#it pertains to a certain death which I will not name for spoilers

[lucienarcheron]

So I finished Fourth Wing…and I am deeply upset about a particular thing that happens in the end that I don’t think I’ll recover from.

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Crimson Ties (Bela Dimitrescu/Reader, Soulmate AU) Pt. 3

Fandom: Resident Evil: Village Rating: T for language Warnings: Typical Vampire shenanigans + mentions of animal death Genre: Hurt + comfort Summary: Time to meet the family! What exactly has Cassandra told her mother? Can Bela convince her family to calm the hell down? We'll find out! Spoiler: there's the start of a cute date afterwards Notes: Once more we visit Bela's private study, which I first described in a chapter of Serenade. Added a few more details this time. PS reader is probably low-key a theater nerd with a hint of a goth phase, just saying. Also this chap is a little short, sorry. Previous Chapters: 1: Stem the Flow, 2: Tangled Strands

3: Rumbling Thunder

Heart racing, you step into the dining room, just behind Bela. Both of you are nervous, but find comfort in each other. Still, what you see upon entering only makes you feel worse. At the head of a large table stands none other than Lady Alcina Dimitrescu. Besides her is her middle daughter, the one who confronted you earlier, who sends you a knowing smirk as you walk in. Lady Dimitrescu, on the other hand, is scowling. Her eyes are squinted in a clear display of disapproval. If not for Bela’s hand squeezing your own, it was likely that you would have fainted from fear.

“I see Cassandra has wasted no time in spreading rumors,” Bela said bitterly. You’re amazed by her ability to stand tall in the face of her family’s tension. Yet there was a part of you that wondered if you were worth the struggle, at least for your soulmate. Thankfully, you are not given much time to ponder the thought. No, you’re being pulled towards the closest side of the tabe, guided next to an ornate seat. Neither Bela nor yourself sit yet, however. “Please, mother, do not be hasty to make your judgement. I promise that-”

“Do not presume to tell me of my own business, daughter. The timing of my judgement is my prerogative, not yours,” Lady Dimitrescu interrupted, staring right at you. A shiver runs down your spine at the eye contact. What did Cassandra say to her? You wonder, struggling to breathe past the lump in your throat. Even Bela becomes visibly nervous at the interaction. “Now… are you certain, without a doubt, that this is your soulmate?” Did she really even have to ask? What were the chances that Bela would save you, one person out of at least a dozen in the cellar, for any other reason? Still, your soulmate straightens up at the attention, and replies as confidently as possible.

“Yes, of course, mother. I would not dare risk your anger for any lesser reason,” Bela assured. Then she gives your hand another soft squeeze, before pulling hers back a little, catching the thread that bound you together with her fingers. Lifting it, she tugs it somewhat absentmindedly. Out of habit you immediately return the action. Unfortunately, those around you would be unable to see the display. For all they knew, the two of you could be faking it, simply attempting to get out of the situation unscathed. Surprisingly though, you see Alcina hesitate. Her left hand twitches as if she was thinking of her own red string. Has she ever met her partner? Did she know the pure joy that her daughter had so recently felt?... Maybe she’d be more sympathetic to your situation if she had.

“We will see if your defiance pans out in time, Bela. For now… Why don’t we hear what your pet has to say about themselves, hmm?” Lady Dimitrescu suggested, giving a somewhat devious smile. Next to you, Bela grimaces, then sends you a pleading look. Alas, you cannot read her mind, and can only guess as to how you’re supposed to respond. Bowing is a sign of respect in virtually all cultures, you think, probably a good place to start.

“It is an immeasurable pleasure to formally make your acquaintance, Lady Dimitrescu,” you said, before giving your full name. Then you rise from your bow, once more making eye contact. Out of the corner of your vision you see Cassandra rolling her eyes. “I know that I am a mere human, and hardly the epitome of a prime specimen. But I am determined to prove my worth, for there is no prize on this earth more grand than being allowed to love Lady Bela. Every ounce of my willpower is prepared to devote myself to this task, entirely, so that I may give Lady Bela the courtship and happiness that she is deserving. It is both an obligation and an honor.” Hopefully your soulmate wouldn’t mind you using the same line twice, at least under these circumstances.

In the seconds that follow, several things happen: One, you see Cassandra frown a little, and refuse to look in your direction. Two, Lady Dimitrescu makes a surprised face, but quickly shifts into an expression of satisfaction. Thirdly, Bela’s hand finds your own again, giving it an incredibly soft squeeze. Last but not least… someone you haven’t seen before enters the room. She has red hair, a green pendant around her neck, and eyes that light up with curiosity when she sees you. If you had to guess, you’d assume that she was another one of Bela’s sisters. Here’s hoping she’s a tad bit friendlier, you think.

“Did I miss anything? Ooh, please tell me we’re having this lovely stranger for breakfast?” She asked, grinning maniacally. So much for being friendlier, you think, figuring that she was being literal. Based on the way Bela tenses up in response, you’re probably right. Before she can protest, however, Lady Dimitrescu clears her throat and speaks.

“Ah, Daniela… This stranger-” she says the word with far less venom than you anticipated, but it is venom nonetheless- “is your dear sister’s soulmate. We will not be draining them of blood. Again. Assuming that they behave themselves. Is that clear?” She asked, staring down at the newcomer. There’s a slight pause, tension still lingering in the air, followed by a sigh of relief from Bela. Much to your surprise, neither Cassandra nor Daniela seem particularly upset by this announcement. In fact, the latter simply shrugs and takes her seat at the table. Next thing you know everyone else is sitting as well, including Bela, who gestures for you to follow suit. “I’ll have one of the servants fetch you some more… appropriate food. Cynthia, my dear?” Soon enough a maiden, perhaps a decade or two older than yourself, hurriedly enters the room. With a bow, she addresses Alcina.

“Yes, Lady Dimitrescu?”

“Have Miss Bouregard make an extra plate of whatever it is you sort eat, and bring it here. We have an… unexpected guest,” Alcina explained. At that, Cynthia glances at you, her eyes briefly widening in surprise. Without another word she turns away, giving another bow before heading away to fulfill her task. Once more you’re the only human in the room. Oddly enough, you manage to feel quite at ease, as if surviving one round was enough to guarantee you’d win the overall game. Well, at the very least you now had a chance. Regardless of what was to come, you were glad for that, for this opportunity to be with your soulmate. At the end of the day… little else mattered to you.

———————————

Much to your relief, the rest of breakfast proceeded smoothly. Conversation was sparse, with most of it being hushed whispers from the other side of the table, but you hardly minded. Normally you would find it rude. Now, you were simply pleased that they weren’t being up front with their hostility. More so, it allowed you and Bela to have your own conversation, which mainly pertained to your plans for the day. Several times during your discussion, a glance elsewhere would show you that Alcina was paying attention. Exactly once you even saw her attempting to hide a smile. A sense of pride had swelled in your chest at the sight.

It has remained there, even until now, as you move into Bela’s private study. One quick survey of the room tells you a thousand things about your soulmate. For starters, it’s clear that she’s musically inclined. There’s a harp in one corner, adjacent to a folded music stand, as well as a small bookshelf dedicated entirely to sheet music. A couple medium sized instrument cases are nearby, but you don’t immediately recognize their shape. Further into the room is a rather old looking desk, slightly worn, yet clearly cared for. Possibly passed down the generations? Next to the desk is a massive window with a couple spare chairs. All across the walls were bookshelves and mementos, including several skulls (at least one of them human). Every book you looked over appeared to be well read, with many bookmarks inside, some held together by tape and prayers.

“This… this is sublime, my darling. I could rest here for a month and hardly finish cherishing half the space!” You said, grinning at your soulmate. She’s equally pleased, seeming a tad relieved as well. Perhaps she had worried you’d be thrown off by the skulls? Wanting to reassure her, you approach that particular shelf, examining them closely. However, you do not touch them, not wanting to risk damaging her collection. “Truly marvellous. Dare I ask where you got these specimens?” It’s a joke, but Bela stiffens nonetheless, making you quickly redact your statement. “My apologies, I meant it as a jest. Though you are welcome to tell me more about them if you so desire! I will listen with rapt attention, I promise.”

“Most of them are gifts from Cassandra. During the summers we hunt, her more so than Daniela or myself. I… dislike wasting anything, and there’s only so much to be done with most bones. They have quite a few ornamental uses, however. Useful for study, as well,” Bela mentioned, smiling softly. Then she moves to stand next to you, carefully reaching to grab one of the skulls. “This was from one of our hounds, actually. I raised her from puppy to adult, took her on every hunt, even let her sleep in my quarters on colder nights. When she got sick I…” A pause, mouth open but unmoving, eyes slipping shut. “I couldn’t bring myself to put her down. Even argued with my mother, night after night, begging for another choice. None came, of course, and in the end even I could not deny her the softest embrace of death… Still, you must think me strange, to keep such a thing as a reminder of her.”

“Not at all, my dear. We all remember, and grieve, in our own ways. I’ve often found myself intrigued by skulls, of all sorts,” you admitted, sheepishly rubbing the back of your neck with your hand. “All we are, our minds or mayhap our souls, contained in one hard shell. It’s incredible, and terrifying, all at the same time, to hold one in my hands, or even merely examine one. Oh, what stories these bones could tell, if only they could talk… Though I suppose there are entire fields of science devoted to such a thought…” With that said, you look back at Bela just in time to see her staring fondly at the canine skull. Then she places it back on its perch, dusting her hands off afterwards, taking one last moment to appreciate her collection.

