#enabling him to enter his true knight form

[startistdoodles]

I've a question about how Morpho Knight works. Does he accumulate power and abilities with each soul he absorbs, growing ever stronger, or is his power level dictated by what he uses to take form?

I don't think he necessarily gets stronger with every soul since he is already super powerful as is, but he can gain new abilities based on the soul he absorbs.

[blogdemocratesjr]

Tour Saint-Jacques projet (2021, The light beam indicates the direction of Santiago de Compostela.) & Suivez mon panache rose (2012) by Jacqueline Dauriac

Among the Portuguese knights who took part with initiative in these events [the struggle with Arabian power in Granada, Spain] was Francisco Almeida. With the leave of the Portuguese king and as a knight of St James he was among the foremost in the siege and fall of Granada. It was he who afterwards became, on behalf of Emmanuel I of Portugal, the first Viceroy of India. Documentary history tells us comparatively little of Almeida, who was closely connected not only with Emmanuel of Portugal but with Ferdinand and Isabella also. Almeida had been an eye-witness of the unhappy bargaining with the hand of Juana, for as ambassador of Alphonso V he had prepared the latter’s journey to Louis XI of France. The awful nature of Jauna’s treatment had entered deeply into Almeida’s soul, and had awakened in him the sure knowledge that a new age was coming, wherein the destinies of nations would be guided in quite other ways than by marrying and giving in marriage. He wanted to see Portugal and Spain united not by marriages but by brave and conscious deed, of significance for all mankind. It was indeed an event of the greatest importance when the Christian army assailed the rose-covered walls of Granada, and planted thereon the ensign of the Order, whose coat of arms contained the sword, it is true, but with a heart in place of the handle, for in the traditions of the Order it was known that in future ages love must take the place of the sword—only the time for this was not yet fully come.

In the hands of the Moors who held Granada there was at that time a sacred treasure, with the possession of which a kind of hidden knowledge was associated. It was a sacred relic connected with a form of alchemy. Destiny brought it about that this object and the knowledge associated with it fell into the hands of Francesco Almeida. Almeida felt that he had the right to dispose of it after his own insight, but the Order of St James did not agree with him, and desired to keep for itself the right of disposal, both of the relic itself, and of the hidden knowledge which went with it. Almeida however insisted on his right and eventually passed on the relic and the knowledge to a certain man from Alsace, whose name was Stefan Rautter. This individual is known to history under the pseudonym Basil Valentine. His writings, preserved by his pupils and circulated in manuscript form, were at a later time collected and published by Tholde, secretary of the Rosicrucian Order. … Basil Valentine here mentions, among other things, that he undertook in peril of his life a journey to Santiago de Compostela, and he remarks that those who may now benefit from the knowledge which he brought from there should thank God that he was enabled to complete the arduous journey.

Basil Valentine’s work contains the great secret of alchemy, which consists in the study of certain transmutations of carbon, referred to mysteriously as the prima materia. The secret is not revealed; it is only hinted at in a half-jocular form, where it is said that the disciple of alchemy must not take it amiss if he be called upon to dirty his hands with coal.

Basil Valentine also mentions that he came to England. Thomas Malory, who here became his pupil, repeats the same jest in the story of the knight, Beaumains. Indeed, the entire seventh book of Malory’s Morte d’Arthur proves him a pupil of Basil Valentine; only what Basil refers to as the stone which goes through many colors is for Malory the knight of many-colored armor.

It was Almeida, therefore, who withheld the knowledge from the Order of St James and was responsible for giving it to Basil Valentine. The hidden knowledge, and the preparation in question, was preserved thenceforth in the Rosicrucian schools of alchemy. This knowledge is indeed very ancient, and in the last resort goes back to the time of Alexander the Great, who learned the secret of substance and of its medical use from his tutor, Aristotle. The ‘coal,’ the transmutation of which is the subject of alchemy, is indeed none other than the carbon contained in every living substance. In the living body of man this carbon does indeed take on all colors, inasmuch as all the organs are made up of its compounds. Carbon builds up the human body, which is not only alive, but permeated in its living substance by soul and spirit. What Basil Valentine calls the Philosopher’s Stone is none other than the human being looked at from the threefold aspect of body, soul, and spirit. Therefore the Philosopher’s Stone is represented as consisting of three substances, though one in essence. In the mystery schools of antiquity it was always known that the human being must experience a transmutation in body, soul and spirit if ordinary consciousness is to be changed into a higher, clairvoyant consciousness. To describe this transmutation in the language of carbon chemistry was the essential content of Basil Valentine’s alchemy. Thus Almeida brought the royal art from Granada to Compostela and from there, by the hand of Basil Valentine, to Alsace and to Thomas Malory in England.

—Walter J. Stein, The Death of Merlin (pp.91–93)

[thenightling]

A list of petty hedge-magicks that work against Dream of The Endless...

Rules, rules, rules...

The Endless are powerful beings but there are laws that govern the universe that they are slaves to obey.  These rules include old magicks.  

Now, the summoning spell, itself, could have easily been brushed off if Morpheus had not been weakened, but once summoned it was certain “Petty hedge-magicks” that held him for over seventy-two-years.  

Morpheus has (at least twice) referred to some of these old spells as “Petty hedge-magicking.”   Hedge-magick usually means low level, weak, or amateurish, spell casting.  Or as I like to say “Something he woefully under-estimates.”

Here are some of the petty hedge-magicks that have worked against Dream of The Endless.

1.   A summoning / binding circle.  In many occult practices a summoning circle can double as a binding circle and whatever you summon within it cannot leave the circle until banished or if the circle is breached.   

Often these sort of circles are based on figures from the key of Solomon.  They can be drawn with things as simple as white chalk. It’s the symbols and the beliefs behind them that matter.  

The pentacle design in the summoning spell in Sandman is very elaborate and full of actual arcane symbols from alchemical sigils and Futhark runes and I think I see Hebrew in there.  It’s a magical hodgepodge.   I won’t go into too much detail about these because some of them are hard for me to see in the illustration even when I enlarge it.

However...

Notice the use of the pentacle at the four points of the circle.  In the Sleep of the Just splash page (issue 1 of The Sandman) I can only see two points but I believe there is a pentacle at the North, South, East, and Western points of the circle.    

The pentacle is NOT Satanic in nature, despite popular misconception.   It is an ancient symbol of elemental magicks.   Each point is an element.  Water, Fire, Earth, air, and spirit at the top.  Water, Fire, Earth, and Air are each associated with a direction.  For example, water is associated with the west.  (Ironic that The Wicked Witch of the West was destroyed with water, isn’t it?) 

The pentacle is a fairly ancient Pagan symbol however it also has had popular use in Christian lore.  

In one folk belief a ring with a pentacle on it was given to King Solomon by the Archangel Michael and this helped enable him to bind djinn or demons.

in Goethe’s Faust Part 1 we find out that a pentacle used as a protection ward over the entrance of Faust’s home can successfully ward against demons.  In German lore the pentacle was once known as the Drudenfuss (The Druid’s foot.)  The demon, Mephistopheles AKA Mephisto, is only able to get in the home because one of the points didn’t quite meet the edge of the circle.  However the pentacle was correct enough that he could not leave until the pentacle was destroyed.  

In the 1941 film The Wolfman the pentacle could be used to ward off the werewolf, prevent the werewolf transformation (when worn by the werewolf), and would appear in a vision to the werewolf on the next victim as a warning.

This carried over into the TV series Dark Shadows, which used the same rules for its own werewolves.   However Dark Shadows preferred to use the unbound pentacle (without the circle around the star).  This carried over to the 1981 film An American werewolf in London where the tavern “The Slaughtered Lamb” was warded against the werewolf with a similar unbound pentacle.   And was possibly drawn in lamb’s blood (More on that later).  

  2.   The crystalline cage.

While the circle holds Morpheus incorporeally, the crystalline cage holds his material aspect (his physical form).  This cage isn’t merely glass though there is an irony to it being glass as glass is made from sand.  Sand that has been transformed into something else.  The Sandman trapped by sand...  Ha!  That must have pissed him off...

Anyway, it’s not purely glass.  It’s leaden quartz crystal.   In folk belief from many parts of the world quartz crystal can absorb and contain magick.  In some lore it can even trap a ghost.   Modern day Wiccans and other Neo Pagans often use quartz crystal in spellcasting.  It’s a common tool in scrying practices.   

That and it is an aspect of sand...   

3.   True name.   Though Dream of The Endless is more of a function than a name, the aspect known as Morpheus is so much a part of his identity that on some level he must perceive it as his true name.  Hence why he hears and answers to it when Rose Walker calls out to him.In folklore if you know a supernatural creature’s true name that’s how you can invoke or banish them.  It’s also why you should never give a fae your full true name.  They can use it to cast magick against you. 

The story of Rumpelstiltskin uses this rule as once the queen knew the imp’s true name she was able to banish him.  

You see it all the time in pop culture such as summoning The Candyman by calling his name five times, or Beetlejuice- you can invoke or banish him by calling his name three times.  Or the old party game of Bloody Mary.   A true name isn’t necessarily the name you were given at birth.  A true name is the name you most heavily associate with yourself.   The Endless supposedly don’t have true names but the aspect of Dream of The Endless that answers to the name Morpheus certainly treats it as his true name.

4.  A circle drawn in the blood of a black lamb.  This one has it’s origins in Exodus.  The passover story.  It was the blood of the lamb that kept the angel of death from entering the Jewish homes so that the angel could claim the first born of every Egyptian family and passover the slave homes.   Because of this there was established lore that the blood could protect against demons and angels.  Lamb’s blood was used in early exorcisms and sometimes as a sacrament in place of sacramental wine.  In the TV show Forever Knight it could even ward against vampires if blessed or with faith behind its power by the person trying to use it as a ward.        

5.   A geas tattoo in the form of the tree of life merged with a dreamcatcher.  As Dream is not of any particular race and represents the dreams of all sentient life, symbols of faith in regard to dreams will work on him (on some level) from all beliefs.      

This one from the 2018 The Dreaming by Simon Spurrier is a combination of the Tree of Life from Kabbalah mysticism combined with a dreamcatcher sacred among Native American / First Nations / Great Plains cultures.   According to popular belief if you hang a dream catcher over the bed it will protect against nightmares.  The nightmares will be caught in the net while good dreams can pass through.  The nightmares burn up in the early morning sunlight.   As Dream of The Endless is the anthropomorphic personification of both dreams and nightmares this ward can successfully bind him.

A geas, by its very nature, is a spell to prevent someone from revealing something, or to force them to say or do something, or in most cases prevent them from saying or doing something in particular.   

