#i always root for the demons and she's very charismatic

[crown-ov-horns]

Perpetually torn between loving and hating this bitch.

I mean, her treatment of Lana is irredeemable.

[hello-nichya-here]

How NOT to write romance - How I Met Your Mother edition

Warning: long-ass post and lots of bitterness over a TV show that ended nearly eight years ago.

Basics for story-telling

If the romance you want to write is dysfunctional, fucking embrace it and have fun with the concept instead of pretending the bad shit the characters do is okay because “it’s true love”

Acknowledgde that your main character has flaws instead of acting like he is a saint who can do no wrong for no reason other than “he is the main character. Definitively don’t make him do, of his own free will, the exact exact same things the supposedly “selfish and cruel” womanizer does and then excuse it as him having “succumbed to/been tricked by a bad influece” like he’s child who doesn’t know any better instead of being a grown ass adult.

Don’t make your characters be annoying, entitled fuckers who think they have the right to judge others for wanting different things out of a relationship/not wanting a relationship at all. Don’t act like monogamy, double dates with other couples, marriage and children are something EVERYONE secretly wants deep down.

Don’t demonize the “evil” character of the group and act like the “heroes” being appalled by the shit he does is anything other than hypocricy. There’s literally nothing forcing them to be friends with him, so they’re obviously not as horrified at bad shit he does as they say they are, otherwise they would have ditched him a long time ago.

Don’t have the “heartless womanizer”,  who we later find out is the ex-husband of the girl the lead wanted for himself, be shown to us exclusively through the eyes of the an unreliable narrator who had motivation to make him see worse than he is likely to be (get his kids to want him to get the girl instead of the “douchebag”). Also, don’t make his schemes to trick women into sleeping with them so completely absurd and ridiculous that the audience is pretty sure that 70% of the women he banged were completely aware he just wanted a quick fuck and went along with it anyway because they wanted some dick (and because the character is played by Neil Patric Harris, who is incapable of not being charismatic)

Fucking let you characters (especially the supposed hero we’re supposed to think is the best boyfriend ever) grow instead of making them constantly repeat the same mistakes

Lily and Marshall

Don’t make one of the characters hide something very important from their partner, and then have the audacity to be mad at them for “just not understanding” as if they were given any reason to understand what the problem even is

Don’t act like someone being heartbroken that their partner lied to them and practically made a plan to “escape” being married to them means they’re not being “supportive” of said partners dream - you should especially not do that after we were shown that they took a job they didn’t like just to make sure they’d have a secure future that would allow said partner to follow their dream.

Don’t have the character who was obviously in the wrong need to be convinced to get their shit together and apologize to their ex.

If a character forgave the ex who wronged them and even got back together with them, don’t have them constantly hold their past mistakes over their head like it that problem has not already been solved - you especially not make them do that on what was supposed to be their wedding day. They can either forgive their partner or not, they can’t keep going back and forth.

Don’t have them constantly hide important shit from each other (having a huge financial debt, getting a job, etc)

DO NOT have the character who fucked up years prior suddenly be willing to do the same shit again for the EXACT same reason (”I think our relationship is in the way of my dreams and I’m now completely isolated because I refuse to talk things out with you”) and then expect the audience to sympathize with them.

Ted and Robin 

Unless you’re writing a Disney/Disney-esque romance, don’t have your lead just look at someone across the room, decide they’re “The one”, imagine their life together and full on say “I’m love with you” AND “I love you” on the first goddamn date.

Don’t have the lead stalk his love interest, and throw three parties in a row just to have an excuse to get close to her now that she made it clear she is not interested in having a relationship with him.

Don’t have the “hero” lie about having broken up with his girlfriend so the girl he wants to be with will sleep with him, and then have him blame his actions on time. “Nothing good happens after 2 a.m.” Grow a pair of balls, Ted!

If one of the characters says “You’re going too fast on the whole ‘love’ thing. Can’t we just go on a few dates and see what happens instead of already starting to plan our lives together?” and the others throws a fit, that is called “being incompatible” and “damn, this dude doesn’t respect boundaries”, not “Wow, she’s so afraid of commitment”

If you want the audience to believe the main character’s feelings are not one-sided, don’t make the fact that said feelings ARE unrequited a running joke, and don’t have the girl only accept giving him a chance after having to deal with the fucker whining “But I love you” for months and/or after going through bad break ups. Also, if you have to retcon half the fucking show to “proove” that “she DOES love him”, that pairing fucking sucks.

Don’t compare the couple you want the audience to root for to the main character’s divorced, dysfunctional parents, and don’t have flashbacks showing that the lead had no clue what his girlfriend actually liked in bed AND that she literally covered up his face so she could pretend she was fucking someone else.

DON’T MAKE HER GET RID OF HER DOGS, YOU FUCKING MONSTER!

If your lead character is still jealous/possessive of his ex, thinks he still has a chance even after she told him to his face that she didn’t love him, and acts like she and her fiance (who he says is his friend) being happy is somehow them being selfish and cruel, your lead character is a loser AND an asshole.

Don’t throw away the entire premise of the show (Ted finding the REAL love of his life) just to force a bad pairing down the audience’s throat

Ted Mosby in general

Don’t have your “romantic, sensitive hero” break up with a girl on her birthday through an answering machine, come back into her life without warning years later because he’s afraid he’ll die alone, and find out that she never heard the message but was actually told about it by her friends and family who were at her apartment preparing a surprise party for her. You should especially not make his first reaction to this new be being mad that he was not invited to the party, and for the love of God, don’t make him break up with her on her birthday AGAIN.

Don’t have the “hero” cheat on his girlfriend and excuse it with bullshit like “Nothing good happens 2 a.m.” and “But I genuinely love Robin so it’s okay that I’m lying to both of them”. Do not, I repeat, do NOT have him blame it on his girlfriend being distant when she didn’t pick up the phone one night and then called back the second she was free to do so, while he was enjoying the gifts she sent him and LIED to her about having sent her some as well.

Don’t fucking make an entire episode with the premise of him turning a no into a yes - and telling that story to his children like it’s romantic.

Don’t have his fiance, who he knows has a rocky relationship with the father of her daughter, tell him she is uncomfortable with him inviting his ex to their wedding and then have him decide “This means I should invite her ex as well”. Also don’t expect me to feel bad for him when she runs off with said ex.

Don’t have him spend YEARS waiting for one of the hundreds of girls he thinks is “the one” to be single and even ask her neighbour to spy on her and let him know when/if she breaks up with her boyfriend - again, for YEARS.

Don’t have the lead say he’s gonna tell their kids about his love story with their DECEASED mother, only for it to secretly be an excuse for him to go “By the way, I’m still in love with aunt Robin despite her having rejected me for 25 years, can I go screw her?”

Don’t act like making the characters reverse back into who they were at the beginning at the story means they’re gonna make things work this time when the whole point of their break up in the beginning on the story was the fact that they’re just not right for each other.

Robin and Kevin

A therapist who was supposed to help their patient move on after a bad break up that messed them up, dating said patient is a major red flag. It is also a bad sign that, when she cheats on him and wants to break up, he realized what she was doing to used his job as “evidence” that he knew better and that she should NOT tell her partner how she felt/what she actually wanted.

Do NOT have said therapist date yet ANOTHER patient that asked him help to move on from a bad break up. Seriously, Kevin was a creep, stop acting like he was some angel who “deserved better than Robin.”

BONUS: How NOT to break up a couple - Barney and Robin edition

Don’t act like their relationship falling appart after their friends kept meddling, and even kept them locked in a room against their will until they labeled their relationship as something they aproved of, is somehow “proof” that they’re not good for each other.

Don’t retcon their relationship to force a break up (seriously, Barney was super supportive of Robin long before he even fell in love with her, but I’m supposed to believe he’d be a bad boyfriend who is never there for her? And he loved advantures and always said “challenge accepted”, but was suddenly miserable travelling the world with her and couldn’t deal with not having wi-fi at the hotel? Fuck off)

Don’t spend an entire season focusing on their wedding, have them get married and then divorce THE NEXT FUCKING EPISODE! Why do you hate your audience? Even people who don’t want them together can see this a terrible idea.

And most important of all, when people question what the fuck were you thinking, don’t have a meltdown on twitter and say that people who think Barney can change are responsible for Donald Trump being elected, you fucking weirdo, go see a therapist (that isn’t like Kevin)

[simplysimpingsimp]

Hey!, could I please request the pillars with an s/o who used to be a really famous actress but decided to join the demon slayer corps please. ( Don't pressure yourself and have a good day/night :) )

Hi hi anon <3 First of all I’m super sorry for taking a bit to get to you TT This is such an interesting idea 0: I really like it! Thank you for sending it my way <3 hopefully I did it justice TT I saw that you wrote actress in your ask so I used fem pronouns but please let me know if you’d like me to change it !! As always, I’m super sorry for any mistakes, please let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to change or fix, I will gladly do so !! <3

🌼—————————————————————🌼

🌼 𝙿𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚛 𝙰𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚂/𝙾

🌼 𝙺𝙽𝚈 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚡 𝚏𝚎𝚖!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

🌼 𝙵𝚝: 𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚒, 𝚂𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚘𝚋𝚞, 𝙼𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚘, 𝚃𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚗

🌼 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚜: 𝚜𝚑𝚎/𝚑𝚎𝚛

🌼 𝚃𝚆/𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑

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𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒎𝒊

At first he was a bit hostile, “Tch, what are you gonna do for the corps? You’re just gonna be dead weight.”

Would make threats for them to quit considering she was just an actress with no prior experience of any martial art or anything from his knowledge

The usual unimpressionable sanemi was actually quite impressed with her swordsmanship

Got closer to her when he slowly took her in to better her training as a tsugoku

would secretly fangirl over her as he knew of her work and had seen it before

very much a closeted fan of her work considering many of the plays/roles she starred in were romance themed

Nemi definitely had flyers and promotional posters stashed away somewhere

He would lightly blush whenever he heard her quote lines so elegantly

She would giggle whenever she would catch him listening in, “Aww I didn’t know I had such a cute fan!” Before embracing him

Once they started dating, he’d indirectly ask to recreate his favorite scenes and acts

He would begrudgingly (though secretly very happy to) fill in the role of the male lead during romance scenes

Kisses were always so sweet during those playful re-enactments

She would giggle at the stiffness of his acting and the gentle blush of embarrassment on his cheeks

💨—————————————————————💨

🦋—————————————————————🦋

🦋—————————————————————🦋

𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒃𝒖

Shinobu genuinely loved her work though she was really confused as to why Y/n would leave her life of comfort behind to join the Demon Slayer Corps

“Why would you give up your life of luxury to join us?” She would ask her occasionally

Y/n would say with a saddened smile, “My manager was one of those demons, and he would use my image to lure girls with a promise of making them stars, so against his will, I announced my retirement to follow something else, so that I could atone for those girls that died because of me.”

Shinobu was rather impressed with how well she handled herself in the danger and face of a demon

Shinobu would giggle when she would hear Y/n explain that she had to take lessons so her warrior Princess role looked real and natural

Y/n would end up joining Shinobu in the butterfly mansion, to get more training in but mostly to spend more time with her

Was more of a silent fangirl, gently clapping her hands whenever she would reenact requested scenes

Y/n would always involve her in the scenes, giggling whenever she would dip Shinobu like in a certain scene she acted in

“Aww you’re so cute, Shinobu!!” y/n would fangirl, “Ahh you have the potential to be a star!”

Shinobu would definitely be a blushing mess around them because of how outgoing they were

Y/n would definitely become a shinobu fan, saying, “Hey hey if we get reincarnated at the same time, let’s become actresses together! I’ll be rooting for you always!”

Shinobu would definitely fall in love with their charismatic air

🦋—————————————————————🦋

🤍—————————————————————🤍

🤍—————————————————————🤍

𝑴𝒖𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒐

truthfully didn’t know who she was a celebrity

Not that she minded! She totally understood what he meant

It was often out of the blue that Muichiro would ask if she could enact scenes from her most major role

Happily she would perform for him her main monologues and soliloquies regarding her love and confessions

He would be in awe at the way she would portray her emotions and the sheer power in her voice projection — might even genuinely be moved as he silently listened

Muichiro would clap quietly after seeing her bow a gentle smile on her lips

Actually hearing those confessions gave him the motivation to confess to her TT

He loves hearing her voice whenever she speaks, a constant craving to hear her even if it’s just short sentences or giggles

Muichiro would probably go out of his way to find a few promotional flyers of the plays she was in for him to keep

Muichiro would often find himself smiling around her despite the occasional episodes of amnesia though she would help him remember everything she could

He always loved to hear her stories of her life as an actress and what it was like to be the face of the ideal actress

🤍—————————————————————🤍

🎍—————————————————————🎍

🎍—————————————————————🎍

𝑻𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒏

mans would flex it constantly — “DID YOU KNOW MY BELOVED N/N WAS AN ACTRESS?!”

He would flex for the sake of making her blush and teasing

“N/n, N/n, do the thing” the thing referring to her most iconic thing of a facial expression that was a wink and a cat like smile — Y/n’s so cute TT

Openly fangirls about how adorable she is overall and her roles in plays

He had seen her act in certain plays before so he knew how powerful her stage presence was in the theater

“HOW FLAMBOYANT” he would cheer whenever he would hear her reenact scenes of the drama she was once in

Always told her to value her life over completing a mission, that her life was more important

“Don’t worry Tengen! I’ve always seen everything through,” she would say with a bright charismatic smile that made his heart flutter

she would always do her famous expression one last time at him before leaving on her missions

Tengen would fear for her life as a demon slayer, going as far as protecting her from the shadows

Until he saw the way she defeated a demon all on her own — actually would be a little scared at how different she seemed but kinda hot ?? d u a l i t y

ᴇɴᴅ

🎍—————————————————————🎍

ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ғᴏʀ ʀᴇǫᴜᴇsᴛɪɴɢ! ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ғᴏʀ

ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ <3 ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ғᴇᴇʟ ғʀᴇᴇ ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ʀᴇǫᴜᴇsᴛs/

ᴀsᴋs/ɪᴅᴇᴀs/ǫᴜᴇsᴛɪᴏɴs/ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛs/ᴀɴʏᴛʜɪɴɢ :ᴅ

sᴇᴇ ʏᴀʟʟ sᴏᴏɴ <3

ᴘᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ ʀᴇǫᴜᴇsᴛs: 20

[stramberryparadice]

SHINGEKI NO KYOJIN #139 - THE IMPOSSIBLE FREEDOM ?

Here is the English translation of the post I wrote here in French.

I apologize in advance for my mistakes, I'm not good in English but I hope that will be understood.

---------------

Shingeki no kyojin is finished. A leading manga of the 21st century has just ended in tears, blood, mourning, disappointment, frustration… and love. So many emotions come to me when I read this final chapter, I needed to express them as clumsily as it is. I’m sure it’s going to get lost in the Internet, but whatever— it is necessary to remove both the joy and the frustration that I feel to pay tribute to Isayama who offered us a work as powerful as it is cursed.

As intense as it is uneven, as perfect as it is imperfect.. like his tragic hero Eren Jäger, who shows us that men are so weak and pitiful in the face of time and the cruelty of the world. How much even if this hero possesses in his hands the power of a God. My analysis will surely be clumsy, I apologize. And I will not fail to point out at the end the bitterness felt on the final development of some characters including that of Misaka Ackerman.

