#he had a special bond and that matriarch would often power him up

[nyaskitten]

surprised I havent seen anyone hop onto the idea of dragon matriarchs and patriarchs much... like those are herd leaders, with the inherent ability to grant other elemental masters more strong abilities... could you imagine the potential !!!

[myth-carver]

A long post about some fey.

So it wasn't quite my first D&D game, but in the first one that mattered. For 4 real-life years, I played a man named Altaire Wydion. Raised among eladrin and fey, a knight of the Seelie Court.

Seasonal eladrin weren't even a concept that existed yet. All we knew of Lady Elmenore the Unforgiving, high warqueen and matriarch, was a single line listing her titles in the original Tal'Dorei Guide. There was no canon. My DM and I played around in the space however we liked.

She was 'Unforgiving', said the book. Fey have many sides: We decided Elmenore was a wise ruler, loving and kind to her loyal courtiers, but ruthless to all who went against her. House Wydion, we decided, was a family that had been under the warqueen's thumb since time immemorial; an order of knights serving her every will and whim. On a long-forgotten day eons ago, the House had struck a bargain -- one that left every Wydion bound to Elmenore's service forever. Each Wydion youth who grew up to join her knights swore an oath to uphold her law. None could leave on pain of death.

Altaire was born to Gienah Wydion, commander of the house's knights and first in Lady Elmenore's heart. As heir to Gienah's legacy, he idolized his mother and wished from early youth to follow in her footsteps. He was kind of heart, a little mischievous, prone to gentle pranks; endlessly talkative, silver-tongued, and in later years would take quite a few happy acquaintances to his bed; but more than all this he held his mission as a knight above everything. The Seelie Court was locked in eternal battle with the Unseelie, with vicious tactics often called for to beat back the enemy. Though many of the acts the young squire Altaire was asked to commit against the Court's enemies left him uneasy about his Lady's law, still he did his best to uphold her commands.

Altaire was half-eladrin, half-high elf. A mortal elven man. Upon his 100th birthday he was recognized as adult, sworn in as a full knight of the Court, and sent to the Material Plane to patrol as an enforcer against fey who fled the Lady's justice. While there he met his father, the Syngornian soldier who his mother had once invited to her bed while stationed with other Syngorn troops in the Feywild. Altaire grew to love his Syngornian family, and traveled wide and far across the Material Plane, growing to love it and its people too.

After decades of traveling, learning to love this realm from the distance of a guest, he met new friends. They formed an adventuring company called Draak Vir, doing good works far and wide across Tal'Dorei for profit and acclaim. Across many adventures they worked often alongside a delegation from Ank'Harel, friends of J'mon sa Ord themself, one a drow named Kenath -- a paladin of redemption with whom Altaire shared a special bond.

And through all their travels Lady Elmenore delivered edicts to her knight: Execute this fey, apprehend that fey. Though troubled about some of those orders, Altaire did as he was told, fulfilled his oath. But sometimes his friends would ask him. Sometimes Kenath, alone at night, would ask him.

Is this who you want to be? Are you happy with the path you've been made to walk?

Another order came one day: Bring your companions to my great festival, that I might see their skills. Draak Vir traveled to the Lady's festival in the Feywild, along with some of the other friends they'd made. In victory they earned a great boon: One wish, anything within an archfey's power, and Elmenore would grant it to them.

Meanwhile, one of their friends decided to amuse his own liege lord, Artagan. He took advantage of the Lady's distraction and stole her royal crown, absconding all the way back to the Material Plane with it. The outcome of that action was inevitable.

Return to your post, and execute your traitorous friend. Retrieve my crown. I see how your loyalty wavers. Prove yourself a true knight of my court.

Meanwhile still, they received word that trouble was brewing in the Material Plane. An undead horde might be released upon the world unless they took extraordinary magical means to stop it. Altaire's paladin, Kenath, was directly in the crosshairs of the worst danger of all.

And meanwhile still. The boon they'd earned could do nearly anything. The freedom of House Wydion, impossibly, was somehow within reach.

So many choices to make. Would they save the Material Plane, and one singular drow, but leave one singular family to its eternal, miserable fate? Would they secure a new life for the Wydions but leave the mortal world to face Orcus's armies unprotected, one singular drow perhaps lost forever? No matter what they chose, could Altaire raise his sword to take back that crown, to cut down a friend, simply to uphold the oath he'd planned to live and die for?

There are many stories of mortals stumbling into the Feywild, falling in love with a faerie that they meet. There is one story of a faerie who ventured to the realm of mortals, fell in love there, and died there. I like to imagine that the memory of Loquatious lived on in the Feywild's histories, a cautionary tale taught to young Seelie, about one of the children Elmenore had loved best.

Stay here. Our land is chaos and serenity, beauty and rot, sorrow and ecstasy, everything you need already. Stay home. Stay safe. The world of order is grey and cruel.

But well over 800 years later -- just a generation or three of elves after the Calamity -- there came a young knight who never was much for book learning. Who never quite listened to all the cautionary tales that his elders might have liked him to.

Altaire left his burdened family behind to rescue the Material Plane, to rescue one particular drow. Altaire delivered his queen her stolen crown, looked her in the face, and told her that he could not cut down a friend over so petty a slight. For the first time in untold millennia, a Wydion broke their oath.

He fled to the Material Plane. His home. He was pursued by the Seelie Court. His knight-captain, his mother, cut him down to fulfill her own oath. As he lay with blood draining from his cooling corpse, in secret, his mother pressed a Revivify to his chest.

Never return to the Feywild. Never speak to us again. Stay here, Altaire. I'm proud of you.

He fled to the arms of that paladin of redemption, the drow who had asked him, Is this who you want to be? He stood with his friends against the hordes of the Abyss to secure Exandria's future once again.

There are two stories of a faerie who ventured to the realm of mortals, fell in love there, and died there. I never imagined I would watch the tale of Exandria's apocalypse and find a story I had told looking back at me.

Loquatious, Altaire Wydion will never know who you really were at the end of the day, at the end of it all. But I think, if he could reach back through the centuries. He would take your hand and tell you that you did the right thing.

[mediaevalmusereads]

Black Sun. By Rebecca Roanhorse. New York: Saga Press, 2020.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: fantasy

Part of a Series? Yes, Between Earth and Sun #1

Summary: In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: blood, violence, gore, body horror, drug/alcohol use, self-harm, suicide, mutilation, reference to child sex slavery

Overview: I came across this book while looking for fantasy novels set in non-European-inspired worlds. I got really exited about the premise: a pre-Columbian, indigenous-inspired story? With multiple perspectives? And crows? It sounded great! Unfortunately, I couldn’t give this book more than 3 stars for a number of reasons: I felt like the writing could have been a little bit better and that character motivations could have been more clear; and I ultimately didn’t feel like the story was a true race-against-the-clock until the end. While I’m intrigued enough to pick up book 2 in the series, I do wish this book had done a little more to make me feel connected to the plot and the characters.

Writing: Roanhorse’s writing reminds me of some New Adult prose styles: it feels straight-forward, clear, and well-balanced, but sometimes tends to tell more than show, especially when it comes to emotion. I really liked that I could follow the prose without issue, but I often felt like Roanhorse was dumping some info on me and expecting me to absorb it right away. For example, Xiala (one of the protagonists) tells us that she’s always felt like an outsider and that’s why she has such an immediate connection with Serapio (another protagonist), but I didn’t exactly feel that. There were also some worldbuilding details that seemed to be inserted to flesh out the world - which was great - but ultimately didn’t feel relevant to what was going on in the plot.

This book is also told from multiple perspectives and flashes forward and backward in time. While I personally was able to follow the voices and time skips just fine, some readers might find it a challenge.

Also, without spoiling anything, the end of this book seemed to rush by WAY too fast, and I honestly didn’t feel like most of the book was building to it.

The worldbuilding, however, was wonderful. I really liked the way Roanhorse described the look and feel of everything from the tastes, smells, sights, etc. and I loved how diverse and rich everything felt. While I don’t know enough about various Indigenous groups to comment on whether or not the cultural elements were incorporated well, I did like that various populations didn’t seem to be monoliths and varied in terms of social structure, dress, and custom.

Plot: The plot of this book follows two-ish threads: in one thread, Xiala must get Serapio to the city of Tova in time for “the Convergence,” a time when the celestial bodies are aligned AND there’s a lunar eclipse. In the other, Naranpa must navigate a plot to oust her from the priesthood while also dealing with rising opposition from clan Carrion Crow (and their cultists, with whom Okoa is involved).

Because of the many POV characters and the flashbacks in time, it was difficult to feel any sense of urgency in either plot thread. Xiala and Serapio’s thread was a travel narrative, and most of the conflict stemmed from the fact that the crew just straight up did not trust Xiala. At first, I thought we were getting a narrative where the crew mistrusts Xiala because she’s Teek, but then they appear to be ok with her in what was a pleasant subversion of my expectations. But then something happens and we’re back to what I expected, and it proves inconvenient for getting Serapio to Tova in time. Because I didn’t feel like I had much of a reason to want Xiala and Serapio to succeed (Serapio’s motivations are mysterious and Xiala mostly wants wealth), I felt pretty “meh” about them potentially missing their deadline. I would have much rather seen Xiala (and perhaps the crew?) be challenged and grow from the setbacks she experiences at sea, and for her to become more personally connected to Serapio so the journey shifts from one done to earn untold wealth to one where Xiala wants to help her friend (even if said friend ends up being deceptive).