In light of how often he has been thwarted with petty hedge-magick, this ultimately leads to the realization that Dream’s true greatest enemy is the master of all hedge-magick, the Arch Hedge-Wizard!

I know that’s a long way to go for a cheesy pun but I couldn’t resist...

[salaciouscrumpet]

Whumptober Day 16

Whumptober Day 16 Prompt: “Pinned Down”

This is, I think, the “whumpiest” of my ficlets so far, and it goes to some pretty dark places. I’d like to remind my readers that these ficlets aren’t canon to my actual series (although references to past experiences do refer to things that have happened to my characters canonically, like Luke’s childhood or how he came to join the Alliance), this is essentially just fanfiction of my own writing (which, whoa, vain!). Thought experiments, not things that have happened prior to the novel’s start or are going to happen in-world.

This ficlet is exposition-heavy and long, and while it is not about the abuse that Luke suffered as a child -- I am unlikely to ever write graphically about that; it’s enough that I know, in broad scope, what happened and how it affected him -- it is definitely impacted by that abuse and his mind definitely makes the connections.

This ficlet also ends on a dark note. It was getting long -- 7 pages! -- and I think I dealt with the prompt enough to end it where I did. There are a few other Whumptober prompts that will spin off of this, so remember: not canon, and not the end.

CW: References to childhood sexual abuse. Again, this is not what the ficlet is about, and at no point is it ever described graphically, but it has an impact on how things play out. Also, trigger warnings for brief internalized homophobia, humiliation (which is a personal squick of mine), non-graphic non-con and a whole heap of victim self-blaming. This fic is about vampires, not rape, but the connections are there and that could be triggering for some readers.

Characters: Luke, Kate

Growing up, Luke had always heard about his family’s great legacy, about how they were descended from the bravest and most powerful Knights of the Seelie Court down through centuries of carefully-preserved breeding. (The details of which probably involved some branches of the family tree that looped back around on each other, but of course nobody talked about that.) Nobody outright said the Knights of Oberon and their Incarnate lineage were better than everybody else, but it was heavily implied. That was one of the reasons the Scions had broken off from the greater Knighthood: because the Knighthood was supposed to be a punishment, a penance for opening the rifts that enabled monsters to enter the world – or some such, the legends were all rather vague after a few centuries. The Knights weren’t supposed to see themselves as better, but they did. They were warriors, protectors, guardians of the just and the righteous, the stalwart defense against a world of monstrosities and abominations. (That their ancestors had let into the world. That was an important part that the Order often conveniently overlooked.) 

And in a lot of ways, the Knights were better than other people. They were stronger, faster, more resilient. Their bodies could take more damage and healed from that damage more quickly. Some of that was inherent, a result of their Incarnate, Fae-descended bloodline. Some of it was the result of the vows they swore when they formally joined the Order. The end result was the same in that there were legitimate reasons for the Knights of Oberon to see themselves as being above regular humans, even those who were also Fae-blooded. (And certainly above anyone who was demon-blooded, which was the lowest of the low, obviously. One doesn’t mate with monsters. The fact that very few humans did so willingly was neither here nor there, so far as the Knighthood was concerned.) It’s not that they thought they were better. It’s just that they were better. 

However, one way in which the Knights of Oberon – and indeed, all Incarnate, regardless of sworn oaths – were just the same as regular-blooded humans was when it came to vampires. 

More specifically, when it came to a vampire’s bite. 

Vampires didn’t survive as a species by leaving behind a trail of drained, anguished-looking corpses. Perhaps they did so back in the early days, when humans lived in smaller settlements and the nights were darker and scarier, but over the centuries they evolved just like everything else. And like a lot of creatures, vampires evolved to suit their surroundings. They could hide their monstrous appearances underneath a human veneer and they could mask their predatory behaviour behind more pleasurable endeavours. There were always slip-ups, of course, especially with younger, newer vampires who didn’t know their own strength (or the strength of their hunger), but overall it was far easier and safer to leave a partner feeling weak and limp after a bout of enthusiastic lovemaking than it was to leave a victim drained dead in a ditch somewhere. To that end, the bite of a vampire was pleasurable, particularly when the vampire fed from or near an erogenous zone. The victim came away with some bruises in the form of hickeys, the vampire came away well-fed, and both parties were quite satisfied – even if the human had no idea what really happened to them. 

Growing up it was never something Luke heard spoken about. It wasn’t until he was a teenager, when he and his peers started learning about more illicit activities, and the topic of vampires and their bites would come up. Then someone would smirk or give a knowing wink, and huddled together at night on their bunk beds after lights-out they would speak in hushed voices about what it might be like to be fed on by a vampire. That it was said to feel good – orgasmic, even, and then Luke had had to go and find a dictionary to learn what that meant (and the resulting discovery, and the realization that he was already ahead of his peers in that respect – albeit not by choice – had left him feeling sick and dirty). It wasn’t something you were supposed to look for, of course. Vampires weren’t, strictly speaking, the enemy unless they did something to attract human attention, like killing a bunch of people or leaving huge puddles of blood everywhere, but they certainly weren’t friends, either. But if you got into a fight with a vampire, and it bit you, and it felt good … well, that was hardly your fault, right? (Then you could justify killing it afterwards, and you got two rewards out of it: what some people said was the best orgasm of your life, and what was, to a Knight, the more just reward in the form of a dead monster that was obviously a threat to others.) 

Luke had sort of skipped over that stage of teenaged prurient interest. When the other boys had talked about sex he had feigned interest and tried to tune them out. He didn’t want to share that his own experiences had started much earlier than theirs (and with a man, which was somehow so much worse). He didn’t want to talk about it. And if that meant his friends thought he was a prude, or frigid, well, that was okay. It was better than them knowing the truth. 

So while Luke knew, in theory, about vampires and their bite, it wasn’t something he had much experience with or interest in. There was a nest of vampires in town, but they were considered respectable. They ran businesses, brought a significant amount of money into town, and supported initiatives that benefited the community. They were normal citizens. They didn’t just go out and attack random people, they cultivated their herd, took care of their herd. They had willing donors, or at least people they fed from that they didn’t kill who kept coming back for more. (Luke had also heard that the bite of a vampire was addictive to some people, but he didn’t know whether or not that was true. People could become addicted to a lot of things, so … maybe? Maybe, to some people, being fed on by a vampire was a lot like wine, or chocolate, or playing the slots. Some people could handle it and knew their limits, others couldn’t and didn’t.) The local nest weren’t the sort of vampires that the Knights would be called in to deal with, and it wasn’t until he joined the Alliance that he had any interactions with the local vampires at all – and those interactions were purely diplomatic, since the Alliance had formal ties with all the supernatural creatures in town. (Except, ironically, the Knights of Oberon: because Luke was officially the only Knight who was connected to the Alliance, and he wasn’t technically a Knight.) The Alliance supported all the supernatural creatures, not just the ones the Knights deemed acceptable. 

He’d grown up being told that, as an Incarnate who was a part of this great and mystical legacy, he was better than all the humans around him. When it came to vampires, however, he was as disappointingly weak as any Average Joe off the street – with one exception, and that was something else the Knights hadn���t ever really talked about: 

To a vampire, the Knights of Oberon were like the finest champagne or a mountain of pure uncut heroin. Whether it was the allure of danger or there really was something special in the Knight’s blood, the end result was that their blood was to vampires like catnip was to cats. 

This was … information Luke could’ve used earlier. 

These vampires were not the nest the Alliance had introduced him to. Rogue vampires were rare, but not unheard of, although in tight-knit communities like theirs they were usually caught and dealt with by the local nest long before they became an issue the Knights or the Alliance needed to address. These ones were a small rogue pack, maybe five in total, and they had swarmed the old cabin like ants at a picnic. Luke and Kate had been out patrolling in the woods, in a stretch of forest they’d been through hundreds of times before, when they’d been attacked out of nowhere and quickly, surprisingly overpowered. 

And now Luke knew three things for certain: 

1. The Knights of Oberon were wrong: they weren’t any better than regular humans.

2. His horny schoolmates had been right: the bite of a vampire was orgasmic.

3. The local vampire Monarchs were going to be pissed off if they ever found out about these rogues. 

As he lay on the rotting floorboards of an ancient and decrepit cabin long thought abandoned, Luke was rapidly become aware of another unwelcome piece of knowledge: He wasn’t nearly as strong as he thought he was. 

Physically, yeah, he knew his own strength. It wasn’t a match for a hungry vampire, but on the whole it was definitely above-average and generally pretty great. Mentally, though? He was nowhere near strong enough to handle this. 

Because the thing of it was, he wasn’t a horny teenager curious about the seedy underbelly of the supernatural world. He was a man with a troubled past, and that past included being taken advantage of as a child. It included someone he trusted holding him down and taking from him, and that experience had marked him, had left him every bit as scarred as the burns down his arm or the tiny incisions along his inner thighs that only two other people in the world had ever seen before. It included being weak, and helpless, and feeling every bit as vulnerable and scared as he felt right now with a monster pinning him to the floor, its fangs lodged in his neck. 

Nor did Luke think he was strong enough to hear Kate’s screams from somewhere nearby, because the other thing he had learned as a child was that demons and demon-blooded humans – like Kate – did not experience pleasure from a vampire’s bite. Generally speaking, vampires didn’t even like feeding from the demon-blooded, because they were said to taste bad (as were vampires themselves, which was one reason why Knight archivists theorized that vampires were in some way demonic as well). It was considered beneath vampires to feed from demons and their ilk, and that was supposedly why they didn’t taste as pleasant as humans, and why there was no reason for the demon-blooded to find the bite pleasurable. Instead, it was painful. Judging from Kate’s screams – and Luke could count on one hand the number of times he had heard Kate scream, and still have fingers left over – it was incredibly painful. 

The vampires weren’t even drinking Kate’s blood. They were biting her, and draining her, but they spat the blood out again: onto the floor, out into the woods, even back out onto Luke and Kate. Her blood wasn’t worth the taking, they were simply using the act of feeding to hurt her. To kill her. 

Between Kate’s agony and his own tortured pleasure, Luke was pretty sure he was going to snap. The vampires weren’t going to kill him, his mind was going to crack wide open and he was going to go stark raving mad. 

