Dear Diary,

"Equity also judges, Based on the circumstances, The actions were taken in." - Tabitha Diaz, Doctrine of Tabitha, Book of Egalitarianism

Here in the sixth Verse of the Book of Egalitarianism, Tabitha clarifies how Equity affects Consequences. Specifically, she notes that Equitable Consequences must judge not just on the actions taken, but on the situation surrounding those actions. There are many, many situations that can be used as examples for this. A person who kills to protect himself or others ought receive lighter consequences than a person who kills for personal gain. Like all things, however, there is nuance here; a person who kills for food they would starve without might be considered less evil than a person who kills to win the love of another. A baker killing a thief stealing bread the thief needs to feed themselves might be more culpable than a person killing the same thief when they're stealing that person's family's last loaf of bread. This is all to say that Equity is not easy, not simple, not something one can describe each and every situation before they could happen, but when we stop, and think, and consider, each of these comparisons becomes clearer. Which is why Tabitha cautions us to be so careful with our Agency; because in a world where everyone has it and employs it without thought, avoidable tragedies will likely not be avoided. - Priestess Most High Above All Others, Archmage Imperator Saffron Aetos-Diaz, Commentary on the Doctrine of Tabitha

Again with Saffron nailing the meaning behind the verse. I think she is, at least, and I'm pretty sure my opinion counts for something, at least in this context. Also, I really think I'd rather she were nailing me, but we're gonna hold off on that until tomorrow, because reasons.

At any rate, I'm not sure whether what she talked about is exactly what I was thinking about when I wrote that, but when I read it now, that's exactly what I want it to mean. Of course now I'm wondering if that's because it's what I meant, because I've changed and grown and learned and it's what I think it should mean now, or because Saffron interpreted it that way and I'm utterly enthralled by dat ass.

Probably the last one. I'm a dumbass and a horndog of the first water, and I'm not saying any of those things in a self-deprecating way. Sex is fun, I like sex, and even thinking about sex and sexy things is a fun way to pass the time when I'm not engaging all my brain cells with something else. Yeah, I'm pretty sure people who don't like me employ 'dumbass' as an insult, but I've decided I'm taking that word back. I'm a she-himbo like my brothers in spirit Lachlan, Carruthers, and Silk. Okay, Silk's kinda on probation, but only because I'm not sure how 'pure of heart' he is. Gotta get with Lily and see if she vouches for his heart's purity or not. Seriously, I know he's trampled on people's feelings, but I'm pretty sure I've done that at some point in my past. Without meaning to, that is.

I'm sort of ashamed to admit it, but I did it on purpose once or twice back in the day. I guess it was kinda my potato way of bullying people or something. Looking back, I think I thought it would make me feel good, or powerful, or like I was in control over something by leading someone on then telling them no, or dumping them just to dump them. Thing is, it might even have worked, just a little bit, like an edible will kill the pain just a little bit, or a cup of coffee will wake me up just a little bit. But it doesn't last, and each time you've got to go bigger. I guess me being a potato wound up helping me out, in a way, since I didn't have the kind of draw to get dudes to follow me around after it got around that I'd fucked a couple dudes over like that. And by a couple I mean one dude in particular, because he was practically the definition of 'so hot it's okay that he's crazy'.

At any rate, I don't do shit like that here and now, and I'm taking back 'dumbass' as one of the Three Pillars of Himbohood, and I've got the broad shoulders and my heart is pure. I mean, nobody says pure what, so pure horny is good for that part. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So yesterday I spent the day checking out the various Attributes via Inspect. I mean, most of them kind of made sense, but then I'm not sure all of them mean what I think they mean. Then there's Personality, which totally was one of those terms that meant something entirely different in this context. Which got me to wondering.

"Kitten?"

"Yes, love?"

"I know you said high Personality makes someone hot, but is it, like, if they've got a high Personality their physical features are objectively more attractive? How does that work?"

She chuckled. "Attraction is more complex than that..."

She trailed off as I got my recommended daily allotment of Kitten boob groping in all at once. "Nope. Tabby see Kitten boobs, Tabby attracted. Simple as."

She chuckled, lay her hands atop mine to hold them in place, and leaned back against me. "Ah, yes, but are you attracted to Bonnie?"