The Tovan plot is likewise a little “meh” because there wasn’t a huge sense of urgency or suspense. I felt like I didn’t know the clans enough to feel strongly about their politics (aside from understanding that killing people is bad in the abstract), nor did I have a concrete reason for wanting the institution of the priesthood to remain (once I learned more of their history and the fact that most priests - called “Watchers” - would rather be elitist than minister to the people).

Perhaps that’s why I felt a little underwhelmed by the plot as a whole: while things certainly happened, I ultimately didn’t feel like they impacted the characters’ inner lives much, or if they did, that evolution was told to us more than shown. While I understand that Black Sun is the first book in a series, I still would have liked the plot to have more of an impression on the characters.

Characters: I think it’s safe to say that this book follows 4 main protagonists: Xiala (a Teek sea captain who fills the Han Solo archetype), Serapio (the mysterious blind man with crow-themes magic powers), Naranpa (the Sun Priest who struggles against traditionalists to make the priesthood more active in people’s lives), and Okoa (the son of the murdered Carrion Crow clan matriarch). While I liked all of these characters, I do wish they had been a little less dependent on archetypes (lusty sea captain, Chosen One, etc). Maybe things will change as they develop in later novels, but for now, they’re fun and certainly likeable in their own ways, but not mind-blowing.

Xiala is likeable in that she’s a hot mess with a heart of gold. She drinks, swears, and gets into trouble, all in the pursuit of earning enough wealth to make a living. She is also Teek - a member of a (rumored) all-female island clan, whose members have special sea-based magic. I liked Xiala’s connection to the sea and the way she communicates her people’s stories and cultural values. However, I do wish she was challenged a little more to want something more than material reward.

Serapio is an intriguing character in that he fits the archetype of dark, mysterious Chosen One. While I appreciated that he wasn’t a gruff loner (instead, he seemed eager to connect with people while recognizing that his appearance might unsettle them), I also think his backstory is a little too “edgy” for my tastes. His motivations were somewhat shrouded in mystery, which made it hard to know whether or not I wanted to root for him to succeed, but because he’s not a complete jerk, I found him interesting enough.

The connection between Xiala and Serapio could have been a lot stronger than it was. While I liked that they bonded over their “outsider” statuses, I ultimately felt like this was told to us rather than shown. Thus, when they kind of sort of “get together” later in the novel, it doesn’t feel earned. I didn’t understand what Xiala saw in Serapio other than his physical attractiveness and (maybe?) feeling like he didn’t treat her as a foreigner. While fine, I wanted Xiala to be more attracted to Serapio’s personal qualities, not just that he was nice to her. Same thing for Serapio: I didn’t get the sense that he had genuine feelings for Xiala personally, just that she was intriguing because she was Teek.

Naranpa, the Sun Priest, was an interesting figure in that she was caught up in the politics of the priesthood. While I liked watching her navigate the various setbacks and conflicts with traditionalists, I ultimately wish I had been given a more compelling reason to root for Naranpa to succeed. Trying to make the priesthood more hands-on and philanthropic is all well and good, but it felt too abstract. I wanted Naranpa to have more personal stakes - because she comes from the “gutters” of the city, is she more invested? But if so, how does she reconcile that with her decades-long absence from where she grew up? There was a little of that, but ultimately, I didn’t feel like I had a reason to want the priesthood to continue. I didn’t understand why Naranpa was so attached to the priesthood as an institution; why didn’t didn’t she cut her losses and go elsewhere?

Okoa is something of a late addition. His perspective doesn’t appear right away, but I think that worked out fine, considering when it appeared. Okoa is a warrior who finds himself torn between keeping peace between his clan and the Priesthood and joining a rebellious cult who wants to restore the old religion and seek revenge against the Priesthood for past trauma. While I think his perspective was important, I didn’t personally feel invested in this plot or Okoa’s dilemma. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t feel like the rebels were treated as having a real grievance; we’re told about the past and told that it was harmful, but because we don’t get the perspective of someone dedicated to the Cause, I didn’t feel like I could sympathize with it. Okoa himself is resistant, calling the rebels “cultists” and saying that though he understands their grief, he doesn’t want to support violence. Perhaps if Okoa felt threatened by the cultists, or if their cause was a true threat to the stability and well-being of the clan, then I could feel more involved. But as it stands, Okoa was somewhat wishy-washy, and I couldn’t quite understand the stakes to make his indecision feel justified.

Side or supporting characters were interesting. I really liked that Roanhorse included plenty of queer characters, including trans and non-binary/third gender characters who use pronouns like xe/xir. My favorite was probably Iktan, the head of what is essentially the assassin’s branch of the priesthood.

TL;DR: Black Sun is an intriguing fantasy with intricate worldbuilding and premise. While I personally felt like the inner lives of the characters could have been more developed and the plot more compelling, I think this book (and author) will satisfy many fantasy lovers, and I look forward to picking up the next novel in the series.

[covrtofnightmares]

&&. cauldron above, ( james deerling ) was just spotted in the fae lands — word has it ( he ) is affiliated with ( the spring court ). ( he ) is a(n) ( 650 / appears 38 ) year old ( warrior fae ). it’s been said that ( he ) resembles ( david gandy ). ( he ) has been said to be ( loyal & courageous ) but also quite ( ferocious & stubborn ). ( he ) is currently serving as ( the deerling patriarch / consort of the spring court ).

— ❝  you have to be a little bad to make history. ❞

name: james henry deerling

birthday: june 11th | gemini

scent: juniper, mandarin, oakmoss, cedar greens, fresh blooming roses, gentle seabreeze + ( SIGNATURE COLOGNE: light blue - dolce & gabbana )

appearance: james towers above most at a whopping 6′3″. naturally muscular and strong, both from being born into the warrior fae heritage and from years of training, james easily dwarfs most who stand around him. with a thick head of dark, wavy hair and his signature groomed beard, james looks every bit the rugged, rogue, wild warrior fae descending from the mountains.

current familial / relationship status: james is married to faun deerling who, up until recently, was presumed to be dead in astralis. he is aware of two children he bore legitimately with her, aurora and arielle, but is unaware at present that ares and apollo are his natural-born sons and believes them to be his step / adopted children.

biography: james henry deerling doesn’t know much about his origins. his mother, a warrior fae who had been cast out from her family for refusing to adhere to some of the more rigid, violent guidelines of their people, turned to prostitution in order to feed and clothe herself. she developed an affair with a highly regarded warrior fae among the spring court, giving him pleasure in return for coin, and when marietta discovered she was pregnant, she begged and pleaded with her lover to provide financially for the baby she was carrying. she did not believe she would make a fit mother, and when her lover--henry deerling--begrudgingly accepted to take james into his home, marietta left the child on the warrior’s doorstep and disappeared without a trace. henry deerling was a revered knight in the high lord’s army, responsible for training young recruits around the castle, and believed he had little to no time for a child. he intended to raise james as a servant, or similar to the way noblemen handled their bastardized children. but, as a widower with no close relatives, he soon came to love having a child about the house and made james his official heir.

growing up with a knight for a father did not make things easy for james with other warrior children who lived in the outskirts of the spring court. they often referred to him as a bastard, the son of a whore, or dirty blood, due to his unknown mother’s exile from their people. james was often assumed to be weak, due to his mother’s own fickle nature and his father’s strange behaviors, so when one boy shoved the young child into the mud while another, older child attempted to carve james’ wings off his back, telling the deerling heir that he didn’t deserve the wings of a warrior, something inside of james unleashed itself, his magic and might striking out against the other children around him.

children stopped making fun of james henry deerling after that night.

though his father was a knight, james earned no special favors among the spring court. he had to earn his keep, and after refusing to allow the other warrior children to demean his bloodline any longer, james took to the training field. honed fighting was a skill his father had always hoped james would take an interest in, and the two bonded over their sessions with great fervor. henry deerling trained his only son everything he knew about fighting and protecting their people, raising his child to become a man of great strength, power, and passion dedicated solely to protecting the spring court. he fought and clawed his way to a title of honor, first as a guard, before eventually making his way up the ranks to serve as the spring court’s official captain of the guard by the time he was in his mid to late twenties. it was a title he revered with great honor. after his induction ceremony, when james realized that his father had not been present at his ceremony, the deerling boy slipped into his quaint family home to find his father on the ground, his wings crumpled beneath him and his face purple. an empty goblet lay askew on the ground, indicating ingested poison, along with a letter henry held clutched in one hand. james, desperate and consumed with grief, was barely able to read the letter that had been addressed to him.

the elders in his clan had not forgotten the child born out of wedlock, a surprisingly severe crime among their particular branch of warrior fae, nor had they forgotten that the child had been borne from an exiled member of their pack. henry was subsequently punished for allowing the child to live, and not sacrificing him, as any good member of the family ought to, and for the first time in his life, james deerling felt overwhelming grief, loss, and guilt.

