's ass is too much apparently??

I'm angry on your behalf, Tumblr fucking sucks

i mean the site itself is fine (except for the things that suck ofc) but the whole filter thing just doesnt make any sense to me and thats what angers me bc i need things to be clear

pixiv is fine with anything as long as you censor genitalia so its clear to me that in order to post my stuff there without it being hidden, i need to censor stuff

tmblr tho is like hmm some mature content is fine yes. so i post stuff that is for mature audience (ofc nothing explicit or any genitalia here bc i expect it gets flagged) but it gets hidden right away. i post explicit art and it stays. its confusing !!! just tell me what is ok and what isnt omg i hate it when things are not clear , literally drives me insane

but yea enough ranting about it. ill just move anything to poipiku which is now free for anyone anw, as long as i can still log in to my acc 😩

bubble (cytham)

another repost from ao3 while the site is down!!

Summary:

Someone makes a pass at the General Mahamatra. Alhaitham doesn’t know why it bothers him more than it should.

{Fluff and humor, feelings realization - rated T}

—

One comment was enough to make Alhaitham annoyed. Two was enough to severely grate on his nerves. By the third comment, Alhaitham had enough.

The evening had started innocently enough. Alhaitham was meeting his friends(?), colleagues(?), acquaintances(?), at their usual after-work hangout spot. How exactly this had come to be routine for them, he had no idea. Though he’s sure Kaveh was behind it.

Regardless, he had gotten to the bar slightly earlier than the others for a change. Typically, his work as Acting Grand Sage kept him at the Akademiya until the late hours of the night, and he was usually the last of their little group to arrive. Cyno was often similar, his job as the General Mahamatra granting him little down time.

However, the General had actually taken a rare day off, so he arrived not long after Alhaitham. The two of them sat at their usual table while waiting for Kaveh and Tighnari to show up. The forest ranger had to come all the way from Avidya Forest, and who knows what Kaveh was up to at this hour. Not to mention the architect had a terrible sense of time, often disrupting Alhaitham in the middle of the night with his senseless construction projects.

And so, Alhaitham and Cyno sat in relative silence for a while. Rather than being awkward, it was actually quite comfortable. Personally, Alhaitham preferred the quiet to idle chit-chat, and Cyno appeared to be much of the same mind. At the moment, the General was shuffling through his Genius Invocation TCG deck, likely preparing to play a few rounds once the others arrived.

Alhaitham merely read a book that he had brought with him for these exact kinds of situations. It was a rather interesting in-depth analysis of puzzle-based pressure mechanisms and how they related to the ancient runes of the desert. It was penned by a respected Akademiya scholar by the name of Faruzan, and Alhaitham had to admit that her work was indeed intriguing.

However intriguing it might have been, though, it didn’t stop Alhaitham from glancing up to catch a glimpse of the General Mahamatra every few moments. Normally, he didn’t consider himself someone who was focused on outward appearances, but today seemed to be the exception.

Since the General Mahamatra refrained from working that day, he was dressed a bit more casually than how one might be used to seeing him. Cyno’s typical outfit was covered by his signature black cloak, and his headpiece was noticeably absent. In fact, the General had his long, white hair tied up into a ponytail, but his messy, short bangs still loosely framed his face. It was… pretty.

He likely wore that particular hairstyle because of the harsh heat that had battered Sumeru that day. Alhaitham wondered if he wore it that way often when he was home alone after work. Due to his hair being tied up, even more emphasis was placed upon the black choker creeping out from under Cyno’s cloak, wrapped deliciously tight around his smooth, tanned neck.

Alhaitham once again found his gaze lingering there for a bit too long. He quickly snapped out of it, clearing his throat and turning back to his book. Cyno continued to admire his cards, quite proud of the deck he had come up with, completely oblivious to the various stares he was getting. It seemed the General’s current appearance had peaked more than just Alhaitham’s interest. That’s when they heard the first remark.

“Hey sweetheart, can I buy you a drink?” a man called from his seat at the bartop.

Immediately, Alhaitham felt his mood shift for the worse. This guy really had the nerve to refer to the General Mahamatra with such a condescending term? Although, it was unlikely this man knew Cyno’s true identity, but still. Alhaitham wasn’t the most well-versed in social situations, but wasn’t calling out to someone in that way at least considered rude?

Cyno, on the other hand, didn’t appear to realize that he was the one being addressed at all initially. He was so focused on his cards that it took him a moment before he looked up in confusion. The guy at the bar was smiling at him, but the sleaziness of the offer was written all over his face. Once he understood what had happened, it only took Cyno a second to utter a quick “No thanks.” before turning back to his deck.

The man seemed put-off by the blunt rejection, frowning slightly but otherwise saying nothing. Alhaitham was even more displeased. He shouldn’t be bothered by such a trivial thing. Cyno himself wasn’t even worked up about it, so why did it annoy Alhaitham so much? Whatever. If Cyno was going to be polite and unbothered about it, he supposed he would let it go for now as well.

He turned back to his book, and the comfortable silence from before overtook their table. It was nice, being in their own little bubble like this. Too bad it was popped once again not much later. Apparently, the guy had yet to take the hint, and after stewing in the rejection for a bit, decided to try again.

“Come on, princess, don’t be such a killjoy. Join me for a drink, and I promise I can show you a good time.”

Cyno sighed with mild irritation, but otherwise remained calm. He put his cards down before turning to face the man fully.

“Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough. I have no intention of joining you, so you may continue to enjoy the evening alone,” he responded before turning away again.

Even when dealing with such a rude dickhead, the General Mahamatra had remained calm and composed. Alhaitham, on the other hand, was internally seething, though he wasn’t sure why. The grip on his book was getting tighter and tighter, the pages wrinkling slightly under his fingers. The guy should’ve been getting under Cyno’s skin, not Alhaitham’s. Besides, it wasn’t like the General couldn’t handle himself. But every time the man opened his mouth, it made the scribe’s blood boil.

It seemed that the man at the bar was also unhappy, though for an entirely different reason. He had just been rejected not once, but twice, and pretty publicly at that. Not to mention, Cyno’s last response had included a little dig at the man, which likely bruised the guy’s ego. In retaliation, the man began turning to the patrons beside him and complaining loudly.

“Stuck up bitch. Thinks just ‘cause he’s got a pretty face, he’s hot shit. Pffft. I can find garbage like him on any street corner, probably with a tighter hole, too. Bet his is all worn out, damn slut.”

Alhaitham had to snap his book shut to keep from tearing out the pages. Or worse, hurling it at the guy’s head. Cyno was just sitting there like he hadn’t heard a thing, though there’s no way he missed it with the way the man was practically yelling. The scribe was never one to resort to violence, but even he was at his breaking point. Clearly, the civilized way wasn’t working.