“I’m glad you and I agree on this,” she said softly. Once more she’s looking at you, smiling wide. “Now let’s make memories of our own, to hold in our bones forevermore, yes?”

[feuilly-cakes]

The Maze Runner (series) - review

Buckle up, this is going to be a long one. My thoughts on the series as a whole is that it’s an alright one, and you’ll soon see why the praise isn’t higher there. I’ll go book by book with my thoughts on each, so you can know exactly the way my feelings progressed to this point.

Book 1: The Maze Runner - 5*

I gave this book a 5 star rating, but honestly it's been nearly 2 months since then and I'm still not sure on that rating. Ideally, 5 stars for me means I got so attached to the characters I cried or had some other emotion, but that didn't happen here. Instead, I got a fantastic plot with a ton of mystery and a lot of terror, all with amazing writing but uninteresting characters. I won't say they are flat characters, because they aren't, but I didn't really feel a connection with them. There is only so much you can relate to a character who has no history.

Thomas is obviously the main character and so we see everything from his perspective, and we do see his emotions, his personality, his struggle. He spends a good portion of the book confused, angry, sad, frustrated. He's not a flat, boring character by any means, but for some reason I just didn't feel that connection I usually do with main characters. Maybe it's a side effect of the third person limited narration, or maybe he just isn't a character I can relate to, but I wasn't really interested emotionally in his character. I didn't need to be really, because the plot more than made up for it.

When it comes to the plot, I found no faults. It was fast paced and had me asking questions the whole way through, and most of them even got answered. Most of the questions pertained to how the Maze worked; How was it so high up that the box rose for half an hour? What was really around The Cliff and how were they seeing stars below them? How did the walls move? Was it actually indoors or not and how would that even work anyway? I love when I’m constantly asking questions and coming up with theories while reading, and this book was one huge question mark. Just the memories plot alone had me on the edge of my seat, and I wanted to know more.

If you only read books for the characters and their personal arcs, this might be a bit weak on that for you. If you love a good mystery mixed in with a bit of horror and sci-fi elements, plus a dash of dystopia (which I’m sure will become a big dollop in the next book) then this is absolutely the best thing to read. It’s definitely a 5 star quality, just in my personal opinion not a 5 star emotion.

Book 2: The Scorch Trials - 3*

Honestly, this was not anywhere near as enjoyable as the first book. Technically speaking it was a well written book, but personally I didn’t find it great, simply okay - average. Enjoyable to an extent but irritating to a certain degree. I kept reading because I expected something to be answered but all I got was confused. After watching all the films and powering through the first book I genuinely expected so much more from this and I was let down.

It’s darker and more gory than the first book, with some shocking scenes that kept me going. I did appreciate all the dream flashbacks from Thomas that helped put together what exactly he had to do with the Maze. Outside of these dreams I just didn’t know what was going on half the time and I felt frustrated by it all. His backstory was legit the only reason I was interested at all. I didn’t really care where they were going or their journey, l just wanted to know about his missing memories.

I understand this one was to set up the world a bit more and go into character development, but this was the most mediocre of middle book syndrome books. I can honestly say here I preferred the film.

Book 3: The Death Cure - 4*

Oh boy with this one. I have a very immediate reaction with lots of spoilers here on my goodreads if anyone wants to see that, but I'll summarise with the good spoilery bits cut out.

Well, my brain hurts.

This book honestly started out kinda meh, with some interesting tidbits thrown in. Then it got less meh, but more disturbing. Whether all of it was really that bad or whether it was bad because of the real world parallels right now I do not know, but I got a little bit messed up by everything that happened in Denver. The worldbuilding became more relevant here, we learn more about the Flare, the way people are living alongside it and/or with it, and the way Cranks are really treated. We get to find out about The Purge too, which I'll leave as a lovely surprise for those of you who haven't yet read, but what happened and my loud opinions are through that goodreads link if you want entertainment.

And on that note, let's talk Teresa. Full disclosure, I went into this trilogy already loving the films, and I still stand by that love. The treatment of Teresa in those films, however, was abysmal, and to read her actual character arc, well, I was enraged. Her arc in these books is fantastic, and the way she grows and realises the consequences of her actions is actually realistic, especially after all the trauma of the trials. We barely even see her and yet we see most of her character arc in this book. Simply getting her memories back wouldn't make her forget all the horror and go back to Wicked, and the way it was all handled was super satisfying. It does all make me wonder if perhaps she knew about the Brain thing, though. I won't know until I read that prequel story so until then I'll just have to speculate [currently reading that, still don't know]. On a similar note the Chancellor Page storyline was bizarrely different, and I had a shock when we get to interact (?) with her in the capacity we did.

Chapter 56 can choke. I knew it was coming okay, yet it still made me feel like I was punched in the chest. Especially after the previous scenes where we see things happen with a certain character in a scary way.

I can't talk about the Brain thing. It's disturbing to think about and I will be repressing the memory of that whole section of the book as soon as I can. It also kicks off a series of horrifying imagery and tragic events that hurt my emotions. All I can really say is that it's a strong ending to a trilogy, and if you're here you probably got past the travesty that was The Scorch Trials so this book will be a breeze compared to that, just be wary of the medical horror and the horror in general, since it's pretty graphic.

You may notice I haven't discussed Thomas, and that is because I'm too messed up by the Brain thing. The medical horror plus his reaction to the knowledge of what was about to happen knocked me flat emotionally and I may never get past that in terms of these books. No one has ever mentioned the Brain thing in any fan space I've been in, and that's for a good reason. Just know Thomas grew on me slowly just in time to cause me great distress. That is all.

Book 4: The Kill Order - 4*

I kind of loved this book, but as a friend. It basically shows the story of the Flare virus' bad beginnings in the world, with flashbacks to the solar flares that caused all the initial devastation. It was one hell of a page turner. It read like it was just meant to be a film, if you know what I mean. It does stand alone if you don’t read the prologue.

I honestly wasn’t expecting to get quite so many tidbits of information about the actual Flares event itself; to be honest I was expecting this to be a typical zombie kind of story that starts after the beginning and ends before the end, but it actually starts at ground zero on day 1 of the Flare (outside of the control group that is). I thought it was horrifying and fascinating to see how quickly it mutates and the effects changes, and also how the characters react knowing that they’ve probably been exposed to it from the beginning. Seeing the inside of the mind of one the earliest Cranks as they become infected was amazingly interesting after seeing how Newt acted in the Death Cure when he got sick.

The flashbacks to the Solar Flares and its aftermath were just terrifying. The imagery was horrifying and the whole concept of sun flares and then massive floods of boiling hot water put me right on edge even though obviously they were alive at the start of the book. Something that massively surprised me as I read was that the Flare virus had only been around for 13 years before the start of The Maze Runner, and it only took the government 1 year after the solar flares to decide to kill off part of the population. No other dystopian I’ve read can top that level of evilness from governmental systems.

Aside from the horror aspect, I was also mightily confused and a bit amused-but-also-horrified at the cult. If you’ve read it you know. If you haven’t yet then you’ve got a storm coming let me tell you. Although we see in Death Cure that Cranks form mobs with a common purpose and of course they they lose their minds, I wasn’t at all expecting to see an actual cult just casually thrown in. It just adds to the madness of the story and actually fit right in among the other craziness of what went down.

My one question is: is DeeDee Teresa? (She was! It was implied in the next book.)

The reason I didn't rate this higher despite my enjoyment was that it just isn't a book I would reread. It's like an action film or horror film that you really enjoyed and appreciated but won't stick around for too long.

Book 5: The Fever Code: 3* on Goodreads, 2.5* in my heart

This one was a slog to get through. It goes over Thomas' life in Wicked, from the first few days to the day he goes into the maze. I didn't like it very much at all. My biggest problem was the torture of a 4 year old only a few pages in. It ruined the rest of the book for me. My second biggest problem is that we never learn Newt’s name. The betrayal of it all is astounding.

I’ve got to be honest, I was only pushing myself to read this because I wanted to know about the purge. It doesn’t happen until pretty late in the book and nearly everything before that is terribly boring. Everything after that happens pretty quickly.

I appreciated that we get added context to some things that happened in the main trilogy, however, some things that happen take away from the story in a bad way. Dr Paige is one example of this, where in the main trilogy she only appears in a positive context to save Thomas and the other immune, while in this she does some truly evil things behind the scenes unrelated to the context of the trials (or so she tells Thomas. We don’t know how much of that was truth and how much was intended as a Variable but either way it contradicts what we know of her in the Death Cure). The huge reveal at the ending regarding Teresa is also out of nowhere and seems contradictory to the main books. How much of her actions were planned and how much were real? Why would she lead the gladers to escape if she was as this book said she was? Was it a change of mind or was this particular aspect a retcon that wasn’t intended with the original books?

This one felt like an unnecessary addition to the series and I’m disappointed by how it turned out. I expected more and got less. If it hadn’t picked up in the last 150 pages this would’ve been a 2* simply for the disappointment that equalled that of The Scorch Trials. This may be a bit harsh but I do believe the books should have ended after The Kill Order, and the rest be left to the imagination.