james deerling is a good man, but not every story has a happy beginning. so when the deerling heir composed himself, steely resolve had him track down every last member of his mother’s clan. with a burst of magic and a fury of wings and might, killed every last remaining member of his matriarchal clan, until he was the only one left aside from the mother who had abandoned him.

james devoted himself entirely to the protection of the doefoot clan and the high castle following the death of his father. grief was something james had not yet been accustomed with, so losing the only person in the entire world he had ever loved felt like walking through a forest blindfolded. several decades would pass before james learned to properly love another creature. faun doefoot, the glittering princess of the spring court, was sunshine and daisies; she was a warm spring breeze and the color of sunflowers and cherry blossoms. the spring court princess was a delight among astralis, and so when she approached james one day and begged him to teach her how to train herself in combat and self-defense, even stoic james deerling failed to be immune to her charms. james thoroughly believed learning combat techniques was important, given his own colorful background, and spent evenings training faun on how to best to defend herself in case of a siege, royal duel, or even against a random attacker. she became his closest friend and, along the way, something clicked into place deep inside of james’ chest. there was no denying it every time he exchanged furtive glances with her at balls or galas he worked for the royal family: he was desperately, hopelessly, achingly in love with faun deerling. she was stunning, of course, but it was not just her beauty that james became enamored with; it was the strength of her character and the passion in her soul. it was the way that he looked at her and the rest of the world seemed to stand still. he had imprinted on the crown princess of the spring court. and fiercely.

the two began a passionate, whirlwind love affair, each privately acknowledging that his rank and profession did not make him a suitable consort for an heiress who was meant to rule an entire kingdom. but whatever his reservations might have been about his own questionable lineage, faun was determined to tell her parents she would take no other suitor than james deerling; her captain, her confidant, her closest friend. 

that’s when erik newblood happened.

the siege on the spring court was bloody, and though james and the rest of the guard and knighthood tried valiantly to defend the doefoots, they failed. they were outnumbered: in men, in power, in brute strength. it was a devastating loss, and faun was left in the hands of a monster. he wished, desperately, to be able to free faun from the marriage she now found herself in, but his mate informed him that anything he was thinking would be too risky to perform. hell descended upon the spring court, and the only moments of comfort and solace he found in the terrifying darkness that hovered over the spring court were the times he spent alone with faun. erik, in his vainglory, ordered james to the front of the line as the spring court’s war general, choosing to exploit their shared heritage as warrior fae for militant prowess. but while erik was a creature who consumed everything in sight, james preferred to preserve. still, more often than not, james had an inkling that the real reason erik promoted the captain of the guard to a high and prestigious position was so he could keep an eye on him.

it was much easier to keep an eye on a dog you’d leashed to you, after all.

presently, james has no idea that the two boys faun gave birth to, ares and apollo, were not sired by erik, but by himself. though he worried about their patriarchal heritage, james loved the boys as fiercely as if they were his own children, if only because they belonged to faun. he helped raise them in private, without the knowledge of erik, and slipped the boys gifts every solstice and birthday. sometimes, james pretended that the boys were his own; if he looked at ares and his sweet, chubby cheeks long enough, he even thought he saw something of himself in the dark-haired beauty that had captured the hearts of the spring court. perhaps if he pretended they were his sons, it would be enough. perhaps, though he’d never be a father to them, he could be something.

but faun was nothing if not resilient and strong, and through the skills he had helped her hone over the years, was able to covertly destroy the beast who had shackled himself to her. erik newblood was no more, and though james was petrified that faun had behaved so recklessly without him there as support, he felt overwhelming relief flood his system as a semblance of normalcy returned to the spring court. he and faun wedded, after so many years loving and mating in secret, and began to repair the damage erik had wreaked over their home since the regicide of faun’s parents. the two wed, in a beautiful ceremony praised and applauded by all of astralis, and james deerling rose from the role of war general to high lord and consort.

this was his home--anywhere faun, ares, and apollo were. though james still believes ares and apollo are not his children, he spent his rule treating them as if they were his own children by flesh and blood. when the time  came for them to expand their family, however, james was only all too eager. and thus...their first baby girl was born: aurora deerling, the crowned jewel of the spring court, and a princess who had carved out a piece of james deerling’s heart and kept it for herself. james became a dutiful father, and when arielle was born not three years later, james swore he had never been happier in his entire life. four children, two of which were even his by blood, and his treasured mate by his side. perhaps the gods had forgiven him for failing his father so many centuries ago; perhaps they had told him he deserved to be happy.

or perhaps the gods were still angry.

when faun was taken from james this time, with great force and jarring suddenness, james felt something inside of him wither away and die. erik newblood was dead again, this time at the hands of an enraged ares, and james blamed himself. it was difficult to face his family, realizing that he had, once again, failed to properly protect that which belonged to him. unable to face a throne that did not belong to him, james left the spring court and fled to the mountains. grief consumed him, shaping james into a vengeful creature, the likes of which he had not seen since his father’s untimely passing. he was not the monster that erik newblood had been, but he was his own manner of beast.

most believe that james deerling escaped to the mountains solely due to the loss of his wife. and while grief consumed him, james deerling was also a man of hard-headed, stubborn ferociousness. he spent the next two decades researching--faun’s body had never been properly buried, nor did he have clues about the whereabouts of his missing child. he inhaled books, ranging from modern to ancient texts, about enchantments, curses, and loopholes in the very fabric of astralis that could explain the things james refused to look in the face: death. and still, he trained: not just with himself, but with others. there were other warrior fae who lived in the mountains, clans who had despised his mother’s family for their rigid, cruel, and archaic ways, who recognized the man who had slaughtered the spring court’s most notorious warrior clan without the bat of an eye. their children and grandchildren, having grown up on the fable that was james deerling, poured forth and offered their services to him.

if james deerling was going to take on astralis with his bare fucking hands, he’d need to rally an army.

his nights were spent in loneliness, craving faun’s absence, but his days were filled with research, training, and questioning leads he uncovered that led to any possible clues about his wife’s death and his missing child. finally, after years of digging and training, and the solstice hanging above their heads, james held a breakthrough: he knew where faun was. it was just a matter of returning her where she rightfully belonged. and if he could get faun back, then he’d be able to find out what had happened to his sweet aurora, as well.

james deerling is coming back from the mountains. and unbeknownst to his son, he’s bringing with him an entire army of trained warrior fae who plan to serve the spring court unfailingly as they wipe out their enemies.

affinity: as a warrior fae born into the spring court, he possesses some of the natural affinities of spring, though james’ strength is almost exclusively in his combat abilities

wings: as is typical with the warrior race, james has durable wings perfect for flight and combat. his are large, taloned black wings, similar to that of a dragon, marking him as a strong predator in the sky. james’ regal wings are built for endurance, battle, and instilling fear into those who dare to oppose him.

[belzinone]

IS BEL GOING TO GET AU'D IN THE BIKER RP GROUP OR ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE A NEW CHARACTER :O

// i edited her modern verse a little bit to try and make it fit. the stuff i wrote for her app is rt here~♡

// but in a sense, yeah: au where her brother & father survive XD

[[MORE]]

IN CHARACTER

NAME: Bel Zinone

DATE OF BIRTH: (March/08/1991) (28)

PLACE OF BIRTH: San Francisco, California

GENDER/PRONOUNS: demifemme｜she/her/hers

AFFILIATION: N/A

RANKING: N/A

OCCUPATION: freelance sex worker, hit woman, black market physician

FACE CLAIM: Antonia Thomas

BIOGRAPHY

triggers: domestic violence, murder, abuse, misandry, severe burns, sex work

Her mother was an undocumented immigrant, fleeing from her orphaned past and domestic abuse in the Italian slums. A headstrong, promiscuous, and violent woman, it wasn't long until she found sisterhood amongst a like-minded gang of vigilante women with international influence called the Wallflowers, well-versed in her infamy and coming to her aid while she was pregnant with her son and escaping prosecution for murdering her husband. Risa Zinone, codenamed La Eglantina, docked in New York city, giving birth to her son Beau Zinone and raising him with the rest of her sorella while continuing her bloodthirsty occupation of murdering abusive men and liberating survivors from their regimes of terror. However, one could only run with the Wallflowers for so long before beginning to challenge their belief system, however righteous it claimed to be. The murderer mother fell in love with the black-market doctor who saved her life and once again fled across the country and retired so she could live a peaceful life with him, safe from the constraints and watchful eyes of the sisterhood, but not without heavy cost. She suffered major burns to her entire body by a fire and had to undergo near total facial reconstruction, a miracle performed by the love of her life. In exchange for her life, she'd no longer bear resemblance to her children.

