Genre: Along the Watchtower

Then from the throng                          did three come forth,
From the home of the gods,         the mighty and gracious;
Two without fate                             on the land they found,
Ask and Embla,                                          empty of might.

Soul they had not,        sense they had not,
Heat nor motion,                nor goodly hue;
Soul gave Othin,             sense gave Hönir,
Heat gave Lothur               and goodly hue.

Voluspo^

Genre: Valkyrie's Rage

Blood rains           from the cloudy web

On the broad loom             of slaughter.

The web of man               grey as armor

Is now being woven;        the Valkyries

Will cross it           with a crimson weft.

Darraðarljóð^

Valkyrie are the agents of the gods, flying over conflicts to pluck the Heroic Dead and bring them to the Halls where they will pass their days practicing and carousing in preparation for the End of the World. Foster Daughters of the One Eyed God, even as the Heroic Dead are foster sons, they serve and seek and weave in a world build by blood and wisdom. Associated with ravens and swans, Valkyrie are often depicted with winged cloaks or riding flying horses.

Hiatus

It's been a long six months, and a lot has changed.

It feels weird to be in world again, but welcome. I'm still getting my sea legs, adapting to the changes, but in Second Life at least very little has changed. I find that comforting even while the world I live in seems to be spinning closer to despotism. I'm afraid for the people I work to help, for their access to medical care and housing in the face of people who seem all too willing to cut off social supports while lining their own pockets. My clients live at the mercy of the US government, and I work at the mercy of the US government, and those running it now seem to not know what mercy is.

I don't want to live in a world where people are viewed as disposable simply because they aren't wealthy. I don't want to live in a world where people use "identity politics" to try to undermine people seeking legitimate civil rights. I don't want to live in a world where people cheer when a woman who's lived in the US since she was a teenager is deported away from her job and family to a country she hasn't been to in twenty years. I don't want to live in a world where people compare hate speech and the encouragement of schotastic violence with public protest and dissent. I have limited influence but I can control the world out to my fingertips and I chose support, I chose love, I chose justice, and I chose unity. We're stronger, together.