To end on a semi-positive note: it turns out The Brain Thing was actually mentioned to them, but it's unclear if Teresa picked up on it, as we know Thomas didn't. It all came out at a very inopportune time while they were killing a crank who knew about it. The Brain Thing isn't positive at all, but I was very excited to learn if they had any inkling and that was sort of answered!

[mimir-anoshe]

💧&🔥

Just a bit of Cursed/Nimulot analysis… Cause I’m bored. And I might have found some interesting parallels/imagery watching it through for the 7 billionth time that I would love to share. If anyone enjoys writing meta… Which I mean I know some of y’all need your fix… Feel free to use anything/expand upon it. I would, but I’m a new fur-mumma and she’s taking up all my waking hours, so this little shit-post about this new hell hole of a ship I’ve dove headfirst into will have to do. The images are from a video and show produced by Netflix, I own nothing, so pls don’t be a bitch about it Tumblr.

***SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW!!! WATCH IT AND COME BACK!! OR DON’T? ANYHOO YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!!*** ⚠️  

- beware Tumblr app users, it may be your doom -

Where to begin, with the teaser? Or with…

THE SHOW! Here be just a wee few times the writers/director(s) through the writing/cinematography have mirrored these two ‘protect the kid - warriors till the end’ idiots. I’m sure others have picked up on them… Not in any particular order, here ya go anyway.

1x02 - 1x10

*Insert spiderman pointing at spiderman meme*

One scar made by an actual dark god tricking her when she was a child, the others by a very human evil tricking him when he was a child and the consequences for both lasting into adulthood.

1x02 - 1x10

Look at the years of trauma Anakin, look at it! They even use the same damn word! The phonetic tones of disgust! The outcast syndrome! Oof. (And it’s not like Nimue being called demon has to do with a general racial-slur from a human, that is a fey calling her that from her own village!) They both grew up viewing themselves as “demons”, the “abominations”. Even their expressions are the same, fear and sorrow and self-hatred. All they both want is to be accepted! (By their fathers especially). To be loved.

The two who are “cursed.”

1x02 - 1x01

*says nothing*

1x04 - 1x01

“Where to begin? With water or with fire?”

Where to begin? WHERE TO BEGIN??? *dies*

Water ☯ Fire

Sword up  ☯ Sword down

Light/Day  ☯  Dark/Shadow

Life & Death (Life around her, death in the water) ☯ Death & Life (forest fires make way for new growth)

Long bit: Both characters are associated to the elements of water and fire individually through the environment/cinematography/colour pallet/colour symbolism, and then water and fire is mirrored between them. She is overall water, he is overall fire; but they also have a bit of the other in each other.

For Nimue this symbolism is often done through her environment, showing her connection to nature as the fey queen and that she does not hide who she is if she can help it. She does not hide externally, so her elemental symbolism becomes EXTERNAL.

Whilst for Lancelot though he is often surrounded by fire, the idea of water/tears is either symbolised through the fairy tale style of the artwork or referenced for him through his name as “the weeping monk.” Hinted at in his characterisation of guilt and self-loathing, the way other characters respond to him (”the one who cries”/”you see it all through those weeping eyes”). His main conflict is an Internal fight between who he is and who he needs to become, so a lot of his main symbolism surrounding water (and even fire as pertaining to magic - ashfolk - and not killing fey) is INTERNALISED, hidden, cut off from the Hidden themselves. Symbolic of him hiding his connection to the fey and that other side of himself, the “human” (morally speaking) side, and therefore hiding who he truly is… Lancelot.

For Nimue, fire means life. Being chosen and her magic saving people. For Lancelot fire means Death, his deeds, “the fires of hell” and the destruction of the “ash” folk and his heritage. He believes hell fire is his fate, going by the “even if I am damned.”

For Nimue, water means death. In the water she takes revenge, where that Paladin almost drowned her. Into the water she falls, where they think her shot dead by arrows. The water is her fate as the Lady of the Lake. For Lancelot, water means life. Tears, emotions, taking responsibility, feeling the weight of his guilt and mourning for the things he has done/lost. For him, water - not ash -means a second chance to be better. To put out the fires and heal.

Though in the end, for both of them, water & fire most of all represent death and rebirth.

1x03

^If you don’t understand I can’t help you. ☯

1x01 - 1x07

Now this one I found quite interesting. Remember that even if Nimue directed the second one, it is still the Power/will of the Hidden at play. (Or should I say the will of the Writers/director) Chosen? Mirrors? Night and Day? Fire… Embers to Ashes? We shall see, but I think it was definitely on purpose.

^I’ll just leave that here, the fuckers kept missing each other for an entire season (WHICH WAS ON PURPOSE THE WRITERS DID THAT ON PURPOSE just as an fyi). The fact that there is this much sexual tension, anticipation, mirroring, fate, destiny and chemistry between two characters who have never even mET should be ILLEGAL! They affect each other immeasurably without ever even meeting, so imagine what will happen when they do...? *pterodactyl screech*

Whelp there ye go. Under the next gif I also did a bit on the Teaser trailer, as that just fucked me up a bit I have to tell you! Up to you whether you want to continue digesting my mad ramblings or not. *Shrug* Thanks for coming to my TED talk guys– 😂 Somebody fucking smite me down like the eldritch horror of writing I am dear god think of the children…

THE OFFICIAL TEASER TRAILER:

Arthur running for the Sword of Power, because you know, King Arthur.

“The Legend says…” The Legend of King Arthur and his Sword Excalibur/Caliburnus? The line is very meta, a reference to the in world legend that this story will create, but it’s also expecting the audience to be savvy of the actual legend of King Arthur and his knights. Both these ideas intertwined into one. Aka, the trailer expects us to have pre-decided expectations for the story we’re now being told, because we’ve already been told it before; this fairy tale of celtic myth/history. All the “spoilers” about Arthur, his lineage, Morgana, Guinevere, the Knights, even the lady of the Lake herself come with that knowledge. However…

Surprise surprise, the Weeping Monk (killer of fae)/ Lancelot (eventually Arthur’s most trusted KNIGHT) instead picks up the fae sword from it being embedded in the ground, subverting our expectation, it definitely fucking subverted mine, but not in a GOT way, in a ~good~ way. I was like, “Whosoever be this fine hooded fellow hath stole away both sword and my good sense!!! 👀”

Also harkening back to the legend of the sword in the stone (another expectation), which the action itself signifies that person be - as Merlin so eloquently puts - “The one true king.”

Ok… Symbolic wink wink nudge nudge towards his true nature (inside and out), saving Percival, potentially becoming the greatest warrior and protector of his people and eventually a Knight of the Round Table; and perhaps King of our Hearts??? Ok, sure thing “concept” trailer. I’ll bite.

Ok… *deep breath*

WHOMSt the fUCK decided to frame (fae “ashman”) ?Lancelot? with the ~SWORD OF KINGS~ (also of fae origin) A N D the line…‘the one true king’ ALL IN ONE… instead of Arthur?

‘BELONGS to the one true King?’ Belongs, hmm interesting word choice… This done in a worms eye view shot meant to make the viewer feel like the character is above/superior/basically we’re kneeling before them? (Which I mean sure? but…) Hmm??? HMMM??? I don’t understand CONCEPT Trailer what is the CONCEPT you’re trying to get across? One hand on his paladin sword and the other on “fae hope” Excalibur I get, he has to make an important decision, one that will either save his humanity (and his people) or destroy it (them), yeah yeah sure that’s F I N E…

…but what about the “KING” SHIT HMMM?? Is there something you would like to share with the rest of the class? *sips tea whilst staring straight into the camera*

it may mean nothing don’t quote me

…Anwaaaay… We all know in a fight Lancelot can kick Arthur’s ass so that’s not whats going on here. Arthur is P I S S E D. They’re not just bog standard enemies here. I mean WPM kicking him in the ribs was pretty “fuck you” and they were just enemies there. In this instance the sword is in play, Weeping Monk has taken something from Arthur that he feels “BELONGS” to him - in this case symbolised by WPM taking “his” sword - and that’s making it personal.

“You stole my sword ya bitch!” And what is the sword linked to? Power? Sure. The right of being a King? Yep. And also a certain Queen…  No no no, this is the Concept of rivalry. It shows that whatever relationship Arthur and his “Knight” will have in the future after all the “die die die” starts to sizzle down will - in its genesis - be a rivalry. Probably mirroring Gawain and Arthur when they first met to an extent. A rivalry for power? For something else? Who Knows!

*whistles innocently*

And down down down he goes. He’s FALLING. There are many metaphorical concepts associated to FALLING… Falling from “grace” (in the eyes of the Church)… Falling because he has a sky full of guilt crashing down upon him… falling for h… falling in Lo… into the Water!!!! Until he is completely submerged. Water, the idea of cleansing, of washing away who you once were/trauma/sins of the past so you may be reborn a better version of yourself. His old ideals are defeated, he submits to his true heritage and allows it to wash around him so he may begin to heal.

Though if we’re talking metaphors, water is - for obvious reasons - always associated with the LADY OF THE LAKE… Nimue. He has fallen into her world. (pss he’s gonna fall for the Chick in the Lake - I think - there ye go). Water is associated to memory/reflections and mirrors. And he is CRASHING through this mirror… This idea of reflections/mirror images is even more ironic when you’ve watched the show.  