Thus Bel Zinone was born on the opposite side of the country as her brother, hilly San Francisco. She was a wildly rambunctious child, calmed only by the sounds of her brother's guitar strings and a profound interest in her father's work. Little did she know, her living was earned via the illicit means of her parents and their continued association with the country's underbelly. Shambled by the loss of one of their most valuable members, the Wallflowers had undergone a civil war. A near complete overhaul of organizational structure and creed had taken place, leading to an abysmal divide between the matriarchal supremacy of days past and the new order. Enemies of the new regime all around the world were sought out, assassinated, and replaced with a stronger, more diverse membership. During that witch hunt, Risa was reinstated into the Wallflowers with her husband Dmitri and the power couple ruled the pacific branch.

The Zinone's hid their criminal affiliations well. Dmitri, a renowned surgeon specializing in the central nervous system, Risa, an uptown socialite who moonlighted cabaret clubs as a jazz singer. Their children had a generous, almost spotless adolescence until Beau graduated high school and joined the military. He was an upstanding, self-righteous man, yet his fatigues all but killed the respect his little sister had for him. As the Zinone siblings grew up, their parents had to try all that much harder to hide their criminal affiliations, often leaving the two with ample bonding time and hiding various criminal survival skills (like how to fight and use firearms among other things) under the guise of "street smarts". Combined with her surfacing struggles with her sexuality and gender identity, Beau's abandonment was very hard on Bel. Her high school antics began to resemble those of her mother during her youth, starting fights, finishing others' fights, and getting dress coded nearly every day. If not for physical altercations, the young lady spent most of her time in the principal's office for getting into arguments with teachers and staff over technicalities in her STEM courses and exposing discrimination in curriculums and attitudes throughout. If not for her parents' powerful influence, she never would've dodged juvie, let alone made it to college. Fortunately, she found her calling and started settling down as soon as her father invited her to his workplace in the hospital.

College was a breeze for her, even as a fierce insistence to be independent led to her paying her own tuition. She was no party animal or sorority sister, but the continuing troubles she had with her sexuality and gender identity pushed her towards casual sex work and the porn industry when work-study wasn't enough. Bel was steadily making her way through adult life, planning to devote the rest of it to medicine like her father. However, as she started having to use her special "survival skills" more and more, she slowly began to realize there was more to her parents than she thought. The Wallflowers were growing in influence, and La Eglantina's daughter was growing a bounty on her head as well. By the time she cornered her parents with the truth, she was already well into medical school and bore nods to her mother's pseudonym and her father's occupation on her back. The betrayal she felt when her brother left her resurfaced as she uncovered her parents lies, spurring her to cut her familial ties and live her own life exclusively by her own means. Bel rejected her father's footsteps in favor of sex work, something she pursued entirely of her own volition, and eventually found herself amongst the "bunny ranches" in Las Vegas, where her life on the crossroads of Devil’s Highway would begin.

She could run all she wants, but can never escape who she is and lives her truth with all she has. Bel (La Hydrangea) Zinone could be found tearing up the road on her Widowmaker, working the pole, or treating injuries for the value of avoiding a paper trail.

CHARACTER QUOTE: "Do no harm but take no shit."

CHARACTER ANTHEM: Half God Half Devil｜In This Moment

[welcome-to-my-daydreams]

Man in the Storm 17

Summary: It’s rut season at the compound. Omega Reader plans to ride it out alone, locked in her room away from any unwanted Alphas. But she finds that to be a lot easier said than done when the team’s strongest Alpha pays a visit.

Pairings: Alpha!Thor x Omega!Reader

Type: Series (A/B/O Dynamics)

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2,476

A/N: “I don’t need therapy, I’ve got you guys!”

Part 16, Part 18

Masterlist

The second month was easier. But only because you swapped sadness with annoyance. You had decided that though you loved the stupid Alpha, you wouldn’t mind giving him a swift kick in the ass when he finally returned. If he finally returned, of course. 

It was getting ridiculous now. 2 months and not a single sign. Not a rumble of thunder, not a drop of rain. You realised you wouldn’t even know if he had died somewhere in this war he was fighting. 

You better not die without letting me know about it, Alpha. You cursed as you looked up into the clear sky above you. 

“Hey! No breaks until we hit the 10 minute mark. You know the drill!” Captain Rogers commanded as he jogged past you, tapping you on the shoulder and waving you to keep up with him. 

You rolled your eyes and picked up where you left off, running along the track on the field. 

“I thought the whole point of this training session was to keep you distracted?” Steve asked when you finally caught up to him. He was practically skipping, barely breaking a sweat so that you’d be able to run side by side. 

Everything you did lately was to keep you distracted. You kept as busy as possible, taking missions and assignments when you could. Last week you were in Korea with Tony and Maria and before that you had been down in Wakanda with Steve and Sam for a few weeks and before that you joined Nat and Clint in Rio. 

You had already filled your field work quota for the month and Tony has insisted that you take some leave. Which is exactly why you were here at the compound running with Steve, rather than with Bucky, Sam and Sharon on the latest mission. 

“Well that was the idea. But my mind always finds a way to drift.” You admitted out loud. “And if I have to be honest Cap, you’re not very good at this.” You poked at him with a smile. 

Steve laughed, “Well, in my experience, things don’t go away by avoiding them.” He glanced over at you. “Maybe talking about it is the way to go.”

You thought about it. He was probably right. He always was. It’s true that you had been avoiding the idea of opening up to anyone, but the truth is you were avoiding even opening up to yourself. You would try to go through the motions, to think logically about all the possibilities about your current situation. But then you’d feel overwhelmed and just stop. Always telling yourself you’d save it for another day.

“You want to be my therapist now too Rogers?” You joked, trying to deflect from the conversation Steve was trying to start. He didn't answer though, only giving you a look that reminded you of your dad. 

You took a deep breath, and finally gave in. 

“I just wonder a lot of things. All the time.” You started. “Sometimes I think about what I would do if he doesn’t come back. How I’d move on with my life. Other times I think about what will happen if he does come back. How exactly are we going to make this work? Will I have to leave earth? Do I want to leave earth?” You asked rhetorically. “And then at the end of it all I just wonder if he’s even thinking of me. You know? Is he wondering the same things? Does he have a plan?”

Steve watched as you wrestled with your own thoughts. He stopped running and signalled for you to as well. “You know” he spoke up as the two of you continued along the track at a walking pace. “When I woke up, after they found me in that ice. The only thing I could think of for months was Peggy.” You turned to look at him in surprise. Steve rarely ever spoke of Peggy Carter. 

“I felt constant sense of guilt. About how my death must have affected her, about how she was able to get on in life. Was there anything I could have done?” He turned to look at you. “I know she did amazing things. She got married, had a family, started SHIELD. But despite all of her accomplishments, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about this whole other life we could have lived together. If I hadn’t...” There was a sense of sadness in his voice now as he trailed off.

“Steve...don’t. Don't put that on yourself.” You reached out to place your hand on the Alpha’s shoulder. He gave you a half smile, “The point is (y/n), whatever happens, your life will continue on and you will be fine. I know you will. But, don’t ever think that he isn’t up there thinking about you, wishing things could be different.”

Steve’s words hit you harder than you had expected they would and you found yourself just standing there. Repeating them in your mind. 

“And besides.” Steve continued. “Thor isn’t dead or frozen in a block of ice. He’s up there, alive and well.” He smiled. “You still have the chance to decide your future. Together.”

After a long pause you gave the Alpha a big hug. Thanking him for the talk before you continued on with your run. Feeling a little more optimistic than before.

A few days later you found yourself in the back of one of Tony’s town cars, pulling up to the front entrance of the Stark Tower in Manhattan. It had been a while since you had been to the city and you were here today at your own insistence. 

Tony still had you on leave from missions, but you were dying of boredom at the compound. You had harassed Stark enough to convince him into finding you a days worth of work helping Pepper out at Stark Industries. 

It couldn’t have come a better time either. Not only were you able to get away from the current heat season of the compound, but the energy of the city was like a detox for you. 

The driver opened the door for you and you thanked him kindly before heading inside. You had been given the direct access key to the private elevator and headed straight up to meet with Pepper. 

When you reached the floor of her office you were hit with an almost intoxicating scent of rose oil and lemons. 

Damn. You thought to yourself as you made your way down the hall.

Pepper was an Omega, but the kind of Omega that didn’t really live life as if she were an Omega. She was CEO of Stark Industries and lived at the tower full time, only visiting the compound on special occasions and Tony would have to travel into the city to see her. Which he did, happily and often. And despite not living at the compound, the pack has always considered her as their matriarch. 

Her scent dominated the office space and you could feel her presence everywhere. It was incredibly intoxicating, to see an Omega in a position of power like this. It was as if she were a Queen and Stark Industries was her Queendom. 

When you made it to the waiting area of Pepper’s office you were greeted by her assistant who lead you through the doors and asked you wait. She offered you various teas and coffees which you declined, only to immediately regret not getting that delicious caramel latte she mentioned. 

“(y/n)!” Pepper called your name after only a few minutes. “It’s so good to see you” She said happily, bringing you in to a hug. “Pepper!” you smiled, “Thank you so much for asking me to come down here today.” you greeted back. 

“Oh of course.” She said as she set her laptop down on her desk, along with some notebooks. “It’s so nice to have someone from the pack down at the tower for a change.” She smiled again as she sat down in her big leather chair. “So, how have you been?”