The sun was out and the vampires had gone to ground for the day. Their absence didn’t mean a break for Luke and Kate, however: the vampires had a pair of humans, a man and a woman, who saw to their needs during the day. Both were pale and stringy and put Luke in mind of the hard-core drug users he’d seen on occasion, the strung-out junkies looking for their next fix, and under normal circumstances he could have overpowered both of them together with one hand behind his back. While playing Candy Crush on his phone and eating a sandwich. These weren’t normal circumstances, however, and both Luke and Kate were chained to the ground and weak and injured from blood loss. The vampires had given their thralls enough of their blood to give them extra strength, as well; not enough that they would have been a match for their two captives, but more than enough to handle them when sick and weakened. 

In the beginning Kate had been all fire and spit, hurling curses and threats and fighting like the hellcat she was until the vampires had beaten her down and subdued her. Now she was barely conscious, glazed eyes staring sightlessly into nothing, her voice completely gone from screaming. To Luke’s own great shame he’d been far more useless: the instant one of the vampires bit him his body had gone limp and lax, and the flood of unwanted pleasure, combined with the sensation of being pinned to the ground, had triggered unpleasant memories that left him snared and helpless. He was suddenly ten years old again, trapped alone in his dark bedroom with a monster a hundred times worse than any he had read about as part of his supernatural studies, and nobody – not his father, not his mother, not any of his most trusted teachers and mentors – was going to come and rescue him. He was small and helpless and weak, and the worst part was that it was his body that betrayed him in the end, because the vampires, just like Martin Sleswick, could force his body to react however they wanted him to. 

“Please,” he called out, his voice barely stronger than Kate’s. His lips were dry and chapped, and he could taste blood on his tongue. Laid out as he was on his back on the hardwood floor, his entire world had become the rotting ceiling above him, the wispy lines of sunlight that filtered through cracks in the cabin’s walls, and the feeling of Kate’s hand, cold and limp in his own. They’d grabbed on to each other when the vampires had started feeding, and their desperation had amused the monsters so much that they’d let them continue holding on. At first Luke had felt Kate’s struggles, the way her fingers had clenched down hard on his own, but now there was nothing. He hadn’t let go, however. He was afraid that if he did let go she would be lost – they both would. “Please.” 

One of the thralls – the man, who spent his time sitting on a milk crate, smoking cigarettes and making lewd promises he hadn’t yet decided to follow up on – let out a harsh bark of laughter. Of the two of them, he seemed the most amused by what the vampires were doing to their captives, like the torture Luke and Kate were going through was being done purely for his entertainment. 

“What?” he snapped out, launching himself up off the milk crate to come and stand over Luke. He was too short and skinny to pull off an intimidating stance, but it was clear that was what he was aiming for. “What do you want now, your lordship? Shall I fetch the servants to shine your shoes? Would your lordship like another pillow?” 

“I just …” Luke thought hard, but his mind was in scrambles. He could barely remember what day it was or how long he and Kate had been missing. He’d tried keeping track of the time – he’d long had a body clock trained into him and could usually guess the hour without giving it much thought, but the only concept of time he had was night, when the vampires were back, and day, when they were gone. 

The first day, when the vampires left and it was just him and Kate with the two thralls, he’d tried convincing the humans to unchain them both, to let them go free. It had been pointless, of course: they were called thralls for a reason. Whether they served the vampires out of love or duty or fear or some combination of all three, the man and woman weren’t going to set their victims free, not even when Luke promised them safety within the Alliance. Eventually he’d tried asking for food or water – the two thralls seemed to have an interminable source of junk food, which was all they ate – but had been refused. He’d even tried asking just to be led somewhere so that he could relieve himself in some semblance of privacy, but even that had been denied, with the man sneering and laughing at him when Luke had inevitably been forced to wet himself where he lay. It was disgusting and humiliating and contributed to his ever-increasing sense of shame and desperation. 

“Just let her go,” he said at last, aware of the pleading note in his voice. If he could have gone to his knees in front of the two thralls he would have done so, but chained supine as he was the best he could do was to put as much sincerity and hope in his weakened voice as he could manage. “Please. You can … They can do whatever they want to me. Whatever they want. Anything they want, I’ll do it, just please, please let her go.” 

He meant it, too. Whatever the vampires wanted, whatever the thralls wanted, he was willing to do it if it just meant Kate got to go free. If they wanted him to grovel, to bend down and lick their boots clean, he’d do it. They could drain him until they took the last drop of his blood and if it just meant Kate was safe and alive, he’d die happy. 

This time it was the woman who scoffed, letting out a series of high-pitched giggles that were like nails on a chalkboard to Luke’s ears. 

“Her?” she exclaimed, between the laughs. She didn’t bother to get up, but remained seated cross-legged on the floor, a half-eaten bag of cool ranch Doritos in front of her. She ate each chip like a little mouse, nibbling delicately until it was gone. Luke didn’t know if she was eating that way to torture him – he couldn’t help but watch her – or if that was simply the way she normally ate. “They’re not going to let her go. She killed Derek. They’re gonna make her pay for that.” 

Derek. That had been the vampire’s name, then, the man Kate had killed when the vampires had swarmed them. It had been a lucky shot, just as another vampire had taken her down. The two of them had been too overwhelmed, they hadn’t seen the attack coming. Luke didn’t actually want to know the vampires’ names; that made them people instead of just monsters. It was funny, though: he’d never much cared for the name ‘Derek,’ there had been a bully by that name back when he was in elementary school. He had been Luke’s parents’ friends’ son and Luke had been forced to spend more time than he would have liked with the kid, in the way that the children of your parents’ friends were, for the sake of convenience and proximity, automatically assumed to be your friends. The Derek Luke had known had died shortly after taking his vows, his death made memorable solely because of the cause: a late-night traffic accident, his car spun out on an icy road. It was unusual for the Knights of Oberon to die in random accidents. Their deaths were usually more deliberate than that. 

“Besides,” the man said, moving to stand next to Kate. He kicked her in the side with the toe of his boot; she barely reacted, nothing more than a flutter of eyelashes and her fingers spasming within Luke’s grasp. “It’s not like she’s gonna get far on her own. What, you think we’re gonna carry her out of here? Drop her off at emerg? Just ‘cause you said please?” He snorted, crouching down beside Kate and grabbing her chin with one hand to turn her face towards him. “Shame. Saw the way she fought. Bet she was a demon in the sack.” 

The man paused for a moment, then burst out laughing as he suddenly realized his own inadvertent pun. He and the woman both knew who and what Luke and Kate were, that Luke was a Knight of Oberon and that Kate was one of the fomoir. It was why the vampires had wanted them, or at least, why they had wanted Luke. According to the one who had bit him first, they’d never had a Knight before and wanted to know if the stories were true, about how delicious they were. From what Luke had learned in supernatural studies the Knights didn’t taste any different from any other human aside from the demon-blooded, despite their long-held belief in their own superiority. He’d been taught it was just an old wives’ tale that the Knights of Oberon tasted better (when it was mentioned at all, which was rarely), or that feeding from them was in some way superior, simply because of the challenge of bringing a Knight down. 

Of course, it hadn’t been difficult for these vampires to bring Luke down at all. Kate had been the one who’d fought. He’d swooned like a maiden in a fairy tale. 

Fresh shame flooded through Luke, heightened by the sudden burning in his eyes that signalled the threat of tears. He was not going to cry in front of these assholes. He may have let Charlie convince him over the years that, contrary to everything Luke had been taught, it was perfectly acceptable for men to cry, but there was still a large part of him that believed it to be a sign of weakness. He’d already proven himself weak, he wasn’t going to compound it by breaking down like a child. 

And that was what he felt like: a child. Worse, he felt like the child he’d been, helpless against the greater strength of a monster. All the years of growth and training and experience meant nothing when pitted against creatures that knew how to use your body against you and who delighted in doing so. 

He wanted to be like Kate, vicious and strong and ferocious even when brought down low. And normally Luke thought he was like that. He’d been a fighter all his life. He’d fought and killed bigger and badder monsters than a handful of vampires. He’d been tortured and abandoned and had come out the other side stronger and better for it, and yet this? This experience? It was like nothing he’d ever been trained for. No one had ever warned him that vampires could use his own body’s sensations against him so easily. No one had ever said that all it would take was one bite for him to roll over and show his belly. Or maybe no one had ever told him because they hadn’t thought it would be necessary, because Knights of Oberon weren’t supposed to respond the way he did – that he only folded because he was corruptible, because he’d been conditioned to like it, that his childhood experiences had broken something fundamental within him and left him weak and wanting. Maybe, despite all the reassurances Charlie and Kate had given him over the years, Sleswick really had destroyed something within him and as a result Luke had failed, was failing, couldn’t seem to stop failing. 

And now he and Kate were going to die. Kate was going to die – because Luke was weak.

[dia-luneris]

Setting Sun

"What's the commotion?" Lady asked, getting up from her bunk. Elenion was sat on Gabriel's bunk, reading a book one of the other women had lent her "Hmm... I don't know... something".

Lady peered at the front cover of the novel "The Maid and the Duke"... she raised a brow "Is that a dirty novel, Eleni?"

The girl evaded the question "I think there's something happening in the Mess-Hall!" she nodded "Mhm!" Lady rolled her eyes, then grabbed her boots off the floor.

She had taken them off, as to not get dirt on her blankets, while she read her own book. She drew her feet into them, and propped one boot up at a time, lacing them up.

"Well, enjoy your not dirty book" she quipped, making her way out of the room. Lady sunk her hands into the pockets of her woolen coat, immersing herself into cold air. She did not have to go far, before she heard the voice of a young squire "The Warrior of Light is here!" She glanced at the boy, watching him clutch his sword, staring off with starry eyes.

A knight walked up to the two, "Afternoon, Emal". Lady gave the man a nod, "Good day to you... Is it true, that the wards of House Fortemps are here??". The knight confirmed it "Yes it is... Though they're keeping tight lipped over what. I'd say it's official business..." he jerked his head in the direction, his squire was staring off to. Stefania directed her attention onward.

To her disappointment, the fabled Warrior of Light was simply a Midlander man. "His hair is, mouse coloured... and he's so..." The knight filled in the rest "Normal? Aye. But that means more to us, to see a normal man of flesh and blood, and to imagine him a slayer of primals". Lady could see his point. Perhaps it was better, for the legend to come in the form of someone so standard.

The other who had traveled alongside him, was much more unusual looking. Apparently he was a member of the vaulted 'Scions of the Seventh Dawn'. Despite his youthful appearance, the stories around him spoke volumes, regarding the work he had accomplished. Lady supposed that he was from a noble House, likely from another corner of Eorzea. He had that look about him, even standing in a manner that would befit a young lordling. Watching them though, she could not fathom still, what they would be doing here. The squire brought up a point that couldn't be far from the truth "They're on the trail of a heretic!"