And as he falls beneath the water with the sword of a King, she rises out of it, with the sword of a Queen… Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s in the biggest shipping hell of them all? Either these two are going to be really good at relay, or there’s some conceptual significance here. The specifics? No fecking clue, will need to wait for a season 2! There is also some interesting use of Z~oo~m in this last bit, but I’m sure it’s pretty obvious to you all. Summary: just visually in a concept “teaser” trailer, the zoom in on them both, the reverse mirroring, the literal and symbolic visual of water and the Sword (of rulers) connecting them frames these two characters together, that’s just in the concept trailer. Links their legend together. TBH IT LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE LANCELOT FELL INTO THE WATER AND TURNED INTO NIMUE  WHAT IS THIS GREEK SOULMATE SHIT I’M–

*calms down* This trailer and the show also definitely said to the original Arthurian Legend “RIP but I’m different.” I mean, Nimue is definitely not Lancelot’s mother figure in this one, that’s all I’m saying.

I think this legend might be a wee bit different 😉*cackles*

[twelvedreamsfortheredqueen]

Observations on the Hierarchy Of the Guard of Priwen

The Guard of Priwen largely remains a mystery to us as the player throughout Vampyr. No matter how openly we see them patrol the streets as some form of underground night watch, we only see glimpses of their true, and supposedly resurrected power, let alone witness the history of what they were before the schism from their “cowardly” brothers, the Brotherhood of St. Paul’s Stole. As Lady Ashbury parts with us, the Guard of Priwen is a secret society, one of many in the dreary and eerie vampire underworld.

I have other plans to delve deeper into the militaristic madness that is the Guard of Priwen’s inner workings and possible historical backgrounds, but I first wanted to share this small piece regarding the one detail that is most obvious in the game: the several Mobs we encounter with their logos splattered all across it. Therefore, this will be a shorter analysis solely dedicated to the possible hierarchy within Priwen, combining datamined research, the lore, and some fun historical notes behind each and every rank!

As per usual, this analysis will have spoilers, this time all the way through! All parts of this post will discuss Vampyr’s lore in detail, so please skip if you do not wish to be spoiled! 

Tagging @comfycheesecakes, @orionali, @cursedbethechoice as I imagine some of this may be to each of your interests. 

To preface a starting point point: Usher elaborates on the history of Priwen’s conception when Jonathan speaks to him in the West End inside his crypt: 

Usher also writes of them in the Collectible “Laughing at the Guard”, explaining their origins and beliefs from a historical point. The Collectible helps to detail the inner turmoils that founded the Brotherhood as well as the detailed purpose behind its creation:

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This gives us a starting point to Priwen’s possible background and development. 1801 places the birth of the Guard of Priwen in the Georgian Era, beginning from 1714 to circa 1830 - 1837. 

You will also see a militant trend following Priwen which is also an obvious fact in game but characters like Archer Woodbead in The Docks or Dorothy Crane in Whitechapel, both in Districts with the highest concentration of Priwen, this is a very visible trend for those around them: 

Dorothy’s exchange occurs if you Spare her as Jonathan, revealing a harrowing fact about Priwen’s encroaching behaviour in their fanatical fear of keeping any sign of vampire activity eradicated. Beforehand, Priwen guards burst in to the Dispensary regardless of your Pillar Choice as Jonathan, with the patients downstairs being shot to death should you check again with Senses. The bodies no longer have visible heartbeats.

When Jonathan begins to gain access to the rich streets of the West End, it, too, struggles to avoid Priwen’s influence with not only their guard presence, but also their criminal presence! 

Inspector Charles Jerome Albright will speak to Jonathan about the recent happenings and murders in London, claiming that there are:

Jonathan has the option to then report a possible suspect, one of these being Geoffrey McCullum, the current leader of Priwen:

If you choose McCullum, Jonathan calls Priwen a group of “vigilantes”; a vigilante is someone, or a group, who attempts to enforce laws (or their ideas of what is law) without the authority to do so.

With this very worrying trend now established, let us fully move onto dissecting Priwen’s inner workings!

GUARD OF PRIWEN

What’s interesting to note is that a lot of the current enemies in GoP have different names depending on where you look—from either the canonical versions in the game themselves, to the game files, or even the concept art. I will be looking at all three sources for any comparisons!

PRIWEN

To begin dissection—I will first begin with the titular names of each organisation for each of their respective sections, beginning with the Guard of Priwen. “Priwen” is a reference to Geoffrey of Monmouth’s (Latin: Galfridus Monemutensis, Galfridus Arturus, Welsh: Gruffudd ap Arthur, Sieffre o Fynwy)  Arthurian legend titled “The History of the Kings of Britain”, or “De gestis Britonum” (On the Deeds of the Britons) or Historia regum Britanniae”, written circa. 1136.“Priwen” is the name of King Arthur’s shield, hence, the Guard of Priwen:

“Without a moment’s delay each man present, inspired by the benediction given by this holy man, rushed to put on his armour and to obey Dubricius’ orders. Arthur himself put on a leather jerkin worthy of so great a king. On his head he put a golden helmet, with a crest carved in the shape of a dragon; and across his shoulders a circular shield called Priwen, on which there was painted a likeness of the Blessed Mary, Mother of God, which forced him to be thinking perpetually of her.” — Legends of Arthur, Richard Barber, 2003.

Arthurian myth utilized in several aspects of Vampyr, with this being one of the more prominent examples. The symbol of Priwen is also referencing this myth, as it resembles a Latin cross with a circle to represent a shield:

LEADER

This is relatively standard, but we do know that the head of the Guard of Priwen is always referred to as “leader”, as the notes done by Geoffrey McCullum and Carl Eldritch thus far are denoted by “leader”; the only exception is reserved for Kendall Stone who is also denoted as “Founder”. “Leader” is rather self-explanatory, as it simply means “someone who leads a group”. Interestingly, it also seems to be used for those who are not the head of Priwen either, as we see in the scouting note during Thelma’s side-quest: a female “team leader” who went by Amanda Tilton. This seems to indicate there is no specific or official title to discern the head of Priwen, perchance making “leader” more of slang or casual terminology that merely stuck through the generations. The below are either written manuscripts by the leaders themselves, or copies from another. 

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Kendall Stone’s denotation and signature:

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Carl Eldritch’s denotation and signature:

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Geoffrey McCullum’s denotation and signature:

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CHAPLAIN/SHEPHERD/PREACHER

(For the purpose of relevancy, I will mostly be focusing on the Chaplain terminology as that is the canonical one we see in-game, but will still be examining the Chaplain’s alternative terms and their origins.)

Chaplains are curious. You do not see them until much later in the game (other than certain exceptions regarding side-quests), there are two versions of them according to the game files, that being the Shepherd_Preacher and the Shepherd_Fanatic, but only one model, the Fanatic, remains in the game. Shepherd_Preacher is the first version of the Chaplain which we see in the E3 2017 Trailer. Their enemy busts are below; the model shown in the game files is only of the Fanatic:

Concept art also reveals them being originally labelled as “Preacher”, with a single exception being that sometimes, the loading screen within the game will use the title:

 Florent Auguy

The word “chaplain” is borrowed from Old French “chapelain”, which in-turn stems from the Medieval-to-late Latin “cappellānus” that also hails from a Medieval Latin to Late Latin word read as “cappella”. Notably, “cappella”  is defined as a chapel or a choir. The story of chaplains themselves hail from a 4th-century practice:

In the 4th century, chaplains (Latin cappellani) were so called because they kept St. Martin’s famous half cape (cappella, diminutive of cappa). This sacred relic gave its name to the tent and later to the simple oratory or chapel where it was preserved. To it were added other relics that were guarded by chaplains appointed by the king during the Merovingian and Carolingian periods, and particularly during the reign of Charlemagne, who appointed clerical ministers (capellani) who lived within the royal palace. In addition to their primary duty of guarding the sacred relics, they also said mass for the king on feast days, worked in conjunction with the royal notaries, and wrote any documents the king required of them. In their duties chaplains thus gradually became more identified with direct service to the monarch as advisers in both ecclesiastical and secular matters.

In modern usage, a chaplain holds a strange position within the religious circle they reside in, most notably because the definition of a “chaplain” is a cleric who is assigned to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military forces, universities, and so on. 

n. A member of a religious body (often, but not always, of the clergy) officially assigned to give pastoral care at an institution, group, private chapel, etc. A person without religious affiliation who carries out similar duties in a secular context.

…

Clergy and ministers appointed to a variety of institutions and corporate bodies—such as cemeteries, prisons, hospitals, schools, colleges, universities, embassies, legations, and armed forces—usually are called chaplains.

Often they are considered a religious leader or some form of a figurehead, with some chaplains previously being leaders of a chapel before their assignment to a different institution. Given Priwen’s circumstance of being an underground militia, the usage of the word makes perfect sense as the Chaplains of Priwen seem to hold the same responsibilities of real-life, in this case, military chaplains (as they are called) who serve in the armed forces (the concept of allowing religious figures into battle, to this day, still holds much controversy), or we can at least assume they do some of the following which are: 

A chaplain performs basically the same functions in most armed forces. A chaplain in the U.S. military must furnish or arrange for religious services and ministrations, advise his commander and fellow staff officers on matters pertaining to religion and morality, administer a comprehensive program of religious education, serve as counselor and friend to the personnel of the command, and conduct instruction classes in the moral guidance program of his service.