The two of you chatted for a while. Catching up on pack gossip and goings on. You made an effort not to talk about your Thor dilemma and in turn Pepper did not pry. Which worked out better for you as the whole purpose of going into the city for the day was to get away from your life at the compound.  

“So, Tony tells me you’re pretty good with computers and that you used to work in the technical department, is that right?” She asked, getting right down to business.

“Oh, uh, yes. I studied computer programming at university.” You answered, sitting up straighter than before. Suddenly feeling like you were in an interview. 

“I enjoyed it for a while, but then I realised it was much more fun to play with the toys that we made with those programs.” You winked.

Pepper laughed as well and shook her head. “You sound just like Tony.”

It turned out that the work Pepper needed help with wasn’t all that difficult. It was definitely something that an intern could do, but you had begged Tony to find you something to do and...he did. 

She needed your help with installing an encrypted storage program on her personal server where she would store her most important files. She was still storing some high high priority files in a safe in her office.

“I can’t be running one of the most technologically advanced companies in the world and still be working with paper!” She told you as she explained the task at hand. 

It was an easy mornings work. Within an hour you had the program up and running and spent the rest of the morning uploading the important files into the new system. After a while you needed a break and took a turn around Pepper’s office. First taking a look at the beautiful view from her giant windows, then trailing off to gaze at the wall of photos and diplomas by her desk.

You stopped at a lovely photo of Pepper and Tony. You could tell it was before they had bonded by the missing mark on her neck. He was holding her from behind with his arms draped around her waist and they were both laughing hysterically at something. 

Your fawning must have been palpable, because Pepper looked up from her work and chuckled. “Hmm.” She smiled. “That was Happy’s birthday party 8 years ago. I can’t believe how young we look.”

“You two are perfect together” You said, looking back at the photo before taking a seat in front of Pepper’s desk.

“Perfect?” She scoffed. “Hardly so.”

You laughed, “Well I just mean you’ve been together for so long. You must have such a strong connection and trust. Especially for him to give you Stark Industries”. You remarked, almost naïvely.

Pepper nodded, not looking up from her work. “I guess you could put it that way.” She said with uncertainty. “What do you mean?” You asked, slightly confused. 

Pepper looked up from her computer and smiled, “I love Tony, I really do. But that man is a disaster.” She said shaking her head in amusement. You laughed at the statement, eager to hear her reasoning. 

“He didn’t give me Stark Industries. I took it from him because he was running it into the ground.” She continued. Setting her laptop aside and getting comfortable in her seat, more than willing to take a break from the days work. 

“When Tony decided that he was Iron Man, he made it his life’s duty. He dropped everything else in his life to pursue it. And I mean Everything.” She said, enunciating with hand gestures. “I was only his assistant at the time, but once he started missing every meeting and every day of work I just had to take over.” she said while shaking her head as if she was still annoyed at how it all went down. “It was like his sole responsibility in life was to save the world!”

You laughed. It turned out that not much had changed between now and then when it came to Tony Stark. 

“Well, hopefully he realises how lucky he’s been to have you by his side throughout all this.” You said. “I’m sure it hasn’t been easy.”

Pepper nodded. “ Yes, I think he does now. Thank God” she said with a smile. “But there were a few years in between when I couldn't handle it anymore and I left. Him and all this.” She said looking around the room. 

“Really?” you gasped. You had always seen Pepper and Tony as the perfect couple. The glue that held everything together. You could never imagine picturing them apart from one another. 

“So what made you go back?” you asked, hoping you weren’t overstepping. 

“Because I love him.” she admitted, leaning further back in her chair. “I love him and being without him just didn't feel right.” she shrugged her shoulders. “I was never going to separate him from his duty to the Avengers or to the world. That is all part of the Tony Stark package.” she paused for a moment, looking back at the photo on the wall. “I had to decide whether being with him was worth putting up with all of it. And for me, it was.” She smiled. 

“And now here we are, running our little empire together. He’ll never admit it, but he knows that he needs me to keep this place afloat.” She said matter of factly. 

“A king cannot survive without a queen by his side.”

As some of Thor’s very first words to you came to the forefront of your mind, you crossed your arms over your chest. Suddenly feeling very exposed. 

You sat there in silence for a moment as a whirlwind of thoughts entered your mind. The more you thought about it the more you realised it. Thor wasn’t all that much different from Tony. A least, not when it came to his duty. The only difference between them being that Thor already knew he wanted someone by his side. And that person as it turned out, was you. 

You thought for a moment about all the sacrifices and compromises Pepper must have made when she decided to stay by Tony’s side. Accepting the fact that she would always come second to her Alpha’s sense of duty. You then thought about the other couples in your pack. Clint and his wife certainly had a complex arrangement and you imagined that Sharon had to come to terms with Steve’s hardened sense of duty many years ago. Suddenly, Bucky’s choice in such a docile Omega made sense to you in the grand scheme of things. 

“(y/n), are you ok?” Pepper said, waving her hand in front of your face. 

You shook yourself out of your haze. “Sorry, I uh...I just starting thinking about how complicated everything gets. No one we know really has a normal realtionship, do they?” you asked her. 

“In a pack like ours (y/n) there is no such thing as “normal” relationships.” She answered with a smirk. “With those Alphas? Are you kidding me?” She said, before you both burst into a fit of laughter. 

“Now, enough talk about Alpha’s and relationships, let’s go to for lunch” The Omega suggested as she got up from her desk and grabbed her purse

@usetheforce3434 @ourdreamsrealized @oknstark @jaegers-and-kaijus @alittlehoneybear @fundaymonday @iamwarrenspeace @lumelgy @steggy4ever @devilsbaby6 @dani-si @dreamingaboutthewonderland @yoursupernatural @maebeltranlove @thisisnotseriousbussiness @wintersire @talknerdytome25 @coffeeandmistakes @mellytonellysstuff @thewalkingmombie @naturalistamisslyn @fxnrisulv @leashab @illbewendyyoubepeter @isislockett @crowleyshellkitten @sammanthamariee @bookshelvesandteacups@marveloussssworld​ @lemonchapstick​ @randomlove15 @tinyfistwarrior@bodhi-black @mermaid099 @jeffersonstarships2099 @brooke-supernatural16​ @unic0rns-taking-0ver-th3-w0rld @lovely-geek​@greeneyedgal20 @blxcksoulsanddxrkflowers @spideysz @whyugottabsorude @i-think-i-am-adorable​ @lexie-mo​ @pinkgalaxyskull​ @palelightgiver​ @lokisgoldengoddess @bandstripper @memyselfandmaddox @assassin-inthe-scoutregiment @the-goddess-of-mischief @congurl @chaotic-neutral-spider @imjustalittlebean @rishlo @sunigyrl @supernaturalpotternerd @sonarsyndor @sea040561 @justcallmecinammon @inumorph @darkkitty @thewayilookatbacon @jumpingmanatee @pocmarvelworks @lovelyangelofasgard @ktjnn @debiwolft @milllionthingsihaventdone @occasionalfics @jmberries @badassbaker @vgurl18 @samanthasmileys @girlwhoisfearless @loverofthor @sthorgestavenger @loverofthor @slightlysoftgrunge @earinafae

[quasi-la]

12         THE MATRIARCH

              When ever I hear people talk about their god they always refer to Him, but who on this old Earth has ever seen the divine gonads? Of course that question is irreverent, but not irrelevant because all His-story shows us that such abstractions of the ego are way more dangerous than a game of words... Anthropologists will tell you all single god hypotheses are an extension of the male ego, but in fact the ontogeny of this deeply 'embedded' conviction goes back a little further than a heart beat ago – when Adam was still a boy! The clear light of understanding began to emerge when Jane Goodall started studying the gorilla's natural social behaviour close up, since then a great deal of work has been done on other primates as well, and particularly the chimpanzees which are by far our closest relative, in fact something like 97% of our genes are homologous. Which is to say the same but different, as in the difference between one human and another...

                                                                                                                     It was 1974 when lethal raiding was first observed among chimpanzees living in a natural environment and social groupings, before then it was thought that 'we' were the only species that killed their own kind in situations not necessarily about survival. Those who invented the single-white-male-god also taught that some kind of original sin had condemned us to suffer this unkind behaviour; but this flies in the face of newly observed behaviour – the reality is our chimp cousins also kill and rape for thrills! Female chimpanzees are generally not picky about their sexual partners, they find most males acceptable but something inside tells them to refuse their brothers. Most of the time that's the end of it, but occasionally a brother's ego can't stand being denied, the more she resists and avoids him the more he becomes enraged, he beats her and holds her down – there's nothing she can do. Measured tests have shown that even average chimps are four or five times stronger than human athletes in top condition, and right up to now they are the only species beside Homo saps that still tolerate these degenerate characteristics AS IF there is nothing We could do about it?                        