“You’re not going to do anything?” Alhaitham couldn’t help but ask.

It was unlike him to get so emotional, and it was clearly seeping into his voice the way it came out strained. Thankfully, Cyno didn’t comment on it, instead thinking about his question seriously.

“What could I do? He’s probably drunk,” he answered.

“Inebriation is hardly an excuse for causing a commotion in public,” Alhaitham countered bitterly.

“True, but it would also be quite unbecoming of the General Mahamatra to engage in a petty bar fight,” Cyno reasoned.

“Petty? I would hardly call the insults being hurled your way a petty reason,” the other scoffed.

Cyno didn’t say anything for a moment, staring at Alhaitham with such intensity it made the scribe a little uneasy. His deep crimson eyes were probing his expression for something, and Alhaitham wondered what kind of face he must be making to warrant this level of attention.

“Does it bother you?” Cyno finally asked.

“Of course.”

Alhaitham had answered without thinking, the response slipping past his lips before he had time to catch it. Cyno latched onto it quickly, perking up slightly despite the horrible man still shouting disgusting things about him in the background.

“Why?”

The Acting Grand Sage wasn’t sure how to respond to that, because he didn’t even know the answer himself. Why did he care so much? Obviously, to an outsider, the pair could be considered friends, but Alhaitham had never referred to them as such. In fact, he often vehemently denied it during their usual meetups.

He had no need for friends. They only brought distractions, and clutter, and noise, if Kaveh was anything to go by. Did he feel that he and Cyno were now friends? Had they somehow developed their relationship to that point without Alhaitham realizing? No, the word “friends” didn’t sound quite right after all.

Though, it was true that he never really found himself becoming annoyed with Cyno the way he would with the others. He didn’t mind bumping into the General Mahamatra at the Akademiya, either. He also didn’t mind spending time with Cyno despite his preference for solitude, like the way they had been sitting in comfortable silence up until it was disrupted by outside forces. They were both quiet, and he enjoyed simply basking in the other’s presence while they each did their own thing. Plus, the General Mahamatra wasn't bad to look at…

Wait…

There’s no way. How had he not realized something so obvious sooner? Was Alhaitham so out of touch with his own feelings that he had allowed something as juvenile as a crush to sneak up on him? Oh no, this was bad. It had already evolved way past familiar territory. This was uncharted waters now. Since when had indifference towards Cyno grown into like, and then into caring? He didn’t even dare to think beyond that.

Subconsciously, he felt his face heat up just a tiny bit at the realization before he quickly schooled his expression. Cyno had been staring at him all the while, and Alhaitham noticed there was now a slight smirk where there was once neutrality. Still, Alhaitham being Alhaitham, he couldn’t make the conclusion of his musings obvious.

“I just think that it’s grating on the ears to listen to such idiocy. He should count himself lucky that the Akademiya does not consider stupidity a crime,” he finally answered.

“Right,” Cyno agreed, still smirking. “Though it is a shame, I am actually quite thirsty. Too bad no one less stupid has offered me a drink.”

Alhaitham cleared his throat slightly before standing up. “I was actually about to fetch myself something anyway. I suppose I could grab you one as well, if you’d like.”

“How generous. I’ll have to accept.”

Alhaitham went to grab them some drinks from the bar. However, as he ordered, he leaned in a little bit closer to whisper something to the barkeep, who nodded. Soon after, some matra arrived and quickly escorted the drunken man out of the bar for “disturbing the peace”. Cyno shot Alhaitham a knowing look from across the table, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he took a long sip out of the drink that was bought for him by the scribe.

The two fell back into their comfortable bubble. Only this time, they were engaged in a game of Genius Invocation TCG. Though hardly any words were exchanged, the General Mahamatra and the Acting Grand Sage were content. If they greatly enjoyed the time together before their other two companions arrived, no one had to know.

the kaveh hack is crazy bro is site clearing and breaking new grounds fr i mean slay king 🙏

[fanfic] Kaveh // Catching Klefki

Genshin Pokemon AU | How Kaveh loses his key but gains a new friend. [Word count: 1577] General headcanons

Kaveh raises a hand over his head, blocking the sun from his eyes as he raises his gaze from the blueprint in his hands and looks over the plot of land. He feels the ghost sensation of a headache creeping up at the back of his head. 

"Will that be all?" He asks one of the surveyors. There were still things he needed to work on, and the time certainly wasn't going to stop and wait for him. Even with the looming threat of a headache growing on him. Plus, it was still quite a trek back to Sumeru City if he wants to be home in time for a warm dinner. What he wouldn't do for a bath. 

"That should be all, thank you Mr. Kaveh. Your presence today has been more than helpful." 

Kaveh scratches the back of his neck, waving the echoed sentiments across the group. He hopes his laugh doesn't sound as awkward to them as it does to him. "It's no problem really." 

Kaveh waves as he leaves the site and over to the tents set up for the working crew. He collects his things, Mehrak storing his copy of blueprints away. He pats himself down as his eyes scan for anything else he could have possibly forgotten when he realizes he doesn’t have one of the most important things on his person.

“Where are my keys?!” 

Kaveh pats his pockets once, then twice, then one more time just in case. There’s no sign of them inside. It’s fine… maybe it was mixed up in the things I gave Mehrak. 

But that doesn’t seem to be the case either. He instructs Mehrak to search for the keys in its inventory, yet it only flashes him a sad look. A clear no. No keys in Mehrak. He scratches his head, a frown forming on his face and his temples pulsating. He scans the ground, searches under the tables and stools nearby. Nothing, not a single sign of his golden key and lion charm. 

Kaveh is moments away from tearing his hair out. He knew he brought his keys with him today! He made absolutely sure to triple check that he grabbed his key before Al-Haitham accidentally nabbed it this morning too. 

He goes on to release Duosion and Umbreon from their pokeballs to request their help before asking around the other workers if they’ve caught sight of his key. His hope dwindles after each person answers an apologetic no. Kaveh is teetering on the line of asking them to help him look while he retraces all the areas he walked today. 

At the seventh person, Duosion comes zooming over and knocks into his shoulder with a bubbling cry. She bounces side to side and Kaveh understands quickly. “Lead the way!” There must be a reason she’s asking him to follow rather than bringing the key to him if she found them, after all. 

He runs after her through the foliage of Sumeru’s forest, it's a ways away from where he expected to be guided. Was she even bringing him to his key? Or was this another dispute between Duosion’s brains that’s brought him to a misunderstanding?