I thought about my answer carefully, as one is wont to do with one's Wife with questions like that. "I mean, yeah, kinda? Not in a 'must have now' kind of sense, but in a 'I wouldn't say no if I were being suffocated by them' sense."

"But they're clearly larger than mine. Still full up, too, so they're not sagging like mine do."

I snorted. "Yes, but I clearly said, 'Kitten boobs'. Yours. Besides, they're not sagging now. You just need the right support."

"Since I do adore the support they're getting now, I'll agree that they aren't sagging right at the moment. But to clarify, were you more attracted to me or to her back before you and I got together?"

I thought about that for a bit, then said, "you? I think? But that's mostly because you and I interacted more. Also, y'know, you're smart."

"So it's my Reason that attracted you, not my Personality?"

"I dunno. More... just everything, I guess. Who you are as a person."

She nuzzled me and said, "I do love it when you say things like that. But suffice to say that those with higher Personality are always subconsciously enforcing their will on those around them."

"Oh, shit. You mean you or I could, I dunno, force people to..." I trailed off, suddenly horrified. "They do that shit on the altar because I subconsciously want them to?"

"What do you want them to do. Consciously."

I took a deep breath. "Consciously? I want them to open up to me, so I can help fulfill their wants and needs. Help them realize their Passion. Help them find Ecstasy, if only for a while."

"Well then. I'd say that yes, you are pushing them to do that." She nuzzled me again before I could reply. "But is that really such a bad thing? You're not forcing them to do something they don't want to do. If anything, you're forcing them to do something they want to do, but have been told by others that they mustn't, or shouldn't, or in some other way that they can't have what they so desperately desire. You're not taking away their Agency, love. You're enabling it."

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I took another deep breath, then nodded. "Thanks, Kitten. Oh, by the way?"

"Yes?"

"Time for lunch," the me in the Maid uniform said, carrying her lunch over on a tray.

Dinner went relatively normally, as did bath time. My ladies teamed up to knock our brilliant little Kitten out after that. As I lay her in bed, she murmured, "so considerate. What have I done to deserve all this?"

"This? This is just us doing proper care and maintenance of our Archmage."

"Mmm... you have another of those, you know."

I chuckled. "Yeah, but she's not really up for anything athletic."

Saffron snorted, starting to snore as she thought, pit stops are not athletic in the slightest, Goof.

Turns out she's right, and Siobhan slept just as soundly as Saffron did. Tallulah, Marie and I spent an hour or so just rearranging stuff in the Bedroom, at which point I looked at Marie and said, "you know this is gonna get messed up tomorrow night, right?"

She just grinned that toothy grin at me and said, "Hope So."

So today Saffron had folks in and out of the Academy Suite all day long. Doc DeLeon, Doc Roberts, she even got the Headmaster to come up and test out the new Inspect. Shortly before lunch time, she had me hit her with another one; I noticed the changes immediately.

ATTENTION: THE NUMERIC VALUES IN INSPECT HAVE BEEN ALTERED TO ENABLE MORE GRANULAR DISPLAY OF DIFFERENCES VALUES IN INSPECT ARE NOW TIER BASED RATHER THAN EXPONENTIAL

I Understand | Please Explain

"Tier based?" I asked.

"Check the in-shape explanation, tell me if it makes sense to you."

I shrugged and poked 'please explain' with my brain meats.

For the Tier-based system now in use by Inspect, values in each Tier are a power of ten higher than the previous Tier One through ten in Tier Zero are the common values of one through ten. Two is twice one, six is twice three, eight is twice four, seven is four and three. One through ten in Tier one are ten times their Tier zero values. Each successive Tier is ten times the previous Tier. Contact a Mathematician should you need further education.

I Understand

It took me a second, but then I said, "isn't that just scientific notation with extra steps?"

She shrugged. "Yes and no. It is, as noted, Scientific Notation. But 'powers of ten' requires a bit more mathematics than many Shapers have, whereas 'multiplying the previous Tier by ten' does not."

"Uh, I remember Doc Roberts going over that level of math in Advanced Mana Shaping."