                         If you take the time to read the reports and papers coming out, you will see the male violence that surrounds and threatens chimpanzee communities is so extreme that just being in the wrong place at the wrong time from an other group can mean death by murder-squads. Just as territorial by nature as we are, ALL the elements of political degeneration are evident as well, including genocide, so our 'human nature’ as it is invoked by many an old fool – is not so unique after all! Its just too obvious that the patriarch which easily dominates women in primitive cultures so closely emulates the behaviour of our chimpanzee cousins. And this pattern is carried on and on by primitive religions...and then the thousands of rapes and murders committed by U$ troops stationed in Japan since WW2 become more understandable, even though (their) gorillas still can't be tried in any Japanese court - because Japan is still an occupied country? 

                                                              Over the past four decades much new knowledge has been gathered, needless to say it hardly gets mentioned by mass media, but the comparison of murders and incarceration rates speak for themselves. As the research piles up the gap between us and the chimps keeps shrinking, already it is genetically provable we are closer to them than they are to gorillas! Facts like this are an anathema to religious institutions, in the daze of their rule they would simply be rejected outright and the offenders burnt at the stake; while another awe inspiring cathedral is built somewhere... For those still capable of rational thought the single most gripping fact about chimpanzee behaviour is that their society is (also) male bonded...and their borders are defended and/or extended with potentially lethal violence. Any one can see similarities that go way back 5 million years, when chimpanzee ancestors and human ancestors were indistinguishable. In fact there may have been several Adams but mitachondrial DNA has revealed an Eve, a particular black African women was the mother of every single Human on this old Earth! 

                                                        In reality the most likely scenario is that early humans were less violent and way more social, and then a backward and violent variant has arisen in relatively recent times, and now that mob threatens to take us all to hell with them! Its a fact not well known that Neanderthals had a larger brain and many studies suggest that Cro-Magnon replaced them through enhanced brutality, not intelligence as we would like to think. The ultimate truth may never be known, but many of the Nazi leaders came from devout Christian upbringings...and dehumanised “wolves in sheep's clothing” are now threatening our continued existence on this old Earth; and ALL fall back on one male-god-construct or another to justify their actions. Moreover the link between male violence and 'putrid' patriarchy is self evident in almost every human culture as it is with the chimpanzees, the statistics on violent crime within a community show the same gender-biased pattern, women can kill of course but everywhere the globally consistent trend is that males are the 'specialists' in violent crime.

                           In the U$ for example men are nine times more likely to-be killers, seventy eight times more likely to rape and ten times more likely to commit armed robbery. Even in non violent crime the same gender-bias is equally strong, so the obvious question now before us is why are advanced 'democratic' societies still living under the spectre of male dominance? The simple answer springs to mind (some) men with brutal tendencies seize power and repress everybody because the pattern already exists in their genes and/or memes. This I$ patriarchy worldwide and throughout history, written by the victors with the unspeakable brutality filtered out of their stories; but the origins are now detectable in the social lives of chimpanzees! All the way up to the 'gorillas' at the top of ANY hierarchy, and these throwbacks are holding back Eve-olution; “man is still more ape than any ape” 

                         Yet it goes without saying that western societies could not be dominated by such ape-men unless they were aided and abetted by the women close to them, their wives and/or lovers for instance, and even their mothers and daughters! No one has figured out how to change a paradigm yet but everybody knows that power as the ultimate addiction has many disguises. Just because certain behaviour patterns have always taken hold of power doesn't mean they can't be changed, all the incredible achievements of our species could never have been realised without genius and our common Humanity – in spite of the gorillas in our midst! The fact that everywhere the feminine is now in the ascendant shows any open mind that A matriarchy is all but a fait accompli, and the light shining through the fog of current events are memories of A future so bright it will pale into insignificance all that has been achieved under duress... 

                                   To even see the final destination its necessary to understand the past, our origins and the link to primates past and present is a given, but the continual escalation of destruction and violence as a means of political economy must become obsolete or we shall join the dodos. Considering the weaponry at hand any sane mind can see that future is no future at all, once we dispel the delusion of being special and above Nature we can solve many many problems that have been consigned to the too-hard-basket because of human nature. Another aspect of primate behaviour that is observable in our societies is the hundredth monkey effect...so that when around a hundred monkeys (or humans) learn a new trick, other monkeys anywhere given the same idea or inclination will rapidly acquire the new skills and/or paradigm. The collective nature of consciousness reveals itself as Jung predicted and one can easily imagine the snowball effect when the media barons decide that having a future is as worthy a cause as fat margins! 

                              Hollywood has been en-powering women in their portrayal of our nature for some time, in fact Humans never act without emotions and the wrong emotions are the cause of aggression, now this might sound familiar; male chimpanzees compete much more aggressively for dominance than females do...a male (chimp) in his prime organises his whole life around rank...the male behaves as if he is quite driven to reach the top of the community heap. Interestingly once they get there the alpha male's tendency to violence reduces dramatically, then they may become benign rulers or mad dictators, but either road up its the same. Power is the most addictive and unpredictable 'drug' there is, and when testosterone plays its molecular role as the catalyst, (it) becomes the most dangerous force in the known Universe! All of Nature IS locked in a mighty struggle, but for reproductive power, among hierarchical societies the difficulty of getting to the top is what induces aggression. Pride obviously serves as a stimulus for much interpersonal aggression in humans, and we can hypothesise confidently that this emotion evolved during countless generations in which the males who achieved high status were able to turn their social success into extra reproduction. Male pride, the source of many a conflict, is reasonably seen...as another legacy of sexual selection. (Demonic Males – Apes and the Origins of Human Violence)

                         The problems really get out of hand when the ant-colony version of human existence comes into the fray, because villages, city-states and even today's mighty nation-states act out the same pathology. The first great multi-state war ravaged ancient Greece for a quarter of a century, the cause was finally put down to the rise of military power in Athens, and the fear it caused in Sparta – who had been allies in the past! This pattern has been repeated so often it brings on feelings of nausea and apparitions of ape-men fighting each other because their hierarchy exaggerated some danger before (it) happened. Always there is the hidden agenda and always in their heart of darkness they see a potential to gain power, either personally or politically, which boils down to the same primitive archetype. Certainly not all men in our time are so afflicted they cannot moderate their ape-nature, but the corridors of power are still overcrowded with testosterone units. In 1914 the badly trained dogs broke loose from their tether and repeated the same pattern, and we are still living under the lengthening shadow of that barbarism – now that machine wars are very good for business it belies any attempt to place our common Humanity above the market-place morality of mass murderers. These 'errand boys for grocery clerks' are the political scum that create nothing, while their spin doctors write their speeches the old warriors get out their medals and the same old pattern sucks us all in again and again... 

                                                          Forgetting for a minute that mythical beast 'human nature’, and the delusion that (it) will never change; the truth is they don't want it to change because societies have been ‘developed’ with a dependency on top down command structures - by individuals genetically closer to you-know-who! It wasn't until 1928 that scientists discovered a ‘new’ species of primate now called Bonobos, the reason is they are so similar to chimpanzees even experts find difficulties telling them apart. An early primatologist had one for a pet and lived with him for years and still didn't pick it, but he was constantly amazed by “Prince Chim” and his unique behaviour. In his words “doubtless there are geniuses even among the anthropoid apes”, and even the local tribe of humans called the Mongandu, who live in the same forest never hunt the Bonobo because their god tells them they once lived as brothers! I don't know the sex of their deity but this mob are not shy vegetarians – they've wiped out just about every other creature big enough to barbeque! 

                          The Bonos weigh on average about the same as the smallest chimps, with small heads, longer arms and legs and slightly different facial features, scientists know that the Bonos descended from a common chimp-like ancestor, rather than the other way round, with genetic dating putting the split somewhere between 1.5 and 3 million years ago. Though they are clearly a distinct species, the differences are less than the average differences between many human populations – but their social behaviour is like chalk and cheese. Compared to chimpanzees these are gentle apes, they have a much reduced level of violence in relations between sexes, between males and between other communities; after twenty years of close observation there is no evidence of males raping females, battering adult females, or killing infants which is common among gorillas. On the surface bonobo social life is very similar to chimps, living in communities of eighty or more, with a shared territory, moving about in various size parties, male kin groups that defend their borders against outsider males. Also the same size difference between males and females, but among chimps (and many humans) every adult male is dominant to every adult female...and he enjoys that. She must move out of his way, acknowledge him with the appropriate call or gesture, bend to his whim or be punished. That can be a slap or a belting, kicked and dragged around screaming till her throats cramps – a reminder to grovel next time. None of this crap among the bonos, here the sexes are co-dominant, there is still a ranking system but the top female and the top male are equal, and this extends all the way down the line. A whole different system of politics has developed that doesn't always resolve to brutality.

                        In the Bonobo system sons are almost inseparable from their mothers...they stay in the same party all their lives. A mother's support is crucial when competing with other males because the females bond into fighting groups rather than males...so those whose mothers are alive tend to be high ranking, and it goes without saying that these kind of alliances tend to be much more humane! Among Bonobos, the mother-son relationship is the closest bond there is between males and females, and if a mother calls for help, her group (of females) is always liable to counter attack in her defence. In contrast males don't cooperate with each other, either to defend themselves or to attack females, so that even the alpha male can and will be defeated by female power...