Kaveh pushes past the thick drooping leaves of a tree and is about to ask where Duosion is going when he stops in his tracks. “Oh–”

Umbreon spares him a glance, then faces ahead once again to the Pokemon caught in the clearing. Tangled up in vines and moss was a Klefki, jingling as it tried to shake out of its unfortunate entrapment. There, in the middle of its usual keys, was a familiar golden piece still accompanied by the lion charm Kaveh was scammed out of but kept because it was both endearing to look at and a painful reminder. 

“You– my key–” Kaveh stammers, slowly approaching until he stands next to Umbreon. With him there, the dark type relaxed, sitting and beginning to groom his fur while Kaveh tried to wrap his head around things. 

His key was clearly eaten! What was it they said about Klefki? They only adorn their favorites? What luck Kaveh has, which is dripping with sarcasm as the thought passes in his head. 

“Alright you two, standby but don’t threaten it alright?” He instructs, raising his hands out and slowly approaching. The Klefki struggles a little harder at the sight of him growing closer, but then Kaveh sees the fight drain out of it as it slumps in its place. 

“Hey there…” Kaveh starts softly, feeling bad for its predicament. “Will you let me help you out of there?”

The Klefki shifts to look at him then remains still, even as his hands slowly raise up to start detangling the Pokemon. He does his best not to yank or tug too hard lest he hurt the Pokemon. With his key now hanging off the Pokemon’s ring, he isn’t quite sure what to do with himself. 

He steps back once the Pokemon is freed, waiting with a baited breath for the Klefki to run away like he was expecting. 

Instead, it jumps around in the air, looking quite happy to be able to move again. Then it moves towards Kaveh, hovering in front of him. 

“Your key there.” Kaveh points, seeing now that it wasn’t going to flee. His golden key gleams in the sunlight streaming through the leaves above. It felt nearly mocking. “It’s uh– it’s actually mine.” Duosion bumps into his back, an encouraging nudge. Kaveh clears his throat, pulling one from his pocket and showing Klefki the pokeball. “Would you perhaps care for a battle? While being on my team would be nice since you’re wearing it now, the sentiment really feels nice knowing you actually like it so much.” 

Goodness knows he wouldn’t be willing to catch a Pokemon only for the benefit of having his key back. It doesn’t seem to be his anymore anyways, now part of a whole living creature. It’d be quite the joke to tell Al-Haitham and be able to prove it too. 

In the end, Kaveh would leave the choice in Klefki’s hand. A fair battle if the Pokemon chooses it. 

The keys clink together in a jingle as it hops. Kaveh grins. 

“Alright Umbreon, lend me a hand?” 

“I’m home!” Kaveh opens the door, patting Klefki on the point of its key-shaped head with a gentle hand. “Thank you.” He says in a murmur. How agreeable his new team member is! 

“Your dinner is in the fridge, since you took so long to come lumbering in. I had almost assumed you had made a detour to Lambad’s.” Came the familiar drawl of his roommate. 

“Excuse you, I had quite the pleasant detour, and it wasn’t anywhere near Lambad’s.” Kaveh rolls his eyes. Al-Haitham was lying on one of their divans, back facing the front entrance so it was clear Al-Haitham hadn’t caught onto the new presence in the house. Espeon, however, resting on his lap opens an eye and observes Kaveh’s new Pokemon with mild interest.  

He sees the exact moment Klefki’s little metal chime causes Al-Haitham’s page-turning hand to pause. “Kaveh…” 

“Yes?” 

“What was that noise?” 

“Oh, you know.” He waves a hand nonsensically despite the fact Al-Haitham can’t see it. Espeon uncurls from her spot and hops onto the ground. She accepts the usual head scratch greeting from Kaveh before craning her head up to Klefki. The steel-fairy type descends lower and chimes excitedly as Espeon sniffs at the closest key (coincidentally being Kaveh’s). 

He hears Al-Haitham sigh a moment after Espeon chirps. Kaveh stares at Al-Haitham from his crouched spot on the ground as he slowly turns, two-toned eyes landing on Klefki. 

“You had your keys eaten.”

“It’s quite apparent what happened.” Kaveh rolls his eyes.

Al-Haitham doesn’t even ask how– which, to be fair, Kaveh wouldn’t really be able to answer with substance– he simply shifts his gaze to Kaveh and the blonde has to deal with the brunt of his stare. 

“Come on, at least you don’t have to pester me about always forgetting about it or getting it caught on your key! I won’t even have to get a replacement or anything so I can still pay for this month’s rent.” Kaveh groans, rolling his eyes. He glanced to the side. At least Espeon and Klefki are making good friends. 

While he and Al-Haitham may argue and bicker day in and day out, Kaveh would prefer their Pokemon could get along as best as possible. He doesn’t quite know what he’d do other than enforce a bonding between two Pokemon of theirs (or avoidance, with the worst case possible. Fortunately, that is not necessary.) 

“Hm.” Is all he hears, “if you say so.” With that, he turns back to his book and finishes turning the page he was interrupted from doing before. 

Kaveh freezes, then his eyes narrow and he glares at the back of Al-Haitham’s head. He lets out a huff and then stands, telling Klefki to follow him down the hall back to his room for Kaveh to put his things away and change from his clothes. 

Not even a week later, Al-Haitham comes up to him right as he gets home and drops a familiar shaped key into his hand, no longer the same original gold. Klefki gives a questioning jingle next to him. 

“For emergencies.” 

And with that Kaveh is blinking at the shape of Al-Haitham walking away down the hall. 

sweetest flower, flower of mourning ❀

!! spoilers for kaveh’s story !! !! cw: de^th !!   

im gonna post some of my old writing here, just for fun :) it’ll be a while before i’m able to actually write anything new other than my series, but i’ll leave these! plus, manifesting kaveh hehe~

(absolutely begging someone to teach me how to format on tumblr my inner aesthete is in pain)

i wish every kaveh wanter good luck!

°˖✧✿✧˖°

The summer was always the worst.

Kaveh picked the mourning flowers with a careful, gentle hand, making an attempt to save his pants from the water with the other. A fruitless effort, it turned out, and he quickly abandoned it as he waded deeper into the shallows, the bouquet of red flowers growing in his tenderly clenched fist.

It didn’t take long, unfortunately, and he found himself sitting on the shore on the other side of the stream, his pants muddied and his heart and hands heavy. Sorrow and flowers, flowers in sorrow. Up, down, same thing, he thought, recalling the line in the book he’d read when he was younger. What did it mean, to have it all be the same? Where were the lines to differentiate between rational thinking and emotions? That’s what he longed to know. A way to cut the sadness out and replace it with cold, unfeeling calculation. Perhaps there was a plant for such a thing. Mentally, he put it on a list of things to ask Tighnari. 

“Mehrak, what time is it?”

His mechanical briefcase drifted towards him, flying gingerly as if the water might touch her. She shook herself before projecting the time on the hologram.

“I see. And when will Alhaitham be home?”