She nodded. "Yes, anyone educated at an Alliance Academy will understand. But I'd rather not have some Europan or Asian would-be Archmage breaking my Global Shaping just because they don't understand the concept of exponents. So... Tiers."

I shrugged. "If you think so."

"I do."

"Okay then, Kitten. I mean, it makes sense to me. But... what about ten?"

"What about it?"

I thought about it a second. "Oh. Right. No 'eleven problem'."

"Exactly."

I nodded, then poked at the 'I Understand'.

Inspection Target:

Saffron "Kitten", "Yunya", "Sexypaws", Aetos-Diaz

Target Type

Humanoid Biped (Human, Faun)

Titles

Adult, Archmage, Hero (Phileo), Imperator, Mistress, Mother, Priestess Most High Above All Others, Wife

Patron

Mimic

Attributes:

Strength: 7(T1), Agility: 1(T2), Endurance: 8(T2), Reason: 1(T4), Memory: 8(T2), Personality: 1(T4)

Skills

Assess Health, Coercion, Dress Down, Inspect, Mana Blade, Mana Shaping, Research, Strong Arm, Swift Foot, Thick Skull, Ward

I looked over the new display. "Faun?"

She half turned to give me a booger look. "Yes. Like Mrs. Driver."

"Huh. Why so sour about it?"

"Besides the fact that her impressive stature means that I cannot blame my height on my Bag ancestry? It also is responsible for a hitherto unknown Skill that Franklin," she almost didn't hiss his name like a curse, "would have classified as 'Racial' overwriting what would otherwise be 'Thick Skin'."

I smiled at her, caressed her hair, her head, with hands and tentacles. "Thick Skull, huh?"

She pursed her lips. "Yes. It is apparently significantly more durable than any of my other body parts, although those are, to a lesser degree, improved. On the other hand, unlike Thick Skin, it directly improves my Endurance for purposes other than resisting damage."

"Good."

The moue returned in force. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, along with wanting you to have as much Endurance as possible, because reasons," I caressed her cranium, leaving a halo of little kisses around her head as I turned her. "This is my favorite part of you. Your beautiful brain. Your mind. Your you, Kitten."

The moue melted away. "Careful. I'm not done working, and there's a bed right there in the other room."

I spun her back around and sat her on my lap. "Oh, no. Can't have that. Must be professional and keep my beautiful little Kitten in tip top shape for re-Shaping the world." She sighed, then squeaked as I lifted her, leaning her backward and stretching her out. "Although with that in mind, it is lunch time."

"But what about you, love?" she murmured.

"Later, Imperator Sexypaws, first of her name. Later."

When I returned her to her upright, locked position, enjoying how she still craned her head around to watch Maid me sashay out of the room for her viewing pleasure, I asked, "okay, Kitten. Are you ready for this thing to go live?"

She thought about it a moment, then sighed and shook her head. "No, love. I've one more round of testing, and that ought be done in a more secure location."

"More secure than this?" I waved my hand around our office. Her office, really, in our old suite.

She nodded. "Yes, love. You noticed my rather shortened list of Skills?"

"Oh, yeah. I was gonna ask about that. I know you've got, uh, some intimate Skills. Oh, fucking fuckity fuck do I know that. Where are those?"

She chuckled. "I also have Blend. Which I've used to alter my, shall we call it, 'publicly available Status'. Which I expect you to burn through when we test it at your father's place tomorrow."

I hummed a noncommittal hum at that, then said, "so, is there anything you can work on here, now?"

She nodded, "a bit more."

So I let her tinker until the sky started to get dark; our window faced east, so before the sun touched the western horizon I said, "put your work away, Kitten. Time to head home."

She sighed. "Yes, love." A few moments later, she nodded. "I'm ready to go."

Which is when I translocated her, sans inconvenient coverings, to the divan in the Bedroom, collapsing to the Shapeshifted me lying on the bed where I'd tied myself up, the rest of my ladies each in their own comfy little nest nearby.

"Well. This is a surprise," she ground out, her self-control strained. "Hadn't we be getting down to dinner, though?"

Which is when I hit her with the first of many surprises I'd prepared, letting her watch me shudder as I sang into her head, the kids are at my dad's place.

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