"I just know it! And when they find the sod, he'll take em to their leader!"

-

-Several Months Later-

Lord Luneris stood beside two grave stones. One carved of black granite, the other of white marble. The graves belonged to his parents, Lord Damien Luneris, and Lady Elora Luneris. His father, had passed from blood loss, after being impaled by a set of dragon teeth. And his mother left this world, the day he was born.

"I gave him the armour, along with the weapon. I fully intend on using what you have taught me... but the equipment you had left me, would be better off in the hands of my son. He has a longer journey ahead of him. If he starts to hear the voices... well, I will tell him that such power comes with a price". This time, it was blessedly silent. The granite was cold, as a piece of stone should be. Nothing to answer him back. His father had finally taught him everything, it seemed. There were no words to be said. Luneris reached out to the stone. He rested a hand atop of the granite, speaking quietly

"Thank you..."

He thought to himself that it would be enough, and that he should return home. The wind picked up, just as the thought entered his mind. He lowered his head, a smirk forming on his face. "Alright... It would not do, to leave her out". He placed his other hand on the white marble, feeling the worn stone. It had always felt warmer to him, than the other, though he knew it impossible

"Thank you, the one who gave her life, so that I may have mine"

-

Khatayin and Stefania crouched, giggling like two children, hiding themselves in the hallway of House Luneris. They had been given leave, to rest and recharge themselves, but would be expected to still behave as members of Ishgard's military.

They watched, now steeled, and focused, as a bucket of porridge stood above a door. The door handle turned... and there was a creak, if only for a moment. The bucket came tumbling down, upon its unsuspecting victim... Lord Damien Luneris. He was in utter disbelief, turning his arms, looking upon them covered in gruel. His focus was broken by the giggling of two girls, no longer able to help themselves.

"What did I do??" he asked, now watching them emerge from their hiding place. Khatayin pointed at him, explaining in between laughter

"You opened your wounds up, after I told you to rest, and I hold a grudge!"

Lady Emal was doubled over, trying to stop laughing "I-I'm sorry, My Lord..." Damien took a deep breath in, frowning. He gave her a look of utter betrayal, but accepted the situation "I suppose in a way, I deserve this..." Stefania wiped a tear of joy from her eye, flicking it away with a finger. 

Khatayin suddenly realized something, her tail standing up in shock "Oh! Shit, I have to go, I have to be somewhere!" she quickly scanned the hallway, as though trying to remember the exit, then bolted, leaving the two alone.

Stefania watched her friend leave "There she goes!" Damien shook an arm, causing porridge to hit the beautifully plastered wall of the hallway. Lady heard the sound of oatmeal hitting a surface...

"I can help you wash it out, if you want..." she commented, quietly. Damien's face blushed at the notion "I-I will be fine!"        

-

Khatayin Dagasi sat beside Lord Haurchefant, upon a stone wall. She had pressed her head against his armoured shoulder. It was not comfortable, but she did not care. The two held hands, contentedly watching the setting sun together. 

Ever since she took the chance, to show him how she truly looked, and he did not recoil in fear... she was able to open up to him completely. Doing so, enabled him to see her in a way that very few could. He knew her to be caring, loving, and passionate about saving the lives, of those around her. 

She closed her eyes, almost able to fall asleep against him, despite the heights below.

Haurchefant watched her, admiring every little mark upon her face. She was unlike anyone he had ever met. A moving piece of art, with a deep, and unrelenting spirit. 

As though somehow knowing she were being watched, she opened her violet eyes, allowing him to gaze into them. Khatayin smiled, watching the face of the man, she could now freely admit she was in love with.

With the light of the setting sun against his features, he leaned towards her. Khat knew what was happening, but didn't want to fight it. She allowed him to kiss her, leaning into it.

Tears began to trickle down her face, as warm as summer rain. He could feel them, pulling away from her "Are you alright?" he asked her, tenderly. Khat nodded, before kissing him again.

It had been a while since she had allowed herself to cry at all, let alone tears of joy. But she felt truly able to share herself with this man. She could not explain it, how she knew so soon, that he would make her feel this way. She fought it, so ardently, denied it over, and over. But the only explanation she could come up with, was that it had to be love.

She was in love.

-  

@thegrumpylizard

[mtorn21]

Blog Post 1

Before I write this blog post let me preface this by saying I do not have a HBO Max subscription. I’ll look into it for the next blog post; so there could be a carbon copy of me in the show Euphoria but I wouldn’t know. Also I’m bad with names which you will see from this post. With that being said the character I related to the most was Telle from kids (just kidding that guy was the worst). Really I related to a couple of characters in the movies. From The Breakfast Club I related to both the jock and the weird girl in a way; which is funny because they ended up together at the end. The jock, besides just playing sports, had a hard time thinking and making decisions for himself. Instead of doing what makes him happy he tries too hard to please other people. I feel like I can relate to that a lot. I’ve had 4 majors in college so far because of what other people wanted, and felt like I should do. I went from Engineering, to physics, to math, until I finally decided to do what I wanted to do. With the weird girl, I am a gigantic introvert so I was always seen as weird in that sense. I didn’t eat cereal and sugar sandwiches or anything but I was seen as weird for my quietness. So I was a combination of doing what other people wanted me to do and very quiet. That is not a great combination, I was a big pushover growing up but I’ve gotten much better. With mean girls I related with everyone just experiencing how extremely fake some people are like the plastics; but really everyone is not as great of a friend as they should be. For mid 90’s, I related to sunburn at the beginning when he was just introduced to the group. I was the youngest kid on my block growing up so I can relate to awkwardly just shifting your way into a group until you’re accepted. I don’t relate to all the other stuff he did with the older kids but I can relate to initiating yourself into the group. Finally for Kids I can thankfully say that I do not relate to anyone in that movie. I certainly didn’t relate to them when I was a middle/ high schooler. 

A couple of common themes I saw throughout the movies was growing up too fast/losing that childhood innocence. That is obviously littered throughout the movie kids. A bunch of kids doing adult activities.  “ When the film was released, many adults found its depiction of casual sex gratuitous and lewd, but from a modern perspective, it’s easy to see how the film’s honest approach actually served as a dire warning against unsafe sexual practices”(Indiewire). Girls quite literally losing their innocence to Telle. This is all fun and games for these kids until they experience adult consequences like they overdose, or get arrested, or like shown in kids they get the HIV virus. I think this is also shown in mid 90’s where sunburn is a 13 year old kid drinking, getting high, and having sexual experiences. These movies make the viewer uncomfortable at times with how young they are. It makes the viewer want to say hey go home you idiot you got the rest of your life to do adult stuff be a kid now. I think that was the point to make the viewer uncomfortable because of their age. Another theme I saw was be true to yourself and don’t care what others think. I think this was very prevalent in mean girls and the breakfast club. In mean girls Regina and the rest of the plastic’s whole characters were based on caring what other people thought about them. They even had rules to keep up the perception of them with the whole wear pink on Wednesday thing and other rules. This getting caught up with the glamour of caring what people think about you eventually led to kady driving away her actual friends. It is not until the end, where everyone is true to themselves, where everyone is actually happy. In the Breakfast Club the popular girl says straight up to the rest of the group that she’d ignore the rest of them if they said hi to her in school. She cared too much about what people thought about her to even acknowledge one of her friends. The jock cares so much what his dad thinks about him that he reluctantly bullied a kid for him. The nerd wanted to take his own life because he was afraid of what his parents would think about him after one bad grade. I think the weird girl is quiet and reserved because she’s afraid of how other people think about her. It's not until they overcome this that they become happy. Finally, another theme I saw was how looks can be deceiving.  “ Like many teenage movies and TV shows (Mean Girls, Glee), the use of stereotypes is used frequently because it enables people who watch them to form an opinion of the characters and their beliefs just from seeing them before they may have even spoken and sometimes just from the way they walk and are spoken to by other people”(themes).  I think this is best shown in breakfast club how everyone already has these preconceived perceptions about each other. They’re labeled from the beginning as the nerd, the princess, the criminal and so on. Once they got to know each other really though they realized they’re all pretty similar and their assumptions were wrong. For mean girls, Regina and the plastics are idolized by pretty much the entire school. Everyone wants to be them until they realized hey they’re not very nice; hence the title mean girls. Also in the math playoff thing both teams picked the girls because they assumed they were dumb. For mid90’s the mom assumes the skater group is nothing more than street rats; which is kind of justified because her 13 year old son came back wasted after hanging out with them; however, when she sees them passed out at the hospital she realizes oh wait they actually really care about my son. For Kids, its more in a literal sense of this looks like a good time just me having fun but oh wait the other person has the HIV virus.

I think a soundtrack is monumental to a film’s story. It can sway how you’re feeling. Just think how differently a movie like Jaws would be without the classic  “duuun dun duuun dun” (Jaws). I think soundtracks are great when they’re either very memorable like the Jurassic Park theme song or the Dark knight soundtrack for me or not memorable at all because you didn’t even notice the soundtrack. When the soundtrack goes so seamlessly with the story that you don’t notice it it's perfect. It’s when the soundtrack sticks out like a sore thumb where a film gets in trouble.

So I’m weird and not really big into music so finding music that’ll define my adolescence  will be difficult but I’ll do my best.

Cats in the cradle by Harry Chapin. I’m pretty close with my dad and I used to imitate him a lot. The only music I somewhat know is classic rock because of my dad. Always really liked this song.

Hourglass by squeeze. My dad played this once when driving me and my friends around when I was like 10. The song is just so weird that me and my friends loved it. We still listen to it when we hang out. 

Enter Sandman by Metallica. This just represents by sports fandom. This was mariano Rivera’s entry song for the Yankees.

Power Rangers theme song. I was quite a big power rangers fan. I was also obsessed with dinosaurs so when they made one with dinosaurs I peaked in life.

Spongebob theme song. Me and my friends quote spongebob way too often. Its actually a problem.

Happy birthday song. Birthdays were always fun growing up. So many things happen in life, its nice to have a day that is just about you once in a while.

Mr. blue sky by electric light orchestra. I just liked this because it is the happiest song ever.

Don't stop beleivin by journey. This represents the awkward middle school phase because this song played at the end of every middle school dance.

Never gonna give you up by Rick Astley. I was a big internet kid so that means memes.

The party’s over by Willie Nelson. This just represents my childhood ending.

[spring-emerald]

don’t want to wake up from you

For KuroDai Weekend Day 1: Ennoshita Productions – Final HQ Quest

This piece could be seen as prequel to this. 

Kuroo first saw him in his crystal ball, when he was tracking the movements of the band of heroes.