The green-tinged hologram changed, a blinking countdown of when his roommate typically returned from his duties as Scribe.

“Can’t stall for that long, can I? Alright, then. Can you carry these for me? Let’s get back.”

He threaded the flowers securely through her handle and began his trek back across the stream.  

°˖✧✿✧˖°  

Kaveh tried to stall as much as he could, walking slowly or backtracking to look for something he’d allegedly dropped, but it was all too soon when he arrived at his father’s grave.

It was well kept, despite the constantly busy nature of his son and the absence of his wife. Kaveh had ensured that it was always in peak condition. Even now, he placed his vision to the side and knelt to clean off the tangle of vines and weeds that had attempted to reclaim the site since his last visit by hand.

The thorns caught on his skin, but he ignored the way it felt, only shoving at the plants with more vigor. This was the very least he could do for his father.

His task completed, Kaveh released a small sigh. He laid his own flora offerings down, brushing the long-wilted flowers from weeks ago aside. They crumbled at his touch, floating in a cloud of blackened plant fibers back into the wind.

“Hey, Dad,” he said, then groaned slightly at the crack and rasp in his voice. He cleared his throat before going on. “Sorry. I know you always told me to take care of myself, but I haven’t slept so well in the last few days.”

Idly, Kaveh arranged some red mourning flowers with more care under his artistic eye. Not that his father had any capability to care about the state of his grave, but Kaveh wanted to make it as nice as possible. He cared, even if no one else did anymore. “Well. If I’m to be honest, I haven’t slept very well since Mom left. Or since you died.”

He laughed, if only to fill the spaces between his words, if only to fill the silence. “I’m pathetic. I have to go.”

Quietly, carefully, he began to rise. He picked up his vision and his sweater. He glanced at the headstone once more.

“I’m sorry. It’s all my fault, and I’m sorry.”

Though his apology was twice as pathetic as he was and felt weak on his lips, Kaveh couldn’t stand to stay another minute. He was never strong enough to remain for more than a few short minutes. It stung to think about all the things he couldn’t do. With a final blown kiss and murmured prayer, he turned to go, ignoring the tears gathering at the edge of his vision.   

°˖✧✿✧˖°   

His keys were gone.

Frantically, Kaveh patted his pockets, desperately hoping to find their cold metal outline against his fingertips.

No such luck. His hands came up empty and he groaned, hitting his head lightly against the door of the home he shared with Alhaitham.

“Why today? Please, Haitham, I’m begging you to just be a little more-”

“What? Careful?”

Kaveh turned, sighing with relief. His junior stood behind him, half lit by the setting sun behind him, half in the shadows of the awning above the door to the house.

“Thank the archons. I wasn’t about to stand here all night waiting for you to come home. Open the door.”

Alhaitham ignored his words, taking a step closer to him. Kaveh backed up, confused, but the Scribe only advanced further.

His back hit the door, and he could feel a small blush creeping up his cheeks at the sudden and intense scrutiny of Alhaitham. “Um, Haitham? What are you doing?”

His calm teal eyes met Kaveh’s red ones steadily. One hand reached up to cup Kaveh’s cheek softly. He could feel the warmth spreading across his face, a fire of telltale pink that gave his secrets away with every second it deepened.

“You’ve been crying.” His voice held utter conviction, leaving no room for Kaveh to attempt an argument.

“Astute observation, my favorite junior. I didn’t ask for a diagnosis, though. Open the door,” he said, his temper flaring up. He didn’t want to have this conversation. He wanted to go to his room, collapse on his bed and sleep until it was dark and the tavern was lively and he could make lonely souls into his dearest companions, if only for a few hours. Anything was better than being alone. Anything was better than being here, all too close to his roommate who was probably about to make some snarky, taunting remark about-

“Are you alright?” was Alhaitham’s gentle, caring response.

It was then that Kaveh realized that he hadn’t let anyone take care of him, or even try to, in years. He hadn’t let anyone close enough, only focusing on maintaining that outer image of complete and total competence, to convince his mother, to convince them, to convince everyone, or maybe just himself, that he was fine.

Tears blurred his vision and he cleared his throat against a sob. Kaveh covered his eyes with one arm, his other hand clenching in a fist. He couldn’t break, not again. He couldn’t cry again, especially not here.

But when Alhaitham said, “I know,” his voice as tender in the simple words as Kaveh had ever heard it, his shoulders shook with new cries, unable to stop himself. He did nothing to stop him as Alhaitham’s arms wrapped around him, and he held the architect close on the steps of their shared home.

the ongoing bug with kaveh’s E skill is so funny. devastating for people it happened to, but still funny. like bro said “site clear!” and then actually cleared the site LNSKDJFN

"feast your eyes!"

OH YES I AM FEASTING MY EYES INDEED

pls bc the way he analyzes his designs and the way he's seated pretty in his office (with layla and faruzan in the background?!)

and of course there's alhaitham and of course they match their idle animations, their themes are almost a mirror of each other, and his ult is similar to him?

GOD I LIVE YOU KAVEH I LIVE FOR THE BOTH OF YOU

pick me up im weak hes so perfect

also some of his lines are like phrases used by architects on field like "site clear!"

and the way he worries about his clients and his deadlines- hes so real for that 😭 i kin his people-pleasing impulsive ass

(all for Kaveh) sweet or savoury breakfast? how often do they take a shower/bath? do they have specific shampoos, conditioners and body wash, or do they go with a 3-in-1? which chore is the one they dread doing the most?

sweet or savoury breakfast?

"I enjoy both. I tend to prefer a savory breakfast after a night of drinking," Kaveh chuckled abashedly, "And usually something greasy..." He was aware greasy food was a poor hangover choice, but that didn't mean his taste buds weren't going to crave what they wanted.

He cleared his throat and continued.

"If I'm just running out for a quick meeting with a client I'll usually choose something sweeter because it's faster to make. My go to is naan bread with feta cheese and honey or a sweet jam. Zaytun peaches or apples are also delicious with the flatbread and cheese."

"If I'm going to a job site or traveling for work I'll pick a savory option. I'll have a meal with eggs, like an omelette, or a lentil soup. I prefer something heavier and with protein on those days so I can keep my energy up until lunch time."

how often do they take a shower/bath?

"Every day. Sometimes more than once if I've been in the desert or at a dusty job site all day."

do they have specific shampoos, conditioners and body wash, or do they go with a 3-in-1?

"I have a whole routine for my hair and skin. I use a smoothing shampoo and also a smoothing conditioner. For body wash I use one with a moisturizer in it, and I'll exfoliate as needed. I have a specific cleanser for my face, a toner, and lotion. Once a week I'll usually use a clay face mask, as well."

Kaveh took pride in how he looked, after all.