Eren like “CryBaby”

What a slap for the reader to witness such an emotional picture. Yes. Isayama reminds us to what extent Eren isn't a brave knight, not a charismatic hero, not the genocidal demon of this story but a child.. whose weight of Destiny is too heavy to bear. Scan 139 reminds us to what extent we have lost ourselves, just as Eren has in the way, forgetting the very essence of the story that has been told to us from the beginning. It’s not a story of geopolitical warfare, a biological parasite, titanic monsters, a northern deity, or a philosophical-esoteric trip. It's the story of a boy who wants to emancipate himself, to live for himself, tasted of the thirst for adventure, the tranquility of his loved ones but born in a cruel and alienating world that leaves room only for death, abuse of power, betrayal and despair .

A journey where the child becomes an adult at the cost of his or her life. Learning the most painful lesson… To be an adult is to renounce one’s dreams, to bend one’s knee in the face of the servitude of one’s mortal condition, to be content with one’s cage in order to enjoy the little that one can have at one’s disposal, to mourn those who may disappear from one’s life.

A young boy who dreamed only of freedom, surrounded by people who love him. A child whose inspirations, as impulsive, unreasonable and immature as they may be, will push him to his limits. A child who grew up too fast, who could not mourn his mother, aware of her physical and spiritual weakness, who was confronted with the violence of this world which reminded him of his condition of being insignificant, a pawn on the chessboard of the "Way".

A child whose powers worthy of a God then gives him the possibility to realize the unthinkable, almost the absolute fantasy of every Man : to shape a world in his image, to be as free as a bird flying above the clouds without reddish stain to touch the sky. Move forward, Move forward whatever the price… move forward for an illusion of freedom, for an infantile obsession.

And by assuming the role of the wicked “demon” of tales so that the brave knights can free this world from the evil that eats it.

Lost between the present, the past, the future.. time no longer makes sense. Only finality counts, annihilating its titans whatever the price. They have to pay for his mother. They have to pay for his fallen comrades. They must pay for reminding us of our pitiful helplessness as human beings.

But the Demon also has a heart, remorse, feelings, there are people who attach him to this world. Therefore, what to choose?

Divine Freedom or Mortal Love? The impossible equation... Although Eren may have travelled the road in search of the answer, how can freedom and humanity be reconciled? Free your people and protect your loved ones, though imperfect?

______

He will not find the answer— neither by searching the past of the goddess Ymir, not by consulting the other Titans carriers, not by creating the different alternative realities that led to the same observation… only death can free the bird from its cage, only the death of Humanity is able to reconcile the sublime and the hideous. Or rather, a common enemy that will crystallize all their ills. But who would be crazy, brave enough to accept being the victime ?

Like a Christic figure, Eren will assume this role. But not without having to confide his last wishes, his last secrets that can no longer contain… because yes, the demon is limited by his adult condition of 19 years. Yes.. the child has grown up. Recklessness, impulsiveness, daring in the face of death, the omnipotence of the child leaves room for a teenager who is now afraid of dying, who has succumbed to love, who doubts, who is aware of his weakness.

Eren has finally become a man...in pain. He finally accepts his feelings, his weakness in the face of death that awaits him.

He’s not a running child anymore. The plates are only explicit about this. The power of narration.. we come back to the fundamental of this history, which is human psychology. The feelings, the relationships that unite all people between them. Friends or enemies, men or women, child or adult, Eldien or Mahr... Despite our differences, our disagreements, we are all equal and weak in the face of death... but also in the face of the love we can bring to others.

Yes, Eren is a weak hero. Yes, he admits to loving Mikasa. He admits that until the very end, he didn't know how it was going to go. That he was himself a pawn in the divine game of Ymir. Another puppet at the service of a little girl who is also blinded by her duality, by her toxic love for her executioner. One cannot remain insensitive to this remarkable development of the character of Eren whose death was inevitable. For whoever plays with divinities can only lose his humanity, his freedom too. By the ultimate sacrifice of his selfish and human desires finally. Eren alone became the true savior of this world. He will also have kept his promise to his friends, to the beings he loves by offering them last memories through the “Way”.

Selfless Love or True Freedom

As Mikasa said: The world is cruel, but also … Very beautiful.

Whoever sets a glance without hatred on the world, with compassion, with love for his neighbor will be able to claim to touch with the finger this Freedom so sought.. a selfless love, not turned to satisfy one’s own selfish desires.

Because Love, like hate, takes different forms.

Love connecting us to our roots, our family of blood…

Love binding two beings who love each other, desire each other, cherish each other, seek each other….

Love that binds us to his comrades, his battalion, his family of choice, his heart…

Love that life brings to us in all its forms…

Love… this power that is unpredictable and uncontrollable.

And that can become the obsession of a lifetime. It is by becoming an obsession that love becomes as destructive as hatred, and sends us back to our condition as an alienated Man… locked up in his “Path”, in his cage.

It's by demonstrating resilience and self-sacrifice that man can taste freedom. We can find redemption in the love that others have for him, that we also have for him. For a few hours, a few years…

At the cost of a renewal of the cycle of hatred, because man remains selfish, not all are ready to make sacrifices. Therefore, Mikasa and Eren have made the greatest of sacrifices for the survival of their comrades and the world: they give up their chance to be happy together, sacrifice their desire to be together for the rest of humanity. As in tragedies, the main heroes are victims of Destiny, are those who will pay the price so that others can flourish and live. The children have become adults.

Just as Armin is no longer the whiny little boy to protect. Unlike Eren, he managed to learn from his mistakes, grieve, face his own fears, confess his love to the girl he loves. It is finally he who will raise the wounded little boy, who will comfort him.

The frustration

Mikasa is the main character of the story. It's through her that awakening is made, it is through her hand that she closes this long journey. In Eren’s memories, it is always central. It is the key, the final solution.

It's his psychological, his emotional journey that we will follow throughout the manga. Eren is only a complement, the character who crystallizes his goals. In a world where men are “dominant”, the woman must bend her knee, support her prince so that the light shines on him. Isayama knew how to play perfectly on this classic code of narration. Whether one agrees or not with the conclusion of certain female characters, the work often highlights the fact that men are only victims of their passions and obsessions.

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Only women seem to emerge victorious in the face of the cruelty of the world : they take up arms (Historia), continue to fight in the face of despair (Mikasa), enjoy life and bring joy around her (Sasha), support other women in their emancipations ( Ymir with Historia) question their education (Gaby) disobey (Annie), go against the “moral” principles to survive (Ymir Frizt who continues to love his executioner), sacrifice for the common good (Hanzi Zoe)… But of course… without also paying the price of sacrifice and making concessions.

Historia bears a child of a man whom she does not seem to like but assumes the role of the mother whom she would have liked to have while assuming the heavy attribute of the office of Queen in a country plagued by nationalist tendencies guided by fear. With Eren’s help, she did not give in to the temptation of self-sacrifice but decided herself who she would save or not, what path she wanted to follow. Her desire was to be a mother, a good mother. Whatever the father, it was an indestructible motherly love that she wanted to offer to a child. The one she never had.

Mikasa agreed to kill Eren because, if she had given him another answer, their life as fugitives would have been but a fleeting dream and Eren’s death was inevitable.

Despite her powerful love for Eren (as addicted as he may be, explained by the power of the Ackermans?), she will break the chains of her servitude by killing her only Love. She is the light. She accomplished the journey of a true heroine by demonstrating resilience, by giving of herself for the world.

She had only eyes for Eren.. was open to others, to show empathy, a desire to continue living for other comrades who are dear to him.

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Mikasa also leads the way in Ymir Fritz… you can love a monster, you can be a prisoner of a toxic relationship but you can free yourself from it. One can become free, but the price to pay will be to carry this infinite sadness, this frustration of having been able to live another story if things would have been different. By her kiss, she showed what true Love is.

Although the frustration is present, although we would have liked her to turn the page and rebuild her life, she must also pay the price of her “freedom”, of her “survival”: haunted by the sacrifice of Eren, guardian of her memories, from her grave as if to preserve her existence as long as she can live.

Once again, women show that they are stronger than we think. So Ymir was also able to free himself of his toxic link with the King by making the Titans disappear.

In the image of the bittersweet end of the chapter, which shows us that the disappearance of a monster, of a divine force “responsible” for the horrors, is not the long-awaited salvation.

The vices, the human fears will remain the poison, preventing us from reaching this illusory freedom. Men do not need deities to dig their own way to death.

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From "occidental" point of view, it is true that this is a blow to the “strong” women of the work still alive. Reduced to being collateral victims of Love, as toxic as this link may be (Ymir-Mikasa). Reduced to attaching themselves to winning or losing romantic figures depending on whether their love-interests is the villain of the story (Mikasa-Annie). Reduced to their role as mother-benefactor (Historia-Gaby).

It’s awkward, but I think Isayama wanted to show that no one is spared. That no character can claim complete tranquility and sweet freedom.

Everyone has had to sacrifice something to survive, and women and men are equal in this judgment. Women also remain victims in a world that remains dominated also by the cruelty of Men (the human race in general). They are not completely free, they are also trapped in roles.

Everyone carries the weight of his choice. That characters have a duty to remember, to pass on to future generations the horrors they have lived to try not to reproduce the same mistakes. Even if their new life choices are imperfect, disappointing for those on the outside.

Levi sacrificed many of his comrades to fulfill his promise to Erwin in his quest for truth and to continue the fight for Eldian freedom.

Armin and Mikasa sacrificed Eren: their friend, their love, the dearest being to fulfill their promise to discover the outside world and touch that freedom.

Like Levi Ackerman and his love for his battalion comrades. As for Mikasa and his love for Eren (because she saw the human behind the monster). She has been waiting for a sign for 3 years to see him again in order to follow up on “see you later Eren”.

Finally, a bird comes to give him his wrap. To encourage him to go forward again. To continue to live…

--------

The most free people are those who honestly and sincerely love someone. Those who are able to see the beauty of the world despite its ugliness. Who give without waiting for return. Those who continue to look at the world without hatred, those who do not succumb to its cruelty. Tears are running down…

[kryptkept]

(   ellie thatcher ,   female ,   she/her  )   apparently   that's   𝐋𝐘𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍   lurking   around   town   for   a year .   the   local   psychic   claims   they're   a   𝐕𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐄   (   record store clerk   )   who's   𝟐𝟑   /   𝟒𝟓  years    old    but   she's   always   been   a   bit   unhinged .   whispers   around   town   say   they're   intrepid ,   artful   but   mordant .   honestly ,   they   remind   me   of   using pages of the bible as tinder for a fire , getting a stick & poke in your best friend’s basement , & the liberation of forsaking your savior   which   explains   why   i've   seen   them   with   an   aged rosary . 

𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄.   lydia emerson  ;  born as  lydia anne morgan  . 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒.   lydia myers  ,  sawyer augustine  ,  valerie tatum smith  ,  various others  . 𝐍𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒.   lyd  ,  lydz  ,  deetz  . 𝐀𝐆𝐄.   physically 23  ;  truly 45  . 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑.   female  ;  she/her  . 𝐒𝐄𝐗𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘.   bisexual  . 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐒.   vampire  . 𝐎𝐂𝐂𝐔𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.   clerk  @  quiet riot records shop  . 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘.

(   tws for  :  abuse  ,  loss of a child  ,  alcoholism  ,  attempted murder  ,  period typical misogyny  ,  if i’ve forgotten to tag anything or you need something tagged please let me know  !   ) lydia was born in 1960 to a moderately unhappy pair looking to save both face  &  their miserable marriage  .  while they had initially been informed that they were expecting twins  ,  lydia’s sibling died in utero  &  thereafter was absorbed by lydia herself in a case of twin resorption  .  while there was little explanation for this phenomenon at the time  ,  lydia’s mother  ,  theresa  ,  was distraught  ,  under the assumption that lydia must have killed her sibling in the womb if only she had survived  ,  and began to view the child growing inside of her as something akin to the devil  .  this belief was only exacerbated by the difficult pregnancy she endured with lydia  ,  anf further stoked by her strict catholic beliefs  . after her birth  ,  theresa’s feelings remained unchanged  ;  she was a withdrawn  ,  angry mother  ,  forced to keep up the act of a perfectly quaint little family in front of friends  &  family  .  unfortunately  ,  theresa fell victim to severe postpartum depression which would devolve into full blown psychosis  .  given the time period  ,  this went largely unnoticed for the most part  ,  written off as the stress a new mother must endure for the sake of her child  .  meanwhile  ,  lydia’s father  ,  richard  ,  was of little help  .  he was similarly withdrawn but as opposed to theresa  ,  this was less rooted in hatred and more in the general apathy he faced most things with  .  coming from a broken home himself  ,  directionless in life  &  uninspired  ,  he’d long since turned to the drink as a way of coping  &  the arrival of his daughter had done little to change that  . in a hazy memory that haunts lydia to this day  ,  she can recall the day her mother wrapped both hands around her throat a the tender age of three  ,  and attempted to squeeze every last bit of life from her  .  all the while  ,  she was shrieking like a banshee about how lydia was a demon  ,  the antichrist  ,  nothing but a  plague  .  her father found them moments before lydia slipped into unconsciousness  ,  and she has little recollection of what happened between them after that  . the situation itself resulted in theresa’s departure  .  this would eventually lead to lydia being left in the care of her maternal grandparents after three more years spent with her father  ,  who spent more time under the influence than he did sober  .  her grandmother  &  grandfather were strict and very much orthodox  ,  though they  did  love her  ,  but their expectations of her were far too lofty  .  they weren’t the affectionate type  ,  but were more prone to physical rewards than words of praise or hugs  .  her childhood  &  adolescence were pockmarked with various attempts at rebellion  ;  talking back  ,  sneaking out of sunday school  ,  sneaking out at home  ,  meeting up with the outcasts in town despite often being warned to steer clear of them  ,  stealing  ,  etcetera  .  lydia was desperate to feel something and in pursuit of pleasure  ,  she continued to act out and do as she pleased  .  she began to dabble in darker things  :  the supernatural  &  the occult  ,  namely  .  she was kicked out of her home at 18 and spent her time couch surfing  . as the 80′s rolled around  ,  she delved into the world of satanism  , urged on by the need to separate herself from her heavily religious upbringing  &  the ways in which her experiences during childhood had effected her  ;  essentially  ,  a big  fuck you  to the majority of her family  ,  and to god himself  .  at this point she was on the other side of the satanic panic  ,  laughing at those that protested and screeched about unholy corruption in things like music  &  literature  . lydia was well known on the scene .  with her sharp humor and devil may care attitude  ,  she was the life of the parties she frequently attended  .  and it was during the aftermath of one such event that she would come to lose her life  :  taken with a perfect stranger  ,  she’d followed him into the darkened alleyways as the party came to a close  ,  unaware of his intentions to quite literally bleed her dry  . when she woke the following night  ,  she was in a haze  ,  wobbling like a baby deer and overcome with a hunger so intense it almost sent her toppling to the ground  .

𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍.

as opposed to some  ,  lydia accepted her fate with little complaints  .  in fact  ,  you might say she was a little  too  enthusiastic  ...  driven by thirst  ,  she slaughtered a group of college students and left them out in the open air of the park they’d been having a nighttime hangout at  .  she fled town soon after  ,  leaving behind the sunny shores of california for the emptiness of indiana  .  she began going by the name lydia myers meanwhile  . after that  ,  she never really stayed in one place for too long  .  she loved to travel  ,  enjoying her freedom immensely  ,  and found kin with the people she met along the way  .  most of these relationships were fairly fickle  ,  in the grand scheme of things  ;  most people she charmed out of necessity  .  it was nice to have a friend to call on when you needed a place to stay  ,  or a few bucks for bus fare  .  it was a genuine rarity for her to find herself truly attached to another  ,  because she feared commitment more than anything  ;  she still does  ,  in fact  .  letting someone grow close means giving them the chance to hurt you  ,  to leave you  ,  and lydia is  ...  not about that  .

𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘.

though she’d initially vowed upon her departure that she’d never return to cali  ,  lydia has come slinking back  .  if you ask her why  ,  she’ll tell you it’s boredom  ,  and that much is true  —  but a pressing matter remains  :  that of her sire  .  she’s been running from him for 22 years since her turning  ,  but recently  ,  she’s felt a sharp tug on the thread that keeps them connected  .  both curious and vexed  ,  and maybe searching for an answer to a question she’s tried not to ask  ,  she’s tracked him back to ambrose  .  to support herself  ,  she’s taken up a job at the record store   (   one of the things she’s always enjoyed has been music  !   )

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘.

hello words are failing me so take some bullet point traits  .  :,) +   creative  ,  adventurous  ,  brave  ,  resourceful  ,  charismatic   (   when necessary   )  . -   manipulative  ,  sardonic  ,  evasive  ,  stubborn  ,  dishonest  ,  hotheaded .

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒.

hi please bring me her sire  .  i have  ... honestly too many ideas to list here because i don’t want to risk rambling for like  ,  eight paragraphs about everything lmao  .

i think it would be interesting if she ran into someone she hasn’t seen for years  .  maybe they were one of the people she used  ,  and they’re super pissed at her for how she just ghosted  .  or maybe they look back on her fondly  .

she antagonizes people for fun  .  please hate her

she’s also definitely the type to flat out tell people she’s a vampire  .  and like  ,  given her usual sarcastic  ,  jokey nature  ... people probably just take it as her messing around  .  which is even more hilarious to her  .  this could result in  :  1.  someone who constantly goes along with the ‘joke’  ,  who maybe later on finds out and either also thinks it’s funny  ,  is horrified  ,  or feels betrayed   (   to which lydz would respond with  but i told you  ?   )   2.  someone who is very suspicious of her and Does Not think it’s just a funny joke at all

𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑.

she loves going to the beach late at night  .  like  ,  the sand getting everywhere sucks  ,  but she’ll deal with it  .

she can be surprisingly generous when in a good mood  .  when she says don’t mention it  ,  she fuckin means it

loves motorcycles  ,  wants one someday

has an old polaroid camera from the 80′s that she still uses pretty frequently  .  she enjoys photography  !

i need you all to know i literally came up with her because i listened to kiss the go goat by ghost for hours on end over the span of a few days please help i can’t stop

[ashintheairlikesnow]

I kinda wanna write whump stories but I don’t think they’ll be very good 😕 and I worry about getting stressed about updating stories 🙁 and about making Mary Sues or ‘cringey’ OC ☹️ advice?

Okay, first off, let me reassure you right here and now that we want you in this community. We want to see what you write, we want to see what you come up with, we want to bond with your characters and root for them and give you all the support you need to feel comfortable being a whump writer.

Mary Sue is honestly kind of an eye of the beholder thing? In my opinion? and, if you are worried about that, just take some time while developing your OC to think about whether or not you're making them overpowered, someone who is so perfect that all anyone talks about is how perfect they are, completely without flaws, etcetera. Like, Ryan as a main character might easily become something like that, because he does have magic powers, he is largely seen as charming and perfect and charismatic by most of the people in his life... but also I don't write him as a main character, he's a side character, and a lot of his development is defined by his relative helplessness in the face of Danny's trauma.

Danny... Is a wreck.

He's nervous, he's shaky, he's scared basically all of the time... He has a lot of chronic pain, he's covered in scars that he's deeply ashamed of. And the version of him that existed before he was taken into captivity wasn't exactly perfect either... He was and incredibly angry young adult with serious issues regarding his childhood and upbringing who lost himself and alcohol and drug use to try and drown his problems. even the coolest, most seemingly effortlessly awesome people have flaws, difficulties, and obstacles they have to overcome.

If you want to avoid a Mary Sue situation, consider your characters flaws, their obstacles their difficulties... And whether or not those difficulties are relatable, enough to provide a legitimate obstacle to them reaching their goals, whatever they may be, or not.

And finally... Honestly, I get a lot of asks from budding writers that mentioned feeling like they're not very good, or that they shouldn't post because they don't think what they write will be as good as what other people are writing. it makes me want to pull out some of the stuff I was writing at age 18 or 19 and show it to all of you, so you can see...

if you are insecure about the quality of your writing, the absolute best thing you can possibly do is just keep fucking writing. Write the shit out of those stories in your head, write every single day... Write three times a week, or once a week, or once every two weeks if that's all you have time for, but write.

You will only get better by writing.

Plus, even if you're concerned about posting for that reason, do it! There's a lot of new writers on here, there's a lot of people with the same insecurities and worries you have. So let us see you and your stuff so that we can gather around and give you giant supportive group hugs while you find your footing in telling those stories that you can't get out of your head.

Let us help and support you, and tell us your stories so that we can't get them out of our heads, either.

One of the first original characters I ever came up with was a half elf half vampire princess with a very large sword. Was she derivative? Absolutely. Was she probably a Mary Sue? Frankly, I'm not even going to try and dispute that. Did I have a lot of fun writing her, and did telling her story help me start to understand the basic foundations of a narrative journey? YES.

Denira was a goddamn mess, but I will never regret coming up with her, or sharing the stories I wrote about her with my friends at the time.

One of the most popular enduring characters I have ever written you guys haven't actually seen much of... His name is Darren Meander and he's a fallen angel turned desire demon - he was split in two and his 'sister' Darai is basically just the other half of his original personality. if I just tell you the description of him, he'll seem boring and overpowered probably, but every single time I write him into a story, he is the character people ask about after they read it. I have had this character in my head since I was 16 years old. He has gone through a lot of iterations and adaptations and changes, but he's never quite left me, and I always have new things to say about him.

in short, which I apparently am physically incapable of writing a short reply to any of these questions and I'm so sorry and I hope this was helpful at all, the best thing to do is tell the story! Post it! Start talking to us and introduce yourself and we'll be happy to help you get your footing as a writer and we're excited to see where you go from here!

P.S. if I ever finish my original novel and get it published, you're all going to know exactly who I am at that point because Darren is in that story. Whoops.

[phoebehalliwell]

I don't really like Phole as a ship but I think Cole as a character had a lot of potential and I'm mad that it was never, at any point, handled well. so I'm curious, how would you have rewritten Cole's story so that he might still be redeemable and a character you can root for? granted, you would probably have to rewrite it from the very beginning but I'd love to hear your thoughts if you're up for it

yeah cole is like a very difficult character to work with bc in charmed evil isn’t a thing you do it’s a thing you are, and if you’re a demon, congratulations! you’re evil. But we did get brendan rowe in season one who was like a warlock but was trying to not be a warlock and again it’s this human half that is a loophole in the black and white morality clause and he got to be a good person in the end. the difference between brendan and cole was that brendan refused to take anothers life (extending this to bugs too??) and moved to become a man of the cloth to escape evil’s hold on him. cole on the other hand actively worked to surpress his human half and spent like over a hundred years being undeniably evil. so like. have you even given us a character worth redeeming? the countless lives he’s stolen and evil he’s brought to the world..... it’s a lot to undo. and that’s always really been the main source of my beef with cole is that he was undeniably a horrible person for OVER A HUNDRED YEARS. like the body count man. it’s really difficult to make him a good person. it’s really difficult. it’s not not doable, but it has to be a grueling processes and really explore who he was who he is and who he’s trying to become. when never really got much acknowledgement of any of that (who he was: belthazor. who he is: cole. there’s a difference (?) he’s in love with phoebe. who he’s trying to be: a good person so phoebe stays in love with him. it’s so surface level man it’s i don’t i don’t like it)

and like i’ve been think about demon redemption arcs a fair amount bc i definitely want to throw a demon character into my fic i’ve got my ideas and lil plans and all that but like it’s still like. really difficult to justify the taking of a human life to those sworn above all to protect it. i’m not objectively against characters who have killed people. but if you want to integrate a character who has killed people into charmed?? honey you’ve got a big storm coming. and honestly? the easiest strategy is to ignore it. chris killed a valkyrie in the s6 premiere (three valkyries??) and rather than attempt to justify the cold blooded murder of good beings, the show just ignored it. which, imo, was the best strategy for that situation (and then went on to sprinkle in him being disgusted/scared/horrified of bianca shanking a demon in chris crossed to show him sorta as this morally good figure, in hopes that we had forgotten that he had done worse. and uhh i think we all did!! i did at least). phoebe & paige are technically responsible for the death of rick the criminal, turning him into chris knowing Full Well he would be killed by demons, when they could have easily just orbed his ass back to prison. how to we deal with this? we don’t. so like, quick fix on cole’s redemption arc? cut black as cole. turn a blind eye to his past. leave it in the shadows. pretend like he’s never killed anybody. if they wanted to redeem cole this is the easiest way and in no manner stands against the moralities they have already set up. but if you wanna do it proper

cut the age gap. having cole already over 100 just leaves to much murky area. it’s also like never used in any interesting way like he never is like oh yeah [cool/important event] i was there he’s just sorta. old. for no reason. so get rid of it. just make him thirty. don’t make him an upper level demon. you can make him the son of an upper level demon so he has upper level demon qualities / powers, but having him essentially the source’s right hand man, a legendary demon and all that,, it’s just. there’s no way you hold that position without being cruel beyond words. evil in ways you can imagine. getting incredibly creative with how horrible you can truly be. you’ll never get a character like that as a “good guy”. they can be sick as fuck antiheroes or morally neutral/dubious characters, but if they’ve already committed that much evil, you can’t get them to be good. especially not charmed ones good. so like, you can have him half demon, but don’t make him a good demon. have him be raised by his human father until he’s captured and taken in by demons. he has a strong survival instinct and works to blend in with other demons, but he’s always secretly working for an escape. he’s charismatic and clever so demons like him, but they do sort of regard him as a bit of a coward, because he’s never actually killed anybody. so when he volunteers to kill the charmed ones, everyone considers it a bit of a joke. but he comes to them with a strategy. he’s human, and while that might be a weakness, it can also be a strength. he knows how to act human, he knows how they work. he can blend in, and work his way into the lives of the charmed ones like no demon ever could. so the demons are like okay. i’ll bite. but first you need to prove your mettle. kill somebody and we’ll approve your mission. and cole’s like okay bet bc he’s like i bet i can find somebody shitty and then, once i’m approved for the mission, i can actively work my way into the lives of the charmed ones and then get protection from them. and the demons are like oh lit bc we have the perfect person for you to kill and cole’s like oh uh i thought i’d just go out and kill somebody and the demons are like no need : ) we already grabbed the guy you can kill him right now : ) and cole turns around and his father is dragged in. so now we have this moral complexity because cole only wants to do this so he can be safe, so he can be human, but at the expense of his father’s life? and it’s this moral conflict and it seems like he will and then it seems like he won’t and then he looks into his father’s eyes and he seems not fear or desperation, but acceptance. and cole does it.

and now it’s more important than ever that his mission succeeds, because if he can’t gain the charmed ones favor, if he can’t gain their protection, then his father died for nothing. he killed his father for nothing. so he poses as a da, bc that’s obviously a good guy, right? he can work with the charmed ones, as a good guy, until they trust him and work with him and then he can come to them begging protection, after he’s already established himself as a someone who’s good. and he doesn’t actively seek a relationship with phoebe bc he’s worried that if he enters a relationship with a charmed one and then reveals himself as a demon, it won’t go over well. so he’s still at war with himself with his relationship with phoebe, but in the end, he caves, because he loves her.

after he reveals himself as a demon, begging himself for the charmed ones protection, prue is ready to kick his ass, because he’s a demon, and demons are intrinsically evil. they’ll to whatever it takes to achieve their goal, kill whoever they need to to get what they want. and cole sours at this because he can’t help but remember his father. he killed him to get what he wants. is prue right? but phoebe’s like no, he’s good, i know him, he’s good. but now cole’s really like, am i? and phoebe’s like i love you and i believe you and i trust you but now cole’s pulling away. and we get to see proper emotional turmoil over this and his evil act and he has to grapple with the death of his father and he has to tell phoebe what he did and then she is properly horrified but she loves him and he loves her and they commune with his father’s spirit blah blah blah his dad forgives him tells him he’s proud he made it out and he wants what’s best for him so on and so forth and then he uses his insider info on the demon world to help the charmed ones everyone lives happily ever after

[carnal-agony]

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔊𝔬𝔡𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔲𝔠𝔠𝔲𝔟𝔦, 𝔄𝔯𝔞𝔪𝔞𝔱𝔥 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔗𝔲𝔧𝔄𝔯𝔞

"𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚖, 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚜, 𝙱𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐."

In light of my blog being revamped officially I am creating a Muse sheet for all of my mutual followers and silent worshipers. I won’t be going into immense detail about my Muse’s past/creation as I have had multiple threads that dissected every ounce of it including a few AU’s where her history was either less enticing or she was mortal. Stick around until the end for a special ‘shout-out’ for my partners who have helped shape my blog in one way or many. 

Bɾιҽϝ Hιʂƚσɾყ

Aramath and TüjArä are one of the same, they share a body, heart, and mind but not a soul. The Queen was not always split between good and evil, however, she was created as one being- a part from each Ancient that attended her Creation. With her being ‘born’ the mortal world was introduced to the power and weakness of Lust, the Goddess of Succubi, TüjArä. Although in the beginning of her history she was a cruel ruler who only wished for her children to divulge in the tasteful wants of the lesser species as well as going on massacres by their mother’s word.

Her world changed when the Goddess found what was at the root of all her lust- that being love. Don’t start smiling now, this isn’t a typical love story, matter of fact I wouldn’t consider it a love story at all. TüjArä fell in love with a viking and bared a half mortal child with this man- against every ruling of the Ancients that stated it was forbidden for a woman of pure lust to pursue. Knowing this, TüjArä stepped from her throne and above into the mortal world, hiding from those who wished to put her back into place. For six years she lived with those she loved, learning what it meant to have humility and compassion as a mortal would.

Aρρҽαɾαɳƈҽ; Vαɾιαɳƚʂ

In the original story I write Aramath rocks a crimson hairstyle, usually quite lengthy and wavy in previous cycles that was her iconic look. However after a long debate I had wrote her into isolation from those she learned to care for and in this she became immensely ill- the red of her hair fading until it became a ghastly platinum. It is very important to note that the original Aramath and the current one I am writing for both possess their own personality differences as well as differing internal conflict with TüjArä. 