The Grand King is being completely impatient, as to when his former knight, and former archer would get to the castle. Since The Grand King had better (or worse, depending on who’s asking) things to do than watch over people who are out to defeat him, he tasked his trusted advisor to do the job.

It’s a job he couldn’t well refuse, but truthfully, it had been boring him to death. The band of misfit heroes weren’t entertaining, to say the least. The most he could snicker at is when the stoic archer and the shorty hero get into ridiculous situations just because they’re trying to outdo each other.

Kuroo watches them with bored eyes as they enter the façade of what he believes to be the oldest inn in the village. Iwaizumi the Knight was the one leading the group, so he was the one the receptionist approached.

Kuroo sighs in utter boredom, and is about to call it a day and decides to just report whatever to the Grand King later on, when he catches the sight of Iwaizumi getting rather self-conscious in front of the guy who’s currently accommodating them. It was hard to tell really, since he’s just looking through a crystal ball and all, but he would recognize the gesture of scratching the back of one’s neck in a rather sheepish manner anywhere. More so since it’s someone like Iwaizumi doing it.

It doesn’t mean much to Kuroo to be honest, but, this little bit of reaction from Iwaizumi is something worth reporting since it could be something that Oikawa would want to know. So, he zooms in his crystal ball to get a clearer look, but instead of it focusing on Iwaizumi, he’s greeted by the pleasant smile of the inn’s receptionist. Kuroo understood at that moment, why Iwaizumi would react like so.

The guy, probably around in his early adulthood, is plain by all means. He’s got cropped, black hair, but he’s got a wide and sturdy built, if his shoulders are to go by. He doesn’t seem like someone who would stand out, but there’s something… disarming about his smile.

Kuroo slowly breathes out the air the he didn’t know he was holding and he has completely forgotten about his plan to pause watching as he kept at it until the moment the receptionist gives the wooden tab to Iwaizumi and ushered them to their room. He waves a dismissing hand in front of the crystal ball, clearing the image and making it translucent. He drums his fingers on the table, as he tries to organize his thoughts.

On one hand, he definitely needs to tell Oikawa about the arrival of the heroes. He’ll definitely ask about Iwaizumi, and probably Kageyama. It is pertinent information, and something that could still reach Oikawa’s ears, one way or another, even without consulting Kuroo. He’s got other sources for sure and not telling him first hand would be bad form.

However, there’s something nagging at the back of Kuroo’s mind, remembering the smile of the inn’s receptionist, and the way Iwaizumi reacted to it. It’s probably harmless, nothing to be upset about. At least Kuroo thinks.

But, it’s Iwaizumi. And despite him being technically Oikawa’s enemy, they have been friends and Oikawa could get quite possessive when it comes to him. Kuroo doesn’t want to think about what would happen to the poor guy.

The poor guy who got into trouble just because he’s got a disarming smile.

Kuroo stops drumming his fingers, then takes a deep breath and makes his decision.

———-

Kuroo kept on watching the group as they roam around the village, mingling with the villagers and trying to gather as much information as they could about the reign of the Grand King. Not that they’re actually succeeding.

Most of the villagers have become cynical about their situation. They go by their daily routine, but it isn’t exactly an ideal one. Some on the other hand, aren’t trusting of travelers, generally wary of newcomers. The only decent amount of information they could get is from the innkeeper and the receptionist guy, who’re always willing to extend their help to the group.

This means that they spend majority of their time at the inn which ultimately means that they spend majority of their time with the receptionist.

It also meant that Kuroo learned few things about him.

For starters, his name is Sawamura Daichi. He’s an orphan, adopted by the innkeeper and treated like a beloved grandson. He also works for the real grandson of the innkeeper as an assistant barkeep, although he only ever does that when they’re badly short staffed.

He’s generally amicable, although Kuroo had witness him lose his temper for a moment because of the two bickering heroes. He doesn’t seem scared of the monk the group is with. And he’s definitely earned Iwaizumi and Kenma’s trust.

He’d been friends with Kenma and although they’re on different sides now, Kuroo still knows him. He doesn’t open up to people, much less strangers easily, but he has seen Kenma spend some of his quiet time with Sawamura, whenever the shorty is out with Kageyama.

If Sawamura wasn’t so decidedly human, Kuroo would’ve thought that he’s got some magical powers as well.

Speaking of which, the images he’d been getting the past few days are getting blurry. And sometimes, when he’s not looking, the crystal ball will just be foggy and he had to increase the level of his magic just to keep watching them. Listening to conversations had been par for the course since the beginning, because of Kenma’s magic. And the crystal balls magic could only do so much.

But if they’re gradually becoming difficult to watch, its either something’s interfering with it or Kenma’s actually getting stronger. Whatever it is, Kuroo needs to resort to something else other than spying to gather more information.

Oikawa hasn’t been happy with his dull reports, and he doesn’t seem to be getting anything substantial from his other sources as well. Kuroo better deliver or else he’ll be facing the Grand King’s wrath and he’d rather not have that.

He gazes at the crystal ball again. If there’s just some other way to get some intel about the heroes. It doesn’t really have to come from them. It could be from someone they mingle with, someone they talk to…

The image on the crystal ball focused on Sawamura, who was hanging up the freshly laundered robes with the help of Aone.

Kuroo stops short as inspiration struck him. His eyes turned darker, but it glinted with mischief. His mouth curled into a devious smirk.

Time to pay someone a visit.

———-

Despite thinking that, Kuroo is actually unable to physically visit Sawamura.

It goes without saying that Kenma’s layered it with protective magic. Another thing is that glamour spell won’t work on as well. Kenma’s magic and status as White Mage means his magic is pure and it could see very well through any deceptive magic, at least when it’s up close.

Kuroo doesn’t hold any illusion that he’ll be welcomed warmly at the village in his true form. Kidnapping Sawamura and holding him hostage could work, but Kuroo’s not the sort to use brute tactics. He may be flashy sometimes, but he prefers to use subtle methods.

And so he chose dream walking. He browsed books about fabricating dreamscapes and projecting his consciousness into someone else’s unconscious. There are a lot of factors to consider such as the predisposition to hypnosis and rate of how one reaches an optimal altered state, among others. He also has to calibrate his crystal ball yet again, so that it would have laser focus to enter an unconscious mind and be strong enough to hold a make believe world at the same time.

It’s a lot of work, but he’s done preparing sooner than he expected. After all, he’s not the Dark Wizard for nothing.

All that’s left is enacting it to see how it would hold up. And tonight seemed like the perfect time to do so.

He already knows enough of Sawamura’s schedule, knows his ritual before going to sleep at the exact same time every night. Kuroo appreciates that he’s a man of habit, especially since its working on his favor.

Kuroo watches Sawamura as he cover himself with a blanket and close his eyes. He waits for a few minutes just to make sure that Sawamura’s already asleep, before he chants the spell that would enable his crystal ball to make a path towards Sawamura’s unconscious.

He closes his eyes and projects his consciousness while visualizing his dreamscape. Walking along the path that the crystal ball is trying to make is something like walking on a dark hallway, not different from the way to the underground dungeon.

While walking, he fabricates the image of the village with its low, clustered houses and bright red roofs. He thinks of the maze like structure of narrow alleys and sharp corners. He imagines the breeze, gently swaying the banners on the stores and making the installed pinwheels on some windowsills turn. Finally, there’s something bright behind his eyelids and Kuroo took this as a cue to open his eyes.

He finds himself in the middle of the street at the busiest part of the village, the market. Few villagers are walking by, most of them aimlessly. Some are pausing to look over at the produce, but no one is exactly buying.

He chose the village since its simple enough for him to recreate, and familiar enough for Sawamura to navigate. Besides, Kuroo isn’t sure how much Sawamura would remember about this particular dream, so he decided to lessen the unusual details, lest it would give him away. He wants to maintain the magic for as long as he could, while making it as realistic for Sawamura as possible so he wouldn’t suspect a thing while they’re inside it.

Looking around, he congratulates himself for mostly doing a good job. This is better than he expected, with the dreamscape livelier than it actually is and it mimics the village down to some finer details. He looks down on himself to check his appearance and noticed that he’s been divested of his long red coat and black outfit. Instead he’s clothed like a common villager. He brings his hands of his head and is satisfied when he doesn’t feel his horn.

This is actually working better than expected. However, the real proof that this worked is if Sawamura’s unconscious is actually here.

Kuroo isn’t seeing him anywhere near and he worries about the spell not working properly. He steps back, about to turn around to the direction of the inn when he collides with someone. Or rather, someone collides with him.

“Ah, sorry,” the person who bumped him says. Kuroo faces him properly, and he recognizes, even with his back bent in an apologetic bow and only the back of it showing, that this is Sawamura. It took a moment for Kuroo to realize that he finally heard Sawamura’s voice, and honestly, he sounds exactly like how Kuroo expected him to sound.

Sawamura stands straight and Kuroo’s finally able to see him up close. And he can attest that his crystal ball is not doing Sawamura enough justice.

Kuroo’s got the hair details and the body built right, but up close, Sawamura has more defined jaws and even defined arms. He has this air of kindness, but there’s also a hint of solid spine. And Kuroo already thinks that his smile is disarming, but he wasn’t prepared to look into Sawamura’s eyes, them being big, bright pools of brown.

“Uhm, are you alright?” Sawamura asks, head titled to the side, concern showing on his face.

Kuroo snaps his slightly parted mouth close and nods his head, not trusting himself to speak just yet. He wanted to meet Sawamura, but now he has, he lost his composure because the human isn’t what he was expecting.

Sawamura nods slowly. “I’m really sorry for bumping into you, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” he says, scratching his cheeks sheepishly.

“It-It’s alright,” Kuroo replies. “I wasn’t looking too.”

“Right…” They stand in front of each other with Sawamura shuffling awkwardly, while Kuroo is standing still, afraid to move.

“Anyway,” Sawamura breaks the uncomfortable silence first. “I have to go. I’m sorry again.” He bows his head and steps aside, starts walking away, leaving Kuroo behind.

This snaps Kuroo out of his daze. “Wait!”

Sawamura immediately stops and turns. Kuroo closes their distance but he doesn’t say anything. His silver tongue must have turned to lead. Sawamura is looking expectantly at him, and Kuroo blurts out the first thing that came to his mind.

“Can you show me around the village? I’m kind of… new… here.”

Sawamura blinks a few times, then “Yeah, of course. I don’t mind.”

Kuroo relaxes his shoulders that he didn’t know he tensed up and exhales. “My name is Kuroo, by the way,” he says, offering a hand.