"If you're interested I'd be happy to share with you what exactly I buy the next time I'm at the Bazaar," he offered with a smile.

which chore is the one they dread doing the most?

"Cleaning up after my roommate. He leaves his books everywhere!" he complained, hands resting on his hips with a huff, "I think he's refusing to put them away out of spite at this point. I don't understand how it's so difficult to put his books back on the bookshelf where they belong."

Did that actually answer the question?

Kaveh took a breath and relaxed his body again before he properly answered the question that had been asked.

"Ah, but aside from that, I guess I'm not too keen on cleaning the bathroom. It's not that either of us are messy, it's just that it requires a lot of being hunched over to clean different areas."

Favorite Poetry Books and Chapbooks of 2017

Kaveh Akbar said in a tweet a while back that we are living in a golden age of poetry and I have to agree. I never struggled with ‘there’s nothing to read’ this year though I did struggle with ‘I can’t keep up with how much there is to read’ quite a lot.

Here are eleven full-length poetry books and eleven chapbooks I loved this year.

Full-Length

Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar (www) (quotes) (Alice James Books)

I’ve made it clear I am not to be trusted with a body

In Calling a Wolf a Wolf, Kaveh Akbar exquisitely and tenaciously braids astonishment and atonement into a singular lyric voice. The desolation of alcoholism widens into hard-won insight: ‘the body is a mosque borrowed from Heaven.’ Doubt and fear spiral into grace and beauty. Akbar’s mind, like his language, is perpetually in motion. His imagery— wounded and resplendent—is masterful and his syntax ensnares and releases music that’s both delicate and muscular. Kaveh Akbar has crafted one of the best debuts in recent memory. In his hands, awe and redemption hinge into unforgettable and gorgeous poems. (Eduardo C. Corral)

Lessons on Expulsion by Erika L. Sánchez (www) (quotes) (Graywolf Press)

What can you blame but your rootless eye? Your mind so soft and full of hysterical light. You’ve already learned that your body is a lie.

Lessons on Expulsion marks the arrival of a vital new voice in American poetry. With penetrating intelligence and lyrical precision, Erika L. Sánchez makes visible the violence striking down Mexican women living on the border and interrogates the historical and the familial origins of misogyny. Her deft braiding of the beautiful and the grotesque infuses her language with a shimmering rawness and a startling immediacy. Her gaze is unflinching and feminist; it marvels and questions and testifies. Lessons on Expulsion is an uncompromising and singular debut. (Eduardo C. Corral)

Marys of the Sea by Joanna C. Valente (www) (quotes) (The Operating System)

I didn’t tell you how I used to think all the ways to fall in front of cars, sacrifice my body to get what I had

before. I used to pray for a new body by moon light, a return to being human.

She is not dead, but sleeping, Jesus says in the Gospel of Luke; like the sick girl of that verse, the speakers of Joanna Valente’s sharp and urgent ​Marys of the Sea​​ toss and turn through a series of feverish nightmares that refract lived experiences into prophetic and wild new imaginings. Preoccupied with the consequences of mothering and not-mothering, these fifty-three poems trenchantly interrogate sexual violence and its aftermath, lingering at the site of trauma as though hanging onto the lip of an abyss. Writing becomes power, structure an act of bravery. Like an ancient civilization's first creation myths, these poems utter light out of darkness as they order a world into being. (Monica Ferrell)

There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce by Morgan Parker (www) (quotes) (Tin House)

Let me fucking mourn me.

There are more beautiful things than Beyoncé in these pages because, as Morgan Parker writes in poems channeling the president’s wife, the Venus Hottentot and multiple Beyoncés, “we’re everyone. We have ideas and vaginas, history and clothes and a mother.” The kind of verve the late New York school Ted Berrigan would have called “feminine marvelous and tough” is here, as well as the kind of vulnerability that fortifies genuine daring. This is a marvelous book. See for yourself. Morgan Parker is a fearlessly forward and forward-thinking literary star. (Terrance Hayes)

Please Bury Me in This by Allison Benis White (www) (quotes) (Four Way Books)

I am writing to you as an act of immolation, relief.

The speaker in Please Bury Me in This grieves the death of her father and the loss of several women to suicide while contemplating her own death and the nature of language as a means of human connection that transcends our temporal lives. This book is also concerned with the intergenerational trauma of the children of Holocaust survivors.

Sugarblood by Liz Bowen (www) (quotes) (METATRON)

a book published when i was 16 asked ‘are women human yet?’

around that time, i was already considering myself partly a computer

‘are sick humans human?’

A kenning is a figurative expression of two subjects that gives special value to a common word. It is a way to see the word not through its economic function but through ecstatic vision. Such is the experience of reading Liz Bowen’s Sugarblood. Here, its kennings operate beyond disease and into (through) sexual frenzy.

In this collection, the body opens, dismantles, orgasms, and desiccates; the mind wants to get wet and fuck like the body and then it does because ‘it is my body and not / by extension.’ For Bowen to give language to humanity, she must also spell its animate failures. She remarks, ‘people are afraid of being animals / the distinguishable churn / of a body alive.’ The body is a literal frothing animal or it is a theory of the cyborg or it is the insulin pump falling out mid-run. ‘The blood is not a metaphor,’ Bowen tells us. ‘It is blood.’ Bowen teaches us the uses of metaphor in these poems to prove that she is happy to throw them away. In Sugarblood, we are made to see and it is ‘appallingly legible.’ (Natalie Eilbert)

A Place Called No Homeland by Kai Cheng Thom (www) (quotes) (Arsenal Pulp Press)

you are what is left behind you are the thing he could not take away you cannot be stolen, ransacked, looted like an emptied bank account or an burgled house you are the tough old tissues, the exquisite scars you are the thing that would not die

This is a book I have been waiting for even before I knew it would come to be, and a crucial addition to the growing cannon of trans women of colour literature and Canadian queer and trans people of colour poetics. Thom's poems write the roadmap that trans femmes of colour and queer and trans people of colour desperately need — one that maps our femme of colour bodies' fiercest wisdom and the places called 'nowhere' by the cis colonial imagination that are the grounds where we dream the futures that will bring us all home. Your white cis boyfriend won't save you from the end of the world, but these poems remind us beautifully that we already are saved. (Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha)

The January Children by Safia Elhillo (www) (quotes) (University of Nebraska Press)

i am afraid of my body & the ways / that it fails me

The first sound of what will be a remarkable noise in African poetry. Safia Elhillo has already laid out in this collection a complex foundation for a rich and complex body of work. What is unmistakable is her authority as a poet—she writes with great control and economy, but also with a vulnerability that is deeply engaging. Above all, her poems are filled with delight—a quality of humor that is never trite but always honest and insightful. (Kwame Dawes)

Ordinary Beast by Nicole Sealey (www) (quotes) (Ecco)

Had you asked, I could’ve told you I’m not doing especially well at being alive.