Her body is covered head to toe in an array of stories about her existence as well as other oddities that come alive upon the command of her Oracle. Aramath is usually seen in black leather of all sorts, her style has toned down over the years but she is a rocker at heart, which is seen in various band tees and skull based clothing and jewelry. A few things stay the same however- the rings she wears each possess their own special abilities, ranging from her own internal power to the unique array of her kind, Oracle, and lovers. 

Wԋαƚ Gɾιɳԃʂ Hҽɾ Gҽαɾʂ

Aramath is a very tedious creature to write for, she is hot headed yet well tempered, childish at heart yet cold and stern mentally, and while she does not wish to end humanity anymore- that does not mean she is in love with humans. Most she can barely stand so she approaches with a bitter tongue and sharp wit, however when a very special few come to make her acquaintance they are met with soft smiles and the exposure of what a monster looks like when they are tamed. Humans are meat sacks to her, ones that have ruined the Earth they all inhabit due to their selfish ways and this mindset finds her at crossroads- she wishes to rid Mother Earth of the plaque that is humanity but that seems like a waste of good talent. Isn’t that a blessing in itself? 

Creatures on the other hand; God or grunt they always amuse Aramath as she sees them full of themselves- no exclusion to her dear friends either. Being around for most species creation has come with clear visions of what the creatures are, humanized or not they all have a sense of higher being in this world dominated by meat sacks. However depending on your class and how you act, Aramath might just consider you something worthy.

Wԋαƚ Tσ Exρҽƈƚ

Well for starters, expect the unexpected my dear children of the night. Aramath as tamed as she is has a thirst for violence and agony, it gives her a sense of life just seeing the simple fear of women when she snatches the attention of their partners. Although she tends to keep the violence to more of a sexual nature she isn’t hesitant to rip off a man’s crotch or sew a demon’s lips shut, all while taking her sweet time. Don’t be mistaken just because she is a succubus that she will sleep with anyone- that is far, far from the truth.

Aramath does not ‘sleep around’, she goes through a very emotional process to choose who enters her bed. This isn’t just for the sake of morality however, to take a succubus use to be a very primal and romantic thing as their kind does not necessarily need to lay with someone to feed. Those who are chosen as special tend to experience hallucinations, feelings of true ecstasy, and in some cases Aramath shares her life experiences with them through touch. With this being said, it is important to understand pushing yourself upon this Goddess- will end with your head mantled on her fireplace. You’ve been warned.

EʂƚαႦʅιʂԋҽԃ Rҽʅαƚισɳʂԋιρʂ; Tԋҽ Mυʅƚιʋҽɾʂҽ

Through the years I have been writing Aramath one thing is clear, once you have a place in her heart you will forever have that spot. This is no different for myself as I wouldn’t have lore if it weren’t for those who helped grow with me. These characters may be an OC or in their own universe- either way they are all loved equally. Here are a few of the characters I most frequently interact and/or click with during threads, some Aramath is very possessive over and others she views as equals. Please do not be discouraged if your muse is not on this list, it does not mean I love you any less my dears.

Henry Pearl, Sunset Peach, the Oracle of the Goddess.

@henry-pearl-battlecreek​

Roman Godfrey, a White Tower Dragon in Prince skin.

Eddie Brock, Snarky Reporter, Kingsman In Training.

@venom-inside-you​

Venom, Parasitic Terrestrial, Unknown Limits, Enjoys Flesh.

Pan, Horseman of Death, Man of Knowledge.

@thedarklibraryworld​

Michael Langdon, Son of Satan, Your Dark Lord, Puppeteer of the Apocalypse.

Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska, A Pair of Laughs, Equally Charismatic and Deadly.

Kai Anderson, Terrifying Candidate, Godlike Ego, Could Make Me Drink the Kool-Aid.

Iɳƚҽɳƚισɳʂ

If you want angst, joy, or death Aramath is the girl to go with. She is very versatile in every aspect that I write her, if you wish to have a particular plot please invade my inbox so we can discuss what you’d like. If not, I frequently post open threads with an already settled plot, starter calls, and interactive dialogues. Never be afraid to send a meme or random prompts into my inbox, I love interacting with my followers! 

Mυɳɳҽԃ

Now as we get to the end of this long, long sheet I just want to take a moment and say a few things as a Mun. I- am so terrible about timely responses, between working, streaming, and studying for my degree I do not find a lot of time for my writing passion. However, if you bare with me through the odd times of night when my responses flow I promise you we will have amazing threads together. Now that you know a little about my existence let’s get my blog rules out of the way;

ℝ𝕌𝕃𝔼𝕊

No persons under the age of 18 allowed- period. This blog has intense scenes and NSFW threads, I will not be held responsible for the corruption of children so turn away now or blocking will occur.

As much as I preach love and acceptance, absolutely NO threads will occur with me that involve animals or characters under the age of 18. I do not condone the act of pretending to be an underage child, nor will I bring children in as extras to my thread. 

Unless your character is an actual God of some sort, do not attempt to God-mod our threads, I will not allow it to happen and it will terminated immediately. Clarification: Yes you can toss my Muse, but no you cannot kill them (unless discussed or of course- you’re Pennywise.)

Sexual themed threads must be discussed with Mun prior to the beginning of it, if not my character will act as normal- and your muse will lose a hand or two. Discussing is a key point when it comes to certain topics in writing, and as everyone says, Consent is Key.

Remember, we’re all here to enjoy ourselves with our characters, even if the thread is violent and hateful please remember. I am not my Muse and my Muse is not me, you are allowed to spit and curse them but do not dare step past that line and spew venom at me. I have a zero tolerance for drama, hate, or sheer stupidity. 

Fιɳαʅ Cσɱɱҽɳƚʂ

Well my loves we’re at the end, it is time to say my final goodbyes as I finish off this sheet on a good note. I will always be open to new partners, new ideas, new universes so please again- never feel scared to shoot me random things. With this revamp I am turning my engines over and putting the pedal to the metal- and it’s only just beginning. With all love, and secret lust- Shalom and Blessed Be.

{Will be updating frequently throughout these next few weeks, stay tuned!}

[genelmag]

10 Black Witches in TV and Film Who Put a Spell on Us

For way too long Black witches in film and television were relegated to sidekicks or very bad voodoo priestess stereotypes with over the top accents—witches that the main protagonists meet in passing on their journey. More often than not, Black witches in television and film have been subjected to very bad writing. As filmmaker and witch, Monika Estrella Negra said, it’s a “misuse of the erotic and demonization of [African diaspora] spiritual practice”.

Luckily, we are getting to see more and better representation of Black witches. From big budget shows like The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and American Horror Story to independent shows, films, and web series like Juju Web Series, Black witches are beginning to feel seen.

Still, in a sea of thousands of White witches in film and television, we literally have but a mere handful of Black witches, warlocks, and brujas that present worthy representation. So, on our first day of Black History Month in 2020, here are some of our favorite Black witches gracing us with their magical presence.

Tati Gabrielle kills it as Prudence Blackwood. Prudence is the illigetimate daughter of Faustus Blackwood leads The Weird Sisters as they attend The Academy of Unseen Arts to learn and improve their magical powers.

In the beginning of Season 1, it seemed as if writers were portraying Prudence as, what Teen Vogue’s Taylor Crumpton said, “the angry Black woman who attacks the misunderstood, small, blonde, white girl”—a trope we see far too often. Luckily, this wasn’t the case as the show progressed.

Even so, Prudence devoted her life to the Church of Night and, though it’s not mentioned, it’s inferred that she was the best at the Academy.

In truth, Prudence is one of the best things about Sabrina. Her power is expressed in everything she does, from her flawless makeup, killer wardrobe, and finger waves for days!

One of the biggest icons of the 1990s was Rachel True’s performance as one of the lead witches in cult classic The Craft. She was the bubbly best friend that you just fell in love with.

While most films of 90s portrayed Black witches as voodoo priestesses doing root work, Rochelle practiced a more European, neopagan form of ritualism.

Yusuf Gatewood plays one of the most powerful witches in New Orleans in the hit show The Originals, Vincent Griffith. Vincent does what he can to keep the peace in a city run by vampires and owned by the original vampires, The Michelson family.

Because of his power and his relationship with the Michelson family and with werewolves, he became regent to the nine covens of New Orleans. But, like any normal person would in his situation, he grew tired of the supernatural community and all the pain and death it came with.

Intelligent, charismatic, positively devilish—that’s Ambrose Spellman, played by Chance Perdomo.

From the very first time he comes on screen, you can’t help but fall in love with the Spellman cousin, Ambrose, who has been on house arrest at the mortuary for 75 years.

That’s right, he’s more than 75 years old, but we don’t know his exact age. All we know is that the famous alchemist Alester Crowley was his father figure and mentor and that somehow led to Ambrose being a part of a plot to blow up the Vatican.

Though he has something witty to say for every situation, he also usually has a solution—or knows just where to find it.

Kat Graham brilliantly played the most powerful witch in Mystic Falls. Bonnie started off as that lovable best friend who thought she had a little bit of psychic in her because Grams always told her she had witches in her ancestry.

Season after season we watched Bonnie’s powers grow as she repeatedly sacrificed herself for her friends and their boyfriends. Meanwhile, it took 7 seasons to give Bonnie a love interest who was actually worthy of her. But, of course, it didn’t last long.

Juju is a brand spanking new YouTube web series about best friends who discover they are witches is the story about Black witches we’ve been waiting for.

Juju takes place in New York City and follows the lives of three best friends with Caribbean and Bayou ancestry.

Jhé "Moon" Ferguson, the creator of Juju said she wanted to create a world of Black supernaturals.

I’ll be honest, I had no interest in American Horror Story until I learned Marie Laveau would be in Coven. Even better, she would be portrayed by the goddess herself, Angela Bassett.

Marie Laveau is a power, immortal Voodoo Queen who runs a salon called Cornrow City. The strength of her power is on par with The Supreme.

Billie Porter can do no wrong. Porter masterfully plays Behold, one of the head instructors of warlocks at the Hawthorne School for Exceptional Young Men.

He’s a leader and a protector, doing what he must to bring better representation on the Witches’ Council. He’s snarky, sarcastic, and adds an animated, flashy element when he uses his telekinesis.

What stands out for me with Behold is that he’s noble, valiant, and not a zealot as we see in many witches and warlocks tend to be in film and television. He’s sensible. He doesn’t jump to conclusions; he investigates his gut feelings.

Fringilla is a baaaaad witch. Played by the talented Mimi Ndiweni, Fringilla is a Nilfgardian sorceress and adviser.

I’ve only read the first two books of The Witcher series and I’ve only ever watched others play the game, even though I have the games in my library.

That said, even though Fringilla Vigo turns out to be villainous, she’s extremely powerful and cunning.

Though this show is a bit problematic, there is no doubt that black girl magic is real when you watch Carmen escape slavery through a time spell and land in modern Columbia.

She quickly adapts to modern life and technology, making friends, going to school, and casting spells to try to help where she can.

Quite honestly, there is much to be desired in Always a Witch, but it is worth taking a gander to see where and how we can do better in portraying our stories while avoiding certain tropes and stereotypes.

A special shout out to Dean Thomas from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the Witches of Eve’s Bayou. Wanting more and better representation of Black witches doesn’t mean we don’t have our favorite mainstream witchy films. From Witches of Eastwick and Practical Magic to Charmed, we’re here for it.

Like us on Facebook and tell us which Black witches we may have missed or what shows and films about witches we should check out.

[garrettauthor]

The latest.

CHARACTER: CENRIX (KEN-rix)

RACE: SCOURGE AASIMAR

CLASS: WARLOCK

PATRON: THE CELESTIAL

I wrote him a hella awesome back story, but it’s very long, so it’s under the cut:

Long ago, an angelic Deva named Azmodios was sent to the city of Starfall by his deity, Liliira, the goddess of happiness, contentment, and freedom.

To better serve Liliira’s purpose, Azmodios took human form. He lived in Starfall for decades, always appearing to be an old man. Every so often he would leave Starfall on some pretense, and then return in a new form, so that no one noticed the kindly old man at the outskirts of the city appeared to be immortal.

Over time, as one might expect of a servant of a goddess of good, Azmodios became endeared with the people of Starfall. In recent years, his attention fell in particular on a widow named Yinnilith. An elven woman, Yinnilith always showed kindness to Azmodios — or Cedric, as she knew him, for that was the human name he had taken in his latest incarnation. Yinnilith would visit Cedric often, bringing him small gifts — sweetmeats she had made, or small woven baskets she had crafted, in order to help him with the simple life he lived as a respected elder in the area.

In time, Azmodios fell in love with Yinnilith, against his better judgment. Thoughts of her rarely left his mind, and he found excuses to visit her in her home, no longer content to simply wait for her to visit him instead.

In time, his love became irresistible. One night, after they both had had a bit too much wine, they shared a bed for the first time. Over the next several weeks they saw each other more and more, until one was rarely without the other.

Eventually, Yinnilith became pregnant. It was then that she revealed her true form — a succubus named Corpraxia, in thrall to the goddess Beshaba. She had discovered Azmodios’ true nature, and had embarked upon a years-long campaign to corrupt him — possibly the greatest debasement a fiend could hope to achieve. She taunted Azmodios with his fall from grace, and promised to take exceptionally good care of their child. Then she vanished.

Distraught, Azmodios reverted to his true Deva form. He vowed never again to take human shape, for the loss of his divine senses had been what caused his laxness in the first place, and had prevented him from detecting Corpraxia’s true form. He threw himself upon the mercy of Liliira and begged her forgiveness for his mistake.

Liliira did not forgive him, and she cast him from her service. But, being a forgiving god by nature, she told Azmodios that he could regain his status, and his place at her side.

“You may join me again,” she said. “But only if you heal the evil that you have put into the world.”

Corpraxia bore her child and named him Cenrix, son of Cedric. With her spawn in the world and permanently bonded to her, she had no immediate interest in his upbringing, and so she left him on the steps of an orphanage to be raised by humans, while she went about pursuing other prey for her seductions.

Cenrix was raised among the other children of the orphanage. Everyone took him for a human, though his actions quickly set him apart from others. He grew up tall and exceedingly handsome, with fair golden hair and exquisite features and physique. The only mar on his physical form was a dark purple birthmark on his left cheek, in the shape of one set of antlers.

The orphanage was managed by nuns who worshipped Eldath, goddess of peace. No doubt Corpraxia hoped that her child, being of fiendish blood, would disrupt the desired tranquility of the abbey. But Cenrix seemed to favor his father’s blood, growing into a fair-minded and kind child.

During his early years, he knew nothing of his parents. Corpraxia was pursuing her own agenda across the kingdoms while Cenrix became, as she thought of it, “old enough to be useful to her.”

Meanwhile, Azmodios sought a way to atone for the sin he had committed. The angel rooted out every den of demons, devils, and cultists he could find, seeking some way to heal the evil he had helped bring about in the world. But no matter how many foul enemies he found and defeated, he never felt the sense of inner peace that he knew would come when he finally earned Liliira’s forgiveness.

By the time Cenrix was in his tenth year, he had become a charismatic and athletic boy, a favorite of the nuns and friends with every child in his orphanage. It was then that Corpraxia finally reappeared to him, one day as he was in the market buying firewood on an errand from the orphanage. She came to him as Yinnilith, the same elven form she had worn when seducing Cedric, his father.