Sawamura takes Kuroo’s hand on his own. “I’m Sawamura. It’s nice to meet you,” he says with a small smile.

Kuroo returns the smile with his own. But Yeah, I know, is what he really thinks.

———-

True to his words, Sawamura shows him around the village, adding bits of information about the places and the people. Kuroo all soaked them up, because there’s just something about the way Sawamura tells the story. There’s something mesmerizing about him and his voice. Not a lot of beings, much less a human, has this effect on Kuroo, but Sawamura has been doing it quiet effortlessly, and he doesn’t understand why.

Kuroo tries to figure it out all the while trying to keep up with Sawamura’s stories, that he almost lost track of time. It’s a good thing that his dreamscape was intuitive enough to turn the skies dark, which means that dawn is about to break at the real world.

He doesn’t want to do it, not ready to part with Sawamura just yet, but he has to. He doesn’t know what effect it would have on Sawamura if he breaks the dream because he’s gained consciousness.

“Sawamura-san,” he calls out. When Sawamura faces him, he’s met with Kuroo’s glowing eyes.

“It’s time for you to go back,” Kuroo commands. Inducement should be used sparingly as he might permanently alter something in Sawamura, because he’s the one trespassing his mindscape after all. But he’s got himself quite in a pinch.

Sawamura’s bright eyes dulled as the haze of the command took over him. Something pulled at Kuroo’s insides when he saw that, but it’s too late to take the command back. Besides, he really needs to wrap this up.

Sawamura turns around and walks sluggishly away from him, heading to the direction of the ‘inn’.

Kuroo closes his eyes and imagines the dreamscape folding towards him, the colors slowly disappearing as it turns the surroundings black. He opens his eyes and he’s back in his chamber, standing in front of his crystal ball, which was smoky at the moment. It clears after some time, now showing Sawamura turning in his sleep.

The spell took a toll on his magic and he’s sufficiently drained. It’s only then that he realized that he didn’t get the information he sought at the first place. He groans at his own foolishness, but he’s quite half-hearted about it.

After all, it just means that he’ll get to meet Sawamura in his dreams again.

[utopianparadoxist]

Knights and Pages - Serving, Service and Ownage

[Author’s Note: This is a repost of Love, Faith and Fantasy--my piece on Jake and Dirk’s character arcs and the relevance of Knights and Pages in understanding them. I thought breaking it up into chunks would make the content more accessible, and give me room to flesh out each argument. Thus there will be some updates to the content. Hopefully this will mean more people can easily approach it!] [Pt. 2 - Faith and Fear] [Pt. 3 - Fearful Heart] [Pt. 4 - Noble]  [Pt. 5 - As You Wish]

In my last post, I advanced the idea that Pages are an Active class and Knights are Passive. In so doing, I made the mistake of implying Pages are all secretely hyperintelligent supergeniuses who use everyone knowingly. That wasn’t exactly my intent, but that’s fine--sloppy execution on my part. My bad.

What I didn’t do is discuss the potential key verbs Knights and Pages might operate under--because I honestly didn’t have one I felt confident in. In the wake of discussing the piece with @theworstpersonintheworld (misleadingly named), he made a suggestion that struck me deeply, and once I started thinking about the story in those terms everything truly fell into place.  

I think it will be useful in explaining the dynamic between Jake and Dirk as I see it, so I’d like to make the case for it here before we move forward.

The key verb for both Knights and Pages is ‘Serve’. This puts them in direct thematic opposition to Rogues and Thieves, who ‘Steal’, which lines up with those dual systems Sburb loves so much--after all, if Princes and Bards are ‘Destroy’ classes, it’s reasonable to assume there is also a ‘Create’ set, right?

Knights Serve their Aspect to others. Pages use their Aspect to Serve themselves. To establish this and contrast against Jake’s actions later, let’s see how this model applies to Dave, Karkat and Tavros. First, the Knights, and an outline of the different executions the Serve verb can take.

Serve can mean:

1. To provide, or give (a counterpoint to Take)

2. To provide service for

3. To own or defeat, in literal or rhetorical battle (in the colloquial ‘You Got Served’ sense). 

From the outset, Dave has a reputation for providing his friends with his Time, serving them long rambling diatribes to consume and enjoy.--often far exceeding the time they’re willing to spend on the conversation.

Karkat does the same thing--often offering Pacts and Bonds to friends that he likes while simultaneously offering his services in helping them figure out relationship problems. 

Davesprite comes back from the future and literally empowers not just Dave, but John by providing him Time in the form of a Hammer with Time powers. 

Dave’s primary contribution to the Beta session is to run loops around the session, constantly gathering all relevant resources possible so that his friends don’t need to worry at all about limitations like money or access to weapons and can do whatever they feel like. 

Essentially, Dave takes care of the minutiae. He provides a service to his friends--putting them in the best position possible to act out their own wills. 

Karkat’s ultimate contribution to his session is similar--ultimately, Karkat’s main role was to maintain the bonds between all his friends. LIke Dave’s, Karkat’s nature affects every single other player, keeping them bound towards a common goal and thus bettering their odds of winning the game. (it’s worth noting I think Vriska’s view of Sburb is wrong here.) 

This predisposition to giving service to others is also likely why Knights seem to end up helping out with Frog Breeding duties so often. This is essentially the most important game objective, and so helping the Space player in completing it is also helping every other player in step. 

And then there’s this. There’s a colloquial definition of Serve that derives it’s use from the term “Get Served”, which Urban Dictionary defines as: To be completely owned or shown up by someone. Kinda like Dave does to us here--which Karkat also does, by the way, before going on a rant outlined by his ambitions and silhouetted with Blood colors. 

When Karkat wants to make something bite, he ends a relationship. Refuses to continue offering his Aspect, basically. This is also something Dave does repeatedly--he overwhelms Tavros with a time-consuming and epically sassy document, and makes Time-based power plays against Karkat as a gesture of antagonism. 

To serve someone in this sense essentially means to defeat them in rhetorical or literal battle, explaining why Aradia describes Knights as a powerful Warrior class--one of the definitions this wordplay allows for is a class that uses its Aspect to deal devastating, embarrassing defeats.

Dave obviously uses Time powers to fight, thus enabling him to Own/Serve his enemies in this sense, but Karkat is much more interesting here. Karkat also seems to fill the second stipulation Calliope puts onto Passive classes--that is, that they tend to function with less awareness of their Aspect, their Aspect working through them rather than under their direct control, as if through “The Will of the Aspect”. 

Every time Karkat wins a confrontation in Homestuck, he does so by establishing a connection. You can argue Karkat’s aware he does this with Gamzee, but he doesn’t really parse it as doing a Knight of Blood thing. But with Clover he doesn’t realize what he’s doing at all! He thinks he just beat this green elf dude, but what actually happens is Clover wanted to enter a relationship with him. 

What goes ignored is how unlikely a win this is--because Clover is so lucky, he straight up could not be defeated normally. Clover loses this fight not because he’s overpowered, but because he benefits even more than Karkat does. Clover is a horndog, and in his view there’s no better outcome to this fight than Getting Lucky. Karkat wins unawares, as if through the Will of Blood. 

Contrast this with Jake’s win. Jake beats the felt, shocking Crowbar--but Crowbar doesn’t benefit from this at all. Jake does. Jake is the one who wants to be seen as an impressive adventuring hero, and by exposing Crowbar to an unforeseen possibility, he achieves that. 

I’d like to posit a corollary attribute that I believe holds true for all Classes, as well. This one is not explicitly advanced textually, but I believe I can back it up. It takes place along a different axis. I posit that just as the classes affect their Aspect, so too they are affected BY their Aspect.

So in addition to the Active/Passive distinction, we could read both Knights and Pages as ones who are Served by their Aspect.

This is true of Dave, as he gets owned by his Bro in an explicitly time-consuming fight. And the trend continues as he then gets saved by his future selves over and over again throughout the session--being served in both senses:

In this sense, Dave also operates “As if through the Will of the Aspect”, even as he’s in control of his actual powers. He’s presented with stable time loops that he has to obey, and it’s kind of a loaded question whether any given Present Dave would have taken the same path had he not already been given the path to follow from his future selves. 

Now, to contrast before we move on to the rest of this series, a few notes on Tavros:

Tavros’ main psychic abilities correspond to his Classpect--he’s able to move animals to serve his will, providing them direction. The reading that Pages inspire their Aspect in others isn’t totally off, in my view. What it misses is that Pages seem to inspire in others a desire to serve or help them. To benefit themselves somehow. 

Vriska clearly perceives her actions towards Tavros a kind of twisted service, and while I don’t want to put the picture here, Tavros certainly ends up getting Served through Flight--a Breath concept. Tavros also gets the ability to fly early on, like John does--and Tavros gets it directly through Vriska’s service, one of the few times her efforts are actually helpful. 

This doesn’t extend to just Vriska, though. Tavros inspires Kanaya and even Equius--who ordinarily wouldn’t help on account of the Hemospectrum--to provide him with robot legs, extending his freedom of motion, again a concept linked to Breath. This again benefits no one except Tavros. 

Perhaps more telling is this visual language, which suggests Tavros was about to actually Do the Windy Thing--when he was acting under his own will and directing it for a goal he had in mind. Possibly healing? Who knows, we never find out, because this is Vriska. Needless to say, when asked to do things HER way and the way she would most benefit from....Tavros can’t do it. It’s not what comes naturally to him.  

And of course, this reading puts a whole new spin on Tavros’ final act in the story. If we’re reading Pages as intrinsically kind of selfish and self-motivated, then Tavros’ motivation here isn’t to provide a useful service to Vriska. It’s to do something so useful she can’t possibly deny it, so he can have the pleasure of owning her. 

This is Vriska getting Served. This is an immutable fact that is being stated for the record. That it is genuinely helpful does not mean that Vriska getting fucking wrecked isn’t what is taking place here.  Notably, Tavros immediately gives power over the army to Meenah, because he doesn’t give a shit about responsibility. Tavros had a goal, and the ghosts helped him achieve it. 

A final note:

If this reading of Knights and Pages happens to bother you because it means that the Beta session has an uneven distribution of Active/Passive classes, consider the dynamics of both sessions:

In the beta session, Rose essentially takes and follows orders from the Horrorterrors and Doc Scratch, whilst also distributing orders to Dave and John (who each take further orders from troll girls and Jade).

 All of this is ultimately in support of the plan Jade commits to herself, plans herself, and executes herself--taking Active control of the entire session in one fell swoop at the last instant.

In the Alpha session, all three Active players flounder and stifle themselves and each other with nothing meaningful to do and no way to receive substantial benefit. 