The sorceress Sealey . . . serves up an impossible cento that punches the daylight from your chest. Nothing ordinary here. But beast? Yeah, that’s it. This thing has teeth. (Patricia Smith)

Don't Call Us Dead by Danez Smith (www) (quotes) (Graywolf Press)

let ruin end here let him find honey where there was once a slaughter let him enter the lion’s cage & find a field of lilacs let this be the healing & if not    let it be

These poems can’t make history vanish, but they can contend against it with the force of a restorative imagination. Smith’s work is about that imagination—its role in repairing and sustaining communities, and in making the world more bearable. . . . Their poems are enriched to the point of volatility, but they pay out, often, in sudden joy. . . . But they also know the magic trick of making writing on the page operate like the most ecstatic speech. (The New Yorker)

Landscape with Sex and Violence by Lynn Melnick (www) (quotes) (YesYes  Books)

She's going to go where no one knows they can't see her.

She's going to go where no one is getting high off her suffering

The poems in Landscape with Sex and Violence explore what it means to exist within a rape culture so entrenched that it can’t be separated from the physical landscapes in which it enacts itself. Lyrically complex and startling—yet forthright and unflinching— these poems address rape, abortion, sex work, and other subjects frequently omitted from male-dominated literary traditions, without forsaking the pleasures of being embodied, or the value of personal freedom, of moonlight, and of hope. Throughout, the topography and mythology of California, as well as the uses and failures of language itself, are players in what it means to be a woman, a sexual being, and a trauma survivor in contemporary America.

Chapbooks

The Doll Factory by Nicola Maye Goldberg (www​) (quotes) (dancing girl press)

I am not interested in enduring this.

Bone Light by Yasmin Belkhyr (www) (quotes) (Akashic Books)

I have a recurring dream in which my father breaks the neck of every pigeon in the park. I help: a good daughter. I snatch them from the air & tear out the feathers. Bloody. In the story, there was a king named Ibrahim & he loved his god. No one calls me foreign but I know that’s what they mean. In the stories, girls like me sweat out the fevers, drop dirty guns in the trash chute. We rip the rabbit’s heart right out of its fucking chest. All that red-soaked skin under our fingernails. All I do is think about stories. About history, or his story, or my story. They’re all the same story really. Someone always ends up holding something mangled.

Vintage Sadness by Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib (www) (quotes) (Big Lucks)

I have walked into the field, mouth open, begging to be undone.

I’ve heard Hanif say that many of these poems were inspired by songs he didn’t know were about sex: how you start with that conceit & end up with poems that move me to get up & yell is beyond me. They say some days you need the music, and other days, the lyrics. Hanif gives us both. As Richard Pryor, in incandescent & open mouthed despair, gave humans the stretch of their own possibility, so does Hanif in every poem, every book, every group chat message. Look: Hanif is a maker of worlds, of tender and urgent moments. When Hanif writes of nostalgia, I want to live forever in nostalgia. Vintage Sadness reminds that we don’t listen to songs so much as to what’s behind them, which, gasp, is always us. Hanif reaches deep into the core of a riff and reveals its red-hot interior: desire, loss, the doubled-edge of mortality, how it gives and steals away. No one sets music to music like Hanif. Blessed are we to hold in our hands, and place on our bookshelves, this collection by Hanif. Who speaks always with a wealth of patience, lyric precision, and measured sight. (Sean DesVignes, José Olivarez, Angel Nafis, Danez Smith, Safia Elhillo, Desiree Bailey, Cortney Lamar Charleston, and Aziza Barnes)

Portrait of the Alcoholic by Kaveh Akbar (www) (quotes) (Sibling Rivalry Press)

I ached to be so beautiful / I hardly knew anything yet—

Was it Jung who speculated that alcoholism might be an attempt at a material solution for a spiritual problem? Kaveh Akbar seems able to contain both—he’s a demotic, as well as a spiritual, poet (the only type of either I trust). Each word in this little book might rise up from somewhere deep in the earth, but they turn into stars. (Nick Flynn)  

calorie world by Caroline Rayner (www) (quotes) (Sad Spell Press)

It's hard to describe how much I feel / how much I reach towards / covered in red thread / Caroline Rayner's calorie world. This morning a photo by Francesca Woodman falls across the TL like pain or lightning. A girl draped in a mountain of a dress / A girl draped in dirt or the sea stuck to her / A girl stuck to the extreme corner of the world / holds an orb of a plate in front of her face / a sharp moon. She is hunched and a bulbous tortoise crawls close by / looking at her. "i just embellish whatever the earth teaches me / my myth goes like this i was plucked from clover as half of a half of a half," says Rayner hunched and extreme and bursting with violent love / with violent urge. The Starving Girl / The Woman Ironing / they shake themselves, the world. Who can bear it? They do / She does. She bears it and bears it and plunges and heaves and bears it to you / gives it to you. "& when a girl / puts on ambient music / & bakes a birthday cake / i get real / & we burn /the house down" The excruciating boundaries of life / Rayner eats them and refuses to eat them. She does everything she can to understand how she could love her body so much / she might end up destroying it / or being rescued by it. (Carrie Lorig)

Symptoms of Teething by Eloisa Amezcua (www) (quotes) (Paper Nautilus)

I want to devour.

Here is a book of poems that is, at every turn, deeply invested in the kinds of love we share—with each other, with ourselves, with our pasts, and with our futures. In one moment, “we fall asleep / and there is no more falling.” In the next, the morning where “we fabricate each / other into being.” I am so grateful to Eloisa Amezcua for all her fabrications, for building us this little museum of love. (Kaveh Akbar)

Mount Carmel & The Blood Of Parnassus by Anaïs Duplan (www) (quotes)  (Monster House Press)

Something else I have to say: you will alienate everyone you love, systematically, as a practice.

Reading Anaïs Duplan’s chapbook, you realize you are more than an assemblage of ideologies, a cellular plan, or even an estranged, familial relation possessing the accoutrements of a melancholic nation, but also, too, the glorious product of dense, self-referential layered texts that call to the surface your loneliness and feelings of kinship. Here are poems that revel in post-hybridity and borderless threnodies, and go straight to the stillness of the heart, to performances of language that are fierce and juicier than a papaya, and frankly, that one would only expect from a brilliant, young mind as theirs. (Major Jackson)

BLK/STILL/LIFE by kiki nicole (www) (quotes) (self)

( how often we let our bodies speak for us )

Blk/Still/Life is a series of poems by kiki nicole after the photographic work, Kitchen Table Series, by Carrie Mae Weems. It explores what it’s like to be left at a table where love is no longer being served, through the context of a black non-male identity. How to pick up your seat & set the table for your own damn self.