When Corpraxia first spoke to Cenrix, he was hesitant. He knew better than to talk to strangers, and furthermore, something deep inside told him this woman was dangerous. And yet, another part of him was almost fiendishly happy in her presence. Cenrix had never experienced this sort of inner conflict before, and it unnerved him greatly.

“Who are you?” Cenrix asked the woman.

She spread her arms out to him. “Why, my darling boy. Don’t you recognize me? I am your mother.”

Everything Cenrix had been taught told him that this could not be true — orphans had no mothers, and if they did, their mothers certainly did not approach them so nonchalantly in the middle of market day. 

And yet, the same forces that had once been warring inside him were now in full agreement — he KNEW she spoke the truth, and that he was her flesh and blood. Overcome with emotion, he flung himself into her arms, and she clutched him tightly until his tears subsided.

Though Corpraxia spent the rest of the day with him, she told him that she could not stay, and neither could she take him home with her. She had many important things to do, but she would come to visit him as often as she could. And just before leaving, she taught Cenrix the first magical trick of his life — a simple spell that would let him more easily sway the minds of those around him, at least for a time.

With magic now at his disposal, Cenrix at last began to fulfill his mother’s wishes for the orphanage. He had always been able to persuade others to see his way of thinking, even the adults of the orphanage. But now he was a child with a spell, and it was SO much more fun. He began to influence others to do more and more outlandish things, and though they always ended up angry with him in the end, his natural charm was enough to keep him out of serious trouble. True, he now had to wash the privies far more often, but it was so worth it to make one of the nuns walk absentmindedly into the street in only her underclothes. 

Month after month, Corpraxia would take time away from her pursuits to come visit Cenrix, teaching him more and more of the fiendish powers at his command. Slowly, Cenrix’s mind turned towards more towards mischief and trickery than the values of peace, justice, and mercy that he had been naturally inclined to, and then educated to believe even further. After all, the nuns had cared for him a long time — but Yinnilith was his mother, and his devotion to her was nearly absolute.

But as is the case with most minions of the Lower Planes, Cenrix slowly found his life falling apart. Once, he had been the most beloved person in the orphanage. As his teenage years advanced, he found himself mistrusted. Whenever some misdeed was done, great or petty, suspicion immediately fell on Cenrix. His resentment was not lessened by the fact that he was, in fact, often the one behind such pranks.

One day in his fifteenth year, he was sharing his woes with Corpraxia — still in her elven form. He rested his head on her shoulder and spoke of his latest punishment from the Abbess, who had confined him to his room for a week after he had tricked a younger child to climb down a well rope and had become trapped, requiring three nuns to come and pull him out of the darkness. 

“My child,” said Corpraxia, stroking his hair. “It breaks my heart to hear of them being so cruel to you. You were only having a bit of fun. Boys will always get up to such antics. And it isn’t as though the child was seriously hurt.”

“I know,” said Cenrix, quickly wiping away tears and trying not to let her see. “No one ever sees the joke. It’s just a bit of fun! I don’t mean to hurt anyone.”

“I know, my darling,” said Corpraxia sweetly. Then she paused for a long moment. “But you could, you know.”

Cenrix felt a stirring of worry, almost fear. “What do you mean?”

“I have taught you much more than simple tricks to make others dance at the end of your string. You could do real harm if you wanted to. They’re lucky that you don’t.”

“Of course not,” mumbled Cenrix. “Why would I want to harm them?”

“Never,” said Corpraxia softly. “But it might do them good to see that you can. Then they would know better than to punish you for such small, harmless fun. They wouldn’t dare raise a hand against you then.”

Though Cenrix was reluctant, Corpraxia’s hold on him was strong, and eventually she persuaded him to show more of his power. He returned to the orphanage with a new purpose: to turn the nuns’ mistrust into genuine fear, so that they would not dare to shame or punish him again. 

The next day, the Abbess heard screaming from the orphanage’s courtyard. She came running to find a crowd of children and nuns standing in horror, and before them was Cenrix. At first the Abbess could not tell why everyone was so frightened, until she looked up. Sister Meriweather stood on the peak of the orphanage’s roof. Her gaze was vacant and staring, and dark energy swirled around her, sapping her will. 

“I can make her jump,” said Cenrix. “I could make any of you do it, too. I could really hurt you — really hurt you, if I wanted to.”

“Cenrix, stop!” cried the Abbess. “Sister Meriweather, come down from there at once!”

“I don’t want to,” said Sister Meriweather, almost too quiet for anyone to hear. 

“And she won’t want to,” said Cenrix. “Not unless I tell her. Promise me you’ll never punish me again.”

The Abbess’ blood ran cold. But she had been doing this a long time, and she had dealt with all sorts of children. Admittedly never one as dangerous as Cenrix, but she still understood children.

She forced herself to smile.

“Of course not, Cenrix,” she said gently. “It was foolish of me. Of course we won’t punish you anymore, dear boy.”

Cenrix frowned. “Do you mean it?”

The Abbess came forward. Cenrix tensed, but she slowly and gently put a hand on his shoulder. “I promise.”

Cenrix relaxed and looked up at Sister Meriweather. “Very well. You can come down now.”

The cloud passed from Sister Meriweather’s sight. Suddenly she realized where she was, and with a cry of fear she fell to her belly, gripping the roof of the orphanage.

Immediately, the Abbess slapped Cenrix across the face and bore him to the ground. Two nuns ran forward to help her restrain him, while the children around them screamed.

Sister Meriweather was gotten down from the roof, and as quickly as they could manage it, Cenrix was thrown out of the orphanage to fend for himself on the streets. But word had spread throughout Starfall of the boy who had devilish powers, and he found it ever harder to manipulate people into giving him scraps of food and shelter for the night. His resentment grew, stoked further by Corpraxia, who supported him just enough to keep him alive, but not enough to lift him from his wretched circumstance.

Meanwhile, word reached Azmodios’ ears of the unusual activities that had been going on in Starfall. He assumed that Corpraxia had returned to the city and was beginning to stir up trouble again, and he set out for the city in all possible haste.

One night, Corpraxia was comforting Cenrix in a dark and abandoned building. Cenrix lay his head in her lap, and she stroked his hair even as she hissed in his ear of all the ways in which he had been wronged.

“It is all the Abbess’ fault,” she told him. “She should be punished. All of them should be punished. They promised they would leave you alone.”

“But I don’t want to hurt anyone,” said Cenrix.

“Of course I understand,” said Corpraxia sweetly. “But no one will listen to you unless you make them. If the Abbess were gone, everyone would know that they could not harm you again without consequences.”

Cenrix looked up at her in horror. “But I can’t kill her. She was kind to me.”

“Until she wasn’t.”

Cenrix wavered, teetering on the brink.

The door of the abandoned building blew inward in a shower of divine energy. Azmodios stormed into the room, wreathed in holy flames. He saw Cenrix and Corpraxia — in the form of Yinnilith — both of whom stared at him, mute with shock and fear.

“Devil,” growled Azmodios. In an instant he flew across the room and snatched Yinnilith up, holding her by the throat even as he cast Cenrix aside. “What mischief have you gotten up to now? No, never mind. It matters little, for I am here to end it. And you.”

“Cedric,” said Yinnilith, wide-eyed and feigning innocence. “How I have missed you, my love.”

“Cedric was a lie, as is this form you wear now,” said Azmodios. “Shed it. You will wear your true, unholy skin when I destroy you.”

Cenrix finally mustered himself. He didn’t understand who this man was, but his mother was in danger. He threw himself at the deva and tried to free Yinnilith, but pulling on the angel’s arm was like trying to dislodge a boulder from the side of a mountain.

“Stop!” cried Cenrix, tears streaming down his face. “Leave her alone!”

Azmodios removed one hand from Yinnilith’s throat and flung Cenrix aside. But then he glanced at the boy. He saw the same high cheekbones, the same brilliant blue eyes, the fair hair that had only existed in remnants upon Cedric’s greying pate.

He froze.

“The child,” he whispered.

“Yes,” said Yinnilith, grinning sadistically. “Your darling boy. And it was he who committed the devilry here in Starfall — not I, my darling.”

Azmodios’ mouth twisted. “No doubt it was at your doing. I will let him see the truth of the mistress he has served. Then I will end you both.”

Blazing white fire erupted from his hands, and Yinnilith screamed. Before Cenrix’s horrified eyes, her form twisted and melted. Her skin turned purple — the same purple as the birthmark on Cenrix’s cheek. Horns sprouted from her head, and wings from her back. Soon a succubus hung from Azmodios’ iron grip. 

Cenrix felt his heart nearly stop.

Azmodios flung Corpraxia to the ground and loomed over her. White light poured from his hand, filling the room with blinding light. When Cenrix was able to open his eyes again, the light had formed into a sword nearly as long as he was tall.

Azmodios raised the blade. “For Liliira’s honor, and to earn her forgiveness.”

“No!” Cenrix threw himself forward and flung his arms wide, blocking Corpraxia’s body with his own.

And Azmodios stopped. In Cenrix’s eyes he saw fear. But he also saw love, and compassion, and the desire to protect the only parent the boy had ever known. 

Liliira’s words came back to his mind. 

“You may join me again,” she had said. “But only if you heal the evil that you have put into the world.”

Heal the evil. Not destroy it.

Azmodios lowered his blade. Corpraxia’s sharp teeth showed in a grin.

“Your mercy does you proud, my love.” Her silky voice felt as if it was caressing Azmodios’ very ear, and he shivered with horror and desire. “Though what would your goddess think of your hesitation, I wonder?”

In a flash of purple energy, she vanished. Cenrix turned to find her gone, and then he turned back to Azmodios in confusion.

“I … what did you do to her?”

“Nothing,” said Azmodios, heaving a sigh. “She is gone. But not forever. What is your name, boy?”

Cenrix narrowed his eyes. “Why should I tell you?”

“Because it is time for your healing to begin.”

Azmodios broke his own vow to himself, and he took human form one last time. He became Cedric, but a younger version, perhaps only forty years old. And looking into this adult man’s face, Cenrix could see his own eyes, his own hair, the shape of features that were so indelibly his — everything but the purple antler-shaped mark on his cheek.

Over a period of time, Azmodios told Cenrix everything he could about how he had come to be born. Cenrix was not a human, as he had always thought, but an Aasimar, albeit one with a dark and terrible corruption in his bloodline. But that corruption could be expunged — or at least resisted.

“How long must I fight it?” asked Cenrix.

“As long as you live,” Azmodios told him sadly.

For the first time since he was a young boy, Cenrix was instructed again in the virtues of good, of mercy, of joy and compassion. Azmodios worked to convince Cenrix that his life should not be about trickery and deceit, but honor and defense of the innocent. The boy had powers, innate magic from his blood. But it was Cenrix’s choices that would determine the outcome of those gifts. He was not born evil. He was not born good. Only his decisions would determine what sort of person he would turn out to be.

And in the end, Azmodios found his task much easier than he had feared it would be. With the right encouragement, Cenrix found that he enjoyed helping others again, and using his gifts to make the lives of others easier and more joyous. 

After a time, he even returned to the orphanage to make amends. He did not ask their forgiveness — he only asked that he be allowed to serve, in whatever capacity they might require him. 

The Abbess was reluctant to accept his apology, and he was too old to be readmitted to the orphanage’s care, in any case. But Cenrix labored for weeks, first outside the orphanage, cleaning walls and mucking stables. And then at last he was permitted within the walls again, and he never showed any signs of reverting back to his evil ways. Each day, he returned to the small home on the outskirts of the city — the home that had once been Cedric’s — and spoke with his father of what he had done.

This went on for three more years, and once again Cedric became favored by the people of Starfall. None knew of his parentage, of course, and so his early teenage years were chalked up to a particularly nasty streak of teenage rebelliousness. But when someone needed help fixing a door, or a child fell ill, or a young person became lost in the woods, Cenrix would appear and do his utmost to help. And so he became beloved by his city, and they claimed him as their champion.

Until the day that Azmodios told him he must leave.

“Leave?” said Cenrix. “Where?”

“That is not certain,” said Azmodios. “But your gifts are too precious to be given only to these people. The world needs the aid that you can provide — and so do I.”

And then, for the first time, Azmodios told Cenrix of his own fall from Liliira’s grace. He told Cenrix of the conditions by which he could earn his goddess’ favor again. It was not enough for Cenrix to be a servant of the people of Starfall. With the power of his conflicted bloodline, Cenrix was still capable of great evil. The only way to heal it was to go out and do great things, not the meager acts of service he had performed until now.

And so, Cenrix set out into the world to seek his fortune and perform whatever service he could. And Azmodios left him, to pursue his own purpose of purging evil from the land, always in service to his lady Liliira. He would visit Cenrix in dreams, giving him instructions, guidance, and counsel — but never too much, for he wished his son to find his own way to combat the world’s evil.

Yet on the first night after their parting, it was not Azmodios who appeared in Cenrix’s dream. It was Corpraxia.

She appeared to him in her elven form again, as Yinnilith, but standing in an inky black void. Cenrix recoiled from her.

“What are you doing here?” he said. Four years of education at Azmodios’ hand had instilled a revulsion of his mother. “Begone. I never wish to see you again.”

“Then I am sorry to have disturbed you,” she said. Her voice was filled with sadness and regret. “Yet I will not promise to leave you forever. You are my boy. My darling boy, and I have missed you these long years.”

“You are trying to sway my mind,” said Cenrix. “It will not work.” 

But despite the conviction he forced into his voice, he could feel his heart breaking at her words. For five years she had been his only friend, the only one who showed him kindness or compassion. 

He knew it was only because she herself had driven him away from everyone else. He knew she had manipulated him into being alone and despised by those he had once called friend. But a scared little boy still lived in Cenrix’s heart, and he wanted his mother.

“I am not,” said Corpraxia. “I swear it. I only wanted to look at you. I feared your father might never leave you alone. I love him still, as I love you. But he will never accept me. He will never forgive me.”

“What you did is beyond forgiveness,” said Cenrix heatedly.

She reached out and cupped his cheek. “You mean creating you? If that, in fact, damns me forever, then let it damn me. I would not take it back. I have done nothing greater, made nothing finer, in all the long years of my existence. I have seen you grow under your father’s tutelage. You are more powerful than I could ever have made you, for there are things I could never have taught you — just as there are things he will never be able to teach you. But I will.”

For a long moment, Cenrix was not strong enough to pull her hand from his cheek. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, wondering if this would be the last time he would feel his mother’s touch again. Then, at last, he pulled her fingers away.

“You will not. You will leave, and you will never return.”

“I already told you I will not promise that,” said Corpraxia. “You have a hard road ahead of you, my child. Your father will help you upon much of it. But he will not be able to help you against doubt, for he sees it as a weakness. He will not be able to help you against fear, for he does not feel it. And he will not be able to help you against temptation, for he fell victim to it once, and so he will never face the possibility of its existence again. But I am a mistress of doubt, a queen of fear, the embodiment of temptation. When your father’s teachings fail you, I will return. And with both our help, you will grow more powerful than you ever could with just one of us by your side.”

Cenrix could never fully explain why — but he never told his father of that first visit, nor any of the times Corpraxia returned to him thereafter.