                              However its much more than a simple role reversal, females rarely assert their power, because under this regime a male rarely loses his temper bad enough to hurt a female. All available observations tell the same story, thru cooperation female bonos turn the tables on men, but its not based on kin; just like chimps when the girls reach puberty they leave the family and migrate to a new community – most of the women they bond with will be unrelated. In their societies sexual activity is greatly enhanced, even the sexual organs are larger to facilitate greater utility, an instrument of politics as well as procreation! When entering a new community a young women identifies an older one to befriend, by a gradual process she shows respect and affection until they begin sexual relations...and from there on build up a network. In our language it might be called love, but one thing is certain; in their culture it forms the underlying bonds that hold their communities together.  

                                Unlike males they don't feel the need to display aggressively toward each other, tension and even aggression occurs rarely but they tend to make up quickly, so these kind relations among females make for a peaceful life. Bono males treat other males much as the chimps do, both compete for status and form hierarchies, but only the latter are prepared to fight fiercely and risk a great deal to be the boss. Aggression among the Bonos often leads quickly to resolution, and both parties taking their turn to bend over with obvious sexual excitement! Chimps take their time about making up, also attacks between Bono males are mild in comparison with less competition for rank, and not forming political alliances makes for a peaceful existence – which all turns on sex. The reason males are much less concerned about who mates with the females is they are unable to tell when ovulation occurs, Nature seems to have engineered a way to hide the scent that normally triggers the testosterone response! Humans like to think they're the best, but this mob can mate dozens of times a day, eagerly engage in hetero and homosex; manipulate each other's genitals by hand or mouth, copulate in numerous positions...and it all begins long before the onset of puberty!

                                             A matriarchy could mean much more than this; even more interesting is what Bonos do with their sex, they use it for much more than making babies, they (too) use sex as a way to make friends, to calm some one down who is tense, and to reconcile for aggression. And the last of these applications is the most important; when travelling parties meet at their boundaries they can even get friendly at a time when the chimps would be smashing heads! Its still true that small groups usually avoid large ones, but if two large groups bump into each other at some food source for instance, more often than not a stand off ensues. After half a hour or so one female will cross the neutral zone and hook up with a female from the other – bingo. Altercations between males can also be neutralised by females from their respective groups literally hooking up with the antagonist! The game changer is that friendliness is always initiated by females – at the end of ego's aeon?

                            Even other species in their territory benefit also, male chimpanzees everywhere hunt and kill mammals (other monkeys included), they kill often and the reaction to a successful hunt is intense excitement. The prey-monkey may be eaten alive, shrieking as it is torn apart, dominant males try to seize the prey for themselves leading to more violence on the side – its blood lust in its rawest form. Bonos like meat too, they sometimes grab small antelope babies, flying squirrels and even earthworms, but they never eat other monkeys that are so close to their own kind it borders on cannibalism... Certainly they could catch them if they wanted to, but the theory is that the suppression of personal aggression carries over to the suppression of predatory aggression? Their common ancestor hunted monkeys and probably each other as well but they evolved above and beyond the blood lust of simple predation as a means of survival...

                       The litany of parallels with our hallowed human His-story speaks for itself; cannibalism, genocide, rape, domestic violence, truly massive disparity and war after war – what MORE evidence is required? On the other hand (and gender), A new age of much more peaceful existence is literally waiting behind the bedroom door, where ego is not a dirty word! The only mob that stands to lose from the shifting power base are those greedy egotistical jerks that fear female power and would stop at nothing to hold them back. Another blinding fact is that less than 1% of child sex abuse is committed by women, and only now after centuries of impunity the full activities of these wolves in sheep's clothing is being revealed. Its no coincidence that every institution from the church to the military is male bonded and jealously guards power for their own ego's ends. Behind the facades presented by the political pundits are the bank managers, bureaucrats and generals that keep the steam roller stoked up and flattening any real opposition to the pestilence of their putrid patriarch.

                       Questions please!!! Why isn’t this Truth being taught in the gov/church schools? For how much longer will a tidal wave of mass mediated madness enable a single swollen ego to crawl to the top of the heap?? The lessons of His-story are there for all to see...she doesn't suffer quite the same affects from exposure to power. Of course there are examples of women who acted the same under the prevailing paradigm; but past performance is not the only indicator of future 'behaviour'. By extension, when all politics becomes ‘secret women's business' will ALL institutionalised patriarchal hierarchies based on brutal power “wither away” - just as Marx predicted???

                                                                ♀ 

[mado-science]

Wonderful book by a veteranarian who lived with & cared for elephants during the early and mid-twentieth century. Wonderful story! I already had a great fondness for elephants and enormous respect for their intellect & the nature of their matriarchal family structure & bonding, but this book made that affection & respect even deeper! The book was written and published long before the current crisis in which we are witnessing the wholesale slaughter of these magnificent animals, so it provides no information in that regard, but that very fact, the lack of any political agenda at a time when none was needed, is why everyone should read it. We should read it if for no other reason than to simply learn more about elephants from a veterinarian who spent years living with and caring for them. Read about the female elephant who was accidentally blinded and cared for by her child who led her daily to water & food, just as she had once led him. Read about the tragic death of that young elephant and his mother's deep mourning. We all need to read stories like these written in an earlier age and think about the state of these same animals today. When I reflect on what is happening to elephants in India & on the African continent, I feel helpless and enraged. China is the primary market for the ivory that has led to the slaughter of these gentle giants, deaths motivated by greed. It is quite possible that elephants will disappear from the earth in this generation.This book and books like it should be required reading in our schools & China should continue to be brought to task daily for its' failure to do more than it currently does to protect these wonderful creatures! Go to Amazon

Hope, determination and heroic, loveable elephants. An historical triumph. I loved this story of hope and determination. A young Brittish man goes to Burma after his time serving in WWI, to work with a logging company, and therefore it's most important employees...the elephants. This true story seems true to the period, which stretches from post WWI into mid WWII. It is sensitive, informative and inspirational. The connection between the elephants and 'Elephant Bill' is heart warming and believable. Their value during WWII heroic. Go to Amazon

A great read... This was a very well written account of a man's experience in Burma with the Asian Elephants. The prose is richly written and it provides a very interesting description of the remarkable intelligence and capabilities of the elephants. The majority of the story takes place from the 1920's through the end of WWII. James Williams is employed as a forester for a large British timber company in the Burma jungle. As part of his job, he develops a deep connection with the elephants that are used to harvest the teak timber. Williams joins the war effort for the British government in a special role (in charge of the elephants) as Japan invades Burma. He organizes the elephants and their handlers to help build bridges to facilitate the British army to stop the Japanese advance. The elephants are also conscripted during this time to prevent their use by the Japanese. Ultimately, the elephants help rescue/evacuate civilian refugees in a remarkable migration to India through nearly impenetrable jungles and unsurmountable mountains. Williams demonstrates a unique knowledge and ability to handle and get the most from the elephants and their Uzi handlers. Much of the story centers around a remarkable elephant bull called Bandoola. Bandoola saved Williams life before the war and was one of the most powerful of the elephants depicted in the story. Bandoola leads the other elephants through a treacherous climb along a shear cliff as they escape the Japanese advance. This was a highly enjoyable read that treats the reader to a better understanding of the intelligence and capabilities of these remarkable animals. Go to Amazon

This book will work on your emotions. This was a very interesting and inspiring story. Books based on true experiences always hold your attention as this one did. Being an animal lover and an admirer of elephants this book was great reading. I would recommend it for anyone especially history buffs. Go to Amazon

A Remarkable Man, a Remarkable Life This is a marvelous book on many levels. It is about the rewards of choosing a career you enjoy as opposed to all “the right” reasons – money, prestige, etc. It is about Elephants; if you didn’t have much interest or care for Elephants before, you will have a special place in your heart for these immense, strong, smart, social, kind, courageous, and memorable animals after reading this book. It is about the mixing of cultures – British and Burmese – and how British Colonialism, often criticized, proved to be of benefit to the local population. It is about the mysteries and miseries of the jungle and monsoon climate of faraway places. Of those Brits going to Burma to seek adventure, most found the loneliness, monotony, heat, Monsoons, mud, and lack of amenities unbearable and went back to England. And finally, it is about War – specifically the War in the Pacific in World War II and how the combination of courage and never-give-up character of “our greatest generation” achieved victory in Burma. While Elephants – their physiology, demeanor, and ability to be of immense use in the handling of two-ton teak logs – was a constant theme, the book weaves in the British character (how they maintained cleanly pressed clothes, well-cooked meals, and a sense of decorum in the hostile jungle climate is beyond me), and also love – of J.H. “Elephant Bill” for his wife, his workers, and his Elephants. The author did considerable research, much of that obtained from or in conversations with “Elephant Bill’s” son. This is a compelling, “page turner” story about a remarkable man who found his life’s passion, realized it, and made the most of it for himself and others. He learned as much from the Elephants and the Burmese people as they learned from him. Many of us wish for this kind of life – and honestly most of us are simply not cut out for it, but to live it vicariously through a book like this is an act of joy. I wish I would have read it when I was younger – but to have read it at all is satisfaction. Go to Amazon

Fascinating and powerful Great book. Thoroughly enjoyed learning what wonderful animals elephants ... Wonderful Read Good read! Wonderful story that fills in a piece of history Five Stars Relaxing read. Five Stars GREAT book. This book was amazing from beginning to end

[weloveallanimals]

Innovative Pet Shelter Only Hires Homeless People To Care For Their Animals

When Glenn Greenwald and David Miranda were walking in the forest of Rio de Janeiro, they came across a dog on the side of the road. They named her Mabel. She struggled to walk and had likely been abandoned. Despite having seven dogs at home and barely the financial means to take another dog in, they rescued her and took her home. Shortly after, they discovered Mabel was pregnant with six puppies, four of which were adopted out while the pair kept two of them.