Therǝ is a Case That I Ɐm by torrin a. greathouse (www) (quotes) (Damaged Goods Press)

how do i explain there is no bravery in running from a house on fire. that this story begins with a body born boy like animal skinning itself in reverse & sewing itself up wrong. that dressing like this feels less like dressing up & more like dressing a wound.

I want every poem I read to feel as urgent as the poems in torrin a. greathouse’s new collection. I want the stakes always to feel this high. “i am afraid of disappearing by morning,” she says, “how often we swallow this fear / whole.” With prodigious formal innovation and ferocious verve, torrin charts her inner cosmology with astonishing clarity. When she writes, “there is a line where i both exist / & unexist,” I feel so grateful to be here, now, existing alongside her remarkable poems. (Kaveh Akbar)

Like a Beast by Carly Joy Miller (www) (quotes) (Anhinga Press)

I never considered the cathedral a body needing to break.

These poems are so full of flesh and guts that they have their own crazed pulse. In the most decadent combination of the carnal and the divine, of human and animal, the body is dismembered and remade into brocade and “skin jeweled from the start.” At once these poems are hymns, spells, blessings, wails, and elegy. Miller is not just a poet – she is a mystic, a soothsayer, a sorceress. She will show you the beast you are, the beast you will become. What a holy horror, and “Amen for fright.” Amen, amen, amen. (Meghan Privitello)

Lifeline by Jennifer Givhan (www) (quotes) (Glass Poetry Press)

Once    I fell into a river but wouldn’t drown              If limbs are made of splintered oars & hearts of apple blossoms this world’s for me

The poems of Lifeline are deliciously alive, even while mercilessly dissecting trauma and loss. Givhan's searing imagery and candor depicts womanhood in its most raw and honest form — as a gritty mosaic of fractured ghosts held together by blood and resistance. (Rachel McKibbens)

I can think of so many amazing sounding chapbooks that came out this year that I haven’t read yet like Death by Sex Machine (Franny Choi), Mexicamericana (Eloisa Amezcua), al youm (George Abraham), etc., etc. and like what feels a mountain of full-length books. Maybe next year.