So Cenrix’s journey began.

[koshofthevorlons]

The Bad, the annoying, and just plain wrong Sailor Moon Fanon

Given Sailor Moon was released back during the early 90s and the ...issues the American dubbing had, a whole lot of fanon has sprung up about the series. Some of it is good and some of it is incredibly bad -- though this most often shows up in crossovers. Years ago, I made up a list of some of the most common misconceptions which I stumbled over and figured it might worth posting here.

--

Crystal Tokyo

The Senshi going out of their way to make sure Crystal Tokyo will come about.

People in the 30th century are obeying Usagi because the alternatives are freezing to death or being exiled into the far reaches of space. The only people “exiled” where criminals, such as the mass murderer who eventually became Wiseman/Death Phantom.

Usagi using mind control to set herself up as Queen of the World. Both sides in the future state she was elected to her position in the future of Crystal Tokyo by the population of the world. Which yes, is unrealistic but it is shojou manga and it is worth considering what Usagi brings to the position: she’s a neigh immortal God-queen who freely gave people millennia long lifespans, access to ancient lunarian supertech, and the knowledge that when the local eldritch abomination appeared, she would be there to kick its butt. Her extremely positive reputation with various galactic powers was merely the cherry on top of all that.

Utopian and dystopia Crystal Tokyo. There is still crime in Crystal Tokyo and people are still capable of being petty and selfish creatures. It's a better world but it isn't perfect. Some of the few examples shown people outside the future versions of the cast in Crystal Tokyo are kids who bullied Chibi-Usa and snobby politicians.

Usagi/Neo-Queen Serenity

Power hungry Usagi. Her stated dream at the start of the series is being a bride and house-wife. She constantly goes on about people’s right to make their own decisions and at the end of the Dark Kingdom arc in the manga, turns down the chance to crown herself.

Usagi being an force of stasis. At the end of the series, Usagi flat-out states the need for there to be change and growth in the universe, no matter how painful that it might be at times. That at times fighting was necessary for a better future. Of how the end of a war would lead to hope for the future and how it was all part of a balance.

Usagi as some type of valley-girl or crybaby post-series. Please, give the girl some credit. She beat back several demonic invasions, saved the world several times and managed to redeem an enemy that had supposedly wiped out all life in the galaxy/universe depending on whether you're using the manga or anime. Not to mention several times going to what was certain death for her, but doing so anyway. Hell in the manga, Usagi is shown through the series growing into a highly charismatic leader and skilled fighter. And even in the anime, she is shown growing at least some.

Usagi as some insensitive clod who's incapable of being charismatic. One of Usagi's strongest traits in both the manga and anime is her incredibly sensitive to people's feeling and ability to sway people’s hearts. This is the same girl who would eventually be elected by the world's population to lead them into a new future and had such a force of presence that she managed to redeem an enemy that had supposedly wiped out all life in the galaxy/universe.

The spamming of the Ginzuishou in a anime inspired story. Manga's understandable since it had no consequences. But in the anime she only used it at full power against Death Phantom and Metallia and once in the R movie. The anime emphasized the Ginzuishou would kill her if she used it. She had three one-time saves saving her life every-time. She had plot armor for the sake of the first arc because they thought the series would end with that episode and she wished to go back to being a normal girl as she lay dying. In R she and Chibi-Usa's wish to protect each other canceled out the effects. The third time, Fiore gave up his life to save her. Each time the senshi warned her she would die from the crystal if she used it. Yet she accepted it anyway.

Senshi

Guns can hurt the senshi. Anime shows the Senshi being bulletproof while the manga!senshi are blatantly superhuman.

The girls lives entire lives being wrapped up in their role as Senshi or the idea of Crystal Tokyo. ALL of girls are shown to have actual lives and dreams completely outside of their duties of being a Senshi.

The senshi all showing up to fight some no-name canon fodder. The senshi have only been together once during a whole fight and that was with Nehellenia. During S, Pluto died before Saturn appeared. The inners and outers are constantly separated and the outers tend to have their own lives to live. 

Minako, Rei or Makoto giving up Usagi for some guy who happens to come by. In the manga, the inners all pledged to each other that no matter what happens Usagi would always come first and that boys would come later because she was so precious to them.

The Senshi betraying Usagi out of their own free will. The girls have repeatedly proven willingness to die for Usagi when the chips are down. Even more importantly in the Dark Kingdom arc, when they all believed that Sailor Venus was actually Princess Serenity, their loyalty was still first and foremost to Usagi.

Haruka being super masculine. In the manga she was androgynous and enjoys both male and female outfits. Following her gender being revealed, she generally wore feminine clothing and has been show to enjoy wearing short skirts. Also, she is is canonically stated to be bisexual.

The Senshi being unwilling to kill human opponents. In the manga, the Senshi usually ended up brutally murdering their enemies. In comparison, the anime has the majority of the enemies being either mind controlled or manipulated by an outside force, but even in the anime, they were willing to kill if necessary.

Mamoru being a pedophile. In the manga, there is only a three years difference, with Mamoru seventeen years old vs Usagi's fourteen years old. In Japan, fourteen years was very much legal as the age of consent was thirteen in the Tokyo region at the time the series was being written. With marriageable age thirteen for girls and sixteen for boys with parental consent.

Mamoru being willing to betray Usagi. They are engaged by the end of the series and happily married by the end of the manga. They are quite content with each other and even in the anime where Mamoru has often acted like an ass too her he's almost always had the reason that his generally being mind control during this time of the week.

Chibiusa's hair color came from nowhere. Ikuko, Usagi's mother and Chibiusa's grandmother in the manga has pink hair.

The Senshi simply being magic users who happen to be able to draw upon a planets mana. They are literal avatar of that planet's spirit made flesh. A Senshi is born when a Sailor Crystal nest inside a newly formed planet. And are the ones affected when something happens to their planet. As long as a Senshi exists in some form their planet, star, moon, asteroid etc has a chance to be reborn at a future date. The only senshi for whom this is not true is Usagi. Instead, her starseed is implied to have been a piece of the starseed represents the universe...

Pluto/Setsuna

Setsuna as some figure of of absolute order and/or stasis. Sailor Pluto is the 'Solider of Change AND Revolution.

Pluto using Space-Time Door as the "TV of Time.” She does not possess the ability to watch events through it. The Space-Time Door’s  purpose is time travel, nothing more.

Setsuna as a some ice princess. In canon, she is a lonely woman who loves her Princess, her closest friend is Chibi-Usa, and she considers the Outers to be her family. She has dreams (to be a fashion designer) and fears (Cockroaches). She is not some manipulative shrew but instead a person who has a job that leaves her distant and with trouble relating to other people.

Pluto manipulating events to create Crystal Tokyo or purposely killing thousands. Her job is to stop time travelers from abusing the time stream. She remained guarding the doors through the fall of the Silver Millennium, the canonical restart of evolution on Earth, and all the way into the 30th century. Pluto only left after she died trying to reach Chibi-Usa while she was Black Lady. The only reason that she was able to have a life outside of her duty is due to Neo-Queen Serenity reincarnating her backwards in time so that there are two versions that currently her existing. Her older self-guarding the Space-Time Door and the younger one living with the Outers.

Chaos, its spawn and various servants

Beryl as a super-important person during the Silver Millennium.  She was a maid and small-time witch/sorceress who made a deal with the local eldritch abomination sealed way in the sun.

Wiseman being anywhere close to that of a good guy or even neutral entity. Death Phantom is a Cosmic Horror born from the root of all evil in SM-Verse.

The Black Moon family being freedom fighters against the tyranny of Crystal Tokyo. Their ancestors are flat-out stated to be religious nuts who thought that the infinite power of the Ginzuishou and its ability to give people eternal youth went against God's will. They  willingly fled to Nemesis after being told by Wiseman they could gain they could power and are implied to be responsible for transforming the planet into the living hell it became. The very first actions that people of Nemesis took when they returned to Earth was to kill countless innocent people without mercy by bombing planet and using poison gases on civilians simply because they believed long life went against god. Both sides also state the Black Moon's goals were only about their hostility toward people’s lifespan and later, to try to take over earth.

Chaos representing “just a little chaos" or serving as a “force of change/growth.”  Chaos in Sailor Moon canon hearkens back to Chaoskampf of older myths. It is a primordial force of nothingness and destruction, which predates the Big Bang and is still salty about the universe existing. Every terrible thing, every planet destroyed, every life lost in the SM-verse all lead back to it. Chaos was behind the corruption of Galaxia, and Metallia, Death Phantom, Tau Ceti were all incarnations of it.

The Dark Kingdom only targeted Tokyo. They mind controlled everyone in China during Sailor V and it was her efforts to stop them got Venus so famous famous as Sailor V.

Misc

Calling the 'Space-Time Door' the Gates of Time.

There is no Juuban ward. Azubu Juuban is a neighborhood in the Azabu district of the Minato ward. It even says they live in Minato is volume one of the manga.  

Anime "purification" is mind control. It is repeatedly shown as the process of outside forces leaving the victim’s body. Whatever that purification is it ISN'T about enslaving people to one monochrome will, something that the Senshi's enemies often did and what they fought against tooth and nail against. It is the realization you can be yourself AND stand strong with others. And if you don't like it you are free to leave or return but not find strength and purpose in hurting others.

[ambitchiovs]

lenny back at it again… i warned y’all about the intros dump. anyway, off to this bitch:

&&. isn’t that [ DEBORAH ANN WOLL ] walking around the hamptons? oh no, nevermind it’s just [ ADELAIDE MONTSERRAT ]. y'know, the [ 19 ] year old [ CIS FEMALE ] known to be quite [ CHARISMATIC and DETERMINED ] but also [ CUNNING and RUTHLESS ]. currently, the police has them as [ A PERSON OF INTEREST ] in the case of samantha wheeler, because they [ WERE PART OF SAMANTHA’S FRIEND GROUND ]. but they go on about their life as [ A STUDENT ]. i wonder what secrets they’re keeping?  [ lenny/23/gmt+3/she/her ]

TW: eating disorders, addiction, mental disorders, possible suicidal thoughts/mentions

DON’T YOU EVER TAME YOUR DEMONS, ALWAYS KEEP THEM ON A LEASH.

In the eyes of Adelaide Montserrat, there was never a girl to be found. If you dare to pry, you will not find what strangers see when they pass her by the crowd. You will look into a bottomless void that threatens to swallow you whole and it will look back at you with smiling teeth. Little Addie, once a girl with pink tutu’s and ballerina shoes, was never one to be meddled with - she would captivate all her teachers and classmates with rosy cheeks and a clever tongue beyond her years, but there was nothing warm or kind about the little girl whose parents held so close she nearly choked to death.

History goes, her father — her biological father, anyhow, was a very powerful politician before he dropped dead. Nobody really knows what happened that night - all everybody seems to know is that all her loved ones seem to fall like dominoes. Her father died when she was 16, during a robbery. The men were never caught, but little Adelaide was left bawling into her mother’s lap. Surprising as it may be, she was actually the product of a one night stand and poor lack of judgement, or so her mother likes to tell her - but Catherine Montserrat was no fool, and she took him for all he had - and as it turns out… That was a lot.

That doesn’t come cheap, for Adelaide, anyways. Being a part of a new family meant she now had a new player to share her inheritance with - and damned if she didn’t do everything she could to throw them off the board. In the eyes of her parents, she could do no wrong - she was pure and pristine and everything they hoped their little girl would be. You’d assume being the younger sibling meant competing for attention - but she never competed. She never even considered it a competition. She won, plain and simple. Her half brother, that man who called himself her “father” now were but pebbles in her shoes, nuisances she had to navigate through to continue on with her luxurious lifestyle. They didn’t understood her, didn’t particularly wanted to, and it was easier to smear on some foundation and bake it with powder than let explain why her skin was cracking. It was easier to strap on those old ballerina shoes and put on a show until her toes were bleeding, than to try and show them what was behind the curtains. And all jewelry in the world, all praise, all money and countless designer bags she accumulated every year could never fill up that gaping hole, that detachment she felt towards the outside world and inability to connect with things and people - even those supposedly closest to her.

You see, Adelaide didn’t lose, because she tailored the game to her whims and batted her heavy set of lashes to make it seem fair. And if she did lose - the game be damned; she’d destroy it and any evidence of her failure with the wrath of a woman scorned. She didn’t want to be a little sister, or a daughter, or something for men to gawk at. She wanted to be something else. Anything other than this vile thing dripping with self-loathing , cloaked in a veil of perfectionism. Something that wasn’t rammed into this golden mold before she even took her very first breath.

Addie’s behavior as well as their parents favoritism only blurred the lines between love and hate between the half-siblings, complicating her understanding of relationships even further. And it certainly didn’t help that her new brother was just as stubborn and competitive as she was. The children were picture perfect, carrying on the legacy of their parents on their backs as if it weighed no more than a feather - while whatever had been good or soft in them began to rot.

But just who is Adelaide Montserrat? The reincarnation of the Virgin Mary to most. The girl with perfect hair, perfect hair and a perfect family. In truth, Adelaide could be seen only as a terror taken human form to those who opposed her, and a perfect, exemplary girl for those who keep a safe distance. What she is, what she truly is, is a game of smoking mirrors - a fragmented girl, scattered into so many pieces to cater to the whims of crowds, that now, when she looks into a mirror, the image that looks back is something recognizable; distorted.

Fueled by her own securities and desire to obtain perfection, paired with the crowd of rich kids that were offered to her as friends growing up, it didn’t take for things to escalate; by the age of only fourteen, poisoning their blood with alcohol, snorting up enough cocaine so she had to carry around wipes and kicking each other in the stomach while crouching over the toilet became somehow ordinary. Encouraged, even. All that deep-rooted self-hatred had to spill someway, somehow. She grew to resent how boys were granted more freedom, more room to misbehave and make mistake. She resented girls for being themselves, for not wanting to scream every second of every day. And she resented Samantha for how genuinely she could smile - for how easily everything came to her, and for how she was everything she could never be; while she was lying in a grave she dug herself - shackled to the image of perfection she’d crafted, held to the highest of regards, expected to never falter nor stutter. It was hard to define the relationship between her - one moment Addie was sweet, the next she was cruel. And as to that unfortunate Halloween night, she claims they parted ways before she could see anything.

All the harder she tries to cling to this illusion of control, the deeper she dives into that well. Parents often say kids will “grow out of it”; their fits of rage, their apathy towards other children, their unwillingness to share, their manipulative, spoiled ways of obtaining what they want- but Addie never did. Somewhere inside there’s still that little girl who’d rather break her toys in half than to share it with other kids. Who’d bump into other little girls at school, and tell the nurse they tripped. Who’d rather set her arm back in place herself than say “you were right”. The little girl who’ll sit in an empty throne all alone, built with the bones of the people she once claimed to love.

PERSONALITY-WISE:

Adelaide is emotionally unstable and has a very competitive, volatile, manipulative personality; she doesn’t forgive, and she sure as hell doesn’t forget, and she can lash out in incredibly ruthless ways due to her extreme lack of empathy for hers. Her addictions and unwillingness to ever speak to anyone in depth about herself only worsen the state of her BPD. Despite all this, on the surface, she can seem like just like any other pristine, privileged girl. It’s not usual for people to find her charming - she does exude that sort of magnetic aura that’s very easy to fall for, because people tend to see what they want to see - and therefore, it’s easy for her to adjust her personality to the expectations of whomever she’s trying to captivate. In a way, her entire personality has merged with her addiction: being friends with her feels a lot like moment of high in exchange for an eternity of sorrow.