Ultimately, it is the Passive player--Roxy--who rises above the constraints of her session and achieves more or less competence at understanding her role and powerset by the end of the session.

In the session that requires constant action and change, there’s Three passives to one Active. In the session that requires patience, introspection, and connecting with each other, the inverse is true. The incentives and natural skills of the players are set at odds in both cases, stacking the cards against them.

In fact, @arrghus  makes an insightful point about these unbalanced sessions: 

Namely, that this puts the kids in the exact same position as the Trolls’ Red and Blue teams--which ALSO have an uneven distribution of Passive/Active classes under this reading, only reaching equilibrium when added together. 

This segment covered, we can move on to Jake, and how this reading of Pages reflects on him. 

This series has been a passion project, but also a side project to my youtube series aimed at welcoming and explaining Homestuck to new, incoming Hiveswap fans. If you find yourself trying to make it easier for a Hiveswap fan to understand what Homestuck is about and how it connects to the game, I hope you think of me.

If you like my writing and have a buck to spare, you could also really help me out by enabling me to focus on putting more of this content out there through pledging on Patreon. Doing so will also give you access to my private community of enthusiasts trying to advance new and interesting readings of this wonderful property.

See you again soon, everyone. Until then,

Keep rising.

[henlo92]

Star Wars gift ideas

Best 25 ideas ofStar Wars gift ideas for him – a true fan of the movie series

George Lucas succeeded in 1977 to present his vision of the future and start the Star Wars phenomenon, revolutionizing cinematographic history.

His first film has set new revenue records in the United States opening up people’s appetite for SF stories. Star Wars opened a new era, gave “A New Hope” to sci-fi and fantasy genres and created millions of fans. The continuation of the franchise in the 2000s did not disappoint the fans, and even more, thanks to the special effects it was able to thicken the fans’ rows with new supporters. And so fathers join their children in the phenomenon of Star Wars.

Thus, curiosity about the phenomenon is more vivid than ever, and the attachment to Star Wars can generate new ways of communicating between people who do not know each other but have the same hobby. From a game of words was born the Star Wars Day “May the Fourth Be With You”.

For the many fans of Star Wars, fans of all ages, I’ve created a list of Star Wars Star Wars ideas that they will appreciate, on a birthday, an anniversary, or an ordinary day. Let’s see what gifts you could offer to fans of an action that happens “a long time ago in a galaxy far far away”.

Check out a list that can melt his heart for sure

Anakin’s Light Saber

Cut your way through the darkness with Anakin’s lightsaber. The Jedi Knights’ Swords, the symbol of Star Wars franchise films, have always been a must-have. Any fan has longed for a Jedi laser sword, any child in his imaginary struggles wanted a toy of that kind. This time, the replica after Anakin’s sword has more colors and comes with the specific sound. Also, to include more drama, you can choose to hear Darth Vader breathing sounds.

You can find the lightsaber right here:  Anakin’s Light Saber

$80.64

  Millenium Falcon Lego

I think there can be nothing more enjoyable for a Star Wars fan than crafting himself Star Wars characters or objects. Apart from the fact that you like to mount the things you collect yourself, it’s the only way to get involved in the story. This is from the series of Star Wars Legos that really has to be part of a real fans collection. Lego Star Wars already won the hearts of fans all across the world, so, if you want to make a fan happy then this is the right gift for him. You can find an item like this right here:   Millenium Falcon Lego

from $8.99

        R2D2 alarm clock

  R2-D2 is the most cute cinematic robot and one of the most popular Star Wars characters, especially among the little fans. In the form of an alarm clock that projects the time on the wall and wakes up through the familiar trills, R2-D2 will become an aid to parents with children at school. You cannot be upset when the alarm clock wakes you up and you hear the familiar voice of the robot. Get from here:  R2D2 alarm clock

from $52.94

        Plush Yoda

  Yoda is the most essential collectible character you can have and, for sure one that’s made from plush will find it’s place on a shelf or in the hands of a baby or child. This can be the most perfect Star Wars gifts for kids. Yoda is the master for which you would do anything but hear him saying “I have a bad feeling about this!”. And you secretly dream of him, recognizing “He is the chosen one.” So nothing more pleasant than a Yoda wholesome and plush. Your master will be able to train you at any time.  See here: Plush Yoda

  $14.99

  Star Wars Magnet Set

You often have a Star Wars fan, you have to make a gift, but you do not know anything about it. The set of magnets is a unique gift for any fan. This time good boys and bad guys will face the refrigerator and the arrangement ideas will belong to you. Such Star Wars collectibles will be a moment of true happiness for the fans.

This is an assortment that never fails to amaze will be the best gift for a Star Wars fan. These are the best Star Wars stuff that you can use to make a fan really happy.

You can find a gift like this right here:  Star Wars Magnet Set

$15.00

    Star Wars Night Light

  Having 7 colors and able to project the most desired characters from the Star Wars series it can be the most wonderful gift that a fan can get. It can be the greatest Star Wars gift for him or for a kid that always dreamed of such an item. His room will soon be filled with the light of the lamp and he will enjoy it every night. It’s a Star Wars gift for adults and for kids as well. As you know, man are like kids, so the gift will be perfect for both. You can find an item like this right here:   Star Wars Night Light

from $18.00

    Star Wars salt and pepper shakers

Even the meals will be a great way to spend some time in the company of Star Wars items because with a salt and pepper shaker all this can be possible. Made to look like the famous lightsabers from the series, it will be the most wonderful gift for a Star Wars fan that likes to cook as well. The meals will taste better when you will have an item like this in the kitchen or on the table. You can create thematic dinners using these items and you will surprise your Star Wars fan in a great manner and win his heart for always.

You can find an item like this here:   Star Wars salt and pepper shakers

$39.99

      Kilo Ren Mug

We have long come to the conclusion that the most interesting characters in fairy tales are monsters and witches. In Star Wars, the rule is respected, and villains are among the most adored characters that fans all want to see. Thus, Darth Vader seems to have become the image of this phenomenon. More recently, Kylo Ren, Darth Vader’s nephew, introduced to the last part of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens, comes back from the back of fans’ sympathy. Kylo Ren, even his uncle, Luke Skywalker, is the one who introduces him into the Jedi art. Unfortunately, Kylo Ren is finally drawn to the force of evil, beginning to aspire to become as powerful as his grandfather.

Kylo Ren mug becomes a must-have for the youngest fans of the famous Star Wars saga, reminding them to enter the Star Wars atmosphere every morning from the first coffee or the first tea.

You can find a gift like this right here:   Kilo Ren Mug

$29.95

  Star Wars Stormtrooper watch

Technology is exactly what he wants. You will not be wrong if you buy a smartwatch that perfectly combines its three passions: Star Wars, technology, and watches. Surely if you will bet on such a gift then it will have to be for a special occasion like his birthday, college graduation or even a gift just to surprise him. He will be able to take pictures or record videos, to challenge his skills using the touch screen, to use the voice recorder, to make calls and so on. Buy a watch like this as a Star Wars gift and you will see a big smile on his face for a long time.

This way you can show him that you are listening to him and put a value on his wishes. A gift like this can be found right here:   Star Wars Stormtrooper watch

  $29.99

    Star Wars shirts for men – a must have in the closet

If you he is a real Star Wars fan, then you should offer him a gift that can be worn all day long. He will like your little present and will not care if it was expensive or not. The only thing you will have to keep in mind is to select his size and make sure it’s on the color he likes the most. A good quality t-shirt is always needed and, especially on hot summer days will be a great help. Choose as a gift a model of Star Wars shirts and make a fan really happy.

An item like this can be found right here:   Star Wars shirts for men – a must have in the closet

  $19.99

    Star Wars Collectibles

Look for Star Wars collectibles for sale online. We found a pack of characters that celebrates the 40th anniversary of the series. This is some serious gift and you should think of an idea like this. But, make sure he doesn’t have it in his collection. A true fan really has to get this kind of collectibles on his shelf and you will make him happy with a gift like this. This is one of the best Star Wars gifts you could buy.

You can find collectibles like we talked about right here:   Star Wars Collectibles

  $17.65

      Stormtrooper voice changing the helmet

  There is no better way to show that you are a true Star Wars fan than by slipping your head into a voice changing helmet. Designed to look like a Stormtrooper, when the helmet will be used the result will be hours and hours of fun. Fan’s heart will melt from the joy of hearing their voice changing while speaking wearing the helmet. They will really sound like a real stormtrooper.

Make him happy and buy a helmet like this from here: Stormtrooper voice changing the helmet

  $71.97

  App-Enabled Droid

Star Wars The force awakens comes to life in a mini droid that is so tiny and cute that fits in your hand. Small but really smart. Download the app to control the droid from your phone and the voice-activated device will respond to your voice. It also displays holographic videos. It’s so cool that your child will love his gift more than anything else.

You can find one right here:   App-Enabled Droid

from $59.98

        Chewbacca electronic mask

A mom playing with his child wearing this mask is a video on social media that reached over 1.6 million views. Any kid regardless of the fact if he is a Star Wars fan or not will want this mask for sure. He will be charmed when he opens his mouth and the mask will roar. Plus, when the kids are in school, if your husband is a Star Wars fan to then don’t be surprised seeing him wearing it and playing too.

This mask can be easily be found right here:   Chewbacca electronic mask

  $30.45

    Darth Tater Potato head

A toy that will bring hours and hours of fun when you will decide to play with it with your little fan. No matter how silly you make it look like using the accessories that comes with the toy you will see laughter in your home. There is nothing more perfect than seeing your little fan having fun with this wonderful toy.

You can find one right here:    Darth Tater Potato head

from $11.99

        Operation game Star Wars Edition

If your little kid dreams of becoming the best doctor in the world we are sure that he already asked you to buy an operation game. And if he is a Star Wars fan then you will be able to surprise him by joining together both of his passions in a game that will keep him busy for hours and hours. We are sure that he will thank you for the gift for months and you will be glad to see that he likes it.

You can find a game like this right here:    Operation game Star Wars Edition

  $15.26

  Star Wars Trouble game

  Family game time? No problem! Choose a game like this and you will have a lot of fun every time you will play together. Go on a mission to rescue BB-8 and play as Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren or Chewbacca. You can find the best Star Wars merchandise and the game right here:  Star Wars Trouble game

  $16.99

      The Star Wars trooper features war-proof armor and a magnetic boot. But look at his weapons! They look like they were cut out from the movie. Offer your child the opportunity to have some fun with friends or by himself. Even his father will join the fun to build the trooper and spend some time together. This is a gift that brings families together for hours of fun. At the end, you will have a trooper build just by yourselves and it will look great in the room of your little one.