Beyond that, a “shepherd” has a variety of religious messages but to keep it short: “shepherd” stems from the Middle English word “schepherde” to the Old English “sċēaphierde” which is a mixture of the two words “sċēap” (”sheep”) and “hierde” (”herdsman”). A female version of the word is a “shepherdess”. The word itself has multiple sorts of definitions, with a rather funny one to think about at times:

n. A person who tends sheep, especially a grazing flock. (figuratively) Someone who watches over, looks after, or guides somebody. (figuratively) The pastor of a church; one who guides others in religion. (poetic) A swain (”young man”); a rustic male lover.

A “preacher” is as it sounds: someone who spreads their worldview or philosophy. In this case, it would be perhaps a gospel or a sermon. From the Old French “preecheor” (”prêcheur”), to Latin “praedicator” (”public praiser”, “proclaimer”). A female preacher is known as a “preacheress”.

EXECUTIONER/TRAPPER

Executioners, or Trappers as the concept art referred them as (see above), are the crossbow snipers wearing red, hooded garbs, able to throw gas grenades and flaming bolts, bereft of any melee resistance whatsoever. According to the game files, there are three types of Executioners. Here are the files:

Alongside their respective busts labelled Chemical, Fire, and Wood, their models are instead labelled CrossBow, FireCrossbow, and Sniper:

The word “executioner” is a combination of the words “execution” , which is borrowed from Old French “exécution”  (c. 1360) of the Latin “executio”, an agent noun (a word deriving from another word that denotes an action of some sort), of “exequi” (”to follow out”) which stems from “ex” (out) and “sequor” (”follow”) and of course, “-er”, from Middle English “-er” and “-ere”, as well as Old English “-ere”, and Proto-Germanic “-ārijaz” used as a suffix. “Executioner” is also a fairly self-explanatory definition; it literally means “one who executes”, but to ensure that we are being thorough:

n An official person who carries out the capital punishment of a criminal. (archaic) Executor (one who conducts a task). A hit man, especially being in some organization.

An “executioner” was historically seen as a “hangman” or “headsman”—a reference to the practice of execution via. means of public decapitation. This, alongside the file name of “Sniper”; the fact that the Executioner is only ranged, defined as “hit man, especially being in some organization” and that beheading would often result in instantaneous death, the choice of title is very distinct. Like beheadings, a sniper aims to kill with a single action—an underleveled Jonathan will easily be one-shot by an Executioner from afar, making their name strikingly fitting. The fact that they are a part of Priwen, an “organization” of sorts that specializes in executions of the undead, is simply a fond, bloody coincidence. 

In comparison, a “trapper” is, well, one who “traps” something, often animals for their hides or other precious materials. This may be an insinuation that literal traps of some kind were going to be added to the final product but were inevitably cut out. It does, however, fit Priwen’s perception of vampires—that they are feral animals to entrap and be rid of.

INVESTIGATOR

This will be short, as it is a term used in the game files and concept art for three ranks od Priwen, which happen to be the most squishy of mobs: Priwen Rookies (Rookie), Priwen Cadets (Veteran), and Priwen Gunners (Range).

“Investigator” is also self-explanatory: “one who investigates”, which is to say: 

v. (transitive) To inquire into or study in order to ascertain facts or information.      to investigate the causes of natural phenomena (transitive) To examine, look into, or scrutinize in order to discover something hidden or secret.      to investigate an unsolved murder (intransitive) To conduct an inquiry or examination. 

Said to have derived from the mid-1500s, from Latin “investigator” which hails from “investigare”. Interestingly, we know that female versions of each of these models exist in the game files apart from NPCs, confirmation of a female “leader” as shown above, as well as hearing female voices in the Prologue of Vampyr when Jonathan must escape the mass grave at dawn. Women were shown in the Alpha iterations of the game. Elwood confirms the presence of women in Priwen if you speak to him soon after Edgar’s kidnapping:

The feminine usage of this word is known as “investigatrix”, from Latin “investīgātrix”.

ROOKIE

Rookies are the most numerous types of enemies within the game as well as the first one you encounter within the Prologue. They only use melee weapons and hold resistance to Ranged Attacks. The sheer amount of them you find are most likely a reference to the Guard’s revitalized state in the wake of the Skal Epidemic. Ashbury mentions that Priwen was “almost gone” before Priwen began its new wave of mass recruitments: 

Jonathan will frequently hear references to this mass recruitment when wandering around idle Guards:

“Rookie” is also a rather simple word to dissect: an altering of the word “recruit” and “-ie”. There is also a possibly Dutch origin from the word “broekie”, short for “broekvent”, lit. meaning “a boy still in short trousers”, which explains why “rookie” is often used as a sort teasing term. To be technical:

n. plural “rookies”

An inexperienced recruit, especially in the police or armed forces. A novice.

As the first definition shows, it does have some bearing to Priwen’s overall trend of having a nomenclature relating to militaristic forces.

The Rookie’s respective enemy UI portrait and model:

CADETS/VETERANS

Cadets, or Veterans as the game files name them, are essentially Rookies with guns or flaming torches, only being somewhat tougher than fresh-blooded Rookies. This can be inferred as a progression in rank—a Rookie that’s survived their first couple of nights on patrol. They certainly look more well-garbed, and the term “veteran” also fits with this idea of experience alongside surviving the dreary, vampiric-ridden streets.

The Cadet’s enemy UI and model:

An interesting feature to note at this point about each of Priwen’s enemies is that the majority of them seem to have an undercut. At the time (and even now), undercuts were done on men deployed to the war as the militaristic style of the era—Jonathan and McCullum share ones of their own. This hints to Priwen’s military connections that many NPCs remark on (as shown above) and that some of Priwen’s members do hail from military backgrounds which are demonstrated in their extreme firepower and access to various parts of the city.

“Cadet” stems from French “cadet” from a southwestern French known as Gascon Occitan “capdet”, further back into the Late Latin “capitellum” (”headling”) shortened version of “caput” (”head”), sharing English form by 1634. “Cadet”, unsurprisingly, is also a term with military usage. The female version would be spelt “cadette”. It also holds a definition for “junior”:   

n. plural cadets

A student at a military school who is training to be an officer. (largely historical) A younger or youngest son, who would not inherit as a firstborn son would. (in compounds, chiefly in genealogy) Junior. (See also the heraldic term cadency.)      a cadet branch of the family

“Veteran” is borrowed from Middle French “vétéran”, of Late or Vulgar Latin “veterānus” of the word “vetus” (”old” or “aged”). It is a rather official word referencing one who has served in the military or armed forces, most specific to older soldiers or those who have seen long years of service. While the age of Priwen’s Guards can certainly be up for debate—Cadets, while relatively squishy, seem to be what Rookies advance to should they survive their first nights at the mercy of patrols, facing whatever awaits them during it.

GUNNER

Gunners are another frequent, early mob of Priwen that you encounter. They are about as numerous as Rookies and equal in their frailty, only they seem to be Rookies with more additions to their design and opt to only use Ranged Attacks, much like their fellow Executioners. The portrait shows no difference as it is a reused UI bust, but their outfits differ slightly.

“Gunner” sounds straightforward but does hold a military usage. One can literally define “gunner” as “someone who uses a gun”, but the word itself is a rank used in the British Army Royal Artillery. It is abbreviated as “Gnr”, and is equivalent to the military rank of a “Private”, which makes sense. They hold similar stats to Rookies, Rookies are stated to essentially be new recruits—privates usually act as the lowest, entry-level rank in the military after training has completed, which means that Gunners, too, are on par with Rookies in terms of Priwen’s hierarchy. 

BRAWLER/ENFORCER

Brawlers are quite the mixed bag of things. There are three different variations of them in the game files, are seen relatively early in the game, and serve as the brutish powerhouses Jonathan has to face when running into more of Priwen’s hordes. We seem them with heavy guns, a shield on their left arm, gas, and flames. A wide assortment of anti-vampire materials is cast onto a single kind of member, which proves interesting.  In the game files, they are known as Enforcers with three names: Flamer, Ram, and Shield (”Tank” seems to be used generally amongst all of them for clothing files).

“Brawlers” is defined as “one who brawls”, which is to say: “fight or quarrel”—of Middle English “braule” and “brall” (”brawl, squabble”) of earlier “braulen” and “brallen” (”to clamour, boast, quarrel”). Similar words from Middle High German (”prālen”; “to boast, flaunt”)), Low German (”brallen”; “to brag”), Dutch (”brallen”; “to boast”), and Danish (”bralle”; “chatter, jabber”) have also been considered, whose meanings make sense. Priwen’s guards hold no shortage of leech-related insults, but the Brawlers have quite the large assortment of them out of every other Guard member. A show of their imposing sizes and statures, I would wager. However, their large array of weapons, brute force, and usage of miniature bosses imply that Brawlers are quite high on the ranking list. Chaplains are the only thing larger than them, and it has been established that Chaplains are sort of seen as pious, leading figures. Consider this when taking a look at the game files term for Brawlers: Enforcers.

“Enforcers” is a combination of “enforce” and “-er”, with “enforce” coming from Old French “enforcier”, of the Late Latin “infortiāre”, from “in-” and “fortis” ((physically)“strong”)). I emphasize this word for the Brawler for one definition in particular: 

n.

One who enforces. The member of a group, especially of a gang, charged with keeping dissident members obedient.