She can be a loyal friend, to some extent, although she’ll never put anyone above herself. She’s also very insecure and prone to fits of rage (in private) whenever she doesn’t get what she wants (think broken mirrors and glasses), as her self-image is heavily dependent on what she can achieve and how others perceive her. Deep down, this all stems from jealousy - she so desperately wishes she could connect with other people and things the way everyone around her does, but in the end she can’t, and she’s left feeling like an outside looking in. If she’s miserable, why shouldn’t everyone around her be too?

HIT ME UP TO PLOT U COWARDS !!

for reals, though - i know this was unnecessarily long, but oh well. you can be ex friends with her? don’t know why they’re not friends anymore - but i’m willing to bet it’s addie’s fault.

maybe some sort of competitor?  academic or otherwise.

maybe there’s some poor ex out there who knows what a headcase she actually is? but probably can’t say much bc they fear for her life lmao.

she wouldn’t openly date anybody who could reflect poorly on her reputation, so secret hookups??? give me someone who’s getting sick of being used pls. ( she’s a closeted bisexual. society isn’t very welcome to the idea rn ) so girl crushes yes pls let girls have crushes on her. let her manipulate them bc she knows. i need.

also gimme someone who deals drugs to her tbh, bc this needs to be kept SUPER lowkey, but it’d also be hilarious bc she wouldn’t have to fake her personality around them & it’s like bitch what the fuck this girl is dr jekyll and mr hyde.

i’d love love to see a fake relationship - but i don’t mean the ‘secretly have feelings for each other’ - i mean the… secretly despise each other but they’re image-obsessed people and like being seen as the golden couple.

oH and pls someone give me a… dare i say sisterly connection? mostly, a girl who idolizes her or puts her on a pedestal, that she might or might not have a soft spot for ( which in addie’s handbook just means she’ll be that much crueler whenever she feels like it tbh ) & see it as some sort of protegee.

idk i’m open to anything, these are just suggestions thrown at the wall here. the point is… plot w me u cowards. and yes, my muse does bite.

[svartalfhild]

The Knight Stars - Session 19 - Hot Topic(s)

A summary of our latest DnD shenanigans.  (Previous shenanigans found here.)

We began with everyone getting a shitty night’s rest after the messed up shit we did to those corrupt Flaming Fist guards.  Heliodoro had to roll a wisdom save in his sleep. 👀

The next morning, Heliodoro nipped downstairs to grab breakfast for everyone.  Cael ate a huge ass pile of pancakes, after which, he got Helio to go out clothes shopping with him.

Mornath and Rue went out to the Counting House, Baldur’s Gate’s big bank, to seek the contact Lander had pointed us to in his latest letter.

The crowds were heavy in that part of town, so Mornath let Rue sit on her shoulders to see better and told her that Lander had said we’d know the man just by looking at him.

Rue spotted a finely dressed dwarf with all kinds of ornamentation braided up in his beard, set up in a booth, trying, and very well succeeding, in getting people to invest in pyramid schemes.  He had a big, sharp af gold canine tooth, which I strongly suspect was not originally meant for him.

We approached him and Mornath casually asked him in Thieves’ Cant if he was “in the business”, as per Lander’s instructions.  The dwarf gave an affirmative and Mornath told him that they have a mutual friend while visibly rolling a Harper coin back and forth across her knuckles.

This very much caught the man’s attention and he introduced himself as Hardren Goldtooth.  Mornath told him they need to discuss something privately, and at first, he brushed it off, saying that sometimes a crowd can be more private than you’d think, but she insisted that this was very important and not to be idly overheard, so he closed up shop (which involved geared mechanisms folding up his stand, making Mornath nerd out, because omg gnome tech) and he led us to a private back room within the Counting House.

After a little questioning, we learned quite a bit about Hardren.  He’s an information broker with his fingers in a lot of different pies.  Connections for days.  Apparently he’s worked with Lander a few times and has come out owing Lander.  We also got the impression that Hardren has quite a healthy fear of Lander, which is impressive, considering how powerful this dwarf clearly is.  I don’t think anything has made me go “holy shit, Lander is probably several levels higher than us” as much as that moment.

Anyway, Hardren made it clear that he has good intentions where the city is concerned and would be willing to help any friend of Lander’s, so we told him what we were up to with the Faceless Court and the Witchfinders.  He said he’d been avoiding rooting around in the pies he’s in because of the Witchfinders, but now that he’s got people to back him up, he agreed to start digging for us to see if he can find out any key names of people who are either friend or foe to our cause.

We called it a deal and Hardren told us he knew how to find us if he needs to.  Mornath told him that if he crosses us, he should remember who sent us, and as she shook his hand, she gave him a small static shock to make it clear Lander wouldn’t be the only person he’d have to worry about.

Hardren just smiled without flinching and said he wouldn’t dream of it; he knows what side his bread is buttered on, and we’re all friends here.  Mornath returned his smile, and said she knew that, but it was always good to make the terms of a contract completely clear, to which he heartily agreed.

Leaving Hardren with the names Morning Glory and Rue and the knowledge that he could see us perform at Virlen Sarmaris’ next gala (of fucking course Hardren knows about Virlen and is amused), we parted ways and headed back to the inn.

On their way back, Mornath and Rue had a very wholesome and revealing conversation about Lander and their friendships with him.

Mornath said it was nice to feel connected to Lander and his work a little through meeting Hardren, to which Rue agreed.  They talked about how it had been a while since seeing him in person, the last time being back in Waterdeep for only a brief amount of time.  Mornath explained that she only saw him recently once before that near the beginning of the year and that, beyond that, she hadn’t seen him in 8 years.  Lander has changed a great deal since they were teenagers, becoming a much more charismatic, wise, and focused man than the broody little edgelord she used to know.

Rue talked about how when she was good friends with Lander in college, she got to watch him transition into the man he is today.  He evidently helped another friend find purpose and would get up to hijinks with Rue.

Mornath said she used to get up to hijinks with him too and told the story of how she met Lander when she was a naive little teen, sneaking out at night and nearly getting robbed by a pack of urchins called the Hunters’ Lane Gang, but they decided to induct her into the group instead when she offered to mend their clothes with magic.  Lander was the best of that lot, she felt.

She went on to say that Lander talked about Mornath a lot, which Mornath of course found kind of baffling.  He apparently spoke highly and fondly of her, which had Mornath a little Error 404, so she moved on to say that he has said in his letters that he cares deeply for us, believes in our troupe, and our ability to handle the situation in Baldur’s Gate, which Mornath has found rather uplifting.  She offered to send a letter from Rue on a crow with her next communiqué, since Lander would certainly loved to hear from another dear friend in these dark times.

Rue happily agreed and expressed the hope that they’ll see Lander again soon.  Mornath replied that she didn’t think that’d be at least until after this whole business is over, since it seems that Lander can’t come and help in person, probably heavily tied up in his own demon fighting.  Even then, they really had no way of knowing when they’d see him or for how long if they did.  He has a habit of only sticking around for a few hours at a time, about a day at most.  Mornath wished that she could spend some proper time with him to really get to know who he is these days.  Rue felt similarly.

Back at the inn, Mornath and Rue came into the party’s room to see that Cael had purchased an alarmingly big pile of fashionable, goth-y clothes, including a set of matching crop tops for the lot of us. 

Cinder and Rue were quite pleased, but Heliodoro was holding up his with a look of “what do” in his eyes, which quickly became a blushy “help me, Mornath” when Cael tried to convince him to try it on.  At first, Mornath tried to pretend this wasn’t happening, blankly asking Cael how he planned to fit all those clothes in our wagon later, but eventually she met Heliodoro’s gaze, shortly after having her own crop top pressed into her hands.  She gave him an “I can’t help you; I’m just as confused” look.

Eventually, everyone had their crop tops on.  As per Cael’s design, they were all just a bit too small, making them tight.  This didn’t effect Rue too much, being a halfling, but Helio’s tattoos and rippling muscles where very much on display (Cael approves +10).  Some small, thin scars were visible on Mornath’s lower back, as was a bit of skin discolouration on Cael’s. (oooooooh backstory hints, guys)

Everyone but Cael changed back out of their crop tops for our meeting with the Idle Hands that evening.  Cinder and Mornath played lookout while Heliodoro, Rue, and Cael met with the Idle Hands rep in a secluded corner of the tavern.  The Idle Hands apparently have something that allows them to have a Blur effect on their faces, which is intriguing~.  This one also had the Idle Hands symbol on his palm.

The rep explained that their organization is aware of who we are and what we’re up to, and they want to help, since their goals are pretty much the same.  They want to find out who among the nobility of the city has fallen under the influence of the Faceless Court and to do that, they want us to be their eyes and ears at Virlen Sarmaris’ gala, which will be attended by many nobles.  As the hired performs, we’re supposed to be there, so the Idle Hands won’t have to risk subterfuge to get in this way.

After a bit of questioning to make clear what they wanted us to do and to make sure we could trust these people, we agreed to help, Helio, Rue, and Cael all shaking the rep’s hand.

Cael was exuding a surprising amount of presence this whole time in his crop top, which made the wink he gave the rep as they shook hands (or tWink as it was henceforth dubbed) a weirdly intimidating shade of saucy.

[ganymedesclock]

Hey in s1e1 Allura compares each of the pilots to the lions. I don't really remeber what they were something like Hunks caring personality, Pidge's inquisitive nature etc but Allura was cut off before revealing Lance and Blue's (by Lance lol) and I've always wondered what theirs was. Maybe u have a good idea cause ur really good and putting 2 and 2 together and finding X. Hope this makes sense.

Official interviews with the writers have stated Blue’s nature is compassion! She’s a nurturing presence described as the “mother hen” of the Lions. This makes a lot of sense because you can see Lance doing this a lot- like in s3e6, when he takes up a sniper nest, he checks on his teammates and watches them to see if and how they need help. Also in s3e3 Lance is the most aggressive and outspoken about how the team needs to stick together and helping them reunite.

This also is reflected a lot in how Blue relates to Allura in s3e3- she doesn’t respond to being ordered or commanded by Allura but instead responds very powerfully to Allura expressing vulnerability and asking for help- and basically the lesson she imparts to Allura is it’s okay to not control everything, other people are here to help you.

Throughout the show, Blue and Lance have repeated themes to their arc and interactions. There’s a sense of trusting situations- Lance often unlocks powers or discovers properties by just going into situations and sorta trusting it’ll work out and being mostly vindicated. The first thing Blue does is run wild and hurtle around at terrifying speeds and Lance noticeably isn’t scared that the Lion is out of his control, just caught off-guard at first. Anybody else in his situation would panic- think about how Shiro reacted when Black was moving without him in s2e7.

Allura begins her speech with “As you have found, the Lions choose their pilots” confirming that Blue had already selected Lance as her chosen paladin.

She continues, “The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his Lion.”

So simply enough, we can tell something about the Lions by the paladins they first approached- the Lions seek people who are mirrors of themselves. 

Ergo, Blue was drawn to Lance by being able to see his empathy and compassion as a person- the same kind of spirit that drew him to defend Pidge. He has that sort of empathetic, emotionally wise and supportive nature- as well as a certain openness to things working out. I think it’s significant that Lance got his Lion first- because Lance is the sort of person who would take Blue at face value.

Walking into the mouth of a giant robotic predator and plunking himself in the seat just because she’s indicating for him to do so, because it feels right, because he lets Blue into his heart and mind without hesitation or fear- Lance is opening himself wide up because to connect to anything, he connects emotionally. 

This is nicely embodied in that Blue’s element is water. Water is often seen as an embodiment of the emotional world and the subconscious. I’ve said this before but while all of the paladins have emotional conflicts, Lance is the one who knows the most about his and will often be seen taking initiative and discussing them quickly, rather than waiting to explode.

Onto the other Lions... Allura describes Black, first:

The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation. That is why Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion.

The first adjective given to Black is decisive. The reasoning and decision-making head, which on a human body is the nexus of sensory information and the seat of the nervous system. Understand, take in information as fed by the limbs and act on it.

“In control at all times”, however, tells us that this is not just the cozy seat of the commander. The Black Lion is a heavy burden. You have to consider what control tends to mean for Shiro, someone who is keenly contextualized by trauma, imprisonment, and the anxiety disorder that sprung from it.

“In control” means staying ahead of mental demons. It means having autonomy over his own life and mind, things that the empire is all too eager to take away from him.

From the start, Black evokes this concept of the heavy crown- royalty in the purest sense, a leader who even bereft of regalia or title is seen and known as a king. A person crowned simply because they are charismatic, wise, and assertive- someone people reflexively look to for leadership. And also, a heavily burdened, weighted individual.

Black is represented by space- the sky at its most unbounded, the most liberating. When all Lions are empowered by their element, Black commands the greatest domain, and their massive scarlet wings are a promise of ruling that domain, of soaring through it. That’s a potent promise to make to an ex-prisoner.

But at the same time, space is also the sky at its most transient- space is a vacuum. The seat of Black’s power, this infinite kingdom, is also nothingness. It cannot be held in the hand, it cannot be touched.

Black is thematically associated with the juxtaposition of opposites. The imagery of an eclipse, and teleportation abilities that allow the user to be both present and absent- there and not, disappearing but asserting themselves.

“In control” of the Black Lion is to walk a tightrope act between power and mercy, fear and certainty. It is to command, but to also surrender oneself to trust. Shiro out of the team is the one most often confronted by a sense of helplessness.

So what sums up the Black Paladin? A mind under heavy pressure. That’s a hell of a challenge, and this is why we can see that the Black Paladin mentality can break, can fall off the tightrope in so many ways. Zarkon fell off the tightrope one way- arrogance, refusal to heed the warnings of his senses, disconnect from the limbs, leadership turned into tyranny. And in s3 and s4, Shiro falls off a different way- lack of self-worth, guilt, internalizing, trying to hand the burden to someone else because he assumes he’s no longer worthy of the throne.

But we’re not giving up on Shiro just yet- and he has the potential to rise above the situation.

The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality, and needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion.

Curiosity is the defining trait of the Green Lion. A desire to know, a desire to investigate. I think that this can sometimes lend an overly benign image to Green, that people read her as fundamentally childish, “ooh, what’s this?” but there’s something else here, and something that’s illustrated big time in s2e4.

Green is represented by nature and plant life, but also technology. When Pidge deepens her bond with Green, we’re treated to an image of roots growing upwards and transforming into circuitry.

Simply, Green represents the concept of evolution. Grow, change, and become something entirely new- radically recreate your identity to thrive in an environment previously hostile to you. Quite apt for Pidge who created a new identity to find her family.

But that comes back to the concept of “daring”. If Green was just an overexcited investigative toddler then you wouldn’t need to be ‘daring’- daring suggests boldness, a certain degree of assertion in the face of problems. Which makes sense- it takes some serious determination to try and grow where you’re not welcome. Curiosity, for Green, comes with a spirit of relentlessness- it’s the tenacity with which a forest retakes the four-lane highway cut through it, pothole by pothole, weed by weed.