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1. Trafficking and labour exploitation: guidance for ... https://www.homeless.org.uk/.../trafficking-and-forced-labour Mobile · Trafficking and labour exploitation: guidance for frontline services Human trafficking is the fastest growing international crime and there is a clear link between trafficking, forced … Homelessness | U.S. Department ofLabor Blog https://blog.dol.gov/category/homelessness Mobile · Funded by the Labor Department, HVRP provides services to help homeless veterans reenter the workforce, which in turn gets them back on track in other aspects of life. Forced Labor | U.S. Department ofLabor Blog https://blog.dol.gov/category/forced-labor Mobile · Seventy years after its creation, the work of the Bureau of International LaborAffairs is as … [PDF]Trafficking and forced labour - Homeless Link https://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/site-attachments... Mobile · Trafficking and forced labour: guidance for homelessness services 3 INTRODUCTION Human trafficking is the fastest growing international crime, the fastest growing means by which … [PDF]Labor and Sex Trafficking Among Homeless Youth https://covenanthousestudy.org/landing/trafficking/docs/Loyola... Mobile · study the prevalence and nature of human trafficking among homeless ... - Situations of forced labor ... Labor and Sex Trafficking Among Homeless Youth ... Family of people traffickers madehomeless Eastern ... https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6031505/people-trafficking-newcastle... Mobile · Family of people traffickers madehomeless Eastern Europeans work and stole wages for seven ... all from Newcastle, were convicted of charges including forced labour. Related searchesforced labor in usforced labor in americaforced labor policyforced labor lawsforced labor statistics 123 2. https://www.bing.com/search?q=forced+labor+homelessness&go=Search&qs=n&form=QBRE&pc=SMSM&sp=-1&pq=forced+labor+homelessness&sc=0-25&sk=&cvid=21B63356B3A142D28849E6340CF73D62 3. Struggling Americans Forced To Work Extra-Dimensional 4t… https://www.theonion.com/struggling-americans-forced-to-work Mobile · CINCINNATI—According to a report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Labor, skyrocketing consumer prices coupled with stagnant wages haveforced many Americans towork … More Americans 75 and older keep working - USA TODAY https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2013/01/13/... Jan 14, 2013 · Watch video · Some olderAmericans who want to work are forced to retire; Older Americans looking for workshould consider the growing fields; ... USA TODAY, Kaveh Rezaei, Millions of Americans forced to work part time - CBS News https://www.cbsnews.com/news/millions-of-americans-forced-to-work Mobile · U.S. added 192,000 jobs in March, but manyAmericans are taking jobs that pay a fraction of what they used to make Sharecropping - Black History -HISTORY.com https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/sharecropping Mobile · In the early years of Reconstruction, most blacks in rural areas of the South were left without land and forced to work as … REPORT: More Americans forced to work into their 70s dennismichaellynch.com/report-americans-work Mobile · Millennials are urged to start saving money for their future retirement plans now as experts predict that this trend will continue. Studies show that last quarter, 32 percent ofAmericans … Chapter 3 Flashcards | Quizlet https://quizlet.com/5648594/chapter-3-flash-cards Mobile · Under a system called ___, NativeAmericans were forced to work under brutal conditions How The Japanese Used AmericanPOWs For Slave Lab… rense.com/general8/pows.htm How The Japanese Used American POWs For ... World War II will cause Americans to take ... were prisoners of war and forced to work for the Japanese ... African Americans' Forced Labor | Solidarity www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/2941 African Americans' Forced Labor ... Not only had Southern railroad magnates already leased over 20,000 slaves and forced them towork in … Trump opens door to low-incomeAmericans being forc https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/... Mobile · Watch video · In a major departure from more than 50 years of US healthcare policy, the Trump administration will let states move towards imposing work requirements … Slavery among Native Americans in the United State… https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_among_Native_Americans Mobile · Slavery among Native Americans in the United States includes slavery ... Little is known about Native Americans that wereforced into ... from work … Native American slaveryEuropean enslavement ...African chattel ... Videos 5:15 The Economy and Your Retirement Plans ABC News 11:53HD Trum 4. https://www.bing.com/search?q=Americans+forced+to+work&go=Search&qs=n&form=QBRE&pc=SMSM&sp=-1&pq=americans+forced+to+work&sc=5-24&sk=&cvid=3EC1A0DE88EF4E708E955658A0992E12 5. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/millions-of-americans-forced-to-work-part-time/ 6. Millions of Americans forced to work part time Millions of Americans forced to work part time Apr 4, 2014 6:50 PM EDT CBS Evening News By Anthony Mason / CBS News NEW YORK -- The U.S. economy has regained all the private-sector jobs it lost in the Great Recession; it took six years. The Labor Department said Friday that America added 192,000 jobs in March. The unemployment rate remained 6.7 percent. Tara Dublin CBS NewsAfter five years of being in and out of work, Tara Dublin found a job a few weeks ago as a hostess at a restaurant in Portland, Ore.. "I've been hired by this restaurant I absolutely love, but it's a part-time position," Dublin says. She makes $11 an hour, plus tips. In March, of the 192,000 jobs created, 30,000 were in food services. Restaurants and bars have added 323,000 workers over the past year, but Dublin is earning a fraction of what she used to make. "The first time I came home and saw a foreclosure notice taped to my front door and my sons saw it, that was a really bad day," Dublin says. Dublin, a divorced mother of two, was laid off from her dream job as a Portland radio show host in 2009. She found work as a social media analyst early last year, but after eight months was laid off from that job, too. "I want to go to sleep at night and not have numbers running through my head," she says. "How much money do I have until my food benefits run out? How much do I have left on my car? How do I feed my kids today? I always have math in my head, now." In the Labor Department statistics, Dublin falls into the category of people "forced" to work part time. There are some 7.4 million of them in America. © 2014 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. 7. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/sharecropping 8. The U.S. Government's Zombie Apocalypse Plan 9. Update browser Ignore   SHARECROPPING 0:00 / 2:35 Menu Compromise of 1877 Compromise of 1877 Despite gaining their freedom, African-Americans face struggles in the years after the Civil War. Share INTRODUCTION Sharecropping is a type of farming in which families rent small plots of land from a landowner in return for a portion of their crop, to be given to the landowner at the end of each year. Different types of sharecropping have been practiced worldwide for centuries, but in the rural South, it was typically practiced by former slaves. With the southern economy in disarray after the abolition of slavery and the devastation of the Civil War, conflict arose during the Reconstruction era between many white landowners attempting to reestablish a labor force and freed blacks seeking economic independence and autonomy. FORTY ACRES AND A MULE BLACK CODES RISE OF THE SHARECROPPING SYSTEM Despite giving African Americans the rights of citizens, the federal government (and the Republican-controlled state governments formed during this phase of Reconstruction) took little concrete action to help freed blacks in the quest to own their own land. Instead of rec 10. In the early years of Reconstruction, most blacks in rural areas of the South were left without land and forced to work as laborers on large white-owned farms and plantations in order to earn a living. M 11. gnore   SHARECROPPING 0:00 / 2:35 Menu Compromise of 1877 Compromise of 1877 Despite gaining their freedom, African-Americans face struggles in the years after the Civil War. Share INTRODUCTION Sharecropping is a type of farming in which families rent small plots of land from a landowner in return for a portion of their crop, to be given to the landowner at the end of each year. Different types of sharecropping have been practiced worldwide for centuries, but in the rural South, it was typically practiced by former slaves. With the southern economy in disarray after the abolition of slavery and the devastation of the Civil War, conflict arose during the Reconstruction era between many white landowners attempting to reestablish a labor force and freed blacks seeking economic independence and autonomy. FORTY ACRES AND A MULE BLACK CODES In the early years of Reconstruction, most blacks in rural areas of the South were left without land and forced to work as laborers on large white-owned farms and plantations in order to earn a living. Many clashed with former slave masters bent on reestablishing a gang-labor system similar to the one that prevailed under slavery. In an effort to regulate the labor force and reassert white supremacy in the postwar South, former Confederate state legislatures soon passed restrictive laws denying blacks legal equality or political rights, and created “black codes” that forced former slaves to sign yearly labor contracts or be arrested and jailed for vagrancy. These black codes provoked a  12. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-medicare-reform-work-requirements-states-healthcare-welfare-a8154386.html 13. SSL connection error Unable to make a secure connection to the server. This may be a problem with the server, or it may be requiring a client authentication certificate that you don't have. 14. Trump opens door to low-incomeAmericans being forc https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/... Mobile · Watch video · In a major departure from more than 50 years of US healthcare policy, the Trump administration will let states move towards imposing work requirements … 15. https://www.bing.com/search?q=forced+labor&PC=SMSM&FORM=MBDPSB 16. Forced labour, also called Slave Labour, labour performed involuntarily and under duress, usually by relatively large groups of people. Forced labour differs from slavery in that it involves not the ownership of one person by another but rather merely theforced exploitation of that person’s labour. forced labour | Britannica.com britannica.com/topic/forced-labour Feedback PEOPLE ALSO ASK Why is the labor force participation rate increasing? What is forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking? How to calculate participation rate? What are labor camps? Forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking www.ilo.org/global/topics/ 17. What is forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking? How to calculate participation rate? What are labor camps? Forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking www.ilo.org/global/topics/forced-labour Mobile · Apr 30, 2018 · "Ratifying countries are now obliged to implement the treaty and report on measures taken." Committee on Forced Labour, ILC 2014. 24.9 million people in forced labour… Statistics Forced Labour Sectors and Topics Forced Labor | Modern Day Slavery - End Slavery Now www.endslaverynow.org/learn/slavery-today/forced-labor Mobile · Between 20.9 million and 29.8 million people are victims of forced labor, a type of enslavement that captures labor and sexual exploitation. Child Labor Bonded Labor Modern Slave Narratives Forced Marriage Forced labor - New World Encyclopedia www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Forced_labor Mobile · Forced labor, unfree labor, or slave laborare collective terms for a variety of work relations in which people are employed … Images 18. I don't want this way of things here to continue. I am attacked here very bad by the devil for ending the world by saying definitively that it was not real here n that people are not mentally ill n that it was ruled by the devil here. I have been attacked by the society/society order also further since then. I don't agree w poverty or inferiors n superiors, the police, etc. Please discontinue this government. Sincerely, Marla Rose Luster 19. Thank you for your submission! 20. Dept of Labor, Please discontinue this present rule here that includes forced labor n is really slavery. Really this way of things here is a false reality ruled by the devil. I am not okay here as someone saying this. It is very bad here for people that don't support the establishment, they can be made poor, attacked other ways by the order, made homeless. It is really a dictatorship here n people are having this rule oppressed onto them to entrap them in the rule of the devil. It is evil here, the stuff here. There's homelessness, other things also suggesting people are worth nothing without money, people are treated this way here. It's very bad. Please dismantle n discontinue this way of things, ie this government that institutes, maintains n leads this rule which is the rule of the devil. It is a lie this way of things is okay, a standing lie pretended to be true. That's really like pretending the devil is the truth, something very bad as what is true. But bad things are not really true, so its very bad they are pressed as true here. Sincerely, Marla Rose Luster