Ram is also a reference to a battering ram (and the ability in which they charge at you) used in the British Police Forces. The second definition is specific to a Mob Enforcer. Priwen has access to multiple parts of London, with heavy access to firepower, large numbers, and seemingly free reign once night comes, kept entirely away from law enforcement. This is what discerns Priwen from a gang per say—their power and influence put them upwards to that of a Mob, or a “traditional gang” which is essentially a gang with overarching influence upon a region, to the point that they nearly act as the local law enforcement. Multiple mobs/traditional gangs existed, some of notable fame, throughout the Victorian Era well into the World Wars, many of which centred in the East End much like Priwen is: Peaky Blinders, Birmingham Boys, the “Sabini” gang, Hoxton Gang, The Yiddishers, and several others. 

Brawlers essentially being Mob Enforcers must mean they hold a lot of trust within Priwen to both be given the position of watching the other men, as well as proving they can also follow through with said position. 

With all of what we know of Priwen now defined, here is a chart of what I believe to be the hierarchical structure within the Guard of Priwen from what we have gathered:

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As Ashbury says: like all good societies, Priwen is still very much a secretive one even with such open recruitment. There may be inner workings we are unaware of, and what we have been revealed to may only be scratching the surface of what truly hides within the esoteric, fanatic-hunting organised Mob that Priwen has built itself into. Worse more is the mystery behind their schism with the Brotherhood: a once united group, now a duality that remains incessantly at odds. The way the current Brotherhood organises themselves is much more esoteric and theological than that of militaristic Priwen, a further representation of their dichotomy being at odds.

CREDITS:

None of this data collection would have been possible without the informative help of @wolfsirius and @orionali. Of course, I will never write a post without thanking @cursedbethechoice for their initial, contributive works to the lore of this fandom and for continuing to inspire me throughout. 

The tool I used to view these files was from Gildor’s Umodel Viewer.  

EXTRA COMMENTS:

This essay is exactly 3,724 words long!

It’s been quite a long while since I’ve written anything despite being active on the blog. Nearly a year now! I’m hoping this small introduction allows me to ease my way back to the projects I wanted to share (which are a lot) both here in full, and show peeks of on Twitter! Thank you to those who have continued to follow this blog despite the time gap. I hope to be much more frequent with Lore posts here!

You may notice a tag at the bottom labeled “secret societies series”. That is because I intend to have a small series of analyses dedicated to the three major factions we witness in Vampyr: The Guard of Priwen, The Brotherhood of St. Paul’s Stole, and The Ascalon Club. This will be the catch-all tag for any analyses relating to those topics!  …With a possible mention of the Druid Order (mentioned in the “Blood Goddess Heresy” Collectible). 

Other “series” are still in the works!

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ALL SOURCES/BIBLIOGRAPHY (in no particular order):

Legends of Arthur, Richard Barber, 2003 “GANGS”, Bill Sanders, February 2016 — Oxford University Press Chaplain, ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA Oxford English Dictionary Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary Wiktionary Online Etymology Dictionary The British Army Website’s British Army Structure London Metropolitan Police’s Article of the Enforcer Wikivisually’s Article on the Enforcer (battering ram) Etymology of “Chaplain” – Traditional & Professional, Rev. Dr. Michael G. Maness, 1998, revised 2015, formerly published as “Meaning of Chaplaincy” The etymology of “rookie” in Wikitionary The etymology of “chaplain” in Wikitionary The etymology of “brawl” in Wikitionary The etymology of “enforce” in Wikitionary Online Etymology’s Dictionary’s Page on “enforce” The Mob Museum in Las Vegas—National Museum of Organized Crime & Law Enforcement Online Etymology’s Dictionary’s Page on “veteran” Online Etymology’s Dictionary’s Page on “shepherd” Online Etymology’s Dictionary’s Page on “preacher” The etymology of “shepherd” in Wikitionary. “investigate” in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911 “investigate” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913 King Arthur: The Mystery Unravelled By Chris Barber Journey to Avalon: The Final Discovery of King Arthur By Chris Barber, David Pykitt The Welsh Academy Encyclopædia of Wales. John Davies, Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines and Peredur Lynch (2008) pg. 668

[nomadicism]

With that Hazar and Lotor post, I'm wondering, what are some other characters from modern VLD that may've borrowed some elements from other ones from previous versions?

OH IS THERE EVER!!! (thank you for asking!)

This will be long. Forgive me. Also, I’m not certain of what you have and haven’t seen, so this answer is written with the VLD fan who hasn’t seen much of the other continuities in mind.

Given the length, I’ve structured this answer into sections that focus on pre-existing characters with borrowed elements, as most of the new characters haven’t had enough screen time to give me anymore than some common archetypes to go from. Though there are a few that I have suspicions about but I’m still thinking them over in order to do a more thorough post like the Lotor and Hazar one. I’m also including some larger concepts in this answer because they relate to character elements.

Using a Read More cut due to length and containing spoilers for the DDP comics, Robotech/Voltron crossover. In addition to those, this answer includes Golion, and DotU Vehicle Voltron. Leaving out Fleet of Doom for sake of length.

From Golion:

Elements from Golion should be its own post, and I think that most of them are pretty well explored throughout Tumblr by others.

Gladiator combat survivors/champions made into living weapons.

There are different kinds of Galra with different designs and most of the different kinds have a name.

Sadak/Sendak’s name.

1. Gladiator combat survivors/champions made into living weapons: DotU cuts this out, but in Golion (and this relates to #2), the gladiator combat is used to weed out the strong by having them fight Half-Beastmen. Those that survive are taken by Honerva who uses her magic to transform them into Death Black Beastmen (who don’t look like other Galra).

In VLD, Shiro is a survivor/champion of gladiator combat and was made into a living weapon by Haggar and is an important element to his character. This doesn’t happen in any other continuity to any other character (other than nameless Galra in Golion).

While there is no special name (like Death Black Beastmen) for it (and Shiro is not Galra), we can see that there are other “Galra who don’t look like other Galra”, such as Sendak who also has a quintessence-powered weaponized-prosthetic given to him by Haggar. Shiro isn’t the only gladiator combat survivor to be made into a weapon, Myzax is made into one as well, just of the Robeast variety (called “Mecha Beastmen” in Golion).

2. Different kinds of Galra: We can see this visually in VLD, but they are not named as they are in Golion. Merits its own post with tons of images to compare. This was also in DotU, but glossed over, while Golion gave more detail about it.

3. Naming: Yurak from DotU returns in VLD as Sendak, which name-wise relates more to Sadak in Golion. This is another tell regarding #1.

Voltron Third Dimension and Voltron Force:

Since I strongly dislike both of these Continuities Which Must Not Be Named, I never bothered to watch more than a few episodes of either, so I didn’t pick up much subtext to meta from. There are other folks on Tumblr who have heroically watched these series and can speak to any borrowed elements from them. If two annoying twin girls claiming to be Lotor’s nieces ever show up in VLD, you’ll have Voltron Force to blame. Still, credit to Voltron Force for giving us Haggarium.

Dynamite and Devil’s Due Publishing comics:

I couldn’t get into the Dynamite Voltron comics, but I enjoyed the DDP Voltron comics. I admit having a bias towards DDP since they included Vehicle Voltron (in an interesting plot-appropriate way), so I highly recommend reading them. The DDP comics also included Merla so other than the made-for-the-US episodes of DotU, this is the only other continuity that includes her (so far…).

What both these series (mostly DDP) gives us are a gold mine of elements/concepts that pertain to the Lions, Allura, Lotor, Haggar, the creation of Voltron, and the search for Voltron. All of which VLD appears to have iterated upon and expanded/updated even further (especially with Allura and Haggar). This is one of the things I love about the Voltron continuities, this idea that you can look at any of them and say “hey that’s a good concept, what if we use and tweak it to fit into this new context?”.

A backstory for the creation of Voltron that involves Zarkon and a scientist friend (Dynamite)

The Lions are sentient and can form mind connections with their pilots (DDP)

Allura being the mystical key to Voltron (DDP)

Voltron having a mystical-not-exactly-technological source of power (DDP)

Lotor having a legit code of honor that he abides by (DDP)

Kogane becoming Keith’s surname going forward in subsequent continuities (DDP) (edit: true of Voltron Force but not confirmed for VLD as of S4)

Allura and Lotor having known each other when they were adolescents (DDP)

An explicit quest to go looking for Voltron as opposed to just happening upon it by accident as in DotU (DDP)

Conceptualizing Haggar’s magic as part of an ancient cabal (DDP)

Haggar’s magic/role allows her to sense the return of Voltron/Allura’s mystical connection (DDP)

A Voltron pilot being rejected by a lion (DDP)

#1-6 are self-explanatory: VLD takes concepts 1-5 in different (and IMO better) directions, but these comics are the first iteration of those concepts. I really like that for #1, VLD swapped out Zarkon’s “scientist friend” for Alfor and made Alfor a scientist as well as a king.

#7 Allura and Lotor childhood/adolescent/teen relationship: is (as of S4) up-in-the-air for VLD, but this concept is related to a concept found in the Robotech/Voltron crossover that exists in VLD.

Something to watch out for in S5 is whether or not (if this exists in VLD) the childhood/adolescent/teen relationship was reciprocal friendship on both their parts, or if—as in the DDP comics—Lotor was placed on Arus to gather information and create the illusion of being the perfect gentlemen (e.g. diplomatic relationship).