Buy one from here:   Lego Star Wars building kit

  from $24.01

    1000 piece Yoda Jigsaw Puzzle

Rainy day? No problem! This 1000 piece Yoda Jigsaw Puzzle will fill your child’s time and we are sure that you will help him put together all the pieces. It’s great to keep the entire family engaged and occupied but in the end, the result will be a wonderful one.

Actually, it’s the best toy to keep your children quiet when you need to focus on something important. You can buy this toy from here:    1000 piece Yoda Jigsaw Puzzle

$14.99

        Talking Jewbacca

A toy that will be the most precious thing in the entire collection that your child has. Endless fun and a lot of hours spent playing with the toy. This will be the result if you buy this talking toy. And, in the end how you can resist to not play with such a toy?

You will be able to find one right here: Talking Jewbacca

  $13.99

      Star Wars Build your own lightsaber

A true Jedi needs a lightsaber of his own. But there is no lightsaber that looks like another one. So, with this kit, your child will be able to build his own lightsaber with the customized accessories. Start with the electronic double sided saber and build the rest using the interchangeable parts. There are over 100 possible combinations so the lightsaber will look different every time.

You can find a toy like this right here:   Star Wars Build your own lightsaber

$34.95

    Star Wars Themed Catch Phrase Game

This game is able to keep everyone entertained for hours. It’s a great way to practice words and to have endless hours of fun. This is a game meant for true Star Wars fans and they can challenge each other to find the most perfect words to have a lot of fun. It’s a game that challenges the mind to find the best closing words and to win the game.

For hours of fun you can buy this game from here:   Star Wars Themed Catch Phrase Game

  $19.99

      Star Wars Walkie Talkie

This is a perfect Star Wars gift ideas that were created for obsessed siblings. A true fan needs to communicate all the time. With a simple push of a button, the voice travels to the other side and will result in hours of fun. It is very simple to use and it was created to be suitable for children of all ages.

You can find a Star Wars walkie talkie right here:    Star Wars Walkie Talkie

  $24.65

      Furbacca – Star Wars Toy

The most popular plush toy crossbred with a Star Wars character is the most perfect gift idea for your child. He will be able to have endless fun with this little and cute toy. There will be nothing that could overcome such an idea. When used, Furbacca will mumble Star Wars songs, will growl like Chewie and plays games with kids. It’s a gift that will be used by parents as well to invent new games. Download an app as suggested by the instructions of the toy and begin to have fun every day.

You can find a toy like this right here: Furbacca – Star Wars Toy

$58.99

    Stormtrooper Blaster

When a lightsaber doesn’t work there is always another solution: the stormtrooper blaster. The 12-dart clip shoots darts one-at-a-time without having to reload, targeting enemy invaders — or little brothers and sisters — up to 65 feet away. It will result in endless of fun and your kids will stay longer outside not just sit in front of the computer all day.

You can find this item right here:  Stormtrooper Blaster

$54.99

          So here’s how easy it is to buy a gift for the little Star Wars fan, and that can fit as funny gifts for adults. All you have to do now is to choose what you think would be the greatest Star Wars gift ideas that suit him the best. Do not forget to check if it already has something from the list and excludes those items because it is rather unpleasant to receive the same gift twice.

The post Star Wars gift ideas appeared first on Trevister.

source https://trevister.com/star-wars-gift-ideas/

[drjacquescoulardeau]

MICHAEL DOUGLAS – SEAN PENN – THE GAME – 1997

 Do not try to reduce this film to only one meaning.

 It is obviously a film centered on the relationship between an elder son and his father when the father commits suicide in front of the child’s eyes when he is 48 and the child is about six or eight. The case is made more complex with the fact that there is a younger son who the elder son took care of as his brother, which is natural, but in a way oppressive in the absence of the father. Even trickier is the fact that the elder son has taken over the family estate (and business), has been married but is divorced and lives alone on the estate with the housekeeper of long ago, of the time when he was a child, hence who has known his father, though she is either older than she looks, and hence too old to take care of such an estate, or she was very young at the time of the suicide and hence cannot really remember much about the father. That connection to the past is rather loose since Ilsa should be at the least 20 at the time of the suicide and should have been hired when she was eighteen. But that is young for a servant who is now the housekeeper and has been for a long time. Otherwise forty years later she should be at retiring age and should have entered that service when she was rather 25 or 28.

 The second element is the rivalry between two brothers in the absence of the father who spectacularly stepped out of life. Then the whole shebang being devised by the younger brother, it is a very perverse way for him to remind his elder brother whose forty-eighth birthday is celebrated today that their father committed suicide on exactly the same occasion by jumping from the top of a high chimney onto the flagstones of a terrace behind the family estate. Perverse and morbid if not even worse than morbid. With a suicide note supposedly signed by the elder son, Nicholas or Nick, saying “Like my father before me, I choose eternal sleep.” Note this suicide note is slightly bizarre because of the present tense directed at Nicholas himself in the game. But it is supposed to be read after the death of the suicidee, and that is hyper important for the suicidee who would use the preterit, the past if you prefer, because he is before committing his suicide projecting himself mentally into what is going to happen after his suicide is in the past. And in the past, it would even be worse because the effect would be multiplied on Nicholas since it might mean for Nicholas in the game he is dead. This rivalry is enacted to the very end of the game: harsh confrontation of the two brothers in the night in some San Francisco street stairs; the “accidental” killing of Conrad, the younger brother, by Nicholas on the roof of the skyscraper from which he is going to jump (or he would have been thrown over by one actor, if he had not jumped by himself), reenacting his father’s own suicide; and the new confrontation of the two after Conrad’s rebirth, resurrection and Nicholas great fall like some Humpty Dumpty. The last touch on the two brothers will be some kind of reconciliation when Nicholas suggests sharing the bill and Conrad accepts.

 So far that is banal and that would only make a good psychological melodrama, a drama with a good ending. But it is so much more.

First, it is a game but the game is played in the real world with real means and with as little visible cheating as possible. All the bullets have been changed to blanks, though the gun Nicholas uses is from the “To Kill a Mockingbird” copy hiding a very powerful handgun (at the top of the library in the family estate), and at the end the actress playing Christine will have to convince Nicholas that his gun has real bullets whereas all the other guns used in the game only had blanks. This is slightly hard to believe for us because the shooting of a gun from the game punctures a tire in one of the chasing episodes, and the machine guns, or so, used by the CRS posse when they try to neutralize him when he gets berserk at Christine’s do make many holes in the setting. Of course, it is nothing but a cinema scene, so everything is fake but in the film, it is a real situation that probably explains the price of the game because of all the hundreds of bullets holes that have to be exploded artificially to make Nicholas believe the CRS agents are using real bullets. We, of course, can see the treachery at every corner in that labyrinthine plot, but Nicholas is not supposed to see it though at times it is slightly too obvious. Some scenes are even comical and emphasized as such by some comment from Nicholas like “Dinner for two, please” when Christine and Nicholas emerge from the two dumpsters behind a Chinese restaurant. As some would say, too good to be true.

 Second, we are projected into a world where crazy adventures can happen virtually but as if they were real. The film is a metaphor for virtual reality and games in that virtual world, virtual reality games that are so true that we believe they are real life. What is surprising is that several times, often to save their skins, some actors reveal it is a game, to the point that Nicholas believes it and wants to step out, to pull the curtain, to stop the game. And he discovers he cannot, and he also discovers the actors who have revealed it is a game are still in the game and still working for it, even when they are supposed to be in their own private life. An effort is even made to prove to Nicholas the main CRS man, Jim Feingold, is a simple family man with children visiting the zoo. A metaphor that could mean in the future (of the film as well as our own future) reality will be a blend of virtual reality and real reality and the divide between the two could be difficult to capture all the time.

 Beyond this idea of a metaphor it could also be considered as a real description of the mind of a person involved in some kind of psychotic episode (I will not say schizophrenia because psychiatrists are finally realizing schizophrenia does not exist and is only an extreme form of psychosis) when the real reality of his/her experience cannot be easily disentangled from the virtual reality of his/her second personality, the two sides of this split personality not being clearly separated and distinguishable for the subject him/herself. And a few times Nicholas thinks he is getting “crazy” and some of the characters, like his lawyer, Sam Sutherland, plays the game by insisting on his having to be worried or not, or the clerk at the hotel who plays surprised when Nicholas does not remember the night before there, though he did not come to that hotel on the night before. Why on earth do they have his credit card at the reception counter?

The fourth approach is what some people insisted upon: it is a demonstration of how easily we can be manipulated by people; organizations, criminal or not, political or not; social networks or other “neutral” organizations of the type; not to speak of the media and the manipulators of the media, politicians, advertisers, and other gurus or preachers who want to influence the people into believing this or that, into doing this or that. The film, of course, shows that such a game requires hundreds of people being hired to play the game in very simple and ordinary structures, including the police and other security institutions, lawyers and businessmen or businesswomen. If we push aside this “game” concept and just consider the “manipulation” we can say this film reveals how easy it is to make someone believe in anything at any time with some immediate reactions from these people who are being manipulated, reactions that can be irreversible or quasi-irreversible. It is such manipulations that enable some political organizations to become powerful in spite of the unethical arguments they use in the shape of fear and anger. It is through such channels that racism, white supremacy, sexism, genderism and many other ideologies targeting a certain type of people they want to be ostracized and segregated against manage to make their opinions valid.

 Consider the case of Catalonia where only 40% or so of the people voted in an illegal referendum giving a majority, but if we consider that all those who would have voted no decided not to vote at all since the vote was illegal, 95% of 40% is only about 38% of the population. Even if we consider a 20% abstention rate we do not have a majority. This explains then that the President of Catalonia decided, probably under strong pressure from Europe and some countries like France, to go on negotiating with Madrid towards more autonomy but not secession. It is obvious when a situation like this referendum is dramatized by courts, governments, political organizations and businesses into some kind of civil strife that could lead to a civil war, people are pushed into corners and very strict and strong opinions and actions that do not represent reason or any sensible approach.

 As such this film should be pondered upon and meditated.

 Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU

White Rabbit Jefferson Airplane Lyrics

 One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small And the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all

 Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall

 And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you're going to fall Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar has given you the call

 And call Alice, when she was just small

 When the men on the chessboard get up and tell you where to go And you've just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low

 Go ask Alice, I think she'll know

 When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead And the white knight is talking backwards And the red queen's off with her head Remember what the dormouse said Feed your head, feed your head

 Written by Grace Wing Slick • Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group