It’s the willpower required to fight your way through setbacks, failed harvests, and to exploit a mind that naturally thinks outside of the box against situations that are unkind. Interviews have also stated the Green Lion is not a destructive creature by nature- Green would rather find a way to open the puzzle box than take a hammer to it. Which also reflects well Pidge’s propensity for stealthy, technical fighting.

The Yellow Lion is caring and kind. Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together.

This gives us a bit of insight into legs in general, which is needed since Lance just set himself up to be skipped, but it tells us some interesting things about the Yellow Lion.

Taken alone, this summary sounds very sacrificial, that the Yellow Lion runs himself ragged to protect others. But this is contextualized very differently when we see the Yellow Lion himself.

Yellow is an armored juggernaut commanding the greatest defensive armaments and a body that can smash directly through most adversaries. He’s the quintessential defensive force on Voltron, the most fortified Lion- set diagonally across from Red, the quintessential offensive force and least defensive Lion.

Yellow’s relationship with his allies is that he is a shield and a foundation to others- he’s the leg that anchors Voltron to the earth below them and, in the manner of Atlas, takes the world onto his shoulders. Yellow’s burden is heavy, but Allura emphasizes that “his heart must be mighty”- the role of Yellow Paladin is gifted to those who are built for this, who have the strength and force of will.

And again, this sometimes creates more of a benign image than what we see in practice. The Yellow Lion is forceful and assured. In contrast to Blue, who presides over the realm of the emotions, Yellow rules the very material and practical realm- and he is particularly concerned with threats. He makes a shield of his own flesh to deny enemies access to his allies, but he also won’t sit there passively in the face of those foes- in inclination to take care of his own, the Yellow Lion will level mountains, tear through steel, shatter stone. Strength of will, strength of body, the determination of a protector who says “No, I don’t think so, you aren’t getting at my friends today.”

And, sometimes, slams into said friends hard enough to send them spinning.

The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It’s faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable. Its pilot needs to be someone who relies more on instinct than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion.

At first glance Red- and Keith himself- seem to be arrogant loners. “Temperamental”? Too cool for everybody else?

But this is a false pretense through and through, and the rest of the description warns us about that. “Unstable.” “Relies on instinct.” Red is a glass cannon of a Lion- the greatest damage output, but something he pays for with the greatest fragility.

Again, the more we understand of Keith, what at a glance seems like hotshot confidence, not needing a team, is actually self-sufficiency born out of a lifetime of isolation. The instability and temper of the Red Lion is born from a sense of being wounded- grief, loss, and isolation. Red is needy, loyal, and the most aggressively responsive to his paladin in danger. In s2e6, Allura tells us that Red wasn’t like this before- the Lions never did this before.

Red’s prior paladin, Alfor, was surrounded by people, and largely, happy. His loyalty and commitment to his family as the literal right hand of the paladins was rewarded by a relatively long peacetime, the esteem of his peers, the adoration of his people. Those who were close to Alfor have nothing but good things to say about him. It’s a big deal in the flashback when Zarkon actually argues with Alfor over the rift.

But that happiness crumbled. Alfor died trying to save everyone else from what became of the rift, of Zarkon. In loyalty, he left himself behind as a sacrifice- in duty, he faced Zarkon alone, trying to take responsibility for his commander. The person he trusted.

And Red followed Alfor with bonding to Keith. Keith- the orphan of uncertain history- Keith, not a loner, but lonely. And connecting to Keith, we see Red with newfound anxiety, newfound sense of loss, newfound fear.

At his best, Red affords an insight beyond conventional means. It was Red who was able to reveal to Alfor the nature of Voltron and what their bodies needed to be- the nature of the paladin bond. Red is the oracle of Voltron. Like his combat capabilities, this is a potent advantage.

And yet, like fire, Red is needy. More than the other elements, fire can starve and weaken very easily. It can be destroyed, disrupted, extinguished- or rear up too greatly and destroy others around it. Fire can only thrive, really, with the nurturing graces of the other elements. Wood to feed it, air it can breathe. Water and earth to bank it and stop it from blazing out of control.

[poemsfromthealley]

WIP meme

Instead of writing my episode review (such as it is) I remembered @faejilly (who is a bad, bad influence as of late) tagged me for a meme, so I’m gonna do that before I forget. I want to talk about the latest ep but my state is still Too Many Feelings and All My Dreams On the Scale so IDK that I’d be coherent about it.

So! Fic is a much safer topic.

List all the things you’re currently working on in as much or little detail as you’d like, then tag some friends to see what they’re working on.

I am tagging Whoever Wants To Do This, and tag me so I can snoop on your stories-to-be!

At present I have six SH fics in various stages of completion, plus one reaching-for-the-moon kind of idea I doubt will ever see the light of day. These are:

the Exchange Fic I Can’t Talk About

the voice kink PWP feat. Alec being very easy for Magnus talking dirty

five times Magnus found himself in Alec’s space (one way or another)

the one where they argue and then make-up sex ensues (???)

the immortality fic I started before canon basically gave me the exact thing it was gonna be about, so either I’ll shelve it or write it as a road not taken

the Obligatory Actual Longfic I always start for a new fandom, featuring a parallel dimension, a slow burn Clary x Izzy getting together and an alternative take on Magnus and Alec’s reconciliation at the end of S2

(the Renaissance Italy AU I daydream about where Valentine is the charismatic cult leader he never quite became in canon, Izzy woos Clary with poetry and is a secret lady of letters, the Lightwoods guard Florence from demons, and Alec and Lydia wed for pragmatic, period-appropriate reasons but Magnus also Happens. It’s a long story and will probably never be written out.)

The Actual Longfic is the one I’m most chomping at the bit to get started, as I have a mighty need for plotty canonverse fic and I’ve spent too long reading up on New York in an attempt to breathe life into a setting I’ve been to twice in my life.

Also I’ve yelled about Clary x Izzy for ages and I need to actually write it. Also while I adore Magnus and Alec being happy and functional in S3, I am a sucker for mutual pining and the canon break-up calls to me as a golden opportunity to write them outrageously longing for each other, okay? God, I get why they made up so soon in canon but there was so much potential. Six chapters minimum before they go beyond starving glances cast at each other. The good stuff, you know.

I’ve written the prologue, so here’s a bit of an alternative take on Lake Lyn:

Voices through the trees, too distant to be clear. The sonorous hum of the angel speaking. A small human voice responding.

"Is that—" The thin hope in Alec's cut question nearly cracked Izzy’s own answer, too.

"Clary," she said. "It sounds like Clary."

"We'd best hurry," Magnus said, almost conversational, and flicked a tangle of roots off the path before Izzy even thought to look for a detour.

Then, the air shivering like water, the light withdrew, pulling the shadows back where they'd lain before the unearthly display.

They hurried out of the trees toward a narrow cove in the shoreline. A body lay in the trampled grass, not far from a pair of figures huddled into each other. Clary had her face buried in Jace's shoulder, and he held her with a mixture of desperation and disbelief Izzy would puzzle over later.

He was very much alive.

Alec's muffled "Jace?" broke them apart, both of them turning up startled, blood-spattered faces. There were moments when Isabelle knew her brothers could have parted solid rock to reach each other; she watched them mutter hasty questions and answers and fall together in a hard hug when words stopped being enough.

"Well," Magnus said. "Out of all the twist endings this catastrophe could've had, I'll take this one."

She hugged him then, stifling a choked laugh into his jacket. He hadn't died. Jace hadn't died. Clary—Clary had spoken to the angel Raziel, and now stood alone beside Alec and Jace, blood in her hair and down her cheeks and the front of her clothes. Valentine was dead at their feet.

Izzy turned, her throat thick with the sight of Clary. Any crisp words of comfort failed to spark. You're alive, she thought, and for a long silent second the thought was wide as the sky.

"Biscuit." Magnus spoke gently. "Come here."

Clary did, though lingering shock seemed to hinder her steps. Izzy reached to fold her into the hug, too, pressing her head into her cheek and feeling her shake, marrow-deep, forced down like a secret that couldn't be shared.

[hereliesbitches--me]

(Part 1)

Firstly, I would like to thank you for coming to check my cat girl out.

While her background varies per verse she’s played in, the roots below are the background she has in the original world which she comes from. Its my own work i’ve spent years developing, with its own lore, and which I will go on to explain in later posts. My cat is very adaptable to all worlds, and i’m more than happy to chat and explore a little, so please don’t be too overwhelmed. Feel free to ask me anything, and Thank you very much for reading!

Basic Info- Muse Edition:

Full name: Rosie Valentine

Pronunciation: Ro-zee Val-en-tine (Like the day. Hates Valen-TEEN pronunciation)

Nickname(s) or Alias:

- Lady Moon

- Little Moon

- Rose

- Sweetheart

- Juliet

- Cat/ Katz

- Kitten

Gender: Female

Species: Celestial guardian deity( Former- counts as her “Soul” in a physical body ) ~> Human (Former, gained body) ~> Angel (Current. Not a biblical angel)  

Note: Becoming these things was a process. It did not happen all at once.

Age: ( varies by what stage she’s played in) Usually between 28- 32. As an ‘Angel’ , the process of aging is incredibly slowed.

Birthday: March 3, 1990 (physical body)

Sexuality: Bisexual

Nationality:  American

Religion: Christian ( although knows of other deities, and she herself is not always  devote with her life style)  

City or town of birth: Miami, Florida

Currently lives: Rural area in the Hudson Valley, New York

Languages spoken:   As a person, She only speaks English fluently. Has some vague understanding of simple spanish, and decent understanding in American sign language.

Relationship Status: Multiship- Varies by verse. Main partners you’ll see often are, whom I love dearly-

- Eddie Brock/ Venom ( Marvel- @osteum )

- Guts ( Berserk- @lupus-solitarius)

- Casca ( Berserk- @bladeofthehawk )

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Normal:

As a Moon:

Height: 5’3

Weight: 160lb.

Figure/build:

Apple/ faint hourglass shape. Chubby, thick thighs. Slim in the arms and fit calves.

Hair colour: Chocolate brown.

Eye colour: Rusette brown

Skin/fur/etc colour: Medium Beige skin, fur is a creme color. Her body feathers are a light blue.

Tattoos: A swirling red mark on the palm of her left hand.

Scars/distinguishing marks: Covered in array of different scars from battle on nearly all parts of her body- from teeth marks, to burns, to gunshots, to slashes. Significant scars are

- Cross burned into her right hand

- 3 large puncture scars on her abdomen

- Scar down the left corner of her lip

- Scars across both her wrists

- A perfect ring around her upper left arm

Preferred style of clothing:   Usually tries to cover as much skin as possible. Likes Button ups or shirts with long sleeves, or she rolls them up to her elbows. Prefers leggings for comfort, but often caught in dress pants. Anything that covers the skin of her legs and shirts that cover her arms. Rocks the casual professional look. Color choices are always neutral colors or cool shades. A splash of color is usually touches of red.

Frequently worn jewellery/accessories:  Silver cross always around her neck.

Health/ Habits / Personality

Addictions:

Sex

Alcoholic

It’s rather complicated with her. Used as an outlet and a distraction for her sorrows, she suffers from PTSD which at times can make her shift from sex-repulsed (Because of her own shame), or hyper-sexual for the sake of Validation and comfort. More often than not, she’s well aware when she is being used, but she’s been conditioned to play the game  and a darker part of herself likes it. The artificial intimacy is soothing for the moment until her senses can return to her., and she sets herself straight again to keep going. At the same time, that momentary input often makes her crave for more, but her fear of the vulnerability of a relationship keeps her from seeking and staying in a healthy one. It is something she is trying to overcome into her adult life. Alcohol is used to Dull the pain. Its better to be hazy than aware of your misery.

Personality:

While her personality varies by her surroundings and by the people she’s approached by, you’ll see Rosie best as someone charismatic and friendly to most, not easily swayed or intimidated given her own life experiences- even to someone who probably could wipe the ground with her physical body or kill her in some way. She’s quicker to try to befriend a possible enemy than act out aggressively simply because, despite the power and destruction she is very well capable of, she does not like to fight. Its tiring and, more often than not, unnecessary. She is trying to improve herself as a person and avoid stresses that cause her bad habits to resurface.  She likes to make light of hard situations, especially when its her life on the line. She’ll joke about her own misery, she’ll try to set herself up with good association. It helps to put her image as one that’s happy and reliable, and it eases her own inner turmoil by pretending to be something else.

She lives by her secrets, and rather not let anyone know about her filthy past lest she really trust them. Childhood experience has left her with a certain abrasiveness to female authority figures, to which that too she is trying to control.  Despite her appearance of being incredibly outgoing , she’s guarded and does not get easily attached. The only exception might be to someone whom she has the responsibility over to care for. Children are a near instant soft spot in her heart, and a weakness to her guard.

Behind closed doors, the woman still faces her own demons. Still trying to handle bipolar depression, overcome her conditioned fears and addiction, and her own soldier complex to try to seem normal to the people around her. Despite being a magnet for trouble, she really does enjoy the company of others. And once she is attached to you, ya truly have gained an ally for life.

Fears/phobias:

*Cat has the strange habit of pushing on her fears for the sake of thrills. Her reaction of them may not always be the same. Especially some that would be exploited in the bedroom*

- Lack of control

- Being pinned face down

- Being unable to move her body

- Smoke/Gas(anything that causes breathing difficulty)

- Unwanted bodily contact. Dislikes her skin being touched

- Tight places with no quick exits

- Slightest wariness Female authority figures

- Elastic Balloons/ When they pop(HARD FEAR)

Hobbies:

- Collecting old records for her record player and old tapes.

- Creating and Collecting music boxes

- Cleaning her house, truck, weapons, and armor

- Spending time with her kids to ground her and remind her of her purpose.

- Befriending and nurturing some feared creature because she has faith she can see the good in anyone- which will probably bite her in the ass one of these days.

- Baking

- Murder

Taste in music:

- A Lover of the oldies from the 20s-80s.

- Classic and alternative Rock. Cat ears are sensitive to intense sounds.

- Classical music

Significant/special belongings:

- Silver Cross always around her neck

- Antique records and music player

CAREER

Level of education:

High school Graduate completed online, some college classes taken in criminology and psychology with duel enrollment. But never went to an official university. Upon the death of her father and a shift in her parental guardian, she is dragged into a military division of Calvary Academy to train, to  hunt, and kill all things supernatural.

Qualifications:

- 5 years military experience in hunting the demonic and the supernatural.

- 8+ years on the police force

Current job title and description:

- Officer in the NYPD

- Takes on detective work as her own personal side project

- ( Dependent on the time I play her) Organized and runs a program known as the ‘Angel Project’ - A ragtag team of super people, a species known as angels , to show the potential and good they are for the public. With her own agenda under wraps. She is the figurehead and speaker for the group, handling all the mission updates and policy works, and making sure missions run smoothly.

Family History:

Parents names/ Status:

- Roland Valentine(Father- Deceased, Murdered),

- Camellia Hidalgo( Mother- Deceased, died of cancer )

Sibling names/ Status:

- Alexander Hidalgo (Brother- Deceased)

Children:

- Malakaid (Adopted)

- Mia Blagrove

- Thursday Blagrove