#8 Quest/Mission for Voltron (directly impacts character development):

In the DDP comics, Colonel Hawkins (Commander Hawkins from Vehicle Voltron) sends Keith, Sven, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk on a mission to go look for the mythical/legendary Voltron in order to defend Earth against the invading Drule Supremacy. Here, Hawkins is risking his career because the Galaxy Garrison didn’t believe that Voltron existed, so the brass didn’t support his mission (this might be relevant).

In VLD, the Galaxy Garrison connection (that we know of so far) exists through Keith/Pidge/Lance/Hunk having been trained there and through Shiro’s return—but rather than a mission—our paladins-to-be go looking for Voltron based on combining Keith’s findings of a power source with what Shiro tells them about Voltron upon his return to Earth, hence they go looking for Voltron via the Blue Lion, rather than lucking out and stumbling upon Voltron as in DotU.

Additionally, Keith’s father (who looks suspiciously like Commander Hawkins) was looking for something—in the manner in which one would look if one’s search wasn’t supported by anything official—which (as far as we know) was the power source that turned out to be the Blue Lion. (I have a separate post planned for our idealistically-alien-friendly-man-of-peace Commander Hawkins.)

#9-10 Haggar’s ancient cabal and sensing return of Voltron:

In the DDP comics, Haggar is the last in the line of the Daughters of Wyvern, an ancient cabal/what-have-you of sorceresses. Through her magic and being the last of the line, she is alerted to the return of Voltron (e.g. Allura’s mystical power).

In VLD, we see that Haggar is also shown with a cabal, but unlike DDP, she leads druids who serve her, and—as in the DDP comics—it is Haggar that is first alerted to the return of Voltron due to sensing Allura’s mystical power/connection to it.

#11 Lion rejects a pilot!

In the DDP comics Sven is rejected by the Blue Lion (revealed later to be due to a defect in his brain); while in VLD, Shiro is briefly rejected by the Black Lion due to…??? Well…Shiro did come back from the Galra with a headache…so…yeah…unleash that meta fam.

Aside: due to the number of elements/concepts from the DDP comics that also show up in VLD, my answer to your question about what I thought VLD Merla would be like, comes from her character in the DDP comics.

The Robotech/Voltron crossover from 2015 provides a few big elements and concepts that appear in VLD. Considering there’s that Roy Fokker easter egg in s1e1 (I’m not the only one who suspects that Rick Hunter, Miriya Parina, Max Sterling also appear in that episode), someone over there at Dreamworks or Studio Mir loves Robotech. I recommend reading the crossover, if only for a few panels of Rick Hunter piloting an actual White Lion mecha.

Comets That Do Stuff. Specifically of the “crossing between realities universes” variety! 

Alfor being more than just a king and sharing an element with Haggar. 

Lotor’s mother being shown-and-named. Even in the prior five continuities, this never happened (Golion doesn’t count here).

Lotor’s mother having a connection to Alfor and a bitter story behind that connection.

Our heroes crossing between realities universes.

#1 and #5 comets and crossing between realities universes: While these are not character elements, these concepts have direct impact on characters (one could argue that the trans-reality comets in VLD are characters, Voltron certainly is). There’s a lot here: “Lotor and Comets That Do Stuff”.  Spoilers abound.

#2 Alfor not just a king, and shares a character element with Haggar:

In the crossover, Alfor wields magic like Haggar does in addition to being king (Aflor = good magic, Haggar = bad magic). In VLD, Alfor is a scientist and paladin in addition to being king, while Honerva/Haggar is a scientist in addition to being a queen (through marriage to Zarkon). VLD expands this by showing both Alfor and Honerva as scientists studying the same thing with divergent outcomes. Alfor = good scientist, Honerva/Haggar = bad scientist.

This leads us to #3 and #4 where Lotor’s mother is not only shown-and-named, but that she has a connection to Alfor.

Her name in the crossover (Lora) is irrelevant, but the subtext that she is related to Alfor, and that her relationship with Alfor soured and they are no longer close is very relevant to VLD.

In the crossover, the soured relationship is due to her political marriage to Zarkon which Alfor didn’t approve of (revealed in Alfor’s snarky comment to her: “So Lora how does it feel to be a pawn?”), and she’s related/family to Alfor (it’s subtle and the podcast with the writer confirms that was the intention).

These concepts return in VLD where the relationship between Lotor’s mother and Alfor also soured, but their connection is through being scientists rather than family (at least as of S4).

The difference in VLD is that Lotor’s mother and Haggar are fused together in the character of Honerva.

Finally, Vehicle Voltron:

Vehicle Voltron concepts require a lot of stepping back and examining subtext because both the pacing of the series and the awkward narrative create inconsistencies in the canon (not a dig at the writers they had a hard job to do). We have to look at what concepts are repeated/hammered home, and that appear in multiple episodes in such a way that they construct a clear story arc while discarding “filler episodes.” The destruction of the Drule home world is a great example of that.

Caveat: I’d be very surprised if the writers or creators of VLD sat through all of Vehicle Voltron, or even watched more than a few episodes of it (it’s a very different genre from Lion Voltron). So, some tropes/concepts just write themselves and are a coincidence. I try not to read too much into what I’ve noticed regarding Vehicle Voltron and VLD, but I do have a separate post planned for Vehicle Voltron/VLD coincidences.

Galaxy Garrison

Pidge has a brother

Throk the Elitist Proxy for the Methods and Beliefs of the Empire

Quasi-Byronic Antagonist Exiled From the Empire (e.g. Hazar)

Destruction of Drule home world and destruction of Daibazaal (has multiple elements wrapped up here)

#1 and #2 (I think everyone already knows this):

Galaxy Garrison comes from Vehicle Voltron where it is the Earth portion of the Galaxy Alliance. It remains to be seen if Earth will be part of any kind of Galaxy Alliance in VLD. I’m waiting for someone to look at the Voltron Coalition and say “It’s like a Galaxy Alliance!”.

Pidge’s brother in Vehicle Voltron is Chip, and in addition to changing his name in VLD, he’s 100000% better and amazing. He’s still a tech nerd/genius, and can fly a combat vehicle. Chip’s characterization in Vehicle Voltron was mostly about: he’s smart, he’s short, and he deeply misses his brother and home world of Balto. VLD has dropped the shortness and Balto, made Pidge female, and their nature of their separation in space is similar but as we know, has very different causes.

#3-4 Throk and Quasi-Byronic Antagonists: are touched on in my post about Lotor and Hazar, I’ve got a separate post planned for Throk. Suffice to say, the writers have had ample opportunity to name-drop or reference non-main characters from prior continuities and—with the exception of Sven and Throk—have not done so. They’ve created new characters, which is great because there is no need to retread what came before. To me, this means that when they do a name-drop or reference, then we should pay attention to it. 

#5. Destruction of the Drule home world and the destruction of Daibazaal.

While not about character elements, this relates to several characters and their actions leading-up-to and during the self-destruction of their respective planets. It’s also entirely possible that this is an example of “some tropes/concepts just write themselves” and the parallel between the destruction of the Drule home world and Daibazaal was never intentional.

This is also a hard one because of narrative confusion from filler episodes in Vehicle Voltron. Following the secondary story arc (which is Hazar’s arc), the Drule home world is self-destructing due to the burial of materials used by the Drule to create their “solar weapons”. What those weapons and materials are is a little vague, but irrelevant.

Stepping back for a zoomed-out view, the concept connection with VLD is:

World self-destructing-and-unstable due to something within its surface that shouldn’t be there.In VLD it’s the rift, in Vehicle Voltron it’s the buried hazardous solar weapon materials.

Leaders ignore the warning signs and continue on as if nothing is happening even though the catastrophe is imminent.Zarkon and Honerva are obsessed with power and research; while Zeppo and Throk cling to their political power. Both are unconcerned with how this affects their people (Zarkon/Honerva indirectly; Zeppo/Throk directly and explicitly). 

Aside: In VLD, Zarkon is concerned at first, but over time, he no longer shows concern.

Wise older men with beards take matters into their own hands.Alfor does so with warnings before the point-of-no-return and then with direct action after the point-of-no-return, while Senator Mozak does so indirectly through his children—Hazar and Dorma—before the point-of-no-return (kicking off Hazar’s “oh shit I need to make peace with these explorers before my people are doomed” arc).

The planet has to be evacuated and the people of the empire no longer have a home.Alfor evacuates the Galra, while the Galaxy Alliance evacuates the Drule.

Voltron is involved prior to the destruction.In VLD, Voltron widening the rift is the point of no return for Daibazaal; while in Vehicle Voltron, Voltron’s final battle with the Drule occurs while the planet is shaking apart.

The emperor survives to one day return and rebuild the empire.Zarkon—despite dying—survives and returns immediately to begin his conquest of the universe; while Zeppo is whisked away to another planet and the stated intent by Throk, is that he may one day try to rebuild the empire (also referenced in Fleet of Doom).