They had no idea at the time that this was just the beginning of their journey to rescue animals from the street. They have gone above and beyond, with Miranda winning an election to become a City Council member and the couple rescuing more dogs, they now have 23. Their rescue work has been taken in a new direction.  They are excited to announce that their latest idea is both strong, necessary, and helpful for both people and animals.

Here is their story in their own word:

“More than three years ago, I rescued an older, injured dog named Mable. I found her on the side of the road, in the middle of the Rio de Janeiro forest, as she struggled to walk.

At the time, my husband, David Miranda, and I already had seven dogs, so we thought, by adopting Mabel, that we were simply adding one more. We quickly learned, however, that Mabel was pregnant — very pregnant — with six puppies, which meant we had actually, and quite unintentionally, doubled our pack in one day, to 14 dogs.

We were able to find amazing homes in the U.S. for four of Mable’s six puppies and kept two for ourselves. Several of the families who adopted Mable’s puppies described how those puppies enriched their lives.

Since then, animal rescue and animal rights activism has become an increasingly important part of our lives. Our pack has grown to 23 dogs — our limit, we swear! And we have picked up, fostered and placed for adoption dozens more. Each rescue is uniquely fulfilling and gratifying.

In the last two years, our work with animals has taken on a new focus: working with homeless people who live on the streets with their pets. At first glance, this situation can seem grim and depressing: Many assume that animals who live on the street with homeless companions are mistreated or deprived.

But, far more often, the truth is the opposite: The bond that forms between homeless people and their homeless pets is often strong, deep and more profound than many can imagine. The mutual need, and resulting intense devotion, that homeless people and their animals develop for one another is inspiring and can be unlike what one might find in any other context.

The compassion, empathy, and self-sacrifice defining the relationship between those who are homeless and their pets are extraordinary. It is difficult to explain how affecting it is to watch a hungry, homeless person receive a desperately needed meal and, without a second thought, instantly divide it in half to share it with their hungry dog or cat. Leslie Irvine, a sociology professor at the University of Colorado, has devoted much of her academic career to studying this unique relationship, and even named her book on the topic, “My Dog Always Eats First.”

As this work became more important to me and my husband, we produced two short documentary films — under the direction of the film unit co-created by Oscar-winning director Laura Poitras — that showcased two different cases of homeless people devoted to animals.

The first, “Birdie,” told the story of an ex-convict who now lives on the streets, selling fruit and devoting himself to the care of his two dogs. The other, “Karollyne” detailed the truly amazing story of a trans-woman who is the matriarch of a homeless family that squats in an abandoned building and cares for dozens of dogs, cats, monkeys and other animals — most of whom were cruelly abandoned by people who drove the unwanted animals to the forest and dumped them.

Last year, inspired by these examples, David and I resolved that we would tap into this uniquely powerful bond and use it to create a new model for providing support for both the homeless population and the animals they care for. We developed a plan for a new type of animal shelter, one that does not yet exist anywhere in the world.

The core idea is that the animal shelter will perform many of the functions of traditional shelters: rescue animals in need, provide them medical care and work to place them with suitable families for adoption. We also intend to launch a public campaign to encourage animal adoptions and create a centralized website for people who lose their animals people who find animals to access one another.

But the unique attribute is that the shelter will be staffed exclusively by homeless people who live on the streets with their pets and thus have a demonstrated affinity for caring for animals in need. By providing them employment in animal shelters centered around the passion they have already developed — along with social work and other services to aid them in managing their income and transitioning them from the streets into permanent employment — we believe we can utilize the mutual support that homeless people and animals in need provide one another in order to help both.

The goal is to simultaneously empower and improve the lives of as many homeless people and homeless animals as possible. We hope — and genuinely believe — that the success of this project can serve as a model, a template, for inspiring similar shelters in other cities around the world.

As we developed this idea, the perfect opportunities seemed to fall into place almost like magic. Late last year, I wrote a profile, and produced a short film, about a same-sex Brazilian couple who set out to adopt a child, only to learn at the last minute that the child they intended to adopt — a 5-year-old boy — happened to have two older brothers, 8 and 11, also in adoption shelters. Despite their own financial difficulties, the couple adopted all three boys at once and quickly formed a loving family.

The father whose income supported the family, Francisco David, learned that his employer was going bankrupt, and he would thus lose his job.

It became immediately apparent that Francisco was the ideal person to spearhead our project. His upbringing — raised in poverty by a single grandmother — made him naturally suited to understand the plight of the Brazilian poor. That he had just adopted three parentless children demonstrated his eagerness to help those most in need. And his work experience — the job he lost was as a supervisor of construction projects — meant he had the ideal skills to develop a realistic blueprint for the shelter. So Francisco became the shelter’s executive director.

Then we found our first homeless hire. In March, I was walking in Ipanema, one of Rio’s richest districts, when I saw two young homeless men — Lucas and Wallace — caring for an obviously sick puppy with incredible devotion and tenderness. They had watched countless wealthy people step over the obviously distressed puppy until they decided they could no longer bear to watch her suffer.

They picked her up and spent hours going from one veterinarian to the next until they found one willing to treat the puppy for free. She was diagnosed with a serious, usually fatal, neurological virus to which unvaccinated puppies are particularly vulnerable. The virus was already too advanced to cure, but the puppy’s tragically short life was made so much better by the constant love and attention she received from two people who often have difficulty feeding themselves.

One of the two — Lucas, 20, who also has an adult dog of his own — became the first homeless person hired, and he is now working directly with Francisco to develop the shelter. The salary he began receiving has enabled him to rent an apartment and begin to stabilize his life.

Perhaps the most important development was the creation of a partnership with an agency in Rio, CREAS that specializes in helping homeless people transition off the street. As part of our partnership with CREAS, staffers will immediately provide temporary housing, clothing and counseling services to all homeless people hired at the shelter.

CREAS will then provide ongoing support to help the new employees obtain identification, open bank accounts, manage their finances and ultimately find both permanent housing and permanent employment outside of the shelter. Finding an infrastructure of social workers and other experts in the homeless population — to help them convert this employment into a means to exit the street permanently and create a stable life — was a critical piece to our puzzle.

We have also secured the support of a team of volunteer veterinarians, nurses and animal rescue activists to provide medical care to the shelter animals. In sum, there exists now an exciting foundation and a blueprint brimming with potential, to build this new type of homeless-run animal shelter.

The only piece the shelter is now missing is public support. We are initiating a campaign to seek donations and other forms of aid from those who wish to help get our shelter off the ground and sustain it into the future.

The central challenge we face is the severe economic and political crisis plaguing Brazil. Harsh austerity is being imposed across the board and, as usual, those who are most marginalized, most voiceless, most in need, are the ones bearing the brunt of the suffering. The few services that existed for both homeless people and homeless animals have been slashed or eliminated altogether.

In 2016, my husband successfully ran for a seat on the Rio de Janeiro City Council. He featured programs to help the homeless population, as well as animal rights, as a centerpiece of his campaign,  only to find, upon taking office, that the finances of the city, the state, and the federal government are so dire that obtaining any funding for such programs is virtually impossible. One of the first announcements of Rio’s newly elected conservative mayor was the elimination of the office that provided services to the city’s animal population.

That’s why we are turning to the public for help. We were able to obtain modest start-up funding by circulating our proposal to several individuals who have a history of supporting both homeless programs and animal rights activism. That is what has enabled us to initiate the project, make our first couple of hires and begin work to get the project off the ground.

But more is needed to make this project a reality, and to fulfill the potential we genuinely believe can be achieved. We estimate that the annual expenses for the shelter — including medical care for the animals, and the salaries for our homeless employees — will be roughly $250,000 USD. We also have to either purchase or rent the locale for our shelter. We are still attempting to raise private funding, but now see that public support will be vital.

We are very eager to demonstrate the power of this project so that other similar shelters are created around the world. We will provide regular video and written updates on the homeless people we hire and the animals we rescue and place for adoption.

Anyone who loves animals and has ever adopted one knows what a fulfilling and rewarding experience it is. For those who live on the street — who struggle with the most basic needs and are often rendered invisible — adopting and caring for a pet becomes their central means of fulfillment and purpose.

To tap into that love and this unique bond, to unleash that passion and energy, can create unlimited benefits for both. We would greatly appreciate your help in making this vision a reality.”

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