[busket]

Honestly, I don't think it does. For your last point on your death note post. There's certain context and spoiler reasons for why I think so but it could also be just my interpretation. And in all honesty, it's not a completely awful movie. By no means is it good, it has lots of flaws that don't pertain to the death note reasons. However, it's meant to be completely desperate from the original series. Not even in like a reimagining sense, it's supposed to be taken as it's own thing. 1/2

and honestly if you're capable of separating the original death note canon from this movie, it's not terrible. Not great, but not terrible. The last 15-20 minutes are actually REALLY good. But that doesn't make up for the flaws in the rest of the movie. The director also said that this movie is to be the first of a trilogy, which if you do finish it, will make the move make a lot more sense. However the trilogy isn't confirmed for being made, but it's something they're trying for.

if they wanted it to be a separate thing, why didn’t they change the character names. they changed everything else about the characters, whats the point of still calling them light or L or misa. just have it exist in the same universe as the original death note or make something new. the only reason they’d have for continuing to use the death note character names is for brand recognition to attract fans, but then they shit on it all and make the fans hate it

[thechurchillreview]

Contains SPOILERS for Doctor Who and Season 2 of Broadchurch.  

Imy Comic by Irma Ericksson. 

http://www.imycomic.com/the-cartoonist/

Images/Gifs from Doctor Who (2005-), Black Mirror (2011-), Attack the Block (2011), and Broadchurch (2013-2017). The humorous Fem-Agenda List from comedian and late night show Full Frontal host Samantha Bee. Tweets from Johnathan Pyror and Mackenzie Lee. 

I’ve being going through some life-changing stuff. I moved and got a place with roomies. Not done transporting possessions yet. Working somewhere else. Dealt with car issues. A lot has occurred. :) 

Hence why this has taken considerably longer to type, edit, and post than I originally envisioned over a month ago. XD 

On Sunday July 16th 2017,  the long-running BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who starring a time and universe traveling body shifting Gallifreyan Time Lord made the announcement that a woman would play the longtime exclusive to men portrayal character next. Alongside companions, the Doctor is the true definition (not the derogatory kind) of a Social Justice Warrior. The Doctor assists civilizations, helps people, tries to alter certain events in time, and clashes against all types of enemies. The most famous among them being the Daleks, of course. 

There’s been twelve Doctors (Well, thirteen if John Hurt’s War Doctor is counted...Doesn’t seem to be though. Since Jodie isn’t labeled as the 14th Doctor. ) played by men since the series inception back in 1963. The original run lasted until 1989, the revival of the show began in 2005. Doctor Who was created by C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson, and Sydney Newman. Producer Verity Lambert, story editor David Whitaker, and writer Anthony Coburn also contributed to the development of the series that would eventually become Doctor Who. In 1986, Newman wrote to BBC Chairman Michael Grade, "At a later stage, Doctor Who should be metamorphosed into a woman. This requires some considerable thought — mainly because I want to avoid a flashy, Hollywood Wonder Woman because this kind of heroine with no flaws is a bore. Given more time than I have now, I can create such a character."

So, over three decades (839 episodes, one TV movie, four charity specials, multiple specials, and two animated serials) later, Newman’s words are realized under Broadchurch creator and new Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall (with the departure of Steven Moffat). At the end of 2017, the current Doctor incarnation actor Peter Capaldi portrays will be replaced by Jodie Whittaker following the Regeneration process. This decision is is merely another form of change: a significant theme pertaining to the Doctor’s character as a whole.

On top of that, in the 1999 Red Nose Day telethon episode Doctor Who: The Curse of the Fatal Death was the first time the doctor was a woman (Joanna Lumley). In the audio drama Doctor Who Unbound Exile which is free from the restraints of continuity  released in 2003 actor Arabella Weir played the Doctor. During the 9th Doctor’s run, it was revealed that the Doctor was bisexual even though the character rejected Jackie Tyler’s advances in “The Parting of Ways”. The Doctor flirted with Jack Harkness, proposing to dance with in the episode “Doctor Dances” whilst promising to give him what Rose Tyler had with Mickey Smith should Jack purchase him a drink. Captain Jack Harkness and River Song are characters both from the 51st century where pansexuality is the norm. Companion Clara Oswin Oswald has been in a relationship with a man but mentions kissing women too. When the 11th Doctor touches his hair following the completion of the 10th’s Regeneration process, the character says, “I’m a girl. No, no. I’m not a girl. And still not ginger.” This suggests that a the Doctor could be a woman. In the 2011 episode “The Doctor’s Wife” Neil Gaiman wrote from over six years ago, the Time Lord Corsair is mentioned and it is divulged that Corsair had a Regeneration that switched him into a her. In the 2013 mini-episode “The Night of the Doctor”, the Sisterhood of Karn (first appearance was in The Brain of Morbius that aired in 1976) asks the Doctor what Regeneration is desired (“Fat or thin, young or old, man or woman?” “Fast or strong, wise or angry, what do you need now?”): ultimately Paul McGann’s 8th Doctor wishes to be a “warrior” and is transformed into the War Doctor (portrayed by the late and incredibly great John Hurt). Since the show’s 2005 revival, an infamous Time Lord villain known as The Master went from being solely men into a woman named Missy (Michelle Gomez) after an off-screen Regeneration took place.  

Change is important for the purposes of bringing a fresh angle to an established accepted formula whilst having potential narrative merit, symbolizing growth, modern day relevance, and validation to something existing. How change is navigated, utilized, or coped with is equally as important. Each Regeneration leads to viewers, writers, showrunners, and cast members  having to accept that a previous version of the Time Lord is gone. “No more.” Their look, personality, memories, relationships, mannerisms, and whatever else gets scrambled into something entirely different post-Regeneration.

Likewise, the companions of the Doctor go through switcheroos often as well. Some leave us furious. Sad. Perhaps even glad.

My point is that we’re resist to change. Struggle with it. Less of a fan as a result. Which is understandable. However, when a certain demographic has been catered to for decades, altering this comes with a price. To be candid, I find the reactionary backlash a tad odd and chuckle-inducing. As if the time-traveling alien Doctor was ever defined by masculinity before. If that’s your chief defining attribute of the Doctor then I legitimately feel sorry for you. The Doctor represents more than a man or a woman and that’s why this beloved character has obtained a prestigious status among fictional creations. 

This is the inherent beauty of science fiction. Close to infinite possibilities at one’s creative fingertips are there. That’s why Daisy Ridley’s Rey being a protagonist and an in training Jedi (General Leia Organa never got this despite her mighty connection to the Force) within the new Star Wars flicks is a big deal. Nichelle Nichols’ Lieutenant Uhura from Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek was historical by being the first African-American not to play a servant on American television. Did you know that Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. asked her to remain on Star Trek when she thought about leaving in the late 60s? “For the first time on television, we [people of African descent] will be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing and dance, yes, but who can go into space, who can be lawyers and teachers, who can be professors — who are in this day, yet you don’t see it on television until now." Nichols would further influence Dr. Mae Jemison, the first black woman to fly aboard the Space Shuttle, directly cited Star Trek in her decision making. Additionally, Nichols’ Uhura would serves as a role model to Star Trek: The Next Generation Guinan actor Whoopi Goldberg ("I just saw a black woman on television; and she ain't no maid!") too. Should I list all of the ways in which Charlize Theron’s Furiosa of Mad Max: Fury Road and Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman have contributed to the more inclusive than most genre?

The casting choice of actor Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor bothered me from the get-go. Since Peter Capaldi had already been on the series via the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) episode “The Fires of Pompeii” as Caecilius. Not too long after that Peter would be in the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood: Children of Earth as John Frobisher too. Capaldi took over the role of the Doctor from Smith in 2013. Why the Doctor’s facial appearance is similar to Caecilus was eventually addressed in the 2015 episode “The Girl Who Died”. For whatever reason I’ve been unable to decipher, I’ve just never clicked with Capaldi’s Doctor. On the other hand, I am still grieving a tremendous loss...Which is actor Pearl Mackie’s SDCC announcement she’s leaving the companion position this December. Meaning I do have some level of viewership enjoyment with Capaldi due to Bill’s accompaniment with him.

I’m sincerely going to miss her.

In short, what has been hinted at in the past will become reality this December. No one’s being blindsided, I’d argue. Not about being PC either. These seeds were clearly being planted prior to.

Yes, this a holiday present I’m fondly looking forward to. Especially after seeing Jodie Whittaker’s nuanced performance as Beth Latimer in Chris Chibnall’s Broadchurch. Or Jodie’s role in the Black Mirror (a dark genius sci-fi series courtesy of Charlie Brooker) episode “The Entire History of You.” Psst, the entirety of Black Mirror is on Netflix...There’s even an episode that warned about a candidate like Donald Trump rising to power. I’d be remiss not to type about Whittaker being in the cult science fiction hit film Attack the Block (2011) as well. All of that she’s done deserves to be seen. That’s what I’ve been re-doing in anticipation actually!

With both Peter Capaldi’s and Steven Moffat’s tenures with Doctor Who coming to a personally welcomed close, my ranking of excitement is considerably lofty I must admit. We’ve needed an overhaul for awhile now. The long awaited for revolution of making the protagonist Time Lord a woman next brings a fresh dynamic to Doctor Who. I reckon she won’t be able to coast or take some things for granted like previous incarnations did. The involvement of Chris Chibnall and the inclusion of Jodie Whittaker has me ridiculously psyched for Doctor Who’s future. I believe both of them will positively contribute to the series with their injection of needed new. I even feel compelled to finally watch Doctor Who again in a strangely devoted fashion (something I haven’t done in years) versus sporadic glances at the telly throughout Capaldi’s run.